Found 10544 publications. Showing page 1 of 422:
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We aimed to evaluate associations of whole blood gene expression and immune cell composition with menopausal status and hormone therapy (HT) use among women who had never been diagnosed with cancer in the Norwegian Women and Health (NOWAC) postgenome cohort. This cross-sectional study comprised microarray-based gene expression profiles obtained from the whole blood samples of 1,428 women, estimated white blood cell (WBC) proportions, as well as relevant information from questionnaires. We used gene-wise linear regression models to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and functional enrichment analyses to determine their corresponding biological functions. The study’s novel evaluation of blood gene expression profiles in relation to menopausal status revealed over 1,400 DEGs in the post-vs-premenopausal comparison; the DEGs’ biological functions were primarily linked to immune responses, cell-cell adhesion, cognition, muscle system processes, and reproduction. Adjusting for estimated WBC proportions substantially reduced the number of DEGs to 26, and terms related to immune responses in biological functions were no longer enriched. Additionally, separate analyses of postmenopausal women identified over 200 DEGs associated with HT use, and these DEGs were linked to oestrogen-dependent gene expression and RHO GTPases signalling. The distribution of several WBCs varied across menopausal status and HT use groups. This is the first study to investigate associations between whole blood gene expression and menopausal status, and the largest to investigate associations to postmenopausal HT use. Menopause-related transcriptional differences were largely driven by changes in circulating WBC composition, whereas HT use was associated with a less distinct, oestrogen-responsive gene expression signature resembling a more premenopausal profile. These findings highlight the systemic impact of menopause and the central role of immune cell composition in whole blood gene expression during menopause and suggest that oestrogen status, whether endogenous or via HT, has measurable systemic molecular effects.
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Indoor environments are the dominant setting for human exposure to respiratory viruses, yet routine molecular surveillance of indoor air remains rare outside single-site studies. Within the Horizon Europe TwinAIR project, a single harmonised workflow was applied to 102 indoor air samples (2000 L each) collected between October 2024 and February 2026 at ten pilot settings in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Greece and Sweden, covering university teaching rooms, school classrooms and staff rooms, healthcare-associated offices, workplace offices, an elderly care facility and public transport vehicles. Air was collected onto gelatine membrane filters with a Sartorius MD8 Airport sampler, total nucleic acid was extracted with the QIAamp Viral RNA Mini kit, and five targets—SARS-CoV-2, human adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus A/B, influenza A and rhinovirus—were quantified against target-specific standard curves as genome copies per cubic metre (GC/m3). At least one target was detected in 84 of 102 samples (82.4%; 95% CI 73.8–88.5). SARS-CoV-2 was the most frequent and most abundant target (64.7%; up to 8.36 × 106 GC/m3) and adenovirus was the second most frequent though consistently low in concentration (33.3%); both were recovered from all six countries. Rhinovirus (14.7%, five countries), RSV A/B (8.8%, four) and influenza A (6.9%, four) were detected less often yet reached high concentrations when present, showing that detection frequency alone substantially understates airborne viral burden. Detection of viral genome does not establish infectivity.
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Spatially explicit Life Cycle Assessment aims to integrate the spatial context into the sustainability assessment, but limited standardization and software integration hinder its application in practice. This study proposes a framework that operationalizes spatialization through application typologies and demonstrates its use for Life Cycle Engineering, in the planning and sustainability analysis of industrial applications.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is originally site-generic: spatial detail is typically aggregated, and location effects not propagated into impact results. However, spatial differentiation can occur through differences in the technosphere and biosphere. Silicon production, globally distributed among six major producing countries with varying conditions, provides a relevant example for the use of spatially explicit LCA. Through Brightway and LC-IMPACT, elementary flows can be spatially allocated to their emission locations, capturing both spatial distribution and magnitude of environmental impacts. Using application typologies, this framework separates the effects of technology implementation, upstream supply chains, and location-dependent ecosystem sensitivity. This helps identify impact hotspots and prioritize mitigation measures. It also reveals location-dependent outcomes, highlighting data and software gaps to guide future research.
Spatially-explicit attributes strongly influence LCA results for silicon production. Applying the proposed typologies shows that (i) under a technology focus LCA, shifting to biocarbon and decarbonized electricity allows decreasing silicon production net climate change effect by approximately half; (ii) under a background impact focus LCA, supply-chain hotspots emerge, notably land occupation in Brazil as a dominant charcoal supplier across countries; and (iii) under a foreground impact focus LCA, territorial sensitivity to plant locations becomes explicit, with the greatest vulnerability to water stress observed in China’s Xinjiang region. The main implementation challenge is that inventory databases often lack the geographical granularity needed to attribute upstream burdens to specific production locations. Another constraint is the limited availability of spatially explicit impact categories and methods in LCA software.
Because they address different questions, accounting for spatial variation in both the technosphere and biosphere is essential for Life Cycle Engineering, without neglecting supply chain impacts and where these occur. Although this study examined different focus areas separately, a holistic implementation that integrates technology, foreground, and background dimensions is ultimately required to capture interrelated effects and support more robust mitigation decisions. Future research should target the gaps identified in this article to enable such integrated assessments.
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Real-time single-particle fluorescence instruments are increasingly used for bioaerosol monitoring, yet interpretation of fluorescence-positive particles depends strongly on how the baseline or threshold is defined. This study evaluates deionised water (H2O), sodium chloride (NaCl), and quartz/silica (SiO2) as low-fluorescence references for the SwisensPoleno Jupiter and examines how baseline selection influences threshold-based interpretation. Controlled reference datasets were used to characterise baseline fluorescence distributions, assess particle size effects, and define baseline-specific thresholds using a consistent mean plus three standard deviations (μ+3σ) criterion. Threshold sensitivity was also examined using the empirical 99th percentile (P99) and a robust median absolute deviation (MAD)-based approach. The three reference materials produced distinct baseline responses. NaCl generated the broadest fluorescence ranges across all excitation sources, with μ+3σ upper thresholds of approximately 52.0×10−3, 39.3×10−3, and 38.2×10−3 arbitrary units, compared with 6.6×10−3, 10.1×10−3, and 3.1×10−3 for H2O and 12.1×10−3, 9.1×10−3, and 2.6×10−3 for SiO2. Although NaCl produced larger and more variable particles, its broader response persisted within a shared 10–30 µm size interval. Applying the thresholds to representative test materials showed that baseline choice altered both the proportion of particles exceeding the low-fluorescence background and their excitation–source combination patterns, particularly for near-baseline and moderately fluorescent samples. P99 generally produced results closest to μ+3σ, whereas MAD-based thresholds produced larger changes for several baseline–source combinations, while baseline–material differences remained evident across all three approaches. Summer and winter ambient case studies showed the same baseline dependence. H2O- and SiO2-based thresholds produced broadly similar fluorescence exceedance structures, whereas NaCl-based thresholds retained fewer weakly fluorescent particles. These findings show that both baseline material and threshold definition should be reported explicitly and that the resulting categories should be interpreted as operational fluorescence exceedance patterns rather than definitive biological particle classifications.
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Characterizing bioaerosols is important for understanding their potential impacts on the environment and public health. In this study, we developed a novel flow cytometry-based approach to determine the low nucleic acid (LNA), high nucleic acid (HNA), dead, and intact bioaerosol populations in samples collected with a wet cyclone at Payerne, Switzerland, during spring and summer 2024. We found that the average bioaerosol number concentration reached (2.47 ± 3.35)×104 m−3. The HNA and intact populations were the most abundant populations, representing the largest fraction of total bioaerosols within 65% and 97% of the samples, respectively. Our results show that the LNA can be composed of dead bioaerosols, which correlated strongly with atmospheric particulate mass. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and metagenomic analysis reveal significant correlations and associations (Spearman, PERMANOVA, and Mantel) between the different kingdoms analyzed, reflecting complex ecological interactions in the atmosphere among the communities. Despite this complexity, LNA was mainly associated with the archaea Nitrososphaerota and bacteria Actinomycetota, whereas HNA was enriched by fungal classes such as Pichiomycetes and Ustilaginomycetes. Pollen abundance was positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with relative humidity and pollution (NOx and NO2), as these conditions promote the formation of sub-pollen particles (pollen fragments) through osmotic (bursting) and oxidative stress. Factor analysis indicates a seasonal dynamics transition from plant-associated bioaerosols in the spring season, to other bioaerosol types to be co-emitted during summer. Overall, the integration of flow cytometry with molecular analysis provides a framework to characterize and quantify bioaerosols and provides new insights into the ecological structure, variability, and sources of the atmospheric microbiome.
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HTAP3-OPNS is a multi-model exercise designed to support the revision of the Gothenburg Protocol under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Using an ensemble of Chemical Transport Models (CTMs) and Chemistry-Climate Models (CCMs), this study investigates the long-range transport and impacts of ground-level ozone, particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen and sulphur deposition across different global regions. The project aims to assess the contributions of regional versus extra-regional emission sources, evaluate the suitability of current models, and project changes in air pollution under future emission scenarios and climate conditions. A series of perturbation simulations will enable the development of an ensemble emulator to explore and evaluate potential mitigation strategies efficiently. This paper outlines the scientific and policy questions motivating the study, describes the experimental design, including input datasets, model configurations, and required outputs, and discusses methodologies for data handling and analysis. The results will provide crucial insights for policy decisions aiming to improve air quality, protect human health, and protect ecosystems worldwide.
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Non-Technical Summary
Digital Product Passports (DPPs) could help make products easier to repair, refurbish, and recycle by improving access to information about their materials and life cycle. This study examines their potential across major European product groups, including heat pumps, solar panels, printers, ICT equipment, and batteries. For the EU27, we estimate that DPP-enabled improvements could raise circularity from 14.8% to 45.0%, with substantial material and economic savings. The results provide a practical baseline for assessing how digital tools may support the European transition towards a more circular economy.
Technical Summary
DPPs are expected to support circular economy strategies by improving information availability across product value chains. Building on the CE-RISE project, we assess their potential contribution to recycling- and refurbishment-related circularity for heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, printers, ICT equipment, and batteries. The analysis combines production and trade statistics, a PRISMA 2020-compliant systematic review, and evidence-informed scenario parameterisation. We construct material-flow and circularity indicators for Europe over 2010–2023, distinguish the EU27 from non-EU Europe (Switzerland, Norway, and Türkiye), and quantify a DPP scenario with sensitivity intervals. For the EU27 in 2023, baseline circularity is estimated at 14.8%, compared with 45.0% under the DPP scenario (95% sensitivity interval: 28.6–61.4). This corresponds to potential savings of 2.5 Mt of materials and EUR 27.9 billion (bn), with sensitivity intervals of 1.1–3.8 Mt and EUR 12.7–43.1 bn. We additionally estimate refurbishment-related employment exposure using Eurostat production value per employee in NACE J. The results establish an evidence-informed baseline for evaluating DPP-enabled circularity gains and future policy impacts.
Social Media Summary
DPPs could raise EU27 circularity from 14.8% to 45.0%, with major material and economic savings.terial and economic savings. The results provide a practical baseline for assessing how digital tools may support the European transition towards a more circular economy.
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