Ammonia (NH) is the most abundant alkaline gas in the atmosphere, mainly emitted by agricultural activities. NH readily reacts with other atmospheric acidic pollutants, such as the oxidation products of sulfur dioxide (SO) and nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), to create fine particulate matter, which has far-reaching effects on human health and ecosystems. Here, we investigated long-term atmospheric NH trends in South Asia (SA) using satellite observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). We analyzed 15 years (2008-2022) of IASI-NH retrievals against climate, biophysical, and chemical variables using an ensemble of multivariate statistical methods to identify the major factors driving the observed patterns in the region. Trend analysis of IASI-NH data reveals a significant rise in atmospheric NH over 51 % of SA plains, but a downward trend over 31 % of the region. Spatial correlation analysis reveals that biophysical factors, representing cropland expansion and agriculture intensification, have the highest positive correlation over 56 % of SA plains experiencing positive NH trends. However, our results reveal that the chemical conversion of NH to ammonium compounds, driven by the positive trends in NOₓ and SO pollution, is driving the apparently declining trend of NH in the other regions. Our results provide important insights into the NH trends detected by satellite data and can better inform the policy design aimed at reducing NH emissions and improving air quality for developing regions of the world.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176188 | DOI Listing |
Int J Drug Policy
January 2025
MGH Institute for Technology Assessment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02144, USA. Electronic address:
The overdose epidemic in the United States is evolving, with a rise in stimulant (cocaine and/or methamphetamine)-only and opioid and stimulant-involved overdose deaths for reasons that remain unclear. We conducted interviews and group model building workshops in Massachusetts and South Dakota. Building on these data and extant research, we identified six dynamic hypotheses, explaining changes in stimulant-involved overdose trends, visualized using causal loop diagrams.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
Introduction: The global prevalence of antimicrobial resistance transcends geographical and economic boundaries, affecting populations worldwide. Excessive and incorrect use of antibiotics encourages antimicrobial resistance which leads to complex treatment strategies for infectious diseases and possible failure of treatment. The incorrect and unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics places a burden on healthcare costs and thus, antimicrobial resistance is evident globally as a major public health concern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Surg
January 2025
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR.
Background: Understanding based on up-to-date data on the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is limited, especially regarding how subtypes contribute to the overall NCD burden and the attributable risk factors across locations and subtypes. We aimed to report the global, regional, and national burden of NCDs, subtypes, and attributable risk factors in 2021, and trends from 1990 to 2021 by age, sex, and socio-demographic index (SDI).
Materials And Methods: We used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 to estimate the prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for NCDs and subtypes, along with attributable risk factors.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
January 2025
Department of Fisheries, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh.
The lesser spiny eel, Macrognathus aculeatus (Bloch, 1786), holds substantial economic importance as a food fish in South Asia, due to its exceptional nutritional value. This study was conducted to investigate the reproductive ecology of M. aculeatus within the Gajner beel wetland ecosystem in northwestern Bangladesh, with a specific focus on size at sexual maturity, spawning season, and fecundity in relation to eco-climatic variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Phys
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences (AIMMS), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, https://www.theochem.nl.
We have quantum chemically analyzed the trends in bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE) of H3C-XHn single bonds (XHn = CH3, NH2, OH, F, Cl, Br, I) along three different dissociation pathways at ZORA-BLYP-D3(BJ)/TZ2P: (i) homolytic dissociation into H3C∙ + ∙XHn, (ii) heterolytic dissociation into H3C+ + -XHn, and (iii) heterolytic dissociation into H3C- + +XHn. The associated BDEs for the three pathways differ not only quantitatively but, in some cases, also in terms of opposite trends along the C-X series. Based on activation strain analyses and quantitative molecular orbital theory, we explain how these differences are caused by the profoundly different electronic structures of, and thus bonding mechanisms between, the resulting fragments in the three different dissociation pathways.
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