Transport of airborne particulate matters originating from Mentougou, Beijing, China

In this study, a coupled regional air quality modeling system is applied to investigate the time spatial variations in airborne particulate matters （PM10）, originating from Mentougou to Beijing municipal area in the period of April 1-7, 2004, and the influences of complex terrain and meteorological conditions upon boundary layer structure and PM10 concentration distributions. An intercomparison of the performance with CALPUFF against the observed data is presented and an examination of scatter plots is provided. The statistics show that the correlation coefficient and STD between the modeled and observed data are 0.86 and 0.03, respectively. Analysis of model results illustrates that the pollutants emitted from Mentougou can be transported to Beijing municipal area along certain transport pathways, and PM10 concentration distributions show heterogeneity characteristics. Contributions of the Mentougou sources to the PM10 concentrations in Beijing municipal area are up to 0.1-15 μg/m^3.

Gelatin filter capture-based high-throughput sequencing analysis of microbial diversity in haze particulate matter

Airborne particulate matter(PM),especially PM2.5,can be easily adsorbed by human respiratory system.Their roles in carrying pathogens for spreading epidemic diseases has attracted great concern.Herein,we developed a novel gelatin filter-based and culture-independent method for investigation of the microbial diversity in PM samples during a haze episode in Tianjin,China.This method involves particle capture by gelatin filters,filter dissolution for DNA extraction,and high-throughput sequencing for analysis of the microbial diversity.A total of 584 operational taxonomic units(OTUs)of bacteria and 370 OTUs of fungi at the genus level were identified during hazy days.The results showed that both bacterial and fungal diversities could be evaluated by this method.This study provides a convenient strategy for investigation of microbial biodiversity in haze,facilitating accurate evaluation of airborne epidemic diseases.

Airborne fine particulate matter induces cognitive and emotional disorders in offspring mice exposed during pregnancy

Gestational exposure to PM_(2.5) is associated with adverse postnatal outcomes.PM_(2.5) can enter alveoli by using intratracheal instillation,even penetrate through lung cells into the blood circulation.Subsequently,they are transferred across the placenta and fetal blood brain barrier,causing the adverse birth outcomes of offspring.This study demonstrated that the gestational exposure resulted in cognitive and emotional disorders in female offspring although the offspring were not exposed to PM_(2.5).Placental metabolic pathways modulated fetal brain development and played a pivotal role for maternal-placentalfetal interactions in the fetal programming of adult behavioral and mental disorders.Samples of fetus,offspring hippocampus and placenta from the mice exposed to PM_(2.5) were investigated using a comprehensive approach including mass spectrometry-based lipidomics and three-dimensional imaging.The exposure induced the neuro-degeneration in hippocampus,impairment of placental cytoarchitecture,and reprogramming of lipidome,which might affect the modulation of maternal-fetal cross-talk and result in the behavior disorders of offspring.The variation of spatial distribution of lipids was profoundly affected in dorsal pallium and hippocampal formation regions of fetal brain,offspring hippocampus,as well as labyrinth and junctional zones of placenta.The abundance alteration of lipid markers associated with neurodegenerative diseases was validated in transgenic mouse model with Alzheimer’s disease and human cerebrospinal fluid from patients with Parkinson’s disease.The finding could help with the selection of more suitable heterogeneous-related substructures targeting PM_(2.5) exposure and the exploration of PM_(2.5)-induced toxicological effects on neurodegenerative diseases.