1,205 research outputs found
Soil-water dynamics and unsaturated storage during snowmelt following wildfire
Many forested watersheds with a substantial fraction of precipitation delivered as snow have the potential for landscape disturbance by wildfire. Little is known about the immediate effects of wildfire on snowmelt and near-surface hydrologic responses, including soil-water storage. Montane systems at the rain-snow transition have soil-water dynamics that are further complicated during the snowmelt period by strong aspect controls on snowmelt and soil thawing. Here we present data from field measurements of snow hydrology and subsurface hydrologic and temperature responses during the first winter and spring after the September 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire in Colorado, USA. Our observations of soil-water content and soil temperature show sharp contrasts in hydrologic and thermal conditions between north- and south-facing slopes. South-facing burned soils were ∼1–2 °C warmer on average than north-facing burned soils and ∼1.5 °C warmer than south-facing unburned soils, which affected soil thawing during the snowmelt period. Soil-water dynamics also differed by aspect: in response to soil thawing, soil-water content increased approximately one month earlier on south-facing burned slopes than on north-facing burned slopes. While aspect and wildfire affect soil-water dynamics during snowmelt, soil-water storage at the end of the snowmelt period reached the value at field capacity for each plot, suggesting that post-snowmelt unsaturated storage was not substantially influenced by aspect in wildfire-affected areas. Our data and analysis indicate that the amount of snowmelt-driven groundwater recharge may be larger in wildfire-impacted areas, especially on south-facing slopes, because of earlier soil thaw and longer durations of soil-water contents above field capacity in those areas
Experimental Impacts into Strength-Layered Targets: Ejecta Kinematics
AImpact cratering has dominated the evolution and modification of planetary surfaces through-out the history of the solar system. Impact craters can serve as probes to understanding the details of a planetary subsurface; for example, Oberbeck and Quaide, suggested that crater morphology can be used to estimate the thickness of a regolith layer on top of a more competent unit. Lunar craters show a morphological progression from a simple bowl shape to flat-floored and concentric craters as crater diameter in-creases for a given regolith thickness. The final shape of the impact crater is a result of the subsurface flow-field initiated as the projectile transfers its energy and momentum to the target surface at the moment of impact. Therefore, when a regolith layer is present over a stronger substrate, such as is the case on the lunar surface, the substrate modifies the flow-field and thereby the excavation flow of the crater, which is reflected in the morphology of the final crater. Here we report on a series of experimental impacts into targets composed of a thin layer of loose sand on top of a stronger substrate. We use the Ejection-Velocity Measurement System developed to examine the ejecta kinematics during the formation of these craters
Experimental Impacts into Strength-Layered Targets: Crater Morphology and Morphometry
Impact cratering is a fundamental physical process that has dominated the evolution and modification of nearly every planetary surface in the Solar System. Impact craters serve as a means to probe the subsurface structure of a planetary body and provide hints about target surface properties. By examining small craters on the lunar maria and comparing these to experimental impacts in the laboratory, Oberbeck and Quaide first suggested that crater morphology can be used to estimate the thickness of a regolith layer on top of a more competent unit. Lunar craters show a morphological progression from a simple bowl shape to flat-floored and concentric craters as crater diameter increases for a given regolith thickness. This quantitative relationship is commonly used to estimate regolith thicknesses on the lunar surface and has also been explored via numerical and experimental studies. Here we report on a series of experimental impact craters formed in targets com-posed of a thin layer of loose sand on top of a stronger substrate at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center
A metabolomic approach to target compounds from the asteraceae family for dual COX and LOX inhibition
The application of metabolomics in phytochemical analysis is an innovative strategy for targeting active compounds from a complex plant extract. Species of the Asteraceae family are well-known to exhibit potent anti-inflammatory (AI) activity. Dual inhibition of the enzymes COX-1 and 5-LOX is essential for the treatment of several inflammatory diseases, but there is not much investigation reported in the literature for natural products. In this study, 57 leaf extracts (EtOH-H2O 7:3, v/v) from different genera and species of the Asteraceae family were tested against COX-1 and 5-LOX while HPLC-ESI-HRMS analysis of the extracts indicated high diversity in their chemical compositions. Using O2PLS-DA (R2 > 0.92; VIP > 1 and positive Y-correlation values), dual inhibition potential of low-abundance metabolites was determined. The O2PLS-DA results exhibited good validation values (cross-validation = Q2 > 0.7 and external validation = P2 > 0.6) with 0% of false positive predictions. The metabolomic approach determined biomarkers for the required biological activity and detected active compounds in the extracts displaying unique mechanisms of action. In addition, the PCA data also gave insights on the chemotaxonomy of the family Asteraceae across its diverse range of genera and tribes
World-Wide Web scaling exponent from Simon's 1955 model
Recently, statistical properties of the World-Wide Web have attracted
considerable attention when self-similar regimes have been observed in the
scaling of its link structure. Here we recall a classical model for general
scaling phenomena and argue that it offers an explanation for the World-Wide
Web's scaling exponent when combined with a recent measurement of internet
growth.Comment: 1 page RevTeX, no figure
Crow Deaths Caused by West Nile Virus during Winter
In New York, an epizootic of American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) deaths from West Nile virus (WNV) infection occurred during winter 2004–2005, a cold season when mosquitoes are not active. Detection of WNV in feces collected at the roost suggests lateral transmission through contact or fecal contamination
Strong electric fields induced on a sharp stellar boundary
Due to a first order phase transition, a compact star may have a
discontinuous distribution of baryon as well as electric charge densities, as
e.g. at the surface of a strange quark star. The induced separation of positive
and negative charges may lead to generation of supercritical electric fields in
the vicinity of such a discontinuity. We study this effect within a
relativistic Thomas-Fermi approximation and demonstrate that the strength of
the electric field depends strongly on the degree of sharpness of the surface.
The influence of strong electric fields on the stability of compact stars is
discussed. It is demonstrated that stable configurations appear only when the
counter-pressure of degenerate fermions is taken into consideration.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
Genetic Stasis of Dominant West Nile Virus Genotype, Houston, Texas
The accumulation and fixation of mutations in West Nile virus (WNV) led to the emergence of a dominant genotype throughout North America. Subsequent analysis of 44 isolates, including 19 new sequences, from Houston, Texas, suggests that WNV has reached relative genetic stasis at the local level in recent years
Modeling bursts and heavy tails in human dynamics
Current models of human dynamics, used from risk assessment to
communications, assume that human actions are randomly distributed in time and
thus well approximated by Poisson processes. We provide direct evidence that
for five human activity patterns the timing of individual human actions follow
non-Poisson statistics, characterized by bursts of rapidly occurring events
separated by long periods of inactivity. We show that the bursty nature of
human behavior is a consequence of a decision based queuing process: when
individuals execute tasks based on some perceived priority, the timing of the
tasks will be heavy tailed, most tasks being rapidly executed, while a few
experiencing very long waiting times. We discuss two queueing models that
capture human activity. The first model assumes that there are no limitations
on the number of tasks an individual can hadle at any time, predicting that the
waiting time of the individual tasks follow a heavy tailed distribution with
exponent alpha=3/2. The second model imposes limitations on the queue length,
resulting in alpha=1. We provide empirical evidence supporting the relevance of
these two models to human activity patterns. Finally, we discuss possible
extension of the proposed queueing models and outline some future challenges in
exploring the statistical mechanisms of human dynamics.Comment: RevTex, 19 pages, 8 figure
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