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This study presents the results of a Europe-wide training and Quality Control (QC) exercise carried out within the framework of the European Aerobiology Society's QC Working Group. The main aim of this exercise was to examine the feasibility of carrying out a QC exercise for fungal spore monitoring in Europe, using a similar methodology to the one previously used for pollen. The QC survey was conducted in two parts: (1) Coordinators of national and regional aerobiological networks in Europe involved in the monitoring of atmospheric fungal spores were invited to complete a questionnaire survey related to their network and asked whether they were interested in taking part in an external inter-laboratory QC exercise; (2) Participating networks performed an inter-laboratory ring test with the same sample slide in order to determine the reproducibility of identifying and counting two fungal spore taxa (Alternaria and Epicoccum) in air samples collected by a Hirst-type volumetric spore trap. Participants were instructed to read five separate longitudinal transects in the "effective collecting area" of the slide. Reproducibility of analysis was determined following the method previously used in the European Aerobiology Society's QC exercises for pollen. Thirty-two counters from 16 national or regional networks in Europe participated in the QC exercise. Coefficients of Variation (CV%) ranged from 23.0 to 22.5 when reading one transect and from 14.0 to 16.0 when reading five transects for Alternaria and Epicoccum, respectively. Considering a CV% of 30 as the limit for fungal spores, no significant differences were observed between the absolute errors from two, three, four and five transects. The only significant difference was between one and five transects. We recommend that fungal spore analysis should be carried out on about 5% of the slide (two transects in this study) because results were not significantly different to five transects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen allergy is among the most widespread allergic disease in Andalusia. However, few studies have examined patient information in conjunction with data on airborne pollen concentrations. This paper sought to identify the airborne pollen types prevalent in Córdoba, to examine the relationship between airborne pollen and the occurrence of allergies, and to investigate the use of drugs to treat various symptoms displayed by pollen-allergy sufferers over the study period. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in Córdoba City between February and June in 2014 and 2015, using an original specific questionnaire to collect socio-demographic, symptom and pollen-allergy data. Airborne pollen was collected using a Hirst-type volumetric spore trap. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was applied. A total of 178 sensitive subjects were included in the study. The prevalence of allergy to olive, grass and plane-tree pollen was 70.73, 73.17 and 19.51%, respectively, in 2014, and 70.83, 70.83 and 21.12%, respectively, in 2015. In both years, rhinitis was the most common allergic symptom (93.90% in 2014, 87.75% in 2015) and a significant correlation between the occurrence of rhinitis and antihistamine consumption was found ( p < 0.05 in 2014, p < 0.001 in 2015). The percentage of asthmatic subjects using an inhaler was significantly higher than those who did not used it (63.16% vs. 26.98%; p < 0.01). In conclusion, this paper supports previous studies showing that the most allergenic pollen types in spring were olive, grass and plane-tree pollen. In addition, we found that rhinitis was the main symptom and antihistamines the medication most widely used by the sensitized population in Córdoba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of a Europe-wide training and Quality Control (QC) exercise carried out within the framework of the European Aerobiology Society's QC Working Group and European COST Action FA1203 entitled 'sustainable management of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Europe (SMARTER)' with the aim of ensuring that pollen counters in Europe are confident in the identification of Ambrosia pollen grains. A total of 69 analysts from 20 countries examined a test slide by light microscopy, which contained Ambrosia pollen and pollen from other Asteraceae that could be recorded in the atmosphere at the same time of year (i.e. Artemisia, Iva, and Xanthium). Daily average pollen concentrations produced by individual participants were compared with the assigned value and the bias was measured by z-score. Both the assigned value and standard deviation for proficiency testing were calculated following the consensus value principle (ISO13528:2005) from the results reported by all the participants in the test. It took a total of 531 days from when the exercise commenced until all 69 analysts reported their results. The most outliers were reported for Artemisia pollen concentrations followed by Xanthium and Iva. The poor results for Artemisia and Xanthium were probably caused by low concentrations on the test slide leading to larger bias due to the unequal distribution of pollen over the microscope slide. Participants performed the best in identifying and quantifying Ambrosia pollen. Performing inter-laboratory ring tests with the same sample is very time consuming and might not be appropriate for large-scale proficiency testing in aerobiology. Pollen with similar morphology should be included in the education process of aerobiologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has been focused on airborne pollen concentration in Northern Tunis. Pollen has been detected by a volumetric Hirst-type spore trap. This suction sampler was placed for two hydrologic years in the area of Mornag, northeastof Tunisia (36°40N; 10°17E). Fifty-two taxa were identified with heterogeneous daily pollen concentrations and a dominance of anemophilous plants. The main pollen types detected in the atmosphere were Olea europaea (38.7 and 20.75%), Cupressus (33.57 and 55.4%) , Urticaceae (9.22 and 12.24%) , Poaceae (3.55 and 3.32%), Mercurialis annua (2.96 and 1.6%) and Amaranthaceae (2.49 and 1.55%). The monthly pollen spectrum indicated a seasonal periodicity of airborne pollen with the main pollen season during spring. Two pollen seasons have been observed during these hydrologic years, due to both Cupressus and Amaranthaceae airborne pollen is represented during winter or spring, and also during autumn and late summer, respectively. Other pollen types represent a long pollen season, i.e., Urticaceae, starting in autumn and following until late spring. Daily pollen concentration showed a different behavior during the flowering season between both years, observing differences related to pollen index. Correlation between daily pollen concentrations of the dominant taxa showed a positive and significant correlation between airborne pollen concentrations of spring-pollinated taxa and mean temperature, but negative with maximum temperature, humidity and rainfall. In the case of minimum temperature, a different response, positive for trees and negative for herbaceous plants, has been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) play an important role in building competence in monitoring and research in aerobiology. The main goals of this paper were to: (a) formulate an updated Minimum Requirements Report for pollen monitoring; (b) carry out a pilot QC exercise of staff involved in pollen counting from various national networks in order to examine between analysts reproducibility and develop a methodology that can be used in future QC exercises. A questionnaire survey was sent to coordinators of participating pollen monitoring networks. In addition, a total of 45 technicians from 15 European countries participated in the pilot QC exercise. All technicians were instructed to analyse two slides containing the following pollen types: (a) Poaceae and Betula pollen grains in the north of Europe; (b) Poaceae and Olea pollen grains in the south of Europe. Minimum Recommendations were produced based on the results of the questionnaire survey, published literature, and the outcomes of a workshop. In the QC exercise, it was noticed that technicians who followed the Minimum Recommendations and examined at least 10 % of the slide tended to have better indicators of precision and accuracy than those technicians who did not follow the Minimum Recommendations. The proposed Minimum Recommendations will help to improve the quality of scientific work, particularly for those who are considering the setting up of new monitoring sites. The results of the pilot QC exercise will help to develop a methodology that can be used again in the future, thereby ensuring data quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SILAM atmospheric dispersion model and the HYSPLIT trajectory model were used to detect the source areas and calculate transport dynamics for airborne olive pollen observed in the city of Córdoba, southwest of Iberian Peninsula. The ECMWF weather data with 3-h time interval and spatial resolution of 25 × 25 km and 75 hybrid vertical levels were used as meteorological inputs in both models to produce a coherent set of results in order to compare these two different approaches. Seven episodes recorded before and after the local flowering season in 2006 were analyzed using both models. The results provided an indication of the origins of olive pollen recorded in the city of Córdoba, revealing the influence of three main source areas at specific periods. One area was located nearby, to the southwest of the city (early May), another in the south of the province (mid-May) and the third to the east (late May/early June). The SILAM model yielded more detailed and quantitative results when identifying olive pollen sources and charting transport dynamics. The results from the HYSPLIT trajectory approach and SILAM footprints were qualitatively similar. However, a weak point of back trajectories was their lower sensitivity to details of the transport, as well as the necessity of subjective analysis of the trajectory plots, which were subject for possible misinterpretations. Information on both pollen source locations and local tree flowering phenology was required in order to ensure consistent analysis of the influence of olive sources for both models. Further than this, due to the fact that both models are widely used in other research areas, the results of this work could have a widespread range of application, such as to simulate the transport of radionuclides, e.g., in emergency preparedness exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of ornamental plant species produce pollen grains with allergenic properties, thus posing a potential risk to human health. A comparative study of the ecological and aerobiological characteristics of ornamental urban flora in four Andalusian cities revealed the presence of over 100 potentially allergenic ornamental plant species. Most of these were phanerophytes, and species of Asiatic origin predominated, followed by Mediterranean and American species. However, not all potentially allergenic ornamental plants were of aerobiological significance, since some produce only small amounts of pollen, while others were infrequent or were located at a considerable distance from the sampler. Even so, when designing new urban parks and gardens, every effort should be made to ensure maximum species variability avoiding the excessive use of any single species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne pollen counts are mainly determined using a volumetric suction sampler based on the impact principle, that is, a Hirst-type spore trap. As a consequence of their volumetric nature, samplers detect pollen from a wide area, and therefore, a single sampler is frequently used to acquire information on airborne pollen counts for the whole city. The main goal of the present study was to compare airborne pollen counts at two sites located at opposite ends (south-west vs. north-east) of the southern Spanish city of Córdoba, to assess the advantages and disadvantages of using more than one sampler in the city. Also, a comparative study was carried out using two samplers at the same site, in order to confirm the efficiency of the samplers. Results revealed that data from one volumetric sampler-located within a city of medium size with uniform topography and vegetation conditions-are sufficient to establish monitoring of the main airborne pollen types, the pollen seasons involved and the timing of peak counts. For clinical studies, however, data on pollen counts in specific areas of the city may be of value, since pollen intensity may vary from one district to another, mainly in the case of ornamental plants with a local distribution inside the city. Comparison of data obtained by the two samplers running at the same site indicated that potential inter-site differences could not be attributed to differences in sampler efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]