First experiences in the application of biopreparations against the cherry fruit fly in Southern Russia in 2007

On the Russian market there are no currently registered biological preparations for the control of Rhagoletis cerasi (cherry fruit fly, CFF), and therefore the effects of natural products against this pest were studied. In laboratory, semi-field and field experiments a range of botanicals (NeemAzal-T/S and Quassia-MD) were tested alone and in combination with comparison product Phytoverm and chemical standard insecticides for their effectiveness against R. cerasi in commercial orchards. These products showed a high biological effectiveness against R. cerasi comparable with chemical insecticides

The First Supernovae: Source Density And Observability Of Pair Instability Supernovae

Theoretical models predict that some of the first stars ended their lives as extremely energetic Pair Instability Supernovae (PISNe). With energies approaching 10(53) erg, these supernovae are expected to be within the detection limits of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) allowing observational constraints to be placed on the properties of the first stars. We estimate the source density of PISNe using a semi-analytic Press-Schecter based approach informed by cosmological simulations, with an upper limit of similar to 0.2 PISNe visible per JWST field of view at any given time. We find that the main obstacle to observing PISNe is their scarcity rather than their faintness. Given this we suggest a mosaic style search strategy for detecting PISNe from the first stars.Astronom

High Latitude Radio Emission in a Sample of Edge-On Spiral Galaxies

We have mapped 16 edge-on galaxies at 20 cm using the VLA. For 5 galaxies, we could form spectral index, energy and magnetic field maps. We find that all but one galaxy show evidence for non-thermal high latitude radio continuum emission, suggesting that cosmic ray halos are common in star forming galaxies. The high latitude emission is seen over a variety of spatial scales and in discrete and/or smooth features. In general, the discrete features emanate from the disk, but estimates of CR diffusion lengths suggest that diffusion alone is insufficient to transport the particles to the high latitudes seen (> 15 kpc in one case). Thus CRs likely diffuse through low density regions and/or are assisted by other mechanisms (e.g. winds). We searched for correlations between the prevalence of high latitude radio emission and a number of other properties, including the global SFR, supernova input rate per unit star forming, and do not find clear correlations with any of these properties.Comment: 40 pages of text, 3 figures, 6 tables, and an appendix of 21 jpeg figures (which is a radio continuum catalogue of 17 galaxies). to appear in A. J. (around January 1999

Orbit of the Mercury-Manganese binary 41 Eridani

Context. Mercury-manganese (HgMn) stars are a class of slowly rotating chemically peculiar main-sequence late B-type stars. More than two-thirds of the HgMn stars are known to belong to spectroscopic binaries. Aims. By determining orbital solutions for binary HgMn stars, we will be able to obtain the masses for both components and the distance to the system. Consequently, we can establish the position of both components in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and confront the chemical peculiarities of the HgMn stars with their age and evolutionary history. Methods. We initiated a program to identify interferometric binaries in a sample of HgMn stars, using the PIONIER near-infrared interferometer at the VLTI on Cerro Paranal, Chile. For the detected systems, we intend to obtain full orbital solutions in conjunction with spectroscopic data. Results. The data obtained for the SB2 system 41 Eridani allowed the determination of the orbital elements with a period of just five days and a semi-major axis of under 2 mas. Including published radial velocity measurements, we derived almost identical masses of 3.17 +/- 0.07 M_Sun for the primary and 3.07 +/- 0.07 M_Sun for the secondary. The measured magnitude difference is less than 0.1 mag. The orbital parallax is 18.05 +/- 0.17 mas, which is in good agreement with the Hipparcos trigonometric parallax of 18.33 +/- 0.15 mas. The stellar diameters are resolved as well at 0.39 +/- 0.03 mas. The spin rate is synchronized with the orbital rate.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Comparison of trace metal bioavailabilities in European coastal waters using mussels from Mytilus edulis

Mussels from Mytilus edulis complex were used as biomonitors of the trace metals Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, and Cu at 17 sampling sites to assess the relative bioavailability of metals in coastal waters around the European continent. Because accumulated metal concentrations in a given area can differ temporally, data were corrected for the effect of season before large-scale spatial comparisons were made. The highest concentration of Fe was noted in the North Sea and of Mn in the Baltic. Increased tissue concentrations of Pb were recorded in the mussels from the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic Sea. Low concentrations of metals were determined in the mussels from the Mediterranean Sea and the Northern Baltic. Relatively low geographic variations of Cu and Zn indicate that mussels are able to partially regulate accumulated body concentrations, which means Cu and Zn are, to some extent, independent of environmental concentrations

The Source Density And Observability Of Pair-Instability Supernovae From The First Stars

Theoretical models predict that some of the first stars ended their lives as extremely energetic pair-instability supernovae (PISNe). With energies approaching 10(53) erg, these supernovae are expected to be within the detection limits of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), allowing observational constraints to be placed on the properties of the first stars. We estimate the source density of PISNe using a semi-analytic halo mass function based approach, accounting for the effects of feedback from star formation on the PISN rate using cosmological simulations. We estimate an upper limit of similar to 0.2 PISNe per JWST field of view at any given time. Feedback can reduce this rate significantly, e. g., lowering it to as little as one PISN per 4000 JWST fields of view for the most pessimistic explosion models. We also find that the main obstacle to observing PISNe from the first stars is their scarcity, not their faintness; exposures longer than a few times 10(4) s will do little to increase the number of PISNe found. Given this, we suggest a mosaic style search strategy for detecting PISNe from the first stars. Even rather high-redshift PISNe are unlikely to be missed by moderate exposures, and a large number of pointings will be required to ensure a detection.NSF AST-0708795, AST-1009928NASA ATFP NNX09AJ33GAstronom

Instant Two-Body Equation in Breit Frame

A quasipotential formalism for elastic scattering from relativistic bound states is based on applying an instant constraint to both initial and final states in the Breit frame. This formalism is advantageous for the analysis of electromagnetic interactions because current conservation and four momentum conservation are realized within a three-dimensional formalism. Wave functions are required in a frame where the total momentum is nonzero, which means that the usual partial wave analysis is inapplicable. In this work, the three-dimensional equation is solved numerically, taking into account the relevant symmetries. A dynamical boost of the interaction also is needed for the instant formalism, which in general requires that the boosted interaction be defined as the solution of a four-dimensional equation. For the case of a scalar separable interaction, this equation is solved and the Lorentz invariance of the three-dimensional formulation using the boosted interaction is verified. For more realistic interactions, a simple approximation is used to characterize the boost of the interaction.Comment: 20 pages in revtex 3, 3 figures. Fixed reform/tex errors

Massive envelopes and filaments in the NGC 3603 star forming region

The formation of massive stars and their arrival on the zero-age main-sequence occurs hidden behind dense clouds of gas and dust. In the giant Hii region NGC 3603, the radiation of a young cluster of OB stars has dispersed dust and gas in its vicinity. At a projected distance of 2:5 pc from the cluster, a bright mid-infrared (mid-IR) source (IRS 9A) had been identified as a massive young stellar object (MYSO), located on the side of a molecular clump (MM2) of gas facing the cluster. We investigated the physical conditions in MM2, based on APEX sub-mm observations using the SABOCA and SHFI instruments, and archival ATCA 3 mm continuum and CS spectral line data. We resolved MM2 into several compact cores, one of them closely associated with IRS 9A. These are likely infrared dark clouds as they do not show the typical hot-core emission lines and are mostly opaque against the mid-IR background. The compact cores have masses of up to several hundred times the solar mass and gas temperatures of about 50 K, without evidence of internal ionizing sources. We speculate that IRS 9A is younger than the cluster stars, but is in an evolutionary state after that of the compact cores