To better understand the sources, formation, and the transport of air pollutants over North China Plain (NCP), a four-week intensive campaign during summertime in 2014 was conducted in a central NCP rural site. In this study, particle hygroscopicity and volatility measurements were focused to characterize the thermodynamic properties of nanoparticles and gain insight into chemical composition of nanoparticles during the new particle formation (NPF) events. The water-soluble fractions of 30 and 50 nm newly formed particles were respectively 0.64 +/- 0.06 and 0.61 +/- 0.06, indicating that the water-soluble chemical compounds, most likely ammonium sulfate, dominated the condensational growth of newly formed particles over the NCP. Due to containing higher water-soluble fraction, nanoparticles can be activated as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at lower supersaturation in the atmosphere of NCP in contrast to cleaner environments, such as Melpitz (Central European background) and Hyytiala (boreal forest) during the NPF events. Our observations showed that the NPF and subsequent growth significantly resulted in an enhancement in CCN number concentration. The ranges of enhancement factors of CCN number concentration for supersaturation (SS) = 0.2, 0.4, 0.8% were respectively 1.9-7.0, 2.7-8.4, and 3.6-10.1. After being heated to 300 degrees C, the shrink factors for 30 and 50 nm particles were respectively 0.35 and 038. This indicated that non-volatile compounds could be produced during the growth process of newly formed particles. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
To better understand the sources, formation, and the transport of air pollutants over North China Plain (NCP), a four-week intensive campaign during summertime in 2014 was conducted in a central NCP rural site. In this study, particle hygroscopicity and volatility measurements were focused to characterize the thermodynamic properties of nanoparticles and gain insight into chemical composition of nanoparticles during the new particle formation (NPF) events. The water-soluble fractions of 30 and 50 nm newly formed particles were respectively 0.64 +/- 0.06 and 0.61 +/- 0.06, indicating that the water-soluble chemical compounds, most likely ammonium sulfate, dominated the condensational growth of newly formed particles over the NCP. Due to containing higher water-soluble fraction, nanoparticles can be activated as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at lower supersaturation in the atmosphere of NCP in contrast to cleaner environments, such as Melpitz (Central European background) and Hyytiala (boreal forest) during the NPF events. Our observations showed that the NPF and subsequent growth significantly resulted in an enhancement in CCN number concentration. The ranges of enhancement factors of CCN number concentration for supersaturation (SS) = 0.2, 0.4, 0.8% were respectively 1.9-7.0, 2.7-8.4, and 3.6-10.1. After being heated to 300 degrees C, the shrink factors for 30 and 50 nm particles were respectively 0.35 and 038. This indicated that non-volatile compounds could be produced during the growth process of newly formed particles. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Recently, perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous research interest due to their amazing light to electric power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, most high performance devices usually use mesoporous TiO2 as the electron transport layer (ETL), which increases cost for practical application. Here, TiO2/SnOxCly double layer was employed as the ETL for planar perovskite solar cells. Compared with bare TiO2, perovskite solar cell based on TiO2/SnOxCly shows drastically improved power conversion efficiency and reduced hysteresis. These improvements are attributed to TiO2/SnOxCly which could enhance electron extraction and reduce surface trap-state. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tobacco smoking is a preventable environmental factor that contributes to a wide spectrum of age-related health outcomes; however, its association with the development of frailty is not yet well established. We examined the associations of self-reported smoking indicators, serum cotinine levels and smoking-related DNA methylation biomarkers with a quantitative frailty index (FI) in 2 independent subsets of older adults (age 50-75) recruited in Saarland, Germany in 2000 - 2002 (discovery set: n = 978, validation set: n = 531). We obtained DNA methylation profiles in whole blood samples by Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip and calculated the FI according to the method of Mitnitski and Rockwood. Mixed linear regression models were implemented to assess the associations between smoking indicators and the FI. After controlling for potential covariates, current smoking, cumulative smoking exposure (pack-years), and time after smoking cessation (years) were significantly associated with the FI (P-value < 0.05). In the discovery panel, 17 out of 151 previously identified smoking-related CpG sites were associated with the FI after correction for multiple testing (FDR < 0.05). Nine of them survived in the validation phase and were designated as frailty-associated loci. A smoking index (SI) based on the 9 loci manifested a monotonic association with the FI. In conclusion, this study suggested that epigenetic alterations could play a role in smoking-associated development of frailty. The identified CpG sites have the potential to be prognostic biomarkers of frailty and frailty-related health outcomes. Our findings and the underlying mechanisms should be followed up in further, preferably longitudinal studies.
We investigate the spin–orbit coupling effect in a two-dimensional (2D) Wigner crystal. It is shown that sufficiently strong spin–orbit coupling and an appropriate sign of g-factor could transform the Wigner crystal to a topological phonon system. We demonstrate the existence of chiral phonon edge modes in finite size samples, as well as the robustness of the modes in the topological phase. We explore the possibility of realizing the topological phonon system in 2D Wigner crystals confined in semiconductor quantum wells/heterostructure. It is found that the spin–orbit coupling is too weak for driving a topological phase transition in these systems. It is argued that one may look for topological phonon systems in correlated Wigner crystals with emergent effective spin–orbit coupling.
Habitat is of great importance in, determining the trophic transfer of pollutants in freshwater ecosystems; however, the major factors influencing chemical trophodynamics in pelagic and benthic food webs remain unclear. This study investigated the levels of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 3 and substituted PAHs (s-PAHs) in 2 plankton species, 6 invertebrate species, and 10 fish species collected from Lake Dianchi in southern China. Relatively high concentrations of PAHs and s-PAHs were detected with total concentrations of 11.4-1400 ng/g wet weight (ww) and 5.3-115 ng/g ww, respectively. Stable isotope analysis and stomach content analysis were applied to quantitatively determine the trophic level of individual organisms and discriminate between pelagic and benthic pathways, and the trophodynamics of the detected compounds in the two food webs were assessed. P,p'-DDE was found to exhibit relatively higher trophic magnification rate in the pelagic food web than in the benthic food web. In contrast, PAHs and s-PAHs exhibited greater dilution rates along the trophic levels in the pelagic food web. The lower species differences of pollutants accumulated in benthic organisms compared to pelagic organisms is attributable to extra uptake via ingested sediment in benthos. The average uptake proportions of PAHs and s-PAHs via ingested sediment in benthic biotas were estimated to be 31-77%, and that of p,p'-DDE was 46%. The uptake routes are of importance for assessing the trophic magnification potentials of organic pollutants, especially in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems.