Associations between mortality and air pollution in central Europe.

Increased mortality has been observed in association with elevated concentrations of air pollutants in European cities and in the United States. We reassessed the effects of particulate matter in Central Europe. Mortality and air pollution data were obtained for a highly polluted region of the Czech Republic and a rural region in Germany. Poisson regression analyses were conducted considering trend, season, meteorology, and influenza epidemics as confounders in both a parametric and a nonparametric approach. The Czech Republic had a 3.8% increase in mortality [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.8-6.9%] in association with 100 microg/m(3) total suspended particles (TSP) (lagged 2 days) for the time period 1982-1994. During the last 2 years of study, 68% of the TSP consisted of particulate matter [less than/equal to] 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)). An increase of 100 microg/m(3) TSP (lagged 1 day) was associated with a 9.5% increase in mortality (CI, 1.2-18.5%) and 100 microg/m(3) PM(10 )(lagged 1 day) showed a 9.8% increase in mortality (CI, 0.7-19.7%). We found no evidence for an association between mortality and particulate matter in the rural area in Germany at the Czech border. Data from the coal basin in the Czech Republic suggested an increase in mortality associated with the concentration of particulate matter in a highly polluted setting in Central Europe that is consistent with the associations observed in other western European cities and in the United States

ICGA Journal 24(2): special issue on Ken Thompson

This special issue of the ICGA_J focuses on Ken Thompson on the occasion of his retirement from Bell Labs in December 2000. The contents touch on Unix and cover ken's contribution to computer games, computer chess and 'ICCA', the International Computer Chess Association

Air pollution and respiratory health of children: the PEACE panel study in Teplice, Czech Republic.

As part of a multicentre study (the Pollution Effects on Asthmatic Children in Europe (PEACE) project) the acute effects of air pollution on the health of susceptible children was investigated. Eighty nine children in the urban and 77 children in the rural area were followed during the study period (January-March 1994). The urban area, Teplice, is located in the northern part of the Czech Republic and due to a high concentration of industry has heavily polluted air. Prachatice, in the south of the Czech Republic, served as a control because of substantially lower levels of air pollution. Ambient air pollution (SO2, NO2, NO, NO(x), particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm (PM10), black smoke) was measured daily. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) was measured in the morning and evening during the whole testing period. A diary concerning respiratory symptoms was filled in every day by the parents of each child involved in the study. In the urban area, no significant adverse relationship between the parameters being followed and air pollution was found. The statistically significant improvement of some parameters by increased air pollution was unexpected, but may have been caused by increased bronchodilator use. Nevertheless, a slight nonsignificant tendency towards decreasing PEF values with increasing air pollution was observed in the rural area. Prevalence analysis suggested a relationship between air pollution and cough and phlegm in the urban area. No clear effect of air pollution on respiratory health could be demonstrated