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{"references": ["Liu, Z., Ciais, P., Deng, Z., Lei, R., Davis, S. J., Feng, S., Zheng, B., Cui, D., Dou, X., Zhu, B., Guo, R., Ke, P., Sun, T., Lu, C., He, P., Wang, Y., Yue, X., Wang, Y., Lei, Y., Zhou, H., Cai, Z., Wu, Y., Guo, R., Han, T., Xue, J., Boucher, O., Boucher, E., Chevallier, F., Tanaka, K., Wei, Y., Zhong, H., Kang, C., Zhang, N., Chen, B., Xi, F., Liu, M., Br\u00e9on, F.-M., Lu, Y., Zhang, Q., Guan, D., Gong, P., Kammen, D. M., He, K. & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2020). Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Communications 11, 5172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7", "Meinshausen, M., Smith, S. J., Calvin, K., Daniel, J. S., Kainuma, M. L. T., Lamarque, J. F., Matsumoto, K., Montzka, S. A., Raper, S. C. B., Riahi, K., Thomson, A., Velders, G. J. M., & van Vuuren, D. P. (2011). The RCP greenhouse gas concentrations and their extensions from 1765 to 2300. Climatic Change, 109(1\u20132), 213\u2013241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0156-z", "Moss, R. H., Edmonds, J. A., Hibbard, K. A., Manning, M. R., Rose, S. K., van Vuuren, D. P., Carter, T. R., Emori, S., Kainuma, M., Kram, T., Meehl, G. A., Mitchell, J. F. B., Nakicenovic, N., Riahi, K., Smith, S. J., Stouffer, R. J., Thomson, A. M., Weyant, J. P. & Wilbanks, T. J. (2010). The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and assessment. Nature, 463(7282), 747\u2013756. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08823", "Myhre, G., Highwood, E. J., Shine, K. P., & Stordal, F. (1998). New estimates of radiative forcing due to well mixed greenhouse gases. Geophysical Research Letters, 25(14), 2715\u20132718. https://doi.org/10.1029/98gl01908", "Strassmann, K. M. and Joos, F. (2018). The Bern Simple Climate Model (BernSCM) v1.0: an extensible and fully documented open-source re-implementation of the Bern reduced-form model for global carbon cycle\u2013climate simulations, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 1887\u20131908, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1887-2018", "Thomas, M. A., and Lin, T. (2018). A dual model for emulation of thermosteric and dynamic sea-level change. Climatic Change, 148(1\u20132), 311\u2013324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2198-y"]} Supplementary materials for Gonzalez, A. R., & Lin, T. (2022). Translated Emission Pathways (TEPs): Long-Term Simulations of COVID-19 CO2 Emissions and Thermosteric Sea Level Rise Projections. Earth's Future. In Press. Summary: This study introduces climate science to a broader audience by presenting an accessible research framework and environmental data related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A series of translated emission pathways (TEPs) were constructed based on the CO2 emission patterns from the various phases of COVID-19 response. In addition to resembling the forcing scenarios used within climate research, a thermosteric sea level rise analysis was incorporated to further emphasize the environmental benefits that can be obtained from long-term sustainability. As a promising start for including the general public in climate change discussion, this research promotes collective environmental action that mirrors the recommendations of the scientific community. We acknowledge the Carbon Monitor initiative (Liu et al., 2020) for providing the COVID-19 CO2 sectoral emission data used to construct the proposed TEPs. In addition, we acknowledge the developers of the BernSCM (Strassmann and Joos, 2018) that was utilized in this study to relate TEP CO2 emissions to their respective CO2 atmospheric concentrations. Furthermore, we thank the Texas Tech University McNair Scholars Program and the Multi-Hazard Sustainability (HazSus) research group for guidance and support throughout the course of this study. Analyses presented herein were performed using the RedRaider computing cluster at Texas Tech University. We thank the team at the High Performance Computing Center (HPCC) for their generous support. In addition, the equipment support from the Vice President for Research & Innovation for T.L.'s HazSus Research Group is gratefully acknowledged.

Trace elements can have profound adverse effects on the health of people burning coal in homes or living near coal deposits, coal mines, and coal-burning power plants. Trace elements such as arsenic emitted from coal-burning power plants in Europe and Asia have been shown to cause severe health problems. Perhaps the most widespread health problems are caused by domestic coal combustion in developing countries where millions of people suffer from fluorosis and thousands from arsenism. Better knowledge of coal quality characteristics may help to reduce some of these health problems. For example, information on concentrations and distributions of potentially toxic elements in coal may help delineate areas of a coal deposit to be avoided. Information on the modes of occurrence of these elements and the textural relations of the minerals in coal may help to predict the behavior of the potentially toxic trace metals during coal cleaning, combustion, weathering, and leaching.

AbstractBackgroundBinge alcohol exposure during adolescence results in long‐lasting alterations in the brain and behavior. For example, adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure in rodents results in long‐term loss of functional connectivity among prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatal regions as well as a variety of neurochemical, molecular, and epigenetic alterations. Interneurons in the PFC and striatum play critical roles in behavioral flexibility and functional connectivity. For example, parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are known to contribute to neural synchrony and cholinergic interneurons contribute to strategy selection. Furthermore, extracellular perineuronal nets (PNNs) that surround some interneurons, particularly PV+ interneurons, further regulate cellular plasticity. The effect of AIE exposure on the expression of these markers within the PFC is not well understood.MethodsThe present study tested the hypothesis that AIE exposure reduces the expression of PV+ and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)+ interneurons in the adult PFC and striatum and increases the related expression of PNNs (marked by binding of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin lectin) in adulthood. Male rats were exposed to AIE (5 g/kg/day, 2‐days‐on/2‐days‐off, i.e., P25 to P54) or water (CON), and brain tissue was harvested in adulthood (>P80). Immunohistochemistry and co‐immunofluorescence were used to assess the expression of ChAT, PV, and PNNs within the adult PFC and striatum following AIE exposure.ResultsChAT and PV interneuron densities in the striatum and PFC were unchanged after AIE exposure. However, PNN density in the PFC of AIE‐exposed rats was greater than in CON rats. Moreover, significantly more PV neurons were surrounded by PNNs in AIE‐exposed subjects than controls in both PFC subregions assessed: orbitofrontal cortex (CON = 34%; AIE = 40%) and medial PFC (CON = 10%; AIE = 14%).ConclusionsThese findings indicate that, following AIE exposure, PV interneuron expression in the adult PFC and striatum is unaltered, while PNNs surrounding these neurons are increased. This increase in PNNs may restrict the plasticity of the ensheathed neurons, thereby contributing to impaired microcircuitry in frontostriatal connectivity and related behavioral impairments.

Abstract:While the need to update EPA benefit-cost analysis to reflect the most recent science is broadly acknowledged, little work has been done examining how well ex ante BCAs estimate the actual benefits and costs of regulations. This paper adds to the existing literature on ex post cost analyses by examining EPA’s analysis of the 1998 Locomotive Emission Standards. Due to data limitations and minimal ability to construct a reasonable counterfactual for each component of the cost analysis, the assessment relies mainly on industry expert opinion, augmented with ex post information from publicly available data sources when possible. The paper finds that the total cost of bringing line-haul locomotives into compliance with the 1998 Locomotive Emission Standards rule remains uncertain. Even though the initial per-unit locomotive compliance costs were higher than predicted by EPA, total costs also depend on the number of locomotives affected by the regulation. Over 2000–2009, the number of newly built line-haul locomotives was higher but the number of remanufactured line-haul locomotives was lower than EPA’s estimate.

Achieving economic development is one of the most important economic goals of every country. Identifying the determinants of economic growth, is a useful tool for adopting appropriate economic policies. This study, therefore, empirically examines the impact of trade openness, foreign direct investment, and financial development on economic growth, across 62 countries over the period 1995–2016. These countries are divided into two groups: low-income and high-income countries. We employ the pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) estimation techniques on the cross-country panel data. The findings show a positive long run association between trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development, labor, government expenditure, and economic growth in low-income countries, with a positive and negative short run effect from capital and government expenditures, respectively. For high-income countries, a positive long run association between trade openness, FDI, capital, and economic growth exist. The short run estimates indicate a positive effect on trade openness and capital as well as a negative effect on government expenditure. Our study shows that the adoption of policies that improves access to skilled labor and international trade, affect the attainment of a sustainable economic development.

Both acute and chronic alcohol consumption have significant immunomodulatory effects of which alterations in innate immune functions contribute to impaired antimicrobial defense and inflammatory responses. Blood monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells play a central role in innate immune recognition as these cells recognize pathogens, respond with inflammatory cytokine production, and induce antigen-specific T-lymphocyte activation. All of these innate immune cell functions are affected in humans by alcohol intake. Here, we summarize the different effects of acute and chronic alcohol on monocyte, macrophage, and dendritic cell functions in humans and describe methods for separation and functional evaluation of these cell types.

Abstract As the part of a study to develop buparvaquone (BPQ) formulations for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis, the topical delivery of BPQ and one of its prodrugs from a range of formulations was evaluated. In previous studies, BPQ and its prodrugs were shown to be potent antileishmanials in-vitro, with ED50 values in the nanomolar range. 3-Phosphono-oxymethyl-buparvaquone (3-POM-BPQ) was the most potent antileishmanial and was chosen, together with the parent drug, for further investigation. The ability of the parent and prodrug formulations to cross human and murine skin was tested in-vitro using the Franz diffusion cells. Formulations intended for topical application containing either BPQ or 3-POM-BPQ were developed using excipients that were either acceptable for topical use (GRAS or FDA inactive ingredients) or currently going through the regulatory process. BPQ was shown to penetrate both human epidermal membranes and full thickness BALB/c skin from a range of formulations (gels, emulsions). Similarly, 3-POM-BPQ penetrated full-thickness BALB/c skin from several gel formulations. In-vitro binding studies showed that BPQ bound melanin in a dose-dependent manner and preferably bound to delipidized skin over untreated BALB/c skin (on a weight to weight basis). The results confirm that BPQ and its prodrug 3-POM-BPQ can penetrate the skin from several formulations, making them potentially interesting candidates for further investigation of topical formulations using in-vivo models of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Abstract One approach to creating physics-based reduced-order models (ROMs) of battery-cell dynamics requires first generating linearized Laplace-domain transfer functions of all cell internal electrochemical variables of interest. Then, the resulting infinite-dimensional transfer functions can be reduced by various means in order to find an approximate low-dimensional model. These methods include Pade approximation or the Discrete-Time Realization algorithm. In a previous article, Lee and colleagues developed a transfer function of the electrolyte concentration for a porous-electrode pseudo-two-dimensional lithium-ion cell model. Their approach used separation of variables and Sturm–Liouville theory to compute an infinite-series solution to the transfer function, which they then truncated to a finite number of terms for reasons of practicality. Here, we instead use a variation-of-parameters approach to arrive at a different representation of the identical solution that does not require a series expansion. The primary benefits of the new approach are speed of computation of the transfer function and the removal of the requirement to approximate the transfer function by truncating the number of terms evaluated. Results show that the speedup of the new method can be more than 3800.