Development of human health damage factors for PM<Subscript>2.5</Subscript> based on a global chemical transport model

Purpose

Health damage from ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) shows large regional variations and can have an impact on a global scale due to its transboundary movement. However, existing damage factors (DFs) for human health in life cycle assessments (LCA) are calculated only for a few limited regions based on various regional chemical transport models (CTMs). The aim of this research is to estimate the human health DFs of PM_2.5 originating from ten different regions of the world by using one global CTM.

Methods

The DFs express changes in worldwide disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to unit emission of black carbon and organic carbon (BCOC), nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). DFs for ten regions were calculated as follows. Firstly, we divided the whole world into ten regions. With a global CTM (MIROC-ESM-CHEM), we estimated the concentration change of PM_2.5 on the world caused by changes in the emission of a targeted precursor substance from a specific region. Secondly, we used population data and epidemiological concentration response functions (CRFs) of mortality and morbidity to estimate changes in the word’s DALYs occurring due to changes in the concentration of PM_2.5. Finally, the above calculations were done for all ten regions.

Results and discussion

DFs of BCOC, NO _x , and SO₂ for ten regions were estimated. The range of DFs could be up to one order of magnitude among the ten regions in each of the target substances. While population density was an important parameter, variation in transport of PM_2.5 on a continental level occurring due to different emission regions was found to have a significant influence on DFs. Especially for regions of Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, the amount of damage which occurred outside of the emitted region was estimated at a quarter, a quarter, and a third of their DFs, respectively. It was disclosed that the DFs will be underestimated if the transboundary of PM_2.5 is not taken into account in those regions.

Conclusions

The human health damage factors of PM_2.5 produced by BCOC, NO _x , and SO₂ are estimated for ten regions by using one global chemical transport model. It became clear that the variation of transport for PM_2.5 on a continental level greatly influences the regionality in DFs. For further research to quantify regional differences, it is important to consider the regional values of concentration response function (CRF) and DALY loss per case of disease or death.

     

Development of human health damage factors related to CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions by considering future socioeconomic scenarios

Purpose

Global warming is exerting a damaging effect on human health. This damage is not only influenced by future climate conditions but also projected economic development and population growth. That being said, there are no health damage factors related to CO₂ emissions which take into account future socioeconomic scenarios in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Thus, the purpose of the current research is to calculate human health damage factors based on the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRESs) developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Methods

The procedure used to calculate the SRES-based damage factors is as follows. First, a framework was developed to calculate damage factors based on multiple parameters: rise in temperature, relative risk increase, mortality rate increase, rise in number of deaths, and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) increase. Secondly, these parameters were calculated for each individual SRES based on the relationship among the parameters and CO₂ emissions, GDP, and population values of each scenario. Finally, the damage factor for each SRES was calculated by multiplying all the parameters that had been calculated based on the CO₂ emission, GDP, and population data in the corresponding scenarios.

Results and discussion

Using this method, the human health damage factors for four SRESs (A1B, A2, B1, and B2) were calculated. The damage factors consisted of six different items: malaria, diarrhea, cardiovascular disease, malnutrition, coastal flooding, and inland flooding. The calculated results by scenario were 2.0?×?10^?7, 6.2?×?10^?7, 2.1?×?10^?7, and 4.2?×?10^?7 DALY/kg CO₂, respectively. The damage caused by malnutrition is the greatest, followed by diarrhea. Regions of Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East showed the highest damages due to their high damage from malnutrition and diarrhea. With regard to the differences among the four damage factors, the difference between the projected future mortality rate and DALY per death based on the future GDP per capita is greater than the difference between the increases in temperature among scenarios dependent on future CO₂ emission.

Conclusions

The human health damage factors related to CO₂ emissions for four SRESs were estimated. As a result of differences between future socioeconomic scenarios, the largest amount of damage per CO₂ emission unit was three times greater than the smallest amount. Therefore, sensitive analysis is highly recommended when seeking to compare damage caused by global warming and other impact categories.

     

Ecosystem damage assessment of land transformation using species loss

Purpose

The objectives of this study are to develop life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods that enable an assessment of the impact on the biodiversity by land use categorized in general land use types and to obtain the implications for an assessment of global land use impact, using the methods in the Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method based on Endpoint Modeling (LIME).

Methods

Expected Increase in Number of Extinct Species (EINES), which was calculated by summing the increments in extinction risks of each threatened vascular plant species due to land transformation, was used as an indicator of damage to biodiversity. EINES per land use category was calculated using data from the “Threatened Wildlife of Japan, Red Data Book 2nd ed. Volume 8, Vascular Plants” (hereinafter referred to as “RDB”).

Results and discussion

The EINES of wetlands and grassland was relatively high. The number of species that were assumed to exist in forestland was large; however, the EINES of forestland was relatively low. It was considered to be influenced by the huge area of forestland in Japan. EINES of other land was also relatively high, and it was considered to be the reflection of the existence of species whose habitat is peculiar, such as limestone areas or high mountains.

Conclusions

Damage factors developed for Japan in this study have broad potential application, as they have more general land use categories than those in LIME 1 and 2; however, it will be necessary to develop damage factors in other countries, taking into account threatened species categories and regional differences in the importance of various land use categories. It is also necessary to accumulate detailed data on threatened species across the planet to develop worldwide damage factors.

     

Efficient isolation and mapping of Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insert junctions by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR

Thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL-) PCR is an efficient technique for amplifying insert ends from yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) and P1 clones. Highly specific amplification is achieved without resort to complex manipulations before or after PCR. The adaptation of this method for recovery and mapping of genomic sequences flanking T-DNA insertions in Arabidopsis thaliana is described. Insertion-specific products were amplified from 183 of 190 tested T-DNA insertion lines. Reconstruction experiments indicate that the technique can recover single-copy sequences from genomes as complex as common wheat (1.5 × 10¹⁰ bp). RFLPs were screened using 122 unique flanking sequence probes, and the insertion sites of 26 T-DNA transgenic lines were determined on an RFLP map. These lines, whose mapped T-DNA insertions confer hygromycin resistance, can be used for fine-scale mapping of linked phenotypic loci.     

Distribution of enteric neural peptide YY in the dog gastrointestinal tract

Various regions of the dog gastrointestinal tract were investigated for the distribution of peptide YY (PYY) neurons using immunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassay. PYY neurons that encircled non-PYY-immunoreactive neurons were mainly observed in the myenteric plexus from the stomach to the colon. There was more PYY-like immunoreactivity in the muscle layer of the stomach and ileum than in the other intestines. The results of high performance liquid chromatography revealed that neural PYY-immunoreactive substance is identical to authentic PYY. PYY was not localized in the cholinergic neurons. These results indicate that PYY, as a neuropeptide, is involved in the regulation of gastrointestinal function.     

A theoretical method for evaluating the relative importance of positive selection and neutral drift from observed base changes

To evaluate the relative importance of positive selection and neutral drift from the nucleotide base changes observed in the homologous alignment of genes, a theoretical equation of base changes is formulated by including both the influence of selection and the base substitutions due to mutations. Under the assumption that the average rate of base substitutions estimated from synonymous changes is the ``true' mutation rate applicable at all positions, this method is applied to the vertebrate globin gene family, and evaluates the departures of base change rates from the ``true' mutation rate at the first and second codon positions as a consequence of preferential selection for the conservation of important function. In addition to the strong effect of selection on the amino acid residues in the internal region mostly common to myoglobin and hemoglobin chains, the distinctive directions of selective parameter values are seen at sites on the globin surface, distinguishing the subunit contact residues of hemoglobins from the polar residues on the surface of myoglobins. Moreover, this effect of selection distinguishing between the myoglobin and hemoglobin chain genes becomes weaker in cold-blooded vertebrates, especially in fish, strongly suggesting the possibility that the clear distinction between these globins is a result of selection out of the changes regarded as neutral ones in an ancestor of vertebrates. Thus, the present method may also serve to investigate the homology of many other proteins from the aspect of molecular evolution, mainly focusing on the evolution of their biological functions. Received: 2 January 1996 / Accepted: 20 February 1997     

The Origin of Chlorarachniophyte Plastids, as Inferred from Phylogenetic Comparisons of Amino Acid Sequences of EF-Tu

A molecular phylogenetic analysis of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) proteins from plastids was performed in an attempt to identify the origin of chlorarachniophyte plastids, which are considered to have evolved from the endosymbiont of a photosynthetic eukaryote. Partial sequences of the genes for plastid EF-Tu proteins (1,080–1,089 bp) were determined for three algae that contain chlorophyll b, namely, Gymnochlora stellata (Chlorarachniophyceae), Bryopsis maxima (Ulvophyceae), and Pyramimonas disomata (Prasinophyceae). The deduced amino acid sequences were used to construct phylogenetic trees of the plastid and bacterial EF-Tu proteins by the maximum likelihood, the maximum parsimony, and the neighbor joining methods. The trees obtained in the present analysis suggest that all plastids that contain chlorophyll b are monophyletic and that the chlorarachniophyte plastids are closely related to those of the Ulvophyceae. The phylogenetic trees also suggest that euglenophyte plastids are closely related to prasinophycean plastids. The results indicate that the chlorarachniophyte plastids evolved from a green algal endosymbiont that was closely related to the Ulvophyceae and that at least two secondary endosymbiotic events have occurred in the lineage of algae with plastids that contain chlorophyll b. Received: 10 March 1997 / Accepted: 28 July 1997     

Isolation and mapping of a new set of 129 RFLP markers in Arabidopsis thaliana using recombinant inbred lines

A new collection of 129 Arabidopsis thaliana RFLP markers has been established based upon DNA fragments cloned in the pUC119 plasmid vector and insert end sequences of P1 clones. Dominant/null alleles affecting low-copy number sequences account for nine of the mapped polymorphisms, suggesting that deletions are not rare in A. thaliana . Recombinant inbred (RI) lines were used for mapping these marker loci. RI line-based mapping allows integration of this set of markers with markers previously reported as well as with any markers mapped in the future using this replenishable mapping resource. These markers are useful for map-based gene isolation and genome physical mapping in A. thaliana as well as studies of chromosome colinearity (synteny) with related species.     

Cooperation of two distinct cis-acting elements is necessary for the S phase-specific activation of the wheat histone H3 promoter

We have previously shown that the proximal promoter region (−185 to +57) of the wheat histone H3 gene ( TH012 ) is sufficient for regulating S phase-specific expression of a reporter GUS gene. To define the cis -acting element(s) responsible for S phase-specific expression, GUS fusion genes under the control of wild-type or variously mutated H3 promoters were stably introduced into cultured rice Oc cells and their temporal expression was analyzed during the cell cycle by quantitative S1 analysis. The S phase-specific expression of the full-sized promoter (−1716 to +52) was significantly impaired by short internal deletions disrupting the type I element from −175 to −158 (CCACGTCACCaATCCGCG), composed of the Hex (CCACG-TCA) and reverse-oriented Oct (GATCCGCG) motifs. Moreover, the H3 proximal promoters (−184 to +52) harboring base-substitution mutations in either or both of the Hex and Oct motifs could no longer activate gene expression during the S phase. These results indicate that the type I element is the first cis-acting element identified responsible for the S phase-specific expression of plant histone genes. Results also suggested the presence of a redundant cis -acting element(s) responsible for S phase-specific expression in the H3 far-upstream region (−1716 to −185).