Near-inertial waves (NIWs), which have clockwise (anticlockwise) rotational motion in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere, exist everywhere in the ocean except at the equator; their frequencies are largely determined by the local inertial frequency, f . It is thought that they supply about 25% of the energy for global ocean mixing through turbulence resulting from their strong current shear and breaking; this contributes mainly to upper-ocean mixing which is related to air-sea interaction, typhoon genesis, marine ecosystem, carbon cycle, and climate change. Observations and numerical simulations have shown that the low-mode NIWs can travel many hundreds of kilometres from a source region toward the equator because the lower inertial frequency at lower latitudes allows their free propagation. Here, using observations and a numerical simulation, we demonstrate poleward propagation of typhoon-induced NIWs by a western boundary current, the Kuroshio. Negative relative vorticity, meaning anticyclonic rotational tendency opposite to the Earth’s spin, existing along the right-hand side of the Kuroshio path, makes the local inertial frequency shift to a lower value, thereby trapping the waves. This negative vorticity region works like a waveguide for NIW propagation, and the strong Kuroshio current advects the waves poleward with a speed ~85% of the local current. This finding emphasizes that background currents such as the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream play a significant role in redistribution of the NIW energy available for global ocean mixing.

We present an image-guided laparoscopic surgical tool (IGLaST) to prevent bleeding. By applying optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) to a specially designed laparoscopic surgical tool, the inside of fatty tissue can be observed before a resection, and the presence and size of blood vessels can be recognized. The optical sensing module on the IGLaST head has a diameter of less than 390 µm and is moved back and forth by a linear servo actuator in the IGLaST body. We proved the feasibility of IGLaST by in vivo imaging inside the fatty tissue of a porcine model. A blood vessel with a diameter of about 2.2 mm was clearly observed. Our proposed scheme can contribute to safe surgery without bleeding by monitoring vessels inside the tissue and can be further expanded to detect invisible nerves of the laparoscopic thyroid during prostate gland surgery.

Soil incubation and germination tests were conducted to assess zerovalent iron (ZVI), organic compost, moisture and their combinations on metolachlor degradation in soil. The ZVI alone degraded 91% of metolachlor in soil within 40 days following bi-phasic kinetics. Organic amendment alone facilitated metolachlor degradation in soil up to 60% after 40 days depending on the amendment rate. However, the combination of ZVI with compost amendment at 30 ton ha(-1) and 30% moisture content accelerated metolachlor degradation to 90% after 3 days and 98% after 40 days. The half life (t (1/2)) of metolachlor degradation with ZVI, compost at 30 ton ha(-1), and 30% moisture was about 1 day, which was faster than ZVI treatment alone and 98% faster than controls. Germination and growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis L. Scop.) were severely inhibited in unamended metolachlor-contaminated soils but when these soils were amended with ZVI, germination and growth was comparable to controls (metolachlor free soil). Metolachlor degradation was greatest when ZVI, compost and moisture were used together, suggesting that these treatments will maximize in situ remediation of metolachlor-contaminated soils in the field.

The Pacific western boundary currents (WBC) are of great scientific interest due to their key role in the global water mass transport and the heat budget of the western Pacific warm pool, which is essential to the evolution of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the anomalous climate events (e.g., Fine et al., 1994;Hu et al., 2015;Jin, 1997). The North Pacific WBC includes the Kuroshio Current (KC) and Mindanao Current (MC) at the upper layer, and the Luzon Undercurrent and Mindanao Undercurrent (MUC) below the thermocline. Upon approaching the western boundary, the broad westward-flowing North Equatorial Current bifurcates into poleward KC and equatorward MC (e.g., Ando et al., 2021;Qu & Lukas, 2003). Along the Philippine coast, the MC flows southward steadily with a maximum speed exceeding 100 cm s −1 near the surface (e.g., Lukas et al., 1991;Ren et al., 2018). At the southern tip of Mindanao Island, part of the MC turns westward entering the Sulawesi Sea to feed the Indonesian Throughflow, while the remainder flows southward and then turns

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