The Impact of Seasonal Climate Conditions on Fungal Biodiversity in Barn Air

Effects of ambient air pollution on childhood asthma exacerbation in the Philadelphia metropolitan Region, 2011–2014

2062 It has been suggested that when assessing physical activity in young children, seasonal changes be controlled in describing differences. Colder temperatures and less daylight hours in the winter are likely to influence the decision of parents and childcare providers in sending preschool-aged children outdoors. PURPOSE: This study focused on comparing the vigorous physical activity (VPA) levels of preschoolaged children during colder (January-March) and warmer seasons (May-July) in the Midwest region of the United States. It is expected that less time will be spent in VPA during the winter months since it is likely less time will be spent outdoors. METHODS: Subjects included 28 children (12 males, 16 females) age 3–5 (mean age 3.82 ± .55 years) from six childcare centers in northeast Iowa. The cold months averaged −2 degrees C (SD = 5.8) daily high, while the warm months averaged 24 degrees C (SD = 4.9). No difference occurred in precipitation between these seasons. The children were objectively assessed for physical activity using Actwatch-16 activity monitors (Sunriver, OR, USA) for three weekdays during each season. VPA was determined by identifying the number of 15s epoch (time intervals) that the child activity counts > 250. From this procedure, the number total minutes were determined for the day. The three days were averaged to determine total minutes per day, and time in VPA at the center and at home. RESULTS: The mean (SD) minutes spent daily in VPA for the cold and warm months were 67.23 (21.65) and 66.48 (25.29) respectively. A dependent t-test indicated no significant difference in daily VPA between cold and warm months (p = 0.865). In addition, dependent t-tests indicated no significant difference between minutes spent in VPA at the center (p = 0.258) and the home (p = 0.398) when comparing cold versus warm months. There was however a significant (p<0.1) moderate correlation between the locations for the cold (r = 0.59) and warm (r = 0.54) months. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore it is concluded that for the preschool-aged children in this region enrolled in these child-care centers, temperature differences between seasons did not impact the level of VPA

2062 It has been suggested that when assessing physical activity in young children, seasonal changes be controlled in describing differences. Colder temperatures and less daylight hours in the winter are likely to influence the decision of parents and childcare providers in sending preschool-aged children outdoors. PURPOSE: This study focused on comparing the vigorous physical activity (VPA) levels of preschoolaged children during colder (January-March) and warmer seasons (May-July) in the Midwest region of the United States. It is expected that less time will be spent in VPA during the winter months since it is likely less time will be spent outdoors. METHODS: Subjects included 28 children (12 males, 16 females) age 3–5 (mean age 3.82 ± .55 years) from six childcare centers in northeast Iowa. The cold months averaged −2 degrees C (SD = 5.8) daily high, while the warm months averaged 24 degrees C (SD = 4.9). No difference occurred in precipitation between these seasons. The children were objectively assessed for physical activity using Actwatch-16 activity monitors (Sunriver, OR, USA) for three weekdays during each season. VPA was determined by identifying the number of 15s epoch (time intervals) that the child activity counts > 250. From this procedure, the number total minutes were determined for the day. The three days were averaged to determine total minutes per day, and time in VPA at the center and at home. RESULTS: The mean (SD) minutes spent daily in VPA for the cold and warm months were 67.23 (21.65) and 66.48 (25.29) respectively. A dependent t-test indicated no significant difference in daily VPA between cold and warm months (p = 0.865). In addition, dependent t-tests indicated no significant difference between minutes spent in VPA at the center (p = 0.258) and the home (p = 0.398) when comparing cold versus warm months. There was however a significant (p<0.1) moderate correlation between the locations for the cold (r = 0.59) and warm (r = 0.54) months. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore it is concluded that for the preschool-aged children in this region enrolled in these child-care centers, temperature differences between seasons did not impact the level of VPA

This study assessed four near-real-time satellite precipitation products (NRT SPPs) of Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP)—NRT v6 (hereafter NRT6), NRT v7 (hereafter NRT7), Gauge-NRT v6 (hereafter GNRT6), and Gauge-NRT v7 (hereafter GNRT7)— in representing the daily and monthly rainfall variations over Taiwan, an island with complex terrain. The GNRT products are the gauge-adjusted version of NRT products. Evaluations for warm (May–October) and cold months (November–April) were conducted from May 2017 to April 2020. By using observations from more than 400 surface gauges in Taiwan as a reference, our evaluations showed that GNRT products had a greater error than NRT products in underestimating the monthly mean rainfall, especially during the warm months. Among SPPs, NRT7 performed best in quantitative monthly mean rainfall estimation; however, when examining the daily scale, GNRT6 and GNRT7 were superior, particularly for monitoring stronger (i.e., more intense) rainfall events during warm and cold months, respectively. Spatially, the major improvement from NRT6 to GNRT6 (from NRT7 to GNRT7) in monitoring stronger rainfall events over southwestern Taiwan was revealed during warm (cold) months. From NRT6 to NRT7, the improvement in daily rainfall estimation primarily occurred over southwestern and northwestern Taiwan during the warm and cold months, respectively. Possible explanations for the differences between the ability of SPPs are attributed to the algorithms used in SPPs. These findings highlight that different NRT SPPs of GSMaP should be used for studying or monitoring the rainfall variations over Taiwan for different purposes (e.g., warning of floods in different seasons, studying monthly or daily precipitation features in different seasons, etc.).

In the changing climate, exceptionally warm (EWMs) and dry spring months are increasingly observed. At the same time, exceptionally cold months (ECMs) are less frequent, although their impact on a warming climate becomes significant. Due to the role that such climatic anomalies play in the environment and their effects on human activity, it is very important to explain the causes of their occurrence. For this reason, in this study, the authors have attempted to determine the circulation conditions favourable to the occurrence of extremely cold (ECM) and warm (EWM) spring months in Kraków in the years 1874–2022. The study used the average temperature of individual spring months (March–May), as well as types of atmospheric circulation and air masses from the daily Calendar of Atmospheric Circulation Types for southern Poland. A distinct increase in spring air temperature (0.181 °C/10 years) and its individual months (0.162–0.191 °C/10 years) was confirmed. It was accompanied by a significant increase in the occurrence of EWM and a decrease in ECM. It was also found that the direction of air advection and the related temperature characteristics of air masses have the greatest impact on the occurrence of exceptionally cold or warm months. A slight positive effect of zonal circulation on the temperature increase at the beginning of the spring season and the advection of air from the south in April and east in May was found. In the case of the coldest months (ECMs), low temperatures most often developed in the presence of advection from the NW-N-NE directions.

Seasonal variability of coccolithophore abundance and assemblage in the northern South China Sea

Background: Fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) is a known risk factor for asthma exacerbation. We aimed to describe the local association between PM2.5 and asthma exacerbation in the Philadelphia region, and to evaluate whether the effect is modified by children's characteristics or other environmental exposures.Methods: We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of pediatric asthma exacerbation (age ≤18 years) occurring from 2011-2014, identified through electronic health records (EHR) of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Care Network. Modeled, census-tract level estimates of daily PM2.5 concentrations were acquired from the EPA's Downscaler model. We applied conditional logistic regression to estimate the association within warm (Apr-Sep) and cold (Oct-Mar) months, with PM2.5 level modeled as a natural cubic spline (3 degrees of freedom), and adjusting for temperature, relative humidity, and holidays. We evaluated unlagged effects (i.e., PM2.5 levels on the same day as the exacerbation) and effects lagged up to 5 days.Results: There were 54,632 asthma exacerbation events during the study period, with the majority occurring among male (60.75%) and black, non-Hispanic (58.99%) children. We found a positive association between PM2.5 and asthma exacerbation in both warm months (odds ratio [OR] comparing 90th to 25th percentile = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.18, lag05) and cold months (OR, 90th vs. 25th percentile = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04-1.12, lag0). During cold months, risk increases started from the lowest pollutant concentrations. Results were robust to multi-pollutant modeling and adjustment for additional covariates, and we found no effect modification by children's characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, allergic rhinitis, eczema). During warm months, the PM2.5 effect was higher on days with detected tree pollen.Conclusion: We found a positive association between PM2.5 and asthma exacerbation. Our results suggest that even small reductions in fine particulate matter air pollution may reduce clinical visits for asthma exacerbation.

Cold and heatwaves and air pollution have a joint, direct impact on population health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined impact of chemical air and noise pollution on hospital admissions during warm and cold months, with a breakdown by age group. We conducted a time-series study of unscheduled emergency admissions by specific causes in Madrid across the period 2013–2018. The independent variables were daily mean concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, tropospheric ozone, noise, and maximum and minimum temperatures. Relative and attributable risks were calculated using generalised linear models with a Poisson link. During the warm months, stronger associations were found between: ozone and admissions due to respiratory, circulatory and neurological causes; NO2 and admissions due to respiratory diseases; and PM and admissions due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Heat had a greater effect on admissions due to neurological diseases. During the cold months, no association was found with any chemical air pollutant, except for NO2 and asthma-related admissions. By age, the greatest impacts were registered for PM, noise, cold and heat at ages ≥ 65 years, and for noise, NO2 and cold at ages ≤ 14 years.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00484-025-02963-y.

Evaluating the effect of seasonal temperature changes on the efficiency of a rhizofiltration system in nitrogen removal from urban runoff

Simple SummaryThe dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) is one of the most expensive species present in the central Mediterranean Sea and the parasite fauna of this species has not been investigated, so far. The aim of the present survey was describing the dusky grouper parasites according to fish size and parasite charge. E. marginatus specimens in two groups (cold and warm months) were also divided to establish the relation between parasite fauna and fishing period. According to the results obtained, we can speculate that the infection differences between cold and warm periods could be related to the availability of different prey representing intermediate parasites host. None of the parasites found pose a threat to humans.This study aimed to investigate parasite fauna of E. marginatus from the central Mediterranean Sea between Messina and Syracuse. In the present survey; parasite fauna of dusky grouper was investigated for two main reasons: the economic value of this species and the current lack of studies regarding the capture area. Seventy dusky groupers were caught from May 2018 to February 2020. Forty-seven out of the 70 specimens (67.2%) were infected with one or more parasite species. The most abundant species was Prosorhynchus caudovatus (42.9%), followed by Podocotyle temensis (28.6%), Didymodiclinus sp. (18.6%), Philometra jordanoi (5.7%), Anisakis Type II larvae (5.7%). Higher prevalence of infection of P. jordanoi and Contracaecum sp. was found in warm months (March to September), while P. caudovatus and P. temensis were mostly found during cold months. Weight and total length of E. marginatus were positively correlated with the parasitic load of P. jordanoi and Didymodiclinus sp. The different prevalence of parasite infection found between warm and cold months is probably related to the diet of the dusky grouper; which is characterized by mollusks that are intermediate hosts for parasite species found. None of the parasites found in the present survey is responsible for zoonosis

Indoor and outdoor microbiological air quality in naturally and mechanically ventilated university libraries

Dust pollution is one of the major environmental crises in the arid regions of Iran and there is a need to predict dust pollution and identify its controlling factors to help reduce its adverse effects on the livelihood of residents of these areas. Although deep neural networks (DNN) are powerful tools in the modelling of environmental phenomena, they are recognized as being challenging to interpret due to their black-box nature. To address this issue and understand the importance of each environmental control on dust pollution, game theory (i.e., Shapley values) was used to better understand the performance and interpretability of DNN models. Here, monthly mean values of precipitation, air temperature, surface wind speed, potential evapotranspiration, normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference salinity index, Palmer drought severity index, soil heat flux, and surface pressure were selected as explanatory variables. The dust storm index (DSI), an indicator of dust pollution, was the predicted response variable for the cold and warm months. The results showed that the accuracies of the DNN model in predicting cold months DSI (CMDSI) and warm months DSI (WMDSI) were higher compared to other traditional machine learning algorithms. DNN model increased the R2 by 13% and 15% for predicting CMDSI and WMDSI, respectively, compared to the Random Forest model, which was the second most effective approach. According to the Shapley values, the most important controls on the occurrence of dust storms during the cold months of the study period (2000–2018) were wind speed, soil heat flux, and precipitation. During the warm months, wind speed was the most important controlling factor and was followed by precipitation, soil heat flux, and potential evapotranspiration. Overall, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the DNN model and game theory in identifying the factors affecting dust pollution, which may help mitigate its impacts on the residents of western Iran.

Evaluating fungal contamination indoors is complicated because of the many different sampling methods utilized. In this study, fungal contamination was evaluated using five sampling methods and four matrices for results. The five sampling methods were a 48 hour indoor air sample collected with a Button™ inhalable aerosol sampler and four types of dust samples: a vacuumed floor dust sample, newly settled dust collected for four weeks onto two types of electrostatic dust cloths (EDCs) in trays, and a wipe sample of dust from above floor surfaces. The samples were obtained in the bedrooms of asthmatic children (n = 14). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to analyze the dust and air samples for the 36 fungal species that make up the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI). The results from the samples were compared by four matrices: total concentration of fungal cells, concentration of fungal species associated with indoor environments, concentration of fungal species associated with outdoor environments, and ERMI values (or ERMI-like values for air samples). The ERMI values for the dust samples and the ERMI-like values for the 48 hour air samples were not significantly different. The total cell concentrations of the 36 species obtained with the four dust collection methods correlated significantly (r = 0.64-0.79, p < 0.05), with the exception of the vacuumed floor dust and newly settled dust. In addition, fungal cell concentrations of indoor associated species correlated well between all four dust sampling methods (r = 0.68-0.86, p < 0.01). No correlation was found between the fungal concentrations in the air and dust samples primarily because of differences in concentrations of Cladosporium cladosporioides Type 1 and Epicoccum nigrum. A representative type of dust sample and a 48 hour air sample might both provide useful information about fungal exposures.

ABSTRACTStable isotopes in precipitation and spring water were observed in a low mountain region, because seasonal variability in isotope altitude and amount effects based on their simultaneous observations in low latitude area have not been studied so much. Seasonal variability in spatial averages of monthly δ18O and d-excess in precipitation ranged from −11.96 to −5.16 ‰ and from 8.0 to 24.2 ‰, respectively, while those in spring water ranged from −7.64 to −7.18 ‰ and from 11.0 to 13.6 ‰. The seasonal variability in spatial average of monthly δ18O in precipitation was much wider than in spring water. Monthly isotopic composition in spring water was mostly plotted along the local meteoric water lines for precipitation in warm months, suggesting that precipitation in warm months is the main source of spring water. Annual isotope altitude effects in precipitation (−0.12 ‰/100 m) and spring water (−0.13 ‰/100 m) were almost the same, and monthly isotope amount effects for cold months (−7.9 to −0.9 ‰/100 mm) were relatively higher than those for the warm months (−12.0 to −9.6 ‰/100 mm). The isotope amount effect at each sampling sites appeared using only the data in the warm months without extreme weather.

Airborne contaminants at waste treatment plants