Widespread haze layers usually cover China like low clouds, exerting marked influence on air quality and regional climate. With recent Collection 6 MODIS Deep Blue aerosol data in 2000–2015, we analyzed the trends of regional haze pollution and the corresponding influence of atmospheric circulation in China.

Original Source

Among the several new antimalarials discovered over the past decade are at least three clinical candidate drugs, each with a distinct chemical structure, that disrupt Na+ homeostasis resulting in a rapid increase in intracellular Na+ concentration ([Na+]i) within the erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum. At present, events triggered by Na+ influx that result in parasite demise are not well-understood. Here we report effects of two such drugs, a pyrazoleamide and a spiroindolone, on intraerythrocytic P. falciparum.

About half of present-day cloud condensation nuclei originate from atmospheric nucleation, frequently appearing as a burst of new particles near midday. Atmospheric observations show that the growth rate of new particles often accelerates when the diameter of the particles is between one and ten nanometres. In this critical size range, new particles are most likely to be lost by coagulation with pre-existing particles, thereby failing to form new cloud condensation nuclei that are typically 50 to 100 nanometres across.

Atmospheric aerosols and their effect on clouds are thought to be important for anthropogenic radiative forcing of the climate, yet remain poorly understood. Globally, around half of cloud condensation nuclei originate from nucleation of atmospheric vapours. It is thought that sulfuric acid is essential to initiate most particle formation in the atmosphere, and that ions have a relatively minor role. Some laboratory studies, however, have reported organic particle formation without the intentional addition of sulfuric acid, although contamination could not be excluded.

New guidelines for the surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes bolster hopes of finding a cure, writes Francesco Rubino, but long-standing preconceptions must be put aside.

What are we to do about antibiotic resistance? Last week, another government report repeated stark warnings about the crisis, and offered some suggestions to improve the situation. The UK report, prepared by a panel chaired by the economist Jim O'Neill, naturally focused on financial incentives, including US$1-billion prizes for pharmaceutical firms that develop new antimicrobial drugs.

Original Source

Biomass cooking fuels are commonly used by Indian households especially the poorest. Cataract is highly prevalent in India and the major cause of vision loss. The evidence on biomass fuels and cataract is limited. The objective is to examine the association of biomass cooking fuels with cataract and type of cataract.

Original Source

In arid and semi-arid regions, grassland degradation has become a major environmental and economic problem, but little information is available on the response of grassland productivity to both climate change and grazing intensity. By developing a grazing module in a process-based ecosystem model, the dynamic land ecosystem model (DLEM), we explore the roles of climate change, elevated CO2, and varying grazing intensities in affecting aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) across different grassland sites in Mongolia.

Drought has been a major cause of agricultural disaster, yet how it affects the vulnerability of maize and wheat production in combination with several co-varying factors (i.e., phenological phases, agro-climatic regions, soil texture) remains unclear. Using a data synthesis approach, this study aims to better characterize the effects of those co-varying factors with drought and to provide critical information on minimizing yield loss.

Agroforestry is a traditional and ancient land use practice, having deliberate integration of trees with crop and livestock components. In India, agroforestry practices are prevalent in different agro-ecological zones and occupy sizeable areas. These practices have great potential for climate change mitigation through sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Carbon sequestration potential was studied in four districts of Gujarat (Anand, Dahod, Patan and Junagarh), for which field survey was conducted to collect primary data on existing agroforestry systems.