Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection transmission risk in public buses

Public transport environments are thought to play a key role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide. Indeed, high crowding indexes (i.e. high numbers of people relative to the vehicle size), inadequate clean air supply, and frequent extended exposure durations make transport environments potential hotspots for transmission of respiratory infections. During the COVID-19 pandemic, generic mitigation measures (e.g. physical distancing) have been applied without also considering the airborne transmission route. This is due to the lack of quantified data about airborne contagion risk in transport environments.In this study, we apply a novel combination of close proximity and room-scale risk assessment approaches for people sharing public transport environments to predict their contagion risk due to SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection. In particular, the individual infection risk of susceptible subjects and the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 (expressed through the reproduction number) are evaluated for two types of buses, differing in terms of exposure time and crowding index: urban and long-distance buses. Infection risk and reproduction number are calculated for different scenarios as a function of the ventilation rates (both measured and estimated according to standards), crowding indexes, and travel times. The results show that for urban buses, the close proximity contribution significantly affects the maximum occupancy to maintain a reproductive number of <1. In particular, full occupancy of the bus would be permitted only for an infected subject breathing, whereas for an infected subject speaking, masking would be required. For long-distance buses, full occupancy of the bus can be maintained only if specific mitigation solutions are simultaneously applied. For example, for an infected person speaking for 1 h, appropriate filtration of the recirculated air and simultaneous use of FFP2 masks would permit full occupancy of the bus for a period of almost 8 h. Otherwise, a high percentage of immunized persons (>80%) would be needed.     

Transport weighted temperature and internal energy transport of the Indonesian throughflow

A 50-year record of the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) was obtained using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) dataset to calculate a timeseries of Pacific-to-Indian Ocean pressure differences, which were calibrated to transport profiles using ARLINDO (1997) and INSTANT (2004–2006) observational data. The 50 year SODA based ITF transport average is 10.4 Sv; the transport weighted temperature (TWT) is 14.6 °C and the internal energy transport (IET) is 0.53 PW. The different configurations of the ITF transport and temperature profiles result in a dissimilarity in the variability of the IET and the TWT, with the IET more closely correlated with both the depth of the 18 °C isotherm in the western equatorial Pacific and the NINO3.4 index. As with the transport, the IET increases during La Niña and decreases during El Niño. The TWT is only weakly correlated with NINO3.4, suggesting that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation signal is transmitted from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean via changes in pressure and thus in transport rather than by changes in temperature.     

Moving young lives: Mobility, immobility and inter-generational tensions in urban Africa

This paper explores young people’s experiences and perceptions of mobility and mobility constraints in poorer urban areas of Ghana, Malawi and South Africa within the specific context of inter-generational relations. Drawing principally on qualitative research findings from a study involving both adult and child researchers, our aim is to chart the diversities and commonalities of urban young people’s mobility experiences in the everyday - how they use and experience the city - developing a comparative perspective across three urban study sites which links young people’s mobility with the power relations that operate to shape their movements in individual locations. In particular, we consider how positive and negative images of young people’s mobility play out in terms of the inter-generational frictions and negotiations generated by their mobility performances. We also reflect on the developmental implications, in terms of young people’s access to services and income and their participation in the social networks and peer culture which may shape their life trajectories. Three themes are explored in detail: mobility as challenge, mobility as temptation and mobility control.     

Covariation of the Indonesian Throughflow and South China Sea Throughflow Associated with the 1976/77 Regime Shift

Changes in the Indonesian Throughflow(ITF) and the South China Sea throughflow—measured by the Luzon Strait Transport(LST)—associated with the 1976/77 regime shift are analyzed using the Island Rule theory and the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation dataset.Results show that LST increased but ITF transport decreased after 1975.Such changes were induced by variations in wind stress associated with the regime shift.The strengthening of the easterly wind anomaly east of the Luzon Strait played an important role in ...     

MT3D-通用的三维地下水污染物运移数值模型

定量研究污染物在地下水中的运移过程通常采用数值模拟方法。MT3D是一套基于有限差分方法的污染物运移模拟软件，近年来在国外水文地质和水环境模拟等领域的研究中已经得到较为广泛的认可。MT3D比较全面地考虑了污染物在地下水中的对流、弥散和化学反应等过程，可以灵活处理各种复杂的源汇项和边界条件，能够准确模拟承压、无压和越流含水层中的污染物运移过程。MT3D具有模块化的程序结构、灵活的求解方法以及全面的模拟功能，非常适合实际问题的研究，值得在国内推广使用。     

Size distributions of aerosol number concentrations and water-soluble constituents in Toyama, Japan: A comparison of the measurements during Asian dust period with non-dust period

Size-separated aerosol number concentrations and water-soluble constituents were measured in Toyama, the Hokuriku district, near the coast of the Japan Sea, during the spring and summer in 2003. The number concentrations of coarse particles were significantly high in April, which was due to Asian dust events called Kosa in Japanese. Particulate nssCa²⁺, which is mostly present in the coarse-mode particles, was significantly high in April. On the other hand, the concentrations of NH₄⁺ and nssSO₄²⁻, which mainly exist as the accumulation-mode particles were not high in April. The mass-size distributions of water-soluble constituents were compared with the size-separated number concentrations of particles. Backward trajectory analysis was also employed to examine the transport process of the air mass in Toyama.     

Measurements of gas and aerosol for two weeks in northern China during the winter–spring period of 2000, 2001 and 2002

Intensive measurements of gas and aerosol for 2 weeks were carried out at Qingdao (gas and aerosol in 2000, 2001 and 2002), Fenghuangshan (gas and aerosol in 2000 and 2001), and Dalian (aerosol in 2002) in the winter–spring period. High SO₂ episodes were observed on 18 January 2000 at both Qingdao and Fenghuangshan. According to back trajectory calculations and analysis of gaseous species, high SO₂ episodes were caused by local pollution and transport.Nitrate, sulfate and ammonium were the major species in PM_2.5. Mass fractions of NO₃⁻, nss-SO₄²⁻ and NH₄⁺ at Qingdao in 2002 were 10%, 12% and 5.5% for PM_2.5, respectively, which were higher than that of nss-Ca²⁺ (1%). Chemical compositions observed at Dalian and Fenghuangshan were similar to those at Qingdao. The mass ratio of nss-SO₄²⁻/SO₂ at Qingdao in winter was low (< 1.2), indicating that sulfate was probably produced by the slow oxidation of SO₂ in the gas phase and/or was transported from outside of Qingdao in winter. The equivalent ratio of NH₄⁺ to nss-SO₄²⁻ was 1.39, suggesting that ammonium sulfate was one of the major chemical compositions in PM_2.5. The NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ ratio at Qingdao was higher than that at remote places in East Asia. Gas and aerosol data obtained at Fenghuangshan were similar to data at Qingdao, suggesting that emissions from small cities may have a great influence on pollution in northern China.     

黄河的输沙量：过去、现在和将来——距今15万年以来的黄河泥沙收支表

黄河于150 ka BP切穿三门峡，东流入海。黄河泥沙90%来自黄土高原。黄土高原土地利用和植被的变化对黄河输沙有决定性的影响。15万年以来，黄河进入华北平原的泥沙约70 000×108 t，其中10 ka BP以前占80%。10 ka BP以后的输沙量中，最后1040年黄土高原滥垦时期占60%。黄河泥沙的归宿，建造华北大平原占73%，流入海洋占26%。现在，黄河每年流入北黄海的泥沙不足0.2×108  t，其输运主要受海洋环流系统的影响。现在黄海每年向东海输运悬浮沉积物0.2×108~0.3×108 t，主要为废黄河三角洲及水下三角洲受侵蚀再悬浮的黄河泥沙。1996—2000年黄河下游连年断流，利津站的年径流量和输沙量只有1950—1979年30年平均的19%左右。今后20~30年内，由于气候变暖、工业、城市等引黄水量增加，黄河的入海泥沙量仍将偏少。     

The effect of distribution of iron-oxyhydroxide grain coatings on the transport of bacterial cells in porous media

 Among the demonstrated processes influencing the transport of bacteria through aquifers, the deposition of cells on mineral surfaces is one of the most important. For example, understanding the transport of introduced bacteria through aquifers is essential to designing some in situ bioremediation schemes. The impact of the presence and distribution of Fe(III)-oxyhydroxide-coated sand grains on bacterial transport through porous media was evaluated in column experiments in which bacteria (short rods; 1.2 μm length) were eluted through columns of quartz sand (0.5–0.6 mm in diameter) for several conditions of chemical heterogeneity of mineral substrate. Fe(III)-oxyhydroxide-coated sand was present as 10% of the mass, and it was arranged in three treatments: (1) homogeneously distributed, and present as a discrete layer (2) at the top and (3) at the bottom of 14-cm-long sand columns. A pulse input of 10⁸ cells ml^–1 was introduced in an artificial groundwater solution flowing at 14 cm h^–1 through the column, and eluted cells were counted. Peak breakthrough occurred at 1.0 pore volume. A large proportion of cells were retained; 14.7–15.8% of the cells were recovered after three pore volumes of solution had eluted through clean quartz sand, and only 2.1–4.0% were recovered from the Fe(III)-oxyhydroxide-coated sand mixtures. The three physical arrangements of the chemical heterogeneity resulted in essentially the same breakthrough of cells, indicating that the spatial distribution of iron coating does not affect the transport of bacteria. The results of the column transport experiments, which mimic hydrogeological conditions encountered in field problems, are consistent with our mechanistic understanding of bacterial sorption. Received: 10 April 1996 · Accepted: 17 February 1997