Abstract. Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter and spring, associated with long-range transport from Asia and the Sahara, have been linked to enhanced precipitation based on observations. Local anthropogenic pollution, on the other hand, was shown in previous observational and modeling studies to reduce precipitation. Here we incorporate recent developments in ice nucleation parameterizations to link aerosols with ice crystal formation in a spectral-bin cloud microphysical model coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in order to examine the relative and combined impacts of dust and local pollution particles on cloud properties and precipitation type and intensity. Simulations are carried out for two cloud cases (from the CalWater 2011 field campaign) with contrasting meteorology and cloud dynamics that occurred on 16 February (FEB16) and 2 March (MAR02). In both cases, observations show the presence of dust and biological particles in a relative pristine environment. The simulated cloud microphysical properties and precipitation show reasonable agreement with aircraft and surface measurements. Model sensitivity experiments indicate that in the pristine environment, the dust and biological aerosol layers increase the accumulated precipitation by 10–20% from the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada for both FEB16 and MAR02 due to a ~40% increase in snow formation, validating the observational hypothesis. Model results show that local pollution increases precipitation over the windward slope of the mountains by a few percent due to increased snow formation when dust is present, but reduces precipitation by 5–8% if dust is removed on FEB16. The effects of local pollution on cloud microphysics and precipitation strongly depend on meteorology, including cloud dynamics and the strength of the Sierra Barrier Jet. This study further underscores the importance of the interactions between local pollution, dust, and environmental conditions for assessing aerosol effects on cold-season precipitation in California.

Aerosol Impacts on California Winter Clouds and Precipitation during CalWater 2011: Local Pollution versus Long-Range Transported Dust

Three gravity-wave-induced clouds and a glaciating altocumulus layer were continuously monitored with lidar at Leipzig, Germany, on 21 November 2003. The midtropospheric clouds formed in Saharan dust at heights from 3.5 km (-9°C) to 6.5 km (-27°C). Distinct ice formation in the altocumulus was triggered by the gravity wave. For the first time, an aerosol/cloud study presents height profiles of temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, relative humidity, dust, and cloud optical properties (volume extinction and backscatter coefficients, lidar ratio, depolarization ratio) within the same air column, solely derived from lidar data. The three gravity-wave-induced clouds did not show any sign of ice formation. The aged dust particles below 4.5-km height were probably partly coated and mixed with hygroscopic material and thus deactivated concerning ice nucleation. Ice crystals were generated in isolated air parcels at the cloud edges of a young, optically thin altocumulus layer between 5- and 6.5-km height. An aged altocumulus deck composed of a geometrically thin liquid water layer at cloud top and an extended ice crystal layer (ice virga) was observed 2 hours later in the same height range. Strong ice formation occurred in the altocumulus during the downdraft induced by the gravity wave. Contact freezing was probably the main reason for the observed ice formation on dust particles. Ice depolarization ratios were relatively low with values from 10 to 15% in the altocumulus and indicate plate-like crystals.

Ice formation in Saharan dust over central Europe observed with temperature/humidity/aerosol Raman lidar : Quantifying the radiative and biogeochemical impacts of mineral dust

Characteristics of the severe March 2021 Gobi Desert dust storm and its impact on air pollution in China

Currently, we are experiencing an epidemic of essential hypertension characterized by increasing rates of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.[1,2] Essential hypertension affects nearly 20% of the population across the global.[3,4] The consequences of hypertension include coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.[5,6,7,8]

Recently, the assessment and management of hypertension has focused on accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement, appropriate non-pharmacological (life-style) strategies for prevention and control, how to attain target BPs that will reduce the risk of complications and minimize adverse effects and how to assess and manage resistant hypertension. Each of these topics are dealt with in this theme issue.[9,10,11,12,13,14]

Managing hypertension control requires a concerted effort by primary care physicians and specialists to optimize non-pharmacological and pharmacological therapy and to identify and manage patients with resistant hypertension in the context of an overall strategy for cardiovascular risk reduction.[9,10,12,13] Should we go searching for evidence of target organ involvement that would prompt more aggressive management strategies?[15]

This special issue marks a new feature of the International Journal of Preventive Medicine, a pediatric hypertension focus issue. The major theme of this special issue deals with hypertension and obesity in adolescents and provides highly valuable information with such an authoritative and readable review on the subject.

The authors provide a concise background to the broad problem of increasing rates of hypertension that appear to parallel the occurrence of obesity in adolescents.

Dr. Badeli and associate reports on the common errors in the BP measurement and provide helpful guidelines to obtaining accurate office BP readings in children and adolescents.

Dr. Malakan Rad et al. discuss the management of hypertension in patients with cardiovascular disease and heart failure and reviews recent therapeutic approaches directed to reduce cardiovascular risk factors in these patients with hypertension.

Focusing on cardiovascular risk factors in hypertension is of utmost importance, as these patients have mortality 10-20 times higher than the general population. After correcting for age, gender, race and diabetes and myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death and congestive heart failure are the causes of death in half of all patients with sustained hypertension. Furthermore, the increased incidence of cardiovascular risk factors starts at early stages of hypertension.

Dr. Hooman and her associates provide compelling evidence of early cardiovascular changes in young people with prehypertension. They have studied a group of young people, some with hypertension or prehypertension or with type 2 diabetes, and report evidence for early target organ damage. Type 1 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, certainly at an earlier age than in people without diabetes.

Dr. Hajizadeh and associate have discussed the management of resistant hypertension in children and adolescents and possible benefit of renal denervation. In the article by Dr. Nickavar et al. the authors review the diagnosis and current management of neonatal hypertension.

Dr. Muruga et al. describe an interesting set of relationship between body mass index and prehypertension and hypertension in healthy children. Similarly Dr. Shrivastava et al. and Dr. Anand et al. present their single center cohort studies on the prevalence of obesity and hypertension among the school age children in India.

The article by Dr. John and her associated is an excellent review on hypertension and obesity in children after kidney transplantation. These authors discuss the causes and risk factors for developing obesity and hypertension in patients following kidney transplantation including factors such as immunosuppressive agents, donors/recipient underlying pre-medical conditions and risk of metabolic syndromes.

Dr. Gerda-Maria Hass and co-investigators, in a prospective study, signify the metabolic syndrome, including overweight, obesity and dyslipidemia, as major cardiovascular risk factor in pre-hypertensive children and adolescents.

Professor Kelishadi and co-investigators report in a prospective study, a broader extension of CASPIAN-IV group study, on the prevalence rate of pre-hypertension and hypertension in a national sample group of Iranian school age children.

They report a 6.88% prevalence rate of hypertension (systolic and diastolic combined), a significantly higher prevalence rate of both pre-hypertension and hypertension in boys than girls and a significantly more prevalent in subjects living in urban than in rural areas.

These data, together with my own review article on prehypertension suggest measures must be taken to perform a number of clinical trials that could address a number of different aspects concerning the prevention, early diagnosis and management of primary cause of hypertension in pediatric patients.

Last but not least, I want to express our gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Professor Roya Kelishadi, for giving me a home on this subject in the form of a special issue. I also acknowledge the invaluable help of the editorial staff in helping to make this publication possible.

/pdf/current-trends-of-male-reproductive-health-disorders-and-the-1zemjhf62v.pdf

Current Trends of Male Reproductive Health Disorders and the Changing Semen Quality

The Roles of Mineral Dust as Cloud Condensation Nuclei and Ice Nuclei During the Evolution of a Hail Storm

Concentration and atmospheric transport of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at Mount Tai, China.

Phthalate esters in atmospheric PM2.5 at Mount Tai, north China plain: Concentrations and sources in the background and urban area

. Lightning serves as the dominant source of nitrogen oxides ( NO x = NO + NO 2 ) in the upper troposphere (UT), with a strong impact on ozone chemistry and the hydroxyl radical production.
However, the production efficiency (PE) of lightning nitrogen oxides (L NOx ) is still quite uncertain (32–1100 mol NO per flash).
Satellite measurements are a powerful tool to estimate L NOx directly compared to conventional platforms.
To apply satellite data in both clean and polluted regions, a new algorithm for calculating L NOx has been developed that uses the Berkeley High-Resolution (BEHR) v3.0B NO2 retrieval algorithm and the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem).
L NOx PE over the continental US is estimated using the NO2 product of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) data and the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network (ENTLN) data.
Focusing on the summer season during 2014, we find that the lightning NO2 (L NO2 ) PE is 32±15  mol  NO2 per flash and 6±3  mol  NO2 per stroke while L NOx PE is 90±50  mol  NOx per flash and 17±10  mol  NOx per stroke.
Results reveal that our method reduces the sensitivity to the background NO2 and includes much of the below-cloud L NO2 .
As the L NOx parameterization varies in studies, the sensitivity of our calculations to the setting of the amount of lightning NO (LNO) is evaluated.
Careful consideration of the ratio of L NO2 to NO2 is also needed, given its large influence on the estimation of L NO2 PE.

/pdf/estimates-of-lightning-no-x-production-based-on-high-31h0becv9c.pdf

Estimates of lightning NO x production based on high-resolution OMI NO 2 retrievals over the continental US

Objective To investigate the relationship of sperm morphology with reproductive hormones in infertile men and the pathogenesis of teratozoospermia. Methods This study included 90 infertile men aged 25 - 40 years. We measured their testis volumes using the Prader orchidometer, conducted routine semen analyses according to the WHO laboratory standard, and determined the concentrations of reproductive hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) by chemiluminescence and the levels of free testosterone (FT) and bioavailable testosterone (BioT). Results All the subjects showed normal sperm concentration. Based on the results of semen morphology analysis, the 90 infertile men were equally divided into groups 1 (morphologically normal sperm or = 4% and or = 10%), with no significant differences in age among the three groups (P>0.05). The volumes of the left testis were (14.27 +/- 3.65) ml, (16.90 +/- 3.57) ml and (14.57 +/- 3.57) ml, respectively (P = 0.006 group 1 vs group 2, P = 0.741 group 1 vs group 3, P = 0.014 group 2 vs group 3), and those of the right testis were (14.60 +/- 3.70) ml, (16.60 +/- 3.35) ml and (14.67 +/- 3.54) ml, respectively (P = 0.050). There were no significant differences among the three groups in prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, estradiol, total testosterone and SHBG, (P>0.05). The levels of serum FT were (0.25 +/- 0.07) nmol/L, (0.29 +/- 0.07) nmol/L and (0.31 +/- 0.13) nmol/L (P = 0.086 group 1 vs group 2, P= 0.010 group 1 vs group 3, P= 0.364 group 2 vs group 3), and those of BioT were (5.81 +/- 1.58) nmol/L, (6.78 +/- 1.55) nmol/L and (7.29 +/- 3.02) nmol/L, respectively (P = 0.086 group 1 vs group 2, P = 0.010 group 1 vs group 3, P = 0.364 group 2 vs group 3). The percentage of morphologically normal sperm was positively correlated with the levels of serum FT and BioT (P Conclusion The higher the levels of serum FT and BioT, the higher the percentage of morphologically normal sperm, which suggests that serum FT and BioT might be involved in the pathogenesis of teratozoospermia.

Xin Zhang

Papers

The Roles of Mineral Dust as Cloud Condensation Nuclei and Ice Nuclei During the Evolution of a Hail Storm

Concentration and atmospheric transport of PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at Mount Tai, China.

Phthalate esters in atmospheric PM2.5 at Mount Tai, north China plain: Concentrations and sources in the background and urban area

Estimates of lightning NO x production based on high-resolution OMI NO 2 retrievals over the continental US

Relationship of sperm morphology with reproductive hormone levels in infertile men