A field experiment was carried out to study the unsteady behavior of an instrumented full-scale 2.5 MW wind turbine under neutral conditions. The analysis focused on the structure of the instantaneous turbine power and strain at its foundation. A meteorological tower located 1.6 rotor diameters upstream of the turbine was used to characterize the turbulent flow. Mean velocity and temperature were steady during the 1 h period selected. The results suggest that the turbine power and foundation strain are modulated by atmospheric turbulence in a complex way. The spectral characteristics of both quantities exhibited three distinctive regions. Within the first region, defined by subrotor length scales, the turbine power was insensitive to the flow turbulence. In the intermediate region, with length scales up to those on the order of the atmospheric boundary layer thickness, the spectral contents of the power fluctuationsˆP and flowˆU exhibit a non-linear relationship of the formˆP D G.f /ˆU , where G.f / / . /f 2 is a transfer/damping function. In the third region, dominated by the very large scales of motions, the power fluctuations are found to be directly influenced by the flow. The strain also showed three regions, similar to the power fluctuations. However, it follows the structure of the inertial subrange of the turbulence at subrotor scales. Intermittent gusts were able to induce intermittent behavior on the turbine power. Finally, the flow and power correlation showed that the velocity at the hub height is the best descriptor of the flow turbulence within the rotor area.

Ciguatera fish poisoning is a seafood-toxin illness resulting from consumption of fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. Managing ciguatera fish poisoning is complex. It is made easier, however, by local fishers from endemic areas reporting regional predictability for local fish species' ciguatera fish poisoning risk, which the present study then tested. We investigated the prevalence of ciguatoxins in 4 commonly marketed and consumed species (Balistes vetula, Haemulon plumierii, Ocyurus chrysurus, and Epinephelus guttatus) across an oceanic gradient (north, south, east, and west) from the US Virgin Islands. Fish muscle extracts were analyzed for Caribbean ciguatoxins using an in vitro mouse neuroblastoma (N2a) cytotoxicity assay and confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Fish collected from the north location had 0 fish with detectable ciguatoxins; this site also had the greatest wave energy. Caribbean ciguatoxins in fish ranged from 0.01 to 0.11, 0.004 to 0.10, and 0.005 to 0.18 ng Caribbean ciguatoxin-1 eq/g, from the west, east, and south respectively. Ciguatoxin-like activity was detectable by the N2a assay in 40, 41, 50, and 70% of H. plumierii, O. chrysurus, B. vetula, and E. guttatus, respectively. Of the fish collected, 4% had Caribbean ciguatoxin levels exceeding the US Food and Drug Administration guidance of 0.1 ng Caribbean ciguatoxin-1 eq/g fish. These findings concurred with spatial ciguatera fish poisoning prevalence information provided by local fishers in the US Virgin Islands and demonstrate how partnerships between researchers and fishers can aid the improvement of science-based ciguatera fish poisoning management. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;39:1852-1863. Published 2018 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans) have rapidly expanded in the Western Atlantic over the past decade and have had a significant negative impact on reef fish biodiversity, habitat, and community structure, with lionfish out-competing native predators for resources. In an effort to reduce this population explosion, lionfish have been promoted for human consumption in the greater Caribbean region. This study examined whether the geographical expansion of the lionfish into a known ciguatera-endemic region can pose a human health threat for ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP). More than 180 lionfish were collected from waters surrounding the US Virgin Islands throughout 2010 and 2011. Ciguatoxin testing included an in vitro neuroblastoma cytotoxicity assay for composite toxicity assessment of sodium-channel toxins combined with confirmatory liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. A 12% prevalence rate of ciguatoxic lionfish exceeding the FDA guidance level of 0.1 µg/kg C-CTX-1 equivalents was identified in fish from the U.S. Virgin Islands, highlighting a potential consumption risk in this region. This study presents the first evidence that the invasive lionfish, pose a direct human health risk for CFP and highlights the need for awareness and research on this food safety hazard in known endemic areas.

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