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This study presents the results of the ERTDF S-12 project for searching an optimum reduction scenario of the short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to simultaneously mitigate the global warming and environmental problems. The study utilized REAS emission inventory, Asia-Pacific Integrated Model-Enduse (AIM/Enduse), MIROC6 climate model, NICAM non-hydrostatic atmospheric model, and models for estimating environmental damages to health, agriculture, and flood risks. Results of various scenario search indicate that it is difficult to attain simultaneous reduction of global warming and environmental damages, unless a significant reduction of CO2 is combined with carefully designed SLCP reductions for CH4, SO2, black carbon (BC), NOx, CO, and VOCs. In this scenario design, it is important to take into account the impact of small BC reduction to the surface air temperature and complex atmospheric chemical interactions such as negative feedback between CH4 and NOx reduction. We identified two scenarios, i.e., B2a and B1c scenarios which combine the 2D-scenario with SLCP mitigation measures using End-of-Pipe (EoP) and new mitigation technologies, as promising to simultaneously mitigate the temperature rise by about 0.33 °C by 2050 and air pollution in most of the globe for reducing damages in health, agriculture, and flood risk. In Asia and other heavy air pollution areas, health-care measures have to be enhanced in order to suppress the mortality increase due to high temperature in hot spot areas caused by a significant cut of particulate matter. For this situation, the B1b scenario is better to reduce hot spot areas and high-temperature damage to the public health.

This study provides a feasible approach for decreasing the carbon emissions of China's iron and steel industry (ISI) by 2030 using the environmental-economic simulation model. The ISI and its upstream industries are optimized by introducing both technological upgrades and environmental policies. Six scenarios are designed, including business-as-usual (BaU), industrial upgrades (tec), carbon tax (tax), carbon trading (tra), and combination (cob) 1 and cob2, which combine the tec, tax and tra scenarios. The results show that the tec scenario can effectively curb carbon emissions. The tax scenario significantly promotes low emissions technologies. The cob2 scenario has the most stringent carbon emissions control effect and helps the ISI meet the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) target of China. Moreover, the rates of carbon emissions increase under the tec, cob1, and cob2 scenarios will decrease after 2027, indicating that it is highly possible that carbon emissions will peak in 2030. The decrease in crude steel production and electricity demand is also essential for the carbon emissions reduction of the ISI. This research comprehensively analyzes the factors influencing carbon emissions from the Chinese ISI. Analyzing this issue from the industrial chain perspective provides a new research scope for future simulation model studies.

This study examines model-specific assumptions and projections of methane (CH4) emissions in deep mitigation scenarios generated by integrated assessment models (IAMs). For this, scenarios of nine models are compared in terms of sectoral and regional CH4emission reduction strategies, as well as resulting climate impacts. The models’ projected reduction potentials are compared to sector and technology-specific reduction potentials found in literature. Significant cost-effective and non-climate policy related reductions are projected in the reference case (10–36% compared to a “frozen emission factor” scenario in 2100). Still, compared to 2010, CH4emissions are expected to rise steadily by 9–72% (up to 412 to 654 Mt CH4/year). Ambitious CO2reduction measures could by themselves lead to a reduction of CH4emissions due to a reduction of fossil fuels (22–48% compared to the reference case in 2100). However, direct CH4mitigation is crucial and more effective in bringing down CH4(50–74% compared to the reference case). Given the limited reduction potential, agriculture CH4emissions are projected to constitute an increasingly larger share of total anthropogenic CH4emissions in mitigation scenarios. Enteric fermentation in ruminants is in that respect by far the largest mitigation bottleneck later in the century with a projected 40–78% of total remaining CH4emissions in 2100 in a strong (2 °C) climate policy case.

The relatively short atmospheric lifetimes of methane (CH4) and black carbon (BC) have focused attention on the potential for reducing anthropogenic climate change by reducing Short-Lived Climate Forcer (SLCF) emissions. This paper examines radiative forcing and global mean temperature results from the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF)-30 multi-model suite of scenarios addressing CH4 and BC mitigation, the two major short-lived climate forcers. Central estimates of temperature reductions in 2040 from an idealized scenario focused on reductions in methane and black carbon emissions ranged from 0.18–0.26 °C across the nine participating models. Reductions in methane emissions drive 60% or more of these temperature reductions by 2040, although the methane impact also depends on auxiliary reductions that depend on the economic structure of the model. Climate model parameter uncertainty has a large impact on results, with SLCF reductions resulting in as much as 0.3–0.7 °C by 2040. We find that the substantial overlap between a SLCF-focused policy and a stringent and comprehensive climate policy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions means that additional SLCF emission reductions result in, at most, a small additional benefit of ~ 0.1 °C in the 2030–2040 time frame.

China has been through a rapid development process of expanding tertiary industries and urbanization. Due to the aggressive expansion of service building space, energy consumption and CO2 emissions from the service sector are increasing significantly. In this study, we concentrate on China’s service sector and analyze CO2 emissions from six sub-sectors: offices, mercantile, food and lodging, education, healthcare and others. Considering the gap of tertiary industry development status and climate diversity across regions, we base our study on regional analyses and the study subjects include 31 provincial regions of mainland China. We first estimate floor area and energy service demand of each sub-sector based on difference-influencing indicators. Then we conduct a scenario analysis and use an AIM/Enduse bottom-up cost optimization model to evaluate the CO2 reduction potential brought about by efficient technologies in China’s service buildings. The results show that: 1) office and mercantile are two major sub-sectors in the service sector, while most of the floor area increase in the service sector is due to office buildings; 2) by 2030 a considerable part of energy consumption will be replaced by renewable energy, which leads to no-regrets CO2 emissions reductions; 3) renewable energy penetration potential is smaller in regions with larger tertiary industry GDP and CO2 emission reductions in cold and warm regions are caused by consumption decrease of coal and electricity respectively; 4) the optimization analysis allocates more reduction potential to regions with a smaller tertiary GDP share.

In recent years, the concept of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB) has gained wide attention in developed countries. Because of its contribution to achieving full decarbonization in the building sector, NZEB is starting to become a new design target of future buildings and an important means to achieve the 1.5 degrees goal in building sector. This paper reviews the development of NZEB technologies during the past two years (2015-2017) since the IPCC AR5 published and assesses the opportunities and barriers of NZEB in China's urban areas. The analysis suggests that NZEB is feasible in Chinese cities and there is a certain opportunity to achieve zero carbon emission in China's urban area, but there are some limitations and barriers. In order to widely implement NZEB, China should (1) lower the energy service demand in high-rise buildings and consider realizing a high population density with low-rise buildings; (2) promote efficient cooling technologies and the energy saving behavior of occupants.

In preparation for the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) held in December 2015, the participating parties under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed to submit their own targets for national greenhouse gas emission reductions and mitigation, and adaptation actions that they intended to take under the post-2020 international framework for climate change. They were called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). One of the important actions by 2030 in China's INDC is to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of GDP by 60%–65% from 2005 levels. The purpose of this study is 1) to examine the efforts on China's residential sector in achieving the CO2 reduction target stated in China's INDC, 2) to estimate the range of carbon prices and mitigation potential in the INDC targets, and 3) to analyze the co-benefits of low carbon measures to reduce emissions of major short-lived climate pollutants and air pollutants in the residential sector, such as black carbon (BC), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). To account for climate diversity and its impact on household energy service demands, our analysis divides China into 31 sub-national regions. It was found that the residential sector has significant reduction potential to succeed with “no-regret” CO2 reduction measures. To achieve the range of China's INDC targets, households in both rural and urban China must implement more efficient technologies and marginal abatement in the range of around $40–$60 US/tCO2. Compared to the FIX scenario, CO2, BC, PM2.5, and SO2 emissions from the residential sector in the whole China are respectively reduced by 38%, 21%, 16%, and 31% in 2030 in the lower boundary of the INDC targets. However, reduction rates vary across provinces due to climatic variations and economic disparities. For example, cold provinces contribute more to the total emission reductions than warm provinces, under a national carbon emission cap to achieve the INDC targets. It is also important to note that there are large co-benefits to reducing air pollutants due to low carbon measures, thus achieving the INDC targets will help improve indoor air quality in the residential sector, especially in rural areas.

Iron and steel production in China contributes to 14% of China’s total energy-related CO2 emissions. Decarbonizing the iron and steel sector will therefore play an important role in achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. This study explored possible low-carbon transition pathways for China’s iron and steel industry to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. An integrated approach was developed that combined a computable general equilibrium model and a bottom-up technology-selection module. The results indicated that although energy-saving technologies can reduce CO2 emissions in the short term, in the long term, adopting breakthrough technologies (e.g., carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen-based direct reduction (DR)), increasing the share of scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production, and decarbonizing upstream energy-supply sectors will be crucial for climate change mitigation. Hydrogen-based DR could be an effective option for CO2 emission reduction in scenarios where CCS is not available, with its share increasing to 23%–25% by 2050. System-wide cross-sector decarbonization can help achieve climate targets at lower costs through flexible technology combinations and avoid carbon leakage into upstream energy-supply sectors.

Switching to electricity in the ground transport sector is considered a promising way to achieve the energy transition and CO2 emission reductions required to meet China's carbon neutral target by 2060. In this study, a transport energy model containing an elaborate transport demand model and a technology bottom-up model for detailed behavioral and technological representations was developed to investigate how electric vehicles (EVs) will penetrate the markets in the long-term and what impacts on energy consumption and emissions would emerge following EV adoption in China at the provincial level. A set of scenarios was created based on different policy interventions for the promotion of electric mobility. The results showed that subsidies for EV adoption would significantly boost the market share and foster a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, while the business-as-usual scenario would only generate a moderate influence on EV penetration. The regional differences in the emission reduction potential due to EV subsidies across the 31 provinces indicated that policy instruments for EV promotion would have significant positive effects in the developed provinces in both the capital metropolitan area and southeastern China. An economic cost analysis revealed a relatively low economic feasibility in northeastern and northwestern regions where the emission reduction potential is also lower than the national average, implying that the developing provinces in northeastern and northwestern China require greater financial assistance and the establishment of supportive policies for EV promotion.

In 2015 China submitted its “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution” (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in preparation for the Conference of Parties 21. China’s INDC called for several low carbon actions toward 2030, and one of the important actions by 2030 in the China’s INDC is to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emission per unit of GDP by 60% to 65% from the 2005 level. In this study, we concentrate in service sector and estimates CO2 emission from six sub-sectors: office building, retail and store, hotel and restaurant, education, health care and others. Considering the gap of tertiary industry development and climate diversity across regions, we base our study on regional analysis and the study subject includes 31 provincial regions of mainland China. We first use a bottom-up cost optimization model called AIM/Enduse to evaluate the CO2 reduction potential brought about by efficient technologies in China’s service buildings. Then we design mitigation scenarios to examine the achievability of China’s INDC as well as the efforts of service sector in achieving the CO2 reduction target stated in China’s INDC. The results show that the service sector has a certain potential to succeed a no-regrets CO2 reduction target by 2030. For achieving China’s INDC target, all six sub-sectors need implement more efficient technologies. Reduction rates vary across provinces due to climatic variations and different development statuses of tertiary industry.

This study analyzes emissions pathways of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) and evaluates cobenefits and tradeoffs among GHGs, air-pollutions and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) emissions, while taking mitigation actions for achieving a 2 global temperature change limit above pre-industrial levels, so called the 2 target. This study focuses on the following points; 1) technological mitigation potentials and costs of GHGs, 2) cobenefits in reducing of SLCPs and air pollutants due to the effects of low-carbon measures, 3) tradeoffs of increasing SLCPs and air pollutants due to implementing coal and biomass power plants with CCS, 4) effects of air pollutant control measures in addition to low-carbon measures. Carbon price for achieving the 2 target is expensive, reaching at around 400 US$/tCO 2 in 2050. However, large cobenefits in reducing SLCPs and air pollutants are identified due to energy efficiency improvements on the demand sectors and energy shifting from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuel energies on the supply sector. On the other hand, emissions rebounds such as SO 2 , BC, PM 2.5 are found when implementing more coal and biomass power plants with CCS. Even if emissions rebound are arose, it is technologically possible by promoting additional air pollutant control measures to reduce SO 2 , BC, PM 2.5 , around 80-90% reductions compared to the 2010 level. To explore the 2 target pathways from the viewpoint of balancing climate impacts and health impacts, it is necessary to discuss reduction profiles of air pollutants and SLCPs carefully by the combination of measures on CO 2 and air pollutants.

The most important achievement in the Paris Agreement is to set up emission reduction target by commitment submitted by each country/region with the form INDC. However the emission reduction target inside INDCs could not match with the emission pathway for the global to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. It is important for countries to do more than their commitment in INDCs, especially in near term. This paper looks at the near term trend for possibilities for further emission reduction compared with INDCs, and found there do have the possibility. It concludes there is space for the four countries/regions to do more than their INDCs submitted to UNFCCC, and see the light towards to a global 2 °C target.

The residential sector accounts for the second or third share of final energy consumption and CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions in both The Republic of Korea and in China. Energy service demand in the residential sector in these countries is influenced by climate and economic circumstances. However, in previous studies, such regional disparities are often overlooked, hence this study analyzes 6 Korean sub-national and 31 Chinese provincial levels while taking into consideration of reginal disparities. In this study principal socio-economic drivers such like GDP (Gross domestic product) and population are taken from used Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The impact of efficient technologies on future CO2 emissions is evaluated using the AIM (Asia-Pacific Integrated Model)/Enduse, a technology bottom-up optimization model integrated with bottom-up service demand models. Three future scenarios are also designed to conduct future evaluation on CO2 emissions growth and potential mitigation measures to meet the emissions target. From the results, impact of each technology was shown to vary across regions. Heating devices, water-heaters and cooking ranges with higher efficiencies are the most effective efficient technologies for both countries. Achieving a 30% CO2 emissions reduction goal requires the combination of various technologies across various regions due to differences in climate and economic circumstances.

The cell surface glycoprotein mesothelin is highly expressed in several malignant diseases. Normal mesothelin expression is limited to mesothelial cells lining the pleura, peritoneum, and pericardium, making it a biomarker and an attractive target for cancer therapy. We investigated tumor mesothelin expression and serum mesothelin levels in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer or borderline tumors. In total, 161 patients selected from a previous prospective study were analyzed for tumor mesothelin expression using immunohistochemistry and serum mesothelin expression using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Eighty-eight (68.8%) epithelial ovarian cancers and eight (24.2%) borderline tumors showed high mesothelin expression, which was associated with shorter progression-free and overall survival. The tumor mesothelin expression status was moderately correlated with serum mesothelin levels in epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Based on receiver operating characteristic analysis, a serum mesothelin level above 2.20 nM predicted high tumor mesothelin expression in epithelial ovarian cancer patients (area under the curve = 0.81). In 45 patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, we observed relatively lower levels of serum mesothelin, compared to the level at the primary diagnosis. We also tracked the change in the serum mesothelin level during the course of second-line chemotherapy and found a discrepancy between the clinical response and the serum mesothelin change in some patients, which suggested tumor heterogeneity among the tumor cells with or without mesothelin expression. Serum mesothelin may be a useful noninvasive biomarker surrogate for tumor mesothelin expression in future clinical trials for mesothelin-targeted therapy.

Many studies have reported associations between air pollution and health impacts, but few studies have explicitly differentiated the economic effects of PM2.5 and ozone at China's regional level. This study compares the PM2.5 and ozone pollution-related health impacts based on an integrated approach. The research framework combines an air pollutant emission projection model (GAINS), an air quality model (GEOS-Chem), a health model using the latest exposure-response functions, medical prices and value of statistical life (VSL), and a general equilibrium model (CGE). Results show that eastern provinces in China encounter severer loss from PM2.5 and more benefit from mitigation policy, whereas the lower income western provinces encounter severer health impacts and economic burdens due to ozone pollution, and the impact in southern and central provinces is relatively lower. In 2030, without control policies, PM 2.5 pollution could lead to losses of 2.0% in Gross Domestic Production (GDP), 210 billion Chinese Yuan (CNY) in health expenditure and a life loss of around 10,000 billion, while ozone pollution could contribute to GDP loss by 0.09% (equivalent to 78 billion CNY), 310 billion CNY in health expenditure, and a life loss of 2300 billion CNY (equivalent to 2.7% of GDP). By contrast, with control policies, the GDP and VSLs loss in 2030 attributable to ambient air pollution could be reduced significantly. We also find that the health and economic impacts of ozone pollution are significantly lower than PM2.5, but are much more difficult to mitigate. The Chinese government should promote air pollution control policies that could jointly reduce PM2.5 and ozone pollution. Keywords: PM2.5 and ozone pollution, Health assessment, Economic impact, IMED model

Thailand’s cement industry shows a significant share of energy consumption and GHG emissions in industries. Therefore, the industry will need to curb its emissions to meet the first national determined contribution (NDC). This study attempts to clarify two research questions: firstly, what is the cement demand under several scenarios of economic and demographic development pathways in Thailand’s cement industry? Secondly, how Thailand’s cement industry achieves the 1.5°. The scopes of this study focus on the per capita cement consumption in 2050, the energy consumption pathways, technology mix, and GHG emissions and other air pollutants. The scenarios include the cement industry target proposed in Thailand’s first NDC and the perspective in 2050. The socioeconomic indicators follow the SSPs narrative. The AIM/Enduse model used in this study is based on linear optimized bottom-up approach. Results show that the energy efficiency improvement and the increase of alternative energy in cement industry will reduce GHG emissions in 2050. To achieve the 1.5-degree pathway, the CCS technology will be deployed after 2022 with a carbon tax rate of US$ 500/t CO2. The use of biomass, municipal solid waste, and sewage sludge will offer a variety of environmental, social, and economic advantages. However, other air pollutants will be increased. Therefore, the policy makers should provide alternative fuel use limitations. Additionally, the CO2 transport and storage need to be assessed in the long-term climate policies.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the historical characteristics of energy transition and consumption patterns in rural and urban households in India. By developing a comprehensive database, this study first develops a systematic bottom-up method to construct per-capita energy balance table for rural and urban households in each state in year 2004, 2009 and 2011. Next, characteristics of energy transitions in relation with income levels are analyzed by comparing energy consumption across low, middle and high-income states for rural and urban households. In the study, it was found that cooking is the prime energy consuming service and faster energy transition is happening in higher income households. With increasing urbanization, transition to clean and energy efficient fuels for cooking and lighting services is observed. The quantity and share of biomass and kerosene has been decreasing in total per-capita household energy use, which is getting replaced by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electricity in high-income households. The rural high-income households consume more biomass, LPG and electricity than low-income households, whereas urban high-income households consume less biomass but significantly more LPG and electricity than low-income households. Among different drivers of energy demand, per-capita income and urbanization are emerging as most important drivers. Thus, this study explains energy choices in each service type, pattern of energy consumption and disparity in use of advance energies in rural and urban households across all states of India.

This study evaluates the PM2.5 pollution-related health impacts on the national and provincial economy of China using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and the latest nonlinear exposure-response functions. Results show that the health and economic impacts may be substantial in provinces with a high PM2.5 concentration. In the WoPol scenario without PM2.5 pollution control policy, we estimate that China experiences a 2.00% GDP loss and 25.2 billion USD in health expenditure from PM2.5 pollution in 2030. In contrast, with control policy in the WPol scenario, a control investment of 101.8 billion USD (0.79% of GDP) and a gain of 1.17% of China's GDP from improving PM2.5 pollution are projected. At the provincial level, GDP loss in 2030 in the WoPol scenario is high in Tianjin (3.08%), Shanghai (2.98%), Henan (2.32%), Beijing (2.75%), and Hebei (2.60%) and the top five provinces with the highest additional health expenditure are Henan, Sichuan, Shandong, Hebei, and Jiangsu. Controlling PM2.5 pollution could bring positive benefits in two-thirds of provinces. Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing, Henan, Jiangsu, and Hebei experience most benefits from PM2.5 pollution control as a result of a higher PM2.5 pollution and dense population distribution. Conversely, the control investment is higher than GDP gain in some underdeveloped provinces, such as Ningxia, Guizhou, Shanxi, Gansu, and Yunnan.

Objective Paclitaxel is known to produce the “platelet-sparing effect” that prevents the carboplatin-induced decrease in platelet count. We conducted a pilot study to assess whether the addition of low-dose paclitaxel to carboplatin-based combination chemotherapy prevents thrombocytopenia. Methods Patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer received intravenous (IV) paclitaxel at 60 mg/m2 followed by IV carboplatin at an area under the curve of 6 and IV pegylated liposomal doxorubicin at 30 mg/m2 on day 1 in a 28-day cycle (DC-LOP) or IV gemcitabine at 1000 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 in a 21-day cycle (GC-LOP). Results During May 2011 to December 2011, 7 patients received 29 cycles of DC-LOP; during January 2012 to May 2013, 15 patients received 88 cycles of GC-LOP. Grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia occurred in 2 (33%) of 6 and 9 (56%) of 16 patients in the DC-LOP and GC-LOP groups, respectively. No grade 3/4 nonhematological toxicity was observed. Only one patient who received GC-LOP had grade 2 sensory and motor peripheral neuropathy. Paclitaxel-related toxicities, including muscle pain, arthralgia, and peripheral neuropathy, were consistently rare and mild. The response rates of DC-LOP and GC-LOP were 33% (0, complete response; 2, partial response; 3, stable disease; 1, progression disease) and 50% (2, complete response; 6, partial response; 7, stable disease; 1, progression disease), respectively. Conclusions Although low-dose paclitaxel addition did not alleviate thrombocytopenia in the setting of this pilot study, the results do not deny the existence of the “platelet-sparing effect” by low-dose paclitaxel. Further investigation of the carboplatin-based combination chemotherapy including a drug with mild hematological toxicity is warranted.

This paper provides one systematic algorithm for constructing an emission downscale model focusing on the iron and steel industry (ISI) and providing plans to upgrade China's ISI up to 2050. Three aspects are considered: (1) introducing a site selection algorithm for ISI and setting priorities for closing outdated facilities; (2) mappi ng the future distribution of ISI by identifying the numbers and locations of new plants based on future crude steel demand, and determining the capacities of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) in individual plants; and (3) allocating CO2 and air pollutant emissions from the whole ISI sector to individual plants. Results show that, to satisfy the rise in steel demand up to 2030, a total of 22 new plants will be constructed. By 2050, however, 333 Mt of crude steel capacity will be closed as industrial upgrade plans proceed and steel demand declines. Twenty-six percent of the capacity closure will take place in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The EAF ratio will increase to 41% in 2050 as recyclable ferrous scrap increases. The capacity utilization rate for each period will exceed 80%, in accordance with national policy requirements. Finally, emission maps from each steel plant are drawn based on plant capacities. In conclusion, this research can provide detailed suggestions for Chinese ISI development with high feasibility. The health and economic impacts of ISI on surrounding areas can subsequently be determined in order to draw attention to the promotion of rational industrial planning.

This study analyzes emissions pathways and mitigation potentials of greenhouse gases (GHGs), air-pollution and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), while taking mitigation actions for achieving a 2 °C global temperature change limit above pre-industrial levels, so-called “2 °C target.” The study evaluates SLCPs (i.e. BC, CH4, tropospheric O3) mitigation scenarios by considering synergies and tradeoffs of various combinations of low-carbon measures and air pollutants control measures. It was found that, even if CO2 emissions pathways in this study are all similar to achieve the 2 °C target, reaching a carbon price at around 400 US$/tCO2eq. in 2050, SLCPs and air pollutants emissions pathways and mitigation potentials are largely influenced by combinations of some key mitigation measures. The maximum mitigation potential reductions of SLCPs (BC, CH4) and air pollutants (NOx, CO, NMVOC, which are precursors of tropospheric O3) in Asia are 89%, 22%, 67%, 37%, and 11% respectively by 2050 compared to the 2010 levels. After considering both direct SLCP reduction effects (i.e. mitigating BC, CH4) and indirect SLCP reduction effects (i.e. mitigating NOx, CO, NMVOC for reducing tropospheric O3 generation and atmospheric CH4 concentration), it can be adjudged that combinations of widespread promotion of renewable energies, drastic electrification in transport, residential and commercial sectors, high biofuel shares in the transport sector, and a certain level of deployment of removal devices would be effective SLCP mitigation scenarios.

Economic development, transport demand, and air pollution are interrelated. The heterogeneity of economic development among regions and the freezing of exhaust emission regulations for approximately a decade in Thailand were the motivations for this study. Herein we provide a comprehensive analysis of vehicle exhaust emission projections for up to 2050 with specific regional breakdown for passenger transport mode and volume; we also provide region-wise and mode-wise outcomes to help understand the effects of enhancing exhaust emissions regulation for future air pollutant emissions. The results from this study reveal the limitations of current regulations and establish the need to enhance regulations within this decade to cope with air pollution for the long-term growth of regional economic development.

The transport sector contributes around a quarter of global CO2 emissions; thus, low-carbon transport policies are required to achieve the 2 °C and 1.5 °C targets. In this paper, representative transport policy scenarios are structured with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the interaction between the transport sector and the macroeconomy. To accomplish this, the Asia–Pacific Integrated Model/Transport (AIM/Transport) model, coupled with a computable general equilibrium model (AIM/CGE), is used to simulate the potential for different transport policy interventions to reduce emissions and cost over the period 2005–2100. The results show that deep decarbonization in the transport sector can be achieved by implementing transport policies such as energy efficiency improvements, vehicle technology innovations particularly the deployment of electric vehicles, public transport developments, and increasing the car occupancy rate. Technological transformations such as vehicle technological innovations and energy efficiency improvements provide the most significant reduction potential. The key finding is that low-carbon transport policies can reduce the carbon price, gross domestic product loss rate, and welfare loss rate generated by climate mitigation policies to limit global warming to 2 °C and 1.5 °C. Interestingly, the contribution of transport policies is more effective for stringent climate change targets in the 1.5 °C scenario, which implies that the stronger the mitigation intensity, the more transport specific policy is required. The transport sector requires attention to achieve the goal of stringent climate change mitigation.

A passenger transport model, Asia-pacific Integrated Model (AIM)/Transport, incorporating travelers’ mode of choice and transport technological details was developed in this study. This AIM/Transport was coupled with the AIM/Computable General Equilibrium (AIM/CGE) to capture interactive mechanisms between the transport sector, energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the macro-economy. This paper presents the model structure and mathematical formulation of AIM/Transport, and explains how it was integrated with the CGE model by an iterative algorithm, taking into consideration the feedback between AIM/Transport and AIM/CGE. A numerical simulation proved that the integration of AIM/CGE and AIM/Transport can achieve a convergence after 13 iterations. A business-as-usual (BaU) scenario and a mitigation scenario were created to test the robustness of the model integration and how the mitigation potential and cost would be modified by coupling AIM/Transport. The key finding was that the carbon price and mitigation cost were modified with the coupled CGE-Transport model.

Folate receptor alpha (FRA) is a GPI-anchored glycoprotein and encoded by the FOLR1 gene. High expression of FRA is observed in specific malignant tumors of epithelial origin, including ovarian cancer, but exhibits very limited normal tissue expression, making it as an attractive target for the ovarian cancer therapy. FRA is known to shed from the cell surface into the circulation which allows for its measurement in the serum of patients. Recently, methods to detect the soluble form of FRA have been developed and serum FRA (sFRA) is considered a highly promising biomarker for ovarian cancer. We prospectively investigated the levels of sFRA in patients clinically suspected of having malignant ovarian tumors. A total of 231 patients were enrolled in this study and analyzed for sFRA as well as tumor expression of FRA by immunohistochemistry. High sFRA was predominantly observed in epithelial ovarian cancer patients, but not in patients with benign or borderline gynecological disease or metastatic ovarian tumors from advanced colorectal cancers. Levels of sFRA were highly correlated to clinical stage, tumor grade and histological type and demonstrated superior accuracy for the detection of ovarian cancer than did serum CA125. High sFRA was significantly associated with shorter progression-free survival in both early and advanced ovarian cancer patients. Finally, tumor FRA expression status was strongly correlated with sFRA levels. Taken together, these data suggest that sFRA might be a useful noninvasive serum biomarkers for future clinical trials assessing FRA-targeted therapy.

Energy is a commodity which impacts heavily upon the competitiveness of a country in the global scale. Thus, nations have begun to understand that utilization of energy affects its economic performance. In recent times, there has been a drive for global awareness on Low Carbon Society (LCS) measures, where carbon mitigation is at the forefront. Thus, this paper analyses the LCS measures for the Thai industrial sector. Thai industrial sector is the second highest CO 2 emitting end-use sector and contributes approximately 30% to the national income of Thailand. The total CO 2 emission from end use sectors in 2010 was 119 Mton-CO 2 and approximately 38% constituted industrial sector emissions. The primary objective of this research study is to quantitatively analyse the carbon mitigation possible in the Thai industrial sector and the co-benefits which accrue along with mitigation in various policy pathway scenarios. Thai industrial sector was modeled using Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM)/Enduse. Three groups of scenarios under LCS, emission tax and reduction target principles were modeled along with the BAU case. Results show that LCS scenarios are capable of cumulative mitigation of approximately 35% by 2050 in comparison to the BAU case and the predominant technologies are the 2nd generation biomass and the CCS technology. The emission tax scenarios, where tax rates of 50, 100, 200 and 500 USD/t-CO 2 were enforced show a maximum of 55% cumulative mitigation by 2050. Even though this reduction is higher than the LCS scenarios, there is no shift to long term renewable or sustainable technologies in the emission tax scenarios. The same applies to reduction target scenarios as well. The co-benefits, which were measured along the themes of energy security and local air pollutant mitigation show maximum benefits accruing to the LCS scenarios, where renewable fuel share increases, whilst primary energy intensity and carbon intensity decreases. The LCS scenarios also show a mitigation of local air pollutants such as SO 2 and Particulate Matter.