Aerosol Chemistry Resolved by Mass Spectrometry: Linking Field Measurements of Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity to Organic Aerosol Composition

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Science & Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b01675Aerosol hygroscopic properties were linked to its chemical composition by using complementary online mass spectrometric techniques in a comprehensive chemical characterization study at a rural mountaintop station in central Germany in August 2012. In particular, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry ((−)APCI-MS) provided measurements of organic acids, organosulfates, and nitrooxy-organosulfates in the particle phase at 1 min time resolution. Offline analysis of filter samples enabled us to determine the molecular composition of signals appearing in the online (−)APCI-MS spectra. Aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) provided quantitative measurements of total submicrometer organics, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium. Inorganic sulfate measurements were achieved by semionline ion chromatography and were compared to the AMS total sulfate mass. We found that up to 40% of the total sulfate mass fraction can be covalently bonded to organic molecules. This finding is supported by both on- and offline soft ionization techniques, which confirmed the presence of several organosulfates and nitrooxy-organosulfates in the particle phase. The chemical composition analysis was compared to hygroscopicity measurements derived from a cloud condensation nuclei counter. We observed that the hygroscopicity parameter (κ) that is derived from organic mass fractions determined by AMS measurements may overestimate the observed κ up to 0.2 if a high fraction of sulfate is bonded to organic molecules and little photochemical aging is exhibited

Panel-Erhebungen mit Gesundheitsbezug in Liechtenstein, Österreich und der Schweiz

Der Beitrag gibt eine Übersicht über gesundheitsbezogene Panels in Liechtenstein, Österreich und der Schweiz. Von Interesse sind Panelerhebungen, die in den letzten Jahren durchgeführt worden sind und deren Daten somit eine gewisse Aktualität besitzen, deren Daten für die akademische Forschung zugänglich sind und mit deren Daten sowohl sozialwissenschaftliche als auch gesundheitswissenschaftliche Aspekte abgebildet werden können. Erhebungen, die sich auf einzelne Krankheitsbilder beziehen und Follow-up-Erhebungen in Bezug auf das Krankheitsbild darstellen, werden nur in einer kürzeren Beschreibung am Ende des Abschnittes für das jeweilige Land in die Auflistung aufgenommen. Die Auswahlkriterien werden dem gemäß wie folgt festgelegt: (1) Es müssen mindestens zwei Erhebungswellen durchgeführt worden sein. (2) Die letzte Erhebungswelle sollte nicht älter als 10 Jahre sein. (3) Die Stichprobe muss einen gewissen Bezug zur Allgemeinbevölkerung haben, darf nicht nur Fälle/Kontrollen mit einer bestimmten Diagnose enthalten, und das Erhebungsinstrument muss auch einige sozialwissenschaftliche Verhaltens- und Strukturitems einschließen. (4) Die Zugänglichkeit der Daten für die Wissenschaft muss zu erträglichen Kosten gewährleistet sein. (ICG2

Panel-Erhebungen mit Gesundheitsbezug

Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über alle Panelstudien mit Gesundheitsbezug in Deutschland. Dabei wurden vier Kriterien zu Grunde gelegt: (1) Es müssen mindestens zwei Untersuchungswellen durchgeführt worden sein. (2) Die Feldphase der letzten Welle darf nicht länger als zehn Jahre zurückliegen. (3) Die Stichprobe muss einen Bezug auf die Gesamtbevölkerung erlauben und darf nicht nur Befragte mit einer bestimmten klinischen Diagnose umfassen. Das Untersuchungsinstrument muss Verhaltensaspekte berücksichtigen, die für die sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung relevant sind. (4) Wissenschaftler müssen auf die Daten zu akzeptablen Kosten zugreifen können. (ICEÜbers)'The article presents an overview of all health-related panel studies in Germany. Four inclusion criteria were used: 1. a minimum of 2 survey waves were required; a cross sectional survey with a mortality follow-up, for example, would therefore not be included 2. the last wave must have been fielded within about the last ten years; 3. the sample must allow references to the general population in some fashion, may not consist only of respondents with a certain clinical diagnosis, and the survey instrument must include some behavioural items of relevance to social science research; 4. the academic research community must have ready access to the data at acceptable costs for individual researchers.' (author's abstract)

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201

The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations

Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing, China, August 201

Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density, affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic