Feasibility of Using Cryostored Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Eggs for Rearing \u3ci\u3eEdovum Puttleri\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Cryostored eggs of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) eggs were suitable hosts for Edovum puttleri. Parasitism rates were low, however this study was first to show that rearing the parasite on eggs stored at ultra low temperatures (-70 0 C) is feasible. This method of storage will facilitate mass production of E. puttleri as well as prevent loss of the parasite in the event of a crash in the Colorado potato beetle colony

Impact of broom, Cytisus scoparius (Fabaceae), in naturally treeless sub-alpine frost-hollow vegetation communities at the Barrington Tops, south-eastern Australia

The exotic shrub Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link (family Fabaceae), known as broom, is having a major impact on native vegetation in naturally treeless sub-alpine frost-hollow areas (c. 32o 01’ 37” S, 151o 26’ 12” E’, 1440 m elevation) at the Barrington Tops, New South Wales, in south-eastern Australia. This vegetation is of limited extent and has significant biogeographical and ecological importance. Nine paired 10 m line transects were compared, with one of the pair in areas of almost 100% Cytisus scoparius and the other in adjacent areas without Cytisus scoparius. Results were compared with species recorded from this area in the 1930s. There are obvious differences in native vegetation in areas with and without Cytisus scoparius. On average there were 5.1 (range 2–10) species per 10 m in areas of almost 100% Cytisus scoparius cover and 17.0 (12–25) species per 10 m in areas adjacent to infested areas but without Cytisus scoparius. Other than Cytisus scoparius, the area surveyed had little in the way of exotic species and these were only present at low densities. Native species present in 2008 are similar to those recorded in the 1930s; there were no records of Cytisus scoparius in the area in the 1930s. The study suggests that control of Cytisus scoparius in naturally treeless areas at the Barrington Tops should be a priority to prevent a decline in the distribution and abundance of many plant species, many of which only occur in treeless areas of the Barrington Tops

Thermoreversible gelation of cellulose acetate solutions studied by differential scanning calorimetry

Thermoreversible gels of cellulose acetate can be obtained by cooling concentrated cellulose acetate solutions in solvent-nonsolvent mixtures of dioxane and water. Upon heating the gels, endothermic effects were observed with differential scanning calorimetry. The heat effects are ascribed to the melting of a crystalline phase consisting of cellulose triacetate units. The endothermic peaks appear only after long aging periods of up to several days. Melting points generally decrease and heats of melting increase with increasing polymer concentration and with increasing nonsolvent content. The maximum degree of crystallinity is estimated as 8%. The kinetic effects of varying the water content in the solvent mixture are discussed

Feasibility of Using Cryostored Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Eggs for Rearing \u3ci\u3eEdovum Puttleri\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)

Cryostored eggs of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) eggs were suitable hosts for Edovum puttleri. Parasitism rates were low, however this study was first to show that rearing the parasite on eggs stored at ultra low temperatures (-70 0 C) is feasible. This method of storage will facilitate mass production of E. puttleri as well as prevent loss of the parasite in the event of a crash in the Colorado potato beetle colony

2MASS J05162881+2607387: A New Low-Mass Double-Lined Eclipsing Binary

We show that the star known as 2MASS J05162881+2607387 (hereafter J0516) is a double-lined eclipsing binary with nearly identical low-mass components. The spectroscopic elements derived from 18 spectra obtained with the High Resolution Spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope during the Fall of 2005 are K_1=88.45 +/- 0.48 km/s and K_2=90.43 +/- 0.60 km/s, resulting in a mass ratio of$q=K_1/K_2 = 0.978 +/- 0.018 and minimum masses of M_1 sin^{3}i=0.775 +/- 0.016 solar masses and M_2 sin^{3}i=0.759 +/- 0.012 solar masses, respectively. We have extensive differential photometry of J0516 obtained over several nights between 2004 January-March (epoch 1) and 2004 October-2005 January plus 2006 January (epoch 2) using the 1m telescope at the Mount Laguna Observatory. The source was roughly 0.1 mag brighter in all three bandpasses during epoch 1 when compared to epoch 2. Also, phased light curves from epoch 1 show considerable out-of-eclipse variability, presumably due to bright spots on one or both stars. In contrast, the phased light curves from epoch 2 show little out-of-eclipse variability. The light curves from epoch 2 and the radial velocity curves were analyzed using our ELC code with updated model atmospheres for low-mass stars. We find the following: M_1=0.787 +/- 0.012 solar masses, R_1=0.788 +/- 0.015 solar radii, M_2=0.770 +/- 0.009 solar masses, and R_2=0.817 +/- 0.010 solar radii. The stars in J0516 have radii that are significantly larger than model predictions for their masses, similar to what is seen in a handful of other well-studied low-mass double-lined eclipsing binaries. We compiled all recent mass and radius determinations from low-mass binaries and determine an empirical mass-radius relation of the form R = 0.0324 + 0.9343M + 0.0374M^2, where the quantities are in solar units.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures (Figure 1 has degraded quality), to appear in Ap

Single Scale Tadpoles and O(GF mt^2 as^3) Corrections to the rho Parameter

We present a new set of high precision numerical values of four-loop single-scale vacuum integrals, which we subsequently use to obtain the non-singlet corrections to the rho parameter at O(GF mt^2 as^3). Our result for Delta rho is in agreement with the recent calculation [1].Comment: 20 pages, references added, final version as published in journa

Ohmic contacts to n-type germanium with low specific contact resistivity

A low temperature nickel process has been developed that produces Ohmic contacts to n-type germanium with specific contact resistivities down to (2.3 ± 1.8) x10<sup>-7</sup> Ω-cm<sup>2</sup> for anneal temperatures of 340 degC. The low contact resistivity is attributed to the low resistivity NiGe phase which was identified using electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope. Electrical results indicate that the linear Ohmic behaviour of the contact is attributed to quantum mechanical tunnelling through the Schottky barrier formed between the NiGe alloy and the heavily doped n-Ge.<p></p&gt