Infected Areas Around the Ends of Roots of Teeth

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Atlantic CFC data in CARINA

Water column data of carbon and carbon-relevant parameters have been collected and merged into a new database called CARINA (CARbon IN the Atlantic). In order to provide a consistent data set, all data have been examined for systematic biases and adjusted if necessary (secondary quality control (QC)). The CARINA data set is divided into three regions: the Arctic/Nordic Seas, the Atlantic region and the Southern Ocean. Here we present the CFC data for the Atlantic region, including the chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11, CFC-12 and CFC-113 as well as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The methods applied for the secondary quality control, a crossover analyses, the investigation of CFC ratios in the ocean and the CFC surface saturation are presented. Based on the results, the CFC data of some cruises are adjusted by a certain factor or given a “poor” quality flag

The present and future system for measuring the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and heat transport

of the global combined atmosphere-ocean heat flux and so is important for the mean climate of the Atlantic sector of the Northern Hemisphere. This meridional heat flux is accomplished by both the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and by basin-wide horizontal gyre circulations. In the North Atlantic subtropical latitudes the AMOC dominates the meridional heat flux, while in subpolar latitudes and in the subtropical South Atlantic the gyre circulations are also important. Climate models suggest the AMOC will slow over the coming decades as the earth warms, causing widespread cooling in the Northern hemisphere and additional sea-level rise. Monitoring systems for selected components of the AMOC have been in place in some areas for decades, nevertheless the present observational network provides only a partial view of the AMOC, and does not unambiguously resolve the full variability of the circulation. Additional observations, building on existing measurements, are required to more completely quantify the Atlantic meridional heat transport. A basin-wide monitoring array along 26.5°N has been continuously measuring the strength and vertical structure of the AMOC and meridional heat transport since March 31, 2004. The array has demonstrated its ability to observe the AMOC variability at that latitude and also a variety of surprising variability that will require substantially longer time series to understand fully. Here we propose monitoring the Atlantic meridional heat transport throughout the Atlantic at selected critical latitudes that have already been identified as regions of interest for the study of deep water formation and the strength of the subpolar gyre, transport variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) as well as the upper limb of the AMOC, and inter-ocean and intrabasin exchanges with the ultimate goal of determining regional and global controls for the AMOC in the North and South Atlantic Oceans. These new arrays will continuously measure the full depth, basin-wide or choke-point circulation and heat transport at a number of latitudes, to establish the dynamics and variability at each latitude and then their meridional connectivity. Modeling studies indicate that adaptations of the 26.5°N type of array may provide successful AMOC monitoring at other latitudes. However, further analysis and the development of new technologies will be needed to optimize cost effective systems for providing long term monitoring and data recovery at climate time scales. These arrays will provide benchmark observations of the AMOC that are fundamental for assimilation, initialization, and the verification of coupled hindcast/forecast climate models

Measuring global mean sea level changes with surface drifting buoys

Combining ocean model data and in-situ Lagrangian data, I show that an array of surface drifting buoys tracked by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as the Global Drifter Program, could provide estimates of global mean sea level (GMSL) and its changes, including linear decadal trends. For a sustained array of 1250 globally distributed buoys with a standardized design, I demonstrate that GMSL decadal linear trend estimates with an uncertainty less than 0.3 mm yr$^{-1}$ could be achieved with GNSS daily random error of 1.6 m or less in the vertical direction. This demonstration assumes that controlled vertical position measurements could be acquired from drifting buoys, which is yet to be demonstrated. Development and implementation of such measurements could ultimately provide an independent and resilient observational system to infer natural and anthropogenic sea level changes, augmenting the on-going tide gauge and satellites records.Comment: resubmitted to AGU Geophysical Research Letter

The importance of Southern Ocean frontal systems for the improvement of body condition in southern elephant seals

Funding: Natural Environment Research Council, Grant/Award Numbers: NE/E018289/1, NE/L501852/1 NER/D/S/2002/00426; Scottish Funding Council, Grant/Award Number: HR09011.1. As top predators, it has been suggested that southern elephant seals serve as sentinels of ecosystem status to inform management and conservation.2. This is because southern elephant seals annually undertake two large‐scale foraging migrations for 2–3 and 7–8 months to replenish resources after fasting during breeding and moulting and often rely on dynamic macroscale latitudinal fronts to provide favourable foraging through aggregating prey.3. Yet it is largely unknown whether southern elephant seals respond to changes in frontal systems over the years, whether their foraging success is associated with specific frontal systems shifts, and how flexible southern elephant seals populations are in behaviourally adapting to changes in frontal systems.4. This study examines the relationship between frontal systems and the resource acquisition of 64 southern elephant seals during four post‐moult and three post‐breeding migrations between 2005 and 2010.5. Satellite‐relay‐data‐loggers provided in situ measurements concurrent with >27,500 dive profiles to define fronts and interfrontal zones between the Subtropical Frontal Zone and the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. For >430,000 in situ measurements water mass properties could be identified.6. Generally, southern elephant seals associate more frequently with more southerly, higher‐latitude fronts/zones. Body condition improvements related to a given frontal system or water mass vary strongly according to year, season, month and sex.7. The variability in body condition improvements is higher in some frontal systems than in others, probably owing to shifts in the Subantarctic and Polar Front.8. During a migration, some individuals stay within ≤3 frontal systems, whilst others change between several frontal systems and primarily improve their body condition in upper ocean waters.9. Southern elephant seals do not trace particular water masses across frontal systems, and both surface and deep foraging strategies are used.10. This suggests that southern elephant seals do not target particular water masses but adjust foraging and movement strategies to exploit boundary areas at which mixing and prey aggregation is high.11. The large behavioural plasticity towards the spatio‐temporal variability in the different oceanographic regions they encounter could indicate resilience against environmental changes.PostprintPeer reviewe

Randomized trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in oropharyngeal carcinoma

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the survival of patients with oropharyngeal cancer. Patients with a squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx for whom curative radiotherapy or surgery was considered feasible were entered in a multicentric randomized trial comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by loco-regional treatment to the same loco-regional treatment without chemotherapy. The loco-regional treatment consisted either of surgery plus radiotherapy or of radiotherapy alone. Three cycles of chemotherapy consisting of Cisplatin (100 mg/m2) on day 1 followed by a 24-hour i.v. infusion of fluorouracil (1000 mg/m2/day) for 5 days were delivered every 21 days. 2–3 weeks after the end of chemotherapy, local treatment was performed. The trial was conducted by the Groupe d'Etude des Tumeurs de la Tête Et du Cou (GETTEC). A total of 318 patients were enrolled in the study between 1986 and 1992. Overall survival was significantly better (P = 0.03) in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group than in the control group, with a median survival of 5.1 years versus 3.3 years in the no chemotherapy group. The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on event-free survival was smaller and of borderline significance (P = 0.11). Stratification of the results on the type of local treatment, surgery plus radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone, did not reveal any heterogeneity in the effect of chemotherapy. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Improved simulation of Antarctic sea ice due to the radiative effects of falling snow

Southern Ocean sea-ice cover exerts critical control on local albedo and Antarctic precipitation, but simulated Antarctic sea-ice concentration commonly disagrees with observations. Here we show that the radiative effects of precipitating ice (falling snow) contribute substantially to this discrepancy. Many models exclude these radiative effects, so they underestimate both shortwave albedo and downward longwave radiation. Using two simulations with the climate model CESM1, we show that including falling-snow radiative effects improves the simulations relative to cloud properties from CloudSat-CALIPSO, radiation from CERES-EBAF and sea-ice concentration from passive microwave sensors. From 50–70°S, the simulated sea-ice-area bias is reduced by 2.12 × 106 km2 (55%) in winter and by 1.17 × 106 km2 (39%) in summer, mainly because increased wintertime longwave heating restricts sea-ice growth and so reduces summer albedo. Improved Antarctic sea-ice simulations will increase confidence in projected Antarctic sea level contributions and changes in global warming driven by long-term changes in Southern Ocean feedbacks

Pregnancy and Fetal Outcomes After Exposure to Mefloquine in the Pre- and Periconception Period and During Pregnancy

Pregnant women who travel to malarious areas and their clinicians need data on the safety of malaria chemoprophylaxis. The drug safety database analysis of mefloquine exposure in pregnancy showed that the birth defect prevalence and fetal loss in maternal, prospectively-monitored cases were comparable to background rates

Mapping Dynamic Histone Acetylation Patterns to Gene Expression in Nanog-depleted Murine Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) have the potential to self-renew indefinitely and to differentiate into any of the three germ layers. The molecular mechanisms for self-renewal, maintenance of pluripotency and lineage specification are poorly understood, but recent results point to a key role for epigenetic mechanisms. In this study, we focus on quantifying the impact of histone 3 acetylation (H3K9,14ac) on gene expression in murine embryonic stem cells. We analyze genome-wide histone acetylation patterns and gene expression profiles measured over the first five days of cell differentiation triggered by silencing Nanog, a key transcription factor in ESC regulation. We explore the temporal and spatial dynamics of histone acetylation data and its correlation with gene expression using supervised and unsupervised statistical models. On a genome-wide scale, changes in acetylation are significantly correlated to changes in mRNA expression and, surprisingly, this coherence increases over time. We quantify the predictive power of histone acetylation for gene expression changes in a balanced cross-validation procedure. In an in-depth study we focus on genes central to the regulatory network of Mouse ESC, including those identified in a recent genome-wide RNAi screen and in the PluriNet, a computationally derived stem cell signature. We find that compared to the rest of the genome, ESC-specific genes show significantly more acetylation signal and a much stronger decrease in acetylation over time, which is often not reflected in an concordant expression change. These results shed light on the complexity of the relationship between histone acetylation and gene expression and are a step forward to dissect the multilayer regulatory mechanisms that determine stem cell fate.Comment: accepted at PLoS Computational Biolog