scholarly journals The Use of Principal Component Analysis for Source Identification of PM2.5 from Selected Urban and Regional Background Sites in Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 01001
Author(s):  
Barbara Błaszczak

The paper reports the results of the measurements of water-soluble ions and carbonaceous matter content in the fine particulate matter (PM2.5), as well as the contributions of major sources in PM2.5. Daily PM2.5 samples were collected during heating and non-heating season of the year 2013 in three different locations in Poland: Szczecin (urban background), Trzebinia (urban background) and Złoty Potok (regional background). The concentrations of PM2.5, and its related components, exhibited clear spatiotemporal variability with higher levels during the heating period. The share of the total carbon (TC) in PM2.5 exceeded 40% and was primarily determined by fluctuations in the share of OC. Sulfates (SO42-), nitrates (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) dominated in the ionic composition of PM2.5 and accounted together ~34% (Szczecin), ~30% (Trzebinia) and ~18% (Złoty Potok) of PM2.5 mass. Source apportionment analysis, performed by PCA-MLRA model (Principal Component Analysis – Multilinear Regression Analysis), revealed that secondary aerosol, whose presence is related to oxidation of gaseous precursors emitted from fuel combustion and biomass burning, had the largest contribution in observed PM2.5 concentrations. In addition, the contribution of traffic sources together with road dust resuspension, was observed. The share of natural sources (sea spray, crustal dust) was generally lower.

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 926
Author(s):  
Hsing-Wang Li ◽  
Kang-Shin Chen ◽  
Chia-Hsiang Lai ◽  
Ting-Yu Chen ◽  
Yi-Ching Lin ◽  
...  

Atmospheric particulate matters (PMs) were measured in an industry-intensive region in central Taiwan in order to investigate the characteristics and possible sources of PMs. The samplings were simultaneously conducted using a 10- and 3-stage Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) from 2017 to 2018. In this study, the characteristics of PMs in this region were evaluated by measuring the mass concentration of PMs and analyzing water-soluble ions and metallic elements, as well as dioxins. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the potential sources of PMs. The results showed that the mean concentration of coarse (>1.8 μm), fine (0.1–1.8 μm), and ultrafine (<0.1 μm) particles were 13.60, 14.38, and 3.44 μg/m3, respectively. In the industry-intensive region, the size distribution of ambient particles showed a bi-modal distribution with a high concentration of coarse particles in the spring and summer, while fine particles were dominant in the autumn and winter. The most abundant water-soluble ions of PMs were NO3−, Cl−, and SO42−, while the majority of metallic elements were Na, Fe, Ca, Al, and Mg in different particle sizes. The results of Pearson’s correlation analysis for metals indicated that the particles in the collected air samples were related to the iron and steelmaking industries, coal burning, vehicle exhausts, and high-tech industries. The dioxin concentration ranged from 0.0006 to 0.0017 pg I-TEQ/Nm3. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the contribution to PMs was associated with sea salt, secondary pollutants, and industrial process.


VASA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 333-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirchberger ◽  
Finger ◽  
Müller-Bühl

Background: The Intermittent Claudication Questionnaire (ICQ) is a short questionnaire for the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). The objective of this study was to translate the ICQ into German and to investigate the psychometric properties of the German ICQ version in patients with IC. Patients and methods: The original English version was translated using a forward-backward method. The resulting German version was reviewed by the author of the original version and an experienced clinician. Finally, it was tested for clarity with 5 German patients with IC. A sample of 81 patients were administered the German ICQ. The sample consisted of 58.0 % male patients with a median age of 71 years and a median IC duration of 36 months. Test of feasibility included completeness of questionnaires, completion time, and ratings of clarity, length and relevance. Reliability was assessed through a retest in 13 patients at 14 days, and analysis of Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency. Construct validity was investigated using principal component analysis. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the ICQ scores with the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) as well as clinical measures. Results: The ICQ was completely filled in by 73 subjects (90.1 %) with an average completion time of 6.3 minutes. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient reached 0.75. Intra-class correlation for test-retest reliability was r = 0.88. Principal component analysis resulted in a 3 factor solution. The first factor explained 51.5 of the total variation and all items had loadings of at least 0.65 on it. The ICQ was significantly associated with the SF-36 and treadmill-walking distances whereas no association was found for resting ABPI. Conclusions: The German version of the ICQ demonstrated good feasibility, satisfactory reliability and good validity. Responsiveness should be investigated in further validation studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 676-681
Author(s):  
V.V. Sapozhnikova ◽  
◽  
A.L. Bondarenko ◽  

Aim: to determine the association between clinical laboratory parameters, the production of cytokines (IL-17A, -23, -33, -35), and specific IgM and IgG in the serum of patients with Lyme borreliosis without erythema migrans. Patients and Methods: complete blood count, the concentrations of IL-17A, -23, -33, -35, and the levels of specific IgM and IgG were measured during acute infection and convalescence (n=30). The control group included age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (n=30). Statistical analysis was performed using the StatSoft Statistica v 10.0 software (parametric and non-parametric methods and multifactorial analysis, i.e., principal component analysis). Results: most (80%) patients with Lyme borreliosis without erythema migrans are the people of working age. In most patients, the combination of the specific antibodies against Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii (76.7%) and severe intoxication and inflammatory process (100%) were detected. Moderate and severe disease associated with meningism was diagnosed in 90% and 10%, respectively. The mean duration of hectic period was 8.3±1.27 days. Abnormal ECG was reported in 40% of patients, i.e., conduction abnormalities in 20%, sinus bradycardia in 16.7%,and sinus tachycardia in 3.3%. The clinical laboratory signs of hepatitis without jaundice were identified in 26.7%. During treatment, the significant reduction in band and segmented neutrophil counts as well as the significant increase in platelet count were revealed compared to these parameters at admission. Abnormal cytokine levels (i.e., the increase in IL-17A, -23, -33 and the deficiency of IL-35) were detected. Conclusions: multifactorial analysis has demonstrated that the severity of immunological abnormalities in patients with Lyme borreliosis without erythema migrans is associated with fever, cardiac and liver disorders, the high levels of IL-23 and IL-33, and the lack of IL-35 and specific IgM and IgG. KEYWORDS: tick-borne borreliosis, Lyme disease without erythema migrans, clinical laboratory signs, cytokines, specific antibodies, multifactorial analysis, principal component analysis. FOR CITATION: Sapozhnikova V.V., Bondarenko A.L. Multifactorial analysis of clinical laboratory signs, the levels of IL-17A, IL-23, IL-33, IL-35, and specific antibodies in the serum of patients with Lyme borreliosis without erythema migrans. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2020;4(11):676–681. DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2020-4-11-676-681.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 715-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephany C. de Rezende ◽  
Jo鉶 A. Pinto ◽  
Isabel P. Fernandes ◽  
Fernanda V. Leimann and Maria-Filomena Barreiro

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