Generalization of Dewar's half-electron method for calculating energies of open-shell electronic states

Dewar's “half-electron” model for calculating electronic energies of certain open-shell doublet and triplet states is extended so as to be applicable to the lowest-energy open-shell state of any given symmetry and multiplicity.     

Small Transitive Families of Subspaces

A family of subspaces of a complex separable Hilbert space is transitive if every bounded operator which leaves each of its members invariant is scalar. This article surveys some results concerning transitive families of small cardinality, and adds some new ones. The minimum cardinality of a transitive family in finite dimensions (greater than 2) is 4. In infinite dimensions a transitive pair of linear manifolds exists but the minimum cardinality of a transitive family of dense operator ranges or norm-closed subspaces is not known. However, a transitive family of dense operator ranges with 5 elements can be found, and so can a transitive family of norm-closed subspaces with 4 elements. In finite dimensions (> 1) three nest algebras (corresponding to maximal nests) can intersect in the scalar operators, but two cannot. It is not known if this is the case in infinite dimensions for maximal nests of type ω + 1. Four such nest algebras can intersect in the scalar operators. Received June 15, 2002, Accepted November 27, 2002     

Development of a cryopreservation protocol for the microcyclic rust-fungus Puccinia spegazzinii

The rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii (Basidiomycotina: Uredinales) has been identified as a potential classical biological control agent for the invasive weed Mikania micrantha (Asteraceae). Long-term, live storage of this pathogen is required for reference. As biotrophs, almost all rusts species cannot be preserved by traditional cryopreservation protocols, which rely on in vitro culture techniques. In addition, the embedded teliospores and delicate basidiospores of this microcyclic rust are not amenable to direct plunge freezing. Continuous culture of the rust on living plants is both laborious and expensive, so a variety of approaches for cryopreservation and storage were tested. These methods included traditional approaches to fungal cryopreservation such as variation of cooling rate regime and alginate encapsulation techniques. However, an in situ cryopreservation technique was the only method identified as having any potential for the long-term cryopreservation of the 10 isolates tested. Material from either petiole or stem tissue remained viable after cryopreservation, determined by the ability of the material to produce basidiospores. However, despite great progress being made in developing an optimal cryopreservation method, infection of the host plant by basidiospores produced from previously cryopreserved teliospores, embedded in leaf petioles, was not achieved.     

A scale mixer model for sis waveguide receivers

We report results from measurements of a scale mixer model, built to investigate the embedding impedance presented to a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction detector in a full height waveguide with two tuning elements. The embedding impedance is measured as a function of junction position across the waveguide channel. The results are compared to i) computer simulations of the embedding impedance using waveguide theory, ii) a lumped element circuit derived from the theory, iii) an SIS receiver operating between 200 and 280 GHz.