Sea salt aerosols (SSA) are dominant particles in the Arctic atmosphere and determine the polar radiative balance. SSA react with acidic pollutants that lead to changes in physical and chemical ...properties of their surface, which in turn alter their hygroscopic and optical properties. Transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry was used to analyze morphology, composition, size, and mixing state of individual SSA at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, in summertime. Individual fresh SSA contained cubic NaCl coated by certain amounts of MgCl2 and CaSO4. Individual partially aged SSA contained irregular NaCl coated by a mixture of NaNO3, Na2SO4, Mg(NO3)2, and MgSO4. The comparison suggests the hydrophilic MgCl2 coating in fresh SSA likely intrigued the heterogeneous reactions at the beginning of SSA and acidic gases. Individual fully aged SSA normally had Na2SO4 cores and an amorphous coating of NaNO3. Elemental mappings of individual SSA particles revealed that as the particles ageing Cl gradually decreased, the C, N, O, and S content increased. 12C- mapping from nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry indicates that organic matter increased in the aged SSA compared with the fresh SSA. 12C- line scan further shows that organic matter was mainly concentrated on the aged SSA surface. These new findings indicate that this mixture of organic matter and NaNO3 on particle surfaces likely determines their hygroscopic and optical properties. These abundant SSA as reactive surfaces adsorbing inorganic and organic acidic gases can shorten acidic gas lifetime and influence the possible gaseous reactions in the Arctic atmosphere, which need to be incorporated into atmospheric chemical models in the Arctic troposphere.
Objective
This systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examined the efficacy and safety of adjunctive N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant drug, in treating major ...depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Methods
The PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CNKI, CBM, and WanFang databases were independently searched and screened by two researchers. Standardized mean differences (SMDs), risk ratios, and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed.
Results
Six RCTs (n = 701) of NAC for schizophrenia (three RCTs, n = 307), bipolar disorder (two RCTs, n = 125), and MDD (one RCT, n = 269) were identified and analyzed as separate groups. Adjunctive NAC significantly improved total psychopathology (SMD = −0.74, 95% CI: −1.43, −0.06; I2 = 84%, P = 0.03) in schizophrenia, but it had no significant effect on depressive and manic symptoms as assessed by the Young Mania Rating Scale in bipolar disorder and only a small effect on major depressive symptoms. Adverse drug reactions to NAC and discontinuation rates between the NAC and control groups were similar across the three disorders.
Conclusions
Adjunctive NAC appears to be a safe treatment that has efficacy for schizophrenia, but not for bipolar disorder or MDD. Further higher quality RCTs are warranted to determine the role of adjunctive NAC in the treatment of major psychiatric disorders.
The North China Plain (NCP) is a region with high level of seismic hazard. Previous Global Positioning System measurements, however, have shown a near absence of present‐day crustal deformation. ...Using updated Global Positioning System data covering three blocks of the eastern China, we discover that interseismic deformation in the NCP takes place in an ~1,100 km wide left‐lateral shear zone of roughly east‐west orientation. The 6.0 ± 1.3 mm/yr interseismic left‐lateral shear over the NCP results in contemporary deformation that is eventually accommodated by earthquake ruptures of right‐lateral strike‐slip along the north‐northeast trending faults and anticlockwise block rotates. We suggest that rapid eastward motion of the rigid South China block, with respect to the rigid Amurian block, has created a left‐lateral shear couple to twist the nonrigid NCP to form the contemporary deformation.
Key Points
North China Plain is a region with high‐level of earthquake hazard but absence of detectable crustal deformation
Interseismic deformation of the NCP takes place in an ~1,100 km wide left‐lateral shear zone of roughly east‐west orientation
Permanent right‐lateral slips and block rotates on the NNE‐trending faults accommodate the left‐lateral transient shearing
Superelastic conducting fibers with improved properties and functionalities are needed for diverse applications. Here we report the fabrication of highly stretchable (up to 1320%) sheath-core ...conducting fibers created by wrapping carbon nanotube sheets oriented in the fiber direction on stretched rubber fiber cores. The resulting structure exhibited distinct short- and long-period sheath buckling that occurred reversibly out of phase in the axial and belt directions, enabling a resistance change of less than 5% for a 1000% stretch. By including other rubber and carbon nanotube sheath layers, we demonstrated strain sensors generating an 860% capacitance change and electrically powered torsional muscles operating reversibly by a coupled tension-to-torsion actuation mechanism. Using theory, we quantitatively explain the complementary effects of an increase in muscle length and a large positive Poisson's ratio on torsional actuation and electronic properties.
SPIDERS (The SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources) is a programme dedicated to the homogeneous and complete spectroscopic follow-up of X-ray active galactic nuclei and galaxy clusters over ...a large area (~7500 deg super( 2)) of the extragalactic sky. SPIDERS is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-IV project, together with the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and the Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey. This paper describes the largest project within SPIDERS before the launch of eROSITA: an optical spectroscopic survey of X-ray-selected, massive (~10 super( 14)-10 super( 15) M...) galaxy clusters discovered in ROSAT and XMM-Newton imaging. The immediate aim is to determine precise (... ~ 0.001) redshifts for 4000-5000 of these systems out to z ~ 0.6. The scientific goal of the program is precision cosmology, using clusters as probes of large-scale structure in the expanding Universe. We present the cluster samples, target selection algorithms and observation strategies. We demonstrate the efficiency of selecting targets using a combination of SDSS imaging data, a robust red-sequence finder and a dedicated prioritization scheme. We describe a set of algorithms and work-flow developed to collate spectra and assign cluster membership, and to deliver catalogues of spectroscopically confirmed clusters. We discuss the relevance of line-of-sight velocity dispersion estimators for the richer systems. We illustrate our techniques by constructing a catalogue of 230 spectroscopically validated clusters (0.031 < z < 0.658), found in pilot observations. We discuss two potential science applications of the SPIDERS sample: the study of the X-ray luminosity-velocity dispersion (L sub( X)-...) relation and the building of stacked phase-space diagrams. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Traffic emissions are a significant source of airborne particulate matter (PM) in ambient environments. These emissions contain an abundance of toxic metals and thus pose adverse effects on human ...health. Size-fractionated aerosol samples were collected from May to September 2013 by using micro-orifice uniform deposited impactors (MOUDIs). Sample collection was conducted simultaneously at the inlet and outlet sites of Hsuehshan Tunnel in northern Taiwan, which is the second-longest freeway tunnel (12.9 km) in Asia. This endeavor aims to characterize the chemical constituents and size distributions, as well as fingerprinting ratios of particulate metals emitted by vehicle fleets. A total of 36 metals in size-resolved aerosols were determined through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Three major groups – namely, tailpipe emissions (Zn, Pb, and V in fine mode), wear debris (Cu, Cd, Fe, Ga, Mn, Mo, Sb, and Sn), and resuspended dust (Ca, Mg, K, and Rb) – of airborne PM metals were categorized on the basis of the results of enrichment factor, correlation matrix, and principal component analysis. Size distributions of wear-originated metals resembled the pattern of crustal elements, which were predominated by super-micron particulates (PM1–10). By contrast, tailpipe exhaust elements such as Zn, Pb, and V were distributed mainly in submicron particles. By employing Cu as a tracer of wear abrasion, several inter-metal ratios – including Fe / Cu (14), Ba / Cu (1.05), Sb / Cu (0.16), Sn / Cu (0.10), and Ga / Cu (0.03) – served as fingerprints for wear debris. However, the data set collected in this work is useful for further studies on traffic emission inventory and human health effects of traffic-related PM.
This randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study evaluated whether lamivudine given during late pregnancy can reduce hepatitis B virus (HBV) perinatal transmission in highly viraemic mothers. ...Mothers were randomized to either lamivudine 100 mg or placebo from week 32 of gestation to week 4 postpartum. At birth, infants received recombinant HBV vaccine with or without HBIg and were followed until week 52. One hundred and fifty mothers, with a gestational age of 26–30 weeks and serum HBV DNA >1000 MEq/mL (bDNA assay), were treated. A total of 141 infants received immunoprophylaxis at birth. In lamivudine‐treated mothers, 56 infants received vaccine + HBIg (lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg) and 26 infants received vaccine (lamivudine + vaccine). In placebo‐treated mothers, 59 infants received vaccine + HBIg (placebo + vaccine + HBIg). At week 52, in the primary analyses where missing data was counted as failures, infants in the lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg group had a significant decrease in incidence of HBsAg seropositivity (10/56, 18%vs 23/59, 39%; P = 0.014) and in detectable HBV DNA (11/56, 20%vs 27/59, 46%; P = 0.003) compared to infants in the placebo + vaccine + HBIg group. Sensitivity analyses to evaluate the impact of missing data at week 52 resulting from a high dropout rate (13% in the lamivudine + vaccine + HBIg group and 31% in the placebo + vaccine + HBIg group) remained consistent with the primary analysis in that lower transmission rates were still observed in the infants of lamivudine‐treated mothers, but the differences were not statistically significant. No safety concerns were noted in the lamivudine‐treated mothers or their infants. Results of this study suggest that lamivudine reduced HBV transmission from highly viraemic mothers to their infants who received passive/active immunization.
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