Lunar Variations Research Articles

Lunar-linked biological rhythms in the immune system of freshwater three-spined stickleback.

Immune responses are widely accepted to be under circadian regulation via a molecular clock, with many practical consequences, but much less is known of how other biological rhythms could affect the immune system. In this study, we search for lunar rhythms (circalunar, circasemilunar, and circatidal cycles) in the immune expression of the recently marine-derived freshwater fish, the low-plate morph of the three-spined stickleback. We employed time series of immune expression (mRNA) measurements for 14 immune-associated genes, representing a variety of immunological pathways. Times series measurements were taken on fish populations in the wild, in seminatural outdoor mesocosms, and in the laboratory, according to sampling regimens originally designed to study circannual variation but with the additional potential to provide information about lunar variation. Our evidence best supported the existence of a very small endogenous tidal rhythm. This is consistent with previous suggestions of the existence of a primordial tidal endogenous clock, some elements of which may be conserved in animals evolving outside the marine environment.

Lunar Age-Dependent Oscillations in Expression of the Genes for Kisspeptin, GnIH, and Their Receptors in the Grass Puffer during the Spawning Season.

Grass puffer is a semilunar-synchronized spawner: spawning occurs on beaches only for several days of spring tide around new moon (lunar age 0) and full moon (lunar age 15) every 2 weeks from spring to early summer. To investigate the role of kisspeptin and gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in the semilunar-synchronized spawning, lunar age-dependent expression of the genes encoding kisspeptin (kiss2), kisspeptin receptor (kissr2), GnIH (gnih), GnIH receptor (gnihr), gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GnRH1) (gnrh1), and three gonadotropin (GTH) subunits (gpa, fshb, lhb) was examined in the male grass puffer, which was kept in an aquarium under natural light condition in a lunar month during the spawning period. In the brain, both kiss2 and kissr2 showed lunar variations with a peak at lunar age 10, while both gnih and gnihr showed semilunar variations with two peaks at lunar age 0 and 20. On the other hand, gnrh1 showed semilunar variation with two peaks at lunar age 0 and 15. In the pituitary, kiss2, kissr2, gnih, and gnihr showed similar variations to those shown in the brain. The fshb and lhb mRNA levels showed semilunar variations with two peaks at lunar age 0 and 15. The present study shows lunar and semilunar oscillations of kiss2/kissr2 and gnih/gnihr expressions, respectively, with their peaks around spring tide in the brain and pituitary along with the semilunar expressions of gnrh1 and the pituitary GTH subunit genes. These results suggest that the lunar age-dependent expressions of the kisspeptin, GnIH, and their receptor genes may be primarily important in the control of the precisely timed semilunar spawning of the grass puffer.

Reasons of exacerbation among children with reactive airway disease

Reactive airway disease has a multifactorial aetiology, where genetic liabilities and environmental exposures interact in complex ways to cause reversible airway inflammation and obstruction and acute exacerbation can be life threatening. The present study was to assess the reasons of exacerbation among children with reactive airway disease which include infection, cold climate, lunar variations, discontinuation of metered dose inhaler and allergens and irritants. The study was conducted in a tertiary care centre Thiruvananthapuram among 101 caretakers of children with reactive airway disease. A structured interview schedule was used to assess the socio demographic data, clinical data of the child and the reasons of exacerbation. Among 101 children with reactive airway disease majority of children 67.3% the reason for exacerbation was cold climate, in 16.8% infection, 21.8% activity, 8.9% lunar variation, 10.9% discontinuation of metered dose inhaler and in 28.7% other factors of exacerbation include strong odour, pets, pollen, pests, smoke, mosquito repellents and dust. The study also revealed that 72.3% are having family history of allergic diseases and 27.7% do not have any family history of allergic diseases. Of the 73 children with family history of allergic disease 79.5% were having family history of asthma, 16.4% were having allergic rhinitis and 4.1% were having allergic dermatitis. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. It is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, affecting more than 6 million children worldwide Advances in science have led to an increased understanding of asthma and its mechanisms as well as improved treatment approaches. Proper identification and elimination of triggers can reduce the exacerbation of asthma.

Solar and lunar daily geomagnetic variations and their equivalent current systems observed by Swarm

This paper describes solar and lunar daily variations of the geomagnetic field over low- and mid-latitude regions, using vector magnetometer data from Swarm satellites at altitudes of sim500 km during the solar minimum years of 2017–2020. The average solar variation of the geomagnetic field is within the range of ±14 nT, while the lunar variation is within ±2 nT. The latter is comparable to the ocean tidal field. A spherical harmonic analysis is performed on the solar and lunar variations to evaluate their internal and external equivalent current systems. The results show that both the solar and lunar variations are mainly of internal origin, which can be attributed to combined effects of ionospheric dynamo currents and induced underground currents. Global patterns of the internal solar and lunar current systems are consistent with the corresponding external current systems previously reported based on ground observations. The Swarm external currents are mainly in the meridional direction, and are likely associated with interhemispheric field-aligned currents. Both the internal and external current systems depend on the season and longitude.Graphical

Temporal patterns of weekly births and conceptions predicted by meteorology, seasonal variation, and lunar phases.

BackgroundData reporting the number of births given by women resident in Vienna for each week between 1999 and 2019, and the duration (in weeks) of their pregnancies, were used to estimate the week of conception. When preliminary examinations detected cyclical patterns for births and conceptions, a series of Poisson regressions for births and conceptions were performed to assess whether these cycles could be associated with lunar or solar phases.MethodsTo that end 2 sine-cosine functions, 1 with a wavelength of 1 year (365.25 days) and 1 with a wavelength of 29.529 days, the latter resembling the average length of a lunar cycle, were constructed. In addition, also average weekly temperatures were included in the models.ResultsSame week temperature was a strong non-linear predictor for both births and conceptions. Extreme temperatures, especially hot temperatures, increased the number of births while the numbers of successful conceptions were decreased by extreme temperatures. Regarding annual variation in conceptions, the lowest values were found in May and the highest in late autumn and early winter. Therefore, the highest numbers of births are observed in the summer. As per lunar variations, the highest numbers of conceptions occurred at the full moon and the highest numbers of births at the waxing crescent to first quarter moon.DiscussionThe latter results should be treated with caution, as they are not hypothesis driven. Furthermore, literature reports on this topic are conflicting. Nevertheless, these findings will be useful in further analyses examining air pollution effects.

Evolution of the Geomagnetic Daily Variation at Tatuoca, Brazil, From 1957 to 2019: A Transition From Sq to EEJ

AbstractThe magnetic equator in the Brazilian region has moved over 1,100 km northward since 1957, passing the geomagnetic observatory Tatuoca (TTB), in northern Brazil, around 2013. We recovered and processed TTB hourly mean values of the geomagnetic field horizontal (H) component from 1957 until 2019, allowing the investigation of long‐term changes in the daily variation due to the influence of secular variation, solar activity, season, and lunar phase. The H day‐to‐day variability and the occurrence of the counter electrojet at TTB were also investigated. Until the 1990s, ionospheric solar quiet currents dominated the quiet‐time daily variation at TTB. After 2000, the magnitude of the daily variation became appreciably greater due to the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) contribution. The H seasonal and day‐to‐day variability increased as the magnetic equator approached, but their amplitudes normalized to the average daily variation remained at similar levels. Meanwhile, the amplitude of the lunar variation, normalized in the same way, increased from 5% to 12%. Within the EEJ region, the occurrence rate of the morning counter electrojet (MCEJ) increased with proximity to the magnetic equator, while the afternoon counter electrojet (ACEJ) did not. EEJ currents derived from CHAMP and Swarm satellite data revealed that the MCEJ rate varies with magnetic latitude within the EEJ region while the ACEJ rate is largely constant. Simulations with the Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Electrodynamics General Circulation Model based on different geomagnetic main field configurations suggest that long‐term changes in the geomagnetic daily variation at TTB can be attributed to the main field secular variation.

Seasonal dependence of semidiurnal equatorial magnetic variation during quiet and disturbed periods

The analysis of 20-year long-term semidiurnal lunar tidal variations gave the evidence that the semidiurnal variations are completely different between the magnetic quiet and disturbed periods. This is the first time that the seasonal dependence of disturbance-time semidiurnal variation has been provided from the analysis of the EE-index. We found the Kp dependence of semidiurnal variation: For full and new moon phase, counter troughs are amplified during disturbance time, possibly related to disturbance dynamo. For all moon phase, there are positive enhancements in dawn and strong depressions after sunset, resulting from the penetration of polar electric filed. For Seasonal dependence, semidiurnal variations are divided to three seasonal groups, and characterized as deep trough, enhanced crest and weak structure for D-solstice, Equinoxes and J-solstice, respectively. There is no significant longitudinal difference between Ancon and Davao, except for the amplitude of semidiurnal variations. The deep troughs occur during D-solstice and the enhanced crests during Equinoxes, at both Ancon and Davao.

Insight-building models for lunar range and range rate

The analysis of range or Doppler data between sites on the Earth and Moon requires an accurate computation of the lunar orbit and detailed models of the orientation of the Earth and Moon. Models constructed to understand range and range rate can lack detail, but if they include the largest lunar orbit variations, tracking stations on a rotating Earth, and lunar sites on a synchronously rotating Moon, then they will display the largest effects for orbit elements, Earth orientation, tracking station locations, and lunar site coordinates. The range and range rate are expanded into periodic series. To understand accurate solutions, the largest periodic terms that are sensitive to various solution parameters indicate the sensitivity of data to solution parameters and the time spans needed for their determination. Conclusions include: cylindrical coordinates work well for sites on the rapidly rotating Earth, but Cartesian coordinates are more natural for the synchronously rotating Moon since the series for the three coordinate projections are distinct. For range and range rate data, daily, semimonthly, monthly, and longer periods are present. For Doppler data, the daily periods may be stronger and more useful than the long periods, particularly for terms associated with the terrestrial tracking station. Doppler data do not determine the lander coordinate toward the Earth well. Observational strategies for range and Doppler data are not identical. For all data types, one wishes a variety of hour angles, lunar declinations, times of month, and longer periods. A long span of high-quality range data can improve the lunar orbit, orientation of the Earth’s equator, and physical librations. The locations of new lunar sites or new tracking stations can be determined from shorter spans of data.

Physical activity, subjective sleep quality and time in bed do not vary by moon phase in German adolescents.

Lunar periodicity in human biology and behaviour, particularly sleep, has been reported. However, estimated relationships vary in direction (more or less sleep with full moon) if they exist at all, and studies tend to be so small that there is potential for confounding by weekly or monthly cycles. Lunar variation in physical activity has been posited as a driver of this relationship, but is likewise not well studied. We explore the association between lunar cycle, sleep and physical activity in a population-based sample of 1411 Germans age 14-17years (46% male). Physical activity (daily minutes moderate-to-vigorous activity) was objectively assessed by accelerometry for a total of 8832 days between 2011 and 2014. At the same time, time in bed (h) and subjective sleep quality (1-6) were diaried each morning. In models corrected for confounding, we found that lunar phase was not significantly associated with physical activity, subjective sleep quality or time in bed in either sex, regardless of season. Observed relationships varied randomly in direction between models, suggesting artefact. Thus, this large, objectively-measured and well-controlled population of adolescents displayed no lunar periodicity in objective physical activity, subjective sleep quality or time in bed.

Reproductive biology and larval development of the scleractinian corals Favites colemani and F. abdita (Faviidae) in northwestern Philippines

The timing of sexual reproduction was investigated in Favites colemani and F. abdita in Bolinao, Pangasinan, northwestern Philippines. Bimonthly to weekly rapid sampling and histological analyses were conducted in permanently marked colonies for the period of 12 months from February 2014 to January 2015. The study showed both F. colemani and F. abdita are hermaphroditic broadcasting species with an annual gametogenic cycle. Both species spawned in days between full moon and last quarter of May. Maximal gamete release occurred 1–2 days before the last quarter between 20:30 and 22:30 h. Spawning events coincided with the highest mean seawater temperature and low tidal stands, suggesting lunar cycle and temperature variations may serve as potential proximate cues that could affect the timing and synchronize reproduction of these two faviid species. Larval development up to settlement in the two species was also described herein.

Manifestation of fault zones in geophysical fields

Geophysical fields influenced by tectonics faults were observed, and instrumental observation results are analysed in the article. It is shown that fault zones are characterized by geophysical fields that are more variable than those in midmost segments of crustal blocks, more intense responses to weak external impacts such as lunar and solar tides and atmospheric pressure variations, and intensive relaxation. Transformation of energy between geophysical fields varying in origin takes place mainly in the fault zones.

Seasonal and Lunar Variation in the Emergence Time of a Population of Uca lactea annulipes (Milne-Edwards, 1837) at a Shore in Kuwait

This study monitored the endogenous emergence time of the fiddler crab Uca lactea annulipes (Milne-Edwards, 1837) in the field, for the first time, at an intertidal shore in Kuwait, from 1997 to 2001. The results revealed a significant cyclic change in the median emergence time as the season progressed from winter, through spring and summer, to autumn (.44,1.29,3.12, and 1.1 h prior to the dead-low tide, respectively). The data also revealed a significant shift in the median emergence time according to moon phase (2.27 h at new moon versus 2.56 h at full moon prior to the dead-low tide). (Author correspondence: l.almusawi@ropme.org)

Seasonal and Lunar Variation in the Emergence Time of a Population of Uca lactea annulipes (Milne-Edwards, 1837) at a Shore in Kuwait

This study monitored the endogenous emergence time of the fiddler crab Uca lactea annulipes (Milne-Edwards, 1837) in the field, for the first time, at an intertidal shore in Kuwait, from 1997 to 2001. The results revealed a significant cyclic change in the median emergence time as the season progressed from winter, through spring and summer, to autumn (.44, 1.29, 3.12, and 1.1 h prior to the dead-low tide, respectively). The data also revealed a significant shift in the median emergence time according to moon phase (2.27 h at new moon versus 2.56 h at full moon prior to the dead-low tide). (Author correspondence: l.almusawi@ropme.org)

Monthly lunar declination extremes' influence on tropospheric circulation patterns

[1] Short-term tidal variations occurring every 27.3 days from southern (negative) to northern (positive) maximum lunar declinations (MLDs), and back to southern declination of the moon have been overlooked in weather studies. These short-term MLD variations' significance is that when lunar declination is greatest, tidal forces operating on the high latitudes of both hemispheres are maximized. We find that such tidal forces deform the high latitude Rossby longwaves. Using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data set, we identify that the 27.3 day MLD cycle's influence on circulation is greatest in the upper troposphere of both hemispheres' high latitudes. The effect is distinctly regional with high impact over central North America and the British Isles. Through this lunar variation, midlatitude weather forecasting for two-week forecast periods may be significantly improved.

Diel and lunar variations of marine ambient sound in the North Pacific

Marine ambient sound was recorded on autonomous high-frequency acoustic recording packages (bandwidth 10 Hz to 100 kHz) during long term deployments at multiple sites across the North Pacific, from the high latitude Aleutian Islands to tropical Palmyra Atoll in depths of 600–1 000 m. Most intertropical but no temperate locations showed a distinct diel pattern in ambient sound. The soundscape at each location was unique, yet there was a similar recurring sound of unknown origin in lower latitude locations. This sound had a peak frequency around 3–5 kHz and was recorded only for several hours after sunset. Additionally, at some locations, a broadband acoustic signal with bandwidth up to 60 kHz was recorded at night with crepuscular peaks. Both sound patterns were lunar dependent with lower acoustic levels during full moon phases. Site-specific diel and seasonal acoustic patterns have been observed for various odontocete species. Correlations between odontocete presence and levels of ambient sound are investigated. [Work supported by NOAA-Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, US Navy-N45/PACFLT, ONR, Pacific Life, Ocean Foundation, University of California, San Diego.]

Empirical model of variations in 656.3-nm hydrogen emission

Based on the measurements of 656.3-nm emission of atomic hydrogen, we constructed a model of variations in its intensity, which describes the dependence of diurnal, lunar, seasonal, latitudinal, and long-term variations, during the 11-year cycle of solar activity, cyclic aperiodic variations, and variations after geomagnetic disturbances.

Aggregation and spawning of the humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus (Pisces: Labridae): general aspects of spawning behaviour

The humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus formed resident spawning aggregations daily after high tide at specific locations along the seaward edge of the Palau barrier reef. The location and extent of one aggregation site remained consistent for 6 years with no physical features distinguishing it from adjacent areas. Spawning was documented most months and probably occurred year round with possible seasonal and lunar variation. Spawning males arrived first at the site, followed by females and potentially small primary males. The aggregation female to male sex ratio was estimated to be between 6:1 and 10:1. A maximum of 15 males and 100–150 females were observed at the site. A male courtship posture with the anal fin pointed, the caudal fin folded down and the dorsal fin folded against the body was maintained while swimming a few metres off the bottom in view of females. When ready to spawn females rose up as the posturing male passed and the pair released gametes in a relatively sedate fashion near the surface along the shelf break. No attempted predation on spawning adults was seen. Egg predation after spawning was uncommon. On days with early to mid‐day high tides the spawning period started 2·0–2·5 h after high tide when the speed of lagoon–ocean tidal currents peaked and lasted c. 1 h. On days with later afternoon high tides, spawning occurred sooner after high tide and before current speeds peaked. Other fishes with planktonic eggs spawned at the site as pairs or small groups in a rough succession after high tide with C. undulatus, the last species to spawn.

10.1007/s11478-008-2017-0

Results of studying the lunar daily geomagnetic variations in the spectral and time regions at the network of observatories are presented. The seasonal variations in the amplitudes of the fundamental harmonic constituents of three lunar variation components have been revealed. The seasonal time variations have been analyzed using the digital bandpass filtering and harmonic synthesis based on the data of the Kakioka and Memambetsu geomagnetic observatories. The 11-year solar cycle and annual and semiannual periods have been distinguished in the seasonal variation spectrum. Studying the spectral singularities of the lunar daily variation at these observatories and the sea level variations in daytime and nighttime hours has made it possible to identify the contribution of the oceanic dynamo to the lunar variation vertical component.

Search for radio flashes caused by collisions of meteoroids with the moon

The authors have developed an observation procedure to determine the nature of detected lunar radio flux variations. The possibility to detect spacecraft SMART-1 impact radio flash is estimated. The upper limit of intensity is assessed for radio flashes produced by collisions of sporadic meteoroids with the moon as 10−7 Jy J−1 at 3.6 cm.

Studying the dynamics of the lunar daily geomagnetic variations

Results of studying the lunar daily geomagnetic variations in the spectral and time regions at the network of observatories are presented. The seasonal variations in the amplitudes of the fundamental harmonic constituents of three lunar variation components have been revealed. The seasonal time variations have been analyzed using the digital bandpass filtering and harmonic synthesis based on the data of the Kakioka and Memambetsu geomagnetic observatories. The 11-year solar cycle and annual and semiannual periods have been distinguished in the seasonal variation spectrum. Studying the spectral singularities of the lunar daily variation at these observatories and the sea level variations in daytime and nighttime hours has made it possible to identify the contribution of the oceanic dynamo to the lunar variation vertical component.