BAERLIN2014 -The influence of land surface types on and the horizontal heterogeneity of air pollutant levels in Berlin

Urban air quality and human health are among the key aspects of future urban planning. In order to address pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, efforts need to be made to quantify and reduce their concentrations. One important aspect in understanding urban air quality is the influence of urban vegetation which may act as both emitter and sink for trace gases and aerosol particles. In this context, the "Berlin Air quality and Ecosystem Research: Local and long-range Impact of anthropogenic and Natural hydrocarbons 2014" (BAERLIN2014) campaign was conducted between 2 June and 29 August in the metropolitan area of Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. The predominant goals of the campaign were (1) the characterization of urban gaseous and particulate pollution and its attribution to anthropogenic and natural sources in the region of interest, especially considering the connection between biogenic volatile organic compounds and particulates and ozone; (2) the quantification of the impact of urban vegetation on organic trace gas levels and the presence of oxidants such as ozone; and (3) to explain the local heterogeneity of pollutants by defining the distribution of sources and sinks relevant for the interpretation of model simulations. In order to do so, the campaign included stationary measurements at urban background station and mobile observations carried out from bicycle, van and airborne platforms. This paper provides an overview of the mobile measurements (Mobile BAERLIN2014) and general conclusions drawn from the analysis. Bicycle measurements showed micro-scale variations of temperature and particulate matter, displaying a substantial reduction of mean temperatures and particulate levels in the proximity of vegetated areas compared to typical urban residential area (background) measurements. Van measurements extended the area covered by bicycle observations and included continuous measurements of O3, NOx, CO, CO2 and point-wise measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at representative sites for traffic- and vegetation-affected sites. The quantification displayed notable horizontal heterogeneity of the short-lived gases and particle number concentrations. For example, baseline concentrations of the traffic-related chemical species CO and NO varied on average by up to ±22.2 and ±63.5 %, respectively, on the scale of 100 m around any measurement location. Airborne observations revealed the dominant source of elevated urban particulate number and mass concentrations being local, i.e., not being caused by long-range transport. Surface-based observations related these two parameters predominantly to traffic sources. Vegetated areas lowered the pollutant concentrations substantially with ozone being reduced most by coniferous forests, which is most likely caused by their reactive biogenic VOC emissions. With respect to the overall potential to reduce air pollutant levels, forests were found to result in the largest decrease, followed by parks and facilities for sports and leisure. Surface temperature was generally 0.6–2.1 °C lower in vegetated regions, which in turn will have an impact on tropospheric chemical processes. Based on our findings, effective future mitigation activities to provide a more sustainable and healthier urban environment should focus predominantly on reducing fossil-fuel emissions from traffic as well as on increasing vegetated areas

Analysis of common genetic variation and rare CNVs in the Australian Autism Biobank.

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition whose biological basis is yet to be elucidated. The Australian Autism Biobank (AAB) is an initiative of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) to establish an Australian resource of biospecimens, phenotypes and genomic data for research on autism.MethodsGenome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes were available for 2,477 individuals (after quality control) from 546 families (436 complete), including 886 participants aged 2 to 17 years with diagnosed (n = 871) or suspected (n = 15) ASD, 218 siblings without ASD, 1,256 parents, and 117 unrelated children without an ASD diagnosis. The genetic data were used to confirm familial relationships and assign ancestry, which was majority European (n = 1,964 European individuals). We generated polygenic scores (PGS) for ASD, IQ, chronotype and height in the subset of Europeans, and in 3,490 unrelated ancestry-matched participants from the UK Biobank. We tested for group differences for each PGS, and performed prediction analyses for related phenotypes in the AAB. We called copy-number variants (CNVs) in all participants, and intersected these with high-confidence ASD- and intellectual disability (ID)-associated CNVs and genes from the public domain.ResultsThe ASD (p = 6.1e-13), sibling (p = 4.9e-3) and unrelated (p = 3.0e-3) groups had significantly higher ASD PGS than UK Biobank controls, whereas this was not the case for height-a control trait. The IQ PGS was a significant predictor of measured IQ in undiagnosed children (r = 0.24, p = 2.1e-3) and parents (r = 0.17, p = 8.0e-7; 4.0% of variance), but not the ASD group. Chronotype PGS predicted sleep disturbances within the ASD group (r = 0.13, p = 1.9e-3; 1.3% of variance). In the CNV analysis, we identified 13 individuals with CNVs overlapping ASD/ID-associated CNVs, and 12 with CNVs overlapping ASD/ID/developmental delay-associated genes identified on the basis of de novo variants.LimitationsThis dataset is modest in size, and the publicly-available genome-wide-association-study (GWAS) summary statistics used to calculate PGS for ASD and other traits are relatively underpowered.ConclusionsWe report on common genetic variation and rare CNVs within the AAB. Prediction analyses using currently available GWAS summary statistics are largely consistent with expected relationships based on published studies. As the size of publicly-available GWAS summary statistics grows, the phenotypic depth of the AAB dataset will provide many opportunities for analyses of autism profiles and co-occurring conditions, including when integrated with other omics datasets generated from AAB biospecimens (blood, urine, stool, hair)

BAERLIN2014-stationary measurements and source apportionment at an urban background station in Berlin, Germany

The "Berlin Air quality and Ecosystem Research: Local and long-range Impact of anthropogenic and Natural hydrocarbons" (BAERLIN2014) campaign was conducted during the 3 summer months (June-August) of 2014. During this measurement campaign, both stationary and mobile measurements were undertaken to address complementary aims. This paper provides an overview of the stationary measurements and results that were focused on characterization of gaseous and particulate pollution, including source attribution, in the Berlin-Potsdam area, and quantification of the role of natural sources in determining levels of ozone and related gaseous pollutants. Results show that biogenic contributions to ozone and particulate matter are substantial. One indicator for ozone formation, the OH reactivity, showed a 31% (0.82 +/- 0.44 s(-1) and 75% (3.7 +/- 0.90 s(-1) contribution from biogenic non-methane volatile organic com-pounds (NMVOCs) for urban background (2.6 +/- 0.68 s(-1) and urban park (4.9 +/- 1.0 s(-1) location, respectively, emphasizing the importance of such locations as sources of biogenic NMVOCs in urban areas. A comparison to NMVOC measurements made in Berlin approximately 20 years earlier generally show lower levels today for anthropogenic NMVOCs. A substantial contribution of secondary organic and inorganic aerosol to PM10 concentrations was quantified. In addition to secondary aerosols, source apportionment analysis of the organic carbon fraction identified the contribution of biogenic (plant-based) particulate matter, as well as primary contributions from vehicles, with a larger contribution from diesel compared to gasoline vehicles, as well as a relatively small contribution from wood burning, linked to measured levoglucosan

GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a ∼30 M_⊙ black hole merged with a ∼8 M_⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs

Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 M_⊙ Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521

The gravitational-wave signal GW190521 is consistent with a binary black hole (BBH) merger source at redshift 0.8 with unusually high component masses, 85⁺²¹₋₁₄ M_⊙ and 66⁺¹⁷₋₁₈ M_⊙, compared to previously reported events, and shows mild evidence for spin-induced orbital precession. The primary falls in the mass gap predicted by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova theory, in the approximate range 65–120 M_⊙. The probability that at least one of the black holes in GW190521 is in that range is 99.0%. The final mass of the merger 142⁺²⁸₋₁₆ M_⊙) classifies it as an intermediate-mass black hole. Under the assumption of a quasi-circular BBH coalescence, we detail the physical properties of GW190521's source binary and its post-merger remnant, including component masses and spin vectors. Three different waveform models, as well as direct comparison to numerical solutions of general relativity, yield consistent estimates of these properties. Tests of strong-field general relativity targeting the merger-ringdown stages of the coalescence indicate consistency of the observed signal with theoretical predictions. We estimate the merger rate of similar systems to be 0.13_(-0.11)^(+0.30) Gpc⁻³ yr⁻¹. We discuss the astrophysical implications of GW190521 for stellar collapse and for the possible formation of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap through various channels: via (multiple) stellar coalescences, or via hierarchical mergers of lower-mass black holes in star clusters or in active galactic nuclei. We find it to be unlikely that GW190521 is a strongly lensed signal of a lower-mass black hole binary merger. We also discuss more exotic possible sources for GW190521, including a highly eccentric black hole binary, or a primordial black hole binary

GW190521 : a binary black hole merger with a total mass of 150 M⊙

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85+21−14  M⊙ and 66+17−18  M⊙ (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65  M⊙. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142+28−16  M⊙, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3+2.4−2.6  Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82+0.28−0.34. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13+0.30−0.11  Gpc−3 yr−1

GW190412: observation of a binary-black-hole coalescence with asymmetric masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a ∼30 M⊙ black hole merged with a ∼8 M⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs