BMJ Open

INTRODUCTION: Sarcomas are rare tumours of connective tissue. The exact overall incidence of sarcomas is unknown due to diagnostic difficulties and the various histological subtypes (over 80 subtypes). However, the apparent increasing incidence of sarcomas suggests environmental causes such as pesticides. Except for some specific factors (ie, ionising radiation, vinyl chloride, dioxin and genetic predispositions) the scientific knowledge on the aetiology of sarcomas is sparse and inconsistent. France is a particularly appropriate country to set up a study investigating the causes of sarcoma occurrence due to the French organisation in treatment and care of sarcoma patients, which is highly structured and revolved around national expert networks. The main objective of the ETIOlogy of SARcomas (ETIOSARC) project is to study the role of lifestyle, environmental and occupational factors in the occurrence of sarcomas among adults from a multicentric population-based case-control study. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Cases will be all incident patients (older than 18 years) prospectively identified in 15 districts of France covered by a general population-based cancer registry and/or a reference centre in sarcoma's patient care over a 3-year period with an inclusion start date ranging from February 2019 to January 2020 and histologically confirmed by a second review of the diagnosis. Two controls will be individually matched by sex, age (5 years group) and districts of residence and randomly selected from electoral rolls. A standardised questionnaire will be administered by a trained interviewer in order to gather information about occupational and residential history, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and lifestyle factors. At the end of the interview, a saliva sample will be systematically proposed. This study will permit to validate or identify already suspected risk factors for sarcomas such as phenoxyherbicides, chlorophenol and to generate new hypothesis to increase our understanding about the genetic and environmental contributions in the carcinogenicity process. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The present study is promoted by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (identification number C17-03). This study received National French Ethic committee (CPP Sud Mediterrannee I) approval (identification number 18-31) and French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) approval (identification number 918171). Results of this study will be published in international peer-reviewed journals. Technical appendix, statistical code and dataset will be available in the Dryad repository when collection data are completed. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03670927

Développements récents de l'étude en temps réel par diffraction des rayons X couplée à une thermographie infrarouge : application au suivi de la réaction MASHS dans les systèmes FeAl, et MoSi2

La formation au cours d'une réaction de combustion autoentretenue et mécaniquement activée (MASHS) d'intermétalliques nanométrique, tels que les composés FeAl et MoSi2, a pu être observée in-situ et en temps réel en couplant la diffraction des rayons X, produit par rayonnement synchrotron, et une thermographie infrarouge. La mise en oeuvre d'une telle expérience est indispensable en raison de la vitesse importante (10 mm/s) de propagation du front de combustion. Des développements récents réalisés au niveau des systèmes de détections permettent d'obtenir des temps d'acquisition très courts (quelques dizaines de millisecondes) et de révéler des étapes intermédiaires au cours de la transformation. De plus, ces expériences apportent une information importante sur le rôle de l'activation mécanique dans les procédés SHS classiquesThe mechanical Activation Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (MASHS) processing is a new way to produce nanocrystalline iron aluminide or molybdenum disilicide compounds. This kind of reaction has been investigated in situ using the Time Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (TRXDR), with an X-ray synchrotron beam, coupled to an infrared thermography to follow in resolved time structure transformation and temperature evolution. With short acquisition times, it has been possible to observe several steps before obtaining compound and to reveal the mechanical activation effect versus a classical SHS process

Contactless investigation on laser-heated oxides by synchrotron radiation

International audienc

Contactless investigation on laser-heated oxides by synchrotron radiation

Aerodynamic levitation associated with $\rm CO_2$ laser heating was used to carefully characterize a series of rare-earth and others refractory oxides in the solid and the liquid state. The differences and the similarities between the structure on both sides of the liquid-crystalline solid phase transition are discussed. The temperature dependence of the structural parameters has been studied by performing, for the first time, in situ combined XAS and XRD experiments up to $\rm 2800\ {}^\circ C$

Characterisation of uranium vacancies in hyper stoichiometric uranium dioxide

An experimental method, based on measurements of the expansion of a single crystal as a function of the p(O-2) was used to determine the concentration of uranium vacancies in hyperstoichiometric Uranium dioxide. The results are consistent with the concentration of electrical carriers measured in the same conditions, they are also in qualitative agreement with a theoretical modelling proposed in the literature. However, an improved interpretation would require to take into account the clusters of oxygen interstitials and vacancies

Environ Int

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between maternal occupational exposures to nanoscale particles (NPs) during pregnancy and small for gestational age (SGA). METHODS: This study included 11,224 mothers and singleton birth pairs from the French Longitudinal Study of Children (ELFE cohort), which included infants born after 33weeks of gestation or more in continental France in 2011. Mothers who did not work during pregnancy were excluded from the analyses. Maternal occupational exposures to NPs was estimated using a job-exposure matrix for the probability (>50%: occupationally exposed group, n=569; 0%: occupationally non-exposed group, n=9113; between these two thresholds: uncertain group, n=1542) and frequency of exposure. Associations were estimated from multivariate logistic regression models for occupationally exposed vs occupationally unexposed groups in a first analysis, and with the frequency-weighted duration of work for the occupationally exposed group only in a second analysis. RESULTS: Among working mothers, 5.1% were occupationally exposed to NPs. Maternal occupational exposures to NPs was associated with SGA (ORa=1.63, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.18). The frequency-weighted duration of work for the occupationally exposed group (n=569) was not associated with SGA (ORa=1.02, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.08) in adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS: These results, showing a significant association between occupational exposures to NPs and SGA, should encourage further studies to examine the adverse effect of NPs exposure on fetal development

Les reconnaissances en maladie professionnelle lors du suivi de la cohorte ARDCO

International audienceIntroduction: Questions concerning under-reporting of occupational diseases (OD) linked to asbestos exposure are regularly voiced in France. Monitoring of the French multicenter Asbestos-Related Disease Cohort (ARDCO), which ensures post-occupational medical surveillance of subjects having been exposed to asbestos, provides information on (1) the medico-legal steps taken following screening by computed tomography (CT) for benign thoracic diseases, and (2) recognition of OD as a causal factor in malignant diseases.Methods: OD recognition - and possible compensation - was analyzed in July 2021 among 13,289 volunteers in the cohort recruited between 2003 and 2005.Results: Fifteen percent of the subjects in the cohort were found to have at least one recognized asbestos-related OD (78.2% benign pleural disease, 10.3% asbestosis, 14.2% lung cancer, and 6.0% mesothelioma). Only 58% of pleural plaques reported by the radiologist who performed the CT resulted in their recognition as ODs. On a parallel track, 88.7% of the mesotheliomas identified based on French National health insurance data and 46.9% of lung cancers were recognized as ODs.Conclusions: This study confirms the feasibility of a system designed to facilitate recognition, leading to possible compensation, of asbestos-related occupational diseases. The system could be improved by better training of the medical actors involved