| 1. |
- Sutton, M. A., et al.
(författare)
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Towards a climate-dependent paradigm of ammonia emission and deposition
- 2013
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2970 .- 0962-8436. ; 368:1621
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Existing descriptions of bi-directional ammonia (NH3) land-atmosphere exchange incorporate temperature and moisture controls, and are beginning to be used in regional chemical transport models. However, such models have typically applied simpler emission factors to upscale the main NH3 emission terms. While this approach has successfully simulated the main spatial patterns on local to global scales, it fails to address the environment-and climate-dependence of emissions. To handle these issues, we outline the basis for a new modelling paradigm where both NH3 emissions and deposition are calculated online according to diurnal, seasonal and spatial differences in meteorology. We show how measurements reveal a strong, but complex pattern of climatic dependence, which is increasingly being characterized using ground-based NH3 monitoring and satellite observations, while advances in process-based modelling are illustrated for agricultural and natural sources, including a global application for seabird colonies. A future architecture for NH3 emission-deposition modelling is proposed that integrates the spatio-temporal interactions, and provides the necessary foundation to assess the consequences of climate change. Based on available measurements, a first empirical estimate suggests that 5 degrees C warming would increase emissions by 42 per cent (28-67%). Together with increased anthropogenic activity, global NH3 emissions may increase from 65 (45-85) Tg N in 2008 to reach 132 (89-179) Tg by 2100.
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| 2. |
- Grewling, L., et al.
(författare)
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Outdoor airborne allergens: Characterization, behavior and monitoring in Europe
- 2023
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Ingår i: SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. - 0048-9697. ; 905
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aeroallergens or inhalant allergens, are proteins dispersed through the air and have the potential to induce allergic conditions such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma. Outdoor aeroallergens are found predominantly in pollen grains and fungal spores, which are allergen carriers. Aeroallergens from pollen and fungi have seasonal emission patterns that correlate with plant pollination and fungal sporulation and are strongly associated with atmospheric weather conditions. They are released when allergen carriers come in contact with the respiratory system, e.g. the nasal mucosa. In addition, due to the rupture of allergen carriers, airborne allergen molecules may be released directly into the air in the form of micronic and submicronic particles (cytoplasmic debris, cell wall fragments, droplets etc.) or adhered onto other airborne particulate matter. Therefore, aeroallergen detection strategies must consider, in addition to the allergen carriers, the allergen molecules themselves. This review article aims to present the current knowledge on inhalant allergens in the outdoor environment, their structure, localization, and factors affecting their production, transformation, release or degradation. In addition, methods for collecting and quantifying aeroallergens are listed and thoroughly discussed. Finally, the knowledge gaps, challenges and implications associated with aeroallergen analysis are described.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Grundstrom, M., et al.
(författare)
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Oak pollen seasonality and severity across Europe and modelling the season start using a generalized phenological model
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697. ; 663, s. 527-536
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oak pollen seasons are relatively unexplored in large parts of Europe despite producing allergens and being a common tree in both continental and northern parts. Many studies are concentrated only on the Iberian Peninsula. In this study, the seasonal pattern of oak pollen in Europe was analysed using 10 observation sites, ranging from Spain to Sweden. The magnitude of peaks and annual pollen integral together with season-length were studied and substantially higher pollen levels and longer seasons were found in Spain. Two northern sites in Denmark and Sweden showed high oak pollen peaks together with two sites in Spain and United Kingdom. The study also tested four common definitions of season start and applied a generalized phenological model for computing the start of the pollen season. The most accurate definition for a European-wide description of the observed oak pollen start was when the cumulative daily average pollen count reached 50 grains per cubic meter. For the modelling of the start a thermal time method based on Growing Degree Day (GDD) was implemented, utilizing daily temperatures and a generalized approach to identify model parameters applicable to all included sites. GDD values varied between sites and generally followed a decreasing gradient from south to north, with some exceptions. Modelled onsets with base temperatures below 7 degrees C matched well with observed onsets and 76% of the predictions differed <= 4 days compared to observed onsets when using a base temperature of 2 degrees C. Base temperatures above 7 degrees C frequently predicted onsets differing >1 week from the observed. This general approach can be extended to a larger area where pollen observations are non-existent. The presented work will increase the understanding of oak pollen variation in Europe and provide knowledge of its phenology, which is a critical aspect both for modelling purposes on large-scale and assessing the human exposure to oak allergens. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Oderbolz, D. C., et al.
(författare)
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A comprehensive emission inventory of biogenic volatile organic compounds in Europe: improved seasonality and land-cover
- 2013
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7324. ; 13:4, s. 1689-1712
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) emitted from vegetation are important for the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the atmosphere. Therefore, BVOC emission are an important input for air quality models. To model these emissions with high spatial resolution, the accuracy of the underlying vegetation inventory is crucial. We present a BVOC emission model that accommodates different vegetation inventories and uses satellite-based measurements of greenness instead of pre-defined vegetation periods. This approach to seasonality implicitly treats effects caused by water or nutrient availability, altitude and latitude on a plant stand. Additionally, we test the influence of proposed seasonal variability in enzyme activity on BVOC emissions. In its present setup, the emission model calculates hourly emissions of isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and the oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOC) methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, ethanol, acetaldehyde, acetone and acetic acid. In this study, emissions based on three different vegetation inventories are compared with each other and diurnal and seasonal variations in Europe are investigated for the year 2006. Two of these vegetation inventories require information on tree-cover as an input. We compare three different land-cover inventories (USGS GLCC, GLC2000 and Globcover 2.2) with respect to tree-cover. The often-used USGS GLCC land-cover inventory leads to a severe reduction of BVOC emissions due to a potential miss-attribution of broad-leaved trees and reduced tree-cover compared to the two other land-cover inventories. To account for uncertainties in the land-cover classification, we introduce land-cover correction factors for each relevant land-use category to adjust the tree-cover. The results are very sensitive to these factors within the plausible range. For June 2006, total monthly BVOC emissions decreased up to -27% with minimal and increased up to +71% with maximal factors, while in January 2006, the changes in monthly BVOC emissions were -54 and +56% with minimal and maximal factors, respectively. The new seasonality approach leads to a reduction in the annual emissions compared with non-adjusted data. The strongest reduction occurs in OVOC (up to -32%), the weakest in isoprene (as little as -19%). If also enzyme seasonality is taken into account, however, isoprene reacts with the steepest decrease of annual emissions, which are reduced by -44% to -49%, annual emissions of monoterpenes reduce between -30 and -35%. The sensitivity of the model to changes in temperature depends on the climatic zone but not on the vegetation inventory. The sensitivity is higher for temperature increases of 3K (+31% to +64%) than decreases by the same amount (-20 to -35%). The climatic zones "Cold except summer" and "arid" are most sensitive to temperature changes in January for isoprene and monoterpenes, respectively, while in June, "polar" is most sensitive to temperature for both isoprene and monoterpenes. Our model predicts the oxygenated volatile organic compounds to be the most abundant fraction of the annual European emissions (3571-5328 Gg yr(-1)), followed by monoterpenes (2964-4124 Gg yr(-1)), isoprene (1450-2650 Gg yr(-1)) and sesquiterpenes (150-257 Gg yr(-1)). We find regions with high isoprene emissions (most notably the Iberian Peninsula), but overall, oxygenated VOC dominate with 43-45% (depending on the vegetation inventory) contribution to the total annual BVOC emissions in Europe. Isoprene contributes between 18-21 %, monoterpenes 33-36% and sesquiterpenes contribute 1-2%. We compare the concentrations of biogenic species simulated by an air quality model with measurements of isoprene and monoterpenes in Hohenpeissenberg (Germany) for both summer and winter. The agreement between observed and modelled concentrations is better in summer than in winter. This can partly be explained with the difficulty to model weather conditions in winter accurately, but also with the increased anthropogenic influence on the concentrations of BVOC compounds in winter. Our results suggest that land-cover inventories used to derive tree-cover must be chosen with care. Also, uncertainties in the classification of land-cover pixels must be taken into account and remain high. This problem must be addressed together with the remote sensing community. Our new approach using a greenness index for addressing seasonality of vegetation can be implemented easily in existing models. The importance of OVOC for air quality should be more deeply addressed by future studies, especially in smog chambers. Also, the fate of BVOC from the dominant region of the Iberian Peninsula should be studied more in detail.
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| 7. |
- Zweifel, Ulla Li, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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High bacterial 16S rRNA gene diversity above the atmospheric boundary layer
- 2012
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Ingår i: Aerobiologia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0393-5965 .- 1573-3025. ; 28:4, s. 481-498
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The atmosphere is host to an omnipresent bacterial community that may influence fundamental atmospheric processes such as cloud formation and precipitation onset. Knowledge of this bacterial community is scarce, particularly in air masses relevant to cloud formation. Using a light aircraft, we sampled above the atmospheric boundary layer-that is, at heights at which cloud condensation occurs-over coastal areas of Sweden and Denmark in summer 2009. Enumeration indicated total bacterial numbers of 4 x 10(1) to 1.8 x 10(3) m(-3) air and colony-forming units of 0-6 bacteria m(-3) air. 16S rRNA gene libraries constructed from samples collected above the Baltic Sea coast revealed a highly diverse bacterial community dominated by species belonging to the genera Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas. Bacterial species known to carry ice-nucleating proteins were found in several samples. Modeled back trajectories suggested the potential sources of the sampled bacteria to be diverse geographic regions, including both marine and terrestrial environments in the northern hemisphere. Several samples contained 16S rRNA genes from plant chloroplasts, confirming a terrestrial contribution to these samples. Interestingly, the airborne bacterial community displayed an apparent seasonal succession that we tentatively ascribe to in situ succession in the atmosphere.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Obara, EAA, et al.
(författare)
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SPT6-driven error-free DNA repair safeguards genomic stability of glioblastoma cancer stem-like cells
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1, s. 4709-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glioblastoma cancer-stem like cells (GSCs) display marked resistance to ionizing radiation (IR), a standard of care for glioblastoma patients. Mechanisms underpinning radio-resistance of GSCs remain largely unknown. Chromatin state and the accessibility of DNA lesions to DNA repair machineries are crucial for the maintenance of genomic stability. Understanding the functional impact of chromatin remodeling on DNA repair in GSCs may lay the foundation for advancing the efficacy of radio-sensitizing therapies. Here, we present the results of a high-content siRNA microscopy screen, revealing the transcriptional elongation factor SPT6 to be critical for the genomic stability and self-renewal of GSCs. Mechanistically, SPT6 transcriptionally up-regulates BRCA1 and thereby drives an error-free DNA repair in GSCs. SPT6 loss impairs the self-renewal, genomic stability and tumor initiating capacity of GSCs. Collectively, our results provide mechanistic insights into how SPT6 regulates DNA repair and identify SPT6 as a putative therapeutic target in glioblastoma.
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| 10. |
- Tesson, Sylvie V M, et al.
(författare)
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Airborne Microalgae: Insights, Opportunities, and Challenges
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 82:7, s. 1978-1991
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Airborne dispersal of microalgae has largely been a blind spot in environmental biological studies because of their low concentration in the atmosphere and the technical limitations in investigating microalgae from air samples. Recent studies show that airborne microalgae can survive air transportation and interact with the environment, possibly influencing their deposition rates. This minireview presents a summary of these studies and traces the possible route, step by step, from established ecosystems to new habitats through air transportation over a variety of geographic scales. Emission, transportation, deposition, and adaptation to atmospheric stress are discussed, as well as the consequences of their dispersal on health and the environment and state-of-the-art techniques to detect and model airborne microalga dispersal. More-detailed studies on the microalga atmospheric cycle, including, for instance, ice nucleation activity and transport simulations, are crucial for improving our understanding of microalga ecology, identifying microalga interactions with the environment, and preventing unwanted contamination events or invasions.
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