Period August-October Research Articles

Seasonal and inter-annual variability of the sea surface temperature and mixed layer depth in the southern Bay of Bengal

Argo float data supplemented with satellite measurements was used to study the seasonal and inter-annual variation in wind speed, sea surface temperature (SST) and mixed layer depth (MLD) of the southern Bay of Bengal from 2003 through 2010. Due to persistence of wind, clear sky and high insolation an increase in SST by about 2°C is evident during summer months (March-May) and is followed by shallowed MLD with a minimum depth of 9.3 m during summer 2004. MLD reached the maximum depth during monsoon season (November-December) and often extends to post monsoon (February) owing to strong monsoon wind, cloudy sky and SST plummeted by 3°C. During the inter-monsoon period (August-October) the MLD shallowed and maintained a depth of 20–30 m all through the study period. High wind accompanied with moderate temperature (SST) due to the south west monsoon leads to decreased MLD with an average depth of 44 m in July. Analysis of wind speed, SST and MLD suggested that out of various meteorological parameters wind speed and induced mixing are highly influential in MLD formation. Reduced occurrence and amplitude of MLD deepening noticed in recent years can be attributed to the evident climate change scenarios. Large scale upper ocean variability observed from the present study has innumerable antagonistic consequences on the marine ecosystem which is evident from various events of seagrass burns and coral bleaching which have occurred in the last decade.

Bank Depositor Behavior in Russia in the Aftermath of Financial Crisis

An international team of economists examines the factors influencing the behavior of Russian depositors in the immediate aftermath of that country's 1998 financial crisis, drawing upon two largely unutilized data sources—data from the Russian state savings bank Sberbank and a November 1998 household survey. After first reviewing the evolution of the household deposit market during the 1990s, they explore regional variations in net withdrawals from Sberbank branches during the period August-October 1998 as well as identify characteristics of individual/household depositors making (or attempting to make) such withdrawals. More severe runs on Sberbank outlets are found to be associated with more affluent and entrepreneurial regions, regions of more youthful and less educated population closer to Moscow, and areas with greater media freedom. Subsequent public opinion survey analysis of the socioeconomic correlates of runs on all Russian banks during the 1998 crisis reveals some interesting differences (in the effects of education in particular) on the propensity to successfully withdraw deposits.

Improving Compliance with Statins in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease: A Quality Improvement Study.

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease affecting medium sized arteries. The prevalence, health, and financial impact of the disease has made it a key target for public health and large scale intervention. The statin class of drugs improve morbidity and mortality for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) through polymodal actions. This quality improvement study aimed to determine, and subsequently reduce, the percentage of patients with PAD discharged without statins. According to the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and draft National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance, all patients undergoing major vascular procedures should be prescribed a statin.A baseline audit of patients with PAD under the care of the vascular team at our instituted was undertaken for the period Dec 2009–July 2010. Electronic discharge letters (EDLs) were analysed and compliance with statin prescription were recorded. A number of interventions aimed at improving compliance were then enacted and monitored through weekly PDSA cycles. Junior doctor leadership was key to identifying the problem and conceiving, implementing, and measuring changes. A second cycle was run, using similar data collection methods to the first, for the period August-October 2010.In the first cycle, EDLs pertaining to 113 patient admissions, involving 96 patients with PAD, were examined. Statins were not prescribed in 30.1%. In the second cycle, 86 patient admissions, involving 76 patients, were examined. Statins were not prescribed in 24.4%, representing an 18.9% decrease. Poorly compliant sub-groups included patients presenting with embolism or those for elective angioplasty.

EARLINESS, LEAF SURFACE WAX AND SUGAR CONTENT PREDICT VARIETAL DIFFERENCES FOR THRIPS DAMAGE IN CABBAGE

ISHS V International Symposium on Brassicas and XVI International Crucifer Genetics Workshop, Brassica 2008 EARLINESS, LEAF SURFACE WAX AND SUGAR CONTENT PREDICT VARIETAL DIFFERENCES FOR THRIPS DAMAGE IN CABBAGE

High precision locations of long-period events at La Fossa Crater (Vulcano Island, Italy)

Since the last eruption in 1888-90, the volcanic activity on Vulcano Island (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy) has been limited to fumarolic degassing. Fumaroles are mainly concentred at the active cone of La Fossa in the northern sector of the island and are periodically characterized by increases in temperature as well as in the amount of both CO2 and He. Seismic background activity at Vulcano is dominated by micro-seismicity originating at shallow depth (<1-1.5 km) under La Fossa cone. This seismicity is related to geothermal system processes and comprises long period (LP) events. LPs are generally considered as the resonance of a fluid-filled volume in response to a trigger. We analyzed LP events recorded during an anomalous degassing period (August-October 2006) applying a high precision technique to define the shape of the trigger source. Absolute and high precision locations suggest that LP events recorded at Vulcano during 2006 were produced by a shallow focal zone ca. 200 m long, 40 m wide and N30-40E oriented. Their occurrence is linked to magmatic fluid inputs that by modifying the hydrothermal system cause excitation of a fluid-filled cavity.

Radiative Impact of Ozone on Temperature Predictability in a Coupled Chemistry–Dynamics Data Assimilation System

Abstract The objective of this study is to investigate the impact on temperature forecast of using ozone analyses for the computation of heating rates in a three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3D-Var) system with a coupled model. The system is based on a tropospheric–stratospheric forecast model that includes a comprehensive stratospheric chemistry module for online resolution of the dynamical, radiative, and photochemical interactions. The system assimilates conventional observations as well as temperature and ozone measurements from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument. Several data assimilation cycles have been performed over the period August–October 2003 to produce a set of analyses that have been used for launching an ensemble of 10-day forecasts. Temperature and ozone forecasts have been compared with MIPAS and radiosonde observations in different regions. Results show that, in the absence of ozone assimilation, the impact of using a prognostic ozone distribution for the computation of heating rates as opposed to monthly mean climatologies is generally neutral. With the addition of ozone assimilation, the improvement against a noninteractive assimilation system is systematic and occurs over a wide range of time scales throughout the lower stratosphere. The improvement on 6-h temperature forecasts is mainly seen in the Southern Hemisphere, where ozone analyses are in good agreement with observations. For 10-day forecasts, the impact of using ozone analyses is more important in the Northern Hemisphere, where it improves the temperature predictability by more than 1 day at 50 hPa. Comparisons with analyses also show a systematic reduction of the temperature root-mean-square errors and biases throughout the assimilation period. The overall results demonstrate that a comprehensive coupled 3D-Var system that incorporates the radiative feedback from ozone analyses can be used for improving temperature predictability throughout the stratosphere. Comprehensive approaches can be used as a benchmark for the development of linearized methods for improving temperature and ozone forecasting in the region.

The dynamics of the minimum solar corona during the period August–October 1996

The paper presents the dynamics of the solar corona at the minimum phase of the solar cycle (period August–October 1996), as inferred from LASCO-C1 spectral data. LASCO-C1 is an internally occulted coronagraph aboard the SOHO spacecraft. It has a tunable Fabry–Pérot interferometer which allows taking spectral scans of selected coronal emission lines. From measured line profiles we deduced physical quantities such as temperature and flow velocities along the line of sight. This way, we obtained information on the flow pattern in the low corona (1.1–1.6 solar radii).

Characteristics of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones in the United States and Mexico: Climatology and Interannual Variability

Abstract The climatology and interannual variability of landfalling tropical cyclones and their impacts on precipitation in the continental United States and Mexico are examined. The analysis is based on National Hurricane Center 6-hourly tropical cyclone track data for the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins and gridded daily U.S. precipitation data for the period August–October 1950–98. Geographic maps of total tropical cyclone strike days, and the mean and maximum percentage of precipitation due to tropical cyclones, are examined by month. To make the procedures objective, it is assumed that precipitation is symmetric about the storm’s center. While this introduces some uncertainty in the analysis, sensitivity tests show that this assumption is reasonable for precipitation within 5° of the circulation center. The relationship between landfalling tropical cyclones and two leading patterns of interannual climate variability—El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO)—are then examined. Relationships between tropical cyclone frequency and intensity and composites of 200-hPa geopotential height and wind shear anomalies are also examined as a function of ENSO phase and AO phase using classifications devised at the Climate Prediction Center. The data show that tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin is modulated on both seasonal and intraseasonal time scales by the AO and ENSO and that impact of the two modes of climate variability is greater together than apart. This suggests that, during La Niña conditions, atmospheric circulation is more conducive to activity in the main development region during AO-positive conditions than during AO-negative ones and that, during El Niño conditions, atmospheric circulation appears even less conducive to tropical cyclone development during the negative phase of the AO than during the positive phase.

Seasonality of reproduction in the three largest terrestrial rodents of French Guiana forest

We investigated the main life history of the three largest terrestrial rodents of French Guiana forest: the acouchy ( Myoprocta exilis), the agouti ( Dasyprocta leporina) and the paca ( Agouti paca), using data collected during several years. There were noticeable differences among the species in sexual maturation and degree of seasonality in reproduction. Percentage of pregnant females, births and juveniles, and body weight of juveniles decreased progressively from the acouchy, through the agouti to the paca. The acouchy was by far the most seasonal: no births occur in the period August–October, 56% of births were encountered in November–January; consequently, young form an unique cohort in the population. The agouti was also seasonal, but to a lesser degree. Newborns appeared in every period of the year in paca, without any formation of cohort of young. These differences tended to be linked to the seasonal importance of fruits in diets, the most aseasonal species having the most diversified diet during the poor fruit season.

Outbreak of echovirus 13 infection among Lithuanian children

The aim of this study was to investigate an outbreak of enterovirus infection in Lithuania in 2001, as well as the clinical presentation and outcome of the disease. Thirty children aged 1 month to 15 years were referred to hospital with suspected enterovirus infection during the period August-October 2001. Echovirus 13 (EV-13) was isolated from eight (26.7%) cases. No other pathogens were detected. Infection presented predominantly as viral meningitis, and rarely as a febrile illness with rash. The outcome was good for all patients. This is the first report of EV-13 from Lithuania.

Morphological dynamics and seedling recruitment in young swards of three contrasting cultivars of white clover (Trifolium repens) under continuous stocking with sheep

Although there has been some recent interest in the morphology of individual white clover plants within established mixed swards under sheep grazing, there is little information available on the morphological changes taking place during the critical first 3 years of sward development. Undamaged white clover plants were sampled from an experiment at Plas Gogerddan, Ceredigion, comparing three contrasting white clover cultivars, sown with a common companion ryegrass cultivar, under continuous stocking with sheep. Turves (250 × 250 mm), from which individual plants were carefully extracted, were taken every month during 1990–91 (years 2 and 3 after sowing). Each plant was described in detail by assessing a range of morphological characters. Information was also gathered from each quadrat on the degree of flowering and seedling recruitment. There were clear seasonal variations in plant size and complexity with an increase in the number of simple, unbranched plants over the winter/spring period, which became the dominant plant type by June. During the later part of each year, the reverse was true. Characters associated with plant size also decreased over the winter period, followed by recovery during the ensuing summer. However the recovery was not complete and there was a strong general trend towards an increased proportion of less complex plants of reduced size over the 2 years. As plant size fell, plant number increased and morphological differences between cultivars diminished. By autumn of the second year (third year after sowing) the mean plant size reached a critical level with further stolon loss resulting in large scale plant death. Over the 2-month period August–October 1991, plant number fell by 60% and resulted in a reduction in stolon abundance of 76%; a true clover crash. The seedling data also suggest that under these conditions seedling recruitment can be up to one twentieth of that expected from a conventional sowing and can play a substantial role in the regeneration of the sward.

SEASONAL VARIATIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME ENSO PARAMETERS AND INDIAN RAINFALL

Canonical correlation analysis is used to examine the seasonal relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall by analysing their 12 monthly values for an 80-year period. Three ENSO indices are considered. These ENSO indices are the Darwin surface pressure, the sea-surface temperature of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and rainfall of central equatorial Pacific islands (hereafter denoted as DSP, SST, and RAIN respectively). The ENSO indices are also analysed for relationships between themselves. The analysis reveals that the seasonal variations of these ENSO indices are highly intercoupled with no lag. These indices show the minimum association during April and the maximum after the monsoon season. Further, the seasonal variation of the Indian rainfall is found to be better associated with the seasonal variations of SST as compared with that of DSP or RAIN. This association is at its strongest during the period August–October. An apparent reversal in the relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall is also observed from summer to winter. The warm ENSO years are associated with weak summer monsoon rainfall and at the same time high winter monsoon rainfall.

SEASONAL VARIATIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME ENSO PARAMETERS AND INDIAN RAINFALL

Canonical correlation analysis is used to examine the seasonal relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall by analysing their 12 monthly values for an 80-year period. Three ENSO indices are considered. These ENSO indices are the Darwin surface pressure, the sea-surface temperature of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and rainfall of central equatorial Pacific islands (hereafter denoted as DSP, SST, and RAIN respectively). The ENSO indices are also analysed for relationships between themselves. The analysis reveals that the seasonal variations of these ENSO indices are highly intercoupled with no lag. These indices show the minimum association during April and the maximum after the monsoon season. Further, the seasonal variation of the Indian rainfall is found to be better associated with the seasonal variations of SST as compared with that of DSP or RAIN. This association is at its strongest during the period August–October. An apparent reversal in the relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall is also observed from summer to winter. The warm ENSO years are associated with weak summer monsoon rainfall and at the same time high winter monsoon rainfall.

Polar stratospheric clouds and ozone depletion: Relevance of extendedin situ observations

The occurrence of a springtime ozone depletion over Antarctica appears to be the result of a chain of processes leading to catalitic destruction of the gas by the action of halogen radicals, in particular chlorine oxide. High abundances of ClO in the stratosphere are determined by abnormally low concentrations of nitrogen compounds; such denitrification is likely to be caused by heterogeneous reactions and transport carried out by the clouds present in the polar stratosphere. Stratospheric clouds form during most of the winter and the beginning of spring over the polar regions. Due to scarce accessibility, knowledge of their properties is still poor. Information on extent, particles shape and size distributions is, however, fundamental for the understanding of the magnitude of their contribution to the destruction chain. A balloon-borne experiment, aimed at thein situ observation of cloud particles from 2 to 200 microns in radius, is presented. This would be the first system to provide on-line TV images of cloud particles. The first measurement campaign in Antarctica is planned for the period August–October 1990.

ナルトミカン果実の発育に伴うフラベド組織の脂質の変化

Seasonal changes in lipid composition in the flavedo tissues of Naruto fruit were determined during August to early June.Total fatty acid content of phospho- and glycolipids, particularly that of glycolipids, decreased considerably with increased aging of the rind except during midwinter. In mid-winter that of neutral, phospho- and glycolipids showed a sharp peak, due largely to an increase in linoleic (18:2) acid in the first two and linolenic (18:3) acid in the last.Content of major phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE); and content of major glycolipids, mono-(MGDG) and di-galactosyl-diglyceride (DGDG), behaved in a way similar to that of phospho- and glycolipid total fatty acids, respectively. Seasonal variations in DGDG content were paralleled by, but greater than MGDG content. The PC/PE ratio decreased steadily from August to December and thereafter remained unchanged. Free sterol content decreased from August to October and thereafter changed little except for showing a peak in mid-winter. However, the sterol/phospholipid ratio was relatively constant during winter. The sitosterol/stigmasterol ratio more than doubled in the maturing period (December-June) compared with that in the growing period (August October).

A kilometer pathlength fourier-transform infrared system for the study of trace pollutants in ambient and synthetic atmospheres

A Fourier-transform infrared (FT-i.r.) system operable at pathlengths up to 2 km has been constructed for the detection and measurement of trace contaminants in the ambient atmosphere and in controlled smog formation studies. The long optical path is achieved by the use of an eight-mirror multiple reflection cell with a 22.5-m base path. The design, construction and use of this novel foldedpath optical system are described in detail. In preliminary ambient air measurements at Riverside, California, during the period August–October, 1976, ppb concentrations of formaldehyde, nitric acid, formic acid and ammonia (in addition to O 3 and PAN) were measured in ambient air.

Response of the plasma sheet at ∼18REto sudden southward turnings of the interplanetary magnetic field

Simultaneous measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) by Explorer 35 and of the magnetotail plasma by Vela satellites are examined for the period August–October 1970. Nineteen cases are found in which the IMF turns southward more than 40° (|Δθ| > 40°) in less than 10 min and a Vela satellite, operating in a high time resolution mode, is in the plasma sheet. Twelve of these cases show a large decrease of plasma pressure, or the so-called plasma sheet thinning, during the subsequent period of southward IMF. Polar magnetic substorms occur at the earth in conjunction with these twelve plasma sheet thinnings. On the other hand, seven cases show only slight plasma sheet thinnings, and there was no indication of substorms at the standard auroral zone stations. Thus it is likely that the southward IMF alone does not reduce significantly plasma pressure in the plasma sheet and that a large decrease of plasma pressure is associated with a substorm.

German Military Aid to Turkey in 1914: An Historical Re-Evaluation

ON August 2, 1914 the Turkish grand I-'vizier signed a secret treaty of alliance with Germany. Under Article II, the Ottoman Empire undertook to side with Germany and Austria-Hungary if the latter powers became involved in a war with Russia. During the followinig days, however, it became apparent that the Porte was actually reluctant to commit Turkey to immediate intervention on the side of the Central Powers. Instead, the Ottoman Empire followed a policy of uneasy neutrality, which continued for almost three months before it finally was overcome by the combined efforts of Turkish interventionists, such as Enver Pasha, and of German officers and diplomats in Constantinople. The story behind Turkey's wavering policy during the months of August, September, and October 1914, has been the subject of numerous studies.1 With a wide variety of diplomatic documents and personal memoirs at their disposal, historians have been able to trace the principal stages of Entente and German policies in Constantinople and to assess their effect. Certain aspects of the story, however, are in need of further study, particularly the question of German aid to Turkey during the period AugustOctober 1914 when the statesmen of the Entente were still hopeful of keeping the Ottoman Empire out of the war. This German military aid program has usually been depicted as a steady flow of