Search for: All records

Climatology archive and accurate weather forecasts depend strongly on availability of observed properties of the atmosphere and can benefit significantly from higher temporal resolution of measurements on atmospheric temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. Weather ballooning with radiosonde payloads can provide these data with relatively low initial capital costs while providing educational benefits for students, especially undergraduates in STEM majors. For example, recently we conducted a field campaign, Atmospheric Dynamics over the Gulf Stream (ADOGS), by launching radiosondes hourly during January 6 – 9, 2025 from New Haven, Connecticut. We observed rapid changes in the troposphere during that week and provided a great weather ballooning educational platform for students from Northeastern US, especially those at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs). Our results provide practical field experiences that may benefit the planning of future radiosonde campaigns, especially those with ballooning education and student engagement focuses, by the high-altitude ballooning (HAB) community. 

Weather ballooning with radiosonde payloads can provide field-based, observational meteorological data for operational weather forecasts and research on the atmosphere and the climate. Despite the relatively low initial capital costs when comparing to aircraft/satellite methods, the costs of ground stations/trackers (GSTs) receiving and decoding the radiosonde telemetry may pose a significant financial challenge to institutions with limited resources and to flight missions with high temporal resolution (launch intervals of less than 3 hours). We conducted a Radiosonde and Ground Station/Tracker Intercomparison (RGSTI) study in April 2025 to evaluate some of the current low-cost GSTs options and the Sondehub (SH) multi-receiver radiosonde tracking network. Although yielding varied data based on radiosonde models, SH demonstrated less dependence on antenna alignment, longer radiosonde tracking and data telemetry, and the capacity of tracking multiple radiosondes with minimal hardware requirements and financial barriers. Our results provide a comprehensive review on the data matrix of different radiosonde/GST combinations and recommendations that may benefit the planning of future high temporal resolution radiosonde campaigns by the high altitude ballooning community. 

Adipocyte differentiation plays an important role in bone remodeling due to secretory factors that can directly modulate osteoblast and osteoclast, thus affecting overall bone mass and skeletal integrity. Excessive adipocyte differentiation within the bone marrow microenvironment can lead to decreased bone mass, eventually causing osteoporosis. The mechanical microenvironment of bone marrow, including fluid shear, maintains the balance of adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation during bone remodeling. However, how mechanical cues interact with long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and regulate adipocyte differentiation remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated the mechanosensitive role of lncRNA MALAT1 during mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) adipocyte differentiation. By applying physiologically relevant shear stress, MSCs experienced morphological changes and adipocyte differentiation differences. Shear stress inhibits adipocyte differentiation of MSCs, demonstrated by reduced oil-red-o-stained lipid droplets. Silencing MALAT1 also results in reduced adipocyte differentiation. By leveraging a novel gapmer double stranded locked nuclei acid nanobiosensor, we showed that shear stress inhibits MALAT1 expression, with significantly reduced fluorescence intensity. Our findings indicate that shear stress influences adipocyte differentiation mainly through the downregulation of MALAT1, highlighting a significant interplay between biophysical cues and lncRNAs. This interaction is crucial for understanding the complexities of bone remodeling and the potential therapeutic targeting of lncRNAs to treat bone-related disorders. 

The concentration of the stratospheric ozone layer is of great interest to the atmospheric science community, since it is critical in blocking the harmful UV radiation from the sun. Typically, regular weather balloons with Electrochemical Cell (ECC) ozonesondes are used to determine the vertical profile of ozone column concentration within a flight time of ~2 hours, with a limited fraction of the data relevant to the ozone layer. Therefore, it would be ideal if ozonesonde flights can be maintained within the ozone layer (~60,000 to 80,000 ft) to maximize the efficiency in data acquisition, especially considering the rising costs of ozonesonding and high-altitude ballooning. We adapted the vented balloon with altitude-control flight capability from the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Program (NEBP) for atmospheric ozonesonding and deployed a commercial ECC ozonesonde payload with this approach from Central Texas during the 2024 total solar eclipse in the hope of (1) field testing the performance and application potential of vented balloons in horizontal ozone layer profiling and (2) monitoring the stratospheric ozone layer during the solar eclipse for an extended period of time. The adapted vent valve successfully lowered the balloon from 71,000 ft to 41,000 ft within minutes and demonstrated promising performance in the field. Unfortunately, unexpected radio communication difficulties were experienced from six hours before the totality to two hours after, leaving the second research objective largely unobtainable. 

Biofilms are clusters of microorganisms that form at various interfaces, including those between air and liquid or liquid and solid. Due to their roles in enhancing wastewater treatment processes, and their unfortunate propensity to cause persistent human infections through lowering antibiotic susceptibility, understanding and managing bacterial biofilms is of paramount importance. A pivotal stage in biofilm development is the initial bacterial attachment to these interfaces. However, the determinants of bacterial cell choice in colonizing an interface first and heterogeneity in bacterial adhesion remain elusive. Our research has unveiled variations in the buoyant density of free-swimming Staphylococcus aureus cells, irrespective of their growth phase. Cells with a low cell buoyant density, characterized by fewer cell contents, exhibited lower susceptibility to antibiotic treatments (100 μg/mL vancomycin) and favored biofilm formation at air–liquid interfaces. In contrast, cells with higher cell buoyant density, which have richer cell contents, were more vulnerable to antibiotics and predominantly formed biofilms on liquid–solid interfaces when contained upright. Cells with low cell buoyant density were not able to revert to a more antibiotic sensitive and high cell buoyant density phenotype. In essence, S. aureus cells with higher cell buoyant density may be more inclined to adhere to upright substrates. 

Sea salt aerosols are known to serve as effective cloud condensation nuclei and are prominent contributors of light scattering in the atmosphere. More light scattering reduces solar radiations to the Earth and lowers the global temperature. Researchers observed that ambient sea salt aerosols may contain ammonium sulfate (AS) and sodium chloride (NaCl). Recent studies showed that alkylamines, derivatives of ammonia, can react with ammonium salts in the aerosol, displacing ammonium and altering the particle’s properties. Our study investigated the effects of atmospheric alkylamines on the properties of sea salt aerosols using a chemical system of methylamine (MA), AS, and NaCl. We determined the relative humidity when these aerosols start to absorb water vapor from the air (deliquescent relative humidity, DRH), and concentrations of ammonia and MA in aqueous/gas phases using the Extended Aerosols and Inorganics Model. Our findings indicate a notable negative relationship between MA concentration and the DRH for both AS and NaCl. We determined that five parts per billion or higher of MA effectively lowered the DRH of sea salt aerosol particles. The concentrations of ammonia and MA in aqueous and gas phases had a complex dependence on MA concentration and aerosol chemical composition. Aerosol deliquescence often leads to cloud/fog processing which may cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight away from the surface. Therefore, our results implicate a potential role for alkylamines in climate change, suggesting the importance of monitoring alkylamine concentrations in the atmosphere. Future studies are needed to better predict the deliquescent behaviors of aerosols, namely particles containing AS and NaCl, such as those found near coasts. 

Dataset for Potential Enhancement in Atmospheric Nanoparticles Growth by Amine-Assisted Nitrate Condensation at Room Temperature