Search

Marine debris significantly influences the environment and economics of marine ecosystems. Measures to ban illegally discarded materials using monitoring techniques are expected to mitigate marine debris mismanagement. For example, derelict oyster farming rafts along the southwestern coast of Taiwan have been a source of marine debris pollution since the 1980s. An efficient inspection system is an urgent requirement for monitoring oyster farming areas and, is expected to implement control and surveillance measures for litter discarded from coastal fisheries. To address this issue, this study examined combinations of radio frequency identification (RFID), drone archiving, and onshore receiving systems to ascertain the positions of oyster rafts and their owners with digitally tagged labels. The results showed that the two proposed monitoring systems are feasible for use in marine environments. The RFID signals archived by the drone reached 100% of the 200 tags with a spatial bias ranging from 2.38 to 59.99 m. RFID-GPS hybrid tag signals received by the onshore station covered 100% of the 20 tags with spatial bias ranging from 1.27 to 10.47 m. The RFID-GPS hybrid system was confirmed as a feasible approach for monitoring oyster rafts within 3 km of the coast. The real-time (1 h intervals) position and attributes of each raft detected by the system indicated that our designed techniques enhance responsible fishery surveillance and management of coastal aquaculture worldwide.

Material exchange between oceans and currents is crucial for biogeochemical processes in marginal seas, such as the Kuroshio intrusion in the Luzon Strait, which contributes to nutrient and phytoplankton growth in the adjacent water. Therefore, it is necessary to understand changes in major current systems and their possible effects on marine ecology. In this study, we applied an edge-detection method to satellite-derived sea-surface temperature (SST) images to identify the SST front as the index of Kuroshio intrusion during 1985–2017. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations and geostrophic currents (determined from satellite observations after 1993) were examined by comparing long-term variations related to the Kuroshio front using empirical-mode decomposition analysis. The Kuroshio intrusion into the Luzon Strait gradually decreased after the 1990s, as did the Chl-a concentrations and current speed in the Strait. In contrast, the speed of the Kuroshio Current in the eastern Philippine tended to increase, indicating that the northward Kuroshio Current from the eastern Philippines became stronger, curtailing the westward intrusion of the branch current into the Luzon Strait. The speed of the Kuroshio Current correlated with the bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current (NEC), which is upstream of the Kuroshio Current starting from the southeast Philippines. Therefore, the NEC bifurcation latitude may have shifted more southward, which strengthened the water mass and current speed of the Kuroshio, resulting in decreased westward motion of the Kuroshio through the Luzon Strait. Consequently, the weakening Kuroshio intrusion may have caused a decreasing trend of biogeochemical processes in the South China Sea.

Background. Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is a standard treatment in non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). However, the timing of initiation of DAPT in the Emergency Department (ED) is not well established. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the correlation between the different timings of DAPT initiation in ED and the outcomes in patients with NSTEMI. Method. We retrospectively collected data of patients who were diagnosed as NSTEMI in the ED of China Medical University Hospital during 2016 to 2019. All NSTEMI patients who required coronary stenting or ballooning were enrolled into the study, which means NSTEMI patients who received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were included. The time interval between ED arrival and DAPT given was recorded. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether they received DAPT within 6 hours after arrival to the ED. The primary outcomes were in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The secondary outcomes were unexpected return to the ED within 72 hours, readmission within 14 days, and revascularization procedures performed within the first 30 days. Results. 938 NSTEMI patients with PCI were enrolled. Patients who received DAPT beyond 6 hours were relatively old (65.70 ± 14.13 versus 63.16 ± 13.31, p=0.014) and had relatively more comorbidities and higher Killip scores than those who received DAPT within 6 hours. The group that received DAPT within 6 hours had lower in-hospital MACE rate (3.52% versus 8.37%, p=0.009). Multivariate logistic regression showed the group beyond 6 hours was independently associated with higher risk for in-hospital MACE rate (OR : 2.09, 95% CI 1.07–4.07, p=0.030). Conclusion. Among patients with NSTEMI, DAPT beyond 6 hours after ED arrival have higher in-hospital MACE rate than those within 6 hours.