The future European standard to determine odour in ambient air by using field inspection.

This paper presents the methodologies to determine odour in ambient air by field inspection that will be a new European standard. The objective is to characterise the odour in a defined area. Without making a link with potential annoyance due to the presence of odours, the described methods propose the way to characterise an exposed environment. Two approaches are defined in the new standard: the grid method and the plume method. The grid method can be used to determine the exposure to ambient odours in a defined area of study, using direct observation of recognisable odours in the field by human panel members. This method must be applied over a sufficiently long period of time (6 or 12 months) to be representative of the meteorological conditions of that location. The result is the distribution of the frequency of exposure to odours within the assessment area. The plume method can be used to determine the extent of detectable and recognisable odours from a specific source using direct observation in the field by human panel members under specific meteorological conditions.

Review of adverse health effects of odours in field studies.

UNLABELLED: Exposure to environmental odours from industrial and agricultural premises, in addition to inducing annoyance responses in a dose-dependent manner, have been shown to be either directly associated with gastric symptoms as well as general health-related complaints under extreme exposure conditions, or indirectly mediated through odour annoyance under moderate odour exposure conditions. OBJECTIVE: In order to examine the influence of hedonic tone (pleasantness-unpleasantness) and perceived odour strength (intensity) on symptom reporting the results of two pertinent field studies were analysed. METHODS: In the vicinity of six industrial plants (sweets, rusk, textile, seed-oil, fat, cast iron) and eleven livestock operations (poultry, pig, cattle) assessment of odour exposure was done by means of systematic field inspections. Effect assessment was done by means of direct interviews (industrial: N=1456, agricultural: N=1053) using questionnaires covering odour annoyance, symptom reporting and relevant covariates. DATA ANALYSIS: Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to establish dose-response associations between odour frequency, intensity and hedonic tone as independent variables and symptom reporting as dependent variable. RESULTS: Exposure-symptom associations are strongly influenced by hedonic tone, whereas intensity has no additional predictive value. Adding odour annoyance to the regression model shows that symptom reporting is exclusively mediated by annoyance.

Odour intensity and hedonic tone--important parameters to describe odour annoyance to residents?

The Guideline on Odour in Ambient Air has been in use for many years for odour regulation in Germany. The main parameter that the odour regulation authority has to take into account is the odour frequency expressed as odour hours per year. In the guideline, limit values are given for the maximum odour frequency per year. These limit values are based on field investigations in which significant relationships between odour impact and odour annoyance was found. In these investigations, odour intensity did not yield a better description of the degree of annoyance caused to the residents. The hedonic tone was not mentioned. In a new research project finished in 2003, the influence of odour intensity and hedonic tone, in addition to odour frequency, has been assessed. Two installations emitting pleasant odours, two emitting neutral and two emitting unpleasant odours, have been selected. In each case grid field measurements by a panel were carried out, and the annoyance of the residents was assessed using a special questionnaire. The results of this project are: (1) A new method to measure odour intensity and hedonic tone in the field with data record forms was developed and validated. With this method, reliable and reproducible results are obtained. (2) The parameter odour frequency based on the system of "odour hours" is suitable and sufficient to predict the odour annoyance caused by unpleasant/neutral odours. (3) In the case of pleasant odours, hedonic tone has an abundantly clear effect on the dose-response relationship between odour frequency and annoyance. Pleasant odours have a significant lower annoyance potential than unpleasant/neutral odours. (4) The odour intensity has no additional influence on this relationship. If odours are recognisable then they can cause annoyance.

Directive on odour in ambient air: an established system of odour measurement and odour regulation in Germany.

The legal basis for any requirement with respect to ambient air quality is the German Federal Protection Act for Ambient Air. According to article 3 Federal Protection Act all odours caused by plants are defined as an annoyance. The problem is to find out whether an annoyance has to be considered as a significant disturbance. In the Directive on Odour in Ambient Air a complete system is designed, beginning with measurement methods and concluding with ambient air quality requirements. In the following paper the tenor of the Directive on Odour is presented, some main aspects of more than five years of practical experience will be shown and a perspective on some future investigations and developments will be given. As a conclusion it is pointed out that in practice, the Directive on Odours has been successful. Both methods, field measurements with panels and dispersion modelling, are generally qualified for the determination of odour loads. The restriction of odour loads by limit values expressed as odour frequency per year for certain areas has been established in a lot of cases.

Adverse effects of environmental odours: reviewing studies on annoyance responses and symptom reporting.

Air pollution control authorities dealing with odourous emissions from industrial, municipal and agricultural activities are often faced with many complaints from the public. In Germany, the Directive on Odour in ambient air provides a regulation system for the abatement of odour annoyance. Ambient air quality standards have been established based on investigations of the relationship between ambient odour load and community annoyance reaction. This paper describes a tool for the assessment of annoyance reactions, whereby degree of annoyance is correlated with ambient odour load. Systematic exposure response relations have been established for odour annoyance responses and symptom reporting for a variety of industrial sources. However, the precision of annoyance prediction from odour exposure measures rarely exceeds r2 = 0.17 in such studies. This is partly due to the fact that person-related factors, such as age, perceived health or stress coping styles, modify exposure response relations. The contribution of intensity and unpleasantness (hedonic tone) of ambient odours as modifying the annoyance reaction is currently investigated.

Direct 99mTc-labeling of antibodies by sodium dithionite reduction, and role of ascorbate as a stabilizer in cysteine challenge.

A method for the direct 99mTc-labeling of antibodies by dithionite reduction was developed. Among three murine monoclonal IgG1 and one human polyclonal IgG (hIgG) antibodies tested, hIgG was the most quickly reduced by dithionite. These differences may reflect the reactivities of antibody disulfide bonds toward the oxidation products of dithionite. By optimizing reduction conditions to generate enough free sulfhydryl groups, it was possible to radiolabel human IgG and monoclonal antibody 170 with 99mTc with a 90% monomeric antibody efficiency. The process avoided colloid formation. In contrast, about 0.1 sulfhydryl groups per antibody molecule, less than 1% of the possible 36, were detected after treatment with ascorbate (up to 35,000:1 molar ratio) at room temperature for 1 h for the antibodies tested. Sulfhydryl groups generated in antibodies were estimated using a new method: 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein-labeled antibodies quantitated by size exclusion HPLC. Ascorbate was found to prevent antibody aggregate formation in cysteine-challenged samples.

Adaptive mechanisms of saccadic system in diagnostic use.

The possibilities of diagnostic use of saccades are given in pathological eye movements as well as in adaptive mechanisms. They are used to offset the degradation of oculomotor performance resulting from interference along the chain of neural conducting, in neuromuscular transmission and in muscle function. Pharmacological effects can be used to increase the influence of disorders or to detect adaptive mechanisms. During the pharmacological therapy with carbamazepine or diphenylhydantoin, adaptive processes can be measured.

[Clinical application of quantitative evaluation of horizontal pursuit movements of the eye]. / Zur klinischen Anwendung quantitativ ausgewerteter horizontaler Folgebewegungen des Auges.

Horizontal smooth pursuit eye movements were quantitatively evaluated in forty patients with various neurological diseases (chronic alcoholism, acusticusneurinom and multiple sclerosis) as well as in twenty-four healthy subjects. Different frequency sinusoidal targets with an amplitude of 20 degrees were used. The quantitative analysis was possible after calculating the pursuit value as the difference between the saccadic part and the maximal amplitude of the recorded eye movement. Maximal and minimal P-values of 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 Hz were chosen in the discriminant analyses. It is suggested that these parameters are very helpful in distinguishing between the groups of patients and the group of subjects.

[Clinical, electromyography and pathologic-anatomic studies in myopathy--a contribution to rational diagnostic strategy]. / Klinische, elektromyographische und pathologisch-anatomische Untersuchungen bei Myopathien--ein Beitrag zur rationellen Diagnosestrategie.

A total of 189 patients underwent clinical, electromyographical and patho-anatomical examination (by muscle biopsy). 102 of the patients suffered from myopathy, 45 patients from neurogenic muscle diseases. 31 patients were suffering from chronic renal insufficiency and 11 patients from chronic alcoholism. The statistic elaboration of the findings was done by the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis, in order to determine the diagnostic value of single parameters of investigation and to demonstrate diagnostically effective parameter combinations for diagnosing myopathies. Employing the discriminant function for the differentiation of myopathies and neurogenic muscle diseases yielded in patients with chronic renal insufficiency predominantly (30 cases) references to a neurogenic lesion of the proximal muscles and in the patients with chronic alcoholism relatively often (6 cases) references to a myogenic lesion of the proximal muscles.

Effects of SO2, NO2, and O3 on population development and morphological and physiological parameters of native herb layer species in a beech forest.

The native ground vegetation of a beech forest was fumigated with moderate doses of SO(2), NO(2), and O(3) in open-top chambers. The effects of fumigants on growth and above-ground development were dependent on species. The treatments caused early senescence in several of the species present. The epicuticular waxes were attacked by fumigation, which was shown by higher wettability of the leaf surfaces and by leaching of ions. Interspecific differences were observed in the responses of transpiration and photosynthesis to fumigation. Similar patterns of effects on transpiration and photosynthesis, however, were found in the same species. Carbohydrate metabolism was altered by fumigation, leading to starch accumulation in the leaves. Besides effects on higher plants, fumigations also resulted in alterations of the soil microflora. The bacteria/fungi ratio was depressed at the fumigation plots.

[Significance of parathyroid hormone (PTH) within the scope of central nervous system disorders in hemodialysis patients]. / Die Bedeutung von Parathormon (PTH) im Rahmen zentral-nervöser Störungen bei Hämodialysepatienten.

The role of PTH as possible uraemic toxin within the scope of disturbances of the central nervous system (progressive dialysis encephalopathy, PDE) was investigated in 88 patients undergoing haemodialysis. A radioimmunoassay covering the C-terminal PTH fragment was used. Patients undergoing haemodialysis with a PDE showed the highest values with 2,015.4 +/- 457.9 pg/ml, and also in the preclinical stage of a PDE the PTH values with 1,845.7 +/- 663.1 pg/ml lay significantly above those ones of the patients undergoing haemodialysis without PDE (794.8 +/- 364.7 pg/ml). The findings speak for the importance of PTH in the development of complications of the central nervous system within the scope of the uraemia syndrome.

[Spiroergometric studies in diseases of the muscles]. / Spiroergometrische Untersuchungen bei Erkrankungen der Muskulatur.

37 patients with muscle disease (23 myopathies and 14 neurogenic muscle diseases) were studied by spiroergometric investigations. The multivariate analysis of variance (MA-NOVA) and linear discriminant analyses indicated the diagnostic effectiveness of the maximal work capacity/maximal cardiac frequency ratio. The sensitivity was found to be 0.81 and the specificity was found to be 0.43.

[Diagnostic value of the H-reflex index in alcoholic polyneuropathy]. / Untersuchungen zur diagnostischen Wertigkeit des H-Reflex-Index bei alkoholischer Polyneuropathie.

We examined the H-reflex-index of triceps surae muscle (HI) and the motor nerve conduction velocity of the tibial nerve (mNLG) of 56 alcohol dependent patients. The results were compared with neurologic disorders, duration of the dependency and the type of alcoholism according to Jellinek. The HI showed significant more pathological changes than the mNLG.

[Effect of carbamazepine on the velocity of saccades]. / Der Einfluss von Karbamazepin auf die Sakkadengeschwindigkeit.

In 5 female patients suffering from focal epilepsies, the maximal velocity of saccades was determined before and during carbamazepinE therapy. A decrease in the velocity of saccades was followed by an increase at the same serum level.

[Ulnar sulcus syndrome--a contribution to course and prognosis]. / Das Sulcus-ulnaris- Syndrom--Ein Beitrag zu Verlauf und Prognose.

Of 1028 patients with 1138 peripheral nerve lesions, 142 suffered from an electrophysiologically proven SUS. At follow-up, 93 patients could be restudied. Spontaneous regressions were observed in patients below the age of 40 years and in case of a history under 6 months. So-called late pareses receded in no case without operative displacement of the ulnar nerve. However, if the etiology is unknown, the present results of investigation require reserve towards operative therapy.

[Diagnostic and therapeutic attempts in so-called progressive dialysis encephalopathy]. / Diagnostische und therapeutische Bemühungen bei der sogenannten progressiven Dialyseenzephalopathie.

57 patients from a chronic intermittent haemodialysis programme underwent 198 EEG examinations over a period of 5 years with follow-up. The results show that regular EEG examinations allow incipient dialysis encephalopathy to be recognized already at the pre-clinical stage. Whereas therapeutic measures always had no effect on the full clinical picture of dialysis encephalopathy and all patients died, in all but one case lengthening the dialysis time prevented the syndrome from reaching the clinical stage and in 6 cases EEG changes were reversed.

Carpal tunnel syndrome--course and prognosis.

In a retrospective study 157 patients with electrophysiologically proven carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) were followed up. Of the 85 operatively treated patients, 86% showed clear improvement or cure, as did 32% of the patients not operated upon. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and linear discriminant analyses indicated atrophy and length of history as effective predictors of clear improvement. The optimized discriminant point was ascertained in the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve. A predictive value of positive test of 0.89 was found for the course form "not cured" and a predictive value of negative test of 0.75 for the course form "cured" with a prevalence of one-third for the good course form. The prognosis was bad if atrophy occurred or the history exceeded 7 months. The determination of distal motor latency is indispensable for diagnosing CTS. For prognosis, however, length of history and clinical findings have been more helpful.