Background: Recent findings suggest that exposure to outdoor air pollutants may increase the risk of allergic rhinitis. The results of these studies are inconsistent, but warrant further attention. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of relation between exposure to urban air pollution and the prevalence allergic rhinitis among school children.

A metal-free novel, simple, and highly efficient method for the direct C2-alkylation of azoles with alcohols and ethers has been developed on the basis of an oxidative C-H activation process. The dehydrogenative C-C cross-coupling reactions of α-position sp(3) C-H in alcohols and ethers with the 2-position sp(2) C-H in azoles proceeded smoothly in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) under neat reaction conditions, which generated the corresponding products in good yields.

Background: There is evidence that long term exposure to ambient air pollution increases the risk of childhood asthma, but the role of different sources and components needs further elaboration. To assess the effect of air pollutants on the risk of asthma among school children, a nationwide cross sectional study of 32 672 Taiwanese school children was conducted in 2001. Methods: Routine air pollution monitoring data for sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O 3 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm or less (PM 10 ) were used. Information on individual characteristics and indoor environments was from a parent administered questionnaire (response rate 93%). The exposure parameters were calculated using the mean of the 2000 monthly averages. The effect estimates were presented as odds ratios (ORs) per 10 ppb changes for SO 2 , NOx, and O 3 , 100 ppb changes for CO, and 10 mg/m 3 changes for PM 10 . Results: In a two stage hierarchical model adjusting for confounding, the risk of childhood asthma was positively associated with O 3 (adjusted OR 1.138, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.001 to 1.293), CO (adjusted OR 1.045, 95% CI 1.017 to 1.074), and NOx (adjusted OR 1.005, 95% CI 0.954 to 1.117). Against our prior hypothesis, the risk of childhood asthma was weakly or not related to SO 2 (adjusted OR 0.874, 95% CI 0.729 to 1.054) and PM 10 (adjusted OR 0.934, 95% CI 0.909 to 0.960). Conclusions:The results are consistent with the hypothesis that long term exposure to traffic related outdoor air pollutants such as NOx, CO, and O 3 increases the risk of asthma in children.

The clinical value of MDCT in the preoperative T and N staging of gastric carcinoma is relatively high. MDCT can be the first choice for the preoperative evaluation of patients with gastric carcinoma.