Modelling of Atmospheric Mercury Emission, Transport, Transformation and Deposition in North America

A modelling study was conducted to explore the emission, transport, transformation and deposition behaviour of atmospheric Hg. A detailed natural Hg emission model was developed to estimate the natural Hg emissions from soil, water and vegetation. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Hg model system was improved by incorporating the detailed treatment of natural Hg emissions, adopting boundary conditions from a global Hg model (Seigneur et al. , 2004) and including the calculation of the dry deposition velocity of elemental Hg. The natural Hg emission model and the improved CMAQ-Hg model were validated with some measurements and then applied to North America for a whole year (2002). A detailed natural Hg emission model was developed in this study. This model made use of detailed soil Hg concentration measurements, meteorological data and soil conditions to estimate Hg emissions from soil, water and vegetation. The influence of snow cover and low temperature was also considered in the model. This model was then applied to simulate one-year natural Hg emissions in North America in 2002. The modelled results, compared to some reported natural Hg emission measurements, demonstrated a strong simulation ability. The spatial and temporal variations of emission fluxes were examined through numerical simulations. A pronounced diurnal cycle and a seasonal cycle were found in the emissions from most land uses. Compared with summer, natural Hg emission was significantly limited in winter. Simulation results showed that about 229 metric tons of total natural Hg emission, 1. 8 times anthropogenic Hg emission, was emitted from the simulation domain in 2002. U. S. EPA CMAQ Hg model system was improved and then applied to simulate the emission, transport, transformation and deposition of atmospheric Hg in North America for the year 2002. The simulated results were compared with measured hourly Total Gaseous Hg (TGM) for 3 sites. The good agreement between them demonstrated the good performance of this improved model in modelling the behaviour of emission, transport, transformation and deposition of atmospheric Hg. Hg budget and net evasion of Hg in North America were also investigated. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the effects of emissions, including Hg and non-Hg emissions, on the air concentration and deposition of atmospheric Hg. The results indicated that ambient concentration of TGM was much more sensitive to Hg emissions than non-Hg emissions. Natural Hg emission was more significant than anthropogenic emission to affect ambient concentration of TGM, illustrating natural Hg emission is a key factor influencing TGM ambient concentration. Unlike TGM concentration, Hg dry deposition was not only sensitive to Hg emissions but also to non-Hg emissions such as VOCs and NOx. Anthropogenic Hg emission, natural Hg emission and NOx emission had almost the same effect on total dry deposition of Hg. The results also illustrated that Hg wet deposition was only sensitive to non-Hg emissions such as NOx and VOCs, especially of VOCs emission. Because of the inverse effect of VOCs on Hg wet deposition, reducing NOx emission should be an ideal solution to mitigate Hg wet deposition. A possible pathway through which atmospheric Hg was greatly affected by emissions changes was identified: emissions of pollutants, especially VOCs and NOx, greatly affect the level of OH in the atmosphere; OH influences the concentration and deposition of Hg by significantly affecting the gas phase reaction between Hg(0) and OH. </html

IDENTIFICATION OF THE ORIGINS OF ELEVATED ATMOSPHERIC MERCURY EPISODES USING A LAGRANGIAN MODELLING SYSTEM

We report the application of a receptor-oriented transport model, the Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model, to the interpretation of hourly total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations at three monitoring sites in Southern Ontario during four episodes of high TGM. STILT is a Lagrangian modelling system (Lin, J.C. et al. 2003) that simulates the transport of ensembles of air parcels backward in time from an observation point to upstream locations where surface inputs of target species occurred. A complete inventory of anthropogenic and natural mercury sources were used to compute the emissions. The study was initiated by simulating the mercury concentrations in a North American domain using CMAQ-Hg, a regional Eulerian chemical transport model (CTM). The STILT model was applied to several short episodes (usually lasting for 1-4 days) in which the TGM measurements at four air quality measurement stations in Southern Ontario significantly exceeded the predictions of the CTM. The STILT analysis compared the origins of air parcels arriving during the elevated TGM episodes with those of air parcels arriving at proximal times when the measurements and the CTM predictions were both low. The results consist of the STILT–predicted hourly concentrations at the measurement site as well as the surface footprint where the mercury responsible for the episode was emitted. The temporal STILT prediction is in better agreement with the measured time series than that of CMAQ-Hg. We believe this is partly due to the superior ability of STILT to capture near-field influences and partly due to the spatial averaging inherent in Eulerian modelling. Also, the predicted footprint locations were reasonable, coinciding with known locations of large mercury sources during the high episodes and with cleaner areas otherwise

Effect of Science and Technology Finance Policy on Urban Green Development in China

Green sustainable development is a major challenge faced by countries worldwide. Against the strategic background of innovation-driven development, studying the impact of science and technology finance policy (STFP) on urban green development is of great practical significance. Based on urban panel data from 2003 to 2019, this study systematically examines whether and how STFP affects urban green development in China using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. The empirical results show that STFP has significantly stimulated the urban green development level, and the effect of policy implementation has increased first and then decreased over time. The findings remain robust when using propensity score matching DID to avoid selection bias and other factors that may interfere with the estimation results. Additionally, technological innovation and green innovation are essential channels for STFP to improve urban green development. The impact of STFP is found to vary by region and by the level of urban innovation. Specifically, the policy effect is more pronounced in midwestern and high-innovation cities but less obvious in eastern and low-innovation cities. In conclusion, this study provides city-level empirical evidence from China for an in-depth understanding of the green economy effect of STFP. It also provides theoretical guidance and policy references for accelerating the green transition in the context of sustainable development

Impact of Schistosoma japonicum Infection on Collagen-Induced Arthritis in DBA/1 Mice: A Murine Model of Human Rheumatoid Arthritis

BACKGROUND: The hygiene hypothesis suggests that helminth infections prevent a range of autoimmune diseases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To investigate the effects of S. japonicum infection on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), male DBA/1 mice were challenged with unisexual or bisexual S. japonicum cercariae two weeks prior to bovine type II collagen (CII) immunization or at the onset of CIA. S. japonicum infection prior to CII immunization significantly reduced the severity of CIA. ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) showed that the levels of anti-CII IgG and IgG2a were reduced in prior schistosome-infected mice, while anti-CII IgG1 was elevated. Splenocyte proliferation against both polyclonal and antigen-specific stimuli was reduced by prior schistosome infection as measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation ((3)H-TdR). Cytokine profiles and CD4(+) T cells subpopulation analysis by ELISA and flow cytometry (FCM) demonstrated that prior schistosome infection resulted in a significant down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and Th1 cells, together with up-regulation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and Th2 cells. Interestingly, the expansion of Treg cells and the reduction of Th17 cells were only observed in bisexually infected mice. In addition, prior schistosome infection notably reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) in the inflamed joint. However, the disease was exacerbated at one week after infection when established CIA mice were challenged with bisexual cercariae. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data provide direct evidence that the Th2 response evoked by prior S. japonicum infection can suppress the Th1 response and pro-inflammatory mediator and that bisexual infection with egg-laying up-regulates the Treg response and down-regulates the Th17 response, resulting in an amelioration of autoimmune arthritis. The beneficial effects might depend on the establishment of a Th2-dominant response rather than the presence of the eggs. Our results suggest that anti-inflammatory molecules from the parasite could treat autoimmune diseases

Protective Effect Against Toxoplasmosis in BALB/c Mice Vaccinated With Toxoplasma gondii Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, which can cause severe disease in the fetus and immunocompromised individuals. Developing an effective vaccine is crucial to control this disease. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has gained substantial attention as a pivotal upstream cytokine to mediate innate and adaptive immune responses. Homologs of MIF have been discovered in many parasitic species, and one homolog of MIF has been isolated from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In this study, the recombinant Toxoplasma gondii MIF (rTgMIF) as a protein vaccine was expressed and evaluated by intramuscular injection in BALB/c mice. We divided the mice into different dose groups of vaccines, and all immunizations with purified rTgMIF protein were performed at 0, 2, and 4 weeks. The protective efficacy of vaccination was analyzed by antibody assays, cytokine measurements and lymphoproliferative assays, respectively. The results obtained indicated that the rTgMIF vaccine elicited strong humoral and cellular immune responses with high levels of IgG antibody and IFN-γ production compared to those of the controls, in addition to slight higher levels of IL-4 production. After vaccination, a stronger lymphoproliferative response was also noted. Additionally, the survival time of mice immunized with rTgMIF was longer than that of the mice in control groups after challenge infection with virulent T. gondii RH tachyzoites. Moreover, the number of brain tissue cysts in vaccinated mice was reduced by 62.26% compared with the control group. These findings demonstrated that recombinant TgMIF protein is a potential candidate for vaccine development against toxoplasmosis

A Method to Quantitatively Apportion Pollutants at High Spatial and Temporal Resolution: The Stochastic Lagrangian Apportionment Method (SLAM)

We introduce a method to quantify upwind contributions to concentrations of atmospheric pollutants. The Stochastic Lagrangian Apportionment Method (SLAM) carries out the following: (1) account for chemical transformations and depositional losses; (2) incorporate the effects of turbulent dispersion; (3) simulate the locations of the sources with high spatial and temporal resolution; and (4) minimize the impact from numerical diffusion. SLAM accomplishes these four features by using a time-reversed Lagrangian particle dispersion model and then simulating chemical changes forward in time, while tagging and keeping track of different sources. As an example of SLAM’s application, we show its use in apportioning sources contributing to ammonia (NH₃) and ammonium particulates (<i>p</i>-NH₄⁺) at a site in southern Ontario, Canada. Agricultural emissions are seen to dominate contributions to NH₃ and <i>p</i>-NH₄⁺ at the site. The source region of NH₃ was significantly smaller than that of <i>p</i>-NH₄⁺, which covered numerous states of the American Midwest. The source apportionment results from SLAM were compared against those from zeroing-out individual sources (“brute force method”; BFM). The comparisons show SLAM to produce almost identical results as BFM for NH₃, but higher concentrations of <i>p</i>-NH₄⁺, likely due to indirect effects that affect BFM. Finally, uncertainties in the SLAM approach and ways to address such shortcomings by combining SLAM with inverse methods are discussed

Au maskless patterning for vacuum packaging using the electrochemical method

The interconnection of wires is an important issue in vacuum-packaged microelectromechanical systems devices because of the difficulties of hermetical sealing and electrical insulation. This paper presents an approach of Au film selective patterning on highly uneven surfaces for wire interconnections of devices in which silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers are anodically bonded to glass. The Au film on the handle layer, functioned as an anode, was selectively removed with electrochemical dissolution in a chloride solution. The choice of etchant solution and etching conditions were optimized to improve the process efficiency, resulting in a high yield of gold portions within the via holes for wire interconnection. The proposed wire interconnection technology was employed to fabricate a vacuum-packaged resonant pressure sensor as a proof-of-concept demonstration. Reliable wire bonding and vacuum package were achieved as well as a Q factor that does not decrease over a year. As a platform technology, this method provides a new approach of wire interconnection for vacuum-packaged devices based on SOI–glass anodic bonding. Keywords: Vacuum packaging, Wire interconnection, Selective gold etching, Maskless pattern, Highly uneven surface, Electrochemical etchin

Development of Droplet Microfluidics Enabling High-Throughput Single-Cell Analysis

This article reviews recent developments in droplet microfluidics enabling high-throughput single-cell analysis. Five key aspects in this field are included in this review: (1) prototype demonstration of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (2) technical improvements of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (3) microfluidic droplets enabling single-cell proteomic analysis; (4) microfluidic droplets enabling single-cell genomic analysis; and (5) integrated microfluidic droplet systems enabling single-cell screening. We examine the advantages and limitations of each technique and discuss future research opportunities by focusing on key performances of throughput, multifunctionality, and absolute quantification

Low temperature acclimation with electrical stimulation enhance the biocathode functioning stability for antibiotics detoxification

Improvement of the stability of functional microbial communities in wastewater treatment system is critical to accelerate pollutants detoxification in cold regions. Although biocathode communities could accelerate environmental pollutants degradation, how to acclimate the cold stress and to improve the catalytic stability of functional microbial communities are remain poorly understood. Here we investigated the structural and functional responses of antibiotic chloramphenicol (CAP) reducing biocathode communities to constant low temperature 10 degrees C (10-biocathode) and temperature elevation from 10 degrees C to 25 degrees C (S25-biocathode). Our results indicated that the low temperature acclimation with electrical stimulation obviously enhanced the CAP nitro group reduction efficiency when comparing the aromatic amine product AMCl(2) formation efficiency with the 10-biocathode and S25-biocathode under the opened and closed circuit conditions. The 10-biocathode generated comparative AMCl maximum as the S25-biocathode but showed significant lower dehalogenation rate of AMCl(2) to AMCl. The continuous low temperature and temperature elevation both enriched core functional community in the 10-biocathode and S25-biocathode, respectively. The 10-biocathode functioning stability maintained mainly through selectively enriching cold-adapted functional species, coexisting metabolically similar nitroaromatics reducers and maintaining the relative abundance of key electrons transfer genes. This study provides new insights into biocathode functioning stability for accelerating environmental pollutants degradation in cold wastewater system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved