Publications by authors named "Miroslaw Zimnoch"

Air quality is of large concern in the city of Krakow, southern Poland. A comprehensive study was launched by us in which two PM fractions (PM and PM) were sampled during 1-year campaign, lasting from April 21, 2018 to March 19, 2019. A suite of modern analytical methods was used to characterize the chemical composition of the collected samples.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic exposure to particulate matter (PM) is linked to various health disorders, but how it affects the body on a molecular level is not entirely clear.
  • The study found that human monocytes exposed to PM showed changes in specific microRNAs (miRNAs), with notable differences in miRNA patterns observed between winter and summer seasons.
  • Certain miRNAs, particularly MiR-34c-5p and MiR-223-5p, were more active in winter and play roles in regulating pathways related to inflammation and stress responses, suggesting a connection between PM exposure and disease development.
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Winter smog episodes are a severe problem in many cities around the world. The following two mechanisms are responsible for influencing the level of pollutant concentrations: emission of pollutants from different sources and associated processes leading to formation of secondary aerosols in the atmosphere and meteorology, including advection, which is stimulated by horizontal wind, and convection, which depends on vertical air mass movements associated with boundary layer stability that are determined by vertical temperature and humidity gradients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based measurement system developed for investigation of urban boundary layer dynamics.

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As urban atmosphere is depleted of (13)CO2, its imprint should be detectable in the local vegetation and therefore in its CO2 respiratory emissions. This work was aimed at characterising strength and isotope signature of CO2 fluxes from soil in urban areas with varying distances from anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The soil CO2 flux and its δ(13)C isotope signature were measured using a chamber method on a monthly basis from July 2009 to May 2012 within the metropolitan area of Krakow, Southern Poland, at two locations representing different levels of anthropogenic influence: a lawn adjacent to a busy street (A) and an urban meadow (B).

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Regular measurements of atmospheric CO (2) mixing ratios and their carbon isotope composition ((13)C/(12)C and (14)C/(12)C ratios) performed between 2005 and 2009 at two sites of contrasting characteristics (Krakow and the remote mountain site Kasprowy Wierch) located in southern Poland were used to derive fossil fuel-related and biogenic contributions to the total CO (2) load measured at both sites. Carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere, not coming from fossil fuel and biogenic sources, was considered 'background' CO (2). In Krakow, the average contribution of fossil fuel CO (2) was approximately 3.

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This article presents the results of measurements of the isotopic composition and concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, performed on air samples from Kraków (Southern Poland) in different seasons of the year. A simple isotope mass balance model has been applied to determine the contributions of different sources of CO2 to the urban atmosphere of Kraków city: the latitudinal/regional background, biospheric contributions and anthropogenic emissions. The calculations show that during the summer and early autumn the dominant contribution to local CO2 peaks is the biosphere, making up to 20% of atmospheric CO2 during the nocturnal temperature inversion in the lower troposphere.

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