Description: The foraminifera and geochemical element records from the Core CS2 in the center of the Okinawa Trough (OT) revealed a history of current circulation and bottom redox conditions over the last 19 Ka. During the last glaciation, the few Kuroshio Current (KC) and tropical/subtropical species components, the shoaled depth of thermocline (DOT) and high infaunal foraminifera, together suggest the hypoxia in the isolated and semiclosed OT might be related to an absence/shift of the KC. Furthermore, the hypoxia variations in three episodes coincided with changes in the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), as stronger hypoxia and enhanced NPIW occurred in the Heinrich Stadia 1 and Younger Dryas periods, and rapidly decreasing hypoxia corresponded with weaker NPIW ventilation in the Bølling/Allerød period. Previously recorded hypoxia in the OT occurred broadly at a water depth of between ~1,300 and 1,800 m. Meanwhile, the lowest productivity precluded the possibility of hypoxia caused by organic matter consumption. We thereby infer the enhanced glacial NPIW might be another reason for the hypoxia. After the postglaciation, the OT transitioned into a fully oceanic environment and was reoccupied by main pathway of the KC. This reoccupation greatly alleviated the hypoxia via weakening stratification and increasing vertical mixing. Evolution research of current circulation and bottom redox conditions can help in understanding the changes in the storage/release of carbon as the paleoclimate changed. Moreover, the variations in bottom redox conditions in the OT offer a possible informative window for understanding the influence of glacial NPIW in the mid-latitude zone.

Description: The monthly air temperature in 1153 stations and precipitation in 1202 stations in China and neighboring countries were collected to construct a monthly climate dataset in China on 0.025 ° resolution (approximately 2.5 km) named LZU0025 dataset designed by Lanzhou University (LZU), using a partial thin plate smoothing method embedded in the ANUSPLIN software. The accuracy of the LZU0025 was evaluated from analyzing three aspects: 1) Diagnostic statistics from surface fitting model in the period of 1951-2011, and results show low mean square root of generalized cross validation (RTGCV) for monthly air temperature surface (1.1 °C) and monthly precipitation surface (2 mm1/2) which interpolated the square root of itself. This indicate exact surface fitting models. 2) Error statistics based on 265 withheld stations data in the period of 1951-2011, and results show that predicted values closely tracked true values with mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.6 °C and 4 mm and standard deviation of mean error (STD) of 1.3 °C and 5 mm, and monthly STDs presented consistent change with RTGCV varying. 3) Comparisons to other datasets through two ways, one was to compare three indices namely the standard deviation, mean and time trend derived from all datasets to referenced dataset released by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) in the Taylor diagrams, the other was to compare LZU0025 to the Camp Tibet dataset on mountainous remote area. Taylor diagrams displayed the standard deviation derived from LZU had higher correlation with that induced from CMA (Pearson correlation R=0.76 for air temperature case and R=0.96 for precipitation case). The standard deviation for this index derived from LZU was more close to that induced from CMA, and the centered normalized root-mean-square difference for this index derived from LZU and CMA was lower. The same superior performance of LZU were found in comparing indices of the mean and time trend derived from LZU and those induced from other datasets. LZU0025 had high correlation with the Camp dataset for air temperature despite of insignificant correlation for precipitation in few stations. Based on above comprehensive analyses, LZU0025 was concluded as the reliable dataset.

Description: Nature Reviews Cardiology 12, 497 (2015). doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2015.99 Authors: Ying Chen, Yu-li Huang & Wei-yi Mai We read the Review by Egan and Stevens-Fabry (Prehypertension—prevalence, health risks, and management strategies. Nat. Rev. Cardiol.12, 289–300; 2015) with great interest. We wish to discuss some views about screening for masked hypertension for risk stratification in prehypertension.Epidemiological studies have

Description: Background: To report the thickness of the retina, retinal ganglion cell (RGC)-related layers, and choroid in healthy subjects using swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Methods: One hundred and forty-six healthy volunteers were consecutively recruited for this prospective observational study. Thickness of retina, RGC-related layers, and choroid in the standard early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) grid were automatically measured using one SS-OCT (DRI OCT-1, Topcon, Japan). The IOL Master (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Germany) was used to measure axial length (AL). Results: Thicknesses of the average macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) were 105.3 ± 9.7 and 78.5 ± 6.2 um respectively. Neither of them was significantly related with sex, age, or AL. Both showed strong correlations with retinal thickness (r = 0.793, p = 0.000; r = 0.813, p = 0.000, respectively) and with similar topographic distributions within the retina. The thicknesses of retina and GCC/GCIPL in the inner sectors were significantly higher than in the outer sectors of the EDTRS area, while in the same region of the macula, the choroid exhibited completely different patterns of topographic variation. Men had 7.8 um thicker retina and 34.9 um thicker choroid than women after adjustment for age and AL (all p