Towards a radiocarbon calibration for oxygen isotope stage 3 using New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis)

It is well known that radiocarbon years do not directly equate to calendar time. As a result, considerable effort has been devoted to generating a decadally resolved calibration curve for the Holocene and latter part of the last termination. A calibration curve that can be unambiguously attributed to changes in atmospheric ¹⁴C content has not, however, been generated beyond 26 kyr cal BP, despite the urgent need to rigorously test climatic, environmental, and archaeological models. Here, we discuss the potential of New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) to define the structure of the ¹⁴C calibration curve using annually resolved tree rings and thereby provide an absolute measure of atmospheric ¹⁴C. We report bidecadally sampled ¹⁴C measurements obtained from a floating 1050-yr chronology, demonstrating repeatable ¹⁴C measurements near the present limits of the dating method. The results indicate that considerable scope exists for a high-resolution ¹⁴C calibration curve back through OIS-3 using subfossil wood from this source

Advancing Cyberinfrastructure to support high resolution water resources modeling (Invited)

Addressing the problem of how the availability and quality of water resources at large scales are sensitive to climate variability, watershed alterations and management activities requires computational resources that combine data from multiple sources and support integrated modeling. Related cyberinfrastructure challenges include: 1) how can we best structure data and computer models to address this scientific problem through the use of high-performance and data-intensive computing, and 2) how can we do this in a way that discipline scientists without extensive computational and algorithmic knowledge and experience can take advantage of advances in cyberinfrastructure? This presentation will describe a new system called CI-WATER that is being developed to address these challenges and advance high resolution water resources modeling in the Western U.S. We are building on existing tools that enable collaboration to develop model and data interfaces that link integrated system models running within an HPC environment to multiple data sources. Our goal is to enhance the use of computational simulation and data-intensive modeling to better understand water resources. Addressing water resource problems in the Western U.S. requires simulation of natural and engineered systems, as well as representation of legal (water rights) and institutional constraints alongside the representation of physical processes. We are establishing data services to represent the engineered infrastructure and legal and institutional systems in a way that they can be used with high resolution multi-physics watershed modeling at high spatial resolution. These services will enable incorporation of location-specific information on water management infrastructure and systems into the assessment of regional water availability in the face of growing demands, uncertain future meteorological forcings, and existing prior-appropriations water rights. This presentation will discuss the informatics challenges involved with data management and easy-to-use access to high performance computing being tackled in this project

Wavelet treatment of the intra-chain correlation functions of homopolymers in dilute solutions

Discrete wavelets are applied to parametrization of the intra-chain two-point correlation functions of homopolymers in dilute solutions obtained from Monte Carlo simulation. Several orthogonal and biorthogonal basis sets have been investigated for use in the truncated wavelet approximation. Quality of the approximation has been assessed by calculation of the scaling exponents obtained from des Cloizeaux ansatz for the correlation functions of homopolymers with different connectivities in a good solvent. The resulting exponents are in a better agreement with those from the recent renormalisation group calculations as compared to the data without the wavelet denoising. We also discuss how the wavelet treatment improves the quality of data for correlation functions from simulations of homopolymers at varied solvent conditions and of heteropolymers.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages, 7 PS figures. Accepted for publication in PR

Heterogeneity in Residential Yard Care: Evidence from Boston, Miami, and Phoenix

The management of residential landscapes occurs within a complex socio-ecological system linking household decision-making with ecological properties, multi-scalar human drivers, and the legacy effects of past management. Conventional wisdom suggests that resource-intensive turf grass yards are the most common landscaping outcome, resulting in a presumed homogeneous set of residential landscaping practices throughout North America. We examine this homogenization thesis through an interview-based, cross-site study of residential landscape management in Boston, Phoenix, and Miami. Counter to the homogeneity thesis, we find that yard management practices often exhibit heterogeneity, for example, in groundcover choice or use of chemical inputs. The degree of heterogeneity in management practices varies according to the scale of analysis, and is the outcome of a range of constraints and opportunities to which households respond differently depending on their existing yard and landscaping preferences. This study highlights the importance of multi-scalar and cross-site analyses of decision-making in socio-ecological systems, and presents opportunities for longitudinal and cross-site research to examine the extent to which homogeneity is actually present in the management of residential landscapes over time and in diverse places

Alfalfa Insect Management Studies 1971-77

Three tests in southwestern Nebraska during 1971 and 1972 evaluated insecticides against the army cutworm. Adult alfalfa weevils did not damage new second growth alfalfa in a small plot study during a 3-year period (1973-1975) at Gothenburg, NE. However, excellent control of larval alfalfa weevils was obtained. These results indicated a need to establish economic threshold levels for the alfalfa weevil in Nebraska to prevent unnecessary use of insecticides. Four tests to control the alfalfa weevil with registered insecticides verified the efficacy of these materials under Nebraska conditions. A series of tests conducted during 1975 at the Mead Field Laboratory were designed to evaluate plant resistance, cultural practices and insecticides. The use of alfalfa varieties with resistance to various insect pests of alfalfa appeared to be an ideal control method. During 1975-1977, a test was conducted each year at the Mead Field Laboratory to evaluate new experimental insecticides against the alfalfa weevil and other pest insects of alfalfa grown for forage. A number of the new insecticides showed promise against the alfalfa weevil and the pea aphid

Alfalfa Insect Management Studies 1971-77

Three tests in southwestern Nebraska during 1971 and 1972 evaluated insecticides against the army cutworm. Adult alfalfa weevils did not damage new second growth alfalfa in a small plot study during a 3-year period (1973-1975) at Gothenburg, NE. However, excellent control of larval alfalfa weevils was obtained. These results indicated a need to establish economic threshold levels for the alfalfa weevil in Nebraska to prevent unnecessary use of insecticides. Four tests to control the alfalfa weevil with registered insecticides verified the efficacy of these materials under Nebraska conditions. A series of tests conducted during 1975 at the Mead Field Laboratory were designed to evaluate plant resistance, cultural practices and insecticides. The use of alfalfa varieties with resistance to various insect pests of alfalfa appeared to be an ideal control method. During 1975-1977, a test was conducted each year at the Mead Field Laboratory to evaluate new experimental insecticides against the alfalfa weevil and other pest insects of alfalfa grown for forage. A number of the new insecticides showed promise against the alfalfa weevil and the pea aphid

The Computational Complexity of Symbolic Dynamics at the Onset of Chaos

In a variety of studies of dynamical systems, the edge of order and chaos has been singled out as a region of complexity. It was suggested by Wolfram, on the basis of qualitative behaviour of cellular automata, that the computational basis for modelling this region is the Universal Turing Machine. In this paper, following a suggestion of Crutchfield, we try to show that the Turing machine model may often be too powerful as a computational model to describe the boundary of order and chaos. In particular we study the region of the first accumulation of period doubling in unimodal and bimodal maps of the interval, from the point of view of language theory. We show that in relation to the ``extended'' Chomsky hierarchy, the relevant computational model in the unimodal case is the nested stack automaton or the related indexed languages, while the bimodal case is modeled by the linear bounded automaton or the related context-sensitive languages.Comment: 1 reference corrected, 1 reference added, minor changes in body of manuscrip

Mass and Angular Momentum Transfer in the Massive Algol Binary RY Persei

We present an investigation of H-alpha emission line variations observed in the massive Algol binary, RY Per. We give new radial velocity data for the secondary based upon our optical spectra and for the primary based upon high dispersion UV spectra. We present revised orbital elements and an estimate of the primary's projected rotational velocity (which indicates that the primary is rotating 7 times faster than synchronous). We use a Doppler tomography algorithm to reconstruct the individual primary and secondary spectra in the region of H-alpha, and we subtract the latter from each of our observations to obtain profiles of the primary and its disk alone. Our H-alpha observations of RY Per show that the mass gaining primary is surrounded by a persistent but time variable accretion disk. The profile that is observed outside-of-eclipse has weak, double-peaked emission flanking a deep central absorption, and we find that these properties can be reproduced by a disk model that includes the absorption of photospheric light by the band of the disk seen in projection against the face of the star. We developed a new method to reconstruct the disk surface density distribution from the ensemble of H-alpha profiles observed around the orbit, and this method accounts for the effects of disk occultation by the stellar components, the obscuration of the primary by the disk, and flux contributions from optically thick disk elements. The resulting surface density distribution is elongated along the axis joining the stars, in the same way as seen in hydrodynamical simulations of gas flows that strike the mass gainer near trailing edge of the star. This type of gas stream configuration is optimal for the transfer of angular momentum, and we show that rapid rotation is found in other Algols that have passed through a similar stage.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, ApJ in press, 2004 June 20 issu