Environmental pollution
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Environmental pollution · May 2017
Association between chronic exposure to air pollution and mortality in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The impact of chronic exposure to air pollution and outcomes in the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is unknown. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2011 was utilized for this analysis. The NIS is a national database that captures 20% of all US in-patient hospitalizations from 47 states. ⋯ Similarly, for each increase in particulate matter exposure by 10 μg/m3, the OR for death was 1.08 (95% CI 1.02-1.16, p < 0.01). Chronic exposure to both ozone and particulate matter pollution is associated with higher rates of mortality in ARDS. These preliminary findings need to be confirmed by further detailed studies.
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Environmental pollution · May 2017
Pollen of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.): Illumina-based de novo sequencing and differential transcript expression upon elevated NO2/O3.
Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is a highly allergenic annual ruderal plant and native to Northern America, but now also spreading across Europe. Air pollution and climate change will not only affect plant growth, pollen production and duration of the whole pollen season, but also the amount of allergenic encoding transcripts and proteins of the pollen. The objective of this study was to get a better understanding of transcriptional changes in ragweed pollen upon NO2 and O3 fumigation. ⋯ Moreover transcripts encoding allergen known from other plants could be identified. The transcriptional changes in ragweed pollen upon elevated NO2 fumigation indicates that air pollution will alter the transcriptome of the pollen. The changed levels of allergenic encoding transcripts may have an influence on the total allergenic potential of ragweed pollen.
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Environmental pollution · May 2017
Urban air pollution and meteorological factors affect emergency department visits of elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Taiwan.
Both air pollution and meteorological factors in metropolitan areas increased emergency department (ED) visits from people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Few studies investigated the associations between air pollution, meteorological factors, and COPD-related health disorders in Asian countries. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the environmental factors and COPD-associated ED visits of susceptible elderly population in the largest Taiwanese metropolitan area (Taipei area, including Taipei city and New Taipei city) between 2000 and 2013. ⋯ Additionally, either O3 or SO2 combined with other air pollutants increased the risk of elderly COPD-associated ED visits in the days of high relative humidity and air pressure difference, respectively. This study showed that joint effect of urban air pollution and meteorological factors contributed to the COPD-associated ED visits of the susceptible elderly population in the largest metropolitan area in Taiwan. Government authorities should review existing air pollution policies, and strengthen health education propaganda to ensure the health of the susceptible elderly population.