Monitoring of dioxin levels in cow's milk in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen

In 1196/1997, the Belgian government measured dioxin levels in cow's milk from dairy farms in the neighborhood of a metal reclamation plant in Zelzate above the Belgian standard of 5 pg (i) TEQ/g of milkfat. In the same period they measured high dioxin emissions at the metal reclamation plant concerned. Predictions by the dioxin chain model in the basis of the emissions didn't exclude a exceeding of the Dutch standard of 6 pg (i) TEQ/gram milkfat for cow's milk from diary farms on the Dutch side of the border. Therefore, the Dutch government decided to start a monitoring program to measure the dioxin levels in cow's milk from two selected diary farms in the neighborhood of Sas van Gent, 5 km North-east of the metal reclamation plant, on a monthly basis. In the period October 1998 - June 2000 dioxin levels in cow's milk from these two diary farms were measured. None of the values exceeded the Dutch standard. The highest levels were measured at the start of the monitoring program; 3.0 +/- 0.2 and 5.1 +/- 0.3 pg (i)-TEQ/g milkfat, for the two farms respectively, in October 1998. During the same period, October-December 1998, the dioxin levels of consumers milk, sampled on a monthly basis were monitored. The samples were collected per region of the Netherlands (North, East, South and West). The measured dioxin levels in this period resulted in a background level of 0.5-0.8 pg (i)-TEQ/g of fat. At the end of the period, in June 2000, dioxin levels were decreased to a level round 1 pg (i) TEQ/g of fat. These values are in the same order of magnitude as the back ground level of 0.3-0.4 pg (i) TEQ/g of fat found for consumers milk in the second quarter of 2000. It can be concluded that the measures taken by the metal reclamation plant, imposed by the Belgian government, presumably have led to decreasing dioxin levels in locally produced cow's milk. Therefore, in August 2000, the monitoring program in Zeeuws Vlaanderen was discontinued.In 1996/1997 is door de Belgische overheid aangetoond dat de dioxine-gehalten in koemelk, uit de omgeving van een metaalsmelterij te Zelzate, de Belgische norm van 5 pg (i) TEQ/g melkvet overschreden. Tevens werd in die periode aangetoond dat de dioxine-emissie van de betreffende metaalsmelterij verhoogd was. Berekeningen met het ketenmodel sloten een overschrijding van de Nederlandse warenwetnorm van 6 pg (i) TEQ/g melkvet aan de Nederlandse zijde van de grens niet uit. Daarom is besloten koemelk van twee geselecteerde melkveebedrijven in de omgeving van Sas van Gent, 5 km ten noord-oosten van de metaalsmelterij, te monitoren op basis van maandgemiddelde monsters. In de periode oktober 1998-juni 2000 zijn dioxinegehalten gemeten in koemelk van deze twee melkveebedrijven. De dioxinegehalten in de monsters liggen allen beneden de warenwetnorm van 6 pg (i)-TEQ/g vet. De dioxinegehalten waren aan het begin van de meetperiode het hoogst; 3.0 +/- 0.2 en 5.1 +/- 0.3 pg (i)-TEQ/g melkvet voor respectievelijk melkveebedrijf SvG-1 en SvG-2. In dezelfde periode, oktober-december 1998, werden, in het kader van een ander deelprojekt (639102-9802), ook gehalten gemeten van maandgemiddelde consumptiemelkmonsters. De monsters zijn samengesteld per regio (Noord, Oost, Zuid en West) van Nederland. De gemeten waarden lagen in deze periode op een achtergrondniveau van 0.5-0.8 pg (i)-TEQ/g vet. Aan het eind van de periode, in juni 2000, zijn de waarden gedaald tot een niveau van rond de 1 pg (i) TEQ/g vet. Deze waarden hebben dezelfde orde van grootte als het achtergrondniveau van 03.-0.4 pg (i) TEQ/g vet in consumptiemelk bemonsterd in het tweede kwartaal van 2000. Geconcludeerd kan worden dat door de genomen maatregelen bij de metaalsmelterij, opgelegd door de Belgische overheid, de dioxineconcentraties in koemelk uit de omgeving waarschijnlijk structureel tot een waarde royaal onder de norm hebben geleid. Per augustus 2000 is dan ook, door de Inspectie Gezondheidsbescherming, Waren en Veterinaire Zaken besloten het monitoren van koemelk in de omgeving van Sas van Gent stop te zetten

Shift work is associated with 10-year incidence of atrial fibrillation in younger but not older individuals from the general population: results from the Tromsø Study

Objectives - Shift work is associated with myocardial infarction and stroke. We studied if shift work is also associated with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) and if this association differs, depending on sex and age. Methods - We studied 22 339 participants (age 37.0±9.8 years, 49% women) with paid work from the third (1986–1987), fourth (1994–1995), fifth (2001) and sixth (2007–2008) surveys of the population-based Tromsø Study, Norway. Participants were followed up for ECG-confirmed AF through 2016. Shift work was assessed by questionnaire at each survey. We used unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models to study the association of shift work with 10-year incident AF and incident AF during extensive follow-up up to 31 years. Interactions with sex and age were tested in the multivariable model. Results - Shift work was reported by 21% of participants at the first attended survey. There was an interaction between shift work and age for 10-year incident AF (p=0.069). When adjusted for AF risk factors, shift work was significantly associated with 10-year incident AF in participants Conclusions - Shift work was associated with 10-year incident AF in individuals <40 years but not ≥40 years of age. Shift work was not associated with incident AF during extensive follow-up up to 31 years, and there were no sex differences.<p

Increased Adiposity, Dysregulated Glucose Metabolism and Systemic Inflammation in Galectin-3 KO Mice

PMCID: PMC3579848This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Predictive value of plasma galectin-3 levels in heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction

Aims. Galectin-3 is an emerging biomarker which has been studied in relatively small heart failure (HF) cohorts with predominantly systolic HF. We studied the prognostic value of base-line galectin-3 in a large HF cohort, with preserved and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and compared this to other biomarkers. Methods. We studied 592 HF patients who had been hospitalized for HF and were followed for 18 months. The primary end-point was a composite of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization. Results. A doubling of galectin-3 levels was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.97 (1.62-2.42) for the primary outcome (P <0.001). After correction for age, gender, BNP, eGFR, and diabetes the HR was 1.38 (1.07-1.78; P = 0.015). Galectin-3 levels were correlated with higher IL-6 and CRP levels (P <0.002). Changes of galectin-3 levels after 6 months did not add prognostic information to the base-line value (n = 291); however, combining plasma galectin-3 and BNP levels increased prognostic value over either biomarker alone (ROC analysis, P <0.05). The predictive value of galectin-3 was stronger in patients with preserved LVEF (n = 114) compared to patients with reduced LVEF (P <0.001). Conclusions. Galectin-3 is an independent marker for outcome in HF and appears to be particularly useful in HF patients with preserved LVEF

Inhalation characteristics of asthma patients, COPD patients and healthy volunteers with the Spiromax® and Turbuhaler® devices: a randomised, cross-over study.

BACKGROUND: Spiromax® is a novel dry-powder inhaler containing formulations of budesonide plus formoterol (BF). The device is intended to provide dose equivalence with enhanced user-friendliness compared to BF Turbuhaler® in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The present study was performed to compare inhalation parameters with empty versions of the two devices, and to investigate the effects of enhanced training designed to encourage faster inhalation. METHODS: This randomised, open-label, cross-over study included children with asthma (n = 23), adolescents with asthma (n = 27), adults with asthma (n = 50), adults with COPD (n = 50) and healthy adult volunteers (n = 50). Inhalation manoeuvres were recorded with each device after training with the patient information leaflet (PIL) and after enhanced training using an In-Check Dial device. RESULTS: After PIL training, peak inspiratory flow (PIF), maximum change in pressure (∆P) and the inhalation volume (IV) were significantly higher with Spiromax than with the Turbuhaler device (p values were at least &lt;0.05 in all patient groups). After enhanced training, numerically or significantly higher values for PIF, ∆P, IV and acceleration remained with Spiromax versus Turbuhaler, except for ∆P in COPD patients. After PIL training, one adult asthma patient and one COPD patient inhaled &lt;30 L/min through the Spiromax compared to one adult asthma patient and five COPD patients with the Turbuhaler. All patients achieved PIF values of at least 30 L/min after enhanced training. CONCLUSIONS: The two inhalers have similar resistance so inhalation flows and pressure changes would be expected to be similar. The higher flow-related values noted for Spiromax versus Turbuhaler after PIL training suggest that Spiromax might have human factor advantages in real-world use. After enhanced training, the flow-related differences between devices persisted; increased flow rates were achieved with both devices, and all patients achieved the minimal flow required for adequate drug delivery. Enhanced training could be useful, especially in COPD patients

The origin of human chromosome 2 analyzed by comparative chromosome mapping with a DNA microlibrary

Fluorescencein situ hybridization (FISH) of microlibraries established from distinct chromosome subregions can test the evolutionary conservation of chromosome bands as well as chromosomal rearrangements that occurred during primate evolution and will help to clarify phylogenetic relationships. We used a DNA library established by microdissection and microcloning from the entire long arm of human chromosome 2 for fluorescencein situ hybridization and comparative mapping of the chromosomes of human, great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus) and Old World monkeys (Macaca fuscata andCercopithecus aethiops). Inversions were found in the pericentric region of the primate chromosome 2p homologs in great apes, and the hybridization pattern demonstrates the known phylogenetically derived telomere fusion in the line that leads to human chromosome 2. The hybridization of the 2q microlibrary to chromosomes of Old World monkeys gave a different pattern from that in the gorilla and the orang-utan, but a pattern similar to that of chimpanzees. This suggests convergence of chromosomal rearrangements in different phylogenetic lines