Prevalence of strong bottom currents in the greater Agulhas system

Deep current meter data and output from two high-resolution global ocean circulation models are used to determine the prevalence and location of strong bottom currents in the greater Agulhas Current system. The two models and current meter data are remarkably consistent, showing that benthic storms, with bottom currents greater than 0.2 m s(-1), occur throughout the Agulhas retroflection region south of Africa more than 20% of the time. Furthermore, beneath the mean Agulhas Current core and the retroflection front, bottom currents exceed 0.2 m s(-1) more than 50% of the time, while away from strong surface currents, bottom currents rarely exceed 0.2 m s(-1). Implications for sediment transport are discussed and the results are compared to atmospheric storms. Benthic storms of this strength (0.2 m s(-1)) are comparable to a 9 m s(-1) (Beaufort 5) windstorm, but scaling shows that benthic storms may be less effective at lifting and transporting sediment than dust storms

Surface Instability of Icicles

Quantitatively-unexplained stationary waves or ridges often encircle icicles. Such waves form when roughly 0.1 mm-thick layers of water flow down the icicle. These waves typically have a wavelength of 1cm approximately independent of external temperature, icicle thickness, and the volumetric rate of water flow. In this paper we show that these waves can not be obtained by naive Mullins-Sekerka instability, but are caused by a quite new surface instability related to the thermal diffusion and hydrodynamic effect of thin water flow.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Late

Advanced Technologies for Oral Controlled Release: Cyclodextrins for oral controlled release

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are used in oral pharmaceutical formulations, by means of inclusion complexes formation, with the following advantages for the drugs: (1) solubility, dissolution rate, stability and bioavailability enhancement; (2) to modify the drug release site and/or time profile; and (3) to reduce or prevent gastrointestinal side effects and unpleasant smell or taste, to prevent drug-drug or drug-additive interactions, or even to convert oil and liquid drugs into microcrystalline or amorphous powders. A more recent trend focuses on the use of CDs as nanocarriers, a strategy that aims to design versatile delivery systems that can encapsulate drugs with better physicochemical properties for oral delivery. Thus, the aim of this work was to review the applications of the CDs and their hydrophilic derivatives on the solubility enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs in order to increase their dissolution rate and get immediate release, as well as their ability to control (to prolong or to delay) the release of drugs from solid dosage forms, either as complexes with the hydrophilic (e.g. as osmotic pumps) and/ or hydrophobic CDs. New controlled delivery systems based on nanotechonology carriers (nanoparticles and conjugates) have also been reviewed

Recombinant fibrinogen, gamma 275Arg -> Cys, exhibits formation of disulfide bond with cysteine and severely impaired D : D interactions

This is an electronic version of an Article published in Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2004; 2(3): 468-475ArticleJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS. 2(3): 468-475 (2004)journal articl

Comparison of thrombin-catalyzed fibrin polymerization and Factor XIIIa-catalyzed cross-linking of fibrin among three recombinant variant fibrinogens, gamma 275C, gamma 275H, and gamma 275A

This is an electronic version of an Article published in Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2004; 2(8): 1359-1367ArticleJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS. 2(8): 1359-1367 (2004)journal articl

Functional analysis of recombinant B beta 15C and B beta 15A fibrinogens demonstrates that B beta 15G residue plays important roles in FPB release and in lateral aggregation of protofibrils

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.ArticleJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS. 3(5): 983-990 (2005)journal articl

AP2γ controls adult hippocampal neurogenesis and modulates cognitive, but not anxiety or depressive-like behavior

Hippocampal neurogenesis has been proposed to participate in a myriad of behavioral responses, both in basal states and in the context of neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we identify activating protein 2γ 3 (AP2γ 3, also known as Tcfap2c), originally described to regulate the generation of neurons in the developing cortex, as a modulator of adult hippocampal glutamatergic neurogenesis in mice. Specifically, AP2γ 3 is present in a sub-population of hippocampal transient amplifying progenitors. There, it is found to act as a positive regulator of the cell fate determinants Tbr2 and NeuroD, promoting proliferation and differentiation of new glutamatergic granular neurons. Conditional ablation of AP2γ 3 in the adult brain significantly reduced hippocampal neurogenesis and disrupted neural coherence between the ventral hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, it resulted in the precipitation of multimodal cognitive deficits. This indicates that the sub-population of AP2γ 3-positive hippocampal progenitors may constitute an important cellular substrate for hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions. Concurrently, AP2γ 3 deletion produced significant impairments in contextual memory and reversal learning. More so, in a water maze reference memory task a delay in the transition to cognitive strategies relying on hippocampal function integrity was observed. Interestingly, anxiety- and d epressive-like behaviors were not significantly affected. Altogether, findings open new perspectives in understanding the role of specific sub-populations of newborn neurons in the (patho)physiology of neuropsychiatric disorders affecting hippocampal neuroplasticity and cognitive function in the adult brain.We acknowledge the excellent technical expertise of Luís Martins and Andrea Steiner-Mezzadri. We would also like to acknowledge Magdalena Götz for the insightful comments on the paper. AMP, PP, ARS, JS, VMS, NDA and JFO received fellowships from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). LP received fellowship from FCT and her work is funded by FCT (IF/01079/2014) and Bial Foundation (427/14) projects. This work was cofunded by the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), and Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (projects NORTE-01-0145- FEDER-000013 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023). This work has been also funded by FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the FCT, under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In vitro expression demonstrates impaired secretion of the gamma Asn319, Asp320 deletion variant fibrinogen

This article is not an exact copy of the original published article in [THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS]. The definitive publisher-authenticated version of [THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS 94;53-59,2005] is available online at: [http://www.schattauer.de/]ArticleTHROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS. 94(1): 53-59 (2005)journal articl

Analysis of fibrinogen variants at gamma 387Ile shows that the side chain of gamma 387 and the tertiary structure of the gamma C-terminal tail are important not only for assembly and secretion of fibrinogen but also for lateral aggregation of protofibrils and XIIIa-catalyzed gamma-gamma dimer formation

This research was originally published in Blood. Author(s).Kani, S; Terasawa, F; Yamauchi, K; Tozuka, M; Okumura, N. Title. Blood. 2006;108:1887-1894. © by the American Society of Hematology.ArticleBLOOD. 108(6): 1887-1894 (2006)journal articl

A road map to IndOOS-2 better observations of the rapidly warming Indian Ocean

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 101(11), (2020): E1891-E1913, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0209.1The Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), established in 2006, is a multinational network of sustained oceanic measurements that underpin understanding and forecasting of weather and climate for the Indian Ocean region and beyond. Almost one-third of humanity lives around the Indian Ocean, many in countries dependent on fisheries and rain-fed agriculture that are vulnerable to climate variability and extremes. The Indian Ocean alone has absorbed a quarter of the global oceanic heat uptake over the last two decades and the fate of this heat and its impact on future change is unknown. Climate models project accelerating sea level rise, more frequent extremes in monsoon rainfall, and decreasing oceanic productivity. In view of these new scientific challenges, a 3-yr international review of the IndOOS by more than 60 scientific experts now highlights the need for an enhanced observing network that can better meet societal challenges, and provide more reliable forecasts. Here we present core findings from this review, including the need for 1) chemical, biological, and ecosystem measurements alongside physical parameters; 2) expansion into the western tropics to improve understanding of the monsoon circulation; 3) better-resolved upper ocean processes to improve understanding of air–sea coupling and yield better subseasonal to seasonal predictions; and 4) expansion into key coastal regions and the deep ocean to better constrain the basinwide energy budget. These goals will require new agreements and partnerships with and among Indian Ocean rim countries, creating opportunities for them to enhance their monitoring and forecasting capacity as part of IndOOS-2.We thank the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and its core project on Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR), the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) project, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) for providing the financial support to bring international scientists together to conduct this review. We thank the members of the independent review board that provided detailed feedbacks on the review report that is summarized in this article: P. E. Dexter, M. Krug, J. McCreary, R. Matear, C. Moloney, and S. Wijffels. PMEL Contribution 5041. C. Ummenhofer acknowledges support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award for Innovative Research.2021-05-0