Acute Toxicity of Cigarette from Vietnam on in vivo Model Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Larvae

Smoking is widely known to has a major contributor to public health issues both in worldwide and Vietnam. At the same time, Vietnam have a large number of smokers and the market is filled with diverse brand of tobacco products. In this study, we sampled 6 types of cigarette: ThangLong, Vina, Craven, Demi, Maxx and Bastos from local stores and conducted toxicological test on zebrafish larvae. Our results show that there are varied in toxicological properties of total particle matter collected from different cigarette brands in lethal and morphology effects on zebrafish embryos. LC50 of 6 brands after 96 hours of exposure were: ThangLong = 48.7 mg/L, Vina = 45.96 mg/L, Craven = 80.52 mg/L, Demi = 30.91 mg/L, Maxx = 83.54 mg/L and Bastos = 74.92 mg/L. They are lower than 100 mg/L, which put them under Category 2 and 3 in the GHS classification criteria for acute toxicity.

Molecular dynamics in COPD following diets and environmental stressor: Obesity leverage of health care utilize Omics

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represented as inflammatory complication of chronic bronchitis which is characterized by oxidative stress driven phenotypic changes likely enlarged alveoli and increased mucus along with tightened smooth muscle which exaggerate pathological consequences such as breathing problems. The association between COPD and obesity as a metabolic disorder following a variety of environmental stressors include lifestyle change (e.g., diet and e-smoking or marijuana) and air pollution are less likely to be evaluated. People who are suffering with COPD developed extensive suffocation and difficulty breathing, which ultimately leads to fatal conditions in severe cases, for example lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke. Previous studies showed metabolic disorder like obesity appeared as a risk determinant to COPD like breathing problem or deep vein thrombosis and its genetic modification resulted from abnormality of molecular dynamics turned out key trigger in case of immune alteration and inflammation following exposure of several environmental factors which could be linked with comorbidity in secondary chronic diseases pairing with other metabolic disorders (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, cancer or fatty liver disease). Lifestyle changes along with physical activities and management of the diet is worth to reduce COPD symptomatic firing. However, environmental factors like air pollution or particle matter owing to industrialization and urbanization include a variety of dust within indoor life, certain type of e-smoke also triggers the establishment of emphysema and enhances the progression of COPD aligned with molecular alteration in the lung tissue or interaction between different organs. Prediction and prevention skills as key tools of health management and evaluation in case of COPD remains unclear. Integrative care includes clinic assessment (e.g., the body mass index, diets, and metabolic profile using survey following physician guidance) could be coupled cellular and topological interaction between obesity and COPD supplemented with advanced functional and genetic variation utilize human genomics study like single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). To understand the impact of environmental risk better (e.g., air pollution or particle matter) on pathogenesis of disease or onset of the disease underlying the pulmonary system stratified lifestyle, age, metabolic disorders, diets, and medications, we envision exploring risks such as disease barrier and social determinants along with detection tools which may assess molecular dynamics and their alteration following stress might be associated with COPD in the pathogenesis. Environmental stressors (e.g., air pollution, particle matter, food addictive chemicals, and stress) as epigenetic modifiers could attribute to early phase of COPD onset and pathogenesis which reflect the molecular dynamics and redirection of networking pathways depending on gut immunity. Profiling of secondary metabolites is worth to explicate intervention of metabolism cascade owing to alter molecular sensitivity and connectivity. Utilized multi-dimensional omics such as metabolomics, genomics with exome sequencing, and epigenomics, prevention and prediction skills could visualize a new angle of disease diagnostic under the platform of integrative health care and surveillance supporting to patient’s quality of life.

Valorization of Hemp Stalk Waste Through Thermochemical Conversion for Energy and Electrical Applications

The presented research aimed at finding new ways to value hemp by-products (stalks) from the cannabidiol industry through thermochemical conversion. Chemical and elemental composition of hemp biomass was investigated by successive chemical extractions and Scanning Electron Microscopy along with Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Proximate and elemental analyses completed the chemical characterization of the hemp biomass and its biochar. Thermogravimetric analysis of the hemp biomass allowed to understand its kinetic of decomposition during thermal conversion. The carbon structure and porosity of the biochar were assessed by Raman spectroscopy and CO2 gas adsorption. Properties of interest were the energy production measured through calorific values, and the electrical conductivity. Two ways of valorisation of the hemp biomass were clearly identified, depending mainly on the chosen pyrolysis temperature. Hemp biochar carbonized at 400–600°C were classified as lignocellulosic materials with a good potential for solid biofuel applications. Specifically, the resulting carbonized biochar presented low moisture content (below 2.50%) favourable for high fuel quality, low volatile matter (27.1–10.4%) likely to show lower particle matter emissions, limited ash content (6.8–9.8%) resulting in low risk of fouling issues during the combustion, high carbon content (73.8–86.8%) suggesting strong energy density, associated with high higher heating values (28.45–30.95 MJ kg−1). Hemp biochar carbonized at 800–1000 °C displayed interesting electrical conductivity, opening opportunities for its use in electrical purposes. The electrical conductivity was related to the evolution of the biochar microstructure (development of graphite-like structure and changes in microporosity) in regard with the thermochemical conversion process parameters. Graphical abstract

Estimation of the vertical distribution of particle matter (PM_2.5) concentration and its transport flux from lidar measurements based on machine learning algorithms

The vertical distribution of aerosol extinction coefficient (EC) measured by lidar systems has been used to retrieve the profile of particle matter with a diameter <2.5 µm (PM2.5). However, the traditional linear model (LM) cannot consider the influence of multiple meteorological variables sufficiently and then induce the low inversion accuracy. Generally, the machine learning (ML) algorithms can input multiple features which may provide us with a new way to solve this constraint. In this study, the surface aerosol EC and meteorological data from January 2014 to December 2017 were used to explore the conversion of aerosol EC to PM2.5 concentrations. Four ML algorithms were used to train the PM2.5 prediction models: random forest (RF), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM) and extreme gradient boosting decision tree (XGB). The mean absolute error (root mean square error) of LM, RF, KNN, SVM and XGB models were 11.66 (15.68), 5.35 (7.96), 7.95 (11.54), 6.96 (11.18) and 5.62 (8.27) µg/m3, respectively. This result shows that the RF model is the most suitable model for PM2.5 inversions from EC and meteorological data. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis of model input parameters was also conducted. All these results further indicated that it is necessary to consider the effect of meteorological variables when using EC to retrieve PM2.5 concentrations. Finally, the diurnal and seasonal variations of transport flux (TF) and PM2.5 profiles were analyzed based on the lidar data. The large PM2.5 concentration occurred at approximately 13:00–17:00 local time (LT) in 0.2–0.8 km. The diurnal variations of the TF show a clear conveyor belt at approximately 12:00–18:00 LT in 0.5–0.8 km. The results indicated that air pollutant transport over Wuhan mainly occurs at approximately 12:00–18:00 LT in 0.5–0.8 km. The TF near the ground usually has the highest value in winter (0.26 mg/m2 s), followed by the autumn and summer (0.2 and 0.19 mg/m2 s, respectively), and the lowest value in spring (0.14 mg/m2 s). These findings give us important information on the atmospheric profile and provide us sufficient confidence to apply lidar in the study of air quality monitoring.

Associations between PM10 from Traffic, Resuspension, Sand Storms and Volcanic Sources and Asthma Drugs Dispensing

BackgroundParticle matter (PM) is detrimental to respiratory health, particularly in individuals with underlying respiratory disease, e.g. asthma. In the capital area of Iceland PM is both from anthropogenic sources, mainly traffic and local resuspension, as well as natural sources, such as dust-and volcanic ash storms. The aim was to study the association between all kinds of PM events from and daily dispensing of asthma drug as a proxy for respiratory health.Material and methodsThe study period was 2005-2015. Dispensing of asthma drugs for all individuals living in the capital area of Iceland were obtained from health registries. Concentrations of daily air pollution, pollen, and meteorological variables were obtained. Dust sources were determined for days when PM exceeded the health limit (24-hour mean 50 µg/m3) which are defined as “PM events”. The data were analysed using generalised non-linear models (GNM) methods and adjusted for both season and time trend. Results There were 137 PM event days where PM exceeded the health limit, and the source of the particles could be determined. The source of PM events was most often traffic (5%) or local resuspension 92(%), but PM events were also due to dust storms (1%) and volcanic ash (0.2%). During the 11 year study period there were on average 85 (standard deviation 45) daily dispensings of short-acting asthma drugs and 31 (19 standard deviations) dispensing of long-acting drugs. In the regression analysis, PM events from traffic and resuspension sources were associated with increases in the number of individuals who filled prescriptions for both long- and short-acting asthma drug in the following 7 days. Volcanic ash PM events were associated with dispensing of long-acting drugs, and short-acting drug use in summer and in individuals aged less than 18 years. DiscussionPM from traffic and local resuspension are the largest contributors to respiratory morbidity in Iceland’s capital area, although volcanic particles were also a significant contributor. PM from dust storms which did not originate from recent volcanic sources, was not associated with this indicator of poor respiratory health.

Air Pollution and Mobility, What Carries COVID-19?

This paper tests if air pollution serves as a carrier for SARS-CoV-2 by measuring the effect of daily exposure to air pollution on its spread by panel data models that incorporates a possible commonality between municipalities. We show that the contemporary exposure to particle matter is not the main driver behind the increasing number of cases and deaths in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Remarkably, we also find that the cross-dependence between municipalities in the Mexican region is highly correlated to public mobility, which plays the leading role behind the rhythm of contagion. Our findings are particularly revealing given that the Mexico City Metropolitan Area did not experience a decrease in air pollution during COVID-19 induced lockdowns.

Analysis of the aftertreatment performance in HD-SI engine fueled with LPG

This research/article aimed to analyze the influence of an after-treatment system (ATS) on emissions of a heavy-duty spark-ignition (HD-SI) engine fueled with liquified petroleum gas (LPG), in the context of current Euro VI emissions requirements. The ATS is composed by a three-way catalyst (TWC) in series with a diesel particle filter (DPF). Emissions testing were carried out on an engine test bench according to homologation procedures, performing both world harmonized stationary cycle (WHSC) and world harmonized transient cycle (WHTC), to study the effects of the engine operating parameters on pollutant emissions behavior and ATS performance during steady and dynamic states, respectively. Instruments used were a gas analyzer Horiba MEXA ONE to measure gaseous emissions, HORIBA OBS ONE PN to measure particle matter (PM) concentration, and spectrometer TSI EEPS 3090 to measure PM concentration and particle size distribution (PSD). The results showed some important aspects such as the effects of engine speed and load on pollutant emissions formation and ATS performance, the influence of the three-way catalyst (TWC) on particulate matter (PM) reduction due to the relationship between volatile unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) and the emergence of nucleation-mode particles, stressing that ATS implementation is mandatory to meet the current emissions requirements.