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Tibetan Plateau
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Growth and development are clearly affected by high-altitude exposure to hypoxia, nutritional stress, cold or a combination of these factors. Very little research has been conducted on the growth and nutritional status of children living on the Tibetan Plateau. The present study evaluated the environmental impact on human growth by analyzing anthropometric characteristics of Tibetan children aged 8-14, born and raised above 4000 m altitude on the Himalayan massif in the prefecture of Shegar in Tibet Autonomous Region. Data on anthropometric traits, never measured in this population, were collected and the nutritional status was assessed. A reference data set is provided for this population. There was no evidence of wasting but stunting was detected (28.3%). Children permanently exposed to the high-altitude environment above 4000 m present a phenotypic form of adaptation and a moderate reduction in linear growth. However, it is also necessary to consider the effects of socioeconomic deprivation.
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A continuous air and precipitation sampling for carbonaceous particles was conducted in a field observatory beside Nam Co, Central Tibetan Plateau during July of 2006 through January of 2007. Organic carbon (OC) was the dominant composition of the carbonaceous particles both in the atmosphere (1660 ng/m3) and precipitation (476 ng/g) in this area, while the average elemental carbon (BC) concentrations in the atmosphere and precipitation were only 82 ng/m3 and 8 ng/g, respectively. Very high OC/BC ratio suggested local secondary organic carbon could be a dominant contribution to OC over the Nam Co region, while BC could be mainly originated from Southern Asia, as indicated by trajectory analysis and aerosol optical depth. Comparison between the BC concentrations measured in Lhasa, those at “Nepal Climate Observatory at Pyramid (NCO-P)” site on the southern slope of the Himalayas, and Nam Co suggested BC in the Nam Co region reflected a background with weak anthropogenic disturbances and the emissions from Lhasa might have little impact on the atmospheric environment here, while the pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic Basin of Southern Asia could be transported to the Nam Co region by both the summer monsoon and the westerly.