Pathways, volume transport, and seasonal variability of the lower deep limb of the Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation at the Yap-Mariana Junction

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wang, J., Wang, F., Lu, Y., Ma, Q., Pratt, L. J., & Zhang, Z. Pathways, volume transport, and seasonal variability of the lower deep limb of the Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation at the Yap-Mariana Junction. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, (2021): 672199, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.672199.The lower deep branch of the Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation (L-PMOC) is responsible for the deep-water transport from Antarctic to the North Pacific and is a key ingredient in the regulation of global climate through its influence on the storage and residence time of heat and carbon. At the Pacific Yap-Mariana Junction (YMJ), a major gateway for deep-water flowing into the Western Pacific Ocean, we deployed five moorings from 2018 to 2019 in the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Channels in order to explore the pathways and variability of L-PMOC. We have identified three main patterns for L-PMOC pathways. In Pattern 1, the L-PMOC intrudes into the YMJ from the East Mariana Basin (EMB) through the Eastern Channel and then flows northward into the West Mariana Basin (WMB) through the Northern Channel and southward into the West Caroline Basin (WCB) through the Southern Channel. In Pattern 2, the L-PMOC intrudes into the YMJ from both the WCB and the EMB and then flows into the WMB. In Pattern 3, the L-PMOC comes from the WCB and then flows into the EMB and WMB. The volume transports of L-PMOC through the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Channels all exhibit seasonality. During November–April (May–October), the flow pathway conforms to Pattern 1 (Patterns 2 and 3), and the mean and standard deviation of L-PMOC transports are −4.44 ± 1.26 (−0.30 ± 1.47), −0.96 ± 1.13 (1.75 ± 1.49), and 1.49 ± 1.31 (1.07 ± 1.10) Sv in the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Channels, respectively. Further analysis of numerical ocean modeling results demonstrates that L-PMOC transport at the YMJ is forced by a deep pressure gradient between two adjacent basins, which is mainly determined by the sea surface height (SSH) and water masses in the upper 2,000-m layer. The seasonal variability of L-PMOC transport is attributed to local Ekman pumping and westward-propagating Rossby waves. The L-PMOC transport greater than 3,500 m is closely linked to the wind forcing and the upper ocean processes.This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDA22000000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 91958204 and 41776022), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (grant QYZDB-SSW-SYS034), and the International Partnership Program of CAS (grant 133137KYSB20180056). FW thanks the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 41730534 and 41421005). QM thanks the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 42006003)

The Role of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) in the Immune Response against Microbial Infections

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), an important nuclear receptor, regulates the cellular response to environmental stressors. It is well known for its critical functions in toxicology, but is currently considered an essential regulator of diseases, with specific modulatory effects on immune, antimicrobial and inflammatory responses. The present chapter discusses AhR’s function and mechanism in the immune response against microbial infections

Research Progress on Virulence Factors of <em>Vibrio alginolyticus</em>: A Key Pathogenic Bacteria of Sepsis

As an opportunistic pathogen, V. alginolyticus is commonly found in people with weak immune systems or open wounds. The history of seafood exposure is a major feature of V. alginolyticus infection. V. alginolyticus can infect marine economic animals such as fish, shrimp, and shellfish, and is also one of the key pathogens that cause sepsis in human. Because of its rapid progress and extremely high mortality after the infection, it has received more and more attention in clinical practice. At present, there is no effective method to completely control the incidence of V. alginolyticus. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the virulence factors and pathogenic mechanisms of V. alginolyticus. This article reviews recent studies on virulence factors of V. alginolyticus, such as quorum sensing, virulence proteins, ferroportin hemolysin, flagella, lipopolysaccharide system and biofilm formation, with the hope of providing further insights into aquaculture and public health

Carbon Nanotubes Enabling Highly Efficient Cell Apoptosis by Low-Intensity Nanosecond Electric Pulses via Perturbing Calcium Handling.

Effective induction of targeted cancer cells apoptosis with minimum side effects has always been the primary objective for anti-tumor therapy. In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are employed for their unique ability to target tumors and amplify the localized electric field due to the high aspect ratio. Highly efficient and cancer cell specific apoptosis is finally achieved by combining carbon nanotubes with low intensity nanosecond electric pulses (nsEPs). The underlying mechanism may be as follows: the electric field produced by nsEPs is amplified by CNTs, causing an enhanced plasma membrane permeabilization and Ca2+ influx, simultaneously triggering Ca2+ release from intracellular storages to cytoplasm in a direct/indirect manner. All the changes above lead to excessive mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. Substructural damage and obvious mitochondria membrane potential depolarization are caused subsequently with the combined action of numerously reactive oxygen species production, ultimately initiating the apoptotic process through the translocation of cytochrome c to the cytoplasm and activating apoptotic markers including caspase-9 and -3. Thus, the combination of nanosecond electric field with carbon nanotubes can actually promote HCT116 cell death via mitochondrial signaling pathway-mediated cell apoptosis. These results may provide a new and highly efficient strategy for cancer therapy

Magnifier or refractor? Exploring the impact of geographical indication on people’s perception of the value of cultural ecosystem services based on the SolVES model

Purpose/SignificanceTo a certain extent, geographical indication (GI) protects the ecosystem of product origin, but there is still a lack of quantitative evidence on its cultural spillover effect. The mechanism of the impact of geo-certified landscapes on people’s perceived value of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) should be explored.Methods/ProceduresIn this study, two urban forest parks, Changqing and Zhongshan, which differ mainly in terms of geo-certified landscapes, were selected in Beihai, Guangxi. Basically, homogeneous volunteers were recruited, and photos of value labels were collected from their independent visits to two parks. The SolVES model was used to explore the effect of the presence or absence of geo-certified landscapes in urban park ecosystems on people’s CESs needs and the relation to the spatial context of the landscape.Results/ConclusionsThe results show that GI significantly enhance people’s perception of human CESs value of landscape elements, and clarifies the correspondence perception relationship between CESs value types and each landscape element. In addition to the spillover effect on humanistic value perception, GI also attracts and transfers people’s esthetic attention to the natural landscape itself to a certain extent. And these two effects will also spread to the ecosystem that the landscape belongs to

Sledilno vodenje za manipulatorje na osnovi mehke ekvivalence in terminalnega drsnega režima

To suppress the chattering of manipulators under heavy-load operations, a control method called fuzzy equivalence & terminal sliding mode (FETSM) was applied to the trajectory tracking of motion curves for manipulators. Based on the switching term of the equivalent sliding mode (ESM), a fuzzy parameter matrix processed by the simple fuzzy rules was introduced, and the fuzzy switching term was obtained. By summing the fuzzy switching term and the equivalent term of the equivalence and a terminal sliding mode (ETSM), the control law of the FETSM for manipulators was obtained. On this basis, the stability of the system was analysed and the finite arrival time of it was deduced. On the premise of ensuring the stability of the system, the fuzzy rules and membership functions were designed for the fuzzy constants in the fuzzy switching term. Simulation tests show that the proposed FETSM can ensure sufficient trajectory-tracking precision, error convergence speed, and robustness. Compared with the ETSM, the proposed FETSM can reduce the chattering time by 94.75 % on averagecompared with the proportion-integral-differential (PID) control method, the maximum chattering amplitude by the FETSM can be reduced by at least 99.21 %. Thus, the proposed FETSM is suitable for those manipulators under heavy-load operations

How Noise Can Influence Experience-Based Decision-Making under Different Types of the Provided Information

Pervasive noise undermines many cognitive processes. Across two studies, we examined how noise influences experience-based decision-making and whether the nature of the information provided moderates this influence. Study 1 used the repeated choice paradigm and found that noise can significantly reduce people&#39;s performance in experience-based decision-making by increasing the likelihood of choosing the option with the lower expected value. This negative influence can be attenuated when experience-congruent suggestions are provided, but significantly worsened when experience-incongruent suggestions are provided. Study 2 investigated how noise influences decision-making performance in two experience-incongruent conditions differing in error salience. By replicating noise&#39;s general negative effect, we found that the noise effect could be attenuated when incongruent suggestions were obvious. We suggest that noise can undermine the information updating and integration process, which is necessary for experience-based decision-making. We also discuss the principles for designing better information aids based on these findings.</p

Comparison of combined laparoscopic ureterolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy with percutaneous nephrolithotomy for removing large impacted upper ureteral stones with concurrent renal stones

Objectives: The present study compared the safety and efficacy of combined laparoscopic ureterolithotomy (LU) and flexible ureteroscopy with percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for removing large impacted upper ureteral stones with concurrent renal stones. Methods: This study included 52 patients who underwent combined LU and retrograde flexible ureteroscopy for removing renal stones (group A) or PCNL (group B) for removing large upper impacted ureteral stones and concurrent renal stones at our department from January 2014 to December 2016. Patient demographics, stone characteristics, and procedure-related parameters including stone-free rate, operation time, hospital stay after surgery, mean decrease in hemoglobin levels, visual analog scale (VAS) score, auxiliary procedure rate, and complication rate were compared between groups A and B. Results: Results of this study showed that both procedures were effective for removing large impacted upper ureteral stones with concurrent renal stones. The stone-free rate after a single procedure was 95.7% in group A and 89.7% in group B (p = 0.62). The operation time was longer in group A than in group B (112.2 ± 23.3 min versus 96.2 ± 16.4 min, p = 0.006). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups with respect to the length of hospital stay after the surgery (5 days versus 6 days, p = 0.06). The decrease in hemoglobin levels was significantly higher in group B than in group A (−0.64 ± 0.36 g/dL versus −1.44 ± 0.65 g/dL, p < 0.0001). The mean VAS scores obtained at 24 hours (2.91 ± 1.08 versus 5.10 ± 1.01, p < 0.0001) and 48 hours after the surgery (1.09 ± 0.73 versus 2.28 ± 0.96, p < 0.0001) were significantly higher for group B than for group A. Moreover, the auxiliary procedure rate was higher in group B than in group A (6.9% versus 0%). Conclusion: These results indicate that both combined LU and flexible ureteroscopy and PCNL are suitable for removing large impacted upper ureteral stones with concurrent renal stones and are associated with a high rate of patients being stone free afterwards. Despite the longer operation time, the combined laparoscopic and endourological procedure may be associated with less postoperative pain and fewer major complications. However, the choice of treatment depends on the preferences of surgeons and patients. Keywords: Laparoscopic ureterolithotomy, Flexible ureteroscopy, Percutaneous nephrolithotomy, Ureteral stone, Renal ston