Comparison between Poaceae Airborne Pollen Counts and Phl p5 Aeroallergen Quantification in South Europe

The European project HIALINE: Comparison between Poaceae Airborne Pollen Counts and Phl p5 Aeroallergen Quantification in South Europe C. Antunes1,2, R. Ferro2, R. Ribeiro2, Torres M.C.4, M.J. Velasco4H. García-Mozo4, Galán, C4 , R.Brandao1,3, M.Thibaudon5, R. Albertini6 Ugolotti. M.6, Usberti I.6, Dall’Aglio P.6 and the HIALINE team7 1DInstitute of Mediterranean Agricultural and Environmental Sciences –ICAAM, University of Évora, Portugal 2Department of Chemistry, University of Évora, Portugal 3Department of Biology, University of Évora, Portugal 4Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba 5Réseau National de l Surveillance Aerobiologique, Saint-Genis-l’Argentière, France 6Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Italy 7J.T.M. Buters, Germany, M. Thibaudon, France, M. Smith, Great Britain, C. Galan, Spain, R. Brandao and C.M. Antunes, Portugal, G. Reese, Germany, R. Albertini, Italy, L. Grewling, Poland, A. Rantio-Lehtimäki, Finland, S. Jäger and U. Berger, Austria, I. Sauliene, Lithuania, L. Cecchi, Italy Introduction: Nowadays, pollinosis is affecting a large percentage of population in countries with a western life style. The existence of allergenic activity in the atmosphere is not only associated to pollen grains and fungal spores, but also to submicronic and paucimicronic biological particles. The origin of these allergens can be due to the rupture of pollen transported in the atmosphere or to the presence of allergens from other parts of the plant making amorphous material with an allergen load. Poaceae pollen is recognized as one of the main causes of allergic disease in all Europe. In this study we have tried to compare Poaceae pollen counts in the air and Phl p 5, one of the major allergens of this family, through the use of a high-volume cascade impactor (Chemvol). This study was done in the frame of the European project HIALINE and it compares the results obtained in 2009 by 4 different partners participating in this project: in Córdoba (Spain), Évora (Portugal), Lyon (France) and Parma (Italy). Methodology: Pollen grains were sampled using a 7-day volumetric Hirst type spore trap. Chemvol high-volume cascade impactor equipped with stages PM>10µm, 10 µm>PM>2.5µm was used for detecting aeroallergens. In each stage polyurethane filters were use as an impacting substrate. Phl p 5 allergen was determined using an allergen specific ELISA. Antibodies for analysis were delivered by Allergopharma Joachim Ganzer KG, the industrial partner in this project. At each location both samplers were placed side-by-side. Results: Most of the allergen was collected in the PM>10µm fraction. Similar profiles between airborne pollen and the total allergenic load was observed during the pollen season. A good correlation was obtained between pollen count and allergen content of the air and a value of 2.5 pg/pollen grain of Poaceae was estimated. Discussion: This is the first year of this project. Nevertheless, results suggest that the allergenic load in outdoor air might be mainly due to pollen bursts. It supports the hypothesis that monitoring the allergens itself in ambient air might be an improvement in allergen exposure assessment. This work was supported in part by the European Agency for Health and Consumers EAHC, Luxembourg, under the grant agreement 2008110

Comparison between Airborne Pollen and Aeroallergen Quantification with the ChemVol Impact Sampler. Olive pollen vs Ole e 1

Comparison between Airborne Pollen and Aeroallergen Quantification with the ChemVol Impact Sampler. Olive pollen vs Ole e 1. Torres M.C.1, C. Antunes2, M.J. Velasco1, R. Ferro2, H. García-Mozo1, R. Ribeiro2, R.Brandao3, Galán, C1 and the HIALINE team4 1Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba 2Department of Chemistry, University of Évora, Portugal 3Department of Biology, University of Évora, Portugal 4J.T.M. Buters, Germany, M. Thibaudon, France, M. Smith, Great Britain, C. Galan, Spain, R. Brandao and C. Antunes, Portugal, G. Reese, Germany, R. Albertini, Italy, L. Grewling, Poland, A. Rantio-Lehtimäki, Finland, S. Jäger and U. Berger, Austria, I. Sauliene, Lithuania, L. Cecchi, Italy Nowadays, pollinosis is affecting a large percentage of population in the countries with a western life style. The existence of allergenic activity in the atmosphere is not only associated to pollen grains and fungal spores, but also to submicronic and paucimicronic biological particles. The origin of these allergens can be due to the rupture of pollen transported in the atmosphere or to the presence of allergens from other parts of the plant making amorphous material with an allergen load. Olive pollen is recognized as one of the main causes of allergic disease in the Mediterranean area. In this study we have tried to compare olive pollen count in the air and Ole e 1 as major allergen of this species, at two different localities in South of Europe: Evora (Portugal) and Córdoba (Spain). At each location both samplers were placed side-by-side. Pollen grains have been sampled using a volumetric Hirst type spore trap. Chemvol high-volume cascade impactor equipped with stages PM>10µm, 10 µm>PM>2.5µm were used for detecting aeroallergens. Ole e 1 major allergen was determined using allergen specific ELISA´s. Similar behaviour between pollen and the total allergenic load was observed during the pollen season. Nevertheless, at some occasions, during the previous and later period of the pollen season, airborne allergenic load was detected in South Spain, due to the contributions from other Oleaceae species. For this reason the use of these two different methodologies allow a better understanding of the allergenic load in the atmosphere. This work was supported in part by the European Agency for Health and Consumers EAHC, Luxembourg, under the grant agreement 20081107

The European project HIALINE: Comparison between Poaceae Airborne Pollen Counts and Phl p5 Aeroallergen Quantification in SW Europe

The European project HIALINE: Comparison between Poaceae Airborne Pollen Counts and Phl p5 Aeroallergen Quantification in SW Europe C. Antunes1*, R. Ferro1, R. Ribeiro1, Torres M.C.3, M.J. Velasco3H. García-Mozo3, Galán, C3 , R.Brandao2, M.Thibaudon4 and the HIALINE team5 1Department of Chemistry, University of Évora, Portugal 2Department of Biology, University of Évora, Portugal 3Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba 4Réseau National de l Surveillance Aerobiologique, Saint-Genis-l’Argentière, France 5J.Buters, Germanny, M. Thibaudon, France, M. Smith, Great Britain, C. Galan, Spain, R. Brandao and C.M. Antunes, Portugal, R. Albertini, Italy, L. Grewling, Poland, A. Rantio-Lehtimäki, Finland, S. Jäger and U. Berger, Austria, I. Sauliene, Lithuania, L. Cecchi, Italy * Presenting Author: Antunes, C. Department of Chemistry, University of Évora, Portugal. Phone +351 266745319 ; email: [email protected] Introduction: Nowadays, pollinosis is affecting in a large percentage of population in the developed countries. The existence of allergenic activity in the atmosphere is not only associated to pollen grains and fungal spores, but also to submicronic and paucimicronic biological particles. The origin of these allergens can be due to the rupture of pollen transported in the atmosphere or to the presence of allergens from other parts of the plant making amorphous material with allergenic load. Poaceae pollen is recognized as one of the main causes of allergic disease in all Europe. In this study we have tried to compare Poaceae pollen counts in the air and Phl p 5, one of the major allergens of this family, through the use of a high-volume cascade impactor (Chemvol). This study was done in the frame of the European project HIALINE and it compares the results obtained in 2009 by 3 different partners participating in this project: in Córdoba (Spain), Évora (Portugal) and Lyon (France). Methodology: Pollen grains have been taken out using a 7-day volumetric Hirst type spore trap. Chemvol high-volume cascade impactor equipped with stages PM>10µm, 10 µm>PM>2.5µm were used for detecting aeroallergens. In each stage polyurethane filters were applied. Phl p5 allergen was determined using allergen specific ELISA´s. Antibodies for analysis are delivered by Allergopharma Joachim Ganzer KG, the industrial partner in this project. Both samplers were placed side-by-side. Results: Most of the allergen was collected in the PM>10µm fraction. Similar profiles between airborne pollen and the total allergenic load was observed during the pollen season. A good correlation was obtained and a value of 2.5 pg/pollen grain of Poaceae was estimated. Discussion: These results suggest that the allergenic load in outdoor air might be mainly due to pollen bursts. It supports the hypothesis that monitoring the allergens itself in ambient air might be an improvement in allergen exposure assessment. This work was supported in part by the European Agency for Health and Consumers EAHC, Luxembourg, under the grant agreement 2008110

Cluster Analysis of Variations in the Diurnal Pattern of Grass Pollen Concentrations in Northern Europe (Copenhagen) and Southern Europe (Córdoba)

From an allergological point of view, Poaceae pollen is one of the most important type of pollen that the population is exposed to in the ambient environment. There are several studies on intra diurnal patterns in grass pollen concentrations, and agreement on the high variability. However, the method for analysing the different patterns is not yet well established. The aim of the present study is therefore to examine the method of pattern analysis by statistical clustering, as well as relating the proposed patterns to time of season and meteorological variables at two highly different biogeographical locations; Córdoba, Spain and Copenhagen, Denmark. Airborne pollen is collected by Hirst type volumetric spore traps and counted using an optical microscope at both sites. The counts were converted to two-hours concentrations and a new method based on cluster analysis was applied with the aim of determining the most frequent diurnal patterns in pollen concentrations and their dependencies of site, season and meteorological variables. Three different well defined diurnal patterns were identified at both locations. The most frequent pattern in Copenhagen was associated with days having peak pollen concentrations in the evening (maximum between18h-20h), whereas the most frequent pattern at Córdoba was associated with days having peak pollen concentrations in the afternoon (maximum between 14h-16h). These three patterns account for 70% of days with no rain and pollen concentrations above 20 grains m-3. The most frequent pattern accounts for 40% and 57% of the days in Córdoba and Copenhagen respectively. The analysis clearly shows the great variation in pollen concentration pattern, albeit a dominating pattern can be found. It was not possible to explain all the differences in the patterns by the meteorological variables when examined individual. Clustering method is estimated to be an appropriate methodology for studying aerobiological phenomena with high variability

Birds from sima del elefante, atapuerca, spain: Palaeoecological implications in the oldest human bearing levels of the iberian peninsula

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Early Pleistocene sites has a particular interest as it sheds light on how the arriving of the first Europeans occurred, as well as on the nature of the relation between these humans and the ecosystems. Bird remains are useful tools for this purpose, because they are commonly represented in the assemblages and most taxa still exist, allowing a direct comparison between past and extant birds associations. Here we analyse the bird remains from the Early Pleistocene levels of the Sima del Elefante site (1.1 to 1.5 million years old). Almost 10.000 remains belonging to at least 26 different taxa have been included. The assemblage is dominated by corvids and has a mixed origin, with cave-dwelling taxa dying in the cave and other taxa being accumulated by predators. The Sima del Elefante avian assemblage provides the oldest record of several taxa in the Iberian Peninsula (Haliaeetus albicilla, Corvus pliocaenus). Besides, here we report the oldest evidence of Imperial Eagle in the Iberian Peninsula, prior to the separation of the oriental and Iberian populations. The assemblage composition suggests that open environmental conditions were dominant, with minor presence of woodlands and water bodies, which is congruent with some previous approaches by other proxies. The first humans occupying the Iberian Peninsula inhabited under Mediterranean climate conditions, which gradually deteriorated, as reflected by the avian turnover recorded at the middle Pleistocene Atapuerca assemblages. © 2021 Universita degli Studi di Milano. All rights reserved

Quantum time uncertainty in Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black holes

The combined action of gravity and quantum mechanics gives rise to a minimum time uncertainty in the lowest order approximation of a perturbative scheme, in which quantum effects are regarded as corrections to the classical spacetime geometry. From the nonperturbative point of view, both gravity and quantum mechanics are treated on equal footing in a description that already contains all possible backreaction effects as those above in a nonlinear manner. In this paper, the existence or not of such minimum time uncertainty is analyzed in the context of Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black holes using the isolated horizon formalism. We show that from a perturbative point of view, a nonzero time uncertainty is generically present owing to the energy scale introduced by the cosmological constant, while in a quantization scheme that includes nonperturbatively the effects of that scale, an arbitrarily high time resolution can be reached.Comment: 10 pages, version published in Physical Review

Entropy and temperature of black holes in a gravity's rainbow

The linear relation between the entropy and area of a black hole can be derived from the Heisenberg principle, the energy-momentum dispersion relation of special relativity, and general considerations about black holes. There exist results in quantum gravity and related contexts suggesting the modification of the usual dispersion relation and uncertainty principle. One of these contexts is the gravity's rainbow formalism. We analyze the consequences of such a modification for black hole thermodynamics from the perspective of two distinct rainbow realizations built from doubly special relativity. One is the proposal of Magueijo and Smolin and the other is based on a canonical implementation of doubly special relativity put forward recently by the authors. In these scenarios, we obtain modified expressions for the entropy and temperature of black holes. We show that, for a family of doubly special relativity theories satisfying certain properties, the temperature can vanish in the limit of zero black hole mass. For the Magueijo and Smolin proposal, this is only possible for some restricted class of models with bounded energy and unbounded momentum. With the proposal of a canonical implementation, on the other hand, the temperature may vanish for more general theories; in particular, the momentum may also be bounded, with bounded or unbounded energy. This opens new possibilities for the outcome of black hole evaporation in the framework of a gravity's rainbow.Comment: 11 pages, 2 new references added, version accepted for publication in Physical Review

The discrimination capabilities of Micromegas detectors at low energy

The latest generation of Micromegas detectors show a good energy resolution, spatial resolution and low threshold, which make them idoneous in low energy applications. Two micromegas detectors have been built for dark matter experiments: CAST, which uses a dipole magnet to convert axion into detectable x-ray photons, and MIMAC, which aims to reconstruct the tracks of low energy nuclear recoils in a mixture of CF4 and CHF3. These readouts have been respectively built with the microbulk and bulk techniques, which show different gain, electron transmission and energy resolutions. The detectors and the operation conditions will be described in detail as well as their discrimination capabilities for low energy photons will be discussed.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the TIPP2011 conference (Physics Procedia