Glocalization of COVID-19 responses and management of the pandemic in Africa

ABSTRACT

The study explores how glocalization of COVID-19 responses affects the management of the pandemic in Africa. Using data from 20 selected African countries, the study found that the reliance on local medicines alongside other salient global initiatives for containment of COVID-19 is effective in managing the pandemic in Africa. It concluded that despite the high vulnerabilities of African countries to COVID-19, the glocal approach has yielded positive outcomes by increasing the number of patients that recover from COVID-19 and scaling down the fatalities compared with the other regions.     

广东某市疫情期间污水中精神药物的分布特征和滥用评价

采用污水流行病学的方法，研究了2020年新冠疫情期间及前后广东省某市生活污水中两种典型精神药物甲基苯丙胺和氯胺酮的赋存特征及其变化情况，并运用手机信令数据分析人口总数、结构特征及其变动规律，进而将两者结合分析了疫情期间及前后两种药物的消费量变化特征.结果表明，疫情期间该市实际人口相对于疫情前下降了约45%，两种药物总消费量相对于疫情前下降了约75%.总消费量的显著下降很大程度是由疫情期间实际人口下降造成的.实际上，疫情期间该市甲基苯丙胺和氯胺酮的人均消费水平相对于疫情前下降不到50%.考虑到疫情期间严格的管控措施，这一下降幅度说明这两种精神类药物滥用极其顽固；而疫情后两种药物的消费量及在环境中的浓度又基本恢复到疫情前的水平，进一步证明了精神类药物滥用的顽固性.     

Prenatal diagnosis of de novo (7;19)(q11.2;q13.3) translocation associated with a thick corpus callosum and Wilms tumor of the kidneys

We present a case of prenatal diagnosis of a de novo (7;19)(q11.2;q13.3) translocation associated with ultrasound features, including enlarged cisterna magna, normal vermis, thick corpus callosum, micrognathia, small and low-set ears and right hyperechogenic kidney. Karyotyping was performed at 24 weeks of gestation. Termination of pregnancy was accepted at the parents' request. Postmortem examination confirmed the prenatal findings, but revealed bilateral Wilms tumors of the kidneys. Parental karyotype was normal. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

甘肃南部典型城镇PM2.5浓度及水溶性离子特征分析

为研究甘肃南部城镇PM_2.5及水溶性离子（WSIIs）浓度水平,于2019年4月—2020年2月在甘肃成县按季度进行PM_2.5样品采集,分析了其变化特征,并运用相关和主成分分析法进行来源解析.结果表明：采样期间甘肃成县PM_2.5年平均质量浓度为（57.2±26.9） μg·m^-3,表现为冬季>春季>秋季>夏季的季节变化特征,冬季质量浓度约为夏季的1.9倍,全年空气质量优良率为81%,其中夏季达100%.WSIIs质量浓度呈现SO₄^2->NO₃^->Na⁺>NH₄⁺>Ca²⁺> K⁺>Cl^->Mg²⁺的特征.SNA是浓度水平最高的3种水溶性离子,占8种主要水溶性离子浓度的70.1%.ρ（NO₃^-）/ρ（SO₄^2-）平均值为0.6,表明工农业生产及化石燃料燃烧排放等固定源是颗粒物污染的主要来源.新型冠状病毒疫情期间人员管控对PM_2.5和水溶性离子中SNA质量浓度影响显著,PM_2.5平均质量浓度降幅达44.2%.源解析表明,PM_2.5中WSIIs主要来自化石燃料燃烧、生物质燃烧及二次源和道路建筑扬尘等.     

人为排放及气象因素对空气质量影响的定量分析——以疫情期间邢台市为例

选择河北省邢台市作为研究对象,将2020疫情作为一个极限管控措施下的极限减排实验情景,把2021疫情作为未来常态化疫情防控实验分析情景.与疫情前期对比,两次疫情期间臭氧浓度均有提升且2021疫情时期颗粒物浓度同样有提高,2020疫情时期其他污染物浓度均有不同程度的改善,而与2019历史同期相比,两次疫情期间臭氧浓度同样有升高现象,除此以外,2021疫情时期污染物改善较好.利用长短期记忆网络（LSTM）算法和空气质量预报模式系统（WRF-CMAQ）量化了两次疫情时期气象因素对于污染物浓度变化的影响,根据空气质量模拟法反推了不同污染物受人为影响的浓度变化.实验结果表明,LSTM算法在两次疫情期间的模拟均显示人为影响对污染物产生了负影响（降低了污染物浓度）且在总变化影响中占比较高,而CMAQ模式模拟结果中的气象因素影响占比远高于LSTM算法.CMAQ模式在两次疫情模拟中表现出了不同的结果,在2020疫情中人为影响占据了主导,而在2021疫情中,相比较2020疫情时期,除NO₂外,人类活动对其他污染物的影响均为正值（促进了污染物浓度升高）.     

Investigation of PM2.5 pollution during COVID-19 pandemic in Guangzhou, China

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about various environmental issues, including PM_2.5 pollution. Here, PM_2.5 pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was traced and analyzed to clarify the sources and factors influencing PM_2.5 in Guangzhou, with an emphasis on heavy pollution. The lockdown led to large reductions in industrial and traffic emissions, which significantly reduced PM_2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou. Interestingly, the trend of PM_2.5 concentrations was not consistent with traffic and industrial emissions, as minimum concentrations were observed in the fourth period (3/01-3/31, 22.45 μg/m³) of the lockdown. However, the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants, e.g., SO₂, NO₂ and CO, were correlated with industrial and traffic emissions, and the lowest values were noticed in the second period (1/24-2/03) of the lockdown. Meteorological correlation analysis revealed that the decreased PM_2.5 concentrations during COVID-19 can be mainly attributed to decreased industrial and traffic emissions rather than meteorological conditions. When meteorological factors were included in the PM_2.5 composition and backward trajectory analyses, we found that long-distance transportation and secondary pollution offset the reduction of primary emissions in the second and third stages of the pandemic. Notably, industrial PM_2.5 emissions from western, southern and southeastern Guangzhou play an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events. Our results not only verify the importance of controlling traffic and industrial emissions, but also provide targets for further improvements in PM_2.5 pollution.     

排放和气象对疫情前后武汉不同类型点位大气污染物的影响

采用随机森林算法剥离了排放和气象对6种大气污染物(SO₂、 NO₂、 CO、 PM₁₀、 PM_2.5和O₃)浓度的贡献,识别了疫情前后武汉市中心城区、郊区、工业区、三环线交通点和城市背景点这5种类型点位的大气污染物浓度变化.结果表明,与管控前相比,管控期间PM_2.5/CO、 PM₁₀/CO和NO₂/CO分别减小了10.8～21.7、 9.34～24.7和14.4～22.1倍,表明排放对PM_2.5、 PM₁₀和NO₂贡献减小;O₃/CO增加了50.1～61.5倍,表明二次生成增加明显.解除管控后排放对各类污染物的贡献均增加.管控期间,受一些不可间断工序的运行影响,工业区PM_2.5降幅最小(20.5%).与管控期间相比,解除管控后居民生活、交通出行和工业生产等基本恢复,使5种类型站点PM_2.5     

Dramatic decline of observed atmospheric CO2 and CH4 during the COVID-19 lockdown over the Yangtze River Delta of China

The temporal variation of greenhouse gas concentrations in China during the COVID-19 lockdown in China is analyzed in this work using high resolution measurements of near surface △CO₂, △CH₄ and △CO concentrations above the background conditions at Lin'an station (LAN), a regional background station in the Yangtze River Delta region. During the pre-lockdown observational period (IOP-1), both △CO₂ and △CH₄ exhibited a significant increasing trend relative to the 2011-2019 climatological mean. The reduction of △CO₂, △CH₄ and △CO during the lockdown observational period (IOP-2) (which also coincided with the Chinese New Year Holiday) reached up to 15.0 ppm, 14.2 ppb and 146.8 ppb, respectively, and a reduction of △CO₂/△CO probably due to a dramatic reduction from industrial emissions. △CO₂, △CH₄ and △CO were observed to keep declining during the post-lockdown easing phase (IOP-3), which is the synthetic result of lower than normal CO₂ emissions from rural regions around LAN coupled with strong uptake of the terrestrial ecosystem. Interestingly, the trend reversed to gradual increase for all species during the later easing phase (IOP-4), with △CO₂/△CO constantly increasing from IOP-2 to IOP-3 and finally IOP-4, consistent with recovery in industrial emissions associated with the staged resumption of economic activity. On average, △CO₂ declined sharply throughout the days during IOP-2 but increased gradually throughout the days during IOP-4. The findings showcase the significant role of emission reduction in accounting for the dramatic changes in measured atmospheric △CO₂ and △CH₄ associated with the COVID-19 lockdown and recovery.     

A rare case of de novo distal 19q trisomy prenatally diagnosed

We present a case of de novo trisomy of distal 19q diagnosed prenatally by cytogenetics and FISH analysis. The autopsy performed after termination of the pregnancy showed major internal and external malformations that are associated with this chromosome abnormality. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.