Surgical treatment of nasal fractures may benefit from intraoperative 3D imaging.

This retrospective study aimed to assess the effects of the use of intraoperative three-dimensional (3D) imaging on outcomes in surgical treatment of nasal fractures. Furthermore, we investigated whether the use of intraoperative imaging improves outcomes and decreases the frequency of corrective surgeries compared to published literature. This retrospective descriptive study included patients who underwent operative treatment for nasal fractures with the use of intraoperative 3D imaging between January 2015 and January 2020 at a University Hospital. The primary outcome measure was patient satisfaction, which was assessed through patient charts about subjective esthetic problems and nasal obstruction. The secondary outcome measures were the number of intraoperative images and necessity of intra- and postoperative revisions. All the outcomes were evaluated using regression analysis. Of the 172 patients, secondary rhinoplasty and intraoperative revision were performed in 10 (6 %) and 93 (54 %) patients, respectively. Postoperatively, 19 (11 %) and 12 (7 %) patients complained of subjective esthetic problems and nasal obstruction, respectively. The intraoperative revision rate in patients undergoing surgical treatment of nasal fractures with intraoperative 3D imaging was >50 %. However, the incidence of postoperative secondary revision, nasal obstruction, and subjective esthetic problems was lower than that reported in the literature not having an intraoperative imaging. Our findings suggest that prompt quality control of the operative result enables immediate correction and prevents postoperative revision.

Interannual variability in marine debris accumulation on Hawaiian shores: The role of North Pacific Ocean basin-scale dynamics.

Community-based marine debris removal efforts on the Hawaiian Islands of Kaua'i and Hawai'i, spanning 2013-2022, provided large datasets and documented remarkable variations in annual amounts of debris, mainly from abandoned, lost and derelict fishing gear. To test the hypothesis that the influx of marine debris on Hawaiian shores is determined by the proximity of the North Pacific garbage patch, whose pattern changes under the control of large-scale ocean dynamics, we compared these observational data with the output of an oceanographic drift model. The high correlations between the total mass of debris collected and the model, ranging between r = 0.81 and r = 0.84, validate the attribution of the strong interannual signal to significant migrations of the garbage patch reproduced in the model experiments. Synchronous variations in marine debris fluxes on the two islands, separated by >500 km, confirm the large scale of the interannual changes in the North Pacific marine debris system.

High concentrations of floating neustonic life in the plastic-rich North Pacific Garbage Patch.

Floating life (obligate neuston) is a core component of the ocean surface food web. However, only 1 region of high neustonic abundance is known so far, the Sargasso Sea in the Subtropical North Atlantic gyre, where floating life provides critical habitat structure and ecosystem services. Here, we hypothesize that floating life is also concentrated in other gyres with converging surface currents. To test this hypothesis, we collected samples through the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in the area of the North Pacific "Garbage Patch" (NPGP) known to accumulate floating anthropogenic debris. We found that densities of floating life were higher inside the central NPGP than on its periphery and that there was a positive relationship between neuston abundance and plastic abundance for 3 out of 5 neuston taxa, Velella, Porpita, and Janthina. This work has implications for the ecology of subtropical oceanic gyre ecosystems.

Extent and reproduction of coastal species on plastic debris in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

We show that the high seas are colonized by a diverse array of coastal species, which survive and reproduce in the open ocean, contributing strongly to its floating community composition. Analysis of rafting plastic debris in the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre revealed 37 coastal invertebrate taxa, largely of Western Pacific origin, exceeding pelagic taxa richness by threefold. Coastal taxa, including diverse taxonomic groups and life history traits, occurred on 70.5% of debris items. Most coastal taxa possessed either direct development or asexual reproduction, possibly facilitating long-term persistence on rafts. Our results suggest that the historical lack of available substrate limited the colonization of the open ocean by coastal species, rather than physiological or ecological constraints as previously assumed. It appears that coastal species persist now in the open ocean as a substantial component of a neopelagic community sustained by the vast and expanding sea of plastic debris.

Numerical simulations of debris drift from the Great Japan Tsunami of 2011 and their verification with observational reports.

A suite of five ocean models is used to simulate the movement of floating debris generated by the Great Japan Tsunami of 2011. This debris was subject to differential wind and wave-induced motion relative to the ambient current (often termed "windage") which is a function of the shape, size, and buoyancy of the individual debris items. Model solutions suggest that during the eastward drift across the North Pacific the debris became "stratified" by the wind so that objects with different windages took different paths: high windage items reached North America in large numbers the first year, medium windage items recirculated southwest toward Hawaii and Asia, and low windage items collected in the Subtropical Gyre, primarily in the so-called "garbage patch" area located northeast of Hawaii and known for high concentrations of microplastics. Numerous boats lost during the tsunami were later observed at sea and/or found on the west coast of North America: these observations are used to determine optimal windage values for scaling the model solutions. The initial number of boats set adrift during the tsunami is estimated at about 1000, while about 100 boats are projected to still float in year 2018 with an e-folding decay of 2 to 8 years.

Composition and potential origin of marine debris stranded in the Western Indian Ocean on remote Alphonse Island, Seychelles.

The abundance, composition, and potential sources of marine debris were investigated on remote Alphonse Island, during the austral winter 2013. A total of 4743 items, weighing 142 kg, were removed from 1 km of windward beach, facing the prevailing southeasterly trade winds. Our study demonstrates the prevalence of plastic debris as a world-wide marine contaminant. Characteristics of the debris suggest it originated primarily from land-based sources. To determine their potential geographic sources we used the Surface Current from Diagnostic model of near-surface ocean currents, forced by satellite sea level and wind data. While preliminary evidence indicated the Southeast Asia to be the main source of the flotsam, the model highlighted Somalia as another potential primary source. Our study concludes that most of the collected debris entered the sea as a result of inadequate waste management and demonstrates how anthropogenic waste can negatively impact even the most remote environments.

La Niña forces unprecedented Leeuwin Current warming in 2011.

Unprecedented warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies were observed off the west coast of Australia in February-March 2011. Peak SST during a 2-week period were 5°C warmer than normal, causing widespread coral bleaching and fish kills. Understanding the climatic drivers of this extreme event, which we dub "Ningaloo Niño", is crucial for predicting similar events under the influence of global warming. Here we use observational data and numerical models to demonstrate that the extreme warming was mostly driven by an unseasonable surge of the poleward-flowing Leeuwin Current in austral summer, which transported anomalously warm water southward along the coast. The unusual intensification of the Leeuwin Current was forced remotely by oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections associated with the extraordinary 2010-2011 La Niña. The amplitude of the warming was boosted by both multi-decadal trends in the Pacific toward more La Niña-like conditions and intraseasonal variations in the Indian Ocean.

Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre.

Plastic marine pollution in the open ocean of the southern hemisphere is largely undocumented. Here, we report the result of a (4489 km) 2424 nautical mile transect through the South Pacific subtropical gyre, carried out in March-April 2011. Neuston samples were collected at 48 sites, averaging 50 nautical miles apart, using a manta trawl lined with a 333 µm mesh. The transect bisected a predicted accumulation zone associated with the convergence of surface currents, driven by local winds. The results show an increase in surface abundance of plastic pollution as we neared the center and decrease as we moved away, verifying the presence of a garbage patch. The average abundance and mass was 26,898 particles km(-2) and 70.96 g km(-2), respectively. 88.8% of the plastic pollution was found in the middle third of the samples with the highest value of 396,342 particles km(-2) occurring near the center of the predicted accumulation zone.

Tracking the sources and sinks of local marine debris in Hawai'i.

Plastic pollution has biological, chemical, and physical effects on marine environments and economic effects on coastal communities. These effects are acute on southeastern Hawai'i Island, where volunteers remove 16 metric tons of debris annually from a 15 km coastline. Although the majority is foreign-origin, a portion is locally-generated. We used floating debris-retention booms in two urban waterways to measure the input of debris from Hilo, the island's largest community, and released wooden drifters in nearby coastal waters to track the fate of that debris. In 205 days, 30 kilograms of debris (73.6% plastic) were retained from two watersheds comprising 10.2% of Hilo's developed land area. Of 851 wooden drifters released offshore of Hilo in four events, 23.3% were recovered locally, 1.4% at distant locations, and 6.5% on other islands. Comparisons with modeled surface currents and wind were mixed, indicating the importance of nearshore and tidal dynamics not included in the model. This study demonstrated that local pollutants can be retained nearby, contribute to the island's debris-accumulation area, and quickly contaminate other islands.

Pathways of marine debris derived from trajectories of Lagrangian drifters.

Global set of trajectories of satellite-tracked Lagrangian drifters is used to study the dynamics of marine debris. A probabilistic model is developed to eliminate the bias in spatial distribution of drifter data due to heterogeneous deployments. Model experiments, simulating long-term evolution of initially homogeneous drifter array, reveal five main sites of drifter aggregation, located in the subtropics and maintained by converging Ekman currents. The paper characterizes the geography and structure of the collection regions and discusses factors that determine their dynamics. A new scale R(c)=(4k/|D|)(½) is introduced to characterize tracer distribution under competing effects of horizontal divergence D and diffusion k. Existence and locations of all five accumulation zones have been recently confirmed by direct measurements of microplastic at the sea surface.

Plastic accumulation in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.

Plastic marine pollution is a major environmental concern, yet a quantitative description of the scope of this problem in the open ocean is lacking. Here, we present a time series of plastic content at the surface of the western North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea from 1986 to 2008. More than 60% of 6136 surface plankton net tows collected buoyant plastic pieces, typically millimeters in size. The highest concentration of plastic debris was observed in subtropical latitudes and associated with the observed large-scale convergence in surface currents predicted by Ekman dynamics. Despite a rapid increase in plastic production and disposal during this time period, no trend in plastic concentration was observed in the region of highest accumulation.