Sample records for tasmanian devil sarcophilus

  1. Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium and Giardia from the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).

    PubMed

    Wait, Liana F; Fox, Samantha; Peck, Sarah; Power, Michelle L

    2017-01-01

    The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial found only in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. Tasmanian devils are classified as endangered and are currently threatened by devil facial tumour disease, a lethal transmissible cancer that has decimated the wild population in Tasmania. To prevent extinction of Tasmanian devils, conservation management was implemented in 2003 under the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. This study aimed to assess if conservation management was altering the interactions between Tasmanian devils and their parasites. Molecular tools were used to investigate the prevalence and diversity of two protozoan parasites, Cryptosporidium and Giardia, in Tasmanian devils. A comparison of parasite prevalence between wild and captive Tasmanian devils showed that both Cryptosporidium and Giardia were significantly more prevalent in wild devils (p < 0.05); Cryptosporidium was identified in 37.9% of wild devils but only 10.7% of captive devils, while Giardia was identified in 24.1% of wild devils but only 0.82% of captive devils. Molecular analysis identified the presence of novel genotypes of both Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The novel Cryptosporidium genotype was 98.1% similar at the 18S rDNA to Cryptosporidium varanii (syn. C. saurophilum) with additional samples identified as C. fayeri, C. muris, and C. galli. Two novel Giardia genotypes, TD genotype 1 and TD genotype 2, were similar to G. duodenalis from dogs (94.4%) and a Giardia assemblage A isolate from humans (86.9%). Giardia duodenalis BIV, a zoonotic genotype of Giardia, was also identified in a single captive Tasmanian devil. These findings suggest that conservation management may be altering host-parasite interactions in the Tasmanian devil, and the presence of G. duodenalis BIV in a captive devil points to possible human-devil parasite transmission.

  2. Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium and Giardia from the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

    PubMed Central

    Fox, Samantha; Peck, Sarah; Power, Michelle L.

    2017-01-01

    The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial found only in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. Tasmanian devils are classified as endangered and are currently threatened by devil facial tumour disease, a lethal transmissible cancer that has decimated the wild population in Tasmania. To prevent extinction of Tasmanian devils, conservation management was implemented in 2003 under the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. This study aimed to assess if conservation management was altering the interactions between Tasmanian devils and their parasites. Molecular tools were used to investigate the prevalence and diversity of two protozoan parasites, Cryptosporidium and Giardia, in Tasmanian devils. A comparison of parasite prevalence between wild and captive Tasmanian devils showed that both Cryptosporidium and Giardia were significantly more prevalent in wild devils (p < 0.05); Cryptosporidium was identified in 37.9% of wild devils but only 10.7% of captive devils, while Giardia was identified in 24.1% of wild devils but only 0.82% of captive devils. Molecular analysis identified the presence of novel genotypes of both Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The novel Cryptosporidium genotype was 98.1% similar at the 18S rDNA to Cryptosporidium varanii (syn. C. saurophilum) with additional samples identified as C. fayeri, C. muris, and C. galli. Two novel Giardia genotypes, TD genotype 1 and TD genotype 2, were similar to G. duodenalis from dogs (94.4%) and a Giardia assemblage A isolate from humans (86.9%). Giardia duodenalis BIV, a zoonotic genotype of Giardia, was also identified in a single captive Tasmanian devil. These findings suggest that conservation management may be altering host-parasite interactions in the Tasmanian devil, and the presence of G. duodenalis BIV in a captive devil points to possible human-devil parasite transmission. PMID:28423030

  3. Nutritional status and functional digestive histology of the carnivorous Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).

    PubMed

    Stannard, Hayley J; Tong, Lydia; Shaw, Michelle; Van Sluys, Monique; McAllan, Bronwyn; Raubenheimer, David

    2017-03-01

    Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are the largest carnivorous marsupial in Australia. Currently many animals are being held in captivity as a management procedure to combat Devil Facial Tumor Disease. Only one published study thus far has investigated nutrition in Tasmanian devils, determining their maintenance energy requirements and digestibility on a rodent diet. More information is needed on Tasmanian devil nutritional and gastrointestinal function to aid in their management. Our study aimed to investigate the current nutritional status of Tasmanian devils in a captive population and functional morphology and histology of their gastrointestinal tract. Animals were maintained on a diet of kangaroo, rabbit, quail and chicken wings and digestibility of these items by the devils was high (>85% for dry matter, protein and lipid). Kangaroo and rabbit were high protein diet items while the quail and chicken wings provided high lipid to the diet, and carbohydrates were minimal (≤3% energy). Maintenance energy requirements were determined to be 620kJkg -0.75 d -1 with no significant difference between males and females. Opportunistic samples for gastrointestinal morphology were obtained from captive specimens. Tasmanian devils have a simple digestive tract similar to other dasyurid species. Both the morphology and histology of the gastrointestinal tract show specialization for a high protein carnivorous diet. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Immunoglubolin dynamics and cancer prevalence in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii)

    PubMed Central

    Ujvari, Beata; Hamede, Rodrigo; Peck, Sarah; Pemberton, David; Jones, Menna; Belov, Katherine; Madsen, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Immunoglobulins such as IgG and IgM have been shown to induce anti-tumour cytotoxic activity. In the present study we therefore explore total serum IgG and IgM expression dynamics in 23 known-aged Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) of which 9 where affected by Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). DFTD is clonally transmissible cancer that has caused massive declines in devil numbers. Our analyses revealed that IgM and IgG expression levels as well as IgM/IgG ratios decreased with increasing devil age. Neither age, sex, IgM nor IgG expression levels affected devil DFTD status in our analyses. However, devils with increased IgM relative to IgG expression levels had significantly lower DFTD prevalence. Our results therefore suggest that IgM/IgG ratios may play an important role in determining devil susceptibility to DFTD. We consequently propose that our findings warrant further studies to elucidate the underpinning(s) of devil IgM/IgG ratios and DFTD status. PMID:27126067

  5. Relict or reintroduction? Genetic population assignment of three Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) recovered on mainland Australia

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Today, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is found only on the island of Tasmania, despite once being widespread across mainland Australia. While the devil is thought to have become extinct on the mainland approximately 3000 years ago, three specimens were collected in Victoria (south-eastern Australia) between 1912 and 1991, raising the possibility that a relict mainland population survived in the area. Alternatively, these devils may have escaped captivity or were deliberately released after being transported from Tasmania, a practice that has been strictly controlled since the onset of devil facial tumour disease in the early 1990s. Such quarantine regimes are important to protect disease-free, ‘insurance populations’ in zoos on the mainland. To test whether the three Victorian devils were members of a relict mainland population or had been recently transported from Tasmania we identified seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the mitochondrial genome that can distinguish between Tasmanian and ancient mainland populations. The three Victorian devil specimens have the same seven SNPs diagnostic of modern Tasmanian devils, confirming that they were most likely transported from Tasmania and do not represent a remnant population of mainland devils. PMID:28484632

  6. Genetic diversity and population structure of the endangered marsupial Sarcophilus harrisii (Tasmanian devil)

    PubMed Central

    Miller, Webb; Hayes, Vanessa M.; Ratan, Aakrosh; Petersen, Desiree C.; Wittekindt, Nicola E.; Miller, Jason; Walenz, Brian; Knight, James; Qi, Ji; Zhao, Fangqing; Wang, Qingyu; Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C.; Katiyar, Neerja; Tomsho, Lynn P.; Kasson, Lindsay McClellan; Hardie, Rae-Anne; Woodbridge, Paula; Tindall, Elizabeth A.; Bertelsen, Mads Frost; Dixon, Dale; Pyecroft, Stephen; Helgen, Kristofer M.; Lesk, Arthur M.; Pringle, Thomas H.; Patterson, Nick; Zhang, Yu; Kreiss, Alexandre; Woods, Gregory M.; Jones, Menna E.; Schuster, Stephan C.

    2011-01-01

    The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction because of a contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease. The inability to mount an immune response and to reject these tumors might be caused by a lack of genetic diversity within a dwindling population. Here we report a whole-genome analysis of two animals originating from extreme northwest and southeast Tasmania, the maximal geographic spread, together with the genome from a tumor taken from one of them. A 3.3-Gb de novo assembly of the sequence data from two complementary next-generation sequencing platforms was used to identify 1 million polymorphic genomic positions, roughly one-quarter of the number observed between two genetically distant human genomes. Analysis of 14 complete mitochondrial genomes from current and museum specimens, as well as mitochondrial and nuclear SNP markers in 175 animals, suggests that the observed low genetic diversity in today's population preceded the Devil Facial Tumor Disease disease outbreak by at least 100 y. Using a genetically characterized breeding stock based on the genome sequence will enable preservation of the extant genetic diversity in future Tasmanian devil populations. PMID:21709235

  7. Regression of devil facial tumour disease following immunotherapy in immunised Tasmanian devils

    PubMed Central

    Tovar, Cesar; Pye, Ruth J.; Kreiss, Alexandre; Cheng, Yuanyuan; Brown, Gabriella K.; Darby, Jocelyn; Malley, Roslyn C.; Siddle, Hannah V. T.; Skjødt, Karsten; Kaufman, Jim; Silva, Anabel; Baz Morelli, Adriana; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Corcoran, Lynn M.; Murphy, James M.; Pearse, Martin J.; Belov, Katherine; Lyons, A. Bruce; Woods, Gregory M.

    2017-01-01

    Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a transmissible cancer devastating the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) population. The cancer cell is the ‘infectious’ agent transmitted as an allograft by biting. Animals usually die within a few months with no evidence of antibody or immune cell responses against the DFTD allograft. This lack of anti-tumour immunity is attributed to an absence of cell surface major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I molecule expression. While the endangerment of the devil population precludes experimentation on large experimental groups, those examined in our study indicated that immunisation and immunotherapy with DFTD cells expressing surface MHC-I corresponded with effective anti-tumour responses. Tumour engraftment did not occur in one of the five immunised Tasmanian devils, and regression followed therapy of experimentally induced DFTD tumours in three Tasmanian devils. Regression correlated with immune cell infiltration and antibody responses against DFTD cells. These data support the concept that immunisation of devils with DFTD cancer cells can successfully induce humoral responses against DFTD and trigger immune-mediated regression of established tumours. Our findings support the feasibility of a protective DFTD vaccine and ultimately the preservation of the species. PMID:28276463

  8. The devil is in the details: Transposable element analysis of the Tasmanian devil genome.

    PubMed

    Nilsson, Maria A

    2016-01-01

    The third marsupial genome was sequenced from the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii ), a species that currently is driven to extinction by a rare transmissible cancer. The transposable element (TE) landscape of the Tasmanian devil genome revealed that the main driver of retrotransposition the L ong IN terspersed E lement 1 (LINE1) seem to have become inactivated during the past 12 million years. Strangely, the S hort IN terspersed E lements (SINE), that normally hijacks the LINE1 retrotransposition system, became inactive prior to LINE1 at around 30 million years ago. The SINE inactivation was in vitro verified in several species. Here I discuss that the apparent LINE1 inactivation might be caused by a genome assembly artifact. The repetitive fraction of any genome is highly complex to assemble and the observed problems are not unique to the Tasmanian devil genome.

  9. The devil is in the details: Transposable element analysis of the Tasmanian devil genome

    PubMed Central

    Nilsson, Maria A.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT The third marsupial genome was sequenced from the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), a species that currently is driven to extinction by a rare transmissible cancer. The transposable element (TE) landscape of the Tasmanian devil genome revealed that the main driver of retrotransposition the Long INterspersed Element 1 (LINE1) seem to have become inactivated during the past 12 million years. Strangely, the Short INterspersed Elements (SINE), that normally hijacks the LINE1 retrotransposition system, became inactive prior to LINE1 at around 30 million years ago. The SINE inactivation was in vitro verified in several species. Here I discuss that the apparent LINE1 inactivation might be caused by a genome assembly artifact. The repetitive fraction of any genome is highly complex to assemble and the observed problems are not unique to the Tasmanian devil genome. PMID:27066301

  10. Genome Sequencing and Analysis of the Tasmanian Devil and Its Transmissible Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Schulz-Trieglaff, Ole B.; Ning, Zemin; Alexandrov, Ludmil B.; Bauer, Markus J.; Fu, Beiyuan; Hims, Matthew; Ding, Zhihao; Ivakhno, Sergii; Stewart, Caitlin; Ng, Bee Ling; Wong, Wendy; Aken, Bronwen; White, Simon; Alsop, Amber; Becq, Jennifer; Bignell, Graham R.; Cheetham, R. Keira; Cheng, William; Connor, Thomas R.; Cox, Anthony J.; Feng, Zhi-Ping; Gu, Yong; Grocock, Russell J.; Harris, Simon R.; Khrebtukova, Irina; Kingsbury, Zoya; Kowarsky, Mark; Kreiss, Alexandre; Luo, Shujun; Marshall, John; McBride, David J.; Murray, Lisa; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Raine, Keiran; Rasolonjatovo, Isabelle; Shaw, Richard; Tedder, Philip; Tregidgo, Carolyn; Vilella, Albert J.; Wedge, David C.; Woods, Gregory M.; Gormley, Niall; Humphray, Sean; Schroth, Gary; Smith, Geoffrey; Hall, Kevin; Searle, Stephen M.J.; Carter, Nigel P.; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Futreal, P. Andrew; Campbell, Peter J.; Yang, Fengtang; Bentley, David R.; Evers, Dirk J.; Stratton, Michael R.

    2012-01-01

    Summary The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), the largest marsupial carnivore, is endangered due to a transmissible facial cancer spread by direct transfer of living cancer cells through biting. Here we describe the sequencing, assembly, and annotation of the Tasmanian devil genome and whole-genome sequences for two geographically distant subclones of the cancer. Genomic analysis suggests that the cancer first arose from a female Tasmanian devil and that the clone has subsequently genetically diverged during its spread across Tasmania. The devil cancer genome contains more than 17,000 somatic base substitution mutations and bears the imprint of a distinct mutational process. Genotyping of somatic mutations in 104 geographically and temporally distributed Tasmanian devil tumors reveals the pattern of evolution and spread of this parasitic clonal lineage, with evidence of a selective sweep in one geographical area and persistence of parallel lineages in other populations. PaperClip PMID:22341448

  11. Lack of genetic diversity across diverse immune genes in an endangered mammal, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).

    PubMed

    Morris, Katrina M; Wright, Belinda; Grueber, Catherine E; Hogg, Carolyn; Belov, Katherine

    2015-08-01

    The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction due to the spread of devil facial tumour disease. Polymorphisms in immune genes can provide adaptive potential to resist diseases. Previous studies in diversity at immune loci in wild species have almost exclusively focused on genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC); however, these genes only account for a fraction of immune gene diversity. Devils lack diversity at functionally important immunity loci, including MHC and Toll-like receptor genes. Whether there are polymorphisms at devil immune genes outside these two families is unknown. Here, we identify polymorphisms in a wide range of key immune genes, and develop assays to type single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a subset of these genes. A total of 167 immune genes were examined, including cytokines, chemokines and natural killer cell receptors. Using genome-level data from ten devils, SNPs within coding regions, introns and 10 kb flanking genes of interest were identified. We found low polymorphism across 167 immune genes examined bioinformatically using whole-genome data. From this data, we developed long amplicon assays to target nine genes. These amplicons were sequenced in 29-220 devils and found to contain 78 SNPs, including eight SNPS within exons. Despite the extreme paucity of genetic diversity within these genes, signatures of balancing selection were exhibited by one chemokine gene, suggesting that remaining diversity may hold adaptive potential. The low functional diversity may leave devils highly vulnerable to infectious disease, and therefore, monitoring and preserving remaining diversity will be critical for the long-term management of this species. Examining genetic variation in diverse immune genes should be a priority for threatened wildlife species. This study can act as a model for broad-scale immunogenetic diversity analysis in threatened species. © 2015 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published

  12. Horizontal transfer of OC1 transposons in the Tasmanian devil.

    PubMed

    Gilbert, Clement; Waters, Paul; Feschotte, Cedric; Schaack, Sarah

    2013-02-27

    There is growing recognition that horizontal DNA transfer, a process known to be common in prokaryotes, is also a significant source of genomic variation in eukaryotes. Horizontal transfer of transposable elements (HTT) may be especially prevalent in eukaryotes given the inherent mobility, widespread occurrence, and prolific abundance of these elements in many eukaryotic genomes. Here, we provide evidence for a new case of HTT of the transposon family OposCharlie1 (OC1) in the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii. Bioinformatic analyses of OC1 sequences in the Tasmanian devil genome suggest that this transposon infiltrated the common ancestor of the Dasyuridae family ~17 million years ago. This estimate is corroborated by a PCR-based screen for the presence/absence of this family in Tasmanian devils and closely-related species. This case of HTT is the first to be reported in dasyurids. It brings the number of animal lineages independently invaded by OC1 to 12, and adds a fourth continent to the pandemic-like pattern of invasion of this transposon. In the context of these data, we discuss the evolutionary history of this transposon family and its potential impact on the diversification of marsupials.

  13. Horizontal transfer of OC1 transposons in the Tasmanian devil

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background There is growing recognition that horizontal DNA transfer, a process known to be common in prokaryotes, is also a significant source of genomic variation in eukaryotes. Horizontal transfer of transposable elements (HTT) may be especially prevalent in eukaryotes given the inherent mobility, widespread occurrence, and prolific abundance of these elements in many eukaryotic genomes. Results Here, we provide evidence for a new case of HTT of the transposon family OposCharlie1 (OC1) in the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii. Bioinformatic analyses of OC1 sequences in the Tasmanian devil genome suggest that this transposon infiltrated the common ancestor of the Dasyuridae family ~17 million years ago. This estimate is corroborated by a PCR-based screen for the presence/absence of this family in Tasmanian devils and closely-related species. Conclusions This case of HTT is the first to be reported in dasyurids. It brings the number of animal lineages independently invaded by OC1 to 12, and adds a fourth continent to the pandemic-like pattern of invasion of this transposon. In the context of these data, we discuss the evolutionary history of this transposon family and its potential impact on the diversification of marsupials. PMID:23445260

  14. Expansion of CORE-SINEs in the genome of the Tasmanian devil

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The genome of the carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii, Order: Dasyuromorphia), was sequenced in the hopes of finding a cure for or gaining a better understanding of the contagious devil facial tumor disease that is threatening the species’ survival. To better understand the Tasmanian devil genome, we screened it for transposable elements and investigated the dynamics of short interspersed element (SINE) retroposons. Results The temporal history of Tasmanian devil SINEs, elucidated using a transposition in transposition analysis, indicates that WSINE1, a CORE-SINE present in around 200,000 copies, is the most recently active element. Moreover, we discovered a new subtype of WSINE1 (WSINE1b) that comprises at least 90% of all Tasmanian devil WSINE1s. The frequencies of WSINE1 subtypes differ in the genomes of two of the other Australian marsupial orders. A co-segregation analysis indicated that at least 66 subfamilies of WSINE1 evolved during the evolution of Dasyuromorphia. Using a substitution rate derived from WSINE1 insertions, the ages of the subfamilies were estimated and correlated with a newly established phylogeny of Dasyuromorphia. Phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates of mitochondrial genome data indicate a rapid radiation of the Tasmanian devil and the closest relative the quolls (Dasyurus) around 14 million years ago. Conclusions The radiation and abundance of CORE-SINEs in marsupial genomes indicates that they may be a major player in the evolution of marsupials. It is evident that the early phases of evolution of the carnivorous marsupial order Dasyuromorphia was characterized by a burst of SINE activity. A correlation between a speciation event and a major burst of retroposon activity is for the first time shown in a marsupial genome. PMID:22559330

  15. Expansion of CORE-SINEs in the genome of the Tasmanian devil.

    PubMed

    Nilsson, Maria A; Janke, Axel; Murchison, Elizabeth P; Ning, Zemin; Hallström, Björn M

    2012-05-06

    The genome of the carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii, Order: Dasyuromorphia), was sequenced in the hopes of finding a cure for or gaining a better understanding of the contagious devil facial tumor disease that is threatening the species' survival. To better understand the Tasmanian devil genome, we screened it for transposable elements and investigated the dynamics of short interspersed element (SINE) retroposons. The temporal history of Tasmanian devil SINEs, elucidated using a transposition in transposition analysis, indicates that WSINE1, a CORE-SINE present in around 200,000 copies, is the most recently active element. Moreover, we discovered a new subtype of WSINE1 (WSINE1b) that comprises at least 90% of all Tasmanian devil WSINE1s. The frequencies of WSINE1 subtypes differ in the genomes of two of the other Australian marsupial orders. A co-segregation analysis indicated that at least 66 subfamilies of WSINE1 evolved during the evolution of Dasyuromorphia. Using a substitution rate derived from WSINE1 insertions, the ages of the subfamilies were estimated and correlated with a newly established phylogeny of Dasyuromorphia. Phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates of mitochondrial genome data indicate a rapid radiation of the Tasmanian devil and the closest relative the quolls (Dasyurus) around 14 million years ago. The radiation and abundance of CORE-SINEs in marsupial genomes indicates that they may be a major player in the evolution of marsupials. It is evident that the early phases of evolution of the carnivorous marsupial order Dasyuromorphia was characterized by a burst of SINE activity. A correlation between a speciation event and a major burst of retroposon activity is for the first time shown in a marsupial genome.

  16. Low major histocompatibility complex diversity in the Tasmanian devil predates European settlement and may explain susceptibility to disease epidemics

    PubMed Central

    Morris, Katrina; Austin, Jeremy J.; Belov, Katherine

    2013-01-01

    The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is at risk of extinction owing to the emergence of a contagious cancer known as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). The emergence and spread of DFTD has been linked to low genetic diversity in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). We examined MHC diversity in historical and ancient devils to determine whether loss of diversity is recent or predates European settlement in Australia. Our results reveal no additional diversity in historical Tasmanian samples. Mainland devils had common modern variants plus six new variants that are highly similar to existing alleles. We conclude that low MHC diversity has been a feature of devil populations since at least the Mid-Holocene and could explain their tumultuous history of population crashes. PMID:23221872

  17. Mitogen-induced responses in lymphocytes from platypus, the Tasmanian devil and the eastern barred bandicoot.

    PubMed

    Stewart, N J; Bettiol, S S; Kreiss, A; Fox, N; Woods, G M

    2008-10-01

    As the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisi) and the eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunni) are currently at risk of serious population decline or extinction from fatal diseases in Tasmania, the goal of the present study was to describe the normal immune response of these species to challenge using the lymphocyte proliferation assay, to give a solid basis for further studies. For this preliminary study, we performed lymphocyte proliferation assays on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from the three species. We used the common mitogens phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (ConA), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM). All three species recorded the highest stimulation index (SI) with the T-cell mitogens PHA and ConA. Tasmanian devils and bandicoots had greater responses than platypuses, although variability between individual animals was high. For the first time, we report the normal cellular response of the platypus, the Tasmanian devil and the eastern barred bandicoot to a range of commonly used mitogens.

  18. Vincristine Chemotherapy Trials and Pharmacokinetics in Tasmanian Devils with Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease

    PubMed Central

    Phalen, David N.; Frimberger, Angela; Pyecroft, Stephen; Peck, Sarah; Harmsen, Colette; Lola, Suzanneth; de Mello Mattos, Beatriz; Li, Kong M.; McLachlan, Andrew J.; Moore, Antony

    2013-01-01

    Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) is a transmissible cancer threatening to cause the extinction of Tasmanian Devils in the wild. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility of the DFTD to vincristine. Escalating dosage rates of vincristine (0.05 to 0.136 mg/kg) were given to Tasmanian devils in the early stages of DFTD (n = 8). None of these dosage rates impacted the outcome of the disease. A dosage rate of 0.105 mg/kg, a rate significantly higher than that given in humans or domestic animals, was found to the highest dosage rate that could be administered safely. Signs of toxicity included anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea and neutropenia. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that, as with other species, there was a rapid drop in blood concentration following a rapid intravenous infusion with a high volume of distribution (1.96 L/kg) and a relatively long elimination half life (11 h). Plasma clearance (1.8 ml/min/kg) was slower in the Tasmanian devil than in humans, suggesting that pharmacodynamics and not pharmacokinetics explain the Tasmanian devil’s ability to tolerate high dosage rates of vincristine. While providing base-line data for the use of vincristine in Tasmanian devils and possibly other marsupials with vincristine susceptible cancers, these findings strongly suggest that vincristine will not be effective in the treatment of DFTD. PMID:23762298

  19. Evolutionary Histories of Transposable Elements in the Genome of the Largest Living Marsupial Carnivore, the Tasmanian Devil

    PubMed Central

    Gallus, Susanne; Hallström, Björn M; Kumar, Vikas; Dodt, William G; Janke, Axel; Schumann, Gerald G; Nilsson, Maria A

    2015-01-01

    The largest living carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), is the sole survivor of a lineage originating about 12 Ma. We set out to investigate the spectrum of transposable elements found in the Tasmanian devil genome, the first high-coverage genome of an Australian marsupial. Marsupial genomes have been shown to have the highest amount of transposable elements among vertebrates. We analyzed the horizontally transmitted DNA transposons OC1 and hAT-1_MEu in the Tasmanian devil genome. OC1 is present in all carnivorous marsupials, while having a very limited distribution among the remaining Australian marsupial orders. In contrast, hAT-1_MEu is present in all Australian marsupial orders, and has so far only been identified in a few placental mammals. We screened 158 introns for phylogenetically informative retrotransposons in the order Dasyuromorphia, and found that the youngest SINE (Short INterspersed Element), WSINE1, is no longer active in the subfamily Dasyuridae. The lack of detectable WSINE1 activity in this group may be due to a retrotransposon inactivation event approximately 30 Ma. We found that the Tasmanian devil genome contains a relatively low number of continuous full-length LINE-1 (Long INterspersed Element 1, L1) retrotransposons compared with the opossum genome. Furthermore, all L1 elements in the Tasmanian devil appeared to be nonfunctional. Hidden Markov Model approaches suggested that other potential sources of functional reverse transcriptase are absent from the genome. We discuss the issues associated with assembling long, highly similar L1 copies from short read Illumina data and describe how assembly artifacts can potentially lead to erroneous conclusions. PMID:25633377

  20. Rapid evolutionary response to a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

    PubMed Central

    Epstein, Brendan; Jones, Menna; Hamede, Rodrigo; Hendricks, Sarah; McCallum, Hamish; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Schönfeld, Barbara; Wiench, Cody; Hohenlohe, Paul; Storfer, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    Although cancer rarely acts as an infectious disease, a recently emerged transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) is virtually 100% fatal. Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has swept across nearly the entire species' range, resulting in localized declines exceeding 90% and an overall species decline of more than 80% in less than 20 years. Despite epidemiological models that predict extinction, populations in long-diseased sites persist. Here we report rare genomic evidence of a rapid, parallel evolutionary response to strong selection imposed by a wildlife disease. We identify two genomic regions that contain genes related to immune function or cancer risk in humans that exhibit concordant signatures of selection across three populations. DFTD spreads between hosts by suppressing and evading the immune system, and our results suggest that hosts are evolving immune-modulated resistance that could aid in species persistence in the face of this devastating disease. PMID:27575253

  1. Evidence that disease-induced population decline changes genetic structure and alters dispersal patterns in the Tasmanian devil

    PubMed Central

    Lachish, S; Miller, K J; Storfer, A; Goldizen, A W; Jones, M E

    2011-01-01

    Infectious disease has been shown to be a major cause of population declines in wild animals. However, there remains little empirical evidence on the genetic consequences of disease-mediated population declines, or how such perturbations might affect demographic processes such as dispersal. Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has resulted in the rapid decline of the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii, and threatens to cause extinction. Using 10 microsatellite DNA markers, we compared genetic diversity and structure before and after DFTD outbreaks in three Tasmanian devil populations to assess the genetic consequences of disease-induced population decline. We also used both genetic and demographic data to investigate dispersal patterns in Tasmanian devils along the east coast of Tasmania. We observed a significant increase in inbreeding (FIS pre/post-disease −0.030/0.012, P<0.05; relatedness pre/post-disease 0.011/0.038, P=0.06) in devil populations after just 2–3 generations of disease arrival, but no detectable change in genetic diversity. Furthermore, although there was no subdivision apparent among pre-disease populations (θ=0.005, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.003 to 0.017), we found significant genetic differentiation among populations post-disease (θ=0.020, 0.010–0.027), apparently driven by a combination of selection and altered dispersal patterns of females in disease-affected populations. We also show that dispersal is male-biased in devils and that dispersal distances follow a typical leptokurtic distribution. Our results show that disease can result in genetic and demographic changes in host populations over few generations and short time scales. Ongoing management of Tasmanian devils must now attempt to maintain genetic variability in this species through actions designed to reverse the detrimental effects of inbreeding and subdivision in disease-affected populations. PMID:20216571

  2. Transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils: localized lineage replacement and host population response

    PubMed Central

    Hamede, Rodrigo K.; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Swift, Kate; Barmuta, Leon A.; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Jones, Menna E.

    2015-01-01

    Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a clonally transmissible cancer threatening the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) with extinction. Live cancer cells are the infectious agent, transmitted to new hosts when individuals bite each other. Over the 18 years since DFTD was first observed, distinct genetic and karyotypic sublineages have evolved. In this longitudinal study, we investigate the associations between tumour karyotype, epidemic patterns and host demographic response to the disease. Reduced host population effects and low DFTD infection rates were associated with high prevalence of tetraploid tumours. Subsequent replacement by a diploid variant of DFTD coincided with a rapid increase in disease prevalence, population decline and reduced mean age of the population. Our results suggest a role for tumour genetics in DFTD transmission dynamics and epidemic outcome. Future research, for this and other highly pathogenic emerging infectious diseases, should focus on understanding the evolution of host and pathogen genotypes, their effects on susceptibility and tolerance to infection, and their implications for designing novel genetic management strategies. This study provides evidence for a rapid localized lineage replacement occurring within a transmissible cancer epidemic and highlights the possibility that distinct DFTD genetic lineages may harbour traits that influence pathogen fitness. PMID:26336167

  3. Evolution in a transmissible cancer: a study of the chromosomal changes in devil facial tumor (DFT) as it spreads through the wild Tasmanian devil population.

    PubMed

    Pearse, Anne-Maree; Swift, Kate; Hodson, Pamela; Hua, Bobby; McCallum, Hamish; Pyecroft, Stephen; Taylor, Robyn; Eldridge, Mark D B; Belov, Katherine

    2012-03-01

    Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are the largest extant marsupial carnivores. This species, now confined to Tasmania, is endangered from the emergence of a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). In the present study, we use cytogenetic and molecular techniques to examine the stability of devil facial tumor (DFT) cell lines across time and space. This article describes disease progression from February 2004 to June 2011. We demonstrate evolutionary changes in the disease, which affects devils in different sites across Tasmania and over a period of several years, producing several chromosomal variants (strains) that are capable of transmission between devils. We describe the evolution of DFTs in the field and speculate on the possible impacts on the disease, including (1) development of less aggressive forms of the disease; (2) development of more aggressive forms of the disease; (3) development of forms capable of affecting closely related species of dasyurids (e.g., quolls); (4) extinction of the disease as it acquires additional deleterious mutations that affect either cell viability or transmissibility; and (5) co-evolution of the disease and the host. We also speculate about the future of the Tasmanian devil in the wild. We note that although DFTs are regarded as unstable by comparison with another much older transmissible cancer, canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), the potential for development of less aggressive forms of DFTs or for development of resistance in devils is limited by devils' small numbers, low genetic diversity, and restricted geographical distribution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Comparative Analysis of Immune Checkpoint Molecules and Their Potential Role in the Transmissible Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease

    PubMed Central

    Flies, Andrew S.; Blackburn, Nicholas B.; Lyons, Alan Bruce; Hayball, John D.; Woods, Gregory M.

    2017-01-01

    Immune checkpoint molecules function as a system of checks and balances that enhance or inhibit immune responses to infectious agents, foreign tissues, and cancerous cells. Immunotherapies that target immune checkpoint molecules, particularly the inhibitory molecules programmed cell death 1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), have revolutionized human oncology in recent years, yet little is known about these key immune signaling molecules in species other than primates and rodents. The Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease is caused by transmissible cancers that have resulted in a massive decline in the wild Tasmanian devil population. We have recently demonstrated that the inhibitory checkpoint molecule PD-L1 is upregulated on Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) facial tumor cells in response to the interferon-gamma cytokine. As this could play a role in immune evasion by tumor cells, we performed a thorough comparative analysis of checkpoint molecule protein sequences among Tasmanian devils and eight other species. We report that many of the key signaling motifs and ligand-binding sites in the checkpoint molecules are highly conserved across the estimated 162 million years of evolution since the last common ancestor of placental and non-placental mammals. Specifically, we discovered that the CTLA-4 (MYPPPY) ligand-binding motif and the CTLA-4 (GVYVKM) inhibitory domain are completely conserved across all nine species used in our comparative analysis, suggesting that the function of CTLA-4 is likely conserved in these species. We also found that cysteine residues for intra- and intermolecular disulfide bonds were also highly conserved. For instance, all 20 cysteine residues involved in disulfide bonds in the human 4-1BB molecule were also present in devil 4-1BB. Although many key sequences were conserved, we have also identified immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs) and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motifs (ITSMs

  5. A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils.

    PubMed

    Pye, Ruth J; Pemberton, David; Tovar, Cesar; Tubio, Jose M C; Dun, Karen A; Fox, Samantha; Darby, Jocelyn; Hayes, Dane; Knowles, Graeme W; Kreiss, Alexandre; Siddle, Hannah V T; Swift, Kate; Lyons, A Bruce; Murchison, Elizabeth P; Woods, Gregory M

    2016-01-12

    Clonally transmissible cancers are somatic cell lineages that are spread between individuals via the transfer of living cancer cells. There are only three known naturally occurring transmissible cancers, and these affect dogs, soft-shell clams, and Tasmanian devils, respectively. The Tasmanian devil transmissible facial cancer was first observed in 1996, and is threatening its host species with extinction. Until now, this disease has been consistently associated with a single aneuploid cancer cell lineage that we refer to as DFT1. Here we describe a second transmissible cancer, DFT2, in five devils located in southern Tasmania in 2014 and 2015. DFT2 causes facial tumors that are grossly indistinguishable but histologically distinct from those caused by DFT1. DFT2 bears no detectable cytogenetic similarity to DFT1 and carries a Y chromosome, which contrasts with the female origin of DFT1. DFT2 shows different alleles to both its hosts and DFT1 at microsatellite, structural variant, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci, confirming that it is a second cancer that can be transmitted between devils as an allogeneic, MHC-discordant graft. These findings indicate that Tasmanian devils have spawned at least two distinct transmissible cancer lineages and suggest that transmissible cancers may arise more frequently in nature than previously considered. The discovery of DFT2 presents important challenges for the conservation of Tasmanian devils and raises the possibility that this species is particularly prone to the emergence of transmissible cancers. More generally, our findings highlight the potential for cancer cells to depart from their hosts and become dangerous transmissible pathogens.

  6. Extreme Telomere Length Dimorphism in the Tasmanian Devil and Related Marsupials Suggests Parental Control of Telomere Length

    PubMed Central

    Bender, Hannah S.; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Pickett, Hilda A.; Deakin, Janine E.; Strong, Margaret A.; Conlan, Carly; McMillan, Daniel A.; Neumann, Axel A.; Greider, Carol W.; Hannon, Gregory J.; Reddel, Roger R.; Graves, Jennifer A. Marshall.

    2012-01-01

    Telomeres, specialised structures that protect chromosome ends, play a critical role in preserving chromosome integrity. Telomere dynamics in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) are of particular interest in light of the emergence of devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), a transmissible malignancy that causes rapid mortality and threatens the species with extinction. We used fluorescent in situ hybridisation to investigate telomere length in DFTD cells, in healthy Tasmanian devils and in four closely related marsupial species. Here we report that animals in the Order Dasyuromorphia have chromosomes characterised by striking telomere length dimorphism between homologues. Findings in sex chromosomes suggest that telomere length dimorphism may be regulated by events in the parental germlines. Long telomeres on the Y chromosome imply that telomere lengthening occurs during spermatogenesis, whereas telomere diminution occurs during oogenesis. Although found in several somatic cell tissue types, telomere length dimorphism was not found in DFTD cancer cells, which are characterised by uniformly short telomeres. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of naturally occurring telomere length dimorphism in any species and suggests a novel strategy of telomere length control. Comparative studies in five distantly related marsupials and a monotreme indicate that telomere dimorphism evolved at least 50 million years ago. PMID:23049977

  7. A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

    PubMed Central

    Pye, Ruth J.; Pemberton, David; Tovar, Cesar; Tubio, Jose M. C.; Dun, Karen A.; Fox, Samantha; Darby, Jocelyn; Hayes, Dane; Knowles, Graeme W.; Kreiss, Alexandre; Siddle, Hannah V. T.; Swift, Kate; Lyons, A. Bruce; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Woods, Gregory M.

    2016-01-01

    Clonally transmissible cancers are somatic cell lineages that are spread between individuals via the transfer of living cancer cells. There are only three known naturally occurring transmissible cancers, and these affect dogs, soft-shell clams, and Tasmanian devils, respectively. The Tasmanian devil transmissible facial cancer was first observed in 1996, and is threatening its host species with extinction. Until now, this disease has been consistently associated with a single aneuploid cancer cell lineage that we refer to as DFT1. Here we describe a second transmissible cancer, DFT2, in five devils located in southern Tasmania in 2014 and 2015. DFT2 causes facial tumors that are grossly indistinguishable but histologically distinct from those caused by DFT1. DFT2 bears no detectable cytogenetic similarity to DFT1 and carries a Y chromosome, which contrasts with the female origin of DFT1. DFT2 shows different alleles to both its hosts and DFT1 at microsatellite, structural variant, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci, confirming that it is a second cancer that can be transmitted between devils as an allogeneic, MHC-discordant graft. These findings indicate that Tasmanian devils have spawned at least two distinct transmissible cancer lineages and suggest that transmissible cancers may arise more frequently in nature than previously considered. The discovery of DFT2 presents important challenges for the conservation of Tasmanian devils and raises the possibility that this species is particularly prone to the emergence of transmissible cancers. More generally, our findings highlight the potential for cancer cells to depart from their hosts and become dangerous transmissible pathogens. PMID:26711993

  8. Relaxation of risk-sensitive behaviour of prey following disease-induced decline of an apex predator, the Tasmanian devil

    PubMed Central

    Hollings, Tracey; McCallum, Hamish; Kreger, Kaely; Mooney, Nick; Jones, Menna

    2015-01-01

    Apex predators structure ecosystems through lethal and non-lethal interactions with prey, and their global decline is causing loss of ecological function. Behavioural changes of prey are some of the most rapid responses to predator decline and may act as an early indicator of cascading effects. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), an apex predator, is undergoing progressive and extensive population decline, of more than 90% in long-diseased areas, caused by a novel disease. Time since local disease outbreak correlates with devil population declines and thus predation risk. We used hair traps and giving-up densities (GUDs) in food patches to test whether a major prey species of devils, the arboreal common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), is responsive to the changing risk of predation when they forage on the ground. Possums spend more time on the ground, discover food patches faster and forage more to a lower GUD with increasing years since disease outbreak and greater devil population decline. Loss of top–down effects of devils with respect to predation risk was evident at 90% devil population decline, with possum behaviour indistinguishable from a devil-free island. Alternative predators may help to maintain risk-sensitive anti-predator behaviours in possums while devil populations remain low. PMID:26085584

  9. Dietary partitioning of Australia's two marsupial hypercarnivores, the Tasmanian devil and the spotted-tailed quoll, across their shared distributional range

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Christopher N.; Barmuta, Leon A.; Jones, Menna E.

    2017-01-01

    Australia’s native marsupial fauna has just two primarily flesh-eating ‘hypercarnivores’, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) and the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) which coexist only on the island of Tasmania. Devil populations are currently declining due to a fatal transmissible cancer. Our aim was to analyse the diet of both species across their range in Tasmania, as a basis for understanding how devil decline might affect the abundance and distribution of quolls through release from competition. We used faecal analysis to describe diets of one or both species at 13 sites across Tasmania. We compared diet composition and breadth between the two species, and tested for geographic patterns in diets related to rainfall and devil population decline. Dietary items were classified into 6 broad categories: large mammals (≥ 7.0kg), medium-sized mammals (0.5–6.9kg), small mammals (< 0.5kg), birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Diet overlap based on prey-size category was high. Quoll diets were broader than devils at all but one site. Devils consumed more large and medium-sized mammals and quolls more small mammals, reptiles and invertebrates. Medium-sized mammals (mainly Tasmanian pademelon Thylogale billardierii), followed by large mammals (mainly Bennett’s wallaby Macropus rufogriseus) and birds, were the most important prey groups for both species. Diet composition varied across sites, suggesting that both species are flexible and opportunistic foragers, but was not related to rainfall for devils. Quolls included more large mammals but fewer small mammals and invertebrates in their diet in the eastern drier parts of Tasmania where devils have declined. This suggests that a competitive release of quolls may have occurred and the substantial decline of devils has provided more food in the large-mammal category for quolls, perhaps as increased scavenging opportunities. The high diet overlap suggests that if resources become limited in areas of

  10. Cryopreservation of epididymal sperm collected postmortem in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).

    PubMed

    Keeley, T; McGreevy, P D; O'Brien, J K

    2012-07-15

    Effective sperm cryopreservation protocols are limited to a small number of marsupial species. In this study, postmortem gamete rescue (PMGR) epididymal sperm samples from Tasmanian devils (N=34) euthanized due to the fatal Devil Facial Tumor Disease were used to develop long-term sperm storage techniques for the species. Cryoprotectant toxicity associated with equilibration of sperm samples in a TEST yolk diluent (TEST; 189 mM N-Tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, 85 mM Trizma base [Tris], 11 mM glucose, 20% vol/vol egg yolk; pH 7.1, and 315.0±5.0 mOsm/kg) with a final concentration of 0.06 M trehalose, or 4%, 10%, and 18% vol/vol of either glycerol or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), was examined over 12 h at 15 °C. Trehalose supplementation resulted in an immediate decline (P<0.05) of total motility. After 12 h, total motility was reduced (P<0.05) in treatments containing 18% glycerol, and 10% and 18% dimethyl sulfoxide. The effects of final glycerol concentration (4% and 10%), glycerol equilibration duration (10 min 1 h, or 3 h) prefreeze, freezing rate and the addition of 0.10 M lactose or a combination of 0.10 M lactose and 0.11 M raffinose were assessed during three experiments on the cryopreservation of postmortem gamete rescue samples in TEST. In all experiments, motility and viability were reduced (P<0.01 postthaw). Samples cryopreserved in TEST supplemented with lactose or lactose with raffinose using a fast freezing rate (-8 °C/min from 4 to -40 °C, then -65 °C/min until -165 °C) produced the highest (P<0.05) postthaw motility (18.6±5.5% and 16.9±8.5%, respectively), which represented 35% to 48% retention of prefreeze motility. These results apparently were the best postthaw results of dasyurid sperm reported to date and will help lay the foundations for developing assisted reproductive technologies for marsupial species. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. ERBB3: A potential serum biomarker for early detection and therapeutic target for devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1)

    PubMed Central

    Kunde, Dale A.; Taylor, Robyn L.; Pyecroft, Stephen B.; Sohal, Sukhwinder Singh; Snow, Elizabeth T.

    2017-01-01

    Devil Facial Tumour 1 (DFT1) is one of two transmissible neoplasms of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) predominantly affecting their facial regions. DFT1’s cellular origin is that of Schwann cell lineage where lesions are evident macroscopically late in the disease. Conversely, the pre-clinical timeframe from cellular transmission to appearance of DFT1 remains uncertain demonstrating the importance of an effective pre-clinical biomarker. We show that ERBB3, a marker expressed normally by the developing neural crest and Schwann cells, is immunohistohemically expressed by DFT1, therefore the potential of ERBB3 as a biomarker was explored. Under the hypothesis that serum ERBB3 levels may increase as DFT1 invades local and distant tissues our pilot study determined serum ERBB3 levels in normal Tasmanian devils and Tasmanian devils with DFT1. Compared to the baseline serum ERBB3 levels in unaffected Tasmanian devils, Tasmanian devils with DFT1 showed significant elevation of serum ERBB3 levels. Interestingly Tasmanian devils with cutaneous lymphoma (CL) also showed elevation of serum ERBB3 levels when compared to the baseline serum levels of Tasmanian devils without DFT1. Thus, elevated serum ERBB3 levels in otherwise healthy looking devils could predict possible DFT1 or CL in captive or wild devil populations and would have implications on the management, welfare and survival of Tasmanian devils. ERBB3 is also a therapeutic target and therefore the potential exists to consider modes of administration that may eradicate DFT1 from the wild. PMID:28591206

  12. Trophic cascades following the disease-induced decline of an apex predator, the Tasmanian devil.

    PubMed

    Hollings, Tracey; Jones, Menna; Mooney, Nick; McCallum, Hamish

    2014-02-01

    As apex predators disappear worldwide, there is escalating evidence of their importance in maintaining the integrity and diversity of the ecosystems they inhabit. The largest extant marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction from a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). The disease, first observed in 1996, has led to apparent population declines in excess of 95% in some areas and has spread to more than 80% of their range. We analyzed a long-term Tasmania-wide data set derived from wildlife spotlighting surveys to assess the effects of DFTD-induced devil decline on populations of other mammals and to examine the relative strength of top-down and bottom-up control of mesopredators between 2 regions with different environmental conditions. Collection of the data began >10 years before DFTD was first observed. A decrease in devil populations was immediate across diseased regions following DFTD arrival, and there has been no indication of population recovery. Feral cats (Felis catus) increased in areas where the disease was present the longest, and feral cat occurrence was significantly and negatively associated with devils. The smallest mesopredator, the eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus), declined rapidly following DFTD arrival. This result suggests the species was indirectly protected by devils through the suppression of larger predators. Rainfall deficiency was also a significant predictor of their decline. Environmental variables determined the relative importance of top-down control in the population regulation of mesopredators. In landscapes of low rainfall and relatively higher proportions of agriculture and human settlement, top-down forces were dampened and bottom-up forces had the most effect on mesopredators. For herbivore prey species, there was evidence of population differences after DFTD arrival, but undetected environmental factors had greater effects. The unique opportunity to

  13. The Tasmanian devil microbiome-implications for conservation and management.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Yuanyuan; Fox, Samantha; Pemberton, David; Hogg, Carolyn; Papenfuss, Anthony T; Belov, Katherine

    2015-12-21

    The Tasmanian devil, the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, is at risk of extinction due to devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), a fatal contagious cancer. The Save the Tasmanian Devil Program has established an insurance population, which currently holds over 600 devils in captive facilities across Australia. Microbes are known to play a crucial role in the health and well-being of humans and other animals, and increasing evidence suggests that changes in the microbiota can influence various aspects of host physiology and development. To improve our understanding of devils and facilitate management and conservation of the species, we characterised the microbiome of wild devils and investigated differences in the composition of microbial community between captive and wild individuals. A total of 1,223,550 bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences were generated via Roche 454 sequencing from 56 samples, including 17 gut, 15 skin, 18 pouch and 6 oral samples. The devil's gut microbiome was dominated by Firmicutes and showed a high Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio, which appears to be a common feature of many carnivorous mammals. Metabolisms of carbohydrates, amino acids, energy, cofactors and vitamins, nucleotides and lipids were predicted as the most prominent metabolic pathways that the devil's gut flora contributed to. The microbiota inside the female's pouch outside lactation was highly similar to that of the skin, both co-dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The oral microbiome had similar proportions of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Fusobacteria. Compositional differences were observed in all four types of microbiota between devils from captive and wild populations. Certain captive devils had significantly lower levels of gut bacterial diversity than wild individuals, and the two groups differed in the proportion of gut bacteria accounting for the metabolism of glycan, amino acids and cofactors and vitamins. Further studies are

  14. The Immunomodulatory Small Molecule Imiquimod Induces Apoptosis in Devil Facial Tumour Cell Lines.

    PubMed

    Patchett, Amanda L; Darby, Jocelyn M; Tovar, Cesar; Lyons, A Bruce; Woods, Gregory M

    2016-01-01

    The survival of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened by devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). This transmissible cancer is usually fatal, and no successful treatments have been developed. In human studies, the small immunomodulatory molecule imiquimod is a successful immunotherapy, activating anti-tumour immunity via stimulation of toll-like receptor-7 (TLR7) signaling pathways. In addition, imiquimod is a potent inducer of apoptosis in human tumour cell lines via TLR7 independent mechanisms. Here we investigate the potential of imiquimod as a DFTD therapy through analysis of treated DFTD cell lines and Tasmanian devil fibroblasts. WST-8 proliferation assays and annexin V apoptosis assays were performed to monitor apoptosis, and changes to the expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic genes were analysed using qRT-PCR. Our results show that DFTD cell lines, but not Tasmanian devil fibroblasts, are sensitive to imiquimod-induced apoptosis in a time and concentration dependent manner. Induction of apoptosis was accompanied by down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic BCL2 and BCLXL genes, and up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic BIM gene. Continuous imiquimod treatment was required for these effects to occur. These results demonstrate that imiquimod can deregulate DFTD cell growth and survival in direct and targeted manner. In vivo, this may increase DFTD vulnerability to imiquimod-induced TLR7-mediated immune responses. Our findings have improved the current knowledge of imiquimod action in tumour cells for application to both DFTD and human cancer therapy.

  15. Boldness towards novelty and translocation success in captive-raised, orphaned Tasmanian devils.

    PubMed

    Sinn, David L; Cawthen, Lisa; Jones, Susan M; Pukk, Chrissy; Jones, Menna E

    2014-01-01

    Translocation of endangered animals is common, but success is often variable and/or poor. Despite its intuitive appeal, little is known with regards to how individual differences amongst translocated animals influence their post-release survival, growth, and reproduction. We measured consistent pre-release responses to novelty in a familiar environment (boldness; repeatability=0.55) and cortisol response in a group of captive-reared Tasmanian devils, currently listed as "Endangered" by the IUCN. The devils were then released at either a hard- or soft-release site within their mothers' population of origin, and individual growth, movement, reproduction (females only), and survival across 2-8 months post-release was measured. Sex, release method, cohort, behavior, and cortisol response did not affect post-release growth, nor did these factors influence the home range size of orphan devils. Final linear distances moved from the release site were impacted heavily by the release cohort, but translocated devils' movement overall was not different from that in the same-age wild devils. All orphan females of reproductive age were subsequently captured with offspring. Overall survival rates in translocated devils were moderate (∼42%), and were not affected by devil sex, release method, cohort, release weight, or pre-release cortisol response. Devils that survived during the study period were, however, 3.5 times more bold than those that did not (effect size r=0.76). Our results suggest that conservation managers may need to provide developmental conditions in captivity that promote a wide range of behaviors across individuals slated for wild release. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Immunization Strategies Producing a Humoral IgG Immune Response against Devil Facial Tumor Disease in the Majority of Tasmanian Devils Destined for Wild Release

    PubMed Central

    Pye, Ruth; Patchett, Amanda; McLennan, Elspeth; Thomson, Russell; Carver, Scott; Fox, Samantha; Pemberton, David; Kreiss, Alexandre; Baz Morelli, Adriana; Silva, Anabel; Pearse, Martin J.; Corcoran, Lynn M.; Belov, Katherine; Hogg, Carolyn J.; Woods, Gregory M; Lyons, A. Bruce

    2018-01-01

    Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is renowned for its successful evasion of the host immune system. Down regulation of the major histocompatabilty complex class I molecule (MHC-I) on the DFTD cells is a primary mechanism of immune escape. Immunization trials on captive Tasmanian devils have previously demonstrated that an immune response against DFTD can be induced, and that immune-mediated tumor regression can occur. However, these trials were limited by their small sample sizes. Here, we describe the results of two DFTD immunization trials on cohorts of devils prior to their wild release as part of the Tasmanian Government’s Wild Devil Recovery project. 95% of the devils developed anti-DFTD antibody responses. Given the relatively large sample sizes of the trials (N = 19 and N = 33), these responses are likely to reflect those of the general devil population. DFTD cells manipulated to express MHC-I were used as the antigenic basis of the immunizations in both trials. Although the adjuvant composition and number of immunizations differed between trials, similar anti-DFTD antibody levels were obtained. The first trial comprised DFTD cells and the adjuvant combination of ISCOMATRIX™, polyIC, and CpG with up to four immunizations given at monthly intervals. This compared to the second trial whereby two immunizations comprising DFTD cells and the adjuvant combination ISCOMATRIX™, polyICLC (Hiltonol®) and imiquimod were given a month apart, providing a shorter and, therefore, more practical protocol. Both trials incorporated a booster immunization given up to 5 months after the primary course. A key finding was that devils in the second trial responded more quickly and maintained their antibody levels for longer compared to devils in the first trial. The different adjuvant combination incorporating the RNAase resistant polyICLC and imiquimod used in the second trial is likely to be responsible. The seroconversion in the majority of devils in these anti

  17. PD-L1 Is Not Constitutively Expressed on Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Cells but Is Strongly Upregulated in Response to IFN-γ and Can Be Expressed in the Tumor Microenvironment

    PubMed Central

    Flies, Andrew S.; Lyons, A. Bruce; Corcoran, Lynn M.; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Murphy, James M.; Knowles, Graeme W.; Woods, Gregory M.; Hayball, John D.

    2016-01-01

    The devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is caused by clonal transmissible cancers that have led to a catastrophic decline in the wild Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) population. The first transmissible tumor, now termed devil facial tumor 1 (DFT1), was first discovered in 1996 and has been continually transmitted to new hosts for at least 20 years. In 2015, a second transmissible cancer [devil facial tumor 2 (DFT2)] was discovered in wild devils, and the DFT2 is genetically distinct and independent from the DFT1. Despite the estimated 136,559 base pair substitutions and 14,647 insertions/deletions in the DFT1 genome as compared to two normal devil reference genomes, the allograft tumors are not rejected by the host immune system. Additionally, genome sequencing of two sub-strains of DFT1 detected greater than 15,000 single-base substitutions that were found in only one of the DFT1 sub-strains, demonstrating the transmissible tumors are evolving and that generation of neoantigens is likely ongoing. Recent evidence in human clinical trials suggests that blocking PD-1:PD-L1 interactions promotes antitumor immune responses and is most effective in cancers with a high number of mutations. We hypothesized that DFTD cells could exploit the PD-1:PD-L1 inhibitory pathway to evade antitumor immune responses. We developed recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to provide the first demonstration that PD-1 binds to both PD-L1 and PD-L2 in a non-placental mammal and show that PD-L1 is upregulated in DFTD cells in response to IFN-γ. Immunohistochemistry showed that PD-L1 is rarely expressed in primary tumor masses, but low numbers of PD-L1+ non-tumor cells were detected in the microenvironment of several metastatic tumors. Importantly, in vitro testing suggests that PD-1 binding to PD-L1 and PD-L2 can be blocked by mAbs, which could be critical to understanding how the DFT allografts evade the immune system. PMID:28018348

  18. Anthropogenic selection enhances cancer evolution in Tasmanian devil tumours.

    PubMed

    Ujvari, Beata; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Swift, Kate; Hodson, Pamela; Hua, Bobby; Pyecroft, Stephen; Taylor, Robyn; Hamede, Rodrigo; Jones, Menna; Belov, Katherine; Madsen, Thomas

    2014-02-01

    The Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the long-term effects of natural and anthropogenic selection on cancer evolution. Since first observed in 1996, this transmissible cancer has caused local population declines by >90%. So far, four chromosomal DFTD variants (strains) have been described and karyotypic analyses of 253 tumours showed higher levels of tetraploidy in the oldest strain. We propose that increased ploidy in the oldest strain may have evolved in response to effects of genomic decay observed in asexually reproducing organisms. In this study, we focus on the evolutionary response of DFTD to a disease suppression trial. Tumours collected from devils subjected to the removal programme showed accelerated temporal evolution of tetraploidy compared with tumours from other populations where no increase in tetraploid tumours were observed. As ploidy significantly reduces tumour growth rate, we suggest that the disease suppression trial resulted in selection favouring slower growing tumours mediated by an increased level of tetraploidy. Our study reveals that DFTD has the capacity to rapidly respond to novel selective regimes and that disease eradication may result in novel tumour adaptations, which may further imperil the long-term survival of the world's largest carnivorous marsupial.

  19. Anthropogenic selection enhances cancer evolution in Tasmanian devil tumours

    PubMed Central

    Ujvari, Beata; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Swift, Kate; Hodson, Pamela; Hua, Bobby; Pyecroft, Stephen; Taylor, Robyn; Hamede, Rodrigo; Jones, Menna; Belov, Katherine; Madsen, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    The Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the long-term effects of natural and anthropogenic selection on cancer evolution. Since first observed in 1996, this transmissible cancer has caused local population declines by >90%. So far, four chromosomal DFTD variants (strains) have been described and karyotypic analyses of 253 tumours showed higher levels of tetraploidy in the oldest strain. We propose that increased ploidy in the oldest strain may have evolved in response to effects of genomic decay observed in asexually reproducing organisms. In this study, we focus on the evolutionary response of DFTD to a disease suppression trial. Tumours collected from devils subjected to the removal programme showed accelerated temporal evolution of tetraploidy compared with tumours from other populations where no increase in tetraploid tumours were observed. As ploidy significantly reduces tumour growth rate, we suggest that the disease suppression trial resulted in selection favouring slower growing tumours mediated by an increased level of tetraploidy. Our study reveals that DFTD has the capacity to rapidly respond to novel selective regimes and that disease eradication may result in novel tumour adaptations, which may further imperil the long-term survival of the world's largest carnivorous marsupial. PMID:24567746

  20. Evolution of a contagious cancer: epigenetic variation in Devil Facial Tumour Disease

    PubMed Central

    Ujvari, Beata; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Peck, Sarah; Harmsen, Collette; Taylor, Robyn; Pyecroft, Stephen; Madsen, Thomas; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Belov, Katherine

    2013-01-01

    The emergence of Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a highly contagious cancer, is driving Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) to extinction. The cancer is a genetically and chromosomally stable clonal cell line which is transmitted by biting during social interactions. In the present study, we explore the Devil Facial Tumour (DFT) epigenome and the genes involved in DNA methylation homeostasis. We show that tumour cells have similar levels of methylation to peripheral nerves, the tissue from which DFTD originated. We did not observe any strain or region-specific epimutations. However, we revealed a significant increase in hypomethylation in DFT samples over time (p < 0.0001). We propose that loss of methylation is not because of a maintenance deficiency, as an upregulation of DNA methyltransferase 1 gene was observed in tumours compared with nerves (p < 0.005). Instead, we believe that loss of methylation is owing to active demethylation, supported by the temporal increase in MBD2 and MBD4 (p < 0.001). The implications of these changes on disease phenotypes need to be explored. Our work shows that DFTD should not be treated as a static entity, but rather as an evolving parasite with epigenetic plasticity. Understanding the role of epimutations in the evolution of this parasitic cancer will provide unique insights into the role of epigenetic plasticity in cancer evolution and progression in traditional cancers that arise and die with their hosts. PMID:23135679

  1. Devil Declines and Catastrophic Cascades: Is Mesopredator Release of Feral Cats Inhibiting Recovery of the Eastern Quoll?

    PubMed Central

    Fancourt, Bronwyn A.; Hawkins, Clare E.; Cameron, Elissa Z.; Jones, Menna E.; Nicol, Stewart C.

    2015-01-01

    The eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized Australian marsupial carnivore that has recently undergone a rapid and severe population decline over the 10 years to 2009, with no sign of recovery. This decline has been linked to a period of unfavourable weather, but subsequent improved weather conditions have not been matched by quoll recovery. A recent study suggested another mechanism: that declines in Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations, due to the spread of the fatal Devil Facial Tumour Disease, have released feral cats (Felis catus) from competitive suppression, with eastern quoll declines linked to a subsequent increase in cat sightings. Yet current evidence of intraguild suppression among devils, cats and quolls is scant and equivocal. We therefore assessed the influences of top-down effects on abundance and activity patterns among devils, feral cats and eastern quolls. Between 2011 and 2013, we monitored four carnivore populations using longitudinal trapping and camera surveys, and performed camera surveys at 12 additional sites throughout the eastern quoll’s range. We did not find evidence of a negative relationship between devil and cat abundance, nor of higher cat abundance in areas where devil populations had declined the longest. Cats did not appear to avoid devils spatially; however, there was evidence of temporal separation of cat and devil activity, with reduced separation and increasing nocturnal activity observed in areas where devils had declined the longest. Cats and quolls used the same areas, and there was no evidence that cat and quoll abundances were negatively related. Temporal overlap in observed cat and quoll activity was higher in summer than in winter, but this seasonal difference was unrelated to devil declines. We suggest that cats did not cause the recent quoll decline, but that predation of juvenile quolls by cats could be inhibiting low density quoll populations from recovering their former abundance

  2. Devil declines and catastrophic cascades: is mesopredator release of feral cats inhibiting recovery of the eastern quoll?

    PubMed

    Fancourt, Bronwyn A; Hawkins, Clare E; Cameron, Elissa Z; Jones, Menna E; Nicol, Stewart C

    2015-01-01

    The eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized Australian marsupial carnivore that has recently undergone a rapid and severe population decline over the 10 years to 2009, with no sign of recovery. This decline has been linked to a period of unfavourable weather, but subsequent improved weather conditions have not been matched by quoll recovery. A recent study suggested another mechanism: that declines in Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations, due to the spread of the fatal Devil Facial Tumour Disease, have released feral cats (Felis catus) from competitive suppression, with eastern quoll declines linked to a subsequent increase in cat sightings. Yet current evidence of intraguild suppression among devils, cats and quolls is scant and equivocal. We therefore assessed the influences of top-down effects on abundance and activity patterns among devils, feral cats and eastern quolls. Between 2011 and 2013, we monitored four carnivore populations using longitudinal trapping and camera surveys, and performed camera surveys at 12 additional sites throughout the eastern quoll's range. We did not find evidence of a negative relationship between devil and cat abundance, nor of higher cat abundance in areas where devil populations had declined the longest. Cats did not appear to avoid devils spatially; however, there was evidence of temporal separation of cat and devil activity, with reduced separation and increasing nocturnal activity observed in areas where devils had declined the longest. Cats and quolls used the same areas, and there was no evidence that cat and quoll abundances were negatively related. Temporal overlap in observed cat and quoll activity was higher in summer than in winter, but this seasonal difference was unrelated to devil declines. We suggest that cats did not cause the recent quoll decline, but that predation of juvenile quolls by cats could be inhibiting low density quoll populations from recovering their former abundance

  3. Genomic Restructuring in the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour: Chromosome Painting and Gene Mapping Provide Clues to Evolution of a Transmissible Tumour

    PubMed Central

    Pearse, Anne-Maree; Rens, Willem; O'Brien, Patricia C. M.; Ferguson-Smith, Malcolm A.; Cheng, Yuanyuan; Morris, Katrina; Taylor, Robyn; Stuart, Andrew; Belov, Katherine; Amemiya, Chris T.; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Marshall Graves, Jennifer A.

    2012-01-01

    Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a fatal, transmissible malignancy that threatens the world's largest marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil, with extinction. First recognised in 1996, DFTD has had a catastrophic effect on wild devil numbers, and intense research efforts to understand and contain the disease have since demonstrated that the tumour is a clonal cell line transmitted by allograft. We used chromosome painting and gene mapping to deconstruct the DFTD karyotype and determine the chromosome and gene rearrangements involved in carcinogenesis. Chromosome painting on three different DFTD tumour strains determined the origins of marker chromosomes and provided a general overview of the rearrangement in DFTD karyotypes. Mapping of 105 BAC clones by fluorescence in situ hybridisation provided a finer level of resolution of genome rearrangements in DFTD strains. Our findings demonstrate that only limited regions of the genome, mainly chromosomes 1 and X, are rearranged in DFTD. Regions rearranged in DFTD are also highly rearranged between different marsupials. Differences between strains are limited, reflecting the unusually stable nature of DFTD. Finally, our detailed maps of both the devil and tumour karyotypes provide a physical framework for future genomic investigations into DFTD. PMID:22359511

  4. Detecting Selection on Temporal and Spatial Scales: A Genomic Time-Series Assessment of Selective Responses to Devil Facial Tumor Disease

    PubMed Central

    Brüniche-Olsen, Anna; Austin, Jeremy J.; Jones, Menna E.; Holland, Barbara R.; Burridge, Christopher P.

    2016-01-01

    Detecting loci under selection is an important task in evolutionary biology. In conservation genetics detecting selection is key to investigating adaptation to the spread of infectious disease. Loci under selection can be detected on a spatial scale, accounting for differences in demographic history among populations, or on a temporal scale, tracing changes in allele frequencies over time. Here we use these two approaches to investigate selective responses to the spread of an infectious cancer—devil facial tumor disease (DFTD)—that since 1996 has ravaged the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Using time-series ‘restriction site associated DNA’ (RAD) markers from populations pre- and post DFTD arrival, and DFTD free populations, we infer loci under selection due to DFTD and investigate signatures of selection that are incongruent among methods, populations, and times. The lack of congruence among populations influenced by DFTD with respect to inferred loci under selection, and the direction of that selection, fail to implicate a consistent selective role for DFTD. Instead genetic drift is more likely driving the observed allele frequency changes over time. Our study illustrates the importance of applying methods with different performance optima e.g. accounting for population structure and background selection, and assessing congruence of the results. PMID:26930198

  5. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    (Released 8 May 2002) The Science This image, centered near 50.0 S and 17.7 W displays dust devil tracks on the surface. Most of the lighter portions of the image likely have a thin veneer of dust settled on the surface. As a dust devil passes over the surface, it acts as a vacuum and picks up the dust, leaving the darker substrate exposed. In this image there is a general trend of many of the tracks running from east to west or west to east, indicating the general wind direction. There is often no general trend present in dust devil tracks seen in other images. The track patterns are quite ephemeral and can completely change or even disappear over the course of a few months. Dust devils are one of the mechanisms that Mars uses to constantly pump dust into the ubiquitously dusty atmosphere. This atmospheric dust is one of the main driving forces of the present Martian climate. The Story Vrrrrooooooooom. Think of a tornado, the cartoon Tasmanian devil, or any number of vacuum commercials that powerfully suck up swirls of dust and dirt. That's pretty much what it's like on the surface of Mars a lot of the time. Whirlpools of wind called

  6. Wind vs. Dust Devil Streaks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    22 February 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image presents a fine illustration of the difference between streaks made by dust devils and streaks made by wind gusts. Dust devils are usually solitary, spinning vortices. They resemble a tornado, or the swirling motion of a familiar, Tasmanian cartoon character. Wind gusts, on the other hand, can cover a larger area and affect more terrain at the same time. The dark, straight, and parallel features resembling scrape marks near the right/center of this image are thought to have been formed by a singular gust of wind, whereas the more haphazard dark streaks that crisscross the scene were formed by dozens of individual dust devils, acting at different times. This southern summer image is located in Noachis Terra near 67.0oS, 316.2oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left; the picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

  7. Patterns of Detection and Capture Are Associated with Cohabiting Predators and Prey

    PubMed Central

    Lazenby, Billie T.; Dickman, Christopher R.

    2013-01-01

    Avoidance behaviour can play an important role in structuring ecosystems but can be difficult to uncover and quantify. Remote cameras have great but as yet unrealized potential to uncover patterns arising from predatory, competitive or other interactions that structure animal communities by detecting species that are active at the same sites and recording their behaviours and times of activity. Here, we use multi-season, two-species occupancy models to test for evidence of interactions between introduced (feral cat Felis catus) and native predator (Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii) and predator and small mammal (swamp rat Rattus lutreolus velutinus) combinations at baited camera sites in the cool temperate forests of southern Tasmania. In addition, we investigate the capture rates of swamp rats in traps scented with feral cat and devil faecal odours. We observed that one species could reduce the probability of detecting another at a camera site. In particular, feral cats were detected less frequently at camera sites occupied by devils, whereas patterns of swamp rat detection associated with devils or feral cats varied with study site. Captures of swamp rats were not associated with odours on traps, although fewer captures tended to occur in traps scented with the faecal odour of feral cats. The observation that a native carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil, can suppress the detectability of an introduced eutherian predator, the feral cat, is consistent with a dominant predator – mesopredator relationship. Such a relationship has important implications for the interaction between feral cats and the lower trophic guilds that form their prey, especially if cat activity increases in places where devil populations are declining. More generally, population estimates derived from devices such as remote cameras need to acknowledge the potential for one species to change the detectability of another, and incorporate this in assessments of numbers and survival

  8. Limited Genetic Diversity Preceded Extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger

    PubMed Central

    Menzies, Brandon R.; Renfree, Marilyn B.; Heider, Thomas; Mayer, Frieder; Hildebrandt, Thomas B.; Pask, Andrew J.

    2012-01-01

    The Tasmanian tiger or thylacine was the largest carnivorous marsupial when Europeans first reached Australia. Sadly, the last known thylacine died in captivity in 1936. A recent analysis of the genome of the closely related and extant Tasmanian devil demonstrated limited genetic diversity between individuals. While a similar lack of diversity has been reported for the thylacine, this analysis was based on just two individuals. Here we report the sequencing of an additional 12 museum-archived specimens collected between 102 and 159 years ago. We examined a portion of the mitochondrial DNA hyper-variable control region and determined that all sequences were on average 99.5% identical at the nucleotide level. As a measure of accuracy we also sequenced mitochondrial DNA from a mother and two offspring. As expected, these samples were found to be 100% identical, validating our methods. We also used 454 sequencing to reconstruct 2.1 kilobases of the mitochondrial genome, which shared 99.91% identity with the two complete thylacine mitochondrial genomes published previously. Our thylacine genomic data also contained three highly divergent putative nuclear mitochondrial sequences, which grouped phylogenetically with the published thylacine mitochondrial homologs but contained 100-fold more polymorphisms than the conserved fragments. Together, our data suggest that the thylacine population in Tasmania had limited genetic diversity prior to its extinction, possibly as a result of their geographic isolation from mainland Australia approximately 10,000 years ago. PMID:22530022

  9. Telomere Dynamics and Homeostasis in a Transmissible Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Ujvari, Beata; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Taylor, Robyn; Pyecroft, Stephen; Flanagan, Cassandra; Gombert, Sara; Papenfuss, Anthony T.; Madsen, Thomas; Belov, Katherine

    2012-01-01

    Background Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) is a unique clonal cancer that threatens the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) with extinction. This transmissible cancer is passed between individual devils by cell implantation during social interactions. The tumour arose in a Schwann cell of a single devil over 15 years ago and since then has expanded clonally, without showing signs of replicative senescence; in stark contrast to a somatic cell that displays a finite capacity for replication, known as the “Hayflick limit”. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study we investigate the role of telomere length, measured as Telomere Copy Number (TCN), and telomerase and shelterin gene expression, as well as telomerase activity in maintaining hyperproliferation of Devil Facial Tumour (DFT) cells. Our results show that DFT cells have short telomeres. DFTD TCN does not differ between geographic regions or between strains. However, TCN has increased over time. Unlimited cell proliferation is likely to have been achieved through the observed up-regulation of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT) and concomitant activation of telomerase. Up-regulation of the central component of shelterin, the TRF1-intercating nuclear factor 2 (TINF2) provides DFT a mechanism for telomere length homeostasis. The higher expression of both TERT and TINF2 may also protect DFT cells from genomic instability and enhance tumour proliferation. Conclusions/Significance DFT cells appear to monitor and regulate the length of individual telomeres: i.e. shorter telomeres are elongated by up-regulation of telomerase-related genes; longer telomeres are protected from further elongation by members of the shelterin complex, which may explain the lack of spatial and strain variation in DFT telomere copy number. The observed longitudinal increase in gene expression in DFT tissue samples and telomerase activity in DFT cell lines might indicate a

  10. Telomere dynamics and homeostasis in a transmissible cancer.

    PubMed

    Ujvari, Beata; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Taylor, Robyn; Pyecroft, Stephen; Flanagan, Cassandra; Gombert, Sara; Papenfuss, Anthony T; Madsen, Thomas; Belov, Katherine

    2012-01-01

    Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) is a unique clonal cancer that threatens the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) with extinction. This transmissible cancer is passed between individual devils by cell implantation during social interactions. The tumour arose in a Schwann cell of a single devil over 15 years ago and since then has expanded clonally, without showing signs of replicative senescence; in stark contrast to a somatic cell that displays a finite capacity for replication, known as the "Hayflick limit". In the present study we investigate the role of telomere length, measured as Telomere Copy Number (TCN), and telomerase and shelterin gene expression, as well as telomerase activity in maintaining hyperproliferation of Devil Facial Tumour (DFT) cells. Our results show that DFT cells have short telomeres. DFTD TCN does not differ between geographic regions or between strains. However, TCN has increased over time. Unlimited cell proliferation is likely to have been achieved through the observed up-regulation of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT) and concomitant activation of telomerase. Up-regulation of the central component of shelterin, the TRF1-intercating nuclear factor 2 (TINF2) provides DFT a mechanism for telomere length homeostasis. The higher expression of both TERT and TINF2 may also protect DFT cells from genomic instability and enhance tumour proliferation. DFT cells appear to monitor and regulate the length of individual telomeres: i.e. shorter telomeres are elongated by up-regulation of telomerase-related genes; longer telomeres are protected from further elongation by members of the shelterin complex, which may explain the lack of spatial and strain variation in DFT telomere copy number. The observed longitudinal increase in gene expression in DFT tissue samples and telomerase activity in DFT cell lines might indicate a selection for more stable tumours with higher proliferative potential.

  11. Reversible epigenetic down-regulation of MHC molecules by devil facial tumour disease illustrates immune escape by a contagious cancer

    PubMed Central

    Siddle, Hannah V.; Kreiss, Alexandre; Tovar, Cesar; Yuen, Chun Kit; Cheng, Yuanyuan; Belov, Katherine; Swift, Kate; Pearse, Anne-Maree; Hamede, Rodrigo; Jones, Menna E.; Skjødt, Karsten; Woods, Gregory M.; Kaufman, Jim

    2013-01-01

    Contagious cancers that pass between individuals as an infectious cell line are highly unusual pathogens. Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is one such contagious cancer that emerged 16 y ago and is driving the Tasmanian devil to extinction. As both a pathogen and an allograft, DFTD cells should be rejected by the host–immune response, yet DFTD causes 100% mortality among infected devils with no apparent rejection of tumor cells. Why DFTD cells are not rejected has been a question of considerable confusion. Here, we show that DFTD cells do not express cell surface MHC molecules in vitro or in vivo, due to down-regulation of genes essential to the antigen-processing pathway, such as β2-microglobulin and transporters associated with antigen processing. Loss of gene expression is not due to structural mutations, but to regulatory changes including epigenetic deacetylation of histones. Consequently, MHC class I molecules can be restored to the surface of DFTD cells in vitro by using recombinant devil IFN-γ, which is associated with up-regulation of the MHC class II transactivator, a key transcription factor with deacetylase activity. Further, expression of MHC class I molecules by DFTD cells can occur in vivo during lymphocyte infiltration. These results explain why T cells do not target DFTD cells. We propose that MHC-positive or epigenetically modified DFTD cells may provide a vaccine to DFTD. In addition, we suggest that down-regulation of MHC molecules using regulatory mechanisms allows evolvability of transmissible cancers and could affect the evolutionary trajectory of DFTD. PMID:23479617

  12. Toward an integrative molecular approach to wildlife disease.

    PubMed

    DeCandia, Alexandra L; Dobson, Andrew P; vonHoldt, Bridgett M

    2018-01-29

    Pathogens pose serious threats to human health, agricultural investment, and biodiversity conservation through the emergence of zoonoses, spillover to domestic livestock, and epizootic outbreaks. As such, wildlife managers are often tasked with mitigating the negative effects of disease. Yet, parasites form a major component of biodiversity that often persist. This is due to logistical challenges of implementing management strategies and to insufficient understanding of host-parasite dynamics. We advocate for an inclusive understanding of molecular diversity in driving parasite infection and variable host disease states in wildlife systems. More specifically, we examine the roles of genetic, epigenetic, and commensal microbial variation in disease pathogenesis. These include mechanisms underlying parasite virulence and host resistance and tolerance, and the development, regulation, and parasite subversion of immune pathways, among other processes. Case studies of devil facial tumor disease in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) and chytridiomycosis in globally distributed amphibians exemplify the broad range of questions that can be addressed by examining different facets of molecular diversity. For particularly complex systems, integrative molecular analyses present a promising frontier that can provide critical insights necessary to elucidate disease dynamics operating across scales. These insights enable more accurate risk assessment, reconstruction of transmission pathways, discernment of optimal intervention strategies, and development of more effective and ecologically sound treatments that minimize damage to the host population and environment. Such measures are crucial when mitigating threats posed by wildlife disease to humans, domestic animals, and species of conservation concern. © 2018 Society for Conservation Biology.

  13. Why Devil's town has Devil's water

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jovic, Sladjana; Mitriceski, Bojana

    2015-04-01

    Why Devil's town has Devil's water In the south of Serbia, lies a first-class natural landmark "Devil's Town" at an altitude of 660-700 m. Earthen figures or "towers" as the locals call them, are located in the watershed between two gullies, whose sources joined together create a unique erosive formation, tremendously demolished by the erosive processes. The gullies also have strange names: "Devil's Gully" and "Hell's Gully". There are two rare natural phenomena at the same spot: 202 earthen figures of different shape and dimension, from 2 m to 15 m in height, and from 0.5 m to 3 m in width, with stone caps on the top. They are an outcome of a specific erosive process that lasts for centuries. When figures are formed, they grow, change, shorten, gradually (very slowly) disappear and reappear. The loose soil is dissolved and washed away by the rain. However, the material under the stone caps is protected from the "bombardment" of the rain drops and washout, and remains in place in the form of the rising earthen pillars - figures. Another natural rarity in "Devil's Town" are two springs of extraordinary properties "Devil's Water", which is located in vicinity of these earthen figures, is a cold and extremely acid spring (pH 1.5) of high mineral concentration (15 g/l of water), springing out in "Devil's Gully". In comparison to drinking water, it is 10 to 1000 times richer in minerals (aluminium, iron, potassium, copper, nickel, sulphur, and alaun). "Red Well" is another spring located downstream, in the alluvial plain, 400 m away from the first spring. Its water (pH 3.5) is less acid and has a lower general mineral concentration (4.372 mg/l of water). Due to the oxidation of iron, which is contained in water in large amounts, an attractive red terrace in the form of a fan is created. The main assessment for students is to take some examples of water from Devils Gully and the others from Red Well . Second part is to find out content of minerals in water examples and

  14. GO-DEVILS

    DOEpatents

    Jefferson, S.

    1958-01-28

    This patent relates to a device normally termed a godevil for use in clearing pipes of sludge, and in particular describes an arrangement for housing a radioactive source within a go-devil whereby the source is removed from a radioactivity shield for detection purposes only when the go-devil is in use. In the described go-devil the radioactive source is housed in a member attached to a piston. Under normal pressure conditions the piston is forced in a direction to position the source within a lead shield. A bellows senses the pressure external to the go-devil and acts through a hydraulic line to force the piston in a direction to remove the source from the shield as long as the pressure is above a pre-set value.

  15. Marching Dust Devils

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-11-05

    On an early fall afternoon in Ganges Chasma Valles Marineris, NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft managed to capture a cluster of eight dust devils, five of them in the enhanced color strip. They're together on a dark sandy surface that tilts slightly to the north, towards the Sun. Both of these factors help warm the surface and generate convection in the air above. The surface is streaked with the faint tracks of earlier dust devils. A pair of dust devils appears together at top right, spaced only 250 meters apart. These two have quite different morphologies. The bigger one (on the right) is about 100 meters in diameter and is shaped like a doughnut with a hole in the middle. Its smaller companion is more compact and plume-like, but it too has a small hole in the center, where the air pressure is lowest. It may be that the smaller dust devil is younger than the larger one. A row of four dust devils are in the middle of the color strip, separated by about 900 meters from one another. This image might answer some interesting questions about the behavior of dust devils. Dust devils are theoretically expected to migrate uphill on a sloping surface, or migrate downwind when there is a breeze. Where they are found close together in pairs, they are expected to rotate in opposite directions. HiRISE color observations can be used to determine the direction of rotation and-for fast moving dust devils-the direction of their travel. This is because the different color observations (infrared, red, and blue) are taken at slightly different times. The differences between the earliest color observation and the last tell us about the changes that took place during that time interval. All this requires careful analysis, but if these dust devils are moving fast enough, and spaced closely enough, these here might display some interesting "social dynamics," possibly marching together and rotating in alternating directions. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20045

  16. Dust Devils Whip by Spirit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2007-01-01

    On sol 1120 (February 26, 2007), the navigation camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured one of the best dust devils it's seen in its three-plus year mission. The series of navigation camera images were put together to make a dust devil movie.

    The dust devil column is clearly defined and is clearly bent in the down wind direction. Near the end of the movie, the base of the dust devil becomes much wider. The atmospheric science team thinks that this is because the dust devil encountered some sand and therefore produced a 'saltation skirt,' an apron of material that is thrown out of the dust devil because it is too large to be carried up into suspension.

    Also near the end of the movie the dust devil seems to move faster across the surface. This is because Spirit began taking pictures less frequently, and not because the dust devil sped up.

  17. The riddle of Tasmanian languages

    PubMed Central

    Bowern, Claire

    2012-01-01

    Recent work which combines methods from linguistics and evolutionary biology has been fruitful in discovering the history of major language families because of similarities in evolutionary processes. Such work opens up new possibilities for language research on previously unsolvable problems, especially in areas where information from other sources may be lacking. I use phylogenetic methods to investigate Tasmanian languages. Existing materials are so fragmentary that scholars have been unable to discover how many languages are represented in the sources. Using a clustering algorithm which identifies admixture, source materials representing more than one language are identified. Using the Neighbor-Net algorithm, 12 languages are identified in five clusters. Bayesian phylogenetic methods reveal that the families are not demonstrably related; an important result, given the importance of Tasmanian Aborigines for information about how societies have responded to population collapse in prehistory. This work provides insight into the societies of prehistoric Tasmania and illustrates a new utility of phylogenetics in reconstructing linguistic history. PMID:23015621

  18. A Mid-Summer's Dust Devil

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2001-01-01

    One objective for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in the Extended Mission is to continue looking for changes and dynamic events taking place on the red planet. The feature shown here elicited gasps of excitement among the MOC Operations Staff when it was received in early April 2001.

    The feature is a dust devil. Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars. When this dust devil was spied in Amazonis Planitia on April 10th, the MOC was looking straight down. Usually when the camera is looking down the dust devil will appear as a circular, fuzzy patch with a straight shadow indicating its columnar shape. In this case, however, the dust devil is somewhat curved and kinked--its shape is best seen in the shadow it casts to the right. A thin, light-toned track has been left by the dust devil as it moved eastward across the landscape. Usually, such tracks are darker than the surroundings, in this case the light tone might indicate that the dust being removed by the passing dust devil is darker than the surface underneath the thin veneer of dust.

    Dust devils most typically form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust (if any is present). The dust makes the vortex visible and gives it the 'dust devil' or tornado-like appearance. This dust devil occurred at an optimal time for dust devils whether on Earth or Mars--around 2 p.m. local time in the middle of Northern Hemisphere Summer. North is up, sunlight illuminates the scene from the left (west), and 500 meters is about 547 yards. The shadow cast by the dust devil goes off the edge of the image, but the length shown

  19. Summertime Dust Devil

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-464, 26 August 2003

    Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of air that move across a landscape, picking up dust as they go. They are common occurrences during summer on Mars. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired during northern summer, shows a dust devil in the Phlegra region of Mars near 32.0oN, 182.1oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the dust devil is casting a columnar shadow toward the upper right. Some dust devils on Mars make streaks as they disrupt the fine coating of dust on the surface--but others do not make streaks. This one did not make a streak. The view shown here is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

  20. Gusev Dust Devil, sol 532

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil seen by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 532nd martian day, or sol (July 2, 2005). The dust-carrying whirlwind is moving across a plain inside Gusev Crater and viewed from Spirit's vantage point on hills rising from the plain. The clip consists of frames taken by Spirit's navigation camera, processed to enhance contrast for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame. The total elapsed time during the taking of these frames was 8 minutes, 48 seconds.

    Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.

  1. Reconstructing the star knowledge of Aboriginal Tasmanians

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gantevoort, Michelle; Hamacher, Duane W.; Lischick, Savannah

    2016-12-01

    The canopy of stars is a central presence in the daily and spiritual lives of Aboriginal Tasmanians. With the arrival of European colonists, Tasmanian astronomical knowledge and traditions were interrupted and dispersed. Fragments can be found scattered in the ethnographic and historical record throughout the nineteenth century. We draw from these ethnohistorical documents to analyse and reconstruct Aboriginal astronomical knowledge in Tasmania. This analysis demonstrates that stars, the Milky Way, constellations, dark nebula, the Sun, Moon, meteors and aurorae held cultural, spiritual and subsistence significance for the Aboriginal cultures of Tasmania. We move beyond a monolithic view of Aboriginal astronomical knowledge in Tasmania, commonly portrayed in previous research, to lay the groundwork for future ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork with Aboriginal elders and communities.

  2. Argyre Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-363, 17 May 2003

    This summertime Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view of the floor of Argyre Basin shows a plethora of dark streaks thought to have been created by the passage of dust devils. Dust devils are vortices of wind--just as a tornado is a vortex of wind associated with stormy weather on Earth, and the spiraling of water down a bathtub drain is a vortex in a liquid. Dust devils usually form on Mars on relatively calm, quiet, spring and summer afternoons. The passage of a dust devil picks up and disturbs the thin coatings of dust on the martian surface, forming streaks that mark the path that the moving dust devil took. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is located near 48.5oS, 43.0oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

  3. Particle Lifting Processes in Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Neakrase, L. D. V.; Balme, M. R.; Esposito, F.; Kelling, T.; Klose, M.; Kok, J. F.; Marticorena, B.; Merrison, J.; Patel, M.; Wurm, G.

    2016-11-01

    Particle lifting in dust devils on both Earth and Mars has been studied from many different perspectives, including how dust devils could influence the dust cycles of both planets. Here we review our current understanding of particle entrainment by dust devils by examining results from field observations on Earth and Mars, laboratory experiments (at terrestrial ambient and Mars-analog conditions), and analytical modeling. By combining insights obtained from these three methodologies, we provide a detailed overview on interactions between particle lifting processes due to mechanical, thermal, electrodynamical and pressure effects, and how these processes apply to dust devils on Earth and Mars. Experiments and observations have shown dust devils to be effective lifters of dust given the proper conditions on Earth and Mars. However, dust devil studies have yet to determine the individual roles of each of the component processes acting at any given time in dust devils.

  4. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reiss, Dennis; Fenton, Lori; Neakrase, Lynn; Zimmerman, Michael; Statella, Thiago; Whelley, Patrick; Rossi, Angelo Pio; Balme, Matthew

    2016-11-01

    Dust devils that leave dark- or light-toned tracks are common on Mars and they can also be found on the Earth's surface. Dust devil tracks (hereinafter DDTs) are ephemeral surface features with mostly sub-annual lifetimes. Regarding their size, DDT widths can range between ˜1 m and ˜1 km, depending on the diameter of dust devil that created the track, and DDT lengths range from a few tens of meters to several kilometers, limited by the duration and horizontal ground speed of dust devils. DDTs can be classified into three main types based on their morphology and albedo in contrast to their surroundings; all are found on both planets: (a) dark continuous DDTs, (b) dark cycloidal DDTs, and (c) bright DDTs. Dark continuous DDTs are the most common type on Mars. They are characterized by their relatively homogenous and continuous low albedo surface tracks. Based on terrestrial and martian in situ studies, these DDTs most likely form when surficial dust layers are removed to expose larger-grained substrate material (coarse sands of ≥500 μm in diameter). The exposure of larger-grained materials changes the photometric properties of the surface; hence leading to lower albedo tracks because grain size is photometrically inversely proportional to the surface reflectance. However, although not observed so far, compositional differences (i.e., color differences) might also lead to albedo contrasts when dust is removed to expose substrate materials with mineralogical differences. For dark continuous DDTs, albedo drop measurements are around 2.5 % in the wavelength range of 550-850 nm on Mars and around 0.5 % in the wavelength range from 300-1100 nm on Earth. The removal of an equivalent layer thickness around 1 μm is sufficient for the formation of visible dark continuous DDTs on Mars and Earth. The next type of DDTs, dark cycloidal DDTs, are characterized by their low albedo pattern of overlapping scallops. Terrestrial in situ studies imply that they are formed when sand

  5. Diurnal variation in martian dust devil activity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chapman, R. M.; Lewis, S. R.; Balme, M.; Steele, L. J.

    2017-08-01

    We show that the dust devil parameterisation in use in most Mars Global Circulation Models (MGCMs) results in an unexpectedly high level of dust devil activity during morning hours. Prior expectations of the diurnal variation of Martian dust devils are based mainly upon the observed behaviour of terrestrial dust devils: i.e. that the majority occur during the afternoon. We instead find that large areas of the Martian surface experience dust devil activity during the morning in our MGCM, and that many locations experience a peak in dust devil activity before mid-sol. We find that the diurnal variation in dust devil activity is governed by near-surface wind speeds. Within the range of daylight hours, higher wind speeds tend to produce higher levels of dust devil activity, rather than the activity simply being governed by the availability of heat at the planet's surface, which peaks in early afternoon. Evidence for whether the phenomenon we observe is real or an artefact of the parameterisation is inconclusive. We compare our results with surface-based observations of Martian dust devil timings and obtain a good match with the majority of surveys. We do not find a good match with orbital observations, which identify a diurnal distribution more closely matching that of terrestrial dust devils, but orbital observations have limited temporal coverage, biased towards the early afternoon. We propose that the generally accepted description of dust devil behaviour on Mars is incomplete, and that theories of dust devil formation may need to be modified specifically for the Martian environment. Further surveys of dust devil observations are required to support any such modifications. These surveys should include both surface and orbital observations, and the range of observations must encompass the full diurnal period and consider the wider meteorological context surrounding the observations.

  6. Sol 568 Dust Devil in Gusev, Unenhanced

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows several dust devils moving from right to left across a plain inside Mars' Gusev Crater, as seen from the vantage point of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in hills rising from the plain. The clip consists of frames taken by Spirit's navigation camera during the rover's 543rd martian day, or sol (July 13, 2005). Unlike some other movie clips of dust devils seen by Spirit, the images in this clip have not been processed to enhance contrast of the dust devils. The total time elapsed during the taking of these frames was 12 minutes, 17 seconds.

    Spirit began seeing dust devil activity around the beginning of Mars' spring season. Activity increased as spring continued, but fell off again for about two weeks during a dust storm. As the dust storm faded away, dust devil activity came back. In the mid-afternoons as the summer solstice approached, dust devils were a very common occurrence on the floor of Gusev crater. The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the same direction as the streaks. Scientists are watching for the big dust devils that leave those streaks.

  7. Dust Devils Seen Streaking Across Mars: PART II--They're the Work of the Devil!

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site]

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site]

    In December 1999, the MOC team finally had an answer! A dust devil, shown in the above left figure, was caught in the act of creating a swirly, dark streak! An eerie sensation washed over the first team members who saw this picture--here was an event on Mars 'caught in the act' just hours before the picture was played back to Earth. A 'smoking gun.'

    The first dust devil seen making a streak--located in Promethei Terra (above, left)--was traveling from right (east) to left (west). A columnar shadow was cast by sunlight coming from the upper left. This shadow indicates the true shape of the dust devil. The bright dust devil itself does not look like a column because the picture was taken from a camera looking straight down on it. The dust devil is less than 100 meters (less than 100 yards) wide and the picture covers an area approximately 1.5 by 1.7 kilometers (about 1 by 1 mile).

    Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars. They form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust (if any is present). The dust makes the vortex visible and gives it the 'dust devil' or tornado-like appearance. On Earth, dust devils typically last for only a few minutes.

    The fourth picture (above, right) shows a surface in southwestern Terra Sirenum near 63oS, 168oW, that has seen the activity of so many dust devils that it looks like a plate of dark gray spaghetti. This image, taken in early summer during February 2000, covers an area 3 km wide and 30 km long (1.9 by 19 miles). In fact, a dust devil

  8. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-02-20

    Today's VIS image shows dust devil tracks on the plains of Aonia Terra. As the dust devil moves across the surface it scours the fine dust particles, revealing the darker rock surface below. Orbit Number: 66800 Latitude: -65.2605 Longitude: 239.338 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-01-04 04:52 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21316

  9. Sympathy for the devil: a conservation strategy for devil and manta rays

    PubMed Central

    Lawson, Julia M.; Fordham, Sonja V.; O’Malley, Mary P.; Davidson, Lindsay N.K.; Walls, Rachel H.L.; Heupel, Michelle R.; Stevens, Guy; Fernando, Daniel; Budziak, Ania; Simpfendorfer, Colin A.; Ender, Isabel; Francis, Malcolm P.; Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe

    2017-01-01

    Background International trade for luxury products, medicines, and tonics poses a threat to both terrestrial and marine wildlife. The demand for and consumption of gill plates (known as Peng Yu Sai, “Fish Gill of Mobulid Ray”) from devil and manta rays (subfamily Mobulinae, collectively referred to as mobulids) poses a significant threat to these marine fishes because of their extremely low productivity. The demand for these gill plates has driven an international trade supplied by largely unmonitored and unregulated catches from target and incidental fisheries around the world. Scientific research, conservation campaigns, and legal protections for devil rays have lagged behind those for manta rays despite similar threats across all mobulids. Methods To investigate the difference in attention given to devil rays and manta rays, we examined trends in the scientific literature and updated species distribution maps for all mobulids. Using available information on target and incidental fisheries, and gathering information on fishing and trade regulations (at international, national, and territorial levels), we examined how threats and protective measures overlap with species distribution. We then used a species conservation planning approach to develop the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy, specifying a vision, goals, objectives, and actions to advance the knowledge and protection of both devil and manta rays. Results and Discussion Our literature review revealed that there had been nearly 2.5-times more “manta”-titled publications, than “mobula” or “devil ray”-titled publications over the past 4.5 years (January 2012–June 2016). The majority of these recent publications were reports on occurrence of mobulid species. These publications contributed to updated Area of Occupancy and Extent of Occurrence maps which showed expanded distributions for most mobulid species and overlap between the two genera. While several international

  10. Sympathy for the devil: a conservation strategy for devil and manta rays.

    PubMed

    Lawson, Julia M; Fordham, Sonja V; O'Malley, Mary P; Davidson, Lindsay N K; Walls, Rachel H L; Heupel, Michelle R; Stevens, Guy; Fernando, Daniel; Budziak, Ania; Simpfendorfer, Colin A; Ender, Isabel; Francis, Malcolm P; Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe; Dulvy, Nicholas K

    2017-01-01

    International trade for luxury products, medicines, and tonics poses a threat to both terrestrial and marine wildlife. The demand for and consumption of gill plates (known as Peng Yu Sai , "Fish Gill of Mobulid Ray") from devil and manta rays (subfamily Mobulinae, collectively referred to as mobulids) poses a significant threat to these marine fishes because of their extremely low productivity. The demand for these gill plates has driven an international trade supplied by largely unmonitored and unregulated catches from target and incidental fisheries around the world. Scientific research, conservation campaigns, and legal protections for devil rays have lagged behind those for manta rays despite similar threats across all mobulids. To investigate the difference in attention given to devil rays and manta rays, we examined trends in the scientific literature and updated species distribution maps for all mobulids. Using available information on target and incidental fisheries, and gathering information on fishing and trade regulations (at international, national, and territorial levels), we examined how threats and protective measures overlap with species distribution. We then used a species conservation planning approach to develop the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy, specifying a vision, goals, objectives, and actions to advance the knowledge and protection of both devil and manta rays. Our literature review revealed that there had been nearly 2.5-times more "manta"-titled publications, than "mobula" or "devil ray"-titled publications over the past 4.5 years (January 2012-June 2016). The majority of these recent publications were reports on occurrence of mobulid species. These publications contributed to updated Area of Occupancy and Extent of Occurrence maps which showed expanded distributions for most mobulid species and overlap between the two genera. While several international protections have recently expanded to include all mobulids, there

  11. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-03-06

    This image captured by NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows dust devil tracks in Aonia Terra. As the dust devil moves along the surface it scours the dust and fine materials away, revealing the darker rocky surface below the dust. Orbit Number: 66962 Latitude: -68.8221 Longitude: 241.346 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-01-17 13:13 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21501

  12. How Do Martian Dust Devils Vary Throughout the Sol?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chapman, R.; Lewis, S.; Balme, M. R.; Steele, L.

    2016-12-01

    Dust devils are vortices of air made visible by entrained dust particles. Dust devils have been observed on Earth and captured in many Mars lander and orbiter images. Martian dust devils may be important to the global climate and are parameterised within Mars Global Circulation Models (MGCMs). We show that the dust devil parameterisation in use within most MGCMs results in an unexpectedly high level of dust devil activity during morning hours. In contrast to expectations, based on the observed behaviour of terrestrial dust devils and the diurnal maximum thermal contrast at the surface, we find that large areas of the modelled Martian surface experience dust devil activity during the morning as well as in the afternoon, and that many locations experience a peak in dust devil activity before mid-sol. Using the UK MGCM, we study the amount of surface dust lifted by dust devils throughout the diurnal cycle as a proxy for the level of dust devil activity occurring. We compare the diurnal variation in dust devil activity with the diurnal variation of the variables included in the dust devil parameterisation. We find that the diurnal variation in dust devil activity is strongly modulated by near-surface wind speeds. Within the range of daylight hours, higher wind speeds tend to produce more dust devil activity, rather than the activity simply being governed by the availability of heat at the planet's surface, which peaks in early afternoon. We compare our results with observations of Martian dust devil timings and obtain a good match with the majority of surface-based surveys. We do not find such a good match with orbital observations, but these data tend to be biased in their temporal coverage. We propose that the generally accepted description of dust devil behaviour on Mars is incomplete, and that theories of dust devil formation may need to be modified specifically for the Martian environment. Further dust devil observations are required to support any such

  13. The devil to pay: a cost of mutualism with Myrmelachista schumanni ants in 'devil's gardens' is increased herbivory on Duroia hirsuta trees.

    PubMed

    Frederickson, Megan E; Gordon, Deborah M

    2007-04-22

    'Devil's gardens' are nearly pure stands of the myrmecophyte, Duroia hirsuta, that occur in Amazonian rainforests. Devil's gardens are created by Myrmelachista schumanni ants, which nest in D. hirsuta trees and kill other plants using formic acid as an herbicide. Here, we show that this ant-plant mutualism has an associated cost; by making devil's gardens, M. schumanni increases herbivory on D. hirsuta. We measured standing leaf herbivory on D. hirsuta trees and found that they sustain higher herbivory inside than outside devil's gardens. We also measured the rate of herbivory on nursery-grown D. hirsuta saplings planted inside and outside devil's gardens in ant-exclusion and control treatments. We found that when we excluded ants, herbivory on D. hirsuta was higher inside than outside devil's gardens. These results suggest that devil's gardens are a concentrated resource for herbivores. Myrmelachista schumanni workers defend D. hirsuta against herbivores, but do not fully counterbalance the high herbivore pressure in devil's gardens. We suggest that high herbivory may limit the spread of devil's gardens, possibly explaining why devil's gardens do not overrun Amazonian rainforests.

  14. Laser Doppler dust devil measurements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bilbro, J. W.; Jeffreys, H. B.; Kaufman, J. W.; Weaver, E. A.

    1977-01-01

    A scanning laser doppler velocimeter (SLDV) system was used to detect, track, and measure the velocity flow field of naturally occurring tornado-like flows (dust devils) in the atmosphere. A general description of the dust devil phenomenon is given along with a description of the test program, measurement system, and data processing techniques used to collect information on the dust devil flow field. The general meteorological conditions occurring during the test program are also described, and the information collected on two selected dust devils are discussed in detail to show the type of information which can be obtained with a SLDV system. The results from these measurements agree well with those of other investigators and illustrate the potential for the SLDV in future endeavors.

  15. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 459 (Enhanced)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 459th martian day, or sol (April 18, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera, and the contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    The images were processed in three steps. All images were calibrated to remove known camera artifacts. The images were then processed to remove stationary objects. The result is a gray scene showing only features that change with time. The final step combined the original image with the image that shows only moving features, showing the martian scene and the enhanced dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface

  16. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 456 (Enhanced)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 456th martian day, or sol (April 15, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera, and the contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    The images were processed in three steps. All images were calibrated to remove known camera artifacts. The images were then processed to remove stationary objects. The result is a gray scene showing only features that change with time. The final step combined the original image with the image that shows only moving features, showing the martian scene and the enhanced dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface

  17. Automatic detection of typical dust devils from Mars landscape images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ogohara, Kazunori; Watanabe, Takeru; Okumura, Susumu; Hatanaka, Yuji

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents an improved algorithm for automatic detection of Martian dust devils that successfully extracts tiny bright dust devils and obscured large dust devils from two subtracted landscape images. These dust devils are frequently observed using visible cameras onboard landers or rovers. Nevertheless, previous research on automated detection of dust devils has not focused on these common types of dust devils, but on dust devils that appear on images to be irregularly bright and large. In this study, we detect these common dust devils automatically using two kinds of parameter sets for thresholding when binarizing subtracted images. We automatically extract dust devils from 266 images taken by the Spirit rover to evaluate our algorithm. Taking dust devils detected by visual inspection to be ground truth, the precision, recall and F-measure values are 0.77, 0.86, and 0.81, respectively.

  18. "Half-Pregnant with Bartlett's Baby": Contested Policies in Tasmanian Post-Secondary Education--2007-2010--Through the Lens of Kingdon's "Agendas"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodwell, Grant

    2011-01-01

    Tasmania Tomorrow was highly politicised, and Tasmanian post-secondary education policy became a central issue in the 2010 state elections. The purpose of this paper was to analyse the dynamics of Tasmanian post-secondary education policy, and determine what education policy analysts can learn from this episode in Tasmanian education history.…

  19. The devil to pay: a cost of mutualism with Myrmelachista schumanni ants in ‘devil's gardens’ is increased herbivory on Duroia hirsuta trees

    PubMed Central

    Frederickson, Megan E; Gordon, Deborah M

    2007-01-01

    Devil's gardens’ are nearly pure stands of the myrmecophyte, Duroia hirsuta, that occur in Amazonian rainforests. Devil's gardens are created by Myrmelachista schumanni ants, which nest in D. hirsuta trees and kill other plants using formic acid as an herbicide. Here, we show that this ant–plant mutualism has an associated cost; by making devil's gardens, M. schumanni increases herbivory on D. hirsuta. We measured standing leaf herbivory on D. hirsuta trees and found that they sustain higher herbivory inside than outside devil's gardens. We also measured the rate of herbivory on nursery-grown D. hirsuta saplings planted inside and outside devil's gardens in ant-exclusion and control treatments. We found that when we excluded ants, herbivory on D. hirsuta was higher inside than outside devil's gardens. These results suggest that devil's gardens are a concentrated resource for herbivores. Myrmelachista schumanni workers defend D. hirsuta against herbivores, but do not fully counterbalance the high herbivore pressure in devil's gardens. We suggest that high herbivory may limit the spread of devil's gardens, possibly explaining why devil's gardens do not overrun Amazonian rainforests. PMID:17301016

  20. The development of the 1999 management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (Australia)

    Treesearch

    Nicholas Sawyer

    2000-01-01

    This paper describes the multi-stage public consultation process and other aspects of the development by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service of the second (1999) management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (Australia). It describes the background to, and rationale for, the process used in developing the plan; it details the consultation...

  1. Dust Devils Seen by Spirit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1 Annotated

    At the Gusev site recently, skies have been very dusty, and on its 421st sol (March 10, 2005) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit spied two dust devils in action. This pair of images is from the rover's rear hazard-avoidance camera. Views of the Gusev landing region from orbit show many dark streaks across the landscape -- tracks where dust devils have removed surface dust to show relatively darker soil below -- but this is the first time Spirit has photographed an active dust devil.

    Scientists are considering several causes of these small phenomena. Dust devils often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars. Warmed soil and rocks heat the layer of atmosphere closest to the surface, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado. Another possibility is that a flow structure might develop over craters as wind speeds increase. As winds pick up, turbulence eddies and rotating columns of air form. As these columns grow in diameter they become taller and gain rotational speed. Eventually they become self-sustaining and the wind blows them down range.

    One sol before this image was taken, power output from Spirit's solar panels went up by about 50 percent when the amount of dust on the panels decreased. Was this a coincidence, or did a helpful dust devil pass over Spirit and lift off some of the dust?

    By comparing the separate images from the rover's different cameras, team members estimate that the dust devils moved about 500 meters (1,640 feet) in the 155 seconds between the navigation camera and hazard-avoidance camera frames; that equates to about 3 meters per second (7 miles per hour). The dust devils appear to be about 1,100 meters (almost three-quarters of a mile) from the rover.

  2. Dust devils on Mars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, P. G.; Gierasch, P.

    1985-01-01

    Large columns of dust have been discovered rising above plains on Mars. The storms are probably analogous to terrestrial dust devils, but their size indicates that they are more similar to tornadoes in intensity. They occur at locations where the soil has been strongly warmed by the Sun, and there the surface is smooth and fine grained. These are the same conditions that favor dust devils on Earth. Warm gas from the lowest atmospheric layer converges and rises in a thin column, with intense swirl developing at the edge of the column. In one area a mosaic of Viking images shows 97 vortices in a three day period. This represents a density of vortices of about one in each 900 square kilometers. Thus, these dust devils may be important in moving dust or starting over dust storms.

  3. Dust Devils in Gusev Crater, Sol 463

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a several dust devils -- whirlwinds that loft dust into the air -- moving across a plain below the hillside vantage point of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Several of the dust devils are visible at once in some of the frames in this sequence. The local solar time was about 2 p.m., when the ground temperature was high enough to cause turbulence that kicks up dust devils as the wind blows across the plain. The number of seconds elapsed since the first frame is indicated at lower left of the images, typically 20 seconds between frames. Spirit's navigation camera took these images on the rover's 463rd martian day, or sol (April 22, 2005.) Contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface would be chilly. That temperature contrast causes convection. Mixing the dust, winds, and convection can trigger dust devils.

  4. Dust Devil Track Occurrence in Argyre Planitia.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whelley, P. L.; Balme, M. R.; Greeley, R.

    2002-12-01

    Martian dust devil tracks were first observed in Viking Orbiter images [Thomas et al., 1985]. While the interpretation of these features was at first controversial, it is now widely accepted that the tracks are formed by the passage of small convective vortices (dust devils). As the dust devils travel across the surface the atmosphere is loaded with fine particles creating a visible trail inferred to be removal or deposition of material [Greeley et al., 2001]. Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbital Camera (MOC) images of dust devil tracks in Argyre Planitia were used to asses dust devil track abundance as a function of Martian season as well as elevation using Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. Argyre Planitia is a large impact basin in the southern hemisphere (55° to 33°W and 35° to 58°S), with topographic relief of 7 km with the median at -1km. We have studied the 564 Narrow Angle MOC images (taken as of summer 2002) covering the area. The images were divided into two categories: those with devil tracks and those without. The Ls (solar longitude degrees as a fraction of orbit) and elevation of all of the images with and without devil tracks were noted. The elevation was recorded at the center point of each MOC image using MOLA data. A polar plot of all of the images shows a statistically random distribution throughout the Martian year. A context map of the images shows a representative distribution over the area of the crater itself. A polar plot of dust devil track occurrence within the area observed shows a major concentration of tracks between Ls 200° and 360° (southern spring to late summer). A seasonal breakdown of devil track occurrence as a percentage of total area observed yields: fall 11.25%, winter 2.24%, spring 27.21%, and summer 46.49%. We therefore conclude that dust devils tracks are formed preferentially in summer and are destroyed, fade or are covered, over a period of a few months. The elevation of all 564 images was measured and 1

  5. Temporal and spatial characteristics of dust devils and their contribution to the aerosol budget in East Asia-An analysis using a new parameterization scheme for dust devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Yaoguo; Han, Yongxiang; Liu, Zhaohuan

    2018-06-01

    Dust aerosols are the main aerosol components of the atmosphere that affect climate change, but the contribution of dust devils to the atmospheric dust aerosol budget is uncertain. In this study, a new parameterization scheme for dust devils was established and coupled with WRF-Chem, and the diurnal and monthly variations and the contribution of dust devils to the atmospheric dust aerosol budget in East Asia was simulated. The results show that 1) both the diurnal and monthly variations in dust devil emissions in East Asia had unimodal distributions, with peaks in the afternoon and the summer that were similar to the observations; 2) the simulated dust devils occurred frequently in deserts, including the Gobi. The distributed area and the intensity center of the dust devil moved from east to west during the day; 3) the ratio between the availability of convective buoyancy relative to the frictional dissipation was the main factor that limited the presence of dust devils. The position of the dust devil formation, the surface temperature, and the boundary layer height determined the dust devil intensity; 4) the contribution of dust devils to atmospheric dust aerosols determined in East Asia was 30.4 ± 13%, thereby suggesting that dust devils contribute significantly to the total amount of atmospheric dust aerosols. Although the new parameterization scheme for dust devils was rough, it was helpful for understanding the distribution of dust devils and their contribution to the dust aerosol budget.

  6. Martian Arctic Dust Devil, Phoenix Sol 104

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander caught this dust devil in action west-southwest of the lander at 11:16 a.m. local Mars time on Sol 104, or the 104th Martian day of the mission, Sept. 9, 2008.

    Dust devils have not been detected in any Phoenix images from earlier in the mission, but at least six were observed in a dozen images taken on Sol 104.

    Dust devils are whirlwinds that often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars, or some areas on Earth. The warmed surface heats the layer of atmosphere closest to it, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado.

    The dust devil visible in the center of this image just below the horizon is estimated to be about 400 meters (about 1,300 feet) from Phoenix, and 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter. It is much smaller than dust devils that have been observed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit much closer to the equator. It is closer in size to dust devils seen from orbit in the Phoenix landing region, though still smaller than those.

    The image has been enhanced to make the dust devil easier to see.

    The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

  7. First Dust Devil Seen by Opportunity

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2010-07-28

    This is the first dust devil that NASA rover Opportunity has observed in the rover six and a half years on Mars. This image has been carefully calibrated and the contrast stretched to make the dust devil easier to see against the Martian sky.

  8. Martian Dust Devil Movie, Phoenix Sol 104

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander caught this dust devil in action west of the lander in four frames shot about 50 seconds apart from each other between 11:53 a.m. and 11:56 a.m. local Mars time on Sol 104, or the 104th Martian day of the mission, Sept. 9, 2008.

    Dust devils have not been detected in any Phoenix images from earlier in the mission, but at least six were observed in a dozen images taken on Sol 104.

    Dust devils are whirlwinds that often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars, or some areas on Earth. The warmed surface heats the layer of atmosphere closest to it, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado.

    The dust devil visible in this sequence was about 1,000 meters (about 3,300 feet) from the lander when the first frame was taken, and had moved to about 1,700 meters (about 5,600 feet) away by the time the last frame was taken about two and a half minutes later. The dust devil was moving westward at an estimated speed of 5 meters per second (11 miles per hour), which is similar to typical late-morning wind speed and direction indicated by the telltale wind gauge on Phoenix.

    This dust devil is about 5 meters (16 feet) in diameter. This is much smaller than dust devils that have been observed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit much closer to the equator. It is closer in size to dust devils seen from orbit in the Phoenix landing region, though still smaller than those..

    The image has been enhanced to make the dust devil easier to see. Some of the frame-to-frame differences in the appearance of foreground rocks is because each frame was taken through a different color filter.

    The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

  9. Martian Dust Devils: 2 Mars Years of MGS MOC Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cantor, B. A.; Edgett, K. S.

    2002-12-01

    Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide and narrow angle images have captured more than 1000 active dust devils over 2 Mars years. In the most recent Mars year, we repeatedly imaged (and are continuing to image) several areas to monitor dust devil occurrence. Some Mars dust devils are as small as a few to 10s of meters across, others are 100s of meters across and over 6 km high. Each Martian hemisphere has a "dust devil season" that generally follows the subsolar latitude. An exception is NW Amazonis, which has frequent, large dust devils throughout northern spring and summer (probably every afternoon; observations are acquired 2-3 times a week). The Amazonis and other MOC observations show no evidence that dust devils cause, lead to, or have a systematic relationship with dust storms. However, dust devils sometimes do occur near small, localized storms; and one specific relation occurred during the onset of the global dust events of 2001: slightly elevated levels of atmospheric dust (an optically thin cloud) triggered a very short period of dust devil activity in NW Amazonis in early northern autumn. The redistribution of dust by the 2001 global events may have also affected subsequent spring and summer dust devil activity in Hellas, where considerably fewer dust devils occurred in 2001-2002 than 1999-2000. In SW Syria, frequent, large dust devils occurred after the 2001 global events and persisted through southern summer. While dust devils have no specific relation to dust storms, they might play a role in the seasonal "wave of darkening" at middle and high latitudes by removing or disrupting thin veneers of dust. Dust devils have been observed to create thin, filamentary streaks. Some streaks are darker than their surroundings, while others are lighter. Some dust devils do not create streaks. At mid-latitudes, surfaces darken in spring as 100s of crisscrossing streaks form on widely-varied terrain. Some rare streaks exhibit cycloidal patterns

  10. Using an Instrumented Drone to Sample Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, Brian; Lorenz, Ralph; Davis, Karan; Lipple, Brock

    2017-10-01

    Dust devils are low-pressure, small (many to tens of meters) convective vortices powered by surface heating and rendered visible by lofted dust. Dust devils occur in arid climates on Earth, where they degrade air quality and pose a hazard to small aircraft. They also occur ubiquitously on Mars, where they may dominate the supply of atmospheric dust. Since dust contributes significantly to Mars’ atmospheric heat budget, dust devils probably play an important role in its climate. The dust-lifting capacity of a devil likely depends sensitively on its structure, particularly the wind and pressure profiles, but the exact dependencies are poorly constrained. Thus, the exact contribution to Mars’ atmosphere remains unresolved. Moreover, most previous studies of martian dust devils have relied on passive sampling of the profiles via meteorology packages on landed spacecraft, resulting in random encounter geometries which non-trivially skew the retrieved profiles. Analog studies of terrestrial devils have employed more active sampling (instrumented vehicles or manned aircraft) but have been limited to near-surface (few meters) or relatively high altitude (hundreds of meters) sampling. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, combined with miniature, digital instrumentation, promise a novel and uniquely powerful platform from which to sample dust devils via (relatively) controlled geometries at a wide variety of altitudes. In this presentation, we will describe a pilot study using an instrumented quadcopter on an active field site in southeastern Oregon, which (to our knowledge) has not previously been surveyed for dust devils. We will present preliminary results from the resulting encounters, including stereo image analysis and encounter footage collected onboard the drone.

  11. An investigation of Martian and terrestrial dust devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ringrose, Timothy John

    2004-10-01

    It is the purpose of this work to provide an insight into the theoretical and practical dynamics of dust devils and how they are detected remotely from orbit or in situ on planetary surfaces. There is particular interest in the detection of convective vortices on Mars; this has been driven by involvement in the development of the Beagle 2 Environmental Sensor Suite. This suite of sensors is essentially a martian weather station and will be the first planetary lander experiment specifically looking for the presence of dust devils on Mars. Dust devils are characterised by their visible dusty core and intense rotation. The physics of particle motion, including dust lofting and the rotational dynamics within convective vortices are explained and modelled. This modelling has helped in identifying dust devils in meteorological data from both terrestrial and martian investigations. An automated technique for dust devil detection using meteorological data has been developed. This technique searches data looking for the specific vortex signature as well as detecting other transient events. This method has been tested on both terrestrial and martian data with surprising results. 38 possible convective vortices were detected in the first 60 sols of the Viking Lander 2 meteorological data. Tests were also carried out on data from a terrestrial dust devil campaign, which provided conclusive evidence from visual observations of the reliability of this technique. A considerable amount of this work does focus on terrestrial vortices. This is to aid in the understanding of dust devils, specifically how, why and when they form. Both laboratory and terrestrial fieldwork is investigated, providing useful data on the general structure of dust devils.

  12. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 456 (Plain and Isolated)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 456th martian day, or sol (April 15, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera. Each frame in this movie has the raw image on the top half and a processed version in the lower half that enhances contrast and removes stationary objects, producing an image that is uniformly gray except for features that change from frame to frame.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface would be chilly. That temperature contrast causes convection. Mixing the dust, winds, and convection should trigger dust devils.

    Scientists will use the images to study several things. Tracking the dust devils tells which way the wind blows at different times

  13. Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 459 (Plain and Isolated)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's hillside vantage point during the rover's 459th martian day, or sol (April 18, 2005). The individual images were taken about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera. Each frame in this movie has the raw image on the top half and a processed version in the lower half that enhances contrast and removes stationary objects, producing an image that is uniformly gray except for features that change from frame to frame.

    The movie results from a new way of watching for dust devils, which are whirlwinds that hoist dust from the surface into the air. Spirit began seeing dust devils in isolated images in March 2005. At first, the rover team relied on luck. It might catch a dust devil in an image or it might miss by a few minutes. Using the new detection strategy, the rover takes a series of 21 images. Spirit sends a few of them to Earth, as well as little thumbnail images of all of them. Team members use the 3 big images and all the small images to decide whether the additional big images have dust devils. For this movie, they specifically told Spirit to send back frames that they knew had dust devils.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface would be chilly. That temperature contrast causes convection. Mixing the dust, winds, and convection should trigger dust devils.

    Scientists will use the images to study several things. Tracking the dust devils tells which way the wind blows at different times

  14. Several Dust Devils in Gusev Crater, Sol 461

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This movie clip shows a several dust devils -- whirlwinds that loft dust into the air -- moving across a plain below the hillside vantage point of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Several of the dust devils are visible at once in some of the 21 frames in this sequence. The local solar time was about 2 p.m., when the ground temperature was high enough to cause turbulence that kicks up dust devils as the wind blows across the plain. The number of seconds elapsed since the first frame is indicated at lower left of the images, typically 20 seconds between frames. Spirit's navigation camera took these images on the rover's 461st martian day, or sol (April 20, 2005.) Contrast has been enhanced for anything in the images that changes from frame to frame, that is, for the dust devil.

    Scientists expected dust devils since before Spirit landed. The landing area inside Gusev Crater is filled with dark streaks left behind when dust devils pick dust up from an area. It is also filled with bright 'hollows,' which are dust-filled miniature craters. Dust covers most of the terrain. Winds flow into and out of Gusev crater every day. The Sun heats the surface so that the surface is warm to the touch even though the atmosphere at 2 meters (6 feet) above the surface would be chilly. That temperature contrast causes convection. Mixing the dust, winds, and convection can trigger dust devils.

  15. Dust devils on Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, P.; Gierasch, P. J.

    1985-10-01

    Viking Orbiter photographic imagery has confirmed the occurrence of dust devils on Mars. The images were of small bright clouds with long, tapered shadows viewed from a nearly-nadir angle. Spectra of the features were consistent with dust and not condensates. A maximum height of 6.8 km and width of 1 km were measured. The dust devils appeared on smooth planes, and had average dimensions of 2 km height and 200 m diam, carrying 3000 kg of dust. The data may be of use in interpreting convective processes on earth.

  16. Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway.

    PubMed

    Bijl, Peter K; Bendle, James A P; Bohaty, Steven M; Pross, Jörg; Schouten, Stefan; Tauxe, Lisa; Stickley, Catherine E; McKay, Robert M; Röhl, Ursula; Olney, Matthew; Sluijs, Appy; Escutia, Carlota; Brinkhuis, Henk

    2013-06-11

    The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52-50 Ma). The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that culminated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has prevented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the early-to-middle Eocene transition from the Wilkes Land Margin, East Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface temperature paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began ~49-50 Ma through a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional surface water and continental cooling (2-4 °C), evidenced by biomarker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the westbound flowing current flow across the Tasmanian Gateway resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmospheric CO2 forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling.

  17. Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway

    PubMed Central

    Bijl, Peter K.; Bendle, James A. P.; Bohaty, Steven M.; Pross, Jörg; Schouten, Stefan; Tauxe, Lisa; Stickley, Catherine E.; McKay, Robert M.; Röhl, Ursula; Olney, Matthew; Sluijs, Appy; Escutia, Carlota; Brinkhuis, Henk; Klaus, Adam; Fehr, Annick; Williams, Trevor; Carr, Stephanie A.; Dunbar, Robert B.; Gonzàlez, Jhon J.; Hayden, Travis G.; Iwai, Masao; Jimenez-Espejo, Francisco J.; Katsuki, Kota; Kong, Gee Soo; Nakai, Mutsumi; Passchier, Sandra; Pekar, Stephen F.; Riesselman, Christina; Sakai, Toyosaburo; Shrivastava, Prakash K.; Sugisaki, Saiko; Tuo, Shouting; van de Flierdt, Tina; Welsh, Kevin; Yamane, Masako

    2013-01-01

    The warmest global temperatures of the past 85 million years occurred during a prolonged greenhouse episode known as the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (52–50 Ma). The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum terminated with a long-term cooling trend that culminated in continental-scale glaciation of Antarctica from 34 Ma onward. Whereas early studies attributed the Eocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse climates to the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, more recent investigations invoked a dominant role of declining atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., CO2). However, the scarcity of field data has prevented empirical evaluation of these hypotheses. We present marine microfossil and organic geochemical records spanning the early-to-middle Eocene transition from the Wilkes Land Margin, East Antarctica. Dinoflagellate biogeography and sea surface temperature paleothermometry reveal that the earliest throughflow of a westbound Antarctic Counter Current began ∼49–50 Ma through a southern opening of the Tasmanian Gateway. This early opening occurs in conjunction with the simultaneous onset of regional surface water and continental cooling (2–4 °C), evidenced by biomarker- and pollen-based paleothermometry. We interpret that the westbound flowing current flow across the Tasmanian Gateway resulted in cooling of Antarctic surface waters and coasts, which was conveyed to global intermediate waters through invigorated deep convection in southern high latitudes. Although atmospheric CO2 forcing alone would provide a more uniform middle Eocene cooling, the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway better explains Southern Ocean surface water and global deep ocean cooling in the apparent absence of (sub-) equatorial cooling. PMID:23720311

  18. When Genomics Is Not Enough: Experimental Evidence for a Decrease in LINE-1 Activity During the Evolution of Australian Marsupials

    PubMed Central

    Gallus, Susanne; Lammers, Fritjof

    2016-01-01

    The autonomous transposable element LINE-1 is a highly abundant element that makes up between 15% and 20% of therian mammal genomes. Since their origin before the divergence of marsupials and placental mammals, LINE-1 elements have contributed actively to the genome landscape. A previous in silico screen of the Tasmanian devil genome revealed a lack of functional coding LINE-1 sequences. In this study we present the results of an in vitro analysis from a partial LINE-1 reverse transcriptase coding sequence in five marsupial species. Our experimental screen supports the in silico findings of the genome-wide degradation of LINE-1 sequences in the Tasmanian devil, and identifies a high frequency of degraded LINE-1 sequences in other Australian marsupials. The comparison between the experimentally obtained LINE-1 sequences and reference genome assemblies suggests that conclusions from in silico analyses of retrotransposition activity can be influenced by incomplete genome assemblies from short reads. PMID:27389686

  19. Techniques for identifying dust devils in mars pathfinder images

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Metzger, S.M.; Carr, J.R.; Johnson, J. R.; Parker, T.J.; Lemmon, M.T.

    2000-01-01

    Image processing methods used to identify and enhance dust devil features imaged by IMP (Imager for Mars Pathfinder) are reviewed. Spectral differences, visible red minus visible blue, were used for initial dust devil searches, driven by the observation that Martian dust has high red and low blue reflectance. The Martian sky proved to be more heavily dust-laden than pre-Pathfinder predictions, based on analysis of images from the Hubble Space Telescope. As a result, these initial spectral difference methods failed to contrast dust devils with background dust haze. Imager artifacts (dust motes on the camera lens, flat-field effects caused by imperfections in the CCD, and projection onto a flat sensor plane by a convex lens) further impeded the ability to resolve subtle dust devil features. Consequently, reference images containing sky with a minimal horizon were first subtracted from each spectral filter image to remove camera artifacts and reduce the background dust haze signal. Once the sky-flat preprocessing step was completed, the red-minus-blue spectral difference scheme was attempted again. Dust devils then were successfully identified as bright plumes. False-color ratios using calibrated IMP images were found useful for visualizing dust plumes, verifying initial discoveries as vortex-like features. Enhancement of monochromatic (especially blue filter) images revealed dust devils as silhouettes against brighter background sky. Experiments with principal components transformation identified dust devils in raw, uncalibrated IMP images and further showed relative movement of dust devils across the Martian surface. A variety of methods therefore served qualitative and quantitative goals for dust plume identification and analysis in an environment where such features are obscure.

  20. Boundary Layer Regimes Conducive to Formation of Dust Devils on Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Williams, B.; Nair, U. S.

    2014-12-01

    Dust devils on Mars contribute to maintenance of background atmospheric aerosol loading and thus dust radiative forcing, which is an important modulator of Martian climate. Dust devils also cause surface erosion and change in surface albedo which impacts radiative energy budget. Thus there is a need for parameterizing dust devil impacts in Martian climate models. In this context it is important to understand environmental conditions that are favorable for formation of dust devils on Mars and associated implications for diurnal, seasonal, and geographical variation of dust devil occurrence. On earth, prior studies show that thresholds of ratio of convective and friction scale velocities may be used to identify boundary layer regimes that are conducive to formation of dust devils. On earth, a w*/u* ratio in excess of 5 is found to be conducive for formation of dust devils. In this study, meteorological observations collected during the Viking Lander mission are used to constrain Martian boundary layer model simulations, which is then used to estimate w*/u* ratio. The w*/u* ratio is computed for several case days during which dust devil occurrence was detected. A majority of dust devils occurred in convective boundary layer regimes characterized by w*/u* ratios exceeding 10. The above described analysis is being extended to other mars mission landing sites and results from the extended analysis will also be presented.

  1. Chemical quality of surface waters in Devils Lake basin, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Swenson, Herbert; Colby, Bruce R.

    1955-01-01

    Devils Lake basin, a closed basin in northeastern North Dakota, covers about 3,900 square miles of land, the topography of which is morainal and of glacial origin. In this basin lies a chain of waterways, which begins with the Sweetwater group and extends successively through Mauvais Coulee, Devils Lake, East Bay Devils Lake, and East Devils Lake, to Stump Lake. In former years when lake levels were high, Mauvais Coulee drained the Sweetwater group and discharged considerable water into Devils Lake. Converging coulees also transported excess water to Stump Lake. For at least 70 years prior to 1941, Mauvais Coulee flowed only intermittently, and the levels of major lakes in this region gradually declined. Devils Lake, for example, covered an area of about 90,000 acres in 1867 but had shrunk to approximately 6,500 acres by 1941. Plans to restore the recreational appeal of Devils Lake propose the dilution and eventual displacement of the brackish lake water by fresh water that would be diverted from the Missouri River. Freshening of the lake water would permit restocking Devils Lake with fish. Devils and Stump Lake have irregular outlines and numerous windings and have been described as lying in the valley of a preglacial river, the main stem and tributaries of which are partly filled with drift. Prominent morainal hills along the south shore of Devils Lake contrast sharply with level farmland to the north. The mean annual temperature of Devils Lake basin ranges between 36 ? and 42 ? F. Summer temperatures above 100 ? F and winter temperatures below -30 ? Fare not uncommon. The annual precipitation for 77 years at the city of Devils Lake averaged 17.5 inches. Usually, from 75 to 80 percent of the precipitation in the basin falls during the growing season, April to September. From 1867 to 1941 the net fall of the water surface of Devils Lake was about 38 feet. By 1951 the surface had risen fully 14 feet from its lowest altitude, 1,400.9 feet. Since 1951, the level has

  2. Global potential of dust devil occurrence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jemmett-Smith, Bradley; Marsham, John; Knippertz, Peter; Gilkeson, Carl

    2014-05-01

    Mineral dust is a key constituent in the climate system. Airborne mineral dust forms the largest component of the global aerosol budget by mass and subsequently affects climate, weather and biogeochemical processes. There remains large uncertainty in the quantitative estimates of the dust cycle. Dry boundary-layer convection serves as an effective mechanism for dust uplift, typically through a combination of rotating dust devils and non-rotating larger and longer-lived convective plumes. These microscale dry-convective processes occur over length scales of several hundred metres or less. They are difficult to observe and model, and therefore their contribution to the global dust budget is highly uncertain. Using an analytical approach to extrapolate limited observations, Koch and Renno (2006) suggest that dust devils and plumes could contribute as much as 35%. Here, we use a new method for quantifying the potential of dust devil occurrence to provide an alternative perspective on this estimate. Observations have shown that dust devil and convective plume occurrence is favoured in hot arid regions under relatively weak background winds, large ground-to-air temperature gradients and deep dry convection. By applying such known constraints to operational analyses from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), we provide, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first hourly estimates of dust devil occurrence including an analysis of sensitivity to chosen threshold uplift. The results show the expected diurnal variation and allow an examination of the seasonal cycle and day-to-day variations in the conditions required for dust devil formation. They confirm that desert regions are expected to have by far the highest frequency of dry convective vortices, with winds capable of dust uplift. This approach is used to test the findings of Koch and Renno (2006). Koch J., Renno N. (2006). The role of convective plumes and vortices on the global aerosol

  3. Martian Arctic Dust Devil and Phoenix Meteorology Mast

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander caught this dust devil in action west-southwest of the lander at 11:16 a.m. local Mars time on Sol 104, or the 104th Martian day of the mission, Sept. 9, 2008.

    Dust devils have not been detected in any Phoenix images from earlier in the mission, but at least six were observed in a dozen images taken on Sol 104.

    Dust devils are whirlwinds that often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars, or some areas on Earth. The warmed surface heats the layer of atmosphere closest to it, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado.

    The vertical post near the left edge of this image is the mast of the Meteorological Station on Phoenix. The dust devil visible at the horizon just to the right of the mast is estimated to be 600 to 700 meters (about 2,000 to 2,300 feet) from Phoenix, and 4 to 5 meters (10 to 13 feet) in diameter. It is much smaller than dust devils that have been observed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit much closer to the equator. It is closer in size to dust devils seen from orbit in the Phoenix landing region, though still smaller than those.

    The image has been enhanced to make the dust devil easier to see.

    The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

  4. Properties of Arizona Dust Devils: a Martian Analog

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, P. H.; Renno, N.; MATADOR Team

    2001-11-01

    During the week of June 4-8, 2001, the MATADOR team instrumented a truck to study the properties of dust devils at a Martian analog site in Eloy, AZ. MATADOR consists of a group of instruments operated by a science team of about 20 members originally selected by the HEDS program for a 2003 lander mission to Mars. Currently deselected with the loss of the mission, the team has continued studying the optimum means for measuring dust devil properties. With an eye for remotely sensing and identifying potential hazards to humans and their equipment, MATADOR can eventually act as an early warning system much like tornedo and hurricane watches on the Earth. Key questions that the MATADOR group is addressing concern the ability of LIDAR (provided by Optech in Canada) to scan dust devils, the strength of electrical charging and the associated E-fields that are created, the oxidation of the local soil from ionized species, and the best ways to measure the quixotic meteorological properties that define dust devils. Dozens of dust devils were monitored during the field test both remotely and in situ, the results of our study will be presented in detail. One thing is clear though, dust devils maintain a tremendous charge separation such that E-fields approach the breakdown potential of the Earth's atmosphere. Equivalent dust devils on Mars would be 100 times larger than their small Earth cousins; despite the much reduced breakdown potential of the Martian atmosphere, charge separations are likely to occur on Mars. The discharging of these dust events would create electrical signals that can be studied remotely. We would like to thank NASA's HEDS division for their support of these investigations.

  5. Physical-property, water-quality, plankton, and bottom-material data for Devils Lake and East Devils Lake, North Dakota, September 1988 through October 1990

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sando, Steven K.; Sether, Bradley A.

    1993-01-01

    Physical-properties were measured and water-quality, plankton, and bottom-material samples were collected at 10 sites in Devils Lake and East Devils Lake during September 1988 through October 1990 to study water-quality variability and water-quality and plankton relations in Devils Lake and East Devils Lake. Physical properties measured include specific conductance, pH, water temperature, dissolved-oxygen concentration, water transparency, and light transmission. Water-quality samples were analyzed for concentrations of major ions, selected nutrients, and selected trace elements. Plankton samples were examined for identification and enumeration of phytoplankton and zooplankton species, and bottom-material samples were analyzed for concentrations of selected nutrients. Data-collection procedures are discussed and the data are presented in tabular form.

  6. Devices for Deviling Classes in Theatre History.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bryan, George B.

    In addition to the use of the lecture-discussion method of teaching theatre history, the author contends that this approach can be augmented by the process of "deviling" (adding spice to) the learning situation. At the University of Vermont, theatre history courses have been taught with a variety of deviling exercises, which include: (1)…

  7. 9 CFR 319.760 - Deviled ham, deviled tongue, and similar products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ...: Provided, That the total fat content shall not exceed 35 percent of the finished product. The moisture content of deviled ham shall not exceed that of the fresh unprocessed meat. (b) The moisture content of...

  8. 9 CFR 319.760 - Deviled ham, deviled tongue, and similar products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ...: Provided, That the total fat content shall not exceed 35 percent of the finished product. The moisture content of deviled ham shall not exceed that of the fresh unprocessed meat. (b) The moisture content of...

  9. On the geological origin of Devils Tower (WY, USA)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zavada, P.; Dedecek, P.; Holloway, S. D.; Chang, J. C.; Crain, K.; Keller, G. R.

    2011-12-01

    The Devils Tower is an exceptional igneous rock formation and a dominating landmark of the northern plains in Wyoming (USA). It rises 250 m above the surrounding sedimentary formations. Previous hypotheses suggested that the Devils Tower was originally part of a magmatic intrusion; volcanic conduit, magmatic stock or a laccolith. Our review of the geological evidence suggests that the Devils Tower is a remnant of an eroded lava lake that filled a broad phreatomagmatic volcano crater. Our hypothesis is based on a detailed study of a similar phonolite landmark in Czech Republic, called Boren, and analogue modeling, finite element numerical modeling of cooling for various shapes of volcanic bodies, and results of field and gravity surveys of the area. The Devils Tower together with a group of five phonolite bodies called Missouri Buttes, located 6 km NW from the Devils Tower, represent the easternmost products of the Tertiary tectonomagmatic events related to the lithospheric-scale uplift of the Black hills monocline. The phreatomagmatic deposits in the surroundings of the Missouri Buttes and the Devils Tower suggest that these phonolite bodies were originally emplaced into phreatomagmatic maar-diatreme volcanoes. To reveal the original shape of the Devils Tower, we employed the analogue modeling using plaster of Paris as analogue for phonolite magma to study internal fabrics and shapes of extrusive/intrusive magmatic bodies emplaced into the maar-diatreme volcanoes. Then, the resulting shapes of analogue magmatic bodies were used for the Finite Element thermal numerical models of their cooling using the thermophysical parameters of the phonolite magma and the rock units surrounding the Devils Tower and Missouri Buttes. Because the columnar joints grow perpendicular to the isotherms in cooling igneous and volcanic bodies, we analyzed the match between the thermal structure of the FE models and the columnar jointing pattern on the Devils Tower. The best fit of the

  10. Large-Eddy Simulations of Dust Devils and Convective Vortices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spiga, Aymeric; Barth, Erika; Gu, Zhaolin; Hoffmann, Fabian; Ito, Junshi; Jemmett-Smith, Bradley; Klose, Martina; Nishizawa, Seiya; Raasch, Siegfried; Rafkin, Scot; Takemi, Tetsuya; Tyler, Daniel; Wei, Wei

    2016-11-01

    In this review, we address the use of numerical computations called Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) to study dust devils, and the more general class of atmospheric phenomena they belong to (convective vortices). We describe the main elements of the LES methodology. We review the properties, statistics, and variability of dust devils and convective vortices resolved by LES in both terrestrial and Martian environments. The current challenges faced by modelers using LES for dust devils are also discussed in detail.

  11. Paralytic shellfish toxins, including deoxydecarbamoyl-STX, in wild-caught Tasmanian abalone (Haliotis rubra).

    PubMed

    Harwood, D Tim; Selwood, Andrew I; van Ginkel, Roel; Waugh, Craig; McNabb, Paul S; Munday, Rex; Hay, Brenda; Thomas, Krista; Quilliam, Michael A; Malhi, Navreet; Dowsett, Natalie; McLeod, Catherine

    2014-11-01

    For the first time wild-caught Tasmanian abalone, Haliotis rubra, have been reported to contain paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). This observation followed blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum. No illnesses were reported, but harvesting restrictions were enforced in commercial areas. Abalone were assayed using HPLC-FLD methodology based on AOAC official method 2005.06. An uncommon congener, deoxydecarbamoyl-STX (doSTX), was observed in addition to regulated PSTs as unassigned chromatographic peaks. A quantitative reference material was prepared from contaminated Tasmanian abalone viscera and ampouled at 54.2 μmol/L. The LD50 of doSTX via intraperitoneal injection was 1069 nmol/kg (95% confidence limits 983-1100 nmol/kg), indicating it is nearly 40 times less toxic than STX. A toxicity equivalence factor of 0.042 was generated using the mouse bioassay. Levels of PSTs varied among individuals from the same site, although the toxin profile remained relatively consistent. In the foot tissue, STX, decarbamoyl-STX and doSTX were identified. On a molar basis doSTX was the dominant congener in both foot and viscera samples. The viscera toxin profile was more complex, with other less toxic PST congeners observed and was similar to mussels from the same site. This finding implicates localised dinoflagellate blooms as the PST source in Tasmanian abalone. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Spirit Captures Two Dust Devils On the Move

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1 Annotated

    At the Gusev site recently, skies have been very dusty, and on its 421st sol (March 10, 2005) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit spied two dust devils in action. This is an image from the rover's navigation camera.

    Views of the Gusev landing region from orbit show many dark streaks across the landscape -- tracks where dust devils have removed surface dust to show relatively darker soil below -- but this is the first time Spirit has photographed an active dust devil.

    Scientists are considering several causes of these small phenomena. Dust devils often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars. Warmed soil and rocks heat the layer of atmosphere closest to the surface, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado. Another possibility is that a flow structure might develop over craters as wind speeds increase. As winds pick up, turbulence eddies and rotating columns of air form. As these columns grow in diameter they become taller and gain rotational speed. Eventually they become self-sustaining and the wind blows them down range.

    One sol before this image was taken, power output from Spirit's solar panels went up by about 50 percent when the amount of dust on the panels decreased. Was this a coincidence, or did a helpful dust devil pass over Spirit and lift off some of the dust?

    By comparing the separate images from the rover's different cameras, team members estimate that the dust devils moved about 500 meters (1,640 feet) in the 155 seconds between the navigation camera and hazard-avoidance camera frames; that equates to about 3 meters per second (7 miles per hour). The dust devils appear to be about 1,100 meters (almost three-quarters of a mile) from the rover.

  13. Gaussian-based filters for detecting Martian dust devils

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Yang, F.; Mlsna, P.A.; Geissler, P.

    2006-01-01

    The ability to automatically detect dust devils in the Martian atmosphere from orbital imagery is becoming important both for scientific studies of the planet and for the planning of future robotic and manned missions. This paper describes our approach for the unsupervised detection of dust devils and the preliminary results achieved to date. The algorithm centers upon the use of a filter constructed from Gaussian profiles to match dust devil characteristics over a range of scale and orientation. The classification step is designed to reduce false positive errors caused by static surface features such as craters. A brief discussion of planned future work is included. ?? 2006 IEEE.

  14. Measurements of Martian dust devil winds with HiRISE

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Choi, D.S.; Dundas, C.M.

    2011-01-01

    We report wind measurements within Martian dust devils observed in plan view from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) orbiting Mars. The central color swath of the HiRISE instrument has three separate charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and color filters that observe the surface in rapid cadence. Active features, such as dust devils, appear in motion when observed by this region of the instrument. Our image animations reveal clear circulatory motion within dust devils that is separate from their translational motion across the Martian surface. Both manual and automated tracking of dust devil clouds reveal tangential winds that approach 20-30 m s -1 in some cases. These winds are sufficient to induce a ???1% decrease in atmospheric pressure within the dust devil core relative to ambient, facilitating dust lifting by reducing the threshold wind speed for particle elevation. Finally, radial velocity profiles constructed from our automated measurements test the Rankine vortex model for dust devil structure. Our profiles successfully reveal the solid body rotation component in the interior, but fail to conclusively illuminate the profile in the outer regions of the vortex. One profile provides evidence for a velocity decrease as a function of r -1/2, instead of r -1, suggestive of surface friction effects. However, other profiles do not support this observation, or do not contain enough measurements to produce meaningful insights. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

  15. Growth, productivity, and relative extinction risk of a data-sparse devil ray

    PubMed Central

    Pardo, Sebastián A.; Kindsvater, Holly K.; Cuevas-Zimbrón, Elizabeth; Sosa-Nishizaki, Oscar; Pérez-Jiménez, Juan Carlos; Dulvy, Nicholas K.

    2016-01-01

    Devil rays (Mobula spp.) face intensifying fishing pressure to meet the ongoing international demand for gill plates. The paucity of information on growth, mortality, and fishing effort for devil rays make quantifying population growth rates and extinction risk challenging. Furthermore, unlike manta rays (Manta spp.), devil rays have not been listed on CITES. Here, we use a published size-at-age dataset for the Spinetail Devil Ray (Mobula japanica), to estimate somatic growth rates, age at maturity, maximum age, and natural and fishing mortality. We then estimate a plausible distribution of the maximum intrinsic population growth rate (rmax) and compare it to 95 other chondrichthyans. We find evidence that larger devil ray species have low somatic growth rate, low annual reproductive output, and low maximum population growth rates, suggesting they have low productivity. Fishing rates of a small-scale artisanal Mexican fishery were comparable to our estimate of rmax, and therefore probably unsustainable. Devil ray rmax is very similar to that of manta rays, indicating devil rays can potentially be driven to local extinction at low levels of fishing mortality and that a similar degree of protection for both groups is warranted. PMID:27658342

  16. Active dust devils in Gusev crater, Mars: Observations from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Greeley, R.; Whelley, P.L.; Arvidson, R. E.; Cabrol, N.A.; Foley, D.J.; Franklin, B.J.; Geissler, P.G.; Golombek, M.P.; Kuzmin, R.O.; Landis, G.A.; Lemmon, M.T.; Neakrase, L.D.V.; Squyres, S. W.; Thompson, S.D.

    2006-01-01

    A full dust devil "season" was observed from Spirit from 10 March 2005 (sol 421, first active dust devil observed) to 12 December 2005 (sol 691, last dust devil seen); this corresponds to the period Ls 173.2?? to 339.5??, or the southern spring and summer on Mars. Thermal Emission Spectrometer data suggest a correlation between high surface temperatures and a positive thermal gradient with active dust devils in Gusev and that Spirit landed in the waning stages of a dust devil season as temperatures decreased. 533 active dust devils were observed, enabling new characterizations; they ranged in diameter from 2 to 276 m, with most in the range of 10-20 m in diameter, and occurred from about 0930 to 1630 hours local true solar time (with the maximum forming around 1300 hours) and a peak occurrence in southern late spring (Ls ??? 250??). Horizontal speeds of the dust devils ranged from <1 to 21 m/s, while vertical wind speeds within the dust devils ranged from 0.2 to 8.8 m/s. These data, when combined with estimates of the dust content within the dust devils, yield dust fluxes of 3.95 ?? 10-9 to 4.59-4 kg/m2/s. Analysis of the dust devil frequency distribution over the inferred dust devil zone within Gusev crater yields ???50 active dust devils/km2/sol, suggesting a dust loading into the atmosphere of ???19 kg/km2/sol. This value is less than one tenth the estimates by Cantor et al. (2001) for regional dust storms on Mars. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

  17. A Dust Devil Playground

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2006-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Context image for PIA02185 A Dust Devil Playground

    Dust Devil activity in this region between Brashear and Ross Craters is very common. Large regions of dust devil tracks surround the south polar region of Mars.

    Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -55.2N, Longitude 244.2E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.

    Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

  18. Ecology: 'Devil's gardens' bedevilled by ants.

    PubMed

    Frederickson, Megan E; Greene, Michael J; Gordon, Deborah M

    2005-09-22

    'Devil's gardens' are large stands of trees in the Amazonian rainforest that consist almost entirely of a single species, Duroia hirsuta, and, according to local legend, are cultivated by an evil forest spirit. Here we show that the ant Myrmelachista schumanni, which nests in D. hirsuta stems, creates devil's gardens by poisoning all plants except its host plants with formic acid. By killing these other plants, M. schumanni provides its colonies with abundant nest sites--a long-lasting benefit as colonies can live for 800 years.

  19. Analysis of Dust Devils on Mars using CFD

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lange, C. F.; Chen, K.; Davis, J. A.; Gheynani, B. T.

    2009-05-01

    Recent Mars missions have reported evidence of the existence of dust devils. A detailed study of vortex dynamics will provide a better understanding of this swirling flow of the Martian atmosphere. Further, it is believed that there is a relationship between dust devils and water transport. Recently, the Phoenix Mars mission, designed to investigate ice water and natural events on Mars, has successfully finished. The Phoenix Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) camera captured images of the passage of dust devils over or close to the lander. Additionally, dustless devils, which have similar vortex characteristics but insufficient strength to raise dust from the surface, have been detected in the lander's pressure measurements. It was found that dust devils occur mainly in the early afternoon. Because of this, numerical models of a vortex generator are used to study the physics of this complex swirling flow and the effect of dust devils on the transport of water vapour from the regolith. Characteristic parameters such as core radius and swirl ratio are being explored for scaling factors. Scaling factors will be studied and tested, comparing the small and large scales of numerically generated vortices and laboratory generated vortices. Small scale of numerical models of atmospheric vortices are studied using a commercial software package, ANSYS/CFX11.0 with finite volume method (FVM). Large eddy simulations (LES) of planetary boundary layers are based on NCAR LES code to simulate convective vertical vortices that naturally form in quiescent convective boundary layers (CBL) over homogeneous flat surfaces. This will help to find the approximate location and physical characteristics of the vortices on the surface. The numerical models of atmospheric vortices and the experimental vortex generator validations will help to define the water vapour cycle on Mars.

  20. From Dust Devil to Sustainable Swirling Wind Energy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Mingxu; Luo, Xilian; Li, Tianyu; Zhang, Liyuan; Meng, Xiangzhao; Kase, Kiwamu; Wada, Satoshi; Yu, Chuck Wah; Gu, Zhaolin

    2015-02-01

    Dust devils are common but meteorologically unique phenomena on Earth and on Mars. The phenomenon produces a vertical vortex motion in the atmosphere boundary layer and often occurs in hot desert regions, especially in the afternoons from late spring to early summer. Dust devils usually contain abundant wind energy, for example, a maximum swirling wind velocity of up to 25 m/s, with a 15 m/s maximum vertical velocity and 5 m/s maximum near-surface horizontal velocity can be formed. The occurrences of dust devils cannot be used for energy generation because these are generally random and short-lived. Here, a concept of sustained dust-devil-like whirlwind is proposed for the energy generation. A prototype of a circular shed with pre-rotation vanes has been devised to generate the whirlwind flow by heating the air inflow into the circular shed. The pre-rotation vanes can provide the air inflow with angular momentum. The results of numerical simulations and experiment illustrate a promising potential of the circular shed for generating swirling wind energy via the collection of low-temperature solar energy.

  1. Dust devil vortices seen by the Mars Pathfinder camera

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Metzger, S.M.; Carr, J.R.; Johnson, J. R.; Parker, T.J.; Lemmon, M.T.

    1999-01-01

    Discovery of dust devil vortices in Mars Pathfinder (MPF) images reveals a dust entrainment mechanism at work on Mars. Scattering of visible light by dust in the Martian atmosphere creates a pronounced haze, preventing conventional image processing from displaying dust plumes. Spectral differencing techniques have enhanced five localized dust plumes from the general haze in images acquired near midday, which we determine to be dust devils. Processing of 440 nm images highlights dust devils as distinct occultation features against the horizon. The dust devils are interpreted to be 14-79 m wide, 46-350 m tall, travel at 0.5-4.6 m/s, with dust loading of 7E-5 kg m-3, relative to the general haze of 9E-8 kg m-3, and total particulate transport of 2.2 - 700 kg. The vortices match predictions from terrestrial analog studies. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.

  2. The Electric Environment of Martian Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barth, E. L.; Farrell, W. M.; Rafkin, S. C.

    2017-12-01

    While Martian dust devils have been monitored through decades of observations, we have yet to study their possible electrical effects from in situ instrumentation. However, evidence for the existence of active electrodynamic processes on Mars is provided by laboratory studies of analog material and field campaigns of dust devils on Earth. We have enabled our Mars regional scale atmospheric model (MRAMS) to estimate an upper limit on electric fields generated through dust devil circulations by including charged particles as defined from the Macroscopic Triboelectric Simulation (MTS) code. MRAMS is used to investigate the complex physics of regional, mesoscale, and microscale atmospheric phenomena on Mars; it is a 3-D, nonhydrostatic model, which permits the simulation of atmospheric flows with large vertical accelerations, such as dust devils. MTS is a 3-D particle code which quantifies charging associated with swirling, mixing dust grains; grains of pre-defined sizes and compositions are placed in a simulation box and allowed to move under the influence of winds and gravity. Our MRAMS grid cell size makes our results most applicable to dust devils of a few hundred meters in diameter. We have run a number of simulations to understand the sensitivity of the electric field strength to the particle size and abundance and the amount of charge on each dust grain. We find that Efields can indeed develop in Martian dust convective features via dust grain filtration effects. The overall value of these E-fields is strongly dependent upon dust grain size, dust load, and lifting efficiency, and field strengths can range from 100s of mV/m to 10s of kV/m.

  3. A multiyear dust devil vortex survey using an automated search of pressure time series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, Brian; Lorenz, Ralph

    2015-03-01

    Dust devils occur in arid climates on the Earth and ubiquitously on Mars, where they likely dominate the supply of atmospheric dust and influence climate. Martian dust devils have been studied with a combination of orbiting and landed spacecraft, while most studies of terrestrial dust devils have involved manned monitoring of field sites, which can be costly both in time and personnel. As an alternative approach, we describe a multiyear in situ survey of terrestrial dust devils using pressure loggers deployed at El Dorado Playa in Nevada, USA, a site known for dust devil activity. Analogous to previous surveys for Martian dust devils, we conduct a posthoc analysis of the barometric data to search for putative dust devil pressure dips using a new automated detection algorithm. We investigate the completeness and false positive rates of our new algorithm and conduct several statistically robust analyses of the resulting population of dips. We also investigate possible seasonal, annual, and spatial variability of the putative dust devil dips, possible correlations with precipitation, and the influence of sample size on the derived population statistics. Our results suggest that large numbers of dips (>1000) collected over multiple seasons are probably required for accurate assessment of the underlying dust devil population. Correlating long-term barometric time series with other data streams (e.g., solar flux measurements from photovoltaic cells) can uniquely elucidate the natures and origins of dust devils, and accurately assessing their influence requires consideration of the full distribution of dust devil properties, rather than average values.

  4. Spatial and temporal variability of dissolved sulfate in Devils Lake, North Dakota, 1998

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sether, Bradley A.; Vecchia, Aldo V.; Berkas, Wayne R.

    1998-01-01

    The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-squaremile closed subbasin of the Red River of the North Basin (fig. 1). About 3,320 square miles of the total 3,810 square miles is tributary to Devils Lake. The Devils Lake Basin contributes to the Red River of the North Basin when the level of Devils Lake is greater than 1,459 feet above sea level.Lake levels of Devils Lake were recorded sporadically from 1867 to 1890. In 1901, the U.S. Geological Survey established a gaging station on Devils Lake. From 1867 through 1998, the lake level has fluctuated between a minimum of 1,400.9 feet above sea level in 1940 and a maximum of 1,444.7 feet above sea level in 1998 (fig. 2). The maximum, which occurred on July 7, 1998, was 22.1 feet higher than the level recorded in February 1993.The rapid rise in the lake level of Devils Lake since 1993 is in response to abovenormal precipitation and below-normal evaporation from the summer of 1993 through 1998. Because of the rising lake level, more than 50,000 acres of land and many roads around the lake have been flooded. In addition, the water quality of Devils Lake changed substantially in 1993 because of the summer flooding (Williams-Sether and others, 1996). In response to the flooding, the Devils Lake Basin Interagency Task Force, comprised of many State and Federal agencies, was formed in 1995 to find and propose intermediate (5 years or less) flood mitigation options. Current and accurate hydrologic and water-quality information is needed to assess the effectiveness of the flood mitigation options, which include managing and storing water in the Devils Lake Basin, continuing infrastructure protection, and providing an outlet to the Sheyenne River (Wiche, 1998). As part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Devils Lake emergency outlet feasibility study, the U.S. Geological Survey is modeling lake levels and sulfate concentrations in Devils Lake to simulate operation of an emergency outlet. Accurate simulation of sulfate concentrations in

  5. Dust devil signatures in infrasound records of the International Monitoring System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lorenz, Ralph D.; Christie, Douglas

    2015-03-01

    We explore whether dust devils have a recognizable signature in infrasound array records, since several Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty verification stations conducting continuous measurements with microbarometers are in desert areas which see dust devils. The passage of dust devils (and other boundary layer vortices, whether dust laden or not) causes a local temporary drop in pressure: the high-pass time domain filtering in microbarometers results in a "heartbeat" signature, which we observe at the Warramunga station in Australia. We also observe a ~50 min pseudoperiodicity in the occurrence of these signatures and some higher-frequency infrasound. Dust devils do not significantly degrade the treaty verification capability. The pipe arrays for spatial averaging used in infrasound monitoring degrade the detection efficiency of small devils, but the long observation time may allow a useful census of large vortices, and thus, the high-sensitivity infrasonic array data from the monitoring network can be useful in studying columnar vortices in the lower atmosphere.

  6. A Multi-Year Dust Devil Vortex Survey Using an Automated Search of Pressure Time-Series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, Brian K.; Lorenz, Ralph

    2014-11-01

    Dust devils occur in arid climates on the Earth and ubiquitously on Mars, where they likely dominate the supply of atmospheric dust and influence climate. Martian dust devils have been studied with a combination of orbiting and landed spacecraft, while most studies of terrestrial dust devils have involved manned monitoring of field sites, which can be costly both in time and personnel. As an alternative approach, we describe a multi-year in-situ survey of terrestrial dust devils using pressure loggers deployed at El Dorado Playa in Nevada, USA, a site known for dust devil activity. Analogous to previous surveys for Martian dust devils, we conduct a post-hoc analysis of the barometric data to search for putative dust devil pressure dips using a new automated detection algorithm. We investigate the completeness and false positive rates of our new algorithm and conduct several statistically robust analyses of the resulting population of dips. We also investigate seasonal, annual, and spatial variability of the putative dust devil dips, possible correlations with precipitation, and the influence of sample size on the derived population statistics. Our results suggest that large numbers of dips (> 1,000) collected over multiple seasons are probably required for accurate assessment of the underlying dust devil population. Correlating long-term barometric time-series with other data streams (e.g., solar flux measurements from photovoltaic cells) can uniquely elucidate the natures and origins of dust devils, and accurately assessing their influence requires consideration of the full distribution of dust devil properties, rather than average values. For example, our results suggest the dust flux from the average terrestrial devil is nearly 1,000 times smaller than the (more representative) population-weighted average flux. If applicable to Martian dust devils, such corrections may help resolve purported discrepancies between the dust fluxes estimated from dust devil studies

  7. Humanizing folk devils using ethnography.

    PubMed

    Myers, Peter L

    2018-01-01

    The sociological concepts of the "moral panic" and the deviant "folk devil" apply to the drug panics in the United States over methamphetamine, heroin, and crack cocaine. Mothers or pregnant women who smoke crack cocaine, and their babies, are assigned exaggerated "demonic" attributes that result in stigma and societal rejection. Otherwise, ethnographic studies of drug users demonstrate realities that are other than what might be considered were one to merely look at their use and the consequences. These considerations are examined with respect to the image of folk devils, methadone program attendees, smokers of "blunts," opium den habitués, and others grouped together as negative influences as a result of their drug habits.

  8. Real-Time Detection of Dust Devils from Pressure Readings

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wagstaff, Kiri

    2009-01-01

    A method for real-time detection of dust devils at a given location is based on identifying the abrupt, temporary decreases in atmospheric pressure that are characteristic of dust devils as they travel through that location. The method was conceived for use in a study of dust devils on the Martian surface, where bandwidth limitations encourage the transmission of only those blocks of data that are most likely to contain information about features of interest, such as dust devils. The method, which is a form of intelligent data compression, could readily be adapted to use for the same purpose in scientific investigation of dust devils on Earth. In this method, the readings of an atmospheric- pressure sensor are repeatedly digitized, recorded, and processed by an algorithm that looks for extreme deviations from a continually updated model of the current pressure environment. The question in formulating the algorithm is how to model current normal observations and what minimum magnitude deviation can be considered sufficiently anomalous as to indicate the presence of a dust devil. There is no single, simple answer to this question: any answer necessarily entails a compromise between false detections and misses. For the original Mars application, the answer was sought through analysis of sliding time windows of digitized pressure readings. Windows of 5-, 10-, and 15-minute durations were considered. The windows were advanced in increments of 30 seconds. Increments of other sizes can also be used, but computational cost increases as the increment decreases and analysis is performed more frequently. Pressure models were defined using a polynomial fit to the data within the windows. For example, the figure depicts pressure readings from a 10-minute window wherein the model was defined by a third-degree polynomial fit to the readings and dust devils were identified as negative deviations larger than both 3 standard deviations (from the mean) and 0.05 mbar in magnitude. An

  9. THEMIS VIS and IR observations of a high-altitude Martian dust devil

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cushing, G.E.; Titus, T.N.; Christensen, P.R.

    2005-01-01

    The Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) imaged a Martian dust devil in both visible and thermal-infrared wavelengths on January 30, 2004. We believe this is the first documented infrared observation of an extraterrestrial dust devil, and the highest to be directly observed at more than 16 kilometers above the equatorial geoid of Mars. This dust devil measured over 700 meters in height and 375 meters across, and the strongest infrared signature was given by atmospheric dust absorption in the 9-micron range (THEMIS IR band 5). In addition to having formed in the extremely low-pressure environment of about 1 millibar, this dust devil is of particular interest because it was observed at 16:06 local time. This is an unusually late time of day to find dust devils on Mars, during a period when rapid surface cooling typically reduces the boundary-layer turbulence necessary to form these convective vortices. Understanding the mechanisms for dust-devil formation under such extreme circumstances will help to constrain theories of atmospheric dynamics, and of dust lifting and transport mechanisms on Mars. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

  10. Dust devil characteristics and associated dust entrainment based on large-eddy simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klose, Martina; Kwidzinski, Nick; Shao, Yaping

    2015-04-01

    The characteristics of dust devils, such as occurrence frequency, lifetime, size, and intensity, are usually inferred from in situ field measurements and remote sensing. Numerical models, e.g. large-eddy simulation (LES) models, have also been established as a tool to investigate dust devils and their structures. However, most LES models do not contain a dust module. Here, we present results from simulations using the WRF-LES model coupled to the convective turbulent dust emission (CTDE) scheme of Klose et al. (2014). The scheme describes the stochastic process of aerodynamic dust entrainment in the absence of saltation. It therefore allows for dust emission even below the threshold friction velocity for saltation. Numerical experiments have been conducted for different atmospheric stability and background wind conditions at 10 m horizontal resolution. A dust devil tracking algorithm is used to identify dust devils in the simulation results. The detected dust devils are statistically analyzed with regard to e.g. radius, pressure drop, lifetime, and turbulent wind speeds. An additional simulation with higher horizontal resolution (2 m) is conducted for conditions, which are especially favorable for dust devil development, i.e. unstable atmospheric stratification and weak mean winds. The higher resolution enables the identification of smaller dust devils and a more detailed structure analysis. Dust emission fluxes, dust concentrations, and dust mass budgets are calculated from the simulations. The results are compared to field observations reported in literature.

  11. Martian Dust Devil Action in Gale Crater, Sol 1597

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-02-27

    This frame from a sequence of images shows a dust-carrying whirlwind, called a dust devil, scooting across the ground inside Gale Crater, as observed on the local summer afternoon of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover's 1,597th Martian day, or sol (Feb. 1, 2017). Set within a broader southward view from the rover's Navigation Camera, the rectangular area outlined in black was imaged multiple times over a span of several minutes to check for dust devils. Images from the period with most activity are shown in the inset area. The images are in pairs that were taken about 12 seconds apart, with an interval of about 90 seconds between pairs. Timing is accelerated and not fully proportional in this animation. A dust devil is most evident in the 10th, 11th and 12th frames. In the first and fifth frames, dust blowing across the ground appears as pale horizontal streak. Contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see. A black frame is added between repeats of the sequence. On Mars as on Earth, dust devils are whirlwinds that result from sunshine warming the ground, prompting convective rising of air that has gained heat from the ground. Observations of Martian dust devils provide information about wind directions and interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21270

  12. Dust loading in Gusev crater, Mars: Results from two active dust devil seasons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Waller, D. A.; Greeley, R.; Neakrase, L. D.; Landis, G. A.; Whelley, P.; Thompson, S. D.

    2009-12-01

    Dust devils dominate the volcanic plains at the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landing site within the Low Albedo Zone (LAZ) in Gusev Crater. Previous studies indicate that the inferred pressure drop within the dust devil core allows the vortex to lift large amounts of unconsolidated dust high into the atmosphere which contributes to the atmospheric haze. Previous laboratory results indicate that dust devils are efficient in lifting very fine-grained (<10 μm) material, even when boundary layer winds do not exceed previously predicted threshold wind speeds (~30-35 m/s at 1.5 m above the surface for Mars conditions). Since landing in Gusev crater in January 2004, MER Spirit has obtained data for two dust devil seasons (defined as the period of time when the first and last dust devils were imaged), with a third season currently being analyzed. These seasons typically correspond to southern spring and summer, when winds capable of lifting sediment are determined to be most frequent. All observations for Season One were taken as Spirit neared the summit of Husband Hill. During Season Two Spirit imaged dust devils in the plains as it traversed within the Inner Basin, a low-lying area in the Columbia Hills complex. All results were extrapolated so that they are representative of the entire LAZ. Season One lasted 270 sols (March 2005 to December 2005 corresponding to Ls 173.2 to 339.5 degrees), whereas Season Two lasted 153 sols (January 2007 to June 2007 corresponding to Ls 171.2 to 266.7 degrees) and ended suddenly on sol 1240 just after the dust devil frequency peaked for the season. This abrupt drop in dust devil activity corresponded to atmospheric opacity levels that exceeded 1.0 and the onset of a global dust storm that originated in the southern hemisphere that engulfed Gusev within weeks. Results show a large contrast in activity between the two seasons. An 81% decrease in dust devil frequency across the plains was found in Season Two. 533 dust devils were imaged

  13. A Comparative Study Of Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lange, C. F.; Prieto, L. E.

    2005-12-01

    Spatial variations in the column of water vapour in the Martian near-surface are due to the combined effects of several process within water underground reservoirs and the atmosphere. Among these process, dust devils could be an important local factor in the water concentration levels. In fact, the apparently high occurrence of dust devils could potentially affect the mass transfer rate of water vapour from the Martian regolith. A detailed study of these atmospheric vortices may help to better understand the complex relation between the cycle of water and this Martian atmospheric event. Subsequently, field data are required to provide a close estimation of the dynamics presented in Martian surface. The upcoming Phoenix mission is being designed to investigate these natural events on Mars. However, field studies of dust devils are difficult because of their sporadic, unpredictable occurrence and distance. In contrast, laboratory simulations present a better physical insight into this complex swirling flow by consideration of a much simplified, and more controllable and reproducible model flow. The use of numerical simulations in addition to laboratory experiments can provide complementary information on flow properties in regions where measurements are difficult due to flow profiles. Computational models also allow for significant flexibility in the model layout and they are, therefore, ideally suited for a comparison of different types of model flows. A 3-D numerical study is presented for two different types of dust devil laboratory simulators (Ward, 1952 and Greeley et al., 2001). An initial numerical study was conducted to validate the simulation results with previous laboratory measurements (Lund and Snow, 1993). Secondly, a numerical comparison was carried out between the two tornado-like vortex representations based on kinematic similarities to provide a clear method to relate dust devils in several nature environments, laboratory simulations, and

  14. The Devil We Don't Know: Investigating Habitat and Abundance of Endangered Giant Devil Rays in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea

    PubMed Central

    Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe; Lauriano, Giancarlo; Pierantonio, Nino; Cañadas, Ana; Donovan, Greg; Panigada, Simone

    2015-01-01

    The giant devil ray Mobula mobular, the only Mediterranean mobulid, is subject to mortality caused by directed and accidental captures in fisheries throughout the region. Whilst the combination of human impacts, limited range and a low reproductive potential is not inconsistent with its endangered listing, there are insufficient data to enable a quantitative assessment of trends. Without this, it is difficult to assess and prioritise threats and develop effective conservation actions. Using results from aerial surveys conducted between 2009 and 2014 over the Ligurian, Corsican, Sardinian, northern and central Tyrrhenian seas (626,228 km2), this study provides the first quantitative information on giant devil ray abundance and habitat choice in the western Mediterranean. Devil rays were observed in all seasons except winter, with their estimated abundance in the study area peaking in summer. The overall uncorrected mean density in the study area during summer was estimated at 0.0257 individuals km-2 (range: 0.017–0.044), resulting in a total abundance estimate of 6,092 (12.7%CV) individuals at the surface; once corrected for availability bias, this estimate indicates a summer presence of >12,700 devil rays in the study area. Rays were mostly observed alone even if occasionally, larger aggregations up to a maximum of 18 individuals were observed. Although observed throughout the study area, spatial modelling identified their preferred habitat to be over a broad strip connecting the Tuscan Archipelago to Eastern Sardinia, over a wide range of water depths ranging from 10 to 2000m. The observed seasonal changes in giant devil ray distribution in this study, combined with similar evidence from other areas in the Mediterranean, support the hypothesis that the species undertakes latitudinal migrations across the region, taking advantage of highly productive waters in the north during summer, and warmer southern waters during winter. PMID:26580814

  15. Results from Automated Cloud and Dust Devil Detection Onboard the MER

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chien, Steve; Castano, Rebecca; Bornstein, Benjamin; Fukunaga, Alex; Castano, Andres; Biesiadecki, Jeffrey; Greeley, Ron; Whelley, Patrick; Lemmon, Mark

    2008-01-01

    We describe a new capability to automatically detect dust devils and clouds in imagery onboard rovers, enabling downlink of just the images with the targets or only portions of the images containing the targets. Previously, the MER rovers conducted campaigns to image dust devils and clouds by commanding a set of images be collected at fixed times and downloading the entire image set. By increasing the efficiency of the campaigns, more campaigns can be executed. Software for these new capabilities was developed, tested, integrated, uploaded, and operationally checked out on both rovers as part of the R9.2 software upgrade. In April 2007 on Sol 1147 a dust devil was automatically detected onboard the Spirit rover for the first time. We discuss the operational usage of the capability and present initial dust devil results showing how this preliminary application has demonstrated the feasibility and potential benefits of the approach.

  16. In Situ Sampling of Relative Dust Devil Particle Loads and Their Vertical Grain Size Distributions.

    PubMed

    Raack, Jan; Reiss, Dennis; Balme, Matthew R; Taj-Eddine, Kamal; Ori, Gian Gabriele

    2017-04-19

    During a field campaign in the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco, spring 2012, we sampled the vertical grain size distribution of two active dust devils that exhibited different dimensions and intensities. With these in situ samples of grains in the vortices, it was possible to derive detailed vertical grain size distributions and measurements of the lifted relative particle load. Measurements of the two dust devils show that the majority of all lifted particles were only lifted within the first meter (∼46.5% and ∼61% of all particles; ∼76.5 wt % and ∼89 wt % of the relative particle load). Furthermore, ∼69% and ∼82% of all lifted sand grains occurred in the first meter of the dust devils, indicating the occurrence of "sand skirts." Both sampled dust devils were relatively small (∼15 m and ∼4-5 m in diameter) compared to dust devils in surrounding regions; nevertheless, measurements show that ∼58.5% to 73.5% of all lifted particles were small enough to go into suspension (<31 μm, depending on the used grain size classification). This relatively high amount represents only ∼0.05 to 0.15 wt % of the lifted particle load. Larger dust devils probably entrain larger amounts of fine-grained material into the atmosphere, which can have an influence on the climate. Furthermore, our results indicate that the composition of the surface, on which the dust devils evolved, also had an influence on the particle load composition of the dust devil vortices. The internal particle load structure of both sampled dust devils was comparable related to their vertical grain size distribution and relative particle load, although both dust devils differed in their dimensions and intensities. A general trend of decreasing grain sizes with height was also detected. Key Words: Mars-Dust devils-Planetary science-Desert soils-Atmosphere-Grain sizes. Astrobiology 17, xxx-xxx.

  17. Climatology and potential effects of an emergency outlet, Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.; Vecchia, Aldo V.; Osborne, Leon; Fay, James T.

    2000-01-01

    The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-square-mile subbasin in the Red River of the North Basin.  At an elevation of about 1,447 feet above sea level, Devils Lake begins to spill into Stump Lake; and at an elevation of about 1,459 feet above sea level, the combined lakes begin to spill through Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River. Since the end of glaciation about 10,000 years ago, Devils Lake has fluctuated between spilling and being dry.  Research by the North Dakota Geological Survey indicates Devils Lake has overflowed into the Sheyenne River at least twice during the past 4,000 years and has spilled into the Stump Lakes several times (Bluemle, 1991; Murphy and others, 1997).  John Bluemle, North Dakota State Geologist, concluded the natural condition for Devils Lake is either rising or falling, and the lake should not be expected to remain at any elevation for a long period of time. Recent conditions indicate the lake is in a rising phase.  The lake rose 24.7 feet from February 1993 to August 1999, and flood damages in the Devils Lake Basin have exceeded $300 million.  These damages, and the potential for additional damages, have led to an effort to develop an outlet to help control lake levels.  Therefore, current and accurate climatologic and hydrologic data are needed to assess the viability of the various options to reduce flood damages at Devils Lake.

  18. Measurements of Dust Devil Lower Structure and Properties, El Dorado Valley, Nevada, June 2002

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Towner, M. C.; Ringrose, T. J.; Balme, M.; Greeley, R.; Zarnecki, J. C.

    2002-12-01

    We report the results of a recent field campaign in Nevada, USA, carried out to investigate the lower structure (less than 2m) and dust lofting mechanisms of terrestrial dust devils. Over several days, an instrumented platform was repeatedly deployed from the back of a pickup truck into the path of oncoming dust devils. Around 40 events were recorded, including core penetrations of large and small dust devils, close misses and periods of ambient background conditions before and after dust devil events, and during periods of dust devil inactivity. The platform deployed consisted of a 2 by 1m base with a 2m mast and carried a total of 24 instruments. The instrument suite consisted of horizontal wind profiling down to 5mm above surface, vertical wind speed and direction, temperature and pressure profiling, airborne and saltating particle recorders, vertical electric field gradient measurements, and upward looking UV sensors. We present preliminary results of profiles for several events, together with details of ambient conditions required for dust devil formation.

  19. Terrestrial in situ sampling of dust devils (relative particle loads and vertical grain size distributions) as an equivalent for martian dust devils.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raack, J.; Dennis, R.; Balme, M. R.; Taj-Eddine, K.; Ori, G. G.

    2017-12-01

    Dust devils are small vertical convective vortices which occur on Earth and Mars [1] but their internal structure is almost unknown. Here we report on in situ samples of two active dust devils in the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco [2]. For the sampling we used a 4 m high aluminium pipe with sampling areas made of removable adhesive tape. We took samples between 0.1-4 m with a sampling interval of 0.5 m and between 0.5-2 m with an interval of 0.25 m, respectively. The maximum diameter of all particles of the different sampling heights were then measured using an optical microscope to gain vertical grain size distributions and relative particle loads. Our measurements imply that both dust devils have a general comparable internal structure despite their different strengths and dimensions which indicates that the dust devils probably represents the surficial grain size distribution they move over. The particle sizes within the dust devils decrease nearly exponential with height which is comparable to results by [3]. Furthermore, our results show that about 80-90 % of the total particle load were lifted only within the first meter, which is a direct evidence for the existence of a sand skirt. If we assume that grains with a diameter <31 μm can go into suspension [4], our results show that only less than 0.1 wt% can be entrained into the atmosphere. Although this amount seems very low, these values represent between 60 and 70 % of all lifted particles due to the small grain sizes and their low weight. On Mars, the amount of lifted particles will be general higher as the dust coverage is larger [5], although the atmosphere can only suspend smaller grain sizes ( <20 μm) [6] compared to Earth. During our field campaign we observed numerous larger dust devils each day which were up to several hundred meters tall and had diameters of several tens of meters. This implies a much higher input of fine grained material into the atmosphere (which will have an influence on the

  20. A Dust Devil Making a Streak and Climbing a Crater Wall

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-318, 8 August 2002 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] One of the key elements of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Extended Mission is to look for and monitor changes taking place on the planet over the course of a second--and, eventually, a third--martian year. MGS is now well into its second Mars year, which will draw to a close in December 2002. Among the changes the MOC has observed are streaks believed to be caused by the passage of dust devils. Thousands of MOC images show these streaks, dozens show that they change over time, but far fewer images have actually captured a dust devil in the act of creating a streak. At the center right of this image (above left) is a dust devil that, on May 21, 2002, was seen climbing the wall of a crater at 4.1oS, 9.5oW. This crater (above right) is in western Terra Meridiani. The dust devil was moving toward the northeast (upper right), leaving behind a dark trail where a thin coating of surficial dust was removed or disrupted as the dust devil advanced. Dust devils most commonly form after noon on days when the martian air is still (that is, when there isn't even a faint breeze). On such days, the ground is better able to heat up the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed near-surface air begins to rise, it also begins to spin, creating a vortex. The spinning column then moves across the surface and picks up loose dust (if any is present). The dust makes the vortex visible and gives it a tornado-like appearance. The dust devil in this image has a very short, dark shadow cast to the right of the bright column; this shadow is short because the sun was nearly overhead.

  1. Dust Devil Art

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    12 December 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark squiggles and streaks created by passing spring and summer dust devils near Pallacopas Vallis in the martian southern hemisphere.

    Location near: 53.9oS, 17.2oW Image width: width: 3 km (1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer

  2. A framework for relating the structures and recovery statistics in pressure time-series surveys for dust devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, Brian; Lorenz, Ralph; Davis, Karan

    2018-01-01

    Dust devils are likely the dominant source of dust for the martian atmosphere, but the amount and frequency of dust-lifting depend on the statistical distribution of dust devil parameters. Dust devils exhibit pressure perturbations and, if they pass near a barometric sensor, they may register as a discernible dip in a pressure time-series. Leveraging this fact, several surveys using barometric sensors on landed spacecraft have revealed dust devil structures and occurrence rates. However powerful they are, though, such surveys suffer from non-trivial biases that skew the inferred dust devil properties. For example, such surveys are most sensitive to dust devils with the widest and deepest pressure profiles, but the recovered profiles will be distorted, broader and shallow than the actual profiles. In addition, such surveys often do not provide wind speed measurements alongside the pressure time series, and so the durations of the dust devil signals in the time series cannot be directly converted to profile widths. Fortunately, simple statistical and geometric considerations can de-bias these surveys, allowing conversion of the duration of dust devil signals into physical widths, given only a distribution of likely translation velocities, and the recovery of the underlying distributions of physical parameters. In this study, we develop a scheme for de-biasing such surveys. Applying our model to an in-situ survey using data from the Phoenix lander suggests a larger dust flux and a dust devil occurrence rate about ten times larger than previously inferred. Comparing our results to dust devil track surveys suggests only about one in five low-pressure cells lifts sufficient dust to leave a visible track.

  3. Dunes and Dust Devils

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-02-12

    This image captured by NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is of an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra. Part of the crater floor contains a dune field. Dust devil tracks are visible east of the dunes. Orbit Number: 57931 Latitude: -52.1733 Longitude: 18.0624 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-01-04 18:28 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19199

  4. The Devil and Daniel's Spreadsheet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burke, Maurice J.

    2012-01-01

    "When making mathematical models, technology is valuable for varying assumptions, exploring consequences, and comparing predictions with data," notes the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010, p. 72). This exploration of the recursive process in the Devil and Daniel Webster problem reveals that the symbolic spreadsheet fits this bill.…

  5. Comparison of Martian Dust Devil Track Morphologies in Gusev and Russell Craters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verba, C. A.; Geissler, P. E.

    2008-12-01

    Detailed HiRISE images were used to observe the seasonal changes of dust devil tracks in Gusev and Russell craters, focusing on the temporal and morphological differences between the two locations. Seasonal variations in dust devil activity are influenced by topography, sediment supply, altitude, as well as latitudinal variations in the atmospheric dust cycle and local winds. Topographical features, such as the dunes in Russell, enhance convective circulation, thereby playing a key role in dust devil formation. The greater the contrast between surface and air temperatures, the greater the surface heat flux and potential for dust devil activity. The NASA Ames General Circulation Model (GCM) was used to compare predicted wind directions to those determined from inferred scallops of tracks mapped using ArcMap. Observations indicate distinct variations in the density, shape, and size of the tracks during specific seasons. Russell crater tracks are curvilinear and highly sinuous, with widths and lengths ranging from 20-40 m and 340 m to 9 km respectively. Gusev crater tracks are less sinuous, measuring tens of meters wide and 2-4 km long. Tracks in Russell crater are aligned with the northwesterly oriented prevailing wind as predicted by the GCM. The dust devil season in Gusev Crater is much shorter (Ls= 160° - 340°, with only minor activity afterwards) than that of Russell Crater (Ls= 172° - 40°). Peak dust devil frequencies occur sooner at Gusev (Ls 250°) than at Russell crater (Ls 288°). Track densities are greater and more consistent in Gusev crater and are more variable at Russell, particularly during the early part of the season. Possible explanations for the differences in seasonal behavior between the study sites include: (1) average altitudes up to 2000 m higher at Russell crater than at Gusev, resulting in enhanced convective circulation; (2) increased insolation at higher southern latitudes during perihelion; and (3) frost on the dunes delays the start

  6. Dust devils as aeolian transport mechanisms in southern Nevada and the Mars Pathfinder landing site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metzger, Stephen M.

    Discovery of dust devils vortices in Mars Pathfinder images by this study is direct evidence of a dust entrainment mechanism at work on Mars. Dust devils on Earth can entrain fine material from crusted as well as unconsolidated surfaces, even when forced-convection wind speeds are below threshold. Terrestrial dust devils are commonly ``squat'' V-shaped vortices lasting several minutes. Well developed vortices consist of an outer cylinder of high rotation (<25 m/s), an Intermediate cylinder of moderate vertical lift (<13 m/s), and a inner cylindrical core of low pressure (<1.5% below ambient pressure) and elevated temperature (up to 20°C above ambient air temperature). Directly sampled dust devils on Earth were found to carry from 30 to over 2000 kg of soil. On average, the Eldorado Valley, NV, experienced 42 observable dust devils per summer day, each lofting over 200 kg for a daily total of 9 metric tonnes from this desert basin. Spectral differencing techniques have enhanced five localized dust plumes against the general haze in Mars Pathfinder images acquired near midday, which are determined to be dust devils. Given interpreted geographic locations relative to the lander, the dust devils are 14 to 79 m wide, 46 to over 350 m tall, and travel over ground at 0.5 to 4.6 m/s. Their dust loading was approximately 7 × 10-5 kg/m3, relative to the general haze of 9 × 10-8 kg/m3. With an estimated vertical dust flux of 0.5 g m-2 s-1, total particulate transport of these Martian dust devils may have ranged from 2.2 kg for a small dust devil lasting 35 s to over 700 kg for a large plume of 400 s duration. Observed characteristics of these plumes are consistent with expectations based on theory and the lessons of terrestrial field studies. The increasingly apparent role of dust devils in the dust aeolian transport cycle may largely explain the continued concentration of the general Martian dust haze and perhaps the Initiation mechanism for global dust storms.

  7. Fluid pressure responses for a Devil's Slide-like system: problem formulation and simulation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Thomas, Matthew A.; Loague, Keith; Voss, Clifford I.

    2015-01-01

    This study employs a hydrogeologic simulation approach to investigate subsurface fluid pressures for a landslide-prone section of the central California, USA, coast known as Devil's Slide. Understanding the relative changes in subsurface fluid pressures is important for systems, such as Devil's Slide, where slope creep can be interrupted by episodic slip events. Surface mapping, exploratory core, tunnel excavation records, and dip meter data were leveraged to conceptualize the parameter space for three-dimensional (3D) Devil's Slide-like simulations. Field observations (i.e. seepage meter, water retention, and infiltration experiments; well records; and piezometric data) and groundwater flow simulation (i.e. one-dimensional vertical, transient, and variably saturated) were used to design the boundary conditions for 3D Devil's Slide-like problems. Twenty-four simulations of steady-state saturated subsurface flow were conducted in a concept-development mode. Recharge, heterogeneity, and anisotropy are shown to increase fluid pressures for failure-prone locations by up to 18.1, 4.5, and 1.8% respectively. Previous estimates of slope stability, driven by simple water balances, are significantly improved upon with the fluid pressures reported here. The results, for a Devil's Slide-like system, provide a foundation for future investigations

  8. Lake levels, streamflow, and surface-water quality in the Devils Lake area, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.

    1996-01-01

    The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-square-mile (mi2) closed basin (fig. 1) in the Red River of the North Basin. About 3,320 mi2 of the total 3,810 mi2 is tributary to Devils Lake; the remainder is tributary to Stump Lake.Since glaciation, the lake level of Devils Lake has fluctuated from about 1,457 feet (ft) above sea level (asl), the natural spill elevation of the lake to the Sheyenne River, to 1,400 ft asl (Aronow, 1957). Although no documented records of lake levels are available before 1867, Upham (1895, p. 595), on the basis of tree-ring chronology, indicated that the lake level was 1,441 ft asl in 1830. Lake levels were recorded sporadically from 1867 to 1901 when the U.S. Geological Survey established a gaging station on Devils Lake. From 1867 to the present (1996), the lake level has fluctuated between a maximum of 1,438.4 ft asl in 1867 and a minimum of 1,400.9 ft asl in 1940 (fig. 2). On July 31, 1996, the lake level was 1,437.8 ft asl, about 15.2 ft higher than the level recorded in February 1993 and the highest level in about 120 years.Since 1993, the lake level of Devils Lake (fig. 2) has risen rapidly in response to above-normal precipitation from the summer of 1993 to the present, and 30,000 acres of land around the lake have been flooded. The above-normal precipitation also has caused flooding elsewhere in the Devils Lake Basin. State highways near Devils Lake are being raised, and some local roads have been closed because of flooding.In response to the flooding, the Devils Lake Basin Interagency Task Force, comprised of many State and Federal agencies, was formed in 1995 to find and propose intermediate (5 years or less) solutions to reduce the effects of high lake levels. In addition to various planning studies being conducted by Federal agencies, the North Dakota State Water Commission has implemented a project to store water on small tracts of land and in the chain of lakes (Sweetwater Lake, Morrison Lake, Dry Lake, Mikes Lake, Chain Lake

  9. AV-95 Sun Devil: High-Speed Military Rotorcraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1996-01-01

    The AV-95 Sun Devil must combine helicopter capabilities, such as vertical takeoff and landings (VTOL) and rotor-powered flight, along with long-duration cruise and high-speed dash capabilities unobtainable by conventional helicopters. To be able to perform both tasks, and perform them well, the AV-95 Sun Devil design incorporates several unconventional devices; the AV-95 uses two convertible turbofan engines, able to provide both shaft power for the main rotor and tall fan as well as jet thrust either separately or simultaneously. Other devices used for the AV-95 include a variable diameter main rotor and a blown flap. In helicopter mode, the AV-95 Sun Devil performs like a winged helicopter. The addition of wings to an attack helicopter results in two significant advantages. First, the addition of wings makes a helicopter more maneuverable than a wingless, but otherwise similar helicopter. Second, since the wings produce lift, rotor stall and compressibility effects can be significantly delayed at high tip velocities. In fixed-wing mode, the main rotor is completely off-loaded but slightly powered, and the rotor diameter has been minimized. The AV-95 Sun Devil has many advantages over other VTOL aircraft. The conversion process is simple and fast; conversion does not make the AV-95 vulnerable to enemy attack during conversion such as a tilt-wing or a tilt-rotor. Stop-rotor aircraft and a stowed rotor aircraft require heavy breaking of the rotor for conversion; this adds time for conversion and weight to the aircraft. Because the AV-95 never stops the rotor in flight, much weight is spared, and conversion is much simpler and faster.

  10. Quantifying global dust devil occurrence from meteorological analyses

    PubMed Central

    Jemmett-Smith, Bradley C; Marsham, John H; Knippertz, Peter; Gilkeson, Carl A

    2015-01-01

    Dust devils and nonrotating dusty plumes are effective uplift mechanisms for fine particles, but their contribution to the global dust budget is uncertain. By applying known bulk thermodynamic criteria to European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses, we provide the first global hourly climatology of potential dust devil and dusty plume (PDDP) occurrence. In agreement with observations, activity is highest from late morning into the afternoon. Combining PDDP frequencies with dust source maps and typical emission values gives the best estimate of global contributions of 3.4% (uncertainty 0.9–31%), 1 order of magnitude lower than the only estimate previously published. Total global hours of dust uplift by dry convection are ∼0.002% of the dust-lifting winds resolved by ECMWF, consistent with dry convection making a small contribution to global uplift. Reducing uncertainty requires better knowledge of factors controlling PDDP occurrence, source regions, and dust fluxes induced by dry convection. Key Points Global potential dust devil occurrence quantified from meteorological analyses Climatology shows realistic diurnal cycle and geographical distribution Best estimate of global contribution of 3.4% is 10 times smaller than the previous estimate PMID:26681815

  11. Sources and cycling of major ions and nutrients in Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lent, R.M.

    1994-01-01

    Devils Lake is a saline lake in a large, closed drainage basin in northeastern North Dakota. Previous studies determined that major-ion and nutrient concentrations in Devils Lake are strongly affected by microbially mediated sulfate reduction and dissolution of sulfate and carbonate minerals in the bottom sediments. These studies documented substantial spatial variability in the magnitude of calculated benthic fluxes coincident with the horizontal salinity gradient in Devils Lake. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate seasonal variability in benthic-flux rates, and to understand the effect of these fluxes on the major-ion and nutrient chemistries in Devils Lake between May and October 1991. During the study period, the water column was well mixed, and specific conductance, pH, and temperature did not vary with depth. Dissolved oxygen was enriched near the lake surface due to photosynthesis. Major-ion concentrations and nutrient concentrations did not vary with depth. Because the water-quality data were obtained during open-water periods, the vertical profiles reflect well-mixed conditions. However, the first and last profiles for the study period did document near-bottom maxima of major cations. Secchi-disk depth varied from 0.82 meter on May 7,1991, to 2.13 meters on June 5, 1991. The mean Secchi-disk depth during the study period was 1.24 meters. Seasonal variations in Secchi-disk depths were attributed to variations in primary productivity and phytoplankton communities. Nutrient cycles in Devils Lake were evaluated using gross primary productivity rate data, sediment trap data, and major-ion and nutrient benthic-flux rate data. Gross primary productivity rate was smallest in May (0.076 gram of carbon per square meter per day) and largest in September (1.8 grams of carbon per square meter per day). Average gross primary productivity for the study period was 0.87 gram of carbon per square meter per day. Average gross primary productivity is consistent

  12. Geophysical investigation of Red Devil mine using direct-current resistivity and electromagnetic induction, Red Devil, Alaska, August 2010

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burton, Bethany L.; Ball, Lyndsay B.

    2011-01-01

    Red Devil Mine, located in southwestern Alaska near the Village of Red Devil, was the state's largest producer of mercury and operated from 1933 to 1971. Throughout the lifespan of the mine, various generations of mills and retort buildings existed on both sides of Red Devil Creek, and the tailings and waste rock were deposited across the site. The mine was located on public Bureau of Land Management property, and the Bureau has begun site remediation by addressing mercury, arsenic, and antimony contamination caused by the minerals associated with the ore deposit (cinnabar, stibnite, realgar, and orpiment). In August 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey completed a geophysical survey at the site using direct-current resistivity and electromagnetic induction surface methods. Eight two-dimensional profiles and one three-dimensional grid of direct-current resistivity data as well as about 5.7 kilometers of electromagnetic induction profile data were acquired across the site. On the basis of the geophysical data and few available soil borings, there is not sufficient electrical or electromagnetic contrast to confidently distinguish between tailings, waste rock, and weathered bedrock. A water table is interpreted along the two-dimensional direct-current resistivity profiles based on correlation with monitoring well water levels and a relatively consistent decrease in resistivity typically at 2-6 meters depth. Three settling ponds used in the last few years of mine operation to capture silt and sand from a flotation ore processing technique possessed conductive values above the interpreted water level but more resistive values below the water level. The cause of the increased resistivity below the water table is unknown, but the increased resistivity may indicate that a secondary mechanism is affecting the resistivity structure under these ponds if the depth of the ponds is expected to extend below the water level. The electromagnetic induction data clearly identified the

  13. Multitemporal observations of identical active dust devils on Mars with the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reiss, D.; Zanetti, M.; Neukum, G.

    2011-09-01

    Active dust devils were observed in Syria Planum in Mars Observer Camera - Wide Angle (MOC-WA) and High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) imagery acquired on the same day with a time delay of ˜26 min. The unique operating technique of the HRSC allowed the measurement of the traverse velocities and directions of motion. Large dust devils observed in the HRSC image could be retraced to their counterparts in the earlier acquired MOC-WA image. Minimum lifetimes of three large (avg. ˜700 m in diameter) dust devils are ˜26 min, as inferred from retracing. For one of these large dust devil (˜820 m in diameter) it was possible to calculate a minimum lifetime of ˜74 min based on the measured horizontal speed and the length of its associated dust devil track. The comparison of our minimum lifetimes with previous published results of minimum and average lifetimes of small (˜19 m in diameter, avg. min. lifetime of ˜2.83 min) and medium (˜185 m in diameter, avg. min. lifetime of ˜13 min) dust devils imply that larger dust devils on Mars are active for much longer periods of time than smaller ones, as it is the case for terrestrial dust devils. Knowledge of martian dust devil lifetimes is an important parameter for the calculation of dust lifting rates. Estimates of the contribution of large dust devils (>300-1000 m in diameter) indicate that they may contribute, at least regionally, to ˜50% of dust entrainment by dust devils into the atmosphere compared to the dust devils <300 m in diameter given that the size-frequency distribution follows a power-law. Although large dust devils occur relatively rarely and the sediment fluxes are probably lower compared to smaller dust devils, their contribution to the background dust opacity by dust devils on Mars could be at least regionally large due to their longer lifetimes and ability of dust lifting into high atmospheric layers.

  14. Field measurements of horizontal forward motion velocities of terrestrial dust devils: Towards a proxy for ambient winds on Mars and Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balme, M. R.; Pathare, A.; Metzger, S. M.; Towner, M. C.; Lewis, S. R.; Spiga, A.; Fenton, L. K.; Renno, N. O.; Elliott, H. M.; Saca, F. A.; Michaels, T. I.; Russell, P.; Verdasca, J.

    2012-11-01

    Dust devils - convective vortices made visible by the dust and debris they entrain - are common in arid environments and have been observed on Earth and Mars. Martian dust devils have been identified both in images taken at the surface and in remote sensing observations from orbiting spacecraft. Observations from landing craft and orbiting instruments have allowed the dust devil translational forward motion (ground velocity) to be calculated, but it is unclear how these velocities relate to the local ambient wind conditions, for (i) only model wind speeds are generally available for Mars, and (ii) on Earth only anecdotal evidence exists that compares dust devil ground velocity with ambient wind velocity. If dust devil ground velocity can be reliably correlated to the ambient wind regime, observations of dust devils could provide a proxy for wind speed and direction measurements on Mars. Hence, dust devil ground velocities could be used to probe the circulation of the martian boundary layer and help constrain climate models or assess the safety of future landing sites. We present results from a field study of terrestrial dust devils performed in the southwest USA in which we measured dust devil horizontal velocity as a function of ambient wind velocity. We acquired stereo images of more than a 100 active dust devils and recorded multiple size and position measurements for each dust devil. We used these data to calculate dust devil translational velocity. The dust devils were within a study area bounded by 10 m high meteorology towers such that dust devil speed and direction could be correlated with the local ambient wind speed and direction measurements. Daily (10:00-16:00 local time) and 2-h averaged dust devil ground speeds correlate well with ambient wind speeds averaged over the same period. Unsurprisingly, individual measurements of dust devil ground speed match instantaneous measurements of ambient wind speed more poorly; a 20-min smoothing window applied to

  15. Signal-adapted tomography as a tool for dust devil detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aguirre, C.; Franzese, G.; Esposito, F.; Vázquez, Luis; Caro-Carretero, Raquel; Vilela-Mendes, Rui; Ramírez-Nicolás, María; Cozzolino, F.; Popa, C. I.

    2017-12-01

    Dust devils are important phenomena to take into account to understand the global dust circulation of a planet. On Earth, their contribution to the injection of dust into the atmosphere seems to be secondary. Elsewhere, there are many indications that the dust devil's role on other planets, in particular on Mars, could be fundamental, impacting the global climate. The ability to identify and study these vortices from the acquired meteorological measurements assumes a great importance for planetary science. Here we present a new methodology to identify dust devils from the pressure time series testing the method on the data acquired during a 2013 field campaign performed in the Tafilalt region (Morocco) of the North-Western Sahara Desert. Although the analysis of pressure is usually studied in the time domain, we prefer here to follow a different approach and perform the analysis in a time signal-adapted domain, the relation between the two being a bilinear transformation, i.e. a tomogram. The tomographic technique has already been successfully applied in other research fields like those of plasma reflectometry or the neuronal signatures. Here we show its effectiveness also in the dust devils detection. To test our results, we compare the tomography with a phase picker time domain analysis. We show the level of agreement between the two methodologies and the advantages and disadvantages of the tomographic approach.

  16. The Gothic Folk Devils Strike Back! Theorizing Folk Devil Reaction in the Post-Columbine Era

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Griffiths, Richard

    2010-01-01

    Folk devils have to date been significantly overlooked in previous studies of moral panics. While several studies have called attention to this problematic (Thornton and McRobbie 1995, De Young 2004, Lumsden 2009), no specific theoretical framework has been proposed for reading this dimension of a moral panic. This paper argues that a moral panic…

  17. Devil's staircases and continued fractions in Josephson junctions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shukrinov, Yu. M.; Medvedeva, S. Yu.; Botha, A. E.; Kolahchi, M. R.; Irie, A.

    2013-12-01

    Detailed numerical simulations of the IV characteristics of a Josephson junction under external electromagnetic radiation show the devil's staircase within different bias current intervals. We have found that the observed steps form very precisely continued fractions. Increase of the amplitude of the radiation shifts the devil's staircase to higher Shapiro steps. An algorithm for the appearance and detection of subharmonics with increasing radiation amplitude is proposed. We demonstrate that the subharmonic steps registered in the well-known experiments by Dayem and Wiegand [Phys. Rev. 155, 419 (1967), 10.1103/PhysRev.155.419] and Clarke [Phys. Rev. B 4, 2963 (1971), 10.1103/PhysRevB.4.2963] also form continued fractions.

  18. Beyond the disease: Is Toxoplasma gondii infection causing population declines in the eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus)?

    PubMed Central

    Fancourt, Bronwyn A.; Nicol, Stewart C.; Hawkins, Clare E.; Jones, Menna E.; Johnson, Chris N.

    2014-01-01

    Disease is often considered a key threat to species of conservation significance. For some, it has resulted in localised extinctions and declines in range and abundance. However, for some species, the assertion that a disease poses a significant threat of extinction is based solely on correlative or anecdotal evidence, often inferred from individual clinical case reports. While a species’ susceptibility to a disease may be demonstrated in a number of individuals, investigations rarely extend to measuring the impact of disease at the population level and its contribution, if any, to population declines. The eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized Australian marsupial carnivore that is undergoing severe and rapid decline in Tasmania, its last refuge. Reasons for the decline are currently not understood. Feral cats (Felis catus) may be undergoing competitive release following the ongoing decline of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), with cats suppressing eastern quolls through increased predation, competition, exclusion or exposure to diseases such as toxoplasmosis. To investigate the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection, eastern quoll populations at four sites were regularly screened for the seroprevalence of T. gondii-specific IgG antibodies. Seroprevalence was approximately five times higher at sites with declining quoll populations, and there was a negative association between seroprevalence and quoll abundance. However, T. gondii infection did not reduce quoll survival or reproduction. Despite a high susceptibility to T. gondii infection, eastern quoll populations do not appear to be limited by the parasite or its resultant disease. Significantly higher seroprevalence is a signal of greater exposure to feral cats at sites where eastern quolls are declining, suggesting that increased predation, competition or exclusion by feral cats may be precipitating population declines. PMID:25161908

  19. Assessing risks to non-target species during poison baiting programs for feral cats.

    PubMed

    Buckmaster, Tony; Dickman, Christopher R; Johnston, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    Poison baiting is used frequently to reduce the impacts of pest species of mammals on agricultural and biodiversity interests. However, baiting may not be appropriate if non-target species are at risk of poisoning. Here we use a desktop decision tree approach to assess the risks to non-target vertebrate species in Australia that arise from using poison baits developed to control feral house cats (Felis catus). These baits are presented in the form of sausages with toxicant implanted in the bait medium within an acid-soluble polymer capsule (hard shell delivery vehicle, or HSDV) that disintegrates after ingestion. Using criteria based on body size, diet and feeding behaviour, we assessed 221 of Australia's 3,769 native vertebrate species as likely to consume cat-baits, with 47 of these likely to ingest implanted HSDVs too. Carnivorous marsupials were judged most likely to consume both the baits and HSDVs, with some large-bodied and ground-active birds and reptiles also consuming them. If criteria were relaxed, a further 269 species were assessed as possibly able to consume baits and 343 as possibly able to consume HSDVs; most of these consumers were birds. One threatened species, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) was judged as definitely able to consume baits with implanted HSDVs, whereas five threatened species of birds and 21 species of threatened mammals were rated as possible consumers. Amphibia were not considered to be at risk. We conclude that most species of native Australian vertebrates would not consume surface-laid baits during feral cat control programs, and that significantly fewer would be exposed to poisoning if HSDVs were employed. However, risks to susceptible species should be quantified in field or pen trials prior to the implementation of a control program, and minimized further by applying baits at times and in places where non-target species have little access.

  20. Assessing Risks to Non-Target Species during Poison Baiting Programs for Feral Cats

    PubMed Central

    Buckmaster, Tony; Dickman, Christopher R.; Johnston, Michael J.

    2014-01-01

    Poison baiting is used frequently to reduce the impacts of pest species of mammals on agricultural and biodiversity interests. However, baiting may not be appropriate if non-target species are at risk of poisoning. Here we use a desktop decision tree approach to assess the risks to non-target vertebrate species in Australia that arise from using poison baits developed to control feral house cats (Felis catus). These baits are presented in the form of sausages with toxicant implanted in the bait medium within an acid-soluble polymer capsule (hard shell delivery vehicle, or HSDV) that disintegrates after ingestion. Using criteria based on body size, diet and feeding behaviour, we assessed 221 of Australia's 3,769 native vertebrate species as likely to consume cat-baits, with 47 of these likely to ingest implanted HSDVs too. Carnivorous marsupials were judged most likely to consume both the baits and HSDVs, with some large-bodied and ground-active birds and reptiles also consuming them. If criteria were relaxed, a further 269 species were assessed as possibly able to consume baits and 343 as possibly able to consume HSDVs; most of these consumers were birds. One threatened species, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) was judged as definitely able to consume baits with implanted HSDVs, whereas five threatened species of birds and 21 species of threatened mammals were rated as possible consumers. Amphibia were not considered to be at risk. We conclude that most species of native Australian vertebrates would not consume surface-laid baits during feral cat control programs, and that significantly fewer would be exposed to poisoning if HSDVs were employed. However, risks to susceptible species should be quantified in field or pen trials prior to the implementation of a control program, and minimized further by applying baits at times and in places where non-target species have little access. PMID:25229348

  1. Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Herpesvirus Infection in Populations of Australian Marsupials.

    PubMed

    Stalder, Kathryn; Vaz, Paola K; Gilkerson, James R; Baker, Rupert; Whiteley, Pam; Ficorilli, Nino; Tatarczuch, Liliana; Portas, Timothy; Skogvold, Kim; Anderson, Garry A; Devlin, Joanne M

    2015-01-01

    Herpesviruses have been reported in several marsupial species, but molecular classification has been limited to four herpesviruses in macropodids, a gammaherpesvirus in two antechinus species (Antechinus flavipes and Antechinus agilis), a gammaherpesvirus in a potoroid, the eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) and two gammaherpesviruses in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). In this study we examined a range of Australian marsupials for the presence of herpesviruses using molecular and serological techniques, and also assessed risk factors associated with herpesvirus infection. Our study population included 99 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), 96 eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), 50 Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) and 33 common wombats (Vombatus ursinius). In total, six novel herpesviruses (one alphaherpesvirus and five gammaherpesviruses) were identified in various host species. The overall prevalence of detection of herpesvirus DNA in our study population was 27.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) of 22.6-32.2%), but this varied between species and reached as high as 45.4% (95% CI 28.1-63.7%) in common wombats. Serum antibodies to two closely related macropodid herpesviruses (macropodid herpesvirus 1 and 2) were detected in 44.3% (95% CI 33.1-55.9%) of animals tested. This also varied between species and was as high as 92% (95% CI 74.0-99.0%) in eastern grey kangaroos. A number of epidemiological variables were identified as positive predictors for the presence of herpesvirus DNA in the marsupial samples evaluated. The most striking association was observed in koalas, where the presence of Chlamydia pecorum DNA was strongly associated with the presence of herpesvirus DNA (Odds Ratio = 60, 95% CI 12.1-297.8). Our results demonstrate the common presence of herpesviruses in Australian marsupials and provide directions for future research.

  2. Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Herpesvirus Infection in Populations of Australian Marsupials

    PubMed Central

    Stalder, Kathryn; Vaz, Paola K.; Gilkerson, James R.; Baker, Rupert; Whiteley, Pam; Ficorilli, Nino; Tatarczuch, Liliana; Portas, Timothy; Skogvold, Kim; Anderson, Garry A.; Devlin, Joanne M.

    2015-01-01

    Herpesviruses have been reported in several marsupial species, but molecular classification has been limited to four herpesviruses in macropodids, a gammaherpesvirus in two antechinus species (Antechinus flavipes and Antechinus agilis), a gammaherpesvirus in a potoroid, the eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) and two gammaherpesviruses in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). In this study we examined a range of Australian marsupials for the presence of herpesviruses using molecular and serological techniques, and also assessed risk factors associated with herpesvirus infection. Our study population included 99 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), 96 eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), 50 Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) and 33 common wombats (Vombatus ursinius). In total, six novel herpesviruses (one alphaherpesvirus and five gammaherpesviruses) were identified in various host species. The overall prevalence of detection of herpesvirus DNA in our study population was 27.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) of 22.6–32.2%), but this varied between species and reached as high as 45.4% (95% CI 28.1–63.7%) in common wombats. Serum antibodies to two closely related macropodid herpesviruses (macropodid herpesvirus 1 and 2) were detected in 44.3% (95% CI 33.1–55.9%) of animals tested. This also varied between species and was as high as 92% (95% CI 74.0–99.0%) in eastern grey kangaroos. A number of epidemiological variables were identified as positive predictors for the presence of herpesvirus DNA in the marsupial samples evaluated. The most striking association was observed in koalas, where the presence of Chlamydia pecorum DNA was strongly associated with the presence of herpesvirus DNA (Odds Ratio = 60, 95% CI 12.1–297.8). Our results demonstrate the common presence of herpesviruses in Australian marsupials and provide directions for future research. PMID:26222660

  3. Chemical quality of surface waters in Devils Lake basin North Dakota, 1952-60

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mitten, Hugh T.; Scott, C.H.; Rosene, Philip G.

    1968-01-01

    Above-normal precipitation in 1954, 1956, and 1957 caused the water surface of Devils Lake to rise to an altitude of 1,419.3 feet, its highest in 40 years. Nearly all the water entering the lake flowed through Big Coulee, and about three-fourths of that inflow was at rates greater than 100 cubic feet per second. At these rates, the inflow contained less than 600 ppm (parts per million) dissolved solids and was of the calcium bicarbonate type.Because the inflow was more dilute than the lake water, the dissolved solids in the lake decreased from 8,680 ppm in 1952 to about 6,000 ppm in 1956 and 1957. Subsequently, however, they increased to slightly more than 8,000 ppm and averaged 6,800 ppm for the 1954-60 period. Sodium and sulfate were the principal dissolved constituents in the lake water. Although the concentration of dissolved solids varied significantly from time to time, the relative proportions of the chief constituents remained nearly the same.Water flowed from Devils Lake to Mission Bay in 1956,1957, and 1958, and some flowed from Mission Bay into East Bay. However, no water moved between East Devils Lake, western Stump Lake, and eastern Stump Lake during 1952-60; these lakes received only local runoff, and the variations in their water volume caused only minor variations in dissolved solids. For the periods sampled, concentrations averaged 60,700 ppm for East Devils Lake, 23,100 ppm for western Stump Lake, and 127,000 ppm for eastern Stump Lake.Sodium and sulfate were the chief dissolved constituents in all the lakes of the Devils Lake chain. Water in eastern Stump Lake was saturated with sodium sulfate and precipitated large quantities of granular, hydrated sodium sulfate crystals on the lakebed and shore in fall and winter. A discontinuous layer of consolidated sodium sulfate crystals formed a significant part of the bed throughout the year.Measured concentrations! of zinc, iron, manganese, fluoride, arsenic, boron, copper, and lead were not high enough

  4. Observations from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE): Martian dust devils in Gusev and Russell craters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verba, Circe A.; Geissler, Paul E.; Titus, Timothy N.; Waller, Devin

    2010-09-01

    Two areas targeted for repeated imaging by detailed High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) observations allow us to examine morphological differences and monitor seasonal variations of Martian dust devil tracks at two quite different locations. Russell crater (53.3°S, 12.9°E) is regularly imaged to study seasonal processes including deposition and sublimation of CO2 frost. Gusev crater (14.6°S, 175.4°E) has been frequently imaged in support of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. Gusev crater provides the first opportunity to compare “ground truth” orbital observations of dust devil tracks to surface observations of active dust plumes. Orbital observations show that dust devil tracks are rare, forming at a rate <1/110 that of the occurrence of active dust plumes estimated from Spirit's surface observations. Furthermore, the tracks observed from orbit are wider than typical plume diameters observed by Spirit. We conclude that the tracks in Gusev are primarily formed by rare, large dust devils. Smaller dust devils fail to leave tracks that are visible from orbit, perhaps because of limited surface excavation depths. Russell crater displays more frequent, smaller sinuous tracks than Gusev. This may be due to the thin dust cover in Russell, allowing smaller dust devils to penetrate through the bright dust layer and leave conspicuous tracks. The start of the dust devil season and peak activity are delayed in Russell in comparison to Gusev, likely because of its more southerly location. Dust devils in both sites travel in directions consistent with general circulation model (GCM)-predicted winds, confirming a laboratory-derived approach to determining dust devil travel directions based on track morphology.

  5. 9 CFR 319.761 - Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product. 319.761 Section 319.761 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION... COMPOSITION Meat Salads and Meat Spreads § 319.761 Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product...

  6. 9 CFR 319.761 - Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product. 319.761 Section 319.761 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION... COMPOSITION Meat Salads and Meat Spreads § 319.761 Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product...

  7. 9 CFR 319.761 - Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product. 319.761 Section 319.761 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION... COMPOSITION Meat Salads and Meat Spreads § 319.761 Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product...

  8. 9 CFR 319.761 - Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product. 319.761 Section 319.761 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION... COMPOSITION Meat Salads and Meat Spreads § 319.761 Potted meat food product and deviled meat food product...

  9. A Laboratory Scale Vortex Generator for Simulation of Martian Dust Devils.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balme, M.; Greeley, R.; Mickelson, B.; Iversen, J.; Beardmore, G.; Metzger, S.

    2001-12-01

    Martian dust particles are a few microns in diameter. Current Martian ambient wind speeds appear to be insufficient to lift such fine particles and are marginal to entrain even the optimum particles sizes for threshold (100-160mm diameter). Instead, dust devils were suggested as a local source of airborne particles and have been observed on Mars both from orbit and from lander data. Dust devils lift particles through enhanced local wind speeds and by a pressure drop often associated with the vortex which provides `lift'. This study seeks to 1) quantify the relative importance of enhanced wind speed versus pressure drop lift in dust devil entrainment threshold; 2) measure the mass transport potential of dust devils; 3) investigate the effects of surface roughness and topography on dust devil morphology; 4) quantify the overall effects of low atmospheric pressure on the formation, structure and entrainment processes of dust devils. To investigate the particle lifting properties of dust devils, a laboratory vortex generator was fabricated. It consists of a large vertical cylinder (45 and 75cm in diameter) containing a motor-driven rotor comprised of four vertical blades. Beneath the cylinder is a 2.4 by 2.4 m tabletop containing 14 differential pressure transducer ports used to measure the surface pressure structure of the vortex. Both the distance between the cylinder and the tabletop and the height of the blades within the cylinder can be varied. By controlling these variables and the angular velocity of the blades, a wide range of geometries and intensities of atmospheric vortices can be achieved. The apparatus is portable for use both under terrestrial atmospheric conditions and in the NASA-Ames Research Center Mars Surface Wind Tunnel facility to simulate Martian atmospheric conditions. The laboratory simulation is preferable to a numerical model because direct measurements of dust lifting threshold can be made and holds several advantages over terrestrial field

  10. In Situ Sampling of Terrestrial Dust Devils and Implications for Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raack, J.; Reiss, D.; Balme, M. R.; Taj-Eddine, K.; Ori, G. G.

    2017-09-01

    We report on first very detailed in situ samples of the relative dust load and the vertical grain size distribution of terrestrial dust devils sampled during two field campaigns in Morocco and their implications for Mars. Our measurements imply, i.e., a similar internal structure for sampled dust devils, despite their different strenghts and dimensions; an exponential decreasing of particle size with height; and that between 60 and 70% of all lifted particles can go into atmospheric suspension.

  11. Food preference of red devil (Amphilophus labiatus) in the Sermo Reservoir, Kulon Progo Regency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ariasari, A.; Helmiati, S.; Setyobudi, E.

    2018-03-01

    Food preference is one of the important information that can be used to know the food chain in order to manage fisheries resources. This study aims to determine the food habits and preference of red devil (Amphilophus labiatus) in the Sermo Reservoir, Kulon Progo Regency. Samples were collected randomly each month from September 2013 to February 2014. Each sample collected was measured its total length, body weight, and determined sex, then dissected to measure the gut length and to observe gut contents. Results showed that red devil is omnivorous (relative gut length = 3.83) with food composition consisted of fish, crustaceans, detritus, phytoplankton, zooplankton, plants, insects, insect’s larvae, Chironomus sp., and annelids. A change occurred in the food preference of red devil, i.e. the young fish prefers to feed Chironomus sp. larvae (86.02 %) whereas the adult fish prefers fish/fish chunk (81.82 %). Trophic level status of red devil showed as carnivorous and niche overlapping between male and female of the adult.

  12. Mars Atmospheric Chemistry in Electrified Dust Devils and Storms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farrell, W. M.; Delory, G. T.; Atreya, S. K.; Wong, A.-S.; Renno, N. O.; Sentmann, D. D.; Marshall, J. G.; Cummer, S. A.; Rafkin, S.; Catling, D.

    2005-01-01

    Laboratory studies, simulations and desert field tests all indicate that aeolian mixing dust can generate electricity via contact electrification or "triboelectricity". In convective structures like dust devils or storms, grain stratification (or charge separation) occurs giving rise to an overall electric dipole moment to the aeolian feature, similar in nature to the dipolar electric field generated in terrestrial thunderstorms. Previous simulation studies [1] indicate that this storm electric field on Mars can approach atmospheric breakdown field strength of 20 kV/m. In terrestrial dust devils, coherent dipolar electric fields exceeding 20 kV/m have been measured directly via electric field instrumentation. Given the expected electrostatic fields in Martian dust devils and storms, electrons in the low pressure CO2 gas can be energized via the electric field to values exceeding the electron dissociative attachment energy of both CO2 and H2O, resulting in the formation of new chemical products CO and O- and OH and H- within the storm. Using a collisional plasma physics model we present a calculation of the CO/O- and OH/H- reaction and production rates. We demonstrate that these rates vary geometrically with ambient electric field, with substantial production of dissociative products when fields approach breakdown levels of 20-30 kV/m.

  13. Differentiating Natural and Anthropogenic Groundwater-Level Changes in Critical Habitats: An Example from Devils Hole, Nevada

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Halford, K. J.; Jackson, T.; Fenelon, J.

    2017-12-01

    Endangered species such as the Devils Hole pupfish can be affected by decadal groundwater-level changes of less than 1 ft. These relatively minor changes in long-term water levels primarily result from temporal variations in recharge and groundwater development. Natural groundwater-level changes are the summation of episodic rises from infrequent recharge events and steady declines from regional groundwater discharge. Rising water levels have been observed in Devils Hole and across southern Nevada in response to wetter conditions during 1970-2016 relative to the 1900-1970 period. Interpretation of water-level changes in Devils Hole were made tractable by differentiating naturally occurring rises from pumping effects with analytical water-level models. Effects of local and regional pumping on water-level changes in Devils Hole were differentiated easily with a calibrated groundwater-flow model after removing natural rising trends. Annual average water levels declined 2.3 ft from 1968-1972 in response to local pumping within 2 mi of Devils Hole and rose 1.7 ft from 1973-2016 in response to the cumulative effects of recharge, recovery from the cessation of local pumping, and long-term declines of regional pumping.

  14. Geology of the Devils Hole area, Nevada

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Carr, W.J.

    1988-01-01

    Detailed and reconnaissance mapping of the Devils Hole, Nevada, area has improved definition of the local geologic structure within a regional carbonate aquifer near its primary discharge points -- the springs of Ash Meadows. Several formerly unmapped calcite veins, and other young calcite-lined paleo-spring feeder zones were found, as well as a number of previously unknown small collapse areas in the limestone. Although the predominant structural grain of the area is oriented northwest, the importance of the very subordinate northeast-striking faults and fractures is underscored by their association with Devils Hole itself, with most of the collapse depressions, and with many of the calcite veins in ' lake beds ' and alluvium. Probable channeling of groundwater flow may occur along one important northeast-striking fault zone. The persistent tendency for openings may have been facilitated by underlying low-angle faults that separate brittle carbonate rocks from underlying, less-competent clastic rocks. (Author 's abstract)

  15. In-situ measurement of dust devil activity at La Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico, USA

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    We document observations of dust devil vortices using a linear array of 10 miniature pressure- and sunlight-logging stations in summer 2013 at La Jornada Experimental Range in the southwestern USA. These data provide a census of vortex and dust-devil activity at this site. The simultaneous spatial...

  16. Extensive computation of albedo contrast between martian dust devil tracks and their neighboring regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Statella, Thiago; Pina, Pedro; da Silva, Erivaldo Antônio

    2015-04-01

    We have developed a method to compute the albedo contrast between dust devil tracks and their surrounding regions on Mars. It is mainly based on Mathematical Morphology operators and uses all the points of the edges of the tracks to compute the values of the albedo contrast. It permits the extraction of more accurate and complete information, when compared to traditional point sampling, not only providing better statistics but also permitting the analysis of local variations along the entirety of the tracks. This measure of contrast, based on relative quantities, is much more adequate to establish comparisons at regional scales and in multi-temporal basis using imagery acquired in rather different environmental and operational conditions. Also, the substantial increase in the details extracted may permit quantifying differential depositions of dust by computing local temporal fading of the tracks with consequences on a better estimation of the thickness of the top most layer of dust and the minimum value needed to create dust devils tracks. The developed tool is tested on 110 HiRISE images depicting regions in the Aeolis, Argyre, Eridania, Noachis and Hellas quadrangles. As a complementary evaluation, we also performed a temporal analysis of the albedo in a region of Russell crater, where high seasonal dust devil activity was already observed before, comprising the years 2007-2012. The mean albedo of the Russell crater is in this case indicative of dust devil tracks presence and, therefore, can be used to quantify dust devil activity.

  17. An Archaeological Inventory of Portions of the Devils Lake Basin, Benson, Eddy, Nelson, and Ramsey Counties, North Dakota

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-01-18

    INVENTORY O: PORTIONS OF THE DEVILS LAKE BASIN , I BENSON, EDDY, NELSON, AND RAMSEY COUNTIES, NORTH DAKOTA By: 5 MERVIN G. FLOODMAN, M.A. Submitted By...had a geomorphological study conducted for the Devils Lake Basin , to interpret the Pleistocene and Holocene development of the landscape, and assess...investigations, in an attempt to make broad statements about the location of cultural resources within the Devils Lake Basin . None of the historic sites

  18. Point discharge current measurements beneath dust devils

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    We document for the first time observations of point discharge currents under dust devils using a novel compact sensor deployed in summer 2016 at the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range in New Mexico, USA. A consistent signature is noted in about a dozen events seen over 40 days, with a positive cur...

  19. Escaping Devil's Island: Confronting Racism, Learning History

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grant, Carl A.

    2011-01-01

    This article argues that African Americans, especially males living in urban areas, are physically and mentally trapped on a Devil's Island. The penal colony on the coast of French Guiana is a metaphor for the boundaries and constraints that close off opportunities and constrain African American historical knowledge. The article argues that…

  20. "Death by a Thousand Cuts": The Failings of the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Curriculum (2000-2006)--The Political Dynamics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodwell, G. W.

    2009-01-01

    In 2000, Paula Wriedt, the Tasmanian Minister for Education, gave instructions for her department to begin the development of a K to 10 statewide curriculum, soon to become known as the Essential Learnings Framework, or simply, ELs. The curriculum was an integrated one, doing away with traditional subjects, or disciplines, such as mathematics,…

  1. Devils Hole, Nevada, δ18O record extended to the mid-Holocene

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Winograd, Isaac J.; Landwehr, Jurate M.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Sharp, Warren D.; Riggs, Alan C.; Ludwig, Kenneth R.; Kolesar, Peter T.

    2006-01-01

    The mid-to-late Pleistocene Devils Hole δ18O record has been extended from 60,000 to 4500 yr ago. The new δ18O time series, in conjunction with the one previously published, is shown to be a proxy of Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) off the coast of California. During marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 2 and 6, the Devil Hole and SST time series exhibit a steady warming that began 5000 to > 10,000 yr prior to the last and penultimate deglaciations. Several possible proximate causes for this early warming are evaluated. The magnitude of the peak δ18O or SST during the last interglacial (LIG) is significantly greater (1 per mill and 2 to 3°C, respectively) than the peak value of these parameters for the Holocene; in contrast, benthic δ18O records of ice volume show only a few tenths per mill difference in the peak value for these interglacials. Statistical analysis provides an estimate of the large shared information (variation) between the Devils Hole and Eastern Pacific SST time series from ∼ 41 to ∼ 2°N and enforces the concept of a common forcing among all of these records. The extended Devils Hole record adds to evidence of the importance of uplands bordering the eastern Pacific as a source of archives for reconstructing Pacific climate variability.

  2. Climate simulation and flood risk analysis for 2008-40 for Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vecchia, Aldo V.

    2008-01-01

    Devils Lake and Stump Lake in northeastern North Dakota receive surface runoff from a 3,810-square-mile drainage basin, and evaporation provides the only major water loss unless the lakes are above their natural spill elevation to the Sheyenne River. In September 2007, flow from Devils Lake to Stump Lake had filled Stump Lake and the two lakes consisted of essentially one water body with an elevation of 1,447.1 feet, about 3 feet below the existing base flood elevation (1,450 feet) and about 12 feet below the natural outlet elevation to the Sheyenne River (1,459 feet).Devils Lake could continue to rise, causing extensive additional flood damages in the basin and, in the event of an uncontrolled natural spill, downstream in the Red River of the North Basin. This report describes the results of a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to evaluate future flood risk for Devils Lake and provide information for developing updated flood-insurance rate maps and planning flood-mitigation activities such as raising levees or roads.In about 1980, a large, abrupt, and highly significant increase in precipitation occurred in the Devils Lake Basin and elsewhere in the Northern Great Plains, and wetter-than-normal conditions have persisted through the present (2007). Although future precipitation is impossible to predict, paleoclimatic evidence and recent research on climate dynamics indicate the current wet conditions are not likely to end anytime soon. For example, there is about a 72-percent chance wet conditions will last at least 10 more years and about a 37-percent chance wet conditions will last at least 30 more years.A stochastic simulation model for Devils Lake and Stump Lake developed in a previous study was updated and used to generate 10,000 potential future realizations, or traces, of precipitation, evaporation, inflow, and lake levels given existing conditions on September 30, 2007, and randomly

  3. Middle Devonian to Early Carboniferous event stratigraphy of Devils Gate and Northern Antelope Range sections, Nevada, U.S.A

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sandberg, C.A.; Morrow, J.R.; Poole, F.G.; Ziegler, W.

    2003-01-01

    The classic type section of the Devils Gate Limestone at Devils Gate Pass is situated on the eastern slope of a proto-Antler forebulge that resulted from convergence of the west side of the North American continent with an ocean plate. The original Late Devonian forebulge, the site of which is now located between Devils Gate Pass and the Northern Antelope Range, separated the continental-rise to deep-slope Woodruff basin on the west from the backbulge Pilot basin on the east. Two connections between these basins are recorded by deeper water siltstone beds at Devils Gate; the older one is the lower tongue of the Woodruff Formation, which forms the basal unit of the upper member of the type Devils Gate, and the upper one is the overlying, thin lower member of the Pilot Shale. The forebulge and the backbulge Pilot basin originated during the middle Frasnian (early Late Devonian) Early hassi Zone, shortly following the Alamo Impact within the punctata Zone in southern Nevada. Evidence of this impact is recorded by coeval and reworked shocked quartz grains in the Northern Antelope Range and possibly by a unique bypass-channel or megatsunami-uprush sandy diamictite within carbonate-platform rocks of the lower member of the type Devils Gate Limestone. Besides the Alamo Impact and three regional events, two other important global events are recorded in the Devils Gate section. The semichatovae eustatic rise, the maximum Late Devonian flooding event, coincides with the sharp lithogenetic change at the discordant boundary above the lower member of the Devils Gate Limestone. Most significantly, the Devils Gate section contains the thickest and most complete rock record in North America across the late Frasnian linguiformis Zone mass extinction event. Excellent exposures include not only the extinction shale, but also a younger. Early triangularis Zone tsunamite breccia, produced by global collapse of carbonate platforms during a shallowing event that continued into the next

  4. Dune and Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    31 January 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dark sand dune patch that occurs on the floor of a southern hemisphere crater near 64.1oS, 197.2oW. Passing dust devils have disrupted the fine, bright dust that coats the surrounding terrain, leaving wildly-varied streak patterns. Dark dots to the left (west) of the dune are boulders. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide; sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

  5. A comparative study of prokaryotic diversity and physicochemical characteristics of Devils Hole and the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility, a constructed analog.

    PubMed

    Sackett, Joshua D; Huerta, Desiree C; Kruger, Brittany R; Hamilton-Brehm, Scott D; Moser, Duane P

    2018-01-01

    Devils Hole is the sole natural habitat of the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). To establish a backup population, the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility (AMFCF), a full-scale replica of the uppermost 6.7 m of Devils Hole, was constructed by management agencies in the mid-2010s. Despite rigorous efforts to mimic the bathymetric and physical details of the Devils Hole environment, the biogeochemistry and microbiology of the AMFCF refuge tank remain largely unaddressed. We evaluated water physicochemistry and employed Illumina DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries to evaluate planktonic and benthic bacterial and archaeal community composition within their respective physicochemical contexts in Devils Hole and AMFCF on the same day. Major ion concentrations were consistent between the two systems, but water temperature and dissolved oxygen dynamics differed. Bioavailable nitrogen (primarily nitrate) was 5x lower in AMFCF. Devils Hole and AMFCF nitrogen:phosphorus molar ratios were 107:1 and 22:1, indicative of different nutrient control mechanisms. Both sites are microbiologically diverse, with over 40 prokaryotic phyla represented at each, with 37 shared between them and nearly than half deriving from candidate divisions. The abundance and composition of predicted photosynthetic primary producers (Cyanobacteria) was markedly different between sites: Devils Hole planktonic and sediment communities were dominated by Oscillatoria spp. (13.2% mean relative abundance), which proved virtually undetectable in AMFCF. Conversely, AMFCF was dominated by a predicted heterotroph from the Verrucomicrobiaceae family (31.7%); which was comparatively rare (<2.4%) in Devils Hole. We propose that the paucity of bioavailable nitrogen in AMFCF, perhaps resulting from physical isolation from allochthonous environmental inputs, is reflected in the microbial assemblage disparity, influences biogeochemical cycling of other dissolved constituents, and

  6. A comparative study of prokaryotic diversity and physicochemical characteristics of Devils Hole and the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility, a constructed analog

    PubMed Central

    Huerta, Desiree C.; Kruger, Brittany R.; Hamilton-Brehm, Scott D.; Moser, Duane P.

    2018-01-01

    Devils Hole is the sole natural habitat of the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). To establish a backup population, the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility (AMFCF), a full-scale replica of the uppermost 6.7 m of Devils Hole, was constructed by management agencies in the mid-2010s. Despite rigorous efforts to mimic the bathymetric and physical details of the Devils Hole environment, the biogeochemistry and microbiology of the AMFCF refuge tank remain largely unaddressed. We evaluated water physicochemistry and employed Illumina DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries to evaluate planktonic and benthic bacterial and archaeal community composition within their respective physicochemical contexts in Devils Hole and AMFCF on the same day. Major ion concentrations were consistent between the two systems, but water temperature and dissolved oxygen dynamics differed. Bioavailable nitrogen (primarily nitrate) was 5x lower in AMFCF. Devils Hole and AMFCF nitrogen:phosphorus molar ratios were 107:1 and 22:1, indicative of different nutrient control mechanisms. Both sites are microbiologically diverse, with over 40 prokaryotic phyla represented at each, with 37 shared between them and nearly than half deriving from candidate divisions. The abundance and composition of predicted photosynthetic primary producers (Cyanobacteria) was markedly different between sites: Devils Hole planktonic and sediment communities were dominated by Oscillatoria spp. (13.2% mean relative abundance), which proved virtually undetectable in AMFCF. Conversely, AMFCF was dominated by a predicted heterotroph from the Verrucomicrobiaceae family (31.7%); which was comparatively rare (<2.4%) in Devils Hole. We propose that the paucity of bioavailable nitrogen in AMFCF, perhaps resulting from physical isolation from allochthonous environmental inputs, is reflected in the microbial assemblage disparity, influences biogeochemical cycling of other dissolved constituents, and

  7. Mercury accumulation in Devils Lake, North Dakota effects of environmental variation in closed-basin lakes on mercury chronologies

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lent, R.M.; Alexander, C.R.

    1997-01-01

    Sediment cores were collected from lakes in the Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota to determine if mercury (Hg) accumulation chronologies from sediment-core data are good indicators of variations in Hg accumulation rates in saline lakes. Sediment cores from Creel Bay and Main Bay, Devils Lake were selected for detailed analysis and interpretation. The maximum Hg concentration in the Creel Bay core was 0.15 micrograms per gram at 8 to 9 centimeters. The maximum Hg concentration in the Main Bay core was 0.07 micrograms per gram at 5 to 7 centimeters. The general decreases in Hg concentrations with depth are attributed to historic variations in atmospheric Hg deposition rate. Hg stratigraphies combined with 210Pb and 137Cs dating analyses yield Hg chronologies that indicate a general increase in Hg accumulation rates in Devils Lake since the middle of the 19th century. Mean modern Hg accumulation rates in Creel Bay were 4.9 nanograms per square centimeter per year, and rates in Main Bay were 1.8 nanograms per square centimeter per year. Mean preindustrial Hg accumulation rates in Creel Bay were 1.2 nanograms per square centimeter per year, and rates in Main Bay were 1.6 nanograms per square centimeter per year. Relatively low Hg concentrations in recent sediments in the Devils Lake Basin, along with similarities in Hg accumulation rates between lakes in the Devils Lake Basin and other lakes in the northern interior of North America, indicate that local sources of Hg are not important sources of Hg. Results of the study indicate that accurate Hg chronologies are discernible in sediment cores collected from saline lakes. However, spatial and temporal variations in lake level and water chemistry common to saline lakes make interpretation of radioisotopic and geochemical chronologies difficult. Hg geochemistry in Devils Lake, and presumably in other saline lakes, is dynamic. The results of this study indicate that the absolute amount of sediment transported to Devils Lake

  8. "The Sacred Spark of Wonder": Local Museums, Australian Curriculum History, and Pre-Service Primary Teacher Education: A Tasmanian Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brett, Peter

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the intersections between museum learning in a distinctive Tasmanian setting, the possibilities of a new national History curriculum, and the evolving views and professional practices of pre-service primary teachers at one Australian university. Following a brief overview of the framework for local and Australian history that…

  9. 78 FR 1751 - Modification of VOR Federal Airway V-170 in the Vicinity of Devils Lake, ND

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-09

    ..., Devils Lake, ND, to support non- radar separation requirements when the restricted area is active. DATES...-radar separation and airway clearance from the newly established R-5402, Devils Lake, ND (77 FR 54860... greatest level of safety and efficiency in the vicinity of this area that has poor low altitude radar...

  10. Simulation of a proposed emergency outlet from Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vecchia, Aldo V.

    2002-01-01

    From 1993 to 2001, Devils Lake rose more than 25 feet, flooding farmland, roads, and structures around the lake and causing more than $400 million in damages in the Devils Lake Basin. In July 2001, the level of Devils Lake was at 1,448.0 feet above sea level1, which was the highest lake level in more than 160 years. The lake could continue to rise to several feet above its natural spill elevation to the Sheyenne River (1,459 feet above sea level) in future years, causing extensive additional flooding in the basin and, in the event of an uncontrolled natural spill, downstream in the Red River of the North Basin as well. The outlet simulation model described in this report was developed to determine the potential effects of various outlet alternatives on the future lake levels and water quality of Devils Lake.Lake levels of Devils Lake are controlled largely by precipitation on the lake surface, evaporation from the lake surface, and surface inflow. For this study, a monthly water-balance model was developed to compute the change in total volume of Devils Lake, and a regression model was used to estimate monthly water-balance data on the basis of limited recorded data. Estimated coefficients for the regression model indicated fitted precipitation on the lake surface was greater than measured precipitation in most months, fitted evaporation from the lake surface was less than estimated evaporation in most months, and ungaged inflow was about 2 percent of gaged inflow in most months. Dissolved sulfate was considered to be the key water-quality constituent for evaluating the effects of a proposed outlet on downstream water quality. Because large differences in sulfate concentrations existed among the various bays of Devils Lake, monthly water-balance data were used to develop detailed water and sulfate mass-balance models to compute changes in sulfate load for each of six major storage compartments in response to precipitation, evaporation, inflow, and outflow from

  11. Laboratory evaluation of sample collection methods (organs vs swabs) for Tasmanian salmon reovirus detection in farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.

    PubMed

    Zainathan, S C; Carson, J; Crane, M St J; Nowak, B F

    2013-04-01

    The use of swabs relative to organs as a sample collection method for the detection of Tasmanian salmon reovirus (TSRV) in farmed Tasmanian Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., was evaluated by RT-qPCR. Evaluation of individual and pooled sample collection (organs vs swabs) was carried out to determine the sensitivity of the collection methods and the effect of pooling of samples for the detection of TSRV. Detection of TSRV in individual samples was as sensitive when organs were sampled compared to swabs, and in pooled samples, organs demonstrated a sensitivity of one 10-fold dilution higher than sampling of pooled swabs. Storage of swabs at 4 °C for t = 24 h demonstrated results similar to those at t = 0. Advantages of using swabs as a preferred sample collection method for the detection of TSRV compared to organ samples are evident from these experimental trials. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  12. Impacts of Recent Wetting on Snow Processes and Runoff Generation in a Terminal Lake Basin, Devils Lake, North Dakota.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahmood, T. H.; Van Hoy, D.

    2016-12-01

    The Devils Lake Basin, only terminal lake basin in North America, drains to a terminal lake called Devils Lake. Terminal lakes are susceptible to climate and land use changes as their water levels fluctuate to these changes. The streamflow from the headwater catchments of the Devils Lake basin exerts a strong control on the water level of the lake. Since, the mid-1980s, the Devils Lake Basin as well as other basins in the northern Great Plains have faced a large and abrupt surge in precipitation regime resulting in a series of wetter climatic condition and flooding around the Devils Lake area. Nevertheless, the impacts of the recent wetting on snow processes such as snow accumulations, blowing snow transport, in-transit sublimation, frozen soil infiltration and snowmelt runoff generations in a headwater catchment of the Devils Lake basin are poorly understood. In this study, I utilize a physically-based, distributed cold regions hydrological model to simulate the hydrological responses in the Mauvais Coulee basin that drains to Devils Lake. The Mauvais Coulee basin ( 1072 km2), located in the north-central North Dakota, is set in a gently rolling landscape with low relief ( 220 m) and an average elevation of 500 m. Major land covers are forest areas in turtle mountains ( 10%) and crops ( 86%), with wheat ( 25%) and canola ( 20%) as the major crops. The model set up includes ten sub-basins, each of which is divided into several hydrological response units (HRUs): riparian forest, river channel, reservoir, wheat, canola, other crops, and marsh. The model is parameterized using local and regional measurements and the findings from previous scientific studies. The model is evaluated against streamflow observations at the Mauvais Coulee gauge (USGS) during 1994-2013 periods using multiple performance criteria. Finally, the impacts of recent increases in precipitation on hydrologic responses are investigated using modeled hydrologic processes.

  13. In-situ growth of calcite at Devils Hole, Nevada: Comparison of field and laboratory rates to a 500,000 year record of near-equilibrium calcite growth

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Plummer, Niel; Busenberg, E.; Riggs, A.C.

    2000-01-01

    Calcite grew continuously for 500,000 years on the submerged walls of an open fault plane (Devils Hole) in southern Nevada, U.S.A. at rates of 0.3 to 1.3 mm/ka, but ceased growing approximately 60,000 years ago, even though the fault plane remained open and was continuously submerged. The maximum initial in-situ growth rate on pre-weighed crystals of Iceland spar placed in Devils Hole (calcite saturation index, SI, is 0.16 to 0.21 at 33.7??C) for growth periods of 0.75 to 4.5 years was 0.22 mm/ka. Calcite growth on seed crystals slowed or ceased following initial contact with Devils Hole groundwater. Growth rates measured in synthetic Ca-HCO3 solutions at 34??C, CO2 partial pressures of 0.101, 0.0156 (similar to Devils Hole groundwater) and 0.00102 atm, and SI values of 0.2 to 1.9 were nearly independent of P(CO)(2), decreased with decreasing saturation state, and extrapolated through the historical Devils Hole rate. The results show that calcite growth rate is highly sensitive to saturation state near equilibrium. A calcite crystal retrieved from Devils Hole, and used without further treatment of its surface, grew in synthetic Devils Hole groundwater when the saturation index was raised nearly 10-fold that of Devils Hole water, but the rate was only 1/4 that of fresh laboratory crystals that had not contacted Devils Hole water. Apparently, inhibiting processes that halted calcite growth in Devils Hole 60,000 years ago continue today.

  14. In-situ growth of calcite at Devils Hole, Nevada--Comparison of field and laboratory rates to a 500,000 year record of near-equilibrium calcite growth

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Plummer, Niel; Busenberg, Eurybiades; Riggs, Alan C.

    2000-01-01

    Calcite grew continuously for 500,000 years on the submerged walls of an open fault plane (Devils Hole) in southern Nevada, U.S.A. at rates of 0.3 to 1.3 mm/ka, but ceased growing approximately 60,000 years ago, even though the fault plane remained open and was continuously submerged. The maximum initial in-situ growth rate on pre-weighed crystals of Iceland spar placed in Devils Hole (calcite saturation index, SI, is 0.16 to 0.21 at 33.7 °C) for growth periods of 0.75 to 4.5 years was 0.22 mm/ka. Calcite growth on seed crystals slowed or ceased following initial contact with Devils Hole groundwater. Growth rates measured in synthetic Ca-HCO3 solutions at 34 °C, CO2 partial pressures of 0.101, 0.0156 (similar to Devils Hole groundwater) and 0.00102 atm, and SI values of 0.2 to 1.9 were nearly independent of PCO2, decreased with decreasing saturation state, and extrapolated through the historical Devils Hole rate. The results show that calcite growth rate is highly sensitive to saturation state near equilibrium. A calcite crystal retrieved from Devils Hole, and used without further treatment of its surface, grew in synthetic Devils Hole groundwater when the saturation index was raised nearly 10-fold that of Devils Hole water, but the rate was only 1/4 that of fresh laboratory crystals that had not contacted Devils Hole water. Apparently, inhibiting processes that halted calcite growth in Devils Hole 60,000 years ago continue today.

  15. Dust Devil Art

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-541, 11 November 2003

    In some regions of Mars, dust devils create streaks by disrupting or removing thin coatings of fine, bright dust from the surface. This summertime view of terrain in southern Noachis Terra, acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), provides an example. Streak patterns such as these are commonly created during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere; in autumn and winter they are often erased--perhaps by deposition of a new coating of dust--and then a completely different pattern is formed the following spring and summer. This image is located near 59.6oS, 328.8oW. The picture is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

  16. "Dust Devils": Gardening Agents on the Surface of Mars, and Hidden Hazards to Human Exploration?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Marshall, J.; Smith, P.; White, B.; Farrell, W.

    1999-01-01

    Dust devils are familiar sites in the and regions of the world: they can produce quite spectacular displays of dust lofting when the vortices scavenge very loose dust from a dry lake bed or from recently disturbed agricultural fields. If one were to arrive at the center of an arid region, take one photograph, or even a series of photographs over a period of several days, then return the images for laboratory analysis, it would be most likely concluded that the region was inactive from an aeolian perspective. No images of general dust movement were obtained, nor were any dust devils "caught on camera" owing to their ephemeral and unpredictable appearance, and the fact that there was deceptively little residue of their actions. If, however, a camera were to take a 360 degree continuous recording over a period of a year, and the film were then to be shown at high speed over a period a several minutes, the impression might be that of a region ravaged by air vorticity and dust movement. Extrapolate this over geological time, and it is possible to visualize dust devils as prime aeolian agents, rather than insignificant vagaries of nature, On Mars, the thin atmosphere permits the surface of the planet to be heated but it does not itself retain heat with the capacity of the earth's atmosphere. This gives rise to greater thermal instability near the surface of Mars as "warm" air pockets diapiritically inject themselves into higher atmospheric layers. Resulting boundary-layer vorticity on Mars might therefore be expected to produce dust devils in abundance, if only seasonally. The spectacular images of dust devils obtained by Pathfinder within its brief functional period on the planet testify to the probability of highly frequent surface vorticity in light of the above reasoning about observational probability. Notably, the Pathfinder devils appeared to be at least a kilometer in height. There are several consequences for the geology of Mars, and for human exploration, if

  17. "Dust Devils": Gardening Agents on the Surface of Mars, and Hidden Hazards to Human Exploration?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshall, J.; Smith, P.; White, B.; Farrell, W.

    1999-09-01

    Dust devils are familiar sites in the and regions of the world: they can produce quite spectacular displays of dust lofting when the vortices scavenge very loose dust from a dry lake bed or from recently disturbed agricultural fields. If one were to arrive at the center of an arid region, take one photograph, or even a series of photographs over a period of several days, then return the images for laboratory analysis, it would be most likely concluded that the region was inactive from an aeolian perspective. No images of general dust movement were obtained, nor were any dust devils "caught on camera" owing to their ephemeral and unpredictable appearance, and the fact that there was deceptively little residue of their actions. If, however, a camera were to take a 360 degree continuous recording over a period of a year, and the film were then to be shown at high speed over a period a several minutes, the impression might be that of a region ravaged by air vorticity and dust movement. Extrapolate this over geological time, and it is possible to visualize dust devils as prime aeolian agents, rather than insignificant vagaries of nature, On Mars, the thin atmosphere permits the surface of the planet to be heated but it does not itself retain heat with the capacity of the earth's atmosphere. This gives rise to greater thermal instability near the surface of Mars as "warm" air pockets diapiritically inject themselves into higher atmospheric layers. Resulting boundary-layer vorticity on Mars might therefore be expected to produce dust devils in abundance, if only seasonally. The spectacular images of dust devils obtained by Pathfinder within its brief functional period on the planet testify to the probability of highly frequent surface vorticity in light of the above reasoning about observational probability. Notably, the Pathfinder devils appeared to be at least a kilometer in height. There are several consequences for the geology of Mars, and for human exploration, if

  18. Electrical Characteristics of Simulated Tornadoes and Dust Devils

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zimmerman, Michael I.; Farrell, William M.; Barth, E. L.; Lewellen, W. S.; Perlongo, N. J.; Jackson, T. L.

    2012-01-01

    It is well known that tornadoes and dust devils have the ability to accumulate significant, visible clouds of debris. Collisions between sand-like debris species produce different electric charges on different types of grains, which convect along different trajectories around the vortex. Thus, significant charge separations and electric currents are possible, which as the vortex fluctuates over time are thought to produce ULF radiation signatures that have been measured in the field. These electric and magnetic fields may contain valuable information about tornado structure and genesis, and may be critical in driving electrochemical processes within dust devils on Mars. In the present work, existing large eddy simulations of debris-laden tornadoes performed at West Virginia University are coupled with a new debris-charging and advection code developed at Goddard Space Flight Center to investigate the detailed (meter-resolution) fluid-dynamic origins of electromagnetic fields within terrestrial vortices. First results are presented, including simulations of the electric and magnetic fields that would be observed by a near-surface, instrument-laden probe during a direct encounter with a tornado.

  19. Dust devil track survey at Elysium Planitia, Mars: Implications for the InSight landing sites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reiss, Dennis; Lorenz, Ralph D.

    2016-03-01

    The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) robotic lander is scheduled to land in Elysium Planitia on Mars in September 2016. InSight will perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation including seismic measurements. Knowledge about encounter rates of dust devils with the InSight lander are important for two main reasons: (1) dust devils will affect the scientific measurements, i.e., wind-induced seismic noise, and (2) the power-supply of the InSight lander and instruments is provided by solar arrays and previous landers and rovers on Mars were affected by a steady decline in electrical power output due to atmospheric dust deposition on the solar panels. Long term science operations were only made possible by dust clearing events of the solar arrays caused by wind gusts and dust devils. In this study we analyzed dust devil tracks (DDTs) at the final InSight landing site region in Elysium Planitia. Formation of DDTs is caused by the removal of a layer of dust by passing dust devils, hence in principle the same process as clearing of dust from solar panels. We mapped the number, size (width and length), and orientation of DDTs in repeat observations using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images covering the exact same surface area acquired within a relatively short time span (<90 martian days). In total, we analyzed 557 newly formed dust devil tracks in 8 study areas. DDTs are morphologically relatively straight with a low mean sinuosity of 1.03 and only reach maximum widths of 30 m. The mean DDT width is 4 m, indicating that the dust devil size population is dominated by small dust devils with a diameter <10 m. The size-frequency distribution of DDTs follows a -2 power law. The mean lengths of DDTs are 0.62 km and 1.23 km for complete (tracks which are visible from their start to end point) and incomplete DDTs (tracks running across the HiRISE footprint), respectively. The

  20. Progress report: chemical character of surface waters in the Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Swenson, Herbert A.

    1950-01-01

    Devils Lake in northeastern North Dakota was at one time the most popular summer resort in the state. With decline in lake level the lake has become a shallow body pf vary saline water, which scenic value and recreational appeal completely destroyed. Under the Missouri River development program, it is proposed to restore the lake level to an altitude of 1,425 feet by diversion of Missouri River water. The chemical character of the water in Devils Lake and in other surface bodies in Devils Lake Basin is determined from the analyses of 95 samples. The physical and chemical properties of lake bed deposits are also shown. Lake water in the basin vary considerable in both concentration and composition, ranging from fresh bicarbonate waters of 300 parts per million dissolved solids to sulfate waters of over 100,000 parts per million of soluble salts. Twenty-four samples indicates the chemical character of water in the Red River of the North and its tributaries. The probable concentration of dissolved solids in water of Devils Lake at altitude 1,425 feet has been estimated as ranging from 3,000 to 7,600 parts per million. Final concentration will largely depend upon the percentage of deposited salts reentering solution and the quality of the inflow water. The possible effects of lake effluents on downstream developments, with particular reference to sanitation and pollution problems, are also discussed in this report.

  1. SUV Tracks On Mars? The 'Devil' is in the Details

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1998-01-01

    Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) on Mars? Imagine the MOC imaging team's surprise on the morning of April 27, 1998, as the latest images came in from the 'Red Planet.'

    A picture taken by the camera on Mars Global Surveyor just one day earlier showed several thin, dark lines that--at first glance--looked like pathways blazed by off-road sport utility vehicles. Who's been driving around on Mars?

    The MOC image in question (#26403), seen here at full resolution of 13.8 meters (45 feet) per pixel, was obtained around 10:22 a.m. PDT on April 26, 1998, during Mars Global Surveyor's 264th orbit. North is approximately up, illumination is from the lower right. Located in eastern Arabia Terra near 16.5o N latitude, 311.4o W longitude, the image showed a number of natural features--small craters formed by meteor impact, several buttes and mesas left by erosion of the surrounding terrain, small dunes and drifts, and a mantle of dust that varies in thickness from place to place. But the new picture also showed two dark lines--each varying in width up to about 15 meters (49 feet)--that extended several kilometers/miles across the image.

    Lines like these have been seen before on Mars. They are most likely the result of dust devils--columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars. They form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As pockets of warm air rise and interfere with one another, they create horizontal pressure variations that, combined with other meteorological winds, cause the upward moving air to spin (the direction of the spin is controlled by the same Coriolis forces that cause terrestrial hurricanes to spin in specific directions). As the spinning column of air moves across the surface, it occasionally encounters dust on the surface, which it can suck upward

  2. To the theory of particle lifting by terrestrial and Martian dust devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kurgansky, M. V.

    2018-01-01

    The combined Rankine vortex model is applied to describe the radial profile of azimuthal velocity in atmospheric dust devils, and a simplified model version is proposed of the turbulent surface boundary layer beneath the Rankine vortex periphery that corresponds to the potential vortex. Based on the results by Burggraf et al. (1971), it is accepted that the radial velocity near the ground in the potential vortex greatly exceeds the azimuthal velocity, which makes tractable the problem of the surface shear stress determination, including the case of the turbulent surface boundary layer. The constructed model explains exceeding the threshold shear velocity for aeolian transport in typical dust-devil vortices both on Earth and on Mars.

  3. Propagation of hybrid Devils Hole Pupfish × Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Feuerbacher, Olin; Mapula, Justin A.; Bonar, Scott A.

    2015-01-01

    Recent censuses of Devils Hole Pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis revealed that fewer than 100 individuals currently remain in the wild. Captive propagation is among actions being considered to prevent their extinction, but no pure-strain Devils Hole Pupfish were available for broodstock. To help provide emergency information, we investigated techniques to propagate their most closely related relative, hybrid Devils Hole Pupfish C. diabolis× Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish C. nevadensis mionectes. We tested various temperatures and larval feeds with respect to egg production, larval survival, and growth. Larval survival and growth were similar from 24°C to 32°C and egg production peaked at static 28°C; however, reducing water temperatures to 23°C and then raising them to 28°C resulted in even higher production. Larvae fed infusoria, Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Chow (RGSM), or Zeigler larval diet (ZLD) had the highest survival (79.4, 71.6, and 73.4%, respectively), and those fed Otohime (OTO) had the lowest survival (60.8%), although OTO provided greatest (14 mm) 30-d growth. Supplementation of RGSM or ZLD with Artemia nauplii increased growth but decreased survival. Larval production was maximized by placing six spawning mops, constructed of yarn and tile, in each of four 437-L parental aquaria, stocked with 24 adult fish each (1:1 sex ratio) for 3 d, to attract adults and provide spawning substrate. A 30% water change conducted on the same day of mop placement lowered water temperature from 28°C to 23°C. Water temperature was raised back to 28°C over 48 h. After 3 d, mops were transferred to hatching aquaria that were held at 28°C and aerated until larval hatch. Although some differences likely exist in effective propagation techniques for hybrid and pure-strain Devils Hole Pupfish, these data help provide initial recommendations to aid recovery.

  4. The source of groundwater and solutes to Many Devils Wash at a former uranium mill site in Shiprock, New Mexico

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Robertson, Andrew J.; Ranalli, Anthony J.; Austin, Stephen A.; Lawlis, Bryan R.

    2016-04-21

    The Shiprock Disposal Site is the location of the former Navajo Mill (Mill), a uranium ore-processing facility, located on a terrace overlooking the San Juan River in the town of Shiprock, New Mexico. Following the closure of the Mill, all tailings and associated materials were encapsulated in a disposal cell built on top of the former Mill and tailings piles. The milling operations, conducted at the site from 1954 to 1968, created radioactive tailings and process-related wastes that are now found in the groundwater. Elevated concentrations of constituents of concern—ammonium, manganese, nitrate, selenium, strontium, sulfate, and uranium—have also been measured in groundwater seeps in the nearby Many Devils Wash arroyo, leading to the inference that these constituents originated from the Mill. These constituents have also been reported in groundwater that is associated with Mancos Shale, the bedrock that underlies the site. The objective of this report is to increase understanding of the source of water and solutes to the groundwater beneath Many Devils Wash and to establish the background concentrations for groundwater that is in contact with the Mancos Shale at the site. This report presents evidence on three working hypotheses: (1) the water and solutes in Many Devils Wash originated from the operations at the former Mill, (2) groundwater in deep aquifers is upwelling under artesian pressure to recharge the shallow groundwater beneath Many Devils Wash, and (3) the groundwater beneath Many Devils Wash originates as precipitation that infiltrates into the shallow aquifer system and discharges to Many Devils Wash in a series of springs on the east side of the wash. The solute concentrations in the shallow groundwater of Many Devils Wash would result from the interaction of the water and the Mancos Shale if the source of water was upwelling from deep aquifers or precipitation.In order to compare the groundwater from various wells to groundwater that has been

  5. A role for selective contraception of individuals in conservation.

    PubMed

    Cope, Holly R; Hogg, Carolyn J; White, Peter J; Herbert, Catherine A

    2018-06-01

    Contraception has an established role in managing overabundant populations and preventing undesirable breeding in zoos. We propose that it can also be used strategically and selectively in conservation to increase the genetic and behavioral quality of the animals. In captive breeding programs, it is becoming increasingly important to maximize the retention of genetic diversity by managing the reproductive contribution of each individual and preventing genetically suboptimal breeding through the use of selective contraception. Reproductive suppression of selected individuals in conservation programs has further benefits of allowing animals to be housed as a group in extensive enclosures without interfering with breeding recommendations, which reduces adaptation to captivity and facilitates the expression of wild behaviors and social structures. Before selective contraception can be incorporated into a breeding program, the most suitable method of fertility control must be selected, and this can be influenced by factors such as species life history, age, ease of treatment, potential for reversibility, and desired management outcome for the individual or population. Contraception should then be implemented in the population following a step-by-step process. In this way, it can provide crucial, flexible control over breeding to promote the physical and genetic health and sustainability of a conservation dependent species held in captivity. For Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), black-flanked rock wallabies (Petrogale lateralis), and burrowing bettongs (Bettongia lesueur), contraception can benefit their conservation by maximizing genetic diversity and behavioral integrity in the captive breeding program, or, in the case of the wallabies and bettongs, by reducing populations to a sustainable size when they become locally overabundant. In these examples, contraceptive duration relative to reproductive life, reversibility, and predictability of the contraceptive

  6. Cutaneous water collection by a moisture-harvesting lizard, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus).

    PubMed

    Comanns, Philipp; Withers, Philip C; Esser, Falk J; Baumgartner, Werner

    2016-11-01

    Moisture-harvesting lizards, such as the Australian thorny devil, Moloch horridus, have the remarkable ability to inhabit arid regions. Special skin structures, comprising a micro-structured surface with capillary channels in between imbricate overlapping scales, enable the lizard to collect water by capillarity and transport it to the mouth for ingestion. The ecological role of this mechanism is the acquisition of water from various possible sources such as rainfall, puddles, dew, condensation on the skin, or absorption from moist sand, and we evaluate here the potential of these various sources for water uptake by M. horridus The water volume required to fill the skin capillary system is 3.19% of body mass. Thorny devils standing in water can fill their capillary system and then drink from this water, at approximately 0.7 µl per jaw movement. Thorny devils standing on nearly saturated moist sand could only fill the capillary channels to 59% of their capacity, and did not drink. However, placing moist sand on skin replicas showed that the capillary channels could be filled from moist sand when assisted by gravity, suggesting that their field behaviour of shovelling moist sand onto the dorsal skin might fill the capillary channels and enable drinking. Condensation facilitated by thermal disequilibrium between a cool thorny devil and warm moist air provided skin capillary filling to approximately 0.22% of body weight, which was insufficient for drinking. Our results suggest that rain and moist sand seem to be ecologically likely water sources for M. horridus on a regular basis. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  7. Cycloidal Dust Devil Track

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-382, 5 June 2003

    The spiraling feature near the center of this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image is known as a cycloidal marking. Patterns like this can also occur on Earth. On Mars, the cycloidalpattern--and all of the other dark streaks in this picture--are thought to have been formed by passing dust devils. On Earth, cycloidal markings have been observed to result from some tornadoes. The pattern is created when more than one vortex (spinning column of air) is traveling, and spinning, together. This picture is near 62.9oS, 234.7oW. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

  8. Martian Dust Devils: Laboratory Simulations of Particle Threshold

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Greeley, Ronald; Balme, Matthew R.; Iverson, James D.; Metzger, Stephen; Mickelson, Robert; Phoreman, Jim; White, Bruce

    2003-01-01

    An apparatus has been fabricated to simulate terrestrial and Martian dust devils. Comparisons of surface pressure profiles through the vortex core generated in the apparatus with both those in natural dust devils on Earth and those inferred for Mars are similar and are consistent with theoretical Rankine vortex models. Experiments to determine particle threshold under Earth ambient atmospheric pressures show that sand (particles > 60 micron in diameter) threshold is analogous to normal boundary-layer shear, in which the rotating winds of the vortex generate surface shear and hence lift. Lower-pressure experiments down to approx. 65 mbar follow this trend for sand-sized particles. However, smaller particles (i.e., dust) and all particles at very low pressures (w 10-60 mbar) appear to be subjected to an additional lift function interpreted to result from the strong decrease in atmospheric pressure centered beneath the vortex core. Initial results suggest that the wind speeds required for the entrainment of grains approx. 2 microns in diameter (i.e., Martian dust sizes) are about half those required for entrainment by boundary layer winds on both Earth and Mars.

  9. Instructional Note: Using "The Devil's Dictionary" to Teach Definitions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lane, Mary T.

    2004-01-01

    Known as Bitter Bierce, the writer Ambrose Bierce spent years ironically redefining the terms for a host of people, things, actions, and concepts, compiling his redefinitions into the "The Devil's Dictionary." In this article, the author describes how she uses this caustic work as a model for an exercise when her developmental writing class begins…

  10. Water storage capacity of natural wetland depressions in the Devils Lake basin of North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ludden, A.P.; Frink, D.L.; Johnson, D.H.

    1983-01-01

    Photogrammetric mapping techniques were used to derive the water storage capacities of natural wetland depressions other than lakes in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota. Results from sample quarter-section areas were expanded to the entire basin. Depressions in the Devils Lake Basin have a maximum storage capacity of nearly 811,000 cubic dekameters (657,000 acre-feet). The depressions store about 72 percent of the total runoff volume from a 2-year-frequency runoff and about 41 percent of the total runoff volume from a 100-year-frequency runoff.

  11. A response to "Milankovitch theory viewed from Devils Hole" by J. Imbrie, A.C. Mix and D.G. Martinson

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Winograd, I.J.; Landwehr, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    The detailed and well-dated 500,000-yr record of oxygen-18 variations found in vein calcite core DH-11 taken from Devils Hole in Nevada provides several challenges to the Milankovitch theory for the occurrence of Quaternary glaciations. A recent discussion paper (Imbrie and others, 1993) has dismissed the relevance of this well-dated core for determining the timing of global climatic fluctuations and, moreover, asserts that the Devils Hole record provides support for the Milankovitch theory. Upon analysis of the arguments found in this discussion, the authors found nothing to dissuade them from the original conclusion that the Devils Hole chronology does present a serious challenge to the Milankovitch theory.

  12. New Approaches in estimating Dust Devil Parameters, Trajectories and Populations from Single-Station Measurements on Mars and Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lorenz, Ralph

    2015-11-01

    A Monte-Carlo modeling approach (Lorenz, J. Atm. Sci., 2014) using a power law population function and empirical correlations between diameter and longevity can be used to reconcile single-station pressure records of vortex close-approaches with visual counts of dust devils and Large Eddy Simulations (LES). That work suggests that on Earth, the populations can be reconciled if dust-lifting occurs with a typical threshold corresponding to core pressure drop of 0.8 mb, a little higher than the ~0.3 mb estimated in laboratory experiments. A similar analysis can be conducted at Mars. The highest vortex production rates in LES, indicated from field encounters, and extrapolated from visual counts, appear to be of the order of 1000 per km2 per day.Recent field experiments at a playa near Goldstone, CA (Lorenz et al., Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, in press) show that dust devils cause a ground tilt, due to the negative pressure load of the vortex on the elastic ground, that can be detected with a broadband seismometer like that on InSight. Dust devils therefore can serve as a ‘seismic source’ to characterize the shallow subsurface.Observations of the InSight landing area in Elysium by Reiss and Lorenz (Icarus, submitted) show that dust devil trails are abundant, but smaller in diameter than those at Gusev. This may indicate a shallower Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) at this site and season : Fenton and Lorenz (Icarus, 2015) found that observed dust devil height and spacing in Amazonis relates to the PBL thickness.Quantitative assessment of dust devil effects (e.g. electrical and magnetic signatures) requires knowledge of encounter geometry, notably miss distance. A recent heuristic approach has been developed (Lorenz, Icarus, submitted) to fit an analytic vortex model to pressure, windspeed and direction histories to recover this geometry. Some ambiguities exist, but can be constrained with camera images and/or the azimuth history estimated from

  13. Use of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to evaluate extreme flooding and transport of dissolved solids through Devils Lake and Stump Lake, North Dakota, 2006

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Nustad, Rochelle A.; Wood, Tamara M.; Bales, Jerad D.

    2011-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Transportation, North Dakota State Water Commission, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, developed a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of Devils Lake and Stump Lake, North Dakota to be used as a hydrologic tool for evaluating the effects of different inflow scenarios on water levels, circulation, and the transport of dissolved solids through the lake. The numerical model, UnTRIM, and data primarily collected during 2006 were used to develop and calibrate the Devils Lake model. Performance of the Devils Lake model was tested using 2009 data. The Devils Lake model was applied to evaluate the effects of an extreme flooding event on water levels and hydrological modifications within the lake on the transport of dissolved solids through Devils Lake and Stump Lake. For the 2006 calibration, simulated water levels in Devils Lake compared well with measured water levels. The maximum simulated water level at site 1 was within 0.13 feet of the maximum measured water level in the calibration, which gives reasonable confidence that the Devils Lake model is able to accurately simulate the maximum water level at site 1 for the extreme flooding scenario. The timing and direction of winddriven fluctuations in water levels on a short time scale (a few hours to a day) were reproduced well by the Devils Lake model. For this application, the Devils Lake model was not optimized for simulation of the current speed through bridge openings. In future applications, simulation of current speed through bridge openings could be improved by more accurate definition of the bathymetry and geometry of select areas in the model grid. As a test of the performance of the Devils Lake model, a simulation of 2009 conditions from April 1 through September 30, 2009 was performed. Overall, errors in inflow estimates affected the results for the 2009 simulation; however, for the rising phase of the lakes, the Devils Lake model

  14. Evaluating Capability of Devils Lake Emergency Outlets in Lowering Lake Water Levels While Controlling flooding Damage to Downstream

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scanlon, B. R.; Zhang, Z.; Sun, A.; Save, H.; Mueller Schmied, H.; Wada, Y.; Doll, P. M.; Eisner, S.

    2016-12-01

    Devils Lake is an endorheic lake locate in the Red River of the North Basin with a natural outlet at a level of 444.7 meters above the sea level flowing into the Sheyenne River. Historical accumulation of salts has dramatically increased the concentration of salts in the lake, particularly of the sulfates, that are much greater than the surrounding water bodies. Since 1993, the lake water level has risen by nearly 10 meters and caused extensive flooding in the surrounding area, and greatly increased the chance of natural spillage to the Sheyenne River. To mitigate Devils Lake flooding and to prevent its natural spillage, two outlets were constructed at the west and east sides of the lake to drain the water to the Sheyenne River in a controlled fashion. However, pumping water from Devils Lake has degraded water quality of the Sheyenne River. In an earlier study, we coupled Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) and CE-QUAL-W2 models to investigate the changes of sulfate distribution as the lake water level rises. We found that, while operating the two outlets has lowered Devils Lake water level by 0.7 meter, it has also significantly impaired the Sheyenne River water quality, increasing the Sheyenne River average sulfate concentration from 105 to 585 mg l-1 from 2012 to 2014 In this study, we investigate the impact of the outlets on the Sheyenne River floodplain by coupling SWAT and HEC-RAS model. The SWAT model performed well in simulating daily streamflow in the Sheyenne River with R2>0.56 and ENS > 0.52. The simulated water depths and floodplain by HEC-RAS model for the Sheyenne River agreed well with observations. Operating the outlets from April to October can draw down the Devil Lake water level by 0.45 m, but the drained water would almost double the extension of the Sheyenne River floodplain and elevate the sulfate concentration in the Sheyenne River above the 450 mg l-1 North Dakota sulfate concentration standard for stream class I. Operating the outlets is

  15. Evaluating Capability of Devils Lake Emergency Outlets in Lowering Lake Water Levels While Controlling flooding Damage to Downstream

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shabani, A.; Zhang, X.

    2017-12-01

    Devils Lake is an endorheic lake locate in the Red River of the North Basin with a natural outlet at a level of 444.7 meters above the sea level flowing into the Sheyenne River. Historical accumulation of salts has dramatically increased the concentration of salts in the lake, particularly of the sulfates, that are much greater than the surrounding water bodies. Since 1993, the lake water level has risen by nearly 10 meters and caused extensive flooding in the surrounding area, and greatly increased the chance of natural spillage to the Sheyenne River. To mitigate Devils Lake flooding and to prevent its natural spillage, two outlets were constructed at the west and east sides of the lake to drain the water to the Sheyenne River in a controlled fashion. However, pumping water from Devils Lake has degraded water quality of the Sheyenne River. In an earlier study, we coupled Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) and CE-QUAL-W2 models to investigate the changes of sulfate distribution as the lake water level rises. We found that, while operating the two outlets has lowered Devils Lake water level by 0.7 meter, it has also significantly impaired the Sheyenne River water quality, increasing the Sheyenne River average sulfate concentration from 105 to 585 mg l-1 from 2012 to 2014 In this study, we investigate the impact of the outlets on the Sheyenne River floodplain by coupling SWAT and HEC-RAS model. The SWAT model performed well in simulating daily streamflow in the Sheyenne River with R2>0.56 and ENS > 0.52. The simulated water depths and floodplain by HEC-RAS model for the Sheyenne River agreed well with observations. Operating the outlets from April to October can draw down the Devil Lake water level by 0.45 m, but the drained water would almost double the extension of the Sheyenne River floodplain and elevate the sulfate concentration in the Sheyenne River above the 450 mg l-1 North Dakota sulfate concentration standard for stream class I. Operating the outlets is

  16. Classification of 3 DES supernova with OzDES and DEVILS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davies, L. J. M.; Driver, S. P.; Hashemizadeh, A.; Kushan, S. l.; Lidman, C.; Mannering, E.; Panther, F.; Sharp, R.; Sommer, N. E.; Tucker, B. E.; Zhang, B.; Mudd, D.; Swann, E. S.; Wiseman, P.; King, A.; Mould, J. R.; Calcino, J.; Bolejko, K.; Papadopoulos, A.; Morganson, E.; Desai, S.; Paech, K.; Smith, R. C.; Schubnell, M.; Moller, A.; Yuan, F.; Davis, T. M.; Hinton, S.; Asorey, J.; Lewis, G. F.; Muthukrishna, D.; Uddin, S.; Kessler, R.; Lasker, J.; Scolnic, D.; Brout, D. J.; D'Andrea, C.; Gladney, L.; March, M.; Sako, M.; Wolf, R. C.; Brown, P. J.; Krisciunas, K.; Suntzeff, N.; Macaulay, E.; Nichol, R.; Maartens, R.; Childress, M.; Prajs, S.; Smith, M.; Sullivan, M.; Kovacs, E.; Kuhlmann, S.; Spinka, H.; Ahn, E.; Finley, D. A.; Frieman, J.; Marriner, J.; Wester, W.; Aldering, G.; Gupta, R.; Kim, A. G.; Thomas, R. C.; Barbary, K.; Bloom, J. S.; Goldstein, D.; Nugent, P.; Perlmutter, S.; Foley, R. J.; Pan, Y.-C.; Casas, R.; Castander, F. J.

    2018-06-01

    We report new spectroscopic classifications by OzDES and DEVILS of supernovae discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (ATEL #4668). The spectra (370-885nm) were obtained with the AAOmega Spectrograph (Saunders et al. 2004, SPIE, 5492, 389) and the 2dF fibre positioner at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).

  17. DEVILS DEN ROADLESS AREA, VERMONT.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Slack, John F.; Sabin, Andrew E.

    1984-01-01

    A mineral-resource survey was made of the Devils Den Roadless Area, Vermont, Geochemical sampling found traces of gold, copper, barium, lead, molybdenum, silver, tin, and thorium in rocks, stream sediments, and panned concentrates, but not in sufficient quantities to identify any resource potential. The only apparent resources are nonmetallic commodities including abundant rock suitable for crushihg, and very small deposits of sand and gravel and marble; these also occur outside the roadless area. The area was also evaluated for bedrock uranium and thorium deposits, but not anomalously high radioactive bedrock was found. A potential may exist for oil or natural gas at great depth, but this cannot be evaluated by the present study.

  18. A Devil's dictionary for mental health

    PubMed Central

    Timms, Philip

    2017-01-01

    Clinical psychiatry, for all its emphasis on scientific rigour, is mediated mainly by words rather than by numbers. As with other professional areas, it has developed its own set of jargon words and phrases. Many of these are not the technical terms traditionally seen as jargon, but standard English words and phrases used in an idiosyncratic way. They therefore go unnoticed as jargon, while enfeebling our communications. I have used the template of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary to highlight some examples, with the aim of helping us all to talk, write and, perhaps, think more clearly. PMID:29018547

  19. Structured chaos in a devil's staircase of the Josephson junction.

    PubMed

    Shukrinov, Yu M; Botha, A E; Medvedeva, S Yu; Kolahchi, M R; Irie, A

    2014-09-01

    The phase dynamics of Josephson junctions (JJs) under external electromagnetic radiation is studied through numerical simulations. Current-voltage characteristics, Lyapunov exponents, and Poincaré sections are analyzed in detail. It is found that the subharmonic Shapiro steps at certain parameters are separated by structured chaotic windows. By performing a linear regression on the linear part of the data, a fractal dimension of D = 0.868 is obtained, with an uncertainty of ±0.012. The chaotic regions exhibit scaling similarity, and it is shown that the devil's staircase of the system can form a backbone that unifies and explains the highly correlated and structured chaotic behavior. These features suggest a system possessing multiple complete devil's staircases. The onset of chaos for subharmonic steps occurs through the Feigenbaum period doubling scenario. Universality in the sequence of periodic windows is also demonstrated. Finally, the influence of the radiation and JJ parameters on the structured chaos is investigated, and it is concluded that the structured chaos is a stable formation over a wide range of parameter values.

  20. Structured chaos in a devil's staircase of the Josephson junction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shukrinov, Yu. M.; Botha, A. E.; Medvedeva, S. Yu.; Kolahchi, M. R.; Irie, A.

    2014-09-01

    The phase dynamics of Josephson junctions (JJs) under external electromagnetic radiation is studied through numerical simulations. Current-voltage characteristics, Lyapunov exponents, and Poincaré sections are analyzed in detail. It is found that the subharmonic Shapiro steps at certain parameters are separated by structured chaotic windows. By performing a linear regression on the linear part of the data, a fractal dimension of D = 0.868 is obtained, with an uncertainty of ±0.012. The chaotic regions exhibit scaling similarity, and it is shown that the devil's staircase of the system can form a backbone that unifies and explains the highly correlated and structured chaotic behavior. These features suggest a system possessing multiple complete devil's staircases. The onset of chaos for subharmonic steps occurs through the Feigenbaum period doubling scenario. Universality in the sequence of periodic windows is also demonstrated. Finally, the influence of the radiation and JJ parameters on the structured chaos is investigated, and it is concluded that the structured chaos is a stable formation over a wide range of parameter values.

  1. Structured chaos in a devil's staircase of the Josephson junction

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shukrinov, Yu. M.; Botha, A. E., E-mail: bothaae@unisa.ac.za; Medvedeva, S. Yu.

    2014-09-01

    The phase dynamics of Josephson junctions (JJs) under external electromagnetic radiation is studied through numerical simulations. Current-voltage characteristics, Lyapunov exponents, and Poincaré sections are analyzed in detail. It is found that the subharmonic Shapiro steps at certain parameters are separated by structured chaotic windows. By performing a linear regression on the linear part of the data, a fractal dimension of D = 0.868 is obtained, with an uncertainty of ±0.012. The chaotic regions exhibit scaling similarity, and it is shown that the devil's staircase of the system can form a backbone that unifies and explains the highly correlated and structured chaotic behavior.more » These features suggest a system possessing multiple complete devil's staircases. The onset of chaos for subharmonic steps occurs through the Feigenbaum period doubling scenario. Universality in the sequence of periodic windows is also demonstrated. Finally, the influence of the radiation and JJ parameters on the structured chaos is investigated, and it is concluded that the structured chaos is a stable formation over a wide range of parameter values.« less

  2. Climatology, hydrology, and simulation of an emergency outlet, Devils Lake basin, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.; Vecchia, A.V.; Osborne, Leon; Wood, Carrie M.; Fay, James T.

    2000-01-01

    Devils Lake is a natural lake in northeastern North Dakota that is the terminus of a nearly 4,000-square-mile subbasin in the Red River of the North Basin. The lake has not reached its natural spill elevation to the Sheyenne River (a tributary of the Red River of the North) in recorded history. However, geologic evidence indicates a spill occurred sometime within the last 1,800 years. From 1993 to 1999, Devils Lake rose 24.5 feet and, at the present (August 2000), is about 13 feet below the natural spill elevation. The recent lake-level rise has caused flood damages exceeding $300 million and triggered development of future flood-control options to prevent further infrastructure damage and reduce the risk of a potentially catastrophic uncontrolled spill. Construction of an emergency outlet from the west end of Devils Lake to the Sheyenne River is one flood-control option being considered. This report describes the climatologic and hydrologic causes of the recent lake level rise, provides information on the potential for continued lake-level rises during the next 15 years, and describes the potential effectiveness of an emergency outlet in reducing future lake levels and in reducing the risk of an uncontrolled spill. The potential effects of an outlet on downstream water quantity and quality in the upper Sheyenne River also are described.

  3. Phoenix Mars Lander: Vortices and Dust Devils at the Landing Site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ellehoj, M. D.; Taylor, P. A.; Gunnlaugsson, H. P.; Gheynani, B. T.; Drube, L.; von Holstein-Rathlou, C.; Whiteway, J.; Lemmon, M.; Madsen, M. B.; Fisher, D.; Volpe, R.; Smith, P.

    2008-12-01

    Near continuous measurements of temperatures and pressure on the Phoenix Mars Lander are used to identify the passage of vertically oriented vortex structures at the Phoenix landing site (126W, 68N) on Mars. Observations: During the Phoenix mission the pressure and temperature sensors frequently detected features passing over or close to the lander. Short duration (order 20 s) pressure drops of order 1-2 Pa, and often less, were observed relatively frequently, accompanied by increases in temperature. Similar features were observed from the Pathfinder mission, although in that case the reported pressure drops were often larger [1]. Statistics of the pressure drop features over the first 102 sols of the Phoenix mission shows that most of the events occur between noon and 15:00 LMST - the hottest part of the sol. Dust Raising: By assuming the concept of a vortex in cyclostrophic flow as well as various assumptions about the atmosphere, we obtain a pressure drop of 1.9 - 3.2 Pa if dust is to be raised. We only saw few pressure drops this large in Sols 0-102. However, the features do not need to pass directly over the lander and the pressures could be lower than the minima we measure. Furthermore, the response time of the pressure sensor is of order 3-5 s so it may not capture peak pressure perturbations. Thus, more dust devils may have occurred near the Phoenix site, but most of our detected vortices would be ghostly, dustless devils. Modelling: Using a Large Eddy Simulation model, we can simulate highly convective boundary layers on Mars [2]. The typical vortex has a diameter of 150 m, and extends up to 1 km. Further calculations give an incidence of 11 vortex events per day that could be compatible with the LES simulations. Deeper investigation of this is planned -but the numbers are roughly compatible. If the significant pressure signatures are limited to the center of the vortex then 5 per sol might be appropriate. The Phoenix mission has collected a unique set of

  4. One Newspaper's Role in the Demise of the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Curriculum: Adding New Understandings to Cohen's Moral Panic Theory in Analyzing Curriculum Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodwell, Grant

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of print media in the development of systemwide curriculum change. Consideration is given to the nature and influence of newspapers on public opinion about curriculum change through the examination of the role of the "Mercury" in one period in the history of Tasmanian curriculum change.…

  5. Systematic characterization of structural, dynamical and electrical properties of dust devils and implications for dust lifting processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Franzese, Gabriele; Esposito, Francesca; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Popa, Ciprian; Silvestro, Simone; Deniskina, Natalia; Cozzolino, Fabio

    2017-04-01

    Dust devils are convective vortices able to lift sand and dust grains from the soil surface, even in conditions of low wind speed environment. They have been observed not only on Earth but also on other planets of the solar system; in particular, they are largely studied on Mars. Indeed, the contribution of the dust devils to the Martian climate is a highly debated question. In order to investigate this topic, it is important to understand the nature of the dust lifting mechanism by the vortex and characterize the induced electric field. As part of the development process of DREAMS, the meteorological station on board the Schiapparelli lander of the ExoMars 2016 mission, and of the Dust complex package of the ExoMars 2020 mission, we performed various field campaigns in the Sahara desert (Tafilalt region, Morocco). We deployed a fully equipped meteorological station and, during the 2014 summer, we observed three months of dust devils activity, collecting almost six hundreds events. For each dust devil, we monitored the horizontal wind speed and direction, the vertical wind speed, the pressure drop due to the vortex core, the temperature, the induced electric field and the concentration of dust lifted. This data set is unique in literature and represents up to now the most comprehensive one available for the dusty convective vortices. Here we will present the analysis of the Moroccan data with particular emphasis on the study of the atmospheric electric field variations due to the passage of the vortices. The distribution of the vortex parameters (wind speed and direction, pressure, E-field and dust lifted) are showed and compared, when possible, to the ones observed by the Martian surveys. The connection between the E-field and the other parameters will be presented. In the terrestrial environment, the development of the convective vortices is restricted by the presence of the vegetation and of the urban areas, hence dust devils can impact the climate only on local

  6. Water quality and the composition of fish and macroinvertebrate communities in the Devils and Pecos Rivers within and upstream from the Amistad National Recreation Area, Texas, 2005-7

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Moring, J. Bruce

    2012-01-01

    The total number of fish species collected was the same in the Devils River and Pecos River, but the species found in the two rivers varied slightly. The number of fish species generally increased from the site farthest upstream to the site farthest downstream in the Devils River, and decreased between the site farthest upstream and site farthest downstream in the Pecos River. The redbreast sunfish was the most abundant species collected in the Devils River, and the blacktail shiner was the most abundant species collected in the Pecos River. Comparing the species from each river, the percentage of omnivorous fish species was larger at the more downstream sites closer to Amistad Reservoir, and the percentage of species tolerant of environmental stressors was larger in the Pecos River. The fish community, assessed on the basis of the number of shared species among the sites sampled, was more similar to the fish community at the other sites on the same river than it was to the fish community from any other site in the other river. More macroinvertebrate taxa were collected in the Devils River than in the Pecos River. The largest number of macroinvertebrate taxa were from the site second farthest downstream on the Devils River, and the smallest numbers of macroinvertebrate taxa were from the farthest downstream site on the Pecos River. Mayflies were more common in the Devils River, and caddisflies were less common than mayflies at most sites. Net-spinning caddisflies were more common at the Devils River sites. The combined percent of mayfly, caddisfly, and stonefly taxa was generally larger at the Pecos River sites. Riffle beetles were the most commonly collected beetle taxon among all sites, and water-penny beetles were only collected at the Pecos River sites. A greater number of true midge taxa were collected more than any other taxa at the genus and species taxonomic level. Non-insect macroinvertebrate taxa were more common at the Devils River sites. Corbicula sp

  7. Response of Water Levels in Devils Hole, Death Valley National Park, Nevada, to Atmospheric Loading, Earth Tides, and Earthquakes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cutillo, P. A.; Ge, S.

    2004-12-01

    Devils Hole, home to the endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) in Death Valley National Park, Nevada, is one of about 30 springs and the largest collapse depression in the Ash Meadows area. The small pool leads to an extensive subterranean cavern within the regional Paleozoic carbonate-rock aquifer. Previous work has established that the pool level fluctuates in response to changes in barometric pressure, Earth tides and earthquakes. Analyses of these fluctuations indicate that the formation is a sensitive indicator of crustal strain, and provide important information regarding the material properties of the surrounding aquifer. Over ten years of hourly water-level measurements were analyzed for the effects of atmospheric loading and Earth tides. The short-term water-level fluctuations caused by these effects were found to be on the order of millimeters to centimeters, indicating relatively low matrix compressibility. Accordingly, the Devils Hole water-level record shows strong responses to the June 28, 1992 Landers/Little Skull Mountain earthquake sequence and to the October 16, 1999 Hector Mine earthquake. A dislocation model was used to calculate volumetric strain for each earthquake. The sensitivity of Devils Hole to strain induced by the solid Earth tide was used to constrain the modeling. Water-level decreases observed following the 1992 and 1999 earthquakes were found to be consistent with areas of crustal expansion predicted by the dislocation model. The magnitude of the water-level changes was also found to be proportional to the predicted coseismic volumetric strain. Post-seismic pore-pressure diffusion, governed by the hydraulic diffusivity of the aquifer, was simulated with a numerical model using the coseismic change in pore pressure as an initial condition. Results of the numerical model indicate that factors such as fault-plane geometry and aquifer heterogeneity may play an important role in controlling pore pressure diffusion in the

  8. Evaluating an icon of population persistence: the Devil's Hole pupfish

    PubMed Central

    Reed, J. Michael; Stockwell, Craig A.

    2014-01-01

    The Devil's Hole pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis has iconic status among conservation biologists because it is one of the World's most vulnerable species. Furthermore, C. diabolis is the most widely cited example of a persistent, small, isolated vertebrate population; a chronic exception to the rule that small populations do not persist long in isolation. It is widely asserted that this species has persisted in small numbers (less than 400 adults) for 10 000–20 000 years, but this assertion has never been evaluated. Here, we analyse the time series of count data for this species, and we estimate time to coalescence from microsatellite data to evaluate this hypothesis. We conclude that mean time to extinction is approximately 360–2900 years (median 410–1800), with less than a 2.1% probability of persisting 10 000 years. Median times to coalescence varied from 217 to 2530 years, but all five approximations had wide credible intervals. Our analyses suggest that Devil's Hole pupfish colonized this pool well after the Pleistocene Lakes receded, probably within the last few hundred to few thousand years; this could have occurred through human intervention. PMID:25232135

  9. Air Quality at Devils Postpile National Monument, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA

    Treesearch

    Joel D. Burley; Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Monica Buhler; Barbara Zielinska; Donald Schweizer; Ricardo Cisneros; Susan Schilling; Jennifer Chapman Varela; Mark McDaniel; Michelle Horn; Deanna Dulen

    2016-01-01

    Ambient concentrations of O3, PM2.5, NH3, NO, NO2, HNO3, SO2 and VOCs were measured at Devils Postpile National Monument (DEPO) during the summer seasons of 2013 and 2014. The measurements were impacted by the Aspen and Rim Fires in...

  10. Dancing with the Devil and Other Stories My Mother Told Me

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Madrid, E. Michael

    2009-01-01

    "Dancing with the Devil and Other Stories My Mother Told Me" is an analysis of the history and growth of a popular folktale genre that developed during the 15th century in Mexico and has persisted over time throughout the Southwest. The oral tradition and the telling of folktales are means by which the cultural traditions of people of…

  11. Maps showing mines, quarries, prospects, and exposures in the Devils Fork Roadless Area, Scott County, Virginia

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Behum, Paul T.

    1984-01-01

    The Devils Fork Roadless Area is located at the eastern edge of the Appalachian coal region and is within the Cumberland Mountain section of the Appalachian Plateau physiographic province. Most of the area is drained by Devil Fork and its tributaries. Clinch Rock Branch of Straight Creek, Roddy Branch of Valley Creek, and Stinking Creek, all tributary to the Clinch River, drain small fringe tracts. Altitudes range from about 1,550 ft on the lower part of Straight Fork to about 3,490 ft at Cox Place on Little Mountain. Vegetation varies from mixed hardwoods in the uplands to thickets of conifer, rhododendron, and laurel in moist protected areas, as in coves along drainage courses.

  12. Adsorption and movement of water by skin of the Australian thorny devil (Agamidae: Moloch horridus)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Comanns, Philipp; Esser, Falk J.; Kappel, Peter H.; Baumgartner, Werner; Shaw, Jeremy; Withers, Philip C.

    2017-09-01

    Moisture-harvesting lizards, such as the Australian thorny devil Moloch horridus, have remarkable adaptations for inhabiting arid regions. Their microstructured skin surface, with channels in between overlapping scales, enables them to collect water by capillarity and passively transport it to the mouth for ingestion. We characterized this capillary water transport for live thorny devils using high-speed video analyses. Comparison with preserved specimens showed that live lizards are required for detailed studies of skin water transport. For thorny devils, there was no directionality in cutaneous water transport (unlike Phrynosoma) as 7 µl water droplets applied to the skin were transported radially over more than 9.2 mm. We calculated the total capillary volume as 5.76 µl cm-2 (dorsal) and 4.45 µl cm-2 (ventral), which is reduced to 50% filling by the time transportation ceases. Using micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy of shed skin to investigate capillary morphology, we found that the channels are hierarchically structured as a large channel between the scales that is sub-divided by protrusions into smaller sub-capillaries. The large channel quickly absorbs water whereas the sub-capillary structure extends the transport distance by about 39% and potentially reduces the water volume required for drinking. An adapted dynamics function, which closely reflects the channel morphology, includes that ecological role.

  13. Adsorption and movement of water by skin of the Australian thorny devil (Agamidae: Moloch horridus).

    PubMed

    Comanns, Philipp; Esser, Falk J; Kappel, Peter H; Baumgartner, Werner; Shaw, Jeremy; Withers, Philip C

    2017-09-01

    Moisture-harvesting lizards, such as the Australian thorny devil Moloch horridus , have remarkable adaptations for inhabiting arid regions. Their microstructured skin surface, with channels in between overlapping scales, enables them to collect water by capillarity and passively transport it to the mouth for ingestion. We characterized this capillary water transport for live thorny devils using high-speed video analyses. Comparison with preserved specimens showed that live lizards are required for detailed studies of skin water transport. For thorny devils, there was no directionality in cutaneous water transport (unlike Phrynosoma ) as 7 µl water droplets applied to the skin were transported radially over more than 9.2 mm. We calculated the total capillary volume as 5.76 µl cm -2 (dorsal) and 4.45 µl cm -2 (ventral), which is reduced to 50% filling by the time transportation ceases. Using micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy of shed skin to investigate capillary morphology, we found that the channels are hierarchically structured as a large channel between the scales that is sub-divided by protrusions into smaller sub-capillaries. The large channel quickly absorbs water whereas the sub-capillary structure extends the transport distance by about 39% and potentially reduces the water volume required for drinking. An adapted dynamics function, which closely reflects the channel morphology, includes that ecological role.

  14. Using Angels and Devils: A Board Game Developed for Play in Nursing Homes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corbin, Sandra; Nelson, Thomas M.

    1980-01-01

    Studied effects on nursing home residents playing a discussion-stimulating board game called "Angels and Devils." Results indicate a high incidence of sensory deprivation and social isolation effects. These do not correlate with length of institutionalization, amount of social contact, or degree of medical restriction. (Author)

  15. Lake-level frequency analysis for Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.; Vecchia, Aldo V.

    1996-01-01

    Two approaches were used to estimate future lake-level probabilities for Devils Lake. The first approach is based on an annual lake-volume model, and the second approach is based on a statistical water mass-balance model that generates seasonal lake volumes on the basis of seasonal precipitation, evaporation, and inflow. Autoregressive moving average models were used to model the annual mean lake volume and the difference between the annual maximum lake volume and the annual mean lake volume. Residuals from both models were determined to be uncorrelated with zero mean and constant variance. However, a nonlinear relation between the residuals of the two models was included in the final annual lakevolume model.Because of high autocorrelation in the annual lake levels of Devils Lake, the annual lake-volume model was verified using annual lake-level changes. The annual lake-volume model closely reproduced the statistics of the recorded lake-level changes for 1901-93 except for the skewness coefficient. However, the model output is less skewed than the data indicate because of some unrealistically large lake-level declines. The statistical water mass-balance model requires as inputs seasonal precipitation, evaporation, and inflow data for Devils Lake. Analysis of annual precipitation, evaporation, and inflow data for 1950-93 revealed no significant trends or long-range dependence so the input time series were assumed to be stationary and short-range dependent.Normality transformations were used to approximately maintain the marginal probability distributions; and a multivariate, periodic autoregressive model was used to reproduce the correlation structure. Each of the coefficients in the model is significantly different from zero at the 5-percent significance level. Coefficients relating spring inflow from one year to spring and fall inflows from the previous year had the largest effect on the lake-level frequency analysis.Inclusion of parameter uncertainty in the model

  16. Lake-level frequency analysis for Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.; Vecchia, Aldo V.

    1995-01-01

    Two approaches were used to estimate future lake-level probabilities for Devils Lake. The first approach is based on an annual lake-volume model, and the second approach is based on a statistical water mass-balance model that generates seasonal lake volumes on the basis of seasonal precipitation, evaporation, and inflow.Autoregressive moving average models were used to model the annual mean lake volume and the difference between the annual maximum lake volume and the annual mean lake volume. Residuals from both models were determined to be uncorrelated with zero mean and constant variance. However, a nonlinear relation between the residuals of the two models was included in the final annual lake-volume model.Because of high autocorrelation in the annual lake levels of Devils Lake, the annual lakevolume model was verified using annual lake-level changes. The annual lake-volume model closely reproduced the statistics of the recorded lake-level changes for 1901-93 except for the skewness coefficient However, the model output is less skewed than the data indicate because of some unrealistically large lake-level declines.The statistical water mass-balance model requires as inputs seasonal precipitation, evaporation, and inflow data for Devils Lake. Analysis of annual precipitation, evaporation, and inflow data for 1950-93 revealed no significant trends or long-range dependence so the input time series were assumed to be stationary and short-range dependent.Normality transformations were used to approximately maintain the marginal probability distributions; and a multivariate, periodic autoregressive model was used to reproduce the correlation structure. Each of the coefficients in the model is significantly different from zero at the 5-percent significance level. Coefficients relating spring inflow from one year to spring and fall inflows from the previous year had the largest effect on the lake-level frequency analysis.Inclusion of parameter uncertainty in the model

  17. Dust Devils on Mars: Effects of Surface Roughness on Particle Threshold

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Neakrase, Lynn D.; Greeley, Ronald; Iversen, James D.; Balme, Matthew L.; Foley, Daniel J.; Eddlemon, Eric E.

    2005-01-01

    Dust devils have been proposed as effective mechanisms for lofting large quantities of dust into the martian atmosphere. Previous work showed that vortices lift dust more easily than simple boundary layer winds. The aim of this study is to determine experimentally the effects of non-erodable roughness elements on vortex particle threshold through laboratory simulations of natural surfaces. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

  18. Geology of Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Robinson, Charles Sherwood

    1956-01-01

    Devils Tower is a steep-sided mass of igneous rock that rises above the surrounding hills and the valley of the Belle Fourche River in Crook County, Wyo. It is composed of a crystalline rock, classified as phonolite porphyry, that when fresh is gray but which weathers to green or brown. Vertical joints divide the rock mass into polygonal columns that extend from just above the base to the top of the Tower. The hills in the vicinity and at the base of the Tower are composed of red, yellow, green, or gray sedimentary rocks that consist of sandstone, shale, or gypsum. These rocks, in aggregate about 400 feet thick, include, from oldest to youngest, the upper part of the Spearfish formation, of Triassic age, the Gypsum Spring formation, of Middle Jurassic age, and the Sundance formation, of Late Jurassic age. The Sundance formation consists of the Stockade Beaver shale member, the Hulett sandstone member, the Lak member, and the Redwater shale member. The formations have been only slightly deformed by faulting and folding. Within 2,000 to 3.000 feet of the Tower, the strata for the most part dip at 3 deg - 5 deg towards the Tower. Beyond this distance, they dip at 2 deg - 5 deg from the Tower. The Tower is believed to have been formed by the intrusion of magma into the sedimentary rocks, and the shape of the igneous mass formed by the cooled magma is believed to have been essentially the same as the Tower today. Devils Tower owes its impressiveness to its resistance to erosion as compared with the surrounding sedimentary rocks, and to the contrast of the somber color of the igneous column to the brightly colored bands of sedimentary rocks.

  19. Climate change, shifting seasons, and the ecohydrology of Devils Hole, Death Valley National Park

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hausner, M. B.; Wilson, K. P.; Gaines, D. B.; Suarez, F. I.; Tyler, S. W.

    2011-12-01

    Devils Hole, a water-filled fracture in the carbonate aquifer of the Death Valley Regional Flow System, comprises an ecosystem that can serve as a bellwether of climate change. This 50 square meter pool of unknown depth is home to the only extant population of the endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). A shallow shelf in the system provides the most suitable habitat for spawning, and the past pupfish population counts have been correlated to the water level in the system. Recently, however, population declines unrelated to water level have been observed. The 33° C waters of Devils Hole are near the upper threshold for most Cyprinodon species, and the shallow shelf experiences the greatest diurnal and seasonal temperature variability. The extremely limited habitat, small population (the spring, 2011 population survey counted approximately 100 individuals), and precarious nature of populations near survival thresholds combine to make the system exceptionally susceptible to the impacts of climate change. A hydrodynamic model of the shallow shelf was developed to simulate thermal convection in response to a number of energy fluxes, including climatic drivers such as air temperature and solar radiation. Simulations of current conditions demonstrate seasonal and diurnal changes in the temperature of the water and the substrate in which adult pupfish spawn, eggs hatch, and larvae develop. The simulated convection patterns also influence the oxygen dynamics, nutrient cycling, and the food web of the ecosystem. Simulations of future conditions using a delta change methodology point towards changes in the seasonal cycles, which may limit or shift the reproductive season of the species.

  20. Biogeochemistry of silica in Devils Lake: Implications for diatom preservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lent, R.M.; Lyons, B.

    2001-01-01

    Diatom-salinity records from sediment cores have been used to construct climate records of saline-lake basins. In many cases, this has been done without thorough understanding of the preservation potential of the diatoms in the sediments through time. The purpose of this study was to determine the biogeochemistry of silica in Devils Lake and evaluate the potential effects of silica cycling on diatom preservation. During the period of record, 1867-1999, lake levels have fluctuated from 427 m above sea level in 1940 to 441.1 m above sea level in 1999. The biogeochemistry of silica in Devils Lake is dominated by internal cycling. During the early 1990s when lake levels were relatively high, about 94% of the biogenic silica (BSi) produced in Devils Lake was recycled in the water column before burial. About 42% of the BSi that was incorporated in bottom sediments was dissolved and diffused back into the lake, and the remaining 58% was buried. Therefore, the BSi accumulation rate was about 3% of the BSi assimilation rate. Generally, the results obtained from this study are similar to those obtained from studies of the biogeochemistry of silica in large oligotrophic lakes and the open ocean where most of the BSi produced is recycled in surface water. During the mid 1960s when lake levels were relatively low, BSi assimilation and water-column dissolution rates were much higher than when lake levels were high. The BSi assimilation rate was as much as three times higher during low lake levels. Even with the much higher BSi assimilation rate, the BSi accumulation rate was about three times lower because the BSi water-column dissolution rate was more than 99% of the BSi assimilation rate compared to 94% during high lake levels. Variations in the biogeochemistry of silica with lake level have important implications for paleolimnologic studies. Increased BSi water-column dissolution during decreasing lake levels may alter the diatom-salinity record by selectively removing the

  1. A numerical study on dust devils with implications to global dust budget estimates

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The estimates of the contribution of dust devils (DDs) to the global dust budget have large uncertainties because the dust emission mechanisms in DDs are not yet well understood. In this study, a large-eddy simulation model coupled with a dust scheme is used to investigate DD dust entrainment. DDs a...

  2. Devil's Slide: An evolving feature of California's coastal landscape

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, M.; Loague, K.

    2013-12-01

    Coastal landslides in the United States remain a persistent threat to human life and urban development. The focus of this study is a landslide-prone section of the central California coastline, approximately 20 km south of San Francisco, known as Devil's Slide. This investigation employs an extensive aerial image inventory, digital elevation models (DEMs), and a water balance / limit-equilibrium approach to better understand the spatial and temporal characteristics of deep-seated bedrock slides at the site. Photographic surveys of the area reveal nearly three kilometers of headscarp and a complex network of slope failures that respond to hydrologic, seismic, and anthropogenic perturbations. DEM analysis suggests that, for a 145-year period (1866 to 2010), the study area experienced an average coastal retreat rate of 0.14 m yr-1 and an average volumetric loss of 11,216 m3 yr-1. At least 38% of the landscape evolution in the steep coastal terrain has been driven by slope failure events. A loosely coupled water balance / limit-equilibrium analysis quantitatively illustrates the precarious nature of the active landslide zone at the site. The slope is shown to be unstable for a large suite of equally-likely scenarios. The analyses presented herein suggest that future work should include a rigorous characterization of pore-water pressure development, driven by comprehensive simulations of subsurface hydrologic response, to improve our understanding of slope failure initiation at the Devil's Slide site.

  3. Devils Lake Flood Control Project. Section 205. Detailed Project Report.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-10-01

    Sd.U.JS IWE 00 RlEP0OAT II PERIOD COVERED SE~CTION 205 DETAILED PROJECT REPORT FLOOD CONTROL Final. Oct 1979-July 1983 PROJECT AT DEVILS LAKE. NORTH...a few feet. The light loading proposed for the site and thick cover of impervious material make more detailed evaluation of the strength and water...can cause low-oapaoity channels to overflow, resulting in flood damages to crops . Because the subbasin has no outlet near the existing water surface

  4. The Devil's Hole Is In The Details

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallace, M. G.

    2012-12-01

    As the granularity of Quaternary paleoclimatic proxy signatures from continental and oceanic sources continues to resolve, increasingly integrated studies such as Shakun et. al. (2012), and Kohfeld and Ridgewell (2009) have emerged, with far-reaching but sometimes conflicting paleo-global climate interpretations. Accordingly, none of the competing empirical and phenomenological narratives regarding the time series of Quaternary temperature patterns fit with sufficient fidelity to the observational record. Among other examples, the Shakun et al. study reviewed and processed 80 proxy sites worldwide for paleotemperature reconstruction, but left out the premier Devil's Hole poxy site in the continental Southwestern U.S. The Devil's Hole site presents a nominally earlier record of an interglacial warming signal (Landwehr and Winograd 2012). Both cite similar data (NOAA, 2005) as confirmation of their competing interpretations. Clearly both cannot be right. Epistemic origins of this apparent conflict may be rooted on the ongoing controversy concerning the importance of orbital forcings to the 100K year Quaternary glacial oscillations. Orbital forcings had been intrinsically posited as the only possible extraterrestrial driver of global temperature cycles over the Quaternary time frame. Yet other extraterrestrial climate forcing parameters are now conceivable. This paper reexamines past 3He marine core measurements conducted on two oceans and two hemispheres, and alternatives to the associated interpretations of researchers Patterson and Farley (1998). This study includes a new phenomenological and empirical exploration of an alternate extraterrestrial Quaternary global climate forcing model. This new interpretation is possible based on improved mapping of the Local Interstellar Medium (ISM), as documented in recent works such as those by Frisch and Mueller (2011). References: Frisch, P.C., and HR Mueller, 2011, Time-Variability in the Interstellar Boundary Conditions of

  5. Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS): Motivation, Design and Target Catalogue

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davies, L. J. M.; Robotham, A. S. G.; Driver, S. P.; Lagos, C. P.; Cortese, L.; Mannering, E.; Foster, C.; Lidman, C.; Hashemizadeh, A.; Koushan, S.; O'Toole, S.; Baldry, I. K.; Bilicki, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Bremer, M. N.; Brown, M. J. I.; Bryant, J. J.; Catinella, B.; Croom, S. M.; Grootes, M. W.; Holwerda, B. W.; Jarvis, M. J.; Maddox, N.; Meyer, M.; Moffett, A. J.; Phillipps, S.; Taylor, E. N.; Windhorst, R. A.; Wolf, C.

    2018-06-01

    The Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS) is a large spectroscopic campaign at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) aimed at bridging the near and distant Universe by producing the highest completeness survey of galaxies and groups at intermediate redshifts (0.3 < z < 1.0). Our sample consists of ˜60,000 galaxies to Y<21.2 mag, over ˜6 deg2 in three well-studied deep extragalactic fields (Cosmic Origins Survey field, COSMOS, Extended Chandra Deep Field South, ECDFS and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Large-Scale Structure region, XMM-LSS - all Large Synoptic Survey Telescope deep-drill fields). This paper presents the broad experimental design of DEVILS. Our target sample has been selected from deep Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Y-band imaging (VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations, VIDEO and UltraVISTA), with photometry measured by PROFOUND. Photometric star/galaxy separation is done on the basis of NIR colours, and has been validated by visual inspection. To maximise our observing efficiency for faint targets we employ a redshift feedback strategy, which continually updates our target lists, feeding back the results from the previous night's observations. We also present an overview of the initial spectroscopic observations undertaken in late 2017 and early 2018.

  6. Water-resources data collected in the Devils Hole area, Ash Meadows, Nevada, 1975-76

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hanes, William Toby

    1976-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey collected water-level, spring-flow, and power-consumption data in the Devils Hole area in Nevada from July 1975 through June 1976. The work for this sfurth annual data report was done in cooperation with the National Park Service. Continuous recorders were used to monitor water levels in Devils Hole, three observation wells, and the flow from four springs. Also, monthly readings were made on two wells to help define a general trend of ground-water levels. Monthly meter readings of six electrically powered irrigation wells provided a record of power consumption, which in turn, is an index of the amount of water pumped. The purpose of the work is to observe the effects, if any, of ground-water withdrawals from specified irrigtion wells in the Ash Meadows area on (1) the water level in Devils Hole, and (2) the flow of four springs in the area. Fairbanks Spring and Big Spring, which are in the extreme northern and southern parts of Ash Meadows respectively, show little effect of pumping. An increase in the monthly average flow at Fairbanks Spring in September can be attributed to runoff and surficial recharge in the surrounding area caused by a large cloudburst. Jack Rabbit Spring, which is about 1 mile southwest of the major pumping field, is affected strongly by pumping. Jack Rabbit Spring flowed during the winter months but flowed very infrequently during non-winter months. Point of Rocks Spring had a flow pattern similar to Big Spring and Fairbanks Spring. All the springs had a general increase in flow during the Winter months. (Woodard-USGS)

  7. Prediction Markets for Defense Acquisition: The Devil is in the Details

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-01

    1 Bill Gates, Pete Coughlan, Noah Myung, Jeremy Arkes Professors of Economics Naval Postgraduate School Prediction Markets for Defense Acquisition...Acquisition: The Devil is in the Details 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR( S ) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e...TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School,Monterey,CA,93943 8. PERFORMING

  8. Inhibitory effects of devil's claw (secondary root of Harpagophytum procumbens) extract and harpagoside on cytokine production in mouse macrophages.

    PubMed

    Inaba, Kazunori; Murata, Kazuya; Naruto, Shunsuke; Matsuda, Hideaki

    2010-04-01

    Successive oral administration (50 mg/kg) of a 50% ethanolic extract (HP-ext) of devil's claw, the secondary root of Harpagophytum procumbens, showed a significant anti-inflammatory effect in the rat adjuvant-induced chronic arthritis model. HP-ext dose-dependently suppressed the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of inflammatory cytokines [interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)] in mouse macrophage cells (RAW 264.7). Harpagoside, a major iridoid glycoside present in devil's claw, was found to be one of the active agents in HP-ext and inhibited the production of IL-1beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha by RAW 264.7.

  9. The Martian Dust Devil Electron Avalanche: Laboratory Measurements of the E-Field Fortifying Effects of Dust-Electron Absorption

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farrell, W. M.; McLain, J. L.; Collier, M. R.; Keller, J. W.

    2017-01-01

    Analogous to terrestrial dust devils, charged dust in Mars dust devils should become vertically stratified in the convective features, creating large scale E-fields. This E-field in a Martian-like atmosphere has been shown to stimulate the development of a Townsend discharge (electron avalanche) that acts to dissipate charge in regions where charge build-up occurs. While the stratification of the charged dust is a source of the electrical energy, the uncharged particulates in the dust population may absorb a portion of these avalanching electrons, thereby inhibiting dissipation and leading to the development of anomalously large E-field values. We performed a laboratory study that does indeed show the presence of enhanced E-field strengths between an anode and cathode when dust-absorbing filaments (acting as particulates) are placed in the avalanching electron flow. Further, the E-field threshold condition to create an impulsive spark discharge increases to larger values as more filaments are placed between the anode and cathode. We conclude that the spatially separated charged dust creates the charge centers and E-fields in a dust devil, but the under-charged portion of the population acts to reduce Townsend electron dissipation currents, further fortifying the development of larger-than-expected E-fields.

  10. Martian Dust Devil Electron Avalanche Process and Associated Electrochemistry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jackson, Telana L.; Farrell, William M.; Delory, Gregory T.; Nithianandam, Jeyasingh

    2010-01-01

    Mars' dynamic atmosphere displays localized dust devils and larger, global dust storms. Based on terrestrial analog studies, electrostatic modeling, and laboratory work these features will contain large electrostatic fields formed via triboelectric processes. In the low-pressure Martian atmosphere, these fields may create an electron avalanche and collisional plasma due to an increase in electron density driven by the internal electrical forces. To test the hypothesis that an electron avalanche is sustained under these conditions, a self-consistent atmospheric process model is created including electron impact ionization sources and electron losses via dust absorption, electron dissociation attachment, and electron/ion recombination. This new model is called the Dust Devil Electron Avalanche Model (DDEAM). This model solves simultaneously nine continuity equations describing the evolution of the primary gaseous chemical species involved in the electrochemistry. DDEAM monitors the evolution of the electrons and primary gas constituents, including electron/water interactions. We especially focus on electron dynamics and follow the electrons as they evolve in the E field driven collisional gas. When sources and losses are self-consistently included in the electron continuity equation, the electron density grows exponentially with increasing electric field, reaching an equilibrium that forms a sustained time-stable collisional plasma. However, the character of this plasma differs depending upon the assumed growth rate saturation process (chemical saturation versus space charge). DDEAM also shows the possibility of the loss of atmospheric methane as a function of electric field due to electron dissociative attachment of the hydrocarbon. The methane destruction rates are presented and can be included in other larger atmospheric models.

  11. Devils Hole, Nevada—A photographic story of a restricted subaqueous environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hoffman, Ray J.

    2017-07-24

    This report presents selected photographic images taken by the author during U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research into paleoclimatology and geochemistry in Devils Hole cavern during 1984 to 1993 in cooperation with the National Park Service. The unaltered suite of photographs was prepared by the USGS dive team as an aid to assist nondiving scientists with a visual perspective of the environment where earth-science samples were collected and subsequently analyzed for chemical and isotopic composition.

  12. Speak Truth and Shame the Devil: An Ethnodrama in Response to Racism in the Academy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ward Randolph, Adah; Weems, Mary E.

    2010-01-01

    This ethnodrama examines how two African American women experience racism in the academe. Both scholars examine the social/political context of racism in higher education and its manifestation in institutional practices. Both authors seek to "speak truth and shame the devil" by examining institutional responses to the racism they encounter in…

  13. Comment on “Reconciliation of the Devils Hole climate record with orbital forcing”

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Winograd, Isaac J.

    2016-01-01

    Moseley et al. (Reports, 8 January 2016, p. 165) postulate an increase in dissolved thorium isotope 230Th with depth below the water table as the explanation for the differing ages of Termination II. Flow of geothermal water through the Devils Hole caverns precludes this explanation. Deposition of younger secondary calcite into the initial porosity of the calcite comprising their cores is a plausible alternate explanation.

  14. Comment on “Reconciliation of the Devils Hole climate record with orbital forcing”

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winograd, Isaac J.

    2016-10-01

    Moseley et al. (Reports, 8 January 2016, p. 165) postulate an increase in dissolved thorium isotope 230Th with depth below the water table as the explanation for the differing ages of Termination II. Flow of geothermal water through the Devils Hole caverns precludes this explanation. Deposition of younger secondary calcite into the initial porosity of the calcite comprising their cores is a plausible alternate explanation.

  15. Modeling of Ground Deformation and Shallow Surface Waves Generated by Martian Dust Devils and Perspectives for Near-Surface Structure Inversion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kenda, Balthasar; Lognonné, Philippe; Spiga, Aymeric; Kawamura, Taichi; Kedar, Sharon; Banerdt, William Bruce; Lorenz, Ralph; Banfield, Don; Golombek, Matthew

    2017-10-01

    We investigated the possible seismic signatures of dust devils on Mars, both at long and short period, based on the analysis of Earth data and on forward modeling for Mars. Seismic and meteorological data collected in the Mojave Desert, California, recorded the signals generated by dust devils. In the 10-100 s band, the quasi-static surface deformation triggered by pressure fluctuations resulted in detectable ground-tilt effects: these are in good agreement with our modeling based on Sorrells' theory. In addition, high-frequency records also exhibit a significant excitation in correspondence to dust devil episodes. Besides wind noise, this signal includes shallow surface waves due to the atmosphere-surface coupling and is used for a preliminary inversion of the near-surface S-wave profile down to 50 m depth. In the case of Mars, we modeled the long-period signals generated by the pressure field resulting from turbulence-resolving Large-Eddy Simulations. For typical dust-devil-like vortices with pressure drops of a couple Pascals, the corresponding horizontal acceleration is of a few nm/s2 for rocky subsurface models and reaches 10-20 nm/s2 for weak regolith models. In both cases, this signal can be detected by the Very-Broad Band seismometers of the InSight/SEIS experiment up to a distance of a few hundred meters from the vortex, the amplitude of the signal decreasing as the inverse of the distance. Atmospheric vortices are thus expected to be detected at the InSight landing site; the analysis of their seismic and atmospheric signals could lead to additional constraints on the near-surface structure, more precisely on the ground compliance and possibly on the seismic velocities.

  16. Protecting Sacred Sites on Public Land: Religion and Alliances in the Mato Tipila-Devils Tower Litigation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freedman, Eric

    2007-01-01

    This article traces the Devils Tower litigation in the context of the "Bear Lodge" alliance's theoretical underpinnings, particularly the interrelationship among culture, geographic place, and religion, as well as the institutional mechanisms that regulate litigation alliances in the U.S. judicial system. It discusses principal factors…

  17. Distribution and risk factors for spread of amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Australia.

    PubMed

    Pauza, Matthew D; Driessen, Michael M; Skerratt, Lee F

    2010-11-01

    Chytridiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and is the cause of the decline and extinction of amphibian species throughout the world. We surveyed the distribution of Bd within and around the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA), a 1.38 million ha area of significant fauna conservation value, which provides the majority of habitat for Tasmania's 3 endemic frog species (Litoria burrowsae, Bryobatrachus nimbus and Crinia tasmaniensis). Bd was detected at only 1 (3%) of the 33 sites surveyed within the TWWHA and at 15 (52%) of the 29 sites surveyed surrounding the TWWHA. The relatively low incidence of the disease within the TWWHA suggests that the majority of the TWWHA is currently free of the pathogen despite the fact that the region provides what appears to be optimal conditions for the persistence of Bd. For all survey sites within and around the TWWHA, the presence of Bd was strongly associated with the presence of gravel roads, forest and < 1000 m altitude--factors that in this study were associated with human-disturbed landscapes around the TWWHA. Conversely, the presence of walking tracks was strongly associated with the absence of Bd, suggesting an association of absence with relatively remote locations. The wide distribution of Bd in areas of Tasmania with high levels of human disturbance and its very limited occurrence in remote wilderness areas suggests that anthropogenic activities may facilitate the dissemination of the pathogen on a landscape scale in Tasmania. Because the majority of the TWWHA is not readily accessible and appears to be largely free of Bd, and because Tasmanian frogs reproduce in ponds rather than streams, it may be feasible to control the spread of the disease in the TWWHA.

  18. Lesser devil rays Mobula cf. hypostoma from Venezuela are almost twice their previously reported maximum size and may be a new sub-species.

    PubMed

    Ehemann, N R; González-González, L V; Trites, A W

    2017-03-01

    Three rays opportunistically obtained near Margarita Island, Venezuela, were identified as lesser devil rays Mobula cf. hypostoma, but their disc widths were between 207 and 230 cm, which is almost double the reported maximum disc width of 120 cm for this species. These morphometric data suggest that lesser devil rays are either larger than previously recognized or that these specimens belong to an unknown sub-species of Mobula in the Caribbean Sea. Better data are needed to describe the distribution, phenotypic variation and population structure of this poorly known species. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  19. [[The Devil in the Details: Women's Right to Abortion and Health Organization].

    PubMed

    Pioggia, Alessandra

    Often a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy for health reasons is considered as achieved by simply performing the intervention. But today isn't in doubt that the effective protection of health requires that health organizations carrying out performance which also affect other aspects: taking charge of women, information on services, respect for the dignity and autonomy of women, etc ... You could say that these are details, compared to the final performance. But, as we know, often the devil is in the details.

  20. Lupines, manganese, and devil-sickness: an Anglo-Saxon medical response to epilepsy.

    PubMed

    Dendle, P

    2001-01-01

    The most frequently prescribed herb for "devil-sickness" in the vernacular medical books from Anglo-Saxon England, the lupine, is exceptionally high in manganese. Since manganese depletion has been linked with recurring seizures in both clinical and experimental studies, it is possible that lupine administration responded to the particular pathophysiology of epilepsy. Lupine is not prescribed for seizures in classical Mediterranean medical sources, implying that the Northern European peoples (if not the Anglo-Saxons themselves) discovered whatever anticonvulsive properties the herb may exhibit.

  1. Simulation of the effects of the Devils Lake State Outlet on hydrodynamics and water quality in Lake Ashtabula, North Dakota, 2006-10

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Galloway, Joel M.

    2011-01-01

    In 2010, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water-quality model (CE-QUAL-W2) of Lake Ashtabula, North Dakota, was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Dakota State Water Commission to understand the dynamics of chemical constituents in the reservoir and to provide a tool for the management and operation of the Devils Lake State Outlet in meeting the water-quality standards downstream from Baldhill Dam. The Lake Ashtabula model was calibrated for hydrodynamics, sulfate concentrations, and total dissolved-solids concentrations to ambient conditions from June 2006 through June 2010. The calibrated model then was used to simulate four scenarios that represent various Devils Lake outlet options that have been considered for reducing the water levels in Devils Lake. Simulated water temperatures compared well with measured temperatures and differences varied spatially in Lake Ashtabula from June 2006 through June 2010. The absolute mean error ranged from 0.7 degrees Celsius to 1.0 degrees Celsius and the root mean square error ranged from 0.7 degrees Celsius to 1.1 degrees Celsius. Simulated sulfate concentrations compared well with measured concentrations in Lake Ashtabula. In general, simulated sulfate concentrations were slightly overpredicted with mean differences between simulated and measured sulfate concentrations ranging from -2 milligram per liter to 18 milligrams per liter. Differences between simulated and measured sulfate concentrations varied temporally in Lake Ashtabula from June 2006 through June 2010. In 2006, sulfate concentrations were overpredicted in the lower part of the reservoir and underpredicted in the upper part of the reservoir. Simulated total dissolved solids generally were greater than measured total dissolved-solids concentrations in Lake Ashtabula from June 2006 through June 2010. The mean difference between simulated and measured total dissolved-solids concentrations ranged from -3 milligrams per liter to

  2. The chronology for the d18O record from Devils Hole, Nevada, extended into the Mid-Holocene

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Landwehr, J.M.; Sharp, W.D.; Coplen, T.B.; Ludwig, K. R.; Winograd, I.J.

    2011-01-01

    This report presents the numeric values for the chronology of the paleoclimatically relevant mid-to-late Pleistocene record of the ratios of stable oxygen isotope (delta18O) in vein calcite from Devils Hole, Nev., which recently had been extended into the mid-Holocene. Dating was obtained using 230Th-234U-238U thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Devils Hole is a subaqueous cave of tectonic origin, which developed in the discharge zone of a regional aquifer in south-central Nevada. The primary groundwater recharge source area is the Spring Mountains, the highest mountain range in southern Nevada [altitude 3,630 meters (m)], approximately 80 kilometers to the east of the cavern. The walls of the open fault zone comprising the cave system are coated with dense vein calcite precipitated from the through-flowing groundwater. The calcite, up to 40 centimeters (cm) thick, contains a continuous record of the sequential variation of the composition of stable oxygen isotopes in the ground water over time. The vein calcite has also proven to be a suitable material for precise uranium-series dating via thermal ionization mass spectrometry utilizing the 230Th-234U-238U decay clock. Earlier work has presented data from the Devils Hole core DH-11, a 36-cm-long core of vein calcite recovered from a depth of about 30 m below the water table (about 45 m beneath the ground surface). The DH-11 core provided a continuous record of isotopic oxygen variation from 567,700 to 59,800 years before present. Recent work has extended this record up to 4,500 years before present, into the mid-Holocene epoch.

  3. Applications of Electrified Dust and Dust Devil Electrodynamics to Martian Atmospheric Electricity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrison, R. G.; Barth, E.; Esposito, F.; Merrison, J.; Montmessin, F.; Aplin, K. L.; Borlina, C.; Berthelier, J. J.; Déprez, G.; Farrell, W. M.; Houghton, I. M. P.; Renno, N. O.; Nicoll, K. A.; Tripathi, S. N.; Zimmerman, M.

    2016-11-01

    Atmospheric transport and suspension of dust frequently brings electrification, which may be substantial. Electric fields of 10 kV m-1 to 100 kV m-1 have been observed at the surface beneath suspended dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, and some electrification has been observed to persist in dust at levels to 5 km, as well as in volcanic plumes. The interaction between individual particles which causes the electrification is incompletely understood, and multiple processes are thought to be acting. A variation in particle charge with particle size, and the effect of gravitational separation explains to, some extent, the charge structures observed in terrestrial dust storms. More extensive flow-based modelling demonstrates that bulk electric fields in excess of 10 kV m-1 can be obtained rapidly (in less than 10 s) from rotating dust systems (dust devils) and that terrestrial breakdown fields can be obtained. Modelled profiles of electrical conductivity in the Martian atmosphere suggest the possibility of dust electrification, and dust devils have been suggested as a mechanism of charge separation able to maintain current flow between one region of the atmosphere and another, through a global circuit. Fundamental new understanding of Martian atmospheric electricity will result from the ExoMars mission, which carries the DREAMS (Dust characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface)—MicroARES ( Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor) instrumentation to Mars in 2016 for the first in situ electrical measurements.

  4. Applications of Electrified Dust and Dust Devil Electrodynamics to Martian Atmospheric Electricity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harrison, R. G.; Barth, E.; Esposito, F.; Merrison, J.; Montmessin, F.; Aplin, K. L.; Borlina, C.; Berthelier, J J.; Deprez, G.; Farrell, William M.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Atmospheric transport and suspension of dust frequently brings electrification, which may be substantial. Electric fields of 10 kV m(exp. -1) to 100 kV m(exp. -1) have been observed at the surface beneath suspended dust in the terrestrial atmosphere, and some electrification has been observed to persist in dust at levels to 5 km, as well as in volcanic plumes. The interaction between individual particles which causes the electrification is incompletely understood, and multiple processes are thought to be acting. A variation in particle charge with particle size, and the effect of gravitational separation explains to, some extent, the charge structures observed in terrestrial dust storms. More extensive flow-based modelling demonstrates that bulk electric fields in excess of 10 kV m(exp. -1) can be obtained rapidly (in less than 10 s) from rotating dust systems (dust devils) and that terrestrial breakdown fields can be obtained. Modelled profiles of electrical conductivity in the Martian atmosphere suggest the possibility of dust electrification, and dust devils have been suggested as a mechanism of charge separation able to maintain current flow between one region of the atmosphere and another, through a global circuit. Fundamental new understanding of Martian atmospheric electricity will result from the ExoMars mission, which carries the DREAMS (Dust characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface) MicroARES (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor) Instrumentation to Mars in 2016 for the first in situ electrical measurements.

  5. Surface ozone at the Devils Postpile National Monument receptor site during low and high wildland fire years

    Treesearch

    Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Joel D. Burley; Ricardo Cisneros; Haiganoush K. Preisler; Susan Schilling; Donald Schweizer; John Ray; Deanna Dulen; Christopher Beck; Bianca Auble

    2013-01-01

    Surface ozone (O3) was measured at the Devils Postpile National Monument (DEPO), eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, during the 2007 (low-fire) and 2008 (high-fire) summer seasons. While mean and median values of O3 concentrations for the 2007 and 2008 summer seasons were similar, maximum O3...

  6. Developing rural community health risk assessments for climate change: a Tasmanian pilot study.

    PubMed

    Bell, Erica J; Turner, Paul; Meinke, Holger; Holbrook, Neil J

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the development and pilot implementation of an approach to support local community decision-makers to plan health adaptation responses to climate change. The approach involves health and wellbeing risk assessment supported through the use of an electronic tool. While climate change is a major foreseeable public health threat, the extent to which health services are prepared for, or able to adequately respond to, climate change impact-related risks remains unclear. Building health decision-support mechanisms in order to involve and empower local stakeholders to help create the basis for agreement on these adaptive actions is an important first step. The primary research question was 'What can be learned from pilot implementation of a community health and well-being risk assessment (CHWRA) information technology-based tool designed to support understanding of, and decision-making on, local community challenges and opportunities associated with health risks posed by climate change? The article examines the complexity of climate change science to adaptation translational processes, with reference to existing research literature on community development. This is done in the context of addressing human health risks for rural and remote communities in Tasmania, Australia. This process is further examined through the pilot implementation of an electronic tool designed to support the translation of physically based climate change impact information into community-level assessments of health risks and adaptation priorities. The procedural and technical nature of the CHWRA tool is described, and the implications of the data gathered from stakeholder workshops held at three rural Tasmanian local government sites are considered and discussed. Bushfire, depression and waterborne diseases were identified by community stakeholders as being potentially 'catastrophic' health effects 'likely' to 'almost certain' to occur at one or more Tasmanian rural sites

  7. Dust Devil in Spirit's View Ahead on Sol 1854

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2009-01-01

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,854th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 21, 2009).

    The rover had driven 13.79 meters (45 feet) westward earlier on Sol 1854.

    West is at the center, where a dust devil is visible in the distance. North on the right, where Husband Hill dominates the horizon; Spirit was on top of Husband Hill in September and October 2005. South is on the left, where lighter-toned rock lines the edge of the low plateau called 'Home Plate.'

    This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.

  8. Random complex dynamics and devil's coliseums

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sumi, Hiroki

    2015-04-01

    We investigate the random dynamics of polynomial maps on the Riemann sphere \\hat{\\Bbb{C}} and the dynamics of semigroups of polynomial maps on \\hat{\\Bbb{C}} . In particular, the dynamics of a semigroup G of polynomials whose planar postcritical set is bounded and the associated random dynamics are studied. In general, the Julia set of such a G may be disconnected. We show that if G is such a semigroup, then regarding the associated random dynamics, the chaos of the averaged system disappears in the C0 sense, and the function T∞ of probability of tending to ∞ \\in \\hat{\\Bbb{C}} is Hölder continuous on \\hat{\\Bbb{C}} and varies only on the Julia set of G. Moreover, the function T∞ has a kind of monotonicity. It turns out that T∞ is a complex analogue of the devil's staircase, and we call T∞ a ‘devil’s coliseum'. We investigate the details of T∞ when G is generated by two polynomials. In this case, T∞ varies precisely on the Julia set of G, which is a thin fractal set. Moreover, under this condition, we investigate the pointwise Hölder exponents of T∞.

  9. Design and testing of a mesocosm-scale habitat for culturing the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Feuerbacher, Olin; Bonar, Scott A.; Barrett, Paul J.

    2016-01-01

    aptive propagation of desert spring fishes, whether for conservation or research, is often difficult, given the unique and often challenging environments these fish utilize in nature. High temperatures, low dissolved oxygen, minimal water flow, and highly variable lighting are some conditions a researcher might need to recreate to simulate their natural environments. Here we describe a mesocosm-scale habitat created to maintain hybrid Devils Hole × Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis × C. nevadensis mionectes) under conditions similar to those found in Devils Hole, Nevada. This 13,000-L system utilized flow control and natural processes to maintain these conditions rather than utilizing complex and expensive automation. We designed a rotating solar collector to control natural sunlight, a biological reactor to consume oxygen while buffering water quality, and a reverse-daylight photosynthesis sump system to stabilize nighttime pH and swings in dissolved oxygen levels. This system successfully controlled many desired parameters and helped inform development of a larger, more permanent desert fish conservation facility at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada. For others who need to raise fish from unique habitats, many components of the scalable and modular design of this system can be adapted at reasonable cost.

  10. Devil's staircase of odd-number charge order modulations in divalent β -vanadium bronzes under pressure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamauchi, Touru; Ueda, Hiroaki; Ohwada, Kenji; Nakao, Hironori; Ueda, Yutaka

    2018-03-01

    A common characteristic of quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) conductors β -A0.33V2O5 (A = Li, Na, and Ag) is that the charge ordering (CO), the ground state (GS) at ambient pressure, and the superconducting (SC) phases, the GS under high pressure, are competing with each other. We have explored high-pressure properties of divalent β -vanadium bronzes, β -A0.33V2O5 (A = Ca, Sr, and Pb), which are A -cation stoichiometry finely controlled single-crystal/powder samples, and found the absence of the SC phase. In these observations, however, we observed enormous and novel phase transitions, a kind of "devil's staircase"-type phase transitions in the charge ordering (CO) phases. The most surprising discovery in this devil's staircase, which was found mainly in β -Sr0.33V2O5 , is that all the charge modulation vectors of many kinds of CO phases can be represented as a primitive lattice translation vector along the b axis multiplied by several odd numbers. This discovery surely demonstrates interplay between the charge degree freedom and the crystallographic symmetry. We propose two possible mechanisms to explain this phenomenon: "self-charge transfer (carrier redistribution)" between the two subsystems in these compounds and "sequential symmetry reduction" that was discussed in Landau theory of phase transitions. In β -Ca0.33V2O5 we also found a P -T phase diagram similar in outlook but different in detail. The devil's staircase was also observed but it is an incomplete one. Furthermore, the charge modulation vectors in it are shorter than those in β -Sr0.33V2O5 . In β -Pb0.33V2O5 , which has no CO phase at ambient pressure, the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic ordering was observed at around 50 K above 0.5 GPa. Using these two kinds of mechanisms, we also explain the global high-pressure properties in all the stoichiometric divalent β -vanadium bronzes, which were observed as a wide variety of electromagnetic states. In addition, we also discuss a possible key for

  11. The Last Word: An Interview with Frank Pajares--God, the Devil, William James, the Little Prince, and Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bembenutty, Hefer

    2007-01-01

    This article presents an interview with Frank Pajares, an internationally recognized scholar in the field of motivation and self-efficacy. During the interview, Pajares talked about William James, what he learned from reading "The Little Prince," his self-efficacy beliefs, and his famous speech wherein he spoke of God, the Devil, and solving the…

  12. Diffusive Insights: On the Disagreement of Christian Bohr and August Krogh at the Centennial of the Seven Little Devils

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gjedde, Albert

    2010-01-01

    The year 2010 is the centennial of the publication of the "Seven Little Devils" in the predecessor of "Acta Physiologica". In these seven papers, August and Marie Krogh sought to refute Christian Bohr's theory that oxygen diffusion from the lungs to the circulation is not entirely passive but rather facilitated by a specific cellular activity…

  13. Geochemical survey of the Devil's Den Roadless Area, Rutland and Windsor counties, Vermont

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Slack, J.F.; Atelsek, P.J.; Grosz, A.E.

    1985-01-01

    The Devils Den area is named for a large undercut cliff (Dale, 1915, p. 21) developed in Precambrian basement rocks. This undercut cliff forms a broad natural cave immediately west of and below Forest Service Road 10, at the head of Mt. Tabor Brook. Another much smaller cave is present in dolomite of probable Paleozoic (Early Cambrian) age on the east side of the same road. This smaller cave apparently is of artificial origin, having been made during early mining of the dolomite (Dale, 1915, p. 21). This man-made cave is the only evidence of previous mining activity within the study area.

  14. Oxidant enhancement in martian dust devils and storms: storm electric fields and electron dissociative attachment.

    PubMed

    Delory, Gregory T; Farrell, William M; Atreya, Sushil K; Renno, Nilton O; Wong, Ah-San; Cummer, Steven A; Sentman, Davis D; Marshall, John R; Rafkin, Scot C R; Catling, David C

    2006-06-01

    Laboratory studies, numerical simulations, and desert field tests indicate that aeolian dust transport can generate atmospheric electricity via contact electrification or "triboelectricity." In convective structures such as dust devils and dust storms, grain stratification leads to macroscopic charge separations and gives rise to an overall electric dipole moment in the aeolian feature, similar in nature to the dipolar electric field generated in terrestrial thunderstorms. Previous numerical simulations indicate that these storm electric fields on Mars can approach the ambient breakdown field strength of approximately 25 kV/m. In terrestrial dust phenomena, potentials ranging from approximately 20 to 160 kV/m have been directly measured. The large electrostatic fields predicted in martian dust devils and storms can energize electrons in the low pressure martian atmosphere to values exceeding the electron dissociative attachment energy of both CO2 and H2O, which results in the formation of the new chemical products CO/O- and OH/H-, respectively. Using a collisional plasma physics model, we present calculations of the CO/O- and OH/H- reaction and production rates. We demonstrate that these rates vary geometrically with the ambient electric field, with substantial production of dissociative products when fields approach the breakdown value of approximately 25 kV/m. The dissociation of H2O into OH/H- provides a key ingredient for the generation of oxidants; thus electrically charged dust may significantly impact the habitability of Mars.

  15. Recent Advances in Tsunami Research - the Devil Is in the Detail

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goff, J. R.

    2014-12-01

    Over little more than a decade, tsunami research has gone from a few scientists using a range of over-used black and white and colour photographs to try and convince a largely disinterested audience of the perils of tsunamis, to a highly regarded branch of the natural hazard stable populated by a plethora of researchers and disciplines. What happened? Tsunamis happened, big ones, in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In many ways we now have more data than we know what to do with. We should therefore be forgiven for appearing just a little rushed off our feet. The past decade has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of publications and, as a result, significant advances have been made in our understanding of the geological and environmental impacts of tsunamis. In the quest to better understand tsunami geology, many of us are eternally searching for the Holy Grail - the one proxy that will tell us that a deposit was laid down by a tsunami and not by a storm. Well, the one thing that recent advances have told us is that it is not that simple - the devil is in the detail, and we have plenty of that. There has been a significantly improvement in our understanding of tsunami sediments, particularly at either end of the size spectrum, greater use of microfossil data, major advances in geochemistry and the introduction of new studies such as magnetic fabric. What has been particularly satisfying for me to see has been the improved incorporation and study of proxies that are often viewed as tangential to geological data such as geomorphology, archaeology, anthropology and contextual environmental changes. The take home message is that this is a truly multi-disciplinary topic and we do ourselves a disservice if we do not embrace all the innovations available to us. Yes, in many cases we can tell the difference between a storm and a tsunami, it is just that the difference is different every time. The devil is in the detail.

  16. Weird Animals, Sex, and Genome Evolution.

    PubMed

    Graves, Jennifer A Marshall

    2018-02-15

    Making my career in Australia exposed me to the tyranny of distance, but it gave me opportunities to study our unique native fauna. Distantly related animal species present genetic variation that we can use to explore the most fundamental biological structures and processes. I have compared chromosomes and genomes of kangaroos and platypus, tiger snakes and emus, devils (Tasmanian) and dragons (lizards). I particularly love the challenges posed by sex chromosomes, which, apart from determining sex, provide stunning examples of epigenetic control and break all the evolutionary rules that we currently understand. Here I describe some of those amazing animals and the insights on genome structure, function, and evolution they have afforded us. I also describe my sometimes-random walk in science and the factors and people who influenced my direction. Being a woman in science is still not easy, and I hope others will find encouragement and empathy in my story.

  17. Remote measurement utilizing NASA's scanning laser Doppler systems. Volume 2: Laser Doppler dust devil velocity profile measurement program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Howle, R. E.; Krause, M. C.; Craven, C. E.; Gorzynski, E. J.; Edwards, B. B.

    1976-01-01

    The first detailed velocity profile data on thermally induced dust vortices are presented. These dust devils will be analyzed and studied to determine their flow fields and origin in an effort to correlate this phenomena with the generation and characteristics of tornadoes. A continuing effort to increase mankind's knowledge of vortex and other meteorological phenomena will hopefully allow the prediction of tornado occurrence, their path, and perhaps eventually even lead to some technique for their destruction.

  18. 'Little Ice Age' aridity in the North American Great Plains - a high-resolution reconstruction of salinity fluctuations from Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA: a comment on Fritz, Engstrom and Haskell

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wiche, Gregg J.; Lent, Robert M.; Rannie, W. F.

    1996-01-01

    On the basis of three sediment-based chronologies, Fritz et al. ( 1994) concluded that during the ’Little Ice Age’ (about AD 1500 to 1850), the Devils Lake Basin generally had less effective moisture (precipitation minus evaporation) and warmer temperatures than at present. In this comment, we argue that historic data indicate that runoff and effective moisture were greater than at present. The largest nineteenth-century floods (AD 1826, 1852 and 1861) were significantly greater than the twentiethcentury floods, and flooding in the Red River of the North Basin occurred more frequently from AD 1800 to 1870 than since 1870. Between AD 1776 and 1870, the ratio of wet to dry years was about 2 to 1. Mean temperatures in all seasons were cooler for 1850-70 than for 1931-60. Lake levels of Devils Lake during the first half of the nineteenth century were higher than they are today, and, even when Devils Lake was almost dry, the salinity was less than the ’diatom-inferred’ salinity values that Fritz et al. (1994) estimated for 1800 through about 1850. We acknowledge the importance of high-resolution palaeoclimatic records, but interpretation of these records must be consistent with historic information.

  19. Regional economic impacts of water management alternatives: the case of Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA.

    PubMed

    Leistritz, F Larry; Leitch, Jay A; Bangsund, Dean A

    2002-12-01

    Devils Lake, located in a closed basin in northeastern North Dakota has over a century-long history of highly fluctuating water levels. The lake has risen nearly 25 feet (7.7 m) since 1993, more than doubling its surface area. Rising water levels have affected rural lands, transportation routes, and communities near the lake. In response to rising lake levels, Federal, state and local agencies have adopted a three-part approach to flood damage reduction, consisting of (1) upper basin water management to reduce the amount of water reaching the lake, (2) protection for structures and infrastructure if the lake continues to rise, and (3) developing an emergency outlet to release some lake water. The purpose of this study was to provide information about the net regional economic effects of a proposed emergency outlet for Devils Lake. An input-output model was used to estimate the regional economic effects of the outlet, under two scenarios: (1) the most likely future situation (MLS) and (2) a best case situation (BCS) (i.e., where the benefits from the outlet would be greatest), albeit an unlikely one. Regional economic effects of the outlet include effects on transportation (road and railroad construction), agriculture (land kept in production, returned to production sooner, or kept in production longer), residential relocations, and outlet construction expenditures. Effects are measured as changes in gross business volume (gross receipts) for various sectors, secondary employment, and local tax collections. The net regional economic effects of the proposed outlet would be relatively small, and consideration of these economic impacts would not strengthen the case for an outlet.

  20. Ice Core Depth-Age Relation for Vostok delta-D and Dome Fuji delta-18O Records Based on the Devils Hole Paleotemperature Chronology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Landwehr, Jurate Maciunas

    2002-01-01

    This report presents the data for the Vostok - Devils Hole chronology, termed V-DH chronology, for the Antarctic Vostok ice core record. This depth - age relation is based on a join between the Vostok deuterium profile (D) and the stable oxygen isotope ratio (18O) record of paleotemperature from a calcitic core at Devils Hole, Nevada, using the algorithm developed by Landwehr and Winograd (2001). Both the control points defining the V-DH chronology and the numeric values for the chronology are given. In addition, a plausible chronology for a deformed bottom portion of the Vostok core developed with this algorithm is presented. Landwehr and Winograd (2001) demonstrated the broader utility of their algorithm by applying it to another appropriate Antarctic paleotemperature record, the Antarctic Dome Fuji ice core 18O record. Control points for this chronology are also presented in this report but deemed preliminary because, to date, investigators have published only the visual trace and not the numeric values for the Dome Fuji 18O record. The total uncertainty that can be associated with the assigned ages is also given.

  1. Turbine Design for Energy Extraction from Dust Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Malaya, Nicholas; Moser, Robert

    2016-11-01

    Columnar vortices ("Dust-Devils") arise naturally in the atmosphere, over a wide range of scales in many different locations across the Earth, as well as on Mars. A new energy harvesting approach makes use of this ubiquitous process by creating and anchoring the vortices artificially and extracting energy from them. However, any analysis of the power that can be extracted is complicated by the presence of considerable vertical and azimuthal flow in the vortex, and so the design considerations are different from those for a classical wind turbine. This talk presents a modeling approach to estimate the upper limit on the power that could be extracted from such a flow. This method is based on the actuator disk model common to turbine design, but with generalized drag polars permitting exploration of a broader design space. This model can be fully coupled to the flow, which ensures the results do not violate any Betz-like considerations that might similarly arise in an analysis of frozen flow fields. The results of this model demonstrate a limit on how much of the energy can be extracted before disrupting the flow so greatly that the vortex cannot be maintained. This work supported by the Department of Energy [ARPA-E] un- der Award Number [DE-FOA-0000670].

  2. Solar Storms, Devils, Dunes, and Gullies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site]

    Released 12 December 2003

    Man, there sure is a lot going on here! This image was acquired during the peak of the late October record breaking solar storm outbursts. The white dots in this image were in fact caused when the charged particles from the sun hit our camera. One can also see the enigmatic gullies, dark barchan sand dunes and numerous dust devil tracks. This image is in the Noachis region of the heavily cratered southern hemisphere.

    Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -42.1, Longitude 328.2 East (31.8 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.

    Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

  3. A Mobile Ecological Momentary Assessment Tool (devilSPARC) for Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors in College Students: A Validation Study.

    PubMed

    Bruening, Meg; van Woerden, Irene; Todd, Michael; Brennhofer, Stephanie; Laska, Melissa N; Dunton, Genevieve

    2016-07-27

    The majority of nutrition and physical activity assessments methods commonly used in scientific research are subject to recall and social desirability biases, which result in over- or under-reporting of behaviors. Real-time mobile-based ecological momentary assessments (mEMAs) may result in decreased measurement biases and minimize participant burden. The aim was to examine the validity of a mEMA methodology to assess dietary and physical activity levels compared to 24-hour dietary recalls and accelerometers. This study was a pilot test of the SPARC (Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College) study, which aimed to determine the mechanism by which friendship networks impact weight-related behaviors among young people. An mEMA app, devilSPARC, was developed to assess weight-related behaviors in real time. A diverse sample of 109 freshmen and community mentors attending a large southwestern university downloaded the devilSPARC mEMA app onto their personal mobile phones. Participants were prompted randomly eight times per day over the course of 4 days to complete mEMAs. During the same 4-day period, participants completed up to three 24-hour dietary recalls and/or 4 days of accelerometry. Self-reported mEMA responses were compared to 24-hour dietary recalls and accelerometry measures using comparison statistics, such as match rate, sensitivity and specificity, and mixed model odds ratios, adjusted for within-person correlation among repeated measurements. At the day level, total dietary intake data reported through the mEMA app reflected eating choices also captured by the 24-hour recall. Entrées had the lowest match rate, and fruits and vegetables had the highest match rate. Widening the window of aggregation of 24-hour dietary recall data on either side of the mEMA response resulted in increased specificity and decreased sensitivity. For physical activity behaviors, levels of activity reported through mEMA differed for sedentary versus non

  4. Interpreting seasonal convective mixing in Devils Hole, Death Valley National Park, from temperature profiles observed by fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hausner, Mark B.; Wilson, Kevin P.; Gaines, D. Bailey; Tyler, Scott W.

    2012-05-01

    Devils Hole, a groundwater-filled fracture in the carbonate aquifer of the southern Nevada Mojave Desert, represents a unique ecohydrological setting, as home to the only extant population of Cyprinodon diabolis, the endangered Devils Hole pupfish. Using water column temperatures collected with a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor (DTS) during four field campaigns in 2009, evidence of deep circulation and nutrient export are, for the first time, documented. The DTS was deployed to measure vertical temperature profiles in the system, and the raw data returned were postprocessed to refine the calibration beyond the precision of the instrument's native calibration routines. Calibrated temperature data serve as a tracer for water movement and reveal a seasonal pattern of convective mixing that is supported by numerical simulations of the system. The periodic presence of divers in the water is considered, and their impacts on the temperature profiles are examined and found to be minimal. The seasonal mixing cycle may deplete the pupfish's food supplies when nutrients are at their scarcest. The spatial and temporal scales of the DTS observations make it possible to observe temperature gradients on the order of 0.001°C m-1, revealing phenomena that would have been lost in instrument noise and uncertainty.

  5. Layers and a Dust Devil in Melas Chasma

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    One of the earliest observations made by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was that the upper crust of the planet appears to be layered to considerable depth. This was especially apparent, early in the mission, in the walls of the Valles Marineris chasms. However, layered mesas and mounds within the Valles Marineris troughs were recognized all the way back in 1972 with Mariner 9 images. The MOC image presented here shows many tens of layers of several meters (yards) thickness in the walls of a mesa in southern Melas Chasma in Valles Marineris. Erosion by mass wasting--landslides--has exposed these layers and created the dark fan-shaped deposits seen near the middle of the image. The floor of Melas Chasma is dark and covered with many parallel ridges and grooves (lower 1/3 of image). In the lower left corner of the picture, a bright, circular dust devil can be seen casting a columnar shadow toward the left. This image, illuminated by sunlight from the right/lower right, covers an area 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide and 8.2 kilometers (5.1 miles) long. The scene is located near 10.1oS, 74.4oW and was acquired on July 11, 1999. North is toward the lower left.

  6. Dust Devil Tracks and Wind Streaks in the North Polar Region of Mars: A Study of the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander Sites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Drake, Nathan B.; Tamppari, Leslie K.; Baker, R. David; Cantor, Bruce A.; Hale, Amy S.

    2006-01-01

    The 65-72 latitude band of the North Polar Region of Mars, where the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander will land, was studied using satellite images from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera Narrow-Angle (MOC-NA) camera. Dust devil tracks (DDT) and wind streaks (WS) were observed and recorded as surface evidence for winds. No active dust devils (DDs) were observed. 162 MOC-NA images, 10.3% of total images, contained DDT/WS. Phoenix landing Region C (295-315W) had the highest concentration of images containing DDT/WS per number of available images (20.9%); Region D (130-150W) had the lowest (3.5%). DDT and WS direction were recorded for Phoenix landing regions A (110-130W), B (240-260W), and C to infer local wind direction. Region A showed dominant northwest-southeast DDT/WS, Region B showed dominant north-south, east-west and northeast-southwest DDT/WS, and region C showed dominant west/northwest - east/southeast DDT/ WS. Results indicate the 2007 Phoenix Lander has the highest probability of landing near DDT/WS in landing Region C. Based on DDT/WS linearity, we infer Phoenix would likely encounter directionally consistent background wind in any of the three regions.

  7. Combining Hydrological Modeling and Remote Sensing Observations to Enable Data-Driven Decision Making for Devils Lake Flood Mitigation in a Changing Climate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhang, Xiaodong; Kirilenko, Andrei; Lim, Howe; Teng, Williams

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews work to combine the hydrological models and remote sensing observations to monitor Devils Lake in North Dakota, to assist in flood damage mitigation. This reports on the use of a distributed rainfall-runoff model, HEC-HMS, to simulate the hydro-dynamics of the lake watershed, and used NASA's remote sensing data, including the TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) and AIRS surface air temperature, to drive the model.

  8. Water-quality trend analysis and sampling design for the Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota, January 1965 through September 2003

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ryberg, Karen R.; Vecchia, Aldo V.

    2006-01-01

    This report presents the results of a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the North Dakota State Water Commission, the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board, and the Red River Joint Water Resource District, to analyze historical water-quality trends in three dissolved major ions, three nutrients, and one dissolved trace element for eight stations in the Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota and to develop an efficient sampling design to monitor the future trends. A multiple-regression model was used to detect and remove streamflow-related variability in constituent concentrations. To separate the natural variability in concentration as a result of variability in streamflow from the variability in concentration as a result of other factors, the base-10 logarithm of daily streamflow was divided into four components-a 5-year streamflow anomaly, an annual streamflow anomaly, a seasonal streamflow anomaly, and a daily streamflow anomaly. The constituent concentrations then were adjusted for streamflow-related variability by removing the 5-year, annual, seasonal, and daily variability. Constituents used for the water-quality trend analysis were evaluated for a step trend to examine the effect of Channel A on water quality in the basin and a linear trend to detect gradual changes with time from January 1980 through September 2003. The fitted upward linear trends for dissolved calcium concentrations during 1980-2003 for two stations were significant. The fitted step trends for dissolved sulfate concentrations for three stations were positive and similar in magnitude. Of the three upward trends, one was significant. The fitted step trends for dissolved chloride concentrations were positive but insignificant. The fitted linear trends for the upstream stations were small and insignificant, but three of the downward trends that occurred during 1980-2003 for the remaining stations were significant. The fitted upward linear trends for dissolved

  9. Sources of polychlorinated biphenyls to Devils Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van Metre, Peter C.; Wilson, Jennifer T.; Kimball, Briant A.

    2006-01-01

    Devils Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, created in 1973 by dredging in Devils Swamp along the Mississippi River, is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from historical industrial discharges. This study involved the investigation of the occurrence, distribution, and sources of PCBs in the lake, including the possible historical contribution of PCBs from a hazardous-chemical disposal facility by way of a wastewater drainage ditch that was used from 1971 to 1993. Six bed sediment cores from the lake and three bed sediment grab samples from the drainage ditch were collected; 61 subsamples from selected intervals in five of the six cores and the three grab samples from the ditch were analyzed for PCBs using an immunoassay screening method. Sixteen of the core subsamples and one ditch sample were analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (15 samples), and major and trace elements. PCB congener profiles and a factor analysis of congener composition indicate that PCBs in sediment from the drainage ditch and in lake sediment deposited near the canal since the mid-1980s are similar, which indicates the disposal facility, by way of the wastewater drainage ditch, is the source of the PCBs. Sediment from several hundred meters down the lake to the west, near where Bayou Baton Rouge enters the lake, had a different PCB composition and in a sample deposited in the early 1980s, a much higher concentration, indicating a second source of PCBs in the watershed of Bayou Baton Rouge. Large differences in PAHs and metals between sediment near the ditch and sediment near Bayou Baton Rouge support this conclusion. The identity of the Bayou Baton Rouge source(s) cannot be established using available data. The short duration and relatively high concentrations of PCBs from the bayou source indicate either a spill or a flood-related release-there was a large flood on the Mississippi River in 1983. Older (deeper) samples from

  10. Active tectonics of the Devils Mountain Fault and related structures, northern Puget Lowland and eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca region, Pacific Northwest

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Johnson, Samuel Y.; Dadisman, Shawn V.; Mosher, David C.; Blakely, Richard J.; Childs, Jonathan R.

    2001-01-01

    Information from marine high-resolution and conventional seismic-reflection surveys, aeromagnetic mapping, coastal exposures of Pleistocene strata, and lithologic logs of water wells is used to assess the active tectonics of the northern Puget Lowland and eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca region of the Pacific Northwest. These data indicate that the Devils Mountain Fault and the newly recognized Strawberry Point and Utsalady Point faults are active structures and represent potential earthquake sources.

  11. A new species of Cotesia Cameron (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) reared from the hickory horned devil, Citheronia regalis, and luna moth, Actias luna, in east Texas

    PubMed Central

    Whitfield, James B.; Jr., Robert J. Nuelle; III, Robert J. Nuelle

    2018-01-01

    Abstract The braconid wasp parasitoid Cotesia nuellorum Whitfield, new species, is described from specimens reared from a caterpillar of the hickory horned devil, Citheronia regalis (F.), and from a caterpillar of the luna moth, Actias luna (L.), in eastern Texas. The species is diagnosed with respect to other species of Cotesia recorded from North American Saturniidae, and details of its biology are provided. PMID:29674887

  12. Pleistocene pollen stratigraphy from borehole 81/34, devil's hole area, central north sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ekman, Sten R.

    1998-09-01

    Twelve pollen assemblage zones are identified in a 229 m deep borehole (BH 81/34) from the Devil's Hole area in the central North Sea (British sector). The sediment from this borehole is Early to Late Pleistocene in age and the observation of massulae from Azolla filiculoides in sediment with reversed polarity indicates an age younger than the Olduvai geomagnetic event for the entire sequence. The Early Pleistocene sediments were at least partly deposited in the vicinity of a river outlet and can be correlated either with the Eburonian or the Menapian cold stage and with the Bavel interglacial and the Linge glacial within the Bavelian stage in the Dutch stratigraphy. The Middle Pleistocene sequence contains an interval rich in Abies, Picea and Pinus, probably deposited during the end of either Cromerian Complex interglacial IV (Noordbergum) or possibly the Holsteinian. The uppermost 80 m of the core contains high frequencies of pre-Quaternary and deteriorated palynomorphs indicating extensive glacial or glaciofluvially reworked sediment.

  13. Effects of high-severity fire drove the population collapse of the subalpine Tasmanian endemic conifer Athrotaxis cupressoides.

    PubMed

    Holz, Andrés; Wood, Sam W; Veblen, Thomas T; Bowman, David M J S

    2015-01-01

    Athrotaxis cupressoides is a slow-growing and long-lived conifer that occurs in the subalpine temperate forests of Tasmania, a continental island to the south of Australia. In 1960-1961, human-ignited wildfires occurred during an extremely dry summer that killed many A. cupressoides stands on the high plateau in the center of Tasmania. That fire year, coupled with subsequent regeneration failure, caused a loss of ca. 10% of the geographic extent of this endemic Tasmanian forest type. To provide historical context for these large-scale fire events, we (i) collected dendroecological, floristic, and structural data, (ii) documented the postfire survival and regeneration of A. cupressoides and co-occurring understory species, and (iii) assessed postfire understory plant community composition and flammability. We found that fire frequency did not vary following the arrival of European settlers, and that A. cupressoides populations were able to persist under a regime of low-to-mid severity fires prior to the 1960 fires. Our data indicate that the 1960 fires were (i) of greater severity than previous fires, (ii) herbivory by native marsupials may limit seedling survival in both burned and unburned A. cupressoides stands, and (iii) the loss of A. cupressoides populations is largely irreversible given the relatively high fuel loads of postfire vegetation communities that are dominated by resprouting shrubs. We suggest that the feedback between regeneration failure and increased flammability will be further exacerbated by a warmer and drier climate causing A. cupressoides to contract to the most fire-proof landscape settings. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Stability of leaning column at Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Harp, Edwin L.; Lindsay, Charles R.

    2006-01-01

    In response to reports from climbers that an 8-meter section (referred to as the leaning column) of the most popular climbing route on Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming is now moving when being climbed, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey inspected the site to determine the stability of the column and the underlying column that serves as a support pedestal. Evidence of a recent tensile spalling failure was observed on the pedestal surface immediately beneath the contact with the overlying leaning column. The spalling of a flake-shaped piece of the pedestal, probably due to the high stress concentration exerted by the weight of the leaning column along a linear contact with the pedestal, is likely causing the present movement of the leaning column. Although it is unlikely that climbers will dislodge the leaning column by their weight alone, the possibility exists that additional spalling failures may occur from the pedestal surface and further reduce the stability of the leaning column and result in its toppling. To facilitate detection of further spalling failures from the pedestal, its surface has been coated with a layer of paint. Any new failures from the pedestal could result in the leaning column toppling onto the climbing route or onto the section of the Tower trail below.

  15. Dust Devil in Spirit's View Ahead on Sol 1854 (Stereo)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2009-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11960 [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11960

    NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,854th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 21, 2009).

    This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.

    The rover had driven 13.79 meters (45 feet) westward earlier on Sol 1854.

    West is at the center, where a dust devil is visible in the distance. North on the right, where Husband Hill dominates the horizon; Spirit was on top of Husband Hill in September and October 2005. South is on the left, where lighter-toned rock lines the edge of the low plateau called 'Home Plate.'

    This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.

  16. Devil's staircases, quantum dimer models, and stripe formation in strong coupling models of quantum frustration.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raman, Kumar; Papanikolaou, Stefanos; Fradkin, Eduardo

    2007-03-01

    We construct a two-dimensional microscopic model of interacting quantum dimers that displays an infinite number of periodic striped phases in its T=0 phase diagram. The phases form an incomplete devil's staircase and the period becomes arbitrarily large as the staircase is traversed. The Hamiltonian has purely short-range interactions, does not break any symmetries, and is generic in that it does not involve the fine tuning of a large number of parameters. Our model, a quantum mechanical analog of the Pokrovsky-Talapov model of fluctuating domain walls in two dimensional classical statistical mechanics, provides a mechanism by which striped phases with periods large compared to the lattice spacing can, in principle, form in frustrated quantum magnetic systems with only short-ranged interactions and no explicitly broken symmetries. Please see cond-mat/0611390 for more details.

  17. Graphical user interface for accessing water-quality data for the Devils Lake basin, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ryberg, Karen R.; Damschen, William C.; Vecchia, Aldo V.

    2005-01-01

    Maintaining the quality of surface waters in the Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota is important for protecting the agricultural resources, fisheries, waterfowl and wildlife habitat, and recreational value of the basin. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, has collected and analyzed water-quality samples from streams and lakes in the basin since 1957, and the North Dakota Department of Health has collected and analyzed water-quality samples from lakes in the basin since 2001. Because water-quality data for the basin are important for numerous reasons, a graphical user interface was developed to access, view, and download the historical data for the basin. The interface is a web-based application that is available to the public and includes data through water year 2003. The interface will be updated periodically to include data for subsequent years.

  18. Underwater videography outperforms above-water videography and in-person surveys for monitoring the spawning of Devils Hole Pupfish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Chaudoin, Ambre L.; Feuerbacher, Olin; Bonar, Scott A.; Barrett, Paul J.

    2015-01-01

    The monitoring of threatened and endangered fishes in remote environments continues to challenge fisheries biologists. The endangered Devils Hole Pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis, which is confined to a single warm spring in Death Valley National Park, California–Nevada, has recently experienced record declines, spurring renewed conservation and recovery efforts. In February–December 2010, we investigated the timing and frequency of spawning in the species' native habitat by using three survey methods: underwater videography, above-water videography, and in-person surveys. Videography methods incorporated fixed-position, solar-powered cameras to record continuous footage of a shallow rock shelf that Devils Hole Pupfish use for spawning. In-person surveys were conducted from a platform placed above the water's surface. The underwater camera recorded more overall spawning throughout the year (mean ± SE = 0.35 ± 0.06 events/sample) than the above-water camera (0.11 ± 0.03 events/sample). Underwater videography also recorded more peak-season spawning (March: 0.83 ± 0.18 events/sample; April: 2.39 ± 0.47 events/sample) than above-water videography (March: 0.21 ± 0.10 events/sample; April: 0.9 ± 0.32 events/sample). Although the overall number of spawning events per sample did not differ significantly between underwater videography and in-person surveys, underwater videography provided a larger data set with much less variability than data from in-person surveys. Fixed videography was more cost efficient than in-person surveys (\\$1.31 versus \\$605 per collected data-hour), and underwater videography provided more usable data than above-water videography. Furthermore, video data collection was possible even under adverse conditions, such as the extreme temperatures of the region, and could be maintained successfully with few study site visits. Our results suggest that self-contained underwater cameras can be efficient tools for monitoring remote and sensitive

  19. Assessment of Climate Change and Agricultural Land Use Change on Streamflow Input to Devils Lake: A Case Study of the Mauvais Coulee Sub-basin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, C.; Todhunter, P. E.

    2017-12-01

    Since 1993, Devils Lake in North Dakota has experienced a prolonged rise in lake level and flooding of the lake's neighboring areas within the closed basin system. Understanding the relative contribution of climate change and land use change is needed to explain the historical rise in lake level, and to evaluate the potential impact of anthropogenic climate change upon future lake conditions and management. Four methodologies were considered to examine the relative contribution of climatic and human landscape drivers to streamflow variations: statistical, ecohydrologic, physically-based modeling, and elasticity of streamflow; for this study, ecohydrologic and climate elasticity were selected. Agricultural statistics determined that Towner and Ramsey counties underwent a crop conversion from small grains to row crops within the last 30 years. Through the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), a 10 meter resolution DEM confirmed the presence of innumerable wetland depressions within the non-contributing area of the Mauvais Coulee Sub-basin. Although the ecohydrologic and climate elasticity methodologies are the most commonly used in literature, they make assumptions that are not applicable to basin conditions. A modified and more informed approach to the use of these methods was applied to account for these unique sub-basin characteristics. Ultimately, hydroclimatic variability was determined as the largest driver to streamflow variation in Mauvais Coulee and Devils Lake.

  20. Letting the ‘cat’ out of the bag: pouch young development of the extinct Tasmanian tiger revealed by X-ray computed tomography

    PubMed Central

    Spoutil, Frantisek; Prochazka, Jan; Black, Jay R.; Medlock, Kathryn; Paddle, Robert N.; Knitlova, Marketa; Hipsley, Christy A.

    2018-01-01

    The Tasmanian tiger or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was an iconic Australian marsupial predator that was hunted to extinction in the early 1900s. Despite sharing striking similarities with canids, they failed to evolve many of the specialized anatomical features that characterize carnivorous placental mammals. These evolutionary limitations are thought to arise from functional constraints associated with the marsupial mode of reproduction, in which otherwise highly altricial young use their well-developed forelimbs to climb to the pouch and mouth to suckle. Here we present the first three-dimensional digital developmental series of the thylacine throughout its pouch life using X-ray computed tomography on all known ethanol-preserved specimens. Based on detailed skeletal measurements, we refine the species growth curve to improve age estimates for the individuals. Comparison of allometric growth trends in the appendicular skeleton (fore- and hindlimbs) with that of other placental and marsupial mammals revealed that despite their unique adult morphologies, thylacines retained a generalized early marsupial ontogeny. Our approach also revealed mislabelled specimens that possessed large epipubic bones (vestigial in thylacine) and differing vertebral numbers. All of our generated CT models are publicly available, preserving their developmental morphology and providing a novel digital resource for future studies of this unique marsupial. PMID:29515893

  1. C 60 -induced Devil's Staircase transformation on a Pb/Si(111) wetting layer

    DOE PAGES

    Wang, Lin -Lin; Johnson, Duane D.; Tringides, Michael C.

    2015-12-03

    Density functional theory is used to study structural energetics of Pb vacancy cluster formation on C 60/Pb/Si(111) to explain the unusually fast and error-free transformations between the “Devil's Staircase” (DS) phases on the Pb/Si(111) wetting layer at low temperature (~110K). The formation energies of vacancy clusters are calculated in C 60/Pb/Si(111) as Pb atoms are progressively ejected from the initial dense Pb wetting layer. Vacancy clusters larger than five Pb atoms are found to be stable with seven being the most stable, while vacancy clusters smaller than five are highly unstable, which agrees well with the observed ejection rate ofmore » ~5 Pb atoms per C 60. Furthermore, the high energy cost (~0.8 eV) for the small vacancy clusters to form indicates convincingly that the unusually fast transformation observed experimentally between the DS phases, upon C 60 adsorption at low temperature, cannot be the result of single-atom random walk diffusion but of correlated multi-atom processes.« less

  2. Is the Electron Avalanche Process in a Martian Dust Devil Self-Quenching?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farrell, William M.; McLain, Jason L.; Collier, M. R.; Keller, J. W.; Jackson, T. J.; Delory, G. T.

    2015-01-01

    Viking era laboratory experiments show that mixing tribocharged grains in a low pressure CO2 gas can form a discharge that glows, indicating the presence of an excited electron population that persists over many seconds. Based on these early experiments, it has been predicted that martian dust devils and storms may also contain a plasma and new plasma chemical species as a result of dust grain tribo-charging. However, recent results from modeling suggest a contrasting result: that a sustained electron discharge may not be easily established since the increase in gas conductivity would act to short-out the local E-fields and quickly dissipate the charged grains driving the process. In essence, the system was thought to be self-quenching (i.e., turn itself off). In this work, we attempt to reconcile the difference between observation and model via new laboratory measurements. We conclude that in a Mars-like low pressure CO2 atmosphere and expected E-fields, the electron current remains (for the most part) below the expected driving tribo-electric dust currents (approx. 10 microA/m(exp. 2)), thereby making quenching unlikely.

  3. Phytochemical profile of the rare, ancient clone Lomatia tasmanica and comparison to other endemic Tasmanian species L. tinctoria and L. polymorpha.

    PubMed

    Deans, Bianca J; Tedone, Laura; Bissember, Alex C; Smith, Jason A

    2018-06-07

    An investigation of the previously unexamined ancient Tasmanian clone Lomatia tasmanica W. M. Curtis (Proteaceae) and two other endemic species Lomatia tinctoria R. Br. and Lomatia polymorpha (Labill.) R. Br. was undertaken. This represents the first extensive natural products study in which individual phytochemical components have been isolated and identified from these three Lomatia species. Extraction of L. tasmanica leaves provided the naphthoquinone juglone (0.34% w/w), and n-alkanes nonacosane and heptacosane (0.30% w/w combined). L. polymorpha afforded the flavonoid glycosides dihydroquercetin 3-O-β-D-xyloside (0.22% w/w) and quercetin 3-O-β-d-glucose (0.14% w/w), as well as the naphthalene glucoside 1,4,8-trihydroxynaphthalene-1-O-β-d-glucose (0.04% w/w) and 4-O-p-coumaroyl-d-glucose (0.03% w/w). In addition, both L. polymorpha and L. tinctoria contained juglone (0.32% w/w and 0.58% w/w, respectively). L. polymorpha provided tetracosan-1-ol, hexacosan-1-ol and octacosan-1-ol (0.07% w/w combined), while L. tinctoria gave nonacosane (0.13% w/w). Analysis of three individual specimens from each of the three species demonstrated consistency in the respective phytochemical profiles of these populations and tentatively suggests limited intraspecific variation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Identifying genome-wide immune gene variation underlying infectious disease in wildlife populations - a next generation sequencing approach in the gopher tortoise.

    PubMed

    Elbers, Jean P; Brown, Mary B; Taylor, Sabrina S

    2018-01-19

    Infectious disease is the single greatest threat to taxa such as amphibians (chytrid fungus), bats (white nose syndrome), Tasmanian devils (devil facial tumor disease), and black-footed ferrets (canine distemper virus, plague). Although understanding the genetic basis to disease susceptibility is important for the long-term persistence of these groups, most research has been limited to major-histocompatibility and Toll-like receptor genes. To better understand the genetic basis of infectious disease susceptibility in a species of conservation concern, we sequenced all known/predicted immune response genes (i.e., the immunomes) in 16 Florida gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus. All tortoises produced antibodies against Mycoplasma agassizii (an etiologic agent of infectious upper respiratory tract disease; URTD) and, at the time of sampling, either had (n = 10) or lacked (n = 6) clinical signs. We found several variants associated with URTD clinical status in complement and lectin genes, which may play a role in Mycoplasma immunity. Thirty-five genes deviated from neutrality according to Tajima's D. These genes were enriched in functions relating to macromolecule and protein modifications, which are vital to immune system functioning. These results are suggestive of genetic differences that might contribute to disease severity, a finding that is consistent with other mycoplasmal diseases. This has implications for management because tortoises across their range may possess genetic variation associated with a more severe response to URTD. More generally: 1) this approach demonstrates that a broader consideration of immune genes is better able to identify important variants, and; 2) this data pipeline can be adopted to identify alleles associated with disease susceptibility or resistance in other taxa, and therefore provide information on a population's risk of succumbing to disease, inform translocations to increase genetic variation for disease resistance

  5. Lack of cool, not warm, extremes distinguishes late 20th Century climate in 979-year Tasmanian summer temperature reconstruction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, K. J.; Cook, E. R.; Evans, R.; Francey, R.; Buckley, B. M.; Palmer, J. G.; Peterson, M. J.; Baker, P. J.

    2018-03-01

    Very few annually resolved millennial-length temperature reconstructions exist for the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present four 979-year reconstructions for southeastern Australia for the austral summer months of December-February. Two of the reconstructions are based on the Australian Water Availability Project dataset and two on the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature dataset. For each climate data set, one reconstruction is based solely on Lagarostrobos franklinii (restricted reconstructions) while the other is based on multiple Tasmanian conifer species (unrestricted reconstructions). Each reconstruction calibrates ~50-60% of the variance in the temperature datasets depending on the number of tree-ring records available for the reconstruction. We found little difference in the temporal variability of the reconstructions, although extremes are amplified in the restricted reconstructions relative to the unrestricted reconstructions. The reconstructions highlight the occurrence of numerous individual years, especially in the 15th-17th Centuries, for which temperatures were comparable with those of the late 20th Century. The 1950-1999 period, however, stands out as the warmest 50-year period on average for the past 979 years, with a sustained shift away from relatively low mean temperatures, the length of which is unique in the 979-year record. The reconstructions are strongly and positively related to temperatures across the southeast of the Australian continent, negatively related to temperatures in the north and northeast of the continent, and uncorrelated with temperatures in the west. The lack of a strong relationship with temperatures across the continent highlights the necessity of a sub-regional focus for Australasian temperature reconstructions.

  6. Mineral resources of the Devil's Garden Lava Bed, Squaw Ridge Lava Bed, and Four Craters Lava Bed Wilderness Study Areas, Lake County, Oregon

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Keith, W.J.; King, H.D.; Gettings, M.E.

    1988-01-01

    The Devel's Garden lava Bed, Squaw Ridge Lava Bed, and Four Craters Lava Bed Wilderness Study Areas include approximately 70,940 acres and are underlain entirely by Pleistocene or Holocene lava flows and associated sediments. There is no evidence of hydrothermal alteration in the study areas. No resources were identified in the study areas, but there is low potential for perlite resources in the southern part of the Devil's Garden Lava Bed and the northern half of the Squaw Ridge Lava Bed areas. All three study areas have low potential for geothermal resources and for oil and gas resources.

  7. Proteinaceous toxins from three species of scorpaeniform fish (lionfish Pterois lunulata, devil stinger Inimicus japonicus and waspfish Hypodytes rubripinnis): close similarity in properties and primary structures to stonefish toxins.

    PubMed

    Kiriake, Aya; Suzuki, Yasuko; Nagashima, Yuji; Shiomi, Kazuo

    2013-08-01

    The crude toxins from three species of venomous fish (lionfish Pterois lunulata, devil stinger Inimicus japonicus and waspfish Hypodytes rubripinnis) belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes exhibited mouse-lethal, hemolytic, edema-forming and nociceptive activities. In view of the antigenic cross-reactivity with the stonefish toxins, the primary structures of the stonefish toxin-like toxins from the three scorpaeniform fish were determined by cDNA cloning using primers designed from the highly conserved sequences of the stonefish toxins. Based on the data obtained in gel filtration, immunoblotting and cDNA cloning, each toxin was judged to be a 160 kDa heterodimer composed of 80 kDa α- and β-subunits. The three scorpaeniform fish toxins contain a B30.2/SPRY domain (∼200 amino acid residues) in the C-terminal region of each subunit, as reported for the toxins from two species of lionfish and two species of stonefish. With respect to the amino acid sequence similarity, the scorpaeniform fish toxins are divided into the following two groups: toxins from three species of lionfish and those from devil stinger, two species of stonefish and waspfish. The phylogenetic tree generated also clearly supports the classification of the toxins. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Spatial Variability in Condition of Southern Rock Lobsters (Jasus edwardsii) at the Start of the Tasmanian Fishing Season.

    PubMed

    Mendo, Tania; Simon, Cedric; Green, Bridget; Gardner, Caleb

    2016-01-01

    The southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) industry in Australia favours red lobsters, which are usually caught in shallow waters, over paler (brindle) lobsters. This preference is driven partly by the Chinese market, where red is associated with luck and prosperity, and additionally, by the widely held perception within the industry that brindles have greater mortality rates during out of water transport than reds. Limited scientific evidence supports these industry observations; however, these studies did not evaluate the initial condition of lobsters. This study aimed first, to determine which variables better describe condition in J. edwardsii and second, to compare condition among lobsters in several sites around Tasmania at the typical time of high transport mortality. Male lobsters were collected from the South West, South East, East and North coast of Tasmania in late November/December 2014, which correspond to the start of the Tasmanian fishing season. A comprehensive condition assessment was applied by measuring tissue proximal composition, Brix index, Total Haemocyte Count, pH, haemocyanin and another 16 haemolymph parameters of interest. A useful framework to compare condition in J. edwardsii was established by first, using Brix index as a measure of nutritional condition, second, using pH, magnesium, and bicarbonate to evaluate differences in physiological condition and finally, using THC counts as a proxy for lobster health condition. Lobsters from different sites had different nutritional, physiological and health condition, consistent with industry observations, however our results indicate that some red shallow water lobsters exhibited poorer nutritional and health condition, while some deep water brindle lobsters were in good condition. Differences in condition could not be directly associated to catch depth of lobsters and was related to other spatially discrete factors which sometimes vary over distances <3 km.

  9. Spatial Variability in Condition of Southern Rock Lobsters (Jasus edwardsii) at the Start of the Tasmanian Fishing Season

    PubMed Central

    Simon, Cedric; Green, Bridget; Gardner, Caleb

    2016-01-01

    The southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) industry in Australia favours red lobsters, which are usually caught in shallow waters, over paler (brindle) lobsters. This preference is driven partly by the Chinese market, where red is associated with luck and prosperity, and additionally, by the widely held perception within the industry that brindles have greater mortality rates during out of water transport than reds. Limited scientific evidence supports these industry observations; however, these studies did not evaluate the initial condition of lobsters. This study aimed first, to determine which variables better describe condition in J. edwardsii and second, to compare condition among lobsters in several sites around Tasmania at the typical time of high transport mortality. Male lobsters were collected from the South West, South East, East and North coast of Tasmania in late November/December 2014, which correspond to the start of the Tasmanian fishing season. A comprehensive condition assessment was applied by measuring tissue proximal composition, Brix index, Total Haemocyte Count, pH, haemocyanin and another 16 haemolymph parameters of interest. A useful framework to compare condition in J. edwardsii was established by first, using Brix index as a measure of nutritional condition, second, using pH, magnesium, and bicarbonate to evaluate differences in physiological condition and finally, using THC counts as a proxy for lobster health condition. Lobsters from different sites had different nutritional, physiological and health condition, consistent with industry observations, however our results indicate that some red shallow water lobsters exhibited poorer nutritional and health condition, while some deep water brindle lobsters were in good condition. Differences in condition could not be directly associated to catch depth of lobsters and was related to other spatially discrete factors which sometimes vary over distances <3 km. PMID:27846289

  10. Wildlife disease ecology in changing landscapes: Mesopredator release and toxoplasmosis

    PubMed Central

    Hollings, Tracey; Jones, Menna; Mooney, Nick; McCallum, Hamish

    2013-01-01

    Changing ecosystem dynamics are increasing the threat of disease epidemics arising in wildlife populations. Several recent disease outbreaks have highlighted the critical need for understanding pathogen dynamics, including the role host densities play in disease transmission. In Australia, introduced feral cats are of immense concern because of the risk they pose to native wildlife through predation and competition. They are also the only known definitive host of the coccidian parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, the population-level impacts of which are unknown in any species. Australia’s native wildlife have not evolved in the presence of cats or their parasites, and feral cats may be linked with several native mammal declines and extinctions. In Tasmania there is emerging evidence that feral cat populations are increasing following wide-ranging and extensive declines in the apex predator, the Tasmanian devil, from a consistently fatal transmissible cancer. We assess whether feral cat density is associated with the seroprevalence of T. gondii in native wildlife to determine whether an increasing population of feral cats may correspond to an increased level of risk to naive native intermediate hosts. We found evidence that seroprevalence of T. gondii in Tasmanian pademelons was lower in the north-west of Tasmania than in the north-east and central regions where cat density was higher. Also, samples obtained from road-killed animals had significantly higher seroprevalence of T. gondii than those from culled individuals, suggesting there may be behavioural differences associated with infection. In addition, seroprevalence in different trophic levels was assessed to determine whether position in the food-web influences exposure risk. Higher order carnivores had significantly higher seroprevalence than medium-sized browser species. The highest seroprevalence observed in an intermediate host was 71% in spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus), the largest mammalian

  11. Pharmacological Treatment of Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Anthony; Björkman, Tracey; Stewart, Caroline; Nanan, Ralph

    2011-01-01

    Illicit drug use with opiates in pregnancy is a major global health issue with neonatal withdrawal being a common complication. Morphine is the main pharmacological agent administered for the treatment of neonatal withdrawal. In the past, morphine has been considered by and large inert in terms of its long-term effects on the central nervous system. However, recent animal and clinical studies have demonstrated that opiates exhibit significant effects on the growing brain. This includes direct dose-dependent effects on reduction in brain size and weight, protein, DNA, RNA, and neurotransmitters—possibly as a direct consequence of a number of opiate-mediated systems that influence neural cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. At this stage, we are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. There are no real alternatives to pharmacological treatment with opiates and other drugs for neonatal opiate withdrawal and opiate addiction in pregnant women. However, pending further rigorous studies examining the potential harmful effects of opiate exposure in utero and the perinatal period, prolonged use of these agents in the neonatal period should be used judiciously, with caution, and avoided where possible. PMID:21760818

  12. Alteration of Neutrophil Reactive Oxygen Species Production by Extracts of Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum).

    PubMed

    Muzila, Mbaki; Rumpunen, Kimmo; Wright, Helen; Roberts, Helen; Grant, Melissa; Nybom, Hilde; Sehic, Jasna; Ekholm, Anders; Widén, Cecilia

    2016-01-01

    Harpagophytum, Devil's Claw, is a genus of tuberiferous xerophytic plants native to southern Africa. Some of the taxa are appreciated for their medicinal effects and have been traditionally used to relieve symptoms of inflammation. The objectives of this pilot study were to investigate the antioxidant capacity and the content of total phenols, verbascoside, isoverbascoside, and selected iridoids, as well as to investigate the capacity of various Harpagophytum taxa in suppressing respiratory burst in terms of reactive oxygen species produced by human neutrophils challenged with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), opsonised Staphylococcus aureus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Harpagophytum plants were classified into different taxa according to morphology, and DNA analysis was used to confirm the classification. A putative new variety of H. procumbens showed the highest degree of antioxidative capacity. Using PMA, three Harpagophytum taxa showed anti-inflammatory effects with regard to the PBS control. A putative hybrid between H. procumbens and H. zeyheri in contrast showed proinflammatory effect on the response of neutrophils to F. nucleatum in comparison with treatment with vehicle control. Harpagophytum taxa were biochemically very variable and the response in suppressing respiratory burst differed. Further studies with larger number of subjects are needed to corroborate anti-inflammatory effects of different taxa of Harpagophytum.

  13. Alteration of Neutrophil Reactive Oxygen Species Production by Extracts of Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum)

    PubMed Central

    Muzila, Mbaki; Wright, Helen; Roberts, Helen; Grant, Melissa; Nybom, Hilde; Sehic, Jasna; Ekholm, Anders

    2016-01-01

    Harpagophytum, Devil's Claw, is a genus of tuberiferous xerophytic plants native to southern Africa. Some of the taxa are appreciated for their medicinal effects and have been traditionally used to relieve symptoms of inflammation. The objectives of this pilot study were to investigate the antioxidant capacity and the content of total phenols, verbascoside, isoverbascoside, and selected iridoids, as well as to investigate the capacity of various Harpagophytum taxa in suppressing respiratory burst in terms of reactive oxygen species produced by human neutrophils challenged with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), opsonised Staphylococcus aureus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Harpagophytum plants were classified into different taxa according to morphology, and DNA analysis was used to confirm the classification. A putative new variety of H. procumbens showed the highest degree of antioxidative capacity. Using PMA, three Harpagophytum taxa showed anti-inflammatory effects with regard to the PBS control. A putative hybrid between H. procumbens and H. zeyheri in contrast showed proinflammatory effect on the response of neutrophils to F. nucleatum in comparison with treatment with vehicle control. Harpagophytum taxa were biochemically very variable and the response in suppressing respiratory burst differed. Further studies with larger number of subjects are needed to corroborate anti-inflammatory effects of different taxa of Harpagophytum. PMID:27429708

  14. Genetic Dissection of the Human Leukocyte Antigen Region by Use of Haplotypes of Tasmanians with Multiple Sclerosis

    PubMed Central

    Rubio, Justin P.; Bahlo, Melanie; Butzkueven, Helmut; van der Mei, Ingrid A. F.; Sale, Michèle M.; Dickinson, Joanne L.; Groom, Patricia; Johnson, Laura J.; Simmons, Rex D.; Tait, Brian; Varney, Mike; Taylor, Bruce; Dwyer, Terence; Williamson, Robert; Gough, Nicholas M.; Kilpatrick, Trevor J.; Speed, Terence P.; Foote, Simon J.

    2002-01-01

    Association of multiple sclerosis (MS) with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II haplotype DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602 is the most consistently replicated finding of genetic studies of the disease. However, the high level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the HLA region has hindered the identification of other loci that single-marker tests for association are unlikely to resolve. In order to address this issue, we generated haplotypes spanning 14.754 Mb (5 cM) across the entire HLA region. The haplotypes, which were inferred by genotyping relatives of 152 patients with MS and 105 unaffected control subjects of Tasmanian ancestry, define a genomic segment from D6S276 to D6S291, including 13 microsatellite markers integrated with allele-typing data for DRB1 and DQB1. Association to the DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602 haplotype was replicated. In addition, we found that the class I/extended class I region, defined by a genomic segment of ∼400 kb between MOGCA and D6S265, harbors genes that independently increase risk of, or provide protection from, MS. Log-linear modeling analysis of constituent haplotypes that represent genomic regions containing class I (MOGCA-D6S265), class III (TNFa-TNFd-D6S273), and class II (DRB1-DQB1) genes indicated that having class I and class II susceptibility variants on the same haplotype provides an additive effect on risk. Moreover, we found no evidence for a disease locus in the class III region defined by a 150-kb genomic segment containing the TNF locus and 14 other genes. A global overview of LD performed using GOLD identified two discrete blocks of LD in the HLA region that correspond well with previous findings. We propose that the analysis of haplotypes, by use of the types of approaches outlined in the present article, should make it possible to more accurately define the contribution of the HLA to MS. PMID:11923913

  15. Comparing wind directions inferred from Martian dust devil tracks analysis with those predicted by the Mars Climate Database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Statella, T.; Pina, P.; Silva, E. A.; Nervis Frigeri, Ary Vinicius; Neto, Frederico Gallon

    2016-10-01

    We have calculated the prevailing dust devil tracks direction as a means of verifying the Mars Climate Database (MCD) predicted wind directions accuracy. For that purpose we have applied an automatic method based on morphological openings for inferring the prevailing tracks direction in a dataset comprising 200 Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Narrow Angle (NA) and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images of the Martian surface, depicting regions in the Aeolis, Eridania, Noachis, Argyre and Hellas quadrangles. The prevailing local wind directions were calculated from the MCD predicted speeds for the WE and SN wind components. The results showed that the MCD may not be able to predict accurately the locally dominant wind direction near the surface. In adittion, we confirm that the surface wind stress alone cannot produce dust lifting in the studied sites, since it never exceeds the threshold value of 0.0225 Nm-2 in the MCD.

  16. A devil in the detail: parameter cross-talk from the solar cycle and estimation of solar p-mode frequencies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaplin, W. J.; Jiménez-Reyes, S. J.; Eff-Darwich, A.; Elsworth, Y.; New, R.

    2008-04-01

    Frequencies, powers and damping rates of the solar p modes are all observed to vary over the 11-yr solar activity cycle. Here, we show that simultaneous variations in these parameters give rise to a subtle cross-talk effect, which we call the `devil in the detail', that biases p-mode frequencies estimated from analysis of long power frequency spectra. We also show that the resonant peaks observed in the power frequency spectra show small distortions due to the effect. Most of our paper is devoted to a study of the effect for Sun-as-a-star observations of the low-l p modes. We show that for these data the significance of the effect is marginal. We also touch briefly on the likely l dependence of the effect, and discuss the implications of these results for solar structure inversions.

  17. Holocene earthquakes and right-lateral slip on the left-lateral Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone, northern Puget Sound, Washington

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Personius, Stephen F.; Briggs, Richard W.; Nelson, Alan R.; Schermer, Elizabeth R; Maharrey, J. Zebulon; Sherrod, Brian; Spaulding, Sarah A.; Bradley, Lee-Ann

    2014-01-01

    Sources of seismic hazard in the Puget Sound region of northwestern Washington include deep earthquakes associated with the Cascadia subduction zone, and shallow earthquakes associated with some of the numerous crustal (upper-plate) faults that crisscross the region. Our paleoseismic investigations on one of the more prominent crustal faults, the Darrington–Devils Mountain fault zone, included trenching of fault scarps developed on latest Pleistocene glacial sediments and analysis of cores from an adjacent wetland near Lake Creek, 14 km southeast of Mount Vernon, Washington. Trench excavations revealed evidence of a single earthquake, radiocarbon dated to ca. 2 ka, but extensive burrowing and root mixing of sediments within 50–100 cm of the ground surface may have destroyed evidence of other earthquakes. Cores in a small wetland adjacent to our trench site provided stratigraphic evidence (formation of a laterally extensive, prograding wedge of hillslope colluvium) of an earthquake ca. 2 ka, which we interpret to be the same earthquake documented in the trenches. A similar colluvial wedge lower in the wetland section provides possible evidence for a second earthquake dated to ca. 8 ka. Three-dimensional trenching techniques revealed evidence for 2.2 ± 1.1 m of right-lateral offset of a glacial outwash channel margin, and 45–70 cm of north-side-up vertical separation across the fault zone. These offsets indicate a net slip vector of 2.3 ± 1.1 m, plunging 14° west on a 286°-striking, 90°-dipping fault plane. The dominant right-lateral sense of slip is supported by the presence of numerous Riedel R shears preserved in two of our trenches, and probable right-lateral offset of a distinctive bedrock fault zone in a third trench. Holocene north-side-up, right-lateral oblique slip is opposite the south-side-up, left-lateral oblique sense of slip inferred from geologic mapping of Eocene and older rocks along the fault zone. The cause of this slip reversal is

  18. Devil's staircase and the absence of chaos in the dc- and ac-driven overdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sokolović, I.; Mali, P.; Odavić, J.; Radošević, S.; Medvedeva, S. Yu.; Botha, A. E.; Shukrinov, Yu. M.; Tekić, J.

    2017-08-01

    The devil's staircase structure arising from the complete mode locking of an entirely nonchaotic system, the overdamped dc+ac driven Frenkel-Kontorova model with deformable substrate potential, was observed. Even though no chaos was found, a hierarchical ordering of the Shapiro steps was made possible through the use of a previously introduced continued fraction formula. The absence of chaos, deduced here from Lyapunov exponent analyses, can be attributed to the overdamped character and the Middleton no-passing rule. A comparative analysis of a one-dimensional stack of Josephson junctions confirmed the disappearance of chaos with increasing dissipation. Other common dynamic features were also identified through this comparison. A detailed analysis of the amplitude dependence of the Shapiro steps revealed that only for the case of a purely sinusoidal substrate potential did the relative sizes of the steps follow a Farey sequence. For nonsinusoidal (deformed) potentials, the symmetry of the Stern-Brocot tree, depicting all members of particular Farey sequence, was seen to be increasingly broken, with certain steps being more prominent and their relative sizes not following the Farey rule.

  19. Dating the Vostok ice core record by importing the Devils Hole chronology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Landwehr, J.M.; Winograd, I.J.

    2001-01-01

    The development of an accurate chronology for the Vostok record continues to be an open research question because these invaluable ice cores cannot be dated directly. Depth-to-age relationships have been developed using many different approaches, but published age estimates are inconsistent, even for major paleoclimatic events. We have developed a chronology for the Vostok deuterium paleotemperature record using a simple and objective algorithm to transfer ages of major paleoclimatic events from the radiometrically dated 500,000-year ??18O-paleotemperature record from Devils Hole, Nevada. The method is based only on a strong inference that major shifts in paleotemperature recorded at both locations occurred synchronously, consistent with an atmospheric teleconnection. The derived depth-to-age relationship conforms with the physics of ice compaction, and internally produces ages for climatic events 5.4 and 11.24 which are consistent with the externally assigned ages that the Vostok team needed to assume in order to derive their most recent chronology, GT4. Indeed, the resulting V-DH chronology is highly correlated with GT4 because of the unexpected correspondence even in the timing of second-order climatic events that were not constrained by the algorithm. Furthermore, the algorithm developed herein is not specific to this problem; rather, the procedure can be used whenever two paleoclimate records are proxies for the same physical phenomenon, and paleoclimatic conditions forcing the two records can be considered to have occurred contemporaneously. The ability of the algorithm to date the East Antarctic Dome Fuji core is also demonstrated.

  20. Ant and Mite Diversity Drives Toxin Variation in the Little Devil Poison Frog.

    PubMed

    McGugan, Jenna R; Byrd, Gary D; Roland, Alexandre B; Caty, Stephanie N; Kabir, Nisha; Tapia, Elicio E; Trauger, Sunia A; Coloma, Luis A; O'Connell, Lauren A

    2016-06-01

    Poison frogs sequester chemical defenses from arthropod prey, although the details of how arthropod diversity contributes to variation in poison frog toxins remains unclear. We characterized skin alkaloid profiles in the Little Devil poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Dendrobatidae), across three populations in northwestern Ecuador. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we identified histrionicotoxins, 3,5- and 5,8-disubstituted indolizidines, decahydroquinolines, and lehmizidines as the primary alkaloid toxins in these O. sylvatica populations. Frog skin alkaloid composition varied along a geographical gradient following population distribution in a principal component analysis. We also characterized diversity in arthropods isolated from frog stomach contents and confirmed that O. sylvatica specialize on ants and mites. To test the hypothesis that poison frog toxin variability reflects species and chemical diversity in arthropod prey, we (1) used sequencing of cytochrome oxidase 1 to identify individual prey specimens, and (2) used liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to chemically profile consumed ants and mites. We identified 45 ants and 9 mites in frog stomachs, including several undescribed species. We also showed that chemical profiles of consumed ants and mites cluster by frog population, suggesting different frog populations have access to chemically distinct prey. Finally, by comparing chemical profiles of frog skin and isolated prey items, we traced the arthropod source of four poison frog alkaloids, including 3,5- and 5,8-disubstituted indolizidines and a lehmizidine alkaloid. Together, the data show that toxin variability in O. sylvatica reflects chemical diversity in arthropod prey.

  1. Oxidant enhancement in martian dust devils and storms: implications for life and habitability.

    PubMed

    Atreya, Sushil K; Wong, Ah-San; Renno, Nilton O; Farrell, William M; Delory, Gregory T; Sentman, Davis D; Cummer, Steven A; Marshall, John R; Rafkin, Scot C R; Catling, David C

    2006-06-01

    We investigate a new mechanism for producing oxidants, especially hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), on Mars. Large-scale electrostatic fields generated by charged sand and dust in the martian dust devils and storms, as well as during normal saltation, can induce chemical changes near and above the surface of Mars. The most dramatic effect is found in the production of H2O2 whose atmospheric abundance in the "vapor" phase can exceed 200 times that produced by photochemistry alone. With large electric fields, H2O2 abundance gets large enough for condensation to occur, followed by precipitation out of the atmosphere. Large quantities of H2O2 would then be adsorbed into the regolith, either as solid H2O2 "dust" or as re-evaporated vapor if the solid does not survive as it diffuses from its production region close to the surface. We suggest that this H2O2, or another superoxide processed from it in the surface, may be responsible for scavenging organic material from Mars. The presence of H2O2 in the surface could also accelerate the loss of methane from the atmosphere, thus requiring a larger source for maintaining a steady-state abundance of methane on Mars. The surface oxidants, together with storm electric fields and the harmful ultraviolet radiation that readily passes through the thin martian atmosphere, are likely to render the surface of Mars inhospitable to life as we know it.

  2. The Devils Mountain Fault zone: An active Cascadia upper plate zone of deformation, Pacific Northwest of North America

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barrie, J. Vaughn; Greene, H. Gary

    2018-02-01

    The Devils Mountain Fault Zone (DMFZ) extends east to west from Washington State to just south of Victoria, British Columbia, in the northern Strait of Juan de Fuca of Canada and the USA. Recently collected geophysical data were used to map this fault zone in detail, which show the main fault trace, and associated primary and secondary (conjugate) strands, and extensive northeast-southwest oriented folding that occurs within a 6 km wide deformation zone. The fault zone has been active in the Holocene as seen in the offset and disrupted upper Quaternary strata, seafloor displacement, and deformation within sediment cores taken close to the seafloor expression of the faults. Data suggest that the present DMFZ and the re-activated Leech River Fault may be part of the same fault system. Based on the length and previously estimated slip rates of the fault zone in Washington State, the DMFZ appears to have the potential of producing a strong earthquake, perhaps as large as magnitude 7.5 or greater, within 2 km of the city of Victoria.

  3. [National preparedness for biological mass casualty event: between the devil and the deep blue sea].

    PubMed

    Eldad, Arieh

    2002-05-01

    Species of plants and animals, as well as nations of human beings were extinguished throughout the prehistory and history of this planet. One of the possible explanations for this phenomenon is a large scale epidemic of viral, bacterial or fungal infections. One well-documented example was the smallpox epidemic among native Indians of South America following the European invasion. Deliberate dissemination of disease was used as a weapon during the Middle Ages when corpses of plague casualties were thrown over the walls and into the besieged towns. The Book of Kings II, of the Bible, in chapter 19 recalls the story of 185,000 soldiers of Sennacherib that died in one night, near the walls of Jerusalem. The possibility of causing mass casualty by dissemination of infectious disease has driven countries and terrorist organizations to produce and store large quantities of bacteria or viruses. The death of thousands in the USA on September 11, 2001, demonstrated that terror has no moral prohibitions, only technical limitations. Terror organizations will not hesitate to use weapons for mass destruction to kill many, and if only few will die, it will still serve the purpose of these evil organizations: to strew panic, to destroy normal life and to increase fear and instability. Any government that faces decisions about how to be better prepared against biological warfare is pushed between the devil and the deep blue sea. On the one hand: the better we will be prepared, equipped with antibiotics and vaccines--the more lives of casualties we will be able to save. Better public education will help to reduce the damage, but, on the other hand--in order to cause more people to make the effort to equip themselves or to refresh their protective kit--we will have to increase their level of concern. In order to improve the medical education of all members of the medical teams we will have to start a broad and intense campaign, thereby taking the risk of increasing stress in the

  4. Paleoclimatic Inferences from a 120,000-Yr Calcite Record of Water-Table Fluctuation in Browns Room of Devils Hole, Nevada

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Szabo, B. J.; Kolesar, Peter T.; Riggs, A.C.; Winograd, I.J.; Ludwig, K. R.

    1994-01-01

    The petrographic and morphologic differences between calcite precipitated below, at, or above the present water table and uranium-series dating were used to reconstruct a chronology of water-table fluctuation for the past 120,000 yr in Browns Room, a subterranean air-filled chamber of Devils Hole fissure adjacent to the discharge area of the large Ash Meadows groundwater flow system in southern Nevada. The water table was more than 5 m above present level between about 116,000 and 53,000 yr ago, fluctuated between about +5 and +9 m during the period between about 44,000 and 20,000 yr ago, and declined rapidly from +9 to its present level during the past 20,000 yr. Because the Ash Meadows groundwater basin is greater than 12,000 km2 in extent, these documented water-table fluctuations are likely to be of regional significance. Although different in detail, water-level fluctuation recorded by Browns Room calcites generally correlate with other Great Basin proxy palcoclimatic data.

  5. Genomic legacy of the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus.

    PubMed

    Dobrynin, Pavel; Liu, Shiping; Tamazian, Gaik; Xiong, Zijun; Yurchenko, Andrey A; Krasheninnikova, Ksenia; Kliver, Sergey; Schmidt-Küntzel, Anne; Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Johnson, Warren; Kuderna, Lukas F K; García-Pérez, Raquel; Manuel, Marc de; Godinez, Ricardo; Komissarov, Aleksey; Makunin, Alexey; Brukhin, Vladimir; Qiu, Weilin; Zhou, Long; Li, Fang; Yi, Jian; Driscoll, Carlos; Antunes, Agostinho; Oleksyk, Taras K; Eizirik, Eduardo; Perelman, Polina; Roelke, Melody; Wildt, David; Diekhans, Mark; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Marker, Laurie; Bhak, Jong; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Guojie; O'Brien, Stephen J

    2015-12-10

    Patterns of genetic and genomic variance are informative in inferring population history for human, model species and endangered populations. Here the genome sequence of wild-born African cheetahs reveals extreme genomic depletion in SNV incidence, SNV density, SNVs of coding genes, MHC class I and II genes, and mitochondrial DNA SNVs. Cheetah genomes are on average 95 % homozygous compared to the genomes of the outbred domestic cat (24.08 % homozygous), Virunga Mountain Gorilla (78.12 %), inbred Abyssinian cat (62.63 %), Tasmanian devil, domestic dog and other mammalian species. Demographic estimators impute two ancestral population bottlenecks: one >100,000 years ago coincident with cheetah migrations out of the Americas and into Eurasia and Africa, and a second 11,084-12,589 years ago in Africa coincident with late Pleistocene large mammal extinctions. MHC class I gene loss and dramatic reduction in functional diversity of MHC genes would explain why cheetahs ablate skin graft rejection among unrelated individuals. Significant excess of non-synonymous mutations in AKAP4 (p<0.02), a gene mediating spermatozoon development, indicates cheetah fixation of five function-damaging amino acid variants distinct from AKAP4 homologues of other Felidae or mammals; AKAP4 dysfunction may cause the cheetah's extremely high (>80 %) pleiomorphic sperm. The study provides an unprecedented genomic perspective for the rare cheetah, with potential relevance to the species' natural history, physiological adaptations and unique reproductive disposition.

  6. Transgressive reef sequences of the Devonian Devils Gate Limestone, Red Hill, Nevada

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shapiro, R.; Dehler, C.; Flynn, J.

    The Devils Gate Limestone at Red Hill, Simpson Park Range, Eureka Co., Nevada is composed of several conformable transgressive sequences cropping out in a series of step-like cliffs 1--5 m high. The general sequence is as follows: (1) a 1--4 m thick in situ boundstone dominated by large, period rugosans, domical and stratiform stromatoporids and rare, 1--3 cm diameter oncolites. Most of the boundstone is composed of small, cylindrical fossils. Petrographic observation revealed them to be mostly Amphipora and Cladopora. The upper portions of these units are packstones composed of Amphipora/Cladopora and, to a lesser degree, small favositids, round stromatoporoidsmore » (3--4 cm diameter), and rip-up clasts. (2) These beds grade upward into a thinly laminated and/or cross-bedded unfossiliferous mudstone. (3) Stratigraphically above the mudstone or in contact with the packstone, is a cross-bedded and/or bioturbated wackestone containing fossils no greater than 2 mm. In thin section, the mottled reddish-grey wackestone is pelletal, with rare lenses of small crinoid columnals. Disarticulated brachiopod shells of low diversity are found near the tops of some of these layers. Community dominance in the reefal units alternates between Amphipora/Cladopora, colonial rugose, and stromatoporoids. Oncolite mounds are common in the uppermost unit. The typical reef succession consists of domical and digitate stromatoporoids growing on the upper surfaces of in place or disturbed, large rugosans, though the reverse has been noted. Tabulate corals encrusted by stromatoporoids are often found in the packstone. It is important to note that often these successions' can be attributed to juxtaposition along styolites.« less

  7. Corticobulbar fibres in the North American opossum (Didelphis marsupialis virginiana) with notes on the Tasmanian brust-tailed possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and other marsupials.

    PubMed Central

    Martin, G F; Bresnahan, J C; Henkel, C K; Megirian, D

    1975-01-01

    Corticobulbar projections have been studied in the American opossum by both degeneration and autoradiographic methods and, for the most part, the results confirm our earlier observations (Martin & West, 1967; Martin, 1968). However, we have obtained evidence for certain connexions not previously described and have delineated the origin(s) of several connexions more precisely by paying particular attention to the degeneration present at thalamic levels in all cases and by the use of autoradiography. When our results are collated and correlated with new somatosensory cortical maps arrived at by microelectrode techniques (Pubols et al. 1975), it is obvious that corticolbulbar connexions in the North American opossum are remarkably similar to those in the monkey and differ mainly in quantity, relative origins and distribution and in the fact that some of them arise from spatially co-extensive motor-sensory areas (Lende, 1963a, b). In the light of our findings on the American opossum we have examined a large collection of brush-tailed possum material (as well as some from the potoroo and Tasmanian native cat) and have been able to extend our previous findings (Martin et al. 1971; Martin & Megirian, 1972) to a more precise evaluation of the origin of projections from the limb, face motor-sensory cortex. Differences between these representatives of the marsupial radiation, as well as features which are common to all, are described. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 23 Fig. 24 Fig. 25 Fig. 26 Fig. 27 Fig. 28 Fig. 29 Fig. 30 Fig. 31 Fig. 32 Fig. 33 Fig. 34 Fig. 35 Fig. 36 Fig. 37 Fig. 38 PMID:1213949

  8. Description of two species of Tenuipalpus (Acari: Trombidiformes) from succulent plants

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A new species of Tenuipalpus, T. sarcophilus n. sp., (Tenuipalpidae) is described from specimens collected from several species of ornamental succulent plants in Florida, including Crassula tetragona L, Sedum spp., Echeveria spp., Pachyphytum spp. (Crassulaceae) and Aloe spp. (Asphodelaceae), and fr...

  9. The Devil in the Dark: A Fully Self-Consistent Seismic Model for Venus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Unterborn, C. T.; Schmerr, N. C.; Irving, J. C. E.

    2017-12-01

    The bulk composition and structure of Venus is unknown despite accounting for 40% of the mass of all the terrestrial planets in our Solar System. As we expand the scope of planetary science to include those planets around other stars, the lack of measurements of basic planetary properties such as moment of inertia, core-size and thermal profile for Venus hinders our ability to compare the potential uniqueness of the Earth and our Solar System to other planetary systems. Here we present fully self-consistent, whole-planet density and seismic velocity profiles calculated using the ExoPlex and BurnMan software packages for various potential Venusian compositions. Using these models, we explore the seismological implications of the different thermal and compositional initial conditions, taking into account phase transitions due to changes in pressure, temperature as well as composition. Using mass-radius constraints, we examine both the centre frequencies of normal mode oscillations and the waveforms and travel times of body waves. Seismic phases which interact with the core, phase transitions in the mantle, and shallower parts of Venus are considered. We also consider the detectability and transmission of these seismic waves from within the dense atmosphere of Venus. Our work provides coupled compositional-seismological reference models for the terrestrial planet in our Solar System of which we know the least. Furthermore, these results point to the potential wealth of fundamental scientific insights into Venus and Earth, as well as exoplanets, which could be gained by including a seismometer on future planetary exploration missions to Venus, the devil in the dark.

  10. Marine bacterioplankton community turnover within seasonally hypoxic waters of a subtropical sound: Devil's Hole, Bermuda.

    PubMed

    Parsons, Rachel J; Nelson, Craig E; Carlson, Craig A; Denman, Carmen C; Andersson, Andreas J; Kledzik, Andrew L; Vergin, Kevin L; McNally, Sean P; Treusch, Alexander H; Giovannoni, Stephen J

    2015-10-01

    Understanding bacterioplankton community dynamics in coastal hypoxic environments is relevant to global biogeochemistry because coastal hypoxia is increasing worldwide. The temporal dynamics of bacterioplankton communities were analysed throughout the illuminated water column of Devil's Hole, Bermuda during the 6-week annual transition from a strongly stratified water column with suboxic and high-pCO2 bottom waters to a fully mixed and ventilated state during 2008. A suite of culture-independent methods provided a quantitative spatiotemporal characterization of bacterioplankton community changes, including both direct counts and rRNA gene sequencing. During stratification, the surface waters were dominated by the SAR11 clade of Alphaproteobacteria and the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. In the suboxic bottom waters, cells from the order Chlorobiales prevailed, with gene sequences indicating members of the genera Chlorobium and Prosthecochloris--anoxygenic photoautotrophs that utilize sulfide as a source of electrons for photosynthesis. Transitional zones of hypoxia also exhibited elevated levels of methane- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria relative to the overlying waters. The abundance of both Thaumarcheota and Euryarcheota were elevated in the suboxic bottom waters (> 10(9) cells l(-1)). Following convective mixing, the entire water column returned to a community typical of oxygenated waters, with Euryarcheota only averaging 5% of cells, and Chlorobiales and Thaumarcheota absent. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Combining hydrological modeling and remote sensing observations to enable data-driven decision making for Devils Lake flood mitigation in a changing climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, X.; Lim, Y. H.; Teng, W. L.; Kirilenko, A.

    2010-12-01

    The water level of Devils Lake in North Dakota has been rising since 1993, reaching record highs in each of the past three years. Nearly $1 billion have already been spent in mitigating the flooding impacts. If the current wet cycle continues, Devils Lake, a terminal lake currently at 1452 ft, will likely overflow at 1458 ft and cause extensive downstream flooding, with devastating environmental and economic impacts at local, regional, and international levels. We have implemented a distributed rainfall-runoff model, HEC-HMS, to simulate the hydro-dynamics of the lake watershed, and used NASA's remote sensing data, including the TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) and AIRS surface air temperature, to drive the model. The entire watershed with an area of about 10,000 km2 was delineated into six sub-basins using 30 m DEM, with each sub-basin having several hundred thousand hydrological cells. We generated a fine-resolution weather data set, based on a combination of ground observations and remote sensing data, to drive the hydrological simulations. Compared with a very limited number of data series available from five meteorological stations located within the watershed (none belonging to the US Historical Climate Network), NASA data offer a uniform coverage and dense distribution. The satellite and ground observations of precipitation and temperature agreed well with each other. However, if only weather station data were used, the observed runoff was underestimated by at least 30%, regardless of the value of the snow melt-rate coefficient used. The inclusion of NASA data, on the other hand, greatly improved the accuracy of runoff estimates, to within 2% of observations. Better runoff estimates will enable better predictions of water levels. The watershed hydrological model is coupled with a reservoir model, HEC-ResSim. The calibration against the observed lake elevation and monthly evaporation estimates from 2001 to 2004 showed a lake seepage varying

  12. Using variance components to estimate power in a hierarchically nested sampling design improving monitoring of larval Devils Hole pupfish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Dzul, Maria C.; Dixon, Philip M.; Quist, Michael C.; Dinsomore, Stephen J.; Bower, Michael R.; Wilson, Kevin P.; Gaines, D. Bailey

    2013-01-01

    We used variance components to assess allocation of sampling effort in a hierarchically nested sampling design for ongoing monitoring of early life history stages of the federally endangered Devils Hole pupfish (DHP) (Cyprinodon diabolis). Sampling design for larval DHP included surveys (5 days each spring 2007–2009), events, and plots. Each survey was comprised of three counting events, where DHP larvae on nine plots were counted plot by plot. Statistical analysis of larval abundance included three components: (1) evaluation of power from various sample size combinations, (2) comparison of power in fixed and random plot designs, and (3) assessment of yearly differences in the power of the survey. Results indicated that increasing the sample size at the lowest level of sampling represented the most realistic option to increase the survey's power, fixed plot designs had greater power than random plot designs, and the power of the larval survey varied by year. This study provides an example of how monitoring efforts may benefit from coupling variance components estimation with power analysis to assess sampling design.

  13. Late Mesozoic and possible early Tertiary accretion in western Washington State: the Helena-Haystack melange and the Darrington- Devils Mountain fault zone

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tabor, R.W.

    1994-01-01

    The Helena-Haystack melange (HH melange) and coincident Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone (DDMFZ) in northwestern Washington separate two terranes, the northwest Cascade System (NWCS) and the western and eastern melange belts (WEMB). The two terranes of Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks superficially resemble each other but record considerable differences in structural and metamorphic history. The HH melange is a serpentinite-matrix melange containing blocks of adjacent terranes but also exotic blocks. The HH melange must have formed between early Cretaceous and late middle Eocene time, because it contains tectonic clasts of early Cretaceous Shuksan Greenschist and is overlain by late middle Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The possible continuation of the DDMFZ to the northwest as the San Juan and the West Coast faults on Vancouver Island suggests that the structure has had a major role in the emplacement of all the westernmost terranes in the Pacific Northwest. -from Author

  14. Response to Heethoff, Norton, and Raspotnig: Ant and Mite Diversity Drives Toxin Variation in the Little Devil Poison Frog and Erratum.

    PubMed

    McGugan, Jenna R; Byrd, Gary D; Roland, Alexandre B; Caty, Stephanie N; Kabir, Nisha; Tapia, Elicio E; Trauger, Sunia A; Coloma, Luis A; O'Connell, Lauren A

    2016-08-01

    Our recent publication titled "Ant and Mite Diversity Drives Toxin Variation in the Little Devil Poison Frog" aimed to describe how variation in diet contributes to population differences in toxin profiles of poison frogs. Some poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) sequester alkaloid toxins from their arthropod diet, which is composed mainly of ants and mites. Our publication demonstrated that arthropods from the stomach contents of three different frog populations were diverse in both chemistry and species composition. To make progress towards understanding this trophic relationship, our main goal was to identify alkaloids that are found in either ants or mites. With the remaining samples that were not used for chemical analysis, we attempted to identify the arthropods using DNA barcoding of cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1). The critique of Heethoff, Norton, and Raspotnig refers to the genetic analysis of a small number of mites. Here, we respond to the general argument of the critique as well as other minor issues detailed by Heethoff, Norton, and Raspotnig.

  15. Cosmic Ballet or Devil's Mask?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2004-04-01

    Stars like our Sun are members of galaxies, and most galaxies are themselves members of clusters of galaxies. In these, they move around among each other in a mostly slow and graceful ballet. But every now and then, two or more of the members may get too close for comfort - the movements become hectic, sometimes indeed dramatic, as when galaxies end up colliding. ESO PR Photo 12/04 shows an example of such a cosmic tango. This is the superb triple system NGC 6769-71, located in the southern Pavo constellation (the Peacock) at a distance of 190 million light-years. This composite image was obtained on April 1, 2004, the day of the Fifth Anniversary of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). It was taken in the imaging mode of the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on Melipal, one of the four 8.2-m Unit Telescopes of the VLT at the Paranal Observatory (Chile). The two upper galaxies, NGC 6769 (upper right) and NGC 6770 (upper left), are of equal brightness and size, while NGC 6771 (below) is about half as bright and slightly smaller. All three galaxies possess a central bulge of similar brightness. They consist of elderly, reddish stars and that of NGC 6771 is remarkable for its "boxy" shape, a rare occurrence among galaxies. Gravitational interaction in a small galaxy group NGC 6769 is a spiral galaxy with very tightly wound spiral arms, while NGC 6770 has two major spiral arms, one of which is rather straight and points towards the outer disc of NGC 6769. NGC 6770 is also peculiar in that it presents two comparatively straight dark lanes and a fainter arc that curves towards the third galaxy, NGC 6771 (below). It is also obvious from this new VLT photo that stars and gas have been stripped off NGC 6769 and NGC 6770, starting to form a common envelope around them, in the shape of a Devil's Mask. There is also a weak hint of a tenuous bridge between NGC 6769 and NGC 6771. All of these features testify to strong gravitational interaction between the three galaxies

  16. Temporal variation in plankton assemblages and physicochemistry of Devils Lake, North Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Leland, H.V.; Berkas, W.R.

    1998-01-01

    Seasonal and annual variation in biomass and structure of algal assemblages of hyposaline Devils Lake were examined in relation to turbidity, ambient concentrations of major ions, trace elements and nutrients, and the standing crop of herbivores. Lake level declined during the early years of study, but rose markedly in subsequent years as historically large volumes of water flowed into this hydrologically-closed basin. Winter algal assemblages were dominated (in biomass) most years by small, non-motile chlorophytes ( Choricystis minor, Kirchneriella lunaris or Dunaliella sp.), or Euglena sp. in the most saline sub-basin. Spring assemblages were dominated by diatoms (Stephanodiscus cf. minutulus, Surirella peisonis, Cyclotella meneghiniana and Entomoneis paludosa were especially prominent) or chlorophytes ( C. minor) until the lake level rose. C. minor abundances then declined in spring assemblages and diatoms ( Stephanodiscus cf. agassizensis and S. niagarae; E. paludosa in the more saline sub-basins) dominated. The potential for nitrogen-deficient conditions for phytoplankton growth was evidenced most summers and early autumns by consistently high concentrations of reactive-P relative to inorganic-N and blooms of the N-fixing cyanophyte Aphanizomenon flos-aquae; Microcystis aeruginosa typically was a co-dominant (>30% of biomass) in these assemblages. Pulses of diatoms ( S. cf. agassizensis and C. meneghiniana) occurred in summers following unusually prolonged periods of calm weather or large water inflows. Physical (irradiance, turbulence) and chemical (major nutrients) variables were the primary factors associated with phytoplankton growth. Transparency and major nutrient concentrations accounted for more of the annual variation in phytoplankton structure than did salinity. Seasonal abundance patterns of the dominant zooplankton (the copepod Diaptomus sicilis; the cladocerans Ceriodaphnia quadrangula, Chydorus sphaericus, Daphnia pulex and Diaphanosoma birgei

  17. Health-hazard evaluation report HETA 87-097-1820, Devil's Lake Sioux Manufacturing Corporation, Fort Totten, Morth Dakota

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nichting, A.T.

    1987-07-01

    In response to a request from employees at the Devil's Lake Sioux Manufacturing Corporation located in Fort Totten, North Dakota, a study was made to determine a possible health hazard from n-hexane exposure and other organic solvents used in the manufacture of Kevlar combat helmets at the facility. Ten women working as edgers had been treated for carpal tunnel syndrome. Air samples revealed concentrations of xylene ranging from not detectable to 6.44 mg/m/sup 3/, toluene ranging from 0.46 to 33.2 mg/m/sup 3/, hexane ranging from 0.27 to 83.3 mg/m/sup 3/, and methyl ethyl ketone ranging from 20.0 to 310 mg/m/supmore » 3/. These levels were highest in the areas of the facility where edgers and glue spray booth operators worked. The author concludes that solvent exposures in these locations posed a potential health hazard. The carpal tunnel syndrome complaints appear to be related to ergonomic factors. The author recommends the substitution of less-toxic materials in the workplace; applying proper engineering controls; improving local-exhaust ventilation; providing protective clothing for workers; sampling of employees for organic solvent exposure at regular intervals; and informing the employees of all hazards inherent in their work.« less

  18. Residence, resorption and recycling of zircons in Devils Kitchen rhyolite, Coso Volcanic Field, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Miller, J.S.; Wooden, J.L.

    2004-01-01

    Zircons from the Devils Kitchen rhyolite in the Pleistocene Coso Volcanic field, California have been analyzed by in situ Pb/U ion microprobe (SHRIMP-RG) and by detailed cathodoluminescence imaging. The zircons yield common-Pb-corrected and disequilibrium-corrected 206Pb/238U ages that predate a previously reported K-Ar sanidine age by up to 200 kyr, and the range of ages exhibited by the zircons is also approximately 200 kyr. Cathodoluminescence imaging indicates that zircons formed in contrasting environments. Most zircons are euhedral, and a majority of the zircons are weakly zoned, but many also have anhedral, embayed cores, with euhedral overgrowths and multiple internal surfaces that are truncated by later crystal zones. Concentrations of U and Th vary by two orders of magnitude within the zircon population, and by 10-20 times between zones within some zircon crystals, indicating that zircons were transferred between contrasting chemical environments. A zircon saturation temperature of ???750??C overlaps within error a previously reported phenocryst equilibration temperature of 740 ?? 25??C. Textures in zircons indicative of repeated dissolution and subsequent regrowth are probably caused by punctuated heating by mafic magma input into rhyolite. The overall span of ages and large variation in U and Th concentrations, combined with calculated zircon saturation temperatures and resorption times, are most compatible with crystallization in magma bodies that were emplaced piecemeal in the crust at Coso over 200 kyr prior to eruption, and that were periodically rejuvenated or melted by subsequent basaltic injections. ?? Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved.

  19. 76 FR 28171 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-16

    ...-Clyde Ice Field, Takeoff Minimum and Obstacle DP, Amdt 1 Gladewater, TX, Gladewater Muni, Takeoff... Field, VOR/DME RWY 12, Amdt 4 Devil's Lake, ND, Devil's Lake Rgnl, ILS OR LOC/DME RWY 31, Amdt 2 Devil's Lake, ND, Devil's Lake Rgnl, RNAV (GPS) RWY 3, Amdt 1 Ely, NV, Ely Airport-Yelland Field, Takeoff...

  20. Groundwater resources of the Devils Postpile National Monument—Current conditions and future vulnerabilities

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Evans, William C.; Bergfeld, Deborah

    2017-06-15

    This study presents an extensive database on groundwater conditions in and around Devils Postpile National Monument. The database contains chemical analyses of springs and the monument water-supply well, including major-ion chemistry, trace element chemistry, and the first information on a list of organic compounds known as emerging contaminants. Diurnal, seasonal, and annual variations in groundwater discharge and chemistry are evaluated from data collected at five main monitoring sites, where streams carry the aggregate flow from entire groups of springs. These springs drain the Mammoth Mountain area and, during the fall months, contribute a significant fraction of the San Joaquin River flow within the monument. The period of this study, from fall 2012 to fall 2015, includes some of the driest years on record, though the seasonal variability observed in 2013 might have been near normal. The spring-fed streams generally flowed at rates well below those observed during a sequence of wet years in the late 1990s. However, persistence of flow and reasonably stable water chemistry through the recent dry years are indicative of a sizeable groundwater system that should provide a reliable resource during similar droughts in the future. Only a few emerging contaminants were detected at trace levels below 1 microgram per liter (μg/L), suggesting that local human visitation is not degrading groundwater quality. No indication of salt from the ski area on the north side of Mammoth Mountain could be found in any of the groundwaters. Chemical data instead show that natural mineral water, such as that discharged from local soda springs, is the main source of anomalous chloride in the monument supply well and in the San Joaquin River. The results of the study are used to develop a set of recommendations for future monitoring to enable detection of deleterious impacts to groundwater quality and quantity

  1. Microbiology of animal bite wound infections.

    PubMed

    Abrahamian, Fredrick M; Goldstein, Ellie J C

    2011-04-01

    The microbiology of animal bite wound infections in humans is often polymicrobial, with a broad mixture of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Bacteria recovered from infected bite wounds are most often reflective of the oral flora of the biting animal, which can also be influenced by the microbiome of their ingested prey and other foods. Bacteria may also originate from the victim's own skin or the physical environment at the time of injury. Our review has focused on bite wound infections in humans from dogs, cats, and a variety of other animals such as monkeys, bears, pigs, ferrets, horses, sheep, Tasmanian devils, snakes, Komodo dragons, monitor lizards, iguanas, alligators/crocodiles, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, prairie dogs, swans, and sharks. The medical literature in this area has been made up mostly of small case series or case reports. Very few studies have been systematic and are often limited to dog or cat bite injuries. Limitations of studies include a lack of established or inconsistent criteria for an infected wound and a failure to utilize optimal techniques in pathogen isolation, especially for anaerobic organisms. There is also a lack of an understanding of the pathogenic significance of all cultured organisms. Gathering information and conducting research in a more systematic and methodical fashion through an organized research network, including zoos, veterinary practices, and rural clinics and hospitals, are needed to better define the microbiology of animal bite wound infections in humans.

  2. Microbiology of Animal Bite Wound Infections

    PubMed Central

    Abrahamian, Fredrick M.; Goldstein, Ellie J. C.

    2011-01-01

    Summary: The microbiology of animal bite wound infections in humans is often polymicrobial, with a broad mixture of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Bacteria recovered from infected bite wounds are most often reflective of the oral flora of the biting animal, which can also be influenced by the microbiome of their ingested prey and other foods. Bacteria may also originate from the victim's own skin or the physical environment at the time of injury. Our review has focused on bite wound infections in humans from dogs, cats, and a variety of other animals such as monkeys, bears, pigs, ferrets, horses, sheep, Tasmanian devils, snakes, Komodo dragons, monitor lizards, iguanas, alligators/crocodiles, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, prairie dogs, swans, and sharks. The medical literature in this area has been made up mostly of small case series or case reports. Very few studies have been systematic and are often limited to dog or cat bite injuries. Limitations of studies include a lack of established or inconsistent criteria for an infected wound and a failure to utilize optimal techniques in pathogen isolation, especially for anaerobic organisms. There is also a lack of an understanding of the pathogenic significance of all cultured organisms. Gathering information and conducting research in a more systematic and methodical fashion through an organized research network, including zoos, veterinary practices, and rural clinics and hospitals, are needed to better define the microbiology of animal bite wound infections in humans. PMID:21482724

  3. Characterization of a Single Magnetotactic Bacterial Species from Devil's Bathtub, Mendon Ponds Park, Honeoye Falls, NY

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wagner, C.; Tarduno, J. A.; Stein, A.; Sia, E.

    2015-12-01

    Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) belong to a lineage of prokaryotic bacteria that synthesize magnetosomes, single domain magnetic particles (typically magnetite or greigite) with an average size of 50 nanometers. MTB utilize magnetosomes through magnetotaxis, the alignment and movement along magnetic field lines to navigate towards preferred environmental conditions. MTB are sensitive to different environments and are thought to exhibit varying magnetosome morphologies, compositions, sizes, and quantities in regards to the environments which they inhabit. These characteristics allow MTB and magnetofossils (preserved magnetosomes) to be used as modern/paleoenvironmental recorders and biomarkers for environmental change(s). Devil's Bathtub (Mendon Ponds Park, Honeoye Falls, NY) is a meromictic glacial kettle pond surrounded by deciduous tree cover. Here we examine one species of MTB based on prominence of this particular morphology at this locale. Magnetotaxis and morphology of this species have been observed using light microscopy. Micrographs have also been taken using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to verify cell morphology and to determine magnetosome morphology. TEM and magnetic hysteresis measurements were done to find and test the composition of magnetosomes. In this study we also focus on DNA sequencing and characterization of this MTB, as there are few MTB species which have been DNA sequenced successfully. Data from these experiments are directly applicable to this up-and-coming area of research as it will aid in the understanding and correlation of magnetosome and magnetofossils with environmental characteristics.

  4. Profile of Maternal Smokers Who Quit During Pregnancy: A Population-Based Cohort Study of Tasmanian Women, 2011-2013.

    PubMed

    Frandsen, Mai; Thow, Megan; Ferguson, Stuart G

    2017-05-01

    Smoking remains the single-most significant preventable cause of poor pregnancy outcomes, yet around 12% of Australian women smoke during pregnancy. Many women are motivated to quit when they find out they are pregnant, yet few are successful. While previous studies have examined the profile of the maternal smoker compared to her nonsmoking counterpart (Aim 1), little is known about what differentiates women who quit during pregnancy to those who do not (Aim 2). Here, we present results from a study investigating the characteristics of women who were able to quit during pregnancy. Data were drawn from the Tasmanian Population Health database of women who had received antenatal care between 2011 and 2013 (n = 14300). Data collected included age, relationship status and ethnicity of expectant mothers, antenatal details, mental health conditions, and drug use. Independent samples t tests were used to compare differences between women who had, and those who had not, quit during pregnancy. The 19.4% of women who self-reported as smoking in the first half (first 20 weeks) of their pregnancy were further grouped and analyzed comparing those who reported still smoking in the second half of their pregnancy (smokers: n = 2570, 92.4%) to those who quit (quitters: n = 211, 7.6%). Quitters (57.8%) were more likely to be in a relationship than their non-quitting counterparts (49.6%, p = .022) and were less likely to suffer from postnatal depression (2.4% vs. 6.0%, p = .029). No other differences between quitters and smokers were observed. Determining the profile of women who are able to quit during pregnancy may be important to improve the relatively poor cessation rates among maternal smokers and may assist in more effectively targeting at-risk women. Smoking cessation interventions have traditionally targeted socially disadvantaged women, for good reason: the majority of smoking pregnant women fall into this category. However, despite the significant attention and resources

  5. Complete devil's staircase and crystal-superfluid transitions in a dipolar XXZ spin chain: a trapped ion quantum simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hauke, Philipp; Cucchietti, Fernando M.; Müller-Hermes, Alexander; Bañuls, Mari-Carmen; Cirac, J. Ignacio; Lewenstein, Maciej

    2010-11-01

    Systems with long-range interactions show a variety of intriguing properties: they typically accommodate many metastable states, they can give rise to spontaneous formation of supersolids, and they can lead to counterintuitive thermodynamic behavior. However, the increased complexity that comes with long-range interactions strongly hinders theoretical studies. This makes a quantum simulator for long-range models highly desirable. Here, we show that a chain of trapped ions can be used to quantum simulate a one-dimensional (1D) model of hard-core bosons with dipolar off-site interaction and tunneling, equivalent to a dipolar XXZ spin-1/2 chain. We explore the rich phase diagram of this model in detail, employing perturbative mean-field theory, exact diagonalization and quasi-exact numerical techniques (density-matrix renormalization group and infinite time-evolving block decimation). We find that the complete devil's staircase—an infinite sequence of crystal states existing at vanishing tunneling—spreads to a succession of lobes similar to the Mott lobes found in Bose-Hubbard models. Investigating the melting of these crystal states at increased tunneling, we do not find (contrary to similar 2D models) clear indications of supersolid behavior in the region around the melting transition. However, we find that inside the insulating lobes there are quasi-long-range (algebraic) correlations, as opposed to models with nearest-neighbor tunneling, that show exponential decay of correlations.

  6. Numerical Study of Winter Diurnal Convection Over the City of Krasnoyarsk: Effects of Non-freezing River, Undulating Fog and Steam Devils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hrebtov, M.; Hanjalić, K.

    2017-06-01

    We performed a numerical simulation of penetrative convection of an inversion-topped weakly stratified atmospheric boundary layer over urban terrain with a strong localized source of heat and moisture. With some simplifications, the case mimics the real environment of the Krasnoyarsk region in Russia where the non-freezing river Yenisei acts as a thermal and humidity source during winter, generating an undulating fog pattern along the river accompanied with scattered `steam devils'. An idealized full diurnal cycle was simulated using an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) three-equation algebraic flux model and the novel buoyancy-accounting functions for treating the ground boundary conditions. The results show a significant effect of the river on the net temperature and moisture distribution. The localized heat and moisture source leads to strong horizontal convection and marked non-uniformity of humidity concentration in the air. An interplay of several distinct large-scale vortex systems leads to a wavy pattern of moisture plumes over the river. The simulations deal with rare natural phenomena and show the capability of the RANS turbulence closure to capture the main features of flow and scalar fields on an affordable, relatively coarse, computational grid.

  7. Devil's vortex Fresnel lens phase masks on an asymmetric cryptosystem based on phase-truncation in gyrator wavelet transform domain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, Hukum

    2016-06-01

    An asymmetric scheme has been proposed for optical double images encryption in the gyrator wavelet transform (GWT) domain. Grayscale and binary images are encrypted separately using double random phase encoding (DRPE) in the GWT domain. Phase masks based on devil's vortex Fresnel Lens (DVFLs) and random phase masks (RPMs) are jointly used in spatial as well as in the Fourier plane. The images to be encrypted are first gyrator transformed and then single-level discrete wavelet transformed (DWT) to decompose LL , HL , LH and HH matrices of approximation, horizontal, vertical and diagonal coefficients. The resulting coefficients from the DWT are multiplied by other RPMs and the results are applied to inverse discrete wavelet transform (IDWT) for obtaining the encrypted images. The images are recovered from their corresponding encrypted images by using the correct parameters of the GWT, DVFL and its digital implementation has been performed using MATLAB 7.6.0 (R2008a). The mother wavelet family, DVFL and gyrator transform orders associated with the GWT are extra keys that cause difficulty to an attacker. Thus, the scheme is more secure as compared to conventional techniques. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is verified by computing mean-squared-error (MSE) between recovered and the original images. The sensitivity of the proposed scheme is verified with encryption parameters and noise attacks.

  8. Orbital Observations of Dust Lofted by Daytime Convective Turbulence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fenton, Lori; Reiss, Dennis; Lemmon, Mark; Marticorena, Béatrice; Lewis, Stephen; Cantor, Bruce

    2016-11-01

    Over the past several decades, orbital observations of lofted dust have revealed the importance of mineral aerosols as a climate forcing mechanism on both Earth and Mars. Increasingly detailed and diverse data sets have provided an ever-improving understanding of dust sources, transport pathways, and sinks on both planets, but the role of dust in modulating atmospheric processes is complex and not always well understood. We present a review of orbital observations of entrained dust on Earth and Mars, particularly that produced by the dust-laden structures produced by daytime convective turbulence called "dust devils". On Earth, dust devils are thought to contribute only a small fraction of the atmospheric dust budget; accordingly, there are not yet any published accounts of their occurrence from orbit. In contrast, dust devils on Mars are thought to account for several tens of percent of the planet's atmospheric dust budget; the literature regarding martian dust devils is quite rich. Because terrestrial dust devils may temporarily contribute significantly to local dust loading and lowered air quality, we suggest that martian dust devil studies may inform future studies of convectively-lofted dust on Earth.

  9. What's "up" with God? Vertical space as a representation of the divine.

    PubMed

    Meier, Brian P; Hauser, David J; Robinson, Michael D; Friesen, Chris Kelland; Schjeldahl, Katie

    2007-11-01

    "God" and "Devil" are abstract concepts often linked to vertical metaphors (e.g., "glory to God in the highest," "the Devil lives down in hell"). It is unknown, however, whether these metaphors simply aid communication or implicate a deeper mode of concept representation. In 6 experiments, the authors examined the extent to which the vertical dimension is used in noncommunication contexts involving God and the Devil. Experiment 1 established that people have implicit associations between God-Devil and up-down. Experiment 2 revealed that people encode God-related concepts faster if presented in a high (vs. low) vertical position. Experiment 3 found that people's memory for the vertical location of God- and Devil-like images showed a metaphor-consistent bias (up for God; down for Devil). Experiments 4, 5a, and 5b revealed that people rated strangers as more likely to believe in God when their images appeared in a high versus low vertical position, and this effect was independent of inferences related to power and likability. These robust results reveal that vertical perceptions are invoked when people access divinity-related cognitions. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project (THBP): a prospective longitudinal examination of the effect of university-level education in older adults in preventing age-related cognitive decline and reducing the risk of dementia.

    PubMed

    Summers, Mathew J; Saunders, Nichole L J; Valenzuela, Michael J; Summers, Jeffery J; Ritchie, Karen; Robinson, Andrew; Vickers, James C

    2013-07-01

    Differences in the level of cognitive compromise between individuals following brain injury are thought to arise from underlying differences in cognitive reserve. The level of cognitive reserve attained by an individual is influenced by both genetic and life experience factors such as educational attainment and occupational history. The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project (THBP) is a world-first prospective study examining the capacity of university-level education to enhance cognitive reserve in older adults and subsequently reduce age-related cognitive decline and risk for neurodegenerative disease. Up to 1,000 adults aged 50-79 years at the time of entry into the study will be recruited to participate in the THBP. All participants will be healthy and free of significant medical, psychological, or psychiatric illness. Of the participant sample, 90% will undertake a minimum of 12 months part-time university-level study as an intervention. The remaining 10% will act as a control reference group. Participants will complete an annual comprehensive assessment of neuropsychological function, medical health, socialization, and personal well-being. Premorbid estimates of past cognitive, education, occupational, and physical function will be used to account for the mediating influence of prior life experience on outcomes. Potential contributing genetic factors will also be explored. Participant results will be assessed annually. Participants displaying evidence of dementia on the comprehensive neuropsychological assessment will be referred to an independent psycho-geriatrician for screening and diagnosis. The THBP commenced in 2011 and is expected to run for 10-20 years duration. To date, a total of 383 participants have been recruited into the THBP.

  11. Community Engagement for Big Epidemiology: Deliberative Democracy as a Tool

    PubMed Central

    McWhirter, Rebekah E.; Critchley, Christine R.; Nicol, Dianne; Chalmers, Don; Whitton, Tess; Otlowski, Margaret; Burgess, Michael M.; Dickinson, Joanne L.

    2014-01-01

    Public trust is critical in any project requiring significant public support, both in monetary terms and to encourage participation. The research community has widely recognized the centrality of public trust, garnered through community consultation, to the success of large-scale epidemiology. This paper examines the potential utility of the deliberative democracy methodology within the public health research setting. A deliberative democracy event was undertaken in Tasmania, Australia, as part of a wider program of community consultation regarding the potential development of a Tasmanian Biobank. Twenty-five Tasmanians of diverse backgrounds participated in two weekends of deliberation; involving elements of information gathering; discussion; identification of issues and formation of group resolutions. Participants demonstrated strong support for a Tasmanian Biobank and their deliberations resulted in specific proposals in relation to consent; privacy; return of results; governance; funding; and, commercialization and benefit sharing. They exhibited a high degree of satisfaction with the event, and confidence in the outcomes. Deliberative democracy methodology is a useful tool for community engagement that addresses some of the limitations of traditional consultation methods. PMID:25563457

  12. A dated molecular phylogeny of manta and devil rays (Mobulidae) based on mitogenome and nuclear sequences.

    PubMed

    Poortvliet, Marloes; Olsen, Jeanine L; Croll, Donald A; Bernardi, Giacomo; Newton, Kelly; Kollias, Spyros; O'Sullivan, John; Fernando, Daniel; Stevens, Guy; Galván Magaña, Felipe; Seret, Bernard; Wintner, Sabine; Hoarau, Galice

    2015-02-01

    Manta and devil rays are an iconic group of globally distributed pelagic filter feeders, yet their evolutionary history remains enigmatic. We employed next generation sequencing of mitogenomes for nine of the 11 recognized species and two outgroups; as well as additional Sanger sequencing of two mitochondrial and two nuclear genes in an extended taxon sampling set. Analysis of the mitogenome coding regions in a Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian framework provided a well-resolved phylogeny. The deepest divergences distinguished three clades with high support, one containing Manta birostris, Manta alfredi, Mobula tarapacana, Mobula japanica and Mobula mobular; one containing Mobula kuhlii, Mobula eregoodootenkee and Mobula thurstoni; and one containing Mobula munkiana, Mobula hypostoma and Mobula rochebrunei. Mobula remains paraphyletic with the inclusion of Manta, a result that is in agreement with previous studies based on molecular and morphological data. A fossil-calibrated Bayesian random local clock analysis suggests that mobulids diverged from Rhinoptera around 30 Mya. Subsequent divergences are characterized by long internodes followed by short bursts of speciation extending from an initial episode of divergence in the Early and Middle Miocene (19-17 Mya) to a second episode during the Pliocene and Pleistocene (3.6 Mya - recent). Estimates of divergence dates overlap significantly with periods of global warming, during which upwelling intensity - and related high primary productivity in upwelling regions - decreased markedly. These periods are hypothesized to have led to fragmentation and isolation of feeding regions leading to possible regional extinctions, as well as the promotion of allopatric speciation. The closely shared evolutionary history of mobulids in combination with ongoing threats from fisheries and climate change effects on upwelling and food supply, reinforces the case for greater protection of this charismatic family of pelagic filter feeders

  13. Delta13C and delta18O isotopic composition of CaCO3 measured by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry: statistical evaluation and verification by application to Devils Hole core DH-11 calcite.

    PubMed

    Révész, Kinga M; Landwehr, Jurate M

    2002-01-01

    A new method was developed to analyze the stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of small samples (400 +/- 20 micro g) of calcium carbonate. This new method streamlines the classical phosphoric acid/calcium carbonate (H(3)PO(4)/CaCO(3)) reaction method by making use of a recently available Thermoquest-Finnigan GasBench II preparation device and a Delta Plus XL continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Conditions for which the H(3)PO(4)/CaCO(3) reaction produced reproducible and accurate results with minimal error had to be determined. When the acid/carbonate reaction temperature was kept at 26 degrees C and the reaction time was between 24 and 54 h, the precision of the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios for pooled samples from three reference standard materials was Devils Hole, Nevada, for which isotope-ratio values had previously been obtained by the classical method. Devils Hole core DH-11 recently had been re-cut and re-sampled, and isotope-ratio values were obtained using the new method. The results were comparable with those obtained by the classical method with correlation = +0.96 for both isotope ratios. The consistency of the isotopic results is such that an alignment offset could be identified in the re-sampled core material, and two cutting errors that occurred during re-sampling then were confirmed independently. This result indicates that the new method is a viable alternative to the classical reaction method. In particular, the new method requires less sample material permitting finer

  14. The devil's checkerboard: why cross-correlation delay times require a finite frequency interpretation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nolet, G.; Mercerat, D.; Zaroli, C.

    2012-12-01

    . We shall present an extreme case of the devil's checkerboard (the term is from Jacobsen and Sigloch), in which the sign of the anomalies in the checkerboard is reversed in the ray-theoretical solution, a clear demonstration of the reality of effects of the doughnut hole. We conclude that the test fully validates `banana-doughnut' theory, and disqualifies ray theoretical inversions of cross-correlation delays.

  15. First records of bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni) and the examination in physical factors of its habitat in the western waters of Morotai Island (North Moluccas)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mukharror, D. A.; Baiti, I. T.; Harahap, S. A.; Prihadi, D. J.; Ichsan, M.; Pridina, N.

    2018-04-01

    Bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni) was recorded for the first time in Morotai waters on 3rd March 2017. In a conservation management context, it is important to clarify the population of Mobula thurstoni and their relations with their habitat. Thus, we examined the existence of Mobula thurstoni with the physical parameters: depth, temperature, visibility, current, weather, and tidal. We measured the existence of Mobula thurstoni with the Underwater Visual Census (UVC) combined with Diver Operated Video (DOV) census. The research from 3rd March to 14th July 2017 (50 dives) showed the Frequency of Occurence (FO) is 50% per single dive. The highest aggregation of 30 Mobula thurstoni was recorded at 14th May 2017 and the average sighting was 3.1 Mobula thurstoni per single dive. Among the examined parameters, it was found that strong factor affecting the sighting of Mobula thurstoni were at the depth of 30-35 m, temperature of 30°C, visibility of 16-20 m, low current (< 1 knot), sunny weather, and tidal category of B. Analysis of UVC and DOV results show that the research location was categorised as feeding location for the Mobula thurstoni.

  16. δ13C and δ18O isotopic composition of CaCO3 measured by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry: statistical evaluation and verification by application to Devils Hole core DH-11 calcite

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Revesz, Kinga M.; Landwehr, Jurate M.

    2002-01-01

    A new method was developed to analyze the stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of small samples (400 ± 20 µg) of calcium carbonate. This new method streamlines the classical phosphoric acid/calcium carbonate (H3PO4/CaCO3) reaction method by making use of a recently available Thermoquest-Finnigan GasBench II preparation device and a Delta Plus XL continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Conditions for which the H3PO4/CaCO3 reaction produced reproducible and accurate results with minimal error had to be determined. When the acid/carbonate reaction temperature was kept at 26 °C and the reaction time was between 24 and 54 h, the precision of the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios for pooled samples from three reference standard materials was ≤0.1 and ≤0.2 per mill or ‰, respectively, although later analysis showed that materials from one specific standard required reaction time between 34 and 54 h for δ18O to achieve this level of precision. Aliquot screening methods were shown to further minimize the total error. The accuracy and precision of the new method were analyzed and confirmed by statistical analysis. The utility of the method was verified by analyzing calcite from Devils Hole, Nevada, for which isotope-ratio values had previously been obtained by the classical method. Devils Hole core DH-11 recently had been re-cut and re-sampled, and isotope-ratio values were obtained using the new method. The results were comparable with those obtained by the classical method with correlation = +0.96 for both isotope ratios. The consistency of the isotopic results is such that an alignment offset could be identified in the re-sampled core material, and two cutting errors that occurred during re-sampling then were confirmed independently. This result indicates that the new method is a viable alternative to the classical reaction method. In particular, the new method requires less sample material permitting finer resolution and allows

  17. ARC-2005-ACD05-0022-025

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2005-02-04

    Ames Mars Wind Tunnel Facility N-245: NASA is simulating small martian 'dust devils' and wind in a laboraotry to determine how they may affect the landscape and environment of the red planet. Dust Devils on Mars are often a great deal biggger than those on Earth and can at times cover the whole planet. Martian winds & dust devils, big and little, collectively are a great force that is constantly changing the planet's environment. shown here: is the control room for the Mars W.T. with Eric Eddlemon

  18. ARC-2005-ACD05-0022-017

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2005-02-04

    Ames Mars Wind Tunnel Facility N-245: NASA is simulating small martian 'dust devils' and wind in a laboraotry to determine how they may affect the landscape and environment of the red planet. Dust Devils on Mars are often a great deal biggger than those on Earth and can at times cover the whole planet. Martian winds & dust devils, big and little, collectively are a great force that is constantly changing the planet's environment. shown here: Silica Sand (Oklahoma 90) particles used in vortex generatory and Mars Wind Tunnel

  19. ARC-2005-ACD05-0022-019

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2005-02-04

    Ames Mars Wind Tunnel Facility N-245: NASA is simulating small martian 'dust devils' and wind in a laboraotry to determine how they may affect the landscape and environment of the red planet. Dust Devils on Mars are often a great deal biggger than those on Earth and can at times cover the whole planet. Martian winds & dust devils, big and little, collectively are a great force that is constantly changing the planet's environment. shown here: Carbondale Red Clay dust used in vortex generatory and Mars Wind Tunnel

  20. Burning questions: Exploring the impact of natural disasters on community pharmacies.

    PubMed

    Mak, Pey Wen; Singleton, Judith

    The past decade has seen a rapid change in the climate system with an increased risk of extreme weather events. On and following the 3rd of January 2013, Tasmania experienced three catastrophic bushfires, which led to the evacuation of several communities, the loss of many properties, and a financial cost of approximately AUD$80 million. To explore the impacts of the 2012/2013 Tasmanian bushfires on community pharmacies. Qualitative research methods were undertaken, employing semi-structured telephone interviews with a purposive sample of seven Tasmanian pharmacists. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and two different methods were used to analyze the text. The first method utilized Leximancer ® text analytics software to provide a birds-eye view of the conceptual structure of the text. The second method involved manual, open and axial coding, conducted independently by the two researchers for inter-rater reliability, to identify key themes in the discourse. Two main themes were identified - 'people' and 'supply' - from which six key concepts were derived. The six concepts were 'patients,' 'pharmacists,' 'local doctor,' 'pharmacy operations,' 'disaster management planning,' and 'emergency supply regulation.' This study identified challenges faced by community pharmacists during Tasmanian bushfires. Interviewees highlighted the need for both the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government to recognize the important primary care role that community pharmacists play during natural disasters, and therefore involve pharmacists in disaster management planning. They called for greater support and guidance for community pharmacists from regulatory and other government bodies during these events. Their comments highlighted the need for a review of Tasmania's three-day emergency supply regulation that allows pharmacists to provide a three-day supply of a patient's medication without a doctor's prescription in an emergency situation. Copyright

  1. The Late Cambrian Takaka Terrane, NW Nelson, New Zealand: Accretionary-prism development and arc collision followed by extension and fan-delta deposition at the SE margin of Gondwana

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pound, K. S.

    2013-12-01

    Re-evaluation of field and lab data indicates that the Cambrian portion of the Takaka Terrane in the Cobb Valley area of NW Nelson, New Zealand preserves the remnants of an accretionary prism complex, across which the Lockett Conglomerate fan-delta was deposited as a consequence of extension. Previous work has recognized that the structurally disrupted lower Takaka Terrane rocks present an amalgam of sedimentary and igneous rocks generated prior to convergence (Junction Formation) or during convergence (Devil River Volcanics Group, Haupiri Group), including arc-related and MORB components. Portions of the sequence have in the past been loosely described as an accretionary prism. Reevaluation of the detailed mapping, sedimentological and provenance studies shows that remnants of a stratigraphic sequence (Junction Formation, Devil River Volcanics Group, Haupiri Group) can be traced through 10 fault-bounded slices, which include a mélange-dominated slice (Balloon Mélange). These slices are the remnants of the accretionary prism; the stratigraphy within each slice generally youngs to the east, and the overall pattern of aging (based on relative age from provenance studies, sparse fossils, stratigraphic relations, and limited isotopic data) indicates that the older rocks generally dominate fault slices to the east, and younger rocks dominate fault slices to the west, delineating imbricate slices within an eastward-dipping subduction zone, in which the faults record a complex history of multi-phase reactivation. The Lockett Conglomerate is a ~500-m thick fan-delta conglomerate that is the preserved within one of the fault slices, where it is stratigraphically and structurally highest unit in the lower Takaka Terrane; it is also present as blocks within the Balloon Melange. The Lockett Conglomerate is marine at its base and transitions upwards to fluvial facies. The Lockett Conglomerate has previously been interpreted to result from erosion consequent on continued

  2. A right to die? Euthanasia and the law in Australia.

    PubMed

    Bartels, Lorana; Otlowski, Margaret

    2010-02-01

    This article examines the legal regulation of active voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide in Australia. The Dying with Dignity Bill 2009 (Tas), which was recently defeated by the Tasmanian Parliament, is discussed, as well as other jurisdictions' past and present legislative developments in this context. The recent case law is also considered to ascertain how "mercy killing" or assisted suicide cases are dealt with by the criminal justice system, with particular reference to the case of R v Justins [2008] NSWSC 1194. This is followed by a critical evaluation of the key arguments for and against euthanasia. The article concludes by examining the significance of the Tasmanian Bill and the implications of such legislation.

  3. Martian Dust Cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cantor, B. A.; James, P. B.

    The Mars Observer Camera (MOC), aboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), has completed approximately 3 consecutive Martian years of global monitoring, since entering its mapping orbit on March 9, 1999. MOC observations have shown the important role that dust devils and dust storms play in the Martian dust cycle on time scales ranging from semi-diurnally to interannually. These dust events have been observed across much of the planet from the depths of Hellas basin to the summit of Arsia Mons and range in size from10s of meters across (dust devils) to planet encircling (global dust veils). Though dust devils occur throughout most of the Martian year, each hemisphere has a "dust devil season" that generally follows the subsolar latitude and appears to be repeatable from year-to-year. An exception is NW Amazonis, which has frequent, large dust devils throughout northern spring and summer. MOC observations show no evidence that dust devils cause or lead to dust storms, however, observations do suggest that dust storms can initiate dust devil activity. Dust devils also might play a role in maintaining the low background dust opacity of the Martian atmosphere. Dust storms occur almost daily with few exceptions, with 1000s occurring each year in the present Martian environment, dispelling the notion of a "Classical Dust Storm Season". However, there does appear to be an annual dust storm cycle, with storms developing in specific locations during certain seasons and that some individual storm events are repeatable from year-to-year. The majority of storms develop near the receding seasonal polar cap edge or along the corresponding polar hood boundaries in their respective hemispheres, but they also occur in the northern plains, the windward side of the large shield volcanoes, and in low laying regions such as Hellas, Argyre, and Chryse. The rarest of dust events are the "Great Storms" or "Global Events", of which only 6 (4 "planet encircling" and 2 "global") have been observed

  4. Devilish Details

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    23 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small, springtime dust devil creating a dark streak on the plains of Argyre. The small, bright dot is the dust devil. Many other dark streaks on the plains indicate the areas where other dust devils had passed within the past several weeks before this July 2005 image was acquired.

    Location near: 44.6oS, 40.3oW Image width: width: 3 km (1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Spring

  5. Measurement of delta13C and delta18O Isotopic Ratios of CaCO3 by a Thermoquest Finnigan GasBench II Delta Plus XL Continous Flow Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with Application to Devils Hole Core DH-11 Calcite

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Revesz, Kinga M.; Landwehr, Jurate Maciunas; Keybl, Jaroslav Edward

    2001-01-01

    A new method was developed to analyze the stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of small samples (400?20 ?g) of calcium carbonate. This new method streamlines the classical phosphoric acid - calcium carbonate (H3PO4 - CaCO3) reaction method by making use of a Thermoquest-Finnigan GasBench II preparation device and a Delta Plus XL continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer. To obtain reproducible and accurate results, optimal conditions for the H3PO4 - CaCO3 reaction had to be determined. At the acid-carbonate reaction temperature suggested by the equipment manufacturer, the oxygen isotope ratio results were unsatisfactory (standard deviation () greater than 1.5 per mill), probably because of a secondary reaction. When the acid-carbonate reaction temperature was lowered to 26?C and the reaction time was increased to 24 hours, the precision of the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios for duplicate analyses improved to 0.1 and 0.2 per mill, respectively. The method was tested by analyzing calcite from Devils Hole, Nevada, which was formed by precipitation from ground water onto the walls of a sub-aqueous cavern during the last 500,000 years. Isotope-ratio values previously had been obtained by the classical method for Devils Hole core DH-11. The DH-11 core had been recently re-sampled, and isotope-ratio values were obtained using this new method. The results were comparable to those obtained by the classical method. The consistency of the isotopic results is such that an alignment offset could be identified in the re-sampled core material, a cutting error that was then independently confirmed. The reproducibility of the isotopic values is demonstrated by a correlation of approximately 0.96 for both isotopes, after correcting for an alignment offset. This result indicates that the new method is a viable alternative to the classical method. In particular, the new method requires less sample material permitting finer resolution and allows automation of some processes

  6. Preliminary Testing of a Pressurized Space Suit and Candidate Fabrics Under Simulated Mars Dust Storm and Dust Devil Conditions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gaier, James R.; deLeon, Pablo G.; Lee, Pascal; McCue, Terry R.; Hodgson, Edward W.; Thrasher, Jeff

    2010-01-01

    In August 2009 YAP Films (Toronto) received permission from all entities involved to create a documentary film illustrating what it might be like to be on the surface of Mars in a space suit during a dust storm or in a dust devil. The science consultants on this project utilized this opportunity to collect data which could be helpful to assess the durability of current space suit construction to the Martian environment. The NDX?1 prototype planetary space suit developed at the University of North Dakota was used in this study. The suit features a hard upper torso garment, and a soft lower torso and boots assembly. On top of that, a nylon-cotton outer layer is used to protect the suit from dust. Unmanned tests were carried out in the Martian Surface Wind Tunnel (MARSWIT) at the NASA Ames Research Center, with the suit pressurized to 10 kPa gauge. These tests blasted the space suit upper torso and helmet, and a collection of nine candidate outer layer fabrics, with wind-borne simulant for five different 10 minute tests under both terrestrial and Martian surface pressures. The infiltration of the dust through the outer fabric of the space suit was photographically documented. The nine fabric samples were analyzed under light and electron microscopes for abrasion damage. Manned tests were carried out at Showbiz Studios (Van Nuys, CA) with the pressure maintained at 20?2 kPa gauge. A large fan-created vortex lifted Martian dust simulant (Fullers Earth or JSC Mars?1) off of the floor, and one of the authors (Lee) wearing the NDX?1 space suit walked through it to judge both subjectively and objectively how the suit performed under these conditions. Both the procedures to scale the tests to Martian conditions and the results of the infiltration and abrasion studies will be discussed.

  7. Preliminary Testing of a Pressurized Space Suit and Candidate Fabrics Under Simulated Mars Dust Storm and Dust Devil Conditions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gaier, James R.; deLeon, Pablo G.; Lee, Pascal; McCue, Terry R.; Hodgson, Edward W.; Thrasher, Jeff

    2010-01-01

    In August 2009 YAP Films (Toronto) received permission from all entities involved to create a documentary film illustrating what it might be like to be on the surface of Mars in a space suit during a dust storm or in a dust devil. The science consultants on this project utilized this opportunity to collect data which could be helpful to assess the durability of current space suit construction to the Martian environment. The NDX-1 prototype planetary space suit developed at the University of North Dakota was used in this study. The suit features a hard upper torso garment, and a soft lower torso and boots assembly. On top of that, a nylon-cotton outer layer is used to protect the suit from dust. Unmanned tests were carried out in the Martian Surface Wind Tunnel (MARSWIT) at the NASA Ames Research Center, with the suit pressurized to 10 kPa gauge. These tests blasted the space suit upper torso and helmet, and a collection of nine candidate outer layer fabrics, with wind-borne simulant for five different 10 min tests under both terrestrial and Martian surface pressures. The infiltration of the dust through the outer fabric of the space suit was photographically documented. The nine fabric samples were analyzed under light and electron microscopes for abrasion damage. Manned tests were carried out at Showbiz Studios (Van Nuys, California) with the pressure maintained at 20 2 kPa gauge. A large fan-created vortex lifted Martian dust simulant (Fullers Earth or JSC Mars-1) off of the floor, and one of the authors (Lee) wearing the NDX-1 space suit walked through it to judge both subjectively and objectively how the suit performed under these conditions. Both the procedures to scale the tests to Martian conditions and the results of the infiltration and abrasion studies will be discussed.

  8. Walkingstick

    Treesearch

    Louis F. Wilson

    1964-01-01

    The walkingstick, Diapheromera femorata (Say), is a defoliator of deciduous trees in North America. Because of its shape, this insect is also commonly called the stickbug, specter, stick insect, prairie alligator, devil's horse, witch's horse, devil's darning needle, thick- thighed walkingstick, or northern walkingstick, depending on locality.

  9. Transmissible cancers in an evolutionary context.

    PubMed

    Ujvari, Beata; Papenfuss, Anthony T; Belov, Katherine

    2016-07-01

    Cancer is an evolutionary and ecological process in which complex interactions between tumour cells and their environment share many similarities with organismal evolution. Tumour cells with highest adaptive potential have a selective advantage over less fit cells. Naturally occurring transmissible cancers provide an ideal model system for investigating the evolutionary arms race between cancer cells and their surrounding micro-environment and macro-environment. However, the evolutionary landscapes in which contagious cancers reside have not been subjected to comprehensive investigation. Here, we provide a multifocal analysis of transmissible tumour progression and discuss the selection forces that shape it. We demonstrate that transmissible cancers adapt to both their micro-environment and macro-environment, and evolutionary theories applied to organisms are also relevant to these unique diseases. The three naturally occurring transmissible cancers, canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) and Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) and the recently discovered clam leukaemia, exhibit different evolutionary phases: (i) CTVT, the oldest naturally occurring cell line is remarkably stable; (ii) DFTD exhibits the signs of stepwise cancer evolution; and (iii) clam leukaemia shows genetic instability. While all three contagious cancers carry the signature of ongoing and fairly recent adaptations to selective forces, CTVT appears to have reached an evolutionary stalemate with its host, while DFTD and the clam leukaemia appear to be still at a more dynamic phase of their evolution. Parallel investigation of contagious cancer genomes and transcriptomes and of their micro-environment and macro-environment could shed light on the selective forces shaping tumour development at different time points: during the progressive phase and at the endpoint. A greater understanding of transmissible cancers from an evolutionary ecology perspective will provide novel avenues for

  10. Precision wildlife medicine: applications of the human-centred precision medicine revolution to species conservation.

    PubMed

    Whilde, Jenny; Martindale, Mark Q; Duffy, David J

    2017-05-01

    The current species extinction crisis is being exacerbated by an increased rate of emergence of epizootic disease. Human-induced factors including habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity and wildlife population reductions resulting in reduced genetic variation are accelerating disease emergence. Novel, efficient and effective approaches are required to combat these epizootic events. Here, we present the case for the application of human precision medicine approaches to wildlife medicine in order to enhance species conservation efforts. We consider how the precision medicine revolution, coupled with the advances made in genomics, may provide a powerful and feasible approach to identifying and treating wildlife diseases in a targeted, effective and streamlined manner. A number of case studies of threatened species are presented which demonstrate the applicability of precision medicine to wildlife conservation, including sea turtles, amphibians and Tasmanian devils. These examples show how species conservation could be improved by using precision medicine techniques to determine novel treatments and management strategies for the specific medical conditions hampering efforts to restore population levels. Additionally, a precision medicine approach to wildlife health has in turn the potential to provide deeper insights into human health and the possibility of stemming and alleviating the impacts of zoonotic diseases. The integration of the currently emerging Precision Medicine Initiative with the concepts of EcoHealth (aiming for sustainable health of people, animals and ecosystems through transdisciplinary action research) and One Health (recognizing the intimate connection of humans, animal and ecosystem health and addressing a wide range of risks at the animal-human-ecosystem interface through a coordinated, collaborative, interdisciplinary approach) has great potential to deliver a deeper and broader interdisciplinary-based understanding of both wildlife and human

  11. Comparing CMIP-3 and CMIP-5 climate projections on flooding estimation of Devils Lake of North Dakota, USA.

    PubMed

    Kharel, Gehendra; Kirilenko, Andrei

    2018-01-01

    Water level fluctuations in endorheic lakes are highly susceptible to even slight changes in climate and land use. Devils Lake (DL) in North Dakota, USA is an endorheic system that has undergone multi-decade flooding driven by changes in regional climate. Flooding mitigation strategies have centered on the release of lake water to a nearby river system through artificial outlets, resulting in legal challenges and environmental concerns related to water quality, downstream flooding, species migration, stakeholder opposition, and transboundary water conflicts between the US and Canada. Despite these drawbacks, running outlets would result in low overspill risks in the next 30 years. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of this outlet-based mitigation strategy under scenarios based on the latest IPCC future climate projections. We used the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project CMIP-5 weather patterns from 17 general circulation models (GCMs) obtained under four representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenarios and downscaled to the DL region. Then, we simulated the changes in lake water levels using the soil and water assessment tool based hydrological model of the watershed. We estimated the probability of future flood risks under those scenarios and compared those with previously estimated overspill risks under the CMIP-3 climate. The CMIP-5 ensemble projected a mean annual temperature of 5.78 °C and mean daily precipitation of 1.42 mm/day; both are higher than the existing CMIP-3 future estimates of 4.98 °C and 1.40 mm/day, respectively. The increased precipitation and higher temperature resulted in a significant increase of DL's overspill risks: 24.4-47.1% without release from outlets and 3.5-14.4% even if the outlets are operated at their combined full 17 m 3 /s capacity. The modeled increases in overspill risks indicate a greater frequency of water releases through the artificial outlets. Future risk mitigation management should include providing a

  12. Enhancing hatch rate and survival in laboratory-reared hybrid Devils Hole Pupfish through application of antibiotics to eggs and larvae

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Feuerbacher, Olin; Bonar, Scott A.; Barrett, Paul J.

    2017-01-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of four antibiotics in enhancing the hatch rate, larval survival, and adult survival of hybrid Devils Hole Pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis (hybridized with Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish C. nevadensis mionectes). Cephalexin (CEX; concentration = 6.6 mg/L of water), chloramphenicol (CAM; 50 mg/L), erythromycin (ERY; 12.5 mg/L), and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX; 25 mg/L) were applied as a constant bath either to incubating eggs or to larvae that hatched from untreated eggs. Hatch rate was roughly doubled by incubation in the presence of CAM (68% hatch) and TMP-SMX (66%) relative to the control (28%). Cephalexin and ERY conferred no benefit upon the hatch rate. Among fry that hatched from treated eggs, there was no increase in 15-d larval survival. However, fish that hatched from eggs treated with CAM, ERY, and TMP-SMX demonstrated enhanced survival at 360 d (51.2, 38.4, and 43.6%, respectively) and at 540 d (22.6, 6.8, and 20.2%, respectively); the untreated control had no survivors to those time points. All groups of eggs treated with antibiotics showed reductions in bacterial colony-forming units (CFUs) at 24 h posttreatment. At 120 h posttreatment, CEX-treated eggs had CFU counts similar to those of the control, whereas the TMP-SMX-treated eggs had the lowest CFU counts. Eggs treated with CAM and ERY had similar CFU counts, which were significantly reduced from the control counts. Larvae that were treated with CAM and TMP-SMX within 12 h posthatch showed enhanced 15-d survival (74% and 72%, respectively) in comparison with the control (56%). For pupfish rearing efforts in which antibiotic use is appropriate, CAM and TMP-SMX appear to provide the greatest benefit, particularly when applied to incubating eggs rather than to hatched larvae.

  13. Mars Global Surveyor MOC Images

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1999-01-01

    Images of several dust devils were captured by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during its global geodesy campaign. The images shown were taken two days apart, May 13, 1999 and May 15, 1999. Dust devils are columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape and pick up dust. They look like mini tornadoes.

  14. 78 FR 37103 - Amendment of VOR Federal Airways V-55 and V-169 in Eastern North Dakota

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-20

    ... by removing reference to special use airspace (SUA) exclusionary language no longer needed. DATES... level (MSL) to 10,000 feet MSL and the Devils Lake West MOA existed from 4,000 feet MSL to 10,000 feet... not including, flight level (FL) 180. Within the proposed Devils Lake East MOA, V-55 would be...

  15. Should the reorganization of addiction-related research across all the National Institutes of Health be structural?--The devil is truly in the details.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Bankole A; Messing, Robert O; Charness, Michael E; Crabbe, John C; Goldman, Mark S; Harris, R Adron; Kranzler, Henry R; Mitchell, Mack C; Nixon, Sara Jo; Riley, Edward P; Schuckit, Marc A; Sher, Kenneth J; Thomas, Jennifer D

    2011-04-01

    The recent proposal to dissolve the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse and create a new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction will require significant effort by the staff of both institutes, the Advisory Councils, and outside experts to overcome complex challenges that could threaten its success. Although integration of the grants portfolios can be achieved, harmonization of goals and policies related to legal use of alcohol versus illegal consumption of drugs will present serious challenges. Consolidating the infrastructure of the 2 existing institutes would entail avoiding encroachment on grant funding. A new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction would require an enormous amount of cooperation from other institutes as the portfolios of research on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse should logically be transferred to the new institute. In the near term, a structural reorganization would be less efficient and more costly than the individual institutes are currently. Increasing efficiency and reducing costs over time will necessitate careful strategic planning. Success in this difficult task would be made easier and less costly by first implementing carefully placed building blocks of increasing functional reorganization. The newly created institute should increase opportunities for specialization within disorders of addiction, attract new leadership, and build a novel strategic plan that will energize scientists and staff and incorporate ideas of stakeholders to advance the public good in preventing and treating alcohol, tobacco, and all addictions. Attention must be paid to the devil in the details. Copyright © 2011 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  16. The Draft National Curriculum for Primary Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Ian

    2012-01-01

    Draft curriculum documents offer a glimpse of the future. They demand a response as all too often the devil is in the detail. What are the devils and maybe demons that await primary mathematics? This forensic consideration of the content of the draft curriculum for primary mathematics catalogues a lack of evidence to underpin proposals. Is the…

  17. La Noche de las Brujas Module. Nivel Primario. [The Night of the Witches Module. Primary Level.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Espinoza, Delia

    La Noche de las Brujas (Halloween) is the topic of this primary level unit. The objectives are to enable the child to: (1) draw scenery, using his imagination, about witches, castles, and devils; (2) write compositions on witches, devils, and Halloween; (3) explain the story "La Noche de las Brujas"; (4) tell about any adventures or…

  18. Accounting for wetlands loss in a changing climate in the estimation of long-term flood risks of Devils Lake, North Dakota

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gulbin, S.; Kirilenko, A.; Zhang, X.

    2016-12-01

    Endorheic (terminal) lakes with no water outlets are sensitive indicators of changes in climate and land cover in the watershed. Regional variation in precipitation pattern in the US Northern Great Plaines lead to a long term flooding of Devils Lake (DL), ND, leading to a 10-m water level rise in just two decades, with estimated flood mitigation costs of over $1 billion. While the climate change contribution to flooding has been established, the role of large scale land conversion to agriculture has not been researched. Wetlands play a very important part in hydrological balance by storing, absorbing and slowing peak water discharge. In ND, 49 % of wetlands are drained and converted to agriculture. We investigated the role of wetlands loss in DL flooding in current and future climate. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate streamflow in all DL watershed subbasins. The model was calibrated using the 1991-2000 USGS gauge data for the first 10 years of study period and validated for the second 10 years (2001-2010), resulting in a satisfactory model performance compared against the measured water discharge in five streams in the watershed and against observed DL water level. A set of wetland loss scenarios were created based on the historical data and the Compound Topographic Index. To emulate the historical and future climate conditions, an ensemble of CMIP5 weather integrations based on IPCC AR5 RCP scenarios was downscaled with the MarkSim weather simulator. Model simulations indicate that the land use change in the DL watershed increased the impacts of climate change on hydrology by further elevating DL water level. Conversely, wetland restoration reduce the flooding and moderates risks of a potential high-impact DL overspill to the Sheyenne River watershed. Further research will concentrate on differentiation of climate change impacts under different types of land use change scenarios.

  19. SHOULD THE REORGANIZATION OF ADDICTION-RELATED RESEARCH ACROSS ALL THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH BE STRUCTURAL?—THE DEVIL IS TRULY IN THE DETAILS

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Bankole A.; Messing, Robert O.; Charness, Michael E.; Crabbe, John C.; Goldman, Mark S.; Harris, R. Adron; Kranzler, Henry R.; Mitchell, Mack C.; Nixon, Sara Jo; Riley, Edward P.; Schuckit, Marc A.; Sher, Kenneth J.; Thomas, Jennifer D.

    2011-01-01

    The recent proposal to dissolve the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse and create a new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction will require significant effort by the staff of both institutes, the Advisory Councils, and outside experts to overcome complex challenges that could threaten its success. Although integration of the grants portfolios can be achieved, harmonization of goals and policies related to legal use of alcohol versus illegal consumption of drugs will present serious challenges. Consolidating the infrastructure of the two existing institutes would entail avoiding encroachment on grant funding. A new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction would require an enormous amount of cooperation from other institutes since the portfolios of research on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse should logically be transferred to the new institute. In the near term, a structural reorganization would be less efficient and more costly than the individual institutes are currently. Increasing efficiency and reducing costs over time will necessitate careful strategic planning. Success in this difficult task would be made easier and less costly by first implementing carefully placed building blocks of increasing functional reorganization. The newly created institute should increase opportunities for specialization within disorders of addiction, attract new leadership, and build a novel strategic plan that will energize scientists and staff and incorporate ideas of stakeholders to advance the public good in preventing and treating alcohol, tobacco, and all addictions. Attention must be paid to the devil in the details. PMID:21443646

  20. 500,000-year temperature record challenges ice age theory

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Snow, K. Mitchell

    1994-01-01

    Just outside the searing heat of Death Valley lies Devils Hole (fig. 1), a fault-created cave that harbors two remnants of the Earth's great ice ages. The endangered desert pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) has long made its home in the cave. A 500,000-year record of the planet's climate that challenges a widely accepted theory explaining the ice ages also has been preserved in Devils Hole.

  1. Comparing CMIP-3 and CMIP-5 climate projections on flooding estimation of Devils Lake of North Dakota, USA

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    Background Water level fluctuations in endorheic lakes are highly susceptible to even slight changes in climate and land use. Devils Lake (DL) in North Dakota, USA is an endorheic system that has undergone multi-decade flooding driven by changes in regional climate. Flooding mitigation strategies have centered on the release of lake water to a nearby river system through artificial outlets, resulting in legal challenges and environmental concerns related to water quality, downstream flooding, species migration, stakeholder opposition, and transboundary water conflicts between the US and Canada. Despite these drawbacks, running outlets would result in low overspill risks in the next 30 years. Methods In this study we evaluated the efficacy of this outlet-based mitigation strategy under scenarios based on the latest IPCC future climate projections. We used the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project CMIP-5 weather patterns from 17 general circulation models (GCMs) obtained under four representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenarios and downscaled to the DL region. Then, we simulated the changes in lake water levels using the soil and water assessment tool based hydrological model of the watershed. We estimated the probability of future flood risks under those scenarios and compared those with previously estimated overspill risks under the CMIP-3 climate. Results The CMIP-5 ensemble projected a mean annual temperature of 5.78 °C and mean daily precipitation of 1.42 mm/day; both are higher than the existing CMIP-3 future estimates of 4.98 °C and 1.40 mm/day, respectively. The increased precipitation and higher temperature resulted in a significant increase of DL’s overspill risks: 24.4–47.1% without release from outlets and 3.5–14.4% even if the outlets are operated at their combined full 17 m3/s capacity. Discussion The modeled increases in overspill risks indicate a greater frequency of water releases through the artificial outlets. Future risk mitigation

  2. Geologic framework and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Edwards aquifer, Uvalde County, Texas

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Clark, Allan K.

    2003-01-01

    The Edwards aquifer in Uvalde County is composed of Lower Cretaceous carbonate (mostly dolomitic limestone) strata of the Devils River Formation in the Devils River trend and of the West Nueces, McKnight, and Salmon Peak Formations in the Maverick basin. Rocks in the Devils River trend are divided at the bottom of the Devils River Formation into the (informal) basal nodular unit. Maverick basin rocks are divided (informally) into the basal nodular unit of the West Nueces Formation; into lower, middle, and upper units of the McKnight Formation; and into lower and upper units of the Salmon Peak Formation. The Edwards aquifer overlies the (Lower Cretaceous) Glen Rose Limestone, which composes the lower confining unit of the Edwards aquifer. The Edwards aquifer is overlain by the (Upper Cretaceous) Del Rio Clay, the basal formation of the upper confining unit. Upper Cretaceous and (or) Lower Tertiary igneous rocks intrude all stratigraphic units that compose the Edwards aquifer, particularly in the southern part of the study area.The Balcones fault zone and the Uvalde salient are the principal structural features in the study area. The fault zone comprises mostly en echelon, high-angle, and down-to-the-southeast normal faults that trend mostly from southwest to northeast. The Uvalde salient—resulting apparently from a combination of crustal uplift, diverse faulting, and igneous activity—elevates the Edwards aquifer to the surface across the central part of Uvalde County. Downfaulted blocks associated with six primary faults—Cooks, Black Mountain, Blue Mountain, Uvalde, Agape, and Connor—juxtapose the Salmon Peak Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in central parts of the study area against Upper Cretaceous strata in the southeastern part.The carbonate rocks of the Devils River trend and the Maverick basin are products of assorted tectonic and depositional conditions that affected the depth and circulation of the Cretaceous seas. The Devils River Formation formed in a

  3. 77 FR 1656 - Proposed Establishment of Restricted Areas R-5402, R-5403A, R-5403B, R-5403C, R-5403D, R-5403E, R...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-11

    ...-0117; Airspace Docket No. 09-AGL-31] RIN 2120-AI92 Proposed Establishment of Restricted Areas R-5402, R-5403A, R- 5403B, R-5403C, R-5403D, R-5403E, R-5403F; Devils Lake, ND AGENCY: Federal Aviation... Restricted Areas R-5402, R-5403A, R-5403B, R- 5403C, R-5403D, R-5403E, R-5403F; Devils Lake, ND (76 FR 72869...

  4. TASITE Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Price, Ken

    2015-01-01

    In this article Tasmanian Society for IT in Education's (TASITE's) Ken Price provides a brief glimpse into recent NASITE-assisted projects and events that have helped to extend teachers' and students' understanding of ICT in education, and the new Digital Technologies curriculum.

  5. Geologic Map of the Edwards Aquifer In Northern Medina and Northeastern Uvalde Counties, South-central Texas

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Clark, Allan K.; Faith, Jason R.; Blome, Charles D.; Pedraza, Diana E.

    2006-01-01

    The southern segment of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas is one of the most productive subsurface reservoirs of potable water in the world, providing water of excellent quality to more than a million people in the San Antonio region, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared it to be a sole-source aquifer (van der Leeden and others, 1990). Depending on the depositional province within which the associated carbonate rocks originated (Maclay and Small, 1984), the Edwards aquifer is composed of several geologic formations (primarily limestone and dolostone) of Early Cretaceous age. Most water pumped from the Edwards aquifer comes form the Person and Kainer Formations, which were deposited over the San Marcos Platform. The principal source of ground water in study area is the Devils River Formation, which was deposited in the Devils River trend. The Devils River Formation provides large quantities of irrigation water to fertile bottomland areas of Medina and Uvalde Counties, where the success of farming and ranching activities has long depended upon water from the Edwards aquifer. The study area includes all of the Edwards aquifer recharge zone between the Sabinal River (on the west) and the Medina River (on the east) plus an updip fringe of the confined zone in east-central Uvalde and central Medina Counties. Over about ninety percent of the study area--within the Devils River trend--the Edwards aquifer is composed of the Georgetown Formation plus the underlying Devils River Formation. Over the remaining area--over the southwestern margin of the San Marcos platform--the Edwards aquifer consists of the Georgetown Formation plus the underlying Edwards Group (Rose, 1972), which comprises the Kainer and Person Formations.

  6. SUBTASK 7.2 GLOBAL WARMING AND GREEHOUSE GASES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaroslav Solc; Kurt Eylands; Jaroslav Solc Jr.

    2005-01-01

    Evaluation of current climatic trends and reconstruction of paleoclimatic conditions for Devils Lake have been conducted based on diatom-inferred salinity for the last 2000 years. The 3-year cross-disciplinary research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was carried out by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and St. Croix Watershed Research Station (SCWRS) at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The results indicate that frequent climatic fluctuations resulting in alternating periods of drought and wet conditions are typical for the northern Great Plains and suggest that the severity and length of extremes exceeded those on modern record. Devils Lakemore » has experienced five fresh periods and two minor freshening periods in the last 2000 years. Transitions between fresh and saline periods have been relatively fast, representing lake level changes that have been similar to those observed in the last 150 years. From 0 to 1070 A.D., Devils Lake showed more variable behavior, with fresh phases centered at 200, 500, 700, and 1000 A.D. From 1070 A.D. to present, Devils Lake was generally saline, experiencing two minor freshening periods at 1305-1315 and 1800-1820 A.D and the major current freshening from 1960 A.D. to present.« less

  7. Swirling Dust in Gale Crater, Mars, Sol 1613

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-02-27

    This frame from a sequence of images shows a dust-carrying whirlwind, called a dust devil, on lower Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, as viewed by NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover during the summer afternoon of the rover's 1,613rd Martian day, or sol (Feb. 18, 2017). Set within a broader southward view from the rover's Navigation Camera, the rectangular area outlined in black was imaged multiple times over a span of several minutes to check for dust devils. Images from the period with most activity are shown in the inset area. The images are in pairs that were taken about 12 seconds apart, with an interval of about 90 seconds between pairs. Timing is accelerated and not fully proportional in this animation. Contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see. A black frame provides a marker between repeats of the sequence. On Mars as on Earth, dust devils result from sunshine warming the ground, prompting convective rising of air that has gained heat from the ground. Observations of dust devils provide information about wind directions and interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21483

  8. Taking climate change into estimation of long-term flood risks: A case of Devils Lake of North Dakota, USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kharel, G.; Kirilenko, A.

    2014-12-01

    Terminal lakes are heavily impacted by regional changes in climate. Devils Lake (DL) is a terminal lake located in the northeastern North Dakota of the US. Since 1990, following a shift in regional precipitation pattern, DL has encountered a 10 m water level rise, with over 400% increase in surface area and 600% increase in water volume, costing over $1.5 billion in mitigation. Currently, the lake is <1.5 m from spillover level to the nearby Sheyenne River with potential negative consequences for downstream water quality and flooding. Recently, the artificial outlets have been constructed and operated to divert DL water to the Sheyenne River amid legal and political pressure. Outlet construction however did not take into consideration possible changes in local climate. We modeled the DL basin ( 9,800 km2) hydrology using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and estimated future water levels of DL for different outlet scenarios under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) SRES scenarios (A1B, B1 & A2) for 2020s and 2050s. We evaluated model performance by comparing SWAT simulated daily streamflow outputs against the observed streamflow data recorded at 6 USGS water gauge locations within the basin. Future climate conditions in the region were estimated by combining historical weather data (1981-2010), 15 CMIP3 General Circulation Model projections from the IPCC data center, and stochastic downscaling methodology (LARS-WG). Our results indicate significant likelihood (7.3% ̶ 20.0%) of uncontrolled DL water overspill in the next few decades in the absence of outlets, with some members of GCM integration ensemble carrying over 85.0% and 95.0% overspill probability for 2020s and 2050s respectively. However, full-capacity outlets show radical reduction in overspill probability to partially mitigate the flooding problem by decreasing the average lake level by approximately 1.9 m and 1.5 m in 2020s and 2050s. Moreover, had there been outlet operation

  9. Leadership Tensions and Dilemmas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edmunds, Bill; Mulford, Bill; Kendall, Diana; Kendall, Lawrie

    2008-01-01

    Results from the Tasmanian Successful School Principal Project (SSPP) survey concur with the four major leadership tensions and dilemmas identified in a background literature review. These tensions and dilemmas relate to internal/external control, ethic of care/responsibility, and an emphasis on professional/personal as well as…

  10. Single-Sex Classes in Co-Educational Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wills, Robin; Kilpatrick, Sue; Hutton, Biddy

    2006-01-01

    This research investigated social and academic outcomes from single-sex classrooms in a Tasmanian coeducational government primary school. Interviews, observations and surveys formed the basis of the evidence. Teachers, parents and children reported positive benefits from the class organisation, but these differed according to gender. Staff…

  11. A New and Different Space in the Primary School: Single-Gendered Classes in Coeducational Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wills, Robin C.

    2007-01-01

    This paper derives from a two-year ethnographic study conducted in single-gendered classes in two Tasmanian government coeducational schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. These schools specifically adopted proactive strategies to address the educational disengagement of boys whose social behaviour affected their own education and that…

  12. Thinking of God moves attention.

    PubMed

    Chasteen, Alison L; Burdzy, Donna C; Pratt, Jay

    2010-01-01

    The concepts of God and Devil are well known across many cultures and religions, and often involve spatial metaphors, but it is not well known if our mental representations of these concepts affect visual cognition. To examine if exposure to divine concepts produces shifts of attention, participants completed a target detection task in which they were first presented with God- and Devil-related words. We found faster RTs when targets appeared at compatible locations with the concepts of God (up/right locations) or Devil (down/left locations), and also found that these results do not vary by participants' religiosity. These results indicate that metaphors associated with the divine have strong spatial components that can produce shifts of attention, and add to the growing evidence for an extremely robust connection between internal spatial representations and where attention is allocated in the external environment. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Rewilding the tropics, and other conservation translocations strategies in the tropical Asia-Pacific region

    PubMed Central

    Louys, Julien; Corlett, Richard T; Price, Gilbert J; Hawkins, Stuart; Piper, Philip J

    2014-01-01

    Alarm over the prospects for survival of species in a rapidly changing world has encouraged discussion of translocation conservation strategies that move beyond the focus of ‘at-risk’ species. These approaches consider larger spatial and temporal scales than customary, with the aim of recreating functioning ecosystems through a combination of large-scale ecological restoration and species introductions. The term ‘rewilding’ has come to apply to this large-scale ecosystem restoration program. While reintroductions of species within their historical ranges have become standard conservation tools, introductions within known paleontological ranges—but outside historical ranges—are more controversial, as is the use of taxon substitutions for extinct species. Here, we consider possible conservation translocations for nine large-bodied taxa in tropical Asia-Pacific. We consider the entire spectrum of conservation translocation strategies as defined by the IUCN in addition to rewilding. The taxa considered are spread across diverse taxonomic and ecological spectra and all are listed as ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN in our region of study. They all have a written and fossil record that is sufficient to assess past changes in range, as well as ecological and environmental preferences, and the reasons for their decline, and they have all suffered massive range restrictions since the late Pleistocene. General principles, problems, and benefits of translocation strategies are reviewed as case studies. These allowed us to develop a conservation translocation matrix, with taxa scored for risk, benefit, and feasibility. Comparisons between taxa across this matrix indicated that orangutans, tapirs, Tasmanian devils, and perhaps tortoises are the most viable taxa for translocations. However, overall the case studies revealed a need for more data and research for all taxa, and their ecological and environmental needs. Rewilding the Asian

  14. Evidence for Water-Mass Changes on the Tasmanian Slope during the Early Miocene (19-16.5 Ma): Stable Isotope and Mg/Ca Records from ODP Leg 189 Site 1168

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pekar, S. F.; Marchitto, T. M.; Lynch-Steiglitz, J.

    2002-12-01

    High-resolution stable isotope (4-10 k.y. resolution) and moderately low-resolution Mg/Ca ratio records were constructed for the late early Miocene (19-16.5 Ma) from ODP Leg 189 Site 1168, located on the southwest slope of Tasmania. These records evaluated paleoceanographic changes that took place during isotopic excursions Mi1b (18.2-17.8 Ma) and Mi2 (16.5 Ma), and the First Climatic Optimum (17.7-16.7 Ma), a time of increased global warmth. Evidence exists that supports the idea for the development of warm saline deep waters (WSDW) originating from the eastern end of the Tethys Sea during the early Miocene. However, questions remain regarding the extent and strength of the WSDW and the possible role it played in the warming that took place during the First Climatic Optimum. Site 1168 is ideally located on the lower slope (estimates place it in lower bathyal waters during the early Miocene) to evaluate the potential penetration of WSDW and into the Southern Ocean. Large fluctuations in the isotope and Mg/Ca ratio records from Site 1168 suggest changes in the water masses that bathed the Tasmanian slope during the early Miocene. Temperature estimates based on Mg/Ca ratios contain a surprisingly high range, from 4° to 10° C. Low temperatures (4°-6° C) are associated with high carbon isotope values (>1.4‰ ) and are interpreted represent Southern Component Waters (SCW). The high carbon isotope values also suggest a proximal source for SCW. High water temperatures (7°-10° C) indicate a warm-water mass and are interpreted to be due to the penetration of WSDW into this area, replacing SCW at various times. Large high-frequency isotopic excursions (low oxygen and carbon isotope values) occurred between 18.7 and 18.4 Ma and were originally thought to be due to either localized effects (e.g., disassociation of hydrates) or possible diagensis. However, a recently published high-resolution isotopic record from the Southern Ocean (Site 1090) also contains large

  15. Devil's Claw

    MedlinePlus

    ... is an herb. The botanical name, Harpagophytum, means "hook plant" in Greek. This plant gets its name ... appearance of its fruit, which is covered with hooks meant to attach onto animals in order to ...

  16. Teacher Assistant Supports in Inclusive Schools: Research, Practices and Alternatives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giangreco, Michael F.

    2013-01-01

    In this article, I summarise the primary content included in a keynote address I delivered via videoconferencing in July 2012 at the national conference of the "Australian Association of Special Education", held jointly with the annual conference of the "Tasmanian Principals Association" in Hobart, Tasmania. The address focused…

  17. Educational Inequality in Tasmania: Evidence and Explanations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowan, Michael; Ramsay, Eleanor

    2018-01-01

    In this article, we map the extent of educational inequality within Tasmania, and between Tasmania and the rest of Australia, using "National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy" (NAPLAN) and senior secondary attainment data. This analysis yields some surprising findings, showing the success of Tasmanian primary and high schools…

  18. Insights.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bogner, Donna, Ed.

    1988-01-01

    Describes two methods to teach radioactive decay to secondary students with wide ranging abilities. Activities are designed to follow classroom discussions of atomic structure, transmutation, half life, and nuclear decay. Includes "The Tasmanian Empire: A Radioactive Dating Activity" and an exercise to teach concepts of half life without…

  19. Skill Development for Volunteering in Rural Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kilpatrick, Sue; Stirling, Christine; Orpin, Peter

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines the skills required of volunteers in the voluntary sector organisations that operate in three rural Tasmanian communities. It reports how volunteers acquire those skills and reveals the challenges faced by voluntary sector organisations in rural communities whose industries and, following from this, community members have a…

  20. ICT, Professional Learning: Towards Communities of Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Webb, Ivan; Robertson, Margaret; Fluck, Andrew

    2005-01-01

    This article reports on findings from "action research" pilot projects in four Tasmanian primary schools. The projects focused on the provision of professional learning to support the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. These pilot projects used an approach developed from observations of…

  1. Developing a Foreign Language Fiction Collection on a Limited Budget

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bissett, Cindy

    2010-01-01

    Libraries have limited budgets and Collection Development Librarians can be faced with difficult decisions in the spending of their allocated funds. This paper discusses how the Tasmanian Polytechnic Launceston Campus Library discovered a gap in their collection and addressed this situation without funding. The Library wished to purchase fiction…

  2. Plains Traveler

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2006-01-01

    10 April 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust devil traveling across a plain west-southwest of Schiaparelli Crater, in far eastern Sinus Meridiani. The dust devil is casting a shadow toward the northeast, just south (below) of an egg-shaped crater.

    Location near: 6.4oS, 349.3oW Image width: 3 km (1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Southern Summer

  3. Local and regional factors affecting atmospheric mercury speciation at a remote location

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Manolopoulos, H.; Schauer, J.J.; Purcell, M.D.; Rudolph, T.M.; Olson, M.L.; Rodger, B.; Krabbenhoft, D.P.

    2007-01-01

    Atmospheric concentrations of elemental (Hg0), reactive gaseous (RGM), and particulate (PHg) mercury were measured at two remote sites in the midwestern United States. Concurrent measurements of Hg0, PHg, and RGM obtained at Devil's Lake and Mt. Horeb, located approximately 65 km apart, showed that Hg0 and PHg concentrations were affected by regional, as well as local sources, while RGM was mainly impacted by local sources. Plumes reaching the Devil's Lake site from a nearby coal-fired power plant significantly impacted SO2 and RGM concentrations at Devil's Lake, but had little impact on Hg0. Our findings suggest that traditional modeling approaches to assess sources of mercury deposited that utilize source emissions and large-scale grids may not be sufficient to predict mercury deposition at sensitive locations due to the importance of small-scale sources and processes. We suggest the use of a receptor-based monitoring to better understand mercury source-receptor relationships. ?? 2007 NRC Canada.

  4. Leisure Activities as a Source of Informal Learning for Older People: The Role of Community-Based Organisations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacKean, Rowena; Abbott-Chapman, Joan

    2011-01-01

    The significance of findings from a qualitative Tasmanian study, which investigated the part played by informal learning in positive ageing, is highlighted by the increasing proportion of the Australian population in the "Third Age" cohort of active, independent people aged 65 years and over. Semi-structured interviews, conducted by a…

  5. Half-Days or Full Days of Kindergarten? How and Why Parents Decide

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boardman, Margot

    2005-01-01

    This study investigated the reasons parents of kindergarten children selected the attendance option of either full days or half-days for their child/ren. Three-hundred-and-thirty-two kindergarten parents from 30 schools across three Tasmanian school districts were participants in this study. Postal surveys were employed to gather data…

  6. The Collaborative Learning Behaviours of Middle Primary School Students in a Classroom Music Creation Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, William J.; Harvey, Georgina

    2014-01-01

    Located in a northern Tasmanian government primary school, this study presents the findings of an investigation into the learning behaviours of middle primary (Grade 3/4) students in a collaborative music soundscape task. Recent literature regarding music education and social development are presented and the design of the research described.…

  7. Tasmania's Rural and Isolated Young People: Issues, Solutions and Strategies. Report of a Community Consultation with Young People, Government, Youth and Organisations, in Rural and Isolated Communities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tasmanian Office of Youth Affairs, Hobart (Australia).

    The Tasmanian (Australia) Office of Youth Affairs and Family conducted consultations concerning issues impacting young people living in rural and isolated areas. Eight workshops specifically for youth were attended by 123 young people. Five community forums were attended by 25-30 participants each. The difficulties of living in isolated situations…

  8. Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory : determination of gasoline oxygenates, selected degradates, and BTEX in water by heated purge and trap/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rose, Donna L.; Sandstrom, Mark W.

    2003-01-01

    Devils Lake rose dramatically during the 1990's, causing extensive flood damages. Because of the potential for continued flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting studies to evaluate the feasibility of constructing and operating an outlet from Devils Lake. The occurrence of mercury in lakes, wetlands, and rivers and the potential for increased loading of mercury into the Sheyenne River as a result of a Devils Lake outlet needed to be evaluated as part of the studies. Sixteen lake, wetland, and river sites in the Devils Lake, Sheyenne River, Red River of the North, and Red Lake River Basins were sampled and analyzed for mercury constituents and other selected properties and constituents relevant to mercury aquatic chemistry. For the lake and wetland sites, whole-water methylmercury concentrations ranged from less than 0.04 to 3.53 nanograms per liter and whole-water total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.38 to 7.02 nanograms per liter. Conditions favorable for methylation of mercury generally exist at the lake and wetland sites, as indicated by larger dissolved methylmercury concentrations in near-bottom samples than in near-surface samples and by relatively large ratios of methylmercury to total mercury (generally greater than 10 percent for the summer sampling period). Total mercury concentrations were larger for the summer sampling period than for the winter sampling period for all lake and wetland sites. A wetland site in the upper Devils Lake Basin had the largest mercury concentrations for the lake and wetland sites. For the river sites, whole-water methylmercury concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 1.13 nanograms per liter and whole-water total mercury concentrations ranged from 2.00 to 26.90 nanograms per liter. Most of the mercury for the river sites occurred in particulate inorganic phase. Summer ratios of whole-water methylmercury to whole-water total mercury were 35 percent for Starkweather Coulee (a wetland-dominated site), near

  9. Reconnaissance of mercury in lakes, wetlands, and rivers in the Red River of the North Basin, North Dakota, March through August 2001

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sando, Steven K.; Wiche, G.J.; Lundgren, R.F.; Sether, Bradley A.

    2003-01-01

    Devils Lake rose dramatically during the 1990's, causing extensive flood damages. Because of the potential for continued flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting studies to evaluate the feasibility of constructing and operating an outlet from Devils Lake. The occurrence of mercury in lakes, wetlands, and rivers and the potential for increased loading of mercury into the Sheyenne River as a result of a Devils Lake outlet needed to be evaluated as part of the studies.Sixteen lake, wetland, and river sites in the Devils Lake, Sheyenne River, Red River of the North, and Red Lake River Basins were sampled and analyzed for mercury constituents and other selected properties and constituents relevant to mercury aquatic chemistry. For the lake and wetland sites, whole-water methylmercury concentrations ranged from less than 0.04 to 3.53 nanograms per liter and whole-water total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.38 to 7.02 nanograms per liter. Conditions favorable for methylation of mercury generally exist at the lake and wetland sites, as indicated by larger dissolved methylmercury concentrations in near-bottom samples than in near-surface samples and by relatively large ratios of methylmercury to total mercury (generally greater than 10 percent for the summer sampling period). Total mercury concentrations were larger for the summer sampling period than for the winter sampling period for all lake and wetland sites. A wetland site in the upper Devils Lake Basin had the largest mercury concentrations for the lake and wetland sites.For the river sites, whole-water methylmercury concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 1.13 nanograms per liter and whole-water total mercury concentrations ranged from 2.00 to 26.90 nanograms per liter. Most of the mercury for the river sites occurred in particulate inorganic phase. Summer ratios of whole-water methylmercury to whole-water total mercury were 35 percent for Starkweather Coulee (a wetland-dominated site), near or

  10. Hydrology and water quality of the Forest County Potawatomi Indian Reservation, Wisconsin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lidwin, R.A.; Krohelski, J.T.

    1993-01-01

    Water quality of three lakes on the Reservation is variable and depends on the degree of connection with the ground-water system. In general, Bug Lake and Devils Lake are in poor hydraulic connection with the ground-water system, and their waters contain low concentrations of dissolved solids and alkalinity and low pH. King Lake is in good hydraulic connection with the ground-water system, and its waters contain higher concentrations of dissolved solids and alkalinity and higher pH than Bug and Devils Lakes.

  11. Early Childhood Teachers in Contexts of Power: Empowerment and a Voice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Overton, Jenny

    2009-01-01

    This article reports on findings from a qualitative research project (Overton, 2006) that highlighted a lack of empowerment experienced by, with and for eight early childhood teachers working in Tasmanian schools. The study investigated how change affects teachers, and focused on the theme of power as experienced by these teachers. The study noted…

  12. Antarctica: Teaching and Learning about. A Teacher's Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kiernan, Jan; Brewer, Warren

    In 1980 the members of the Pacific Circle Consortium (Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, and Canada) considered a proposal from the Tasmanian Education Department for a project to develop a curriculum framework and teaching materials about the Antarctic. The outcome was the Antarctic Project conducted jointly by Australia and New…

  13. The Curious Schools Project: Capturing Nomad Creativity in Teacher Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Mary Ann; Emery, Sherridan

    2015-01-01

    The Curious Schools project is a teacher professional learning initiative that aims to provide an insight into--and resource for--creativity in Tasmanian schools. It offers an alternative to conventional models of teacher professional learning by engaging teachers in multi-modal methods of documenting and reflecting on their work as the basis for…

  14. Behind the Scenery.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scanlon, Andrew, Ed.; And Others

    Knowledge of the physiographic evolution of the Tasmanian landscape is still very far from complete; however, all aspects of the landscape are governed by definable processes acting on the rock medley which is the heritage of Tasmania's geological history. This book explains Tasmania's landforms and geology in terms of geologic processes. Chapters…

  15. Preterm birth and low birth weight continue to increase the risk of asthma from age 7 to 43.

    PubMed

    Matheson, Melanie C; D Olhaberriague, Ana López-Polín; Burgess, John A; Giles, Graham G; Hopper, John L; Johns, David P; Abramson, Michael J; Walters, E Haydn; Dharmage, Shyamali C

    2017-08-01

    Perinatal events can influence the development of asthma in childhood but current evidence is contradictory concerning the effects on life-time asthma risk. To assess the relationship between birth characteristics and asthma from childhood to adulthood. All available birth records for the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS) cohort, born in 1961 were obtained from the Tasmanian State Archives and Tasmanian hospitals. Low birth weight (LBW) was defined as less than 2500 grams. Preterm birth was defined as delivery before 37 weeks' gestation. Small for gestational age (SGA) was defined as a birth weight below the 10 th percentile for a given gestational age. Multivariate logistic and cox regression were used to examine associations between birth characteristics and lifetime risk of current and incident asthma, adjusting for confounders. The prevalence of LBW was 5.2%, SGA was 13.8% and preterm was 3.3%. LBW (OR = 1.65, 95%CI 1.12,2.44) and preterm birth (OR = 1.81, 95%CI 0.99, 3.31) were both associated with an increased risk of current asthma between the ages of 7 to 43 years. There was no association between SGA and current asthma risk. However, SGA was associated with incident asthma (HR = 1.32, 95%CI 1.00, 1.74), and there was an interaction with sex (p value = 0.08), with males having a greater risk of incident asthma (HR = 1.70, 95%CI 1.16-2.49) than females (HR = 1.04, 95%CI 0.70-1.54). Preterm birth and LBW were associated with an increased risk of current asthma into middle-age. These findings are the first to demonstrate the continuing impact of these characteristics on asthma risk into middle-age.

  16. Curiosity Observes Whirlwinds Carrying Martian Dust

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-02-27

    Dust devils dance in the distance in this frame from a sequence of images taken by the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Feb. 12, 2017, during the summer afternoon of the rover's 1,607th Martian day, or sol. Within a broader context view, the rectangular area outlined in black was imaged multiple times over a span of several minutes to check for dust devils. Images from the period with most activity are shown in the inset area. The images are in pairs that were taken about 12 seconds apart, with an interval of about 90 seconds between pairs. Timing is accelerated and not fully proportional in this animation. One dust devil appears at the right edge of the inset -- toward the south from the rover -- in the first few frames. Another appears on the left -- toward south-southeast -- later in the sequence. Contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see. A black frame is added between repeats of the sequence. Portions of Curiosity are visible in the foreground. The cylindrical UHF (ultra-high frequency) antenna on the left is used for sending data to Mars orbiters, which relay the data to Earth. The angled planes to the right of this antenna are fins of the rover's radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which provides the vehicle's power. The post with a knob on top at right is a low-gain, non-directional antenna that can be used for receiving transmissions from Earth, as backup to the main high-gain antenna (not shown here) used for that purpose. On Mars as on Earth, dust devils are whirlwinds that result from sunshine warming the ground, prompting convective rising of air that has gained heat from the ground. Observations of Martian dust devils provide information about wind directions and interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21482

  17. How Does Education and Training Impact on Management Practices? CRLRA Discussion Paper Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kilpatrick, Sue

    A study examined the impact of agricultural education and training on farm business practice and the influence of training on changes to farming practice in Australia. Data were from an additional set of questions on the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 1993-94 Agricultural Financial Survey and an interview survey of 65 Tasmanian farmers. Findings…

  18. Aeolian processes in Proctor Crater on Mars: Sedimentary history as analyzed from multiple data sets

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fenton, L.K.; Bandfield, J.L.; Ward, A.W.

    2003-01-01

    Proctor Crater is a 150 km diameter crater in Noachis Terra, within the southern highlands of Mars. The analysis leading to the sedimentary history incorporates several data sets including imagery, elevation, composition, and thermal inertia, mostly from the Mars Global Surveyor mission. The resulting stratigraphy reveals that the sedimentary history of Proctor Crater has involved a complex interaction of accumulating and eroding sedimentation. Aeolian features spanning much of the history of the crater interior dominate its surface, including large erosional pits, stratified beds of aeolian sediment, sand dunes, erosional and depositional streaks, dust devil tracks, and small bright bed forms that are probably granule ripples. Long ago, up to 450 m of layered sediment filled the crater basin, now exposed in eroded pits on the crater floor. These sediments are probably part of an ancient deposit of aeolian volcaniclastic material. Since then, some quantity of this material has been eroded from the top layers of the strata. Small, bright dune forms lie stratigraphically beneath the large dark dune field. Relative to the large dark dunes, the bright bed forms are immobile, although in places, their orientations are clearly influenced by the presence of the larger dunes. Their prevalence in the crater and their lack of compositional and thermal distinctiveness relative to the crater floor suggests that these features were produced locally from the eroding basin fill. Dust devil tracks form during the spring and summer, following a west-southwesterly wind. Early in the spring the dust devils are largely restricted to dark patches of sand. As the summer approaches, dust devil tracks become more plentiful and spread to the rest of the crater floor, indicating that the entire region acquires an annual deposit of dust that is revealed by seasonal dust devils. The dark dunes contain few dust devil tracks, suggesting that accumulated dust is swept away directly by saltation

  19. Evidence for lack of homing by sea lampreys

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bergstedt, Roger A.; Seelye, James G.

    1995-01-01

    Recently metamorphosed sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus were captured in the Devil River, a tributary to Lake Huron, during summer and autumn 1990. They were tagged with a coded wire tag and returned to the river to continue their migration to Lake Huron to begin the parasitic (juvenile) phase of their life. During the spawning run in spring 1992 when the tagged animals were expected to mature and return to spawn, sea lampreys were trapped in nine tributaries to Lake Huron, including the Devil River; 47,946 animals were examined for coded wire tags, and 41 tagged animals were recovered. None of the 45 mature sea lampreys captured in the Devil River in 1992 were tagged, a proportion (0%) significantly lower than the proportion of the recently metamorphosed sea lampreys tagged in 1990. The distribution of tag recoveries among streams lakewide, however, was proportional to catch. Tagged sea lampreys did not appear to home, but instead seemed to select spawning streams through innate attraction to other sensory cues.

  20. Brown rot in inner heartwood: why large logs support characteristics saproxylic beetle assemblages of conservation concern

    Treesearch

    Marie Yee; Simon J. Grove; Alastair M.M. Richardson; Caroline L. Mohammed

    2006-01-01

    It is not clear why large diameter logs generally host saproxylic beetle assemblages that are different from those of small diameter logs. In a study in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forest, two size-classes of Eucalyptus obliqua logs (>100cm and 30-60cm diameter) were destructively sampled to assess their beetle fauna and the associations of this fauna...

  1. Discovering Argument: Linking Literacy, Citizenship Education, and Persuasive Advocacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brett, Peter; Thomas, Damon

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores persuasive writing and what more might be done to help equip young people with the written literacy tools to be effective participants in civic activism. Firstly, we argue from an Australian (and Tasmanian) context that there may be merit in teachers and students re-visiting some of the advice from classical rhetoric around the…

  2. Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Quarterly project status report, July 1, 1993--September 30, 1993

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1993-11-01

    This document is a brief progress report from each of the research and education projects that are currently funded through the ERWM contract. During third quarter 1993, approval was given by DOE for purchase of equipment. Equipment purchases were initiated and much of the equipment has been received and installed. The committees in charge of coordination of sampling and analyses associated with the collaborative research groups continued to meet and address these issues. Sampling has been done in the lower part of Devil`s Swamp and in the Devil`s Swamp Lake area. In addition, extensive sampling has been done in Bayoumore » Trepagnier and in Bayou St. John. During this period, Tulane and Xavier Universities continued working closely with Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL). The ORNL 1993 summer student internship program was completed. Plans were made for expanding the program to support 8 students next summer. Leonard Price, a Xavier University Chemistry professor and John Walz, a Tulane University Engineering professor each spent 5 weeks at ORNL. During this time these faculty worked with ORNL researchers exploring mutual interests and discussing possible future collaborations. In September, Drs. Carl Gehrs, Lee Shugart and Marshall Adams of ORNL, visited the Tulane and Xavier campuses. They presented two seminars and met with several of the investigators being supported by the ERWM contract. Tulane/Xavier project administrators participated in the Office of Technology Development`s ``New Technologies and Program Exhibition`` in the Rayburn House Office Building on September 23 and in the Hart Senate Office Building on September 27.« less

  3. Identification of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in coastal strata in the Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frieling, Joost; Huurdeman, Emiel P.; Rem, Charlotte C. M.; Donders, Timme H.; Pross, Jörg; Bohaty, Steven M.; Holdgate, Guy R.; Gallagher, Stephen J.; McGowran, Brian; Bijl, Peter K.

    2018-02-01

    Detailed, stratigraphically well-constrained environmental reconstructions are available for Paleocene and Eocene strata at a range of sites in the southwest Pacific Ocean (New Zealand and East Tasman Plateau; ETP) and Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1356 in the south of the Australo-Antarctic Gulf (AAG). These reconstructions have revealed a large discrepancy between temperature proxy data and climate models in this region, suggesting a crucial error in model, proxy data or both. To resolve the origin of this discrepancy, detailed reconstructions are needed from both sides of the Tasmanian Gateway. Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary archives from the west of the Tasmanian Gateway have unfortunately remained scarce (only IODP Site U1356), and no well-dated successions are available for the northern sector of the AAG. Here we present new stratigraphic data for upper Paleocene and lower Eocene strata from the Otway Basin, southeast Australia, on the (north)west side of the Tasmanian Gateway. We analyzed sediments recovered from exploration drilling (Latrobe-1 drill core) and outcrop sampling (Point Margaret) and performed high-resolution carbon isotope geochemistry of bulk organic matter and dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) and pollen biostratigraphy on sediments from the regional lithostratigraphic units, including the Pebble Point Formation, Pember Mudstone and Dilwyn Formation. Pollen and dinocyst assemblages are assigned to previously established Australian pollen and dinocyst zonations and tied to available zonations for the SW Pacific. Based on our dinocyst stratigraphy and previously published planktic foraminifer biostratigraphy, the Pebble Point Formation at Point Margaret is dated to the latest Paleocene. The globally synchronous negative carbon isotope excursion that marks the Paleocene-Eocene boundary is identified within the top part of the Pember Mudstone in the Latrobe-1 borehole and at Point Margaret. However, the high abundances of the

  4. "Homes Are Sought for These Children": Locating Adoption within the Australian Stolen Generations Narrative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swain, Shurlee

    2013-01-01

    In 1838 a child known as Mathinna was removed from the settlement for the remnant of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people on Flinders Island and taken to Hobart to live in the house of the lieutenant governor. Sir John and Lady Franklin, the historical record recounts, were impressed by her intelligence and wanted to bring her up as a companion to…

  5. Port Arthur Alive: Exploring Past and Present, 4. Eyewitness.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tasmanian Education Dept., Hobart (Australia).

    This document presents part 4 of a five part project in which students of the Tasmanian region of Australia are invited to explore the history of Port Arthur, a 19th century penal colony located in Tasmania. The project is based on three ideas: (1) studying history can be educational and enjoyable; (2) imagination is an essential part of studying…

  6. Spatial distribution of chemical constituents in the Kuskokwim River, Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wang, Bronwen

    1999-01-01

    The effects of lithologic changes on the water quality of the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey in June 1997. Water, suspended sediments, and bed sediments were sampled from the Kusko-kwim River and from three tributaries, the Holitna River, Red Devil Creek, and Crooked Creek. Dissolved boron, chromium, copper, manganese, zinc, aluminum, lithium, barium, iron, antimony, arsenic, mercury, and strontium were detected. Dissolved manganese and iron concentrations were three and four times higher in the Holitna River than in the Kusko-kwim River. Finely divided ferruginous materials found in the graywacke and shale units of the Kuskokwim Group are the probable source of the iron. The highest concentrations of dissolved strontium and barium were found at McGrath, and the limestone present in the upper basin was the most probable source of strontium. The total mercury concentrations on the Kuskokwim River decreased downstream from McGrath. Dissolved mercury was 24 to 32 percent of the total concentration. The highest concentrations of total mercury, and of dissolved antimony and arsenic were found in Red Devil Creek. The higher concentrations from Red Devil Creek did not affect the main stem mercury transport because the tributary was small relative to the Kuskokwim River. In Red Devil Creek, total mercury exceeded the concentration at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) indicates that aquatic life is affected and dissolved arsenic exceeded the USEPA's drinking-water standard. Background mercury and antimony concentrations in bed sediments ranged from 0.09 to 0.15 micrograms per gram for mercury and from 1.6 to 2.1 micrograms per gram for antimony. Background arsenic concentrations were greater than 27 micrograms per gram. Sites near the Red Devil mercury mine had mercury and antimony concentrations greater than background concentrations. These concentrations probably reflect the proximity to the ore body and past

  7. Dust Devil Tracks

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-11-13

    This image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft of Daedalia Planum shows the termination or end of a single flow. In this case it is the end of the brighter/rougher flow on the right side of the image.

  8. 9 CFR 319.760 - Deviled ham, deviled tongue, and similar products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... similar products. 319.760 Section 319.760 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION DEFINITIONS AND STANDARDS OF IDENTITY OR COMPOSITION Meat... a semiplastic cured meat food product made from finely comminuted ham and containing condiments...

  9. 9 CFR 319.760 - Deviled ham, deviled tongue, and similar products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... similar products. 319.760 Section 319.760 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION DEFINITIONS AND STANDARDS OF IDENTITY OR COMPOSITION Meat... a semiplastic cured meat food product made from finely comminuted ham and containing condiments...

  10. A transcriptome resource for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus): insights into koala retrovirus transcription and sequence diversity.

    PubMed

    Hobbs, Matthew; Pavasovic, Ana; King, Andrew G; Prentis, Peter J; Eldridge, Mark D B; Chen, Zhiliang; Colgan, Donald J; Polkinghorne, Adam; Wilkins, Marc R; Flanagan, Cheyne; Gillett, Amber; Hanger, Jon; Johnson, Rebecca N; Timms, Peter

    2014-09-11

    The koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, is a biologically unique and evolutionarily distinct Australian arboreal marsupial. The goal of this study was to sequence the transcriptome from several tissues of two geographically separate koalas, and to create the first comprehensive catalog of annotated transcripts for this species, enabling detailed analysis of the unique attributes of this threatened native marsupial, including infection by the koala retrovirus. RNA-Seq data was generated from a range of tissues from one male and one female koala and assembled de novo into transcripts using Velvet-Oases. Transcript abundance in each tissue was estimated. Transcripts were searched for likely protein-coding regions and a non-redundant set of 117,563 putative protein sequences was produced. In similarity searches there were 84,907 (72%) sequences that aligned to at least one sequence in the NCBI nr protein database. The best alignments were to sequences from other marsupials. After applying a reciprocal best hit requirement of koala sequences to those from tammar wallaby, Tasmanian devil and the gray short-tailed opossum, we estimate that our transcriptome dataset represents approximately 15,000 koala genes. The marsupial alignment information was used to look for potential gene duplications and we report evidence for copy number expansion of the alpha amylase gene, and of an aldehyde reductase gene.Koala retrovirus (KoRV) transcripts were detected in the transcriptomes. These were analysed in detail and the structure of the spliced envelope gene transcript was determined. There was appreciable sequence diversity within KoRV, with 233 sites in the KoRV genome showing small insertions/deletions or single nucleotide polymorphisms. Both koalas had sequences from the KoRV-A subtype, but the male koala transcriptome has, in addition, sequences more closely related to the KoRV-B subtype. This is the first report of a KoRV-B-like sequence in a wild population. This transcriptomic

  11. Real-time PCR as a surveillance tool for the detection of Trichinella infection in muscle samples from wildlife.

    PubMed

    Cuttell, Leigh; Corley, Sean W; Gray, Christian P; Vanderlinde, Paul B; Jackson, Louise A; Traub, Rebecca J

    2012-09-10

    Trichinella nematodes are the causative agent of trichinellosis, a meat-borne zoonosis acquired by consuming undercooked, infected meat. Although most human infections are sourced from the domestic environment, the majority of Trichinella parasites circulate in the natural environment in carnivorous and scavenging wildlife. Surveillance using reliable and accurate diagnostic tools to detect Trichinella parasites in wildlife hosts is necessary to evaluate the prevalence and risk of transmission from wildlife to humans. Real-time PCR assays have previously been developed for the detection of European Trichinella species in commercial pork and wild fox muscle samples. We have expanded on the use of real-time PCR in Trichinella detection by developing an improved extraction method and SYBR green assay that detects all known Trichinella species in muscle samples from a greater variety of wildlife. We simulated low-level Trichinella infections in wild pig, fox, saltwater crocodile, wild cat and a native Australian marsupial using Trichinella pseudospiralis or Trichinella papuae ethanol-fixed larvae. Trichinella-specific primers targeted a conserved region of the small subunit of the ribosomal RNA and were tested for specificity against host and other parasite genomic DNAs. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was at least 100 fg using pure genomic T. pseudospiralis DNA serially diluted in water. The diagnostic sensitivity of the assay was evaluated by spiking 10 g of each host muscle with T. pseudospiralis or T. papuae larvae at representative infections of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.1 larvae per gram, and shown to detect larvae at the lowest infection rate. A field sample evaluation on naturally infected muscle samples of wild pigs and Tasmanian devils showed complete agreement with the EU reference artificial digestion method (k-value=1.00). Positive amplification of mouse tissue experimentally infected with T. spiralis indicated the assay could also be used on encapsulated

  12. Rising to the human rights challenge in compulsory treatment--new approaches to mental health law in Australia.

    PubMed

    Callaghan, Sascha; Ryan, Christopher J

    2012-07-01

    To analyse, and explain to Australasian psychiatrists, recent proposed changes to the terms of coercive treatment for mental illness in Tasmania and Victoria and to place the proposals in the context of a broader human rights framework that is likely to impact the future shape of mental health legislation more generally. The Australian law reform proposals are reviewed against the requirements of numerous human rights instruments, including the recently ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ethical and legal arguments are made to support the proposed changes and to introduce others, taking into account academic commentary on mental health law and recent empirical work on the ability to usefully categorise patients by their likelihood of harm to self and others. The Victorian and Tasmanian draft mental health bills propose a new basis for compulsory psychiatric treatment in Australasia. If they become law, coercive psychiatric treatment could only be applied to patients who lack decision-making capacity. The Tasmanian draft bill also sets a new benchmark for timely independent review of compulsory treatment. However both jurisdictions propose to retain an 'additional harm' test which must be satisfied before patients may be treated without consent. This differs from non-psychiatric cases, where if patients are unable to consent to medical treatment for themselves, they will be entitled to receive coercive treatment if it is in their best interests. The proposed changes under the Tasmanian and Victorian draft mental health bills will ensure that, in line with local and international human rights obligations, only patients who lack decision-making capacity may be coercively treated for mental illness. However the continuing 'additional harm' criteria may breach human rights obligations by imposing a discriminatory threshold for care on patients who are unable to consent to treatment for themselves. This could be avoided by

  13. Geologic framework of the Edwards Aquifer and upper confining unit, and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Edwards Aquifer, south-central Uvalde County, Texas

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Clark, Allan K.; Small, Ted A.

    1997-01-01

    The stratigraphic units of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Uvalde County generally are porous and permeable. The stratigraphic units that compose the Edwards aquifer in south-central Uvalde County are the Devils River Formation in the Devils River trend; and the West Nueces, McKnight, and Salmon Peak Formations in the Maverick Basin. The Balcones fault zone is the principal structural feature in Uvalde County; however, the displacement along the fault zone is less in Uvalde County than in adjacent Medina and Bexar Counties to the east. The Uvalde Salient is a structural high in south-central Uvalde County, and consists of several closely connected crustal uplifts that bring Edwards aquifer strata to the surface generally forming prominent hills. The crustal uplifts forming this structural high are the remnants of intrusive and extrusive magnatic activity. Six primary faults—Cooks, Black Mountain, Blue Mountain, Uvalde, Agape, and Connor—cross the length of the study area from the southwest to the northeast juxtaposing the Lower Cretaceous Salmon Peak Formation at the surface in the northwestern part of the study area against Upper Cretaceous formations in the central part of the study area. In the study area, the porosity of the rocks in the Edwards aquifer is related to depositional or diagenetic elements along specific stratigraphic horizons (fabric selective) and to dissolution and structural elements that can occur in any lithostratigraphic horizon (not fabric selective). Permeability depends on the physical properties of the rock such as size, shape, distribution of pores, and fissuring and dissolution. The middle 185 feet of the lower part of the Devils River Formation, the upper part of the Devils River Formation, and the upper unit of the Salmon Peak Formation probably are the most porous and permeable stratigraphic zones of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Uvalde County.

  14. Existence of a photoinducible phase for ovarian development and photoperiod-related alteration of clock gene expression in a damselfish.

    PubMed

    Takeuchi, Yuki; Hada, Noriko; Imamura, Satoshi; Hur, Sung-Pyo; Bouchekioua, Selma; Takemura, Akihiro

    2015-10-01

    The sapphire devil, Chrysiptera cyanea, is a reef-associated damselfish and their ovarian development can be induced by a long photoperiod. In this study, we demonstrated the existence of a photoinducible phase for the photoperiodic ovarian development in the sapphire devil. Induction of ovarian development under night-interruption light schedules and Nanda-Hamner cycles revealed that the photoinducible phase appeared in a circadian manner between ZT12 and ZT13. To characterize the effect of photoperiod on clock gene expression in the brain of this species, we determined the expression levels of the sdPer1, sdPer2, sdCry1, and sdCry2 clock genes under constant light and dark conditions (LL and DD) and photoperiodic (short and long photoperiods). The expression of sdPer1 exhibited clear circadian oscillation under both LL and DD conditions, while sdPer2 and sdCry1 expression levels were lower under DD than under LL conditions and sdCry2 expression was lower under LL than under DD conditions. These results suggest a key role for sdPer1 in circadian clock cycling and that sdPer2, sdCry1, and sdCry2 are light-responsive clock genes in the sapphire devil. After 1 week under a long photoperiod, we observed photoperiod-related changes in sdPer1, sdPer2, and sdCry2 expression, but not in sdCry1 expression. These results suggest that the expression patterns of some clock genes exhibit seasonal variation according to seasonal changes in day length and that such seasonal alteration of clock gene expression may contribute to seasonal recognition by the sapphire devil. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Climate change impacts on North Dakota: agriculture and hydrology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirilenko, A.; Zhang, X.; Lim, Y.; Teng, W. L.

    2011-12-01

    North Dakota is one of the principal producers of agricultural commodities in the USA, including over half of the total spring wheat production. While the region includes some of the best agricultural lands in the world, the steep temperature and precipitation gradients also make it one of the most sensitive to climate change. Over the 20th century, both the temperature and the pattern of precipitation in the state have changed. One of the most dramatic examples of the consequences of this change is the Devils Lake flooding. Devils Lake is a terminal lake with a surface area of about 500 km2 in a 9,867 km2 closed watershed, located in the northeastern part of the state. The recent changes in climate interrupted the 5-7 year long wet/dry cycle, resulting in a persistently wet state. The change in the water balance has led to a substantial increase in the lake level from 427.0 m in 1940 to 434.6 m in 1993 to 443.2 m in 2011. The resulting flooding has threatened the local communities, costing $450 million in mitigation efforts thus far. If the elevation reaches 444.4 m, the saline, eutrophic lake will naturally spill into the Sheyenne River, eventually flowing into Lake Winnipeg. In two studies, we estimated the climate change impacts on crop yields and on the hydrology of the Devils Lake basin. The projections of six GCMs, driven by three SRES scenarios were statistically downscaled for eight different locations throughout the state, for the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s climate. Averaged over all GCMs, there is a small increase in precipitation, by 0.6 - 1.1% in 2020s, 3.1 - 3.5% in 2050s, and 3.0 - 7.6% in 2080s. This change in precipitation varies with the seasons, with cold seasons becoming wetter and warm seasons not changing. For projections of climate change impacts on the hydrology of the Devils Lake basin, we additionally used the information on the spatial distribution of precipitation over the basin from the NASA TRMM TMPA 3B42-V6 product, which combines

  16. Satanic abuse, with focus on the situation in Finland.

    PubMed

    Segerberg, M

    1997-12-01

    This paper outlines Satanism and devil worship as practised in the Western countries and reviews the occurrence of Satanism in Finland. Two principal groups can be distinguished: the Satanists, mainly adults embracing the philosophical aspects of Satanism with no interest in hurting others, and the devil worshippers of Satanic cults, who accept teenagers into their group and whose activity may take violent forms. The main Satanic cult activity is vandalism, but other activities are now becoming more aggressive: causing bodily and mental harm to members and victims and luring young people into criminal activity. The views of the police and the medical community are discussed in this paper and current intervention is examined.

  17. Oxygen Consumption is Limited at an Ecologically Relevant Rearing Temperature in Pupfish Eggs.

    PubMed

    Jones, Alexander C; Lim, David; Wayne-Thompson, Jacoby J; Urbina, Natasha; Puentedura, Georgina; Hillyard, Stanley; Breukelen, Frank Van

    2016-10-01

    The habitat of the critically endangered Devils Hole Pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis is marked by constant high temperatures and low oxygen availability. In order to explore the effects of these conditions on development and recruitment of eggs in Devils Hole, we tested the effects of two ecologically relevant temperatures on the development, hatch success, and oxygen consumption of eggs from a refuge population of pupfish derived from C. diabolis and eggs from its close sister species, Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes. We developed a simple method to measure oxygen consumption in a single egg. Parent acclimation temperature, rather than incubation temperature, was the most important factor influencing hatch success. Eggs incubated at 33°C hatched more quickly compared to those incubated at 28°C. Despite this accelerated development, larvae from both temperatures were of similar size at hatch. Unexpectedly, eggs incubated at 33°C experience lower than expected oxygen consumption rates compared to those incubated at 28°C. Oxygen consumption rates would be limited at PO 2 values that are much higher than environmental oxygen tensions. Oxygen consumption increased dramatically upon hatch, indicating that low oxygen conditions such as those present in Devils Hole may limit developing eggs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Identification and return of a skull from Tasmania in the Berlin anatomical collection.

    PubMed

    Winkelmann, Andreas; Teßmann, Barbara

    2018-02-01

    Following a request by the Australian government, human remains of Australian origin were identified in the anatomical collection of Charité, the medical faculty of Berlin. We initiated an interdisciplinary provenance research on such remains to ensure their identity, elucidate their history, and prepare for a possible return to Australia. Here, we present results regarding a skull in the collection labeled as stemming from Tasmania. The non-invasive anthropological investigation revealed the skull to stem from a girl of about 15 years of age who most likely died of a massive otitis/petrositis with subsequent meningitis. These results match the historical findings, which started from an inscription on the frontal bone giving a first name ("Nanny"), an ancestry ("native of Kangaroo Island"), a collector ("Schayer"), and a location ("van Diemensland", i.e. Tasmania). The collector, Adolph Schayer, was a German sheep breeder and botanical/zoological collector living in north-western Tasmania from 1831 to 1843. In archival sources, a girl named Nanny Allan could be identified, who was a native of Kangaroo Island and died in Launceston/Tasmania in 1836 at the age of about 14 years. As there were no doubts that these remains stem from a Tasmanian individual, they were handed over to representatives of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in July 2014.

  19. Visitor center flight room, detail of twin structural piers at ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Visitor center flight room, detail of twin structural piers at northeast corner supporting flight room dome - Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, Highway 158, Kill Devil Hills, Dare County, NC

  20. Earth Observations taken by the Expedition Seven crew

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2003-06-22

    ISS007-E-07842 (22 June 2003) --- This image, photographed by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS), features Kitty Hawk, N.C., on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The view shows part of Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic side of the banks as well. This year the world celebrates a century of human flight with the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk. The Wrights used the Outer Banks’ prevailing winds and the altitude gained by climbing a 90-foot hill (Kill Devil Hill) to successfully demonstrate powered flight. The large circle on the image is a road that wraps around Kill Devil Hill, now part of the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

  1. Context, view to north from mall; from left to right, ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Context, view to north from mall; from left to right, flight markers, camp buildings, and visitor center - Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, Highway 158, Kill Devil Hills, Dare County, NC

  2. NPDES Draft Permit for Spirit Lake Water Treatment Facility in North Dakota

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Under NPDES draft permit ND-0031101, Spirit Lake Water Resource Management is authorized to discharge to an unnamed intermittent tributary to Devils Lake which is tributary to Sheyenne River in North Dakota.

  3. Visitor center museum display, detail of diorama booth with raised ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Visitor center museum display, detail of diorama booth with raised step; door to electrical door panel at left - Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, Highway 158, Kill Devil Hills, Dare County, NC

  4. Using the "Kalanchoe daigremontiana" Plant To Show the Effects of Photoperiodism on Plantlet Formation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hershey, David R.

    2002-01-01

    Describes an activity demonstrating the importance of photoperiod on plant development. Uses the plant devil's backbone for the experiment and studies the details of photoperiodic requirement for plantlet formation. (Contains 12 references.) (YDS)

  5. The Doorway for Devils

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-12-01

    terror perpetrated by Joseph Stalin. The casualties from the entirety of the prerevolutionary terrorist movement pale in comparison to the body count of...movement’s ideologues, the nihilist movement generated limited social change and an even smaller body count . No wholesale murder a la Zaichnevski or...were able to count on some degree of support from the other.115 Mere 111 McCauley and Moskalenko

  6. Summary of Natural Hazard Statistics for 2017 in the United States

    MedlinePlus

    ... Damage Costs Weather Event Convection Lightning Tornado Thunderstorm Wind Hail Extreme Temperatures Cold Heat Flood Flash Flood ... Drought Dust Storm Dust Devil Rain Fog High Wind Waterspout Fire Weather Mud Slide Volcanic Ash Miscellaneous ...

  7. Summary of Natural Hazard Statistics for 2015 in the United States

    MedlinePlus

    ... Damage Costs Weather Event Convection Lightning Tornado Thunderstorm Wind Hail Extreme Temperatures Cold Heat Flood Flash Flood ... Drought Dust Storm Dust Devil Rain Fog High Wind Waterspout Fire Weather Mud Slide Volcanic Ash Miscellaneous ...

  8. National Fire News- Current Wildfires

    MedlinePlus

    ... of Denali Bella Creek Southwest Area Forestry, DOF ST 2,631 0 Bismark Galena Zone BLM 876 ... of Hughes Devil's Elbow Southwest Area Forestry, DOF ST 180 0 Door Mountains Southwest Area Forestry, DOF ...

  9. Gymnema

    MedlinePlus

    ... combination of gymnema, hydroxycitric acid, and niacin-bound chromium by mouth can reduce body weight in people ... these products include alpha-lipoic acid, bitter melon, chromium, devil's claw, fenugreek, garlic, guar gum, horse chestnut, ...

  10. Visitor center flight room,detail of modern soffit and original ribbedconcrete ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Visitor center flight room,detail of modern soffit and original ribbed-concrete including original integrated duct work, view to northwest - Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, Highway 158, Kill Devil Hills, Dare County, NC

  11. Calling for the absent male.

    PubMed

    Edgar, D

    1999-08-01

    This is an edited version of a keynote address given by Dr Don Edgar at both the VicHealth Conference on 'Healthy Relationships in the Workplace' held in August 1998 and the Tasmanian Men's Health Conference held in Launceston in November 1998. Men's lack of communication skills and emotional intelligence has serious negative consequences for their own physical and mental health, the wellbeing of their families and for the quality of their performance in the workplace.

  12. 78 FR 65380 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-31

    ... the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. The human remains were removed from Alpena, Isabella, Grand... removed from the Devil River Mound site (20AL1) in Alpena County, MI. A resident of Ossineke, MI...

  13. Confronting Cost and Pricing Issues in Distance Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Thomas H.; Parker, G. D., III; Tebeaux, Elizabeth

    2001-01-01

    Asserts that "the devil is in the details" when determining costs and prices for distance delivery of courses, and describes Texas A&M University's process of determining cost and price for distance education courses. (EV)

  14. Chaplains' Perspectives on Their Work in Tasmanian Government Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rayner, Christopher S.; Swabey, Karen J.

    2016-01-01

    School chaplaincy services aim to promote student and school community well-being. Given the community interest in chaplaincy services in government schools, it is important that research inform future developments to maximize the potential benefits of chaplaincy services to schools. In this study, 68 chaplains in the Australian state of Tasmania…

  15. Effects of land use on the water quality and biota of three streams in the Piedmont province of North Carolina

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Crawford, J.K.; Lenat, D.R.

    1989-01-01

    Three small streams in North Carolina 's northern Piedmont were studied to compare the effects of land use in their watersheds on water quality characteristics and aquatic biota. Devil 's Cradle Creek (agricultural watershed) had more than two times the sediment yield of Smith Creek (forested watershed) (0.34 tons/acre compared to 0.13 tons/acre), and Marsh Creek (urban watershed) had more than four times the yield of Smith Creek (0.59 tons/acre). Concentrations of nutrients were consistently highest in Devil 's Craddle Creek. Concentrations of total copper, iron, and lead in samples from each of the three streams at times exceeded State water quality standards as did concentrations of total zinc in samples from both Smith and Marsh Creeks. Successively lower aquatic invertebrate taxa richness was found in the forested, the agricultural, and the urban watershed streams. Invertebrate biota in Smith Creek was dominated by insects, such as Ephemeroptera, that are intolerant to stress from pollution, whereas Devil 's Cradle Creek was dominated by the more tolerant Diptera, and Marsh Creek was dominated by the most pollution-tolerant group, the Oligochaeta. Fish communities in the forested and agricultural watershed streams were characterized by more species and more individuals of each species, relative to a limited community in urban Marsh Creek. Three independent variables closely linked to land use--suspended-sediment yield, suspended-sediment load, and total lead concentrations in stream water--are inversely associated with the biological communities of the streams.

  16. NASA Satellite Scares Up An Eerie Image of Haunted Lakes and Ghost Ships

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-10-29

    NASA Terra satellite presents this false color view of portions of Wisconsin and Michigan, including Devil Lake, Druid Lake, Ghost Lake, Spider Lake, and Witches Lake in Wisconsin; and Bat Lake, Corpse Pond and Witch Lake in Michigan.

  17. Analysis of a Fishery Model with two competing prey species in the presence of a predator species for Optimal Harvesting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sutimin; Khabibah, Siti; Munawwaroh, Dita Anis

    2018-02-01

    A harvesting fishery model is proposed to analyze the effects of the presence of red devil fish population, as a predator in an ecosystem. In this paper, we consider an ecological model of three species by taking into account two competing species and presence of a predator (red devil), the third species, which incorporates the harvesting efforts of each fish species. The stability of the dynamical system is discussed and the existence of biological and bionomic equilibrium is examined. The optimal harvest policy is studied and the solution is derived in the equilibrium case applying Pontryagin's maximal principle. The simulation results is presented to simulate the dynamical behavior of the model and show that the optimal equilibrium solution is globally asymptotically stable. The results show that the optimal harvesting effort is obtained regarding to bionomic and biological equilibrium.

  18. Identification, characterisation and expression analysis of natural killer receptor genes in Chlamydia pecorum infected koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus).

    PubMed

    Morris, Katrina M; Mathew, Marina; Waugh, Courtney; Ujvari, Beata; Timms, Peter; Polkinghorne, Adam; Belov, Katherine

    2015-10-15

    Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), an iconic Australian marsupial, are being heavily impacted by the spread of Chlamydia pecorum, an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen. Koalas vary in their response to this pathogen, with some showing no symptoms, while others suffer severe symptoms leading to infertility, blindness or death. Little is known about the pathology of this disease and the immune response against it in this host. Studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cells, key components of the innate immune system, are involved in the immune response to chlamydial infections in humans. These cells can directly lyse cells infected by intracellular pathogens and their ability to recognise these infected cells is mediated through NK receptors on their surface. These are encoded in two regions of the genome, the leukocyte receptor complex (LRC) and the natural killer complex (NKC). These two families evolve rapidly and different repertoires of genes, which have evolved by gene duplication, are seen in different species. In this study we aimed to characterise genes belonging to the NK receptor clusters in the koala by searching available koala transcriptomes using a combination of search methods. We developed a qPCR assay to quantify relative expression of four genes, two encoded within the NK receptor cluster (CLEC1B, CLEC4E) and two known to play a role in NK response to Chalmydia in humans (NCR3, PRF1). We found that the NK receptor repertoire of the koala closely resembles that of the Tasmanian devil, with minimal genes in the NKC, but with lineage specific expansions in the LRC. Additional genes important for NK cell activity, NCR3 and PRF1, were also identified and characterised. In a preliminary study to investigate whether these genes are involved in the koala immune response to infection by its chlamydial pathogen, C. pecorum, we investigated the expression of four genes in koalas with active chlamydia infection, those with past infection and

  19. Tribology: Diamonds are forever - or are they?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fineberg, Jay

    2011-01-01

    The friction and wear of materials is part of our everyday experience, and yet these processes are not well understood. The example of diamond highlights wear processes that result from bumping atoms, showing that the devil is indeed in the details.

  20. DEVELOPMENT OF COUNTY-LEVEL WIND EROSION AND UNPAVED ROAD ALKALINE EMISSION ESTIMATES FOR THE 1985 NAPAP EMISSIONS INVENTORY

    EPA Science Inventory

    The report details the methods used and the result of the conversion of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program's (NAPAP's) alkaline material emissions information for wind erosion, unpaved roads, and dust devils from the' current spatial resolution to county-level res...

  1. Phosphorus Export Model Development in a Terminal Lake Basin using Concentration-Streamflow Relationship

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeannotte, T.; Mahmood, T. H.; Matheney, R.; Hou, X.

    2017-12-01

    Nutrient export to streams and lakes by anthropogenic activities can lead to eutrophication and degradation of surface water quality. In Devils Lake, ND, the only terminal lake in the Northern Great Plains, the algae boom is of great concern due to the recent increase in streamflow and consequent rise in phosphorus (P) export from prairie agricultural fields. However, to date, very few studies explored the concentration (c) -streamflow (q) relationship in the headwater catchments of the Devils Lake basin. A robust watershed-scale quantitative framework would aid understanding of the c-q relationship, simulating P concentration and load. In this study, we utilize c-q relationships to develop a simple model to estimate phosphorus concentration and export from two headwater catchments of different size (Mauvais Coulee: 1032 km2 and Trib 3: 160 km2) draining to Devils Lake. Our goal is to link the phosphorus export model with a physically based hydrologic model to identify major drivers of phosphorus export. USGS provided the streamflow measurements, and we collected water samples (filtered and unfiltered) three times daily during the spring snowmelt season (March 31, 2017- April 12, 2017) at the outlets of both headwater catchments. Our results indicate that most P is dissolved and very little is particulate, suggesting little export of fine-grained sediment from agricultural fields. Our preliminary analyses in the Mauvais Coulee catchment show a chemostatic c-q relationship in the rising limb of the hydrograph, while the recession limb shows a linear and positive c-q relationship. The poor correlation in the rising limb of the hydrograph suggests intense flushing of P by spring snowmelt runoff. Flushing then continues in the recession limb of the hydrograph, but at a more constant rate. The estimated total P load for the Mauvais Coulee basin is 193 kg/km2, consistent with other catchments of similar size across the Red River of the North basin to the east. We expect

  2. The Effect of Structured Decision-Making Techniques and Gender on Student Reaction and Quality of Written Documents.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neal, Joan; Echternacht, Lonnie

    1995-01-01

    Experimental groups used four decision-making techniques--reverse brainstorming (RS), dialectical inquiry (DI), devil's advocacy (DA), and consensus--in evaluating writing assignments. Control group produced a better quality document. Student reaction to negative features of RS, DI, and DA were not significant. (SK)

  3. The role of water content in triboelectric charging of wind-blown sand.

    PubMed

    Gu, Zhaolin; Wei, Wei; Su, Junwei; Yu, Chuck Wah

    2013-01-01

    Triboelectric charging is common in desert sandstorms and dust devils on Earth; however, it remains poorly understood. Here we show a charging mechanism of sands with the adsorbed water on micro-porous surface in wind-blown sand based on the fact that water content is universal but usually a minor component in most particle systems. The triboelectric charging could be resulted due to the different mobility of H(+)/OH(-) between the contacting sands with a temperature difference. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) were used to demonstrate the dynamics of the sand charging. The numerically simulated charge-to-mass ratios of sands and electric field strength established in wind tunnel agreed well with the experimental data. The charging mechanism could provide an explanation for the charging process of all identical granular systems with water content, including Martian dust devils, wind-blown snow, even powder electrification in industrial processes.

  4. New Zircon U-Pb Age Constrain of the Origin of Devil's River Uplift (SW Texas) and Insights into the Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic Evolution of the Southern Margin of Laurentia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodriguez, E.; Dickerson, P. W.; Stockli, D. F.

    2017-12-01

    The Devils River Uplift (DRU) in SW Texas records the evolution of the southern Laurentian margin from Grenvillian orogenesis and assembly of Rodinia, to its fragmentation by rifting, and to the amalgamation of Pangaea. It was cored by a well (Shell No. 1 Stewart), penetrating Precambrian gneisses and Cambrian metasediments and sandstones. New zircon LA-ICP-MS data from a total of 10 samples elucidate the crystallization and depositional ages, as well as the detrital provenance, of Precambrian and Cambrian rocks from the DRU. Zircons from five Precambrian crystalline basement samples (6000-9693') yield uniform U-Pb crystallization ages of 1230 Ma that are similar to ages for young gneisses of the Valley Spring Domain (Llano uplift) in central Texas, where they mark the cessation of arc magmatism within the Grenville orogenic belt. The 1230 Ma igneous basement is overlain by L.-M. Cambrian metasedimentary rocks ( 4000-6000') with maximum depositional ages of 533-545 Ma. Detrital zircons from Cambrian strata are dominated by a 1070-1080 Ma population, likely derived from basement units exposed in Texas (Llano uplift, Franklin Mts.), with minor contributions from local 1230 Ma Precambrian basement and the 1380-1500 Ma Granite Rhyolite Province. The L.-M. Cambrian interval is dominated (>80%) by Neoproterozoic detrital magmatic zircons with two major distinct age clusters at 570-700 Ma and 780-820 Ma, supporting a two-stage Rodinia rift model and providing strong evidence for major Cryogenian-Eocambrian intraplate magmatism along the southern margin of Rodinia. Moreover, detrital zircon signatures for L.-M. and U. Cambrian strata strongly correlate with those from the Cuyania terrane of W. Argentina - notably the W. Sierras Pampeanas (Sa. Pie de Palo, Sa. de Maz): 1230 Ma from metasandstones (PdP); 1081-1038 Ma from metasiliciclastics (PdP, SdM); Cryogenian-Eocambrian [774 & 570 Ma] plutons (SdM, PdP). In summary, these new zircon U-Pb data from DRU in SW Texas show

  5. Electrical Charging Hazards Originating from the Surface (ECHOS): Understanding the Martian Electro-Meteorological Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farrell, W. M.; Desch, M. D.; Marshall, J. R.; Delory, G. T.; Kolecki, J. C.; Hillard, G. B.; Kaiser, M. L.; Haberle, R. M.; Zent, A. P.; Luhmann, J. G.

    2000-01-01

    In 1999, the NASA/Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprise selected a number of payloads to fly to the Martian surface in an 03 opportunity (prior to the MPL loss). Part of a proposed experiment, ECHOS, was selected to specifically understand the electrical charging hazards from tribocharged dust in the ambient atmosphere, in dust devils, and in larger storms. It is expected that Martian dust storms become tribocharged much like terrestrial dust devils which can possess almost a million elementary charges per cubic centimeter. The ECHOS package features a set of instruments for measuring electric effects: a radio to detect AC electric fields radiating from discharges in the storm,a DC electric field system for sensing electrostatic fields from concentrations of charged dust grains, and a lander electrometer chain for determining the induced potential on its body and MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) during the passages of a charged dust storm. Given that electricity is a systemic process originating from wind-blown dust, we also proposed to correlate the electrical measurements with fundamental fluid/meteorological observations, including wind velocity and vorticity, temperature, and pressure. Triboelectricity will also affect local chemistry, and chemical-sensing devices were also considered a feature of the package. The primary HEDS objectives of the ECHOS sensing suite is to discover and monitor the natural electrical hazards associated with dust devils and storms, and determine their enviro-effectiveness on human systems. However, ECHOS also has a strong footprint in the overarching science objectives of the Mars Surveyor Program.

  6. Soil Security Assessment of Tasmania

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Field, Damien; Kidd, Darren; McBratney, Alex

    2017-04-01

    The concept of soil security aligns well with the aspirational and marketing policies of the Tasmanian Government, where increased agricultural expansion through new irrigation schemes and multiple-use State managed production forests co-exists beside pristine World Heritage conservation land, a major drawcard of the economically important tourism industry . Regarding the Sustainable Development Gaols (SDG's) this could be seen as a exemplar of the emerging tool for quantification of spatial soil security to effectively protect our soil resource in terms of food (SDG 2.4, 3.9) and water security (SDG 6.4, 6.6), biodiversity maintenance and safeguarding fragile ecosystems (SDG 15.3, 15.9). The recent development and application of Digital Soil Mapping and Assessment capacities in Tasmania to stimulate agricultural production and better target appropriate soil resources has formed the foundational systems that can enable the first efforts in quantifying and mapping Tasmanian Soil Security, in particular the five Soil Security dimensions (Capability, Condition, Capital, Codification and Connectivity). However, to provide a measure of overall soil security, it was necessary to separately assess the State's three major soil uses; Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. These products will provide an indication of where different activities are sustainable or at risk, where more soil data is needed, and provide a tool to better plan for a State requiring optimal food and fibre production, without depleting its natural soil resources and impacting on the fragile ecosystems supporting environmental benefits and the tourism industry.

  7. Dust lifting in GEM-Mars using a roughness length map

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Daerden, F.; Neary, L.; Whiteway, J. A.; Hébrard, E.

    2013-09-01

    Lifting of size distributed dust due to surface wind stress and dust devils has been implemented in the GEM-Mars 3D-GCM. It turned out that a detailed surface roughness length map was necessary to bring the simulated dust opacities in accordance with observations.

  8. Strategy for a Military Spiritual Self-Development Tool

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-12

    and Islam in the Middle East (the Hebrew prophets developed their monotheistic faith during this period), Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism in India......concepts such as the Bible , Jesus, the Holy Spirit, hell, and the devil, thereby making them insensitive to cultural differences and therefore

  9. Turnitin? Turnitoff: The Deskilling of Information Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brabazon, Tara

    2015-01-01

    Plagiarism is a folk devil into which is poured many of the challenges, problems and difficulties confronting higher education. This article investigates how software--Turnitin in particular--is "solving" a particular "crisis" in universities. However, I investigate how alternative strategies for the development of information…

  10. Comparing and Contrasting Siblings: Defining the Self.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schachter, Frances Fuchs; Stone, Richard K.

    1987-01-01

    Deidentification is the phenomenon whereby siblings are defined as different or contrasting. In pathological deidentification, the natural flow of sibling conflict and reconciliation seems obstructed as one sibling is assigned the fixed identity of "devil," who constantly harasses the other, "angel," sibling. A clinical…

  11. Jimsonweed poisoning

    MedlinePlus

    ... 3 days and may require a hospital stay. Death is unlikely. DO NOT touch or eat any plant with which you are not familiar. Wash your hands after working in the garden or walking in the woods. Alternative Names Angel's trumpet; Devil's weed; Thorn apple; ...

  12. Duke's Devil of a Mess

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Asquith, Christina

    2007-01-01

    Last spring, at the height of the frenzy over accusations that three Duke University men's lacrosse players had gang raped a Black exotic dancer during a party, faculty from Duke's African and African American studies department chose to take a stand. With emotions running high, the faculty took out a full-page advertisement in student newspaper,…

  13. The Devil's in the Delta

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luyben, William L.

    2007-01-01

    Students frequently confuse and incorrectly apply the several "deltas" that are used in chemical engineering. The deltas come in three different flavors: "out minus in", "big minus little" and "now versus then." The first applies to a change in a stream property as the stream flows through a process. For example, the "[delta]H" in an energy…

  14. The Muslim Problematic: Muslims, State Schools and Security

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miah, Shamim

    2016-01-01

    Muslims are folk-devils that mark the ubiquitous moral panic. For some, the idea of the "Muslim problematic" signifies a long and worrying trend of creeping "Islamification" of state schools. For others, the discourse of the "Muslim problematic" reflects the ongoing racial patholigisation of Britain's minoritised…

  15. Childism and Its Destructive Impact on Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snyder, Ross

    Just as prejudicial stereotypes about race, sex, social class, and physical appearance have led to inhuman treatment, similar biased concepts exist that support inhuman and oppressive treatment of children. Various "childist" concepts categorize children as property, uncivilized devils, lumps of clay, tiny adults, or infallible angels.…

  16. A Conversation with Henry DePhilips, MD: The Doctor in the Teladoc House.

    PubMed

    Wehrwein, Peter

    2017-04-01

    The CMO of Teladoc, one of the country's largest telemedicine providers, certainly knows how to sing the praises of the industry, and handle devil's advocate kind of questions as well. Most of Teledoc's customers are commercial insurers and employers. Medicare? Not so much. Medicaid makes "perfect sense."

  17. Atmospheric laser Doppler velocimetry - An overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bilbro, J. W.

    1980-01-01

    Research, development, and application of atmospheric laser Doppler velocimetry are overviewed. Consideration is given to operation principles of CO2 heterodyne systems. Global wind, pollution, V/STOL flow, and true airspeed measurements are outlined. Wind energy, dust devils, water spouts, tornadoes, and aircraft wake vortices are covered.

  18. Circles and Streaks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-544, 14 November 2003

    This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired less than a week ago on 8 November 2003, shows a typical southern middle-to-high latitude scene at this time of year. It is summer in the southern hemisphere, and regions such as Promethei Terra, where this image was acquired, are being streaked by dust devils that remove or disrupt the coating of dust that was deposited over the region in the previous autumn or winter. While no active dust devils were captured in this scene, their tell-tale tracks are scratched all across the image. The circular features are the sites of buried meteor impact craters; their rims form dark rings; the material that fills the craters has become cracked. This picture is located near 68.1oS, 247.9oW. The area shown is approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

  19. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Mars: Wind, Dust Sand, and Debris

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    The session "Mars: Wind, Dust Sand, and Debris" included: Mars Exploration Rovers: Laboratory Simulations of Aeolian Interactions; Thermal and Spectral Analysis of an Intracrater Dune Field in Amazonis Planitia; How High is that Dune? A Comparison of Methods Used to Constrain the Morphometry of Aeolian Bedforms on Mars; Dust Devils on Mars: Scaling of Dust Flux Based on Laboratory Simulations; A Close Encounter with a Terrestrial Dust Devil; Interpretation of Wind Direction from Eolian Features: Herschel Crater, Mars Erosion Rates at the Viking 2 Landing Site; Mars Dust: Characterization of Particle Size and Electrostatic Charge Distributions; Simple Non-fluvial Models of Planetary Surface Modification, with Application to Mars; Comparison of Geomorphically Determined Winds with a General Circulation Model: Herschel Crater, Mars; Analysis of Martian Debris Aprons in Eastern Hellas Using THEMIS; Origin of Martian Northern Hemisphere Mid-Latitude Lobate Debris Aprons; Debris Aprons in the Tempe/Mareotis Region of Mars;and Constraining Flow Dynamics of Mass Movements on Earth and Mars.

  20. The role of water content in triboelectric charging of wind-blown sand

    PubMed Central

    Gu, Zhaolin; Wei, Wei; Su, Junwei; Yu, Chuck Wah

    2013-01-01

    Triboelectric charging is common in desert sandstorms and dust devils on Earth; however, it remains poorly understood. Here we show a charging mechanism of sands with the adsorbed water on micro-porous surface in wind-blown sand based on the fact that water content is universal but usually a minor component in most particle systems. The triboelectric charging could be resulted due to the different mobility of H+/OH− between the contacting sands with a temperature difference. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) were used to demonstrate the dynamics of the sand charging. The numerically simulated charge-to-mass ratios of sands and electric field strength established in wind tunnel agreed well with the experimental data. The charging mechanism could provide an explanation for the charging process of all identical granular systems with water content, including Martian dust devils, wind-blown snow, even powder electrification in industrial processes. PMID:23434920

  1. Iran’s Youth Bulge and It’s Implications for U.S. National Security

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-04-01

    Sciolino, Elaine. “Radicalism: Is the Devil in the Demographics?” New York Times, 9 December 2001. Sen , Amartya . “Mortality as an Indicator of...validating their model and the independent variables’ significance. See Goldstone, et al., 2005, p. 17. 74 Goldstone, 2001, p. 166. See Amartya Sen’s

  2. Helping Muslim Boys Succeed: The Case for History Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilkinson, Matthew L. N.

    2014-01-01

    Recent research suggests that Muslim boys have become the "New Folk Devils" of British education, who are characterised by resistance to formal education, especially at secondary level, and under-achievement. Since the 1990s, British Muslim boys would appear to have become increasingly alienated from compulsory schooling, especially in…

  3. A Look at the Movies by Baldwin

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bogle, Donald

    1976-01-01

    Notes that James Baldwin's new book--The Devil Finds Work--is a look by Baldwin at the movies, and that it is also a look by Baldwin at Baldwin, and the conflicting and contradictory effects the movies have had on his life and all of ours. (Author/AM)

  4. Temporal and spatial trends in streamwater nitrate concentrations in the San Bernardino mountains, southern California

    Treesearch

    Mark E. Fenn; Mark A. Poth

    1999-01-01

    We report streamwater nitrate (NO,) concentrations for December 1995 to September 1998 from 19 sampling sites across a N deposition gradient in the San Bernardino Mountains. Streamwater NO3- concentrations in Devil Canyon (DC), a high-pollution area, and in previously reported data from the San Gabriel Mountains 40 km...

  5. The ethical aspects of gain sharing with physicians.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Richard E

    2004-01-01

    Gain sharing arrangements involving physicians can be a model combination of ethical business practices and maximizing profits. Or, gain sharing can be as unethical as fee-splitting was at the turn of the century, and as corrupt as any conflict of interest. The devil is--or is not--in the details.

  6. The Electrostatic Environments of Mars: Atmospheric Discharges

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Calle, Carlos I.; Mackey, Paul J.; Johansen, Michael R.; Hogue, Michael D.; Phillips, James, III; Cox, Rachel E.

    2016-01-01

    The electrostatic environment on Mars is controlled by its ever present atmospheric dust. Dust devils and dust storms tribocharge this dust. Theoretical studies predict that lightning and/or glow discharges should be present on Mars, but none have been directly observed. Experiments are planned to shed light on this issue.

  7. 78 FR 12776 - Endangered and Threatened Species Permit Applications

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-25

    .... SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Availability of Comments The Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) prohibits activities... (5 U.S.C. 552a) and Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). Permit TE-022190 Applicant: Arizona... pupfish (Cyprinodon elegans) Devils River minnow (Dionda diaboli) Fountain darter (Etheostoma fonticola...

  8. View of New Big Oak Flat Road seen from Old ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    View of New Big Oak Flat Road seen from Old Wawona Road near location of photograph HAER CA-148-17. Note road cuts, alignment, and tunnels. Devils Dance Floor at left distance. Looking northwest - Big Oak Flat Road, Between Big Oak Flat Entrance & Merced River, Yosemite Village, Mariposa County, CA

  9. A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of a Portion of the Upper Souris River Valley, North Dakota

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-03-01

    E. Sully led a force from Fort Rice , near present Bismarck, to Devils Lake and then to the Souris River. Sully skirted the bottom of the Souris loop...Manning (1923), Mabel Manning (1924), Alice Wakelam (1933), Harvey Emmel (1936), State Bank of Keninare (1937), State of North Dakota (1939), William

  10. Secondary succession following logging in the Sitka sprucewestern hemlock forests of southeast Alaska: Implications for wildlife management.

    Treesearch

    Paul B. Alaback

    1984-01-01

    Preliminary information on general landscape patterns in southeast Alaska suggests that two major, compositionally distinct vegetation zones can be defined for the closed-forest type: western hemlock-Sitka spruce/Alaska huckleberry/bunchberry on the uplands, and Sitka spruce/devils club-salmonberry on alluvial flats and terraces.Recent clearcuts (0 to 30...

  11. When Socratic Dialogue Is Flagging: Questions and Strategies for Engaging Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gose, Michael

    2009-01-01

    The author studied the pedagogy of Socrates looking for teaching techniques that help maintain students' interest in an ongoing discussion. Socrates' use of such strategies as asking probing questions, expanding the discussion into its relationship to other ideas, assuming the role of the devil's advocate, and spending time on group maintenance…

  12. Body size, growth and life span: implications for the polewards range shift of Octopus tetricus in south-eastern Australia.

    PubMed

    Ramos, Jorge E; Pecl, Gretta T; Moltschaniwskyj, Natalie A; Strugnell, Jan M; León, Rafael I; Semmens, Jayson M

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the response of any species to climate change can be challenging. However, in short-lived species the faster turnover of generations may facilitate the examination of responses associated with longer-term environmental change. Octopus tetricus, a commercially important species, has undergone a recent polewards range shift in the coastal waters of south-eastern Australia, thought to be associated with the southerly extension of the warm East Australian Current. At the cooler temperatures of a polewards distribution limit, growth of a species could be slower, potentially leading to a bigger body size and resulting in a slower population turnover, affecting population viability at the extreme of the distribution. Growth rates, body size, and life span of O. tetricus were examined at the leading edge of a polewards range shift in Tasmanian waters (40°S and 147°E) throughout 2011. Octopus tetricus had a relatively small body size and short lifespan of approximately 11 months that, despite cooler temperatures, would allow a high rate of population turnover and may facilitate the population increase necessary for successful establishment in the new extended area of the range. Temperature, food availability and gender appear to influence growth rate. Individuals that hatched during cooler and more productive conditions, but grew during warming conditions, exhibited faster growth rates and reached smaller body sizes than individuals that hatched into warmer waters but grew during cooling conditions. This study suggests that fast growth, small body size and associated rapid population turnover may facilitate the range shift of O. tetricus into Tasmanian waters.

  13. Body Size, Growth and Life Span: Implications for the Polewards Range Shift of Octopus tetricus in South-Eastern Australia

    PubMed Central

    Ramos, Jorge E.; Pecl, Gretta T.; Moltschaniwskyj, Natalie A.; Strugnell, Jan M.; León, Rafael I.; Semmens, Jayson M.

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the response of any species to climate change can be challenging. However, in short-lived species the faster turnover of generations may facilitate the examination of responses associated with longer-term environmental change. Octopus tetricus, a commercially important species, has undergone a recent polewards range shift in the coastal waters of south-eastern Australia, thought to be associated with the southerly extension of the warm East Australian Current. At the cooler temperatures of a polewards distribution limit, growth of a species could be slower, potentially leading to a bigger body size and resulting in a slower population turnover, affecting population viability at the extreme of the distribution. Growth rates, body size, and life span of O. tetricus were examined at the leading edge of a polewards range shift in Tasmanian waters (40°S and 147°E) throughout 2011. Octopus tetricus had a relatively small body size and short lifespan of approximately 11 months that, despite cooler temperatures, would allow a high rate of population turnover and may facilitate the population increase necessary for successful establishment in the new extended area of the range. Temperature, food availability and gender appear to influence growth rate. Individuals that hatched during cooler and more productive conditions, but grew during warming conditions, exhibited faster growth rates and reached smaller body sizes than individuals that hatched into warmer waters but grew during cooling conditions. This study suggests that fast growth, small body size and associated rapid population turnover may facilitate the range shift of O. tetricus into Tasmanian waters. PMID:25090250

  14. A description of human hydatid disease in Tasmania in the post-eradication era.

    PubMed

    O'Hern, Jennifer A; Cooley, Louise

    2013-07-22

    To describe human hydatid disease in Tasmania since 1996, the 2013 that the state was declared provisionally hydatid-free. Individuals with a new diagnosis or history of hydatid disease between January 1996 and July 2012 were identified through a number of sources including public health notifications, discharge coding from Tasmanian public hospitals, and the Royal Hobart Hospital pathology laboratory information system. Individuals were included if they fulfilled the case definition. Details regarding their diagnosis, management and risk factors were obtained by interview, review of medical notes, or both. The information was collected and analysed over a 3-month period from 30 July 2012 to 30 October 2012. Patient demographics, site of infection, details of hydatid disease management and outcomes, time and place of likely hydatid acquisition, and public health notification. Fifty-one patients were identified, of whom 41 met the case definition. Twenty-five represented new diagnoses between 1996 and 2012. Median age was 71 2013s (range, 44-99 2013s). There were 21 women and 20 men. Thirty-eight patients had hepatic disease, five of whom had at least one other site involved. Four had extra-abdominal disease. Twenty-nine patients could be assessed for possible time and place of hydatid acquisition and all had significant risk factors for hydatid acquisition before 1980. Ten of the 25 patients diagnosed between 1996 and 2012 had been notified to the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services. We found no evidence of transmission of hydatid disease to humans following the provisional declaration of eradication of hydatid disease.

  15. An analysis of the breakdown of paper products (toilet paper, tissues and tampons) in natural environments, Tasmania, Australia.

    PubMed

    Bridle, Kerry L; Kirkpatrick, J B

    2005-01-01

    An examination of the relative breakdown rates of unused toilet paper, facial tissues and tampons was undertaken in nine different environments typical of Tasmanian natural areas. Bags of the paper products (toilet paper, facial tissues, tampons) were buried for periods of 6, 12 and 24 months at depths of 5 and 15 cm. A nutrient solution simulating human body wastes was added to half of the samples, to test the hypothesis that the addition of nutrients would enhance the breakdown of paper products buried in the soil. Mean annual rainfall was the most important measured variable determining mean breakdown in the nutrient addition treatment between sites, with high rainfall sites (mean annual rainfall of greater than 650 mm) recording less decayed products than the drier sites (mean annual rainfall of 500-650 mm). Temperature and soil organic content were important influences on the breakdown of the unfertilised products. Toilet paper and tissues decayed more readily than tampons. Nutrient addition enhanced decay for all products across all sites. Depth of burial was not important in determining the degree to which products decayed. In alpine environments, burial under rocks at the surface did not increase the speed of decay of any product. The Western Alpine site, typical of alpine sites in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, showed very little decay over the two-year period, even for nutrient enhanced products. Management prescriptions should be amended to dissuade people from depositing human toilet waste in the extreme (montane to alpine) environments in western Tasmania. Tampons should continue to be carried out as currently prescribed.

  16. Modeling geomagnetic induced currents in Australian power networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshall, R. A.; Kelly, A.; Van Der Walt, T.; Honecker, A.; Ong, C.; Mikkelsen, D.; Spierings, A.; Ivanovich, G.; Yoshikawa, A.

    2017-07-01

    Geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) have been considered an issue for high-latitude power networks for some decades. More recently, GICs have been observed and studied in power networks located in lower latitude regions. This paper presents the results of a model aimed at predicting and understanding the impact of geomagnetic storms on power networks in Australia, with particular focus on the Queensland and Tasmanian networks. The model incorporates a "geoelectric field" determined using a plane wave magnetic field incident on a uniform conducting Earth, and the network model developed by Lehtinen and Pirjola (1985). Model results for two intense geomagnetic storms of solar cycle 24 are compared with transformer neutral monitors at three locations within the Queensland network and one location within the Tasmanian network. The model is then used to assess the impacts of the superintense geomagnetic storm of 29-31 October 2003 on the flow of GICs within these networks. The model results show good correlation with the observations with coefficients ranging from 0.73 to 0.96 across the observing sites. For Queensland, modeled GIC magnitudes during the superstorm of 29-31 October 2003 exceed 40 A with the larger GICs occurring in the south-east section of the network. Modeled GICs in Tasmania for the same storm do not exceed 30 A. The larger distance spans and general east-west alignment of the southern section of the Queensland network, in conjunction with some relatively low branch resistance values, result in larger modeled GICs despite Queensland being a lower latitude network than Tasmania.

  17. Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction.

    PubMed

    Turney, Chris S M; Flannery, Timothy F; Roberts, Richard G; Reid, Craig; Fifield, L Keith; Higham, Tom F G; Jacobs, Zenobia; Kemp, Noel; Colhoun, Eric A; Kalin, Robert M; Ogle, Neil

    2008-08-26

    Establishing the cause of past extinctions is critical if we are to understand better what might trigger future occurrences and how to prevent them. The mechanisms of continental late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction, however, are still fiercely contested. Potential factors contributing to their demise include climatic change, human impact, or some combination. On the Australian mainland, 90% of the megafauna became extinct by approximately 46 thousand years (ka) ago, soon after the first archaeological evidence for human colonization of the continent. Yet, on the neighboring island of Tasmania (which was connected to the mainland when sea levels were lower), megafaunal extinction appears to have taken place before the initial human arrival between 43 and 40 ka, which would seem to exonerate people as a contributing factor in the extirpation of the island megafauna. Age estimates for the last megafauna, however, are poorly constrained. Here, we show, by direct dating of fossil remains and their associated sediments, that some Tasmanian megafauna survived until at least 41 ka (i.e., after their extinction on the Australian mainland) and thus overlapped with humans. Furthermore, a vegetation record for Tasmania spanning the last 130 ka shows that no significant regional climatic or environmental change occurred between 43 and 37 ka, when a land bridge existed between Tasmania and the mainland. Our results are consistent with a model of human-induced extinction for the Tasmanian megafauna, most probably driven by hunting, and they reaffirm the value of islands adjacent to continental landmasses as tests of competing hypotheses for late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions.

  18. Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction

    PubMed Central

    Turney, Chris S. M.; Flannery, Timothy F.; Roberts, Richard G.; Reid, Craig; Fifield, L. Keith; Higham, Tom F. G.; Jacobs, Zenobia; Kemp, Noel; Colhoun, Eric A.; Kalin, Robert M.; Ogle, Neil

    2008-01-01

    Establishing the cause of past extinctions is critical if we are to understand better what might trigger future occurrences and how to prevent them. The mechanisms of continental late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction, however, are still fiercely contested. Potential factors contributing to their demise include climatic change, human impact, or some combination. On the Australian mainland, 90% of the megafauna became extinct by ≈46 thousand years (ka) ago, soon after the first archaeological evidence for human colonization of the continent. Yet, on the neighboring island of Tasmania (which was connected to the mainland when sea levels were lower), megafaunal extinction appears to have taken place before the initial human arrival between 43 and 40 ka, which would seem to exonerate people as a contributing factor in the extirpation of the island megafauna. Age estimates for the last megafauna, however, are poorly constrained. Here, we show, by direct dating of fossil remains and their associated sediments, that some Tasmanian megafauna survived until at least 41 ka (i.e., after their extinction on the Australian mainland) and thus overlapped with humans. Furthermore, a vegetation record for Tasmania spanning the last 130 ka shows that no significant regional climatic or environmental change occurred between 43 and 37 ka, when a land bridge existed between Tasmania and the mainland. Our results are consistent with a model of human-induced extinction for the Tasmanian megafauna, most probably driven by hunting, and they reaffirm the value of islands adjacent to continental landmasses as tests of competing hypotheses for late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions. PMID:18719103

  19. New species of Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Australia (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidea)

    PubMed Central

    Mesibov, Robert

    2011-01-01

    Abstract Asphalidesmus allynensis sp. n. and Asphalidesmus dorrigensis sp. n. are described from New South Wales, Asphalidesmus otwayensis sp. n. from Victoria, and Asphalidesmus bellendenkerensis sp. n., Asphalidesmus carbinensis sp. n., Asphalidesmus magnus sp. n. and Asphalidesmus minor sp. n. from Queensland. The previously endemic Tasmanian genus Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 is now known from 16°S to 43°S in eastern Australia, a north-south range of ca 3000 km. Asphalidesmus spp. throughout this range are very similar in overall appearance. Three of the new species are able to coil in a tight spiral. PMID:21594078

  20. Induction of Teachers into 21st Century Learning Communities: Creating the Next Generation of Educational Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carroll, Thomas G.

    2005-01-01

    Every child deserves a quality education. Providing competent, caring, qualified teachers in schools organized for success is the way to get there, but the devil is in the details. By tinkering on the edges, adopting piecemeal approaches to attracting, supporting, and retaining highly qualified teachers for the students who need them most, the…