Modeling Link-level Road Traffic Resilience to Extreme Weather Events Using Crowdsourced Data

Climate changes lead to more frequent and intense weather events, posing escalating risks to road traffic. Crowdsourced data offer new opportunities to monitor and investigate changes in road traffic flow during extreme weather. This study utilizes diverse crowdsourced data from mobile devices and the community-driven navigation app, Waze, to examine the impact of three weather events (i.e., floods, winter storms, and fog) on road traffic. Three metrics, speed change, event duration, and area under the curve (AUC), are employed to assess link-level traffic change and recovery. In addition, a user's perceived severity is computed to evaluate link-level weather impact based on crowdsourced reports. This study evaluates a range of new data sources, and provides insights into the resilience of road traffic to extreme weather, which are crucial for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in road transportation systems

An interpretable clustering approach to safety climate analysis: examining driver group distinction in safety climate perceptions

The transportation industry, particularly the trucking sector, is prone to workplace accidents and fatalities. Accidents involving large trucks accounted for a considerable percentage of overall traffic fatalities. Recognizing the crucial role of safety climate in accident prevention, researchers have sought to understand its factors and measure its impact within organizations. While existing data-driven safety climate studies have made remarkable progress, clustering employees based on their safety climate perception is innovative and has not been extensively utilized in research. Identifying clusters of drivers based on their safety climate perception allows the organization to profile its workforce and devise more impactful interventions. The lack of utilizing the clustering approach could be due to difficulties interpreting or explaining the factors influencing employees' cluster membership. Moreover, existing safety-related studies did not compare multiple clustering algorithms, resulting in potential bias. To address these issues, this study introduces an interpretable clustering approach for safety climate analysis. This study compares 5 algorithms for clustering truck drivers based on their safety climate perceptions. It proposes a novel method for quantitatively evaluating partial dependence plots (QPDP). To better interpret the clustering results, this study introduces different interpretable machine learning measures (SHAP, PFI, and QPDP). Drawing on data collected from more than 7,000 American truck drivers, this study significantly contributes to the scientific literature. It highlights the critical role of supervisory care promotion in distinguishing various driver groups. The Python code is available at https://github.com/NUS-DBE/truck-driver-safety-climate.Comment: Submitted to Journal:Accident Analysis and Preventio

Genetic Structure and Differentiation of Endangered <i>Cycas</i> Species Indicate a Southward Migration Associated with Historical Cooling Events

Understanding the genetic structure and differentiation in endangered species is of significance in detecting their phylogenetic relationships and prioritizing conservation. Here we sampled five endangered Cycas species endemic to southwest China and genotyped genetic structure and differentiation among them using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method. C. hongheensis showed high genetic diversity, but the other four species showed low genetic diversity. The genetic diversity between wild and cultivated populations was similar for C. debaoensis and C. guizhouensis, respectively. Low genetic differentiation and high gene flow were found among C. debaoensis, C. guizhouensis, and C. fairylakea, and C. hongheensis differentiated from them at ~1.74 Mya. TreeMix results showed historic migration events from C. guizhouensis to C. hongheensis, showing southward migration pathways. C. hongheensis showed increased effective population size with time, while the other four species underwent bottleneck events at ~1–5 Mya when continuous cooling events occurred. Our results indicate that the migration, differentiation, and speciation of Cycas species are associated with historical cooling events

Traffic-related PM2.5 and its specific constituents on circulatory mortality: A nationwide modelling study in China

Background: Short-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and increased circulatory mortality have been well documented. However, there are inconsistent findings on mortality effects of traffic-related pollutants from the perspective of sources or constituents. Few studies have examined such associations using source and constituents simultaneously, and even less are based on large-scale, nationally representative data. We aimed to conduct a comprehensive analysis to investigate source- and constituent-specific mortality effects due to traffic-related PM2.5 pollution in China. Methods: We extracted daily mortality data in 280 counties from the China Disease Surveillance Points system (DSPs) from January 2013 to December 2018. Daily concentrations of traffic-related PM2.5 and specific constituents were simulated using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The downscaling and adjustment methods were carried out to generate a refined exposure assessment. We estimated the circulatory mortality risk using a standard two-stage approach, combining generalized linear model (GLM) with a quasi-Poisson distribution and random-effects meta-analysis. Results: We observed that traffic-related PM2.5 and specific constituents were significantly associated with increased circulatory mortality. An increase of interquartile range of traffic-related PM2.5, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and nitrate (NO3−) were associated with elevated circulatory mortality risks of 1.80 % (95 % confidence interval, CI: 1.27, 2.33), 1.85 % (1.33, 2.37), 1.42 % (0.90, 1.94), and 1.10 % (0.55, 1.66) at 3-day moving average (lag 0-2 days), respectively. We also found relatively high associations between traffic-related PM2.5 and EC exposures and cardiovascular mortality, and OC exposure and cerebrovascular mortality. Moreover, our stratified analysis demonstrated such mortality risks tended to be stronger in males, individuals age 65 years or older, and during the cold season. Conclusion: Our findings provided robust evidence on significant associations of traffic-related PM2.5 and specific constituents with circulatory mortality. Further emissions abatement from the transportation sector and corresponding pollutants should merit a particular focus in China

The uplift of the Hengduan Mountains contributed to the speciation of three Rhododendron species

Plant speciation in mountain systems is crucial for shaping plant biodiversity, particularly for those endemic species with small populations. The mountain-geobiodiversity hypothesis (MGH) is among the possible mechanisms underlying mountain biodiversity. To test the MGH, we selected three Rhododendron species occupying the Hengduan Mountains (HDM) as focal species and then genotyped 12 populations using Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to reveal their speciation and divergence history. We found that there was high interspecific differentia-tion, low gene flow, and a high genetic drift among three Rhododendron species, suggesting that founder effects might play a key role in their differentiation. Historical gene flow occurred from R. brachypodum to R. calophytum var. pauciflorum. The effective population size of three Rhodo-dendron species declined about 1 Kya ago. Rhododendron brachypodum experienced a bottleneck event during the Last Glacial Maximum (15-20 Kya). Three Rhododendron species diverged be-tween 15.5 Mya and 3.13 Mya, which might be associated with the uplift of the HDM. These findings suggest that the speciation of three Rhododendron may be partly attributable to geological processes and climate fluctuations, strongly supporting the MGH. Additionally, our results provide new insights into the speciation patterns of endemic species and the protection of narrow-ranged species in mountain systems

Repeated Exposure Enhanced Toxicity of Clarithromycin on Microcystis aeruginosa Versus Single Exposure through Photosynthesis, Oxidative Stress, and Energy Metabolism Shift

Antibiotics are being increasingly detected in aquatic environments, and their potential ecological risk is of great concern. However, most antibiotic toxicity studies involve single-exposure experiments. Herein, we studied the effects and mechanisms of repeated versus single clarithromycin (CLA) exposure on Microcystis aeruginosa. The 96 h effective concentration of CLA was 13.37 μg/L upon single exposure but it reduced to 6.90 μg/L upon repeated exposure. Single-exposure CLA inhibited algal photosynthesis by disrupting energy absorption, dissipation and trapping, reaction center activation, and electron transport, thereby inducing oxidative stress and ultrastructural damage. In addition, CLA upregulated glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Repeated exposure caused stronger inhibition of algal growth via altering photosynthetic pigments, reaction center subunits biosynthesis, and electron transport, thereby inducing more substantial oxidative damage. Furthermore, repeated exposure reduced carbohydrate utilization by blocking the pentose phosphate pathway, consequently altering the characteristics of extracellular polymeric substances and eventually impairing the defense mechanisms of M. aeruginosa. Risk quotients calculated from repeated exposure were higher than 1, indicating significant ecological risks. This study elucidated the strong influence of repeated antibiotic exposure on algae, providing new insight into antibiotic risk assessment

Effects of different levels of Hermetia illucens larvae meal on performance, egg quality, yolk fatty acid composition and oxidative status of laying hens

To investigate the supplemental effects of Hermetia illucens larvae meal (HILM) on the production, egg quality, yolk fatty acid composition, egg amino acid content, oxidative status, and immune indexes of laying hens. A total of 432 Xuefeng black-bone chickens (45-week-old) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment and 18 hens in each replicate. The laying hens were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% HILM (CON, HILM-1, HILM-3, and HILM-5, respectively) for 56 d. The experimental diets were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. The highest egg weight and Haugh unit were obtained with 3% HILM supplementation, but the HILM-3 or HILM-5 supplementation have negative effect on the eggshell thickness, yolk index, and albumen height during the early stage of the experiment. The HILM supplementation linearly or quadratically (p < .05) increased the C14:0, C17:0, C18:2n6c, C20:2 contents of yolk, the Glu, Val, Met, Phe, and Leu contents of egg, the T-SOD and CAT activities, and the NDV-Ab and AIV-Ab levels of plasma. With increasing supplementation of HILM in the basal diet, FCR, the C16:0 and C16:1 contents of yolk, MDA content and IL-2 level of plasma decreased both linearly or quadratically (p < .05). In conclusion, Hermetia illucens larvae meal can be a suitable alternative protein source for Xuefeng black-bone chicken. Dietary supplementation of 3% HILM in basal diets may be a feasible means of effectively increasing the production performance of laying hens, and partially enhanced hens’ antioxidant capability and immune function.HIGHLIGHTS Supplementation of 1% HILM had no effect on laying hens, and supplementation of 3% HILM increased the egg weight and Haugh unit. Supplementation of 3% HILM or 5% HILM have a negative effect on the eggshell thickness, yolk index, and albumen height during the early stage of the experiment. Supplementation of 3% HILM increased the C14:0, C17:0, and C20:2 contents of yolk, the Glu, Val, Met, Phe, and Leu contents of egg. The plasma antioxidant status and immune response improved by dietary addition of HILM at 3% levels

Personal exposure of PM2.5 emitted from solid fuels combustion for household heating and cooking in rural Guanzhong Plain, northwestern China

International audienc

Reactive oxygen species induced by personal exposure to fine particulate matter emitted from solid fuel combustion in rural Guanzhong Basin, northwestern China

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) released by the burning of domestic solid fuels is an important air pollutant in the rural indoor environment in China. Here, personal exposure to PM2.5-induced oxidative damage resulting from household solid fuel combustion was examined in winter in rural areas of Guanzhong Basin, northwestern China. The volume-based average exogenous reactive oxygen species (exo-ROS) activities were 1943.7 +/- 3668.0 and 1628.5 +/- 2618.7 mu M H2O2/min/m(3) for 50 and 100 mu L of PM2.5 extracts, respectively. While the different patterns were found for endogenous reactive oxygen species (endo-ROS), 465.8 +/- 2427.4 and 1740.4 +/- 2643.2 mu M H2O2/min/m(3) for 4 h exposed to 50 and 100 mu L of PM2.5 extract. When the exposure time was extended to 24 h, endo-ROS activities were 3789.5 +/- 4582.0 and 3534.8 +/- 4595.6 mu M H2O2/min/m(3) for 50 and 100 mu L of PM2.5 extracts, respectively. Among four common dwelling heating ways used in northwestern China, the highest ROS activity (160.4 mu M H2O2/min/m(3) for 4-h endo-ROS at 50 mu L of PM2.5 extracts) was found for households using indoor coal chunks stove. The ROS activity in households using electric power heating was 2.9-15.9-fold lower than that in households using indoor coal chunks stove; thus, electric power heating was found to be the cleanest method for rural household heating. PM2.5-bound K+, organic carbon 1 (OC1), elemental carbon 1 (EC1), several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and two hopanes species were observed to be significantly correlated with exo-ROS and 4-h endo-ROS, indicating that these chemical compounds and the sources in PM2.5 exposure samples may induce more ROS and affect human health strongly. The results indicate that heating methods used in rural households in winter can greatly impact the health of residents living in rural areas of northwestern China through personal exposure PM2.5-induced oxidative damage

Characteristics of indoor and personal exposure to particulate organic compounds emitted from domestic solid fuel combustion in rural areas of northwest China

Household solid fuel combustion for heating in winter is a substantial source of air pollution in rural areas of northwest China. The present study investigated the concentration characteristics and health risks of particulate matter (PM) and its organic compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs), and phthalate esters (PAEs). Indoor air and housewives' personal exposure (PE) samples were collected in Guanzhong Basin, among rural households relying on various solid fuels for heating in winter. Indoor PM primarily comprised fine PM (PM2.5, 76%), and its organic compounds were identified in particular abundance in households that used coal as the only domestic fuel (Group C, 96% in PM2.5). The mean concentration of PE to PM2.5 was 307 +/- 120 mu g center dot m(-3), which was 2.4-times higher than the indoor concentration (130 +/- 103 mu g center dot m(-3)) because of the housewives' short-term exposure to high-concentration pollution emitted by solid fuel combustion. Organic compounds exhibited the same pattern, with PE samples having a 44% higher concentration than indoor samples. The correlation of PM2.5-bound organics between indoor and PE samples in Group C (R-2 = 0.9) was higher than that in the group using coal and biomass (Group M, R-2 = 0.6), indicating the stronger correlation of single-fuel heating method. The PE/indoor ratio of high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs in Group C (2.5) was higher than that of the other organic compounds (1.3) because HMW PAHs emitted through coal combustion had a larger effect on PE. This further led to higher incremental lifetime cancer risks (ICLRs) via inhalation pathway among housewives in Group C (2.4 and 1.2-times higher risk for PAHs and PAEs, respectively) than among those in Group M. However, inhalational ILCR values of Group M were still 2.1-340-times higher than the international safety standard (10(-6)). Therefore, the upgradation of domestic fuels and heating ways is urgently needed in rural area of northwest China to reduce indoor air pollution and health risks