Description: Pollen, as a microscopic element, has an important role in forensic investigation and in other scientific disciplines; its detection in different materials or objects can help to throw light on a detail which is invisible to the naked eye. For this reason, the diverse types of adhesion of pollen of five anemophilous taxa and one entomophilous on common materials have been investigated. The botanical species used are: Asphodelus aestivus , Cupressus sempervirens , Olea europaea , Pinus halepensis , Pistacia lentiscus , and Quercus ilex . The materials used are: cotton, denim, latex, leather, newspaper, paper, and polyester textile. Samples of materials with each type of imprinted pollen are thrown down from a height, then transported by car, and finally are rinsed in water simulating the evidence of a direct or indirect contact with flowers, a natural contamination by air of objects and clothes, or a dumping of a body followed by a soaking in fresh water. This research underlines the importance of pollen evidence in forensic investigations, but also exposes the behaviour of anemophilous pollen on materials. Pollen examined present different ways of attaching, depending on the species and/or types of material; although the adhesion is strongest within the fabric materials, Cupressus have the high value particularly on smooth ones. The pollen of Cupressus , Olea , and Pistacia show a significant adhesion, followed by Quercus , Pinus and, finally, the entomophilous Asphodelu s which reveals a very low power of adhesion. The total concentration of pollen count after rinsed in water is of 34,690 grains in the whole surface of 126 cm 2 of the materials examined. An average of 275 pollen grains/cm 2 indicate that a high number of allergenic pollen still remain fixed on materials; in the case of the adhesion on clothes, it can being cause of aggravation of allergies and asthma in people who suffering from these ailments.

Description: Ambient levels of viable bioaerosol (fungi) were measured at six different sections of a sewage treatment plant in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The sampling was carried out for fungal fractions of bioaerosols during the month of June 2012 to May 2013 covering all the four seasons of India, i.e., monsoon, post-monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon. Sampling was done thrice in a month with the help of a six-stage viable cascade impactor for 10 min each at a flow rate of 28.3 l min −1 . Temperature and relative humidity were also recorded during each sampling. It was found that among all the six sites, maximum and minimum fungal concentrations were 1,200 and 829 CFU m −3 in pre-monsoon; 1,198 and 802 CFU m −3 in monsoon; 1,289 and 868 CFU m −3 in post-monsoon; and 516 and 279 CFU m −3 in winter seasons, respectively. A good regression of fine over coarse fungal bioaerosols was observed in all the four seasons. In total, eight genera of fungi were identified, and among the eight genera identified, four, e.g., Mucor , Rhizopus , Aspergillus, and Penicillium, were found in maximum number during all the seasons. This study has revealed interesting results in context to the relationship between concentrations of fungal bioaerosols and environmental factors as well as interparticle size relationship of fungal bioaerosols.

Description: Alnus  ×  spaethii is a hybrid alder with the parent species A. japonica and A. subcordata . It is known for both its tolerance for urban climate conditions and enhanced air pollution concentrations and hence often figures on recommended tree guidance lists in towns. At the MeteoSwiss pollen station of Buchs (Switzerland), unusual early peaks of alder pollen already in December or January have been observed in the last 8 years. These peaks occurred several days to weeks earlier than at any other Swiss pollen station. As pollen source, an alley of Alnus  ×  spaethii trees, planted in 1995–2000, 800 m south of the pollen trap could be identified. Phenological observations during this period in Buchs confirmed these pollen observations and showed that the trees were fully flowering on December 30, 2009, December 28, 2010 and 2011 and December 24, 2012. Due to the presence of Alnus  ×  spaethii a very early, longer and more intense alder pollen season was observed in Buchs. As recently shown, these alder pollen can be also of clinical relevance. Thus, newly introduced plant species seem to be able to become a relevant allergen within a short time.

Description: High and low pollen deposition years in the period 1998–2010 were recorded for ten forest-forming trees in Roztocze (SE Poland) using Tauber-style traps. The coincidence of very high/low pollen deposition years recorded in Tauber traps and aerobiological data obtained by volumetric samplers shows that these phenomena occur simultaneously in different places across vast areas of a tree’s distribution range. The natural physiological rhythms displayed in abundance of flowering were considered on the basis of the observed data and published sources. The results obtained from applying Spearman’s correlation to pollen accumulation rates from Roztocze and the meteorological parameters confirmed several statistically significant correlations between temperature and summer precipitation prior to pollen emission and a negative correlation with the winter temperature before pollen emission. Air temperature, precipitation, growing season duration (its start and end), winter length and the number of winter days with a daily mean temperature below 0 °C were all considered. The best correlation coefficient results were obtained for the trees most abundant in the vegetation, namely Abies alba , Fagus sylvatica and Pinus sylvestris . Earlier findings on the controlling role of temperature and precipitation during the summer prior to pollen emission were confirmed, and a long period of winter dormancy was stressed as a factor favouring high pollen production. The examples from Roztocze reflected situations when a strong weather signal overrode the natural flowering rhythm. This was observable in the case of P . sylvestris , where pollen production reflected the air temperature of the previous summer or in the case of a mast year, which occurred across the whole distribution range of F . sylvatica in 2006.

Description: The prevalence of asthma in Taiwan is one of the highest in Asia. Mold exposures have been linked to the development and exacerbation of asthma. A pilot study of mold populations in homes in Taipei, Taiwan, was conducted in the spring of 2014. Dust and air samples were collected from five homes with an asthmatic child and five from control homes. A combined, settled-dust sample was collected in the living room and bedroom in each home using a Swiffer™ cloth. The dust (5 mg) was analyzed for 36 molds using a DNA-based analysis, mold-specific quantitative PCR, and mold contamination was estimated using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) metric. The ERMI values were significantly ( p  = 0.03) greater in the homes of asthmatic children compared to the control homes, average 26.2 versus 17.4, respectively. Aspergillus ochraceus was found in significantly greater numbers in homes of asthmatic children compared to control homes. Air samples were collected in each home for 2 min (total 63 l of air) using the Burkard portable air sampler for agar plates fitted with malt extract agar plates. The plates were incubated at 25 °C for 5 days, and the resulting mold colonies were enumerated. Significantly higher total numbers of molds were cultured from the air in homes of asthmatics compared to control homes. Although this is a pilot study, it suggests that asthmatic children in Taipei, Taiwan, live in homes with significantly greater exposures to molds.

Description: The aim of the study was to determine the characteristics of temporal and space–time autocorrelation of pollen counts of Alnus , Betula , and Corylus in the air of eight cities in Poland. Daily average pollen concentrations were monitored over 8 years (2001–2005 and 2009–2011) using Hirst-designed volumetric spore traps. The spatial and temporal coherence of data was investigated using the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions. The calculation and mathematical modelling of 61 correlograms were performed for up to 25 days back. The study revealed an association between temporal variations in Alnus , Betula , and Corylus pollen counts in Poland and three main groups of factors such as: (1) air mass exchange after the passage of a single weather front (30–40 % of pollen count variation); (2) long-lasting factors (50–60 %); and (3) random factors, including diurnal variations and measurements errors (10 %). These results can help to improve the quality of forecasting models.

Description: Some biological particles present in the atmosphere, such as pollen grains, give rise to human health problems, allergies, and infections. In view of the recognized special allergenic ability of Plantago pollen grains, a model based on an artificial neural network (ANN) was developed in this work in order to forecast the Plantago airborne pollen concentration. The proposed model uses data from Plantago pollen and the main meteorological variables recorded during 16 years (1993–2008) in the city of Ourense (northwest Spain). Its accuracy was tested during the years 2009 and 2010 with a prediction horizon of 2 days in advance. The model was applied in the atmosphere of the city of Ourense (Spain). Obtained results show that ANN model provides good results against other classical mathematical methodologies, which do not convergence so well. The forecasted pollen concentrations here are applied to allergology because they allow taking into account preventive measures in risk pollinosis suffers population.

Description: The northwest of Morocco is one of the major areas dedicated to olive tree crop in Morocco. Airborne pollen of Olea was recorded during 2008–2012 to determine its annual load and variation. Aerobiological sampling was undertaken over five seasons in Tétouan using the volumetric method. This study used also a thermal model to calculate growing degree-days required until the start of the pollen season and the peak day. For this purpose, a range of the threshold temperatures between 0 and 10 °C was tested. The pollen season started from the second decade of March and showed the highest pollen index in May or April. The annual pollen score recorded varied from year to year between 4,168 and 1,953. The main pollen season lasted 62–105 days, with peak days occurring in April or May; the highest concentration reached 379 pollen grains/m 3 . The sum of the difference between mean temperature and threshold temperatures of 10 and 7 °C from 51 and 61 days before the season start and peak day accumulated averages heat units of 278 and 624 growing degree days, respectively. In order to validate the forecast of these parameters of the pollen season, we have used the year 2012 as external data. The dates predicted did not differ from those observed when threshold temperatures 10 and 7 °C were tested to forecast the onset of the Olea pollen season and the full anthesis, respectively. The method performed in this study showed a high coincidence between expected and observed data and should be useful to allow olive crop yield management in the area of Tetouan.

Description: The occurrence and the abundance of the airborne fungi in the city of Athens have been studied by a volumetric non-culture-based method. During a period of 4 years, 562 glass slides were exposed during 562 sampling days, by a Burkard portable air sampler. A total of 259,851 fungal spores have been recovered and assigned to 24 genera of filamentous fungi, in addition to those recorded as groups. The annual mean concentration (AMC) of the total fungi was 865, 1,212, 937 and 1,206 spores/m 3 , and the concentration range was 89–3,175, 63–7,628, 62–4,323 and 29–10,187 spores/m 3 for each year, respectively. There is no statistically significant variation in the AMC and in the distribution patterns of the total fungi from year to year. The temporal variation of the total fungi and of the dominant genera Cladosporium and Alternaria presented a significant increase during the warm months of each year. The results of the present study compared with data available by a culture-based method confirmed the complementarity of the two sampling procedures. The non-culture-based method was more efficient for the quantification of the total fungal count as well as of the genera Cladosporium and Alternaria , although less effective for the quantification of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium .

Description: Airborne bacteria could affect human health and climate. In this study, the bacterial community structures were investigated by analyzing air samples collected from a suburban location in Toyama, central Japan. Sixty samples were collected almost weekly between March 2009 and February 2010. A cultivation-independent approach, PCR plus denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), was used to analyze changes in the structure of the airborne bacterial communities. The DGGE profiles showed significant differences between sampling days, reflecting quite different bacterial profiles. Sequencing of DGGE bands revealed that the bacterial community was dominated by γ-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, α-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. The most frequently observed genus was Pseudomonas , followed by Bacillus . The airborne bacterial assemblage in winter differed from that in the other seasons. The differences could be attributed a number of factors, such as temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, and snowfall. In spring, the largest number of bands was classified as plant chloroplasts, such as Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica ) and Pinus spp., which are the major pollen allergen sources in Japan. The airborne bacterial abundance estimated by real-time TaqMan PCR ranged from 1.1 × 10 3 to 1.3 × 10 5  cells m −3 .