Net community production of oxygen derived from in vitro and in situ 1-D modeling techniques in a cyclonic mesoscale eddy in the Sargasso Sea

© 2009 The Authors. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 6 (2009): 1799-1810, doi:10.5194/bg-6-1799-2009It has been proposed that the disagreement traditionally reported between in vitro incubation and in situ estimates of oxygen net community production (NCP) could be explained, at least partially, by undersampling episodic pulses of net autotrophy associated with mesoscale dynamics. In this study we compare in vitro incubation estimates of net community production with in situ estimates, derived from oxygen profiles and a 1-D model, within a cyclonic eddy investigated in the Sargasso Sea in summer 2004. The in vitro NCP rates measured at the center of the eddy showed a shift from net autotrophy (7±3 mmol O2 m−2 d−1) to net heterotrophy (−25±5 mmol O2 m−2 d−1) from late June to early August. The model-derived NCP rates also showed a temporal decline (19±6 to −3±7 and 11±8 mmol O2 m−2 d−1), but they were systematically higher than the in vitro estimates and reported net autotrophy or balance for the sampling period. In this comparison episodic pulses in photosynthesis or respiration driven by mesoscale eddies can not explain the discrepancy between the in vitro and in situ estimates of NCP. This points to methodological artefacts or temporal or submesoscale variability as the mechanisms responsible for the disagreement between the techniques, at least in this dataset.B. Mourino-Carballido was supported by a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship and the Isidro Parga Pondal program from the Galician government

A Cephalometric study of velar stretch in 8 and 10-year old children

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)This investigation examined the prevalence, relative magnitude, and selected components of velar stretch in normal-speaking 8 and 10-year-old children. For twenty 8-year-old and twenty 10-year-old children, lateral cephalometric films were obtained under three conditions: (1) subject at rest, (2) subject sustaining the vowel /u/, and (3) subject sustaining the voiceless fricative /s/. The cephalometric films were traced on acetate paper and specific radiographic measurements were made to describe important facets of velar stretch in children. Data were obtained on the resting length of the soft palate, the antero-posterior depth of the pharynx, and the prevalence of velopharyngeal closure and/or the degree of velopharyngeal opening observed during selected speech utterances in normal-speaking 8 and 10-year-old children. Such information is expected to be useful to dentists, speech pathologists, and physicians who use lateral headplates to assess velopharyngeal adequacy. Velar stretch per se was not observed in all 40 normal-speaking children. During the production of /u/, 36 children (90%) exhibited velar stretch; for /s/, 32 children (80%) manifested stretch. Paired- comparison t-test results showed that the length of the soft palate measured during speech was significantly greater than its resting length in both 8 and 10-year-old children. Moreover, significantly more total velar stretch was found during the production of the vowel /u/ than during the production of the consonant /s/ in both 8 and 10-year-old children. Although there was a significant increase in the length of the entire soft palate during the functional activities of speech, no significant increase in the anterior portion of the soft palate was associated with speech. Analysis of variance techniques showed that 10-year-old children exhibited significantly greater velar stretch during both /u/ and /s/ utterances than did 8-year-old children. In addition, 10-year-old children exhibited significantly greater velar height and greater velar length characteristics during both /u/ and /s/ utterances than did 8-year-old. children. Correlation procedures were used to examine the relationships between velar stretch and other commonly employed cephalometric measures. These analyses indicated that although velar stretch was significantly correlated with a number of commonly employed cephalometric measures, the amount of velar stretch was not well predicted by any single cephalometric measure used in this research

Patterns of phytoplankton size structure and productivity in contrasting open-ocean environments

A total of 94 vertical profiles of size-fractionated chlorophyll a concentration and primary production rate were obtained along a meridional transect from the United Kingdom to the Falkland Islands (50°N to 50°S) during 4 cruises carried out in April and October 1996 and in April and October 1997. This data set allowed us to characterize the patterns of phytoplankton size-structure and productivity in temperate, oligotrophic, upwelling and equatorial regions. On average, picophytoplankton (0.2 to 2 µm) accounted for 56 and 71% of the total integrated carbon (C) fixation and autotrophic biomass, respectively. Enhanced biomass and productivity contributions by nano- and microplankton took place in the temperate regions and in the upwelling area off Mauritania. Small (<2 µm in diameter) phytoplankton cells should not be regarded as a background, relatively invariant component of the microbial community, given that most of the latitudinal variability in total photoautotrophic biomass and production was driven by changes in the picophytoplankton. In temperate regions and in the upwelling area off Mauritania, small (<2 µm) and large (>2 µm) phytoplankton accounted for a proportion of total biomass that was similar to their shares of productivity. In the oligotrophic and equatorial regions, in contrast, large phytoplankton tended to account for a fraction of the total production that was significantly higher than their share of the biomass. We found that the equatorial upwelling causes an increase in phytoplankton biomass and productivity without altering the typical size structure found in less productive regions such as the subtropical gyres. In the oligotrophic ocean, significant changes in C fixation rates take place without accompanying variations in the magnitude of the phytoplankton standing stocks or the size structure of the microbial community

Correction to “Decadal analysis of hydrography and in situ nutrient budgets in the western and eastern North Atlantic subtropical gyre”

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008): C03005, doi:10.1029/2008JC004762

Mesopelagic respiration near the ESTOC (European Station for Time-Series in the Ocean, 15.5°W, 29.1°N) site inferred from a tracer conservation model

© The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 115 (2016): 63–73, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2016.05.010.Remineralization of organic matter in the mesopelagic zone (ca. 150–700 m) is a key controlling factor of carbon export to the deep ocean. By using a tracer conservation model applied to climatological data of oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nitrate, we computed mesopelagic respiration at the ESTOC (European Station for Time- Series in the Ocean, Canary Islands) site, located in the Eastern boundary region of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. The tracer conservation model included vertical Ekman advection, geostrophic horizontal transport and vertical diffusion, and the biological remineralization terms were diagnosed by assuming steady state. Three different approaches were used to compute reference velocities used for the calculation of geostrophic velocities and flux divergences: a no-motion level at 3000 m, surface geostrophic velocities computed from the averaged absolute dynamic topography field, and surface velocities optimized from the temperature model. Mesopelagic respiration rates computed from the model were 2.8–8.9molO2 m2 y=1, 2.0–3.1mol Cm2 y=1 and 0.6–1.0molNm2 y=1, consistent with remineralization processes occurring close to Redfield stoichiometry. Model estimates were in close agreement with respiratory activity, derived from electron transport system (ETS) measurements collected in the same region at the end of the winter bloom period (3.61 ± 0.48molO2 m=2 y=1). According to ETS estimates, 50% of the respiration in the upper 1000 m took place below 150 m. Model results showed that oxygen, DIC and nitrate budgets were dominated by lateral advection, pointing to horizontal transport as the main source of organic carbon fuelling the heterotrophic respiration activity in this region.Funding for this study was provided by the Xunta de Galicia under the research project VARITROP (09MDS001312PR, PI B. Mouriño-Carballido) and by the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura under the research project MESOPELAGIC (MAR97-1036, PI S. Hernández-León). B. Fernández-Castro acknowledges the receipt of FPU grant from the Spanish government (AP2010-5594).2017-05-2

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in Portugal after the implementation of the smoking ban: a systematic review

[Abstract] Introduction: Estimating the prevalence of second-hand tobacco smoke exposure is a public health priority while evaluating the population-attributable disease burden and impact of smoking bans. We conducted a systematic review to analyze how secondhand tobacco smoke exposure has been assessed, and how its prevalence has been estimated among the Portuguese population since the implementation of the partial smoking ban in 2008. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the Web of Science, MEDLINE and Embase databases until November 2022, applying a pre-designed search strategy and following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The search was not restricted by study period, study design, sample size or language, and was complemented by a manual literature search. A modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of the studies. Results: Thirteen cross-sectional studies were included. The prevalence of second-hand tobacco smoke exposure among the three European studies ranged from 8.2% (adult population exposed at home in 2010) to 93.3% (adolescent/adult population exposed in bar/restaurant terraces in 2016). Three nationwide studies estimated children’s exposure at home: ranging from 32.6% in 2010 - 2011 to 14.4% in 2016. According to the most recent studies, 49.8% of women living in Porto were exposed during the third trimester of pregnancy in 2010 - 2011; 32.6% and 38.4% of children were exposed at home, respectively in Lisbon and the Azores. Conclusion: A significant proportion of the Portuguese population, especially children and pregnant women, remain exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke. A comprehensive smoke-free policy is needed, not only in outdoor public places, but also in indoor private settings.[Resumo] Introdução: Estimar a prevalência da exposição ao fumo ambiental de tabaco (FAT) é uma prioridade de saúde pública, permitindo avaliar a carga de doença atribuível na população e o impacto da lei de proibição de fumar. Realizou-se uma revisão sistemática para analisar como tem sido avaliada a ex-posição ao FAT; e como tem sido estimada a sua prevalência na população portuguesa, desde a implementação da proibição parcial de fumar em 2008. Métodos: Foi feita uma pesquisa bibliográfica nas bases de dados Web of Science, MEDLINE e Embase até novembro de 2022, aplicando uma es-tratégia de pesquisa pré-concebida e seguindo as diretrizes PRISMA 2020. A pesquisa não foi restringida por período de estudo, desenho do estudo, tamanho da amostra ou idioma, e foi complementada por uma pesquisa manual da literatura. Foi utilizada a escala de Newcastle-Ottawa modificada para avaliar a qualidade dos estudos.Resultados: Foram incluídos 13 estudos transversais. A prevalência da exposição ao FAT nos três estudos europeus variou entre 8,2% (população adulta exposta em casa em 2010) e 93,3% (população adolescente/adulta exposta em esplanadas de bares/restaurantes em 2016). Três estudos nacio-nais estimaram a exposição das crianças em casa: variando entre 32,6% em 2010 - 2011 e 14,4% em 2016. De acordo com os estudos mais recentes, 49,8% das mulheres residentes no Porto foram expostas ao FAT durante o terceiro trimestre de gravidez em 2010 - 2011; 32,6% e 38,4% das crianças foram expostas ao FAT em casa, respetivamente em Lisboa e nos Açores. Conclusão: Uma percentagem significativa da população portuguesa, em particular as crianças e as mulheres grávidas, continua exposta ao fumo am-biental do tabaco. É necessária uma política abrangente de proibição de fumar, não só em locais públicos exteriores, mas também em locais interiores privados.This work has been funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the Project “PI22/00727” and co-funded by the European Union.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ISCIII/Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia/PI22%2F00727/ES/Exposición al humo ambiental de tabaco: prevalencia y mortalidad atribuida en España y las Comunidades Autónomas. Resultados y aportaciones metodológicas para mejorar la toma de decisiones de las administraciones en el control del tabaquismo

Dynamic tuning of FRET in a green fluorescent protein biosensor.

Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between mutants of green fluorescent protein is widely used to monitor protein-protein interactions and as a readout mode in fluorescent biosensors. Despite the fundamental importance of distance and molecular angles of fluorophores to each other, structural details on fluorescent protein FRET have been missing. Here, we report the high-resolution x-ray structure of the fluorescent proteins mCerulean3 and cpVenus within the biosensor Twitch-2B, as they undergo FRET and characterize the dynamics of this biosensor with B-0(2)-dependent paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance at 900 MHz and 1.1 GHz. These structural data provide the unprecedented opportunity to calculate FRET from the x-ray structure and to compare it to experimental data in solution. We find that interdomain dynamics limits the FRET effect and show that a rigidification of the sensor further enhances FRET

Serum cotinine cut-points for secondhand smoke exposure assessment in children under 5 years: A systemic review

Background Serum cotinine has become the most widely used biomarker of secondhand smoke exposure (SHS) over time in all ages. The aim of this study was to review the serum cotinine cutpoints used to classify children under 5 years as exposed to SHS. Methods A systematic review performed in the Pubmed (MEDLINE) and EMBASE databases up to April 2021 was conducted using as key words serum cotinine, tobacco smoke pollution (MeSH), secondhand smoke, environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco smoke exposure. Papers which assessed SHS exposure among children younger than 5 years old were included. The PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed. Analysis was pre-registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42021251263). Results 247 articles were identified and 51 fulfilled inclusion criteria. The selected studies were published between 1985-2020. Most of them included adolescents and adults. Only three assessed postnatal exposure exclusively among children under 5 years. None of the selected studies proposed age-specific cut-points for children < 5 years old. Cut-point values to assess SHS exposure ranged from 0.015 to 100 ng/ml. The most commonly used cut-point was 0.05 ng/ml, derived from the assay limit of detection used by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Conclusions No studies have calculated serum cotinine age-specific cut-points to ascertained SHS exposure among children under 5 years old. Children's age-specific cut-points are warranted for health research and public health purposes aimed at accurately estimating the prevalence of SHS exposure and attributable burden of disease to such exposure, and at reinforcing 100% smoke-free policies worldwide, both in homes, private vehicles and public places