Airborne olive pollen counts are not representative of exposure to the major olive allergen Ole e 1

Pollen is routinely monitored, but it is unknown whether pollen counts represent allergen exposure. We therefore simultaneously determined olive pollen and Ole e 1 in ambient air in C ordoba, Spain, and Evora, Portugal, using Hirst-type traps for pollen and high-volume cascade impactors for allergen. Pollen from different days released 12-fold different amounts of Ole e 1 per pollen (both locations P < 0.001). Average allergen release from pollen (pollen potency) was much higher in C ordoba (3.9 pg Ole e 1/pollen) than in Evora (0.8 pg Ole e 1/pollen, P = 0.004). Indeed, yearly olive pollen counts in C ordoba were 2.4 times higher than in Evora, but Ole e 1 concentrations were 7.6 times higher. When modeling the origin of the pollen, >40% of Ole e 1 exposure in Evora was explained by high-potency pollen originating from the south of Spain. Thus, olive pollen can vary substantially in allergen release, even though they are morphologically identical

Magnesium reduces calcification in bovine vascular smooth muscle cells in a dose-dependent manner

WOS: 000300421300010PubMed ID: 21750166Vascular calcification (VC), mainly due to elevated phosphate levels, is one major problem in patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. In clinical studies, an inverse relationship between serum magnesium and VC has been reported. However, there is only few information about the influence of magnesium on calcification on a cellular level available. Therefore, we investigated the effect of magnesium on calcification induced by beta-glycerophosphate (BGP) in bovine vascular smooth muscle cells (BVSMCs). BVSMCs were incubated with calcification media for 14 days while simultaneously increasing the magnesium concentration. Calcium deposition, transdifferentiation of cells and apoptosis were measured applying quantification of calcium, von Kossa and Alizarin red staining, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and annexin V staining, respectively. Calcium deposition in the cells dramatically increased with addition of BGP and could be mostly prevented by co-incubation with magnesium. Higher magnesium levels led to inhibition of BGP-induced alkaline phosphatase activity as well as to a decreased expression of genes associated with the process of transdifferentiation of BVSMCs into osteoblast-like cells. Furthermore, estimated calcium entry into the cells decreased with increasing magnesium concentrations in the media. In addition, higher magnesium concentrations prevented cell damage (apoptosis) induced by BGP as well as progression of already established calcification. Higher magnesium levels prevented BVSMC calcification, inhibited expression of osteogenic proteins, apoptosis and further progression of already established calcification. Thus, magnesium is influencing molecular processes associated with VC and may have the potential to play a role for VC also in clinical situations.Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH, GermanyThis study was supported by Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH, Germany

Near-ground Effect of Height on Pollen Exposure

The effect of height on pollen concentration is not well documented and little is known about the near-ground vertical profile of airborne pollen. This is important as most measuring stations are on roofs, but patient exposure is at ground level. Our study used a big data approach to estimate the near-ground vertical profile of pollen concentrations based on a global study of paired stations located at different heights. We analyzed paired sampling stations located at different heights between 1.5 and 50m above ground level (AGL). This provided pollen data from 59 Hirst-type volumetric traps from 25 different areas, mainly in Europe, but also covering North America and Australia, resulting in about 2,000,000 daily pollen concentrations analyzed. The daily ratio of the amounts of pollen from different heights per location was used, and the values of the lower station were divided by the higher station. The lower station of paired traps recorded more pollen than the higher trap. However, while the effect of height on pollen concentration was clear, it was also limited (average ratio 1.3, range 0.7–2.2). The standard deviation of the pollen ratio was highly variable when the lower station was located close to the ground level (below 10m AGL). We show that pollen concentrations measured at >10m are representative for background near-ground levels

The level of damage caused by football matches on players

Football is a team game requiring high level of athletic performance such as resistance, strength, flexibility, speed and promptness. The goal of this study is to determine the level of muscle damages of players caused by football matches. The study enrolled male football players of the local leagues, whose age, weight and height averages, body-mass indexes, and sport ages were 22.01±0.63 (years), 71.06±1.50 (kg), 177.67±0,06 (cm), 22.42±0.39 (kg)/[weight(m2)], 8.50±0.49 years, respectively. Within the scope of the study, blood samples have been taken from the subjects at the amount of 5 cc each time for 4 times as "Before the Match", "During the Match", "After the Match" and "24 Hours After the Match". Over the blood samples, Creatine Kinase, Creatine Kinase Myocardinal Band, Lactate Dehydrogenase, Alanin aminotransferase, Aspartat aminotransferase and Gamma Glutamyl Transferase parameters have been analyzed. While statistical differences have been observed between Creatine Kinase Myocardinal Band and Lactate Dehydrogenase parameters, no statistical difference has been identified among the measurements of Creatine Kinase, Alaniamnotransferase, Apartaminotransferase and Gamma Glutamil Transferase. In conclusion, when all data are evaluated together, it can be claimed that while a football match increases the enzyme values of Creatine Kinase Myocardinal Band and Lactate Dehydrogenase, it can be overcome with 24 hours of resting and no statistical difference occurs among Creatine Kinase, Alaninaminotransferase, Apartaminotransferase, Gamma Glutamyl Transferase parameters and players adapt to the occurring damage during the match as a result of adaptation to the exercise

porphyrazines bearing peripheral aza-18-crown-6 moieties

Metal-free and metalloporphyrazines bearing substituted aza-18-crown-6 moieties in peripheral positions were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR, UV-vis and MS spectral data. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Selection of waste disposal sites using GIS

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is used to identify candidate sites for a solid waste disposal facility in the Golbasi region of Turkey that has suffered from the negative impact of a current but poorly-located open-dump site on the environment. The municipality of Galbasi has noticed its deleterious effect on the environment, and has thus decided to dismiss this open-dump site and search for new landfill sites. In this study, the procedure followed under a GIS framework rejects the unacceptable sites considering environmental factors exclusively, other than economic and political issues, contained in the form of multiple layers of attribute information to select the candidate sites for landfilling wastes through an overlay analysis performed by GIS software, ARC/INFO V 7.1. For the spatial data requirements of GIS, a number of thematic map layers (ground water, wetlands and swamp areas, surface water, roads, topographic contours, ecological features, settlements, erosion susceptibility zones, and soil type) are prepared in digital form. In this application, GIS is considered as a screening tool in a site selection process to narrow the number of candidate sites, subsequently leading to one or more sites for detailed investigation. Preliminary ranking for a group of potential sites is done on the basis of simple calculations coupled with on-site field studies