Fertilizer management for global ammonia emission reduction.

Crop production is a large source of atmospheric ammonia (NH3), which poses risks to air quality, human health and ecosystems1-5. However, estimating global NH3 emissions from croplands is subject to uncertainties because of data limitations, thereby limiting the accurate identification of mitigation options and efficacy4,5. Here we develop a machine learning model for generating crop-specific and spatially explicit NH3 emission factors globally (5-arcmin resolution) based on a compiled dataset of field observations. We show that global NH3 emissions from rice, wheat and maize fields in 2018 were 4.3 ± 1.0 Tg N yr-1, lower than previous estimates that did not fully consider fertilizer management practices6-9. Furthermore, spatially optimizing fertilizer management, as guided by the machine learning model, has the potential to reduce the NH3 emissions by about 38% (1.6 ± 0.4 Tg N yr-1) without altering total fertilizer nitrogen inputs. Specifically, we estimate potential NH3 emissions reductions of 47% (44-56%) for rice, 27% (24-28%) for maize and 26% (20-28%) for wheat cultivation, respectively. Under future climate change scenarios, we estimate that NH3 emissions could increase by 4.0 ± 2.7% under SSP1-2.6 and 5.5 ± 5.7% under SSP5-8.5 by 2030-2060. However, targeted fertilizer management has the potential to mitigate these increases.

Withdrawal of alcohol promotes regression while continued alcohol intake promotes persistence of LPS-induced pancreatic injury in alcohol-fed rats.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Administration of repeated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injections in alcohol-fed rats leads to significant pancreatic injury including fibrosis. However, it remains unknown whether alcoholic (chronic) pancreatitis has the potential to regress when alcohol is withdrawn. The aims of the study were (1) to compare the effect of alcohol withdrawal/continuation on pancreatic acute injury and fibrosis; and (2) to assess the effects of alcohol ± LPS on pancreatic stellate cell (PSC) apoptosis in vivo and in vitro. METHODS: Rats fed isocaloric Liebere-De-Carli liquid diets ± alcohol for 10 weeks were challenged with LPS (3 mg/kg/week for 3 weeks) and then either switched to control diet or maintained on an alcohol diet for 3 days, 7 days or 3 weeks. Pancreatic sections were assessed for acute tissue injury, fibrosis, PSC apoptosis and activation. Cultured rat PSCs were exposed to 10 mM ethanol 6 1 mg/ml LPS for 48 or 72 h and apoptosis was assessed (Annexin V, caspase-3 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL)). RESULTS: Withdrawal of alcohol led to resolution of pancreatic lesions including fibrosis and to increased PSC apoptosis. Continued alcohol administration perpetuated pancreatic injury and prevented PSC apoptosis. Alcohol and LPS significantly inhibited PSC apoptosis in vitro, and the effect of LPS on PSC apoptosis could be blocked by Toll-like receptor 4 small interfering RNA. CONCLUSIONS: Induction of PSC apoptosis upon alcohol withdrawal is a key mechanism mediating the resolution of pancreatic fibrosis. Conversely, continued alcohol intake perpetuates pancreatic injury by inhibiting apoptosis and promoting activation of PSCs. Characterisation of the pathways mediating PSC apoptosis has the potential to yield novel therapeutic strategies for chronic pancreatitis.

Implications of Mitigating Ozone and Fine Particulate Matter Pollution in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area of China Using a Regional-To-Local Coupling Model.

Ultrahigh-resolution air quality models that resolve sharp gradients of pollutant concentrations benefit the assessment of human health impacts. Mitigating fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations over the past decade has triggered ozone (O3) deterioration in China. Effective control of both pollutants remains poorly understood from an ultrahigh-resolution perspective. We propose a regional-to-local model suitable for quantitatively mitigating pollution pathways at various resolutions. Sensitivity scenarios for controlling nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions are explored, focusing on traffic and industrial sectors. The results show that concurrent controls on both sectors lead to reductions of 17%, 5%, and 47% in NOx, PM2.5, and VOC emissions, respectively. The reduced traffic scenario leads to reduced NO2 and PM2.5 but increased O3 concentrations in urban areas. Guangzhou is located in a VOC-limited O3 formation regime, and traffic is a key factor in controlling NOx and O3. The reduced industrial VOC scenario leads to reduced O3 concentrations throughout the mitigation domain. The maximum decrease in median hourly NO2 is >11 µg/m³, and the maximum increase in the median daily maximum 8-hr rolling O3 is >10 µg/m³ for the reduced traffic scenario. When controls on both sectors are applied, the O3 increase reduces to <7 µg/m³. The daily averaged PM2.5 decreases by <2 µg/m³ for the reduced traffic scenario and varies little for the reduced industrial VOC scenario. An O3 episode analysis of the dual-control scenario leads to O3 decreases of up to 15 µg/m³ (8-hr metric) and 25 µg/m³ (1-hr metric) in rural areas.

Role of pancreatic stellate cells in pancreatic cancer metastasis.

Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) produce the stromal reaction in pancreatic cancer (PC), and their interaction with cancer cells facilitates cancer progression. This study investigated the role of human PSCs (hPSCs) in the metastatic process and tumor angiogenesis using both in vivo (orthotopic model) and in vitro (cultured PSC and PC cells) approaches. A sex mismatch study (injection of male hPSCs plus female PC cells into the pancreas of female mice) was conducted to determine whether hPSCs accompany cancer cells to metastatic sites. Metastatic nodules were examined by fluorescent in situ hybridization for the presence of the Y chromosome. Angiogenesis was assessed by i) immunostaining tumors for CD31, an endothelial cell marker; and ii) quantifying human microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC-1) tube formation in vitro on exposure to conditioned media from hPSCs. Transendothelial migration was assessed in vitro by examining the movement of fluorescently labeled hPSCs through an endothelial cell monolayer. Human PSCs i) were found in multiple metastatic sites in each mouse injected with male hPSCs plus female PC cells; ii) increased CD31 expression in primary tumors from mice injected with MiaPaCa-2 and hPSCs and stimulated tube formation by HMEC-1 in vitro; and iii) exhibited transendothelial migration that was stimulated by cancer cells. Human PSCs accompany cancer cells to metastatic sites, stimulate angiogenesis, and are able to intravasate/extravasate to and from blood vessels.

Retrieval of aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratios by combining ground-based and space-borne lidar elastic scattering measurements.

A technique to determine the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) as well as extinction and backscatter coefficients from simultaneous ground-based and space-borne lidar measurements is proposed. This technique can be applied in presence of more than one aerosol layer. To test the reliability of this technique, a numerical simulation has been performed. Moreover, the technique has been applied to an actual case by analyzing data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and Napoli-Earlinet lidar measurements. The results show that the values of lidar ratio and backscatter coefficient retrieved by this technique are in good agreement with the ones obtained from Raman measurements.

Air quality and synergistic health effects of ozone and nitrogen oxides in response to China's integrated air quality control policies during 2015-2019.

O3 pollution had been worsening in mainland China in the past decade, posing significant human health challenges. The NOx control would trigger increasing O3 concentrations in response to a series of released China emission reduction policies. This study used sensitivity analysis methodology to explore the effectiveness of integrated sectoral emission control policies that have been expanded throughout China. Air quality and synergistic health effects of O3 and NO2 were investigated to obtain an in-depth understanding of the O3 control, especially under a VOC-limited regime. The findings demonstrated that although the NOx-titration effect triggered an increase in O3, the combined health effects of two pollutants tended to improve in most regions of China under a VOC-limited regime. The region-based annual average NO2 concentrations exhibited a larger reduction in Hong Kong (HK) than in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone (PRD EZ). The short-term measures led to substantial health benefits for Shenzhen and HK. The sectoral emission controls demonstrated a considerable health improvement for the major PRD EZ cities. Joint national control efforts confined the domain-wide health risks below the safety line in China. National cooperative efforts in China could avoid more than 1.5-2% of the emergency hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to NO2 and O3 exposure. The observed O3 increases due to the NOx-titration effect for calculating the integral health effects of emission control on concentration reduction called for simultaneously strengthened controls on both NOx and VOC in areas subject to a VOC-limited regime.

Isolation of quiescent human pancreatic stellate cells: a promising in vitro tool for studies of human pancreatic stellate cell biology.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) play a critical role in pancreatic fibrosis. To date, human PSC biology has been studied using cancer- or inflammation-associated (pre-activated) PSCs, but an in vitro model of quiescent normal human PSCs (NhPSCs) has been lacking. AIMS: To (i) isolate and characterize quiescent NhPSCs, and (ii) evaluate the response of culture-activated NhPSCs to cytokines and LPS. METHODS: Quiescent NhPSCs were isolated from normal pancreatic tissue using density gradient centrifugation. PSC markers, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), desmin, α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptors TLR4 and CD14 were identified by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. The effect of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) and LPS on NhPSC activation was also assessed. RESULTS: Freshly isolated NhPSCs displayed a polygonal appearance with refringent cytoplasmic lipid droplets. Culture-activated NhPSCs expressed GFAP, desmin, αSMA, TLR4 and CD14, and were responsive to PDGF, TGFß and LPS. CONCLUSION: Isolated NhPSCs expressed the same markers as rat PSCs and human cancer-associated PSCs and responded to PDGF and TGFß similarly to rat PSCs. NhPSC preparations provide a useful in vitro tool to study the biology of PSCs in their physiological, non-activated state. and IAP.

Assessing PM2.5 emissions in 2020: The impacts of integrated emission control policies in China.

Problems with PM2.5 pollution in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) have been significantly reduced since the Chinese government released a series of emission control policies including the strengthened controls in the 13th Five-Year Plan. This study assessed the efficacy of emission control measures using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to provide data-driven support to government decision making, which is becoming increasingly important. This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the integrated results of proposed policies for controlling PM2.5 concentrations. Accordingly, the regional 2015 emission inventory was modified with recently released government data for the PRD, and scenarios for four dynamical emission-reduction policies (S1-S4) were explored. The results show that all four proposed control measures can help to reduce PM2.5 concentrations throughout Hong Kong (HK), Macao, and the PRD economic zone (PRD EZ) by 2020. In all cases, reductions in PM2.5 concentrations were larger over PRD EZ than over HK. For HK, the predicted annual concentrations of PM2.5 were less than 20 µg/m3 for S1-S3 and less than 15 µg/m3 for S4. For Macao, the predicted annual concentrations of PM2.5 were less than 25 µg/m3 for S1 and less than 15 µg/m3 up to S3. Regionally, HK had the lowest PM2.5 levels, and the area around Foshan had the highest. Controlling the sources of air pollution (i.e., industry, transport, power production, and other sources) within PRD can get most of the PRD EZ region to below 35 µg/m3. Similar national air quality management efforts could reduce PM2.5 levels to less than 25 µg/m3 in the PRD EZ and less than 15 µg/m3 in HK. Control measures in S1 led to significant improvement in Shenzhen and HK, but the S3 option brought the greatest improvement for PRD EZ and Macao. The S4 policy option led to substantial reductions, particularly for HK.

An Algorithm to retrieve aerosol properties from analysis of multiple scattering influences on both Ground-Based and Space-Borne Lidar Returns.

A new method is proposed to analyze the effects of multiple scattering on simultaneously detected lidar returns for ground-based and space-borne lidars, and it is applied to a Monte Carlo-based simulation to test the feasibility of the new method. The experimental evidence of multiple scattering influences on both ground-based and space-borne lidar returns is presented. Monte Carlo-based evaluations of the multiple scattering parameters for the counter-looking lidar returns are separately obtained in order to correct the effective values of backscattering and extinction coefficients. Results show that for the typical cirrus cloud, the presence of the multiple scattering can lead to an underestimation of the extinction coefficient by as large as 70%, and the backscattering coefficient is overestimated by nearly 10%, which are retrieved by the Counter-propagating Elastic Signals Combination (CESC) technique in which the multiple scattering influences are neglected. Nevertheless, by the new method in which the multiple scattering effects are considered differently for the ground-based and space-borne lidar returns the extinction and backscattering coefficients can be more accurately obtained.