Airborne biological particles are made by bacteria, viruses, fungi, pollen, dust mites and other living organisms. Between the airborne contaminants, sampling of viruses is most difficult. This technical challenge has real consequences both in limiting studies on aerobiology viral diseases, making possible, at least for now, to establish Standards Acceptable Bioaerosol Exposure Limits case viru...

The movement of atmospheric air masses can be seen as a continuous flow gases and particles hovering over our planet, it locally simplified by means three-dimensional trajectories. These trajectories hence way connecting distant areas the globe during given period time. In this paper we present mathematical formalism to construct spatial spatiotemporal networks where nodes represent subsets par...

Studies in aerobiology are often conducted on a comparative basis; that is, the numbers of viable airborne organisms obtained under one set of circumstances are compared to those obtained under other conditions. For samplers employed in such studies, reproducibility and ease of handling often are considered more important than absolute efficiency because the final conclusions are derived from i...

BACKGROUND Ambrosia pollen is an important aeroallergen in North America; the ability to predict daily pollen levels may provide an important benefit for sensitive individuals. OBJECTIVE To analyze the long-term Ambrosia pollen counts and develop a forecasting model to predict the next day's pollen concentration. METHODS Airborne pollen has been collected since December 1986 with a Burkard ...

The aims of the study were to analyse characteristics of the Castanea airborne pollen and to compare aeropalynological data obtained from two sampling stations in north-west Croatia. The study was conducted in Zagreb and Samobor during the 2003-2006 periods, using the seven-day volumetric samplers of the Hirst design. In both study areas, the seasons of chestnut pollination were similar and las...

Climate change is unequivocal and represents a possible threat for patients affected by allergic conditions. It has already had an impact on living organisms, including plants and fungi with current scenarios projecting further effects by the end of the century. Over the last three decades, studies have shown changes in production, dispersion and allergen content of pollen and spores, which may...

The emergence of synthetic biology holds the potential of a major breakthrough in the life sciences by transforming biology into a predictive science. The dual-use characteristics of similar breakthroughs during the twentieth century have led to the application of benignly intended research in e.g. virology, bacteriology and aerobiology in offensive biological weapons programmes. Against this b...

Microbial taxa from every major biological lineage have been detected in Earth's upper atmosphere. The goal of this review is to communicate (1) relevant astrobiology questions that can be addressed with upper atmosphere microbiology studies and (2) available sampling methods for collecting microbes at extreme altitudes. Precipitation, mountain stations, airplanes, balloons, rockets, and satell...