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Abstract The Martian magnetotail is largely controlled by the solar wind (SW) and is modulated by variations in the upstream drivers. However, due to the limitations of single‐spacecraft observations, the effects of SW variations on the Martian magnetotail have not been fully understood so far. Here, using Tianwen‐1 and MAVEN data, we report for the first time the rapid response of Martian magnetotail to the SW disturbance. In our study, Tianwen‐1 detected the flapping of Martian magnetotail, while MAVEN monitored disturbances in the upstream SW. The results indicate that a 20% increase (or decrease) in SW dynamic pressure and a 30° (or 50°) rotation of interplanetary magnetic field clock angle could cause the Martian magnetotail to swing rapidly. These two SW disturbances could lead to oscillations of the Martian magnetotail. This study reveals the importance of joint observations for studying the interaction between the SW and Mars.

Ixora coccinea is one of the important ornamental plants, commercially propagated by stem cuttings. This study aims to determine the effects of different media on micropropagation and rooting and to investigate the genetic fidelity of regenerated plants using the Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) marker. For this purpose, Murashige and Skoog (MS), and Woody Plant Medium (WPM) media were used for micropropagation and rooting experiments. All media were supplemented by 5.5g /l gelling agent (Agar) for micropropagation, MS media with different level of sucrose (15,30 ,45 and 60 g/l), 2.0 mg/l BAP with different concentrations of IBA (0.0, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/l), for rooting 10mg /l NAA used. In vitro rooted plantlets were transferred to plastic pots containing; peat moss with vermiculite (1:1; 2:1, and 1:2 v/v) for acclimatization to ex vitro conditions. The ISSR markers were used for the assessment of genetic fidelity between the mother plant and acclimatized plantlets ISSR marker used. Total DNA was extracted from leaves of the acclimated plant by the cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide method (CTAB), and the data obtained were analyzed and used to generate a similarity matrix using Jaccard’s similarity coefficient. The best result in terms of regeneration of shoots was obtained from 30 g/l sucrose on a full MS medium. MS media during the incubation period gave the best results in terms of vegetative growth parameters compared to WPM. The estimation of the genetic similarity coefficient based on the ISSR band indicated that acclimatized plantlets derived from the 6th subculture were 100% similar to the mother plant. Keywords: growth regulator; acclimatization; in vitro; genetic fidelity; DNA

Vehicle exhaust, as a major source of air pollutants in urban areas, contains a complex mixture of organic vapours including long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. The atmospheric oxidation of vehicle emissions is a highly complex system as inorganic gases (e.g. NOx and SO2) from other urban sources coexist and therefore remains poorly understood. In this work, the photooxidation of n-dodecane, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and their mixture is studied in the presence of NOx and SO2 to mimic the atmospheric oxidation of urban vehicle emissions (including diesel and gasoline vehicles), and the formation of ozone and secondary aerosols is investigated. It is found that ozone formation is enhanced by higher OH concentration and higher temperature, but is influenced little by SO2 concentration. However, SO2 can largely enhance the particle formation in both number and mass concentrations, likely due to the promoted new particle formation and acid-catalysed heterogeneous reactions from the formation of sulfuric acid. In addition, organo-sulfates and organo-nitrates are detected in the formed particles, and the presence of SO2 can promote the formation of organo-sulfates. These results provide a scientific basis for systematically evaluating the effects of SO2, OH concentration, and temperature on the oxidation of mixed organic gases in the atmosphere that produce ozone and secondary particles.

Climate warming has significantly changed the hydrological cycle in cold regions, especially in areas with permafrost or seasonal frost. Groundwater flow and its interactions with surface water are essential components of the hydrological process. However, few studies or modeling works have been based on long-term field observations of groundwater level, temperature, hydrogeochemistry, or isotopic tracers from boreholes due to obstacles such as remote locations, limited infrastructure, and harsh work conditions. In the Hulugou catchment, an alpine catchment in the headwater region of the Heihe River on the northern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), we drilled four sets of depth-specific wells and monitored the groundwater levels and temperatures at different depths. Surface water (including river water, glacier meltwater, and snow meltwater), precipitation, groundwater from boreholes, spring water, and soil water were sampled to measure the abundances of major and minor elements, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and stable and radioactive isotopes at 64 sites. This study provides a dataset of these groundwater parameters spanning 6 consecutive years of monitoring/measurements. These data can be used to investigate groundwater flow processes and groundwater–surface water interactions on the QTP under global climate change. The dataset provided in this paper can be obtained at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6296057 (Ma et al., 2021b) and will be subject to further updates.

X-ray Earth occultation sounding (XEOS) is an emerging method for measuring the neutral density in the lower thermosphere. In this paper, the X-ray Earth occultation (XEO) of the Crab Nebula is investigated using the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT). The pointing observation data on the 30 September 2018 recorded by the low-energy X-ray telescope (LE) of Insight-HXMT are selected and analysed. The extinction light curves and spectra during the X-ray Earth occultation process are extracted. A forward model for the XEO light curve is established, and the theoretical observational signal for light curve is predicted. The atmospheric density model is built with a scale factor to the commonly used Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Radar Extended model (MSIS) density profile within a certain altitude range. A Bayesian data analysis method is developed for the XEO light curve modelling and the atmospheric density retrieval. The posterior probability distribution of the model parameters is derived through the Markov chain–Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm with the NRLMSISE-00 model and the NRLMSIS 2.0 model as basis functions, and the respective best-fit density profiles are retrieved. It is found that in the altitude range of 105–200 km, the retrieved density profile is 88.8 % of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 109.7 % of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the light curve in the energy range of 1.0–2.5 keV based on the XEOS method. In the altitude range of 95–125 km, the retrieved density profile is 81.0 % of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 92.3 % of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the light curve in the energy range of 2.5–6.0 keV based on the XEOS method. In the altitude range of 85–110 km, the retrieved density profile is 87.7 % of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 101.4 % of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the light curve in the energy range of 6.0–10.0 keV based on the XEOS method. Goodness-of-fit testing is carried out for the validation of the results. The measurements of density profiles are compared to the NRLMSISE-00 and NRLMSIS 2.0 model simulations and the previous retrieval results with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite. For further confirmation, we also compare the measured density profile to the ones by a standard spectrum retrieval method with an iterative inversion technique. Finally, we find that the retrieved density profile from Insight-HXMT based on the NRLMSISE-00 and NRLMSIS 2.0 models is qualitatively consistent with the previous retrieved results from RXTE. The results of light curve fitting and standard energy spectrum fitting are in good agreement. This research provides a method for the evaluation of the density profiles from MSIS model predictions. This study demonstrates that the XEOS from the X-ray astronomical satellite Insight-HXMT can provide an approach for the study of the upper atmosphere. The Insight-HXMT satellite can join the family of the XEOS. The Insight-HXMT satellite with other X-ray astronomical satellites in orbit can form a space observation network for XEOS in the future.

Magnetic holes (MHs) are transient magnetic structures responsible for energy conversion in space plasma. Using single-spacecraft measurements from Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), the existence of MHs on Mars has been confirmed. However, due to the limitations of single-spacecraft observations, significant uncertainty also arises on the identification of the spatial scale and 3D geometry of MHs. In this study, we report a series of MHs successively detected by Tianwen-1 near the high-latitude magnetopause and by the MAVEN spacecraft near the subsolar magnetopause. The large separation between Tianwen-1 and MAVEN (∼4 R _M ) suggests these MHs are macroscale structures extending along the axial direction. Additionally, we observe whistler waves generated by electron perpendicular anisotropy in one of the macroscale MHs. This study is the first joint observation of Martian MHs, shedding light on the research of transient magnetic structures on Mars.

Co-occurrences of high concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone (O3) have been frequently observed in haze-aggravating processes in the North China Plain (NCP) over the past few years. Higher O3 concentrations on hazy days were hypothesized to be related to nitrous acid (HONO), but the key sources of HONO enhancing O3 during haze-aggravating processes remain unclear. We added six potential HONO sources, i.e., four ground-based (traffic, soil, and indoor emissions, and the NO2 heterogeneous reaction on ground surface (Hetground)) sources, and two aerosol-related (the NO2 heterogeneous reaction on aerosol surfaces (Hetaerosol) and nitrate photolysis (Photnitrate)) sources into the WRF-Chem model and designed 23 simulation scenarios to explore the unclear key sources. The results indicate that ground-based HONO sources producing HONO enhancements showed a rapid decrease with height, while the NO + OH reaction and aerosol-related HONO sources decreased slowly with height. Photnitrate contributions to HONO concentrations were enhanced with aggravated pollution levels. The enhancement of HONO due to Photnitrate on hazy days was about 10 times greater than on clean days and Photnitrate dominated daytime HONO sources (∼ 30 %–70 % when the ratio of the photolysis frequency of nitrate (Jnitrate) to gas nitric acid (JHNO3) equals 30) at higher layers (>800 m). Compared with that on clean days, the Photnitrate contribution to the enhanced daily maximum 8 h averaged (DMA8) O3 was increased by over 1 magnitude during the haze-aggravating process. Photnitrate contributed only ∼ 5 % of the surface HONO in the daytime with a Jnitrate/JHNO3 ratio of 30 but contributed ∼ 30 %–50 % of the enhanced O3 near the surface in NCP on hazy days. Surface O3 was dominated by volatile organic compound-sensitive chemistry, while O3 at higher altitudes (>800 m) was dominated by NOx-sensitive chemistry. Photnitrate had a limited impact on nitrate concentrations (<15 %) even with a Jnitrate/JHNO3 ratio of 120. These results suggest the potential but significant impact of Photnitrate on O3 formation, and that more comprehensive studies on Photnitrate in the atmosphere are still needed.

Organosulfates (OSs) are important constituents of secondary organic aerosols, but their hygroscopic properties and cloud condensation nucleation (CCN) activities have not been well understood. In this work we employed three complementary techniques to characterize interactions of several OSs with water vapor under sub- and supersaturated conditions. A vapor sorption analyzer was used to measure mass changes in OS samples with relative humidity (RH, 0 %–90 %); among the 11 organosulfates examined, only sodium methyl sulfate (methyl-OS), sodium ethyl sulfate (ethyl-OS), sodium octyl sulfate (octyl-OS) and potassium hydroxyacetone sulfate were found to deliquesce as RH increased, and their mass growth factors at 90 % RH were determined to be 3.65 ± 0.06, 3.58 ± 0.02, 1.59 ± 0.01 and 2.20 ± 0.03. Hygroscopic growth of methyl-, ethyl- and octyl-OS aerosols was also studied using a humidity tandem differential mobility analyzer (H-TDMA); continuous hygroscopic growth was observed, and their growth factors at 90 % RH were determined to be 1.83 ± 0.03, 1.79 ± 0.02 and 1.21 ± 0.02. We further investigated CCN activities of methyl-, ethyl- and octyl-OS aerosols, and their single hygroscopicity parameters (κccn) were determined to be 0.459 ± 0.021, 0.397 ± 0.010 and 0.206 ± 0.008. For methyl- and ethyl-OS aerosols, κccn values agree reasonably well with those derived from H-TDMA measurements (κgf) with relative differences being < 25 %, whereas κccn was found to be ∼ 2.4 times larger than κgf for octyl-OS, likely due to both the solubility limit and surface tension reduction.

Vehicular exhaust is one of the important contribution sources of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in urban areas. Long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons are included in gaseous organic pollutants of vehicle emissions, representative of diesel and gasoline vehicles respectively. In this work, the SOA production from individual anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) (n-dodecane, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) and mixed AVOCs (n-dodecane + 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) was studied with a large-scale outdoor smog chamber. Results showed that the SOA formation from the mixed AVOCs was enhanced compared to the predicted SOA mass concentration based on the SOA yield of individual AVOCs. According to the results of mass spectrometry analysis with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-ToF-MS), interaction occurred between intermediate products from the two precursors, which could be the main reason for the enhanced SOA production from the mixed AVOC reaction system. The study results could improve our understanding about the contribution of representative precursors from vehicular exhaust to the formation of SOA in urban areas. This study also indicates that further studies on SOA chemistry from the mixed VOC reaction system are needed, as the interactions between them and the effect on SOA formation can give us a further understanding of the SOA formed in the atmosphere.

Aerosol mixing state regulates the interactions between water molecules and particles and thus controls aerosol activation and hygroscopic growth, which thereby influences visibility degradation, cloud formation, and its radiative forcing. There are, however, few current studies on the mixing structure effects on aerosol hygroscopicity. Here, we investigated the hygroscopicity of ammonium sulfate / phthalic acid (AS / PA) aerosol particles with different mass fractions of PA in different mixing states in terms of initial particle generation. Firstly, the effect of PA coatings on the hygroscopic behavior of the core-shell-generated mixtures of AS with PA was studied using a coating hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (coating HTDMA). The slow increase in the hygroscopic growth factor of core-shell-generated particles is observed with increasing thickness of the coating PA prior to the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of AS. At relative humidity (RH) above 80 %, a decrease in the hygroscopic growth factor of particles occurs as the thickness of the PA shell increases, which indicates that the increase of PA mass fractions leads to a reduction of the overall core-shell-generated particle hygroscopicity. In addition, the use of the Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR) relation leads to the underestimation of the measured growth factors of core-shell-generated particles without consideration of the morphological effect of core-shell-generated particles, especially at higher RH. Secondly, in the case of the AS / PA initially well-mixed particles, a shift of the DRH of AS (∼80 %, Tang and Munkelwitz, 1994) to lower RH is observed due to the presence of PA in the initially well-mixed particles. The predicted hygroscopic growth factor using the ZSR relation is consistent with the measured hygroscopic growth factor of the initially well-mixed particles. Moreover, we compared and discussed the influence of mixing states on the water uptake of AS / PA aerosol particles. It is found that the hygroscopic growth factor of the core-shell-generated particles is slightly higher than that of the initially well-mixed particles with the same mass fractions of PA at RH above 80 %. The observation of AS / PA particles may contribute to a growing field of knowledge regarding the influence of coating properties and mixing structure on water uptake.

Cage layer fatigue (CLF), which is commonly caused by calcium deficiency in the feed, leads to loss of structural bone and increase of bone fragility. In order to investigate the influence of low-calcium diets on bone quality and strength, histopathology, and egg quality, 72 laying hens were randomly allocated to 2 groups at 22 wk of age and received low calcium and control calcium until 34 wk, respectively. Egg production, feed consumption, BW, and egg quality were measured throughout. Bone mineral density, bone biomechanical properties, and histomorphology of femurs and tibias were assessed after birds were sacrificed in 26, 30, and 34 wk. The results showed that low-calcium (1.5%) diets decreased BW, feed consumption, and egg production. The broken eggs rate increased, and the eggshell strength and thickness were lower in treated birds than those in control birds at 30 wk and 34 wk. Femoral and tibial bone index and bone mineral density were lower, cortical thicknesses were thinner, and bone length were shorter over time when birds are in a low-calcium diet than those in control birds. In biomechanical properties, the values of stiffness, Young's modulus, and breaking strength were lower in both femurs and tibias in low-calcium hens at 30 wk and 34 wk than those in bones of control hens. In histomorphology of bone, the cortex turned thinner and there were more cavities in cortex and cancellous bone; the trabecular bone network was fewer, thinner, less cohesive, and generally fragmented; and trabeculae were less well-connected in low-calcium birds. Some cell nuclei in cancellous bone disappeared, and vacuolation was observed in bone cells. There appeared osteoid in cortex bone and cancellous bone in tibias. It was concluded that low-calcium diets could facilitate the development of osteoporosis characterized by an increase of osteoid and loss of structural bone and decrease the values of bone quality and strength, accompanied with a decrease in egg production and egg qualities, which may elucidate the developing mechanism of CLF.

Secondary aerosols are a major component of PM2.5, yet their formation mechanisms in the ambient atmosphere are still unclear. Based on field measurements in downtown Beijing, we show that the photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO) may promote the formation of organic and nitrate aerosols in winter in Beijing, which is supported by the fact that the mass concentrations of organic and nitrate aerosols linearly increase as a function of HONO consumed from early morning to noon. The increased nitrate content also leads to the formation of ammonium particulate matter through enhancing the neutralization of nitrate and sulfate by ammonia. We further illustrate that during pollution events in winter in Beijing, over 50 % of the ambient HONO may be related to traffic-related emissions, including direct emissions and formation via the reaction between OH and vehicle-emitted NO. Overall, our results indicate that traffic-related HONO may play an important role in the oxidative capacity and in turn contribute to haze formation in winter in Beijing. The mitigation of HONO and NOx emissions from vehicles may be an effective way to reduce the formation of secondary aerosols and severe haze events in winter in Beijing.

Hygroscopicity largely determines phase state, chemical reactivity, optical properties, and cloud nucleation activities of aerosol particles, thus significantly affecting their impacts on visibility, atmospheric chemistry, and climate. In the last 20 years, a large number of field studies have investigated the hygroscopicity of tropospheric aerosols in China under subsaturated and supersaturated conditions. Aerosol hygroscopicity measurements in China are reviewed in this paper: (1) a comprehensive summary and critical discussion of aerosol hygroscopicity measurements in China are provided; (2) available measurement data are compiled and presented under a consistent framework to enhance their accessibility and usability; and (3) current knowledge gaps are identified, and an outlook which could serve as guidelines for planning future research is also proposed.

Interactions between water and nanoparticles are relevant for atmospheric multiphase processes, physical chemistry, and materials science. Current knowledge of the hygroscopic and related physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, however, is restricted by the limitations of the available measurement techniques. Here, we present the design and performance of a nano-hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (nano-HTDMA) apparatus that enables high accuracy and precision in hygroscopic growth measurements of aerosol nanoparticles with diameters less than 10 nm. Detailed methods of calibration and validation are provided. Besides maintaining accurate and stable sheath and aerosol flow rates (±1 %), high accuracy of the differential mobility analyzer (DMA) voltage (±0.1 %) in the range of ∼0–50 V is crucial for achieving accurate sizing and small sizing offsets between the two DMAs ( %). To maintain a stable relative humidity (RH), the humidification system and the second DMA are placed in a well-insulated and air conditioner housing (±0.1 K). We also tested and discussed different ways of preventing predeliquescence in the second DMA. Our measurement results for ammonium sulfate nanoparticles are in good agreement with Biskos et al. (2006b), with no significant size effect on the deliquescence and efflorescence relative humidity (DRH and ERH, respectively) at diameters down to 6 nm. For sodium sulfate nanoparticles, however, we find a pronounced size dependence of DRH and ERH between 20 and 6 nm nanoparticles.

The calibration microwave radiometer (CMR) on board the Haiyang-2A (HY-2A) satellite provides wet tropospheric delay correction for altimetry data, which can also contribute to the understanding of climate system and weather processes. The ground-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) provides precise precipitable water vapor (PWV) with high temporal resolution and could be used for calibration and monitoring of the CMR data, and shipborne GNSS provides accurate PWV over open oceans, which can be directly compared with uncontaminated CMR data. In this study, the HY-2A CMR water vapor product is validated using ground-based GNSS observations of 100 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations along the global coastline and 56 d shipborne GNSS observations over the Indian Ocean. The processing strategy for GNSS data and CMR data is discussed in detail. Special efforts were made in the quality control and reconstruction of contaminated CMR data. The validation result shows that HY-2A CMR PWV agrees well with ground-based GNSS PWV with 2.67 mm as the root mean square (rms) within 100 km. Geographically, the rms is 1.12 mm in the polar region and 2.78 mm elsewhere. The PWV agreement between HY-2A and shipborne GNSS shows a significant correlation with the distance between the ship and the satellite footprint, with an rms of 1.57 mm for the distance threshold of 100 km. Ground-based GNSS and shipborne GNSS agree with HY-2A CMR well.

Environmental temperature plays a vital role in controlling chemical transformations that lead to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and ultimately impact the composition and optical properties of the aerosol particles. In this study, we investigated optical properties of n-dodecane SOA under two temperature conditions: 5 and 25 ∘C. It was shown that low-temperature conditions could enhance the real part of the refractive index (RI) of the SOA at wavelengths of 532 and 375 nm. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the molecular composition of n-dodecane SOA was significantly modified by temperature: a large amount of oligomers were formed under low-temperature conditions, which led to higher RI values. These findings will help improve our understanding of the chemical composition and optical properties of SOA under different temperature conditions and will provide one possible explanation for the low visibility in suburban areas during winter.

Hydroxyl (OH) radicals, nitrate (NO3) radicals and ozone (O3) play central roles in the troposphere because they control the lifetimes of many trace gases that result from anthropogenic and biogenic origins. To estimate the air chemistry, the atmospheric reactivity and oxidation capacity were comprehensively analyzed based on a parameterization method at a suburban site in Xianghe in the North China Plain from 6 July 2018 to 6 August 2018. The total OH, NO3 and O3 reactivities at the site varied from 9.2 to 69.6, 0.7 to 27.5 and 3.3×10-4 to 1.8×10-2 s−1 with campaign-averaged values of 27.5±9.7, 2.2±2.6 and 1.2±1.7×10-3 s−1 (± standard deviation), respectively. NOx (NO+NO2) was by far the main contributor to the reactivities of the three oxidants, with average values of 43 %–99 %. Alkenes dominated the OH, NO3 and O3 reactivities towards total nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), accounting for 42.9 %, 77.8 % and 94.0 %, respectively. The total OH, NO3 and O3 reactivities displayed similar diurnal variations with the lowest values during the afternoon but the highest values during rush hours, and the diurnal profile of NOx appears to be the major driver for the diurnal profiles of the reactivities of the three oxidants. A box model (a model to Simulate the concentrations of Organic vapors, Sulfuric Acid and Aerosols; SOSAA) derived from a column chemical transport model was used to simulate OH and NO3 concentrations during the observation period. The calculated atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) reached 4.5×108 moleculescm-3s-1, with a campaign-averaged value of 7.8×107 moleculescm-3s-1 dominated by OH (7.7×107 moleculescm-3s-1, 98.2 %), O3 (1.2×106 moleculescm-3s-1, 1.5 %) and NO3 (1.8×105 moleculescm-3s-1, 0.3 %). Overall, the integration of OH, NO3 and O3 reactivities analysis could provide useful insights for NMVOC pollution control in the North China Plain. We suggest that further studies, especially direct observations of OH and NO3 radical concentrations and their reactivities, are required to better understand trace gas reactivity and AOC.

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) has great impacts on air quality, climate change and human health. The composition and physicochemical properties of SOA differ greatly because they form under different atmospheric conditions and from various precursors as well as differing oxidation. In this work, photooxidation experiments of toluene were performed under four conditions (dry, dry with SO2, wet and wet with SO2) to investigate the effect of SO2 under different relative humidities on the composition and optical properties of SOA at wavelengths of 375 and 532 nm. According to our results, the increase in humidity enhances not only light absorption but also the scattering property of the SOA. Oligomers formed through multiphase reactions might be the reason for this phenomenon. Adding SO2 slightly lowers the real part of the complex refractive index, RI(n), of toluene-derived SOA (RI(n)dry,SO2

A novel approach to modelling the surface wind field of landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) is presented. The modelling system simulates the evolution of the low-level wind fields of landfalling TCs, accounting for terrain effects. A two-step process models the gradient-level wind field using a parametric wind field model fitted to TC track data and then brings the winds down to the surface using a numerical boundary layer model. The physical wind response to variable surface drag and terrain height produces substantial local modifications to the smooth wind field provided by the parametric wind profile model. For a set of US historical landfalling TCs the accuracy of the simulated footprints compares favourably with contemporary modelling approaches. The model is applicable from single-event simulation to the generation of global catalogues. One application demonstrated here is the creation of a dataset of 714 global historical TC overland wind footprints. A preliminary analysis of this dataset shows regional variability in the inland wind speed decay rates and evidence of a strong influence of regional orography. This dataset can be used to advance our understanding of overland wind risk in regions of complex terrain and support wind risk assessments in regions of sparse historical data.

Nitrous acid (HONO) is a key determinant of the daytime radical budget in the daytime boundary layer, with quantitative measurement required to understand OH radical abundance. Accurate and precise measurements of HONO are therefore needed; however HONO is a challenging compound to measure in the field, in particular in a chemically complex and highly polluted environment. Here we report an intercomparison exercise between HONO measurements performed by two wet chemical techniques (the commercially available a long-path absorption photometer (LOPAP) and a custom-built instrument) and two broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectrophotometer (BBCEAS) instruments at an urban location in Beijing. In addition, we report a comparison of HONO measurements performed by a time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) and a selected ion flow tube mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS) to the more established techniques (wet chemical and BBCEAS). The key finding from the current work was that all instruments agree on the temporal trends and variability in HONO (r2 > 0.97), yet they displayed some divergence in absolute concentrations, with the wet chemical methods consistently higher overall than the BBCEAS systems by between 12 % and 39 %. We found no evidence for any systematic bias in any of the instruments, with the exception of measurements near instrument detection limits. The causes of the divergence in absolute HONO concentrations were unclear, and may in part have been due to spatial variability, i.e. differences in instrument location and/or inlet position, but this observation may have been more associative than casual.

Hygroscopicity is one of the most important physicochemical properties of aerosol particles and also plays indispensable roles in many other scientific and technical fields. A myriad of experimental techniques, which differ in principles, configurations and cost, are available for investigating aerosol hygroscopicity under subsaturated conditions (i.e., relative humidity below 100 %). A comprehensive review of these techniques is provided in this paper, in which experimental techniques are broadly classified into four categories, according to the way samples under investigation are prepared. For each technique, we describe its operation principle and typical configuration, use representative examples reported in previous work to illustrate how this technique can help better understand aerosol hygroscopicity, and discuss its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, future directions are outlined and discussed for further technical improvement and instrumental development.

Water-soluble brown carbon in the aqueous core of aerosol may play a role in the photochemical aging of organic film on the aerosol surface. To better understand the reactivity and photochemical aging processes of organic coating on the aqueous aerosol surface, we have simulated the photosensitized reaction of organic films made of several long-chain fatty acids in a Langmuir trough in the presence or absence of irradiation. Several chemicals (imidazole-2-carboxaldehyde and humic acid), PM2.5 samples collected from the field, and secondary organic aerosol samples generated from a simulation chamber were used as photosensitizers to be involved in the photochemistry of the organic films. Stearic acid, elaidic acid, oleic acid, and two different phospholipids with the same carbon chain length and different degrees of saturation, i.e. 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) and 1,2-dioleoylsn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), were chosen as the common organic film-forming species in this analysis. The double bond (trans and cis) in unsaturated organic compounds has an effect on the surface area of the organic monolayer. The oleic acid (OA) monolayer possessing a cis double bond in an alkyl chain is more expanded than elaidic acid (EA) monolayers on artificial seawater that contain a photosensitizer. Monitoring the change in the relative area of DOPC monolayers has shown that DOPC does not react with photosensitizers under dark conditions. Instead, the photochemical reaction initiated by the excited photosensitizer and molecular oxygen can generate new unsaturated products in the DOPC monolayers, accompanied by an increase in the molecular area. The DSPC monolayers did not yield any photochemical oxidized products under the same conditions. The spectra measured with polarization modulation-infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) were also consistent with the results of a surface pressure–area isotherm. Here, a reaction mechanism explaining these observations is presented and discussed. The results of PM2.5 and SOA samples will contribute to our understanding of the processing of organic aerosol aging that alters the aerosol composition.

Sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase acid-like 3b (SMPDL3b) is a lipid raft enzyme known to affect membrane lipid composition. Here, Mitrofanova et al. show that increased expression of SMPDL3b in diabetes impairs insulin signaling and ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) availability in podocytes, and that C1P supplementation protects mice from diabetic kidney disease.

Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed at a suburban site and an urban site in Beijing during the winter of 2014–2015. The VOC concentrations and emission ratios (ERs) to CO were compared at these two sites. It is found that though the VOC concentrations at the urban site are 2.67±1.15 times of those at the suburban site, the ERs are similar (within a factor of 1.5). It is indicated that (1) the VOCs at suburban areas are mainly from the transportation from the urban areas and (2) the ERs measured at the urban areas are also valid for the surrounding suburban areas. By comparing the diurnal variations and the contribution of anthropogenic emissions at both sites, we find that the photochemical processes are very active at the urban site, and these processes play an important role in the daytime oxygenated VOC (OVOC) formation. The methanol at the urban site and the formic acid at the suburban site probably have additional sources, which are attributed to be solvent use and soil/agriculture, respectively. The festival effects from the Chinese New Year (CNY) were investigated. The VOC concentrations decreased ∼60 % during CNY holidays, probably due to the population migration during festival holidays. In addition, fireworks are found to be an important source of acetonitrile, aromatics, and some OVOCs during the CNY festival and should be controlled more strictly. This study provides key characteristics of wintertime VOCs in suburban and urban Beijing and has implications for better understanding the atmospheric chemistry of VOCs in and around this megacity.

The Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity (APHH-Beijing) programme is an international collaborative project focusing on understanding the sources, processes and health effects of air pollution in the Beijing megacity. APHH-Beijing brings together leading China and UK research groups, state-of-the-art infrastructure and air quality models to work on four research themes: (1) sources and emissions of air pollutants; (2) atmospheric processes affecting urban air pollution; (3) air pollution exposure and health impacts; and (4) interventions and solutions. Themes 1 and 2 are closely integrated and support Theme 3, while Themes 1–3 provide scientific data for Theme 4 to develop cost-effective air pollution mitigation solutions. This paper provides an introduction to (i) the rationale of the APHH-Beijing programme and (ii) the measurement and modelling activities performed as part of it. In addition, this paper introduces the meteorology and air quality conditions during two joint intensive field campaigns – a core integration activity in APHH-Beijing. The coordinated campaigns provided observations of the atmospheric chemistry and physics at two sites: (i) the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in central Beijing and (ii) Pinggu in rural Beijing during 10 November–10 December 2016 (winter) and 21 May–22 June 2017 (summer). The campaigns were complemented by numerical modelling and automatic air quality and low-cost sensor observations in the Beijing megacity. In summary, the paper provides background information on the APHH-Beijing programme and sets the scene for more focused papers addressing specific aspects, processes and effects of air pollution in Beijing.

Calcium- and magnesium-containing salts are important components for mineral dust and sea salt aerosols, but their physicochemical properties are not well understood yet. In this study, hygroscopic properties of eight Ca- and Mg-containing salts, including Ca(NO3)2⚫4H2O, Mg(NO3)2⚫6H2O, MgCl2⚫6H2O, CaCl2⚫6H2O, Ca(HCOO)2, Mg(HCOO)2⚫2H2O, Ca(CH3COO)2⚫H2O and Mg(CH3COO)2⚫4H2O, were investigated using two complementary techniques. A vapor sorption analyzer was used to measure the change of sample mass with relative humidity (RH) under isotherm conditions, and the deliquescence relative humidities (DRHs) for temperature in the range of 5–30 ∘C as well as water-to-solute ratios as a function of RH at 5 and 25 ∘C were reported for these eight compounds. DRH values showed large variation for these compounds; for example, at 25 ∘C DRHs were measured to be ∼ 28.5 % for CaCl2⚫6H2O and >95 % for Ca(HCOO)2 and Mg(HCOO)2⚫2H2O. We further found that the dependence of DRH on temperature can be approximated by the Clausius–Clapeyron equation. In addition, a humidity tandem differential mobility analyzer was used to measure the change in mobility diameter with RH (up to 90 %) at room temperature, in order to determine hygroscopic growth factors of aerosol particles generated by atomizing water solutions of these eight compounds. All the aerosol particles studied in this work, very likely to be amorphous under dry conditions, started to grow at very low RH (as low as 10 %) and showed continuous growth with RH. Hygroscopic growth factors at 90 % RH were found to range from 1.26 ± 0.04 for Ca(HCOO)2 to 1.79 ± 0.03 for Ca(NO3)2, and the single hygroscopicity parameter ranged from 0.09–0.13 for Ca(CH3COO)2 to 0.49–0.56 for Ca(NO3)2. Overall, our work provides a comprehensive investigation of hygroscopic properties of these Ca- and Mg-containing salts, largely improving our knowledge of the physicochemical properties of mineral dust and sea salt aerosols.

Organic aerosol (OA) concentrations are simulated over the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region from 9 to 26 January 2014 using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-CHEM), with the goal of examining the impact of heterogeneous HONO sources on SOA formation and SOA formation from different pathways during wintertime haze days. The model generally shows good performance with respect to simulating air pollutants and organic aerosols against measurements in BTH. Model results show that heterogeneous HONO sources substantially enhance near-surface SOA formation, increasing the regional average near-surface SOA concentration by about 46.3 % during the episode. Oxidation and partitioning of primary organic aerosols treated as semi-volatile dominate SOA formation, contributing 58.9 % of the near-surface SOA mass in BTH. Irreversible uptake of glyoxal and methylglyoxal on aerosol surfaces constitutes the second most important SOA formation pathway during the episode, with the SOA contribution increasing from 8.5 % under non-haze conditions to 30.2 % under haze conditions. Additionally, direct emissions of glyoxal and methylglyoxal from residential sources contribute about 25.5 % of the total SOA mass on average in BTH. Our study highlights the importance of heterogeneous HONO sources and primary residential emissions of glyoxal and methylglyoxal to SOA formation over the BTH region in winter.

While nitrate salts have critical impacts on environmental effects of atmospheric aerosols, the effects of coexisting species on hygroscopicity of nitrate salts remain uncertain. The hygroscopic behaviors of nitrate salt aerosols (NH4NO3, NaNO3, Ca(NO3)2) and their internal mixtures with water-soluble organic acids were determined using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA). The nitrate salt ∕ organic acid mixed aerosols exhibit varying phase behavior and hygroscopic growth depending upon the type of components in the particles. Whereas pure nitrate salt particles show continuous water uptake with increasing relative humidity (RH), the deliquescence transition is still observed for ammonium nitrate particles internally mixed with organic acids such as oxalic acid and succinic acid with a high deliquescence point. The hygroscopicity of submicron aerosols containing sodium nitrate and an organic acid is also characterized by continuous growth, indicating that sodium nitrate tends to exist in a liquid-like state under dry conditions. It is observed that in contrast to the pure components, the water uptake is hindered at low and moderate RH for calcium nitrate particles containing malonic acid or phthalic acid, suggesting the potential effects of mass transfer limitation in highly viscous mixed systems. Our findings improve fundamental understanding of the phase behavior and water uptake of nitrate-salt-containing aerosols in the atmospheric environment.

Hygroscopic growth factors of organic surrogate compounds representing biomass burning and mixed organic–inorganic aerosol particles exhibit variability during dehydration experiments depending on their chemical composition, which we observed using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA). We observed that levoglucosan and humic acid aerosol particles release water upon dehumidification in the range from 90 to 5 % relative humidity (RH). However, 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid aerosol particles remain in the solid state upon dehumidification and exhibit a small shrinking in size at higher RH compared to the dry size. For example, the measured growth factor of 4-hyroxybenzoic acid aerosol particles is ∼ 0.96 at 90 % RH. The measurements were accompanied by RH-dependent thermodynamic equilibrium calculations using the Aerosol Inorganic–Organic Mixtures Functional groups Activity Coefficients (AIOMFAC) model and Extended Aerosol Inorganics Model (E-AIM), the Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR) relation, and a fitted hygroscopicity expression. We observed several effects of organic components on the hygroscopicity behavior of mixtures containing ammonium sulfate (AS) in relation to the different mass fractions of organic compounds: (1) a shift of efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of ammonium sulfate to higher RH due to the presence of 25 wt % levoglucosan in the mixture. (2) There is a distinct efflorescence transition at 25 % RH for mixtures consisting of 25 wt % of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid compared to the ERH at 35 % for organic-free AS particles. (3) There is indication for a liquid-to-solid phase transition of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in the mixed particles during dehydration. (4) A humic acid component shows no significant effect on the efflorescence of AS in mixed aerosol particles. In addition, consideration of a composition-dependent degree of dissolution of crystallization AS (solid–liquid equilibrium) in the AIOMFAC and E-AIM models leads to a relatively good agreement between models and observed growth factors, as well as ERH of AS in the mixed system. The use of the ZSR relation leads to good agreement with measured diameter growth factors of aerosol particles containing humic acid and ammonium sulfate. Lastly, two distinct mixtures of organic surrogate compounds, including levoglucosan, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and humic acid, were used to represent the average water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fractions observed during the wet and dry seasons in the central Amazon Basin. A comparison of the organic fraction's hygroscopicity parameter for the simple mixtures, e.g., κ ≈ 0.12 to 0.15 for the wet-season mixture in the 90 to 40 % RH range, shows good agreement with field data for the wet season in the Amazon Basin (WSOC κ ≈ 0.14±0.06 at 90 % RH). This suggests that laboratory-generated mixtures containing organic surrogate compounds and ammonium sulfate can be used to mimic, in a simplified manner, the chemical composition of ambient aerosols from the Amazon Basin for the purpose of RH-dependent hygroscopicity studies.

Heterogeneous reactions of mineral dust aerosol with trace gases in the atmosphere could directly and indirectly affect tropospheric oxidation capacity, in addition to aerosol composition and physicochemical properties. In this article we provide a comprehensive and critical review of laboratory studies of heterogeneous uptake of OH, NO3, O3, and their directly related species as well (including HO2, H2O2, HCHO, HONO, and N2O5) by mineral dust particles. The atmospheric importance of heterogeneous uptake as sinks for these species is assessed (i) by comparing their lifetimes with respect to heterogeneous reactions with mineral dust to lifetimes with respect to other major loss processes and (ii) by discussing relevant field and modeling studies. We have also outlined major open questions and challenges in laboratory studies of heterogeneous uptake by mineral dust and discussed research strategies to address them in order to better understand the effects of heterogeneous reactions with mineral dust on tropospheric oxidation capacity.

Although water uptake of aerosol particles plays an important role in the atmospheric environment, the effects of interactions between components on chemical composition and hygroscopicity of particles are still not well constrained. The hygroscopic properties and phase transformation of oxalic acid (OA) and mixed particles composed of ammonium sulfate (AS) and OA with different organic to inorganic molar ratios (OIRs) have been investigated by using confocal Raman spectroscopy. It is found that OA droplets first crystallize to form OA dihydrate at 71 % relative humidity (RH), and further lose crystalline water to convert into anhydrous OA around 5 % RH during the dehydration process. The deliquescence and efflorescence point for AS is determined to be 80.1 ± 1.5 % RH and 44.3 ± 2.5 % RH, respectively. The observed efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) for mixed OA ∕ AS droplets with OIRs of 1 : 3, 1 : 1 and 3 : 1 is 34.4 ± 2.0, 44.3 ± 2.5 and 64.4 ± 3.0 % RH, respectively, indicating the elevated OA content appears to favor the crystallization of mixed systems at higher RH. However, the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of AS in mixed OA ∕ AS particles with OIRs of 1 : 3 and 1 : 1 is observed to occur at 81.1 ± 1.5 and 77 ± 1.0 % RH, respectively. The Raman spectra of mixed OA ∕ AS droplets indicate the formation of ammonium hydrogen oxalate (NH4HC2O4) and ammonium hydrogen sulfate (NH4HSO4) from interactions between OA and AS in aerosols during the dehydration process on the time scale of hours, which considerably influence the subsequent deliquescence behavior of internally mixed particles with different OIRs. The mixed OA ∕ AS particles with an OIR of 3 : 1 exhibit no deliquescence transition over the RH range studied due to the considerable transformation of (NH4)2SO4 into NH4HC2O4 with a high DRH. Although the hygroscopic growth of mixed OA ∕ AS droplets is comparable to that of AS or OA at high RH during the dehydration process, Raman growth factors of mixed particles after deliquescence are substantially lower than those of mixed OA ∕ AS droplets during the efflorescence process and further decrease with elevated OA content. The discrepancies for Raman growth factors of mixed OA ∕ AS particles between the dehydration and hydration process at high RH can be attributed to the significant formation of NH4HC2O4 and residual OA, which remain solid at high RH and thus result in less water uptake of mixed particles. These findings improve the understanding of the role of reactions between dicarboxylic acid and inorganic salt in the chemical and physical properties of aerosol particles, and might have important implications for atmospheric chemistry.

The roles of groundwater flow in the hydrological cycle within the alpine area characterized by permafrost and/or seasonal frost are poorly known. This study explored the role of permafrost in controlling groundwater flow and the hydrological connections between glaciers in high mountains and rivers in the low piedmont plain with respect to hydraulic head, temperature, geochemical and isotopic data, at a representative catchment in the headwater region of the Heihe River, northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The results show that the groundwater in the high mountains mainly occurred as suprapermafrost groundwater, while in the moraine and fluvioglacial deposits on the planation surfaces of higher hills, suprapermafrost, intrapermafrost and subpermafrost groundwater cooccurred. Glacier and snow meltwaters were transported from the high mountains to the plain through stream channels, slope surfaces, and supra- and subpermafrost aquifers. Groundwater in the Quaternary aquifer in the piedmont plain was recharged by the lateral inflow from permafrost areas and the stream infiltration and was discharged as baseflow to the stream in the north. Groundwater maintained streamflow over the cold season and significantly contributed to the streamflow during the warm season. Two mechanisms were proposed to contribute to the seasonal variation of aquifer water-conduction capacity: (1) surface drainage through the stream channel during the warm period and (2) subsurface drainage to an artesian aquifer confined by stream icing and seasonal frost during the cold season.

The recent dramatic development of multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) constellations brings great opportunities and potential for more enhanced precise positioning, navigation, timing, and other applications. Significant improvement on positioning accuracy, reliability, as well as convergence time with the multi-GNSS fusion can be observed in comparison with the single-system processing like GPS (Global Positioning System). In this study, we develop a numerical weather model (NWM)-constrained precise point positioning (PPP) processing system to improve the multi-GNSS precise positioning. Tropospheric delay parameters which are derived from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis are applied to the multi-GNSS PPP, a combination of four systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou. Observations from stations of the IGS (International GNSS Service) Multi-GNSS Experiments (MGEX) network are processed, with both the standard multi-GNSS PPP and the developed NWM-constrained multi-GNSS PPP processing. The high quality and accuracy of the tropospheric delay parameters derived from ECMWF are demonstrated through comparison and validation with the IGS final tropospheric delay products. Compared to the standard PPP solution, the convergence time is shortened by 20.0, 32.0, and 25.0 % for the north, east, and vertical components, respectively, with the NWM-constrained PPP solution. The positioning accuracy also benefits from the NWM-constrained PPP solution, which was improved by 2.5, 12.1, and 18.7 % for the north, east, and vertical components, respectively.

In this work, the heterogeneous reactions of NO2 with CaCO3–(NH4)2SO4 mixtures with a series of weight percentage (wt %) of (NH4)2SO4 were investigated using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) at different relative humidity (RH) values. For comparison, the heterogeneous reactions of NO2 with pure CaCO3 particles and pure (NH4)2SO4 particles, as well as the reaction of CaCO3 with (NH4)2SO4 particles, were also studied. The results indicated that NO2 did not show any significant uptake on (NH4)2SO4 particles, and it reacted with CaCO3 particles to form calcium nitrate under both dry and wet conditions. The heterogeneous reactions of NO2 with CaCO3–(NH4)2SO4 mixtures were markedly dependent on RH. Calcium nitrate was formed from the heterogeneous reactions at all the RHs investigated, whereas CaSO4 ⋅ 0.5H2O (bassanite), CaSO4 ⋅ 2H2O (gypsum), and (NH4)2Ca(SO4)2 ⋅ H2O (koktaite) were produced depending on RH. Under the dry condition, the heterogeneous uptake of NO2 on the mixtures was similar to that on CaCO3 particles with neglectable effects from (NH4)2SO4; the duration of initial stages and the NO3− mass concentrations had a negative linear relation with the mass fraction of (NH4)2SO4 in the mixtures. Under wet conditions, the chemical interaction of (NH4)2SO4 with Ca(NO3)2 enhances the nitrate formation, especially at medium RHs, while the coagulation of (NH4)2SO4 with CaCO3 exhibits an increasing inhibiting effects with increasing RH at the same time. In addition, the heterogeneous uptake of NO2 on the mixtures of CaCO3 and (NH4)2SO4 was found to favor the formation of bassanite and gypsum due to the decomposition of CaCO3 and the coagulation of Ca2+ and SO42−. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed and the atmospheric implications were discussed.

Water-soluble organic compounds (WSOCs) are important components of organics in the atmospheric fine particulate matter. Although WSOCs play an important role in the hygroscopicity of aerosols, knowledge on the water uptake behavior of internally mixed WSOC aerosols remains limited. Here, the hygroscopic properties of single components such as levoglucosan, oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, phthalic acid, and multicomponent WSOC aerosols mainly involving oxalic acid are investigated with the hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA). The coexisting hygroscopic species including levoglucosan, malonic acid, and phthalic acid have a strong influence on the hygroscopic growth and phase behavior of oxalic acid, even suppressing its crystallization completely during the drying process. The phase behaviors of oxalic acid/levoglucosan mixed particles are confirmed by infrared spectra. The discrepancies between measured growth factors and predictions from Extended Aerosol Inorganics Model (E-AIM) with the Universal Quasi-Chemical Functional Group Activity Coefficient (UNIFAC) method and Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR) approach increase at medium and high relative humidity (RH) assuming oxalic acid in a crystalline solid state. For the internal mixture of oxalic acid with levoglucosan or succinic acid, there is enhanced water uptake at high RH compared to the model predictions based on reasonable oxalic acid phase assumption. Organic mixture has more complex effects on the hygroscopicity of ammonium sulfate than single species. Although hygroscopic species such as levoglucosan account for a small fraction in the multicomponent aerosols, they may still strongly influence the hygroscopic behavior of ammonium sulfate by changing the phase state of oxalic acid which plays the role of "intermediate" species. Considering the abundance of oxalic acid in the atmospheric aerosols, its mixtures with hygroscopic species may significantly promote water uptake under high RH conditions and thus affect the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity, optical properties, and chemical reactivity of atmospheric particles.

Taking the 2011 Tohoku earthquake as an example, we demonstrate the ability of real-time GPS to provide qualified tsunami early warning within minutes. While in earlier studies we demonstrated the power of the so-called GPS shield concept based on synthetic data, we here present a complete processing chain starting from actual GPS raw data and fully simulate the situation as it would be in a warning center. The procedure includes processing of GPS observations with predicted high precision orbits, inversion for slip and computation of the tsunami propagation and coastal warning levels. We show that in case of the Tohoku earthquake, it would be feasible to provide accurate tsunami warning as soon as 3 min after the beginning of the earthquake.

Over the past years it became evident that the quality factor of a superconducting cavity is not only determined by its surface preparation procedure, but is also influenced by the way the cavity is cooled down. Moreover, different data sets exist, some of which indicate that a slow cooldown through the critical temperature is favorable while other data states the exact opposite. Even though there were speculations and some models about the role of thermocurrents and flux-pinning, the difference in behavior remained a mystery. In this paper we will present a consistent theoretical model which we confirmed by data that describes the role of thermocurrents, driven by temperature gradients and material transitions. We will clearly show how they impact the quality factor of a cavity, discuss our findings, relate it to findings at other labs and develop mitigation strategies which especially address the issue of achieving high quality factors of so-called nitrogen doped cavities in horizontal tests.

Abstract The development of targeted therapies that correct the effect of mutations in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and the relevant heterogeneity of the clinical expression of the disease require biomarkers correlated to the severity of the disease useful for monitoring the therapeutic effects. We applied a targeted metabolomic approach by LC-MS/MS on saliva samples from 70 adult CF patients and 63 age/sex-matched controls to investigate alterations in metabolic pathways related to pancreatic insufficiency (PI), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) colonization, CF liver disease (CFLD), and CF related diabetes (CFRD). Sixty salivary metabolites were differentially expressed, with 11 being less abundant and 49 more abundant in CF patients. Among these, the most relevant alterations involved salivary ADMA, N-acetylornithine, methionine and methionine sulfoxide levels. Furthermore, methionine was significantly lower in CF patients with PI and salivary histamine levels were significantly lower in patients colonized by PA. Moreover, ADMA as well as N-acetylornithine and methionine were significantly lower in CF patients with CFRD than in patients without CFRD. Finally, the levels of DOPA resulted significantly lower in saliva from patients with liver disease. Our study revealed an imbalance in arginine methylation and tryptophan pathway related to CFRD and PI as well as alterations in dopaminergic pathway and Krebs cycle related to CFLD. This study also highlights different salivary metabolites as new potential biomarkers in a non-invasive sample that could represent a useful tool for the stratification and management of CF patients.

The CaSiO3 system exhibits notable structural complexity, featuring different polymorphs and polytypes across various pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions compatible with Earth's environments. Among these, the pseudowollastonite and breyite structures are characterized by the presence of threefold tetrahedral rings. In this study, we conducted multianvil syntheses in the pressure and temperature range 4–5 GPa and 600–800 °C to stabilize crystals of a new high-pressure polymorph reported by Chatterjee et al. (1984) and obtain structural information. The structure was solved by combining 3D electron diffraction (ED) and synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD). The new high-pressure polymorph, here referred to as parabreyite, features threefold tetrahedral rings, with a different configuration compared to breyite. Parabreyite is triclinic, P1‾, with unit cell parameters a= 8.1911(10) Å, b= 9.3441(9) Å, c= 10.4604(10) Å, α= 73.901(8)°, β= 89.814(9)° and γ= 77.513(9)°. The bulk modulus, K0= 90.7(5) GPa, was determined by an in situ SC-XRD experiment using a diamond anvil cell (DAC) in the pressure interval 0–10 GPa. Thermal expansion was also determined by low- and high-temperature SC-XRD measurements and resulted in a larger value compared to breyite. Additionally, we performed in situ synchrotron SC-XRD on synthetic pseudowollastonite in the pressure interval 0–14 GPa and did not observe any structural phase transition in this ring-type polymorph. We also report the differences between the Raman spectra of parabreyite and breyite to help with the in situ identification of these polymorphs. The threefold ring topology of parabreyite suggests a new configuration for high-density tetrahedra structures, with significant implications for the prediction of high-pressure sp3 carbonates.

This paper presents the findings from a collaborative interlaboratory comparison exercise designed to assess oxidative potential (OP) measurements conducted by 20 laboratories worldwide. This study represents an innovative effort as the first exercise specifically aimed at harmonising this type of OP assay, setting a new benchmark in the field. Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable increase in OP studies, with numerous research groups investigating the effects of exposure to air pollution particles through the evaluation of OP levels. However, the absence of standardised methods for OP measurements has resulted in variability in results across different groups, rendering meaningful comparisons challenging. To address this issue, this study engages in an international effort to compare OP measurements using a simplified method (with a dithiothreitol (DTT) assay). Here, we quantify the OP in liquid samples to focus on the protocol measurement itself, while future international OP interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) should aim to assess the whole chain process, including the sample extraction. We analyse the similarities and discrepancies observed in the results, identifying the critical parameters (such as the instrument used, the use of a simplified protocol, the delivery and analysis time) that could influence OP measurements and provide recommendations for future studies and interlaboratory comparisons even if other crucial aspects, such as sampling PM methods, sample storage, extraction methods and conditions, and the evaluation of other OP assays, still need to be standardised. This collaborative approach enhances the robustness of the OP DTT assay and paves the way for future studies to build on a unified framework. This pioneering work concludes that interlaboratory comparisons provide essential insights into the OP metric and are crucial to move toward the harmonisation of OP measurements.

Abstract A time-dependent, flavour-tagged measurement of CP violation is performed with B 0 → D + D − and B s 0 $$ {B}_s^0 $$ → D s + D s − $$ {D}_s^{+}{D}_s^{-} $$ decays, using data collected by the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb −1. In B 0 → D + D − decays the CP-violation parameters are measured to be S D + D − = − 0.552 ± 0.100 stat ± 0.010 syst , C D + D − = 0.128 ± 0.103 stat ± 0.010 syst . $$ {\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}{S}_{D^{+}{D}^{-}}=-0.552\pm 0.100\left(\textrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.010\left(\textrm{syst}\right),\\ {}{C}_{D^{+}{D}^{-}}=0.128\pm 0.103\left(\textrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.010\left(\textrm{syst}\right).\end{array}} $$ In B s 0 $$ {B}_s^0 $$ → D s + D s − $$ {D}_s^{+}{D}_s^{-} $$ decays the CP-violating parameter formulation in terms of ϕ s and |λ| results in ϕ s = − 0.086 ± 0.106 stat ± 0.028 syst rad , ∣ λ D s + D s − ∣ = 1.145 ± 0.126 stat ± 0.031 syst . $$ {\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}{\phi}_s=-0.086\pm 0.106\left(\textrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.028\left(\textrm{syst}\right)\textrm{rad},\\ {}\mid {\lambda}_{D_s^{+}{D}_s^{-}}\mid =1.145\pm 0.126\left(\textrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.031\left(\textrm{syst}\right).\end{array}} $$ These results represent the most precise single measurement of the CP-violation parameters in their respective channels. For the first time in a single measurement, CP symmetry is observed to be violated in B 0 → D + D − decays with a significance exceeding six standard deviations.

Abstract We present an optomechanical method for locally measuring the rheological properties of complex fluids in the ultra-high frequency range (UHF). A mechanical disk of microscale volume is used as an oscillating probe that monitors a liquid at rest, while the oscillation is optomechanically transduced. An analytical model for fluid-structure interactions is used to deduce the rheological properties of the liquid. This method is calibrated on liquid water, which despite pronounced compressibility effects remains Newtonian over the explored range. In contrast, liquid 1-decanol exhibits a non-Newtonian behavior, with a frequency-dependent viscosity showing two relaxation times of 797 and 151 picoseconds, associated to supramolecular and intramolecular processes. A shear elastic response appears at the highest frequencies, whose value allows determining the volume of a single liquid molecule. UHF optomechanical micro-rheology provides direct mechanical access to the fast molecular dynamics in a liquid, in a quantitative manner and within a sub-millisecond measurement time.

Abstract The differential branching fraction and angular coefficients of Λ b 0 $$ {\Lambda}_b^0 $$ → pK − μ + μ − decays are measured in bins of the dimuon mass squared and dihadron mass. The analysis is performed using a data set corresponding to 9 fb −1 of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018. The data are consistent with receiving contributions from a mixture of Λ resonances with different spin-parity quantum numbers. The angular coefficients show a pattern of vector-axial vector interference that is a characteristic of the type of flavour-changing neutral-current transition relevant for these decays.

Permafrost landscapes in the Arctic are highly vulnerable to warming, with rapid changes underway. High-resolution remote sensing, especially aerial datasets, offers valuable insights into current permafrost characteristics and thaw dynamics. Here, we present a new dataset of very high resolution orthomosaics, point clouds, and digital surface models that we acquired over permafrost landscapes in northwestern Canada and northern and northwestern Alaska for the purpose of better understanding the impacts of climate change on permafrost landscapes. The imagery was collected with the Modular Aerial Camera System (MACS) during aerial campaigns conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute in the summers of 2018, 2019, and 2021. The MACS was specifically developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for operation under challenging light conditions in polar environments. It features cameras in the optical and the near-infrared wavelengths with up to a 16 MP resolution. We processed the images to four-band (blue–green–red–near-infrared) orthomosaics and digital surface models with spatial resolutions of 7 to 20 cm as well as 3D point clouds with point densities of up to 41 points m−2. The dataset collection features 102 subprojects from 35 target regions (1.4–161.1 km2 in size). Project sizes range from 4.8 to 336 GB. In total, 3.17 TB were published. The horizontal precision of the datasets is in the range of 1–2 px and vertical precision is better than 0.10 m. The datasets are not radiometrically calibrated. Overall, these very high resolution images and point clouds provide significant opportunities for mapping permafrost landforms and generating detailed training datasets for machine learning, can serve as a baseline for change detection for thermokarst and thermo-erosion processes, and help with upscaling of field measurements to lower-resolution satellite observations. The dataset is available on the PANGAEA repository at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.961577 (Rettelbach et al., 2024).

The diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is one of the largest species migrations to occur globally and is a key driver of regional ecosystems and the marine carbon pump. Previously thought to be hampered by the extreme light regime prevailing in the Arctic Ocean, observations have revealed that DVM does occur in ice-covered Arctic waters and suggest the decline in Arctic sea ice may thereby impact DVM and its role in the Arctic ecosystem. However, coastal polynyas present a unique environment where open water or thin, nearly translucent, ice prevail when offshore winds advect the ice pack away from the coast, allowing light into the surface waters and potentially disrupting DVM. Here, four yearlong time series of acoustic backscatter collected by moored acoustic Doppler current profilers at two opposite sides of the circumpolar polynya system at the Laptev Sea shelf (2007–2008) and the Beaufort Sea shelf (2005–2006) were used to examine the annual cycle of acoustic scattering and therefore the annual cycle of DVM in these areas. The acoustic time series were used along with atmospheric and oceanic reanalysis and satellite data to interpret the results. Our observations show that DVM started to occur once the ice-free surface or under-ice layer irradiance exceeds a certain threshold (from ∼0.3 to 3.3 lx), which is about 2 to 10 times lower in the Beaufort Sea compared to the Laptev Sea. In the Laptev Sea, based on our data and methodology, DVM could not be detected during polar night. In contrast, civil twilight in the Beaufort Sea is sufficient to trigger DVM through polar night. This difference in DVM between the Laptev and Beaufort seas is not entirely assigned to the 3° difference in latitude between the mooring positions as it is also due to the different light threshold required to trigger DVM, different zooplankton communities' composition, and potentially different depths and predation pressures. We find examples in both the Laptev and Beaufort seas where the formation of polynyas and large leads caused DVM to abruptly cease or be disrupted, which we attribute to predator avoidance by the zooplankton in response to higher polar cod (Boreogadus saida) abundance near the open water. Finally, light attenuation by sea ice in the Beaufort Sea caused DVM to extend onto the polar day until the summer solstice. Overall, our results highlight the role of sea ice in disrupting synchronized DVM, the spatial variability in the relationship between sea ice and DVM, and the potential ecological impact of significant trends toward a more extensive circumpolar Arctic coastal polynya as part of changing ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean.