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Miscellaneous Applications
Published in Vlado Valković, Low Energy Particle Accelerator-Based Technologies and Their Applications, 2022
PIXE and XRF are very effective techniques in atmospheric aerosol investigation; therefore, many authors extensively use them. In the work by Calzolai et al. (2008) an inter-laboratory comparison of the results obtained analyzing several samples (collected on different substrata) with both techniques is presented: the samples were analyzed by PIXE (in Florence, at the 3MV Tandetron accelerator of LABEC laboratory) and by XRF (in Genoa and Milan, where two Oxford XRF instruments are operational). The results of the three sets of measurements are in good agreement for all the analyzed samples. The aim of this work was also to compare PIXE and XRF performance in atmospheric aerosol analysis with the routine set-up currently in use at the three laboratories, to determine the best technique to be applied depending on the substratum used for aerosol sampling and the main elements of interest for each specific research project. Results of the comparison between the minimum detection limits of both techniques are shown for all the measured elements, for different substrata (Teflon, polycarbonate and cellulose mixed esters), Calzolai et al. (2008).
Global environmental change and health
Published in Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips, Global Health, 2017
Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips
The discussion in the chapter aligns with the planetary boundaries (PB) conceptual framework of the Earth-system that has been advanced in recent years (Rockström et al., 2009; Steffen et al., 2015). The PB paradigm centres on nine interlinked global environmental processes and systems vital to the stability and resilience of the planet as our life-support system. The nine processes/systems identified are: climate change, change in biosphere integrity, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus cycles), land-system change, freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading, and introduction of novel entities. Growing human pressures on the global environment since the Industrial Revolution are seen as moving Earth from the environmental stability of the past eleven or twelve millennia (i.e. the Holocene) into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, named to reflect the increasing planet-scale biophysical impacts of humankind. Working to the precautionary principle, it is argued that quantitative boundaries that must not be transgressed need to be determined for the nine processes/systems, to give humanity a ‘safe operating place’. Going (and remaining) beyond those boundaries runs the risk of catastrophic Earth-system change with dire consequences for all aspects of human development and wellbeing. Leading PB researchers have recently warned that four of the nine boundaries they propose have now been transgressed: climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, and biogeochemical flows (Steffen et al., 2015).
Radionuclide Concentrations in Water
Published in Michael Pöschl, Leo M. L. Nollet, Radionuclide Concentrations in Food and the Environment, 2006
José Luis Mas, Manuel García-León, Rafael García-Tenorio, Juan Pedro Bolívar
Today this is a well-established fact and many works can be found in the literature showing the presence of primordial radionuclides in the atmosphere. The main objective of these documents is the determination of radon isotopes and their descendants in the atmospheric aerosol, since it is very relevant from a radiological viewpoint. Consequently there is not very much literature on the presence and levels of primordial nuclides in rainwater.
The rising of allergic respiratory diseases in a changing world: from climate change to migration
Published in Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine, 2020
Benedetta Biagioni, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Gennaro D’Amato, Lorenzo Cecchi
The evidence that air pollution can cause exacerbations of preexisting asthma is supported by studies and data accumulating for several decades. Nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter, have been significantly associated with increased asthma exacerbations and higher asthma medication intake [31]. Particulate Matter (PM) is a ubiquitous atmospheric aerosol with both anthropogenic and natural sources that can be classified on the basis of its aerodynamic diameter in PM10 or PM2.5, the latter being also called fine particles. PM2.5 can easily penetrate deeply into bronchial tree, affecting distal airways. Nitrogen oxides gases, such as nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are mainly produced from the reaction between nitrogen and oxygen during combustion fuels and are a significant source of air pollution in areas of high motor vehicle traffic.
The influence of HLA-B51 on clinical manifestations among Japanese patients with Behçet’s disease: A nationwide survey
Published in Modern Rheumatology, 2020
Yuki Mizuki, Nobuyuki Horita, Yukihiro Horie, Masaki Takeuchi, Takehito Ishido, Ryuta Mizuki, Tatsukata Kawagoe, Etsuko Shibuya, Kentaro Yuda, Mizuho Ishido, Kaoru Minegishi, Ryusuke Yoshimi, Yohei Kirino, Shingo Kato, Jun Arimoto, Takeshi Fukumoto, Michiko Kurosawa, Nobuyoshi Kitaichi, Mitsuhiro Takeno, Takeshi Kaneko, Nobuhisa Mizuki
There are some reports that mentioned the association between HLA-B51 and ocular manifestation. Ocular lesion is the key involvement in BD as it greatly deteriorates patient quality of life. For ICBD score, ocular lesions, oral aphthous ulcer and genital ulceration are each assigned two points, while skin lesions, central nervous system involvement and vascular manifestations are assigned one point each [2]. Maldini et al. conducted a meta-analysis using the data of 5790 patients from 47 publications and estimated the association between HLA-B51/B5 and each clinical manifestation. In that report, they revealed that HLA-B51/B5 is related to eye involvement with relative risk of 1.13 (95%CI: 1.06–1.21; p < .0005), but other clinical manifestations did not show any association [16]. Another recent meta-analysis by Horie et al. using the data of 1076 patients from 16 studies concluded that HLA-B51 is a stronger risk factor of ocular lesions (OR 1.76, p = .000057) compared to the estimation by Maldini et al. [17]. Maldini et al. [17] might mitigate the influence of HLA-B51 by including HLA-B subtype other than B-51. Horie et al. also suggested that the association between HLA-B51 and ocular lesion became stronger towards the east along the Silk Road [17]. They speculated that the environmental factor might be more influential in patients with BD in western countries. In addition, Horie et al. suggested that atmospheric aerosol particles could be influential for the onset of diseases. For example, unidentified particles from the Sahara Desert on westerlies and air pollutant in postwar Japan. Our result from Japanese data showing a strong relationship between HLA-B51 and ocular involvement with OR of 1.58 is compatible with the data by Horie et al., which used data from 12 countries along the Silk Road. Our subgroup analysis also replicated this conclusion (Figure 2; Tables 2 and 3). Nishiyama et al. conducted a study of 83 familial occurrences of Behcet’s disease and found that HLA-B51 positive is a risk factor for ocular lesion and protective factor for genital ulcer [18].
Estimates of carbon nanotube deposition in the lung: improving quality and robustness
Published in Inhalation Toxicology, 2020
Matthew D. Wright, Alison J. Buckley, Rachel Smith
Several studies involving CNT (e.g. Mitchell et al. 2007; Baron et al. 2008) have undertaken simultaneous aerosol measurement using SMPS and APS, primarily because the combination covers a broad particle size range (often from 10 nm to 20 µm). Typically, the size ranges measured by the two instruments overlap, therefore merging of the two distributions can be achieved using a ‘correction factor,’ related to the particle shape and effective density, to convert between the distributions measured by the instruments (aerodynamic, and mobility diameter). However, a number of issues affect the accuracy of these estimates. The region of overlap of most SMPS and APS systems is relatively small (usually at most 0.5–0.7 µm e.g. Khlystov et al. 2004; Beddows et al. 2010) and information on effective density of particles far outside this region, which may be different for both larger and smaller CNT particles (Chen et al. 2012; Ku and Kulkarni 2015; Wang et al. 2015), is not retrievable through this method alone. Khlystov et al. (2004) also discuss errors due to counting efficiency primarily in the APS, which could arise from unit-to-unit variability and the optical properties, largely the complex refractive index, of the particles (Pfeifer et al. 2016), which to our knowledge has not been reported for airborne CNT particles. This could affect both aerodynamic size distributions reported by the instrument, and correction factors (and hence effective density) derived using these data if, as has been previously observed, these errors are size-dependent and occur largely in the overlap range as APS counting efficiency drops (Beddows et al. 2010). A number of improvements to the fitting algorithm have been employed in an atmospheric aerosol context (Beddows et al. 2010) but to our knowledge have not been used in CNT studies. Finally, but importantly, the shape factor must be separately deduced to unfold the effects of effective density and shape from the overall correction factor, requiring further measurement e.g. via TEM of the particles specifically from the overlap size range. Use of quantitative SMPS and APS data for dose estimation and related toxicological impact should thus be undertaken with caution (Chen et al. 2016a) and ideally supplemented with direct measurement of mass distribution e.g. via Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) or MOUDI/nanoMOUDI (Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor).