|
|
Yonezawa, T., Uchida, M., Tomioka, M., & Matsuki, N. (2016). Lunar Cycle Influences Spontaneous Delivery in Cows. PLoS One, 11(8), e0161735.
Abstract: There is a popular belief that the lunar cycle influences spontaneous delivery in both humans and cattle. To assess this relationship, we investigated the synodic distribution of spontaneous deliveries in domestic Holstein cows. We used retrospective data from 428 spontaneous, full-term deliveries within a three-year period derived from the calving records of a private farm in Hokkaido, Japan. Spontaneous birth frequency increased uniformly from the new moon to the full moon phase and decreased until the waning crescent phase. There was a statistically significant peak between the waxing gibbous and full moon phases compared with those between the last quarter and the waning crescent. These changes were clearly observed in deliveries among multiparous cows, whereas they were not evident in deliveries among nulliparous cows. These data suggest the utility of dairy cows as models for bio-meteorological studies, and indicate that monitoring lunar phases may facilitate comprehensive understanding of parturition.
|
|
|
|
Allik, T., Ramboyong, L., Roberts, M., Walters, M., Soyka, T., Dixon, R., et al. (2016). Enhanced oil spill detection sensors in low-light environments. In Proc. SPIE 9827, Ocean Sensing and Monitoring VIII, 98270B (May 17, 2016). SPIE.
Abstract: Although advances have been made in oil spill remote detection, many electro-optic sensors do not provide real-time images, do not work well under degraded visual environments, nor provide a measure of extreme oil thickness in marine environments. A joint program now exists between BSEE and NVESD that addresses these capability gaps in remote sensing of oil spills. Laboratory experiments, calibration techniques, and field tests were performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Santa Barbara, California; and the Ohmsett Test Facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. Weathered crude oils were studied spectroscopically and characterized with LWIR, and low-light-level visible/NIR, and SWIR cameras. We designed and fabricated an oil emulsion thickness calibration cell for spectroscopic analysis and ground truth, field measurements. Digital night vision cameras provided real-time, wide-dynamic-range imagery, and were able to detect and recognize oil from full sun to partial moon light. The LWIR camera provided quantitative oil analysis (identification) for >1 mm thick crude oils both day and night. Two filtered, co-registered, SWIR cameras were used to determine whether oil thickness could be measured in real time. Spectroscopic results revealed that oil emulsions vary with location and weathered state and some oils (e.g., ANS and Santa Barbara seeps) do not show the spectral rich features from archived Deep Water Horizon hyperspectral data. Multi-sensor imagery collected during the 2015 USCG Airborne Oil Spill Remote Sensing and Reporting Exercise and the design of a compact, multiband imager are discussed.
|
|
|
|
Chen, H., Sun, C., Chen, X., Chiang, K., & Xiong, X. (2016). On-orbit calibration and performance of S-NPP VIIRS DNB. In Proc. SPIE 9881, Earth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization IV, 98812B (May 2, 2016). SPIE.
Abstract: The S-NPP VIIRS instrument has successfully operated since its launch in October 2011. The VIIRS Day-Night Band (DNB) is a panchromatic channel covering wavelengths from 0.5 to 0.9 μm that is capable of observing Earth scenes during both day and nighttime orbits at a spatial resolution of 750 m. To cover the large dynamic range, the DNB operates at low, mid, or high gain stages, and it uses an onboard solar diffuser (SD) for its low gain stage calibration. The SD observations also provide a means to compute gain ratios of low-to-mid and mid-to-high gain stages. This paper describes the DNB on-orbit calibration methodologies used by the VIIRS Characterization Support Team (VCST) in supporting the NASA earth science community with consistent VIIRS sensor data records (SDRs) made available by the Land Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS). It provides an assessment and update of DNB on-orbit performance, including the SD degradation in the DNB spectral range, detector gain and gain ratio trending, stray light contamination and its correction. Also presented in this paper are performance validations based on earth scenes and lunar observations.
|
|
|
|
Yuan, D., Collage, R. D., Huang, H., Zhang, X., Kautza, B. C., Lewis, A. J., et al. (2016). Blue light reduces organ injury from ischemia and reperfusion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 113(19), 5239–5244.
Abstract: Evidence suggests that light and circadian rhythms profoundly influence the physiologic capacity with which an organism responds to stress. However, the ramifications of light spectrum on the course of critical illness remain to be determined. Here, we show that acute exposure to bright blue spectrum light reduces organ injury by comparison with bright red spectrum or ambient white fluorescent light in two murine models of sterile insult: warm liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and unilateral renal I/R. Exposure to bright blue light before I/R reduced hepatocellular injury and necrosis and reduced acute kidney injury and necrosis. In both models, blue light reduced neutrophil influx, as evidenced by reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) within each organ, and reduced the release of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a neutrophil chemotactant and key mediator in the pathogenesis of I/R injury. The protective mechanism appeared to involve an optic pathway and was mediated, in part, by a sympathetic (beta3 adrenergic) pathway that functioned independent of significant alterations in melatonin or corticosterone concentrations to regulate neutrophil recruitment. These data suggest that modifying the spectrum of light may offer therapeutic utility in sterile forms of cellular injury.
|
|
|
|
ffrench-Constant, R., Somers-Yeates, R., Bennie, J., Economou, T., Hodgson, D., Spalding, A., et al. (2016). Light pollution is associated with earlier tree budburst across the United Kingdom. Proc Roy Soc B Biol Sci, 283(1833), 1–9.
Abstract: The ecological impact of night-time lighting is of concern because of its well-demonstrated effects on animal behaviour. However, the potential of light pollution to change plant phenology and its corresponding knock-on effects on associated herbivores are less clear. Here, we test if artificial lighting can advance the timing of budburst in trees. We took a UK-wide 13 year dataset of spatially referenced budburst data from four deciduous tree species and matched it with both satellite imagery of night-time lighting and average spring temperature. We find that budburst occurs up to 7.5 days earlier in brighter areas, with the relationship being more pronounced for later-budding species. Excluding large urban areas from the analysis showed an even more pronounced advance of budburst, confirming that the urban ‘heat-island’ effect is not the sole cause of earlier urban budburst. Similarly, the advance in budburst across all sites is too large to be explained by increases in temperature alone. This dramatic advance of budburst illustrates the need for further experimental investigation into the impact of artificial night-time lighting on plant phenology and subsequent species interactions. As light pollution is a growing global phenomenon, the findings of this study are likely to be applicable to a wide range of species interactions across the world.
|
|
