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- Chen, Gongbo, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality risk attributable to wildfire-related PM2·5 pollution : a global time series study in 749 locations
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Lancet Planetary Health. - : Elsevier. - 2542-5196. ; 5:9, s. e579-e587
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Many regions of the world are now facing more frequent and unprecedentedly large wildfires. However, the association between wildfire-related PM2·5 and mortality has not been well characterised. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2·5 and mortality across various regions of the world.METHODS: For this time series study, data on daily counts of deaths for all causes, cardiovascular causes, and respiratory causes were collected from 749 cities in 43 countries and regions during 2000-16. Daily concentrations of wildfire-related PM2·5 were estimated using the three-dimensional chemical transport model GEOS-Chem at a 0·25° × 0·25° resolution. The association between wildfire-related PM2·5 exposure and mortality was examined using a quasi-Poisson time series model in each city considering both the current-day and lag effects, and the effect estimates were then pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. Based on these pooled effect estimates, the population attributable fraction and relative risk (RR) of annual mortality due to acute wildfire-related PM2·5 exposure was calculated.FINDINGS: 65·6 million all-cause deaths, 15·1 million cardiovascular deaths, and 6·8 million respiratory deaths were included in our analyses. The pooled RRs of mortality associated with each 10 μg/m3 increase in the 3-day moving average (lag 0-2 days) of wildfire-related PM2·5 exposure were 1·019 (95% CI 1·016-1·022) for all-cause mortality, 1·017 (1·012-1·021) for cardiovascular mortality, and 1·019 (1·013-1·025) for respiratory mortality. Overall, 0·62% (95% CI 0·48-0·75) of all-cause deaths, 0·55% (0·43-0·67) of cardiovascular deaths, and 0·64% (0·50-0·78) of respiratory deaths were annually attributable to the acute impacts of wildfire-related PM2·5 exposure during the study period.INTERPRETATION: Short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2·5 was associated with increased risk of mortality. Urgent action is needed to reduce health risks from the increasing wildfires.
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| 2. |
- Cunha, Jose M. V., et al.
(författare)
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High-Performance and Industrially Viable Nanostructured SiOx Layers for Interface Passivation in Thin Film Solar Cells
- 2021
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Ingår i: Solar RRL. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2367-198X. ; 5:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Herein, it is demonstrated, by using industrial techniques, that a passivation layer with nanocontacts based on silicon oxide (SiOx) leads to significant improvements in the optoelectronical performance of ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 (CIGS) solar cells. Two approaches are applied for contact patterning of the passivation layer: point contacts and line contacts. For two CIGS growth conditions, 550 and 500 degrees C, the SiOx passivation layer demonstrates positive passivation properties, which are supported by electrical simulations. Such positive effects lead to an increase in the light to power conversion efficiency value of 2.6% (absolute value) for passivated devices compared with a nonpassivated reference device. Strikingly, both passivation architectures present similar efficiency values. However, there is a trade-off between passivation effect and charge extraction, as demonstrated by the trade-off between open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and short-circuit current density (J(sc)) compared with fill factor (FF). For the first time, a fully industrial upscalable process combining SiOx as rear passivation layer deposited by chemical vapor deposition, with photolithography for line contacts, yields promising results toward high-performance and low-cost ultrathin CIGS solar cells with champion devices reaching efficiency values of 12%, demonstrating the potential of SiOx as a passivation material for energy conversion devices.
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| 3. |
- Meng, Xia, et al.
(författare)
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Short term associations of ambient nitrogen dioxide with daily total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality : multilocation analysis in 398 cities.
- 2021
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Ingår i: The BMJ. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 1756-1833. ; 372
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short term associations between nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality across multiple countries/regions worldwide, using a uniform analytical protocol.DESIGN: Two stage, time series approach, with overdispersed generalised linear models and multilevel meta-analysis.SETTING: 398 cities in 22 low to high income countries/regions.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Daily deaths from total (62.8 million), cardiovascular (19.7 million), and respiratory (5.5 million) causes between 1973 and 2018.RESULTS: On average, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 concentration on lag 1 day (previous day) was associated with 0.46% (95% confidence interval 0.36% to 0.57%), 0.37% (0.22% to 0.51%), and 0.47% (0.21% to 0.72%) increases in total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, respectively. These associations remained robust after adjusting for co-pollutants (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm or ≤2.5 μm (PM10 and PM2.5, respectively), ozone, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide). The pooled concentration-response curves for all three causes were almost linear without discernible thresholds. The proportion of deaths attributable to NO2 concentration above the counterfactual zero level was 1.23% (95% confidence interval 0.96% to 1.51%) across the 398 cities.CONCLUSIONS: This multilocation study provides key evidence on the independent and linear associations between short term exposure to NO2 and increased risk of total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, suggesting that health benefits would be achieved by tightening the guidelines and regulatory limits of NO2.
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