Crop production models are highly developed to account for different nitrogen, light, temperature and water availability conditions and, in some species, disease or air pollutant effects. There is very limited knowledge on responses of many tropical crops, such as oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), to air pollutants although predictions of these effects are essential for industrial planning in sever...

We undertook this study to investigate whether there is an association between atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5) levels and inpatient admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Taipei, Taiwan. Data on inpatient admissions for COPD and ambient on air pollution levels in Taipei were obtained for years 2006 to 2010. We estimated the relative risk of inpatient admissions for CO...

Unborn children are exposed to environmental pollutants via the placenta, and there is a causal relationship between maternal intake of pollutants and fetal exposure. Placental examination is an effective way for acquiring data for estimating fetal exposure. We analyzed the concentrations of 104 congeners of persistent organic pollutants, seven organotin compounds, five heavy metals, and methyl...

Quinoline, which belongs to N-heterocyclic compounds, occurs naturally in the environment and is used in numerous industrial processes. The structures of various chemicals, such as dyes and medicines, are based on this compound. Due to that fact, quinoline and its derivatives are widely distributed in environment and can exert toxic effects on organisms from different trophic levels. The abilit...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare the values of a marginal change in the area of land as a pollutant sink under different decision-making contexts and objectives: international coordination versus national policies for pollutant reduction, and maximization of net benefits versus minimization of costs for pollutant reductions. The analytical results show that a coordinated poli...

BACKGROUND The island factor of the cities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, along with their proximity to Africa and their meteorology, create a particular setting that influences the air quality of these cities and provides researchers an opportunity to analyze the acute effects of air-pollutants on daily mortality. METHODS From 2000 to 2004, the relationship between...

BACKGROUND Airborne pollutants and indoor allergens increase asthma morbidity in inner-city children; therefore, reducing exposure, if feasible, should improve asthma morbidity. OBJECTIVE To conduct a randomized controlled trial of methods to reduce environmental pollutant and allergen exposure in the homes of asthmatic children living in the inner city. METHODS After the completion of ques...

The category of finite cardinals (or, equivalently, of finite sets) is the symmetric analogue of the category of finite ordinals, and the ground category of a relevant category of presheaves, the augmented symmetric simplicial sets. We prove here that this ground category has characterisations similar to the classical ones for the category of finite ordinals, by the existence of a universal sym...

An algebraic classification of second order symmetric tensors in 5-dimensional Kaluza-Klein-type Lorentzian spaces is presented by using Jordan matrices. We show that the possible Segre types are [1, 1111], [2111], [311], [z z̄ 111], and the degeneracies thereof. A set of canonical forms for each Segre type is found. The possible continuous groups of symmetry for each canonical form are also stu...