Spectral quantification of nonlinear behaviour of the nearshore seabed and correlations with potential forcings at Duck, N.C., U.S.A

Local bathymetric quasi-periodic patterns of oscillation are identified from monthly profile surveys taken at two shore-perpendicular transects at the USACE field research facility in Duck, North Carolina, USA, spanning 24.5 years and covering the swash and surf zones. The chosen transects are the two furthest (north and south) from the pier located at the study site. Research at Duck has traditionally focused on one or more of these transects as the effects of the pier are least at these locations. The patterns are identified using singular spectrum analysis (SSA). Possible correlations with potential forcing mechanisms are discussed by 1) doing an SSA with same parameter settings to independently identify the quasi-periodic cycles embedded within three potentially linked sequences: monthly wave heights (MWH), monthly mean water levels (MWL) and the large scale atmospheric index known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and 2) comparing the patterns within MWH, MWL and NAO to the local bathymetric patterns. The results agree well with previous patterns identified using wavelets and confirm the highly nonstationary behaviour of beach levels at Duck; the discussion of potential correlations with hydrodynamic and atmospheric phenomena is a new contribution. The study is then extended to all measured bathymetric profiles, covering an area of 1100m (alongshore) by 440m (cross-shore), to 1) analyse linear correlations between the bathymetry and the potential forcings using multivariate empirical orthogonal functions (MEOF) and linear correlation analysis and 2) identify which collective quasi-periodic bathymetric patterns are correlated with those within MWH, MWL or NAO, based on a (nonlinear) multichannel singular spectrum analysis (MSSA). (...continued in submitted paper)Comment: 50 pages, 3 tables, 8 figure

Neurotrophic requirements of human motor neurons defined using amplified and purified stem-cell derived cultures

Neurotrophic requirements of human motor neurons defined using amplified and purified stem-cell derived culturesHuman motor neurons derived from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (hESCs and hiPSCs) are a potentially important tool for studying motor neuron survival and pathological cell death. However, their basic survival requirements remain poorly characterized. Here, we sought to optimize a robust survival assay and characterize their response to different neurotrophic factors. First, to increase motor neuron yield, we screened a small-molecule collection and found that the Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632 enhances motor neuron progenitor proliferation up to 4-fold in hESC and hiPSC cultures. Next, we FACS-purified motor neurons expressing the Hb9::GFP reporter from Y-27632-amplified embryoid bodies and cultured them in the presence of mitotic inhibitors to eliminate dividing progenitors. Survival of these purified motor neurons in the absence of any other cell type was strongly dependent on neurotrophic support. GDNF, BDNF and CNTF all showed potent survival effects (EC(50) 1-2 pM). The number of surviving motor neurons was further enhanced in the presence of forskolin and IBMX, agents that increase endogenous cAMP levels. As a demonstration of the ability of the assay to detect novel neurotrophic agents, Y-27632 itself was found to support human motor neuron survival. Thus, purified human stem cell-derived motor neurons show survival requirements similar to those of primary rodent motor neurons and can be used for rigorous cell-based screening.This work was funded by Project A.L.S., P2ALS and NYSTEM grant number CO24415. The work of N.J.L. was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology SFRH/BD/33421/2008 and the Luso-American Development Foundation. B.J.-K. was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). L.R. was supported by the Swedish Brain Foundation/Hjarnfonden. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Vulnerability and adaptation of Polish coast to impact of sea-level rise (SLR)

The paper presented contains results of the latest studies on assessment of the vulner-ability of the Polish coast to sea-level rise, thus providing the synthesis, development and update of all current works in this field. Apart from a general description of the basic physical and socio-economic coastal characteristics, boundary conditions were defined for further studies on Poland's vulnerability to ASLR. For each of the four areas, into which the Polish coastal zone was divided, a synthesis of threats and vul-nerability to the expected SLR was carried out, taking into account characteristic elements and features of the regions. Basing upon two extreme scenarios of sea-level rise, i.e. ASLR1 with 30 cm/100 yrs (optimistic variant) and ASLR2 with 100 cm/100 yrs (pessimistic variant), the assessment and cost calculation of total protection measures of the endangered areas in the coastal zone related to their capital value to be lost was executed. Finally, it was found that the protective investments should mainly be undertaken on the west and east coasts, where economically justified. Because of limited funds, it is necessary to concentrate on particularly important and simultaneously strongly threatened regions. The detailed analysis of costs implies that the activities should be undertaken first on the coastal segments adjacent to Gdańsk and Szczecin, where vast agglomerations are located, with concentrated industry and related infrastructure, as well as centres of science and culture

Sediment grain size features versus shoreline changes in view of field investigations

The paper presents the results of analyses of relationships between variability of shoreline position, grain size distributions of sediments and the wave climate at the IBW PAN Coastal Research Station in Lubiatowo. The study reports the 2 year long field investigations, which have comprised registrations of shoreline evolution, grain size parameters of nearshore sea bed and wave motion in the nearshore zone. The analysis of the experimental data provides a realistic assessment of morphodynamic processes occurring and interacting in the investigated coastal region. In the study, the following sand characteristic parameters have been considered: the median diameter d50, the representative diameters d25 and d75, the sorting parameter S0 and the skewness parameter Sk. The values of these parameters are found to correlate with the features of the coastal forms, mainly the shoreline migration

Condition of South-Eastern Baltic Sea Shores and Methods of Protecting Them

The paper describes lithodynamic and morphodynamic processes occurring in the main part of the south-eastern Baltic coastal area, namely on the sea shores from the Vistula mouth in the Gulf of Gdansk to the Lithuanian-Latvian border. The study area is subject to intensive natural coastal changes, as well as shore evolution caused by anthropogenic impacts at several locations. Methods of coastal protection against erosion and shore stabilization systems applied in the past and currently are described. The paper deals with the causes of the dynamics of beach/dune shores and cliffs. It presents the authors’ field observations of 2010-2013, as well as previously gained knowledge and the results of Polish, Russian and joint Polish-Russian field surveys

Application of Dean's curve to investigation of a long-term evolution of the Southern Baltic multi-bar shore profile

The paper presents the results of studies on the long-term evolution of the multi-bar cross-shore profiles. The analysis is focused on time-dependent variability of shoreline position, a modified parameter A of the conventional Dean's equation and a parameter F describing the amount of nearshore sediment resources in the multi-bar cross-shore profile. The study also deals with interrelationships between these quantities. The analysis is carried out using field data collected at Lubiatowo, Poland, on the dissipative shore, representative for the south Baltic. The considered coastal segment is found to be stable in the long-term scale. The results of analysis show that the parameter A can either increase or decrease together with the shoreline advance. It is concluded that the shoreline position change is a parameter unsatisfactorily representative for behaviour of the seashore. The use of the Dean's approximation for estimation of the sediment resources F on the multi-bar seashore profiles is found reasonable to eliminate the effects of peculiarities of such shores

Long period oscillations in the longshore current on a sandy, barred coast investigated with singular spectrum analysis

The presence of infragravity waves in nearshore regions can be sought in the records of both water levels and wave-driven longshore currents. For this reason, time series of such currents in close proximity to the shoreline were analysed using Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). Simultaneously, the results obtained with this method were confronted with the output of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), which had previously been applied to this data. The records of longshore currents were collected on a daily basis during field experiments in the autumns of 2002 and 2003 with sampling rates of 3 Hz and 0.5 Hz. This produced a large data set that allowed for the use of an advanced signal processing technique, capable of extracting patterns characteristic of low-, medium- and high-frequency bands. It provided similar evidence to that produced by DWT for the existence of infragravity waves along a dissipative coast with multiple bars. The study also demonstrated the utility of SSA for studies on coastal hydrodynamics. It also showed up the better user-friendliness of DWT in terms of pattern extraction and interpretation. On the other hand, SSA demonstrated a higher precision of pattern extraction once the DWT output was known, which is a manifestation of the synergy of the two methods when applied jointly

Variability of Hydrodynamic and Lithodynamic Coastal Processes in the East Part of the Gulf of Gdańsk

The paper presents new findings concerning motion of water and sediment in the coastal zone of the east part of the Gulf of Gdańsk, from the Vistula River mouth at Świbno (Poland) to Cape Taran (Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast). The presented study deals with spatial variability of parameters of hydrodynamic and lithodynamic processes which have been subject to theoretical modelling. For the considered coastal segment, deep-water wave conditions reconstructed for a 44-year period have been analysed and transformed to the nearshore zone. Next, velocities of wave-driven longshore currents for the mean statistical year have been calculated, along with the longshore sediment transport rates. Regarding the net longshore sand motion, its detected direction is from Cape Taran towards the Vistula Spit. Very high annual rates of longshore sediment transport have been obtained for the coastal segment at Sambian Peninsula. These rates decrease considerably along the Vistula Spit, reaching zero at a distance of about one third of the Polish part of the Spit, measured from its root. At this location, the net longshore sediment transport (resulting from net longshore wave-current impact) reverses from westward to eastward