Air Pollution and Aeroallergens as Possible Triggers in Preterm Birth Delivery.

Preterm birth (PTB) identifies infants prematurely born <37 weeks/gestation and is one of the main causes of infant mortality. PTB has been linked to air pollution exposure, but its timing is still unclear and neglects the acute nature of delivery and its association with short-term effects. We analyzed 3 years of birth data (2015−2017) in Turin (Italy) and the relationships with proinflammatory chemicals (PM2.

Attribution of recent temperature behaviour reassessed by a neural-network method.

Attribution studies on recent global warming by Global Climate Model (GCM) ensembles converge in showing the fundamental role of anthropogenic forcings as primary drivers of temperature in the last half century. However, despite their differences, all these models pertain to the same dynamical approach and come from a common ancestor, so that their very similar results in attribution studies are not surprising and cannot be considered as a clear proof of robustness of the results themselves. Thus, here we adopt a completely different, non-dynamical, data-driven and fully nonlinear approach to the attribution problem.

Air pollution, aeroallergens and admissions to pediatric emergency room for respiratory reasons in Turin, northwestern Italy.

Background: Air pollution can cause respiratory symptoms or exacerbate pre-existing respiratory diseases, especially in children. This study looked at the short-term association of air pollution concentrations with Emergency Room (ER) admissions for respiratory reasons in pediatric age (0-18 years).

Methods: Daily number of ER admissions in a children's Hospital, concentrations of urban-background PM2.

Analysis of spontaneous pneumothorax in the city of Cuneo: environmental correlations with meteorological and air pollutant variables.

Background And Purpose: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) tends to cluster. Previous studies have found a correlation between PSP and atmospheric pressure variations or thunderstorms. We conducted this study to analyze the PSP correlations with meteorological variables and the concentrations of air pollutants in the city of Cuneo in Italy (IT).

The relationship between meteorological variations and the onset of spontaneous pneumothorax.

This is in reference to: Obuchi et al. (Surg Today 41(10):1380-1384, 2011).

Air pollution, weather variations and primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: Spontaneous pneumothoraces (SP) tend to occur in clusters which have been related to atmospheric pressure variations and thunderstorm insurgence. We examined the influence of standard meteorological parameter variations and concentrations of the major air pollutants on incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) in a highly developed industrial area (Turin, Italy).

Methods: From October 2002 to December 2007, 591 SP patients were prospectively evaluated.

Measurements of lower carbonyls and hydrocarbons at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard.

Measurements of gaseous organic compounds were carried out near Ny-Alesund, in the Norwegian Arctic, during September 2004. Twenty alkanes, alkenes and aromatic hydrocarbons from ethane to toluene and six aldehydes and ketones from formaldehyde to butanal, were identified and quantified in air samples. Hydrocarbons showed a quite uniform distribution, with ethane being by far the most abundant component (> 1 ppb), followed by propane (> 0.