ALBERT

Description: A comparison of different model simulations of the ionosphere variability during the 2009 sudden stratosphere warming (SSW) is presented. The focus is on the equatorial and low latitude ionosphere simulated by the Ground-to-topside model of the Atmosphere and Ionosphere for Aeronomy (GAIA), Whole Atmosphere Model plus Global Ionosphere Plasmasphere (WAM+GIP), and Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model eXtended version plus Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (WACCMX+TIMEGCM). The simulations are compared with observations of the equatorial vertical plasma drift in the American and Indian longitude sectors, zonal mean F-region peak density (NmF2) from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellites, and ground based Global Positioning System (GPS) total electron content (TEC) at 75 ∘ W. The model simulations all reproduce the observed morning enhancement and afternoon decrease in the vertical plasma drift, as well as the progression of the anomalies towards later local times over the course of several days. However, notable discrepancies among the simulations are seen in terms of the magnitude of the drift perturbations, and rate of the local time shift. Comparison of the electron densities further reveals that although many of the broad features of the ionosphere variability are captured by the simulations, there are significant differences among the different model simulations, as well as between the simulations and observations. Additional simulations are performed where the neutral atmospheres from four different whole atmosphere models (GAIA, HAMMONIA (Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere), WAM, and WACCMX) provide the lower atmospheric forcing in the TIME-GCM. These simulations demonstrate that different neutral atmospheres, in particular differences in the solar migrating semidiurnal tide, are partly responsible for the differences in the simulated ionosphere variability in GAIA, WAM+GIP, and WACCMX+TIMEGCM.

Description: Abstract Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt, and the most water‐rich inner solar system body after Earth. Its exploration by the Dawn spacecraft has been long anticipated, in large part because it was expected to be an ice‐rich world. A variety of ice‐ and volatile‐related physical processes were expected to occur on Ceres, including possible cryovolcanism. A major goal of the Dawn mission at Ceres was to understand the abundance, distribution, and phase partitioning of water in the subsurface. Coordinated investigations of subsurface ice during the Dawn mission benefited from the decades‐long effort to inventory and characterize subsurface ice on Mars. Specifically, morphological analysis was leveraged to bridge a length‐scale gap between geophysical remote sensing data sets that provide quantitative constraints on the abundance of subsurface ice at very shallow depths (〈1 m; neutron spectroscopy) and data sets that provide quantitative constraints on composition at much longer length scales (tens of kilometers; gravity science). This morphological analysis underscores that Ceres shares geophysical characteristics with terrestrial planets, icy moons, comets, and asteroids, and blurs some of the conventional boundaries between these terms. Grappling with this ambiguity stands to benefit investigations of interior evolution and volatile‐related processes on all solid planetary bodies.

Description: Scans of the Drosophila melanogaster genome have identified organophosphate resistance loci among those with the most pronounced signature of positive selection. In this study, the molecular basis of resistance to the organophosphate insecticide azinphos-methyl was investigated using the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel, and genome-wide association. Recently released full transcriptome data were used to extend the utility of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel resource beyond traditional genome-wide association studies to allow systems genetics analyses of phenotypes. We found that both genomic and transcriptomic associations independently identified Cyp6g1 , a gene involved in resistance to DDT and neonicotinoid insecticides, as the top candidate for azinphos-methyl resistance. This was verified by transgenically overexpressing Cyp6g1 using natural regulatory elements from a resistant allele, resulting in a 6.5-fold increase in resistance. We also identified four novel candidate genes associated with azinphos-methyl resistance, all of which are involved in either regulation of fat storage, or nervous system development. In Cyp6g1 , we find a demonstrable resistance locus, a verification that transcriptome data can be used to identify variants associated with insecticide resistance, and an overlap between peaks of a genome-wide association study, and a genome-wide selective sweep analysis.

Description: Bed form-induced hyporheic exchange flux ( q H ) is increasingly viewed as a key process controlling water fluxes and biogeochemical processes in river networks. Despite the fact that streambeds are inherently heterogeneous, the majority of bed form flume scale studies were done on homogeneous systems. We conducted salt and dye tracer experiments to study the effects of losing and gaining flow conditions on q H using a laboratory recirculating flume system packed with a heterogeneous streambed, and equipped with a drainage system that enabled us to apply losing or gaining fluxes. We found that when either losing or gaining fluxes increased (regardless of whether the flux was upward or downward), q H followed an exponential decline, the volume of the hyporheic flow cell drastically reduced, and the mean residence times declined moderately. A numerical flow model for the heterogeneous streambed was set up and fitted against the experimental data in order to test whether an equivalent homogeneous case exists. The measured q H were accurately predicted with the heterogeneous model, while it was underestimated using a homogeneous model characterized by the geometric mean of the hydraulic conductivity. It was also shown that in order to produce the results of the heterogeneous model with an equivalent hydraulic conductivity, the latter had to be increased as the losing or gaining fluxes increase. The results strongly suggest that it is critical to adequately account for the heterogeneous streambed structure in order to accurately predict the effect of vertical exchange fluxes between the stream and groundwater on hyporheic exchange. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Patterns of nucleotide polymorphism within populations of Drosophila melanogaster suggest that insecticides have been the selective agents driving the strongest recent bouts of positive selection. However, there is a need to explicitly link selective sweeps to the particular insecticide phenotypes that could plausibly account for the drastic selective responses that are observed in these non-target insects. Here, we screen the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel with two common insecticides; malathion (an organophosphate) and permethrin (a pyrethroid). Genome-wide association studies map survival on malathion to two of the largest sweeps in the D. melanogaster genome; Ace and Cyp6g1 . Malathion survivorship also correlates with lines which have high levels of Cyp12d1 , Jheh1 and Jheh2 transcript abundance. Permethrin phenotypes map to the largest cluster of P450 genes in the Drosophila genome, however in contrast to a selective sweep driven by insecticide use, the derived allele seems to be associated with susceptibility. These results underscore previous findings that highlight the importance of structural variation to insecticide phenotypes: Cyp6g1 exhibits copy number variation and transposable element insertions, Cyp12d1 is tandemly duplicated, the Jheh loci are associated with a Bari1 transposable element insertion, and a Cyp6a17 deletion is associated with susceptibility.

Description: The Alpha Particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) onboard the Curiosity rover at the Kimberley location within Gale crater, Mars, analyzed basaltic sandstones that are characterized by potassium enrichments of two to eight times estimates for average martian crust. They are the most potassic rocks sampled on Mars to date. They exhibit elevated Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn, and depleted Na, Al and Si. These compositional characteristics are common to other potassic sedimentary rocks analyzed by APXS at Gale, but distinct from other landing sites and martian meteorites. CheMin and APXS analysis of a drilled sample indicate mineralogy dominated by sanidine, Ca-rich and Ca-poor clinopyroxene, magnetite, olivine and andesine. The anhydrous mineralogy of the Kimberley sample, and the normative mineralogy derived from APXS of other Bathurst class rocks, together indicate provenance from one or more potassium-rich magmatic or impact-generated source rocks on the rim of Gale crater or beyond. Elevated Zn, Ge and Cu suggest that a localized area of the source region(s) experienced hydrothermal alteration, which was subsequently eroded, dispersed and diluted throughout the unaltered sediment during transport and deposition. The identification of the basaltic, high potassium Bathurst class and other distinct rock compositional classes by the APXS, attests to the diverse chemistry of crustal rocks within and in the vicinity of Gale crater. We conclude that weathering, transport and diagenesis of the sediment did not occur in a warm and wet environment, but instead under relatively cold and wet conditions, perhaps more fitting with processes typical of glacial/periglacial environments.