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Development and application of a method to classify airborne pollen taxa concentration using light scattering data. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22371. [PMID: 34785742 PMCID: PMC8595647 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01919-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Although automated pollen monitoring networks using laser optics are well-established in Japan, it is thought that these methods cannot distinguish between pollen counts when evaluating various pollen taxa. However, a method for distinguishing the pollen counts of two pollen taxa was recently developed. In this study, we applied such a method to field evaluate the data of the two main allergens in Japan, Chamaecyparis obtusa and Cryptomeria japonica. We showed that the method can distinguish between the pollen counts of these two species even when they are simultaneously present in the atmosphere. This result indicates that a method for automated and simple two pollen taxa monitoring with high spatial density can be developed using the existing pollen network.
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Yamaguchi H, Nozu K, Ishiko S, Kondo A, Ninchoji T, Nagano C, Takeda H, Unzaki A, Ishibashi K, Morioka I, Nagase H, Iijima K, Ishida A. Impact of the State of Emergency during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 on Asthma Exacerbations among Children in Kobe City, Japan. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph182111407. [PMID: 34769923 PMCID: PMC8583023 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182111407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic altered environmental factors. We studied the impact of these changes on asthma exacerbation (AE) by comparing the AE-related environmental factors between COVID-19 (2020) and pre-COVID-19 (2011–2019) eras. Between 2011 and 2020, 278,465 children (<16 years old) visited our emergency department, and 7476 were diagnosed with AE. The number of patients showed spring and fall peaks in 2011–2019. Multivariate analyses showed significant positive relationships of the number of AE patients with the average temperature among all patients and 0–5-year-olds and with sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels in 2011–2019 among 0–5-year-olds. Although the spring peak in the number of patients was not observed in 2020 after declaration of a state of emergency, the fall peak was again observed after the state of emergency was lifted. No changes in average temperature were detected, but SO2 was significantly reduced following declaration of the state of emergency in 2020. Therefore, SO2 reduction might have contributed to the disappearance of the peak of AE. However, a fall peak was observed again in 2020, although SO2 levels continued to be low. These data suggest that person to person interaction seems to be associated with AE, presumably due to unknown viral infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Yamaguchi
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +81-78-382-5111; Fax: +81-78-382-5050
| | - Kandai Nozu
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Shinya Ishiko
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Atsushi Kondo
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Takeshi Ninchoji
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - China Nagano
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Hiroki Takeda
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Ai Unzaki
- Kobe Children’s Primary Emergency Medical Center, 1-4-1 Wakihamakaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0073, Japan; (A.U.); (K.I.); (A.I.)
| | - Kazuto Ishibashi
- Kobe Children’s Primary Emergency Medical Center, 1-4-1 Wakihamakaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0073, Japan; (A.U.); (K.I.); (A.I.)
| | - Ichiro Morioka
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1, Oyaguchi, Kami-cho, Itabashi-ku 173-8610, Japan;
| | - Hiroaki Nagase
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Kazumoto Iijima
- Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan; (K.N.); (S.I.); (A.K.); (T.N.); (C.N.); (H.T.); (H.N.); (K.I.)
| | - Akihito Ishida
- Kobe Children’s Primary Emergency Medical Center, 1-4-1 Wakihamakaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0073, Japan; (A.U.); (K.I.); (A.I.)
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Katz DS, Morris JR, Batterman SA. Pollen production for 13 urban North American tree species: Allometric equations for tree trunk diameter and crown area. AEROBIOLOGIA 2020; 36:401-415. [PMID: 33343061 PMCID: PMC7748260 DOI: 10.1007/s10453-020-09638-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Estimates of airborne pollen concentrations at the urban scale would be useful for epidemiologists, land managers, and allergy sufferers. Mechanistic models could be well suited for this task, but their development will require data on pollen production across cities, including estimates of pollen production by individual trees. In this study, we developed predictive models for pollen production as a function of trunk size, canopy area, and height, which are commonly recorded in tree surveys or readily extracted from remote sensing data. Pollen production was estimated by measuring the number of flowers per tree, the number of anthers per flower, and the number of pollen grains per anther. Variability at each morphological scale was assessed using bootstrapping. Pollen production was estimated for the following species: Acer negundo, Acer platanoides, Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum, Betula papyrifera, Gleditsia triacanthos, Juglans nigra, Morus alba, Platanus x acerfolia, Populus deltoides, Quercus palustris, Quercus rubra, and Ulmus americana. Basal area predicted pollen production with a mean R2 of 0.72 (range: 0.41 - 0.99), whereas canopy area predicted pollen production with a mean R2 of 0.76 (range: 0.50 - 0.99). These equations are applied to two tree datasets to estimate total municipal pollen production and the spatial distribution of street tree pollen production for the focal species. We present some of the first individual-tree based estimates of pollen production at the municipal scale; the observed spatial heterogeneity in pollen production is substantial and can feasibly be included in mechanistic models of airborne pollen at fine spatial scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel S.W. Katz
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan –
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jonathan R. Morris
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of
Michigan – Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Period-3 dominant phase synchronisation of Zelkova serrata: border-collision bifurcation observed in a plant population. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15568. [PMID: 31666538 PMCID: PMC6821922 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50815-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The population synchrony of tree seed production has attracted widespread attention in agriculture, forestry and ecosystem management. Oaks usually show synchronisation of irregular or intermittent sequences of acorn production, which is termed 'masting'. Tree crops such as citrus and pistachio show a clear two-year cycle (period-2) termed 'alternate bearing'. We identified period-3 dominant phase synchronisation in a population of Zelkova serrata. As 'period-3' is known to provide evidence to imply chaos in nonlinear science, the observed period-3 phase synchronisation of Zelkova serrata is an attractive real-world phenomenon that warrants investigation in terms of nonlinear dynamics. Using the Hilbert transform, we proposed a procedure to determine the fractions of periods underlying the survey data and distinguished the on-year (high yield year) and the off-year (low yield year) of the masting. We quantified the effects of pollen coupling, common environmental noise and individual variability on the phase synchronisation and demonstrated how the period-3 synchronisation emerges through a border-collision bifurcation process. In this paper, we propose a model that can describe diverse behaviours of seed production observed in many different tree species by changing its parameters.
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