[Similarities and Differences of Valley Winds in the Beijing Plain and Yanqing Areas and Its Impact on Pollution].

Under certain terrain and weather conditions, mountain-valley circulation is one of the main meteorological factors affecting aerosol pollution in plain-mountain area. Based on environmental monitoring data and multi-source meteorological data for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region between 2015 and 2019, the characteristics, similarities, and differences of mountain-valley winds in the Beijing Plain and Yanhuai Basin regions were compared. The results show that the mountain-valley winds recorded at the Beijing Observatory are from southwest to northeast compared to from the southeast to northeast at Yanqing station. With the aggravation of pollution levels, the mountain-valley wind intensity decreased by 17.7%-32.4%. When the wind speed at Beijing Observatory was 2-6 m·s-1, the maximum PM2.5 concentration in southeast was 83 µg·m-3, which was higher than in the southwest. When the wind speed at the Yanqing station was 2-6 m·s-1, the PM2.5 concentrations in SE-SSE area was 20-40 µg·m-3 higher than in other directions, and the concentrations in the valley winds were 10-12 µg·m-3 higher than the average value for the last five years. Taking the typical heavy pollution event on March 5-8, 2015, as an example, the influence of mountain-valley winds is mainly reflected in the high humidity and regional transmission of southeast winds during the valley wind stage. The PM2.5 concentrations at the Yanqing station increased by 100-130 µg·m-3 during the valley wind stage on March 6 and 7, 2015. The inversion temperature developed to 1000 m during the mountain wind stage, the local dew point at the Beijing Observatory and the Yanqing station rose by approximately 18℃. The peak dew point at the Yanqing station occurring 2 hours after the Beijing Observatory, and the concentrations of PM2.5 rose slightly under high humidity conditions. Meanwhile, the thermal gradient between the 400-m-high Yanqing Station and Yudu Mountain gradually decreased, and the mountain-valley wind decreased by 8% and 6%, respectively. The weakening of local circulation may be related to the bidirectional feedback mechanism of the boundary layer and high concentrations of aerosols.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induce endothelial injury through miR-155 to promote atherosclerosis.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered as an external factor that induces atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Although miR-155 is known to be involved in cardiovascular disease, whether it is involved in PAH-induced arteriosclerosis remains unclear. We evaluated the effects of PAHs on vascularization, permeability, and miR-155 expression in HUVECs. We found that PAHs-induced sclerosis of HUVECs was characterized by increasing permeability, decreasing proliferation, and vascular lumen number. The expression of miR-155 was upregulated by PAHs treatment, and transfection with miR-155 inhibitor could reverse above effect of PAHs-induced sclerosis. Meanwhile, transcriptome sequencing revealed that 63 genes were downregulated in the group of PAHs treatment alone, and were then upregulated in the miR-155 inhibitor group. These genes were mainly involved in complement and coagulation cascades, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, TNF signaling pathway, and NF-kappa B signaling pathway. Among these 63 genes, SERPIND1 was directly targeted and regulated by miR-155. Further in vivo experiments in ApoE-/- mice confirmed that PAH accelerates the development of arteriosclerosis by promoting the expression of miR-155 to downregulate the SERPIND1. Therefore, PAH exaggerates atherosclerosis by activating miR-155-dependent endothelial injury. This study provides a fundamental insight on the miR-155 mechanism for PAHs enhancing atherosclerosis and miR-155 potentially serving as a novel drug target.

[Influence of Meteorological Conditions on Ozone Pollution at Shangdianzi Station Based on Weather Classification].

As a typical secondary pollutant, tropospheric ozone has become the primary pollutant in Beijing in spring and summer, and meteorological factors are one of the main factors affecting the change in concentration. Using atmospheric composition and meteorological observation data from 2008 to 2017, the weather types in Beijing were divided into six categories by Lamb classification and Mann-Whitney U test. Among these, the mean and extreme values of ozone concentration of SWW and C types at Shangdianzi station were the highest, and the highest frequency was from April to September, with a total of 47.4%. The main contribution weights of the two types were determined by a multiple stepwise regression equation. The southwest wind prevailed in 54.0% of SWW and C types, and the newly discharged pollutants and secondary aging air masses were continuously transported by the southwest air flow. The vertical velocity zero layer appeared near 850 hPa. The horizontal and vertical meteorological conditions were conducive to the transport, accumulation, and secondary generation of ozone. The northeast wind prevailed in 64.7% of AN and ESN types, and the air masses source was clean. The same subsidence movement and air divergence prevailed above 1000 hPa. The discharged pollutants can also be diluted and diffused quickly, and the ozone concentration was at a low value. Taking the NW type on May 3, 2015 as an example, although the northwest air flow prevailed on the ground, with clean source, the residual high concentration of ozone above the boundary layer was transported to the near ground through the vertical subsidence of the atmosphere, resulting in the high concentration of ozone on some days.

[Contribution Assessment of Meteorology Conditions and Emission Change for Air Quality Improvement in Beijing During 2014-2017].

During 2014-2017, the number of haze days and air pollution days declined year by year obviously in Beijing. The average mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 also decreased with the alleviated pollution level. These decreases were more obvious during the heating period, especially in November and December. In order to analyze the reasons for the improvement of air quality, changes of the meteorological factors and emission-reduction have been discussed and quantified in this study. This work was based on the numerical simulation model WRF-CHEM and the large data mining technologies of k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machines (SVM). Meteorological observations indicated that the mean wind speed of 2017 increased by 7.9% compared with the last three years. The frequency of hourly wind speed higher than 3.4 m·s-1 was the highest (10.6%), and frequency of daily relative humidity higher than 70% was lowest (25.1%), in 2017. Meanwhile, the number of low wind days (daily wind speed lower than 2 m·s-1), environmental capacity, ventilation index, and height of the boundary layer showed that the diffusion conditions were better in the heating period of 2017 than those of 2014~2016, especially in November and December. The accumulated precipitation during the non-heating period was 558.3 mm in 2017, which is conducive to pollutant removal and wet deposition. Inter-annual changes of meteorological conditions are important to the air quality. A simulation for December 1~19 by WRF-CHEM during 2014-2017 was performed, and the results demonstrated that changes of meteorological conditions led to a reduction of the PM2.5 concentration of 2017 by 5%, 38%, and 25% compared with that of 2014-2016, respectively. However, it was not possible to quantify the specific contributions of meteorology conditions because of the lack of real emission reduction options. The KNN and SVM models are applied in this study based on the observed meteorology factors, haze days, and pollution days, and it was found that for the reduced haze days and heavy pollution days in 2017, 65.0% could be attributed to emission reduction and 35.0% was caused by improvement of the meteorological conditions.

[Change of Atmospheric Pollution Diffusion Conditions in Beijing in Recent 35 Years].

In this paper, the monthly average of NCEP(National Center for Environmental Prediction)reanalysis data (2.5°×2.5°),the sounding data, and conventional observation data in Beijing (54511 station) were used to analyze the atmospheric pollution diffusion conditions in Beijing in recent 35 years. The main conclusions were:in 1980~2015, the whole layer was warmer. After 1990, the temperature inversion phenomenon was obvious, and the whole air was stable. The cold air's less effect on the lower layer, lower frequency of great north wind speed and surface layer's convergence led to the rising of pollution concentration. The location of sink motion at the high level was lower and that of the ascending motion at the low level was higher. This led to the constriction of the ascending motion below the boundary layer, worsening the pollution diffusion condition. In 1980~1989, the atmospheric capacity index was steady, while in 1990-1999,it fluctuated obviously and after 2000,it declined. In general, the atmospheric capacity presented a gentle decline. In spring and winter of 1980-1989, as well as spring and summer of 1990-2015, the atmospheric capacity was better. After 2000, the atmospheric capacity was decreasing compared to the last 20 years no matter in which season, and the difference of atmospheric capacity in seasons diminished. The boundary layer was higher in spring and summer, and lower in fall and winter in recent 35 years.

[A Case Study on the Rapid Cleaned Away of PM2.5 Pollution in Beijing Related with BL Jet and Its Mechanism].

The concentration of PM2.5 decreased very rapidly from 18:00 to 23:00 on 17th Mar. 2015 in Beijing area. No cold air bringing strong north wind influenced Beijing. The reason leading to the clean away of PM2.5 was discussed. The results showed that a boundary layer jet played a key role. The ventilation in the boundary layer went up with the enhancement of southwesterly wind speed, which was favorable to the dilution of pollution. Besides, the development of jet also caused the increase of vertical wind shear. As a result, the turbulence in the boundary layer became more obvious and the mixing layer height rose. Furthermore, the geostrophic vorticity at the top of mixing layer was positive at 20:00 on 17th Mar. It means that the direction of Ekman-Pumping was upward. So, the pollution near the surface was brought to upper levels and transported downstream by the jet. The development of boundary layer jet attributed to inertial oscillation and atmospheric baroclinicity.

[Scavenging Effect of Rime and East Wind on PM2.5 Under Air Heavy Pollution in Beijing].

In order to study the scavenging effect of rime and east wind on the concentrations of PM2.5 in Beijing during the air heavy pollution, PM2.5 concentration data of some mountains and plains stations was used, together with meteorological data, wind profile data, aerosol extinction coefficient radar data collected during December 19 to 27, 2015, to analyze the clearance mechanisms of rime and east wind on PM2.5.The results showed that ①the removal of PM2.5 by rime was a different mechanism from that by the north wind and rainy weather, in the cooling conditions, the droplets touched the branches, wire for solid condensation, leading to formation of rime, and the concentration of PM2.5 decreased;②the east wind is a special kind of wind in Beijing area, when easterly wind decreased with height, a strong upward motion could be formed, and the PM2.5 was uplifted from the surface layer to the top, while with larger westerly wind in top, it was removed into downstream and cleaned; when east wind increased with height, a weak downward movement was easy to form, and when this sinking motion could not reach the ground, the surface layer of PM2.5 capacity became small, which was beneficial to increase the concentration of PM2.5;③the PM2.5scavenging ability of east wind depended on two points, one was the strength and development of upward movement of the height formed by the east wind, and the second was the initial height of uplifted motion formed by east wind, the lower the origin of the ascending motion height, the more obvious the removal of PM2.5;④after occurrence of east wind, along with the ascending motion to m·s-1 magnitude, the mixed layer height increased to 1200-1800 meters, and PM2.5 was uplifted to top layer and cleaned.

[Meteorological mechanism for the formation of a serious pollution case in Beijing in the background of northerly flow at upper levels].

There is a kind of serious air pollution case occurring in the situation of northerly flow at the levels above 850 hPa in Beijing area. Meteorological data, NCEP reanalysis data and PM2.5 concentration survey were used to analyze the roles of meteorological mechanism in this kind of air pollution case. The results showed that the stable stratification did not exist all the time during the gradual increase of PM2.5 concentration. The favorable meteorological conditions in PM2.5 accumulation came from the layered structure of vertical speed and convergence in vertical direction. From the surface to the middle level of troposphere, the vertical velocity showed an updraft-downdraft-updraft distribution. And the divergence displayed a convergence-divergence-convergence structure. The convergence at lower levels led to the gathering of the polluted air from the surrounding and the ascending current brought it upwards. However, the polluted air could not go further up due to the prolonged downdraft layer above. As the result, PM2.5 near the surface was concentrated gradually. The vertical speed in layer structure was attributed to the high level northerly flow without invading into the boundary layer. In such case, the wind was still in southerly direction or kept calm at the surface. The weak cold air or no cold air at all was the main reason that the northerly flow could not hit the surface. The developed downdraft layer was relative to the convergence above which was resulted from the wind speed pulses in the northerly flow at upper levels. In conclusion, the air dynamical effect played a key role in the pollution type of northerly flow at upper levels. Therefore, it will be beneficial to enhance our capability in the analysis and forecasting of this kind of pollution case by focusing on 24 hours temperature variation at the middle and lower troposphere as well as the vertical distribution of vertical velocity and divergence.