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The influence of continental emissions on the origin and formation mechanisms of atmospheric particulate nitrate (ρ‐NO3−) aerosols in the marine boundary layer remains unclear. Here, synchronous observations of nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N–NO3−) and oxygen isotope anomaly (Δ17O–NO3−) in ρ‐NO3− were conducted across the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in Eastern China. Nitrate concentrations, δ15N–NO3− and Δ17O–NO3− exhibited a pronounced north‐to‐south latitudinal gradient. Combined with backward air mass trajectory analysis, the high nitrate concentration and isotopic characteristics in the northern sea area were found to be affected by the continental outflow near China while the low values in the southern sea area were more related to the oceanic inflow. Stable isotope analysis in R (SIAR) indicated that near the northern sea area, the nitrate radicals (NO3) reacted with hydrocarbons (HC) or dimethyl sulfides (DMS) pathway (NO3 + HC/DMS) played a leading role in nitrate production, whereas the NO2 + OH pathway dominated near the southern sea area. Nitrate in the northern seas originated mainly from nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2, the gaseous precursor of nitrate) emitted from continental sources, especially coal combustion and biomass burning. While closer to the southern seas, the proportion of NOx generated in the marine environment (from ship and biogenic emissions) increased. Overall, the differential relative contributions of continental and marine atmospheric chemistry and NOx sources lead to the spatial distribution characteristics of atmospheric nitrate concentrations and isotopic values over the Yellow and Bohai Seas. Plain Language Summary: This study investigated the impact of emissions from land sources on the formation of nitrate particles in the air above the marine boundary layer. The researchers conducted observations of nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in nitrate particles across the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in Eastern China. They found that nitrate concentrations and isotopic ratios showed a clear gradient from north to south. By analyzing the trajectory of air masses, they determined that high nitrate concentrations in the northern sea area were influenced by emissions from the nearby continent, while lower values in the southern sea area were more related to the ocean. The analysis also revealed that different chemical pathways were responsible for nitrate production in these regions. In the northern seas, nitrate production was primarily driven by the reaction of nitrate radicals with hydrocarbons or dimethyl sulfides, while in the southern seas, the dominant pathway involved the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with hydroxyl radicals. The study further showed that nitrate in the northern seas mainly originated from nitrogen oxides emitted by continental sources such as coal combustion and biomass burning, whereas closer to the southern seas, a larger proportion of nitrogen oxides were generated within the marine environment. Key Points: Continental outflow significantly affects the sources and formation mechanisms of atmospheric nitrate in nearshore marine areasAs continental outflow diminishes, local chemistry and marine‐generated NOx become pivotal in producing atmospheric NO3− in the open ocean. In polluted marine boundary layers, NO3 radical‐related chemistry may play a significant role in the formation of nitrate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The light absorption capacity of water‐soluble humic‐like substances (HULISWS) at the molecular level is crucial for reducing the uncertainties in modeling the radiative forcing. This study proposed a machine learning approach to allocate the light absorption coefficient at 365 nm (Abs365) of HULISWS into 8084 Fourier transform‐ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT‐ICR‐MS) detached molecular markers and their potential functional groups. The ML model showed an acceptable uncertainty (<5%) to the whole Abs365 value based on the prediction errors. The results showed that five critical light‐absorbing molecules (C4H6O4NS, C8H6O4NS, C11H15O3N2, C12H15O3N2, and C19H21O6) could explain 74% (±3%) of the variation of Abs365 in the winter, whereas no crucial light‐absorbing molecules were found in the summer. Besides, the nitrogen‐containing functional groups were found to dominate (61% ± 8%) the molecular absorption near the 365 nm of the spectrum. This work illustrated how functional groups affect the absorption of HULISWS, providing critical information for future research of HULISWS on the molecular level. Plain Language Summary: Water‐soluble humic‐like substances are a crucial light‐absorbing component of fine particulate matter in China. Understanding the crucial light‐absorbing chromophores of the light‐absorbing mixtures was helpful in controlling the global warming event. In this study, CHON and CHONS species were found to dominate the light absorption coefficient of water‐soluble humic‐like substances in Nanjing by combining the machine learning algorithm with the FT‐ICR‐MS technique. Then, the dominant light‐absorbing molecules were further combined with the UV‐Vis spectra from the chemical database to further estimate the light‐absorbing functional groups. Our results indicated that nitrogen‐containing functional groups dominate the light‐absorbing ability of water‐soluble humic‐like substances. Key Points: Appropriate synthetic minority over‐sampling based few‐shot learning could decipher the light‐absorbing molecules from a small data setC4H6O4NS, C8H6O4NS, C11H15O3N2, C12H15O3N2, and C19H21O6 dominate the Abs365 of HULISWS in NanjingNitrogen‐containing functional groups dominate the light‐absorbing ability of HULISWS at a micro‐level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to understand the influencing factors for home peritoneal dialysis patients choosing APD and to provide a scientific basis for improving the completion rate of APD treatment and the follow-up of peritoneal dialysis patients.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. A total of 588 patients on peritoneal dialysis were randomly selected from 6 regions in Fujian Province in southern China using a stratified cluster sampling method.Results: The mean age of the patients were 56.5 ± 14.73 years. In the univariate analysis, knowledge, user experience and family support were the factors that affected patients' choice of APD (all P < 0.05) and were positively correlated with the treatment utilization rate. In the multivariate analysis, 3 factors (treatment with APD, knowledge of APD, and family support) remained significantly associated not choosing APD. The selection rate for APD was 2.594 times higher among patients who had received APD than among patients who had never received APD. The selection rate for patients with "a lot of knowledge" about APD was 10.75 times that of patients with "no knowledge".Conclusion: Patients' knowledge of APD, experience in application and family support were the main factors affecting the choice of APD as a treatment mode (P < 0.05) and were positively correlated with the treatment utilization rate. Further studies are needed to improve the APD treatment completion rates by modulation the above-mentioned factors.Relevance to Clinical Practice: This study provides scientific evidence for improving APD treatment completion rates and improving patient quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic nitrate (NO3−) is a crucial component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in haze events in China. Understanding the formation mechanisms of nitrate and the sources of NOx was critical to control the air pollution. In this study, measurements of multiple isotope compositions of nitrate (δ18O‐NO3−, δ17O‐NO3−, and δ15N‐NO3−) in PM2.5 were conducted in Hangzhou from 9 October 2015 to 24 August 2016. Our results showed that oxygen anomaly of nitrate (Δ17O‐NO3−: 20.0‰–37.9‰) and nitrogen isotope of nitrate (δ15N‐NO3−: −2.9‰ to 18.1‰) values were higher in winter and lower in summer. Based on Δ17O‐NO3− observation and a Bayesian model, NO3 radical chemistry was found to dominate the nitrate formation in winter, while photochemical reaction (NO2 + OH) was the main pathway in summer. After considering the nitrogen isotopic fractionation in the NOx(g)‐NO3−(p) conversion, the average contributions of coal combustion, vehicle exhausts, biomass burning, and soil emission were 50% ± 9%, 19% ± 12%, 26% ± 15%, and 5% ± 4%, respectively, to nitrate aerosols during the whole sampling period. Coal combustion was the most important nitrate source in Hangzhou, especially in winter (∼56%). The contribution of soil emission increased significantly in summer due to active soil microbial processes under high temperature environment. Plain Language Summary: Inorganic nitrate is a crucial component of fine particulate matter in haze events in China. Understanding the formation mechanisms and sources of nitrate was critical to control the air pollution. In this study, measurements of multiple isotope compositions of nitrate showed that oxygen anomaly and nitrogen isotope of nitrate are distinct in winter and summer. Then, nitrate radical chemistry was found to dominate the nitrate formation in winter, while photochemical reaction (nitrogen dioxide with hydroxyl radical) was the main pathway in summer. After considering the nitrogen isotopic fractionation in the conversion from nitrogen oxides to nitrate particle, coal combustion was the most important nitrate source in Hangzhou, especially in winter (56%) and the contribution of soil emission increased significantly in summer under high temperature environment. Key Points: NO3 radical chemistry was dominant in nitrate production in the polluted atmosphere in HangzhouThe isotopic fractionation effect in the NOx(g)‐NO3−(p) conversion showed a greater impact on the source apportionment of nitrate aerosolsCoal combustion was the main source of nitrate aerosols in Hangzhou [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and objective: Anti‐CD19 CAR‐T cell therapy is effective in B‐cell lymphoma. However, it is rarely used in lymphoma combined with other malignant tumours. Case description: A relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (r/r FL) patient underwent anti‐CD19 CAR‐T cell therapy and achieved complete response to lymphoma. However, gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) was diagnosed during the cellular therapy. After infusion of CAR‐T cells, he received curative treatment for GAC, and maitained complete response in both r/r FL and GAC after the treatment. What is new and conclusion: Anti‐CD19 CAR‐T therapy is an effective treatment for r/r FL, also provided opportunity for the sequential therapy of GAC, and remained significant quality of life afterwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the human body is an important factor leading to diseases. Therefore, research on the content of reactive oxygen species in atmospheric particles is necessary. In recent years, the online detection technology of ROS has been developed. However, there are few technical studies on online detection of ROS based on the dithiothreitol (DTT) method. Here, to modify the instrument, a DTT experimental module is added that is protected from light and filled with nitrogen at the end based on the Monitor for AeRosols and Gases in ambient Air (MARGA). The experimental study found that the detection limit of the modified instrument is 0.024 nmol min -1. The DTT consumption rate of blank sample (ultrapure water) is reduced by 44 %, which eliminates the influence of outside air and light in the experiment. And the accuracy of the online instrument is determined by comparing the online and offline levels of the samples, which yielded good consistency (slope 0.97, R2=0.95). It shows that the performance of the instrument is indeed optimized, the instrument is stable, and the characterization of ROS is accurate. The instrument not only realizes online detection conveniently and quickly, but also achieves the hour-by-hour detection of ROS based on the DTT method. Meanwhile, reactive oxygen and inorganic ions in atmospheric particles are quantified using the online technique in the northern suburbs of Nanjing. It is found that the content of ROS during the day is higher than that at night, especially after it rains; ROS peaks appear in the two time periods of 08:00–10:00 and 16:00–18:00 (China Standard Time, UTC + 8:00; expressed here in local time – LT). In addition, examination of the online ROS, water-soluble ion (SO42- , NO3- , NH4+ , Na+ , Ca2+ , K+), BC, and polluting gas (SO2 , CO, O3 , NO, NOx) measurements revealed that photo-oxidation and secondary formation processes could be important sources of aerosol ROS. This breakthrough enables the quantitative assessment of atmospheric particulate matter ROS at the diurnal scale, providing an effective tool to study sources and environmental impacts of ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic nitrate production is critical in atmospheric chemistry that reflects the oxidation capacity and the acidity of the atmosphere. Here we use the oxygen anomaly of nitrate (Δ17O( NO 3 − )) in high-time-resolved (3 h) aerosols to explore the chemical mechanisms of nitrate evolution in fine particles during the winter in Nanjing, a megacity of China. The continuous Δ17O( NO 3 − ) observation suggested the dominance of nocturnal chemistry (NO3 + HC/H2O and N2O5 + H2O/Cl−) in nitrate formation in the wintertime. Significant diurnal variations of nitrate formation pathways were found. The contribution of nocturnal chemistry increased at night and peaked (72%) at midnight. Particularly, nocturnal pathways became more important for the formation of nitrate in the process of air pollution aggravation. In contrast, the contribution of daytime chemistry (NO2 + OH/H2O) increased with the sunrise and showed a highest fraction (48%) around noon. The hydrolysis of N2O5 on particle surfaces played an important role in the daytime nitrate production on haze days. In addition, the reaction of NO2 with OH radicals was found to dominate the nitrate production after nitrate chemistry was reset by the precipitation events. These results suggest the importance of high-time-resolved observations of Δ17O( NO 3 − ) for exploring dynamic variations in reactive nitrogen chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation (CH) combined with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in China, but there is a lack of literature to evaluate its efficacy and clinical value. Purpose: This study compared CH + NAC with other treatments by network meta-analysis to clarify its clinical value. Methods: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, VIP Database, and China Biology Medicine were searched. Outcomes included lung function (DLCO (%), VC (%), FVC (%), FVC (L)), 6-min walking distance (6MWD), score of St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), blood gas analysis (PaO2, PaCO2). The data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.4, Stata 12.0 and ADDIS 1.16.5. Results: 23 studies including 1390 patients (702 in intervention group and 688 in control group) were collected to compare 8 outcome indicators among different treatments involving CH, CH+NAC, CH+PFD, NAC, PFD and PFD+NAC on IPF. Network meta-analysis showed that CH was better than NAC in terms of DLCO (%) (MD = 5.14, 95%CI: 1.01 to 8.68) and 6MWD (MD = 49.17, 95%CI: 25.97 to 71.36) as well as PFD + NAC was better than NAC in terms of FVC (L) (MD = -0.56, 95%CI: -0.83 to -0.31). In rankings results, CH + NAC is the best in terms of FVC (%), SGRQ, PaO2 and PaCO2; CH is the best in terms of DLCO (%), VC (%) and 6MWD; CH + PFD is the best in terms of FVC (L). Conclusion: CH related treatments may have advantages in the treatment of IPF and CH + NAC may have clinical application value. However, limited by the quality and quantity of researches included, more rational and scientific randomized controlled trials containing large sample sizes need to be conducted to further verify our conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the influences of continental emissions on marine aerosols from East Asia, the total suspended particle (TSP) samples were collected from the Yellow Sea (YS) and Bohai Sea (BS) of China through a cruise campaign during the spring of 2018. >100 individual organic compounds were identified and determined in the samples, and they were classified into 6 major groups according to the functionality and sources. The mass concentrations of total quantified organic compounds in BS (307.6 ± 268.3 ng m−3) was approximately 3 times those of YS (111.0 ± 97.3 ng m−3). Organic compounds from biomass burning (23.2 ± 34.2 ng m−3), marine/microbial source (23.1 ± 6.2 ng m−3) and fossil fuel combustion (21.4 ± 11.3 ng m−3) were the most abundant in the YS samples, whereas primary biological origins (90.0 ± 107.1 ng m−3), biomass burning (52.1 ± 39.1 ng m−3) and fossil fuel combustion (41.9 ± 20.1 ng m−3) were the most important organic species in BS marine aerosols. The concentrations of total biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) tracers including six isoprene SOA (SOA I), three monoterpene SOA (SOA M), and one β -caryophyllene SOA (SOA C) were 2.4 ± 1.5 ng m−3 and 7.3 ± 4.4 ng m−3 in the YS and BS samples, respectively. A strong correlation between BSOA tracers and levoglucosan was shown in the marine aerosol samples, indicating that biomass burning emissions could also promote BSOA formations. The spatial distribution of chemical and source characteristics suggests a relatively large impacts of continental emissions to the BS aerosols. Based on the tracer-based method, the biomass burning (YS: 4.9 ± 6.8%; BS: 8.8 ± 8.0%) was the largest contributor to OC, followed by primary biogenic OC (YS: 0.59 ± 0.44%; BS: 2.9 ± 3.0%) and biogenic secondary OC (YS: 0.45 ± 0.23%; BS: 1.0 ± 0.59%). This study suggests important contributions of biomass burning emissions to organic aerosols in the YS and BS marine atmosphere, although marine source, fossil fuel combustion and secondary formation was also substantial. [Display omitted] • Chemical and source characteristics of marine organic aerosols over the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea were studied. • Biomass burning is a major contributor of marine organic aerosols over the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. • Biogenic primary emission contribution to organic carbon is higher than biogenic-derived secondary formation. • The Bohai Sea is more receptive to the input of continental emissions than the Yellow Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) are a new type of substance with potential health risks. EPFRs are widely present in atmospheric particulates, but there is a limited understanding of the size-resolved health risks of these radicals. This study reports the exposure risks and source of EPFRs in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) of different particle sizes (<10 µm) in Linfen, a typical coal-burning city in China. The type of EPFRs in fine particles (< 2.1 µm) is different from that in coarse particles (2.1–10 µm) in both winter and summer. However, the EPFR concentration is higher in coarse particles than in fine particles in summer, and the opposite trend is found in winter. In both seasons, combustion sources are the main sources of EPFRs, with coal combustion as the major contributor in winter, while other fuels are the major source in summer. Dust contributes part of the EPFRs, and it is mainly present in coarse particles in winter and the opposite in summer. The upper respiratory tract was found to be the area with the highest risk of exposure to EPFRs of the studied aerosols, with an exposure equivalent to that of approximately 21 cigarettes per person per day. Alveolar exposure to EPFRs is equivalent to 8 cigarettes per person per day, with combustion sources contributing the most to EPFRs in the alveoli. This study helps us to better understand the potential health risks of atmospheric PM with different particle sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the characteristics of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) in the semiarid region of East Asia, PM 2.5 and size-resolved particles in the urban atmosphere of Xi'an, inland China, during the winter and summer of 2017 were collected and analyzed for optical properties and chemical compositions. Methanol extracts (MeOH extracts) were more light-absorbing than water extracts (H2O extracts) in the optical wavelength of 300–600 nm and well correlated with nitrophenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygenated PAHs (r>0.78). The light absorptions (abs λ=365nm) of H2O extracts and MeOH extracts in winter were 28±16 and 49±32 M m -1 , respectively, which are about 10 times higher than those in summer, mainly due to the enhanced emissions from biomass burning for house heating. Water-extracted BrC predominately occurred in the fine mode (< 2.1 µ m) during winter and summer, accounting for 81 % and 65 % of the total absorption of BrC, respectively. The light absorption and stable carbon isotope composition measurements showed an increasing ratio of abs λ=365nm -MeOH to abs λ=550nm -EC along with an enrichment of 13C in PM 2.5 during the haze development, indicating an accumulation of secondarily formed BrC (e.g., nitrophenols) in the aerosol aging process. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis showed that biomass burning, fossil fuel combustion, secondary formation, and fugitive dust are the major sources of BrC in the city, accounting for 55 %, 19 %, 16 %, and 10 % of the total BrC of PM 2.5 , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass burning can significantly impact the chemical and optical properties of carbonaceous aerosols. Here, the biomass burning impacts were studied during wintertime in a megacity of Nanjing, eastern China. The high abundance of biomass burning tracers such as levoglucosan (lev), mannosan (man), galactosan (gal) and non-sea-salt potassium (nss- K+) was found during the studied period with the concentration ranges of 22.4–1476 ng m -3 , 2.1–56.2 ng m -3 , 1.4–32.2 ng m -3 and 0.2–3.8 µ g m -3 , respectively. The significant contribution of biomass burning to water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC; 22.3±9.9 %) and organic carbon (OC; 20.9±9.3 %) was observed in this study. Backward air mass origin analysis, potential emission sensitivity of elemental carbon (EC) and MODIS fire spot information indicated that the elevations of the carbonaceous aerosols were due to the transported biomass-burning aerosols from southeastern China. The characteristic mass ratio maps of lev/man and lev/nss - K+ suggested that the biomass fuels were mainly crop residuals. Furthermore, the strong correlation (p<0.01) between biomass burning tracers (such as lev) and light absorption coefficient (babs) for water-soluble brown carbon (BrC) revealed that biomass burning emissions played a significant role in the light-absorption properties of carbonaceous aerosols. The solar energy absorption due to water-soluble brown carbon and EC was estimated by a calculation based on measured light-absorbing parameters and a simulation based on a radiative transfer model (RRTMG_SW). The solar energy absorption of water-soluble BrC in short wavelengths (300–400 nm) was 0.8±0.4 (0.2–2.3) W m -2 (figures in parentheses represent the variation range of each parameter) from the calculation and 1.2±0.5 (0.3–1.9) W m -2 from the RRTMG_SW model. The absorption capacity of water-soluble BrC accounted for about 20 %–30 % of the total absorption of EC aerosols. The solar energy absorption of water-soluble BrC due to biomass burning was estimated as 0.2±0.1 (0.0–0.9) W m -2 , considering the biomass burning contribution to carbonaceous aerosols. Potential source contribution function model simulations showed that the solar energy absorption induced by water-soluble BrC and EC aerosols was mostly due to the regionally transported carbonaceous aerosols from source regions such as southeastern China. Our results illustrate the importance of the absorbing water-soluble brown carbon aerosols in trapping additional solar energy in the low-level atmosphere, heating the surface and inhibiting the energy from escaping the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) is a significant fraction of organic carbon (OC) in atmospheric aerosols. WSOC is of great interest due to its significant effects on atmospheric chemistry, the Earth's climate and human health. The stable carbon isotope (δ13C) can be used to track the potential sources and investigate atmospheric processes of organic aerosols. However, the previous methods measuring the δ13C values of WSOC in ambient aerosols require a large amount of carbon content, are time-consuming and require labor-intensive preprocessing. In this study, a method of simultaneously measuring the mass concentration and the δ13C values of WSOC from aerosol samples is established by coupling the GasBench II preparation device with isotopic ratio mass spectrometry. The precision and accuracy of isotope determination is better than 0.17 ‰ and 0.5 ‰, respectively, for samples containing WSOC amounts larger than 5 µg. This method is then applied for the aerosol samples collected every 3 h during a severe wintertime haze period in Nanjing, eastern China. The WSOC values vary between 3 and 32 µg m -3 , whereas δ13C-WSOC ranges from -26.24 ‰ to -23.35 ‰. Three different episodes (Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3) are identified in the sampling period, showing a different tendency of δ13C-WSOC with the accumulation process of WSOC aerosols. The increases in both the WSOC mass concentrations and the δ13C-WSOC values in Episode 1 indicate that WSOC is subject to a substantial photochemical aging during the air mass transport. In Episode 2, the decline of the δ13C-WSOC is accompanied by the increase in the WSOC mass concentrations, which is associated with regional-transported biomass burning emissions. In Episode 3, heavier isotope (13C) is exclusively enriched in total carbon (TC) in comparison to WSOC aerosols. This suggests that the non-WSOC fraction in total carbon may contain 13C -enriched components such as dust carbonate, which is supported by the enhanced Ca2+ concentrations and air mass trajectory analysis. The present study provides a novel method to determine the stable carbon isotope composition of WSOC, and it offers a great potential to better understand the source emission, the atmospheric aging and the secondary production of water-soluble organic aerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric fine-particle (PM2:5) pollution is frequently associated with the formation of particulate nitrate (pNO-3), the end product of the oxidation of NOx gases (NOCNO2) in the upper troposphere. The application of stable nitrogen (N) (and oxygen) isotope analyses of pNO-3 to constrain NOx source partitioning in the atmosphere requires knowledge of the isotope fractionation during the reactions leading to nitrate formation. Here we determined the δ15N values of fresh pNO-3 (δ15N-pNO-3) in PM2:5 at a rural site in northern China, where atmospheric pNO-3 can be attributed exclusively to biomass burning. The observed δ15N- pNO-3 (12:17±1:55 ; n D 8) was much higher than the N isotopic source signature of NOx from biomass burning (1:04±4:13). The large difference between δ15N-pNO-3 and δ15N-NOx (1(δ15N)) can be reconciled by the net N isotope effect ("N) associated with the gas-particle conversion from NOx to NO-3. For the biomass burning site, a mean "N.ε 1.δ15N)) of 10:99±0:74 was assessed through a newly developed computational quantum chemistry (CQC) module. "N depends on the relative importance of the two dominant N isotope exchange reactions involved (NO2 reaction with OH versus hydrolysis of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) with H2O) and varies between regions and on a diurnal basis. A second, slightly higher CQC-based mean value for "N (15:33±4:90) was estimated for an urban site with intense traffic in eastern China and integrated in a Bayesian isotope mixing model to make isotope-based source apportionment estimates for NOx at this site. Based on the δ15N values (10:93±3:32; n D 43) of ambient pNO-3 determined for the urban site, and considering the location-specific estimate for "N, our results reveal that the relative contribution of coal combustion and road traffic to urban NOx is 32%±11% and 68%±11%, respectively. This finding agrees well with a regional bottom-up emission inventory of NOx. Moreover, the variation pattern of OH contribution to ambient pNO-3 formation calculated by the CQC module is consistent with that simulated by theWeather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), further confirming the robustness of our estimates. Our investigations also show that, without the consideration of the N isotope effect during pNO-3 formation, the observed δ15N-pNO-3 at the study site would erroneously imply that NOx is derived almost entirely from coal combustion. Similarly, reanalysis of reported δ15N-NO-3 data throughout China and its neighboring areas suggests that NOx emissions from coal combustion may be substantively overestimated (by > 30%) when the N isotope fractionation during atmospheric pNO-3 formation is neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study aims to investigate the application value of Internet‐based instant messaging software in the follow‐up of patients using peritoneal dialysis. Background: Peritoneal dialysis is an effective renal replacement treatment for end‐stage renal disease. The clinical usefulness of Internet‐based instant messaging software in the follow‐up of peritoneal dialysis patients, including the incidence of peritonitis and exit‐site infection, the levels of albumin and electrolytes and the degree of patients’ satisfaction, remains unknown. Design: Between January 2009–April 2016, a total of 160 patients underwent continuous peritoneal dialysis in the Department of Nephrology, Fujian Provincial Hospital were invited to participate voluntarily in this study. The patients were randomly assigned to the instant messenger (QQ) follow‐up group (n = 80) and the traditional follow‐up group (n = 80). The differences in death, hospitalisation, peritonitis, exit‐site infection, and patients’ satisfaction were investigated during 1 year of follow‐up. The mean follow‐up duration is 11.4 ± 1.5 months. Results: Compared with the patients in the traditional follow‐up group, patients in the QQ follow‐up group showed higher levels of serum albumin (p = .009) and haemoglobin (p = .009), lower levels of phosphorus (p < .001) and calcium‐phosphorus product (p = .001), and better degree of satisfaction (p < .001). Relevance to clinical practice: Internet‐based follow‐up by instant messaging software appears to be a feasible and acceptable method of delivering peritoneal dialysis treatment for patients with end‐stage renal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-soluble humic-like substances (HULIS ws) are a group of heterogeneous organic compounds in the atmosphere, greatly impacting climate change and human health. As the most significant biomass burning (BB) and fossil fuel burning polluted area in China, Northeast China Plain could generate more light absorbing HULIS ws to the atmosphere. In this work, daily fine particle (PM 2.5) samples were collected in Changchun, located in Northeast China Plain, from October 17th to November 29th, 2016, to investigate the potential sources of optical properties of HULIS ws. Here, the whole sampling period was divided into three sub-periods using the density of fire spots and the timeline of the central heating: the non-heating (October 17th to October 24th), early heating (October 25th to November 13th), and normal heating (November 14th to November 29th) periods. The mean mass concentrations of HULIS ws were 4.2 ± 1.2, 8.6 ± 3.6, and 2.4 ± 1.3 μg m−3 during the non-heating, early heating, and normal heating periods, respectively. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) model results suggested that the contribution of primary BB, secondary BB, and fossil fuel burning emissions were 46%, 24%, and 19% during the non-heating period, 22%, 29%, and 17% during the early heating period, and 13%, 16%, and 50% during the normal heating period, respectively. Combining the PMF results with the random forest (RF) algorithm, the contribution of each source to the optical properties was quantified. Here, BB still dominated the optical properties of HULIS ws in Northeast China. During the study period, the primary BB and secondary BB contributed 25% and 34% in the light absorption coefficient (Abs), 22% and 33% in the mass absorption exponent (MAE), and 17% and 33% in the absorption Ångström exponent (AAE), respectively. Other sources like cooking and fossil combustion contributed 25% and 35% in Abs, 35% and 26% in MAE, and 16% and 33% in AAE, respectively. • 72% biomass burning emission contributed 40%–50% to light absorption parameters. • 4% cooking emission contributed 16%–35% to light absorption parameters. • This work provides a fast and easy way to quantify the contribution of sources to the light absorption properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low molecular weight (LMW) organic acids are important and ubiquitous chemical constituents in the atmosphere. A comprehensive study of the chemical composition of precipitation was carried out from June 2007 to June 2008 at a rural site in Anshun, in the west of Guizhou Province, China. During this period, 118 rainwater samples were collected and the main LMW carboxylic acids were determined using ion chromatography. The average pH of rainwater was 4.89 which is a typical acidic value. The most abundant carboxylic acids were formic acid (volume weight mean concentration: 8.77 µmol L-1) and acetic acid (6.90 µmol L-1), followed by oxalic acid (2.05 µmol L-1 ). The seasonal variation of concentrations and wet deposition fluxes of organic acids indicated that direct vegetation emissions were the main sources of the organic acids. Highest concentrations were observed in winter and were ascribed to the low winter rainfall and the contribution of other air pollution sources northeast of the study area. The ratio of formic and acetic acids in the precipitation ([F/A]T) was proposed as an indicator of pollution source. This suggested that the pollution resulted from direct emissions from natural or anthropogenic sources. Comparison with acid precipitation in other urban and rural areas in Guizhou showed that there was a decreasing contribution of LMW organic acids to free acidity and all anions in rainwater from urban to remote rural areas. Consequently, it is necessary to control emissions of organic acids to reduce the frequency of acid rain, especially in rural and remote areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in haze days has been observed in China over the past two decades due to the rapid industrialization, urbanization and energy consumptions. To address this server issue, Chinese central government has recently released the Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, which mainly focuses on regulation of indusial and transport-related emissions with major energy consumption from fossil fuels. This comprehensive and toughest plan is definitely a major step in the right direction aiming at beautiful and environmental-friendly China; however, based on recent source apportionment results, we suggest that strengthening regulation emissions from biomass-burning sources in both urban and rural areas is needed to meet a rigorous reduction target. Here, household biofuel and open biomass burning are highlighted, as impacts of these emissions can cause local and regional pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air quality in China is tending to improve, especially in urban areas. Nevertheless, rural areas and underdeveloped cities in northern China are still suffering from severe air pollution in winter due to large usage of coal and unfavorable meteorological conditions. In this study, size-segregated aerosol samples were collected from a typical coal-combustion rural site in Linfen, China during an extreme air pollution episode in winter 2017. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n -alkanes, hopanes and steranes were identified to better understand the emission sources of the organic compounds and the health effects of the PAHs in the ambient air here. The PAHs showed a bimodal mode with the major peak in the Aitken mode (<0.4 μm) and the minor one in the size range of 0.7–2.1 μm. Daily PAHs level ranged from 0.5–1.6 μg m−3 (average: 1.1 ± 0.3 μg m−3) which was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than other major cities in China. The plots of log (PAH/PM)-log(Dp) showed the slope near −1 for four-, five- and six-ring PAHs, indicating both the adsorption and absorption mechanisms controlled the size distribution. The deposition efficiency displayed a bimodal mode in alveolar region (AR), and the major peak was within the Aitken mode. The total deposition flux (DF) in AR region was 92.7 ng h−1, and the DF based lifetime cancer risk (LCR) was about 2.7 × 10−4 for adults and 2.0 × 10−4 for children which were 2 orders of magnitude higher than the acceptable level of 10−6 proposed by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). In summary, the residential coal combustion was the most important source of PAHs, especially they emitted a large amount of PAHs in Aitken mode which led to the terrible air quality and high level of health risk. Therefore, the environmental protection measures should be tightened in such rural areas of north China. • Size-segregated samples were collected to study the PM 10 -bond PAHs in a typical coal combustion rural site in north China. • More than 60% of the PM 10 -bond PAHs were concentrated on PM 0.4 and the residential coal combustion was the primary source. • Hopanes and steranes, the molecular biomarkers of coal combustion, were identified in this study. • The Lifetime cancer risk was about two orders of magnitude higher than the guideline of 10−6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the characteristics and source apportionment of organic aerosols in ambient PM 2.5 samples collected during the late autumn in Changchun, Northeast China. 8 compound classes (>90 individual species) were detected in the aerosol samples, including biomass burning tracers, aliphatic lipids (fatty acids and fatty alcohols), secondary oxidation products, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), sugar compounds, hopanes and biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) tracers. The concentrations of total quantified organic species ranged from 138.2 to 6.8 × 103 ng m−3, among which levoglucosan was the most abundant compound. Biomass burning tracers (anhydrosugars, lignin and resin acids) were the most abundant compounds, followed by fatty acids, secondary oxidation products, PAHs, sugar compounds and fatty alcohols. Biogenic SOA tracers and hopanes were less abundant. The homohopane index [defined as 31abS/(31abS + 31abR)] was 0.5, indicating a potential contribution of traffic emission. PAHs showed a dominance of benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), and the diagnostic ratios implicated a substantial contribution of petroleum combustion as well as coal combustion. 2-methylglyceric acid to 2-methyltetrols ratio (2.2) indicated that NOx influence isoprene oxidation products formation. Furthermore, the average ratio of cis-pinonic acid plus pinic acid to 3-hydroxyglutaric acid (31.4) revealed the much fresher α / β -pinene oxidation products to some extent. A good correlation was found between β -caryophyllinic acid and levoglucosan (r = 0.61), suggesting that β -caryophyllene can mainly be generated by biomass burning. The biogenic secondary organic carbon (SOC) was underestimated by the tracer-based method, which only occupied 0.4% of the organic carbon (OC). In contrast, PMF model indicated that emissions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning were most important, accounting for 42.4% and 33.6%, respectively, followed by biogenic SOA emission (17.0%) and fungal spore derived source (7.0%), suggesting biogenic aerosol is a nonnegative contributor. Fossil fuel combustion (42.4%) as well as biomass burning (33.6%) were most important contributors of organic aerosols in a typical city in Northeast China. Image 1 • The chemical and source characteristics of organic aerosols in Northeast China was studied. • 90 individual species were quantified with biomass burning tracers as most abundant compounds. • NOx influence SOA formation from isoprene. • Fossil combustion (42.4%) and biomass burning (33.6%) were most important contributors of OA. • Biogenic aerosol is a non-negligible contributor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a great threat to public health. We present the safety and immunogenicity data from a phase I trial in China of an mRNA vaccine (LVRNA009). In the single-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled and dose-escalation study, 72 healthy unvaccinated adults aged 18–59 years were randomized (3:1) to receive LVRNA009 with one of three vaccine dosage (25, 50 and 100 μg) or placebo, to evaluate for the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of LVRNA009. All these participants received two injections 28 days apart. No adverse events higher than grade 2 were reported during the study. A total of 30 participants (42 %) reported solicited adverse reactions during the first 14 days after vaccinations. Of the events reported, fever (n = 11, 15 %) was the most common systemic adverse reaction, and pain at the injection site (n = 17, 24 %) was the most frequent solicited local adverse reaction. Anti-S-protein IgG and neutralising antibodies were observed to have been induced 14 days after the first dose, significantly increased 7 days after the second dose, and remained at a high level 28 days after the second dose. Specific T-cell responses peaked 7 days and persisted 28 days after second vaccination. LVRNA009 has demonstrated promising results in safety and tolerability at all three dose levels among Chinese adults. LVRNA009 at three dose levels could rapidly induce strong humoral and cellular immune responses, including binding and neutralising antibody production and IFN- γ secretion, which showed good immunogenicity. Clinical trial registration number: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05364047; Chictr.org.cn ChiCTR2100049349. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrate is the major component of fine particle matter in recent years, and fog deposition is an important sink form of atmospheric nitrate aerosol. However, evidence shows that high relative humidity, and stable atmosphere condition may lead to the rapid increase of secondary aerosols, including nitrate. Therefore, whether fog event is a sink or a source of nitrate aerosol is still an open question. Simultaneous observations of concentration and isotopes of nitrate both in PM 2.5 and fog water during fog event were conducted during a heavy fog event happened in winter of 2018 in Nanjing, a megacity sited in the Yangzi River Delta, China. Based on nine 12-h time resolution fog water samples and eleven 24-h time resolution PM 2.5 samples, it was found that NO 3 − concentration in PM 2.5 increased during the fog event (from 10.4 ± 8.6 μg m−3 to 21.2 ± 11.0 μg m−3). Compared with Δ17O–NO 3 - in PM 2.5 before (28.4 ± 3.7‰) and after the fog event (28.6 ± 1.3‰), Δ17O–NO 3 - in PM 2.5 during the fog event was higher (31.6 ± 1.2‰) and Δ17O–NO 3 - in fog water was lower (24.3 ± 1.2‰). The increased NO 3 − in PM 2.5 during the fog event had a different formation pathway compared with NO 3 − in PM 2.5 when there is no fog, and NO 3 − in fog water had another formation pathway as well. Explosive growth of NO 3 − in PM 2.5 may come from active NO 3 + HC reaction, along with happen of fog event through the reaction of NO 2 with ·OH or H 2 O and hydrolysis of N 2 O 5. As the fog event finished, the fog water possibly mainly settled NO 3 − newly generated during the fog event. It seems the fog event may be a source rather than a sink of atmospheric nitrate aerosols in this case. [Display omitted] • Nitrate is the main ion in fog water in urban area, mainly come from reaction of NO 2 with ·OH/H 2 O and hydrolysis of N 2 O 5. • Plenty of nitrate particles generated by reaction of NO 3 with HC/H 2 O during the fog event, mainly came from coal burning. • Fog water mainly settled nitrate particles newly generated during the fog event rather than that before the fog event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the local emissions and transportations of air pollution from the most polluted regions such as the North China Plain and Yangtze Delta metropolitan, Xuzhou is becoming one of the most polluted cities in East China. The sources and formation processes of nitrogen-containing aerosols are therefore very complex. Two continuous aerosol measurement campaigns were conducted in this industrial city during the wintertime and summertime of 2016, to investigate the chemical compositions and potential sources of total nitrogen (TN, including 89% inorganic nitrogen and 11% organic nitrogen) in PM 2.5. Abrupt enhancements of nitrogen-containing aerosols (e.g., NO 3 − and NH 4 +) were found in the winter, and nitrate became as a dominant contributor in high pollution days (e.g., PM 2.5 > 150 μg m−3). Nitrogen oxidation ratios (NOR) correlated significantly with aerosol liquid water content (ALWC), which was estimated by ISORPROPIA-II model. This suggested heterogeneous process might be an important pathway in nitrate formation during the high PM 2.5 days. The nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) in TN varied from −1.3 to +13.2‰ with a mean value of 6.9 ± 3.6‰ during the wintertime. An isotope-based source apportionment approach was then developed using a Bayesian isotope mixing model (SIAR) with chemical compositions as an important constrain, which improved accuracy and reduced the overall uncertainties in estimations of TN sources. From this optimized model, we identified six major sources including NH 3 from combustion-related emissions (49%), NH 3 derived from animal wastes (6%), NH 3 from urban volatilization (3%), NO x derived from coal combustion (33%), NO x from biomass burning (5%) and NO x from vehicles (3%). Our results demonstrated that ambient NO x was dominated by coal combustion. Since NO x and NH 3 are important precursors for ammonium nitrate aerosols, controlling of combustion related NO x and NH 3 emissions might be an important way to reduce PM 2.5 levels in this region. Image 1 • Nitrate was the dominant contributor of water soluble inorganic ions in high PM 2.5 pollution days. • The optimized Bayesian isotope mixing model (SIAR) improved accuracy and reduced the overall uncertainties, indicating modified SIAR improve accuracy in estimations of TN sources. • Combustion related NO x and NH 3 emissions were the most predominant sources to nitrogen-containing aerosols (TN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2013, a significant decline in fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) occurred in most Chinese cities. In Nanjing, a capital city in the central of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, the mass concentrations of total carbon (TC) in PM 2.5 decreased by approximately 48% during wintertime from 2014 to 2019. To provide detailed information in this trend, source apportionment of TC was carried out using a radiocarbon-(14C-) based method. In general, the average mass concentrations (and fossil fuel proportions) of TC, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in six winters were 16.3 ± 8.5 μg m−3 (51%), 14.4 ± 7.8 μg m−3 (48%) and 2.0 ± 1.2 μg m−3 (65%), respectively. From 2014 to 2019, the reduction in TC was mainly attributed to the decline in non-fossil sources (6.4, 6.3–6.5 μg m−3) rather than fossil-fuel sources (3.6, 3.4–3.7 μg m−3) (medians, 10th-90th percentiles). The reduction of OC (9.1 μg m−3) was mainly attributed to OC from biomass burning (5.3, 4.6–6.1 μg m−3) and secondary formation from fossil-fuel sources (3.3, 2.6–3.9 μg m−3). Although the inter-annual variations for EC were less obvious, the reduction was dominated by the variations in non-fossil emissions (i.e., biomass burning). This study highlights the important role of non-fossil source control in the reduction of TC mass concentration in the YRD. Strategies of future emission control may pay more attention to both biomass burning emissions and secondary organic aerosols from precursors originating from fossil sources. [Display omitted] •Source apportionment was carried out using a14C-based method for six winters. •Nearly 2/3 of the declined TC was attributed to the decrease of non-fossil emissions. •Reduction of SOC ff should be considered more in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance The Chinese herbal medicine He-Ye, the leaves of the lotus ( Nelumbo nucifera ) plant, is traditionally used in China for the treatment of sunstroke, thirst, diarrhea, and fever. Currently, the leaf is used not only as an herbal tea to reduce lipid level and control body weight, but also as a major ingredient in some lipid-lowering Chinese patented medicines. Our previous study demonstrated that the alkaloid fraction (AF) of the herb has a strong inhibitory effect on CYP2D6 isoenzyme activity in vitro . The present study aims to further verify this activity using the in vivo rat model and to explore the inhibitory mechanism on CYP2D6 using human liver microsomes (HLMs). Materials and methods After a continuous 7-d oral dose of AF (50 mg/kg) or a vehicle, Sprague Dawley rats received a single intravenous dose of dextromethorphan or metoprolol. Blood samples were collected at various time points, and the plasma concentrations of the relevant metabolites dextrorphan and hydroxymetoprolol were assayed by LC-MS/MS for evaluating the effect of AF on their pharmacokinetics and CYP2D6 activity. Dextromethorphan as a probe at different concentrations was incubated with HLMs in an incubation buffer system, in the presence or absence of AF at different concentrations. After incubation, the produced metabolite was assayed. Results After being pretreated with AF in rats, the plasma concentrations of dextrorphan and hydroxymetoprolol significantly decreased, with C max going from 79.44 to 29.96 and 151.18 to 83.39 h ng/mL (P<0.05), AUC all from 167.27 to 62.25 and 347.68 to 223.24 h ng/mL (P<0.05), and AUC inf from 183.39 to 84.76 and 350.59 to 234.57 h ng/mL (P<0.05), respectively, in comparison with those of untreated rats. The t 1/2 of hydroxymetoprolol significantly increased from 1.14 to 1.99 h (P<0.05). The in vitro incubation test showed that AF competitively inhibited the CYP2D6, with apparent K i value of 0.64 µg/mL. Conclusions AF can strongly inhibit the activity of CYP2D6 enzyme, as confirmed by in vivo and in vitro models. Possible drug interactions may occur between AF and other medications metabolized by CYP2D6. Thus, caution should be paid when the lotus leaf and its preparations are concurrently administered with conventional medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonium (NH 4 +) is a well-known alkaline species for haze formation and possesses potential impacts on human health and biological diversity. To date, regional source apportionments of NH 4 + have been poorly understood in Northern China Plain (NCP). In this study, daily PM 2.5 samples were synchronously collected in eight cities over the NCP region. In addition to water-soluble ions, the nitrogen isotopic composition of NH 4 + (δ15N–NH 4 +) was also analyzed. The average concentrations of NH 4 +, a targeted species, varied from 0.9 μg/m³ to 42.5 μg/m³. Note that the significant enhancements of NH 4 + coincided with increasing PM 2.5 masses, suggesting that NH 4 + was one of the contributing species for haze formation. The δ15N–NH 4 +averaged 12.4 ± 6.9‰ and the average δ15N–NH 3 were further calculated to be −9.0 ± 6.7‰ over the NCP region. Both δ15N–NH 4 + and δ15N–NH 3 showed negative correlations with PM 2.5 mass and there were no obvious differences among those 8 cities. Combining air-mass backward trajectories and quantifying contributions of potential sources, we pointed out that non-agricultural sources (fossil fuel related and NH 3 slip) were dominant sources (totally contributed 42%–85%) not only on extreme haze phase but also on haze accumulation/dissipation phase in all 8 cities of NCP region in winter, the heating season in North China. However, the contribution of fossil fuel related source reduced to only 20%–35% while livestock breeding source rose to about 15%–32% and NH 3 slip source kept contributing about 30% on the extreme haze phase. Thus, we considered that volatilization-related agricultural sources (especially livestock breeding) could discharge considerable NH 3 to form SIA-led haze event in urban cities of the NCP region, even though non-agricultural sources were the foremost sources. [Display omitted] • Regional transmission and source apportionments of atmospheric NH x during a haze event over the NCP were investigated. • Non-agricultural sources were the dominant sources (42%–85%). • Agricultural sources increased over 26% on extreme haze phase than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hourly concentrations of 89 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) together with other atmospheric trace gases like ozone (O 3), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2) were measured continuously in a suburban area of Nanjing, China. The investigations were conducted during the summer, 2018 to better characterize airborne VOC and their influence on O 3 and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation. The average hourly total VOCs (TVOCs) concentration was 35 ± 21 ppbv which was mainly contributed by different alkanes (41%) followed by halohydrocarbons and oxygenated volatile organic compounds (31%), aromatics (16%), alkenes (9%), and alkyne (3%). The TVOCs concentration was in a similar range with the ones observed in other urban and suburban areas in China. Traffic had an important influence on the air quality in the study area as the diurnal variation of the trace gases depicted a bimodal distribution that coincides with the rush-hours. The O 3 concentrations exceeded both the national and international air quality standards. The VOC:NOx was much higher than 8:1, indicating ambient air was NOx limited to atmospheric O 3 formation, therefore, reduction of NOx concentration could reduce O 3 formation rates more effectively. The average hourly ozone formation potential (OFP) of the VOCs was 218 μg m−3 and the major contributors to it were aromatics (43%) and alkenes (23%). The average hourly secondary organic aerosol formation potential (SOAFP) of the VOCs was 0.9 μg m−3. Similar to the OFP, aromatic VOCs were the major contributors to the total SOAFP. To improve the air quality in the study area traffic emissions as well as the aromatic and alkene VOCs emissions reduction are necessary. Unlabelled Image • Traffic had the major influence on the VOCs and other trace gases concentrations in Nanjing. • Aromatic and alkene VOCs contributed the most to the O 3 and SOA formation. • The study area was nitrogen oxides sensitive to ozone formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban China, human excreta are mostly stored in septic tanks beneath various buildings, and the generated NH 3 are emitted to the atmosphere through ceiling ducts on rooftops. Here we performed highly time-resolved measurements of NH 3 concentrations and auxiliary parameters in the ceiling duct of a typical building complex during different seasons with varying temperature and population, allowing an in-depth investigation of the driving forces in terms of governing NH 3 emissions. Extremely high levels of NH 3 concentration (1013 ± 793 μg m−3) were observed throughout the campaign. Seasonally, the NH 3 concentration during summer vacation (1377 ± 1072 μg m−3) was significantly higher than during school time in fall (796 ± 432 μg m−3) and winter (661 ± 267 μg m−3). Moreover, the diurnal variation of NH 3 during summertime was highly correlated with temperature (R 2 = 0.95, p < 0.01), while it was not the case for school time with dense population (R 2 = 0.47, p < 0.01, R 2 = 0.57, p < 0.01 in fall, winter, respectively). The highest temperature was 35.9 °C, with an emission intensity peak of 4.1 mg s−1 while the lowest temperature was 1.3 °C with an emission intensity of 0.8 mg s−1. The nitrogen stable isotopic composition of NH 3 (δ 15N–NH 3) may be a useful tool to trace NH 3 sources. Here we report the δ 15N–NH 3 measured from ceiling duct collected directly, which constrains human excreta source δ 15N–NH 3 values (m e a n m i n m a x ) ‰ to − 35.6 ‰ − 39.8 ‰ − 31.9 ‰ . These results support that temperature is the key factor in controlling NH 3 emissions from human excreta and demonstrate the importance of using human excreta emitted δ 15N–NH 3 to quantify excreta NH 3 contribution in urban atmospheres. Our findings highlight opportunities to limit NH 3 emissions from human excreta that will bring co-benefits to the air quality and human health in urban China. Image 1 • Highly time-resolved of NH 3 and auxiliary parameters in the ceiling duct were measured. • Temperature is the key factor in controlling NH 3 emissions from human excreta. • The values of δ 15N–NH 3 from ceiling duct were collected directly, which can trace to human excreta source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonaceous aerosols (CA) from anthropogenic emissions have been significantly reduced in urban China in recent years. However, the relative contributions of fossil and nonfossil sources to CA in rural and background regions of China remain unclear. In this study, the sources of different carbonaceous fractions in fine aerosols (PM 2.5 ) from five background sites of the China Meteorological Administration Atmosphere Watch Network during the winter of 2019 and 2020 were quantified using radiocarbon ( 14 C) and organic markers. The results showed that nonfossil sources contributed 44-69% to total carbon at these five background sites. Fossil fuel combustion was the predominant source of elemental carbon at all sites (73 ± 12%). Nonfossil sources dominated organic carbon (OC) in these background regions (61 ± 13%), with biomass burning or biogenic-derived secondary organic carbon (SOC) as the most important contributors. However, the relative fossil fuel source to OC in China (39 ± 13%) still exceeds those at other regional/background sites in Asia, Europe, and the USA. SOC dominated the fossil fuel-derived OC, highlighting the impact of regional transport from anthropogenic sources on background aerosol levels. It is therefore imperative to develop and implement aerosol reduction policies and technologies tailored to both the anthropogenic and biogenic emissions to mitigate the environmental and health risks of aerosol pollution across China.

China's nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions have undergone significant changes over the past few decades. However, nonfossil fuel NO x emissions are not yet well constrained in urban environments, resulting in a substantial underestimation of their importance relative to the known fossil fuel NO x emissions. We developed an approach using machine learning that is accurate enough to generate a long time series of the nitrogen isotopic composition (δ 15 N) of atmospheric nitrate using high-level accuracies of air pollutants and meteorology data. Air temperature was found to be the critical driver of the variation of nitrate δ 15 N at daily resolution based on this approach, while significant reductions of aerosol and its precursor emissions played a key role in the change of nitrate δ 15 N on the yearly scale. Predictions from this model found a significant decrease in nitrate δ 15 N in Chinese megacities (Beijing and Guangzhou as representative cities in the north and south, respectively) since 2013, implying an enhanced contribution of nonfossil fuel NO x emissions to nitrate aerosols (up to 22%-26% in 2021 from 18%-22% in 2013 quantified by an isotope mixing model), as confirmed by the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulation. Meanwhile, the declining contribution in coal combustion (34%-39% in 2013 to 31%-34% in 2021) and increasing contribution of natural gas combustion (11%-14% in 2013 to 14%-17% in 2021) demonstrated the transformation of China's energy structure from coal to natural gas. This approach provides missing records for exploring long-term variability in the nitrogen isotope system and may contribute to the study of the global reactive nitrogen biogeochemical cycle.

Objectives: Stroke has become the leading cause of death and disability among adults in China. This study aims to analyze the disease burden based on gender and age and the risk factors for stroke subtypes in China 2019, and to provide reference for targeted stroke prevention and control., Methods: Based on 2019 data of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), the gender and age in patients with different stroke subtypes (ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage) in China 2019 was described by using disability-adjusted life years (DALY), and attributable burden of related risk factors was analyzed., Results: In 2019, the burden of intracranial hemorrhage was the heaviest one in China, resulting in 22.210 6 million person years of DALY, following by ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage, resulting in 21.393 9 and 2.344 7 million person years of DALY, respectively. Among them, except the 0-14 age group, the disease burden of different subtypes of stroke in men was higher than that in women. The disease burden of ischemic stroke was increased with age in both men and women, with the heaviest disease burden in ≥70 years group. The disease burden of intracranial hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage was the heaviest in males aged 50-69 years old, and in females aged ≥70 years and 50-69 years, respectively. Metabolic factors were the main risk factors in all ages of different stroke subtypes, and the most important risk factor was high systolic blood pressure. Other risk factors were different between men and women. Smoking, high body mass index, high low-density lipoprotein, and outdoor particulate matter pollution were the main risk factors for stroke in men, while high body mass index, outdoor particulate matter pollution, and high fasting blood glucose were the main risk factors of stroke in women. The main risk were different among different age groups., Conclusions: The burden and attributable risk factors for different stroke subtypes are discrepancy in different gender and age groups. Targeted interventions should be conducted in the future to reduce the burden of stroke.

Atmospheric amines have unique acid-neutralizing capacity and play an important role in atmospheric chemical reactions. An integrated observation of PM 2.5 samples (from Dec 2015 to Nov 15, 2016) was conducted in a typical industrial city (Xuzhou), China. Concentrations of total measured amines (∑amines, including methylamine (MA), ethylamine (EA), dimethylamine (DMA), propanamine (PA) and trimethylamine (TMA) + diethylamine (DEA)) were 172.0 ± 98.2 ng m -3 , accounting 1.5 ± 0.6 ‰ of PM 2.5 mass. ∑amines were higher in winter (249.0 ± 112.3 ng m -3 ) and spring (192.4 ± 75.9 ng m -3 ) than in summer (114.7 ± 33.3 ng m -3 ) and autumn (103.7 ± 34.3 ng m -3 ). Concentrations of MA and EA (the dominant amines) were highest in winter, while DMA, PA and TMA + DEA showed opposite seasonality. EA/MA ratios ranged from 0.04 to 8.7 with a median value of 0.3, and the averaged EA/MA ratio was 2.0 in winter, indicating large contribution of EA. Environmental factors including temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and atmospheric oxidizing capacity (O 3 and O x represented) were found to influence concentrations of amines in PM 2.5 . The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model identified secondary products (41.6 %), combustion emissions (39.8 %), soil and waste incineration emissions (13.2 %) and biological emissions and aging products (5.4 %) as the 4 sources of amines in PM 2.5 . MA was mainly secondary products (82.5 %) and had high contribution of local secondary formation, while EA was mainly derived from combustion emissions (83.7 %) and influenced by regional transportation. In winter, combustion emissions (including coal combustion, biomass burning and traffic emissions, contributed 57.7 %) surpassed secondary products (31.6 %) as the predominant sources of amines, especially under the influence of regional transportation (75.7 %)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the data of 901 men undergoing ultrasonography-guided systematic prostate biopsy between March 2013 and May 2022. Adipose features, including periprostatic adipose tissue (PPAT) thickness and subcutaneous fat thickness, were measured using MRI before biopsy. Prediction models of all PCa and clinically significant PCa (csPCa) (Gleason score higher than 6) were established based on variables selected by multivariate logistic regression and prediction nomograms were constructed. Patients with PCa had higher PPAT thickness (4.64 [3.65-5.86] vs. 3.54 [2.49-4.51] mm, p < 0.001) and subcutaneous fat thickness (29.19 [23.05-35.95] vs. 27.90 [21.43-33.93] mm, p = 0.013) than those without PCa. Patients with csPCa had higher PPAT thickness (4.78 [3.80-5.88] vs. 4.52 [3.80-5.63] mm, p = 0.041) than those with non-csPCa. Adding adipose features to the prediction models significantly increased the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the prediction of all PCa (0.850 vs . 0.819, p < 0.001) and csPCa (0.827 vs . 0.798, p < 0.001). Based on MRI-measured adipose features and clinical parameters, we established two nomograms that were simple to use and could improve patient selection for prostate biopsy in Chinese population.

Biomass burning (BB) is an important contributor to the air pollution in Southeast Asia (SEA), but the emission sources remain great uncertainty. In this study, PM 2.5 samples were collected from an urban (Chiang Mai University, CMU) and a rural (Nong Tao village, NT) site in Chiang Mai, Thailand from February to April (high BB season, HBB) and from June to September (low BB season, LBB) in 2018. Source apportionment of carbonaceous aerosols was carried out by Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method incorporating the radiocarbon ( 14 C) and organic markers (e.g., dehydrated sugars, aromatic acids, etc.). Thereby, carbonaceous aerosols were divided into the fossil-derived elemental carbon (EC f ), BB-derived EC (EC bb ), fossil-derived primary and secondary organic carbon (POC f , SOC f ), BB-derived OC (OC bb ) and the remaining OC (OC nf, other ). The fractions of EC bb generally prevailed over EC f throughout the year. OC bb was the dominant contributor to total carbon with a clear seasonal trend (65.5 ± 5.8 % at CMU and 79.9 ± 7.6 % at NT in HBB, and 39.1 ± 7.9 % and 42.8 ± 4.6 % in LBB). The distribution of POC f showed a spatial difference with a higher contribution at CMU, while SOC f displayed a temporal variation with a greater fraction in LBB. OC nf, other was originated from biogenic secondary aerosols, cooking emissions and bioaerosols as resolved by the principal component analysis with multiple liner regression model. The OC nf, other contributed within a narrow range of 6.6 %-14.4 %, despite 34.9 ± 7.9 % at NT in LBB. Our results highlight the dominance of BB-derived fractions in carbonaceous aerosols in HBB, and call the attention to the higher production of SOC in LBB., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown policy reduced anthropogenic emissions and impacted the atmospheric chemical characteristics in Chinese urban cities. However, rare studies were conducted at the high mountain site. In this work, in-situ measurements of light absorption by carbonaceous aerosols and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations were conducted at Waliguan (WLG) over the northeastern Tibetan Plateau of China from January 3 to March 30, 2020. The data was employed to explore the influence of the COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric chemistry in the background-free troposphere. During the sampling period, the light absorption near-infrared (>470 nm) was mainly contributed by BC (>72%), however, BC and brown carbon (BrC) contributed equally to light absorption in the short wavelength (∼350 nm). The average BC concentrations in the pre-, during and post-lockdown were 0.28 ± 0.25, 0.18 ± 0.16, and 0.28 ± 0.20 μg m -3 , respectively, which decreased by approximately 35% during the lockdown period. Meanwhile, CO 2 also showed slight decreases during the lockdown period. The declined BC was profoundly attributed to the reduced emissions (∼86%), especially for the combustion of fossil fuels. Moreover, the declined light absorption of BC, primary and secondary BrC decreased the solar energy absorbance by 35, 15, and 14%, respectively. The concentration weighted trajectories (CWT) analysis suggested that the decreased BC and CO 2 at WLG were exclusively associated with the emission reduction in the eastern region of WLG. Our results highlighted that the reduced anthropogenic emissions attributed to the lockdown in the urban cities did impact the atmospheric chemistry in the free troposphere of the Tibetan Plateau., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The non-polar compounds in atmospheric fine particles (PM 2.5 ) mainly include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and normal alkanes ( n -alkanes), etc., which are usually used to identify the source of the air pollution and have a great important impact on human health and the environment. To study the pollution characteristics and sources of non-polar organic aerosols in the background point PM 2.5 in Guangxi, from November 2017 to October 2018, 17 types of PAHs and 20 types of n -alkanes were analyzed on PM 2.5 samples collected in the field. It was found that the annual average concentrations of PAHs and n -alkanes were 4.28±4.25 ng·m -3 and 13.7±14.72 ng·m -3 , respectively. The seasonal change was as follows:winter[(7.86±5.19) ng·m -3 , (27.51±16.90) ng·m -3 ]>spring[(2.73±1.76) ng·m -3 , (7.64±4.71) ng·m -3 ]>autumn[(2.34±145) ng·m -3 , (7.01±4.55) ng·m -3 ]>summer[(1.91±1.67) ng·m -3 , (3.98±3.12) ng·m -3 ]. In PAHs, 5-ring and 6-ring molecules accounted for more than 60%, followed by low- and medium-ring molecules (4-ring and 3-ring). The high molecular weight of n -alkanes was relatively high (C29>C31>C27), and the odd and even carbon numbers were significantly different. In addition, combined with the feature ratio method, principal component analysis method, and backward trajectory joint verification, it was found that 41.5% of non-organic aerosols in winter were affected by maritime traffic emissions and ocean source transportation, and 36.7% of the pollution was explained by the coal burning and local biomass burning; 25.2% of the pollution in spring came from biomass combustion and transportation, and 45.0% was attributed to marine transportation in the southern part of the study area and higher plant wax emissions pollution; 53.4% of pollution in summer came from polluted ship emissions, and 10.6% of pollution came from transportation in Southwest Thailand Source transportation. The organic aerosols at the background sites in Guangxi were affected by the combined effects of local emissions and transmission sources.

Until now, there has been a lack of knowledge regarding the vertical profiles of nitrate formation in the urban boundary layer (BL) based on triple oxygen isotopes. Here, we conducted vertical measurements of the oxygen anomaly of nitrate (Δ 17 O-NO 3 - ) on a 325 m meteorological tower in urban Beijing during the winter and summer. The simultaneous vertical measurements suggested different formation mechanisms of nitrate aerosols at ground level and 120 and 260 m in the winter due to the less efficient vertical mixing under stable atmospheric conditions. Particularly, different chemical processes of nitrate aerosols at the three heights were found between clean days and polluted days in the winter. On clean days, nocturnal chemistry (NO 3 + HC and N 2 O 5 uptake) contributed to nitrate production equally with OH/H 2 O + NO 2 at ground level, while it dominated aloft (contributing 80% of nitrate production at 260 m), due to the higher aerosol liquid water content and O 3 concentration there. On polluted days, nocturnal reactions dominated the formation of nitrate at the three heights. Particularly, the contribution of the OH/H 2 O + NO 2 pathway to nitrate production increased from the ground level to 120 m might be attributed to the hydrolysis of NO 2 to HONO and then further photolysis to OH radicals in the day. In contrast, the proportion of N 2 O 5 + H 2 O decreased at 260 m, likely due to the low relative humidity aloft that inhibited the N 2 O 5 hydrolysis reactions in the residual layer. Our results highlighted that the differences between meteorology and gaseous precursors could largely affect particulate nitrate formation at different heights within the polluted urban BL.

Biomass burning (BB) is an important source of carbonaceous aerosols in Northeast China (NEC). Quantifying the original contribution of BB to organic carbon (OC) [BB-OC] can provide an essential scientific information for the policy-makers to formulate the control measures to improve the air quality in the NEC region. Daily PM 2.5 samples were collected in the rural area of Changchun city over the NEC region from May 2017 to May 2018. In addition to carbon contents, BB tracers (e.g., levoglucosan and K + BB , defined as potassium from BB) were also determined, in order to investigate the relative contribution of BB-OC. The results showed that OC was the dominant (28%) components of PM 2.5 during the sampling period. Higher concentrations of OC, levoglucosan, and K + BB were observed in the autumn followed by the winter, spring, and summer, indicating that the higher BB activities during autumn and winter in Changchun. By using the Bayesian mixing model, it was found that burning of crop residues were the dominant source (65-79%) of the BB aerosols in Changchun. During the sampling period, the aging in air mass (AAM) ratio was 0.14, indicating that ~86% of levoglucosan in Changchun was degraded. Without considering the degradation of levoglucosan in the atmosphere, the BB-OC ratios were 23%, 28%, 7%, and 4% in the autumn, winter, spring, and summer, respectively, which were 1.4-4.8 time lower than those (14-42%) with consideration of levoglucosan degradation. This illustrated that the relative contribution of BB to OC would be underestimated (~59%) without considering degradation effects of levoglucosan. Although some uncertainty was existed in our estimation, our results did highlight that the control of straw burning was an efficient way to decrease the airborne PM 2.5 , improving the air quality in the NEC plain., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Humic-like substances (HULIS), as important components of brown carbon (BrC), play an important role in climate change. In this study, one-year PM 2.5 samples from 2017 to 2018 were collected at Nanjing, China and the water soluble HULIS and other chemical species were analyzed to investigate the seasonal variations, optical properties and possible sources. The HULIS concentrations exhibited highest in winter and lowest in summer. The annual averaged HULIS concentration was 2.61 ± 1.79 μg m -3 , accounting for 45 ± 13% of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC). The HULIS light absorption coefficient at 365 nm (Abs 365, HULIS ) averagely accounted for 71 ± 19% of that of WSOC, suggesting that HULIS are the main light-absorbing components in WSOC. The annual averaged Ångström absorption exponent and mass absorption efficiency of HULIS at 365 nm were 5.22 ± 0.77 and 1.71 ± 0.70 m 2  g -1 . Good correlations between HULIS with levoglucosan and K + suggested biomass burning (BB) influence on HULIS. High concentrations of HULIS and secondary species (e.g., NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , NH 4 + and the results showed that strong light-absorbing chromophores were produced from anthropogenic precursors. Our results highlight the anthropogenic SOA and fossil fuels combustion contributions to HULIS in addition to the biggest contributor, BB, in urban area in China.2 O 4 2- ) were found in present of high relative humidity, indicating strong aqueous phase secondary HULIS formation. Secondary HULIS produced from anthropogenic and biogenic precursors were quantified based on the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model and the results showed that both fossil (55%) and biogenic (45%) emission sources made great contributions to HULIS. Fossil fuel combustion significantly contributed to HULIS formation throughout the whole year, which were enriched with more secondary HULIS (30%) than primary HULIS (25%). Strongest BB contribution (39%) was found in winter and biogenic SOA contribution (32%) was found in summer. A multiple linear regression (MLR) method was further applied to obtain specific source contributions to Abs 365, HULIS and the results showed that strong light-absorbing chromophores were produced from anthropogenic precursors. Our results highlight the anthropogenic SOA and fossil fuels combustion contributions to HULIS in addition to the biggest contributor, BB, in urban area in China., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Suspended sediments in the estuary play an important role in regulating the erosion-accretion and shaping the geomorphological patterns. Yet, it can be strongly impacted by the human activities. Constructions of basin and estuarine engineering in the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE), including constructions of Three Gorges Dam (TGD) further upstream of the Yangtze River and Deep Waterway Project (DWP) in the estuary, have greatly modified the distribution of estuarine suspended sediment concentration (SSC). In this study, we retrieved the surface water SSC in the YRE from a total of 149 Landsat-TM/ETM+/OLI images (from 1984 to 2020) and 515 GOCI images (from 2011 to 2020) to obtain its long-term dynamics. The results indicate that the SSC estimation model performed well with a mean absolute percentage error of 12.83% and a root mean square error of 0.027 g/L. The SSC in the YRE demonstrated an overall declining pattern over the past 37 years, particularly during the flood season, which was related to the decrease in the sediment discharge of Yangtze River. The SSC in different sub-regions across the entire YRE responded differently to the reduced sediment discharge caused by the impoundment of the TGD. The SSC in the inner estuary responded promptly with a 40.3% decline noted immediately after the impoundment of the TGD, whereas hysteresis of SSC changes was found in the estuarine turbidity maximum zone (TMZ) and have begun to decline by 20.0-30.0% in the recent 5 years. Constructions of local estuarine engineering, such as the DWP also exert important controls on the estuarine SSC dynamics by blocking the lateral transport of suspended sediments between the shoal and the river channel. Our results highlight the strong influence of engineering constructions on the SSC dynamics in the world large river-influenced estuaries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) belongs to a family of serine/threonine kinases, and it is involved in tumorigenesis. The present study aimed to explore the potential clinical significance of PLK2 in the development of gliomas., Main Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to detect the expression of PLK2 in glioma tissues. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) and flow cytometry analysis, respectively., Key Findings: PLK2 expression gradually increased with the degree of glioma malignancy. High PLK2 expression was associated with a poor prognosis in glioma. Short hairpin RNAs targeting PLK2 (shPLK2) inhibited the viability and induced apoptosis of glioma cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Ring finger protein 180 (RNF180), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, interacted with PLK2 and induced the ubiquitination of PLK2. Overexpression of PLK2 in glioma cells significantly inhibited RNF180 upregulation-induced cell apoptosis. The expression level of RNF180 gradually decreased with the degree of glioma malignancy., Significance: Knocking down of PLK2 may suppress the glioma development through cancer cell proliferation inhibition and cell apoptosis promotion. Furthermore, RNF180 may mediate the ubiquitination of PLK2. The present findings may help improve the clinical management of glioma in the future., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are not only harmful to human health, but also lead to ozone (O 3 ) formation. From July 3 to August 1 of 2018, online measurements of atmospheric VOCs were conducted in Nanjing City, in order to investigate the source apportionments to VOCs since the Empirical Kinetic Modelling Approach (EKMA) suggested that O 3 formation was VOC-limited at the receptor site. Using positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, we quantified eight sources of VOCs, including vehicle exhausts (23%), industrial source (18%), fuel evaporation (17%), petrochemical industry (12%), solvent usage (12%), biogenic emission (8%) and liquefied petroleum gas (7%) along with gasoline additive (3%). The diurnal distributions showed that the contributions of traffic-related sources maximized during the traffic rush hours. In contrast, biogenic sources had the highest contribution at noontime. Backward trajectory results showed that local traffic emissions were the main sources of VOC in Nanjing. Our results revealed that strict control of VOC emissions from local vehicle exhaust might be an important way to decrease high VOC pollution in Nanjing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Spasticity is a common complication of poststroke, tuina is a widely used rehabilitation treatment, although there is a lack of supportive evidence on efficacy and safety for patients with poststroke spasticity. The aim of this systematic review is to assess and synthesis evidence of efficacy and safety of tuina for spasticity of poststroke., Methods and Analysis: A comprehensive electronic search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wiley, Springer, PEDro, Chinese Science Citation Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Scientific and Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang Database (Wanfang), Japanese medical database (CiNii), Korean Robotics Institute Summer Scholars and Thailand Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre will be conducted to search literatures of randomised controlled trials of tuina for spasticity of poststroke survivors range from the establishment to 1 January 2020.There is no time of publication limitations. The primary outcome will be measured with the Modified Ashworth Scale, and the second outcome will include Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale, surface electromyogram RMS value, the Modified Barthel Index, Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale, quality of life 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey and Visual Analogue Scale. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions will be used to assess the risk of bias, and GRADE will be used to access the confidence in cumulative evidence. The protocol will be conducted according to approach and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols 2015., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval will not be required, for no primary data of individual patients were collected. We will publish the findings in a peer-reviewed journal., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42020163384., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Aim: Novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) has become pandemic. It brings serious threat to hemodialysis (HD) patients. Therefore, we carried out a study on the clinical characteristics of HD patients with COVID-19., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 31 HD patients with COVID-19. The clinical features of patients include epidemiology, clinical symptoms, laboratory and imaging test, treatment and prognosis., Results: 61.3% were severe, and 38.7% were mild. 83.9% had a close contact history with COVID-19 patients. The average age was 62.3 years comprising of 58.1% men and 41.9% women. Ninety percent had chronic diseases except ESRD. Clinical symptoms include cough (85%), fever (43%), and shortness of breath (48.4%), etc. Complications included ARDS (25.8%), AHF (22.6%), and septic shock (16.1%), etc. 64.5% of patients had remission, and 35.5% of patients had no remission with 6.5% deaths. Compared with the baseline before infection, HD patients with COVID-19 had lower lymphocytes, albumin and glucose, and higher D-dimer, albumin, phosphorus, lactate dehydrogenase, and CRP. There was no significant correlation between the neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio and the severity of the disease., Conclusions: Compared with the reported general population, the HD patients are susceptible to COVID-19 infection, especially older men and those with other underlying diseases. Moreover, HD patients have more severe infection and inflammation with less symptoms and worse outcome. COVID-19 infection can cause dialysis patients lower immunity, stronger inflammation, malnutrition, and internal environment disorder. Neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio does not reflect the severity of the HD patients with COVID-19.

Background: Tong Jing Tiao Xing tuina (TJTX) is a Chinese massage method. Excising with scalp acupuncture (ESA) is a treatment combining scalp electroacupuncture with physical therapy (PT), and yinao fujian formula (YNFJ) is a Chinese oral herbal granule medicine. The combination of the 3 methods is called the "Zhishen Tiaoxing" (ZSTX) rehabilitation program, which is used as an alternative of limb spasm after stroke. There is little available evidence demonstrating its safety and efficacy., Methods: This will be a subject-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted in 3 medical centers. It will strictly follow the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture, 2010. We will recruit 316 patients with limb spasm after stroke, 200 from the Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China, 80 from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese medicine, Harbin, China, and 36 from Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China. A block randomization sequence stratified by centers will be generated using SAS Version 9.2 software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA), which was performed at the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine's Key Unit of Methodology in Clinical Research. The treatment group is treated with TJTX (once a day), ESA (once a day), and oral YNFJ (twice a day). The control group will be treated with PT. Two groups of patients will be treated 5 sessions a week for 4 weeks, and there will be 6-month follow-up. The outcome evaluators will be blinded to patient grouping. The primary outcome will be modified Ashworth scales. The secondary outcome indexes will be the simplified Fugl-Meyer assessment scale, surface electromyogram root mean square value, modified Barthel index, stroke-specific quality of life scale, health scale of traditional Chinese medicine, visual analogue scale (VAS), and the Hamilton depression scale., Discussion: The Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) mainly aim to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation program, by comparing the treatment of ZSTX with the PT for the treatment of limb spasm after stroke., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR 1900024255. Registered on July 3, 2019.

Secondary sulfate aerosols played an important role in aerosol formation and aging processes, especially during haze episodes in China. Secondary sulfate was formed via atmospheric oxidation of SO 2 by OH, O 3 , H 2 O 2 , and transition-metal-catalyzed (TMI) O 2 . However, the relative importance of these oxidants in haze episodes was strongly debated. Here, we use stable sulfur isotopes (δ 34 S) of sulfate aerosols and a Rayleigh distillation model to quantify the contributions of each oxidant during a haze episode in Nanjing, a megacity in China. The observed δ 34 S values of sulfate aerosols showed a negative correlation with sulfur oxidation ratios, which was attributed to the sulfur isotopic fractionations during the sulfate formation processes. Using the average fractionation factor calculated from our observations and zero-dimensional (0-D) atmospheric chemistry modeling estimations, we suggest that OH oxidation was trivial during the haze episode, while the TMI pathway contributed 49 ± 10% of the total sulfate production and O 3 /H 2 O 2 oxidations accounted for the rest. Our results displayed good agreement with several atmospheric chemistry models that carry aqueous and heterogeneous TMI oxidation pathways, suggesting the role of the TMI pathway was significant during haze episodes.

In this study, 30 PM 2.5 samples were collected from the atmosphere in Changchun City in the autumn of 2017. The concentration and composition characteristics of 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the samples were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The diagnostic ratio and principal component analysis method were used to determine the source of PAHs pollution. The health risk assessment was carried out by both calculating the equivalent carcinogenic concentration of benzo(a)pyrene and the lifetime risk of cancer. Results show that the average PM 2.5 concentration in autumn in Changchun is (50.84±12.23) μg·m -3 , and the content of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) are (17.07±5.64) μg·m -3 and (1.33±0.75) μg·m -3 , respectively, accounting for 37% of the total PM 2.5 . The total concentration of PAHs is (15.69±5.93) ng·m -3 , which was dominated by medium- to high-ring-number PAHs, accounting for 84.26% of total PAHs. The atmospheric PAHs in Changchun mainly originate from motor vehicle exhaust emissions (44.48%) > coal combustion (29.16%) > biomass burning (26.36%), local transportation (gasoline vehicles) emissions being the main source of pollution. The average carcinogenic concentration of benzo(a)pyrene is in the range of 1.55 ng·m -3 and 5.38 ng·m -3 , and the average carcinogenic equivalent concentration is (6.44±1.53) ng·m -3 , which is generally considered a slight pollution level. The ingestion of PAHs by breathing is the most harmful to the health of adult women, followed by adult males and children, however since the lifetime carcinogenic risk value of the entire population did not exceed 1×10 -6 , their health risks are considered to be at acceptable levels.

Inefficient coal combustion is a significant source of elemental carbon (EC) air pollution in China, but there is a limited understanding of EC's formation processes. In this study, high time-resolved particle number size distributions (PNSDs) and size-resolved chemical compositions were obtained from the combustion of four bituminous coals burned in a quartz tube furnace at 500 and 800 °C. Based on the distinct characteristics of PNSD, the flaming stage was divided into the first-flaming stage (with a PNSD peak at 0.3-0.4 μm) and the second-flaming stage (with a PNSD peak at 0.1-0.15 μm). For the size-segregated EC and OC measurements, more soot-EC was observed in particles larger than 0.3 μm, whereas the smaller ones possessed more char-EC. The results indicated that gas-phase and direct-conversion EC generation mechanisms dominate different burning stages. The analysis of 16 parent PAHs showed more high-molecular-weight PAHs in the second-flaming stage particles, which supports the idea of different formation processes for char-EC and soot-EC. For all four coals, the PNSD and chemical compositions shared a similar trend, confirming that the different formation processes of EC in different flaming stages were common. This study provides novel information concerning EC formation.

Take Xin'anjiang upstream watershed as a case study. Based on data of interpreting TM orthophoto images and water quality monitoring in May 2010, the land use map of Xin'anjiang River, which was categorized to cultivated land, forestland, grassland, water body, building site, was obtained. Using ArcGIS hydrological and spatial analysis function, Xin'anjiang River was divided into eight sub-watersheds, and its watershed land use structure was analyzed. The water quality parameters such as TN, TP, permanganate index, fecal coliform bacteria were monitored from Jan 2010 to Dec 2010. The relations between water quality and land use were analyzed. The results showed that TN and NH4(+) -N had a significant temporal variation: dry season > wet season > normal river flow period, but other parameters did not vary significantly. In the space, Yuliang and Pukou were the most serious pollution sites. Cultivated land, water body, building site had a positive impact on water quality parameters, while there were negative correlation between the forestland and grassland. Annually, cultivated land had the most significantly important effect on TN, NH4(+) -N and permanganate index, and grassland had the most significantly important effect on TP. Cultivated land had the most prominently important impact on water quality parameters in dry season and wet season. What's more, in the normal river flow, cultivated land, grassland and forestland had the most remarkably important influence on TN, TP and fecal coliform bacteria respectively.

The concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in superficial sediment samples collected from three representative sites (Yuqiao Reservoir, Haihe River, and Haihe River Estuary) in Tianjin, North China, were analyzed using various single extraction and sequential extraction procedures to determine their remobilization, extractability, and distribution patterns. Sediments from the Haihe River had higher metal concentrations and geo-accumulation indices, especially for Cd and Zn, than sediments from the other two sites, suggesting that the Haihe River has been heavily influenced by anthropogenic activities. In addition, over 31% and 28.2% of the total Cd in the Haihe River and the Yuqiao Reservoir, respectively, and 18.2% of the total Zn in the Haihe River were found to be associated with the exchangeable form, indicating the significant remobilization of Cd and Zn when compared with Cr and Ni. However, over 98% of the Ni and 78% of the Cr were most closely associated with the residue and oxidizable fractions, which resulted in their becoming environmentally immobile. Based on the Environmental Protection Agency method 3050B, Cd and Zn had the greatest extraction efficiency when a single extraction procedure using 0.5-mol L(-1) HCl, 0.43-mol L(-1) HAcO, and 0.05-mol L(-1) ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid was conducted, with extraction yields of up to 72%, 68%, and 56% for Cd and 50%, 49%, and 29% for Zn, respectively, being obtained for the Haihe River sediments. This was followed by the yields of Cu and Pb and, finally, those of unpolluted metals such as Cr and Ni. HCl and acetic acid extraction provided equivalent information for predicting Cd and Zn mobility in the sediments studied and produced suitable results for quick screening.