Response to walnut olfactory and visual cues by the parasitic wasp Diachasmimorpha juglandis

Diachasmimorpha juglandis is a specialist parasitoid attacking fly larvae in the genus Rhagoletis that feed exclusively on walnut fruit husks. In a free-foraging assay comparing response to uninfested, infested, and mechanically damaged fruits, we first determined that D. juglandis use host feeding damage on the fruit as a cue for host presence. In another free-foraging assay that used artificial walnut models and wind tunnel experiments, D. juglandis distinguished infested from uninfested fruits by using either olfactory or visual cues separately. However, the response rate of wasps in the wind tunnel was raised considerably when visual cues were also available. We analyzed the volatile compounds emitted by cohorts of uninfested, mechanically damaged, and infested fruits 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10 days after oviposition by flies into the infested fruits. Total volatile emissions did not differ significantly among treatments, but quantitative changes in volatiles distinguished infested fruits from uninfested and damaged fruits. The fact that parasitoids did not distinguish between infested and damaged fruits in assays where damage was visible indicates that they rely on visual cues when those are available.     

Phase Regions and Kinetics of Formation of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox in Ag-Sheathed Tape

Ag-sheathed (Bi,Pb)₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O, (2223) tapes were made by the oxide-powder-in-tube method. Tapes were heat-treated isothermally at several different temperatures in 7.5% O₂/Ar, then quenched into oil to retain the phase assemblages at the reaction temperatures. 2223 formed between ∼810° and ∼837°C. The Avrami equation was applied to describe the kinetics of 2223 formation from a mixture of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O _x and nonsuperconducting phases, mainly Ca₂PbO₄ and CuO. The calculated Avrami exponent, n ∼ 1, indicated that the kinetics in this system could be described as a diffusion-controlled, two-dimensional nucleation and growth process. The apparent activation energy for forming 2223 was ∼2900 kJ/mol from ∼817° to ∼825°C and ∼890 kj/mol from ∼825° to ∼837°C. A temperature-time-transformation diagram was constructed based on the kinetic data; it describes the transformational behavior of this particular system.     

Effect of Water on the Partial Oxidation of Propane to Acrylic and Acetic Acids on Mo-V-Sb-Nb Mixed Oxides

It is shown that the major effect of water in the oxidation of propane to acrylic and acetic acids on Mo₁V_0.3Sb_0.25Nb_0.08O _n catalysts is to stabilise the active sites and increase the rates of formation of both acids. The usual effect of favoring desorption of the products is considered to be secondary.     

The Effects of Power Law Fluid Rheology on Coil Heat Transfer for Agitated Vessel in the Transitional Flow Regime

A CFD model of heat transfer from power‐law fluids to helical cooling coils in the transitional flow regime of a baffled tank mixed with a pitched blade turbine was developed with Fluent^TM. The model captured local temperature and velocity gradients. Simulations were run, varying Re, Pr, K and n. The results indicate that a Sieder‐Tate type correlation, with the exponent on and the coefficient in front of the Reynolds number being a function of n, is recommended for estimating ho. Also, a new two coil bank design was found to be more efficient when 450 < Re < 650.     

A scalable solution to the nearest neighbor search problem through local-search methods on neighbor graphs

Pattern Analysis and Applications - Nearest neighbor search is a powerful abstraction for data access; however, data indexing is troublesome even for approximate indexes. For intrinsically...     

Flocking of Multi-agent Systems with Unknown Nonlinear Dynamics and Heterogeneous Virtual Leader

This paper investigates the flocking control of multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics while the virtual leader information is heterogeneous. The uncertain nonlinearity in the virtual leader information is considered, and the weaker constraint on the velocity information measurements is assumed. In addition, a bounded assumption on the unknown nonlinear dynamics is also considered. It is weaker than the Lipschitz condition adopted in the most flocking control methods. To avoid fragmentation, we construct a new potential function based on the penalty idea when the initial network is disconnected. A dynamical control law including a adjust parameter is designed to achieve the stable flocking. It is proven that the velocities of all agents approach to consensus and no collision happens between the mobile agents. Finally, several simulations verify the effectiveness of the new design, and indicate that the proposed method has high convergence and the broader applicability in practical applications with more stringent restrictions.

     

Melt processing of nanocomposites of cellulose nanocrystals with biobased thermoplastic polyurethane

Nanocomposites of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) without and with surface treatment are obtained by melt processing. Nanocomposites are obtained with nanofiller weight content near of the theoretical percolation threshold (3.9 wt%). Visual observation of CNC agglomerates is sufficient to prove the inefficiency of the mixing in systems with untreated CNC. The crystallization kinetics of the TPU changes with the addition of CNC and this is confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis prove that the addition of CNC increases the thermal stability of the TPU. From the rheological analysis it is possible to verify the absence of percolation and an intermediate state of sol–gel transition in the nanocomposites. CNC/TPU nanocomposites with 5 wt% of treated CNC present better mechanical performance than de neat TPU and the other processed nanocomposites and display around 130% increase in Young's modulus while retaining significant values of toughness, tensile strength and elongation at break.     

An investigation of phase transformation behavior in sputter-deposited PtMn thin films

Sputter-deposited, equiatomic PtMn thin films have application in giant magnetoresistive spin valves, tunneling magnetoresistive spin valves, and magnetic random access memory. However, the as-deposited films are found to be a disordered A1 phase in a paramagnetic state rather than an antiferromagnetic phase with L1₀ structure, which is needed for device operation. Therefore, a postannealing step is required to induce the phase transformation from the asdeposited A1 face-centered-cubic phase to the antiferromagnetic L1₀ phase. The A1 to L1₀ metastable transformation was studied by x-ray diffraction and differential-scanning calorimetry. An exothermic transformation enthalpy of −12.1 kJ/mol of atoms was determined. The transformation kinetics were simulated using the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami analysis.     

Intrinsic reactivity of gold nanoparticles: Classical, semi-empirical and DFT studies

Gold nanoparticles used in most experiments (1–10 nm) in gold catalysis show varying degrees of reactivity, with particles below 5 nm generally being more reactive. The origin of this activity is a subject of a number of model experiments and theoretical studies on either clusters of a few atoms in size or extended surfaces (smooth or stepped). In the work described here, a classical theory for the variation of the metal workfunction with cluster size, Extended Hückel Theory (EHT) calculations combined with DFT calculations, as well as a carbon monoxide (CO) chemisorption model are combined to develop a relationship between metal particle size and the particle's reactivity towards CO. For gold, it is shown that while the contribution of the d-band hybridization energy to the total CO chemisorption energy is unfavourable for bulk gold, this is not true for gold particles below 5–6 nm. That is, the d-band hybridization energy is negative for small gold particles. This is believed to be explanation of the onset of high reactivity for small gold particles.     

Elevated temperature Mg-Al-Sr: Creep resistance,mechanical properties,and microstructure

Mg-Al-Sr-based alloys (AJ alloys) have shown superior creep performance and tensile strength at temperatures as high as 175° with stresses up to 70 MPa. Mg-6Al-2.4Sr (AJ62x) exhibits an optimum combination of creep resistance and excellent castability, while AJ62Lx (strontium <2.1) has better ductility than other AJ formulations. The AJ alloy microstructure is characterized by the Al₄Sr-α(Mg) lamellar phase that forms at the interdendritic/grain boundary region of the primary magne sium matrix. Mg-5Al-2Sr (AJ52x) contains a ternary phase that was tentatively named Al₃Mg₁₃Sr. When the strontium level is low in AJ62x, the volume fraction of Al₄Sr is reduced, the aluminum supersaturation of the magnesium primary phase increases, and Mg₁₇Al₁₂ forms. In this article, a mechanism is proposed whereby the creep resistance decreases with the strontium level but the tensile strength and ductility increase. For more information, contact Eric Baril, Noranda, Noranda Technologies Centre, 240 Hymus Pointe-Claire (Montréal), Québec, H9R 1G5 Canada; (514) 630-9347; fax (514) 630-9379; e-mail eric.baril@ntc.noranda.com.