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    Mutual promotion between aerosol particle liquid water and particulate nitrate enhancement leads to severe nitrate-dominated particulate matter pollution and low visibility
    (Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2020) Wang, Yu; Chen, Ying; Wu, Zhijun; Shang, Dongjie; Bian, Yuxuan; Du, Zhuofei; Schmitt, Sebastian H.; Su, Rong; Gkatzelis, Georgios I.; Schlag, Patrick; Hohaus, Thorsten; Voliotis, Aristeidis; Lu, Keding; Zeng, Limin; Zhao, Chunsheng; Alfarra, M. Rami; McFiggans, Gordon; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Kiendler-Scharr, Astrid; Zhang, Yuanhang; Hu, Min
    As has been the case in North America and western Europe, the SO2 emissions have substantially reduced in the North China Plain (NCP) in recent years. Differential rates of reduction in SO2 and NOx concentrations result in the frequent occurrence of particulate matter pollution dominated by nitrate (pNO−3) over the NCP. In this study, we observed a polluted episode with the particulate nitrate mass fraction in nonrefractory PM1 (NR-PM1) being up to 44 % during wintertime in Beijing. Based on this typical pNO−3-dominated haze event, the linkage between aerosol water uptake and pNO−3 enhancement, further impacting on visibility degradation, has been investigated based on field observations and theoretical calculations. During haze development, as ambient relative humidity (RH) increased from ∼10 % to 70 %, the aerosol particle liquid water increased from ∼1 µg m−3 at the beginning to ∼75 µg m−3 in the fully developed haze period. The aerosol liquid water further increased the aerosol surface area and volume, enhancing the condensational loss of N2O5 over particles. From the beginning to the fully developed haze, the condensational loss of N2O5 increased by a factor of 20 when only considering aerosol surface area and volume of dry particles, while increasing by a factor of 25 when considering extra surface area and volume due to water uptake. Furthermore, aerosol liquid water favored the thermodynamic equilibrium of HNO3 in the particle phase under the supersaturated HNO3 and NH3 in the atmosphere. All the above results demonstrated that pNO−3 is enhanced by aerosol water uptake with elevated ambient RH during haze development, in turn facilitating the aerosol take-up of water due to the hygroscopicity of particulate nitrate salt. Such mutual promotion between aerosol particle liquid water and particulate nitrate enhancement can rapidly degrade air quality and halve visibility within 1 d. Reduction of nitrogen-containing gaseous precursors, e.g., by control of traffic emissions, is essential in mitigating severe haze events in the NCP.
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    Cinobufacini Injection Inhibits the Proliferation of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Through the Pin1-TAZ Signaling Pathway
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2022) Kong, Lu; Liu, Xu; Yu, Bing; Yuan, Ye; Zhao, Qianru; Chen, Yuru; Qu, Bin; Du, Xue; Tian, Xiaoxuan; Shao, Rui; Wang, Yu
    Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer (BC), which is characterized by the total absence of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), progesterone receptor (PR), and estrogen receptor (ER) expression. Cinobufacini injection (CI) is the aqueous extract from the dry skin of Bufo gargarizans, which is broadly used for the treatment of malignant tumors. However, the potential mechanism of CI against TNBC has not been fully revealed. In this study, we found that CI inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. RNA-seq data showed that downregulated and upregulated genes were mainly enriched in biological processes related to tumor cell proliferation, including cell cycle arrest and regulation of apoptosis signaling pathways. Indeed, after CI treatment, the protein level of CDK1 and Bcl-2/Bax decreased, indicating that CI induced the cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 arrest in the G2/M phase and increased the rate of apoptosis. Meanwhile, CI significantly inhibited the growth of tumor in vivo, and RNA-seq data showed that the TAZ signaling pathway played a vital role after CI treatment. Both immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis confirmed the downregulation of Pin1 and TAZ, caused by CI treatment. Furthermore, the bioinformatics analysis indicated that Pin1 and TAZ were indeed elevated in TNBC patients, with poor staging, classification, and patient survival rate. In conclusion, CI effectively inhibited the proliferation of TNBC in vitro and in vivo and induced their apoptosis and cycle arrest through the Pin1–TAZ pathway.
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    The influence of impactor size cut-off shift caused by hygroscopic growth on particulate matter loading and composition measurements
    (Oxford [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2018) Chen, Ying; Wild, Oliver; Wang, Yu; Ran, Liang; Teich, Monique; Größ, Johannes; Wang, Lina; Spindler, Gerald; Herrmann, Hartmut; van Pinxteren, Dominik; McFiggans, Gordon; Wiedensohler, Alfred
    The mass loading and composition of atmospheric particles are important in determining their climate and health effects, and are typically measured by filter sampling. However, particle sampling under ambient conditions can lead to a shift in the size cut-off threshold induced by hygroscopic growth, and the influence of this on measurement of particle loading and composition has not been adequately quantified. Here, we propose a method to assess this influence based on κ-Köhler theory. A global perspective is presented based on previously reported annual climatological values of hygroscopic properties, meteorological parameters and particle volume size distributions. Measurements at background sites in Europe may be more greatly influenced by the cut-off shift than those from other continents, with a median influence of 10–20% on the total mass of sampled particles. However, the influence is generally much smaller (<7%) at urban sites, and is negligible for dust and particles in the Arctic. Sea-salt particles experience the largest influence (median value ∼50%), resulting from their large size, high hygroscopicity and the high relative humidity (RH) in marine air-masses. We estimate a difference of ∼30% in this influence of sea-salt particle sampling between relatively dry (RH = 60%) and humid (RH = 90%) conditions. Given the variation in the cut-off shift in different locations and at different times, a consistent consideration of this influence using the approach we introduce here is critical for observational studies of the long-term and spatial distribution of particle loading and composition, and crucial for robust validation of aerosol modules in modelling studies.
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    Fiber Vector Bend Sensor Based on Multimode Interference and Image Tapping
    (Basel : MDPI, 2019) Zhang, Ziyang; Rahman, Aashia; Fiebrandt, Julia; Wang, Yu; Sun, Kai; Luo, Jiajun; Madhav, Kalaga; Roth, Martin M.
    A grating-less fiber vector bend sensor is demonstrated using a standard single mode fiber spliced to a multimode fiber as a multimode interference device. The ring-shaped light intensity distribution at the end of the multimode fiber is subject to a vector transition in response to the fiber bend. Instead of comprehensive imaging processing for the analysis, the image can be tapped out by a seven-core fiber spliced to the other end of the multimode fiber. The seven-core fiber is further guided to seven single mode fibers via a commercial fan-out device. By comparing the relative light intensities received at the seven outputs, both the bend radius and its direction can be determined. Experiment has shown that a slight bend displacement of 10 µm over a 1.2-cm-long multimode fiber in the X direction (bend angle of 0.382 ◦ ) causes a distinctive power imbalance of 4.6 dB between two chosen outputs (numbered C4 and C7). For the same displacement in the Y direction, the power ratio between the previous two outputs C4 and C7 remains constant, while the imbalance between another pair (C3 and C4) rises significantly to 7.0 dB. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.