http://192.168.1.40:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1139 2026-05-31T13:44:00Z http://192.168.1.40:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2411 Airborne rice pollen and pollen allergen in an agricultural field: aerobiological and immunochemical evidence Sen, M.M.; Adhikari, A.; Gupta-Bhattacharya, Swati; Chanda, S. Grass pollens are well known among the health hazardous bioaerosols causing respiratory allergy. Being an important member of the grass family, the rice plants contribute a huge pollen load in agricultural fields during flowering. This results in a seasonal trigger of hay fever and respiratory allergy in the field workers and people living in the vicinity. Studies on the monitoring of airborne rice pollen and the intensity of the released allergen in agricultural fields are largely lacking. The aims of the present study were: (1) daily and hourly monitoring of airborne rice pollen in an agricultural field during the flowering period of plants in a winter crop season by using the Burkard 7-Day Volumetric Sampler and (2) the measurement of hourly airborne allergen intensity in the field in a peak rice pollen period by the double-antibody and chemiluminescence techniques to find out its relationship with the airborne rice pollen concentration. The monthly average concentration of rice pollen was 95 pollen m(-3) and the range of daily average pollen concentration was 0 to 386 pollen m(-3). A bimodal diurnal periodicity showed that the airborne rice pollen concentrations remained high at two different times of the day: between 08:00 h to 12:00 h and 14:00 h to 16:00 h. Deposition of airborne rice pollen allergen showed darker intensities on the immunostained tapes from the Burkard Sampler at the same two positions corresponding to higher pollen counts. These observations provided direct evidence of the allergenicity of airborne rice pollen in field conditions. DOI: 10.1039/b302453a 2003-12-01T00:00:00Z http://192.168.1.40:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2409 Aeromycoflora of an agricultural farm in West Bengal, India: A five-year study (1994-1999) Chakraborty, P.; Gupta-Bhattacharya, Swati; Chanda, S. A five-year (1994-1999) continuous survey of aeromycoflora had been carried out in an agricultural farm at a suburban area of Greater Calcutta. The sampling was carried out with Burkard volumetric spore trap placed 0.5 meter above the ground level at the centre in a small plot in a rice field. A total of 26 fungal spore types were identified microscopically. The most abundant types were Basidiospores (21.85-5.59%) followed by Cladosporium, Periconia, Nigrospora, Aspergilli group, Ascospores. The seasonal periodicity of the major dominant types had maxima in autumn, during the month of October. This coincided with the harvesting period of the rice crop during rainy season. In Petri plate exposure of nutrient media, different species of aspergilli group, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Nigrospora, and other taxa were identified. The diurnal periodicities recorded for different types were classified into night-time, post dawn, middle day and double maxima (showing two peaks in a day) patterns. In general, no significant correlation between the total air spora and the meteorological parameters could be established. It is evident that the local cropping practices may have some regulating role on spore concentration in the air of the study area. DOI: 10.1080/00173130310016941 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z http://192.168.1.40:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2405 Volumetric assessment of airborne fungi in two sections of a rural indoor dairy cattle shed Adhikari, A.; Sen, M.M.; Gupta-Bhattacharya, Swati There is increasing concern about the exposure to fungal aerosols in occupational environments and associated respiratory allergic diseases and asthma. A large number of people work in cattle sheds around the world, pulmonary function impairments and higher frequency of respiratory symptoms have been reported in dairy farmers; however, it appears that adequate information on the fungal aerosols from the cattle sheds are largely lacking. Volumetric assessment of airborne culturable and nonculturable fungal spores was performed in two sections of a large rural indoor cattle shed of West Bengal, India for 2 consecutive years. An Andersen Two Stage Viable Sampler was used for sampling culturable fungi and a Burkard Personal Slide Sampler was used to collect the total airborne fungal spores including both the culturable and nonculturable types. A total of 31 spore types and 35 types of viable colony-forming units were recorded. Average concentration range of total fungal spores was 233-2985/m(3) and concentration of viable colony-forming units ranged between 165 and 2225 CFU/m(3). Burkard Sampler showed higher frequencies of Aspergilli/Penicilli, Cladosporium, Alternaria, and smut spores. Andersen Sampler showed the prevalence of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Cladosporium cladosporioides colonies. Some recorded fungi were earlier reported as allergenic, toxic, and pathogenic for occupational workers as well as cattle population. Higher concentration levels of airborne total and culturable fungal spores were recorded during the months of November. through February (winter) and June through September (late summer and rainy season). DOI: 10.1016/S0160-4120(03)00103-X 2004-02-01T00:00:00Z http://192.168.1.40:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/2352 Identification of shared allergenic components from four common and dominant pollen taxa of Arecaceae Chakraborty, P.; Gupta-Bhattacharya, Swati; Roy, I.; Chanda, S. The Arecaceae (palm) family is predominantly distributed in the tropics and subtropics. Areca catechu (betel nut), Borassus flabellifer (fan palm), Cocos nucifera (coconut) and Phoenix sylvestris (date sugar palm) are widely cultivated all over the Indian subcontinent. These members are anemophilous and release numerous pollen grains in air during pollination period. These grains are known to cause IgE-mediated human respiratory allergy. In this context, a study was conducted on 448 respiratory allergic subjects, sensitive to one/more of the relevant pollen types from Greater Kolkata and suburbs, by case study, skin reaction test, IgE-ELISA, immunoblot and immunoblot inhibition. 72 and 48 kDa components from Areca, 100 kDa component from Borassus, 16 kDa component from Cocos and 66 and 33 kDa components from Phoenix pollen were found to be inhibited by the other three respective pollen extracts. This may be due to the sequence and structural homology of the epitopes. Therapeutic and diagnostic use of these shared components carrying most of the IgE-epitopes could minimize the hazards of impurities and side effects in allergen-specific immunotherapy/hypo-sensitization of palm pollen susceptible allergic patients. 2004-06-10T00:00:00Z