Cruise report: regional assessment of ecosystem condition and stressor impacts along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico Shelf. NOAA Ship 'Nancy Foster' NF-11-07-RACOW (August 8-16, 2011)

This cruise report is a summary of a field survey conducted along a portion of the U.S. continental shelf in northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), at navigable depths along the coastline seaward to the shelf break (~100m) from about 89°30' W to 95°28' W longitude, August 8 – 16, 2011 on NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Cruise NF-11-07-RACOW. Synoptic sampling of multiple ecological indicators was conducted at each of 34 stations throughout these waters using a random probabilistic sampling design. The original study design consisted of 50 stations extending from the Mississippi delta all the way to the U.S./Mexican border, but vessel failures precluded sampling at 16 stations within the western-most portion of the study area. At each station samples were collected for the analysis of benthic community structure and composition; concentrations of chemical contaminants in sediments and target demersal biota; sediment toxicity; nutrient and chlorophyll levels in the water column; and other basic habitat characteristics such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, sediment grain size, and organic carbon content. Other indicators, from a human-dimension perspective, were also recorded, including presence of vessels, oil rigs, surface trash, visual oil sheens in sediments or water, marine mammals, or noxious/oily sediment odors. The overall purpose of the survey was to collect data to assess the status of ecosystem condition and potential stressor impacts throughout the region, based on these various indicators and corresponding management thresholds, and to provide this information as a baseline for determining how such conditions may be changing with time. While sample analysis is still ongoing, some preliminary results and observations are reported here. A final report will be completed once all data have been processed.

Uncovering North American temperature and precipitation patterns associated with the Southern Oscillation

The extreme phases of the Southern Oscillation (SO) have been linked to fairly persistent classes of circulation anomalies over the North Pacific and parts of North America. It has been more difficult to uncover correspondingly consistent patterns of surface temperature and precipitation over much of the continent. The few regions that appear to have consistent SO-related patterns of temperature and precipitation anomalies are identified and discussed. Also discussed are regions that appear to have strong SO-related surface anomalies whose sign varies from episode to episode.

Pacific sea surface temperature associations with southwestern United States summer rainfall and atmospheric circulation

Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are examined for their associations with (1) summer rainfall, and (2) the latitude location of the mid-tropospheric subtropical high pressure ridge (STR) in the southwestern United States during 1945 to 1986. Extreme northward (southward) displacements of STR are associated with wet (dry) summers over Arizona and an enhanced (weakened) gradient of SST off the California and Baja coasts. These tend to follow winters marked by positive (negative) phases of the PNA, Pacific/North America, teleconnection pattern. Recent decadal variations of Arizona summer rainfall (1950s wet; 1970s dry) appear similarly related to southwestern United States synoptic circulation and eastern Pacific SSTs.

Influence of lattice temperature on SOI MOSFET's output characteristics

An explanation for the observed variations in the output behaviour of SOI transistors with different buried oxide thicknesses is presented. At low drain bias, the temperature effects are relatively insignificant while at high drain bias, the temperature effects dominate the nonlinear behaviour of the output characteristics.

Seasonal dynamics in the occurrence and abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia species in the Maheshkhali channel of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh

Occurrence and abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. at the mouth of the Maheshkhali channel of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh were studied. Plankton and water samples were collected monthly from the sub-surface water during high tide at daytime from June 2000 to May 2001. Four species of Pseudo-nitzschia, namely P. pungens, P. pseudodelicatissima, P. delicatissima and P. australis were identified and among them the first three were most commonly encountered and they varied seasonally. Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima was the dominant species during the autumn and winter months, whereas P. pungens was dominant during the summer and spring months. Pseudo-nitzschia pseudodelicatissima exhibited its highest abundance level during the summer. Surface water temperature, salinity, nitrate-nitrogen (N03-N) and phosphate-phosphorus (P04-P) were recorded and their relationship with the occurrence and abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia species were studied. At the mouth of the Maheshkhali channel, Pseudo-nitzschia cell density was highest in late autumn (November) when highest salinity (35 o/oo) and P04-P (3.2 mg/l) concentrations and low temperature (23 °C) were recorded.

Size frequency distribution and carapace length-total length relationship of Acetes chinensis in the Kutubdia channel of Bangladesh coast

The seasonal mean size distribution of A. chinensis were estimated as 29.229mm ±4.77, 25.125mm ±2.55, 25.165mm ±2.29 and 32.44mm ±3.63 for annual, monsoon, postmonsoon and pre-monsoon period, respectively. Seasonal mean carapace length distribution were estimated as 9.37mm ±1.457, 8.063mm ±0.63,8.258mm ±0.59 and 10.37mm ±l.ll3 for annual, monsoon, post-monsoon and the pre-monsoon season. The carapace length and total length relationships was found to be TL= - 1.39±3.23 CL. Linear relation was found in arithmetic and as well as logarithmic scale.

Seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton in relation to environmental factors in the Maheshkhali channel, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

In total 68 phytoplankton species were identified at the mouth of the Maheshkhali channel with the Bay of Bengal, among them 41 belong to Bacillariophyceae, 17 Dinophyceae, 7 Cyanophyceae and 3 to Chlorophyceae. The highest phytoplankton production was observed in November (578.0 x 105 cells/L) and the lowest in June (37.5 x 105 cells/L). Some hydrographic parameters e.g., surface water temperature, salinity and nutrients (N03-N and P04-P) were recorded and their relationship with the occurrence and abundance of phytoplankton population were also studied. Nutrient concentration was higher during the autumn months, when rain water provided the maximum outflow of rivers discharging into the channel. During the nutrient peak period, the total phytoplankton production was maximum. Bacillariophyceae was the dominant group of phytoplankton throughout the study period except in June and September, when Dinophyceae was dominant. Cyanophyceae was abundant in spring months when temperature began to rise.

Pulsed field magnetization of a high temperature superconducting motor

As we known, the high temperature (77 K) superconducting (HTS) motor is considered as a competitive electrical machine by more and more people. There have been various of designs for HTS motor in the world. However, most of them focus on HTS tapes rather than bulks. Therefore, in order to investigate possibility of HTS bulks on motor application, a HTS magnet synchronous motor which has 75 pieces of YBCO bulks surface mounted on the rotor has been designed and developed in Cambridge University. After pulsed field magnetization (PFM) process, the rotor can trap a 4 poles magnetic field of 375 mT. The magnetized rotor can provide a maximum torque of 49.5 Nm and a maximum power of 7.8 kW at 1500 rpm. © 2010 IEEE.

Studies on the occurrence and growth rates of two intertidal fouling bryozoans in the Mattancherry channel of Cochin harbour, south-west coast of India

Occurrence and growth rates of two species of intertidal fouling bryozoans namely Electra bengalensis (Stoliczka) and Electra crustulanta (Pallas) are presented in this paper. The former was a typically marine form, settling on panels only during the high saline conditions of the pre-monsoon period and were absent during the low salinity conditions of the monsoon period, while the latter appeared to be a typical brackish water form settling on panels during the low saline conditions existing during the monsoon and post-monsoon periods and were totally absent during the pre-monsoon months. Regression co-efficient of the former was higher than that of the latter suggesting more pronounced growth in Electra bengalensis. Maximum growth for this species was noticed during March, April and May (pre-monsoon) while for the other species growth was more or less similar during monsoon and post-monsoon months (June-January) showing that the species was at home in oligohaline and mesohaline waters.

Influence of sex, spawning, starvation and water temperature on fatty acid composition in Tilapia mossambica

The influence of sex, spawning, starvation and water temperature on the fatty acid composition of Tilapia mossambica has been studied. Tilapia egg lipid was found to have unusually high percentage of C sub(22:6) fatty acids (9.09%) compared to body and intestinal lipids. The C sub(16:1) acid was much less in the egg lipids (3.5%) whereas it was 11% in the body lipids. There was no significant difference in the fatty acid composition of body and intestinal lipids of male and female tilapia. Starvation caused the presence of high content of lower fatty acids (C sub(6), C sub(8), C sub(30), C sub(12) and C sub(33)) in the body lipids. Water temperature also influenced the fatty acid composition of Tilapia; the difference was more significant in body lipids than in intestinal lipids.

High temperature processing of fish sausage 3. - Studies on some of the storage characteristics

The proximate composition of the high temperature processed fish sausage was found to be 14.56% protein, 4.65% fat, 69.14% moisture, 2.12% ash and 8.12% carbohydrate. The quality of the product during storage was assessed on the basis of the changes observed in the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. The results of the different tests such as pH, volatile base nitrogen (VBN), trimethyl amine nitrogen (TMA-N) and jelly strength are summarized and discussed. The total bacterial load increased gradually during storage but was not proportional to the initial load.

Fisheries studies on Lake George and Kazinga Channel: first quarter final report June/July 2001

FIRRI surveyed the fisheries of Lake George and Kazinga Channel between 20th June and 20th July 2001. This was the second survey FIRRI has conducted for the ILM project on the water system. The first survey was conducted during November 2000. These data, the analyses and accompanying reports contribute to baseline information for the fishery being collected with the support of ILM that is required for lakewide planning and management. Eight fish landing sites (6 on Lake George) namely; Kahendero, Hamukungu, Kasenyi, Kashaka, Mahyoro, Kayinja (2 on Kazinga Channel) namely; Katunguru -K and B fall within the focus of ILM and were surveyed during November 2000 and June/July 2001 over a three day period at each landing site in 2001 (Mahyoro 2 days). In November 2000, each landing was sampled once. FIRRI conducted a rapid FS and concurrently a CAS. All results are reported by landing site and then summed up (Global) for 8 sites on Lake George and Kazinga Channel.

Organoleptic and microbiological quality changes of catla (Catla catla) in immediate and delayed ice storage and at ambient temperature

An investigation was carried out on the quality changes of Catla (Catla calla) stored immediately (0 h) in ice, after 6 hours in ice and at ambient temperature. The samples were examined for organoleptic and microbiological parameters in summer. Organoleptically, the acceptability of fish varied between 16-20 days in both the iced storage conditions and 12-13.5 hours at ambient temperature (28°C). When fish were organoleptically just acceptable on the 16th day of storage, bacterial load were 6.23 and 6.17 log10 cfu/g, respectively for 0 hour and after 6 hours iced fish. But on the 20th day of storage, when fish were just unacceptable SPC were 6.51 and 6.62 log10 cfu/g. In case of ambient temperature storage condition standard plate count was 8.36 log10 cfu/g on 13.5 hours, when fish were organoleptically just unacceptable. At the time of rejection for fish stored in ice (0 hour and after 6 hours) on 20th day, gram negative and gram positive values were 55.45%, 44.55% and 44.52%, 55.48% respectively. While fish were rejected after 13.5 hours at ambient temperature gram negative and gram positive bacteria were found as 43.02% and 56.98%. The differences in SPC, gram positive and gram negative bacteria between the storage times were statistically significant (p<0.05).