The role of sea-salt emissions and heterogeneous chemistry in the air quality of polluted coastal areas

International audienceOpen-ocean and surf-zone sea-salt aerosol (SSA) emissions algorithms are incorporated in the CAMx aerosol model and applied over an area with an extended Archipelago (Greece), with a fine grid nested over the highly populated Attica peninsula. The maximum indirect impact of SSA on PM10 mass (35%) is located over a marine area with moderate SSA production and elevated shipping emissions (central Aegean Sea) where SSA interacts with anthropogenic nitric acid forming sodium nitrate. SSA increases PM10 levels in the Athens city center up to 27% during stable onshore winds. Under such conditions both open-ocean and surf-zone mechanisms contribute to aerosol production over Attica. A hybrid scheme for gas-to-particle mass transfer is necessary for accurately simulating semi-volatile aerosol components when coarse SSA is included. Dynamically simulating mass transfer to the coarse particles leads to a quadrupling of predicted PM10 nitrate in the Athens city center and up to two orders of magnitude in its coarse mass in comparison to using a bulk equilibrium approach

Unfolding the procedure of characterizing recorded ultra low frequency, kHZ and MHz electromagetic anomalies prior to the L'Aquila earthquake as pre-seismic ones. Part I

Ultra low frequency, kHz and MHz electromagnetic anomalies were recorded prior to the L'Aquila catastrophic earthquake that occurred on April 6, 2009. The main aims of this contribution are: (i) To suggest a procedure for the designation of detected EM anomalies as seismogenic ones. We do not expect to be possible to provide a succinct and solid definition of a pre-seismic EM emission. Instead, we attempt, through a multidisciplinary analysis, to provide elements of a definition. (ii) To link the detected MHz and kHz EM anomalies with equivalent last stages of the L'Aquila earthquake preparation process. (iii) To put forward physically meaningful arguments to support a way of quantifying the time to global failure and the identification of distinguishing features beyond which the evolution towards global failure becomes irreversible. The whole effort is unfolded in two consecutive parts. We clarify we try to specify not only whether or not a single EM anomaly is pre-seismic in itself, but mainly whether a combination of kHz, MHz, and ULF EM anomalies can be characterized as pre-seismic one

Involvement of proteasome activation

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia worldwide, characterized by a progressive decline in a variety of cognitive and non-cognitive functions. The amyloid beta protein cascade hypothesis places the formation of amyloid beta protein aggregates on the first position in the complex pathological cascade leading to neurodegeneration, and therefore AD might be considered to be a protein-misfolding disease. The Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS), being the primary protein degradation mechanism with a fundamental role in the maintenance of proteostasis, has been identified as a putative therapeutic target to delay and/or to decelerate the progression of neurodegenerative disorders that are characterized by accumulated/aggregated proteins. The purpose of this study was to test if the activation of proteasome in vivo can alleviate AD pathology. Specifically by using two compounds with complementary modes of proteasome activation and documented antioxidant and redox regulating properties in the 5xFAD transgenic mice model of AD, we ameliorated a number of AD related deficits. Shortly after proteasome activation we detected significantly reduced amyloid-beta load correlated with improved motor functions, reduced anxiety and frailty level. Essentially, to our knowledge this is the first report to demonstrate a dual activation of the proteasome and its downstream effects. In conclusion, these findings open up new directions for future therapeutic potential of proteasome-mediated proteolysis enhancement.publishersversionpublishe

Dust impact on surface solar irradiance assessed with model simulations, satellite observations and ground-based measurements

This study assesses the impact of dust on surface solar radiation focussing on an extreme dust event. For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of AERONET measurements and passive and active satellite remote sensing (MODIS and CALIPSO) observations, in conjunction with radiative transfer model (RTM) and chemical transport model (CTM) simulations and the 1-day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The area of interest is the eastern Mediterranean where anomalously high aerosol loads were recorded between 30 January and 3 February 2015. The intensity of the event was extremely high, with aerosol optical depth (AOD) reaching 3.5, and optical/microphysical properties suggesting aged dust. RTM and CTM simulations were able to quantify the extent of dust impact on surface irradiances and reveal substantial reduction in solar energy exploitation capacity of PV and CSP installations under this high aerosol load. We found that such an extreme dust event can result in Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) attenuation by as much as 40–50 % and a much stronger Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) decrease (80–90 %), while spectrally this attenuation is distributed to 37 % in the UV region, 33 % in the visible and around 30 % in the infrared. CAMS forecasts provided a reliable available energy assessment (accuracy within 10 % of that obtained from MODIS). Spatially, the dust plume resulted in a zonally averaged reduction of GHI and DNI of the order of 150 W/m^2 in southern Greece, and a mean increase of 20 W/m^2 in the northern Greece as a result of lower AOD values combined with local atmospheric processes. This analysis of a real-world scenario contributes to the understanding and quantification of the impact range of high aerosol loads on solar energy and the potential for forecasting power generation failures at sunshine-privileged locations where solar power plants exist, are under construction or are being planned

Workshop: The way forward for the Eurocodes implementation in the Balkans

The Eurocodes are state-of-the-art, Europe-wide standards for the structural design of buildings, bridges and other construction works. The workshop “The way forward for the Eurocodes implementation in the Balkans” was organized by the JRC on 10-11 October 2018 in Tirana. Approximately 100 participants (policy-makers, National Authorities & National Standards Bodies representatives, academics and civil engineering practitioners) attended the workshop. Lecturers and participants came from 12 different EU Member States and 8 non-EU Balkans countries. The workshop was an opportunity to collect and share the experience of several EU Member States in the Eurocodes implementation in their national regulatory system. Representatives from the participating Balkan countries presented the state of the Eurocodes implementation at national level and reported on the challenges faced. The round table discussion identified common challenges faced by the Balkan countries in the way-forward for the Eurocodes implementation and good practices were discussed as possible solutions. The workshop served as an opportunity for the JRC to present the concept of creating a Eurocodes Community of Practice (CoP) in the Balkans.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

Reliability of Structural Members Designed with the Eurocodes NDPs Selected by EU and EFTA Member States

The reliability level of structural members in buildings designed according to the Eurocodes was assessed for 20 EU and EFTA MS using the NDPs uploaded in the European Commission NDPs Database by the end of 2017 by 16 EU MS and consulting the National Annexes of four other EU and EFTA MS. The main conclusions of the study are the following: - the reliability of structural members which were designed according to the national choice of the NDPs varies in a rather broad range. The reliability levels of the structural members for most common categories of imposed loads match the reliability indices recommended in EN 1990. - in some cases the reliability levels according to the country choices of the NDPs are below the CEN target values and therefore should be further analysed and calibrated. - the reliability levels achieved using CEN recommended values should also be studied further, in order to delineate eventual needs for calibration of the recommended values. - the reliability levels of composite, steel and timber members designed according to the lower bound of imposed loads recommended in EN 1991-1-1, are commonly lower than the reliability levels recommended in EN 1990 for some fundamental combinations of actions. It should be noted, that the reliability of whole structure is normally higher than the one of a structural member. Thus, the presented results show that a generally good level of structural reliability has been achieved with the country choices of the NDPs.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

State of harmonised use of the Eurocodes

The objective of the present report is to evaluate the state of harmonised use of the Eurocodes in the EU and EFTA Member States. Besides that, the report is deemed to assess the potential for further harmonisation and the associated needs to support the on-going activities of CEN/TC250 "Structural Eurocodes" in the development of the second generation of the Eurocodes. The report analyses the national choices of the 28 EU Member States and two EFTA Member States (Norway and Switzerland). The European Commission Nationally Determined Parameters Database (NDPs Database) was used as a source of information on the countries' choices regarding the values adopted in the Eurocodes National Annexes. The data available was subject of extensive analyses, comprising (i) assessment of the representativeness of the data set to draw conclusions on the country choices, (ii) examination of harmonised patterns of the NDPs, per country, Eurocode and for specific Eurocodes parts, (iii) study of cross-border convergence of the maps for climatic and seismic actions, (iv) identification of specific NDPs that achieved a high or a low consensus in the national choices, and (v) analysis of parameters with the largest divergence from the recommended values. The analysis of the reliability levels of structural members designed with the Eurocodes using the NDPs chosen by the Member States, complemented the statistical analysis of the NDPs, providing a more global assessment of the combined impact of the national choices on the levels of safety achieved. The results demonstrate that the Eurocodes have achieved a high level of harmonisation in the EU and EFTA Member States, since most countries accepted the parameters recommended in the Standards. In fact, the analysis performed with a data availability of 71%, shows a mean acceptance rate of 73% for all NDPs with recommended values. The high rate of acceptance of the NDPs does not automatically imply that these NDPs shall be eliminated in the second generation of the Eurocodes, since many of them are directly related to the safety which is under national responsibility, or account for local geographical, geological and climatic conditions. Nevertheless, it is of primary interest for the achievement of a deeper internal market for construction products and engineering services that further harmonisation in the use of the Eurocodes is attained, as foreseen in the second generation of the Eurocodes. There are still a number of NDPs in the standards that have a good potential to be considered in the works on the second generation of the Eurocodes, as these NDPs are accounting for different design cultures and procedures for structural analysis. The cross-border convergence of the national maps for climatic and seismic actions shall be considered as an indicator for the harmonised use of data and methods for derivation of these maps. Harmonising the use of the Eurocodes in the EU and EFTA Member States, by reducing the number of Nationally Determined Parameters in the standards, will reduce the obstacles arising from different national practices and will boost the free circulation of products and services within the European Economic Area.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

Evaluation of the detection of GBA missense mutations and other variants using the Oxford Nanopore MinION

BACKGROUND: Mutations in GBA cause Gaucher disease when biallelic and are strong risk factors for Parkinson's disease when heterozygous. GBA analysis is complicated by the nearby pseudogene. We aimed to design and validate a method for sequencing GBA using long reads. METHODS: We sequenced GBA on the Oxford Nanopore MinION as an 8.9 kb amplicon from 102 individuals, including patients with Parkinson's and Gaucher diseases. We used NanoOK for quality metrics, NGMLR to align data (after comparing with GraphMap), Nanopolish and Sniffles to call variants, and WhatsHap for phasing. RESULTS: We detected all known missense mutations in these samples, including the common p.N409S (N370S) and p.L483P (L444P) in multiple samples, and nine rarer ones, as well as a splicing and a truncating mutation, and intronic SNPs. We demonstrated the ability to phase mutations, confirm compound heterozygosity, and assign haplotypes. We also detected two known risk variants in some Parkinson's patients. Rare false positives were easily identified and filtered, with the Nanopolish quality score adjusted for the number of reads a very robust discriminator. In two individuals carrying a recombinant allele, we were able to detect and fully define it in one carrier, where it included a 55‐base pair deletion, but not in another one, suggesting a limitation of the PCR enrichment method. Missense mutations were detected at the correct zygosity, except for the case where the RecNciI one was missed. CONCLUSION: The Oxford Nanopore MinION can detect missense mutations and an exonic deletion in this difficult gene, with the added advantages of phasing and intronic analysis. It can be used as an efficient research tool, but additional work is required to exclude all recombinants

Thermal design of structures and the changing climate

The report presents the work of the Joint Research Centre’s scientific network on adaptation of structural design to climate change focusing on the thermal design of buildings and infrastructure considering the changing climate. It presents scientific and technical background intended to stimulate debate and serve as a basis for further work to study the implications of climate change on the thermal design of structures. The report first outlines recent EU policies in support of sustainability and climate resilience of infrastructure and buildings. It highlights how the construction sector is encouraged to adopt more sustainable and circular economy practices, extend the lifetime of buildings and strive for better performance of buildings and infrastructure throughout their life cycle. It further emphasises the ongoing action plan to adapt the European standards to a changing climate. Following, the report explains the concept of the definition of thermal actions for the design of buildings and infrastructure using the European standards for structural design, i.e. the Eurocodes. It is showed that the adaptation of structural design to the implications of climate change is strongly linked with the assessment of changing characteristics of climatic actions (including thermal ones) in terms of the Eurocodes concept for the variable climatic actions. Variations in temperature that would directly affect the design values for thermal actions in the European standards are studied in depth for the case study of Italy. It is concluded that an increase in the maximum and minimum temperature used for structural design is expected all over Italy. It is discussed that structures, as bridges for example, are expected to be influenced by stresses from extreme temperatures and thus, should be designed for temperature amplitudes justified from climate projections for the actual region. However, the current European maps for thermal design are based on climatic data which, with some exceptions, are mostly 10 to 15 years old and ignore the potential effects of climate change. Thus, new European maps for the thermal design of structures should be developed using data that project more realistically the future climate. To this end, the authors present a methodology for developing thermal maps for structural design taking into account the influence of the changing climate and present an implementation of the methodology using the example of Italy.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

Expected implications of climate change on the corrosion of structures

The report presents the work of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) scientific network on adaptation of structural design to climate change addressing the expected implications of a changing climate on the corrosion of structures. The work first outlines recent EU policies supporting the sustainability and climate resilience of infrastructure and buildings. It is highlighted how the construction sector is encouraged to adopt more sustainable and circular economic practices, extend the lifetime of buildings and strive for better performance of buildings and infrastructure throughout their life cycle. The ongoing action plan to adapt European standards to a changing climate is emphasised. The report evaluates the expected variations in climatic factors causing corrosion, provides a state-of-the-art review on climate change induced corrosion of reinforced concrete and steel structures, and presents recent works on the corrosion impact, the costs and effectiveness of adaptation strategies. The effects of corrosion on the seismic performance of structures is addressed as well. In conclusion, this report presents the scientific and technical background to study the expected implications of climate change on the corrosion of structures. The work intends to stimulate debate on the subject, identify further research needs, and serve as a basis for the development of further work relevant to the adaptation to climate change of European standards and policies.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building