343 research outputs found
Elucidating the behavioral response of stored product insects to fungal volatiles in the wind tunnel and simulated warehouses
Post-harvest pest insects can cause significant amounts of damage to stored products in and around food facilities, reducing quantity and quality of grains. Post-harvest insects have been attributed to billions of dollars in agricultural loss via yield loss and the cost of mitigation measures. Early detection of insect pests is crucial to preventing infestations and losses since some species of stored product pests are becoming resistant to common control options. Numerous detection methods are available, but many are time consuming and ineffective, leading to a need for more effective and practical monitoring methods. Grain oils have been used to induce behavioral responses in the red flour beetle (Triboliumcastaneum) and the lesser grain borer (Rhyzoperthadominica), but fungal volatiles may be an even stronger attractant to these species
"To Make These Tribes Understand": The Trial of Alikomiak and Tatamigana
Alikomiak and Tatamigana were the first Inuit tried and executed for murder under Canadian law. The case was the third in a series of killings of outsiders by Inuit in the western Arctic which had begun in 1912; the first two had resulted in more lenient treatment. The trial of these two men, which took place in the summer of 1923, was in the nature of a show trial, designed by the federal government to show the Inuit that the authorities would no longer tolerate such acts of violence. It was also meant to be a demonstration to the world of Canada's sovereign rights in the Arctic, rights which had an uncertain foundation in international law. The conviction and execution of Alikomiak and Tatamigana caused controversy at the time; sentiment for clemency was based on claims (made then and subsequently) that Inuit were simple and primitive, and did not understand the principle of execution for murder. It is asserted here, however, that the sentence was entirely in keeping with Inuit custom, and that alternatives to execution suggested by those with better knowledge of the North were in some ways even harsher than capital punishment. Extracts from the capital case file and the transcripts of the trial make these points clear.Alikomiak et Tatamigana ont été les premiers Inuit poursuivis en justice et exécutés pour meurtre en vertu de la loi canadienne. Cette cause était la troisième d'une série de meurtres d'étrangers commis par les Inuit dans l'Arctique occidental, série qui avait débuté en 1912; les deux premiers meurtres avaient abouti à un traitement moins sévère. Le procès de ces deux hommes, qui eut lieu durant l'été de 1923, avait quelque chose d'un procès de justification, conçu par le gouvernement fédéral pour montrer aux Inuit que les autorités ne toléreraient pas plus longtemps de tels actes de violence. Il devait également confirmer au monde entier la souveraineté du Canada dans l'Arctique, souveraineté qui n'avait pas un fondement bien solide dans le droit international. À l'époque, l'accusation et l'exécution d'Alikomiak et de Tatamigana suscitèrent une controverse; les partisans de la clémence affirmèrent (à ce moment-là et par la suite) que les Inuit étaient des êtres simples et primitifs, et qu'ils ne comprenaient pas le principe d'exécution pour meurtre. On soutient ici, cependant, que la sentence était tout à fait conforme aux coutumes inuit, et que les solutions autres que l'exécution suggérées par ceux ayant une meilleure connaissance du Nord étaient sous certains aspects plus dures que la peine de mort. Des extraits d'archives du procès capital et les transcriptions de la cause font la clarté sur ces divers points
Structure and dynamics of Rh surfaces
Lattice relaxations, surface phonon spectra, surface energies, and work
functions are calculated for Rh(100) and Rh(110) surfaces using
density-functional theory and the full-potential linearized augmented plane
wave method. Both, the local-density approximation and the generalized gradient
approximation to the exchange-correlation functional are considered. The force
constants are obtained from the directly calculated atomic forces, and the
temperature dependence of the surface relaxation is evaluated by minimizing the
free energy of the system. The anharmonicity of the atomic vibrations is taken
into account within the quasiharmonic approximation. The importance of
contributions from different phonons to the surface relaxation is analyzed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, scheduled to appear in Phys. Rev. B, Feb. 15
(1998). Other related publications can be found at
http://www.rz-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Production and Decay of D_1(2420)^0 and D_2^*(2460)^0
We have investigated and final states and
observed the two established charmed mesons, the with mass
MeV/c and width MeV/c and
the with mass MeV/c and width
MeV/c. Properties of these final states, including
their decay angular distributions and spin-parity assignments, have been
studied. We identify these two mesons as the doublet predicted
by HQET. We also obtain constraints on {\footnotesize } as a function of the cosine of the relative phase of the two
amplitudes in the decay.Comment: 15 pages in REVTEX format. hardcopies with figures can be obtained by
sending mail to: [email protected]
Measurement of the branching fraction for
We have studied the leptonic decay of the resonance into tau
pairs using the CLEO II detector. A clean sample of tau pair events is
identified via events containing two charged particles where exactly one of the
particles is an identified electron. We find . The result is consistent with
expectations from lepton universality.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, two Postscript figures available upon request, CLNS
94/1297, CLEO 94-20 (submitted to Physics Letters B
Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance
We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample
of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 -->
D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the
Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the
inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set.
These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c.
From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+
semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production
ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950
(+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57
+- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes,
tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Measurement of the Decay Asymmetry Parameters in and
We have measured the weak decay asymmetry parameters (\aLC ) for two \LC\
decay modes. Our measurements are \aLC = -0.94^{+0.21+0.12}_{-0.06-0.06} for
the decay mode and \aLC = -0.45\pm 0.31 \pm
0.06 for the decay mode . By combining these
measurements with the previously measured decay rates, we have extracted the
parity-violating and parity-conserving amplitudes. These amplitudes are used to
test models of nonleptonic charmed baryon decay.Comment: 11 pages including the figures. Uses REVTEX and psfig macros. Figures
as uuencoded postscript. Also available as
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1995/CLNS95-1319.p
Observation of the Charmed Baryon Decays to , , and
We have observed two new decay modes of the charmed baryon into
and using data collected with the
CLEO II detector. We also present the first measurement of the branching
fraction for the previously observed decay mode . The branching fractions for these three modes relative to
are measured to be , , and , respectively.Comment: 12 page uuencoded postscript file, postscript file also available
through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
An improved inhaled mucolytic to treat airway muco-obstructive diseases
Rationale: Airways obstruction with thick, adherent mucus is a pathophysiologic and clinical feature of muco-obstructive respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis (CF). Mucins, the dominant biopolymer in mucus, organize into complex polymeric networks via the formation of covalent disulfide bonds, which govern the viscoelastic properties of the mucus gel. For decades, inhaled N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been used as a mucolytic to reduce mucin disulfide bonds with little, if any, therapeutic effects. Improvement of mucolytic therapy requires the identification of NAC deficiencies and the development of compounds that overcome them. Objectives: Elucidate the pharmacological limitations of NAC and test a novel mucin-reducing agent, P3001, in preclinical settings. Methods: The study used biochemical (e.g., Western blotting, mass spectrometry) and biophysical assays (e.g., microrheology/macrorheology, spinnability, mucus velocity measurements) to test compound efficacy and toxicity in in vitro and in vivo models and patient sputa. Measurements and Main Results: Dithiothreitol and P3001 were directly compared with NAC in vitro and both exhibited superior reducing activities. In vivo, P3001 significantly decreased lung mucus burden in bENaC-overexpressing mice, whereas NAC did not (n = 6–24 mice per group). In NAC-treated CF subjects (n = 5), aerosolized NAC was rapidly cleared from the lungs and did not alter sputum biophysical properties. In contrast, P3001 acted faster and at lower concentrations than did NAC, and it was more effective than DNase in CF sputum ex vivo. Conclusions: These results suggest that reducing the viscoelasticity of airway mucus is an achievable therapeutic goal with P3001 class mucolytic agents
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