Abstract: Ca-containing particles, especially CaSO4 particles, have been encountered in several atmospheric aerosol studies. An overview is given of the different sources of airborne Ca-containing particles, The North Sea atmosphere is studied to identify the different Ca-containing particle types and to find the correlation between their occurrence and the source regions of the corresponding air masses. About 50000 individual aerosol samples were collected above the Southern Eight of the North Sea for several wind directions and analyzed for their composition using electron probe X-ray microanalysis. Nonhierarchical cluster analysis is performed on the data to reveal the different particle types, their relative abundances and their sources. CaSO4 in most cases constitutes the largest fraction of the Ca-containing particles. Extremely high numbers of CaSO4 particles are found for northeastern winds, coming from the central part of Germany, suggesting that a great fraction is derived from anthropogenic sources located in this region. Among the other Ca-containing particle types are the aluminosilicates, CaCO3, Fe-Ca-rich particles, and CaSO4 or CaCO3 in combination with NaCl.

Abstract: As a part of an ongoing investigation regarding the air quality at the Alhambra monument (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage), indoor and outdoor atmospheric aerosols (PM1 and PM10-1) and pollutant gases (O3, NO2, SO2 and NH3) were studied during summer and winter. Bulk elements, ionic compounds and black carbon (BC) in aerosols were analyzed with X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, ion chromatography and aethalometry/reflectometry, respectively. Natural PM10-1 aerosols, such as carbonate-rich soil and sea salts, reacted with a typical urban atmosphere, producing a mixture of particulates with diverse chemical composition. The content/formation of secondary inorganic aerosols depended on the air temperature and absolute humidity. Ratios of typical mineral elements (i.e., Ti/Fe and Si/Fe) showed that Saharan dust events contribute to the composition of the observed mineral aerosol content. BC, V and Ni originated from diesel exhaust, while Cu, Cr, Pb and Zn came mainly from non-exhaust vehicular emissions. Weathering phenomena, such as blackening and pigment discoloration, which could arise from gradual aerosol deposition indoors, are discussed.

Abstract: The world famous Alhambra monument in Granada, Southern Spain, listed as UNESCO world cultural heritage since 1984, represents probably the most beautiful example of Islamic art and architecture from the Middle Ages in Europe. It is visited by ca. 2 million people annually. Granada is situated in a natural basin, surrounded by mountains with altitudes up to 3500 m. Due to this topography and the prevailing low wind speeds, pollution-derived and especially traffic-derived particulate matter often accumulates in the urban air. In order to evaluate the potential conservation risks from the surrounding air, the atmospheric composition in the Alhambra monument was evaluated. Indoor temperature and relative humidity fluctuations were evaluated for their potential degenerative effects. Furthermore, the atmospheric composition in the Alhambra was analyzed in terms of inorganic gases (NO2, SO2, O3, and NH3) and black carbon. It was found that the open architecture protected the indoor environments from developing a potentially harmful microclimate, such as the build-up of humidity resulting from the huge number of daily tourists. On the downside, the strong ventilation made the indoor air hardly different from outdoor air, as characterized by strong diurnal temperature and relative humidity gradients and high traffic-derived pollutant levels.

Abstract: Urban atmospheres in modern cities carry characteristic mixtures of particulate pollution which are potentially aggravating for chronic respiratory patients (CRP). Although air quality surveys can be detailed, the obtained information is not always useful to evaluate human health effects. This paper presents a novel approach to estimate particle deposition rates in airways of CRP, based on real air pollution data. By combining computational fluid dynamics with physical-chemical characteristics of particulate pollution, deposition rates are estimated for particles of different toxicological relevance, that is, minerals, iron oxides, sea salts, ammonium salts, and carbonaceous particles. Also, it enables some qualitative evaluation of the spatial, temporal, and patient specific effects on the particle dose upon exposure to the urban atmosphere. Results show how heavy traffic conditions increases the deposition of anthropogenic particles in the trachea and lungs of respiratory patients (here, +0.28 and +1.5 μg·h1, respectively). In addition, local and synoptic meteorological conditions were found to have a strong effect on the overall dose. However, the pathology and age of the patient was found to be more crucial, with highest deposition rates for toxic particles in adults with a mild anomaly, followed by mild asthmatic children and adults with severe respiratory dysfunctions (7, 5, and 3 μg·h1, respectively).

Abstract: Tissue engineering combines artificial scaffolds and living cells in order to reconstruct damaged tissues and organs. The biodegradable scaffolds should maintain their mechanical properties during first stages of the regeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent the degradation affects the mechanical stability of novel biodegradable composite scaffolds in relation to their composition. The scaffolds were made using fused deposition modeling. They were composed of ternary composites containing poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), 5 wt% of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and 5, 15, and 25 wt% of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). Scaffolds made of pristine PCL and binary composite PCL-TCP were tested as reference samples. The degradation experiment was carried out in simulated body fluid at 37 degrees C for 12 weeks. Mechanical tests were carried out in a mechanical tester. Strain was measured using digital image correlation and crossbar displacement. Chemical composition had a significant effect on initial mechanical properties and their changes during degradation. The initial apparent Young's modulus of ternary composite scaffolds was two times higher than that of PCL-TCP. Higher PLGA concentration yielded faster decrease of the mechanical properties. At the end of the experiment, there were no significant differences of the modulus among all tested materials although degradation of the ternary composite scaffolds was significantly advanced. (C) 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers