With the rapid economic growth and the development of transportation in China in recent two decades, the number of motor vehicles in China keeps increasing at an annual rate of approximately 13%. The air pollution related to traffic has become the focus of attention and the air pollution pattern in some large cities in China has been shifting from the coal-burning pollution to that mainly from the traffic. The traffic pollution deteriorates the environment and has been related to an increased risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the population. The state of automobile exhaust pollution and the related health effect in the urban areas of China was discussed in the present paper.

Objective To investigate the effects of PM2.5 on gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) between rat cardiomyocytes. Methods Primary cultured cardiomyocytes were prepared from 1-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats and exposed to PM2.5(1,10,100 ?g/ml)for 24 hours. The GJIC between cardiomyocytes was detected by the scrape loading dye transfer assay. The distribution and density of connexin43(Cx43) in the cells was detected by indirect immunofluorescence and the expression of Cx43 was detected by western blotting. Results The gap junctional intercellular communication between cardiomyocytes was significantly inhibited by PM2.5 in a dose-dependent manner. The fluorescence density of Cx43 was significantly decreased in PM2.5-treated cells,and the expression of Cx43 was also slightly decreased. Conclusion PM2.5 can inhibit GJIC between cardiomyocytes,which may be mediated by the decreased expression and aberrant distribution of Cx43 in PM2.5-treated cells.

Objective To study the acute effects of PM2.5 on the heart rhythm of spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR)and the mechanism.Methods Twenty-eight male spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR)were randomly divided into four groups.PM2.5 was administered by intratracheal instillation at the doses of 0 mg/kg,7.5 mg/kg,15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg respectively.ECGs were monitored at 30 min,1 h and 24 h later.Results The numbers of the rats with arrhythmia in all groups increased at 30 min after treatment.At 1 h after treatment,in control group the rats recovered,but in PM2.5 groups abnormal ECGs was still showed.However,ECGs of all groups became normal 24 h later.As shown by laser scanning confocal microscope(LSCM),the expression of Cx43 in the heart tissue of rats in 15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg groups significantly decreased compared with the control group.There was no significant change in content of MDA and SOD in the heart tissue of PM2.5 treated rats.Conclusion PM2.5 exposure through inhalation may induce arrhythmia in SHR rats and the downregulated expression of Cx43 may play an important role in the pathogenesis.

Objective To compare the results of three different types of fine particulate matter laser light scattering aerosol monitors and to explore the influencing factors.Methods Three types of Aerosol Monitor A, B, and C were used to monitor the mass concentration of indoor PM2.5 at the same time and place and the membrane weighing method was used at the same time.In order to explore the possible impacts of temperature and humidity indoor on the results of monitoring, a simultaneous monitoring on the temperature and humidity indoor was conducted.The sampling continued 2 days and with 23 hours per day.Results The results of PM2.5 monitored by the three types of aerosol monitors had a good consistency(r were 0.965, 0.988, and 0.984 respectively), but there was significant difference among them(P

Objective To estimate the effect of ambient air pollution on cardiovascular related blood indicators in occupational,highly-exposed population in Beijing. Methods The blood samples were collected for twice from 14 taxi drivers in spring(15-16 April) and autumn(17 September) of 2008,respectively. The air pollution index before the sampling days was also collected for three months in each season. Results Ambient air quality was better in autumn than spring of 2008. The level of plasma viscosity was lower and levels of low-/high-density lipoproteins were higher in autumn compared with those of taxi drivers in spring. Conclusion Air pollution is positively associated with plasma viscosity and negatively associated with low-/high-density lipoproteins in occupational,highly-exposed individuals.

Objective To evaluate personal exposure level to PM2.5 of children living in one of districts of Beijing and to explore the possible influencing factors. Methods Thirty-six pupils were chosen from a primary school in the district. The PM2.5 level of classrooms,campuses and children's living rooms were monitored by Aerosol Monitor and 24 h time-active pattern and environmental information of living room of these pupils were collected at the same time. Each child's exposure level of PM2.5 was calculated by combining the environment PM2.5 monitor data and the children's 24 h time-active pattern. The possible influencing factors were analyzed by single factor analysis(Kruskal-Wall rank sum test and Spearman rank correlation analysis) and multiple linear regression models. Results The 24 h average exposure level of PM2.5 of 36 pupils was 98.13 ?g/m(341.22～121.13 ?g/m3) . The single factor analysis showed that the personal exposure level to PM2.5 was significantly related with air pollution index(API) (r =0.836,P

Objective:To investigate the effects of nanoscale titanium dioxide(Nano-TiO2) on gap junctional intercellular communication(GJIC) between human lung fibroblasts.Methods: Human lung fibroblasts were exposed to two different sizes Nano-TiO2(25 nm and 80 nm) for 24 hours at the concentrations of 0,10,20,40 and 80 mg/L,respectively.The GJIC between cells was measured by using fluorescence redistribution after photobleaching(FRAP) assay.Results: The results showed that GJIC between cells was significantly inhibited both by 25 nm and 80 nm Nano-TiO2 in a dose-dependent manner.The fluorescence recovery rate was 20.81%?1.93% in control group,7.26%?0.91%(P

Objective:To investigate the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in the anti-CD45RB antibody-induced immune tolerance,and the mechanism of immune tolerance induced by anti-CD45RB antibodies.Methods:DCs were induced by conventional methods(rmGM-CSF,IL-4 and LPS),different doses of anti-CD45RB antibodies were added in the induction process.Then,mature cells were harvested,and flow cytometry(FCM) was used to determine cell phenotypes,cycle and phagocytosis,ELISA method was performed to examine the concentration of IL-12 and the ability of T cell proliferation was observed by mixed lymphocyte culture.Results:The DCs preparation was shown a high expression of CD11C and CD83,a low expression of CD86,with strong proliferative and phagocytic capacity after treated with anti-CD45RB antibody.Its secretion of IL-12 was decreased,and it could less effectively stimulate T cell proliferation after treated with anti-CD45RB antibody.Conclusion:One of the mechanisms of anti-CD45RB monoclonal antibody-induced tolerance is to generate tolerogenic dendritic cells(tDCs),significantly inhibiting the proliferation of T cells.

Objective:To study the concentrations of fine particulate matters and ultrafine particles and influenced factors during winter in an area of Beijing .Methods:Real-time monitoring of particles ’ mass and number concentrations were conducted in an area of Beijing from February 7th to 27th , 2013.At the same time, the meteorological data were also collected from the Beijing meteorological website .Differences of the particles ’ mass and number concentrations during different periods were analyzed using Mann -Whitney U test.Meanwhile, the influenced factors were also analyzed .Results: The mean concentra-tions of fine particulate matters and ultrafine particles were ( 157.2 ±142.8 ) μg/m3 and (25 018 ± 9 309) particles/cm3, respectively.The particles’ number and mass concentrations in haze days were 1.27 times and 2.91 times higher than those in non-haze days, respectively.The mass concentrations of fine particulate matters in the self-monitoring site were higher than those in the nearest central monitoring sites, and the hourly-average concentrations of particles were significantly consistent with those at the commuter times.Meanwhile, the setting off of fireworks/firecrackers during the Spring Festival could lead to short-term increases of the particles ’ number and mass concentrations .When the wind speed was low and the related humidity was high , the concentrations of particulate matters were relatively high , and the mass concentrations of fine particulate matters were lagged about 1-2 d.Conclusion: The level of the particulate matters in this area was high .Heavy traffic , setting off of fireworks/firecrackers and meteoro-logical factors may be some of the main factors affecting the concentrations of the particulate matters in this area.Among those factors, the effect of setting off of fireworks/firecrackers didn’t last long and the effect of the meteorological factors had a hysteresis effect .

Part of undergraduates were recruited from the universities round Xueyuan Road, Haidian district in Beijing. Self-administered questionnaire were conducted, on the basis of the status quo of students in understanding the environmental and health knowledge, attitude, behavior (KAP), to analyse the need for environmental health educational courses setting among undergraduates and to afford related suggestions on contents and methods for the course.