Atmospheric aerosol (PM(10)) measurements were made at a regional representative semi-arid urban site, Tirupati, India over one-year period i.e. from October, 2001 to September, 2002. The samples were collected on polyflex filters, and analyzed for the major water-soluble ions - F, Cl, NO(3), SO(4), Na, NH(4), K, Ca and Mg, employing ion chromatograph. The average mass of PM(10) is found to be 32.75 mug/m(3) with a total water-soluble aerosol load (total anion + total cation) of 13.56 mug/m(3). Composition of aerosol showed higher concentration of SO(4) followed by Na, Ca and NO(3). Very good correlation is observed between crustal ions Ca and Mg (r=0.82) as well as between crustal and acidic ions; Ca and SO(4) (r=0.75) and NO(3) (r=0.67) and Mg and NO(3) (r=0.78) and SO(4) (r=0.73), suggest that the ionic composition was influenced by local terrestrial sources. The presence of SO(4) and NO(3) may be due to re-suspension of soil particles (formation by heterogeneous oxidation). Ca, Mg and Na are mainly soil derived ones. Correlation matrix with meteorological factors, as well as seasonal distribution of PM(10) and its ionic components present a clear trend of higher concentrations during summer due to greater particle release and lowering atmospheric levels during the rainy season due to washout effect. ANOVA results showed the significant variation of composition from season to season. Paired comparisons (DMRT) revealed the occurrence of significant difference in pairs of mean concentration from season to season except within monsoon i.e. between S-W and N-E monsoon.
In the present study, outdoor airborne microflora (bacteria) at different locations, viz; institutional, health care, commercial, traffic, industrial and agricultural areas of Tirupati a semi-arid urban region, southern peninsular India was investigated during winter season, 2004. Concentrations of airborne viable bacteria averaged between 19 ± 5 CFU/m 3 (IE) and 3 ± 5 CFU/m 3 (SVU) and observed the following trend among the locations: IE > TG > CBS > TUDA > RUYA > SVU. Airborne Grampositive bacteria were most abundant, with more than 60 to 90% of the measured population at each location. Developed regression models have been explained about 50% (or greater) variation in bacteria concentration at each location (except RUYA), due to the effect of meteorological factors -temperature, RH, and wind speed. Among these factors, wind speed had the most pronounced influence on bacterial concentration, with the regression coefficient (β) varied between 0.225 and 2.092, followed by the temperature. The overall air quality index (A B QI) with respect to bacterial composition of aerosol is found to be 22.33 which signifies that the quality of air is good. The results reveal that the airborne bacteria are contributed from terrestrial (soil) sources greatly followed by the little contribution from point sources.
Background: The ABO and Rhesus (Rh) blood group systems are important for transfusion of blood and its components, organ transplantation, genetic studies and in medico-legal issues. Despite the long list of several other blood groups discovered so far, the knowledge and distribution of ABO and Rh-D blood group are essential for effective management of blood bank inventory. Methods: We retrospectively studied the distribution of ABO and Rh blood group antigens in donors presenting to our tertiary care teaching hospital blood bank in south India during the period January 2007 to August 2014. Blood group was determined by commercially available standard monoclonal antisera by test tube agglutination technique. Results: A total of 49,110 donor samples were tested during the study period for ABO grouping and Rh-D typing. Out of these 96.9% were males. The frequency of O, B, A, AB and Bombay blood groups were 41.7%, 32.2% 20%, 6.1% and 0.03% respectively. Rh (D) positive and negative blood groups were seen in 92.8% and 7.2% respectively. The allele frequencies of the I A , I B and I O alleles were 0.1398, 0.2148 and 0.6454 respectively. In case of Rh-D group, the calculated gene frequencies for I D and I d were 0.7321 and 0.2679 respectively. Conclusion: Knowledge of blood group systems as documented in the present study helps in efficient management of blood bank and transfusion services in emergencies.
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