Screen Barriers for Reducing Interplot Movement of Three Adult Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) Species in Small Plot Experiments

Fiberglass screen barriers 1.2 m high were erected around small (7.3 x 3.7 m) plots of birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, to study the effectiveness of screen barriers in reducing adult plant bug migration into small field plots. Screened and unscreened (control) plots were sprayed with an insecticide at the onset of the experiment, and subsequent adult mirid migration into these trefoil plots was measured by sweep net samples during the following 24 day period. Combined adult Adelphocoris lineolatus, Lygus lineolaris, and Plagiognathus chrysanthemi densities were significantly lower in screened versus unscreened plots with 37070, 28010, and 23070 fewer adults at 7, 17, and 24 days, respectively, following insecticide application. Although these barriers were inexpensive and simple to construct, we conclude that they were not practical and effective enough for reducing adult mirid migration in small plot experiments of this type

Survival, Development and Population Dynamics of \u3ci\u3eEmpoasca Fabae\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) on Three Legume Hosts

Survival and development of potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, nymphs were measured on alfalfa (Medicago sativa), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and red clover (Trifolium pratense). Survival was not significantly different among host plants (mean = 62%). There was no interaction between sex and host plant for developmental time. Males developed significantly faster than females. Developmental time was fastest on alfalfa, intermediate on trefoil, and slowest on red clover. Plots of alfalfa, trefoil, and red clover were planted to compare the seasonal abundance of the potato leafhopper in the three forages. Nymphs were more abundant in trefoil than in alfalfa and red clover late in July, but no differences occurred on the other sample dates. At their peak, adults were more abundant in alfalfa than in trefoil and red clover

Redshifts of the Gravitational Lenses MG0414+0534 and MG0751+2716

We report redshifts in two gravitational lens systems, MG0414+0534 and MG0751+2716. The lens galaxy in MG0414+0534 lies at z_l=0.9584+/-0.0002. The luminosity and extreme red color of the lens are then typical of a passively evolving, early-type, ~2L* galaxy. The galaxy cannot have a significant global mean extinction without being anomalously luminous. The lens galaxy in MG0751+2716 has a redshift of z_l=0.3502+/-0.0003 and it is a member of a small group. The group includes the nearby, bright companion galaxy whose redshift we confirmed to be z=0.3501+/-0.0001 and a nearby emission line galaxy with z=0.3505+/-0.0003. A second emission line galaxy with z=0.5216+/-0.0001 was found nearly superposed on the first emission line galaxy. The source in MG0751+2716 is a z_s=3.200+/-0.001 radio quasar. For flat universes with Omega_0=1.0 (0.3), 96% (87%) of lenses like MG0414+0534 and 7% (3%) of lenses like MG0751+2716 are expected to have lower lens redshifts than observed.Comment: 9 pages, AASTeX Latex, including 5 Postscript figures, submitted to Astronomical Journa

A maximum-likelihood method for improving faint source flux and color estimates

Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections which account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the (true) slope of the faint-source number-flux relation. The corrections depend on the source being originally identified in the image in which it is being photometered. If a source has been identified in other data, the corrections are different; a prescription for calculating the corrections is presented. Implications of these corrections for analyses of surveys are discussed; the most important is that sources identified at signal-to-noise ratios of four or less are practically useless.Comment: 9 pp., accepted for publication in PAS

Insect Pests Associated With Birdsfoot Trefoil, \u3ci\u3eLotus Corniculatus\u3c/i\u3e, in Wisconsin

Insect surveys taken during 1984-1986 in Ashland and Bayfield Counties of northern Wisconsin revealed that several potential insect pest species were common in birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus. Three plant bug species, including: the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris: alfalfa plant bug, Adelphocoris lineolatus; and Plagiognathus chrysanthemi were abundant in most sampled fields. P. chrysanthemi was the most abundant species, was only present in the northern locations, and completed one generation per year. A. lineolatus and L. lineolaris were second and third in abundance, respectively, and completed two generations per year. Population levels of the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae. exceeded a combined total of 45 nymphs and adults per sweep in a southern Wisconsin location but were uncommon in northern Wisconsin. Present, but less abundant, were the trefoil seed chalcid, Bruchophagus platypterus; meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius; and pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, all occurring at densities of less than one insect per sweep

Available potential energy gain from mixing due to the nonlinearity of the equation of state in a global ocean model

Densification in the ocean interior upon mixing at high latitudes, due to the nonlinear equation of state (EoS) of seawater, enhances the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). However, recent calculations using numerical simulations of global ocean c

Adiabatic Quantum Computing for Random Satisfiability Problems

The discrete formulation of adiabatic quantum computing is compared with other search methods, classical and quantum, for random satisfiability (SAT) problems. With the number of steps growing only as the cube of the number of variables, the adiabatic method gives solution probabilities close to 1 for problem sizes feasible to evaluate via simulation on current computers. However, for these sizes the minimum energy gaps of most instances are fairly large, so the good performance scaling seen for small problems may not reflect asymptotic behavior where costs are dominated by tiny gaps. Moreover, the resulting search costs are much higher than for other methods. Variants of the quantum algorithm that do not match the adiabatic limit give lower costs, on average, and slower growth than the conventional GSAT heuristic method.Comment: added discussion of discrete adiabatic method, and simulations with 30 bits 8 pages, 8 figure

A novel method for comparing radiation dose and image quality, between and within different X-ray units in a series of hospitals

Objectives: To develop a novel method for comparing radiation dose and image quality (IQ) to evaluate adult chest X-ray (CXR) imaging among several hospitals. Methods: CDRAD 2.0 phantom was used to acquire images in eight hospitals (17 digital X-ray units) using local adult CXR protocols. IQ was represented by image quality figure inverse (IQFinv), measured using CDRAD analyser software. Signal to noise ratio (SNR), contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and conspicuity index (CI) were calculated as additional measures of IQ. Incident air kerma (IAK) was calculated using a solid-state dosimeter for each acquisition. Figure of merit (FOM) was calculated to provide a single estimation of IQ and radiation dose. Results: IQ, radiation dose and FOM varied considerably between hospitals and X-ray units. For IQFinv, the mean (range) between and within the hospitals were 1.42 (0.83-2.18) and 1.87 (1.52-2.18), respectively. For IAK, the mean (range) between and within the hospitals were 93.56 (17.26 to 239.15) µGy and 180.85 (122.58-239.15) µGy, respectively. For FOM, the mean (range) between and within hospitals were 0.05 (0.01 to 0.14) and 0.03 (0.02-0.05), respectively. Conclusions: The suggested method for comparing IQ and dose using FOM concept along with the new proposed FOM, is a valid, reliable and effective approach for monitoring and comparing IQ and dose between and within hospitals. It is also can be beneficial for the optimisation of X-ray units in clinical practice. Further optimisation for the hospitals /X-ray units with low FOM are required to minimise radiation dose without degrading IQ

Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey VII: Data Analysis Techniques and Redshifts in the Field J0053+1234

We present the techniques used to determine redshifts and to characterize the spectra of objects in the Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey in terms of spectral classes and redshift quality classes. These are then applied to spectra from an investigation of a complete sample of objects with $K_s<20$ mag in a 2 by 7.3 arcmin^2 field at J005325+1234. Redshifts were successfully obtained for 163 of the 195 objects in the sample; these redshifts lie in the range [0.173, 1.44] and have a median of 0.58 (excluding 24 Galactic stars). The sample includes two broad lined AGNs and one QSO.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ Supplement