Double Trouble of Air Pollution by Anthropogenic Dust

With urbanization worldwide in recent decades, anthropogenic dust (AD) emissions due to heavy urban construction and off-road vehicle use have been increasing. Its perturbations on urban air pollution at the global scale are still unclear. Based on observations, we found that a high urban AD optical depth is often accompanied by severe non-dust aerosol optical depth in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), both magnitudes even comparable. To investigate the causes, an AD emission inventory constrained by satellite retrievals is implemented in a global climate model. The results show that AD-induced surface radiative cooling of up to -15.9 +/- 4.0 W m(-2) regionally leads to reduced PBL height, which deteriorates non-dust pollution, especially over India and northern China, in addition to the tremendous direct AD contribution to pollutants. The estimated global total premature mortality due to AD is 0.8 million deaths per year and is more severe in populous regions.Peer reviewe

East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols and their Impact on Regional Clouds, Precipitation, and Climate (EAST-AIR_(CPC))

Aerosols have significant and complex impacts on regional climate in East Asia. Cloud‐aerosol‐precipitation interactions (CAPI) remain most challenging in climate studies. The quantitative understanding of CAPI requires good knowledge of aerosols, ranging from their formation, composition, transport, and their radiative, hygroscopic, and microphysical properties. A comprehensive review is presented here centered on the CAPI based chiefly, but not limited to, publications in the special section named EAST‐AIRcpc concerning (1) observations of aerosol loading and properties, (2) relationships between aerosols and meteorological variables affecting CAPI, (3) mechanisms behind CAPI, and (4) quantification of CAPI and their impact on climate. Heavy aerosol loading in East Asia has significant radiative effects by reducing surface radiation, increasing the air temperature, and lowering the boundary layer height. A key factor is aerosol absorption, which is particularly strong in central China. This absorption can have a wide range of impacts such as creating an imbalance of aerosol radiative forcing at the top and bottom of the atmosphere, leading to inconsistent retrievals of cloud variables from space‐borne and ground‐based instruments. Aerosol radiative forcing can delay or suppress the initiation and development of convective clouds whose microphysics can be further altered by the microphysical effect of aerosols. For the same cloud thickness, the likelihood of precipitation is influenced by aerosols: suppressing light rain and enhancing heavy rain, delaying but intensifying thunderstorms, and reducing the onset of isolated showers in most parts of China. Rainfall has become more inhomogeneous and more extreme in the heavily polluted urban regions

East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols and their Impact on Regional Clouds, Precipitation, and Climate (EAST-AIR_(CPC))

Aerosols have significant and complex impacts on regional climate in East Asia. Cloud‐aerosol‐precipitation interactions (CAPI) remain most challenging in climate studies. The quantitative understanding of CAPI requires good knowledge of aerosols, ranging from their formation, composition, transport, and their radiative, hygroscopic, and microphysical properties. A comprehensive review is presented here centered on the CAPI based chiefly, but not limited to, publications in the special section named EAST‐AIRcpc concerning (1) observations of aerosol loading and properties, (2) relationships between aerosols and meteorological variables affecting CAPI, (3) mechanisms behind CAPI, and (4) quantification of CAPI and their impact on climate. Heavy aerosol loading in East Asia has significant radiative effects by reducing surface radiation, increasing the air temperature, and lowering the boundary layer height. A key factor is aerosol absorption, which is particularly strong in central China. This absorption can have a wide range of impacts such as creating an imbalance of aerosol radiative forcing at the top and bottom of the atmosphere, leading to inconsistent retrievals of cloud variables from space‐borne and ground‐based instruments. Aerosol radiative forcing can delay or suppress the initiation and development of convective clouds whose microphysics can be further altered by the microphysical effect of aerosols. For the same cloud thickness, the likelihood of precipitation is influenced by aerosols: suppressing light rain and enhancing heavy rain, delaying but intensifying thunderstorms, and reducing the onset of isolated showers in most parts of China. Rainfall has become more inhomogeneous and more extreme in the heavily polluted urban regions

Seasonal climatic effects and feedbacks of anthropogenic heat release due to global energy consumption with CAM5

Anthropogenic heat release (AHR) is the heat generated in global energy consumption, which has not been considered in global climate models generally. The global high-resolution AHR from 1992 to 2013, which is estimated by using the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)/Operational Linescan System (OLS) satellite data, is implemented into the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). The seasonal climatic effects and possible feedbacks of AHR are examined in this study. The modeling results show that AHR increases the global annual mean surface temperature and land surface temperature by 0.02 ± 0.01 K (1σ uncertainty) and 0.05 ± 0.02 K (1σ uncertainty), respectively. The global climatic effect of AHR varies with season: with a stronger climatic effect in the boreal winter leading to global mean land surface temperature increases by 0.10 ± 0.01 K (1σ uncertainty). In the selected regions (40°N–60°N, 0°E–45°E) of Central and Western Europe the average surface temperature increases by 0.46 K in the boreal summer, and in the selected regions (45°N–75°N, 30°E–140°E) of northern Eurasia the average surface temperature increases by 0.83 K in the boreal winter. AHR changes the height and thermodynamic structure of the global planetary boundary layer, as well as the stability of the lower troposphere, which affects the global atmospheric circulation and low cloud fraction. In addition, at the surface both the shortwave radiation flux in the boreal summer and the down-welling longwave flux in the boreal winter change signifi- cantly, as a result of the change in low clouds caused by the effect of AHR. This study suggests a possible new mechanism of AHR effect on global climate through changing the global low-cloud fraction, which is crucial for global energy balance, by modifying the thermodynamic structure and stability of the lower troposphere. Thus this study improves our understanding of the global climate change caused by human activities

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Single cell atlas for 11 non-model mammals, reptiles and birds.

The availability of viral entry factors is a prerequisite for the cross-species transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Large-scale single-cell screening of animal cells could reveal the expression patterns of viral entry genes in different hosts. However, such exploration for SARS-CoV-2 remains limited. Here, we perform single-nucleus RNA sequencing for 11 non-model species, including pets (cat, dog, hamster, and lizard), livestock (goat and rabbit), poultry (duck and pigeon), and wildlife (pangolin, tiger, and deer), and investigated the co-expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Furthermore, cross-species analysis of the lung cell atlas of the studied mammals, reptiles, and birds reveals core developmental programs, critical connectomes, and conserved regulatory circuits among these evolutionarily distant species. Overall, our work provides a compendium of gene expression profiles for non-model animals, which could be employed to identify potential SARS-CoV-2 target cells and putative zoonotic reservoirs

Generative Caption for Diabetic Retinopathy Images

Diabetes (Type II); Smokin

Effects of Ga substitution for Al on the fabrication and optical properties of transparent Ce:GAGG-based ceramics

Ce3+-doped Gd-3(Al1-xGax)(5)O-12 (Ce:GAGG) transparent ceramics were successfully prepared via a solid state reaction oxygen sintering method. The effects of Ga substitution on the structure and optical properties of the ceramics were investigated. The highest quantum yield and relatively high scintillation light yield were achieved in the Gd-3(Al0.6Ga0.4)(5)O-12. The investigated processing technique demonstrated advantages such as increased flexibility and short processing time, thus being very cost effective. The investigated approach provides a much more economical alternative to the conventional melt growth processes used to fabricate single crystals. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Sex differences in solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas: A population‐based study

Abstract Objective Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas is a rare tumor. This study aims to examine the clinicopathological features and surgical treatments of SPN and compare the clinical behavior and prognosis between men and women with SPN. Methods We collected the population data of patients with SPN diagnosed between 2004 and 2017 from the SEER database. The Kaplan‐Meier method was used to analyze overall survival (OS) and disease‐specific survival (DSS), and log‐rank tests were used to evaluate the differences between subgroups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to screen out prognostic risk factors of SPN. Results A total of 378 patients with SPN were included, with 246 (65.1%) female patients. 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐year overall survival rates were 98.9%, 95.7%, and 93.7%, respectively. Survival analysis revealed that regardless of stage, patients with SPN who underwent surgical interventions still had a significantly better prognosis than those without surgical interventions (P < .001). The patients with lymphatic dissection had a significantly better prognosis than those without lymphatic dissection (P < .001). Moreover, compared with female patients, male patients had significantly poorer OS and DSS (P < .001). Female SPN showed a bimodal age‐frequency distribution with early‐onset incidence at 28 years and late‐onset peak incidence at 62 years, while male SPN presented a unimodal distribution with peak incidence at approximately age 64 years. In female patients, the tumor size in premenopausal females (<65 years old) was significantly larger than that in postmenopausal females (≥65 years old) (P < .001). Clinicopathological characteristic profiles were different not only between male SPN and premenopausal female SPN but also between premenopausal and postmenopausal female SPN. Conclusion SPN presents indolent behavior and predominantly occurs in young women. Regardless of stage, surgical intervention is recommended. Moreover, our study is the first large enough study to demonstrate sex‐related discrepancies in SPN. Thus, different treatment strategies should be designed for patients of different sexes at different ages and hormone therapy is a promising approach for SPN