DMSP-SSM/I retrieval of proper surface winds during monsoon depression

Recently developed various global microwave algorithms for DMSP-SSM/I satellite data are used for the estimation of surface winds over the Indian ocean. Sea surface wind speeds from these algorithms are compared with sea surface wind speeds reported by coincidental Minicoy island (lowest height 2 m a.s.l.) station over the Arabian sea. A statistical comparison of these algorithms is made in terms of rms error, correlation coefficient, bias and standard deviation. Algorithm of Petty showed best results in the comparison. On the basis of this algorithm a notable characteristic feature such as acquiring of large area of strong surface winds (12-15 ms-1) to the south of dipping of monsoon trough in head Bay and then encircling of these winds during further development of low and depression (22-27 July 1992) is observed. This complete life cycle monitoring assessment of monsoon depression in respect of surface winds based on DMSP-SSM/I satellite data encourages to utilise our IRS-P4 (Oceansat-1) satellite data at different frequencies to emerge more details of various weather systems over the Indian region.

An unknown world in the Neotropical region: a complete life cycle of a new species of Monoclona Mik, 1886 (Diptera: Mycetophilidae: Sciophilinae)

Popularly known as fungus gnats, Mycetophilidae are found in humid environments usually associated with mushrooms and decaying wood. Their immature forms often feed on fungus fruiting bodies. Similar to most bibionomorphans, mycetophilids need due attention concerning their taxonomy and information on their natural history, especially in the Neotropical region. This work describes Monoclona carambeiensis sp. nov., a new species of Monoclona Mik, and furnishes information on the morphology of adults and immatures, besides notes and photographs on the life cycle of the species. Immature forms present on a piece of decaying wood with lichens and fungi were collected from Carambeí, Paraná, and reared in the laboratory. The emerged adult male was fixed in 80% ethanol. This is the first study describing an immature of a Neotropical species of Monoclona, and also the first record of the genus in the state of Paraná, Brazil. This is the third Neotropical species of Mycetophilidae to have its life cycle described, for a fauna with over 1,100 known species.

Electrochemical microelectrode degradation monitoring: in situ investigation of platinum corrosion at neutral pH

Objective. The stability of platinum and other noble metal electrodes is critical for neural implants, electrochemical sensors, and energy sources. Beyond the acidic or alkaline environment found in most electrochemical studies, the investigation of electrode corrosion in neutral pH and chloride containing electrolytes is essential, particularly regarding the long-term stability of neural interfaces, such as brain stimulation electrodes or cochlear implants. In addition, the increased use of microfabricated devices demands the investigation of thin-film electrode stability. Approach. We developed a procedure of electrochemical methods for continuous tracking of electrode degradation in situ over the complete life cycle of platinum thin-film microelectrodes in a unique combination with simultaneous chemical sensing. We used chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry to measure electrode surface and analyte redox processes, together with accelerated electrochemical degradation. Main results. We compared degradation between thin-film microelectrodes and bulk electrodes, neutral to acidic pH, different pulsing schemes, and the presence of the redox active species oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Results were confirmed by mechanical profilometry and microscopy to determine material changes on a nanometer scale. We found that electrode degradation is mainly driven by repeated formation and removal of the platinum surface oxide, also within the electrochemical stability window of water. There was no considerable difference between thin-film micro- and macroscopic bulk electrodes or in the presence of reactive species, whereas acidic pH or extending the potential window led to increased degradation. Significance. Our results provide valuable fundamental information on platinum microelectrode degradation under conditions found in biomedical applications. For the first time, we deployed a unified method to report quantitative data on electrode degradation up to a defined endpoint. Our method is a widely applicable framework for comparative long-term studies of sensor and neural interface stability.

A survey of lifespan in Winterschmidtiidae (Sarcoptiformes: Astigmata)

The Winterschmidtiidae are a family of over 140 species of fungivorous, saprophagous, predatory and/or parasitic mites in insect/vertebrate nests, in decaying organic matter, in soils and on plants worldwide. In this review, I provide a survey of the immature developmental time, adult longevity and lifespan of the Winterschmidtiidae as part of the series on the lifespans in the Acari. The complete life cycle in this family includes five immature stages (the egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and tritonymph) and adult male/female, with deutonymphs lost in some genera such as Czenspinskia and Oulenziella. Development or lifespan data have been reported for only three species (< 3%) of the Winterschmidtiidae, and the experimentally measured lifespans of one to two months most likely reflect those of the summer generation. Afrocalvolia nataliae has two generations per year: the summer generation, which has no deutonymph stage, is mainly devoted to feeding and reproduction and lasts for one month only; the winter generation, however, has a deutonymph stage to resist the cold conditions and lasts for as long as 11 months.

GENERAL METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES, PROVISIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF CREATING THE HOUSING MODULE LUNAR BASE

Problem statement. Today, the world's leading researchers are working on the creation of objects on the surface of the Moon. One of the urgent tasks is to develop living modules that provide the necessary protection for the crew of the lunar missions. Analysis of existing research has shown that in order to support long-term surface missions, the lunar infrastructure must provide the necessary functionality of the housing base, such as extraction and processing of raw materials, construction, construction of buildings and structures, life support. Purpose of the article. Analysis of the current state of scientific and applied problems and setting goals and objectives of the further study. The subject of the study is to establish the patterns of lunar bases design and operation in the human civilization interests. Conclusions. The solution of the objectives of the study using the proposed systematic approach of creating an innovative dual-use product, namely, the development of building materials, products and structures by additive technologies (3D-printing) and recommendations for their production will allow the creation of high-security building projects that can be used for development of the Moon and the Earth, which will contribute to the development of domestic territorial and industrial infrastructure. The earth and lunar rocks are extremely similar, so the earth rock processing technologies can be applied to the lunar rocks. The development of the residential module and the structures design must take into account the complete life cycle of the lunar base facilities, as well as the physiological needs of the lunar base crew.

A FUTURE FORETASTE: SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRIAL TENDENCIES

We are living a continuous and fast technology evolution, maybe this evolution goes faster than our capacity to assimilate what we can do with it, but the potential is clear and the future will be for those who identifies the right technology with the right application. The way we work with Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools is also changing thanks to the ubiquitous access to information and the different hardware available to exploit that information: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality or Mixed Reality. Not only the way we work, but also the way we interact with CAD tools is changing, with technologies like natural language processes that allows direct conversation with the applications. The concepts that are absolutely clear from now to the future in shipbuilding are the use of Data Centric models and the concept of Digital Twin. Both provide a real and effective synchronization between what we design and what we construct, by covering the complete life cycle of the product, thanks to technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID). Nowadays it is unimaginable to work without using CAD in shipbuilding: ease of design with design rules embedded, speed of design, and the use and reuse of information. It is expected that in the future CAD tools will advance further and allow greater information management through further improvements. The paper presents several scenarios with improvements likely to occur the next few years. Some of these improvements may seem unrealistic in the short term, but reality often exceeds expectations in any field, and probably more so with technology.

Soil moisture prediction, evapotranspiration, yield and water use efficiency of soybean (Glycine max L.) crop under variable weather conditions in a semi-arid environment

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2009 and 2010 in a sandy loam soil of New Delhi to study the effect of weather, achieved by sowing at normal (D1) and late (D2), on soil moisture prediction, evapotranspiration (ET), yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of three varieties (V1: JS 335, V2: Pusa 9712 and Pusa 9814) of soybean. Study of soybean phenology showed that there was reduction in the number of days taken for the crop to complete life cycle with delayed sowing. The agrometeorological water balance model could satisfactorily predict soil moisture content during soybean crop growth period with RMSE (%) varying between 6.27 to 12.06 and correlation coefficient between 0.828 to 0.982. The ET decreased significantly with delay in sowing; however there was no significant variation among the varieties. Among the stages of the soybean crop, mid season stage had highest ET followed by development stage, late season stage and initial stage. Normal sowing resulted in higher yield but lower WUE than the late sowing. Among the cultivars, JS 335 resulted in lower yield and WUE than Pusa 9712 and Pusa 9814. It may be recommended that, Pusa 9712 or Pusa 9814 may be sown during first and second week of July (normal sowing) to achieve higher yield in the semi-arid environment of Delhi region.

A systematic review of life cycle assessment of hydrogen for road transport use

This study conducted a systematic literature review of the technical aspects and methodological choices in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of using hydrogen for road transport. More than 70 scientific papers published during 2000–2021 were reviewed, in which more than 350 case studies of use of hydrogen in the automotive sector were found. Only some studies used hybrid LCA and energetic input-output LCA, whereas most studies addressed attributional process-based LCA. A categorization based on the life cycle scope distinguished case studies that addressed the well-to-tank (WTT), well-to-wheel (WTW), and complete life cycle approaches. Furthermore, based on the hydrogen production process, these case studies were classified into four categories: thermochemical, electrochemical, thermal-electrochemical, and biochemical. Moreover, based on the hydrogen production site, the case studies were classified as centralized, on-site, and on-board. The fuel cell vehicle passenger car was the most commonly used vehicle. The functional unit for the WTT studies was mostly mass or energy, and vehicle distance for the WTW and complete life cycle studies. Global warming potential (GWP) and energy consumption were the most influential categories. Apart from the GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation) model and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for assessing the GWP, the Centrum voor Milieukunde Leiden method was most widely used in other impact categories. Most of the articles under review were comparative LCA studies on different hydrogen pathways and powertrains. The findings provide baseline data not only for large-scale applications, but also for improving the efficiency of hydrogen use in road transport.

The larval structures and bionomics of Idgia iriomoteana (Coleoptera: Prionoceridae)

The life cycle, bionomics and mature larval structures of the Japanese prionocerid species, Idgia iriomoteana Nakane, 1980 were investigated in captivity. The results showed that I. iriomoteana has the following characteristics: (1) the larval morph is less advanced in terms of miniaturization, and larvae pass seven larval molts before they pupate; (2) the life cycle is univoltine with summer, not winter, dormancy; (3) the first instar larvae are larger than the size of the egg, but foetomorphic larval instar (which is observed in the Melyridae: Malachiinae) is not shown. Based on comparison with melyrid species, the degree of miniaturization, dormancy behaviour, adaptation to the tropical and subtropical climates and the adaptive significance of a large first instar larva are all discussed. This study is the first to report the complete life cycle of a member of the family Prionoceridae.