Winter Nights Research Articles

Spatial and temporal variation in daily temperature indices in summer and winter seasons over India (1969–2012)

Spatial and temporal variations in summer and winter extreme temperature indices are studied by using daily maximum and minimum temperatures data from 227 surface meteorological stations well distributed over India for the period 1969–2012. For this purpose, time series for six extreme temperature indices namely, hot days (HD), very hot days (VHD), extremely hot days (EHD), cold nights (CN), very cold nights (VCN), and extremely cold nights (ECN) are calculated for all the stations. In addition, time series for mean extreme temperature indices of summer and winter seasons are also analyzed. Study reveals high variability in spatial distribution of threshold temperatures of extreme temperature indices over the country. In general, increasing trends are observed in summer hot days indices and decreasing trends in winter cold night indices over most parts of the country. The results obtained in this study indicate warming in summer maximum and winter minimum temperatures over India. Averaged over India, trends in summer hot days indices HD, VHD, and EHD are significantly increasing (+1.0, +0.64, and +0.32 days/decade, respectively) and winter cold night indices CN, VCN, and ECN are significantly decreasing (−0.93, −0.47, and −0.15 days/decade, respectively). Also, it is observed that the impact of extreme temperature is higher along the west coast for summer and east coast for winter.

Numerical investigation of the performance and soil temperature recovery of an EATHE system under intermittent operations

One of the problems in operating earth air tunnel heat exchangers (EATHE) for cooling in summer, with soil having high specific heat and low moisture content is accumulation of heat around the pipe. The low rate of heat dissipation due to conduction restricts the performance of EATHE over subsequent years. In the present paper, numerical simulations have been performed to investigate the thermal performance and soil temperature during summer operation in Jaipur to estimate extent of soil degradation. The simulation result indicates that by the end of summer, the soil leads to thermal saturation which in turn, may render it unusable for next summer. This scenario demands for heat removal through force convection. Three strategies namely, night purging during summer operation, day operation during winter and night operation during winter were attempted to estimate extent of soil recovery. Simulation results show that the average COPs for summer, summer with night purging, winter day and winter night operation mode are 4.23, 3.68, 5.01, and 6.65 respectively. It was found that advantage of night purging is less than energy required to run blower for night purging. However, winter day/night operation offers space heating and better soil for next summer.

Se Chico Buarque numa noite de inverno... Apologia do plágio em Budapeste

A obra de Chico Buarque, considerada em todas as variedades de suas expressões, revela desde sempre a peculiar capacidade de tecer um intenso diálogo com as obras de outros autores. Obviamente, dependendo da perspectiva crítica, tal característica pode ser enaltecida como admirável vocação à intertextualidade ou, pelo contrário, estigmatizada como desdenhável propensão ao plágio. A partir de uma leitura comparada entre o seu terceiro romance, Budapeste (2006), e Se um viajante numa noite de inverno (1979), de Italo Calvino, pretendo propor uma reflexão sobre a ideia de plágio, evidenciando como o diálogo descontrolado e imprevisível entre livros, escritores e leitores seja um dos recursos mais preciosos e misteriosos da literatura.

Assessment of Environment Control in Arid Area Green house coupled with Earth Tube Heat Exchanger

In hot arid regions, yields are low and unstable, growing season limited to one. Greenhouses can stabilize and improve yields and extend seasons. But their adoption is impeded by the requirement of large amount of water for (evaporative) cooling. Arid Area Greenhouse (AAG) is developed to reduce or eliminate this need by employing earth-tube-heat-exchanger (ETHE). ETHE was able to heat the greenhouse from 9°C to 22-23°C in 30 minutes in the cold winter nights. Static ventilation along with shading was effective for day time to control till early March. Subsequently ETHE was also operated. Yield of tomato in Arid Area Greenhouse was 1.5 to 2 times and water saving in AAG was 44% of that in open-field condition. ETHE and natural ventilation hold promise as environmental control devices for greenhouses in hot arid regions.

Characterization of Atmospheric Ekman Spirals at Dome C, Antarctica

We use wind speed and temperature measurements taken along a 45-m meteorological tower located at Dome C, Antarctica (75.06°S, 123.19)E) to highlight and characterize the Ekman spiral. Firstly, temperature records reveal that the atmospheric boundary layer at Dome C is stable during winter and summer nights (i.e., >85 % of the time). The wind vector, in both speed and direction, also shows a strong dependence with elevation. An Ekman model was then fitted to the measurements. Results show that the wind vector follows the Ekman spiral structure for more than 20 % of the year (2009). Most Ekman spirals have been detected during summer nights, that is, when the boundary layer is slightly stratified. During these episodes, the boundary-layer height ranged from 25 to 100 m, the eddy viscosity from 0.004 to 0.06 m 2 s −1 , and the Richardson number from zero to 1.6.

A hierarchical analysis of the relationship between urban impervious surfaces and land surface temperatures: spatial scale dependence, temporal variations, and bioclimatic modulation

Understanding how urban impervious surfaces (UIS) affect land surface temperatures (LST) on different scales in space and time is important for urban ecology and sustainability. We examined how spatial scales, seasonal and diurnal variations, and bioclimatic settings affected the UIS–LST relationship in mainland China. We took a hierarchical approach explicitly considering three scales: the ecoregion, urban cluster, and urban core. The UIS–LST relationship was quantified with Pearson correlation using multiple remote sensing datasets. In general, UIS and LST were positively correlated in summer daytime/nighttime and winter nighttime, but negatively in winter daytime. The strength of correlation increased from broad to fine scales. The mean R2 of winter nights at the urban core scale (0.262) was 4.03 times as high as that at the ecoregion scale (0.065). The relationship showed large seasonal and diurnal variations: generally stronger in summer than in winter and stronger in nighttime than in daytime. At the urban core scale, the mean R2 of summer daytime (0.208) was 3.25 times as high as that of winter daytime (0.064), and the mean R2 of winter nighttime (0.262) was 4.10 times as high as that of winter daytime (0.064). Vegetation and climate substantially modified the relationship during summer daytime on the ecoregion scale. Our study provides new evidence that the UIS–LST relationship varies with spatial scales, diurnal/seasonal cycles, and bioclimatic context, with new insight into the cross-scale properties of the relationship. These findings have implications for mitigating urban heat island effects across scales in China and beyond.

A compact receiver system for simultaneous measurements of mesospheric CO and O<sub>3</sub>

Abstract. During the last decades, ground-based microwave radiometry has matured into an established remote sensing technique for measuring vertical profiles of a number of gases in the stratosphere and the mesosphere. Microwave radiometry is the only ground-based technique that can provide vertical profiles of gases in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere both day and night, and even during cloudy conditions. Except for microwave instruments placed at high-altitude sites, or at sites with dry atmospheric conditions, only molecules with significant emission lines below 150 GHz, such as CO, H2O, and O3, can be observed. Vertical profiles of these molecules can give important information about chemistry and dynamics in the middle atmosphere. Today these measurements are performed at relatively few sites; more simple and reliable instrument solutions are required to make the measurement technique more widely spread. This need is urgent today as the number of satellite sensors observing the middle atmosphere is about to decrease drastically. In this study a compact double-sideband frequency-switched radiometer system for simultaneous observations of mesospheric CO at 115.27 GHz and O3 at 110.84 GHz is presented. The radiometer, its calibration scheme, and its observation method are presented. The retrieval procedure, including compensation of the different tropospheric attenuations at the two frequencies and error characterization, are also described. The first measurement series from October 2014 until April 2015 taken at the Onsala Space Observatory, OSO (57° N, 12° E), is analysed. The retrieved vertical profiles are compared with co-located CO and O3 data from the MLS instrument on the Aura satellite. The data sets from the instruments agree well with each other. The main differences are the higher OSO volume mixing ratios of O3 in the upper mesosphere during the winter nights and the higher OSO volume mixing ratios of CO in the mesosphere during the winter. The low bias of mesospheric winter values of CO from MLS compared to ground-based instruments was reported earlier.

Solar generated steam injection in heavy oil reservoirs: A case study

Combination of solar generated steam technology and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques have attracted a great deal of attention due to its positive impact on economics and on the environment. Solar steam project has already proven itself as it can reduce both gas consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 80%. However, operational issues as well as geographical factors (i.e. terrain suitability, drill sites and future field development plans) may affect solar EOR operations. In this study, a heavy oil field in Southeast Turkey was evaluated to find whether solar EOR is technically and economically feasible. Operational data such as injection rate, steam temperature and steam quality were determined by using a numerical model. A solar collector system was designed and combined with the steam injection method. Results indicated that direct normal insolation (DNI) of the oil field location was not high enough to maintain continuous steam injection. In order to sustain continuous steam injection natural gas burner back-up system must be used when DNI is intermittent to maintain required steam especially during winter nights. Economic analysis of combined system showed that fuel saving cannot compensate the initial cost of solar project with current oil price.

Seeing Red by Lina Meruane

white Quebecoise girlfriend. While the café scenes bring Laferrière closer to the fiction he used to write, the majority of the book features short treatises on different aspects of Quebecois society and history such as the Quiet Revolution, the weather, and attitudes toward immigrants. Haiti is not completely absent, as Laferrière often makes comparisons between Quebec and his homeland or more broadly between “the North” and “the South.” All these reflections lead up to a guidebook destined for Mongo entitled “How to Infiltrate a New Culture” that comprises the second half of the book. This hybrid structure results in several repetitions that slow the pace of the volume’s three hundred pages, as compared to Laferrière’s novels, which inspire a breathless reading in one sitting. While not as provocative as his previous work, Mongo still has moments of humorously biting social critique , particularly in the section entitled “A Short Glossary for New Arrivals,” where we find, for example, a Quebecer defined as “an individual ready to die for a language without even trying to write it well.” Mongo will most appeal to readers with an interest in immigrant literature, in a unique outsider view of Quebec, or with a continuing interest in Laferrière’s career. Those readers new to Laferrière would do better to start with some of the earlier books, which originally earned the author his place in the Académie. Corine Tachtiris Earlham College Lina Meruane. Seeing Red. Trans. Megan McDowell. Dallas, Texas. Deep Vellum. 2016. 157 pages. Seeing Red, by Chilean writer Lina Meruane , is an exemplary autobiographical novel. At a party in New York City, the main character, Lina, suffers from a stroke, which causes the blood vessels behind her corneas to burst. According to her, this stroke was inevitable and doctors forewarned her of this fate. Her vision disappears behind what she describes as “black blood.” Rather than panicking, Lina walks back out into the party she’s attending, acting as normal as she can while threads of blood float across her eyes. As the event comes to an end, she stumbles through the city with a friend and her partner, Ignacio. Losing her eyesight means relying on those around her with more intensity. So, she must rely on her lover, Ignacio, and her overbearing mother to care for her and lead her around. Their relationships are tested, and Lina goes back and forth between appreciating them and dreading her need for them. Lina isn’t an optimistic heroine. She has a dark sense of humor, she’s difficult, and she’s selfish. The book contains bursts of immaculate stream of consciousness flowing from Lina’s mind, and it is packed with visceral language in each short chapter. Seeing Red takes the reader through the gorgeous and uncomfortable descent of Lina’s mind because of her obsession with gaining her eyesight back. She adapts to the senses she still has but becomes eerily obsessed with gaining new eyes; at one point, she even asks Ignacio for one of his eyeballs. Meruane ’s voice is undeniably fresh, corporeal, and poetic. Seeing Red reminds the reader of our inevitable fates. We get older, our DNA shrinks, and we collapse into our mortalities. For Lina, it starts with her eyes, and the book gives us the beginning of her dizzying obsession with gaining something she could never get back. Rios de la Luz Tigard, Oregon Patrick Modiano. Paris Nocturne. Trans. Phoebe Weston-Evans. New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University Press. 2015. 148 pages. Thirty years after it happened, the protagonist of this haunting novel recounts how, one winter night, when he was not quite twenty-one, he was hit by a car in Paris. The driver, a young woman named Jacqueline Beausergent, looks like someone he knew when he was involved in a similar accident years earlier. Accompanied by a vaguely threatening and shady man who knows her, they are both taken to the hospital. When the protagonist wakes up, the woman has disappeared . The man makes him sign a report of the accident, gives him an envelope full of money, and disappears too, just like the protagonist ’s father did and just...

Wednesday Morning and Customers Want Me to Draw Out the Valley

Wednesday Morning and Customers Want Me to Draw Out the Valley Seanse Lynch Ducken (bio) They ask me to draw a map of this county, and I say I never could. They say, Begin at the top of Snoqualmie Pass,and I wonder, how could I map that place? How can I show the way I-90 widens through the forests, rushes past cabins and human-made lakes? Then they tell me to move into the valley. To find landthat is, perhaps, more familiar. Name the streets, they say. But I can’t show the smell of timothy hay being turned over by combines or of old pear trees that bend under the weight of overripe fruit. I can’t drawhow, when I was young, the wind would stir the sour stink of cattle at the feedlot, or how my sister and I cried the first time we found out our dad’s job was killing lambs. Can I write those thingsin the white space between schaake road and freeway? These people drove into town from Seattle. They walked into the store and asked, How can you live in a place so small? So we tell them,This town isn’t small. It won’t fit on your napkin map. I won’t diagram it with a weak red pen so they can drive along the river and ask why people think this is a river. So they can drive into the canyon and askwhy people think this place is beautiful. I knew a girl from another town who stood beside me under the yellow striped wall of Craig’s Hill and said, Look, it’s so dry and ugly, it’s a desert. And maybe those are the right wordsfor this place, for the hills that curl up against the bald horizon. For low, fraying stretches of wind-battered houses that follow the highway where I’ll draw mountain sheep behind the McDonald’s, and the rattlesnakes who, migrating throughthe backyard of my parents’ first home, sun themselves in my mother’s old rose garden, [End Page 72] brown bodies opening like blossoms to the hot dirt on their skin. How can I map the sky when it is stripped of heavy clouds, a sky purple and rawon winter nights when the wind presses us back onto our heels, farther and farther into this coarse, unsheltered earth? These things cannot be measured against loops of streets and soccer fields and matching houses,where every night the lights flick on, evenly yellow and all at once. [End Page 73] Seanse Lynch Ducken SEANSE LYNCH DUCKEN received her MFA in poetry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She currently teaches English at Central Washington University. Her work appears in the online anthology A Sense of Place: The Washington State Geospatial Poetry Anthology and in Windfall: A Journal of Poetry of Place, and is forthcoming in Mudfish 19.* Copyright © 2016 University of North Carolina Wilmington

Winter Dew Harvest in Mexico City

This study presents experimental and theoretical results of winter dew harvest in México City in terms of condensation rate. A simplified theoretical model based on a steady-state energy balance on a radiator-condenser was fitted, as a function of the ambient temperature, the relative humidity and the wind velocity. A glass sheet and aluminum sheet white-painted were used as samples over the outdoor experiments. A good correlation was obtained between the theoretical and experimental data. The experimental results show that there was condensation in 68% of the winter nights on both condensers. The total winter condensed mass was 2977 g/m2 and 2888 g/m2 on the glass sheet and aluminum sheet white-painted, respectively. Thus, the condensed mass on the glass was only 3% higher than that on the painted surface. The maximum nightly dew harvests occurred during December, which linearly reduced from 50 g/m2 night to 22 g/m2 night as the winter months went by. The condensation occurred from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., with maximum condensation rates between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. The dew harvest can provide a partial alternative to the winter water shortage in certain locations with similar climates to the winter in Mexico City, as long as pollution is not significant.

Frost Quakes: Forecasting the Unanticipated Clatter

A Toronto, Canada, neighborhood blanketed by a few inches of snow glistens beneath the moonlight on a mid-January, winter night. The temperature outside is slightly above freezing as a weather syst...

Observation and analysis of the temperature inversion layer by Raman lidar up to the lower stratosphere.

The vibration-rotational Raman lidar system built in Xi'an, China (34.233°N, 108.911°E) was used to simultaneously detect atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and aerosols under different weather conditions. Temperature measurement examples showed good agreement with radiosonde data in terms of the lapse rates and heights of the inversion layer under the lower stratosphere. The statistical temperature error due to the signal-to-noise ratio is less than 1 K up to a height of 15 km, and is estimated to be less than 3 K below a height of 22 km. High-quality temperature data were collected from 70 nighttime observations from October 2013 to May 2014, and were used to analyze the temperature inversion characteristics at Xi'an, which is a typical city in the northwest of China. The tropopause height over the Xi'an area was almost 17-18 km, and the inversion layer often formed above the cloud layer. In the winter at night, inversions within the boundary layer can easily form with a high occurrence of ∼60% based on 47 nights from 01 November 2013 to 21 January 2014. Continuous observation of atmospheric temperature, water vapor (relative humidity), and aerosols was carried out during one night, and the relevant changes were analyzed in the boundary layer via the joint observation of atmospheric visibility, PM2.5 and PM10 from a ground visibility meter and from a monitoring site, which revealed that the temperature inversion layer has a great influence on the formation of fog and haze during the winter night and early morning.

Differences in foraging activity of deep sea diving odontocetes in the Ligurian Sea as determined by passive acoustic recorders

Characterizing the trophic roles of deep-diving odontocete species and how they vary in space and time is challenged by our ability to observe foraging behavior. Though sampling methods are limited, foraging activity of deep-diving odontocetes can be monitored by recording their biosonar emissions. Daily occurrence of echolocation clicks was monitored acoustically for five months (July–December 2011) in the Ligurian Sea (Mediterranean Sea) using five passive acoustic recorders. Detected odontocetes included Cuvier's beaked whales (Zipuhius cavirostris), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), and long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). The results indicated that the foraging strategies varied significantly over time, with sperm whales switching to nocturnal foraging in late September whereas Risso's dolphins and pilot whales foraged mainly at night throughout the sampling period. In the study area, winter nights are about five hours longer than summer nights and an analysis showed that pilot whales and Risso's dolphins adjusted their foraging activity with the length of the night, foraging longer during the longer winter nights. This is the first study to show that marine mammals exhibit diurnal foraging patterns closely correlated to sunrise and sunset.

Leaf temperatures of divaricate and broadleaved tree species during a frost in a North Island lowland forest remnant, New Zealand

The abundance of small-leaved, interlaced ‘divaricate’ plants in New Zealand remains one of the most intriguing features of the local flora and vegetation. This growth form was first interpreted as a response to harsh Plio-Pleistocene climates, consistent with the contemporary prominence of divaricate plants in frosty and droughty environments; specific mechanisms, however, have proved elusive. The predicted effect of leaf size on leaf energy balance is potentially relevant to climatic explanations of the divaricate form: small leaves, such as those of divaricates, should be less vulnerable to chilling during radiation frosts than large leaves, because of the influence of boundary layer thickness on convective exchange with the surrounding air. We transplanted seedlings of three divaricate and three broadleaved species into replicated forest margin and understorey environments in a lowland forest remnant, and 10.5 months later used a thermal imaging camera to measure pre-dawn leaf temperatures on a clear winter night. Leaf width of divaricate plants responded more plastically to light environment than did that of broadleaved species. Thermal imaging indicated there was little interspecific variation in leaf temperatures in the understorey; however, on the forest margin, minimum leaf temperatures of broadleaved species were typically 0.4–0.6 °C lower than those of divaricate species. The ecological significance of these small differences in chilling is not clear, and more extensive studies of the effect of leaf size are needed, including a wider range of leaf sizes and more open sites.

Energy savings due to the use of shallow body temperature reduction in overwintering Northern Cardinals

Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are able to endure drastic seasonal variations in ambient temperature. Many endotherms in these conditions utilize heterothermy (e.g., torpor) to conserve energy by adjusting their body temperatures according to changing environmental conditions. Previous research shows that cardinals reduce energy expenditure during winter nights. By examining whole-animal function, we asked whether this reduced metabolism was a result of decreased activity or an induced state of torpor. We measured body mass, percent fat content, metabolic rate ( $$\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2}$$ ) across a range of ambient temperatures and body temperature (T b) using data loggers during both summer (August to early September) and winter (December to January) conditions. We hypothesized that: (a) daily winter Tb fluctuations would reveal an induced torpor, and (b) alterations of insulation would play a significant role in thermoregulation. Although insulation in the form of fat stores was higher in the winter, there was no seasonal difference in whole body conductance. We found no evidence for torpor, but found a slight depression in overall circadian temperature rhythms for the winter animals compared to summer animals, resulting in a predicted 10–16 % savings in daily energy expenditure. Our findings support recent work showing that thermoregulatory mechanisms are not as fixed as previously thought and, while fat deposits may function to increase insulation, they are more likely important for fuel storage. These data identify subtle changes in the homeostatic set point for body temperature and show that these slight alterations can have significant impacts on daily energy expenditure in wild birds.

거칠기길이를 이용한 바람통로 네트워크 구축

본 연구는 바람통로의 세밀도와 편이성을 향상시켜 도시 녹지계획 활용도를 높이는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를 위해 유체역학적 거칠기 특성을 나타내는 거칠기길이(<TEX>$z_0$</TEX>)로부터 바람통로 네트워크 추출기법을 제안하였다. 지적필지 단위로 산출된 <TEX>$z_0$</TEX>에 IDW, Spline, Kriging 내삽기법을 적용해 표면이 연속적인 수치거칠기길이모델(DZoM)을 생성한 후 수계망 추출 기법을 적용해 바람통로 네트워크를 산출하였다. 내삽기법 적용 결과들을 비교하여 가장 적합한 내삽 기법을 정하고 산출된 바람통로와 토지피복 및 지표온도의 공간적 관계를 분석하였다. 연구결과 DZoM 산출기법 중 Kriging 기법의 적용성이 IDW 및 Spline 기법보다 우수한 것으로 나타났다. Kriging 기법을 이용하여 선형 추출한 바람통로 네트워크(Type B)와 Landsat-7 ETM+에서 산출한 여름철과 겨울철 야간 지표온도 분포를 비교한 결과는 공간적 일치도가 높았다. 주목할 부분으로 산출된 바람통로의 흐름이 도시의 야간 열 부하들을 완화하는 것으로 보인다. 추출된 바람통로 네트워크 사상들(features)에 대한 엄밀한 평가와 개선이 수행된다면 녹지계획 실무에 효과적으로 활용될 수 있을 것이다. 이를 위해서는 (1) 거칠기길이 개선, (2) 녹지계획 목적에 맞는 바람통로의 해석 및 편집, (3) 분절된 바람통로 네트워크 연결, (4) 관련 자료의 상세한 구축 및 무결성 확보 등이 선행되어야 할 것이다. 제안된 바람통로 네트워크의 녹지계획 적용을 위해 향후 연구범위를 수도권으로 확장할 계획이다. The purpose of this study is increasing ventilation network usability for urban green space planning by enhancing its practicality and detail. A ventilation network feature extraction technique using roughness length(<TEX>$z_0$</TEX>) was proposed. Continuously surfaced DZoMs generated from <TEX>$z_0$</TEX>(cadastral unit) using three interpolations(IDW, Spline, and Kriging) were compared to choose the most suitable interpolation method. Ventilation network features were extracted using the most suitable interpolation technique and studied with land cover and land surface temperature by spatial overlay comparison. Results show Kriging is most suitable for DZoM and feature extraction in comparison with IDW and Spline. Kriging based features are well fit to the land surface temperature(Landsat-7 ETM+) on summer and winter nights. Noteworthy is that the produced ventilation network appears to mitigate urban heat loads at night. The practical use of proposed ventilation network features are highly expected for urban green space planning, though strict validation and enhancement should follow. (1) <TEX>$z_0$</TEX> enhancement, (2) additional ventilation network interpretation and editing, (3) linking disconnected ventilation network features, and (4) associated dataset enhancement with data integrity should technically preceded to enhance the applicability of a ventilation network for green space planning. The study domain will be expanded to the Seoul metropolitan area to apply the proposed ventilation network to green space planning practice.

Persistent phosphor SrAl_2O_4:Eu,Dy in outdoor conditions: saved by the trap distribution

Persistent phosphors are a specific type of luminescent materials having the unique ability to emit light long after the excitation has ended. They are commonly used as emergency signage in near ideal, isothermal indoor situations. Recently, their energy storage capacity was relied on for outdoor situations, e.g. for glow-in-the-dark road marks and in combination with solar cells and photo catalytic processes. In this work the influence of temperature, illumination intensity and the duration of the night is critically evaluated on the performance of afterglow phosphors. The persistent luminescence of SrAl2O4:Eu,Dy green emitting phosphors is studied under realistic and idealized conditions. It is found that the light output profile is hardly influenced by the ambient temperature in a wide range. This is due to the presence of a broad trap depth distribution, which is beneficial to cover the longer and colder winter nights. Temperature drops during the night are however detrimental. For traffic applications, the total light output of glow-in-the-dark road marks at the end of the night is not sufficient for the studied compound, although re-charging by the car's headlamps partially alleviates this. For energy storage applications, the trap density should be improved and tunneling recombination processes might be needed to overcome overnight temperature drops.

Сходства и различия регулярных вариации параметров F2-слоя полярной и среднеширотной ионосферы в восточно-сибирском секторе

Analysis of similarities and differences between the polar and midlatitude ionosphere in the East Siberian sector was performed with local ionosphere models. The local models were constructed using 6-year (December 2002 — December 2008) continuous measurements made with ionosondes located in Norilsk (69.4 N, 88.1 E) and Irkutsk (52.3 N, 104.3 E). The models describe variations of regular ionospheric parameters in terms of diurnal and seasonal variations under low solar activity and their changes with increasing solar activity. The paper discusses regular variations of the main F2-layer parameters: the electron density maximum (NmF2) and the peak height (hmF2). Special attention has been given to the manifestation of such phenomena as the winter anomaly, semiannual anomaly, summer evening anomaly, and formation of the winter night peak at the polar and mid-latitude stations. The specific diurnal and seasonal behavior of hmF2 in Norilsk is explained by the maximum magnetic inclination and the lowest geomagnetic latitude compared to other polar stations located at the same geographic latitude.

Photoperiodic and circadian bifurcation theories of depression and mania.

Seasonal effects on mood have been observed throughout much of human history. Seasonal changes in animals and plants are largely mediated through the changing photoperiod (i.e., the photophase or duration of daylight). We review that in mammals, daylight specifically regulates SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) circadian organization and its control of melatonin secretion. The timing of melatonin secretion interacts with gene transcription in the pituitary pars tuberalis to modulate production of TSH (thyrotropin), hypothalamic T3 (triiodothyronine), and tuberalin peptides which modulate pituitary production of regulatory gonadotropins and other hormones. Pituitary hormones largely mediate seasonal physiologic and behavioral variations. As a result of long winter nights or inadequate illumination, we propose that delayed morning offset of nocturnal melatonin secretion, suppressing pars tuberalis function, could be the main cause for winter depression and even cause depressions at other times of year. Irregularities of circadian sleep timing and thyroid homeostasis contribute to depression. Bright light and sleep restriction are antidepressant and conversely, sometimes trigger mania. We propose that internal desynchronization or bifurcation of SCN circadian rhythms may underlie rapid-cycling manic-depressive disorders and perhaps most mania. Much further research will be needed to add substance to these theories.