With increasing evidence of adverse health effects associated with particulate matter (PM), the exposure impact of natural sources, such as forest fires, has substantial public health relevance. In addition to the threat to nearby communities, pollutants released from forest fires can travel thousands of kilometers to heavily populated urban areas. There was a dramatic increase in forest fire a...

Scientific assessments of agricultural air quality, including estimates of emissions and potential sequestration of greenhouse gases, are an important emerging area of environmental science that offers significant challenges to policy and regulatory authorities. Improvements are needed in measurements, modeling, emission controls, and farm operation management. Controlling emissions of gases an...

The quantification of nitrogen (N) supplying capacity of organic amendments applied to a soil is of immense importance to examine synchronization, N release capacity, and fertilizer values of these added materials. The aims of the present study was to determine the potential N mineralization and subsequent nitrification of separate and combined use of poultry manure (PM), wheat straw residues (...

association between [chronic PM] air pollution exposure and health [mortality]." In applying these criteria, I have included experimental studies in animals and epi-demiologic studies in humans (6). Rodents exposed to high concentrations of diesel exhaust for life did not show early or increased mortality (6). The available epi-demiologic studies (3-5) showed only weak associations across a nar...

To elucidate further the molecular basis of the specific regulatory mechanism modulating the expression of the genes implicated in methionine metabolism, we have cloned and characterized two genes, MET3 and MET25, and shown that the regulation of their expression is transcriptional ( 1 , 2). The sequence of the cloned yeast MET25 gene which encodes the O-acetyl homoserine O-acetyl serine (OAH-O...

In this talk I will pick three key environmental issues that dominate the risk or impact, or dominate the public perception thereof: (a) What is the effect upon health of particulate air pollution at today's levels? Experts increasingly believe that fine particulates kill 70,000 people a year in the USA, but this has not yet been officially admitted by any government. (b) What is the effect of ...