Sea temperature effects on depth use and habitat selection in a marine fish community

Understanding the responses of aquatic animals to temperature variability is essential to predict impacts of future climate change and to inform conservation and management. Most ectotherms such as fish are expected to adjust their behaviour to avoid extreme temperatures and minimize acute changes in body temperature. In coastal Skagerrak, Norway, sea surface temperature (SST) ranges seasonally from 0 to over 20°C, representing a challenge to the fish community which includes cold-, cool- and warm-water affinity species.publishedVersio

Spitzer MIPS 24 and 70 micron Imaging near the South Ecliptic Pole: Maps and Source Catalogs

We have imaged an 11.5 sq. deg. region of sky towards the South Ecliptic Pole (RA = 04h43m, Dec = -53d40m, J2000) at 24 and 70 microns with MIPS, the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer. This region is coincident with a field mapped at longer wavelengths by AKARI and the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope. We discuss our data reduction and source extraction procedures. The median depths of the maps are 47 microJy/beam at 24 micron and 4.3 mJy/beam at 70 micron. At 24 micron, we identify 93098 point sources with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) >5, and an additional 63 resolved galaxies; at 70 micron, we identify 891 point sources with SNR >6. From simulations, we determine a false detection rate of 1.8% (1.1%) for the 24 micron (70 micron) catalog. The 24 and 70 micron point-source catalogs are 80% complete at 230 microJy and 11 mJy, respectively. These mosaic images and source catalogs will be available to the public through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to ApJS. Maps and catalogs can be downloaded from http://blastexperiment.info/release/SEP_MIPS/sep-mips.php, and will be soon be available through IRS

Herschel-ATLAS: Multi-wavelength SEDs and physical properties of 250 micron-selected galaxies at z < 0.5

We present a pan-chromatic analysis of an unprecedented sample of 1402 250 micron-selected galaxies at z < 0.5 (mean z = 0.24) from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. We complement our Herschel 100-500 micron data with UV-K-band photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and apply the MAGPHYS energy-balance technique to produce pan-chromatic SEDs for a representative sample of 250 micron selected galaxies spanning the most recent 5 Gyr of cosmic history. We derive estimates of physical parameters, including star formation rates, stellar masses, dust masses and infrared luminosities. The typical H-ATLAS galaxy at z < 0.5 has a far-infrared luminosity in the range 10^10 - 10^12 Lsolar (SFR: 1-50 Msolar/yr) thus is broadly representative of normal star forming galaxies over this redshift range. We show that 250 micron-selected galaxies contain a larger mass of dust at a given infra-red luminosity or star formation rate than previous samples selected at 60 micron from IRAS. We derive typical SEDs for H-ATLAS galaxies, and show that the emergent SED shape is most sensitive to specific star formation rate. The optical-UV SEDs also become more reddened due to dust at higher redshifts. Our template SEDs are significantly cooler than existing infra-red templates. They may therefore be most appropriate for inferring total IR luminosities from moderate redshift submillimetre selected samples and for inclusion in models of the lower redshift submillimetre galaxy populations.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, Accepted by MNRA

Evolution and stoichiometry of heterogeneous processing in the Antarctic stratosphere

Simultaneous in situ measurements of HCl and ClO have been made for the first time in the southern hemisphere, allowing a systematic study of the processes governing chlorine activation between 15 and 20 km in the 1994 Antarctic winter. Data for several other gases (O_3, NO, NO_y, OH, HO_2, N_(2)O, CH_4, CO, H_(2)O, CFCs), particulates, and meteorological parameters were collected from the ER-2 aircraft out of New Zealand as part of the 1994 Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment/Measurements of Atmospheric Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft (ASHOE/MAESA) campaign. Observations from the ER-2 in the fall (April–May), prior to polar night, show that chlorine activation begins with 60–75% of inorganic chlorine as HCl. By midwinter (July–August), near-total removal of HCl is observed. The wintertime loss of HCl in air recently exposed to extreme temperatures is found to be correlated with high levels of reactive chlorine (ClO and its dimer, Cl_(2)O_2) in the linear fashion expected from the stoichiometry of the heterogeneous reaction of hydrochloric acid with chlorine nitrate on polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs): HCl + ClONO_2 → Cl_2 + HNO_3. To constrain the role of different heterogeneous reactions and PSC types, we have used a photochemical trajectory model which includes heterogeneous sulfate and PSC chemistry. Model calculations of the evolution of reactive gases are compared with the in situ observations. In addition, simultaneous measurements of OH and HO_2 are used as a diagnostic for the occurrence of the heterogeneous reaction HOCl + HCl → Cl_2 + H_(2)O, which contributes to suppressed levels of HO_x inside the vortex. It is shown that the amount of chlorine activation is not strongly dependent on the composition of PSCs. However, HO_x levels exhibit different signatures depending on the type of heterogeneous surfaces that affected chlorine activation. Furthermore, this analysis implies that in the edge region of the Antarctic vortex, the observed near-total removal of HCl can result from latitudinal excursions of air parcels in and out of sunlight during the winter, which photochemically resupply HOCl and ClONO_2 as oxidation partners for HCl

The Herschel-ATLAS data release 2. Paper II. Catalogs of far-infrared and submillimeter sources in the fields at the south and north Galactic poles

The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) is a survey of 660 deg2 with the PACS and SPIRE cameras in five photometric bands: 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm. This is the second of three papers describing the data release for the large fields at the south and north Galactic poles (NGP and SGP). In this paper we describe the catalogs of far-infrared and submillimeter sources for the NGP and SGP, which cover 177.1 deg2 and 303.4 deg2, respectively. The catalogs contain 118,908 sources for the NGP field and 193,527 sources for the SGP field detected at more than 4σ significance in any of the 250, 350, or 500 μm bands. The source detection is based on the 250 μm map, and we present photometry in all five bands for each source, including aperture photometry for sources known to be extended. The rms positional accuracy for the faintest sources is about 2.4 arcsec in both R.A. and decl. We present a statistical analysis of the catalogs and discuss the practical issues—completeness, reliability, flux boosting, accuracy of positions, accuracy of flux measurements—necessary to use the catalogs for astronomical projects

Specific star-formation and the relation to stellar mass from 0<z<2 as seen in the far-infrared at 70 and 160mu

We use the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE) to explore the specific star-formation activity of galaxies and their evolution near the peak of the cosmic far-infrared (FIR) background at 70 and 160um. We use a stacking analysis to determine the mean FIR properties of well defined subsets of galaxies at flux levels well below the FIR catalogue detection limits of SWIRE and other Spitzer surveys. We tabulate the contribution of different subsets of galaxies to the FIR background at 70um and 160um. These long wavelengths provide a good constraint on the bolometric, obscured emission. The large area provides good constraints at low z and in finer redshift bins than previous work. At all redshifts we find that the specific FIR Luminosity (sLFIR) decreases with increasing mass, following a trend L_FIR/M* propto M_* ^beta with beta =-0.38\pm0.14. This is a more continuous change than expected from the {Delucia2007} semi-analytic model suggesting modifications to the feedback prescriptions. We see an increase in the sLFIR by about a factor of ~100 from 0<z<2 and find that the sLFIR evolves as (1+z)^alpha with alpha=4.4\pm0.3 for galaxies with 10.5 < log M*/Msun < 12. This is considerably steeper than the {Delucia2007} semi-analytic model (alpha \sim 2.5). When separating galaxies into early and late types on the basis of the optical/IR spectral energy distributions we find that the decrease in sLFIR with stellar mass is stronger in early type galaxies (beta ~ -0.46), while late type galaxies exhibit a flatter trend (beta \sim -0.15). The evolution is strong for both classes but stronger for the early type galaxies. The early types show a trend of decreasing strength of evolution as we move from lower to higher masses while the evolution of the late type galaxies has little dependence on stellar mass. We suggest that in late-type galaxies we are seeing a consistently declining sSFR..Comment: v2 Update doesn't change the content of the paper, but now includes data files for the plots Fig 5-13 (all.plotdat, spi.plotdat and ell.plotdat on arXiv package

Changing Domesticity of Aedes aegypti in Northern Peninsular Malaysia: Reproductive Consequences and Potential Epidemiological Implications

BACKGROUND: The domestic dengue vector Aedes aegypti mosquitoes breed in indoor containers. However, in northern peninsular Malaysia, they show equal preference for breeding in both indoor and outdoor habitats. To evaluate the epidemiological implications of this peridomestic adaptation, we examined whether Ae. aegypti exhibits decreased survival, gonotrophic activity, and fecundity due to lack of host availability and the changing breeding behavior. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This yearlong field surveillance identified Ae. aegypti breeding in outdoor containers on an enormous scale. Through a sequence of experiments incorporating outdoors and indoors adapting as well as adapted populations, we observed that indoors provided better environment for the survival of Ae. aegypti and the observed death patterns could be explained on the basis of a difference in body size. The duration of gonotrophic period was much shorter in large-bodied females. Fecundity tended to be greater in indoor acclimated females. We also found increased tendency to multiple feeding in outdoors adapted females, which were smaller in size compared to their outdoors breeding counterparts. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The data presented here suggest that acclimatization of Ae. aegypti to the outdoor environment may not decrease its lifespan or gonotrophic activity but rather increase breeding opportunities (increased number of discarded containers outdoors), the rate of larval development, but small body sizes at emergence. Size is likely to be correlated with disease transmission. In general, small size in Aedes females will favor increased blood-feeding frequency resulting in higher population sizes and disease occurrence

Cross-correlation between the CMB lensing potential measured by Planck and high-z submillimeter galaxies detected by the Herschel-ATLAS survey

We present the first measurement of the correlation between the map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential derived from the Planck nominal mission data and z≥1.5 galaxies detected by the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) survey covering about 600 deg2, i.e., about 1.4% of the sky. We reject the hypothesis that there is no correlation between CMB lensing and galaxy detection at a significance, checking the result by performing a number of null tests. The significance of the detection of the theoretically expected cross-correlation signal is found to be . The galaxy bias parameter, b, derived from a joint analysis of the cross-power spectrum and of the autopower spectrum of the galaxy density contrast is found to be , consistent with earlier estimates for H-ATLAS galaxies at similar redshifts. On the other hand, the amplitude of the cross-correlation is found to be a factor 1.62 ± 0.16 higher than expected from the standard model and also found by cross-correlation analyses with other tracers of the large-scale structure. The enhancement due to lensing magnification can account for only a fraction of the excess cross-correlation signal. We suggest that part of it may be due to an incomplete removal of the contamination of the cosmic infrared background, which includes the H-ATLAS sources we are cross-correlating with. In any case, the highly significant detection reported here using a catalog covering only 1.4% of the sky demonstrates the potential of CMB lensing correlations with submillimeter surveys

Skeeter Buster: A Stochastic, Spatially Explicit Modeling Tool for Studying Aedes aegypti Population Replacement and Population Suppression Strategies

Dengue is a viral disease that affects approximately 50 million people annually, and is estimated to result in 12,500 fatalities. Dengue viruses are vectored by mosquitoes, predominantly by the species Aedes aegypti. Because there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment, the only available strategy to reduce dengue transmission is to control the populations of these mosquitoes. This can be achieved by traditional approaches such as insecticides, or by recently developed genetic methods that propose the release of mosquitoes genetically engineered to be unable to transmit dengue viruses. The expected outcome of different control strategies can be compared by simulating the population dynamics and genetics of mosquitoes at a given location. Development of optimal control strategies can then be guided by the modeling approach. To that end, we introduce a new modeling tool called Skeeter Buster. This model describes the dynamics and the genetics of Ae. aegypti populations at a very fine scale, simulating the contents of individual houses, and even the individual water-holding containers in which mosquito larvae reside. Skeeter Buster can be used to compare the predicted outcomes of multiple control strategies, traditional or genetic, making it an important tool in the fight against dengue

An Age-Structured Extension to the Vectorial Capacity Model

Vectorial capacity and the basic reproductive number (R(0)) have been instrumental in structuring thinking about vector-borne pathogen transmission and how best to prevent the diseases they cause. One of the more important simplifying assumptions of these models is age-independent vector mortality. A growing body of evidence indicates that insect vectors exhibit age-dependent mortality, which can have strong and varied affects on pathogen transmission dynamics and strategies for disease prevention.Based on survival analysis we derived new equations for vectorial capacity and R(0) that are valid for any pattern of age-dependent (or age-independent) vector mortality and explore the behavior of the models across various mortality patterns. The framework we present (1) lays the groundwork for an extension and refinement of the vectorial capacity paradigm by introducing an age-structured extension to the model, (2) encourages further research on the actuarial dynamics of vectors in particular and the relationship of vector mortality to pathogen transmission in general, and (3) provides a detailed quantitative basis for understanding the relative impact of reductions in vector longevity compared to other vector-borne disease prevention strategies.Accounting for age-dependent vector mortality in estimates of vectorial capacity and R(0) was most important when (1) vector densities are relatively low and the pattern of mortality can determine whether pathogen transmission will persist; i.e., determines whether R(0) is above or below 1, (2) vector population growth rate is relatively low and there are complex interactions between birth and death that differ fundamentally from birth-death relationships with age-independent mortality, and (3) the vector exhibits complex patterns of age-dependent mortality and R(0) ∼ 1. A limiting factor in the construction and evaluation of new age-dependent mortality models is the paucity of data characterizing vector mortality patterns, particularly for free ranging vectors in the field