•For moderate reductions, emission and PM concentration changes are linearly linked.•Reducing SO2 emissions where abundant is always efficient.•Reducing NH3 emissions is more efficient where it is ...less abundant.•Reducing NOx emissions where NOx are abundant can be counter-productive.•Both NOx and NH3 regimes occur in some regions, calling for combined reductions
Given the remaining air quality issues in many European regions, smart air quality strategies are necessary to reduce the burden of poor air quality. While designing effective strategies for non-reactive primary pollutants is straightforward, this is not the case for secondary pollutants for which the relationship between emission changes and the resulting concentration changes can be nonlinear. Under such conditions, strategies targeting the largest emitting sources might not be the most effective. In this work, we provide elements to better understand the role of the main emission precursors (SO2, NOx, NH3) on the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols. By quantifying the PM2.5 sensitivity to emission reductions for each of these three precursors, we define and quantify the intensity of PM2.5 formation chemical regimes across Europe. We find that for emission reductions limited to 25%, the relation between emission and PM concentration changes remain mostly linear, with the exception of the Po Valley where non-linearities reach more than 30% in winter. When emission reductions increase to 50%, non-linearity reaches more than 60% in the Po Valley but stay below 30% in the rest of Europe. In terms of implications on abatement strategies, our findings can be summarized in the following key messages: (1) reducing SO2 emissions where abundant is always efficient (e.g. eastern Europe and Balkans); (2) reducing NH3 emissions is more efficient where it is less abundant (e.g. the Po basin) than where it is abundant, given the limiting role of NH3 in the PM formation; (3) reducing NOx emissions where NOx are abundant can be counter-productive with potential increases of PM due to the increased oxidant capacity of the atmosphere (e.g. Po valley); (4) because regions with both NH3 and NOx sensitive chemical regimes are mixed within countries, both need to be reduced together, as pollution reduction policies need at least to be defined at a country level; (6) while for NH3 the focus is clearly on wintertime, it is the whole year for NOx. The simulations proposed in this work could be used as benchmark for other models as they constitute the type of scenarios required to support air quality strategies. In addition, the straight and systematic emission reductions imposed for the scenarios in this work are well suited for a better understanding of the behavior of the model, in terms of responses to emission reductions.
Burn injuries pose a significant public health challenge, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In Bangladesh, burn injuries are prevalent and often result in severe disability or ...death. However, knowledge regarding the causes of burn injuries, acute burn management, and barriers to seeking burn care in the riverine areas of northern Bangladesh is limited.
We conducted a questionnaire-based study in eight subunits and five selected districts in northern Bangladesh to determine the prevalence, causes, and management of burn injuries in these areas. A total of 210 individuals from different households were interviewed, which represented a population of 1020 persons.
Among the respondents, 55% reported that at least one member of their household suffered from a burn injury in the past. The most common causes of burn injuries were open fire (41%) and hot fluids (30%). More than 40% of burns were not rinsed with water directly after sustaining the injury. Additionally, almost 30% of respondents did not seek medical care immediately after the injury, with financial constraints being the most commonly cited reason.
We found a low rate of adequate cooling and seeking medical care. The need for basic knowledge on prevention and treatment of burn injuries and improved access to affordable health care services in the region is high.
•There is a high burn injury prevalence in Bangladesh, leading to severe disability and fatalities.•Open fire and scalds were the most common causes of burn injuries.•A specific household survey in the rural north of Bangladesh was conducted.•There is a concerning lack of immediate water rinsing for almost half of burn injuries.•There is an urgent need for burn injury prevention in northern Bangladesh.
We evaluated global and regional aerosol optical depth (AOD) trends in view of aerosol (precursor) emission changes between 2000 and 2009. We used AOD data products from MODIS, MISR and AERONET and ...emission estimates from the EMEP, REAS and IPCC inventories. The trends in global monthly AOD of MODIS (L3), MISR (L3) and AERONET (L2) are significantly negative over Europe and North America, whereas over South and East Asia they are mostly positive. The calculated 2000–2009 trends from the monthly L3 products correspond well with the more detailed daily MODIS L2 AODs for three selected regions (Central Mediterranean, North-East America and East Asia). Furthermore, daily and monthly AERONET L2 AOD trends agree well. The trends in AOD are compared to estimated emission changes of SO2, NOx, NH3 and black carbon. We associate the downward trends in AOD over Europe and North America with decreasing emissions of SO2, NOx and other pollutants. Over East Asia the MODIS L2 trends are generally positive, consistent with increasing pollutant emissions by fossil energy use and growing industrial and urban activities. It appears that SO2 emission changes dominate the AOD trends, although especially in Asia NOx emissions may become increasingly important. Our results suggest that solar brightening due to decreasing SO2 emissions and the resulting downward AOD trends over Europe may have weakened in the 2000s compared to the 1990s.
► AOD trends by MODIS, MISR, AERONET are negative over Europe and North America. ► Over South and East Asia AOD trends are positive. ► Increasing/decreasing AOD trends are related to increasing/decreasing of pollutants. ► AOD trends from the MODIS monthly L3 products correspond well with MODIS L2. ► Daily and monthly AERONET Level 2 AOD trends agree well.
The EU, seeking to be a global leader in the fight against climate change, is moving ahead with ambitious policies to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions. In this context, the Fit for 55 package ...(FF55) is a set of proposals to revise and update EU legislation, to ensure that policies are in line with the climate goals of cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Whilst these policies are designed for climate purposes, they will have positive side-effects (co-benefits) on air quality. Separately, additional policies are also in place to reduce emissions of related air pollutants and to improve air quality concentrations on EU territory. In this work, through a modelling study, we analyse the benefits of these policies via the health benefits arising from the resulting reductions in yearly average PM2.5 concentrations. Results are analysed by assessing and comparing morbidity and mortality impacts as computed using both the HRAPIE (Health risks of air pollution in Europe, WHO, as implemented in the CaRBonH model) and the GBD (Global Burden of Disease, as implemented in FASST-GBD model) approaches. Even when considering the uncertainty and variability in the results obtained using the two approaches, it is clear that EU policies can bring health and economic benefit in EU, with several Billions of Euro of benefits both in terms of morbidity and mortality indicators.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the high resolution SRTM topography and Corine Land Cover data on simulated meteorological variables (wind speed at ten metres height, ...temperature at 2 m height and precipitation) in WRF. We compare the results with the WRF simulation using the standard 30-arc second USGS Land Cover and topography, and with observations of the ARPA network. We focus on the Lombardy region (north Italy) for the periods January–February and July–August 2008.
Our analysis shows that simulated average wind speeds are in general lower by the WRF simulation with the SRTM and Corine Land Cover than the WRF simulation with the 30-arc second USGS and agrees better with the observations. The reason for this is that the Corine Land Cover shows a larger fraction of the ‘urban and built-up’ category than the USGS data set, which leads to more friction and higher roughness in the domain and lowers the wind speeds at ground level. For the winter period, the WRF simulation with the SRTM and Corine Land Cover calculates on average higher temperatures over the model domain (between ~0.2 and ~1.0°C and up to ~1.2°C for Milan) than the simulation using USGS data. For the summer period the differences in average temperatures are larger up to 2.7°C, while for Milan the differences are around 0.7°C. The differences are related to the higher fraction of urban and built-up area in the Corine Land Cover, which affects the sensible and latent heat fluxes in the model domain and holds the heat between the buildings. R2 values are on average a factor of 1.03 and 1.14 higher for the winter and summer periods, respectively. Comparing the hit rate statistics of the precipitation events reveals that probability of detection of the precipitation event and the Hansen–Kuipers score is on average 1% higher by the simulation with SRTM and Corine Land Cover than the WRF simulation with the standard USGS data set.
•WRF with Corine Land Cover calculates overall lower T2 than with USGS LC.•WRF with Corine Land Cover calculates overall lower wind speeds than with USGS LC.•WRF with Corine Land Cover agrees better with observations.•Changes in sensible and latent heat fluxes are responsible for the differences.•Precipitation hit rate statistics are in general better with Corine Land Cover.
Abstract Background Despite an increase in knowledge, blood loss during burn excisional surgery remains a major challenge and is an independent predictor of mortality. During burn surgery, limited ...measures are available to control the bleeding. Increased fibrinolysis could be one of the contributing factors of blood loss during burn excisional surgery. Tranexamic acid inhibits the fibrinolytic response, and a small body of evidence shows positive effects of tranexamic acid on the volume of blood loss. Methods The main objectives of this study are twofold, (1) to investigate whether tranexamic acid reduces blood loss and (2) to investigate the changes in coagulation after burn trauma and during burn excisional surgery. This study is a multicenter double-blind randomized clinical trial in patients scheduled for burn excisional surgery within the Dutch burn centers. All adult patients scheduled for burn surgery with an expected blood loss of ≥ 250 are eligible for inclusion in this study. The study is powered on a blood loss reduction of 25% in the intervention group. In total, 95 subjects will be included. The intervention group will receive 1500 mg tranexamic acid versus placebo in the other group. Primary endpoint is reduction of blood loss. Secondary endpoints include occurrence of fibrinolysis during surgery, graft take of the split skin graft, and differences in coagulation and blood clot formation. Discussion This protocol of a randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss during burn excisional surgery. Furthermore, this study aims to clarify the coagulation status after burn trauma and during the surgical process. Trial registration EudraCT: 2020-005405-10; ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT05507983 (retrospectively registered in August 2022, inclusion started in December 2021).
The objective of this study was to evaluate three meteorological models (MM5, WRF and TRAMPER) by comparing the calculated meteorological parameters with observations over the Po Valley area (Italy) ...for 2005. The analysis shows that MM5 and WRF perform with similar quality, with advantages of WRF at following high resolution time patterns and better scores of MM5 at reproducing annual averages, noticed for precipitation and relative humidity calculations. Results from the TRAMPER model also reflect very well surface meteorological measurements, they may be however driven by data assimilation applied in this modelling system and thus strongly influenced by very local effects. This feature of TRAMPER may lead as well to large uncertainties in reproducing other parameters important for air quality modelling such as planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights, friction velocity (u*) values or stability conditions.
•We compared performance of three meteorological models over the Po Valley in 2005.•MM5 and WRF perform with similar quality.•WRF is better at following time patterns and MM5 – at reproducing annual averages.•TRAMPER performs very well when comparing with surface meteorological measurements.•Results from TRAMPER are strongly driven by local effects and show large uncertainty.
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