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Acute heart failure (HF) is an important complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has been hypothesized to relate to inflammatory activation.We evaluated consecutive intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for COVID-19 across 6 centers in the Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network, identifying patients with vs without acute HF. Acute HF was subclassified as de novo vs acute-on-chronic, based on the absence or presence of prior HF. Clinical features, biomarker profiles and outcomes were compared.Of 901 admissions to an ICU due to COVID-19, 80 (8.9%) had acute HF, including 18 (2.0%) with classic cardiogenic shock (CS) and 37 (4.1%) with vasodilatory CS. The majority (n = 45) were de novo HF presentations. Compared to patients without acute HF, those with acute HF had higher cardiac troponin and natriuretic peptide levels and similar inflammatory biomarkers; patients with de novo HF had the highest cardiac troponin levels. Notably, among patients critically ill with COVID-19, illness severity (median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, 8 [IQR, 5-10] vs 6 [4-9]; P = 0.025) and mortality rates (43.8% vs 32.4%; P = 0.040) were modestly higher in patients with vs those without acute HF.Among patients critically ill with COVID-19, acute HF is distinguished more by biomarkers of myocardial injury and hemodynamic stress than by biomarkers of inflammation.

Summary Alkali and alkaline earth metals (AMs) play indispensable roles in dinitrogen activation and ammonia synthesis. AM oxides have been used as catalyst promoters for industrial ammonia synthesis, while AM metals are common reducing agents in dinitrogen fixation by organometallic complexes. With the strong push toward green ammonia synthesis, AM is now on a greater platform, playing a more prominent role in mediating dinitrogen reduction via a variety of processes that can be coupled with renewable energy harvest and storage. This perspective discusses the rich chemistry among AM, N2, H2, and NH3; summarizes the classic understandings and new exciting progress in the exploration of AM for both heterogeneous and homogeneous nitrogen fixation; and highlights the multifunctional roles of unconventional and reactive AM-containing materials for future greener ammonia synthesis.

Summary Early 3d metals such as chromium can easily dissociate N2, but the subsequent hydrogenation to ammonia is difficult because they bind nitrogen too strongly. Hence, investigation of Cr-based catalysts for ammonia synthesis is very rare. Here we show that when Cr compounds with Ba, N, and H forming a nitride-hydride, effective ammonia synthesis catalysis can be achieved under mild conditions. Under 573 K and 10 bar, this catalyst has an ammonia synthesis rate (6.8 mmolNH3 gcat−1 h−1) that is about four times that of the Cs-Ru/MgO catalyst. With low apparent activation energy (50.1 kJ mol−1) and positive reaction orders of H2 and N2, it can produce observable ammonia at 373 K and 1 bar. The active phase has a Ba5CrN4H-like structure containing reactive hydrogen ( H - ) and nitrogen, which are involved in the ammonia formation. This work discloses a strategy to “activate” the inactive early transition metals for effective ammonia catalysis.

Phloem-feeding insects cause massive losses in agriculture and horticulture. Host plant resistance to phloem-feeding insects is often mediated by changes in phloem composition, which deter insect settling and feeding and decrease viability. Here, we report that rice plant resistance to the phloem-feeding brown planthopper (BPH) is associated with fortification of the sclerenchyma tissue, which is located just beneath the epidermis and a cell layer or two away from the vascular bundle in the rice leaf sheath. We found that BPHs prefer to feed on the smooth and soft region on the surface of rice leaf sheaths called the long-cell block. We identified Bph30 as a rice BPH resistance gene that prevents BPH stylets from reaching the phloem due to the fortified sclerenchyma. Bph30 is strongly expressed in sclerenchyma cells and enhances cellulose and hemicellulose synthesis, making the cell walls stiffer and sclerenchyma thicker. The structurally fortified sclerenchyma is a formidable barrier preventing BPH stylets from penetrating the leaf sheath tissues and arriving at the phloem to feed. Bph30 belongs to a novel gene family, encoding a protein with two leucine-rich domains. Another member of the family, Bph40, also conferred resistance to BPH. Collectively, the fortified sclerenchyma-mediated resistance mechanism revealed in this study expands our understanding of plant-insect interactions and opens a new path for controlling planthoppers in rice.

In this paper a novel adaptive sliding mode control method has been designed and applied to the load frequency control. Firstly, a novel adaptive sliding mode control method is designed. Secondly, the stability of this method has been proved mathematically. Finally, one numerical simulation example is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. At the same time, the proposed new adaptive sliding mode control method is compared with the classical adaptive sliding mode control method. From the simulation results, it is confirmed the validity of the proposed adaptive sliding mode control method in terms of external disturbances and parameter variation. It is also verified the superiority of the proposed adaptive sliding mode control method in terms of chattering, overshoot and response time in comparison with classical adaptive sliding mode control method.

The superelastic behavior and elastocaloric effect of a [001]-textured Ni50Mn23Ga25Cu2 polycrystal have been investigated below room temperature (256–294 K). The adiabatic temperature change caused by rapid unloading of uniaxial stress reached −4.3 K at 259 K. A small stress hysteresis of 14 MPa was observed. Due to the low hysteresis energy loss (0.37 MJ m−3) stemming from the texture structure, the coefficient of performance (COPmat) of our alloy was calculated to be 18, indicating that it is a promising elastocaloric candidate for low-temperature refrigeration.

Development of active and non-noble metal-based catalyst for H2 production via NH3 decomposition is crucial for the implementation of NH3 as a H2 carrier. Co-based catalysts have received increasing attention because of its high intrinsic activity and moderate cost. In this work, we examined the effect of BaNH, CaNH and Mg3N2 on the catalytic activity of Co in the NH3 decomposition reaction. The H2 formation rate ranks the order as Co-BaNH > Co-CaNH > Co-Mg3N2 ≈ Co/CNTs within a reaction temperature range of 300–550 °C. It is worth pointing out that the H2 formation rate of Co-BaNH at 500 °C reaches 20 mmolH2 gcat–1 min–1, which is comparable to those of the active Ru/Al2O3 (ca. 17 mmolH2 gcat–1 min–1) and Ru/AC (21 mmolH2 gcat–1 min–1) catalysts under the similar reaction conditions. In-depth research shows that Co-BaNH exhibits an obviously higher intrinsic activity and much lower Ea (46.2 kJ mol–1) than other Co-based catalysts, suggesting that BaNH may play a different role from CaNH, Mg3N2 and CNTs during the catalytic process. Combined results of XRD, Ar-TPD and XAS show that a [Co–N–Ba]-like intermediate species is likely formed at the interface of Co metal and BaNH, which may lead to a more energy-efficient reaction pathway than that of neat Co metal for NH3 decomposition.

The EBBINGHAUS (Evaluating PCSK9 Binding Antibody Influence on Cognitive Health in High Cardiovascular Risk Subjects) trial demonstrated that evolocumab added to a background statin did not affect cognitive performance in a subset of 1,204 patients enrolled in FOURIER (Further Cardiovascular Outcomes Research With PCSK9 inhibitors in Subjects With Elevated Risk).The authors describe patient-reported cognition in the entire FOURIER trial using a self-survey.FOURIER was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels ≥70 mg/dl or non-high-density cholesterol ≥100 mg/dl despite statin therapy. At the final visit, patients completed a 23-item survey on memory and executive domains from the Everyday Cognition (ECog) scale. Patients compared their levels of everyday function at the end of the trial with their levels at the beginning and scored as 1 (no change or improvement), 2 (occasionally worse), 3 (consistently little worse), or 4 (consistently much worse). ECog scores were compared by the 2 randomized treatment arms and by achieved LDL-C at 4 weeks.A total of 22,655 patients completed ECog after a median duration of 2.2 years. The proportions of patients reporting cognitive decline (ECog score ≥2) at the end of the study were similar for placebo versus evolocumab, both for total score 3.6% versus 3.7% (p = 0.62) and for subdomains (memory, 5.8% vs. 6.0%; total executive, 3.6% vs. 3.7%). The proportion of patients reporting a decline in total cognitive score was similar among the 2,338 patients who achieved very low LDL-C levels (20 mg/dl) compared to the 3,613 patients with LDL-C ≥100 mg/dl (3.8% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.57).The addition of evolocumab to maximally tolerated statin therapy had no impact on patient-reported cognition after an average of 2.2 years of treatment, even among patients who achieved LDL-C 20 mg/dl.

Qianru Wang is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on hydride materials for catalytic ammonia synthesis. Jianping Guo is a professor at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on exploring metal hydrides, imides, and amides in the activation and transformation of small molecules including N2, H2, and NH3. Ping Chen is a professor and division head of Hydrogen Energy and Advanced Materials, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The primary research interests of her group include materials development for hydrogen storage and catalysis.

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a common reason for admission to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU), though the relative burden of morbidity, mortality, and resource use between admissions with in-hospital (IH) and out-of-hospital (OH) CA is unknown. We compared characteristics, care patterns, and outcomes of admissions to contemporary CICUs after IHCA or OHCA.The Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network is a multicenter network of tertiary CICUs in the US and Canada. Participating centers contributed data from consecutive admissions during 2-month annual snapshots from 2017 to 2021. We analyzed characteristics and outcomes of admissions by IHCA vs OHCA.We analyzed 2,075 admissions across 29 centers (50.3% IHCA, 49.7% OHCA). Admissions with IHCA were older (median 66 vs 62 years), more commonly had coronary disease (38.3% vs 29.7%), atrial fibrillation (26.7% vs 15.6%), and heart failure (36.3% vs 22.1%), and were less commonly comatose on CICU arrival (34.2% vs 71.7%), p0.001 for all. IHCA admissions had lower lactate (median 4.3 vs 5.9) but greater utilization of invasive hemodynamics (34.3% vs 23.6%), mechanical circulatory support (28.4% vs 16.8%), and renal replacement therapy (15.5% vs 9.4%); p0.001 for all. Comatose IHCA patients underwent targeted temperature management less frequently than OHCA patients (63.3% vs 84.9%, p0.001). IHCA admissions had lower unadjusted CICU (30.8% vs 39.0%, p0.001) and in-hospital mortality (36.1% vs 44.1%, p0.001).Despite a greater burden of comorbidities, CICU admissions after IHCA have lower lactate, greater invasive therapy utilization, and lower crude mortality than admissions after OHCA.

Uranium is well-known to have serious adverse effects on the ecological environment and human health. Bioremediation stands out among many remediation methods owing to its being economically feasible and environmentally friendly. This study reported a great promising strategy for eliminating uranium by Stenotrophomonas sp. CICC 23833 in the aquatic environment. The bacterium demonstrated excellent uranium adsorption capacity (q

Surface energy partitioning is one of the most important aspects of the land-atmosphere coupling. The objective of this study is to examine how soil moisture (SM) and atmospheric conditions (net radiation, Rn and vapor pressure deficit, VPD) affect surface evaporation fraction (EF, determined by LE/(LE + H), where LE and H are latent and sensible heat flux, respectively) with measurements at a semi-arid grass site in China during the mid-growing season, 2020. The three factors (SM, Rn, and VPD) were divided into different levels, and then their effects on EF were investigated qualitatively using a combinatorial stratification method and quantificationally using a path analysis. Generally, the results indicated that the effect of one factor of SM, Rn and VPD on EF was influenced by the other two factors. EF tended to increase with increasing SM. Increased VPD (Rn) enhanced (weakened) the SM-EF relationship. When soil was dry, EF tended to decrease with increasing VPD; when soil was wet, EF initially levelled off and then decreased with increasing VPD. Increased Rn enhanced (weakened) the positive (negative) effect of VPD on EF when soil was wet (dry). In terms of Rn effect, EF tended to decrease as Rn increases. Further, path analysis suggested that SM, Rn, and VPD not only directly affected EF, but also indirectly affected EF, mainly through canopy conductance (Gs) and temperature difference between land surface and air (∆T). The direct effect of SM accounted for50 % of its total effect on EF, while the total effects of Rn and VPD on EF were dominated by their indirect effects. These observational evidences may have implications for improving representation of land-atmosphere coupling in atmospheric general circulation models over the semi-arid regions covered by grass.

The GATOR2-GATOR1 signaling axis is essential for amino-acid-dependent mTORC1 activation. However, the molecular function of the GATOR2 complex remains unknown. Here, we report that disruption of the Ring domains of Mios, WDR24, or WDR59 completely impedes amino-acid-mediated mTORC1 activation. Mechanistically, via interacting with Ring domains of WDR59 and WDR24, the Ring domain of Mios acts as a hub to maintain GATOR2 integrity, disruption of which leads to self-ubiquitination of WDR24. Physiologically, leucine stimulation dissociates Sestrin2 from the Ring domain of WDR24 and confers its availability to UBE2D3 and subsequent ubiquitination of NPRL2, contributing to GATOR2-mediated GATOR1 inactivation. As such, WDR24 ablation or Ring deletion prevents mTORC1 activation, leading to severe growth defects and embryonic lethality at E10.5 in mice. Hence, our findings demonstrate that Ring domains are essential for GATOR2 to transmit amino acid availability to mTORC1 and further reveal the essentiality of nutrient sensing during embryonic development.

A novel 3D C-based nano Cu

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is particularly useful for understanding hydrological processes, plant-land-atmosphere exchanges, and agriculture- and climate-related research. This study aims to estimate RZSM across China by using a one-parameter (T) exponential filter method (EF method) together with a random forest (RF) regionalization approach and by using a large dataset containing in situ observations collected at 2121 sites across China. First, at each site, T is optimized at each of four soil layers (10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, 30-40 cm and 40-50 cm) by using 0-10-cm soil layer observations and the corresponding calibration layers. Second, an RF classifier is built for each layer according to the calibrated T values and 14 soil, climate and vegetation parameters across 2121 sites. Third, the calibrated T at each soil layer is regionalized with an established RF classifier. Spatial T maps are given for each soil layer across China. Our results show that the EF method performs reasonably well in predicting RZSM at the 10-20-cm, 20-30-cm, 30-40-cm and 40-50-cm layers, with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) medians of 0.73, 0.52, 0.38 and 0.27, respectively, between the observations and estimations. The T parameter shows a spatial pattern in each soil layer and is largely controlled by climate regimes. This study offers an improved RZSM estimation method using a large dataset containing in situ observations; the proposed method also has the potential to be used in other parts of the world.

Background Mechanistic studies have shown that morphine blunts the antiplatelet effects of oral adenosine diphosphate receptor blockers. However, the clinical relevance of this interaction is controversial. Objectives This study sought to explore the association between morphine and ischemic events in 5,438 patients treated with concomitant clopidogrel presenting with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTEACS) in the EARLY ACS (Early Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibition in Patients With Non–ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome) trial. Patients not treated with clopidogrel (n = 3,462) were used as negative controls. Methods Endpoints were the composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), recurrent ischemia, or thrombotic bailout at 96 h (4-way endpoint) and the composite of death or MI at 30 days. Results In patients treated with clopidogrel, morphine use was associated with higher rates of the 4-way endpoint at 96 h (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04 to 1.87; p = 0.026). There was a trend for higher rates of death or MI at 30 days (adjusted OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.70; p = 0.072), driven by events in the first 48 h (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.23; p = 0.021). In patients not treated with clopidogrel, morphine was not associated with either the 4-way endpoint at 96 h (adjusted OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.74 to 1.49; p = 0.79; pinteraction = 0.36 ) or death or MI at 30 days (adjusted OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.77 to 1.48; p = 0.70; pinteraction = 0.46). Conclusions When used concomitantly with clopidogrel pre-treatment, morphine was associated with higher rates of ischemic events in patients with NSTEACS. (EARLY ACS: Early Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibition in Patients With Non–ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome; NCT00089895 )

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have caused severe air pollution in Shanghai, China, which occurs frequently in recent winters. Here, the relationships between boundary layer structure and PM2.5 under different synoptic patterns were analysed. Firstly, the wintertime synoptic circulation patterns in Shanghai have been classified into seven types using the obliquely rotated Principal Components in T-mode (PCT) method based on the 925 hPa geopotential data. Then, the fine-resolution sounding-derived structures of planetary boundary layer (PBL) in these patterns, including PBL height (PBLH), inversion base height, and inversion intensity, combined with the relative humidity (RH) and temperature were analysed with respect to PM2.5. The results showed that three typical patterns, including high pressure located to the west, and those to the southwest and south of Shanghai, accounted for 62.17% of the total number of cases characterized by high PM2.5 concentrations. The north-westerly winds were found to dominate these specific synoptic patterns, causing severe pollution when polluted air masses from the northwest region of China were brought into Shanghai. The local meteorological factors within the PBL also influenced PM2.5 to varying extent in Shanghai under different synoptic conditions. Particularly, the PM2.5 concentrations were anti-correlated with PBLH (R = -0.2 at 0800 Beijing Local Time (BJT); R = -0.3 at 2000 BJT). Also, temperature inversion played an important role in aerosol pollution. The intensity of temperature inversion was slightly correlated with PM2.5 (R = 0.13). The base height of the temperature inversion was more closely anti-correlated with PM2.5 (R = -0.25). The frequent near-surface temperature inversions in the latter two synoptic patterns were unfavourable for the spread and dispersion of aerosol pollutants in the PBL, thus leading to severe aerosol pollution. This study has important implications for better understanding of the association of atmospheric circulation patterns with air pollution episodes in Shanghai.

Ammonia is essential for food and energy. Industrial ammonia synthesis via Haber–Bosch process is energy-intensive and releases large amount of CO2. Increasing research efforts are devoted to “green” ammonia synthesis. The present article reviews the recent progress in the fields of thermocatalytic, electrocatalytic, photocatalytic and chemical looping processes for dinitrogen reduction towards ammonia formation and discusses the challenges borne for mild-condition synthesis.

Elucidating the vertical structures of clouds is key to reducing the uncertainty in cloud-induced climate forcing; however, we do not yet know explicitly about the cloud structures that form over Beijing, China, and how they vary. In this paper, we document vertically resolved cloud structures and their climatological variation based on three-year (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017) ground-based Ka-band (35 GHz) millimeter-wave cloud radar (MMCR) measurements. Cloud top height (CTH) and radar reflectivity are higher in summer and autumn than in spring and winter. We verified the MMCR measurements of the CTH and cloud base height (CBH) independently based on observations from the Himawari-8 and CL51 ceilometer at the same station, respectively. The CTH decreased as the thickness of the cloud layer increased. This may have been due to the mechanism used to determine the CTH, which was based on data from the satellite infrared channel. There were two peaks in the CBH distribution, located at 0–1 km and 5–6 km, whereas the frequency of the CTH peaked at an altitude of 9–10 km, between 1200 and 1800 LST. Precipitating clouds tended to be located at lower altitudes and exhibited stronger radar reflectivities than non-precipitating clouds. The cloud frequency tended to peak in autumn and reached a minimum in winter. In terms of the seasonality of clouds at various levels, middle- and high-level clouds were dominant over Beijing, with high and low (precipitating) clouds concentrated between May and October. Mid-altitude clouds occurred more frequently in winter and spring. CTH peaked in summer due to the strong solar radiation received by the surface. In contrast, minimum CBH occurred in winter. The cloud heights were higher and radar reflectivities larger than reported in previous studies. These results are correlated with urban warming effects. Understanding the properties of clouds will not only be of benefit to researchers carrying out cloud forcing studies, but will also provide key validation data for climate model simulations.

This study evaluates the long-term Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 6.1 (C6.1) Level 3 atmospheric aerosol products over land. For this purpose, three monthly aerosol optical depth (AOD) datasets, including Dark Target (DT), Deep Blue (DB) and combined DT and DB (DTB) during 2003–2017, are collected. Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Version 2 Level 2.0 (cloud-screened and quality-assured) monthly measurements at 431 sites around the world are selected for comparison. This study attempts to provide a better understanding of the different MODIS products for their applicability at multiple spatial scales and their suitability for representing the long-term trend of aerosol characteristics. Experiments are performed with direct comparisons between MODIS retrievals and AERONET measurements at global, local to site scales. Meanwhile, the spatial and temporal variations are also compared and discussed. Our results illustrate that C6.1 MODIS AOD retrievals are well correlated with AERONET AOD measurements globally, while the DTB product performs best at most regions, yet the DB product is superior at the site scale. In general, Terra AOD products always overestimate while Aqua AOD products are more accurate in describing the annual mean AOD loadings over land. For long-term aerosol trends, there are small differences between Terra and Aqua aerosol products. Among the three aerosol datasets, neither one can consistently outperform the others in both spatial and temporal aerosol variations over land. In general, DTB products can more accurately capture the correct aerosol changes and are strongly recommended for selection in related aerosol studies at the global scale.

Transboundary air pollution (TAP), which is strongly affected by weather and climate, is a primary contributor to air pollution. Both El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and heatwaves exert influences on TAP, thereby affecting air quality, which has yet to be well understood. This study applied an integrated statistical scheme to examine the contributions of local emission sources and TAP to particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide during four ENSO events and 20 heatwaves from 2002 to 2016. Hong Kong was studied as an example because of its substantial TAP that can provide useful reference for cities with TAP. We found a remarkable and consistent reduction in the TAP contribution to pollutants during two El Nino events because of the associated rainfall increase, decreased frequency of northerly winds below 700 hPa, and overall stronger wind speed. Moreover, the TAP was the predominant contributor to the increase in the ambient PM concentration during the two La Nina events because of the associated decrease in rainfall, higher frequency of northerly winds below 900 hPa, and weaker wind speed, which were favorable to long-range transport and pollutant accumulation. The ten heatwaves associated with tropical cyclones within a distance of 1100 km from Hong Kong were accompanied by an increase in pollutant concentration, which was featured by the lower wind speed and less rainfall. Our findings highlight the long-term seasonal variability of TAP, and increases in TAP during the El Nino events and heatwaves.

The cloud structure determined from ground-based measurements is generally important to the better understanding of the climate system. This study examines vertically-resolved cloud structures and their characteristics over Beijing using one year (1 December 2016 to 30 November 2017) of ground-based Ka-band (35 GHz) millimeter-wave cloud radar (MMCR) measurements. MMCR-derived cloud-base heights (CBHs) and cloud-top heights (CTHs) are compared with those derived from a Vaisala CL51 ceilometer (CL51) and those retrieved from the Himawari-8 geostationary satellite (HW8). Overall, the MMCR-derived CBHs are slightly higher (by 0.08 km) than those derived from the CL51. By contrast, the MMCR-derived CTHs are significantly higher (by 0.82 km) than those retrieved from the HW8 satellite. In the presence of precipitation, the MMCR-derived cloud boundaries are generally lower than those obtained by the CL51 due to the much larger rain-induced attenuation of MMCR signals. In particular, the discrepancy between MMCR- and CL51-derived CBHs decreases with rainfall intensity, as opposed to CTHs from the MMCR and the HW8 satellite that increase with rainfall intensity. CL51 and HW8 data can be used to complement MMCR data when there is rainfall or when MMCR data is missing. This enables the development of a seasonal cloud climatology for Beijing. CTHs reach a peak in summer, and CBHs are lowest in winter. The observed cloud properties reported here will not only facilitate future cloud forcing studies but also provide a validation data source for climate models.

Particulates smaller than 1.0 μm (PM1.0) have strong associations with public health and environment, and considerable exposure data should be obtained to understand the actual environmental burden. This study presented a PM1.0 estimation strategy based on the generalised regression neural network model. The proposed strategy combined ground-based observations of PM2.5 and satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) to estimate PM1.0 concentrations in China from July 2015 to June 2017. Results indicated that the PM1.0 estimates agreed well with the ground-based measurements with an R2 of 0.74, root mean square error of 19.0 μg/m3 and mean absolute error of 11.4 μg/m3 as calculated with the tenfold cross-validation method. The diurnal estimation performance displayed remarkable single-peak variation with the highest R2 of 0.80 at noon, and the seasonal estimation performance showed that the proposed method could effectively capture high-pollution events of PM1.0 in winter. Spatially, the most polluted areas were clustered in the North China Plain, where the average estimates presented a bimodal distribution during daytime. In addition, the quality of satellite-derived AOD, the robustness of the interpolation algorithm and the proportion of PM1.0 in PM2.5 were confirmed to affect the estimation accuracy of the proposed model.

A reference height that often needs to be assumed in aerosol retrieval from Raman lidar tends to cause high uncertainty in retrieving the vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties. Here, a novel method is proposed to determine the height-revolved reference height, which is then used to retrieve aerosols from Raman lidar. This method can automatically avoid the atmospheric layers with the presence of aerosols, clouds and low signal to noise ratio (SNR). Based on elastic (at 355 nm) and inelastic (at 387 nm) signals collected during the period from 5 December 2016 to 5 March 2017 by a ground-based Raman lidar in Beijing, China, the aerosol optical properties, such as extinction coefficient, backscattering coefficient and lidar ratio have been successfully retrieved. Results show that the averaged nighttime aerosol optic depth (AOD) from Raman lidar is in good agreement with early morning AOD retrieved from a collocated sunphotometer. The AOD exhibits a strong diurnal variation with a peak at 1500 Beijing time. On average, the nighttime AOD at 355 nm is 0.32, whereas the daytime AOD is 0.72 over Beijing during the study period. The column averaged lidar ratio is 44 sr at 355 nm, roughly consistent with previous studies. Our findings shed light on the pathways towards improving the retrieval of vertical distribution of aerosols optical properties during nighttime.

Simultaneous determination of 58 congeners of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs), brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Br-PAHs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from multiple stages of industrial-scale secondary copper smelting plants was conducted with the aim of understanding their variations and control. In addition to the historical manufacture of PBDEs as brominated flame retardants, this study confirmed that PBDEs can be unintentionally produced and released from the secondary copper industry. The average mass emission factors of PBDD/Fs, PBDEs, and Br-PAHs from different sources were 10.0, 5.21 × 10

Small-molecule kinase inhibitors have been well established and successfully developed in the last decades for cancer target therapies. However, intrinsic or acquired drug resistance is becoming the major barrier for their clinical application. With the development of immunotherapies, in particular the discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), the combination of ICIs with other therapies have recently been extensively explored, among which combination of ICIs with kinase inhibitors achieves promising clinical outcome in a plethora of cancer types. Here we comprehensively summarize the potent roles of protein kinases in modulating immune checkpoints both in tumor and immune cells, and reshaping tumor immune microenvironments by evoking innate immune response and neoantigen generation or presentation. Moreover, the clinical trial and approval of combined administration of kinase inhibitors with ICIs are collected, highlighting the precise strategies to benefit cancer immune therapies.