Laboratory spectroscopy in support of atmospheric measurements

Optical measurements of trace species in the atmosphere require precise, accurate spectroscopic data for the molecules under study. This laboratory exits to provide high quality spectroscopic data for the interpretation of data from existing satellite, balloon, ground, and aircraft instruments, as well as to provide sufficient data to assess the feasibility of new instruments

Ground-based lidar measurements of stratospheric ozone. The NASA/GSFC stratospheric ozone lidar trailer experiment STROZ LITE

The major research objective is the measurement of high precision vertical profiles of ozone between 20-40 kilometers. The precision is such that the instrument should be capable of detecting a small trend (on the order of less that 1 percent per year) over a 5-10 year period. Temperature was measured between 30 and 365 km. The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) mobile lidar was installed at Table Mountain and a comparison between it and the permanent Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) lidar was made over the course of about 3 weeks. The lidars agreed very well between 20 and 40 km, and under certain conditions up to 45-47 km. There were several anomalies that both lidars followed very well. Agreement with Rocket Ozonesonde (ROCOZ) and electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) sondes was also very good

Characterizing the Vertical Processes of Ozone in Colorado's Front Range Using the GSFC Ozone Dial

Although characterizing the interactions of ozone throughout the entire troposphere are important for health and climate processes, there is a lack of routine measurements of vertical profiles within the United States. In order to monitor this lower ozone more effectively, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center TROPospheric OZone DIfferential Absorption Lidar (GSFC TROPOZDIAL) has been developed and validated within the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet). Two scientifically interesting ozone episodes are presented that were observed during the 2014 Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER AQ) campaign at Ft. Collins,Colorado.The first case study, occurring between 22-23 July 2014, indicates enhanced concentrations of ozone at Ft. Collins during nighttime hours, which was due to the complex recirculation of ozone within the foothills of the Rocky Mountain region. Although quantifying the ozone increase a loft during recirculation episodes has been historically difficult, results indicate that an increase of 20 -30 ppbv of ozone at the Ft. Collins site has been attributed to this recirculation. The second case, occurring between Aug 4-8th 2014, characterizes a dynamical exchange of ozone between the stratosphere and the troposphere. This case, along with seasonal model parameters from previous years, is used to estimate the stratospheric contribution to the Rocky Mountain region. Results suggest that a large amount of stratospheric air is residing in the troposphere in the summertime near Ft. Collins, CO. The results also indicate that warmer tropopauses are correlated with an increase in stratospheric air below the tropopause in the Rocky Mountain Region

Are cryptocurrencies a safe haven for equity markets? An international perspective from the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic provided the first widespread bear market conditions since the inception of cryptocurrencies. We test the widely mooted safe haven properties of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether from the perspective of international equity index investors. Bitcoin and Ethereum are not a safe haven for the majority of international equity markets examined, in fact increasing portfolio downside risk. Only investors in the Chinese CSI 300 index realized modest downside risk benefits, but only from small relative allocations to Bitcoin or Ethereum. As Tether successfully maintained its peg to the US dollar during the COVID-19 turmoil, it acted as a safe haven investment for all of the international indices examined. We caveat the latter findings with a warning that this dollar peg has not always been maintained, impairing the earlier downside risk hedging properties of Tether

Support of Gulf of Mexico Hydrate Research Consortium: Activities of Support Establishment of a Sea Floor Monitoring Station Project

The Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium (GOM-HRC) was established in 1999 to assemble leaders in gas hydrates research that shared the need for a way to conduct investigations of gas hydrates and their stability zone in the Gulf of Mexico in situ on a more-or-less continuous basis. The primary objective of the group is to design and emplace a remote monitoring station or sea floor observatory (SFO) on the sea floor in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in an area where gas hydrates are known to be present at, or just below, the sea floor and to discover the configuration and composition of the subsurface pathways or 'plumbing' through which fluids migrate into and out of the hydrate stability zone (HSZ) to the sediment-water interface. Monitoring changes in this zone and linking them to coincident and perhaps consequent events at the seafloor and within the water column is the eventual goal of the Consortium. This mission includes investigations of the physical, chemical and biological components of the gas hydrate stability zone - the sea-floor/sediment-water interface, the near-sea-floor water column, and the shallow subsurface sediments. The eventual goal is to monitor changes in the hydrate stability zone over time. Establishment of the Consortium succeeded in fulfilling the critical need to coordinate activities, avoid redundancies and communicate effectively among those involved in gas hydrates research. Complementary expertise, both scientific and technical, has been assembled to promote innovative methods and construct necessary instrumentation. Following extensive investigation into candidate sites, Mississippi Canyon 118 (MC118) was chosen by consensus of the Consortium at their fall, 2004, meeting as the site most likely to satisfy all criteria established by the group. Much of the preliminary work preceding the establishment of the site - sensor development and testing, geophysical surveys, and laboratory studies - has been reported in agency documents including the Final Technical Report to DOE covering Cooperative Agreement DEFC26-00NT40920 and Semiannual Progress Reports for this award, DE-FC26-02NT41628. Initial components of the observatory, a probe that collects pore-fluid samples and another that records sea floor temperatures, were deployed in MC118 in May of 2005. Follow-up deployments, planned for fall 2005, had to be postponed due to the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina (and later, Rita) on the Gulf Coast. SFO completion, now anticipated for 2009-10, has, therefore, been delayed. Although delays caused scheduling and deployment difficulties, many sensors and instruments were completed during this period. Software has been written that will accommodate the data that the station retrieves, when it begins to be delivered. In addition, new seismic data processing software has been written to treat the peculiar data to be received by the vertical line array (VLA) and additional software has been developed that will address the horizontal line array (HLA) data. These packages have been tested on data from the test deployments of the VLA and on data from other, similar, areas of the Gulf (in the case of the HLA software). During the life of this Cooperative Agreement (CA), the CMRET conducted many cruises. Early in the program these were executed primarily to survey potential sites and test sensors and equipment being developed for the SFO. When MC118 was established as the observatory site, subsequent cruises focused on this location. Beginning in 2005 and continuing to the present, 13 research cruises to MC118 have been conducted by the Consortium. During September, 2006, the Consortium was able to secure 8 days aboard the R/V Seward Johnson with submersible Johnson SeaLink, a critical chapter in the life of the Observatory project as important documentation, tests, recoveries and deployments were accomplished during this trip (log appended). Consortium members have participated materially in a number of additional cruises including several of the NIUST autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), Eagle Ray. Activities reports summarize cruise activities, including objectives, how they were met or not met, and challenges. Deployment cruises are scheduled for 2009 that are designed to complete installation of the major observatory components

A combination nutritional supplement reduces DNA methylation age only in older adults with a raised epigenetic age

An increase in systemic inflammation (inflammaging) is one of the hallmarks of aging. Epigenetic (DNA methylation) clocks can quantify the degree of biological aging and this can be reversed by lifestyle and pharmacological intervention. We aimed to investigate whether a multi-component nutritional supplement could reduce systemic inflammation and epigenetic age in healthy older adults.We recruited 80 healthy older participants (mean age ± SD: 71.85 ± 6.23; males = 31, females = 49). Blood and saliva were obtained pre and post a 12-week course of a multi-component supplement, containing: Vitamin B3, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Omega 3 fish oils, Resveratrol, Olive fruit phenols and Astaxanthin. Plasma GDF-15 and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were quantified as markers of biological aging and inflammation respectively. DNA methylation was assessed in whole blood and saliva and used to derive epigenetic age using various clock algorithms.No difference between the epigenetic and chronological ages of participants was observed pre- and post-treatment by the blood-based Horvath or Hannum clocks, or the saliva-based InflammAge clock. However, in those with epigenetic age acceleration of ≥ 2 years at baseline, a significant reduction in epigenetic age (p = 0.015) and epigenetic age acceleration (p = 0.0058) was observed post-treatment using the saliva-based InflammAge clock. No differences were observed pre- and post-treatment in plasma GDF-15 and CRP, though participants with CRP indicative of an elevated cardiovascular disease risk (hsCRP ≥ 3µg/ml), had a reduction in CRP post-supplementation (p = 0.0195).Our data suggest a possible benefit of combined nutritional supplementation in individuals with an accelerated epigenetic age and inflammaging.</p