Using recently collected current and hydrographic data, we provide a high resolution picture of the subinertial flow and estimate the volume transport through the Luzon Strait. The distribution of the subinertial flow shows a strong westward flow around 100 m in the northern part of the Luzon Strait, while the eastward flow is confined to the deeper layers, mostly at depths around 1000 m. The total volume transport is estimated to be 6 ± 3 Sv during the period of observations from October 4 to 16, 2005. The observations also confirm that the Luzon Strait transport has a sandwiched vertical structure. The net westward volume transport in the deep (>1500 m) layer of the Luzon Strait reaches 2 Sv.

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Persistent coastal upwelling and upwelling-induced thermal fronts in the northwestern South China Sea are investigated using satellite measurements, two intensive mesoscale mapping surveys and three bottom-mounted ADCPs. The results indicate that pronounced surface cooling and upwelling-related fronts with a width of 20-50 km occur around Hainan Island and persist through the summer upwelling season. Driven by the prevailing southwesterly monsoon, the subsurface cooling band is $6 C colder than the water offshore of the East Coast, where the thermal gradients are generally more than 0.1 C/km. The cold and nutrient-rich coastal water is identified to be derived primarily from the deep water of the outer shelf. At the same time, the spatial structure of the upwelling and thermal front, as well as the upwelling-related coastal currents, is significantly regulated by wind forcing. A prominent lagged correlation between the moored temperature records and alongshore wind stress is detected in the East Coast. The correlation coefficient is 20.8 with the temperature lagging behind wind stress by 2.2 days, indicating that the cooling band off the East Coast is dominated mostly by the alongshore southwesterly monsoon during the upwelling season.

What is known and objective: Since the December 2019 discovery of several cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan, China, the infection has spread worldwide. Our aim is to report on the clinical characteristics, treatments and prognoses of COVID-19.Methods: This was a retrospective, single-centre, case series of 136 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 at Wuhan Third Hospital in Wuhan, China, between 28 January 2020 and 12 February 2020. The clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, treatment features and prognoses were summarized. Results and discussion:The 136 patients were divided into a moderate (M) group (n = 103, 75.7%) and a severe and critical (SC) group (n = 33, 24.3%). There were significant differences in the incidences of concomitant chronic medical illnesses (eg, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease), fever, dry cough and dyspnoea among the two groups (P < .05). Compared with those in the M group, lymphocyte count (LYM) decreased significantly in the SC group, while the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), creatinine (Cre), D-dimer, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), myoglobin (MB) and troponin I (cTnl) increased significantly in the SC group (P < .05). The main therapeutic drugs were antivirals, antibiotics, glucocorticoids, immunomodulators, traditional Chinese medicine preparations and symptomatic support drugs. There were significant differences in the incidences of shock, myocardial injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and renal injury among the two groups (P < .05). Among the 136 patients, 99 (72.7%) were cured, 14 (10.3%) were transferred to other hospital and 23 (16.9%) died. What is new and conclusion:Elderly patients with chronic diseases are more likely to develop severe or critical COVID-19 with multiple organ damage or systemic injuries.The improvement of LYM and CRP may be associated with the prognoses of COVID-19. The combined use of three or more antiviral drugs is to be avoided. The combination of broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs is not recommended and the risk of drug-induced liver injury should be monitored. Throughout a patient's hospitalization,This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.