The objective of this study was to obtain insight into the adverse health effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) collected from live bird markets and to determine whether biological material in PM accounts for immune-related inflammatory response. Mice were exposed to a single or repeated dose of PM, after which the expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), cytokines, and chemokines in the...

PURPOSE This study investigated the relationship between muscular strength about the knee and knee joint moments during gait in patients who had undergone arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). METHODS One hundred and two APM patients and 42 age-matched nonoperated controls underwent strength testing and three-dimensional gait analysis. Patients were divided into weak and normal subgroups a...

Adiponectin (APM) is an adipocyte-derived adipokine with immunosuppressive, antidiabetic, and antiatherosclerotic properties. Low molecular weight (LMW)- and higher molecular weight (HMW)-APM circulate in the serum and activate different signaling pathways. We were interested to see whether LMW-APM exerts different effects on monocytic cells compared with the HMW isoform. Therefore, the effects...

BACKGROUND Despite the dramatic decrease in airborne lead over the past three decades, there are calls for regulatory limits on this potent pediatric neurotoxin lower even than the new (2008) US Environmental Protection Agency standard. To achieve further decreases in airborne lead, what sources would need to be decreased and what costs would ensue? Our aim was to identify and, if possible, qua...

The mutagenicity of airborne particulate matter collected in 17 towns of Italy in 1990 was assessed using the Ames test. The mutagenicity of crude extract correlated with amount of lead, suggesting the direct contribution of gasoline car exhausts. Moreover, the mutagenicity correlated with particulate matter amounts. An inverse correlation with temperature was observed. The crude extracts were ...

In this study, we have examined the relationships between the concentrations of ambient inhalable airborne fungi and pollen with PM10, PM2.5, ozone, organic carbon, selected trace metals (cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc), temperature, and relative humidity. The database was collected in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, during two consecutive years. Measurements of all environmental variables were perform...

Coxiella burnetii is thought to infect humans primarily via airborne transmission. However, air measurements of C. burnetii are sparse. We detected C. burnetii DNA in inhalable and PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic size of 10 μm or less) dust samples collected at three affected goat farms, demonstrating that low levels of C. burnetii DNA are present in inhalable size fractions.

UNLABELLED Over one-quarter of the world's population relies on fuel-based lighting. Kerosene lamps are often located in close proximity to users, potentially increasing the risk for respiratory illnesses and lung cancer. Particulate matter concentrations resulting from cook stoves have been extensively studied in the literature. However, characterization of particulate concentrations from fuel...

Organic species are an important but poorly characterized constituent of airborne particulate matter. A quantitative understanding of the organic fraction of particles (organic aerosol, OA) is necessary to reduce some of the largest uncertainties that confound the assessment of the radiative forcing of climate and air quality management policies. In recent years, aerosol mass spectrometry has b...

Methods for apportioning sources of ambient particulate matter (PM) using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) algorithm are reviewed. Numerous procedural decisions must be made and algorithmic parameters selected when analyzing PM data with PMF. However, few publications document enough of these details for readers to evaluate, reproduce, or compare results between different studies. For ex...