OceanTEA: A Platform for Sharing Oceanographic Data and Analyses

Ocean observation systems, such as Argo floats or the modular ocean laboratory MoLab, produce an increasing amount of time series data. Both, statistical data mining techniques and manual exploration via visualization are necessary for oceanographers to extract scientific knowledge from such vast datasets. Therefore, scientists require a platform to explore and analyze data visually, supporting their collaboration and research. To deliver results and foster the impact of publications, such platform should facilitate automatic and interactive access to research results for scientists, their peers and the public. Our software platform OceanTEA (Oceanographic TimeSeries Exploration and Analysis) supports oceanographers in their research and publication efforts. The platform leverages modern web technology to support the interactive exploration and analysis of high-dimensional datasets. OceanTEA relies on a microservice architecture which can be deployed on desktops and on cloud computing infrastructure

Publication status and reporting quality of case reports on acupuncture-related adverse events: A systematic reviews of case studies

Introduction: Case reports on acupuncture-related adverse events (AEs) have been consistently published in the literature. This review aims to assess the current publication status of case reports on acupuncture-related AEs and evaluate their reporting quality in order to identify areas for improvement. Methods: This study is a systematic review (SR) of case reports. Studies describing cases for acupuncture-related AEs between 2010 and 2023 (until July) were searched in PubMed, Embase, and local databases (China and Korea), as well as by hand-searching references included in published relevant SRs. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to examine the publication trends of the included literature. The appropriateness of the acupuncture described in the cases, the causality assessment between AEs and acupuncture treatment, and the presence of necessary items from the CAse REport guidelines (CARE) checklist were narratively analyzed. Results: A total of 169 case reports were included in this review. Over the past decade, an average of 12 case reports on acupuncture-related AEs were published annually. However, only 38.2% of the articles provided sufficient information to determine the appropriateness of the acupuncture treatment used in the reported cases, and considerable numbers of the included case reports did not suggest enough information for the assessment of a causal relationship. The majority of cases did not report the timeline (n =164), patient perspectives (n =157), and informed consent (n = 121) items from the CARE checklist. Discussion: Acupuncture-related AEs persist in being frequently reported in the literature. Nonetheless, the information concerning acupuncture and causality assessment within these publications is still found to be insufficient. The development of reporting guidelines for future case reports on acupuncture-related AEs is anticipated to promote an academic environment conducive to more comprehensive reporting.publishedVersio

Thermoelectric nanospectroscopy for the imaging of molecular fingerprints

We present a nanospectroscopic device platform allowing simple and spatially resolved thermoelectric detection of molecular fingerprints of soft materials. Our technique makes use of a locally generated thermal gradient converted into a thermoelectric photocurrent that is read out in the underlying device. The thermal gradient is generated by an illuminated atomic force microscope tip that localizes power absorption onto the sample surface. The detection principle is illustrated using a concept device that contains a nanostructured strip of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) defined by electron beam lithography. The platform's capabilities are demonstrated through a comparison between the spectrum obtained by on-chip thermoelectric nanospectroscopy with a nano-FTIR spectrum recorded by scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy at the same position. The subwavelength spatial resolution is demonstrated by a spectral line scan across the edge of the PMMA layer

Reverse engineering model structures for soil and ecosystem respiration: the potential of gene expression programming

Accurate model representation of land-atmosphere carbon fluxes is essential for climate projections. However, the exact responses of carbon cycle processes to climatic drivers often remain uncertain. Presently, knowledge derived from experiments, complemented with a steadily evolving body of mechanistic theory provides the main basis for developing such models. The strongly increasing availability of measurements may facilitate new ways of identifying suitable model structures using machine learning. Here, we explore the potential of gene expression programming (GEP) to derive relevant model formulations based solely on the signals present in data by automatically applying various mathematical transformations to potential predictors and repeatedly evolving the resulting model structures. In contrast to most other machine learning regression techniques, the GEP approach generates "readable" models that allow for prediction and possibly for interpretation. Our study is based on two cases: artificially generated data and real observations. Simulations based on artificial data show that GEP is successful in identifying prescribed functions with the prediction capacity of the models comparable to four state-of-the-art machine learning methods (Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, Artificial Neural Networks, and Kernel Ridge Regressions). Based on real observations we explore the responses of the different components of terrestrial respiration at an oak forest in south-east England. We find that the GEP retrieved models are often better in prediction than some established respiration models. Based on their structures, we find previously unconsidered exponential dependencies of respiration on seasonal ecosystem carbon assimilation and water dynamics. We noticed that the GEP models are only partly portable across respiration components; the identification of a "general" terrestrial respiration model possibly prevented by equifinality issues. Overall, GEP is a promising tool for uncovering new model structures for terrestrial ecology in the data rich era, complementing more traditional modelling approaches

A discrete geometric approach for simulating the dynamics of thin viscous threads

We present a numerical model for the dynamics of thin viscous threads based on a discrete, Lagrangian formulation of the smooth equations. The model makes use of a condensed set of coordinates, called the centerline/spin representation: the kinematical constraints linking the centerline's tangent to the orientation of the material frame is used to eliminate two out of three degrees of freedom associated with rotations. Based on a description of twist inspired from discrete differential geometry and from variational principles, we build a full-fledged discrete viscous thread model, which includes in particular a discrete representation of the internal viscous stress. Consistency of the discrete model with the classical, smooth equations is established formally in the limit of a vanishing discretization length. The discrete models lends itself naturally to numerical implementation. Our numerical method is validated against reference solutions for steady coiling. The method makes it possible to simulate the unsteady behavior of thin viscous jets in a robust and efficient way, including the combined effects of inertia, stretching, bending, twisting, large rotations and surface tension

A20 critically controls microglia activation and inhibits inflammasome-dependent neuroinflammation

Microglia, the mononuclear phagocytes of the central nervous system (CNS), are important for the maintenance of CNS homeostasis, but also critically contribute to CNS pathology. Here we demonstrate that the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) regulatory protein A20 is crucial in regulating microglia activation during CNS homeostasis and pathology. In mice, deletion of A20 in microglia increases microglial cell number and affects microglial regulation of neuronal synaptic function. Administration of a sublethal dose of lipopolysaccharide induces massive microglia activation, neuroinflammation, and lethality in mice with microgliaconfined A20 deficiency. Microglia A20 deficiency also exacerbates multiple sclerosis (MS) like disease, due to hyperactivation of the NIrp3 inflammasome leading to enhanced interleukin-113 secretion and CNS inflammation. Finally, we confirm a NIrp3 inflammasome signature and IL-1 beta expression in brain and cerebrospinal fluid from MS patients. Collectively, these data reveal a critical role for A20 in the control of microglia activation and neuroinflammation

Rhizosphere activity and atmospheric methane concentrations drive variations of methane fluxes in a temperate forest soil

Aerated soils represent an important sink for atmospheric methane (CH⁠4), due to the effect of methanotrophic bacteria, thus mitigating current atmospheric CH⁠4 increases. Whilst rates of CH⁠4 oxidation have been linked to types of vegetation cover, there has been no systematic investigation of the interaction between plants and soil in relation to the strength of the soil CH⁠4 sink. We used quasi-continuous automated chamber measurements of soil CH⁠4 and CO⁠2 flux from soil collar treatments that selectively include root and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mycelium to investigate the role of rhizosphere activity as well as the effects of other environmental drivers on CH⁠4 uptake in a temperate coniferous forest soil. We also assessed the potential impact of measurement bias from sporadic chamber measurements in altering estimates of soil CO⁠2 efflux and CH⁠4 uptake. Results show a clear effect of the presence of live roots and ECM mycelium on soil CO⁠2 efflux and CH⁠4 uptake. The presence of ECM hyphae alone (without plant roots) showed intermediate fluxes of both CO⁠2 and CH⁠4 relative to soils that either contained roots and ECM mycelium, or soil lacking root- and ECM mycelium. Regression analysis confirmed a significant influence of soil moisture as well as temperature on flux dynamics of both CH⁠4 and CO⁠2 flux. We further found a surprising increase in soil CH⁠4 uptake during the night, and discuss diurnal fluctuations in atmospheric CH⁠4 (with higher concentrations during stable atmospheric conditions at night) as a potential driver of CH⁠4 oxidation rates. Using the high temporal resolution of our data set, we show that low-frequency sampling results in systematic bias of up-scaled flux estimates, resulting in under-estimates of up to 20% at our study site, due to fluctuations in flux dynamics on diurnal as well as longer time scales

An assessment of the Arctic Ocean in a suite of interannual CORE-II simulations. Part III: Hydrography and fluxes

In this paper we compare the simulated Arctic Ocean in 15 global ocean–sea ice models in the framework of the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments, phase II (CORE-II). Most of these models are the ocean and sea-ice components of the coupled climate models used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) experiments. We mainly focus on the hydrography of the Arctic interior, the state of Atlantic Water layer and heat and volume transports at the gateways of the Davis Strait, the Bering Strait, the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea Opening. We found that there is a large spread in temperature in the Arctic Ocean between the models, and generally large differences compared to the observed temperature at intermediate depths. Warm bias models have a strong temperature anomaly of inflow of the Atlantic Water entering the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait. Another process that is not represented accurately in the CORE-II models is the formation of cold and dense water, originating on the eastern shelves. In the cold bias models, excessive cold water forms in the Barents Sea and spreads into the Arctic Ocean through the St. Anna Through. There is a large spread in the simulated mean heat and volume transports through the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea Opening. The models agree more on the decadal variability, to a large degree dictated by the common atmospheric forcing. We conclude that the CORE-II model study helps us to understand the crucial biases in the Arctic Ocean. The current coarse resolution state-of-the-art ocean models need to be improved in accurate representation of the Atlantic Water inflow into the Arctic and density currents coming from the shelves

North Atlantic simulations in Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments phase II (CORE-II). Part I: Mean states

Simulation characteristics from eighteen global ocean–sea-ice coupled models are presented with a focus on the mean Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and other related fields in the North Atlantic. These experiments use inter-annually varying atmospheric forcing data sets for the 60-year period from 1948 to 2007 and are performed as contributions to the second phase of the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments (CORE-II). The protocol for conducting such CORE-II experiments is summarized. Despite using the same atmospheric forcing, the solutions show significant differences. As most models also differ from available observations, biases in the Labrador Sea region in upper-ocean potential temperature and salinity distributions, mixed layer depths, and sea-ice cover are identified as contributors to differences in AMOC. These differences in the solutions do not suggest an obvious grouping of the models based on their ocean model lineage, their vertical coordinate representations, or surface salinity restoring strengths. Thus, the solution differences among the models are attributed primarily to use of different subgrid scale parameterizations and parameter choices as well as to differences in vertical and horizontal grid resolutions in the ocean models. Use of a wide variety of sea-ice models with diverse snow and sea-ice albedo treatments also contributes to these differences. Based on the diagnostics considered, the majority of the models appear suitable for use in studies involving the North Atlantic, but some models require dedicated development effort