Negatively Charged Gangliosides Promote Membrane Association of Amphipathic Neurotransmitters

Lipophilic neurotransmitters (NTs) such as dopamine are chemical messengers enabling neurotransmission by adhering onto the extracellular surface of the post-synaptic membrane in a synapse, followed by binding to their receptors. Previous studies have shown that the strength of the NT-membrane association is dependent on the lipid composition of the membrane. Negatively charged lipids such as phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidic acid have been indicated to promote NT-membrane binding, however these anionic lipids reside almost exclusively in the intracellular leaflet of the post-synaptic membrane instead of the extracellular leaflet facing the synaptic cleft. Meanwhile, the extracellular leaflet is relatively rich in biologically relevant anionic gangliosides such as monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1), yet the role of gangliosides in NT-membrane association is not clear. Here, we explored the role of GM1 in modulating the binding of dopamine and histamine (as amphipathicicationic NTs) as well as acetylcholine (as a hydrophilic/cationic NT) with the post-synaptic membrane surface. Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations indicated that GM1 fosters membrane association of histamine and dopamine. For acetylcholine, this effect was not observed. The in silico results suggest that gangliosides form a charge-based vestibule in front of the post-synaptic membrane, attracting amphipathic NTs to the vicinity of the membrane. The results also stress the importance to understand the significance of the structural details of NTs, as exemplified by the GM1-acetylcholine interaction. In a larger context, the NT-membrane adherence, coupled to lateral diffusion in the membrane plane, is proposed to improve neurotransmission efficiency by advancing NT entry into the membrane-embedded ligand-binding sites. (C) 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Overview: Recent advances in the understanding of the northern Eurasian environments and of the urban air quality in China – a Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) programme perspective

The Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) Science Plan, released in 2015, addressed a need for a holistic system understanding and outlined the most urgent research needs for the rapidly changing Arctic-boreal region. Air quality in China, together with the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants, was also indicated as one of the most crucial topics of the research agenda. These two geographical regions, the northern Eurasian Arctic-boreal region and China, especially the megacities in China, were identified as a "PEEX region". It is also important to recognize that the PEEX geographical region is an area where science-based policy actions would have significant impacts on the global climate. This paper summarizes results obtained during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, together with recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China, in the context of the PEEX programme. The main regions of interest are the Russian Arctic, northern Eurasian boreal forests (Siberia) and peatlands, and the megacities in China. We frame our analysis against research themes introduced in the PEEX Science Plan in 2015. We summarize recent progress towards an enhanced holistic understanding of the land-atmosphere-ocean systems feedbacks. We conclude that although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, the new results are in many cases insufficient, and there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate-Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures, especially the lack of coordinated, continuous and comprehensive in situ observations of the study region as well as integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis. The fast-changing environment and ecosystem changes driven by climate change, socio-economic activities like the China Silk Road Initiative, and the global trends like urbanization further complicate such analyses. We recognize new topics with an increasing importance in the near future, especially "the enhancing biological sequestration capacity of greenhouse gases into forests and soils to mitigate climate change" and the "socio-economic development to tackle air quality issues".Peer reviewe

Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) : towards a holistic understanding of the feedbacks and interactions in the land–atmosphere–ocean–society continuum in the northern Eurasian region

Contributors: Hanna K. Lappalainen1,2, Veli-Matti Kerminen1, Tuukka Petäjä1, Theo Kurten3, Aleksander Baklanov4,5, Anatoly Shvidenko6, Jaana Bäck7, Timo Vihma2, Pavel Alekseychik1, Stephen Arnold8, Mikhail Arshinov9, Eija Asmi2, Boris Belan9, Leonid Bobylev10, Sergey Chalov11, Yafang Cheng12, Natalia Chubarova11, Gerrit de Leeuw1,2, Aijun Ding13, Sergey Dobrolyubov11, Sergei Dubtsov14, Egor Dyukarev15, Nikolai Elansky16, Kostas Eleftheriadis17, Igor Esau18, Nikolay Filatov19, Mikhail Flint20, Congbin Fu13, Olga Glezer21, Aleksander Gliko22, Martin Heimann23, Albert A. M. Holtslag24, Urmas Hõrrak25, Juha Janhunen26, Sirkku Juhola27, Leena Järvi1, Heikki Järvinen1, Anna Kanukhina28, Pavel Konstantinov11, Vladimir Kotlyakov29, Antti-Jussi Kieloaho1, Alexander S. Komarov30, Joni Kujansuu1, Ilmo Kukkonen31, Ella Kyrö1, Ari Laaksonen2, Tuomas Laurila2, Heikki Lihavainen2, Alexander Lisitzin32, Aleksander Mahura5, Alexander Makshtas33, Evgeny Mareev34, Stephany Mazon1, Dmitry Matishov35,†, Vladimir Melnikov36, Eugene Mikhailov37, Dmitri Moisseev1, Robert Nigmatulin33, Steffen M. Noe38, Anne Ojala7, Mari Pihlatie1, Olga Popovicheva39, Jukka Pumpanen40, Tatjana Regerand19, Irina Repina16, Aleksei Shcherbinin27, Vladimir Shevchenko33, Mikko Sipilä1, Andrey Skorokhod16, Dominick V. Spracklen8, Hang Su12, Dmitry A. Subetto19, Junying Sun41, Arkady Yu Terzhevik19, Yuri Timofeyev42, Yuliya Troitskaya34, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen42, Viacheslav I. Kharuk43, Nina Zaytseva22, Jiahua Zhang44, Yrjö Viisanen2, Timo Vesala1, Pertti Hari7, Hans Christen Hansson45, Gennady G. Matvienko9, Nikolai S. Kasimov11, Huadong Guo44, Valery Bondur46, Sergej Zilitinkevich1,2,11,34, and Markku Kulmala1 1Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 2Finnish Meteorological Institute, Research and Development, 00101 Helsinki, Finland 3Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 4World Meteorological Organization, 1211 Genève, Switzerland 5Danish Meteorological Institute, Research and Development Department, 2100, Copenhagen 6International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria 7Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 8Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK 9Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk 634021, Russia 10Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, St. Petersburg, Russia 11Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography, Moscow 119899, Russia 12Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany 13Institute for Climate and Global Change Research & School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China 14Institute of Chemical Kinetics & Combustion, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia 15Institute of Monitoring of Climatic & Ecological Systems SB RAS, 634055 Tomsk, Russia 16A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia 17National Centre of Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS", Greece 18Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center/Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, 5006 Bergen, Norway 19Northern Water Problems Institute, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences,185003 Petrozavodsk, Russia 20P. P. Shirshov, Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia 21Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 22Depart ment of Earth Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia 23Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, Germany 24Wageningen University, 6708 Wageningen, Nederland 25Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, 18 Ülikooli St., 50090 Tartu, Estonia 26University of Helsinki, Department of World Cultures, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 27Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 28Russian State Hydrometeorological University, 195196 Saint Petersburg, Russia 29Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 30Institute of Physico-chemical & Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Institutskaya, Russia 31University of Helsinki, Geophysics and Astronomy, 00014 Helsinki, Finland 32Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia 33Actic & Antarctic Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199397, Russia 34Department of Radiophysics, Nizhny Novgorod State University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 35Southern Center of Russian Academy of Sciences, Rostov on Don, Russia 36Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Russia 37Saint Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034 Russia 38Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51014 Tartu, Estonia 39Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Department Microelectronics, Russia 40University of Eastern Finland, Department of Environmental Science, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland 41Craduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing, China 42Aleksanteri Institute and Department of Social Research, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland 43Sukachev Forest Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia 44Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100094, China 45Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Sweden 46AEROCOSMOS Research Institute for Aerospace Monitoring, 105064, Moscow, Russia †deceased, 20 August 2015The Northern Eurasian regions and Arctic Ocean will very likely undergo substantial changes during the next decades. The arctic-boreal natural environments play a crucial role in the global climate via the albedo change, carbon sources and sinks, as well as atmospheric aerosol production via biogenic volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, it is expected that the global trade activities, demographic movement and use of natural resources will be increasing in the Arctic regions. There is a need for a novel research approach, which not only identifies and tackles the relevant multi-disciplinary research questions, but is also able to make a holistic system analysis of the expected feedbacks. In this paper, we introduce the research agenda of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX), a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary and international program started in 2012 (https://www.atm.helsinki.fi/peex/). PEEX is setting a research approach where large-scale research topics are investigated from a system perspective and which aims to fill the key gaps in our understanding of the feedbacks and interactions between the land–atmosphere–aquatic–society continuum in the Northern Eurasian region. We introduce here the state of the art of the key topics in the PEEX research agenda and give the future prospects of the research which we see relevant in this context.Peer reviewe

Sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjien yleisimpien tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmien ennaltaehkäisy

Sotilaslaskuvarjohyppyä on pidetty maailmanlaajuisesti tehokkaana keinona jakaa joukkoja sotatilanteessa taistelualueelle. Sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääminen aiheuttaa kuormittavuutensa takia rasitusperäisiä tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmia ja tapaturmia. Suomessa sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjiä koulutetaan Utin Jääkärirykmentissä maavoimien erikoisjoukoissa. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää Utin sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjien yleisimpiä työperäisiä tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmia ja löytää keinoja niiden ennaltaehkäisemiseksi. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tuottaa Utin Jääkärirykmentille opas, joka sisältää ohjeita sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjän lihashuoltoon. Opinnäytetyö tehtiin yhteistyössä Utin Jääkärirykmentin kanssa. Sotilaslaskuvarjohyppyä havainnoitiin Utin Jääkärirykmentissä, ja tutkituille henkilöille jaettiin kyselylomake täytettäväksi. Kyselylomakkeeseen vastasi 10 henkilöä. Valituilla tutkimusmenetelmillä selvitettiin sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjien työn kuormittavuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä, yleisimpiä tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmia sekä käytössä olevia lihashuoltomenetelmiä. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen ja saatujen tulosten perusteella laadittiin opas. Oppaan sisällöksi valikoitui toteutettavissa olevia lihashuoltomenetelmiä. Lihashuollosta huolehtimisen mahdollisuudet sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjän työn ohessa todettiin rajallisiksi. Tämän vuoksi oppaan sisältö on suunniteltu lihaskestävyyden lisäämiseksi. Kyselylomakkeisiin vastanneista 90 % ilmoitti kärsineensä sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjäuransa aikana tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmista. Tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmia kokeneilla henkilöillä ongelmat sijaitsivat yleisimmin selässä (89 %) ja alaraajoissa (89 %). Tutkituista 67 % kertoi tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmista yläraajoissa. Tutkimuksesta saadut tulokset analysoitiin IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 –ohjelmalla ja teemoittelua käyttäen. Lihashuolto-opas antaa sotilaslaskuvarjohyppääjille käytännön harjoitteita heidän yleisimpien tuki- ja liikuntaelinongelmien ennaltaehkäisemiseksi. Opas sisältää lyhyet alku- ja loppuverryttelyohjeet sekä lihaskestävyyteen vaikuttavia harjoitteita, joita voi toteuttaa joko omatoimisesti tai ohjattuna.The purpose of this study was to present the most common occupational musculoskeletal disordes of military parachutists and discuss how to prevent them. The second aim of this study was to produce a guidebook for the military parachutists of Utti Jaeger Regiment. This study was made in cooperation with Utti Jaeger Regiment. The guidebook could be used in the future to support training of the military parachutists. Data for this study were collected by questionnaire, observation and previous research. A random sample of 10 persons was selected from the members of military parachutists of Utti Jaeger Regiment. The target of the questionnaire was to figure out the incidence and type of musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of the observation was to find out the stress factors of military parachutists´ work. The second aim of the observation was to find out how they work in Finland. The guidebook for the military parachutists of Utti Jaeger Regiment was created based on the answers and previous studies. The guidebook included prevention exercises to the most common musculoskeletal disorders of military parachutists. The results were analysed using the SPSS software and qualitative analysis. The results of this study show that musculoskeletal disordes are common with military parachutists of Utti Jaeger Regiment (90 %). Only one of the participants in this study did not have musculoskeletal disorders. The most common musculoskeletal disorders the military parachutists had were either in the back (89 %) or lower limbs (89 %) or both of them. There were also musculoskeletal disorders in upper limbs (67 %). Because of the low number of examinees, the results cannot be generalized

“Unofficial Ambassadors of Failed States, Unending Wars, Intractable Conflicts" : Euroopan pakolaiskriisi the New York Times-lehden uutisoinnissa, 2014-2016.

Eurooppaan saapui vuonna 2015 poikkeuksellisen paljon siirtolaisia ja turvapaikanhakijoita. Tilanteeseen vaikutti erityisesti Lähi-Idän konfliktit, kuten Syyrian pitkittynyt sisällissota. Euroopan pakolaiskriisiksi nimetty tilanne koetteli Euroopan unionin yhtenäisyyttä ja vasta uusittua turvapaikkajärjestelmää, samalla kun tilanne herätti huolen kansallisesta turvallisuudesta Yhdysvalloissa. ¬¬ Tutkimuksessa käsittelen The New York Times sanomalehden uutisointia pakolaiskriisistä vuosien 2014–2016 aikana. Tarkastelen pakolaiskriisin uutisoinnin teemoja ja miten niistä kirjoitettiin, sekä Euroopan valtioiden, Yhdysvaltojen ja Euroopan unionin rooleja kriisissä. Lisäksi pyrin hahmottamaan, miten kriisistä uutisointi muuttui käsiteltyjen kolmen vuoden aikana. Alkuperäisaineistoni koostui 551 The New York Timesin printtiversiossa 1.1.2014-31.12.2016 välisenä aikana julkaistuista uutisista. Aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä sekä tulkitsevaa diskurssianalyysiä käyttäen olen selvittänyt aineistosta keskeisiä teemoja, jotka kuvaavat pakolaiskriisistä käytyä keskustelua, sekä millaisena kriisi nähtiin lehdessä. Uutisoinnissa esille nousivat erityisesti uutiset kriisiin reagoimisesta, sen ratkaisuista ja turvallisuudesta. Euroopasta kirjoitettiin riitaisena kriisin ratkaisijana, Yhdysvalloista puolestaan turvallisuudestaan huolestuneena sivustakatsojana. Maan velvollisuuksista ja vastuusta alettiin keskustelemaan vasta syyskuun 2015 jälkeen, kun kriisistä uutisointi saavutti huippunsa. Euroopassa Saksa sai roolin kriisin ratkaisijana ja Euroopan johtajana. Marraskuussa 2015 Pariisissa tehdyt terrori-iskut muuttivat keskustelun suuntaa turvallisuuskeskeisemmäksi, ja ratkaisujen löytämisestä tuli kiireisempää. The New York Times oli seurannut kriisin kehittymistä sen alusta vuonna 2014 sen akuuteimpaan vaiheeseen syksyllä 2015. Se oli osoittautunut Euroopan unionin yhtenäisyyttä repiväksi haasteeksi, joka jakoi mielipiteitä myös Yhdysvalloissa. Turvallisuushuolet vauhdittivat ratkaisujen etsimistä, mutta kriisin pitkittymisen myötä kiinnostus sitä kohtaan alkoi hiipumaan vuoden 2016 aikana, mikä näkyi julkaistujen uutisten määrässä. Ratkaisua Euroopan pahimpaan pakolaiskriisiin sitten toisen maailmansodan ei onnistuttu löytämään vuoden 2016 loppuun mennessä, eikä kriisin tarina siten saanut päätöstä tarkasteltujen kolmen vuoden aikana

Röntgenhoitajien työhyvinvointi HUS Syöpätautien klinikan sädeosastolla

Työhyvinvoinnin kehittäminen on ajankohtaista ja haasteellista erityisesti hoitoalalla, jossa kasvavat tulosvaatimukset kuormittavat henkilökuntaa. Työhyvinvointiin panostaminen on tärkeää, koska toimivassa työyhteisöissä työ koetaan mielekkäänä ja työn tuloksellisuus kasvaa. Opinnäytetyömme tarkoituksena on kartoittaa röntgenhoitajien työhyvinvointia HUS Syöpätautien klinikan sädeosastolla. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on auttaa Syöpätautien klinikan sädeosastoa työhyvinvoinnin arvioinnissa ja kehittämisessä. Tätä lähdimme toteuttamaan kyselytutkimuksen avulla. Jaoimme työhyvinvoinnin kuuteen eri osa alueeseen tutkimuskysymysten avulla. Tutkimuskysymysten aihepiireiksi muodostuivat ilmapiiri ja ihmissuhteet, työn mielekkyys, työyhteisön toimivuus, työkyky ja työssä jaksaminen, johtaminen, sekä kehittymismahdollisuudet. Tutkimuksessamme hyödynnettiin sekä kvalitatiivista että kvantitatiivista lähestymistapaa. Teimme työhyvinvoinnista strukturoidun kyselylomakkeen sädeosaston röntgenhoitajille. Lomake tehtiin yhteistyössä sädeosaston henkilökunnan kanssa, jotta se vastaisi mahdollisimman hyvin osaston tarpeita. Mittari sisälsi sekä monivalintakysymyksiä että avoimia kysymyksiä. Lopulliseksi vastausprosentiksi saimme 64 %. Numeraaliset tulokset käsittelimme tilastollisten menetelmien avulla. Keskeisinä tuloksina nousivat esille työpaikan ilmapiiri ja ihmissuhteet, jotka koettiin erittäin hyviksi. Samoin itse työ koettiin mielekkääksi. Eniten röntgenhoitajat olivat tyytymättömiä palkkaansa sekä työyhteisön henkilöstöresursointiin. Henkilöstömäärä koettiin riittämättömäksi työtehtäviin nähden. Osaston johtaminen toimii tutkimustulosten mukaan erittäin hyvin. Jatkotutkimushaasteena sama kysely voitaisiin toistaa samalla tai muilla sädeosastoilla ja vertailla vastauksia keskenään. Kyselyä voitaisiin myös laajentaa moniammatilliseksi. Mielipiteitä aiheeseen voisi myös kysyä Syöpätautien klinikan johdolta. Työpaikan ristiriitoihin liittyvät tutkimustuloksemme olivat eriäviä työpaikan ilmapiiriä koskeviin tuloksiin nähden, joten tätä tulisi selvittää kohdennetulla kyselyllä.The work welfare of the department of Radiotherapy in the Department of Oncology of HUS. Our work aimed at identifying the work welfare of the department of Radiotherapy in the Department of Oncology of Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. The main goal was to help Cancer Department to evaluate and develop their work welfare. In the theoretical section of the work, we present the previous research results of the health care branch. We present the work welfare generally and introduce the factors that are affecting it. We divided the work welfare into six different parts with our research questions. The research questions were the atmosphere and human relations, meaningfulness of the work, functioning at the work community, human´s ability to work and have enough strength in the work and management as well as development opportunities. In our work we used both qualitative and quantitative approach. We distributed structured questionnaire to the Cancer Department concerning work welfare. It included both multiple select and open questions. The final answer percentage was 64 %. We analyzed the numerical results with statistical methods. The results showed that workplace athmosphere and human relations were good. Work itself was also considered to be meaningful. Most radiographers were dissatisfied with the salary and workplace staffing. The number of employees was considered inadequate in relation to work. Employees were satisfied with the department’s management. In our work, the conclusions are the following: Radiographers were of the opinion that workplace atmosphere, and relationships worked well. The work was considered meaningful. The radiographers felt that the most dissatisfactioning fact was the inadequacy of employees and low salary. The radiographers were pleased with the department’s management

Membrane-Dependent Binding and Entry Mechanism of Dopamine into Its Receptor

Synaptic neurotransmission has recently been proposed to function via either a membrane-independent or a membrane-dependent mechanism, depending on the neurotransmitter type. In the membrane-dependent mechanism, amphipathic neurotransmitters first partition to the lipid headgroup region and then diffuse along the membrane plane to their membrane-buried receptors. However, to date, this mechanism has not been demonstrated for any neurotransmitter-receptor complex. Here, we combined isothermal calorimetry measurements with a diverse set of molecular dynamics simulation methods to investigate the partitioning of an amphipathic neurotransmitter (dopamine) and the mechanism of its entry into the ligand-binding site. Our results show that the binding of dopamine to its receptor is consistent with the membrane-dependent binding and entry mechanism. Both experimental and simulation results showed that dopamine favors binding to lipid membranes especially in the headgroup region. Moreover, our simulations revealed a ligand-entry pathway from the membrane to the binding site. This pathway passes through a lateral gate between transmembrane alpha-helices 5 and 6 on the membrane-facing side of the protein. All in all, our results demonstrate that dopamine binds to its receptor by a membrane-dependent mechanism, and this is complemented by the more traditional binding mechanism directly through the aqueous phase. The results suggest that the membrane-dependent mechanism is common in other synaptic receptors, too.Peer reviewe

Factors influencing vulnerability to climate change-related health impacts in cities - a conceptual framework

Climate change will have adverse impacts on human health, which are amplified in cities. For these impacts, there are direct, indirect, and deferred pathways. The first category is well-studied, while indirect and deferred impacts are not well-understood. Moreover, the factors moderating the impacts have received little attention, although understanding these factors is critical for adaptation. We developed a conceptual framework that shows the pathways of climate impacts on human health, focusing specifically on the factors of urban environment moderating the emergence and severity of these health impacts. Based on the framework and literature review, we illustrate the mechanisms of direct, indirect, and deferred health impact occurrence and the factors that exacerbate or alleviate the severity of these impacts, thus presenting valuable insights for anticipatory adapta-tion. We conclude that an integrated systemic approach to preventing health risks from climate change can provide co-benefits for adaptation and address multiple health risks. Such an approach should be mainstreamed horizontally to all sectors of urban planning and should account for the spatiotemporal aspects of policy and planning decisions and city complexity.Peer reviewe

Bisphenol A removal from water by biomass-based carbon:isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics studies

Abstract Biomass-based carbon was modified and used as an efficient bisphenol A (BPA) sorbent. The simple and environmentally friendly modification method produced sorbent with a capacity of 41.5 mg/g. The raw material was modified with FeCl₃ (Fe-CR), treated with hydrochloric acid (H-CR) or modified with CaCl₂ (Ca-CR). Batch sorption experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of the initial pH, sorbent dosage, temperature, and contact time on BPA removal. BPA removal with modified carbons was notably higher than that with unmodified carbon. All sorbent materials exhibited very high sorption capacities and compared favourably to materials reported in the literature. Several isotherms were applied to describe the experimental results of Fe-CR, H-CR, and Ca-CR modified carbon residues and the Sips model showed the best fit for all sorbents. Kinetic studies for the best sorbent material (Fe-CR) showed that the sorption process follows Elovich kinetics. Desorption cycles were implemented, and sorption capacity remained with three cycles

Calcium Assists Dopamine Release by Preventing Aggregation on the Inner Leaflet of Presynaptic Vesicles

In this study, the dopamine–lipid bilayer interactions were probed with three physiologically relevant ion compositions using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations. The in silico results indicate that calcium is able to decrease significantly the binding of dopamine to a neutral (zwitterionic) phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayer model mimicking the inner leaflet of a presynaptic vesicle. We argue that the observed calcium-induced effect is likely in crucial role in the neurotransmitter release from the presynaptic vesicles docked in the active zone of nerve terminals. The inner leaflets of presynaptic vesicles, which are responsible for releasing neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft, are mainly composed of neutral lipids such as phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. The neutrality of the lipid head group region, enhanced by a low pH level, should limit membrane aggregation of transmitters. In addition, the simulations suggest that the high calcium levels inside presynaptic vesicles prevent even the most lipophilic transmitters such as dopamine from adhering to the inner leaflet surface, thus rendering unhindered neurotransmitter release feasible