(Press-News.org) Tropical Cyclone Ita's maximum sustained winds have increased over the last day and NASA's Aqua satellite provided forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center with a visible look at the storm on April 8.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Ita at 3:30 UTC/11:30 p.m. EDT on April 7, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer provided a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Ita. The MODIS image showed a large area of strong thunderstorms south and northeast of the center of circulation. At the same time, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard Aqua gathered infrared data on the storm, revealing very cold cloud top temperatures near -63F/-52C, and indicative that the storm was strengthening. When cloud tops cool there is more uplift or energy in the atmosphere to push them higher into the troposphere. The stronger the push the higher the cloud tops go and that means the potential for stronger thunderstorms.
At 900 UTC/5 a.m. EDT, Ita's maximum sustained winds were near 65 knots/74.8 mph/120.4 kph. It was centered near 11.5 south and 152.2. east, about 507 nautical miles/583.4 miles/939 km northeast of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Ita was moving to the west-northwest at 3 knots/3.4 mph/5.5 kph, but is expected to move in a more west-southwesterly direction.
Animated multispectral satellite imagery showed that the low-level center of circulation is consolidating. Ita is moving away from Sudest Island today, April 8. An image from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit showed that the center is surrounded by tightly curved bands of thunderstorms along the eastern semi-circle. The AMSU-A aboard NASA's Aqua satellite is part of a closely coupled triplet of instruments that include the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) and HSB (Humidity Sounder for Brazil). AMSU-A on Aqua is a 15-channel microwave sounder instrument designed primarily to obtain temperature profiles in the upper atmosphere (especially the stratosphere) and to provide a cloud-filtering capability for tropospheric temperature observations
Forecasters at the JTWC or Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast Ita to accelerate westward to west-southwestward as a mid-level subtropical ridge (elongated area of high pressure) builds over the Coral Sea. JTWC forecasters then expect Ita to head toward Queensland Australia's Cape York Peninsula over the next three days.
INFORMATION:
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA's Aqua satellite reveals Tropical Cyclone Ita strengthening
2014-04-08
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Scientists reveal potential link between brain development and breast cancer gene
2014-04-08
VIDEO:
Scientists at the Salk Institute have uncovered details into a surprising -- and crucial -- link between brain development and BCRA1, a gene whose mutation is tied to breast and ovarian cancer.
Click here for more information.
LA JOLLA—Scientists at the Salk Institute have uncovered details into a surprising—and crucial—link between brain development and a gene whose mutation is tied to breast and ovarian cancer. Aside from better understanding neurological damage associated ...
Why binge drinkers are slower to heal from their wounds
2014-04-08
MAYWOOD, Ill. – People who are injured while binge drinking are much slower to heal from wounds suffered in car accidents, shootings, fires, etc.
Now a new study is providing insights into why alcohol has such a negative effect on wound healing. Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers report that binge alcohol exposure significantly reduced levels of key components of the immune system involved in healing.
The study by senior author Katherine A. Radek, PhD, and colleagues from Loyola's Alcohol Research Program and the Infectious Disease and ...
Global health funding reaches new high as funding priorities shift
2014-04-08
Washington, D.C.—Global health funding hit an all-time high of $31.3 billion in 2013, five times greater than in 1990. Yet with 3.9% growth from 2012 to 2013, the year-over-year increase falls short of the rapid rates seen over the previous decade, according to new research by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington being published online in a web first edition on April 8 by Health Affairs.
As funding from many bilateral donors and development banks has declined, growth in funding from the GAVI Alliance, the Global Fund ...
UNC researchers find genetic trigger for RSV-induced infant hospitalizations
2014-04-08
April 8, 2014 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Researchers at UNC School of Medicine have pinpointed a viral protein that plays a major role in making respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) the most common cause of hospitalization in children under one year of age.
The discovery, published April 8 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is the first step toward identifying better diagnostics and potential treatments for an infection that strikes nearly all children before they reach the age of three and causing severe disease in 3 percent of infected children. RSV infection leads to ...
The double whammy of multiple sex partners and drinking in HIV/STI prevention
2014-04-08
PHILADELPHIA (April 8, 2014) – The cartoon character Homer J. Simpson once said "Alcohol: The source of, and solution to, all of life's problems."
The sage of the ubiquitous and fictional town of Springfield may have hit the nail on the head when it comes to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) counseling and prevention. The more you drink and/or the more sex partners you have, the less likely you are to engage in HIV-prevention programs.
This rather grim assessment came about from the study, "Barriers to accessing HIV-prevention ...
Language structure… you're born with it
2014-04-08
Humans are unique in their ability to acquire language. But how? A new study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences shows that we are in fact born with the basic fundamental knowledge of language, thus shedding light on the age-old linguistic "nature vs. nurture" debate.
THE STUDY
While languages differ from each other in many ways, certain aspects appear to be shared across languages. These aspects might stem from linguistic principles that are active in all human brains. A natural question then arises: are infants born with knowledge of how ...
Advanced warning systems increase safety at intersections, study shows
2014-04-08
Most drivers have experienced a traffic signal that turns yellow just as they approach an intersection, which makes it difficult for them to decide whether to stop or proceed through it. The wrong choice in this situation, known as the "dilemma zone," may lead to crashes, especially at high-speed intersections.
A major factor making driving difficult is hazards that are sudden and hard to predict. Roadside and in-vehicle display warning systems may help drivers handle these hazards by predicting their occurrence and providing advanced warning to the driver, according ...
Lipid levels during prenatal brain development impact autism: York U study
2014-04-08
In a groundbreaking York University study, researchers have found that abnormal levels of lipid molecules in the brain can affect the interaction between two key neural pathways in early prenatal brain development, which can trigger autism. And, environmental causes such as exposure to chemicals in some cosmetics and common over-the-counter medication can affect the levels of these lipids, according to the researchers.
"We have found that the abnormal level of a lipid molecule called Prostaglandin E2 in the brain can affect the function of Wnt proteins. It is important ...
Kinesin-5 structure opens cancer drug targets
2014-04-08
VIDEO:
Kinesin-5 plays a crucial role in cell division by allow microfilaments to slide past each other. The kinesin-5 structure shows a central rod connecting two motor units that walk along...
Click here for more information.
The structure of a key part of the machinery that allows cells to divide has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis -- opening new possibilities for throwing a wrench in the machine and blocking runaway cell division in cancer.
"The ...
Phase II trial of efatutazone shows challenge of matching treatment to population
2014-04-08
Work at the University of Colorado Cancer Center led to phase II trial of efatutazone with erlotinib in patients with refractory non-small cell lung cancer. Results are reported today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014. While efatutazone did not improve the efficacy of erlotinib in this trial, researchers hope lessons from the trial will allow them to make better future use of the drug or other drugs in its class.
"In oncology and especially in lung cancer, everything is personalized. We're exploring different molecular markers ...