Relationships Between Metal Concentrations in Human Hair and in Soil,Road Dust,and Rice

The relationships between metal contents in soil, road dust, and rice, and in human hair from a rural area of China were observed for Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn. The results showed that the mean concentrations of Mn in human hair were higher than the highest reference value. The concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn in soil and road dust were usually higher than their background values. The enrichment factors indicated that the determined metals in soil and road dust were usually derived from natural sources. Chromium, Pb, and Zn in soils and road dusts from several sites were slightly influenced by anthropogenic sources. The regression analyses showed that positive relationships usually exist between the concentrations of the determined metals in rice and in human hair as well as in soil and in human hair. However, relationships between metal concentrations in road dust and in human hair were less obvious. The study demonstrated that human hair was an applicable biomonitor of metal concentrations in rice, soil, and road dust from a rural area in China. Metal concentrations in local human hair could be used to predict contamination levels of metals in rice and soil.     

北京城区行道树国槐叶面尘分布及重金属污染特征

叶面尘分布范围广、累积时间长,能够较好地指示近地面大气颗粒物污染特征和累积状况。为揭示城市道路交通的大气颗粒物污染特征,研究了北京城区不同类型道路两侧行道树国槐(Sophora japonica)的叶面滞尘量,分析了叶面尘主要重金属的浓度和污染特征,采用相关分析和主成分分析法探讨了颗粒物重金属的主要来源。结果表明:国槐叶面滞尘量在快速路、主干路、次干路、支路上的比值为100∶84∶75∶75,受车流量影响较大。行道树国槐的平均叶面滞尘量为0.68 g/m2,庭院树国槐(远离交通)叶面滞尘量是0.51 g/m2,两者差异显著。行道树叶面尘重金属元素Cu、Zn、Pb在叶面尘中的浓度达到土壤背景值的6倍,空间分布较均匀,主要来自交通排放,庭院树叶面尘重金属污染也受到交通排放的重要影响。     

Crystal structure and some properties of a major house dust mite allergen, Derf 2

Pyroglyphid house dust mites are a major source of allergens in house dust. Mite allergens sensitize and induce asthma, rhinitis, and eczema in a large portion of patients with allergic diseases. Here, the crystal structure of a major mite allergen, Derf 2, derived from Dermatophagoides farinae was solved by single isomorphous replacement method with anomalous scattering (SIRAS) at 2.1A resolution. The present study also demonstrated that the conformation of the allergen was critical in the determination of Th1/Th2 shift based on physicochemical and immunological analyses. This indicates that rigidly folded and singly dispersed structure is essentially required for the generation of Th2 type cells by the allergen, while conformational variant protein leads to Th1 skewing, irrespective of the same amino acid sequence. This structure/function relationship may allow us to develop a novel strategy for hyposensitization therapy in patients with allergic diseases triggered by house dust mite allergens.     

The behavior of the atmosphere in long-range transport

Long-range transport of gases and aerosols depends on vertical and horizontal air shifts: studies on atmospheric transport have to be based on the meteorological conditions of the environment. The aim of this paper is to review the physical principles on which meteorological models are based, and to make an exhaustive inventory of the main models used for the prognosis and diagnosis of air masses and a list of the long-range transport models associated to them. URL addresses are provided for all of these models to allow the reader to check their usefulness. A practical application is included with reference to trajectories followed by air masses that reach the Iberian Peninsula at various altitudes, depending on the synoptic meteorological situation. Further examples describe air masses entering Europe with desert dust from Africa. This dust may eventually develop into freezing nuclei and form hailstones in summer storms.     

Biocontrol of Acanthoscelides obtectus and Sitophilus oryzae with diatomaceous earth and Beauveria bassiana on stored grains

Combined treatment with Beauveria bassiana, and diatomaceous earth (DE) was evaluated against the bean weevil Acanthoscelides obtectus and rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae. DE from Argentina was screened both alone or in combination with water or dry fungal formulations. DE killed 100% of A. obtectus and 68% of S. oryzae showing a significantly higher insecticidal effect than the fungal dust. For A. obtectus, median lethal time (MLT) with the DE-dry fungus was significantly lower than with a fungal aqueous-suspension. In S. oryzae, powder formulations with either of B. bassiana or DE showed a MLT significantly higher than the wet treatments.     

Cross-reactivity between storage and dust mites and between mites and shrimp

Many patients have sensitivities to multiple species of storage and house dust mites. It is not clear if this is because patients have multiple sensitivities to species-specific mite allergens or if these mites share many cross-reacting allergens. Our objective was to further define the cross-allergenicity between several species of storage and house dust mites using crossed-immunoelectrophoresis (CIE), crossed-radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE), immunoblotting, and ELISA. CIE and CRIE reactions revealed that storage mites shared two cross-antigenic molecules and one of these bound IgE in a serum pool from mite allergic patients. Antibody in anti-sera built to each species of mite recognized many SDS–PAGE resolved proteins of other mite species and this suggested the potential for other cross-reactive allergens. Among patient sera, IgE bound to many different proteins but few had IgE that bound to a protein with common molecular weights across the mite species and this suggested mostly species-specific allergens. Antiserum built to each mite species precipitated one protein in shrimp extracts that bound anti-Der p 10 (tropomyosin) and IgE in the serum pool. Anti-Der p 10 showed strong binding to shrimp tropomyosin but very little to any of the mite proteins. ELISA showed the mite extracts contained very little tropomyosin. The storage and dust mites investigated contain mostly species-specific allergens and very small amounts of the pan-allergen tropomyosin compared to shrimp and snail.     

Bioaerosols associated with animal production operations

Air emissions from animal housing and manure management operations include a complex mixture of biological, microbial, and inorganic particulates along with odorous volatile compounds. This report highlights the state of current issues, technical knowledge, and remaining challenges to be addressed in evaluating the impacts of airborne microorganisms, dusts, and odorants on animals and workers at animal production facilities and nearby communities. Reports documenting bioaerosol measurements illustrate some of the technical issues related to sample collection, analysis, as well as dispersion and transport to off-farm locations. Approaches to analysis, mitigation and modeling transport are discussed in the context of the risk reduction and management of airborne spread of bioaerosols from animal operations. The need for standardization and validation of bioaerosol collection and analytical techniques for indoor as well as outdoor animal agriculture settings is critical to evaluation of health effects from modern animal production systems that are increasingly situated near communities.     

城市工业区园林绿地滞尘效应的研究--以武汉钢铁公司厂区绿地为例

在测定武钢工业区园林植物滞尘能力的基础上,结合绿地实地调查和武钢工业区园林绿地GIS,比较分析了园林绿地不同植物种类和层片类型的滞尘能力,并定量研究了武钢厂区园林绿地的滞尘效应.结果表明,不同园林植物的滞尘能力有较大差异,这主要与不同植物的叶表面特性、树冠结构、枝叶密集程度等差异有关.不同层片类型滞尘能力依次为落叶阔叶灌木＞常绿阔叶灌木＞绿篱＞常绿阔叶乔木＞落叶阔叶乔木＞针叶乔木＞草本.武钢厂区园林绿地的日滞尘量是9.51 t,年总滞尘量为3 089.98 t.其中常绿阔叶乔木层片年滞尘量最大,达991.68 t,落叶阔叶灌木层片最小,只有0.0181 t.由于园林绿地的滞尘量取决于所构成植物的滞尘能力及其叶面积绿量,因此,选择滞尘能力强的植物,并以乔灌草不同生活型植物进行合理配置,是提高园林绿地滞尘效应的有效途径.     

分装过程中尘粒变化的影响因素探讨

通过对在线粒子实时监测系统采集的尘粒变化数据进行分析,探讨影响分装过程中尘粒变化的因素。对同批次分装时四个监测点和不同批次分装时同一监测点尘粒变化的数据进行分析,结果表明,在分装的前期准备、后期清场以及排除故障期间,粒子数变化明显。可见洁净间人员的数量及人员的行为是影响分装过程中尘粒变化的主要因素。     

Characterization of Acanthamoeba Isolates from Dust of a Public Hospital in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

ABSTRACT. Occurrence of Acanthamoeba in the hospital environment may represent a health risk for patients, since these organisms can cause severe opportunistic illness, such as keratitis, and also can harbor pathogenic agents. We analyzed the dust from some environments of a public hospital in Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil. Two distinct populations of Acanthamoeba were isolated in five locations and morphologically classified as group I and group II according to Pussard and Pons. Isolates were identified as Acanthamoeba by PCR using primers to amplify a region of 18S rDNA, which showed variation in the product length among the isolates. A cloned culture of group II showed greater growth at 37 °C and in media with 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 M mannitol, which are the physiological characteristics of pathogenic Acanthamoeba . Monitoring the presence of Acanthamoeba in hospital units, as well as evaluating the pathogenicity of the isolates, can be an approach to alert the health professionals to improve the disinfection procedures and minimize the risks of treating this problematic disease caused by this protozoan.