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Recently, elevated blood pressure (BP) and hypertension (HTN) have caused a huge burden of health loss. Previous studies used ambient air pollutants as a proxy for individual exposure, limiting the assessment of its multiple exposure to health effects. For the first time, this study constructed individual PM 2.5 component (SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , NH 4 + , OM, and BC) exposure model DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph), DAG-oriented generalized linear model and random forest model, and explored the effects of single and multiple exposures to PM 2.5 components on BP at different stages by the generalized linear model (GLM) and Quantile g-Computation (QgC) model based on a large cohort study in China. We defined BP in four stages according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines. After excluding the lack of key information, the cohort analyses ultimately included 9031 participants. Our results showed that the individual PM 2.5 component exposure model had good efficacy. Single or multiple exposure to PM 2.5 components had significant positive effects on normal BP to elevated BP and elevated BP to stage 1 HTN. In addition, males, the elderly and urban residents were more sensitive to PM 2.5 components. This study provided implications for environmental exposure assessment and control of particulate pollution in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Sponge city special planning represents a basis for sponge city construction in China. It has a leading role in problem-oriented, effect-centered comprehensive, and coordinated construction. In accordance with the Interim Provisions on the Formulation of Sponge City Special Planning , China has gradually established a standardized method for formulating sponge city special planning based on the "four-water" framework. While this method emphasizes the normalization of planning contents, it has limitations when dealing with regional characteristics. The present paper clarifies the purposes and demands of formulating sponge city special planning for semi-arid valley cities in northwestern China. It furthermore highlights the limitations of the standard method and suggests a three-level optimization, i.e., problem identification, target indicators, and system construction. Based on the framework of "mountain management-water management-moist city," this paper proposes a set of ideas for formulating sponge city special planning. In this regard, the discussions are based on the formulation practice of Xining., Competing Interests: Authors YY, JH, and JZ were employed by China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. The remaining author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wu, Yang, He and Zhu.)

Objectives: To develop the birth weight curve of twin neonates with a gestational age of 25-40 weeks, and to investigate the regional differences of the birth weight curve., Methods: A total of 11 maternal and child health care hospitals with more than 7 000 neonates delivered annually were selected in 11 cities of China (Haikou, Guangzhou, Liuzhou, Guilin, Quanzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Ningbo, and Lianyungang), and all live twin neonates delivered in the 11 hospitals from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 were enrolled for the development of birth weight curves., Results: A total of 17 256 twin neonates with a gestational age of 25-40 weeks from the 11 cities were included in the study. The reference values of the 3rd-97th percentiles of birth weight of twin neonates for the total of the 11 cities and for each of the 11 cities in China were established, and the birth weight percentile curves were drawn. The birth weight curve level of twin neonates in Liuzhou was lower than the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of twin neonates in Ningbo was higher than the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of twin neonates in Lianyungang was obviously higher than the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of twin neonates in other 8 cities was almost the same as the average level of the 11 cities., Conclusions: The reference values of the 3rd-97th percentiles of birth weight of twin neonates for the total of the 11 cities and for each of the 11 cities are developed, which can be used as a reference for evaluating the intrauterine growth of twin neonates in the region. The level of intrauterine growth of twin neonates in some cities is different from the average level of the 11 cities of China.

To better understand the change characteristics and reduction in organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) driven by the most stringent clean air policies and pandemic-related lockdown measures in China, a comprehensive field campaign was performed to measure the carbonaceous components in PM 2.5 on an hourly basis via harmonized analytical methods in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding region (including 2 + 26 cities) from January 1 to December 31, 2020. The results indicated that the annual average concentrations of OC and EC reached as low as 6.6 ± 5.7 and 1.8 ± 1.9 μg/m 3 , respectively, lower than those obtained in previous studies, which could be attributed to the effectiveness of the Clean Air Action Plan and the impact of the COVID-19-related lockdown measures implemented in China. Marked seasonal and diurnal variations in OC and EC were observed in the 2 + 26 cities. Significant correlations (p < 0.001) between OC and EC were found. The annual average secondary OC levels level ranged from 1.8-5.4 μg/m 3 , accounting for 37.7-73.0% of the OC concentration in the 2 + 26 cities estimated with the minimum R squared method. Based on Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) algorithms, the light extinction contribution of carbonaceous PM to the total amount reached 21.1% and 26.0% on average, suggesting that carbonaceous PM played a less important role in visibility impairment than did the other chemical components in PM 2.5 . This study is expected to provide an important real-time dataset and in-depth analysis of the significant reduction in OC and EC in PM 2.5 driven by both the Clean Air Action Plan and COVID-19-related lockdown policies over the past few years, which could represent an insightful comparative case study for other developing countries/regions facing similar carbonaceous PM pollution., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To prevent the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreading, Chinese government takes a series of corresponding measures to restrict human mobility, including transportation lock-down and industries suspension, which significantly influenced the ambient air quality and provided vary rare time windows to assess the impacts of anthropological activities on air pollution. In this work, we divided the studied timeframe (2019/12/24-2020/2/24) into four periods and selected 88 cities from 31 representative urban agglomerations. The indicators of PM 2.5 /PM 10 and NO 2 /SO 2 were applied, for the first time, to analyze the changes in stoichiometric characteristics of ambient air pollutants pre-to post-COVID-19 in China. The results indicated that the ratios of NO 2 /SO 2 presented a responding decline, especially in YRD (-5.01), YH (-3.87), and MYR (-3.84), with the sharp reduction of traffic in post-COVID-19 periods (P3-P4: 2.34 ± 0.94 m/m) comparing with pre-COVID-19 periods (P1-P2: 4.49 ± 2.03 m/m). Whereas the ratios of PM 2.5 /PM 10 increased in P1-P3, then decreased in P4 with relatively higher levels (>0.5) in almost all urban agglomerations. Furthermore, NO 2 presented a stronger association with PM 2.5 /PM 10 variation than CO; and PM 2.5 with NO 2 /SO 2 variation than PM 10 . In summary, the economic structure, lockdown measures and meteorological conditions could explain the noteworthy variations in different urban agglomerations. These results would be in great help for improving air quality in the post-epidemic periods., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: To develop the birth weight curve of singleton neonates with a gestational age of 24-42 weeks, and to investigate the regional differences of the birth weight curve., Methods: A total of 11 maternal and child health hospitals with more than 7 000 neonates delivered annually were selected in 11 cities of China (Haikou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Liuzhou, Guilin, Quanzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Ningbo, and Lianyungang), and all live singleton neonates delivered in the 11 hospitals from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 were enrolled for the development of birth weight curves., Results: A total of 93 720 singleton neonates with a gestational age of 24-42 weeks from the 11 cities were included in the study. The reference values of the 3rd-97th percentiles of birth weight of singleton neonates for the total of the 11 cities and for each of the 11 cities were established, and the birth weight percentile curves were drawn. The birth weight curve level of singleton neonates in Shenzhen and Quanzhou was almost the same as the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of singleton neonates in Haikou, Guangzhou, Guilin, and Liuzhou was slightly lower than the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of singleton neonates in Chongqing, Chengdu, and Changsha was slightly higher than the average level of the 11 cities; the birth weight curve level of singleton neonates in Ningbo and Lianyungang was higher than the average level of the 11 cities. The average birth weight curve level of singleton neonates in the 11 cities were very close to that of China Neonatal Cooperation Network in 2011-2014., Conclusions: The reference values of the 3rd-97th percentiles of birth weight of singleton neonates for the total of the 11 cities and for each of the 11 cities are developed, which can be used as a reference for evaluating the intrauterine growth of singleton neonates in the region. The level of intrauterine growth of neonates in some cities is different from the national level.

Land consolidation has greatly altered land use patterns and the corresponding ecosystem services (ES) in China. However, the potential consequences of different consolidation measures for the interaction of ecosystem services are still largely unknown. Here, from a simulation perspective, we predict potential separate and joint influences of three land consolidation scenarios, i.e., reclamation of abandoned mining land, intensive construction land use and their integrated scenario, on the tradeoff/ synergic relationships of food production, carbon storage, habitat quality, and water conservation. Zhaoyuan city, one of China's top 100 counties at a green transformation stage of mining industry, is taken as a case study. Our results show that land consolidation will significantly mitigate the loss of farmland and vegetation while improving use efficiency of construction land. By 2035, food production is likely to present more trade-offs with other ES, whereas carbon storage, habitat quality, and water conservation will be highly synergic with each other. In contrast, consolidation of rural/urban construction land will be more feasible to coordinate multiple ecosystem services, as well as mitigating urban expansion and rural hollowing. This work enables us to identify the optimal combinations of multiple land consolidation measures towards sustainable ecosystem management., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Government management is the main tool to solve environmental pollution. Considering the unique fiscal decentralization institution in China, this paper investigates the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on urban haze pollution in China from the perspective of spatial econometrics. The Generalized Spatial Two Stage Least Squares (GS2SLS) method is employed to treat the spatial correlation of air pollution. Based on a panel dataset comprising 276 Chinese cities during 2004-2018, we find a positive effect of FDI on urban haze pollution. For one standard deviation increase in FDI, the average annual PM2.5 concentration increase by 1.5%, ceteris paribus. Evidence also suggests that this effect varies across regions with different levels of fiscal decentralization. Through the test of the moderating effect and the threshold effect, we found that the higher of the fiscal decentralization, the weaker of the impact of FDI on haze pollution. This study proposes a new solution for sustainable development: increasing the financial autonomy of local governments to restrain the attraction of non-cleaner investment., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

As one of the most concerned issues in modern society, air quality has received extensive attentions from the public and the government, which promotes the continuous development and progress of air quality forecasting technology. In this study, an automated air quality forecasting system based on machine learning has been developed and applied for daily forecasts of six common pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10, SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 , and CO) and pollution levels, which can automatically find the best "Model + Hyperparameters" without human intervention. Five machine learning models and an ensemble model (Stacked Generalization) were integrated into the system, supported by a knowledge base containing the meteorological observed data, pollutant concentrations, pollutant emissions, and model reanalysis data. Then five-year data (2015-2019) of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, and Changchun in China, were used as an application case to study the effectiveness of the automated forecasting system. Based on the analysis of seven evaluation criteria and pollution level forecasts, combined with the forecasting results for the next 3-days, it is found that the automated system can achieve satisfactory forecasting performance, better than most of numerical model results. This implied that the developed system unveils a good application prospect in the field of environmental meteorology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown policy across the globe has brought improved air quality while fighting against the coronavirus. After the closure, urban air quality was subject to emission reduction of air pollutants and rebounded to the previous level after the potency period of recession. Different response patterns exhibit divergent sensitivities of urban resilience in regard to air pollution. In this paper, we investigate the post-lockdown AQI values of 314 major cities in China to analyse their differential effects on the influence factors of urban resilience. The major findings of this paper include: 1) Cities exhibit considerable range of resilience with their AQI values which are dropped by 21.1% per day, took 3.97 days on average to reach the significantly decreased trough point, and reduced by 49.3% after the lockdown initiatives. 2) Mega cities and cities that locate as the focal points of transportation for nearby provinces, together with those with high AQI values, were more struggling to maintain a good air quality with high rebounds. 3) Urban resilience shows divergent spatial sensitivities to air pollution controls. Failing to consider multi-dimensional factors besides from geomorphological and economical activities could lead to uneven results of environmental policies. The results unveil key drivers of urban air pollution mitigation, and provide valuable insights for prediction of air quality in response to anthropogenic interference events under different macro-economic contexts. Research findings in this paper can be adopted for prevention and management of public health risks from the perspective of urban resilience and environmental management in face of disruptive outbreak events in future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To enhance the safety of pedestrians crossing the street, a series of new regulations regarding pedestrian yield has been proposed and widely implemented across cities. In this study, we first made some improvements to the social force model, in which pedestrian crossing at the intersection, drivers' psychology of giving way, vehicle yield to pedestrians, vehicle yield in different directions, the influence of pedestrians crossing boundaries, and signal lamp groups on pedestrian behavior were considered. Furthermore, pedestrian crossing and vehicle yield safety models were established, based on which the comprehensive safety evaluation model of intersections in arterials was established, in which two indices-(1) the safety degree of pedestrian crossings and (2) vehicle acceleration interference-were combined with the entropy weight method. Finally, four types of intersections in arterials were studied using a simulation: the intersections between different levels of arterials, and intersections with one-time and two-times pedestrian crossings. Moreover, safety evaluation and analysis of those intersections, considering the rule of pedestrian yield, were conducted combined with the trajectory data from the VISSIM simulation. The relevant results showed that for pedestrians crossing the street, the pedestrian safety of two-time crossing is significantly higher than that of one-time crossing, and compared with the arterial, the pedestrian crossing distance of the sub-arterial is shorter, and the pedestrian perception is safer. Moreover, due to the herd psychology effect, the increase in pedestrian flow volume improves the safety perception of pedestrians at the intersection.

With the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is facing many environmental problems that need to be solved in the process of development. This paper aims to analyze the environmental governance effects of nine provinces and two municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2009 to 2018. Firstly, based on the input-output index, the slacks-based measure (SBM) undesirable model and Malmquist (ML) index were used to measure the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the YREB from 2009 to 2018. The results showed that the technological progress index contributed the most to the GTFP of the YREB, followed by the pure technical efficiency index and the scale efficiency index. Environmental regulation has no significant impact on the GTFP of the YREB. Secondly, by analyzing the effect of environmental governance in the YREB, the results show that the main reasons for the ineffective environmental governance in the YREB are the redundant input of environmental resources, excessive unwanted output, and low harmless treatment rate of municipal solid waste, rather than the low level of urban environmental management. Finally, this paper provides recommendations for the ineffective provinces and municipalities of the YREB to further optimize the input-output factors of environmental governance.

The misuse of fentanyl and more recently tramadol in the population has caused an opioid crisis in several countries and drawn much public attention worldwide. However, there is a gap of information on the potential misuse of fentanyl and tramadol in China. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing fentanyl and tramadol in wastewater of major cities across China to estimate their use. Wastewater samples were collected from 30 cities located across all seven geographic regions of China, from 2016 to 2019. Fentanyl was detected in only a few samples, suggesting a low prevalence of this potent opioid drug in China. Meanwhile, tramadol was found in most samples with concentrations ranging up to 186 ng/L. The per capita daily consumption of tramadol estimated from wastewater across China ranged from 6 mg/d/1000 in. to 213 mg/d/1000 inh. The consumption of tramadol seems to be similar among all the days of the week. Tramadol use is overall higher in Northeast China than in other regions, which is different from heroin, another popular opioid in China. Temporally, there is a significant decrease in tramadol use in major cities of China from 2016 to 2019. The results of our study suggested that tramadol use in China was predominantly from pharmaceutical prescription and not as prevalent as in other countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To investigate the level of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) contamination in the automobile microenvironment, air and dust samples were collected from 15 family automobiles in Hangzhou City, China. The PBDE concentrations, distribution of congeners, and human exposure were determined; and the content and distribution of PBDEs in automotive interior materials were analyzed. The results revealed that the average and median concentrations of ∑ 14 PBDEs in the air in automobiles were 732 and 695 pg/m 3 , respectively, whereas those in automotive dust were 4913 and 5094 ng/g, respectively. Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) had the highest proportion, accounting for 61.3% and 88.8% of the ∑ 14 PBDEs in the air and dust, respectively. The potential primary sources of PBDEs in automobile air and dust were volatile polyurethanes in seat covers and foot pads, respectively. Human exposure calculations revealed that infants and toddlers in cars were most exposed to air and dust, respectively. BDE-47 and -99 were the primary sources of health risks related to air and dust in cars., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To characterize trace elements from inhalable particles and to estimate human health risks, airborne particles at an urban area of Ningbo city during haze and non-haze periods from November 2013 to May 2014 were collected by a nine-stage sampler. Seventeen trace elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of trace elements are in the ranges of 0.51 ng m -3 (Co) ~ 1.53 µg m -3 (K) for fine particles (Dp < 2.1 μm), and 1.07 ng m -3 (Co) ~ 4.96 µg m -3 (K) for coarse particles (2.1 μm < Dp < 9.0 μm) during the haze days, which are 1.15 -4.30 and 1.23- 7.83-fold as those of non-haze days, respectively. These elements could be divided into crustal elements (Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Ti, Fe and Co), non-crustal elements (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) and mixed elements (K, V, Cr, Mn, Ni and As) according to their enrichment factor values (EFs) and size distribution characteristics. Five emission sources of trace elements were identified by positive matrix factorization (PMF) modeling. The main sources of trace elements in fine particles are traffic emission (21.7%), coal combustion (23.6%) and biomass burning (32.1%); however, soil dust (61.5%), traffic emission (21.9%) and industry emissions (11.8%) are the main contributors for coarse particles. With the help of the multiple-path particle dosimetry (MPPD) model, it was found that deposition fractions of seventeen measured elements in the pulmonary region were in the range of 12.4%-15.1% and 6.66% -12.3% for the fine and coarse particles, respectively. The human health risk assessment (HRA) was employed according to the deposition concentration in the pulmonary region. The non-carcinogenic risk (HI) was below the safety limit (1.00). Nonetheless, the excess lifetime carcinogenic risk (ELCR) for adults increased by 2.42-fold during the haze days (2.06 × 10 -5 ) as compared to that of non-haze days (8.50 × 10 -6 ) in fine particles. Cr (VI) and As together contributed 96.5% and 96.3% of the integrated cancer risks during the haze and non-haze periods, respectively. Moreover, the related ELCR values in coarse particles were 36.7% and 62.8% of those in the fine particles for the non-haze period and haze period, respectively., (© 2021. Springer Nature B.V.)

This study aimed to characterize PM 2.5 -bound trace elements in Northern Zhejiang Province (NZP), one of the most economically prosperous regions in China, and assess the associated health risks for the general populations. A year-long sampling campaign was conducted at four sites representative of urban, suburban, and rural areas of NZP. The average of the sum of twenty trace elements in PM 2.5 was 2.8 ± 0.4 μg m -3 , dominated by K, Al, Fe, Mg, Zn, and V (>100 ng m -3 ). The highest total elements' concentration occurred in winter, followed by autumn, spring, and summer. Enrichment factors and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the major sources of trace elements in NZP were fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, crustal dust, traffic, and industrial emissions. Elevated concentrations of certain elements reflected featured sources in different areas, e.g., V and Ni from heavy oil combustion in the port city, and Cu, Fe and Ba from traffic emissions in urban areas. Arsenic (As) represented the major non-cancer risk driver as its hazard quotient was 8.7. The cumulative cancer risk from all the carcinogenic elements was 1.7 × 10 -3 in NZP, exceeding the upper limit (10 -4 ) of the acceptable risk range. As and Cr contributed 33% and 66%, respectively, and thus were regarded as cancer risk drivers. The high health risks from PM 2.5 -bound elements warrant future actions to control their emissions in this region. Priorities should target industrial operations and coal combustion emissions, as informed by the risk drivers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks. Since 2014, novel genetic variants of NoV have been continuously identified and have caused a sharp increase in the number of AGE outbreaks. The specific geographical distribution and expanding genetic diversity of NoV has posed a challenge to conventional surveillance. Here, we describe the long-term dynamic correlation between NoV distribution in sewage and in the local population through the molecular surveillance of NoV in Guangdong, 2013-2018. The relative viral loads of the GI and GII genotypes in sewage were calculated through RT-PCR. A high-throughput sequencing method and operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering pipeline were developed to illustrate the abundances of different genotypes and genetic variants in sewage. Our results showed that the NoV viral loads and the emergence of new variants in sewage were closely associated with NoV outbreak risks in the population. Compared with the outbreaks surveillance, the dominance of the newly emerged variants, GII.P17-GII.17 and GII.P16-GII.2, could be detected one or two months ahead in sewage of a hub city. In addition, the dynamics of pre-epidemic variants, which were rarely detected in clinics, could be captured through sewage surveillance, thus improving our understanding of the origin and evolution of these novel epidemic variants. Our data highlight that sewage surveillance could provide nearly real-time and high-throughput data on NoV circulation in the community. With the advances in sequencing techniques, the sewage surveillance system could also be extended to other related infectious diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

(1) Background: The health effect of temperature has become a rising public health topic. The objective of this study is to assess the association between apparent temperature and non-accidental deaths, and the mortality burden attributed to cold and heat temperature; (2) Methods: The daily data on temperature and deaths were collected from 10 cities in Thailand, Korea and China. We fitted a time-series regression with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to derive the health risk of temperature for each city and then pooled them to get the overall cumulative risk by multivariate meta-analysis. Additionally, we calculated the attributable fraction of deaths for heat and cold, which was defined as temperatures above and below minimum-mortality temperature (MMT); (3) Results: There are regional heterogeneities in the minimum mortality percentiles (MMP) and attributable fractions for different countries. The MMP varied from about the 5-10th percentile in Thailand to 63-93rd percentile in China and Korea. The attributable fractions of the total deaths due to short-term exposure to temperature in Asia is 7.62%, of which the cold effect (6.44%) is much higher than the heat effect (1.18%); (4) Conclusions: Our study suggested that apparent temperature was associated with an increase in non-accidental mortality. Most of the temperature-related mortality burden was attributable to cold, except for Thailand.

The stoichiometric characteristics of water-soluble ions (WSIs) in PM 2.5 , which can be used as an indicator socioeconomic development level, are mostly depending on the sources and formation mechanism of PM 2.5 . This work presents the stoichiometric characteristics and socioeconomic linkage of WSIs in PM 2.5 from a resource-dependent city. The relationship between NO 3 - /SO 4 2- and car parc indexes the contribution of mobile emission source. The equivalent ratio of WSIs suggested that aerosol particles were weak acidic due to the deficiency of cations in PM 2.5 , which was consistent with the average annual pH (6.27) of precipitation in Wuhai in 2015. NH 4 + neutralizes PM 2.5 acidity in clean and polluted days, while Ca 2+ and NH 4 + in dust storm days. Furthermore, the PCA analysis indicated the multi-sources pollution characteristics from Spring to Fall, which was related the small build-up area (only 62.30 km 2 ) and the close-set of various industrial enterprises in Wuhai. The ratios of NO 2 /SO 2 may not work effectively to identify the importance of mobile versus stationary pollution emission sources when the heavy emission from the secondary industry, especially the proportion of secondary industry higher than 65% and the ratios of NO 2 /SO 2 lower than 0.4. This work contributes to more effective control strategies for PM 2.5 in resource-dependent areas., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Smelting is one of the main sources of rare earth elements (REEs) in large scale smelting regions that have been neglected before. To provide experimental evidence on the influence of smelting processes on REEs in windowsill dust, this study investigated the concentration, chemical fractions, and spatial distribution of 14 REEs in windowsill dust and assessed the possible influence of smelting processes on the geochemical behavior of these REEs. A total of 46 windowsill dust samples were collected from different locations in Baotou, a typical industrial city for large-scale smelting. The fractions of REEs were analyzed by Tessier sequential extraction analysis. The enrichment factor (EF) was adopted to assess the contribution of anthropogenic emissions of REEs. The loess-normalized REE patterns of windowsill dust are similar to those of the iron ore of the Bayan Obo mine, but differ from those of the local soil. The concentrations of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and ∑REEs in the residual fraction and total digestion decrease gradually with the increase in distance from the smelter in the downwind direction. These results suggested that the accumulation and fractionation of REEs in windowsill dust are considerably influenced by smelting. The emission of smelting is the main source of REEs for windowsill dust in Baotou.

Facing serious air pollution problems, the Chinese government has taken numerous measures to prevent and control air pollution. Understanding the sources of pollutants is crucial to the prevention of air pollution. Using numerical simulation method, this study analysed the contributions of the total local emissions and local emissions from different sectors (such as industrial, traffic, resident, agricultural, and power plant emissions) to PM 2.5 concentration, backward trajectory, and potential source regions in Tangshan, a typical heavy industrial city in north China. The impact of multi-scale meteorological conditions on source apportionment was investigated. From October 2016 to March 2017, total local emissions accounted for 46.0% of the near-surface PM 2.5 concentration. In terms of emissions from different sectors, local industrial emissions which accounted for 23.1% of the near-surface PM 2.5 concentration in Tangshan, were the most important pollutant source. Agricultural emissions were the second most important source, accounting for 10.3% of the near-surface PM 2.5 concentration. The contributions of emissions from power plants, traffic, residential sources were 2.0%, 3.0%, and 7.2%, respectively. The contributions of total local emissions and emissions from different sectors depended on multi-scale meteorological conditions, and static weather significantly enhanced the contribution of regional transport to the near-surface PM 2.5 concentration. Eight cluster backward trajectories were identified for Tangshan. The PM 2.5 concentration for the 8 cluster trajectories significantly differed. The near-surface PM 2.5 in urban Tangshan (receptor point) was mainly from the local emissions, and another important potential source region was Tianjin. The results of the source apportionment suggested the importance of joint prevention and control of air pollution in some areas where cities or industrial regions are densely distributed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described is original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Trace metals in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) are a serious threat to public health. Although pollution from toxic metals has been investigated in many Chinese cities, the spatial and temporal patterns in PM 2.5 remain largely unknown. Long-term PM 2.5 field sampling in 11 cities, combined with a systemic literature survey covering 51 cities, provides the first comprehensive database of 21 PM 2.5 -bound trace metals in China. Our results revealed that PM 2.5 elemental compositions varied greatly, with generally higher levels in North China, especially for crustal elements. Pollution with Cr, As, and Cd was most serious, with 61, 38, and 16 sites, respectively, surpassing national standards, including some in rural areas. Local emissions, particularly from metallurgical industries, were the dominant factors driving the distribution in polluted cities such as Hengyang, Yuncheng, and Baiyin, which are mainly in North and Central China. Elevated As, Cd, and Cr levels in Yunnan, Guizhou Province within Southwest China were attributed to the high metal content of local coal. Diverse temporal trends of various elements that differed among regions indicated the complexity of emission patterns across the country. The results demonstrated high non-carcinogenic risks for those exposed to trace metals, especially for children and residents of heavily cities highly polluted with As, Pb, or Mn. The estimated carcinogenic risks ranged from 6.61 × 10 -6 to 1.92 × 10 -4 throughout China, with As being the highest priority element for control, followed by Cr and Cd. Regional diversity in major toxic metals was also revealed, highlighting the need for regional mitigation policies to protect vulnerable populations., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Moreover, the effects of air pollution have been associated with several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The relationship between sandstorm weather and IHD is unknown. The Hexi Corridor is located in northwestern China and is a typical desert region comprising a large area of desert with a high incidence of sandstorms. This study aimed to explore the association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in this area. We acquired meteorological data of sandstorm weather from 2006 to 2015 from the Gansu Meteorological Bureau, and data regarding deaths due to IHD in five cities within the Hexi Corridor were collected from the death registration system of the Center for Disease Control of Gansu during the same period. Two other cities with few sandstorm events were selected as control regions. The time series method of the generalized additive model (GAM) was used to assess the association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in the Hexi Corridor. The results showed that the frequency of sandstorms in the Hexi Corridor was higher than that in the control regions (5.48% vs 1.64%, P < 0.01), and IHD-related mortality was correspondingly higher than that in the control regions (56.42/100,000 vs 45.62/100,000, P < 0.01). After stratification by gender, age, and urban/rural residence, a significant difference in IHD-related mortality was also noted (P < 0.05). Significant associations were found between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality, and the relative risk (RR) increased with an increasing number of days of sandstorm weather. According to the monthly and annual analyses, the mortality rate corresponded to sandstorm frequency. Our data suggest a positive association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province. The underlying mechanism requires further study.

We identified physiological and thermal responses to different activity levels on a campus during summertime in Xi'an, a humid subtropical city in China. Physiological responses and thermal comfort of 54 healthy college students while undertaking different physical activities (light, moderate and vigorous intensities) in six campus open spaces were investigated using meteorological measures, longitudinal questionnaire surveys and physiological parameters. Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) were chosen as the thermal indices, while blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and skin temperature (ST) were selected as physiological evaluation measures. Results demonstrated that: 1) Types and proportions of thermal symptoms were positively related to outdoor spatial characteristics and physical activity levels. The proportion of thermal discomfort increased 33, 50 and 83% as activity intensities increased from light through moderate to vigorous. 2) BP and HR reflected human activity levels. HR clearly represented metabolic trends. 3) ST accurately represented physiological responses among spaces across activity levels. However, mean skin temperature (MST) was poorly related to thermal sensation vote (TSV). 4) As activity intensity ranged from light through moderate to vigorous, neutral UTCI declined by 27.6 °C, 25.6 °C, 22.0 °C, and neutral PET declined by 26.1 °C, 22.1 °C, 11.9 °C. 5) Outdoor spaces shaded by trees or pavilions were more comfortable for outdoor activities than these with low or middle SVF during summer., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management is regarded as one of the key elements for achieving urban sustainability via mitigating global climate change, recycling resources and recovering energy. Landfill is considered as the least preferable disposal method and the EU Landfill Directive (ELD) announced in 1999 requires member countries to reduce the volume of landfilled biodegradable materials. The enforcement of ELD initiated the evolution of MSW management system UK. This study depicted and assessed the transition and performance of MSW management after the millennium in Nottingham via materials flow analysis (MFA), as well as appropriately selected indicators based on the concept of waste management hierarchy and targets set in waste management regulations. We observed improvements in waste reduction, material recycling, energy recovery, and landfill prevention. During the period 2001/02 to 2016/17, annual waste generation reduced from 463 kg/Ca to 361 kg/Ca, the recycling and composting share increased from 4.6% to 44.4%, and the landfill share reduced from 54.7% to 7.3%. These signs of progress are believed to be driven by the ELD and the associated policies and waste management targets established at the national and local levels. An alternative scenario with food waste and textile separation at source and utilizing anaerobic digestion to treat separately collected organic waste is proposed at the end of this paper to fulfil the high targets set by local government and we further suggest that the recycling share may be improved by educating and supporting the public on waste separation at the sources., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Salt intake in China (≈12 g/day) is more than twice the upper limit recommended by the WHO (5 g/day). To reduce salt intake, Action on Salt China (ASC) was launched in 2017. As one of four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the ASC programme, a comprehensive intervention study was designed to test whether all the components of the interventions adopted by other RCTs are acceptable, scalable and effective when provided to a region in the real world., Methods and Analysis: Using a cluster RCT design, 2688 participants were selected from 48 towns (clusters) in 12 counties in 6 provinces and assigned to the intervention group or the control group. Randomisation was performed after the baseline survey was completed. Information on salt-related knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP), blood pressure and 24-hour urinary sodium were collected. The intervention includes government engagement, health education and other intervention components targeting restaurants, home cooks and primary school students and their families that have been used in other RCTs. The control group will not receive the intervention. The project will be followed up for 2 years, with the intervention being carried out for the first year only. The primary outcome is salt intake measured by 24-hour urinary sodium excretion after 1 year. The secondary outcomes are the long-lasting effectiveness on salt intake and blood pressure measured by the same method, as well as salt-related KAP and blood pressure at the 1-year and 2-year follow-ups. Process evaluation and health economics analysis will be conducted as well., Ethics and Dissemination: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Center for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Queen Mary Research Ethics Committee. Results will be disseminated through presentations, publications and social media., Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR1800018119., Competing Interests: Competing interests: FJH is a member of the Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) group, a non-profit charitable organisation, and its international branch World Action on Salt & Health (WASH) and does not receive any financial support from CASH or WASH. GAM is the Chairman of Blood Pressure UK (BPUK), Chairman of CASH and Chairman of WASH and does not receive any financial support from any of these organisations. BPUK, CASH and WASH are non-profit charitable organisations. All other authors have no competing interests to declare., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: To analyze the spatial distribution and both hot and cold spots of incidence on Brucellosis in Gansu province from 2013 to 2018. Methods: Based on data from the Infectious Disease Reporting Information System in China, data related to space-time distribution and both hot and cold spots of Brucellosis in Gansu province from 2013 to 2018 were analyzed, by using the ArcGIS 10.5 software and GeoDa 1.6 software. Results: The trend surface analysis showed that the incidence of Brucellosis decreased gradually from the northern to southern parts with slightly higher in the west than in the east of Gansu. Global spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the Moran's I of Brucellosis in Gansu province from 2013 to 2018 were 0.242, 0.487, 0.424, 0.460, 0.427 and 0.468 ( P <0.01), suggesting that the incidence of Brucellosis had spatial clustering features in Gansu province. Local global spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the number of hot spots were declining in the eastern and north-central regions while the hot spots were increasing in the Hexi area (Wuwei, Zhangye, Jinchang and Jiuquan cities). The cold spots areas were mainly seen in the eastern, southeastern and south of central regions in Gansu province. Conclusions: The incidence of Brucellosis showed obviously spatial clustering characteristics in Gansu province. The number of hot spots were decreasing in the eastern and north of central regions while the hot spots were increasing in the Hexi area, suggesting that the prevention and control measures for Brucellosis should be further strengthened in these areas.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a kind of persistent toxic substances, which have been frequently detected in environmental media. However, studies on their occurrences and distributions in drinking water are insufficient and their composition profiles in drinking water are still not clear. In this study, we investigated 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in drinking water from different administrative level cities throughout mainland China, analyzed the influences of anthropogenic activities on PAHs, and assessed the health risk of the PAHs in drinking water. On the national scale, the sum concentration of the 16 priority-controlled PAHs (∑ 16 PAHs) designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) was in a range of 3.89-231.39 (mean 56.25) ng L -1 . With the decline of ∑ 16 PAHs, the concentration of 3-ring PAHs decreased, while its proportion increased, indicating 3-ring PAHs might be more difficult to remove than other PAHs in drinking water. The geographical distribution of PAHs in drinking water of China was in a descending order of West (69.81 ng L -1 ) > South (61.95 ng L -1 ) > North (58.63 ng L -1 ) > East (39.21 ng L -1 ) > Northeast China (37.93 ng L -1 ). ∑ 16 PAHs in drinking water of Prefecture-level City was the greatest (71.49 ng L -1 ) followed by Provincial Capital (52.12 ng L -1 ), County-level City (50.98 ng L -1 ) and Municipality (33.92 ng L -1 ). ∑ 16 PAHs was significantly negatively correlated with the per capita GDP of sampling city (P < 0.01, n = 78), implying that waterworks is an effective way to control and reduce PAH pollution in drinking water. The carcinogenic risk of the 16 PAHs in drinking water of China was much greater than the non-carcinogenic risk., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological and spatial-temporal distribution of Brucellosis, epidemic encephalitis B and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Gansu province during 2014-2018 so as to provide evidence for the prevention and control of those diseases. Methods: A database was established in Gansu province from 2014 to 2018, using the geographical information system. A spatial distribution map was drawn, with trend analysis and space-time clustering used to study the 3-dimention of the diseases, by using both ArcGIS 10.5 and SaTScan 9.6 softwares. Results: Results from the trend surface analysis showed that the incidence of Brucellosis decreased gradually from north to south parts while the U type curve could reflect the distribution from the east to the west areas. Incidence of epidemic encephalitis B decreased significantly from south to north areas in the province, with incidence higher in the eastern than in the mid-west region. Difference on the incidence of HFRS was not significantly visible in the eastern and western regions, while the incidence was slightly higher in the southern than the northern parts of the province. Spatial and space-time clustering did exist among the 3 diseases in Gansu from 2014 to 2018. The areas with clusters of Brucellosis appeared in the eastern parts during 2014-2015, including 19 counties. The areas with secondary clusters of Brucellosis were seen in the Hexi district, including 4 counties, during 2017-2018. The areas with high incidence of epidemic encephalitis B were clustered in the middle and southeast areas, including 32 counties, during 2017-2018. Areas with most clusters of HFRS appeared in Min county of Dingxi city in 2018, with the areas of secondary clusters in 8 counties of the eastern areas in 2018. Conclusions: The overall incidence rates of the 3 natural focus diseases were in a upward trend and showing obvious characteristics on spatial clustering. According to the distributive characteristics, effective measures should be developed accordingly.

As one group of emerging pollutants, the threat of organophosphate esters (flame retardants and plasticizers, OPEs) to drinking water safety is not well recognized. Now, the oral reference dose (RfD) and oral cancer slope factor (SFO) of OPEs have been updated by USPEA, therefore the threat of OPEs to drinking water safety could be assessed. In this study, occurrence, health risk and key impact factor of OPEs in drinking water of China were analyzed covering 79 cities, whose population and gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for 28.8% and 44.1% of them in China, respectively. Total concentration of 14 common OPEs in drinking water was 13.42-265.48 ng/L. The exposure level of OPEs via ingestion of drinking water was much lower than that of food ingestion but was comparable with dust ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption. A health assessment for OPEs via ingestion of drinking water suggested that the potential cancer risk occurred (>1.00E-6) but no obvious non-carcinogenic effects occurred (<1). Tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (TDBPP) contributed to about 72.4% of carcinogenic risk, which should be treated as "prior monitoring OPEs" in further studies. The occurrence and distribution of OPEs in drinking water of China have a good corresponding relationship with the Aihui-Tengchong Line, and drinking water treatment technology (DWTT) was found to be a key factor. Total OPEs, halogeno-OPEs and alkyl-OPEs in drinking water from advanced DWTT cities were much lower than those of conventional DWTT cities. Compared with conventional DWTT, advanced DWTT could reduce about 65.6% and 36.5% of carcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk of OPEs, respectively. Considering the annual growth of OPEs consumption in China and world, further studies regarding the environmental threat of OPEs are required., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Carbonaceous aerosols in high emission areas attract worldwide attention of the scientific community and the public due to their adverse impacts on the environment, human health and climate. However, long-term continuous hourly measurements are scarce on the regional scale. In this study, a one-year hourly measurement (from December 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017) of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in airborne fine particles was performed using semi-continuous OC/EC analyzers in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Tangshan in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in China, which is one of high emission areas in China, even in the world. Marked spatiotemporal variations were observed. The highest concentrations of OC (22.8 ± 30.6 μg/m 3 ) and EC (5.4 ± 6.5 μg/m 3 ) occurred in Shijiangzhuang while the lowest concentrations of OC (11.0 ± 10.7 μg/m 3 ) and EC (3.1 ± 3.6 μg/m 3 ) were obtained in Beijing and Tianjin, respectively. Pronounced monthly, seasonal and diurnal variations of OC and EC were recorded. Compared to published data from the past two decades for the BTH region, our OC and EC levels were lower, implying some effect of recent measures for improving the air quality. Significant correlations of OC versus EC (p < 0.001) were found throughout the study period with high slopes and correlation coefficients in winter, but low slopes and correlation coefficients in summer. The estimated secondary OC (SOC), based on the minimum R squared (MRS) method, represented 29%, 47%, 38% and 48% of the OC for Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Tangshan, respectively. These percentages are larger than previous ones obtained for the BTH region in the past decade. There were obvious differences in the potential source regions of OC and EC among the four cities. Obvious prominent potential source areas of OC and EC were observed for Beijing, which were mainly located in the central and western areas of Inner Mongolia and even extended to the Mongolian regions, which is different from the findings in previous studies. For all sites, adjacent areas of the main provinces in northern China were found to be important potential source areas., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Nutrient dynamics in a 25 km long treated wastewater effluent impacted reach of a large, gravel-bed river were evaluated in five river compartments: surficial sediment, surface water, hyporheic zone water, and aquatic biomass (including epilithic algae and macrophytes). Nutrient storage within, and export from, the river reach, was quantified to assess the impact of WWTP effluent on nutrient dynamics. More than 98% of N and P storage was found in the surficial river bed sediment, where it is available to support epilithic algal and macrophyte growth. Nutrient export from the river reach by sediment, hyporheic water, and biomass were small compared to water column transport. The N:P ratios for the five different compartments suggested that the water column was severely P limited, whereas sediment, hyporheic water, and aquatic biomass tended towards co-limitation and N limitation. Within the river reach, the majority of P was stored immediately downstream of the WWTP effluent outfall, whereas N was retained at a higher rate relative to P in the remainder of the reach. Correlation analysis of nutrient exchange between different compartments suggested that multiple nutrient compartments should be considered when establishing nutrient loading criteria. Nutrient analysis in multiple compartments in the river can add valuable insight into nutrient dynamics and nutrient limitation., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which have been ubiquitously detected in the environmental media. However, national scale investigations on their occurrence and distribution in drinking water are still insufficient. In this study, we detected the 17 priority PFAAs in drinking water from 79 cities of 31 provincial-level administrative regions throughout China, and investigated their occurrence and distribution. Additionally, we also analyzed the influencing factors on their profiles, such as the existence of industrial sources, socioeconomic factors (population density and GDP), and assessed levels of risk associated with contaminated drinking water. On the national scale, the sum concentrations of the 17 PFAAs (∑ 17 PFAAs) in drinking water was in a range of 4.49-174.93 ng/L with a mean value of 35.13 ng/L. Among the 17 individual PFAAs, perfluorobutanoic acids (PFBA) was the most abundant individual PFAAs with the median concentration of 17.87 ng/L, followed by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 0.74 ng/L), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA, 0.40 ng/L) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS, 0.25 ng/L). The geographic distribution characteristic of ∑ 17 PFAAs in drinking water was in a descending order of Southwestern China (57.67 ng/L) > Eastern coastal China (32.85 ng/L) > Middle China (29.89 ng/L) > Northwestern China (28.49 ng/L) > Northeastern China (22.03 ng/L), and in general, the existence of the industrial sources could positively affect the contamination levels of PFAAs in drinking water. The pollution level of PFAAs in drinking water also varied among the three different city levels (medium-sized city > big city > town). In towns, the positive correlations were observed between the population density and the ∑ 17 PFAAs (R 2  = 0.45, p < 0.01), and the individual concentration of PFHxA, PFBS, and PFOA (p < 0.01). Moreover, besides PFAAs in Yunnan, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi, concentrations of related PFAAs in drinking water from 28 provinces were less than the suggested drinking water advisories. The relatively higher concentrations of PFAAs in Yunnan, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi suggest that further studies focusing on their sources and potential health risk to humans are needed., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In order to deepen the health system reform and improve the mechanism for the formation of drug prices, in January 2019, the General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the "National centralized drug purchasing and using pilot program", selected 11 cities in mainland China to carry out "4+7" city drug volume based purchasing pilot work. This paper introduces the specific implementation plan, organizational structure and drug selection process of China's "4+7" city drug volume-based purchasing pilot work, and expounds the initial effects, existing problems and policy development after the implementation of the policy. After the implementation of the policy, the prices of 25 selected drugs were significantly lower, compared with the minimum purchase price of the same drugs in 11 pilot cities in 2017, the average drop was 52%. After the pilot scope was extended to the nation, compared with the minimum purchase price of the Union in 2018, the proposed price of the 25 drugs have an average price drop of 59%, compared with the selected price of the "4+7" pilot cities, the average price drop was 25%, and the price of drugs dropped further. By the end of August 2019, the implementation progress of 25 selected drugs in the "4+7" city drug volume-based purchasing was better than expected, the burden of patients' drug expenses was reduced, and the pilot work was beginning to bear fruit. The long-term influence and effect of the "4+7" city drug volume-based purchasing and policy implementation after the expansion needs to be further observed.

The mechanism of interaction between economic development, industrial structure and anthropogenic carbon emissions has become one of the focuses of climate change research. In this investigation, Henan Province was studied as an example, wherein the calculation model of carbon emissions in the primary, secondary and tertiary economic sectors was built using the ArcGIS 10.1 software. The spatiotemporal difference of carbon emissions between 2006 and 2015 from the three sectors was studied. The relation between economic development and environmental protection is discussed, based on the construction of a coordination degree model. Conclusions drawn from this analysis are: (1) In 2015, China's total carbon emissions reached 10,291.93 × 10⁷ t and Henan's carbon emissions accounted for 1.96% of China's total carbon emissions. The total carbon emissions in Henan Province increased more than 25.00% between 2006 and 2015. (2) Carbon emissions from different economic sectors demonstrated varied patterns. The primary sector presented a gradual decreasing trend in carbon emission, while the secondary sector showed a fluctuating pattern and the tertiary sector had an inclining trend in carbon emission. (3) There are also disparities in the spatial distribution of carbon emissions from different economic sectors. The primary and tertiary sectors had higher emissions in the southeast and lower emissions in the northwest regions, while the secondary sector showed higher emissions in the northwest and lower emissions in the southeast Between cities at different prefecture levels, differences do not only lie on the quantity of carbon emissions from the three sectors of economy but also a larger variation with regards to the change in quantity of carbon emissions. (4) The coordination degree of economic development was low among different prefecture-level cities. The economic and environmental development appeared coordinated among cities at the same prefecture level; however, coordination degrees among different prefecture-level cities varies significantly.

During the 2012 Lanzhou International Marathon, the local government made a significant effort to improve traffic conditions and air quality by implementing traffic restriction measures. To evaluate the direct effect of these measures on urban air quality, especially particle concentrations and their size distributions, atmospheric particle size distributions (0.5-20 microm) obtained using an aerodynamic particle sizer (model 3321, TSI, USA) in June 2012 were analyzed. It was found that the particle number, surface area and volume concentrations for size range 0.5-10 microm were (15.0 +/- 2.1) cm(-3), (11.8 +/- 2.6) microm2/cm3 and (1.9 +/- 0.6) microm2/cm3, respectively, on the traffic-restricted day (Sunday), which is 63.2%, 53.0% and 47.2% lower than those on a normal Sunday. For number and surface area concentrations, the most affected size range was 0.5-0.7 and 0.5-0.8 microm, respectively, while for volume concentration, the most affected size ranges were 0.5-0.8, 1.7-2.0 and 5.0-5.4 microm. Number and volume concentrations of particles in size range 0.5-1.0 microm correlated well with the number of non-CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) powered vehicles, while their correlation with the number of CNG-powered vehicles was very low, suggesting that reasonable urban traffic controls along with vehicle technology improvements could play an important role in improving urban air quality.

Groundwater contamination risk assessment is an effective tool for groundwater management. Most existing risk assessment methods only consider the basic contamination process based upon evaluations of hazards and aquifer vulnerability. In view of groundwater exploitation potentiality, including the value of contamination-threatened groundwater could provide relatively objective and targeted results to aid in decision making. This study describes a groundwater contamination risk assessment method that integrates hazards, intrinsic vulnerability and groundwater value. The hazard harmfulness was evaluated by quantifying contaminant properties and infiltrating contaminant load, the intrinsic aquifer vulnerability was evaluated using a modified DRASTIC model and the groundwater value was evaluated based on groundwater quality and aquifer storage. Two groundwater contamination risk maps were produced by combining the above factors: a basic risk map and a value-weighted risk map. The basic risk map was produced by overlaying the hazard map and the intrinsic vulnerability map. The value-weighted risk map was produced by overlaying the basic risk map and the groundwater value map. Relevant validation was completed by contaminant distributions and site investigation. Using Beijing Plain, China, as an example, thematic maps of the three factors and the two risks were generated. The thematic maps suggested that landfills, gas stations and oil depots, and industrial areas were the most harmful potential contamination sources. The western and northern parts of the plain were the most vulnerable areas and had the highest groundwater value. Additionally, both the basic and value-weighted risk classes in the western and northern parts of the plain were the highest, indicating that these regions should deserve the priority of concern. Thematic maps should be updated regularly because of the dynamic characteristics of hazards. Subjectivity and validation means in assessing the vulnerability result were also discussed. In addition, GIS technology was essential in completing the assessment work., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)