Publications by authors named "DR Blake"

Article Synopsis
  • Initial efforts in Hong Kong have effectively controlled primary air pollutants; however, ozone levels have risen over the past 30 years, indicating a need to address volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are key precursors to ozone.
  • A study conducted from May 2015 to June 2019 assessed VOC concentrations at roadside, suburban, and rural sites, revealing that roadside areas had the highest TVOC levels (23.05 ppbv), followed by suburban (12.68 ppbv) and rural (5.16 ppbv) locations.
  • The research identified various sources of VOCs at these sites using the Positive Matrix Factorization model, with LPG and gasoline evaporation being significant contributors in urban areas, while aged air mass and
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  • Wildfires are a growing contributor to air pollution, particularly due to reactive organic compounds (ROC), which have varying health impacts based on their toxicity and abundance.
  • A study combining field campaign data and air quality modeling found that current emissions estimates capture only 40-45% of the total ROC released from wildfires.
  • The research indicates that particulate ROC could significantly affect health risks from smoke exposure, highlighting the need for more accurate toxicity data on these compounds.
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Climate impacts of landfill gas emissions were investigated for 20- and 100-year time horizons to identify the effects of atmospheric lifetimes of short- and long-lived drivers. Direct and indirect climate impacts were determined for methane and 79 trace species. The impacts were quantified using global warming potential, GWP (direct and indirect); atmospheric degradation (direct); tropospheric ozone forming potential (indirect); secondary aerosol forming potential (indirect) and stratospheric ozone depleting potential (indirect).

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Electronic cigarette smoking (or vaping) is on the rise, presenting questions about the effects of secondhand exposure. The chemical composition of vape emissions was examined in the exhaled breath of eight human volunteers with the high chemical specificity of complementary online and offline techniques. Our study is the first to take multiple exhaled puff measurements from human participants and compare volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations between two commonly used methods, proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) and gas chromatography (GC).

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Motor vehicles are among the major sources of pollutants and greenhouse gases in urban areas and a transition to "zero emission vehicles" is underway worldwide. However, emissions associated with brake and tire wear will remain. We show here that previously unrecognized volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, which have a similarity to biomass burning emissions are emitted during braking.

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We use global airborne observations of propane (CH) and ethane (CH) from the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) and HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO), as well as U.S.-based aircraft and tower observations by NOAA and from the NCAR FRAPPE campaign as tracers for emissions from oil and gas operations.

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The role of anthropogenic NO emissions in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) production is not fully understood but is important for understanding the contribution of emissions to air quality. Here, we examine the role of organic nitrates (RONO) in SOA formation over the Korean Peninsula during the Korea-United States Air Quality field study in Spring 2016 as a model for RONO aerosol in cities worldwide. We use aircraft-based measurements of the particle phase and total (gas + particle) RONO to explore RONO phase partitioning.

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Oncogenic KRAS drives cancer growth by activating diverse signaling networks, not all of which have been fully delineated. We set out to establish a system-wide profile of the KRAS-regulated kinase signaling network (kinome) in KRAS-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We knocked down KRAS expression in a panel of six cell lines and then applied multiplexed inhibitor bead/MS to monitor changes in kinase activity and/or expression.

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Oceans emit large quantities of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) to the marine atmosphere. The oxidation of DMS leads to the formation and growth of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) with consequent effects on Earth's radiation balance and climate. The quantitative assessment of the impact of DMS emissions on CCN concentrations necessitates a detailed description of the oxidation of DMS in the presence of existing aerosol particles and clouds.

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To identify therapeutic targets for KRAS mutant pancreatic cancer, we conduct a druggable genome small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen and determine that suppression of BCAR1 sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to ERK inhibition. Integrative analysis of genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 screens also identify BCAR1 as a top synthetic lethal interactor with mutant KRAS. BCAR1 encodes the SRC substrate p130Cas.

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Formic acid (HCOOH) is an important component of atmospheric acidity but its budget is poorly understood, with prior observations implying substantial missing sources. Here we combine pole-to-pole airborne observations from the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) with chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem CTM) and back trajectory analyses to provide the first global in-situ characterization of HCOOH in the remote atmosphere. ATom reveals sub-100 ppt HCOOH concentrations over most of the remote oceans, punctuated by large enhancements associated with continental outflow.

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Since 2012, studies in mice, rats, and humans have suggested that abnormalities in purinergic signaling may be a final common pathway for many genetic and environmental causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study in mice was conducted to characterize the bioenergetic, metabolomic, breathomic, and behavioral features of acute hyperpurinergia triggered by systemic injection of the purinergic agonist and danger signal, extracellular ATP (eATP). Responses were studied in C57BL/6J mice in the maternal immune activation (MIA) model and controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • The global oxidation capacity, measured by hydroxyl radicals (OH), affects the lifespan of gases like methane and carbon monoxide, with models generally underestimating their lifetimes due to excessive OH levels.
  • Observations from NASA's ATom campaign provide insights into remote ocean oxidation capacity, showing that the GEOS-Chem model accurately reflects remote OH profiles but struggles with seasonal NO estimates.
  • The study reveals an unexplained enhancement of OH reactivity below 3 km during ATom-1, indicating potential missing reactive VOCs that existing models fail to account for.
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  • Global coupled chemistry-climate models tend to underestimate carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the Northern Hemisphere, especially peaking in late winter and early spring, which is linked to factors beyond just emissions from human activity and biomass burning.
  • A study using data from the KORUS-AQ experiment revealed that CO was underestimated by 42% in a control scenario, while using satellite data assimilation reduced this bias significantly.
  • Adjusting CO emissions in models not only improved CO accuracy but also positively impacted related compounds such as ozone and hydroxyl (OH), indicating that better accounting for anthropogenic sources enhances overall air quality modeling.
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Investigating the long-term trends of alkyl nitrates (RONO) is of great importance for evaluating the variations of photochemical pollution. Mixing ratios of C-C RONO were measured in autumn Hong Kong from 2002 to 2016, and the average level of 2-butyl nitrate (2-BuONO) always ranked first. The C-C RONO all showed increasing trends (p < 0.

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In order to improve local air quality of Hong Kong, more than 99% taxies and public light buses were changed from diesel to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel type in the early 2000s. In addition to the catalytic converters wear and tear, it is necessary to control air pollutants emitted from LPG vehicles. Therefore, an LPG catalytic converter replacement programme (CCRP) was fulfilled from October 2013 to April 2014 by the Hong Kong government.

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Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), emitted from the oceans, is the most abundant biological source of sulfur to the marine atmosphere. Atmospheric DMS is oxidized to condensable products that form secondary aerosols that affect Earth's radiative balance by scattering solar radiation and serving as cloud condensation nuclei. We report the atmospheric discovery of a previously unquantified DMS oxidation product, hydroperoxymethyl thioformate (HPMTF, HOOCHSCHO), identified through global-scale airborne observations that demonstrate it to be a major reservoir of marine sulfur.

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Diffuse gastric cancer (DGC) is a lethal malignancy lacking effective systemic therapy. Among the most provocative recent results in DGC has been that of highly recurrent missense mutations in the GTPase RHOA. The function of these mutations has remained unresolved.

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Stabilization of the MYC oncoprotein by KRAS signaling critically promotes the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Thus, understanding how MYC protein stability is regulated may lead to effective therapies. Here, we used a previously developed, flow cytometry-based assay that screened a library of >800 protein kinase inhibitors and identified compounds that promoted either the stability or degradation of MYC in a KRAS-mutant PDAC cell line.

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We apply a high-resolution chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem CTM) with updated treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and a comprehensive suite of airborne datasets over North America to (i) characterize the VOC budget and (ii) test the ability of current models to capture the distribution and reactivity of atmospheric VOCs over this region. Biogenic emissions dominate the North American VOC budget in the model, accounting for 70 % and 95 % of annually emitted VOC carbon and reactivity, respectively. Based on current inventories anthropogenic emissions have declined to the point where biogenic emissions are the dominant summertime source of VOC reactivity even in most major North American cities.

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We report airborne measurements of acetaldehyde (CHCHO) during the first and second deployments of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom). The budget of CHCHO is examined using the Community Atmospheric Model with chemistry (CAM-chem), with a newly-developed online air-sea exchange module. The upper limit of the global ocean net emission of CHCHO is estimated to be 34 Tg a (42 Tg a if considering bubble-mediated transfer), and the ocean impacts on tropospheric CHCHO are mostly confined to the marine boundary layer.

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Rapid increase in atmospheric methane (CH) mixing ratios over the past century is attributable to the intensification of human activities. Information on spatially explicit source contributions is needed to develop efficient and cost-effective CH emission reduction and mitigation strategies to addresses near-term climate change. This study collected long-term ambient CH measurements at Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) in Los Angeles, California, to estimate the annual CH emissions from the portion of Los Angeles County that is within the South Coast Air Basin (SCLA).

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Emissions of C-C alkanes from the U.S. oil and gas sector have changed rapidly over the last decade.

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Alkyl nitrates (RONO) are important reservoirs of nitrogen oxides and play key roles in the tropospheric chemistry. Two phases of intensive campaigns were conducted during February-April and June-July of 2017 at a rural coastal site and in open oil fields of the Yellow River Delta region, northern China. C-C alkyl nitrates showed higher concentration levels in summer than in winter-spring (p < 0.

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