Association between Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Subclinical Atherosclerosis: The REGICOR Study

Background: Epidemiological evidence of the effects of long-term exposure to air pollu tion on the chronic processes of athero genesis is limited. Objective: We investigated the association of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollu tion with subclinical atherosclerosis, measured by carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and ankle–brachial index (ABI). Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data collected during the reexamination (2007–2010) of 2,780 participants in the REGICOR (Registre Gironí del Cor: the Gerona Heart Register) study, a population-based prospective cohort in Girona, Spain. Long-term exposure across residences was calculated as the last 10 years’ time-weighted average of residential nitrogen dioxide (NO2) estimates (based on a local-scale land-use regression model), traffic intensity in the nearest street, and traffic intensity in a 100 m buffer. Associations with IMT and ABI were estimated using linear regression and multinomial logistic regression, respectively, controlling for sex, age, smoking status, education, marital status, and several other potential confounders or intermediates. Results: Exposure contrasts between the 5th and 95th percentiles for NO2 (25 μg/m), traffic intensity in the nearest street (15,000 vehicles/day), and traffic load within 100 m (7,200,000 vehicle-m/day) were associated with differences of 0.56% (95% CI: –1.5, 2.6%), 2.32% (95% CI: 0.48, 4.17%), and 1.91% (95% CI: –0.24, 4.06) percent difference in IMT, respectively. Exposures were positively associated with an ABI of > 1.3, but not an ABI of < 0.9. Stronger associations were observed among those with a high level of education and in men ≥ 60 years of age. Conclusions: Long-term traffic-related exposures were associated with subclinical markers of atherosclerosis. Prospective studies are needed to confirm associations and further examine differences among population subgroups.key words: ankle–brachial index, average daily traffic, cardiovascular disease, exposure assessment, exposure to tailpipe emissions, intima media thickness, land use regression model, Mediterranean diet, nitrogen dioxide

Exposure to Tobacco Smoke and Markers of Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Children and Adolescents. The STRIP Study.

Background: Measurement of serum cotinine, a major metabolite of nicotine, provides a valid marker for quantifying exposure to tobacco smoke. Exposure to tobacco smoke causes vascular damage by multiple mechanisms, and it has been acknowledged as a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Multifactorial atherosclerosis begins in childhood, but the relationship between exposure to tobacco smoke and arterial changes related to early atherosclerosis have not been studied in children. Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate exposure to tobacco smoke with a biomarker, serum cotinine concentration, and its associations with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis and lipid profile in school-aged children and adolescents. Subjects and Methods: Serum cotinine concentration was measured using a gas chromatographic method annually between the ages 8 and 13 years in 538-625 children participating since infancy in a randomized, prospective atherosclerosis prevention trial STRIP (Special Turku coronary Risk factor Intervention Project). Conventional atherosclerosis risk factors were measured repeatedly. Vascular ultrasound studies were performed among 402 healthy 11-year-old children and among 494 adolescents aged 13 years. Results: According to serum cotinine measurements, a notable number of the school aged children and adolescents were exposed to tobacco smoke, but the exposure levels were only moderate. Exposure to tobacco smoke was associated with decreased endothelial function as measured with flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery, decreased elasticity of the aorta, and increased carotid and aortic intima-media thickness. Longitudinal exposure to tobacco smoke was also related with increased apolipoprotein B and triglyceride levels in 13-year-old adolescents, whose body mass index and nutrient intakes did not differ. Conclusions: These findings suggest that exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood may play a significant role in the development of early atherosclerosis. Key Words: arterial elasticity, atherosclerosis, children, cotinine, endothelial function, environmental tobacco smoke, intima-media thickness, risk factors, ultrasound

Circumsolar energetic particle distribution on 2011 November 3

Late on 2011 November 3, STEREO-A, STEREO-B, MESSENGER, and near-Earth spacecraft observed an energetic particle flux enhancement. Based on the analysis of in situ plasma and particle observations, their correlation with remote sensing observations, and an interplanetary transport model, we conclude that the particle increases observed at multiple locations had a common single source active region and the energetic particles filled a very broad region around the Sun. The active region was located at the solar backside (as seen from Earth) and was the source of a large flare, a fast and wide coronal mass ejection, and an EIT wave, accompanied by type II and type III radio-emission. In contrast to previous solar energetic particle events showing broad longitudinal spread, this event showed clear particle anisotropies at three widely separated observation points at 1AU, suggesting direct particle injection close to the magnetic footpoint of each spacecraft, lasting for several hours.We discuss these observations and the possible scenarios explaining the extremely broad particle spread for this event.

Uso da casca de coco verde como adsorbente na remoção de metais tóxicos

Green coconut shells were treated with acid, base and hydrogen peroxide solutions for 3, 6, 12 and 24 h for removing toxic metals from synthetic wastewater. The removal of ions by the adsorbent treated with 0.1 mol L-1 NaOH/ 3h was 99.5% for Pb2+ and 97.9% for Cu2+. The removal of Cd2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, using adsorbent treated with 1.0 mol L-1 NaOH/3 h, was 98.5, 90.3 and 95.4%, respectively. Particle size, adsorbent concentration and adsorption kinetics were also studied. An adsorbent size of 60-99 mesh and a concentration of 30-40 g/L for 5 min exposure were satisfactory for maximum uptake of Pb2+, Ni2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ and can be considered as promising parameters for treatment the aqueous effluents contaminated with toxic metals.

Percutaneous access versus standard femoral exposure for endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a randomized, controlled trial

The treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has shifted from the exposure of the aorta artery in an open repair technique to a small groin cut in an endovascular repair. Recently, a percutaneous access for endovascular repair has appeared. This new technique aims to minimize the complications of the common femoral artery exposure, the patient discomfort and the length of hospitalizationObjectives: To compare the proportion of discharged patients within the first 48 postoperative hours of two common femoral artery accesses for endovascular repair of AAA: the open exposure technique and the percutaneous technique. Secondary objectives include to evaluate the total procedure time, the femoral access complications, the need for extra analgesia and the patient satisfaction and groin discomfort of the two techniquesDesign: Randomized controlled trial conducted between 2014 and 2017Participants: Patients diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm with elective endovascular repair indication

Multi-Eruption Solar Energetic Particle Events Observed by SOHO/ERNE

In the last two decades of studying the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) phenomenon, intensive emphasis has been put on how and when and where these SEPs are injected into interplanetary space. It is well known that SEPs are related to solar flares and CMEs. However, the role of each in the acceleration of SEPs has been under debate since the major role was taken from flares ascribed to CMEs step by step after the skylab mission, which started the era of CME spaceborn observations. Since then, the shock wave generated by powerful CMEs in between 2-5 solar radii is considered the major accelerator. The current paradigm interprets the prolonged proton intensity-time profile in gradual SEP events as a direct effect of accelerated SEPs by shock wave propagating in the interplanetary medium. Thus the powerful CME is thought of as a starter for the acceleration and its shock wave as a continuing accelerator to result in such an intensity-time profile. Generally it is believed that a single powerful CME which might or might not be associated with a flare is always the reason behind such gradual events.

In this work we use the Energetic and Relativistic Nucleus and Electrons ERNE instrument on board Solar and Heliospheric Observatory SOHO to present an empirical study to show the possibility of multiple accelerations in SEP events. In the beginning we found 18 double-peaked SEP events by examining 88 SEP events. The peaks in the intensity-time profile were separated by 3-24 hours. We divided the SEP events according to possible multiple acceleration into four groups and in one of these groups we find evidence for multiple acceleration in velocity dispersion and change in the abundance ratio associated at transition to the second peak. Then we explored the intensity-time profiles of all SEP events during solar cycle 23 and found that most of the SEP events are associated with multiple eruptions at the Sun and we call those events as Multi-Eruption Solar Energetic Particles (MESEP) events. We use the data available by Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronograph LASCO on board SOHO to determine the CME associated with such events and YOHKOH and GOES satellites data to determine the flare associated with such events. We found four types of MESEP according to the appearance of the peaks in the intensity-time profile in large variation of energy levels. We found that it is not possible to determine whether the peaks are related to an eruption at the Sun or not, only by examining the anisotropy flux, He/p ratio and velocity dispersion. Then we chose a rare event in which there is evidence of SEP acceleration from behind previous CME. This work resulted in a conclusion which is inconsistent with the current SEP paradigm. Then we discovered through examining another MESEP event, that energetic particles accelerated by a second CME can penetrate a previous CME-driven decelerating shock. Finally, we report the previous two MESEP events with new two events and find a common basis for second CME SEPs penetrating previous decelerating shocks. This phenomenon is reported for the first time and expected to have significant impact on modification of the current paradigm of the solar energetic particle events.

Nutrimetabolomics fingerprinting to identify biomarkers of bread exposure in a free-living population from the PREDIMED study cohort

Bread is one of the most widely consumed foods. Its impact on human health is currently of special interest for researchers. We aimed to identify biomarkers of bread consumption by applying a nutrimetabolomic approach to a free-living population. An untargeted HPLC q-TOF-MS and multivariate analysis was applied to human urine from 155 subjects stratified by habitual bread consumption in three groups: non-consumers of bread (n = 56), white-bread consumers (n = 48) and whole-grain bread consumers (n = 51). The most differential metabolites (variable importance for projection ≥1.5) included compounds originating from cereal plant phytochemicals such as benzoxazinoids and alkylresorcinol metabolites, and compounds produced by gut microbiota (such as enterolactones, hydroxybenzoic and dihydroferulic acid metabolites). Pyrraline, riboflavin, 3-indolecarboxylic acid glucuronide, 2,8-dihydroxyquinoline glucuronide and N-α-acetylcitrulline were also tentatively identified. In order to combine multiple metabolites in a model to predict bread consumption, a stepwise logistic regression analysis was used. Receiver operating curves were constructed to evaluate the global performance of individual metabolites and their combination. The area under the curve values [AUC (95 % CI)] of combined models ranged from 77.8 % (69.1 86.4 %) to 93.7 % (89.4 98.1 %), whereas the AUC for the metabolites included in the models had weak values when they were evaluated individually: from 58.1 % (46.6 69.7 %) to 78.4 % (69.8 87.1 %). Our study showed that a daily bread intake significantly impacted on the urinary metabolome, despite being examined under uncontrolled free-living conditions. We further concluded that a combination of several biomarkers of exposure is better than a single biomarker for the predictive ability of discriminative analysis.

Nutrimetabolomics fingerprinting to identify biomarkers of bread exposure in a free-living population from the PREDIMED study cohort

Bread is one of the most widely consumed foods. Its impact on human health is currently of special interest for researchers. We aimed to identify biomarkers of bread consumption by applying a nutrimetabolomic approach to a free-living population. An untargeted HPLC q-TOF-MS and multivariate analysis was applied to human urine from 155 subjects stratified by habitual bread consumption in three groups: non-consumers of bread (n = 56), white-bread consumers (n = 48) and whole-grain bread consumers (n = 51). The most differential metabolites (variable importance for projection ≥1.5) included compounds originating from cereal plant phytochemicals such as benzoxazinoids and alkylresorcinol metabolites, and compounds produced by gut microbiota (such as enterolactones, hydroxybenzoic and dihydroferulic acid metabolites). Pyrraline, riboflavin, 3-indolecarboxylic acid glucuronide, 2,8-dihydroxyquinoline glucuronide and N-α-acetylcitrulline were also tentatively identified. In order to combine multiple metabolites in a model to predict bread consumption, a stepwise logistic regression analysis was used. Receiver operating curves were constructed to evaluate the global performance of individual metabolites and their combination. The area under the curve values [AUC (95 % CI)] of combined models ranged from 77.8 % (69.1 86.4 %) to 93.7 % (89.4 98.1 %), whereas the AUC for the metabolites included in the models had weak values when they were evaluated individually: from 58.1 % (46.6 69.7 %) to 78.4 % (69.8 87.1 %). Our study showed that a daily bread intake significantly impacted on the urinary metabolome, despite being examined under uncontrolled free-living conditions. We further concluded that a combination of several biomarkers of exposure is better than a single biomarker for the predictive ability of discriminative analysis.

Aerosol particle size distributions at a traffic exposed site and an urban background location in Oporto, Portugal

Aerosol size distributions from 6 to 700 nm were measured simultaneously at an urban background site and a roadside station in Oporto. The particle number concentration was higher at the traffic exposed site, where up to 90% of the size spectrum was dominated by the nucleation mode. Larger aerosol mode diameters were observed in the urban background site possibly due to the coagulation processes or uptake of gases during transport. Factor analysis has shown that road traffic and the neighbour stationary sources localised upwind affect the urban area thought intra-regional pollutant transport.

Time-series forecasting of pollutant concentration levels using particle swarm optimization and artificial neural networks

This study evaluates the application of an intelligent hybrid system for time-series forecasting of atmospheric pollutant concentration levels. The proposed method consists of an artificial neural network combined with a particle swarm optimization algorithm. The method not only searches relevant time lags for the correct characterization of the time series, but also determines the best neural network architecture. An experimental analysis is performed using four real time series and the results are shown in terms of six performance measures. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methodology achieves a fair prediction of the presented pollutant time series by using compact networks.

A generalized 1D particle transport method for convection diffusion reaction model

This work is devoted to the development of numerical method to deal with convection diffusion dominated problem with reaction term, non - stiff chemical reaction and stiff chemical reaction. The technique is based on the unifying Eulerian - Lagrangian schemes (particle transport method) under the framework of operator splitting method. In the computational domain, the particle set is assigned to solve the convection reaction subproblem along the characteristic curves created by convective velocity. At each time step, convection, diffusion and reaction terms are solved separately by assuming that, each phenomenon occurs separately in a sequential fashion. Moreover, adaptivities and projection techniques are used to add particles in the regions of high gradients (steep fronts) and discontinuities and transfer a solution from particle set onto grid point respectively. The numerical results show that, the particle transport method has improved the solutions of CDR problems. Nevertheless, the method is time consumer when compared with other classical technique e.g., method of lines. Apart from this advantage, the particle transport method can be used to simulate problems that involve movingsteep/smooth fronts such as separation of two or more elements in the system.

Quantification of Proteins and Cells: Luminometric Nonspecific Particle-Based Methods

New luminometric particle-based methods were developed to quantify protein and to count cells. The developed methods rely on the interaction of the sample with nano- or microparticles and different principles of detection. In fluorescence quenching, timeresolved luminescence resonance energy transfer (TR-LRET), and two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPX) methods, the sample prevents the adsorption of labeled protein to the particles. Depending on the system, the addition of the analyte increases or decreases the luminescence. In the dissociation method, the adsorbed protein protects the Eu(III) chelate on the surface of the particles from dissociation at a low pH. The experimental setups are user-friendly and rapid and do not require hazardous test compounds and elevated temperatures. The sensitivity of the quantification of protein (from 40 to 500 pg bovine serum albumin in a sample) was 20-500-fold better than in most sensitive commercial methods. The quenching method exhibited low protein-to-protein variability and the dissociation method insensitivity to the assay contaminants commonly found in biological samples. Less than ten eukaryotic cells were detected and quantified with all the developed methods under optimized assay conditions. Furthermore, two applications, the method for detection of the aggregation of protein and the cell viability test, were developed by utilizing the TR-LRET method. The detection of the aggregation of protein was allowed at a more than 10,000 times lower concentration, 30 μg/L, compared to the known methods of UV240 absorbance and dynamic light scattering. The TR-LRET method was combined with a nucleic acid assay with cell-impermeable dye to measure the percentage of dead cells in a single tube test with cell counts below 1000 cells/tube.

Evaluation of roof slope and exposure with different roofing materials in reduced models of animal production facilities in spring and summer

The present study was conducted at the Department of Rural Engineering and the Department of Animal Morphology and Physiology of FCAV/Unesp, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil. The objective was to verify the influence of roof slope, exposure and roofing material on the internal temperature of reduced models of animal production facilities. For the development of the research, 48 reduced and dissemble models with dimensions 1.00 × 1.00 × 0.50 m were used. The roof was shed-type, and the models faced to the North or South directions, with 24 models for each side of exposure. Ceramic, galvanized-steel and fibro tiles were used to build the roofs. Slopes varied between 20, 30, 40 and 50% for the ceramic tile and 10, 30, 40 and 50% for the other two. Inside the models, temperature readings were performed at every hour, for 12 months. The results were evaluated in a general linear model in a nested 3 × 4 × 2 factorial arrangement, in which the effects of roofing material and exposure were nested on the factor Slope. Means were compared by the Tukey test at 5% of probability. After analyzing the data, we observed that with the increase in the slope and exposure to the South, there was a drop in the internal temperature within the model at the geographic coordinates of Jaboticabal city (SP/Brazil).

Work-related crisis exposure : psychological trauma and PTSD in news journalists

I avhandlingen undersöktes hur journalister själva reagerar efter att ha arbetat med en plötslig krissituation, samt vilka faktorer som kan bidra till en förhöjd risk för allvarliga långsiktiga stressymptom. Temat undersöktes (1) genom att se på hur journalisters tidigare erfarenheter av krisuppdrag och traumatiska upplevelser i privatlivet var relaterade till stressymptom (posttraumatiskt stressyndrom, sekundär traumatisk stress, depression och utmattningssyndrom), och (2) genom att studera riskfaktorer i en identifierad typ av kris, de finländska skolskjutningarna 2007-08. Avhandlingens resultat baserades på enkätsvar från finländska nyhetsjournalister (N = 503) och intervjuer med personer som jobbat på plats vid skolskjutningar (N = 28). En klar majoritet av journalisterna hade inte allvarliga långsiktiga stressymptom vid tiden för undersökningen. De som varit på ett tidigare krisuppdrag där man bevittnat många obehagliga detaljer hade fler allvarliga stressymptom. En annan riskfaktor var att ha ett förflutet med fler traumatiska händelser i privatlivet. Bland de som arbetat med skolskjutningar var starka kortsiktiga reaktioner, t.ex. hjälplöshet och chock, relativt vanliga. Reaktionerna hörde ändå oftast till den normala återhämtningsprocessen, och ledde inte till en långsiktig försämring av måendet. Journalister som i hög grad identifierade sig med krisen, t.ex. personer med egna barn, hade större risk för att drabbas av allvarliga symptom på lång sikt. Detsamma gällde de som på plats upplevt journalistiska etiska dilemman, t.ex. att beordras av överordnade till uppdrag som gick emot egna principer. För att förebygga psykisk stress bland journalister är det viktigt att inom branschen sprida kunskap om stressreaktioner och utveckla rekommendationer för etisk krisjournalistik. Därmed kan journalister få bättre verktyg för att minimera risken att via sitt yrkesutövande orsaka ytterligare skada åt krisdrabbade.