Tampon use, environmental chemicals and oxidative stress in the BioCycle study

Background Tampons are used by up to 86% of US women and are a rarely considered potential source of pesticide and metal exposure. Tampons may be of particular concern given the likely higher absorption that occurs in the vagina. Our objective was to examine the potential associations between tampon use and metal concentrations, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress among healthy women. Methods We used information from a prospective cohort of 259 regularly menstruating women, aged 18–44, followed for two menstrual cycles. Tampon use was assessed using information provided in participant study diaries. Metal concentrations were measured from a blood sample collected at enrollment. Oxidative stress and inflammation biomarker concentrations were determined from blood samples collected at up to 8 clinic visits for each cycle. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations of tampon use with metal exposure, and linear mixed models to estimate associations of tampon use with inflammation and oxidative stress biomarkers at different times during the menstrual cycle. Results We observed non-significantly higher mean levels of mercury for tampon users compared to non-tampon users (exp(β) = 1.25, 95% CI = 0.93, 1.68). We found no evidence of an association between tampon use and inflammation biomarkers. We observed consistently higher isoprostane levels, an oxidative stress biomarker, among tampon users compared to non-tampon users (e.g. exp.(β) = 1.05, 95%CI = 0.96, 1.16, for the average isoprostane during the menstruating week); however, these results were not statistically significant. Conclusions While our results are not statistically significant, we observed suggestive associations between tampon use and elevated levels of mercury and oxidative stress biomarkers. Although our finding should be interpreted in light of our limitations, they indicate that tampons may be a source of exposure to metals and chemicals that have been largely ignored, and any related health effects are an important public health concern

The Impact of Dietary Folate Intake on Reproductive Function in Premenopausal Women: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Folic acid is recommended to reproductive-aged women to prevent birth defects, though little is known about the effects of dietary intake on other reproductive outcomes. Improved pregnancy rates have been documented after folic acid supplement use, suggesting a possible link with ovulation, however research is limited. Our objective was to evaluate the association between dietary folate intake, hormone levels, and sporadic anovulation in healthy, regularly menstruating women. Methodology/Principal Findings: The BioCycle study (2005–2007) prospectively followed 259 healthy women aged 18–44 years from the western New York region for up to 2 menstrual cycles. Total folate and specific sources of folate were assessed up to 4 times per cycle by 24-hour recall. Estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone were measured in serum up to 8 times per cycle, timed using fertility monitors. Anovulation was defined as a cycle with peak progesterone concentration ≤5 ng/mL and no LH peak in the mid/late luteal phase. Higher intake of dietary folate (in dietary equivalents) across tertiles had a marginally significant association with greater luteal progesterone levels (P trend 0.08). Higher intake of synthetic folate was significantly associated with higher luteal progesterone levels (P trend 0.05). Specifically, women in the 3rd tertile of synthetic folate intake had, on average, 16.0% (95% CI, 0.5–33.8%) higher luteal progesterone levels compared to women in the 1st tertile. Moreover, consumption of synthetic folate was significantly and inversely associated with anovulation such that women in the 3rd tertile had a 64% (95% CI, 8–86%) decreased odds of anovulation compared to the women in the 1st tertile (P trend 0.03). Conclusions/Significance: These findings suggest that a diet high in synthetic folate may be associated with increased progesterone levels and lower risk of sporadic anovulation. Further study of the effect of dietary folate and folic acid supplement use on reproductive health is warranted

Occupational Exposures Among Hair and Nail Salon Workers: a Scoping Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the literature published from 2014 to 2019 on hair and nail salon workers concerning exposure assessment, reproductive and respiratory endpoints, and endocrine disruption, in relation to workplace exposures. RECENT FINDINGS: We identified 29 relevant peer-reviewed publications. Overall, there were insufficient studies to determine whether working in these settings is associated with reproductive health endpoints, although prior studies suggest that reproductive effects are of concern. There is consistent evidence that working in hair and nail salons may increase the risk of respiratory effects. Also, despite the fact that many hair and nail care products contain endocrine disrupting compounds, no recent studies have evaluated endocrine-related endpoints. Moreover, few studies have evaluated chemical exposures in these settings and biomonitoring studies are sparse. SUMMARY: Improved exposure assessment of chemical hazards in hair and nail salons is necessary to properly characterize occupational exposures and assess their potential health risks. Further studies on endpoints related to endocrine disruption and reproductive health outcomes among hair and nail salon workers are needed. Improved exposure and epidemiologic studies will help inform chemical exposure mitigation efforts in a vulnerable occupational population, as well as policies related to workplace and consumer product safet

Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury in Relation to Reproductive Hormones and Anovulation in Premenopausal Women

Background: Metals can interfere with hormonal functioning by binding at the receptor site and through indirect mechanisms; thus, they may be associated with hormonal changes in premenopausal women

Study of Z boson production in pPb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The production of Z bosons in pPb collisions at root S-NN = 5.02 TeV is studied by the CMS experiment via the electron and muon decay channels. The inclusive cross section is compared to pp collision predictions, and found to scale with the number of elementary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential cross sections as a function of the Z boson rapidity and transverse momentum are measured. Though they are found to be consistent within uncertainty with theoretical predictions both with and without nuclear effects, the forward-backward asymmetry suggests the presence of nuclear effects at large rapidities. These results provide new data for constraining nuclear parton distribution functions

Search for standard model production of four top quarks in the lepton + jets channel in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV

Open Access, Copyright CERN, for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. Article funded by SCOAP3.Abstract: A search is presented for standard model (SM) production of four top quarks (Formula presented.) in pp collisions in the lepton + jets channel. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb−1 recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The expected cross section for SM (Formula presented.) production is (Formula presented.). A combination of kinematic reconstruction and multivariate techniques is used to distinguish between the small signal and large background. The data are consistent with expectations of the SM, and an upper limit of 32 fb is set at a 95% confidence level on the cross section for producing four top quarks in the SM, where a limit of 32 ± 17 fb is expected

Empirical Studies on Cash Payments

Cash is still the most common means of daily payments. The large number of cash payments is supported by a costly distribution system in which retailers, banks and central banks participate. Currency is issued in a range of bank note and coin denominations to facilitate efficiency in cash payments. The purpose of this thesis is to study the performance of a currency range in practice. It presents a number of empirical studies on cash payments at the individual payment level, whereby cash payments are viewed as the outcome of a choice process. This type of analysis calls for labor-intensive data collection methods and the development of a sophisticated econometric model. This thesis introduces such a model for cash payments, and it reviews its application to three unique data sets of cash payments. The data concern payments in the Netherlands before and after the transition from the guilder to the euro in 2002, and payments in an experimental setting. The estimation results allow for an assessment of the use of different bank note and coin denominations in cash payments, and of possible preferences for one of more denominations. Currency research generally approaches currency use from a macroeconomic point of view. The novelty of this thesis is that it contributes to currency research by focusing on individual cash payments.Jeanine Kippers (1973) obtained her master´s degree in econometrics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1997. In the same year she was employed by De Nederlandsche Bank. She participated in the preparations of the cash changeover from guilder to euro in 2002, and contributed to the development of a European cash distribution system and the restructuring of the national distribution system. During her employment at the central bank she started her research on currency use, which resulted in several papers that have been published or are currently under review. In January 2004 she joined the Pensionand Insurance Supervisory authority, as a policy advisor in the (international) field of insurance supervision

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Does Older Age Modify Associations between Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Fecundability?

Urinary concentrations of several endocrine disrupting chemicals, including phthalate metabolites, bisphenol A (BPA), and benzophenone (BP)-type ultraviolet (UV) filters, have been associated with a longer time-to-pregnancy (TTP). Potential modification of these associations by couple&rsquo;s age has not been studied. TTP was defined as the number of prospectively observed menstrual cycles a couple attempted pregnancy until the occurrence of a human chorionic gonadotropic-detected pregnancy. Urinary concentrations of two BP-type UV filters and three phthalate metabolites were measured at baseline. Fecundability odds ratios (FORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for each chemical adjusting for age, body mass index, serum cotinine, creatinine, and accounting for right censoring and left truncation. Models evaluated effect modification between EDC concentrations and TTP by partner&rsquo;s age, dichotomized at 35 years. Separate models were run for male and female partners. No significant effect modification was observed for any EDC for either partner, but data were suggestive of a longer TTP among females aged &ge;35 years, particularly for BP-2 (FOR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.36, 1.05) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (FOR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.46, 1.09) reflecting 39% and 29% reductions in fecundability, respectively. We saw no evidence of effect modification by couples&rsquo; age on associations between TTP and urinary phthalate or BPA metabolite concentrations. Across the EDCs we examined, we found little evidence that age modifies TTP-exposure associations

Blood lead, cadmium and mercury in relation to homocysteine and C-reactive protein in women of reproductive age: a panel study

Abstract Background To examine the relationship between cadmium, lead, and mercury concentrations with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine in women. Methods Metals were measured at enrollment in whole blood. Homocysteine and hs-CRP were measured in one (N = 9) or two (N = 250) menstrual cycles up to 3 and 8 times per cycle, respectively. Linear mixed models with inverse probability of exposure weights to account for time varying confounding were used and models were stratified by dietary and serum vitamin status (dietary: vitamin B6, B12, folate; serum: folate). Results Geometric mean (95% confidence interval (CI)) concentrations for cadmium, lead, and mercury were 0.29 (0.26–0.31) μg/L, 0.91 (0.86–0.96) μg/dL, and 1.05 (0.93–1.18) μg/L, respectively. Lead was associated with increased homocysteine (0.08; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.15) and this persisted among those in the lower three quartiles of consumption of vitamin B6, B12, folate, and serum folate but was not significant among those in the upper quartile. No associations were observed between metals and hs-CRP. Conclusions Blood lead was associated with increased homocysteine in a cohort of healthy, premenopausal women but these associations did not persist among those consuming ≥75th percentile of essential micronutrients. Cadmium, lead, and mercury were not associated with hs-CRP concentrations