Exposure to secondhand smoke in terraces and other outdoor areas of hospitality venues in eight European countries

Background

Outdoor secondhand smoke (SHS) concentrations are usually lower than indoor concentrations, yet some studies have shown that outdoor SHS levels could be comparable to indoor levels under specific conditions. The main objectives of this study were to assess levels of SHS exposure in terraces and other outdoor areas of hospitality venues and to evaluate their potential displacement to adjacent indoor areas.

Methods

Nicotine and respirable particles (PM2.5) were measured in outdoor and indoor areas of hospitality venues of 8 European countries. Hospitality venues of the study included night bars, restaurants and bars. The fieldwork was carried out between March 2009 and March 2011.

Results

We gathered 170 nicotine and 142 PM2.5 measurements during the study. The median indoor SHS concentration was significantly higher in venues where smoking was allowed (nicotine 3.69 µg/m3, PM2.5: 120.51 µg/m3) than in those where smoking was banned (nicotine: 0.48 µg/m3, PM2.5: 36.90 µg/m3). The median outdoor nicotine concentration was higher in places where indoor smoking was banned (1.56 µg/m3) than in venues where smoking was allowed (0.31 µg/m3). Among the different types of outdoor areas, the highest median outdoor SHS levels (nicotine: 4.23 µg/m3, PM2.5: 43.64 µg/m3) were found in the semi-closed outdoor areas of venues where indoor smoking was banned.

Conclusions

Banning indoor smoking seems to displace SHS exposure to adjacent outdoor areas. Furthermore, indoor settings where smoking is banned but which have a semi-closed outdoor area have higher levels of SHS than those with open outdoor areas, possibly indicating that SHS also drifts from outdoors to indoors. Current legislation restricting indoor SHS levels seems to be insufficient to protect hospitality workers – and patrons – from SHS exposure. Tobacco-free legislation should take these results into account and consider restrictions in the terraces of some hospitality venues to ensure effective protection.     

Viability and Biomass of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Micrococcus luteus</Emphasis> DE2008 at Different Salinity Concentrations Determined by Specific Fluorochromes and CLSM-Image Analysis

In previous studies, our group developed a method based on Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Image Analysis (CLSM-IA) to analyze the diversity and biomass of cyanobacteria in microbial mats. However, this method cannot be applied to heterotrophic microorganisms, as these do not have autofluorescence. In this article, we present a method that combines CLSM-IA and Hoechst 33342 and SYTOX Green fluorochromes (FLU-CLSM-IA) to determine the viability and biomass of Micrococcus luteus DE2008, isolated from a saline microbial mat (Ebro Delta, Tarragona, Spain). The method has been applied to assess the effect of salinity on this microorganism. A reduction in viability and biomass (live cells) was observed as the salt concentration increases. The largest effect was at 100‰ NaCl with a cell death of 27.25% and a decrease in total and individual biomass of 39.75 and 0.009 mgC/cm³, respectively, both with respect to optimal growth (10 ‰ NaCl). On the other hand, another important contribution of this article was that combining the FLU-CLSM-IA results with those achieved by plate counts enabled us to determine, for first time, the viability and the total biomass of the “dormant cells” (66.75% of viability and 40.59 mgC/cm³ of total biomass at 100‰ NaCl). FLU-CLSM-IA is an efficient, fast, and reliable method for making a total count of cells at pixel level, including the dormant cells, to evaluate the viability and the biomass of a hetetrophic microorganism, M. luteus DE2008.     

Structural features of the C-terminus from the human neurokinin-1 receptor

The neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) is a G-protein coupled receptor found in the central and peripheral nervous systems of vertebrates, and is responsible for many physiological processes. The C-terminus domain seems to be essential for coupling to the corresponding G-protein and β-arrestin, and is important for receptor desensitization, internalization and recycling. We have focused our study on expression of the human NK1R (hNK1R) C-terminus in Escherichia coli, and its purification and characterization, in order to elucidate its structural properties. CD and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the hNK1R C-terminus, rather than having a random structure, has well-defined secondary-structure patterns. The presence of three tyrosine residues in the primary sequence of the hNK1R C-terminus facilitated the use of UV and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques which revealed tyrosine fluorescence and UV absorption at anomalous wavelengths. In their entirety, the results show that the hNK1R C-terminus has clearly defined secondary (25% α-helix, 27% unordered structure and 48% β-sheets and β-turns) and tertiary structures which, it is believed, are tightly related to its multiple functions.     

FTIR spectroscopy of secondary-structure reorientation of melibiose permease modulated by substrate binding

Analysis of infrared polarized absorbance spectra and linear dichroism spectra of reconstituted melibiose permease from Escherichia coli shows that the oriented structures correspond mainly to tilted transmembrane α-helices, forming an average angle of ∼26° with the membrane normal in substrate-free medium. Examination of the deconvoluted linear dichroism spectra in H₂O and D₂O makes apparent two populations of α-helices differing by their tilt angle (helix types I and II). Moreover, the average helical tilt angle significantly varies upon substrate binding: it is increased upon Na⁺ binding, whereas it decreases upon subsequent melibiose binding in the presence of Na⁺. In contrast, melibiose binding in the presence of H⁺ causes virtually no change in the average tilt angle. The data also suggest that the two helix populations change their tilting and H/D exchange level in different ways depending on the bound substrate(s). Notably, cation binding essentially influences type I helices, whereas melibiose binding modifies the tilting of both helix populations.     

Vertical migration of phototrophic bacterial populations in a hypersaline microbial mat from Salins-de-Giraud (Camargue, France)

The spatio-temporal distribution of phototrophic communities of the hypersaline photosynthetic Camarguc microbial mat (Salins-de-Giraud, France) was investigated over a diel cycle by combining microscopic and molecular approaches. Microcoleus chthonoplastes and Halomicronema excentricum, the dominant cyanobacteria of this oxyphotrophic community, were observed with confocal laser scanning microscopy to determine their biomass profiles. Both bacteria have similar vertical distributions, varying from a homogenous distribution through the mat during the night, to a specific localization in the upper oxic zone of 1.5 mm during the day. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified pufM gene fragments revealed three groups of anoxyphototrophic populations, which varied according to the two opposite periods of the diel cycle under study. They were either specifically detected in only one period, or homogenously distributed through the mat in all periods, or located in specific zones of the mat depending on the period considered. Oxygen concentrations, pH and biomass of the major filamentous cyanobacteria were the determinative factors in the distribution of these anoxyphototrophs across the mat. Thus, vertical migration, cell-cell aggregate formation and metabolic switches were the most evident defence of the photosynthetic populations against the adverse effects of sulfide and oxygen fluxes during a diel cycle.     

Genotypic variability and persistence of Legionella pneumophila PFGE patterns in 34 cooling towers from two different areas

Genotypic variability and clonal persistence are important concepts in molecular epidemiology as they facilitate the search for the source of sporadic cases or outbreaks of legionellosis. We studied the genotypic variability and persistence of Legionella pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns over time (period > 6 months) in 34 positive cooling towers from two different areas. In area A, radius of 70 km, 52 indistinguishable PFGE patterns were differentiated among the 27 cooling towers. In 13 cooling towers we observed ≥ 2 PFGE patterns. Each cooling tower had its own indistinguishable Legionella PFGE pattern which was not shared with any other cooling tower. In area B, radius of 1 km, 10 indistinguishable PFGE patterns were obtained from the seven cooling towers. In four, we observed ≥ 2 PFGE patterns. Three of these 10 indistinguishable PFGE patterns were shared by more than one cooling tower. In 27 of 34 cooling towers the same PFGE pattern was recovered after 6 months to up to 5 years of follow-up. The large genotypic diversity of Legionella observed in the cooling towers aids in the investigation of community outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease. However, shared patterns in small areas may confound the epidemiological investigation. The persistence of some PFGE patterns in cooling towers makes the recovery of the Legionella isolate causing the outbreak possible over time.     

Histamine receptor 1 is expressed in leukaemic cells and affects differentiation sensitivity

Despite the success of immunotherapy in several haematological neoplasms, the effectiveness in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is still controversial, partially due to the lack of knowledge regarding immune‐related processes in this disease and similar neoplasias. In this study, we analysed the role and expression of histamine receptor 1 (HRH1) in haematological malignancies. Although the histamine receptor type 1 was widely expressed in healthy and malignant haematopoiesis, especially along the myeloid lineage, HRH1 lacked a relevant role in survival/proliferation and chemoresistance of AML cells, as analysed by HRH1 knockdown (KD) and pharmacological modulation. However, HRH1‐mediated signalling was critical for the activation of the differentiation process induced by several agents including all‐trans retinoic acid, establishing a role for HRH1 in myeloid differentiation. Pharmacological activation of Erk was able to partially restore differentiation capacity in HRH1 KD AML cells, suggesting that HRH1 signalling acts upstream MAPK‐Erk pathway. As an indirect consequence of our results, treatment‐related histamine release is not expected to confer a proliferative advantage in leukaemic cells.     

Two examples of fixed behavioural patterns in salmonines: female false spawning and male digging

Data collected from underwater video recordings in the wild and in a semi-natural channel were used to study two examples of relatively unknown behaviour in the Salmoninae subfamily—false spawning in females and digging in Oncorhynchus males. Observations suggest that false spawning should be regarded as an incomplete fixed behavioural pattern (FBP) and that male digging represents two special types of FBP (displacement FBP) with threatening and courting functions as ultimate causes.     

Induced mutagenesis by bleomycin in the purple sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina

Cell death and mutagenesis in bleomycin-treated cells of Thiocapsa roseopersicina (a purple sulfur bacterium) was studied by cultivation in a semisolid medium (agar-shake technique). This technique has also proven useful in assessing the frequency of antibiotic mutations by detecting and counting individual colonies of Thiocapsa roseopersicina. The frequencies of spontaneous mutants resistant to ampicillin, rifampicin, cloramphenicol, tetracycline, kanamycin, streptomycin, and neomycin were also studied: they ranged between 2×10^-9 and 9×10^-8. Bleomycin (4 g/ml) sharply increased the frequency of ampicillin-resistant mutants, from 10^-8 (spontaneous) to 4×10^-4 (induced), in 17 h. An inducible, error-prone mechanisms of DNA synthesis seems to be responsible for this enhancement of the mutagenic effect. This is the first report on the sensitivity to several antibiotics, and capacity of lethality and mutagenesis by bleomycin has been studied in a purple sulfur bacterium.     

Velocity changes, long runs, and reversals in the Chromatium minus swimming response.

The velocity, run time, path curvature, and reorientation angle of Chromatium minus were measured as a function of light intensity, temperature, viscosity, osmotic pressure, and hydrogen sulfide concentration. C. minus changed both velocity and run time. Velocity decreased with increasing light intensity in sulfide-depleted cultures and increased in sulfide-replete cultures. The addition of sulfide to cultures grown at low light intensity (10 microeinsteins m-2 s-1) caused mean run times to increase from 10.5 to 20.6 s. The addition of sulfide to cultures grown at high light intensity (100 microeinsteins m-2 s-1) caused mean run times to decrease from 15.3 to 7.7 s. These changes were maintained for up to an hour and indicate that at least some members of the family Chromatiaceae simultaneously modulate velocity and turning frequency for extended periods as part of normal taxis.