The goitre rate, its association with reproductive failure, and the knowledge of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) among women in Ethiopia: Cross-section community based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Iodine deficiency is severe public health problem in Ethiopia. Although urinary iodine excretion level (UIE) is a better indicator for IDD the goitre rate is commonly used to mark the public health significance. The range of ill effect of IDD is however beyond goitre in Ethiopia. In this study the prevalence of goitre and its association with reproductive failure, and the knowledge of women on Iodine Deficiency were investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-section community based study was conducted during February to May 2005 in 10998 women in child bearing age of 15 to 49 years. To assess the state of iodine deficiency in Ethiopia, a multistage "Proportional to Population Size" (PPS) sampling methods was used, and WHO/UNICEF/ICCIDD recommended method for goitre classification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Total goitre prevalence (weighted) was 35.8% (95% CI 34.5–37.1), 24.3% palpable and 11.5% visible goitre. This demonstrates that more than 6 million women were affected by goitre.</p> <p>Goitre prevalence in four regional states namely Southern Nation Nationalities and People (SNNP), Oromia, Bebshandul-Gumuz and Tigray was greater than 30%, an indication of severe iodine deficiency. In the rest of the regions except Gambella, the IDD situation was mild to moderate. According to WHO/UNICEF/ICCIDD this is a lucid indication that IDD is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Women with goitre experience more pregnancy failure (X²= 16.5, p < 0.001; OR = 1.26, 1.12 < OR < 1.41) than non goitrous women. Similarly reproductive failure in high goitre endemic areas was significantly higher (X²= 67.52; p < 0.001) than in low. More than 90% of child bearing age women didn't know the cause of iodine deficiency and the importance of iodated salt.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ethiopia is at risk of iodine deficiency disorders. The findings presented in this report emphasis on a sustainable iodine intervention program targeted at population particularly reproductive age women. Nutrition education along with Universal Salt Iodization program and iodized oil capsule distribution in some peripheries where iodine deficiency is severe is urgently required.</p

First-level trigger systems for LHC experiments

We propose to carry out a broad-based programme of R&D on level-1 trigger systems for LHC experiments. We will consider the overall level-1 which coordinates different subtriggers and which interacts with the front end electronics and with the level-2 system. Careful attention will be paid to systems aspects and problems of synchronization within the pipelined processor system. Trigger algorithms for selecting events with high-pt electrons, photons, muons, jets and large missing Et will be evaluated by physics simulation studies. We will study possible implementations of such trigger algorithms in fast electronics by making conceptual design studies and using behavioural simulation models. For critical areas more detailed design studies will be made, and prototypes of some key elements will be constructed and tested. The proposed R&D project builds on existing studies and will complement other R&D projects already funded by the DRDC

A retrospective study of PBDEs and PCBs in human milk from the Faroe Islands

BACKGROUND: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in wildlife and humans remain a cause of global concern, both in regard to traditional POPs, such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and emerging POPs, such as the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). To determine the time related concentrations, we analyzed human milk for these substances at three time points between 1987 and 1999. Polychlorobiphenylols (OH-PCBs), the dominating class of PCB metabolites, some of which are known to be strongly retained in human blood, were also included in the assessment. METHODS: We obtained milk from the Faroe Islands, where the population is exposed to POPs from their traditional diet (which may include pilot whale blubber). In addition to three pools, nine individual samples from the last time point were also analyzed. After cleanup, partitioning of neutral and acidic compounds, and separation of chemical classes, the analyses were carried out by gas chromatography and/or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Compared to other European populations, the human milk had high PCB concentrations, with pool concentrations of 2300 ng/g fat 1987, 1600 ng/g fat in 1994, and 1800 ng/g fat in 1999 (based on the sum of eleven major PCB congeners). The nine individual samples showed great variation in PCB concentrations. The OH-PCBs were present in trace amounts only, at levels of approximately 1% of the PCB concentrations. The PBDE concentrations showed a clear increase over time, and their concentrations in human milk from 1999 are among the highest reported so far from Europe, with results of individual samples ranging from 4.7 to 13 ng/g fat CONCLUSION: Although remote from pollution sources, the Faroe Islands show high concentrations of POPs in human milk, particularly PCBs, but also PBDEs. The PBDEs show increasing concentrations over time. The OH-PCB metabolites are poorly transferred to human milk, which likely is related to their acidic character

Assessment of xenoestrogenic exposure by a biomarker approach: application of the E-Screen bioassay to determine estrogenic response of serum extracts

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological documentation of endocrine disruption is complicated by imprecise exposure assessment, especially when exposures are mixed. Even if the estrogenic activity of all compounds were known, the combined effect of possible additive and/or inhibiting interaction of xenoestrogens in a biological sample may be difficult to predict from chemical analysis of single compounds alone. Thus, analysis of mixtures allows evaluation of combined effects of chemicals each present at low concentrations. METHODS: We have developed an optimized in vitro E-Screen test to assess the combined functional estrogenic response of human serum. The xenoestrogens in serum were separated from endogenous steroids and pharmaceuticals by solid-phase extraction followed by fractionation by high-performance liquid chromatography. After dissolution of the isolated fraction in ethanol-DMSO, the reconstituted extract was added with estrogen-depleted fetal calf serum to MCF-7 cells, the growth of which is stimulated by estrogen. After a 6-day incubation on a microwell plate, cell proliferation was assessed and compared with the effect of a 17-beta-estradiol standard. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: To determine the applicability of this approach, we assessed the estrogenicity of serum samples from 30 pregnant and 60 non-pregnant Danish women thought to be exposed only to low levels of endocrine disruptors. We also studied 211 serum samples from pregnant Faroese women, whose marine diet included whale blubber that contain a high concentration of persistent halogenated pollutants. The estrogenicity of the serum from Danish controls exceeded the background in 22.7 % of the cases, while the same was true for 68.1 % of the Faroese samples. The increased estrogenicity response did not correlate with the lipid-based concentrations of individual suspected endocrine disruptors in the Faroese samples. When added along with the estradiol standard, an indication of an enhanced estrogenic response was found in most cases. Thus, the in vitro estrogenicity response offers a promising and feasible approach for an aggregated exposure assessment for xenoestrogens in serum

Time of flight measurements with hadronic showers

We present the results obtained from measurements of the arrival time of hadronic particles in a segmented scintillator-uranium calorimeter which was equipped with dedicated time of flight scintillator hodoscopes in depths of 0.75, 1.5, 2.25, 3.0 and 4.5 $\lambda_{int^-}$Gaussian shaped time resolutions with $\sigma \approx$ 90 ps were obtained with $\pi^−$ beams of 30 GeV/ c and 70 GeV/ c momentum. We discuss to what extent non-Gaussian tails can be removed while keeping a reasonably high efficiency