Abstract. Severe tropical storms play an important role in triggering phytoplankton blooms, but the extent to which such storms influence biogenic carbon flux from the euphotic zone is unclear. In 2008, typhoon Fengwong provided a unique opportunity to study the in situ biological responses including phytoplankton blooms and particulate organic carbon fluxes associated with a severe storm in the southern East China Sea (SECS). After passage of the typhoon, the sea surface temperature (SST) in the SECS was markedly cooler (∼25 to 26 °C) than before typhoon passage (∼28 to 29 °C). The POC flux 5 days after passage of the typhoon was 265 ± 14 mg C m−2 d−1, which was ∼1.7-fold that (140–180 mg C m−2 d−1) recorded during a period (June–August, 2007) when no typhoons occurred. A somewhat smaller but nevertheless significant increase in POC flux (224–225 mg C m−2 d−1) was detected following typhoon Sinlaku which occurred approximately 1 month after typhoon Fengwong, indicating that typhoon events can increase biogenic carbon flux efficiency in the SECS. Remarkably, phytoplankton uptake accounted for only about 5% of the nitrate injected into the euphotic zone by typhoon Fengwong. It is likely that phytoplankton population growth was constrained by a combination of light limitation and grazing pressure. Modeled estimates of new/export production were remarkably consistent with the average of new and export production following typhoon Fengwong. The same model suggested that during non-typhoon conditions approximately half of the export of organic carbon occurs via convective mixing of dissolved organic carbon, a conclusion consistent with earlier work at comparable latitudes in the open ocean.

Visceral coeliac plexus-type pain (commonly associated with pancreatic cancer) is, perhaps one of the most difficult pains for the patient, family and palliative care team to manage. This type of pain is described as `localised to the upper abdomen, often radiating to the back like a band and perceived by the patient as a deep rather than a superficial pain’. It is an indication of the difficulty experienced in managing it, that a neurolytic procedure is considered `goldstandard’ in its management (coeliac plexus block). However, the limited availability and potentially serious side effects lead to an understandable reluctance to use this method. We present three cases in which the use of gabapentin has dramatically improved pain management.

Here we report a strand-specific fluorescent homogeneous assay format for rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A number of similar assays are commonly used for research applications and are an ideal solution for a closed tube quantitative PCR. These assays use fluorescent resonant energy transfer (FRET) between donor and acceptor fluorescent moieties as the reporting mechanism. However, for different reasons these assays do not report amplification when very rapid cycling times are used. This is because current assays, such as TaqMan®, are limited, in terms of assay speed, by the 5′–3′ exonuclease activity of Taq DNA polymerase. Other assays based on hybridisation require either a complex de-conformational event to occur, or require more than one probe to report amplification. Reducing the complexity of the experiment reduces costs in terms of design, optimisation and manufacture. Here, we describe ResonSense® chemistries that use a simple linear fluorescent-labelled probe and a DNA minor-groove binding dye as either donor or acceptor moieties in a homogeneous assay format on the LightCycler®. This assay format will provide for rapid analysis of samples and so it is particularly well suited to point-of-use testing.

Microchambers have been fabricated in silicon by bulk micromachining using anisotropic wet etching. Rapid temperature cycling and control at low power is achieved using a special thermal design of the chambers, combined with thin film platinum resistors as temperature sensors and heaters. The chambers have been used for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in order to amplify DNA. Rapid temperature cycling and small size are promising attributes for portable high efficiency analytical systems.

Wirshing, W C; Ames, D; Cummings, J L; Van Putten, T; Marder, S R; Bartzokis, G; Lee, M A Author Information

As an aid in the quantitative assay of 229Th by means of γ-ray spectrometry, we have made precise measurements of the emission probabilities of several γ rays from the decay of 229Th and seven from the decay of its daughters in the energy range from 40 to 808 keV. The decay-rate calibration of an isotopically separated source was obtained from the total α-emission rate as determined with an Au-Si surface-barrier detector gated to accept only the α particles from 229Th. The geometry of this detector was measured with a 249Cf source calibrated on a low-geometry proportional counter. The γ-ray emission rates were measured on calibrated Ge detectors for this calibrated 229Th source. The relative γ intensities were also measured for a chemically separated 229Th source, which allowed an assessment of the contributions from the daughter activities. The percentage uncertainties in the measured γ-emission probabilities range from 1.3 to 4.0%. Our results differ significantly from those of two recently published measurements. A comparison of these three sets of results is given.

The theory of diffusive shock acceleration and its application in interplanetary space are reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on the distinction between diffusive and shock-drift shock acceleration, on ion-excitation of MHD waves upstream of the shock and the resulting self-consistent configuration of waves and accelerated ions, and on the mathematical theory of that configuration at quasi-parallel supercritical interplanetary travelling shocks. A comparison of predicted and observed proton anisotropies for the 12 November 1978 event is presented.

A simple shock model for the acceleration of energetic particles in corotating interaction regions (CIR) in the solar wind is presented. Particles are accelerated at the forward and reverse shocks which bound the CIR by being compressed between the shock fronts and magnetic irregularities upstream from the shocks, or by being compressed between upstream irregularities and those downstream from the shocks. Particles also suffer adiabatic deceleration in the expanding solar wind, an effect not included in previous shock models for acceleration in CIR's. The model is able to account for the observed exponential spectra at earth, the observed behavior of the spectra with radial distance, the observed radial gradients in the intensity, and the observed differences in the intensity and spectra at the forward and reverse shocks.

A comparison of the quality-of-fit to γ-ray peaks has been made for several analytical functions. The data are for 1332 keV peaks measured on three Ge(Li) and Ge detectors with volumes of about 13, 65 and 120 cm3. The analytical functions tested, most previously proposed, have 0, 1 or 2 additive components to represent the low-energy tailing. Since non of the functions represent the physical processes in the detection system, these analyses yield the expected result that, in general, the functions with the most parameters give the best fits. The variation of the peak areas with some of the parameters of the tailing functions is investigated.