PURPOSE The effects of air cleaners on the removal of airborne indoor allergens, especially house dust mites (HDM), are still controversial. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of an air cleaner with an electrostatic filter on the removal of airborne mite allergens. MATERIALS AND METHODS A dried HDM culture medium that contained mite body particles and excretions was dispers...

The health of human populations living in industrial regions is negatively affected by exposure to environmental air pollutants. In this study, we investigated the impact of air pollution on a cohort of subjects living in Ostrava, a heavily polluted industrial region and compared it with a cohort of individuals from the relatively clean capital city of Prague. This study consisted of three samp...

AIMS To determine the effect of pH changes occurring in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after sampling on the viability of meningitis causing bacteria, and on the performance of agglutination assays used for the rapid detection of bacterial antigens. METHODS The pH of CSF collected via lumbar puncture was measured by various methods, and the effects of the following different incubation conditions ...

Background Exposure to airborne proteins can be associated with the development of immediate, IgE-mediated respiratory allergies, with genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors also playing a role in determining the likelihood that sensitisation will be induced. The main objective of this study was to determine whether airborne concentrations of selected common aeroallergens could be quanti...

Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua) and El Paso (Texas), two cities on the U.S.-Mexico border, form a single environmental system in which the same natural resources, especially air and water, are shared. It also constitutes a single metropolitan area which is characterized by high rates of pipulation growth, economic development, and urban expansion, all these factors mitigating against air quality. Ear...