Mesoscale Atmospheric Transport of Ragweed Pollen Allergens from Infected to Uninfected Areas

Allergenic ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) pollen grains, after being released from anthers, can be dispersed by air masses far from their source. However, the action of air temperature,humidity and solar radiation on pollen grains in the atmosphere could impact on the ability of long distance transported (LDT) pollen to maintain allergenic potency. Here, we report that the major allergen of Ambrosia artemisiifolia pollen (Amb a 1) collected in ambient air during episodes of LDT still have immunoreactive properties. The amount of Amb a 1 found in LDT ragweed pollen grains was not constant and varied between episodes. In addition to allergens in pollen sized particles, we detected reactive Amb a 1 in subpollen sized respirable particles. These findings suggest that ragweed pollen grains have the potential to cause allergic reactions, not only in the heavily infested areas but, due to LDT episodes, also in the regions unaffected by ragweed populations.

Literature Review WM9: Part II - light goods vehicles in urban areas, carried as as part Work Module 1, Green Logistics Project

LGVs are of ever-greater importance in terms of the final delivery of many time-critical, high value goods and are also widely used in industries that provide a wide range of critical support services. There are almost five times as many LGVs as there are HGVs (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) currently licensed in Britain. The LGV fleet in Britain is growing at a faster rate than the HGV fleet, and the LGV fleet travels more than twice as many vehicle kilometres each year than the total HGV fleet. LGVs perform a far greater proportion of their total distance travelled in urban areas than HGVs, and consume 25% of the total diesel and 3% of the total petrol used by all motorised road transport vehicles in Britain.

Light goods vehicles in urban areas

The paper provides a review of the light goods vehicle (LGV) fleet and its activity, with specific reference to operations in urban areas, and sustainability issues associated with the ever-growing use of LGVs. Traditionally these vehicles have received little attention but are becoming an ever-more important element of urban freight transport both for goods collection and delivery and for the provision of a wide range of critical services. Relevant literature from the UK and elsewhere pertaining to LGV operations and their impacts has been identified and utilised. The paper identifies the impacts of LGV operations in terms of economic, social and environmental impacts and presents the range of measures being taken by policy makers and companies to address negative impacts.

Is the incipient Chinese civil society playing a role in regenerating historic urban areas? Evidence from Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai

Urban regeneration in Western countries can count on a long-lasting tradition of experiences in which civil society has played a fundamental role in counterbalancing the system of power, resulting in profound urban governance readjustments. This has been the result of the increasing centrality of horizontal alliances between citizens and associations involved in urban affairs since the late 1960s in the West. Similar theoretical frameworks have been applied in China. However, these have frequently resulted in conceptual shortcuts that depict civil society as immature or lacking and the state as authoritarian. This paper will explore whether these categories are still entirely valid to urban regeneration in China. While the regime has traditionally prevented horizontal linkages of associations in urban governance (supporting their vertical integration to ensure a certain degree of soft control), there are signs of change. In particular, three cases of urban regeneration in historic areas will be used to discuss the changing role played by civil society in China. The ultimate goal is to examine whether horizontal linkages across groups of heterogeneous citizens are arising at the micro-level of urban governance.

Electric vehicles in urban areas: test cases using a scenario simulator

Electric vehicles introduction will affect cities environment and urban mobility policies. Network system operators will have to consider the electric vehicles in planning and operation activities due to electric vehicles’ dependency on the electricity grid. The present paper presents test cases using an Electric Vehicle Scenario Simulator (EVeSSi) being developed by the authors. The test cases include two scenarios considering a 33 bus network with up to 2000 electric vehicles in the urban area. The scenarios consider a penetration of 10% of electric vehicles (200 of 2000), 30% (600) and 100% (2000). The first scenario will evaluate network impacts and the second scenario will evaluate CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Effects of early life permethrin exposure on spatial working memory and on monoamine levels in different brain areas of pre-senescent rats

Pesticide exposure during brain development could represent an important risk factor for the onset of neurodegenerative diseases. Previous studies investigated the effect of permethrin (PERM) administered at 34 mg/kg, a dose close to the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) from post natal day (PND) 6 to PND 21 in rats. Despite the PERM dose did not elicited overt signs of toxicity (i.e. normal body weight gain curve), it was able to induce striatal neurodegeneration (dopamine and Nurr1 reduction, and lipid peroxidation increase). The present study was designed to characterize the cognitive deficits in the current animal model. When during late adulthood PERM treated rats were tested for spatial working memory performances in a T-maze-rewarded alternation task they took longer to choose for the correct arm in comparison to age matched controls. No differences between groups were found in anxiety-like state, locomotor activity, feeding behavior and spatial orientation task. Our findings showing a selective effect of PERM treatment on the T-maze task point to an involvement of frontal cortico-striatal circuitry rather than to a role for the hippocampus. The predominant disturbances concern the dopamine (DA) depletion in the striatum and, the serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NE) unbalance together with a hypometabolic state in the medial prefrontal cortex area. In the hippocampus, an increase of NE and a decrease of DA were observed in PERM treated rats as compared to controls. The concentration of the most representative marker for pyrethroid exposure (3-phenoxybenzoic acid) measured in the urine of rodents 12 h after the last treatment was 41.50 µ/L and it was completely eliminated after 96 h.

Impact of the Meteorology Conditions on the Particulate Matter Dispersion from an Industrial Complex into Urban and Suburban Areas

The aim of this work was to assess the influence of meteorological conditions on the dispersion of particulate matter from an industrial zone into urban and suburban areas. The particulate matter concentration was related to the most important meteorological variables such as wind direction, velocity and frequency. A coal-fired power plant was considered to be the main emission source with two stacks of 225 m height. A middle point between the two stacks was taken as the centre of two concentric circles with 6 and 20 km radius delimiting the sampling area. About 40 sampling collectors were placed within this area. Meteorological data was obtained from a portable meteorological station placed at approximately 1.7 km to SE from the stacks. Additional data was obtained from the electrical company that runs the coal power plant. These data covers the years from 2006 to the present. A detailed statistical analysis was performed to identify the most frequent meteorological conditions concerning mainly wind speed and direction. This analysis revealed that the most frequent wind blows from Northwest and North and the strongest winds blow from Northwest. Particulate matter deposition was obtained in two sampling campaigns carried out in summer and in spring. For the first campaign the monthly average flux deposition was 1.90 g/m2 and for the second campaign this value was 0.79 g/m2. Wind dispersion occurred predominantly from North to South, away from the nearest residential area, located at about 6 km to Northwest from the stacks. Nevertheless, the higher deposition fluxes occurred in the NW/N and NE/E quadrants. This study was conducted considering only the contribution of particulate matter from coal combustion, however, others sources may be present as well, such as road traffic. Additional chemical analyses and microanalysis are needed to identify the source linkage to flux deposition levels.

Utilização de Cabos de alta Temperatura em linhas Aéreas em Média Tensão

A presente dissertação teve como objetivo fazer uma análise da viabilidade técnica da utilização dos condutores de alta temperatura nas linhas aéreas de MT, identificar vantagens, analisar inconvenientes, e estabelecer um comparativo a custos médios com as soluções convencionais. Foi efetuado o estudo de um caso real da EDP Distribuição que consistia na necessidade do aumento da capacidade de transporte de energia da linha aérea a 15 kV Espinho-Sanguedo. Neste foi ponderada a solução onde se poderia efetuar passagem de linha simples para linha dupla em alumínio-aço (AA) 160 mm2 ou a solução alternativa e inovadora de substituição dos condutores existentes por condutores de alta temperatura ACCC 182 mm2. Para isso foram efetuados cálculos e também criada uma ferramenta de apoio à decisão, para validação dos mesmos, com o intuito de mais tarde poder ser aplicada nas linhas aéreas em Média Tensão em todo o país e, sempre que necessário, se possa fazer um estudo de ponderação técnica de forma sistemática e estruturada. Neste trabalho estão identificadas as vantagens, foram relatados os inconvenientes, e estabeleceu-se um comparativo a custos médios da utilização de condutores de alta temperatura com as soluções convencionais. Antes de poder ser realizado um estudo do caso concreto da Linha aérea Espinho-Sanguedo foi necessário um aprofundamento do estado da arte no que diz respeito à comparação entre o cabo de alta temperatura ACCC e o cabo convencional ACSR, sendo este o mais utilizado nas linhas aéreas em MT. Os cabos de alta temperatura trouxeram inovações neste tema de transporte de energia, e como tal surgiu a necessidade de um estudo mais aprofundado da sua constituição, destacando o seu núcleo formado pelo compósito de fibra de carbono e fibra de vidro. Foi também analisado vantagens e desvantagens do cabo de alta temperatura e até mesmo situações onde a sua aplicação poderá ser vantajosa, de modo a tirar proveito das suas caraterísticas em que se destacam altas temperaturas de funcionamento e flechas reduzidas. Para elaborar um projeto de uma linha aérea em média tensão é necessário considerar a legislação em vigor, os aspetos ambientais e económicos, respeitando e garantindo as premissas do cálculo elétrico e mecânico. Economicamente este tipo de cabo (ACCC) é mais dispendioso do que os convencionais, no entanto o estudo realizado permitiu perceber que a sua implementação técnica é vantajosa em linhas aéreas de elevada capacidade de transporte de energia, sobretudo nos casos onde serão necessárias instalar linhas duplas ou linhas simples de seções elevadas. Devido às suas caraterísticas mecânicas, estes cabos permitem melhorar as linhas na sua dimensão, podendo diminuir o número de apoios a instalar, podendo diminuir a robustez dos apoios e permitir maior facilidade na montagem. Estas vantagens traduzem-se em menores impactos ambientais e permitem sobretudo reduzir os constrangimentos com os proprietários dos terrenos onde os apoios são implantados.

Antibody levels against GLURP R2, MSP1 block 2 hybrid and AS202.11 and the risk of malaria in children living in hyperendemic (Burkina Faso) and hypo-endemic (Ghana) areas.

Differences in parasite transmission intensity influence the process of acquisition of host immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria and ultimately, the rate of malaria related morbidity and mortality. Potential vaccines being designed to complement current intervention efforts therefore need to be evaluated against different malaria endemicity backgrounds. The associations between antibody responses to the chimeric merozoite surface protein 1 block 2 hybrid (MSP1 hybrid), glutamate-rich protein region 2 (GLURP R2) and the peptide AS202.11, and the risk of malaria were assessed in children living in malaria hyperendemic (Burkina Faso, n = 354) and hypo-endemic (Ghana, n = 209) areas. Using the same reagent lots and standardized protocols for both study sites, immunoglobulin (Ig) M, IgG and IgG sub-class levels to each antigen were measured by ELISA in plasma from the children (aged 6-72 months). Associations between antibody levels and risk of malaria were assessed using Cox regression models adjusting for covariates. There was a significant association between GLURP R2 IgG3 and reduced risk of malaria after adjusting age of children in both the Burkinabe (hazard ratio 0.82; 95 % CI 0.74-0.91, p < 0.0001) and the Ghanaian (HR 0.48; 95 % CI 0.25-0.91, p = 0.02) cohorts. MSP1 hybrid IgM was associated (HR 0.85; 95 % CI 0.73-0.98, p = 0.02) with reduced risk of malaria in Burkina Faso cohort while IgG against AS202.11 in the Ghanaian children was associated with increased risk of malaria (HR 1.29; 95 % CI 1.01-1.65, p = 0.04). These findings support further development of GLURP R2 and MSP1 block 2 hybrid, perhaps as a fusion vaccine antigen targeting malaria blood stage that can be deployed in areas of varying transmission intensity.

Quaternary geology of the Campbellford, Trenton, Consecon, Tweed, Belleville, Wellington, Sydenham, Bath, and Yorkshire Island map-areas, Ontario /

Sediment relationships observed during geological mapping in southeastern Ontario indicate a relatively simple deglaciation history for the area during late Wisconsin time. The ice from the north (part of the Lake Simcoe lobe) and the Lake Ontario ice lobe, which were coalesced during most of late Wisconsin time, initially separated along the crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine. Available data indicate that the Oak Ridges Moraine is composed primarily of sediments pre-late Wisconsin in age capped by late Wisconsin till and interlobate deposits. Retreat of the northern ice was relatively steady and resulted in the deposition of the Dummer Moraines, a facies of the drumlinized till to the south. Retreat of the Lake Ontario ice lobe into the Lake Ontario basin was interrupted by a re-advance which covered the southeastern half of the map area. The northern ice had already retreated from the area by this time. The Lake Ontario lobe was fed through the St. Lawrence Valley, indicating that the Ottawa Valley was ice filled at this time. High level glacial lakes fronted the ice during deglaciation. These waters quickly fell to low levels as the ice retreated from the St. Lawrence Valley, opening lower outlets.

Autocuidado y calidad de vida de adultos mayores en areas urbano marginadas de Monterrey

Tesis (Maestría en Enfermería con Especialidad en Salud Comunitaria) UANL

Areas de ubicación de los egresados de la carrera de Ingeniería en Sistemas Computacionales del Instituto Tecnológico de Nuevo Laredo

Tesis (Maestría en Ciencias de la Administración con Especialidad en Sistemas) U.A.N.L. Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, 1999.