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

The 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 albedo change, carbon sources and sinks as well as atmospheric aerosol production from biogenic volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, it is expected that 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 also is 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 sets a research approach by which 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 for the key topics in the PEEX research agenda and present the future prospects of the research, which we see relevant in this context

Comment on ''Measurements of the temperature dependent diffusion coefficient of nanoparticles in the range of 295-600 K at atmospheric pressure'' by V

a b s t r a c t In a recent paper in this journal

Modeling Reorientation Dynamics of Electrically Assisted Light-Induced Gliding of Nematic Liquid-Crystal Easy Axis

The phenomenological torque balance model previously introduced to describe the electrically assisted light-induced gliding is generalized to study the reorientation dynamics of the nematic liquid crystal easy axis at photoaligned azo-dye films under the combined action of in-plane electric field and reorienting UV light linearly polarized at varying polarization azimuth, phi(p). We systematically examine the general properties of the torque balance model by performing analysising the bifurcations of equilibria at different values of the polarization azimuth and apply for the model to interpret the experimental results. These involve observation of the pronounced purely photoinduced reorientation at phi(p) not equal 0, as opposed to the case where the light polarization vector is parallel to the initial easy axis (phi(p) = 0), and the reorientation is almost entirely suppressed. In the regions between electrodes with nonzero electric field, the effects described by the model are that (a) the dynamics of reorientation slows down with phi(p) and (b) the sense of easy axis rotation is independent of the sign of phi(p)

Studies of the Specific Activity of Aerosolized Isoniazid against Tuberculosis in a Mouse Model

The aerosol inhalation delivery of isoniazid in mice was investigated, and the specific activity of the aerosol form of isoniazid was studied with the mouse model of tuberculosis infection, the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Aerosol delivery was performed using a laminar-flow horizontal nucleation chamber. The inhalation dose was measured in real-time mode using a diffusion aerosol spectrometer. The mean particle diameter was 0.6 ± 0.03 μm, and the inhalation dose was 5–9 mg/kg. Pharmacokinetic measurements were carried out in nose-only and whole-body chambers. Isoniazid concentration in blood serum and its mass in the lungs were measured as a function of time using high-performance liquid chromatography. Studies of the specific activity of aerosolized isoniazid reveal that treatment with the aerosol lead to the complete recovery of the experimental tuberculosis infection as early as after 28 days after the start of inhalation treatment, while in the animals from the group receiving isoniazid per-orally, sole revivable tuberculosis mycobacteria were detected. Histologic examinations show that only a few macrophagal (nonspecific) granulomas without mycobacteria were detected in the spleen after per-oral and aerosol treatment, the number of granulomas on the 28th day being three times smaller in the latter case. The results show that the developed technique of isoniazid aerosol inhalation may have clinical potential

Aerosol Inhalation Delivery of Ceftriaxone in Mice: Generation Procedure, Pharmacokinetics, and Therapeutic Outcome

Aerosol inhalation delivery of ceftriaxone in mice was investigated. An ultrasonic nebulizer within the ranges of mean particle diameter 0.5–1.5 μm and mass concentration 0.01–0.6 μg/cm3 was used in inhalation experiments. Pharmacokinetic measurements were carried out using a nose-only chamber. Ceftriaxone concentration in blood serum and its mass in the lungs of mice were measured as a function of time using high-performance liquid chromatography. The body-delivered dose was within the range 3–5 mg/kg. The antibacterial effect of aerosolized ceftriaxone was investigated for mice infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae 82 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25 953. The survival rate for infected mice after the treatment with ceftriaxone aerosol revealed the high antibacterial efficiency of this kind of treatment