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Electric vehicles (EVs) constitute just a fraction of the current U.S. transportation fleet; however, EV market-share is surging. EV adoption reduces on-road transportation greenhouse gas emissions by decoupling transportation services from petroleum, but impacts on air quality and public health depend on the nature and location of vehicle usage and electricity generation. Here, we use a regulatory-grade chemical transport model and an electricity dispatch algorithm to characterize neighborhood-scale (~1 km) air quality and public health benefits and tradeoffs associated with a multi-modal EV transition. We focus on a Chicago-centric regional domain wherein 30% of the on-road transportation fleet is instantaneously electrified and changes in on-road, refueling, and power plant emissions are considered. We find decreases in annual population-weighted domain mean NO2 (-11.84%) and PM2.5 (-2.56%) with concentration reductions of up to-5.1 ppb and-0.97 µg m-3 in urban cores. Conversely, annual population-weighted domain mean MDA8O3 concentrations increase +0.65%, with notable intra-urban changes of up to +2.3 ppb. Despite mixed pollutant concentration outcomes, we find overall positive public health outcomes, largely driven by NO2 decreases that produce mortality reductions that are ~5 times greater in census tracts with disproportionately large non-white populations.

AIM To investigate the association between circulating anti-dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) autoantibodies and the exacerbation of tics in children with chronic tic disorders (CTDs). METHOD One hundred and thirty-seven children with CTDs (108 males, 29 females; mean age [SD] 10y 0mo [2y 7mo], range 4-16y) were recruited over 18 months. Patients were assessed at baseline, at tic exacerbation, and at 2 months after exacerbation. Serum anti-D2R antibodies were evaluated using a cell-based assay and blinded immunofluorescence microscopy scoring was performed by two raters. The association between visit type and presence of anti-D2R antibodies was measured with McNemar's test and repeated-measure logistic regression models, adjusting for potential demographic and clinical confounders. RESULTS At exacerbation, 11 (8%) participants became anti-D2R-positive ('early peri-exacerbation seroconverters'), and nine (6.6%) became anti-D2R-positive at post-exacerbation ('late peri-exacerbation seroconverters'). The anti-D2R antibodies were significantly associated with exacerbations when compared to baseline (McNemar's odds ratio=11, p=0.003) and conditional logistic regression confirmed this association (Z=3.49, p

Risk assessments of air pollution impacts on human health and ecosystems would ideally consider a broad set of climate and emission scenarios and the role of natural internal climate variability wi...

Storylines of atmospheric circulation change, or physically self-consistent narratives of plausible future events, have recently been proposed as a non-probabilistic means to represent uncertainties in climate change projections. Here, we apply the storyline approach to 21st century projections of summer air stagnation over Europe and the United States. We use a Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) ensemble to generate stagnation storylines based on the forced response of three remote drivers of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude atmospheric circulation: North Atlantic warming, North Pacific warming, and tropical versus Arctic warming. Under a high radiative forcing scenario (SSP5-8.5), models consistently project increases in stagnation over Europe and the U.S., but the magnitude and spatial distribution of changes vary substantially across CMIP6 ensemble members, suggesting that future projections are not well-constrained when using the ensemble mean alone. We find that the diversity of projected stagnation changes depends on the forced response of remote drivers in individual models. This is especially true in Europe, where differences of ~2 summer stagnant days per degree of global warming are found amongst the different storyline combinations. For example, the greatest projected increase in stagnation for most European regions leads to the smallest increase in stagnation for southwestern Europe; i.e. limited North Atlantic warming combined with near-equitable tropical and Arctic warming. In the U.S., only the atmosphere over the northern Rocky Mountain states demonstrates comparable stagnation projection uncertainty, due to opposite influences of remote drivers on the meteorological conditions that lead to stagnation, This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte [Grant Number FPU16/01972]; the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [Grant NumberRYC-2014-15036]; and the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad [Grant Numbers CGL2017-83198-R and RTI2018-096402-B-I00]. J L S was supported by the Ubben Program for Carbon and Climate Science while a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern. D E H was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grant CBET-1848683. ERA5 data provided courtesy ECMWF. The authors are also grateful to the World Climate Research Programme’s Working Group on Coupled Modelling, which is responsible for CMIP, and the modelling groups for producing and makingavailable their model outputs. Theauthorsthanktwoanonymousreviewersfortheir useful comments.

Description, More frequent atmospheric ridging and wildfires increase exposure of western U.S. population to co-occurring air pollutants., Wildfires and meteorological conditions influence the co-occurrence of multiple harmful air pollutants including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ground-level ozone. We examine the spatiotemporal characteristics of PM2.5/ozone co-occurrences and associated population exposure in the western United States (US). The frequency, spatial extent, and temporal persistence of extreme PM2.5/ozone co-occurrences have increased significantly between 2001 and 2020, increasing annual population exposure to multiple harmful air pollutants by ~25 million person-days/year. Using a clustering methodology to characterize daily weather patterns, we identify significant increases in atmospheric ridging patterns conducive to widespread PM2.5/ozone co-occurrences and population exposure. We further link the spatial extent of co-occurrence to the extent of extreme heat and wildfires. Our results suggest an increasing potential for co-occurring air pollution episodes in the western US with continued climate change.

The U.S. and much of the world sit on the cusp of an electrification revolution – a moment driven largely by the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to limit the impacts of anthropogeni...

Nesfatin-1 is a peptide derived from the nucleobindin 2 ( Nucb2) precursor protein that has been shown to exert potent effects on appetite and cardiovascular function in male animals. Sex hormones modulate the expression of Nucb2 in several species, including goldfish, mouse, and rat, and human studies have revealed differential expression based on male or female sex. We therefore hypothesized that the ability of nesfatin-1 to increase mean arterial pressure (MAP) would be influenced by stage of the estrous cycle. Indeed, we found that in cycling female Sprague-Dawley rats, nesfatin-1 induced an increase in MAP on diestrus, when both estrogen and progesterone levels are low but not on proestrus or estrus. The effect of nesfatin-1 on MAP was dependent on functional central melanocortin receptors, because the nesfatin-1-induced increase in MAP was abolished by pretreatment with the melanocortin 3/4 receptor antagonist, SHU9119. We previously reported that nesfatin-1 inhibited angiotensin II-induced water drinking in male rats but found no effect of nesfatin-1 in females in diestrus. However, nesfatin-1 enhanced angiotensin II-induced elevations in MAP in females in diestrus but had no effect on males. Finally, in agreement with previous reports, the expression of Nucb2 mRNA in hypothalamus was significantly reduced in female rats in proestrus compared with rats in diestrus. From these data we conclude that the function and expression of nesfatin-1 are modulated by sex hormone status. Further studies are required to determine the contributions of chromosomal sex and individual sex hormones to the cardiovascular effects of nesfatin-1.

A central strategy in achieving greenhouse gas mitigation targets is the transition of vehicles from internal combustion engines to electric power. However, due to complex emission sources and nonlinear chemistry, it is unclear how such a shift might impact air quality. Here we apply a prototype version of the new-generation NOAA GFDL global Atmospheric Model, version 4 (GFDL AM4) to investigate the impact on U.S. air quality from an aggressive conversion of internal combustion vehicles to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). We examine a suite of scenarios designed to quantify the effect of both the magnitude of EV market penetration and the source of electricity generation used to power them. We find that summer surface ozone (O3) decreases in most locations due to widespread reductions of traffic NOx emissions. Summer fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increases on average and largest in areas with increased coal-fired power generation demands. Winter O3 increases due to reduced loss via traffic NOx while PM2.5 decreases since larger ammonium nitrate reductions offset increases in ammonium sulfate. The largest magnitude changes are simulated at the extremes of the probability distribution. Increasing the fraction of vehicles converted to EVs further decreases summer O3, while increasing the fraction of electricity generated by “emission-free” sources largely eliminates the increases in summer PM2.5 at high EV adoption fractions. Ultimately, the number of conventional vehicles replaced by EVs has a larger effect on O3 than PM2.5, while the source of the electricity for those EVs exhibit greater control on PM2.5.

Infectious pathogens may represent an environmental risk factor for chronic tic disorders (CTD). This cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) IgG positivity is associated with the presence or severity of tics. We compared M. pneumoniae IgG positivity across three groups: children and adolescents (3–16 years) with CTD (CTD group; n = 302); siblings (3–10 years) of people with CTD who developed tics within a seven-year follow-up period (tic onset group; n = 51); siblings (4–10 years) who did not develop tics within the study period and were ≥10-years-old at their last assessment (unaffected group; n = 88). The relationship between M. pneumoniae IgG positivity and the presence and severity of tics was analysed using multilevel models controlling for site, family relatedness, sex, age, presence of comorbid obsessive–compulsive and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and use of psychotropic medication. M. pneumoniae IgG positivity was not associated with the presence of CTD, or the first onset of tics as compared to siblings who remained unaffected. M. pneumoniae IgG positivity was associated with a higher tic severity score within the CTD group (β = 2.64, s.e. = 1.15, p = 0.02). It is possible that M. pneumoniae infection influences tic severity in CTD or, that having more severe tics, increases the risk of infection. However, it is more likely that the association observed in this study reflects a propensity toward enhanced immune responses in people with CTD and that, rather than a causal relationship, infection and greater tic severity are indirectly linked via shared underlying immune mechanisms.

Background Adoption of electric vehicles has the potential to reduce air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions, hence China has implemented policies incentivising use of electric vehicles. However, much is unknown about the potential air quality and public health benefits of electric vehicles, including optimal vehicle type prioritisation and the vehicles' ability to reduce acute health impacts due to extreme air quality events. We aimed to assess the potential climate and acute public health benefits of use of electric vehicles during an extreme winter air pollution event. Methods In this modelling study, we used the Weather Research Forecast and Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System air quality model to simulate the interplay between weather and atmospheric chemistry. We used this model to examine potential co-benefits of electric vehicle adoption during an extreme pollution episode in China. We simulated heavy-duty and light-duty electric vehicle adoption scenarios, in which 40% of the population adopted a heavy-duty or light-duty passenger electric vehicle, re-mapped battery power needs to energy generation facilities, and characterised differences in public health outcomes using China-specific concentration-response functions. Findings We found that widespread adoption of heavy-duty electric vehicles would reduces nitric oxide and fine particulate matter resulting in 562 (95% CI 410–723) fewer premature acute deaths than the non-electrified baseline scenario. However, widespread adoption of heavy-duty electric vehicles does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions without the addition of emission-free electricity generation. By contrast, widespread adoption of light-duty electric vehicles robustly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but results in lesser air quality improvements and fewer premature deaths avoided (145 [95% CI 38–333]) than the heavy-duty scenario. Economic effects of human health endpoints and carbon dioxide reductions for adoption of light-duty electric vehicles are nearly double those of a heavy-duty electric vehicle scenario (US$155 million vs $87 million). Interpretation Amelioration of severe winter pollution events through adoption of electric vehicles could provide a moderate public health benefit, but continued emission reductions in the power generation sector will have greater human health and economic benefits in China. Funding Ubben Program for Carbon and Climate Science at Northwestern University.

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption promises potential air pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction co‐benefits. As such, China has aggressively incentivized EV adoption, however much remains unknown with regard to EVs’ mitigation potential, including optimal vehicle type prioritization, power generation contingencies, effects of Clean Air regulations, and the ability of EVs to reduce acute impacts of extreme air quality events. Here, we present a suite of scenarios with a chemistry transport model that assess the potential co‐benefits of EVs during an extreme winter air quality event. We find that regardless of power generation source, heavy‐duty vehicle (HDV) electrification consistently improves air quality in terms of NO2 and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), potentially avoiding 562 deaths due to acute pollutant exposure during the infamous January 2013 pollution episode (∼1% of total premature mortality). However, HDV electrification does not reduce GHG emissions without enhanced emission‐free electricity generation. In contrast, due to differing emission profiles, light‐duty vehicle (LDV) electrification in China consistently reduces GHG emissions (∼2 Mt CO2), but results in fewer air quality and human health improvements (145 avoided deaths). The calculated economic impacts for human health endpoints and CO2 reductions for LDV electrification are nearly double those of HDV electrification in present‐day (155M vs. 87M US$), but are within ∼25% when enhanced emission‐free generation is used to power them. Overall, we find only a modest benefit for EVs to ameliorate severe wintertime pollution events, and that continued emission reductions in the power generation sector will have the greatest human health and economic benefits.

Background: Children with Tourette syndrome (TS) often have comorbid disorders, particularly attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While subtle premorbid symptoms have been described in various psychiatric disorders, the presence of clinical precursors that may exist before the onset of tics is unknown. This longitudinal study aimed to find clinical precursors of tics by assessing a range of clinical characteristics prior to tic onset in comparison with children without onset of tics.Methods: A sample of 187 3- to 10-year-old first-degree unaffected relatives of children with TS were followed up to 7 years in the European Multicentre Tics in Children Study (EMTICS). We investigated whether clinical characteristics assessed at baseline predicted tic onset, comparing 126 children without tic onset to 61 children who developed tics. We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method, a penalised logistic regression approach. We also explored sex differences and repeated our analyses in an age- and sex-matched subsample.Results: Children with tic onset were more frequently male (beta = -0.36), had higher baseline severity of conduct problems (beta = 0.23), autism spectrum disorder symptoms (ASD; beta = 0.08), compulsions (beta = 0.02) and emotional problems (beta = 0.03) compared to children without tic onset. Conduct and ASD problems were male-specific predictors, whereas severity of compulsions and oppositional (beta = 0.39) and emotional problems were female-specific predictors.Conclusion: This study supports the presence of clinical precursors prior to tic onset and highlights the need of sex-specific monitoring of children at risk of developing tics. This may aid in the earlier detection of tics, particularly in females. We moreover found that tics most often persisted one year after tic onset, in contrast to the common belief that tics are mostly transient.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the antimullerian hormone (AMH) level determined using the Access AMH assay for predicting poor ovarian response (POR) defined as ≤4 oocytes retrieved, including the validation of the predefined AMH cutoff of 0.93 ng/mL in both serum and plasma. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Fifteen private and academic fertility centers (14 in the United States and 1 in Canada). Patient(s) Women aged 21–45 years planning controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Number of oocytes retrieved, categorized as POR and normal-to-high ovarian response (non-POR). The correlation of AMH level and antral follicle count. Result(s) Data were available for 472 participants who completed the study (74 with POR and 398 non-POR). The mean AMH serum level among those with POR was 0.99 ng/mL (median 0.76 ng/mL) compared with 2.83 ng/mL (median 2.36 ng/mL) among the normal-to-high responders. For confirmation of the 0.93 ng/mL AMH level cutoff as a predictor of POR, a receiver operating characteristic analysis gave an area under the curve of 0.852, with corresponding sensitivity and specificity of 63.5% and 89.2%, respectively. The associated positive predictive value was 52.2% and the negative predictive value was 92.9%. The AMH plasma values demonstrated a strong correlation with AMH serum values with an r value = 0.9980. The previously established AMH cutoff of 1.77 ng/mL for antral follicle count >15 resulted in a sensitivity of 83.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 77.7–88.5) and a specificity of 59.9% (95% CI 54.2–65.4). Conclusion(s) This study validated the previously established AMH cut-point for the prediction of POR. Because this cut-point may vary depending on the assay used, the specific AMH assay should be reported in the literature whenever possible.

Vehicle electrification is a common climate change mitigation strategy, with policymakers invoking co‐beneficial reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutant emissions. However, while previous studies of U.S. electric vehicle (EV) adoption consistently predict CO2 mitigation benefits, air quality outcomes are equivocal and depend on policies assessed and experimental parameters. We analyze climate and health co‐benefits and trade‐offs of six U.S. EV adoption scenarios: 25% or 75% replacement of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, each under three different EV‐charging energy generation scenarios. We transfer emissions from tailpipe to power generation plant, simulate interactions of atmospheric chemistry and meteorology using the GFDL‐AM4 chemistry climate model, and assess health consequences and uncertainties using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Benefits Mapping Analysis Program Community Edition (BenMAP‐CE). We find that 25% U.S. EV adoption, with added energy demand sourced from the present‐day electric grid, annually results in a ~242 M ton reduction in CO2 emissions, 437 deaths avoided due to PM2.5 reductions (95% CI: 295, 578), and 98 deaths avoided due to lesser ozone formation (95% CI: 33, 162). Despite some regions experiencing adverse health outcomes, ~$16.8B in damages avoided are predicted. Peak CO2 reductions and health benefits occur with 75% EV adoption and increased emission‐free energy sources (~$70B in damages avoided). When charging‐electricity from aggressive EV adoption is combustion‐only, adverse health outcomes increase substantially, highlighting the importance of low‐to‐zero emission power generation for greater realization of health co‐benefits. Our results provide a more nuanced understanding of the transportation sector's climate change mitigation‐health impact relationship., Key Points Electrifying vehicles consistently reduces carbon dioxide emissions; air quality benefits vary spatially and depend on charging energy mixTwenty‐five percent U.S. electric vehicle adoption with energy sourced from current electric grid prevents ~$17B in health and climate damages annuallyPeak co‐benefits occur with greater fractions of EV adoption and emission‐free energy sources

We describe the baseline model configuration and simulation characteristics of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)'s Atmosphere Model version 4.1 (AM4.1), which builds on developments at GFDL over 2013–2018 for coupled carbon‐chemistry‐climate simulation as part of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. In contrast with GFDL's AM4.0 development effort, which focused on physical and aerosol interactions and which is used as the atmospheric component of CM4.0, AM4.1 focuses on comprehensiveness of Earth system interactions. Key features of this model include doubled horizontal resolution of the atmosphere (~200 to ~100 km) with revised dynamics and physics from GFDL's previous‐generation AM3 atmospheric chemistry‐climate model. AM4.1 features improved representation of atmospheric chemical composition, including aerosol and aerosol precursor emissions, key land‐atmosphere interactions, comprehensive land‐atmosphere‐ocean cycling of dust and iron, and interactive ocean‐atmosphere cycling of reactive nitrogen. AM4.1 provides vast improvements in fidelity over AM3, captures most of AM4.0's baseline simulations characteristics, and notably improves on AM4.0 in the representation of aerosols over the Southern Ocean, India, and China—even with its interactive chemistry representation—and in its manifestation of sudden stratospheric warmings in the coldest months. Distributions of reactive nitrogen and sulfur species, carbon monoxide, and ozone are all substantially improved over AM3. Fidelity concerns include degradation of upper atmosphere equatorial winds and of aerosols in some regions.

EMTICS Collaborative Group., Genetic predisposition, autoimmunity and environmental factors [e.g. pre- and perinatal difficulties, Group A Streptococcal (GAS) and other infections, stress-inducing events] might interact to create a neurobiological vulnerability to the development of tics and associated behaviours. However, the existing evidence for this relies primarily on small prospective or larger retrospective population-based studies, and is therefore still inconclusive. This article describes the design and methodology of the EMTICS study, a longitudinal observational European multicentre study involving 16 clinical centres, with the following objectives: (1) to investigate the association of environmental factors (GAS exposure and psychosocial stress, primarily) with the onset and course of tics and/or obsessive–compulsive symptoms through the prospective observation of at-risk individuals (ONSET cohort: 260 children aged 3–10 years who are tic-free at study entry and have a first-degree relative with a chronic tic disorder) and affected individuals (COURSE cohort: 715 youth aged 3–16 years with a tic disorder); (2) to characterise the immune response to microbial antigens and the host’s immune response regulation in association with onset and exacerbations of tics; (3) to increase knowledge of the human gene pathways influencing the pathogenesis of tic disorders; and (4) to develop prediction models for the risk of onset and exacerbations of tic disorders. The EMTICS study is, to our knowledge, the largest prospective cohort assessment of the contribution of different genetic and environmental factors to the risk of developing tics in putatively predisposed individuals and to the risk of exacerbating tics in young individuals with chronic tic disorders., This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant agreement no. 278367. Schrag was supported by the National Institute for Health Research UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, and Müller, Burger, Schnell and Weidinger by Stiftung Immunität und Seele. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and University College London (Heyman); partially sponsored by GSK Vaccines (Margarit, Bartolini); and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): projects 1692/3-1, 4-1 (Münchau).

Daily maximum temperature is known to be the meteorological variable that mostly controls the afternoon near-surface ozone concentrations during summer. Air stagnation situations, characterised by stable weather conditions and poor ventilation, also lead to the accumulation of pollutants and regional ozone production close to the surface. This work evaluates the joint effect of daily maximum temperature and a simplified air stagnation index on surface ozone observations in eight regions of Europe during summer 1998-2015.As expected, the correlations of MDA8 O3 (maximum daily 8-h running average ozone) with temperature are higher than with stagnation for most regions. Nevertheless, stagnation can also be considered as a good predictor of ozone, especially in the regions of central/southern Europe, where the correlation coefficients between MDA8 O3 and the percentage of stagnant area are within the range 0.50–0.70. MDA8 O3 consistently increases over central/southern Europe under stagnant conditions, but this is not always the case in the north. Under non-stagnant conditions and daily maximum temperatures within 20-25 ºC (typical temperatures of fair weather conditions that allow photochemical production), northern Europe is affected by southerly advection that often brings aged air masses from more polluted areas, increasing the MDA8 O3 mixing ratios.We have also found that the ozone diurnal cycles in the central/southern regions exhibit large amplitudes, with above-average daytime and below-average night-time concentrations, when stagnation occurs. Stagnant nights are often associated with stable shallow planetary boundary layer and, presumably, enhanced dry deposition and chemical destruction of ozone. After sunrise, mixing with air from air from the residual layer, accumulation of ozone and precursors, and photochemical production seem to be the main mechanisms involved in the build-up of daytime ozone.According to previous studies, some of the central/southern European regions where stagnation has a clear impact on ozone have undergone significant upward trends in air stagnation in the past and are also likely to experience increases in the future. However, our study has identified other regions with unclear responses of summer ozone to the occurrence of stagnation. This indicates that climate model projections of increases in stagnation should not directly be translated into enhanced summer ozone pollution if the sensitivity of this pollutant to stagnation has not been proved for a particular region.

Der 39-jahrige Lagerist stellt sich bei seinem Hausarzt vor und berichtet bei diesem erstmals von „Zuckungen und Gerauschen“ seit dem Grundschulalter. Eine Blutkontrolle, EEG und cMRT seien regelrecht gewesen. Aktuelle motorische Tics umfassen Kopfnicken, Bauchschlagen und Beruhrtics, vokale Tics ausern sich in Rauspern, Husten und die Silbe „prp“.

Climate-sensitive Arctic lakes have been identified as conduits for ancient permafrost-carbon (C) emissions and as such accelerate warming. However, the environmental factors that control emission pathways and their sources are unclear; this complicates upscaling, forecasting and climate-impact-assessment efforts. Here we show that current whole-lake CH4 and CO2 emissions from widespread lakes in Arctic Alaska primarily originate from organic matter fixed within the past 3–4 millennia (modern to 3,300 ± 70 years before the present), and not from Pleistocene permafrost C. Furthermore, almost 100% of the annual diffusive C flux is emitted as CO2. Although the lakes mostly processed younger C (89 ± 3% of total C emissions), minor contributions from ancient C sources were two times greater in fine-textured versus coarse-textured Pleistocene sediments, which emphasizes the importance of the underlying geological substrate in current and future emissions. This spatially extensive survey considered the environmental and temporal variability necessary to monitor and forecast the fate of ancient permafrost C as Arctic warming progresses. A spatially extensive survey of lake CH4 and CO2 emissions in Arctic Alaska shows the source material to be primarily relatively young organic matter (up to about 3,500 years old). Contributions from ancient C sources were twice as large in fine textured sediments.

We have applied the k-means clustering technique on a maximum daily 8-h running average near-surface ozone (MDA8 O3) gridded dataset over Europe at 1° × 1° resolution for summer 1998–2012. This has resulted in a spatial division of nine regions where ozone presents coherent spatiotemporal patterns. The role of meteorology in the variability of ozone at different time scales has been investigated by using daily meteorological fields from the NCEP-NCAR meteorological reanalysis. In the five regions of central-southern Europe ozone extremes (exceedances of the summer 95th percentile) occur mostly under anticyclonic circulation or weak sea level pressure gradients which trigger elevated temperatures and the recirculation of air masses. In the four northern regions extremes are associated with high-latitude anticyclones that divert the typical westerly flow at those latitudes and cause the advection of aged air masses from the south. The impact of meteorology on the day-to-day variability of ozone has been assessed by means of two different types of multiple linear models. These include as predictors meteorological fields averaged within the regions (“region-based” approach) or synoptic indices indicating the degree of resemblance between the daily meteorological fields over a large domain (25°–70° N, 35° W – 35° E) and their corresponding composites for extreme ozone days (“index-based” approach). With the first approach, a reduced set of variables, always including daily maximum temperature within the region, explains 47–66% of the variability (adjusted R2) in central-southern Europe, while more complex models are needed to explain 27–49% of the variability in the northern regions. The index-based approach yields better results for the regions of northern Europe, with adjusted R2 = 40–57%. Finally, both methodologies have also been applied to reproduce the interannual variability of ozone, with the best models explaining 66–88% of the variance in central-southern Europe and 45–66% in the north. Thus, the regionalisation carried out in this work has allowed establishing clear distinctions between the meteorological drivers of ozone in northern Europe and in the rest of the continent. These drivers are consistent across the different time scales examined (extremes, day-to-day and interannual), which gives confidence in the robustness of the results., This work was supported by the Juan de la Cierva and Ramón y Cajal Programmes of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [grant numbers FJCI-2014-20838 and RYC-2014-15036, respectively].

Author(s): Xu, L; Yu, JY; Schnell, JL; Prather, MJ | Abstract: We examine the impact of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on surface ozone abundance observed over the continental United States (U.S.) during 1993–2013. The monthly ozone decreases (increases) during El Nino (La Nina) years with amplitude up to 1.8 ppb per standard deviation of Nino 3.4 index. The largest ENSO influences occur over two southern U.S. regions during fall when the ENSO develops and over two western U.S. regions during the winter to spring after the ENSO decays. ENSO affects surface ozone via chemical processes during warm seasons in southern regions, where favorable meteorological conditions occur, but via dynamic transport during cold seasons in western regions, where the ENSO-induced circulation variations are large. The geographic dependence and seasonality of the ENSO impacts imply that regulations regarding air quality and its exceedance need to be adjusted for different seasons and U.S. regions to account for the ENSO-driven patterns in surface ozone.

Restrictions to reduce human interaction have helped to avoid greater suffering and death from the COVID-19 pandemic, but have also created socioeconomic hardship. This disruption is unprecedented in the modern era of global observing networks, pervasive sensing and large-scale tracking of human mobility and behaviour, creating a unique test bed for understanding the Earth System. In this Perspective, we hypothesize the immediate and long-term Earth System responses to COVID-19 along two multidisciplinary cascades: energy, emissions, climate and air quality; and poverty, globalization, food and biodiversity. While short-term impacts are dominated by direct effects arising from reduced human activity, longer-lasting impacts are likely to result from cascading effects of the economic recession on global poverty, green investment and human behaviour. These impacts offer the opportunity for novel insight, particularly with the careful deployment of targeted data collection, coordinated model experiments and solution-oriented randomized controlled trials, during and after the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial global impact. This Perspective provides insight into the environmental effects of the pandemic, documenting how it offers an opportunity to better understand the Earth System.

BackgroundHypovitaminosis-D has been linked to neuropsychiatric conditions, but little is known about vitamin D status in individuals with chronic tic disorders (CTD). This study sought to determine whether vitamin D levels are associated with the severity of tics and presence and severity of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/ or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).MethodsThis is a cross-sectional sub-study of the European Multicentre Tics in Children Studies (EMTICS). Vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels (ng/ml) were obtained for 327 participants with CTD at study entry and tic severity was measured using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). An association between tic severity and presence and severity of comorbid OCD and/or ADHD symptoms was analysed using multilevel models controlling for season, site, sex, age and presence of comorbid OCD and/or ADHD.ResultsThe participants comprised 247 boys and 80 girls (4-16 years, mean [SD], 10.9 [2.72]). Hypovitaminosis-D ([25(OH)D] < 20ng/ml) was present in 33% of participants with CTD and/ or comorbid OCD and/ or ADHD. The authors found no association between 25(OH)D levels and tic severity or OCD symptom severity. However, lower 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with increased severity of ADHD symptoms in participants with CTD (β = -0.25, s.e. = 0.08, 95% CI, -0.42 to -0.09; p < 0.01).ConclusionAdditional research is needed to confirm these findings and assess whether hypovitaminosis-D may represent an underlying biological vulnerability for comorbid ADHD symptoms in CTD as it may signpost novel strategies for prevention and treatment.

Tic disorders typically start in early childhood and can be classified into provisional tic disorder (tics last12 months) and chronic tic disorders (tics last 12 months). The widely known chronic tic disorder Tourette's syndrome is featuring multiple motor and vocal tics. Tics are typically waxing and waning in frequency and intensity. Concentration and relaxation might decrease tics, whereas stress and excitement might increase tics. Psychiatric comorbidities, like obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD, depression and anxiety are common. The etiology is multifactorial with genetic and environmental interactions leading to a dysregulation of cortico-striato-pallido-thalamo-cortical networks.A correct diagnosis and psychoeducation are essential for patients as well as their relatives. Additional therapies are needed for patients with severe tics that cause physical impairment or great psychosocial stress. It is crucial to also treat psychiatric comorbidities. Psychotherapeutic interventions for tics include progressive muscle relaxation, habit reversal training, exposure and response prevention and comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics. First-line psychopharmacological treatment in Europe contains aripiprazole, tiapride and risperidone, which are all used off-label for tic disorders. Haloperidol remains the only approved medication for the pharmacotherapy of tics in Germany, but is rarely used due to its side effects. Cannabinoids gain interest as a new pharmacological option, but are mainly offered within the frame of studies.Das Bewusstsein der Öffentlichkeit für Tic-Störungen und insbesondere für das Tourette-Syndrom ist durch zahlreiche Medienbeiträge in den letzten Jahren gestiegen. Immer wieder wird in TV- oder Printmedien jedoch lediglich von schweren Fällen des Tourette-Syndroms berichtet, die nicht dem durchschnittlichen Krankheitsverlauf entsprechen. Eine umfangreiche Aufklärung über Symptome, Verlauf, Ursachen und Behandlungsmöglichkeiten ist daher wünschenswert 1.