The effect of occupational exposure to welding fumes on trachea, bronchus and lung cancer: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are developing joint estimates of the work-related burden of disease and injury (WHO/ILO Joint Estimates), with contributions from a large network of experts. Welding fumes have been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC); this assessment found sufficient evidence from studies in humans that welding fumes are a cause of lung cancer. In this article, we present the protocol for a systematic review of parameters for estimating the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years from trachea, bronchus and lung cancer attributable to occupational exposure to welding fumes, to inform the development of the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates

Heterocyclic dithiocarbazate iron chelators: Fe coordination chemistry and biological activity

The iron coordination and biological chemistry of a series of heterocyclic dithiocarbazate Schiff base ligands is reported with regard to their activity as Fe chelators for the treatment of Fe overload and also cancer. The ligands are analogous to tridentate heterocyclic hydrazone and thiosemicarbazone chelators we have studied previously which bear NNO and NNS donor sets. The dithiocarbazate Schiff base ligands in this work also are NNS chelators and form stable low spin ferric and ferrous complexes and both have been isolated. In addition an unusual hydroxylated ligand derivative has been identified via an Fe-induced oxidation reaction. X-ray crystallographic and spectroscopic characterisation of these complexes has been carried out and also the electrochemical properties have been investigated. All Fe complexes exhibit totally reversible Fe couples in mixed aqueous solvents at potentials higher than found in analogous thiosemicarbazone Fe complexes. The ability of the dithiocarbazate Schiff base ligands to mobilise Fe from cells and also to prevent Fe uptake from transferrin was examined and all ligands were effective in chelating intracellular Fe relative to known controls such as the clinically important Fe chelator desferrioxamine. The Schiff base ligands derived from 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde were non-toxic to SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma (cancer) cells but those derived from the ketones 2-acetylpyridine and di-2-pyridyl ketone exhibited significant antiproliferative activity

The effect of occupational exposure to welding fumes on trachea, bronchus and lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are the producers of the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury (WHO/ILO Joint Estimates). Welding fumes have been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in IARC Monograph 118; this assessment found sufficient evidence from studies in humans that welding fumes are a cause of lung cancer. In this article, we present a systematic review and meta-analysis of parameters for estimating the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years from trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer attributable to occupational exposure to welding fumes, to inform the development of WHO/ILO Joint Estimates on this burden of disease (if considered feasible). Objectives: We aimed to systematically review and meta-analyse estimates of the effect of any (or high) occupational exposure to welding fumes, compared with no (or low) occupational exposure to welding fumes, on trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer (three outcomes: prevalence, incidence, and mortality). Data sources: We developed and published a protocol, applying the Navigation Guide as an organizing systematic review framework where feasible. We searched electronic databases for potentially relevant records from published and unpublished studies, including Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, CENTRAL and CISDOC. We also searched grey literature databases, Internet search engines, and organizational websites; hand-searched reference lists of previous systematic reviews; and consulted additional experts. Study eligibility and criteria: We included working-age (≥15 years) workers in the formal and informal economy in any Member State of WHO and/or ILO but excluded children (<15 years) and unpaid domestic workers. We included randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, and other non-randomized intervention studies with an estimate of the effect of any (or high) occupational exposure to welding fumes, compared with occupational exposure to no (or low) welding fumes, on trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer (prevalence, incidence, and mortality). Study appraisal and synthesis methods: At least two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts against the eligibility criteria at a first review stage and full texts of potentially eligible records at a second stage, followed by extraction of data from qualifying studies. If studies reported odds ratios, these were converted to risk ratios (RRs). We combined all RRs using random-effects meta-analysis. Two or more review authors assessed the risk of bias, quality of evidence, and strength of evidence, using the Navigation Guide tools and approaches adapted to this project. Subgroup (e.g., by WHO region and sex) and sensitivity analyses (e.g., studies judged to be of “high”/“probably high” risk of bias compared with “low”/“probably low” risk of bias) were conducted. Results: Forty-one records from 40 studies (29 case control studies and 11 cohort studies) met the inclusion criteria, comprising over 1,265,512 participants (≥22,761 females) in 21 countries in three WHO regions (Region of the Americas, European Region, and Western Pacific Region). The exposure and outcome were generally assessed by job title or self-report, and medical or administrative records, respectively. Across included studies, risk of bias was overall generally probably low/low, with risk judged high or probably high for several studies in the domains for misclassification bias and confounding.Our search identified no evidence on the outcome of having trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer (prevalence). Compared with no (or low) occupational exposure to welding fumes, any (or high) occupational exposure to welding fumes increased the risk of acquiring trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer (incidence) by an estimated 48 % (RR 1.48, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.29–1.70, 23 studies, 57,931 participants, I2 24 %; moderate quality of evidence). Compared with no (or low) occupational exposure to welding fumes, any (or high) occupational exposure to welding fumes increased the risk dying from trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer (mortality) by an estimated 27 % (RR 1.27, 95 % CI 1.04–1.56, 3 studies, 8,686 participants, I2 0 %; low quality of evidence). Our subgroup analyses found no evidence for difference by WHO region and sex. Sensitivity analyses supported the main analyses. Conclusions: Overall, for incidence and mortality of trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer, we judged the existing body of evidence for human data as “sufficient evidence of harmfulness” and “limited evidence of harmfulness”, respectively. Occupational exposure to welding fumes increased the risk of acquiring and dying from trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer. Producing estimates for the burden of trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer attributable to any (or high) occupational exposure to welding fumes appears evidence-based, and the pooled effect estimates presented in this systematic review could be used as input data for the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates. Protocol identifier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106089

Physical activity monitoring to assess disability progression in multiple sclerosis

Background: Clinical outcome measurement in multiple sclerosis (MS) usually requires a physical visit. Remote activity monitoring (RAM) using wearable technology provides a rational alternative, especially desirable when distance is involved or in a pandemic setting. Objective: To validate RAM in progressive MS using (1) traditional psychometric methods (2) brain atrophy. Methods: 56 people with progressive MS participated in a longitudinal study over 2.5 years. An arm-worn RAM device measured activity over six days, every six months, and incorporated triaxial accelerometry and transcutaneous physiological variable measurement. Five RAM variables were assessed: physical activity duration, step count, active energy expenditure, metabolic equivalents and a composite RAM score incorporating all four variables. Other assessments every six months included EDSS, MSFC, MSIS-29, Chalder Fatigue Scale and Beck’s Depression Inventory. Annualized brain atrophy was measured using SIENA. Results: RAM was tolerated well by people with MS; the device was worn 99.4% of the time. RAM had good convergent and divergent validity and was responsive, especially with respect to step count. Measurement of physical activity over one day was as responsive as six days. The composite RAM score positively correlated with brain volume loss. Conclusion: Remote activity monitoring is a valid and acceptable outcome measure in MS

Intoxicants and the invention of 'consumption'

In 1600 the word ‘consumption’ was a term of medical pathology describing the ‘wasting, petrification of things’. By 1700 it was also a term of economic discourse: ‘In commodities, the value rises as its quantity is less and vent greater, which depends upon it being preferred in its consumption’. The article traces the emergence of this key category of economic analysis to debates over the economy in the 1620s and subsequent disputes over the excise tax, showing how ‘consumption’ was an early term in the developing lexicon of political economy. In so doing the article demonstrates the important role of ‘intoxicants’ – i.e. addictive and intoxicating commodities like alcohols and tobaccos – in shaping these early meanings and uses of ‘consumption’. It outlines the discursive importance of intoxicants, both as the foci for discussions of ‘superfluous’ and ‘necessary’ consumption and the target of legislation on consumption. And it argues that while these discussions had an ideological dimension, or dimensions, they were also responses to material increases in the volume and diversity of intoxicants in early seventeenth-century England. By way of conclusion the article suggests the significance of the Low Countries as a point of reference for English writers, as well as a more capacious and semantically sensitive approach to changes in early-modern consumption practices

Climate-smart agriculture global research agenda: Scientific basis for action

Background: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fibre and fuel, despite the changing climate and fewer opportunities for agricultural expansion on additional lands. CSA focuses on contributing to economic development, poverty reduction and food security; maintaining and enhancing the productivity and resilience of natural and agricultural ecosystem functions, thus building natural capital; and reducing trade-offs involved in meeting these goals. Current gaps in knowledge, work within CSA, and agendas for interdisciplinary research and science-based actions identified at the 2013 Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (Davis, CA, USA) are described here within three themes: (1) farm and food systems, (2) landscape and regional issues and (3) institutional and policy aspects. The first two themes comprise crop physiology and genetics, mitigation and adaptation for livestock and agriculture, barriers to adoption of CSA practices, climate risk management and energy and biofuels (theme 1); and modelling adaptation and uncertainty, achieving multifunctionality, food and fishery systems, forest biodiversity and ecosystem services, rural migration from climate change and metrics (theme 2). Theme 3 comprises designing research that bridges disciplines, integrating stakeholder input to directly link science, action and governance. Outcomes: In addition to interdisciplinary research among these themes, imperatives include developing (1) models that include adaptation and transformation at either the farm or landscape level; (2) capacity approaches to examine multifunctional solutions for agronomic, ecological and socioeconomic challenges; (3) scenarios that are validated by direct evidence and metrics to support behaviours that foster resilience and natural capital; (4) reductions in the risk that can present formidable barriers for farmers during adoption of new technology and practices; and (5) an understanding of how climate affects the rural labour force, land tenure and cultural integrity, and thus the stability of food production. Effective work in CSA will involve stakeholders, address governance issues, examine uncertainties, incorporate social benefits with technological change, and establish climate finance within a green development framework. Here, the socioecological approach is intended to reduce development controversies associated with CSA and to identify technologies, policies and approaches leading to sustainable food production and consumption patterns in a changing climate

Numerical calculations on the new approach to the cascade theory - III

On the basis of the new approach to the cascade theory accurate numerical results on the mean numbers of electrons produced in small thicknesses in a shower initiated by a single electron or photon are presented. Agreement with the experimental results is satisfactory if due allowance is made for tridents

Macrocyclic ligand design: The interaction of selected transition and post-transition metal ions with a 14-membered N2S2-donor macrocycle

Interaction of 1,7-dithia-4,11-diazacyclotetradecane (1) with nickel(II), copper(II) and silver(I) yields the complexes [NiL(H2O)(CH3CN)](ClO4)2, [CuL](ClO4)2 and [AgL]n(ClO4)n (L = 1). The log K values for the 1:1 complexes of cobalt(II), copper(II), zinc(II), cadmium(II), silver(I) and lead(II) in 95% MeOH are reported, with the strongest complexes occurring for copper(II) and silver(I). The X-ray structure of the nickel complex shows the four donors of the macrocycle coordinated around cis positions of an octahedron, with water and acetonitrile ligands occupying the remaining cis positions (the latter are trans to the amine donors and the sulfurs occupy trans axial positions). The silver complex is distorted square pyramidal with all macrocyclic donors bound; each sulfur bridges to an adjacent silver centre such that the latter attains a S3N2 environment and a cationic zig-zag polymeric arrangement is generated