The European project HIALINE (Health Impacts of Airborne Allergen Information Network): results of pollen and allergen of Betula monitoring in Parma (2009)

Introduction. Exposure to allergens is pivotal in determining sensitization and allergic symptoms in individuals. Pollen grain counts in ambient air have traditionally been assessed to estimate airborne allergen exposure. However, the exact allergen content in ambient air is unknown. HIALINE therefore monitored atmospheric concentrations of Betula, Poaceae and Olea pollen grains and matched their major allergens Bet v1, Phl p5 and Ole e1 across Europe. Monitoring the allergens themselves together with pollen in ambient air might be an improvement in allergen exposure assessment. New knowledge through the use of new experimental approaches in the field of aerobiological monitoring will enable better in the prevention and clinical management of pollinosis. In order to disseminate the knowledge of the project we present the results of first year of birch pollen grains and the matched major pollen allergen Bet v1 monitored in Parma (UNIPR), Italy with a short reference to the results obtained by the other participants and about developing models of dissemination and forecasts of pollen and allergens. Materials and methods. The pollen was sampled by a Hirst pollen trap. Allergens was collected with a CHEMVOL® high-volume cascade impactor, extracted from pollen and quantified by ELISA. Antibodies for analysis of Bet v1 are delivered by the industrial partner in this project. Quality control has been carried out for the monitoring pollen activities and allergen concentrations. Results. The project has highlighted that it is possible also to measure pollen allergen in ambient air in different European areas. The results obtained from the center of Parma and other European partners have highlighted the different allergenic powers of pollen of Betula, in different geographical areas. Moreover, daily in each area the allergenic power of pollen grains was very variable. Discussion. HIALINE has been a very important project to understand the mechanisms of sensitization, clinical management of pollinosis and to improve immunotherapy towards a tailored immunotherapy. The results of the project will help medical doctors, authorities and patients, to better manage the different aspects related to pollinosis

Atmospheric neutrino induced muons in the MACRO detector

A measurement of the flux of neutrino-induced muons using the MACRO detector is presented. Different event topologies, corresponding to different neutrino parent energies can be detected. The upward throughgoing muon sample is the larger event sample. The observed upward-throughgoing muons are 26% fewer than expected and the zenith angle distribution does not fit with the expected one. Assuming neutrino oscillations, both measurements suggest maximum mixing and Dm2 of a few times 10-3 eV2. The other samples are due to the internally produced events and to upward-going stopping muons. These data show a regular deficit of observed events in each angular bin, as expected assuming neutrino oscillations with maximum mixing, in agreement with the analysis of the upward-throughgoing muon sample.Comment: 7 pages 6 figures to appear in the proceedings of XVIII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics (Neutrino'98), Takayama, Japan 4-9 June, 199

Nuclearite search with the MACRO detector at Gran Sasso

In this paper we present the results of a search for nuclearites in the penetrating cosmic radiation using the scintillator and track-etch subdetectors of the MACRO apparatus. The analyses cover the beta =v/c range at the detector depth (3700 hg/cm^2) 10^-5 < beta < 1; for beta = 2 x 10^-3 the flux limit is 2.7 x 10^-16 cm^-2 s^-1 sr^-1 for an isotropic flux of nuclearites, and twice this value for a flux of downgoing nuclearites.Comment: 16 pages, 4 Encapsulated Postscript figures, uses article.sty. Submitted to The European Physical Journal

Measurement of the atmospheric neutrino-induced upgoing muon flux using MACRO

We present a measurement of the flux of neutrino-induced upgoing muons (~100 GeV) using the MACRO detector. The ratio of the number of observed to expected events integrated over all zenith angles is 0.74 +/- 0.036 (stat) +/- 0.046(systematic) +/- 0.13 (theoretical). The observed zenith distribution for -1.0 < cos(theta) < -0.1 does not fit well with the no oscillation expectation, giving a maximum probability for chi^2 of 0.1%. The acceptance of the detector has been extensively studied using downgoing muons, independent analyses and Monte-Carlo simulations. The other systematic uncertainties cannot be the source of the discrepancies between the data and expectations. We have investigated whether the observed number of events and the shape of the zenith distribution can be explained by a neutrino oscillation hypothesis. Fitting either the flux or zenith distribution independently yields mixing parameters of sin^2 (2theta)=1.0 and delta m^2 of a few times 10^-3 eV^2. However, the observed zenith distribution does not fit well with any expectations giving a maximum probability for chi^2 of 5% for the best oscillation hypothesis, and the combined probability for the shape and number of events is 17%. We conclude that these data favor a neutrino oscillation hypothesis, but with unexplained structure in the zenith distribution not easily explained by either the statistics or systematics of the experiment.Comment: 7 pages (two-column) with 4 figure

Observation of the Shadowing of Cosmic Rays by the Moon using a Deep Underground Detector

Using data collected by the MACRO experiment during the years 1989-1996, we show evidence for the shadow of the moon in the underground cosmic ray flux with a significance of 3.6 sigma. This detection of the shadowing effect is the first by an underground detector. A maximum-likelihood analysis is used to determine that the angular resolution of the apparatus is 0.9+/-0.3 degrees. These results demonstrate MACRO's capabilities as a muon telescope by confirming its absolute pointing ability and quantifying its angular resolution.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction &gt; 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR &lt; 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR &gt; 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Enhancing interoperability in the design process – The PROSIT approach

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