Integrating groundwater into land planning: a risk assessment methodology.

Generally, groundwater is naturally of good quality for human consumption and represents an essential source of drinking water. In Canada, small municipalities and individuals are particularly reliant on groundwater, since they cannot afford complex water treatment installations. However, groundwater is a vulnerable resource that, depending on its characteristics, can be contaminated by almost any land use.

Aberrant dendritic cell function conditions Th2-cell polarization in allergic rhinitis.

Background: Myeloid (m) and plasmacytoid (p) dendritic cells (DCs) regulate immune responses to allergens, whereas it remains unclear whether abnormal DC function characterizes patients with airway allergy and whether putative dysfunction exists only in target organs. To evaluate DC function from patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), we assessed nasal, cutaneous as well as blood DCs after in vivo and in vitro allergen challenge, respectively.

Methods: DCs were immunostained in nasal and skin tissues, and cytokine expression was assessed by dual immunofluorescence.

Total interleukin-6 in plasma measured by immunoassay.

Determinations of total cytokine concentration in biological fluids by immunoassays face two major problems: the biochemical heterogeneity of the analyte and the interference of cytokine-binding proteins. We developed an ultrasensitive enzyme immunoassay for interleukin-6 (IL-6), using monoclonal antibodies and acetylcholinesterase as the tracer enzyme. The antibodies recognized recombinant and glycosylated forms of IL-6 equally.