Interannual fluctuations of the convective activity around the Philippines are highly correlated with the east-west gradient of SST between the North Indian Ocean (NIO) and the western North Pacific (WNP). We conducted a set of experiments by use of an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to assess the relative importance of the remote (NIO) versus in situ (WNP) SST anomalies in determining the WNP monsoon rainfall as ocean-to-atmosphere feedback. The solutions indicate that both in situ and remote SST anomalies regulate precipitation around the Philippines in the early summer. This result implies that the WNP monsoon rainfall is sensitive to the spatial distribution of the NIO SST anomalies as well as the in situ anomalies. These physical interpretations suggest further increase of the predictability in the WNP monsoon.
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) symptoms immediately after surgery have lately been regarded as potential warnings of impending postoperative complications and multiple organ failure. Reports discussing the relationship between operative stress and SIRS are found in the field of digestive surgery, but not in that of oral surgery. Forty oral cancer cases who had undergone neck dissection (Level III or higher) from January 1998 to June 1999 were involved in this study. We assigned 16 cases who met two of the several diagnostic criteria for SIRS and continued to meet them for at least 24 hours after surgery to the SIRS group. The other 24 patients were assigned to the non-SIRS group. Postoperative complications occurred in 56.3% of the SIRS group and 8.3% of the non-SIRS group (p<0.05). In two cases, the postoperative fluctuation of IL-6 level was evaluated. These results suggest the importance of careful management of postoperative SIRS patients to prevent complications.