Aerobiologia最新文献

For urban ecosystem, the understanding of plant responses and behavioral pattern to prevailing stresses is critical. This study aims to evaluate the reproductive behavior of 40 roadside plants, including trees, shrubs, and herbs, to higher air pollution load for three successive years (i.e.—2017, 2018, and 2019) in an Indo-gangetic urban sprawl. The mean surface concentration of three gaseous pollutants (O₃, NO₂, and SO₂) and one particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 µm (PM₁) was found to be highest at the polluted sites during all seasons. Though, there is no prescribed national standard for total atmospheric deposition; but, it was found significantly higher in all the seasons at the urban sites. According to obtained results, the natural pollen viabilities in all the plant species decreased to 10% significantly earlier at the urban sites. The seed numbers, weight, viability, and in-vivo germinations were also reduced significantly under higher air pollution load. The K-means cluster including all obtained data demonstrated a major group of 36 plants followed by two out groups of 2 plants each. Exceptionally, few plants, such as M. indica, R. communis, S. sisymbrifolium, M. azedarach, H. indicum, J. gossypifolia, S. tora, A. indicum, and C. gigantea, showed improved or unaffected responses in some of the reproductive parameters under higher air pollution load. Altogether, the obtained responses of all these plant species might be useful to understand the reproductive strategies, and can be utilized towards screening of effective species for sustainable urban green space development.

In aquaculture, biological hazards can be exposed to workers in the form of bioaerosols. This study is to evaluate the level of biological hazard exposure and to provide fundamental data for the health management of aquaculture workers in Korea. A field survey was conducted to measure bioaerosol exposure at ten aquaculture farms in areas where Korean aquaculture is concentrated. Airborne bacteria and fungi with size distribution and identification were measured by simultaneously monitoring temperature and relative humidity. Particularly, high concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungi were observed in farms G and H. Compared to the standards set by the Korean Ministry of Environment, both total airborne bacteria and fungi concentrations exceeded the limit in farms G and H, with the airborne fungi concentration showing four times higher than the standard. As a cause, it is believed to be the quantity and form of work. In size distribution, it was similar to previous study. However, the respirable size range accounted for more than 50% of total concentration, so extra caution should be needed. Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp., and Bacillus spp. are dominant species for airborne bacteria whereas Cladosporium spp., Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., and Alternaria spp. are dominant species for airborne fungi. Most farms had concentrations below the standard, but two farms exceeded the standard, likely due to work type. And some caution is needed for respirable size bioaerosol. Further research is needed, considering additional factors such as tank type, fish species, and type of works.

During the month of February in 2019, the Western USA experienced elevated precipitation levels, corresponding to atmospheric river events, ending a drought period. Rainwater samples were collected at four time points across two weeks and analyzed by microscopy, analytical chemistry, and long-read sequencing methods. Quantification of whole cells showed concentrations of > 10⁶ cells/L. Imaged cells from fluorescent and scanning electron microscopy included microeukaryotes. Analytic chemistry detected Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions, which were in agreement with back trajectories of an oceanic origin and atmospheric river occurrence. Taxonomic investigation of long-read sequences generated from the Nanopore MinION resulted in a high proportion of read assignments to fungal groups. For bacterial taxonomies, common rainwater-associated bacterial genera were present at higher proportions than other bacterial groups: Erwinia, Hymenobacter, Pseudomonas, and Pantoea. The microscopy data support the potential of intact and viable cell wet deposition into local environments and the taxonomic identification of common atmospheric-associated bacterial genera from long-read sequencing highlights the potential usefulness of this platform for atmospheric samples and field campaigns.

Aerobiology could be used as complementary data or proxy for studying phenology, especially in species which usually are not long-distance transported, such as grasses. This 21-year aerobiological study took place in Évora (South Portugal), using a seven-day recording volumetric pollen trap with the aim of analysing the temporal trends of grass pollen seasons. To this end, data were statistically tested for correlation and regression to determine the features and temporal trends of pollen seasons. Main results show that Poaceae pollen has a high representation in pollen spectrum, 20% (min: 7%; max: 44%), with a long season starting in March and lasting till August/September or October. There was an overall, but not statistically significant trend, towards an increase in the annual pollen integral and peak values, and also an overall non-statistically significant trend towards an earlier start and later end of the pollen season. Main and high pollen seasons have been lasting longer, and the days with allergenic potential have been rising in line with the local temperature rising trend. It seems that grass pollen production is being aided by warmer temperatures and increased grassland areas in Alentejo region. This could promote the increase in annual pollen levels and in the number of high pollen days over the years. In clinical terms, it means that grass allergic patients are exposed to longer periods of airborne pollen and to higher counts over a longer time. The climate conditions projected for Alentejo region, including rising temperature, and the changes in local grassland areas may help to clarify the trends of grass pollen seasons in the next decades.

There are limited studies that established significant relationships between meteorological variables and COVID-19 spread in Malaysia. Although knowledge from studies conducted in other countries can be utilised as a basis for the policy formulation in general, country-specific studies are necessary as meteorological parameters and COVID-19 spread vary from country to country. This study investigated the potential roles of five meteorological parameters (average relative humidity, maximum temperature, average temperature, minimum temperature, and average wind speed) on COVID-19 spread in each of the 13 states and the entire Malaysia. The state-wise daily COVID-19-confirmed cases and daily meteorological parameters from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021 were acquired from Ministry of Health Malaysia and Malaysia Meteorological Department, respectively. The correlations between state-wise daily COVID-19-confirmed cases and daily meteorological parameters were ascertained via Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation tests at 5% significance level. Overall, significant correlations exist between all meteorological parameters considered in this study and daily COVID-19-confirmed cases throughout Malaysia. Average wind speed was positively correlated with COVID-19-confirmed cases, whereas average relative humidity, maximum temperature, average temperature, and minimum temperature were negatively associated with COVID-19-confirmed cases. These study findings build up knowledge pertaining the association between important meteorological factors and COVID-19 spread in various regions with different climates. The research outcomes could be helpful in understanding, bringing awareness, and educating Malaysian citizens through communication between citizens and governmental as well as non-governmental agencies via official portals to develop a better response mechanism for the Malaysian perspective.

As one of biological particles, pollen grains could be suspended in air and cause health risks such as pollinosis and rhinitis. Air pollutants can be absorbed on the pollen grains which would increase allergenicity. However, few studies have been focused on characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one kind of toxic pollutants absorbed on pollen grains, and their relationships with the allergenic proteins. In this study, fresh Platanus pollen samples were collected in the central parking area and the outer ring area of Shanghai in the spring of 2023. Mass concentration of allergenic protein (Pla a3) released from the samples collected at the two sampling sites were investigated by using western blot assay and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, while mass levels of PAHs absorbed on the surface of flower inflorescence and pollen grains were measured by using GC-MS. Our data showed that the mass level of Pla a3 released from the pollen grains collected in the parking area was significantly higher than that collected in the outer ring area. Mass level of PAHs on the flower inflorescence and pollen grains in the parking area was 2 times higher than that in the outer ring area. The molecular docking results indicated that four disulfide bonds (Cys4-Cys52, Cys14-Cys29, Cys30-Cys75, Cys50-Cys89) in the Pla a3 protein structure could interact with the PAHs by hydrogen bonds. This interaction could increase the structural stability of the protein and enhance the allergenicity.

Seasonal pollen allergy is a major public health concern, with many different pollen aeroallergens being present in the atmosphere at varying levels during the season. In Norway, information about spatiotemporal variation of pollen aeroallergens is currently lacking, leading to reduced ability to manage and treat seasonal allergies. Seven pollen aeroallergens (alder, hazel, willow, birch, pine, grass and mugwort) were monitored daily for 16 years from 12 regions and coalesced to create regional pollen calendars. Seasonal statistics, such as seasonal pollen integral (SPIn), onset, duration and periods of high and very high concentrations, were calculated for all pollen types and regions. High days were further modelled with SPIn in a linear regression framework to investigate the connection between the strength of the season and number of days above high pollen thresholds. The tree pollen season occurred between January and mid-July, with the pollen aeroallergens birch and pine being the most prominent in all regions. The herb pollen season was observed to occur between June and mid-August, although mugwort was almost completely absent. The grass pollen season was mostly mild on average but more severe in some regions, primarily Kristiansand. South-east regions of Oslo, Kristiansand and Lillehammer had the overall highest pollen load, while northern regions of Bodø, Tromsø and Kirkenes had the overall lowest pollen loads. SPIn and days above high pollen thresholds had positive highly significant relationships (R² > 0.85) for all pollen types, bar mugwort. Regional pollen calendars and seasonal statistics contribute to reliable information that can be used by medical professionals to effectively and timely manage and treat seasonal pollen allergies in Norway. Further research is needed to determine sensitization profiles of pine and willow.

Air harbors a substantial number of microorganisms the assessment of which is critical for healthy human living. The assessment of airborne bacteria and fungi in and around three hospitals in southwest Nigeria; the University Teaching hospital Ibadan, Oyo state, the State hospital Ota, Ogun state and a private hospital in Lagos state were carried out using the open petri dish sedimentation technique for three months between March and May 2014 at two weeks intervals. The survey yielded numerous and diverse assemblages of bacteria and fungi. Nineteen bacterial species belonging to twelve genera were isolated namely Alpha-haemolytic Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sp., Micrococcus luteus, M. varians, Corynebacterium xerosis, C. kutsceri, Lactobacillus fermentum, L. casei, L. delbruekii, Pseudomonas aureginosa, Clostridium sp., Enterobacter sp., Proteus sp., Streptococcus sp., Klebsiella sp., and Mycobacterium sp. The fungal assemblages were composed of Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, Arthrobotrys sp., Alternaria sp., Bipolaris spicifera, Curvularia clavata, C. affinis, Chrysosporium corda, Candida albicans, Cladosporium sp., Cryptococcus sp., Diplodia sp., Esepedonium sp., Fusarium sp., Geotrichum sp., Humicola sp., Monilia sp., Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus nigricans, R. stolonifer, Talaromyces sp., Torula nigra, and Trichoderma sp. Among these are pathogenic species to which both patients and visitors get exposed to while visiting the hospitals, thereby coming down with nosocomial infections. Some end up worse than they were, while healthy ones get infected coming down with different diseases. The overall assessment highlighted the sanitary conditions of the different units in the hospitals and the need for more aggressive sanitation measures.

Temuco city is categorized as one of the most air-polluted cities in Latin America; consequently, an air quality monitoring (AQM) program based on low-volume air samplers has been established by the Chilean government. However, AQM program does not consider any microbiological parameters to be analyzed. In this context, we firstly investigated the bacterial communities contained in particulate matter fractions (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) collected by AQM program in Temuco city. Secondly, we compared the bacterial communities collected by AQM program with those collected by an environmental monitoring (EM) sampling using a high-volume air sampler. The potential relation between bacterial abundances and some environmental parameters was also addressed. In AQM samples, significant differences of bacterial abundances between PM fractions were not revealed by qPCR, although DNA metabarcoding analysis showed significant differences in bacterial diversities between PM fractions. When both EM and AQM sampling methods were compared, significant differences in abundance and diversity were observed, but differences between PM factions in each method were not found. Independent of sampling method, a negative relation between bacterial abundances and relative humidity was observed. Similarly, Proteobacteria (Pseudomonadota), Bacteroidetes (Bacteroidota) and Actinobacteria (Actinomycetota) were the dominant phyla observed in both methods by DNA metabarcoding analysis. Here, we demonstrated that the AQM program may be used as a source of samples for airborne bacteria studies; however, in case microbiological parameters will be incorporated or adopted in the AQM program, those data should be complemented with other sampling methods.