Ozone and alkyl nitrate formation from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill atmospheric emissions

Ozone (O3), alkyl nitrates (RONO2), and other photochemical products were formed in the atmosphere downwind from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill by photochemical reactions of evaporating hydrocarbons with NOx (=NO+NO2) emissions from spill response activities. Reactive nitrogen species and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured from an instrumented aircraft during daytime flights in the marine boundary layer downwind from the area of surfacing oil. A unique VOC mixture, where alkanes dominated the hydroxyl radical (OH) loss rate, was emitted into a clean marine environment, enabling a focused examination of O3 and RONO 2 formation processes. In the atmospheric plume from DWH, the OH loss rate, an indicator of potential O3 formation, was large and dominated by alkanes with between 5 and 10 carbons per molecule (C 5-C10). Observations showed that NOx was oxidized very rapidly with a 0.8h lifetime, producing primarily C6-C10 RONO2 that accounted for 78% of the reactive nitrogen enhancements in the atmospheric plume 2.5h downwind from DWH. Both observations and calculations of RONO2 and O3 production rates show that alkane oxidation dominated O3 formation chemistry in the plume. Rapid and nearly complete oxidation of NOx to RONO2 effectively terminated O3 production, with O3 formation yields of 6.0±0.5 ppbv O3 per ppbv of NOx oxidized. VOC mixing ratios were in large excess of NOx, and additional NOx would have formed additional O3 in this plume. Analysis of measurements of VOCs, O3, and reactive nitrogen species and calculations of O3 and RONO2 production rates demonstrate that NOx-VOC chemistry in the DWH plume is explained by known mechanisms. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union

Huge local field enhancement in perfect plasmonic absorbers

In this Letter we theoretically study the possibility of total power absorption of light in a planar grid modelled as an effective sheet with zero optical thickness. The key prerequisite of this effect is the simultaneous presence of both resonant electric and magnetic modes in the structure. We show that the needed level of the magnetic mode is achievable using the effect of substrate-induced bianisotropy which also allows the huge local field enhancement at the same wavelength where the maximal absorption holds.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Determination of urban volatile organic compound emission ratios and comparison with an emissions database

During the NEAQS-ITCT2k4 campaign in New England, anthropogenic VOCs and CO were measured downwind from New York City and Boston. The emission ratios of VOCs relative to CO and acetylene were calculated using a method in which the ratio of a VOC with acetylene is plotted versus the photochemical age. The intercept at the photochemical age of zero gives the emission ratio. The so determined emission ratios were compared to other measurement sets, including data from the same location in 2002, canister samples collected inside New York City and Boston, aircraft measurements from Los Angeles in 2002, and the average urban composition of 39 U.S. cities. All the measurements generally agree within a factor of two. The measured emission ratios also agree for most compounds within a factor of two with vehicle exhaust data indicating that a major source of VOCs in urban areas is automobiles. A comparison with an anthropogenic emission database shows less agreement. Especially large discrepancies were found for the C2-C4 alkanes and most oxygenated species. As an example, the database overestimated toluene by almost a factor of three, which caused an air quality forecast model (WRF-CHEM) using this database to overpredict the toluene mixing ratio by a factor of 2.5 as well. On the other hand, the overall reactivity of the measured species and the reactivity of the same compounds in the emission database were found to agree within 30%. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union

Airborne observations of methane emissions from rice cultivation in the Sacramento Valley of California

Airborne measurements of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were taken over the rice growing region of California's Sacramento Valley in the late spring of 2010 and 2011. From these and ancillary measurements, we show that CH4 mixing ratios were higher in the planetary boundary layer above the Sacramento Valley during the rice growing season than they were before it, which we attribute to emissions from rice paddies. We derive daytime emission fluxes of CH4 between 0.6 and 2.0% of the CO2 taken up by photosynthesis on a per carbon, or mole to mole, basis. We also use a mixing model to determine an average CH 4/CO2 flux ratio of -0.6% for one day early in the growing season of 2010. We conclude the CH4/CO2 flux ratio estimates from a single rice field in a previous study are representative of rice fields in the Sacramento Valley. If generally true, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) greenhouse gas inventory emission rate of 2.7×1010g CH4/yr is approximately three times lower than the range of probable CH4 emissions (7.8-9.3×10 10g CH4/yr) from rice cultivation derived in this study. We attribute this difference to decreased burning of the residual rice crop since 1991, which leads to an increase in CH4 emissions from rice paddies in succeeding years, but which is not accounted for in the CARB inventory. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

A New Species of the Neopterygian Fish Enchodus from the Duwi Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous, Western Desert, Central Egypt

The neopterygian fish Enchodus was a widespread, speciose genus consisting of approximately 30 recognized species that were temporally distributed from the late Early Cretaceous through the Paleocene. Many Enchodus specimens are fragmentary cranial remains or isolated dental elements, as is the case for previously reported occurrences in Egypt. Here, we present the most complete specimen of Enchodus recovered from the Late Cretaceous of northeast Africa. The specimen was collected from the upper Campanian Duwi Formation, near the village of Tineida (Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt). The new species, Enchodus tineidae sp. nov., consists of right and left dentaries, a partial ectopterygoid, and other cranial bones. The size of the specimen places it into the upper body-size range for the genus. The palatine tooth, an element often useful for diagnosing Enchodus to the species level, is not preserved, but a combination of other cranial characters supports the referral of this specimen to Enchodus. In particular, the dentary preserves three symphysial rostroventral prongs and two tooth rows, the lateral of which consists of small denticles, whereas the medial row comprises large, mediolaterally-compressed teeth. The rostral-most tooth exhibits the highest crown, whereas the rest of the teeth are of lower, variable crown heights. The eight robust, caudal-most medial-row teeth are distributed in a cluster pattern never before observed in Enchodus. Additionally, the dentary and preopercle are both without dermal ornamentation, and the mandibular sensory canal is closed. Phylogenetic analysis recovers this new species as the sister species to E. dirus from North America. Along with previously described materials from Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Italy, Morocco, and Libya, this specimen represents a thirteenth species from the northwestern Tethyan geographic distribution of Enchodus

Organic aerosol formation downwind from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

A large fraction of atmospheric aerosols are derived from organic compounds with various volatilities. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) WP-3D research aircraft made airborne measurements of the gaseous and aerosol composition of air over the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred from April to August 2010. A narrow plume of hydrocarbons was observed downwind of DWH that is attributed to the evaporation of fresh oil on the sea surface. A much wider plume with high concentrations of organic aerosol (>25 micrograms per cubic meter) was attributed to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from unmeasured, less volatile hydrocarbons that were emitted from a wider area around DWH. These observations provide direct and compelling evidence for the importance of formation of SOA from less volatile hydrocarbons

Atmospheric emissions from the deepwater Horizon spill constrain air-water partitioning, hydrocarbon fate, and leak rate

The fate of deepwater releases of gas and oil mixtures is initially determined by solubility and volatility of individual hydrocarbon species; these attributes determine partitioning between air and water. Quantifying this partitioning is necessary to constrain simulations of gas and oil transport, to predict marine bioavailability of different fractions of the gas-oil mixture, and to develop a comprehensive picture of the fate of leaked hydrocarbons in the marine environment. Analysis of airborne atmospheric data shows massive amounts (∼258,000 kg/day) of hydrocarbons evaporating promptly from the Deepwater Horizon spill; these data collected during two research flights constrain air-water partitioning, thus bioavailability and fate, of the leaked fluid. This analysis quantifies the fraction of surfacing hydrocarbons that dissolves in the water column (∼33% by mass), the fraction that does not dissolve, and the fraction that evaporates promptly after surfacing (∼14% by mass). We do not quantify the leaked fraction lacking a surface expression; therefore, calculation of atmospheric mass fluxes provides a lower limit to the total hydrocarbon leak rate of 32,600 to 47,700 barrels of fluid per day, depending on reservoir fluid composition information. This study demonstrates a new approach for rapid-response airborne assessment of future oil spills. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union

Beneficial effects of combinatorial micronutrition on body fat and atherosclerosis in mice

AIMS: More than two billion people worldwide are deficient in key micronutrients. Single micronutrients have been used at high doses to prevent and treat dietary insufficiencies. Yet the impact of combinations of micronutrients in small doses aiming to improve lipid disorders and the corresponding metabolic pathways remains incompletely understood. Thus, we investigated whether a combination of micronutrients would reduce fat accumulation and atherosclerosis in mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lipoprotein receptor-null mice fed with an original combination of micronutrients incorporated into the daily chow showed reduced weight gain, body fat, plasma triglycerides, and increased oxygen consumption. These effects were achieved through enhanced lipid utilization and reduced lipid accumulation in metabolic organs and were mediated, in part, by the nuclear receptor PPARα. Moreover, the micronutrients partially prevented atherogenesis when administered early in life to apolipoprotein E-null mice. When the micronutrient treatment was started before conception, the anti-atherosclerotic effect was stronger in the progeny. This finding correlated with decreased post-prandial triglyceridaemia and vascular inflammation, two major atherogenic factors. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate beneficial effects of a combination of micronutritients on body weight gain, hypertriglyceridaemia, liver steatosis, and atherosclerosis in mice, and thus our findings suggest a novel cost-effective combinatorial micronutrient-based strategy worthy of being tested in humans

Orchiectomy as a result of ischemic orchitis after laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: case report of a rare complication

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Ischemic orchitis is an established complication after open inguinal hernia repair, but ischemic orchitis resulting in orchiectomy after the laparoscopic approach has not been reported. Case presentation: The patient was a thirty-three year-old man who presented with bilateral direct inguinal hernias, right larger than left. He was a thin, muscular male with a narrow pelvis who underwent bilateral extraperitoneal mesh laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. The case was complicated by pneumoperitoneum which limited the visibility of the pelvic anatomy; however, the mesh was successfully deployed bilaterally. Cautery was used to resect the direct sac on the right. The patient was discharged the same day and doing well with minimal pain and swelling until the fourth day after surgery. That night he presented with sudden-onset pain and swelling of his right testicle and denied both trauma to the area and any sexual activity. Ultrasound of the testicle revealed no blood flow to the testicle which required exploration and subsequent orchiectomy. Conclusion: Ischemic orchitis typically presents 2–3 days after inguinal hernia surgery and can progress to infarction. This ischemic injury is likely due to thrombosis of the venous plexus, rathe