1,829 research outputs found
MODELING THE EFFECT OF UNCERTAINTY ON TIMBER HARVEST: A SUGGESTED APPROACH AND EMPIRICAL EXAMPLE
A method is suggested for modeling uncertainty when there is a lack of information concerning the effect of forest management decisions on tree growth. Dynamic programming is used to investigate the optimality of alternative management strategies. The model is illustrated with an empirical example for a boreal forest region of western Canada. Three tentative conclusions follow: (a) silvicultural strategies to reduce uncertainty or to increase stand growth may not be worth pursuing, at least in northern forests; (b) the discounted cost of ignoring uncertainty may be substantial if taken over the entire forest; and (c) given uncertain forest growth, flexible harvest policies are preferred to a fixed harvest age.Agricultural Finance, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,
Evaluation of African-bred maize germplasm lines for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation
Aflatoxins, produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, contaminate maize grain and threaten human food and feed safety. Plant resistance is considered the best strategy for reducing aflatoxin accumulation. Six maize germplasm lines, TZAR101âTZAR106, were released by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Southern Regional Research Center (IITA-SRRC) maize breeding collaboration for use in African National Programs and U.S. maize breeding programs. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate aflatoxin reduction by these lines in a U.S. environment. As germplasm lines, resistance was demonstrated by the lines tested in 2010 and 2014 trials. In 2010, TZAR106 was among the lines with the lowest toxin accumulation, and in 2014, along with TZAR102, supported low aflatoxin. When evaluated as single cross hybrids in 2012, 2013 and 2014, several crosses involving IITA-SRRC lines accumulated low toxin. In 2012, TZAR103 Ă HBA1 was one of 4 lines with the lowest concentration of aflatoxin. In 2014, five IITA-SRRC hybrids were among the lowest with TZAR102 Ă Va35 and TZAR102 Ă LH132 being the two lowest. Results demonstrate significant aflatoxin reduction by IITA-SRRC lines in a U.S. aflatoxin-conducive environment (at Mississippi State University). Further testing in different locations and environments is needed to further evaluate the potential usefulness of these germplasm lines
Variations of radiocarbon in tree rings: southern hemisphere offset preliminary results
The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland and University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand radiocarbon laboratories have undertaken a series of high-precision measurements on decadal samples of dendrochronologically dated oak (Quercus patrea) and cedar (Libocedrus bidwillii) from Great Britain and New Zealand, respectively. The results show a real atmospheric offset of 3.4 ± 0.6% (27.2 ± 4.7 ÂčâŽC yr) between the two locations for the interval AD 1725 to AD 1885, with the Southern Hemisphere being depleted in ÂčâŽC. This result is less than the value currently used to correct Southern Hemisphere calibrations, possibly indicating a gradient in ÎÂčâŽC within the Southern Hemisphere
Orientation of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in normal and null magnetic fields
In the absence of distinct visual or olfactory cues, adult and juvenile rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) showed preferred orientation in the presence of a normal magnetic field. In contrast, fish tested in a null magnetic field showed no directed orientation. These results were obtained in both the presence and absence of a slight (12-cm/s) circular water current. These findings indicate that nonanadromous salmonids, like anadromous forms, are capable of sensing magnetic cues during certain types of spatial activity
Effects of Noisy Oracle on Search Algorithm Complexity
Grover's algorithm provides a quadratic speed-up over classical algorithms
for unstructured database or library searches. This paper examines the
robustness of Grover's search algorithm to a random phase error in the oracle
and analyzes the complexity of the search process as a function of the scaling
of the oracle error with database or library size. Both the discrete- and
continuous-time implementations of the search algorithm are investigated. It is
shown that unless the oracle phase error scales as O(N^(-1/4)), neither the
discrete- nor the continuous-time implementation of Grover's algorithm is
scalably robust to this error in the absence of error correction.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Supernova neutrino oscillations: A simple analytical approach
Analyses of observable supernova neutrino oscillation effects require the
calculation of the electron (anti)neutrino survival probability P_ee along a
given supernova matter density profile. We propose a simple analytical
prescription for P_ee, based on a double-exponential form for the crossing
probability and on the concept of maximum violation of adiabaticity. In the
case of two-flavor transitions, the prescription is shown to reproduce
accurately, in the whole neutrino oscillation parameter space, the results of
exact numerical calculations for generic (realistic or power-law) profiles. The
analytical approach is then generalized to cover three-flavor transitions with
(direct or inverse) mass spectrum hierarchy, and to incorporate Earth matter
effects. Compact analytical expressions, explicitly showing the symmetry
properties of P_ee, are provided for practical calculations.Comment: 22 pages (RevTeX) + 5 figures (PostScript
Temperature correction to the Casimir force in cryogenic range and anomalous skin effect
Temperature correction to the Casimir force is considered for real metals at
low temperatures. With the temperature decrease the mean free path for
electrons becomes larger than the field penetration depth. In this condition
description of metals with the impedance of anomalous skin effect is shown to
be more appropriate than with the permittivity. The effect is crucial for the
temperature correction. It is demonstrated that in the zero frequency limit the
reflection coefficients should coincide with those of ideal metal if we demand
the entropy to be zero at T=0. All the other prescriptions discussed in the
literature for the term in the Lifshitz formula give negative entropy. It
is shown that the temperature correction in the region of anomalous skin effect
is not suppressed as it happens in the plasma model. This correction will be
important in the future cryogenic measurements of the Casimir force.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Thermal correction to the Casimir force, radiative heat transfer, and an experiment
The low-temperature asymptotic expressions for the Casimir interaction
between two real metals described by Leontovich surface impedance are obtained
in the framework of thermal quantum field theory. It is shown that the Casimir
entropy computed using the impedance of infrared optics vanishes in the limit
of zero temperature. By contrast, the Casimir entropy computed using the
impedance of the Drude model attains at zero temperature a positive value which
depends on the parameters of a system, i.e., the Nernst heat theorem is
violated. Thus, the impedance of infrared optics withstands the thermodynamic
test, whereas the impedance of the Drude model does not. We also perform a
phenomenological analysis of the thermal Casimir force and of the radiative
heat transfer through a vacuum gap between real metal plates. The
characterization of a metal by means of the Leontovich impedance of the Drude
model is shown to be inconsistent with experiment at separations of a few
hundred nanometers. A modification of the impedance of infrared optics is
suggested taking into account relaxation processes. The power of radiative heat
transfer predicted from this impedance is several times less than previous
predictions due to different contributions from the transverse electric
evanescent waves. The physical meaning of low frequencies in the Lifshitz
formula is discussed. It is concluded that new measurements of radiative heat
transfer are required to find out the adequate description of a metal in the
theory of electromagnetic fluctuations.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. svjour.cls is used, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.
Neutron Stars in a Varying Speed of Light Theory
We study neutron stars in a varying speed of light (VSL) theory of gravity in
which the local speed of light depends upon the value of a scalar field .
We find that the masses and radii of the stars are strongly dependent on the
strength of the coupling between and the matter field and that for
certain choices of coupling parameters, the maximum neutron star mass can be
arbitrarily small. We also discuss the phenomenon of cosmological evolution of
VSL stars (analogous to the gravitational evolution in scalar-tensor theories)
and we derive a relation showing how the fractional change in the energy of a
star is related to the change in the cosmological value of the scalar field.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Added solutions with a more realistic equation
of state. To be published in PR
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