165 research outputs found
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Spring 1968
Massachusetts Turf and Lawn Grass CouncilBetter Turf Through Research and Education
Contents: Wetting Agents by Stuart Denton (page 3) Deflation in Amateur Prize Value (5) Mark of the Industry Today is Professional Tree Care (6) Stockbridge Graduate Appointed Head of Winged Foot (8) Soil Testing Doubles in 10 Years by George Enfield (9) 1968 University of Massachusetts Annual Fine Turf Conference (12) Roots, Selectors of Plant Nutrients by J.B. Hanson (16) Soil Amendments by David Peoples (19) Sex Attractant for Fall Armyworm (23) New Bluegrass Getting Attention (23) New Variety of Bluegrass Now Available (24
The response of the coastal ocean to strong offshore winds: With application to circulations in the Gulfs of Tehuantepec and Papagayo
Two ocean models are used to investigate the response of the coastal ocean to strong offshore winds: a linear 1½-layer model, and a nonlinear 1½-layer model that allows entrainment of cool water into the surface layer. The models are forced by wind stress fields similar in structure to the intense winter-time, mountain-pass jets (∼20 dyne/cm2) that appear in the Gulfs of Tehuantepec and Papagayo for periods of 3–10 days. Solutions are arranged in a hierarchy of increasing dynamical complexity, in order to illustrate the important physical processes. They compare favorably with observations in several ways. Some properties of solutions are the following. While the wind strengthens there is an ageostrophic current (not Ekman drift) that is directed offshore. This offshore drift forces coastal upwelling, thereby lowering the local sea level and sea surface temperature (SST). Although the drop in sea level at the coast can be large and rapid (of the order of 20 cm at the peak of a wind event), none of this signal propagates poleward as a coastally trapped wave. While the wind weakens the ageostrophic current is directed onshore, and consequently the coastal ocean readjusts toward its initial state. Throughout the wind event, cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres spin up offshore on either side of the jet axis due to Ekman pumping. Entrainment cools SST offshore, on and to the right (looking onshore) of the jet axis, and virtually eliminates the cyclonic gyre. The advection terms intensify the anticyclonic gyre and give it a more circular shape. After a wind event, the anticyclonic gyre propagates westward due to β. Its propagation speed is enhanced over that of a linear Rossby wave due to the nonlinear terms associated with the increased layer thickness at the center of the gyre and with the divergence of momentum flux
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Prediction of hazardous Columbia River bar conditions
In this study methods were developed for the prediction of wave
conditions that are hazardous to navigation at river entrances, with
emphasis on applicability to the Columbia River. There are two basic
components to the prediction system: (1) a semi-automated spectral
method for forecasting the significant height and average period of
waves in deep water, and (2) an index of navigation hazard at river
entrances that depends on the significant height and average period in
deep water and on the mean current and water depth at the entrance.
The computerized, deep water forecast method is a hybrid scheme
that combines the spectral principles of the Pierson-Neumann-James
method with the graphical input techniques of Wilson and the fetch
limited spectrum of Liu. The significant heights generated by the
method are well verified by winter wave measurements at Newport,
Oregon.
The hazard index is based on the probability of wave-breaking in
water of arbitrary depth and current. The breaking probability is
derived under the assumption that wave heights and squared periods are
statistically independent and distributed according to a Rayleigh
probability density function. The breaking-wave probability and the
hazard index depend on the wave steepness in deep slack water and on
the depth (relative to the wave period squared) and current (relative
to the period) at the river entrance. The dependence on depth and
current is achieved in two ways: (1) the limiting steepness (breaking
index) k found as a function of relative depth and relative current,
and (2) the wave spectrum in water of arbitrary depth and current is
found by transformation of the spectrum in deep slack water. The
transformation is performed by requiring that the rate of wave energy
propagation remain constant. The hazard index is closely related to
the probability of breaking swell. At water depths that are typical
of river entrances, the hazard index depends strongly on the significant
wave height, mean current and depth, but only weakly on the mean wave
period (since the breaking height of swell at such depths is only weakly
dependent on period).
Hindcasts of deep water significant wave heights and hazard indices
compared reasonably well with measured heights and Columbia River bar
closure periods. Forecasts based on accurate prognostic weather charts
should provide similar results
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The future of 3D food printing: opportunities for space applications
Over the past decade or so, there have been major advances in the development of 3D printing technology to create innovative food products, including for printing foods in homes, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and even space flight missions. 3D food printing has the potential to customize foods for individuals based on their personal preferences for specific visual, textural, mouthfeel, flavor, or nutritional attributes. Material extrusion is the most common process currently used to 3D print foods, which is based on forcing a fluid or semi-solid food “ink” through a nozzle and then solidifying it. This type of 3D printing application for space missions is particularly promising because a wide range of foods can be produced from a limited number of food inks in a confined area. This is especially important for extended space missions because astronauts desire and require a variety of foods, but space and resources are minimal. This review highlights the potential applications of 3D printing for creating custom-made foods in space and the challenges that need to be addressed
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The development of forecast techniques for wave and surf conditions over the bars in the Columbia River Mouth and at the entrance to Yaquina Bay : final report
This investigation has been carried out primarily to define the Columbia
River bar crossing problem, to determine the physical factors involved in
hazardous transit developments, and to develop a method for predicting
hazardous bar transit conditions sufficiently in advance to allow proper
safety precautions to be effected.
Actual records of periods of bar closure for the years 1963 - 1969,
as determined by the Columbia River Bar Pilots Association, provide a firm
foundation for the entry into this study. Meteorological and oceanographic
conditions leading to the closures, as well as those occurring during
periods of closure, are being analyzed to identify the more immediate
causes for such situations and also to determine the nature of their temporal
and spatial evolution. Much of the background material necessary for this
study has been compiled, and case histories on conditions leading to closure
circumstances are being prepared to determine the various types of
situation development
What Caused the Significant Increase in Atlantic Ocean Heat Content Since the mid-20th Century?
As the upper layer of the world ocean warms gradually during the 20th century, the inter-ocean heat transport from the Indian to Atlantic basin should be enhanced, and the Atlantic Ocean should therefore gain extra heat due to the increased upper ocean temperature of the inflow via the Agulhas leakage. Consistent with this hypothesis, instrumental records indicate that the Atlantic Ocean has warmed substantially more than any other ocean basin since the mid-20th century. A surface-forced global ocean-ice coupled model is used to test this hypothesis and to find that the observed warming trend of the Atlantic Ocean since the 1950s is largely due to an increase in the inter-ocean heat transport from the Indian Ocean. Further analysis reveals that the increased inter-ocean heat transport is not only caused by the increased upper ocean temperature of the inflow but also, and more strongly, by the increased Agulhas Current leakage, which is augmented by the strengthening of the wind stress curl over the South Atlantic and Indian subtropical gyre
Natural variability of surface oceanographic conditions in the offshore Gulf of Mexico
AbstractThis work characterizes patterns of temporal variability in surface waters of the central Gulf of Mexico. We examine remote-sensing based observations of sea surface temperature (SST), wind speed, sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) and Net Primary Production (NPP), along with model predictions of mixed layer depth (MLD), to determine seasonal changes and long-term trends in the central Gulf of Mexico between the early 1980s and 2012. Specifically, we examine variability in four quadrants of the Gulf of Mexico (water depth >1000m). All variables show strong seasonality. Chl-a and NPP show positive anomalies in response to short-term increases in wind speed and to cold temperature events. The depth of the mixed layer (MLD) directly and significantly affects primary productivity throughout the region. This relationship is sufficiently robust to enable real-time estimates of MLD based on satellite-based estimates of NPP. Over the past 15–20years, SST, wind speed, and SSHA show a statistically significant, gradual increase. However, Chl-a and NPP show no significant trends over this period. There has also been no trend in the MLD in the Gulf of Mexico interior. The positive long-term trend in wind speed and SST anomalies is consistent with the warming phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) that started in the mid-90s. This also coincides with a negative trend in the El Niño/Southern Oscillation Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) related to an increase in the frequency of cooler ENSO events since 1999–2000. The results suggest that over decadal scales, increasing temperature, wind speed, and mesoscale ocean activity have offsetting effects on the MLD. The lack of a trend in MLD anomalies over the past 20years explains the lack of long-term changes in chlorophyll concentration and productivity over this period in the Gulf. Understanding the background of seasonal and long-term variability in these ocean characteristics is important to interpret changes in ocean health due to episodic natural and anthropogenic events and long term climate changes or development activities. With this analysis we provide a baseline against which such changes can be measured
Multiple Components of the VHL Tumor Suppressor Complex Are Frequently Affected by DNA Copy Number Loss in Pheochromocytoma
Pheochromocytomas (PCC) are rare tumors that arise in chromaffin tissue of the adrenal gland. PCC are frequently inherited through predisposing mutations in genes such as the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor. VHL is part of the VHL elongin BC protein complex that also includes CUL2/5, TCEB1, TCEB2, and RBX1; in normoxic conditions this complex targets hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A) for degradation, thus preventing a hypoxic response. VHL inactivation by genetic mechanisms, such as mutation and loss of heterozygosity, inhibits HIF1A degradation, even in the presence of oxygen, and induces a pseudohypoxic response. However, the described <10% VHL mutation rate cannot account for the high frequency of hypoxic response observed. Indeed, little is known about genetic mechanisms disrupting other complex component genes. Here, we show that, in a panel of 171 PCC tumors, 59.6% harbored gene copy number loss (CNL) of at least one complex component. CNL significantly reduced gene expression and was associated with enrichment of gene targets controlled by HIF1. Interestingly, we show that VHL-related renal clear cell carcinoma harbored disruption of VHL alone. Our results indicate that VHL elongin BC protein complex components other than VHL could be important for PCC tumorigenesis and merit further investigation
Discrete Rainfall Predictability Using El Niño/Southern Oscillation Interaction
The objective of the study was to determine the probability of occurrence of wet or dry season events, based on the phase of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon using multinomial logit regression models. The study used monthly time series of the Pacific equatorial sea surface temperature (SST), a sea level pressure index (SOI) and rainfall anomalies over a 2.5x2.5 degrees grid along the west coast of Central and South America, for latitudes starting at 25N, through 45S, since 1951 to 2011. We defined an ENSO index (NSO) as predictor and rainfall as response. Data was categorized into terciles to construct non symmetrical three way contingency table. As results, we generated latitudinal profiles of the predictability (association), for the West Coast of Central and South America, using ENSO as predictor.Universidad de Costa Rica/[805-A7-002]/UCR/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[808-A9-180]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas (CIGEFI)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR
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A compilation of observations from moored current meters. Vol. 12. Wind currents and temperature over the continental shelf and slope off Peru during JOINT II, March 1976-May 1977
Oregon State University installed and recovered moorings along the coast of Peru during the period late March 1976 through mid-May 1977. A mid-shelf mooring near 15°S (MILA)
was maintained for the full duration of the experiment, through five successive installations. This site was complemented by six other moorings in the first half of 1976 and by nine in the March-April-May 1977 period. These simultaneous moorings were arranged in onshore-offshore arrays near 15°S
and in alongshore arrays at midshelf from 10°S to 15°30'S.
The data described in this report consists of the hourly processed and filtered values of wind and current velocity, air and water temperature, and pressure from the 1976-1977 Peru installations. We describe the data through installation summaries, statistics tables, progressive vector diagrams,
speed and direction histograms, rotary spectra and time series plots
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