The wavenumber–frequency content of resonantly excited equatorial waves

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 42 (2012): 1834–1858, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-11-0234.1.The theoretical resonant excitation of equatorial inertia–gravity waves and mixed Rossby–gravity waves is examined. Contrary to occasionally published expectations, solutions show that winds that are broadband in both zonal wavenumber and frequency do not in general produce peaks in the wavenumber–frequency spectrum of sea surface height (SSH) at wavenumbers associated with vanishing zonal group velocity. Excitation of total wave energy in inertia–gravity modes by broadband zonal winds is virtually wavenumber independent when the meridional structure of the winds does not impose a bias toward negative or positive zonal wavenumbers. With increasing wavenumber magnitude |k|, inertia–gravity waves asymptote toward zonally propagating pure gravity waves, in which the magnitude of meridional velocity υ becomes progressively smaller relative to the magnitude of zonal velocity u and pressure p. When the total wave energy is independent of wavenumber, this effect produces a peak in |υ|2 near the wavenumber where group velocity vanishes, but a trough in |p|2 (or SSH variance). Another consequence of the shift toward pure gravity wave structure is that broadband meridional winds excite inertia–gravity modes progressively less efficiently as |k| increases and υ becomes less important to the wave structure. Broadband meridional winds produce a low-wavenumber peak in total wave energy leading to a subtle elevation of |p|2 at low wavenumbers, but this is due entirely to the decrease in the forcing efficiency of meridional winds with increasing |k|, rather than to the vanishing of the group velocity. Physical conditions that might alter the above conclusions are discussed.This research was funded by NASA Grant NNX10AO93G.2013-05-0

Another note on Rossby wave energy flux

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 50(2),(2020): 531-534, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-19-0237.1.Longuet-Higgins in 1964 first pointed out that the Rossby wave energy flux as defined by the pressure work is not the same as that defined by the group velocity. The two definitions provide answers that differ by a nondivergent vector. Longuet-Higgins suggested that the problem arose from ambiguity in the definition of energy flux, which only impacts the energy equation through its divergence. Numerous authors have addressed this issue from various perspectives, and we offer one more approach that we feel is more succinct than previous ones, both mathematically and conceptually. We follow the work described by Cai and Huang in 2013 in concluding that there is no need to invoke the ambiguity offered by Longuet-Higgins. By working directly from the shallow-water equations (as opposed to the more involved quasigeostrophic treatment of Cai and Huang), we provide a concise derivation of the nondivergent pressure work and demonstrate that the two energy flux definitions are equivalent when only the divergent part of the pressure work is considered. The difference vector comes from the nondivergent part of the geostrophic pressure work, and the familiar westward component of the Rossby wave group velocity comes from the divergent part of the geostrophic pressure work. In a broadband wave field, the expression for energy flux in terms of a single group velocity is no longer meaningful, but the expression for energy flux in terms of the divergent pressure work is still valid.This work was supported by NASA Grants NNX13AE46G and NNX14AM71G, and National Science Foundation Grant OCE-1336752. We are indebted to Roger Samelson, Joe Pedlosky, and two anonymous reviewers for comments that significantly improved the presentation.2020-08-1

Assessment of synthetic floral-based attractants and sugar baits to capture male and female Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Background: The viruses transmitted by Aedes aegypti, including dengue and Zika viruses, are rapidly expanding in geographic range and as a threat to public health. In response, control programs are increasingly turning to the use of sterile insect techniques resulting in a need to trap male Ae. aegypti to monitor the efficacy of the intervention. However, there is a lack of effective and cheap methods for trapping males. Thus, we attempted to exploit the physiological need to obtain energy from sugar feeding in order to passively capture male and female Ae. aegypti (nulliparous and gravid) in free-flight attraction assays. Candidate lures included previously identified floral-based (phenylacetaldehyde, linalool oxide, phenylethyl alcohol, and acetophenone) attractants and an attractive toxic sugar bait-based (ATSB) solution of guava and mango nectars. A free-flight attraction assay assessed the number of mosquitoes attracted to each candidate lure displayed individually. Then, a choice test was performed between the best-performing lure and a water control displayed in Gravid Aedes Traps (GAT). Results: Results from the attraction assays indicated that the ATSB solution of guava and mango nectars was the most promising lure candidate for males; unlike the floral-based attractants tested, it performed significantly better than the water control. Nulliparous and gravid females demonstrated no preference among the lures and water controls indicating a lack of attraction to floral-based attractants and sugar baits in a larger setting. Although the guava-mango ATSB lure was moderately attractive to males when presented directly (i.e. no need to enter a trap or other confinement), it failed to attract significantly more male, nulliparous female, or gravid female Ae. aegypti than water controls when presented inside a Gravid Aedes Trap. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the use of volatile floral-based attractants and sugar mixtures that have been identified in the literature is not an effective lure by which to kill Ae. aegypti at ATSB stations nor capture them in the GAT. Future trapping efforts would likely be more successful if focused on more promising methods for capturing male and female Ae. aegypti

Fabrication Of Steaks From Spent Hens

Research at SDSU has demonstrated that meat from spent laying hens (spent fowl) can be utilized in the production of fabricated steaks and/or roasts. Previous studies utilized raw meat from carcasses that were manually deboned. Under commercial deboning, meat that has been precooked is more easily separated from the bone. Precooking reduces the ability for meat to hold together or bind in a processed product. Precooked and raw spent fowl muscles were compared as raw material for the production of fabricated steaks. The objective of this research was to produce from precooked spent fowl muscle a palatable restructured product that will withstand handling, cooking and serving

Utilization Of Spent Fowl In the Manufacture Of Chicken Restructured Steaks

Each year the poultry industry is faced with a large number of spent laying hens (spent fowl), which are often difficult to market at a reasonable price. If less desirable poultry carcasses such as spent hens could be utilized economically to create desirable new products, there would be considerable incentive to do so. Because of the maturity level of spent hens, their muscles are quite tough and, therefore, products made from them would have to be comminuted. A new method of comminution, called flaking, cleanly cuts frozen muscle into wafer—thin slices which aids in the binding properties upon further processing. The manufacture of restructured steaks involves, first, the flaking of meat and, secondly, the pressing of meat into a particular shape. The resulting product should be tender yet simulate the actual eating quality of a real steak. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum levels of white and dark meat required in the formulation of restructured steaks and to examine the feasibility of adding skin and fat to these products

Infection of Mice with the Agent of Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis after Different Routes of Inoculation

Population kinetics of the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (aoHGE) were examined after needle and tickborne inoculation of C3H mice. Blood, skin, lung, spleen, liver, kidney, brain, lymph node, and bone marrow samples were analyzed by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at various intervals after inoculation, using a p44 gene target. The highest number of copies of the p44 gene target occurred in blood and bone marrow samples, emphasizing aoHGE leukocytotropism. Numbers of copies of the p44 gene target in other tissues reflected vascular perfusion rather than replication. Needle-inoculated infected mice had earlier dissemination, but kinetics of infection in both groups were parallel, with declining rates of infection by day 20 and recovery in some mice on days 20-60 after inoculation. On the basis of an aoHGE lysate ELISA, mice seroconverted by day 10 after inoculation. Therefore, real-time PCR is useful for quantitative studies with the aoHGE in experimental infections, and results showed that needle inoculation can be used to study the aoHGE infection because of its similarity to tickborne inoculatio

Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a natural population of Peromyscus leucopus mice: A longitudinal study in an area where lyme borreliosis is highly endemic

Blood samples from Peromyscus leucopus mice captured at an enzootic site in Connecticut were examined for antibodies to and DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi, to characterize the dynamics of infection in this reservoir population. From trappings conducted over the course of 2 transmission seasons, 598 (75%) of 801 serum samples from 514 mice were found to be positive by enzyme immunoassay. Seropositivity correlated with date of capture and mouse age, was similar among locations within the site, increased from 57% to 93% over the course of the transmission season, and was associated with antibodies to outer surface protein (Osp) C, but not to OspA. Longitudinal samples from 184 mice revealed an incidence of 0.2 cases/mouse/week. Nineteen (10%) of 187 samples were found by polymerase chain reaction to be positive for B. burgdorferi, and, of those, 14 (74%) were found to be seropositive. Nearly the entire population of P. leucopus mice became infected with B. burgdorferi by late August, coinciding with the peak activity period of host-seeking larvae uninfected with the spirochete Ixodes scapularis, thereby perpetuating the agent through succeeding generations of ticks.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de VectoresFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a natural population of Peromyscus leucopus mice: A longitudinal study in an area where lyme borreliosis is highly endemic

Blood samples from Peromyscus leucopus mice captured at an enzootic site in Connecticut were examined for antibodies to and DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi, to characterize the dynamics of infection in this reservoir population. From trappings conducted over the course of 2 transmission seasons, 598 (75%) of 801 serum samples from 514 mice were found to be positive by enzyme immunoassay. Seropositivity correlated with date of capture and mouse age, was similar among locations within the site, increased from 57% to 93% over the course of the transmission season, and was associated with antibodies to outer surface protein (Osp) C, but not to OspA. Longitudinal samples from 184 mice revealed an incidence of 0.2 cases/mouse/week. Nineteen (10%) of 187 samples were found by polymerase chain reaction to be positive for B. burgdorferi, and, of those, 14 (74%) were found to be seropositive. Nearly the entire population of P. leucopus mice became infected with B. burgdorferi by late August, coinciding with the peak activity period of host-seeking larvae uninfected with the spirochete Ixodes scapularis, thereby perpetuating the agent through succeeding generations of ticks.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de VectoresFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Wavenumber–frequency spectra of inertia–gravity and mixed Rossby–gravity waves in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 42 (2012): 1859–1881, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-11-0235.1.In the 1970s and 1980s, there was considerable interest in near-equatorial variability at periods of days to weeks associated with oceanic equatorial inertia–gravity waves and mixed Rossby–gravity waves. At that time, the measurements available for studying these waves were much more limited than today: most of the available observations were from scattered island tide gauges and a handful of short mooring records. More than a decade of the extensive modern data record from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO)/Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) mooring array in the Pacific Ocean is used to reexamine the internal-wave climate in the equatorial Pacific, with a focus on interpretation of the zonal-wavenumber/frequency spectrum of surface dynamic height relative to 500 decibars at periods of 3–15 days and zonal wavelengths exceeding 30° of longitude. To facilitate interpretation of the dynamic height spectrum and identification of equatorial wave modes, the spectrum is decomposed into separate spectra associated with dynamic height fluctuations that are symmetric or antisymmetric about the equator. Many equatorial-wave meridional modes can be identified, for both the first and second baroclinic mode. Zonal-wavenumber/frequency spectra of the zonal and meridional wind stress components are also examined. The observed wind stress spectra are used with linear theory of forced equatorial waves to provide a tentative explanation for the zonal-wavenumber extent of the spectral peaks seen in dynamic height. Examination of the cross-equatorial symmetry properties of the wind stress suggests that virtually all of the large-scale equatorial inertia–gravity and mixed Rossby–gravity waves examined may be sensitive to both zonal and meridional wind stress.This research was funded by NASA Grant NNX10AO93G.2013-05-0

An ecological approach to preventing human infection: Vaccinating wild mouse reservoirs intervenes in the Lyme disease cycle

Many pathogens, such as the agents of West Nile encephalitis and plague, are maintained in nature by animal reservoirs and transmitted to humans by arthropod vectors. Efforts to reduce disease incidence usually rely on vector control or immunization of humans. Lyme disease, for which no human vaccine is currently available, is a commonly reported vector-borne disease in North America and Europe. In a recently developed, ecological approach to disease prevention, we intervened in the natural cycle of the Lyme disease agent (Borrelia burgdorferi) by immunizing wild white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), a reservoir host species, with either a recombinant antigen of the pathogen, outer surface protein A, or a negative control antigen in a repeated field experiment with paired experimental and control grids stratified by site. Outer surface protein A vaccination significantly reduced the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in nymphal blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) collected at the sites the following year in both experiments. The magnitude of the vaccine's effect at a given site correlated with the tick infection prevalence found on the control grid, which in turn correlated with mouse density. These data, as well as differences in the population structures of B. burgdorferi in sympatric ticks and mice, indicated that nonmouse hosts contributed more to infecting ticks than previously expected. Thus, where nonmouse hosts play a large role in infection dynamics, vaccination should be directed at additional species.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoCentro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore