Effects of baroclinicity on storm divergence and stratiform rain in a precipitating subtropical region

Divergence structures associated with the spectrum of precipitating systems in the subtropics and midlatitudes are not well documented. A mesoscale model (MM5) is employed to quantify the relative importance different baroclinic environments have on divergence profiles for common storm types in southeast Texas, a subtropical region. Divergence profiles averaged over a 100 x 100 nested grid with 3-km grid spacing are calculated from the model-derived wind fields for each storm. The divergence profiles simulated for selected storms are consistent with those calculated from an S-band radar using the velocity-azimuth display (VAD) technique. Divergence profiles from well-modeled storms vary in magnitude and structure across the spectrum of baroclinicities and storm types common in southeast Texas. Barotropic storms more characteristic of the Tropics generate the most elevated divergence (and thus diabatic heating) structures with the largest magnitudes. As the degree of baroclinicity increases, stratiform area fractions increase while the levels of non-divergence (LNDs) decrease. However, some weakly baroclinic storms contain stratiform area fractions and divergence profiles with magnitudes and LNDs that are similar to barotropic storms, despite having lower tropopause heights and less deep convection. Additional convection forms after the passage of some of the modeled barotropic and weakly baroclinic storms that contain elevated divergence signatures, circumstantially suggesting that heating at upper-levels may cause diabatic feedbacks that help drive regions of persistent convection in the subtropics. Applying a two-dimensional stratiform-convective separation algorithm to MM5 reflectivity data generates realistic stratiform and convective divergence signals. Stratiform regions in barotropic storms contain thicker, more elevated mid-level convergence structures with larger magnitudes than strongly baroclinic storms, while weakly baroclinic storms have LNDs that fall somewhere in between with magnitudes similar to barotropic storms. Divergence profiles within convective regions typically become more elevated as baroclinicity decreases, although variations in magnitude are less coherent. These simulations suggest that MM5 adequately captures mass field perturbations within convective and stratiform regions, the latter of which produces diabatic feedbacks capable of generating additional convection. As a result, future research determining the climatological dynamic response caused by divergence profiles in MM5 may be feasible

Socialization, Role Attainment and Stigma Management in BDSM

This research focuses on the methods of introduction into BDSM, role identification, and the management of private information as it relates to BDSM. The method utilized for this study was in-depth interviews of fifteen current participants in the BDSM subculture. It is primarily through peer association, sexual scripting, and impression management that new members are introduced, learn their role, and manage their information within the BDSM subculture. It was found that peer association is the primary method of socializing members. Role identification is accomplished through both a method of sexual scripting as well as complimentary differentiation, the process by which a stimulus is transmitted and received, and subsequent stimuli are transmitted back, reinterpreted and responded to. It is through impression management and stigma management that members learn to maintain the privacy of their participation. Future research should include additional analysis with a larger sample size to determine if the current findings will continue to hold true

Groundwater in the Inner Bluegrass Karst Region, Kentucky

The hydrogeology of about 12% of the 5600 km2 Inner Bluegrass Karst Region of central Kentucky was investigated by water tracing and other techniques. Using fluorescent dyes adsorbed on fabric and charcoal detectors, 96 traces (average length 2.7 km, maximum length 15 km) resulted in the identification of 38 groundwater basins (with areas up to 15 km2). Within the basins, subsurface flow is in a dendritic conduit system at depths up to 30 m below the surface, while in the interbasin areas which separate them flow is generally less than 5 m deep. Each groundwater basin discharges at a spring whose median discharge is approximately 20 l/s·km2 of basin area. The largest spring (Royal Spring) in the study area has a median discharge greater than 300 l/s (Meinzer second magnitude). The Ordovician Lexington Limestone which underlies the region is thin bedded with shale partings and argillaceous units. Within groundwater basins, sinkhole drains and other conduits have breached the interbedded shales and descend nearly vertically to a level determined by equilibrium flow in the larger conduits. The general location and flow directions in groundwater basins is probably determined by a potentiometric gradient prior to conduit development, and some basins are localized by a favorably oriented regional joint set or other structural element. Otherwise, lithologic and structural factors have little influence in the occurrence and flow of subsurface water in the region

First Results from the CHARA Array. II. A Description of the Instrument

The CHARA Array is a six 1-m telescope optical/IR interferometric array located on Mount Wilson California, designed and built by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy of Georgia State University. In this paper we describe the main elements of the Array hardware and software control systems as well as the data reduction methods currently being used. Our plans for upgrades in the near future are also described

Social network analysis shows direct evidence for social transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees

The authors are grateful to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for providing core funding for the Budongo Conservation Field Station. The fieldwork of CH was funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the Lucie Burgers Stichting, and the British Academy. TP was funded by the Canadian Research Chair in Continental Ecosystem Ecology, and received computational support from the Theoretical Ecosystem Ecology group at UQAR. The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) and from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) REA grant agreement n°329197 awarded to TG, ERC grant agreement n° 283871 awarded to KZ. WH was funded by a BBSRC grant (BB/I007997/1).Social network analysis methods have made it possible to test whether novel behaviors in animals spread through individual or social learning. To date, however, social network analysis of wild populations has been limited to static models that cannot precisely reflect the dynamics of learning, for instance, the impact of multiple observations across time. Here, we present a novel dynamic version of network analysis that is capable of capturing temporal aspects of acquisition-that is, how successive observations by an individual influence its acquisition of the novel behavior. We apply this model to studying the spread of two novel tool-use variants, "moss-sponging'' and "leaf-sponge re-use,'' in the Sonso chimpanzee community of Budongo Forest, Uganda. Chimpanzees are widely considered the most "cultural'' of all animal species, with 39 behaviors suspected as socially acquired, most of them in the domain of tool-use. The cultural hypothesis is supported by experimental data from captive chimpanzees and a range of observational data. However, for wild groups, there is still no direct experimental evidence for social learning, nor has there been any direct observation of social diffusion of behavioral innovations. Here, we tested both a static and a dynamic network model and found strong evidence that diffusion patterns of moss-sponging, but not leaf-sponge re-use, were significantly better explained by social than individual learning. The most conservative estimate of social transmission accounted for 85% of observed events, with an estimated 15-fold increase in learning rate for each time a novice observed an informed individual moss-sponging. We conclude that group-specific behavioral variants in wild chimpanzees can be socially learned, adding to the evidence that this prerequisite for culture originated in a common ancestor of great apes and humans, long before the advent of modern humans.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The stylomastoid artery as an anatomical landmark to the facial nerve during parotid surgery: a clinico-anatomic study

BACKGROUND: The identification of the facial nerve can be difficult in a bloody operative field or by an incision that limits exposure; hence anatomical landmarks and adequate operative exposure can aid such identification and preservation. In this clinico-anatomic study, we examined the stylomastoid artery (SMA) and its relation to the facial nerve trunk; the origin of the artery was identified on cadavers and its nature was confirmed histologically. METHODS: The clinical component of the study included prospective reviewing of 100 consecutive routine parotidectomies; while, the anatomical component of the study involved dissecting 50 cadaveric hemifaces. RESULTS: We could consistently identify a supplying vessel, stylomastoid artery, which tends to vary less in position than the facial nerve. Following this vessel, a few millimetres inferiorly and medially, we have gone on to identify the facial nerve trunk, which it supplies, with relative ease. The origin of the stylomastoid artery, in our study, was either from the occipital artery or the posterior auricular artery. CONCLUSION: This anatomical aid, the stylomastoid artery, when supplemented by the other more commonly known anatomical landmarks and intra-operative facial nerve monitoring further reduces the risk of iatrogenic facial nerve damage and operative time