[1] As a fast developing country covering a large territory, China is experiencing rapid environmental changes. High concentrations of aerosols with diverse properties are emitted in the region, providing a unique opportunity for understanding the impact of environmental changes on climate. Until very recently, few observational studies were conducted in the source regions. The East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE) attempts to characterize the physical, optical and chemical properties of the aerosols and their effects on climate over China. This study presents some preliminary results using continuous high-quality measurements of aerosol, cloud and radiative quantities made at the first EAST-AIRE baseline station at Xianghe, about 70 km east of Beijing over a period of one year (September 2004to September 2005. It was found that the region is often covered by a thick layer of haze (with a yearly mean aerosol optical depth equal to 0.82 at 500 nm and maximum greater than 4) due primarily to anthropogenic emissions. An abrupt ''cleanup'' of the haze often took place in a matter of one day or less because of the passage of cold fronts. The mean single scattering albedo is approximately 0.9 but has strong day-to-day variations with maximum monthly averages occurring during the summer. Large aerosol loading and strong absorption lead to a very large aerosol radiative effect at the surface (the annual 24-hour mean values equals 24 W m À2 ), but a much smaller aerosol radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere (one tenth of the surface value). The boundary atmosphere is thus heated dramatically during the daytime, which may affect atmospheric stability and cloud formation. In comparison, the cloud radiative effect at the surface is only moderately higher (À41 W m À2 ) than the aerosol radiative effect at the surface.

The plasma membrane H + -ATPase (PM H + -ATPase) plays an important role in the regulation of ion and metabolite transport and is involved in physiological processes that include cell growth, intracellular pH, and stomatal regulation. PM H + -ATPase activity is controlled by many factors, including hormones, calcium, light, and environmental stresses like increased soil salinity. We have previously shown that the Arabidopsis thaliana Salt Overly Sensitive2-Like Protein Kinase5 (PKS5) negatively regulates the PM H + -ATPase. Here, we report that a chaperone, J3 (DnaJ homolog 3; heat shock protein 40-like), activates PM H + -ATPase activity by physically interacting with and repressing PKS5 kinase activity. Plants lacking J3 are hypersensitive to salt at high external pH and exhibit decreased PM H + -ATPase activity. J3 functions upstream of PKS5 as double mutants generated using j3-1 and several pks5 mutant alleles with altered kinase activity have levels of PM H + -ATPase activity and responses to salt at alkaline pH similar to their corresponding pks5 mutant. Taken together, our results demonstrate that regulation of PM H + -ATPase activity by J3 takes place via inactivation of the PKS5 kinase.

[1] Papers published in this special section report findings from the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE). They are concerned with (1) the temporal and spatial distributions of aerosol loading and precursor gases, (2) aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA), (3) aerosol direct radiative effects, (4) validation of satellite products, (5) transport mechanisms, and (6) the effects of air pollution on ecosystems. Aerosol loading is heaviest in mideastern China with a mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.5 and increasing to 0.7 around major cities that reduced daily mean surface solar radiation by $30-40 W m À2 , but barely changed solar reflection at the top of the atmosphere. Aerosol loading, particle size and composition vary considerably with location and season. The MODIS AOD data from Collection 5 (C5) agree much better with ground data than earlier releases, but considerable discrepancies still exist because of treatments of aerosol SSA and surface albedo. Four methods are proposed/adopted to derive the SSA by means of remote sensing and in situ observation, which varies drastically with time and space. The nationwide means of AOD, Å ngström exponent, and SSA (0.5 mm) in China are 0.69 ± 0.17, 1.06 ± 0.26, and 0.89 ± 0.04, respectively. Measurements of trace gases reveal substantial uncertainties in emission inventories. An analysis of aircraft measurements revealed that dry convection is an important mechanism uplifting pollutants over northern China. Model simulations of nitrogen deposition and impact of ozone pollution on net primary productivity indicate an increasing threat of air pollution on the ecosystem.

[1] Single scattering albedo (SSA) governs the strength of aerosols in absorbing solar radiation, but few methods are available to directly measure this important quantity. There currently exist many ground-based measurements of spectral transmittance from which aerosol optical thickness (AOT) are retrieved under clear sky conditions. Reflected radiances at the top of the atmosphere as measured by a spaceborne spectroradiometer are sensitive to both AOT and SSA. On the basis of extensive radiative transfer simulations, it is demonstrated that the combined use of the two measurements allows for the retrieval of SSA at a reasonable accuracy under moderate to heavy aerosol loadings. Retrieval of SSA is most sensitive to AOT and surface reflectance. The accuracy of SSA retrievals increases with aerosol loading.

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an essential role in seed germination. In this study, we demonstrate that one SNF1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE3-type protein kinase, SOS2-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE5 (PKS5), is involved in ABA signal transduction via the phosphorylation of an interacting protein, ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE5 (ABI5). We found that pks5-3 and pks5-4, two previously identified PKS5 superactive kinase mutants with point mutations in the PKS5 FISL/NAF (a conserved peptide that is necessary for interaction with SOS3 or SOS3-LIKE CALCIUM BINDING PROTEINs) motif and the kinase domain, respectively, are hypersensitive to ABA during seed germination. PKS5 was found to interact with ABI5 in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and this interaction was further confirmed in planta using bimolecular fluorescence complementation. Genetic studies revealed that ABI5 is epistatic to PKS5. PKS5 phosphorylates a serine (Ser) residue at position 42 in ABI5 and regulates ABA-responsive gene expression. This phosphorylation was induced by ABA in vivo and transactivated ABI5. Expression of ABI5, in which Ser-42 was mutated to alanine, could not fully rescue the ABA-insensitive phenotypes of the abi5-8 and pks5-4abi5-8 mutants. In contrast, mutating Ser-42 to aspartate rescued the ABA insensitivity of these mutants. These data demonstrate that PKS5-mediated phosphorylation of ABI5 at Ser-42 is critical for the ABA regulation of seed germination and gene expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).

Nanocatalytic therapy, involving the nanozyme-triggered production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the tumor microenvironment (TME), has demonstrated potential in tumor therapy, but nanozymes still face challenges of activity and specificity that compromise the therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we report a strategy based on a single-atom nanozyme to initiate cascade enzymatic reactions in the TME for tumorspecific treatment. The cobalt-single-atom nanozyme, with CoÀ N coordination on N-doped porous carbon (Co-SAs@NC), displays catalase-like activity that decomposes cellular endogenous H 2 O 2 to produce O 2 , and subsequent oxidase-like activity that converts O 2 into cytotoxic superoxide radicals to efficiently kill tumor cells. By incorporation with doxorubicin, the therapy achieves a significantly enhanced antitumor effect in vivo. Our findings show that cascade TME-specific catalytic therapy combined with chemotherapy is a promising strategy for efficient tumor therapy.

Here, we report facile fabrication of two-dimensional (2D) Pd nanosheet (NS)-supported zero-dimensional (0D) Au nanoparticles via galvanic replacement. In the synthesis, the surface-clean Pd NSs premade not only acted as a sacrifice template for replacing Pd atoms by Au3+ ions, but served as a support substrate to support Au nanoparticles. The morphology, structure, and composition of products relied on the Au/Pd feed atomic ratio. Interestingly, the as-obtained 0D/2D Au x Pd100–x (x = 4.5, 9.8, and 21) nanocomposites showed remarkably enhanced peroxidase-mimic catalysis in the model oxidation reaction, which followed the typical Michaelis–Menten theory. Compared to Pd NSs, the enhanced catalysis of Au x Pd100–x was closely related to both the increased specific surface area and the modified electronic structure of Pd NSs, which resulted in a change in the catalytic pathway, that is, from hydroxyl radical generation to rapid electron transfer. The work provides a simple yet efficient avenue to build highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts based on metallic NSs, as exemplified by the superior nanozyme activity of 0D/2D bimetallic nanostructures for glucose detection.

[1] Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol products have been used to address aerosol climatic issues in many parts of the world, but their quality has yet to be determined over China. This paper presents a thorough evaluation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) data retrieved from MODIS collections 4 (C004) and 5 (C005) at two AERONET sites in northern and southeastern China. Established under the aegis of the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols: An International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE) project, the two sites, Xianghe and Taihu, have distinct ecosystems and climate regimes, resulting in differences in retrieval performance. At the rural northeastern site (Xianghe), MODIS C004 retrievals generally overestimate AOD at 550 nm during clean days, with the largest errors occurring during winter. In the warm and humid regions of southeastern China (Taihu), MODIS C004 retrievals overestimate AOD throughout the year. The systematic error at Xianghe is primarily due to the fixed surface reflectance ratio, while as the error at Taihu is mainly caused by the choice of the single scattering albedo (SSA) for the fine model aerosols. Both problems are alleviated considerably in the C005. The comparisons between C005 retrievals and AERONET data show much higher correlation coefficient, lower offset and a slope closer to unity. Also, the variability of AOD retrieval among neighboring pixels is reduced by several factors. The strong overestimation problem at small AOD values was fixed by using dynamic reflectance ratios that vary with the vegetation index and scattering angle. However, significant uncertainties remain because of the use of highly simplified aerosol models.