Pathogenicity of three species of entomopathogenic nematodes to some major stored-product insect pests

Entomopathogenic nematodes (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae) are commonly used biological control agents of insects in cryptic habitats, but their potential for suppressing stored-product insects in these habitats has not been explored previously. Here, we provide data from the first step in a program to evaluate entomopathogenic nematodes in the genus Steinernema as biological control agents of stored-product pests by determining their pathogenicity to some of the major stored-product pest species. When evaluated against larvae, pupae and adults of six pest species (Plodia interpunctella, Ephestia kuehniella, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, Tenebrio molitor, Tribolium castaneum, and Trogoderma variabile), and the adults of two additional pest species (Sitophilus oryzae and Rhyzopertha dominica), Steinernema riobrave was either the most pathogenic or of similar pathogenicity compared to S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae. A dose of 10 infective juveniles of S. riobrave caused 80% or higher mortality against larvae of P. interpunctella, E. kuehniella, T. castaneum, and O. surinamensis, pupae of T. castaneum and T. molitor, and adults of T. molitor and the two moth species. All stages of Trogoderma variabile exhibited 70% or higher mortality. Adults of S. oryzae and R. dominica exhibited low susceptibility with 15% and 35% mortality, respectively. On the basis of these results, S. riobrave was selected for further evaluation under more field-like conditions.     

An investigation of sugar extraction methods and the use of microwave power for date syrup processing: efficiency and color related considerations.

This study investigates the effect of extraction methods on the color of date syrup and the potential use of microwave power for syrup processing. Sugar solutions were extracted from dates by boiling, soaking and blending. Color and sugar content of the extracted solutions were measured, and the percentage of sugar extracted form the total fruit sugar determined. Boiling was found to be the most efficient method of extraction whereby 74% of total samples sugar was extracted. In contrast, only 54.2% of fruit sugar was extracted by blending and 42% by soaking. In addition, solutions extracted by soaking and blending had a foaming problem in the subsequent concentration process. The extraction method had no effect on the product final color. The extracted solution was concentrated using two heating methods: conventional and microwave heating at a 600 W capacity and a frequency of 2450 MHz applied at three power levels: 10, 7, and 6. In the heating process, 180 minutes were needed to achieve a 77% degrees Brix using convective heating, while it took 81, 138, and 166 minutes of microwave heating at power level 10, 7, and 6, respectively to achieve the same concentration. Water activity of the syrup was measured within a sugar content range of 50 to 80% degrees Brix and the sugar concentration at which the product is shelf stable was determined at 76%.     

Bounded disorder file organization

The bounded disorder file organization proposed by W. Litwin and D.B. Lomet (1987) uses a combination of hashing and tree indexing. Lomet provided an approximate analysis with the mention of the difficulty involved in exact modeling of data nodes, which motivated this work. In an earlier paper (M.V. Ramakrishna and P. Mukhopadhyay, 1988) we provided an exact model and analysis of the data nodes, which is based on the solution of a classical sequential occupancy problem. After summarizing the analysis of data nodes, an alternate file growth method based on repeated trials using universal hashing is proposed and analyzed. We conclude that the alternate file growth method provides simplicity and significant improvement in storage utilization     

MEETING THE IT CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS The Changing Mandate for MBAs

What is the implication for business when information technology (IT) changes in the workplace without a commensurate change in the composition of business programs educating tomorrow's employees? A survey of MBA graduates forms the basis of this article on the IT skills needed in the marketplace.     

Method to Characterize the Air Flow and Water Removal Characteristics During Vacuum Dewatering. Part II—Analysis and Characterization

This is part II of a study reported earlier on a method to characterize the air flow and water removal characteristics during vacuum dewatering. This article presents experimental data and analysis of results from the use of a cyclically actuated vacuum dewatering device for removing moisture from wetted porous materials such as paper with the intermittent application of vacuum and accompanying air flow though the material. Results presented include sheet moisture content as a function of residence time and hence water removal rate under a variety of process conditions. Also, experimental results on air flow through the wet porous structure and hence the role and importance of air flow during vacuum dewatering are presented. Vacuum dewatering process conditions include exit solids content between 11 and 20% solid under applied vacuum conditions of 13.5 to 67.7 kPa (4 to 20 in. Hg). Regression analysis indicated that the exit sheet moisture content exhibited a nonlinear relationship with residence time with exit solids reaching a plateau after a certain residence time. Final moisture content correlated linearly with the average overall flow rate of air through the paper sample and the basis weight of the material.     

Characteristics of a typical lifting symmetric supercritical airfoil

The theoretical aerodynamic characteristics of a typical lifting symmetric supercritical airfoil demonstrating its superiority over thenaca 0012 airfoil from which it was derived are presented in this paper. Further, limited experimental results confirming the theoretical inference are also presented. Invited Lecture given at the 3rd Asian Congress on Fluid Mechanics, held in Tokyo during 1–5 September, 1986     

Surface characterization of sprayed CuGa x In1−x Se2 layers

Small-area polycrystalline CuGa _x In_1–x Se₂-based solar cells produced in the laboratory have been reported with efficiencies up to 18.8%. This success at achieving high-efficiency devices has stimulated a parallel research effort to produce large-area modules based on the use of CuGa _x In_1–x Se₂ with reduced cost of production. One method that has potential to achieve these objectives is chemical spray pyrolysis. Preliminary studies have resulted in devices with efficiencies of 4–5%. Further improvements toward implementing higher-efficiency devices are expected to result from a better understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the chalcopyrite layers produced. In this work we have investigated, for the first time, the properties of these layers using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to identify the secondary phases and residual impurities present. The layers studied were for In/Ga mole ratios of x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 in CuGa _x In_1–x Se₂. The layers were also profiled by sputter etching away the surface of the layers and repeating the XPS measurements. The effects of annealing the layers in air, vacuum, and selenium vapor were also investigated.     

Multi-grid domain decomposition approach for solution of Navier–Stokes equations in primitive variable form

A new multi-grid (two-grid) pseudospectral element method has been carried out for solution of incompressible flow in terms of primitive variable formulation. The main objective of the proposed method is to apply the multi-grid technique solving the incompressible flow problems associated with three commonly encountered multi-grid environments. In domain decomposition terminology, it includes (I) partially overlapped subdomains, each of which has same types of grids; (II) partially overlapped subdomains, each of which has different types of grids; (III) local adaptive subdomains fully overlapped with the original computational domain (composite grids). The approach for flow problems, complex geometry or not, is to first divide the computational domain into a number of subdomains with the inter-overlapping area (partially or fully overlapped). In categories I and II, the fine-grid or coarse-grid subdomains can be defined by their representation, while in category III the fine-grid or coarse-grid subdomains are defined as usual. Next, implement the Schwarz Alternating Procedure (SAP) to exchange the data among subdomains, where the coarse-grid correction is used to remove the high frequency error that occurs when the data interpolation from the fine-grid subdomain to the coarse-grid subdomain is conducted. The strategy behind the coarse-grid correction is to adopt the operator of the divergence of velocity field, which intrinsically links the pressure equation, into this process. The solution of each subdomain can be efficiently solved by the direct (or iterative) eigenfunction expansion technique or preconditioned method with the least storage requirement, i.e. O(N²) in 2-D. Numerical results of (i) driven cavity flow (Re = 100,400) with Cartesian grids (category I) in each subdomain, (ii) driven cavity flow (Re = 3200) with local adaptive grids (category III) in each subdomain, and (iii) flow over a cylinder (Re = 250) with ‘O’ grids in one subdomain and Cartesian grids in another (category II) will be presented in the paper to account for the versatility of the proposed multi-grid method.     

Recovery of second-order optical nonlinearity in annealedproton-exchanged LiNbOx

The second-order nonlinear coefficients measured in proton-exchanged LiNbO₃ as a function of annealing time are discussed. Measurements of reflected second-harmonic power indicate that the second-order nonlinear coefficient d₃₃ is reduced to 60% of the bulk value as a result of proton exchange in pure benzoic acid. It is also shown that annealing restores the d-coefficients to almost the original value of the virgin crystal. For example, recovery to ~90% of the bulk value was obtained for a sample with a 0.3-μm-bulk proton-exchanged layer, annealed for 10 h at 350°C