Although the increasing prevalence of thyroid nodular disease (TND) has been partially attributed to the more frequent usage of improved diagnostics, environmental factors, such as exposures to ...thyroid-disrupting chemicals may contribute to TND and altered thyroid function. We investigated the association between exposures to bisphenol A (BPA), its chlorinated derivatives (ClxBPA), and bisphenol F (BPF) with TND and thyroid measures in adult women. A case-control study in Cyprus and Romania (n = 212) was conducted, where cases were those with thyroid nodules (diameter >3mm), and controls without nodules. Serum TSH and free thyroxine and urinary levels of BPA, BPF and ClxBPA were measured using immunoassays and tandem mass spectrometry, respectively. The association between exposures to BPA compounds and TND, adjusting for age, BMI, thyroid hormones and urinary iodine was assessed using logistic regression. Linear regression was used to explore associations between urinary BPA, BPF and ClxBPA and serum thyroid hormones. With the exception of a chlorinated BPA compound (30%), the rest of bisphenols were quantified in 100% of urine samples. A positive and significant (p<0.05) association was observed between urinary BPA and serum TSH that remained after adjusting for urinary creatinine, age, BMI, study site and disease status; there was no significant association between BPF or ClxBPA with TSH. None of the BPA compounds were associated with higher odds of TND. Our study found associations of urinary BPA with TSH but not with BPF or ClxBPA. A larger study would be justified.
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Oxidative stress and tissue damage (OSD) play a pivotal role as an early-stage process in chronic disease pathogenesis. However, there has been little research to better understand ...the temporal (χρόνοςchronos) dimensions of OSD process associated with environmental (non-genetic, including behaviors/lifestyle) and/or occupational stressors, like night shift work. OSD processes have recently attracted attention in relation to time-resolved external stressor trajectories in personalized medicine (prevention) initiatives, as they seem to interact with circadian clock systems towards the improved delineation of the early stages of (chronic) disease process.
This work critically reviewed human studies targeting the temporal dynamics of OSD and circadian clock system’s activity in response to environmental/occupational stressors; the case of night shift work was examined.
Being a key stressor influencing OSD processes and circadian rhythm, night shift work was evaluated as part of a scoping review of research in OSD, including inflammatory and metabolic processes to determine the extent of OSD research undertaken in human populations, methodologies, tools and biomarkers used and the extent that the temporal dimensions of exposure and biological effect(s) were accounted for. Online databases were searched for papers published from 2000 onwards, resulting in the selection of 53 original publications.
The majority of studies (n = 41) took place in occupational settings, while the rest were conducted in the general population or patient groups. Most occupational studies targeted outcomes of oxidative stress/damage (n = 19), followed by the combination of OSD with inflammatory response (n = 10), and studies focused on metabolic outcomes (n = 12). Only a minor fraction of the studies measured biomarkers related to circadian rhythm, such as, melatonin, its metabolite, or cortisol. Night shift work was associated with select biomarkers of OSD and inflammation, albeit with mixed results. Although much progress in delineating the biological mechanisms of OSD process has been made, an equally thorough investigation on the temporal trajectory of OSD processes as triggered by environmental/occupational stressors in human studies has yet to fully evolve.
One of the fundamental axioms of quantum mechanics is associated with the Hermiticity of physical observables. In the case of the Hamiltonian operator, this requirement not only implies real ...eigenenergies but also guarantees probability conservation. Interestingly, a wide class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians can still show entirely real spectra. Among these are Hamiltonians respecting parity-time (PT) symmetry. Even though the Hermiticity of quantum observables was never in doubt, such concepts have motivated discussions on several fronts in physics, including quantum field theories, non-Hermitian Anderson models and open quantum systems, to mention a few. Although the impact of PT symmetry in these fields is still debated, it has been recently realized that optics can provide a fertile ground where PT-related notions can be implemented and experimentally investigated. In this letter we report the first observation of the behaviour of a PT optical coupled system that judiciously involves a complex index potential. We observe both spontaneous PT symmetry breaking and power oscillations violating left-right symmetry. Our results may pave the way towards a new class of PT-synthetic materials with intriguing and unexpected properties that rely on non-reciprocal light propagation and tailored transverse energy flow.
Multimorbidity is defined as the co-existence of two or more chronic conditions. As life expectancy is increasing so does the prevalence of multimorbidity. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of ...multimorbidity in Cyprus and identify the most prevalent diseases. A representative sample of n = 1140 individuals over 18 years old was surveyed during 2018-2019. Demographic characteristics as well as the presence of chronic conditions, including mental disorders, were collected through a standardized questionnaire. Diseases were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10.sup.th Revision (ICD-10). The age and gender standardized prevalence of multimorbidity was 28.6%. Multimorbidity was associated with age (p<0.001), with the highest rate observed among people aged 65+ years old (68.9%). Multimorbidity was higher in women than men (28.2% vs. 22.5%, p < .001) but similar in urban and rural regions (26.4% vs. 23.8%, p = 0.395). The most prevalent chronic diseases among people with multimorbidity were hyperlipidemia (44.7%), followed by hypertension (37.5%), gastric reflux (23.9%), and thyroid diseases (22.2%), while the most common combinations of diseases were in the circulatory and endocrine systems. The profile of the multimorbid individual indicated this to be a person at an older age with a higher BMI, a current smoker with a higher salary. More than one quarter of the general population of Cyprus has multimorbidity, and this rate is almost 70% among the elderly. Multimorbidity is relatively common even in younger ages too. This underlines the need for prevention strategies and health awareness programs for the entire population.
Despite suggestive observational epidemiology and laboratory studies, there is limited experimental evidence regarding the effect of organic diet on human health. A cluster-randomized 40-day-organic ...(vs. 40-day-conventional) crossover trial was conducted among children (11-12 years old) from six schools in Cyprus. One restaurant provided all organic meals, and adherence to the organic diet intervention was measured by parent-provided diet questionnaire/diary data. Biomarkers of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid pesticide exposures were measured using tandem mass spectrometry, and oxidative stress/inflammation (OSI) biomarkers using immunoassays or spectrophotometry. Associations were assessed using mixed-effect regression models including interactions of treatment with time. Seventy-two percent of neonicotinoid biomarkers were non-detectable and modeled as binary (whether detectable). In post-hoc analysis, we considered the outcome of age-and-sex-standardized BMI. Multiple comparisons were handled using Benjamini-Hochberg correction for 58 regression parameters. Outcome data were available for 149 children. Children had lower pesticide exposures during the organic period (pyrethroid geometric mean ratio, GMR = 0.297; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.237, 0.373, Q-value<0.05); odds for detection of neonicotinoids (OR = 0.651; 95% CI: 0.463, 0.917), Q-value<0.05); and decreased OSI biomarker 8-OHdG (GMR = 0.888; 95% CI: 0.808, 0.976, Q-value<0.05). An initial increase was followed by a countervailing decrease over time in the organic period for OSI biomarkers 8-iso-PGF2a and MDA. BMI z-scores were lower at the end of the organic period (β = -0.131; 95% CI: 0.179, -0.920, Q-value<0.05). Energy intake during the conventional period was reported to be higher than the recommended reference levels. The organic diet intervention reduced children's exposure to pyrethroid and neonicotinoid pesticides and, over time lowered biomarkers of oxidative stress/inflammation (8-iso-PGF2a, 8-OHdG and MDA). The several-week organic diet intervention also reduced children's age-and-sex-standardized BMI z-scores, but causal inferences regarding organic diet's physiological benefits are limited by the confounding of the organic diet intervention with caloric intake reduction and possible lifestyle changes during the trial. Trial registration: This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number: NCT02998203.
We demonstrate that by seeding an accelerating ring-Airy beam with a finite number of off-axis optical vortices, it transforms into a tornado wave (ToW) upon propagation. Using numerical simulations, ...we show that both the spiraling high-intensity lobes and the optical vortices exhibit angular acceleration and follow interwinding braid-like trajectories. Likewise, we study the effect of the number, position, and topological charge of the vortices on the propagation dynamics and reveal the connection between optical vortices and optical tornados.
A pesticide monitoring study covering the main rivers and lakes of Northern Greece (Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly) was undertaken. A total of 416 samples were collected over a 1.5-year sampling ...period (September 1999– February 2001) from six rivers and ten lakes. The water samples were analyzed with an off-line solid phase extraction technique coupled with a gas chromatography ion trap mass spectrometer using an analytical method for 147 pesticides and their metabolites, including organochlorines, organophosphates, triazines, chloroacetanilides, pyrethroids, carbamates, phthalimides and other pesticides (herbicides, insecticides and fungicides). Based on the pesticide survey results, a human health carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment was conducted for adults and children. Ecotoxicological risk assessment was also conducted using default endpoint values and the risk quotient method. Results showed that the herbicides metolachlor, prometryn, alachlor and molinate, were the most frequently detected pesticides (29%, 12.5%, 12.5% and 10%, respectively). They also exhibited the highest concentration values, often exceeding 1μg/L. Chlorpyrifos ethyl was the most frequently detected insecticide (7%). Seasonal variations in measured pesticide concentrations were observed in all rivers and lakes. The highest concentrations were recorded during May–June period, right after pesticide application. Concentrations of six pesticides were above the maximum allowable limit of 0.1μg/L set for drinking water. Alachlor, atrazine and a-HCH showed unacceptable carcinogenic risk estimates (4.5E-06, 4.6E-06 and 1.3E-04, respectively). Annual average concentrations of chlorpyriphos ethyl (0.031μgL), dicofol (0.01μg/L), dieldrin (0.02μg/L) and endosulfan a (0.065μg/L) exceeded the EU environmental quality standards. The risk quotient estimates for the insecticides chorpyrifos ethyl, diazinon and parathion methyl and herbicide prometryn were above acceptable risk values. The coupling of monitoring data to probabilistic human and ecotoxicological risk estimates could find use by Greek regulatory authorities, proposing effective pollution management schemes.
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•Pesticides in rivers of north Greece posed low potential non-carcinogenic risk.•Carcinogenic risk caused by a metabolite was higher than the parametric value.•High ecotoxicological risk for four pesticides was observed (Risk Quotient approach)•Six pesticides were detected at concentrations higher than 0.1μgL−1.•Herbicides comprised the vast majority of the detected pesticides.
Neonicotinoids (NEOs) and synthetic pyrethroids (PYRs) are active ingredients of commercial pesticides and/or insecticides with extensive indoor and outdoor applications, worldwide. Improved exposure ...metrics are warranted for NEOs and PYRs, if we are to better understand their human health effects. A cohort-friendly protocol for determining non-specific biomarkers of exposure to NEOs and PYRs, e.g. 6-chloronicotinic acid (6-CN) and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), respectively, in human urine voids was proposed. A series of optimization experiments were conducted to validate the bioanalytical protocol using gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-QqQ-MS/MS) in MRM mode. The method reached low detection limits for both analytes (0.075 μg L
−1
for 6-CN and 0.050 μg L
−1
for 3-PBA) in a short preparation and analysis time. The method used small initial urine sample volume (2 mL), short extraction time (≈ 240 min for the batches of 32 samples) and instrumental analysis time (≈ 14 min) for both pesticide metabolites in a single run. This protocol could facilitate the assessment of population exposure metrics for these pesticides and their inclusion in health risk assessment.
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