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Age-related thymic involution is one of the significant reasons for induced immunity decline. Recent evidence has indicated that lncRNAs are widely involved in regulating organ development. However, the lncRNA expression profiles in mouse thymic involution have not been reported. In this study, we collect mouse thymus at the ages of 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months for sequencing to observe the lncRNA and gene expression profiles in the early stages of thymic involution. Through bioinformatics analysis, a triple regulatory network of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA that contains 29 lncRNAs, 145 miRNAs and 12 mRNAs that may be related to thymic involution is identified. Among them, IGFBP5 can reduce the viability, inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of mouse medullary thymic epithelial cell line 1 (MTEC1) cells through the p53 signaling pathway. In addition, miR-193b-3p can alleviate MTEC1 cell apoptosis by targeting IGFBP5. Notably, lnc-5423.6 can act as a molecular sponge of miR-193b-3p to regulate the expression of IGFBP5. In summary, lnc-5423.6 enhances the expression of IGFBP5 by adsorption of miR-193b-3p, thereby promoting MTEC1 cell apoptosis.

Mercury emissions from human activities persist in the environment, posing risks to humans and ecosystem, and are regulated by the Minamata Convention. Understanding the historical emissions of mercury is critical for explaining the presence of mercury in the environment. In recent years, some studies have looked at the historical trends of atmospheric emission inventory. The spatial resolution of inventories for relatively recent years have improved. However, limited inventories have combined both long time scales and high spatial resolution, which is essential for evaluating the legacy impacts of anthropogenic mercury emissions, particularly in regions with high levels of mercury emissions. Here we compile a new comprehensive point source database by fusing multiple data source, and integrate it with previous China Atmospheric Mercury Emission Model to create an annual point source and gridded emission inventory for China covering 1978–2021. Integrating point source emission inventory (P-CAME) improves the accuracy of the gridded emissions, reducing the normalized mean error for all grids by 108 % compared to not using point sources in the most recent year of 2021. The improved gridded emissions inventory notably enhances the simulation of atmospheric mercury concentrations, particularly in urban areas. P-CAME inventory resulted in a 20–23 % reduction in the normalized mean bias. The improved gridded emission data identifies potential polluted grids characterized by high cumulative emissions. It indicates that 20 % of cumulative emissions originate from just 0.3 % of the grids, primarily distributed in Gansu, Yunnan, and Hunan Provinces. These areas are predominantly dominated by non-ferrous metal smelters or a mix of emissions sources including coal-fired industries and cement production. With the improvements in simulation accuracy and the identification of highly polluted regions, this updated inventory would greatly facilitate the assessment of mercury exposure, legacy impacts, and effective management of cross-media mercury pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reductions in aerosols often exacerbate climate warming. It remains unclear how to effectively alleviate PM2.5 pollution while minimizing the penalty on climate warming. Here we identify the clean air measures in China that are associated with low aerosol climate penalty efficiency (ACPE), which is defined as aerosol radiative forcing per unit PM2.5 concentration reduction. The measures in transportation, residential combustion, and open burning sectors generally caused lower ACPE [0.07, 0.24, and 0.10 (W m−2)/(μg m−3)] than those from other sectors [0.34–0.46 (W m−2)/(μg m−3)]. This is ascribed to relatively small decreases in cloud concentration nuclei per unit PM2.5 reduction in these sectors, which is further attributed to either relatively low aerosol hygroscopicity or relatively small decrease in aerosol number. Most measures in the former three sectors have low ACPE of <0.15 [(W m−2)/(μg m−3)] and thus may be prioritized for synergistically controlling PM2.5 pollution and climate warming. Plain Language Summary: Aerosols not only cause serious air pollution but also alter the Earth's climate. Previous studies reported that PM2.5 improvement since 2013 has led to considerable positive aerosol radiative forcing over China, exacerbating climate warming. However, it remains unclear how to effectively alleviate PM2.5 pollution while minimizing the penalty on climate warming. Here we identify clean air measures in China that are associated with low aerosol climate penalty efficiency (ACPE), which is defined as aerosol radiative forcing per unit PM2.5 concentration reduction. The measures taken in transportation, residential combustion, and open burning sectors generally caused lower ACPE [0.07, 0.24, and 0.10 (W m−2)/(μg m−3)] than those from other sectors [0.34–0.46 (W m−2)/(μg m−3)]. This is ascribed to relatively small decreases in cloud concentration nuclei per unit PM2.5 reduction in these sectors, which is further attributed to either relatively low aerosol hygroscopicity or relatively small decreases in aerosol number. Furthermore, we found that most clean air measures in the former three sectors have low ACPE [<0.15 (W m−2)/(μg m−3)] and possess high emission reduction potential. These measures may be prioritized for promotion to reduce PM2.5 concentrations and minimize climate penalties. Key Points: The emission reductions in transportation, residential and open burning caused relatively small radiative forcing per unit PM2.5 reductionThe smaller radiative forcing is primarily ascribed to weaker decreases in cloud condensation nuclei per unit PM2.5 reductionThe measures with the smallest radiative forcing per unit PM2.5 reduction are identified and may be implemented in priority [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the full-volatility organic emissions from cooking sources is important for understanding the causes of organic aerosol pollution. However, existing national cooking emission inventories in China fail to cover full-volatility organics and have large biases in estimating emissions and their spatial distribution. Here, we develop the first emission inventory of full-volatility organics from cooking in China, which covers emissions from individual commercial restaurants as well as residential kitchens and canteens. In our emission estimates, we use cuisine-specific full-volatility emission factors and provincial policy-driven purification facility installation proportions, which allows us to consider the significant impact of diverse dietary preferences and policy changes on China's cooking emissions. The 2021 emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and organic compounds with even lower volatility (xLVOCs) from cooking in China are 561 (317–891, 95 % confidence interval) kt yr -1 , 241 (135–374) kt yr -1 , 176 (95.8–290) kt yr -1 , and 13.1 (7.36–21.0) kt yr -1 , respectively. The IVOC and SVOC emissions from cooking account for 9 %–21 % and 31 %–62 % of the total emissions from all sources in the five most densely populated cities in China. Among all cooking types, commercial cooking dominates the emissions, contributing 54.5 %, 66.2 %, 68.5 %, and 46.7 % to the VOC, IVOC, SVOC, and xLVOC emissions, respectively. Sichuan–Hunan cuisine contributes the most to total cooking emissions among all commercial cuisines. Residential cooking emissions are also important, accounting for 22.2 %–47.1 % of the cooking organic emissions across the four volatility ranges, whereas canteens make minor contributions to each volatility range (<10%). In terms of spatial distribution, emission hotspots mainly occur in densely populated areas and regions with oily and spicy dietary preferences. From 2015 to 2021, national organic emissions from cooking increased by 25.2 % because of the rapid growth of the catering industry, despite being partly offset by the increased installation of purification facilities. Future control measures need to further promote the purification facilities in commercial restaurants and improve their removal efficiency as well as reduce emissions from residential cooking. Our dataset and generalizable methodology serve as valuable resources for evaluating the air quality, climate, and health impacts of cooking sources, and help to formulate effective emission control policies. Our national, multi-year, high-spatial-resolution dataset can be accessed from 10.6084/m9.figshare.23537673 (Li et al., 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]