Household Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Hematopoietic Malignancies: The ESCALE Study (SFCE)

International audienceOBJECTIVES: We investigated the role of household exposure to pesticides in the etiology of childhood hematopoietic malignancies. METHODS: The national registry-based case-control study ESCALE (Etude sur les cancers de l'enfant) was carried out in France over the period 2003-2004. Population controls were frequency matched with the cases on age and sex. Maternal household use of pesticides during pregnancy and paternal use during pregnancy or childhood were reported by the mothers in a structured telephone questionnaire. Insecticides (used at home, on pets, or for garden crops), herbicides, and fungicides were distinguished. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) using unconditional regression models closely adjusting for age, sex, degree of urbanization, and type of housing (flat or house). RESULTS: We included a total of 764 cases of acute leukemia (AL), 130 of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), 166 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and 1,681 controls. Insecticide use during pregnancy was significantly associated with childhood AL [OR = 2.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.7-2.5], both lymphoblastic and myeloblastic, NHL (OR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-2.6), mainly for Burkitt lymphoma (OR = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.6-4.5), and mixed-cell HL (OR = 4.1; 95% CI, 1.4-11.8), but not nodular sclerosis HL (OR = 1.1; 95% CI, 0.6-1.9). Paternal household use of pesticides was also related to AL (OR = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.8) and NHL (OR = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2-2.6); but for AL the relationships did not remain after adjustment for maternal pesticide use during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The study findings strengthen the hypothesis that domestic use of pesticides may play a role in the etiology of childhood hematopoietic malignancies. The consistency of the findings with those of previous studies on AL raises the question of the advisability of preventing pesticide use by pregnant women

Nouveaux hydrogels physiques ultra-déformables dopés de cubosomes décorés par des argiles

Because of their high content in water and deformability, hydrogels are especially sought after in the health field to conceive stimulable biocompatible systems. In this context, the goal of this thesis is to develop new hydrogels able to perform controlled-delivery of molecules when an external mechanical stimulus is applied. To this end, a new approach in hydrogel formulation is suggested. It involves the use of cubosomes, i.e. cubic liquid crystalline lipid phases. They are stabilized in water by clay nanoplatelets, on which are adsorbed polymer chains in the aqueous phase. The nano-droplets are thus acting as nodes for the network and allow physical crosslinking of the hydrogel without any use of a chemical crosslinker. This work is organized in two parts: (i) fine characterization of the stabilization mechanisms of the cubosome emulsion stabilized by clay in order to optimize the hydrogel synthesis and (ii) hydrogel formulation and characterization of its structural and mechanical properties. Emulsions are produced by ultrasonication of a system formed of phytantriol (PT) which is a lipid, and disk-shaped nanoparticles of laponite (with a 1 nm thickness and 25 nm radius). The phase diagram was established and all points of it were comprehensively characterized with a multi-technical approach. It combines visual observations, conductivity, dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) with contrast variation. A dispersion threshold for PT was macroscopically identified depending on the concentrations of laponite and PT. Above it, a fraction of the PT in the sample is not stabilized. Moreover, conductimetry surprisingly highlighted the existence of a second dispersion threshold in the system. Indeed, laponite adsorbs onto the PT droplets up to a specific concentration which is independent of the lipid concentration that is to be dispersed in the aqueous medium. DLS was used to illustrate the consistency of the size of the PT droplets across the phase diagram. The data was analyzed with a model that differentiates the contributions of the droplets from the ones of free laponite. This is coherent with the constant energy given to the system during the ultrasonication step. SAXS measurements of the position of the Bragg peaks related to the cubic PT phase of Pn3m symmetry shows independence from the concentrations of PT and of laponite. This demonstrates that the laponites do not enter the droplets. The fine structure of the emulsions was obtained with SANS experiments, in which the signals of PT and laponite were successively put out. A model of spheres decorated with disks was developed to fit the signal of laponite. It led to the fraction of adsorbed or free laponites in solution, matching the conductimetry results very well. Polyacrylamide hydrogels were synthesized from these emulsions with a high final concentration of polymer, around 10 wt%. The synthesis protocol was optimized, especially the order of addition of the polymerization initiators. It was chosen so that the polymer chains would not go through the drops. The structure of the hydrogels was investigated at rest and under uniaxial stretching with SANS. These purely physical hydrogels are stretchable to at least 1000% without breaking. The internal liquid crystalline structure of the lipid drops is unmodified by the synthesis and stretching. The drops do not deform but are reorganized under stretching in a very dense tridimensional network of chains with a mesh size of a few angströms. Lastly, the mechanical properties of these reinforced hydrogels were assessed with oscillatory rheology measurements. The modulus is rather unchanged across the range of explored concentrations.De par leurs fortes teneur en eau et déformabilité, les hydrogels constituent un outil de choix pour concevoir des systèmes biocompatibles stimulables aux applications dans le domaine de la santé. Dans ce contexte, l’objectif de la thèse est de développer de nouveaux hydrogels permettant une délivrance contrôlée de molécules induite par sollicitation mécanique externe. Pour ce faire, ces travaux proposent une nouvelle approche de formulation d’hydrogels basée sur l’utilisation de cubosomes, i.e. de phases cristallines cubiques de lipides. Elles sont stabilisées dans l’eau par des nanoplaquettes d’argile, sur lesquelles s’adsorbent les chaînes polymériques dans la phase aqueuse. Les nano-gouttelettes forment ainsi les nœuds permettant la réticulation physique de l’hydrogel, sans introduction d’aucun liant chimique covalent. Le travail comporte en deux grandes parties : (i) la caractérisation fine des mécanismes de stabilisation de l’émulsion de cubosomes par l’argile afin d’optimiser la synthèse de l’hydrogel et (ii) la formulation de l’hydrogel et la caractérisation de ses propriétés structurales et mécaniques. Les émulsions sont obtenues par ultrasonication de phytantriol (PT) pour le lipide, de nanoparticules discotiques de laponite (d’épaisseur 1 nm et de rayon 25 nm) et d’eau. Le diagramme de phase a été établi et tous les points ont été caractérisés de façon exhaustive par une approche multi techniques. Elle combine observations visuelles, conductivité, diffusion dynamique de la lumière (DLS), diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles (SAXS) et diffusion de neutrons aux petits angles (SANS) avec variation de contraste. Un seuil de dispersion du PT a été déterminé macroscopiquement en fonction des concentrations de laponite et de PT, au-delà duquel une fraction du PT n’est pas stabilisée. La conductimétrie a quant à elle mis en évidence l’existence étonnante d’un second seuil de dispersion dans le système: la laponite s’adsorbe sur les gouttes de PT jusqu’à une concentration seuil indépendante de la concentration de lipide à disperser dans le milieu. Les données de DLS ont été analysées par un modèle qui distingue les contributions respectives des gouttes et de la laponite libre. Elles révèlent que la taille des gouttes de PT est constante sur tout le diagramme de phase, en accord avec le choix d’une énergie fixe donnée au système lors de l’étape d’ultrasonication. La détermination de la position des pics de Bragg associés à la phase cubique de symétrie Pn3m du PT par SAXS montre qu’elle est indépendante des concentrations en PT et en Laponite. Cela prouve que les laponites ne pénètrent pas les gouttes. La structure fine des émulsions a été obtenue par des expériences de de SANS, en éteignant successivement le signal du PT et celui des laponites. Un modèle de boules décorées de disques a été développé pour ajuster le signal de la laponite. La fraction déterminée de laponites adsorbées ou libres dans la solution est en très bon accord avec les mesures conductimétriques. Des hydrogels de polyacrylamide ont été synthétisés in situ à partir de ces émulsions avec une concentration élevée finale de polymère, autour de 10% en masse. Le protocole de polymérisation a été optimisé, en particulier l’ordre d’incorporation des initiateurs, et choisi de sorte à ce que les chaînes de polymère ne traversent pas les gouttes. Leur structure a été examinée au repos et sous étirement uniaxial par SANS. Ces gels purement physiques sont étirables au moins jusqu’à 1000% sans casse. La structure interne des gouttes est conservée lors de la synthèse ou de l’étirement. Sous étirement, sans se déformer, les gouttes se réorganisent au sein d’un réseau tridimensionnel très dense de chaînes à la taille de maille de quelques angströms. Enfin, les propriétés mécaniques des hydrogels dopés ont été évaluées par des expériences de rhéologie oscillatoire qui montrent que le module est relativement stable dans les gammes de concentration étudiées

La coopération territoriale en vue de la revalorisation des invendus alimentaires - Le cas SoliFoodWaste à Nantes

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Vers une conception d’évaluation plurielle et collective de la mesure d'impacts de projets en ESS. Inscrire territoires et durabilité au cœur de la démarche

International audienceThe article is part of an approach to measure the territorialized impacts of the sustainability of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The plural scope of evaluation posing the social utility and the sustainability refers to consider the inscription of the evaluated action "in" a given territory. It is then necessary to go beyond traditional measurement tools and to integrate SSE stakeholders. This article proposes to follow and analyze the methodological path of the construction of impact measurement indicators for three SSE initiatives. We illustrate how the territorial dimension of SSE becomes a support for the co-construction of an original evaluation of the impact of SSE projects. This filter of territorialized analysis (re)covers sustainability issues. We propose to question the design of the criteria with the aim of spinning off to new partner structures: does it constitute a three-dimensional impact measurement adapted to the objectives of the SSE and sustainability? Starting from these fields, the text proposes a return on the positioning of the researchers in the co-elaboration of the tool of impact measurement and suggests the integration of the territorial dimension in the measurement of sustainability impacts of the SSE structures as well as the apprehension of the social finality of the project so that the project swarms and allows to start a discussion on the contributions and relationships to the territory

Vers une conception d’évaluation plurielle et collective de la mesure d'impacts de projets en ESS. Inscrire territoires et durabilité au cœur de la démarche

L'article s'inscrit dans une démarche de mesure d'impacts territorialisés de la durabilité de I'Economie sociale et solidaire (ESS). La portée plurielle d’évaluation posant l'utilité sociale et la durabilité renvoie à considérer l'inscription de l'action évaluée « dans » un territoire donné. Il est alors nécessaire d'aller au-delà des outils de mesure traditionnels et d'intégrer les parties prenantes de l'ESS. Cet article propose de suivre et d'analyser le cheminement méthodologique de la construction d'indicateurs de mesure d'impacts de trois initiatives en ESS. Nous illustrons comment la dimension territoriale de l'ESS devient support de co-construction d'une évaluation originale, de la portée des projets d'ESS. Ce filtre d'analyse territorialisée (re)couvre les enjeux de durabilité. Nous proposons d'interroger la conception des critères ayant pour but d'essaimer auprès de nouvelles structures partenaires : constitue-t-elle une mesure d'impacts tridimensionnelle adaptée aux objectifs de l'ESS et de la durabilité ? Partant de ces terrains, le texte propose un retour sur le positionnement des chercheurs dans la co-élaboration de l'outil de mesure d'impact et suggère l'intégration de la dimension territoriale dans la mesure d'impacts de durabilité des structures de l'ESS ainsi que l'appréhension de la finalité sociale de projet afin que le projet essaime et permette d'entamer une discussion sur les apports et rapports au territoire.Ces travaux de recherche ont été financés par le programme LIFE de l’Union Européenne pour le projet SoliFoodWaste (LIFE18 ENV/FR/000029) et par le Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de l’Insertion dans le cadre du PIC La Locomotive

How Women Perceive Severity of Complications after Pelvic Floor Repair?

Background: The Clavien-Dindo classification, used to describe postoperative complications, does not take into account patient perception of severity. Our main objective was to assess women’s perception of postoperative pelvic floor repair complications and compare it to the classification of Clavien-Dindo. Methods: Women and surgeons participating in the VIGI-MESH registry concerning pelvic floor repair surgery were invited to quote their perception of complication severity through a survey based on 30 clinical vignettes. For each vignette, four grades of severity were proposed: “not serious”, “a little serious”, “serious”, “very serious”. Results: Among the 1146 registered women, we received 529 responses (46.2%) and 70 of the 141 surgeons (49.6%) returned a completed questionnaire. A total of 25 of the 30 vignettes were considered classifiable according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. The women’s classification was concordant with Clavien-Dindo for 52.0% (13/25) of the classifiable vignettes. The women’s and surgeons’ responses were discordant for 20 of the 30 clinical vignettes (66.7%). Loss of autonomy (self-catheterization, long-term medication use) or occurrence of sequelae (organ damage or severe persistent pain) were perceived by women as more serious than Clavien-Dindo classification or than surgeons’ perceptions. Conclusions: Women’s perception of pelvic floor repair surgery seems different from the Clavien-Dindo classification. Lack of repair and long-term disability seem to be two major factors in favor of perception of the surgical complication as serious

Sex-Cord Stromal Tumors in Children and Teenagers: Results of the TGM-95 Study

International audienceBACKGROUND:We present the results of the TGM-95 study for gonadal sex-cord stromal tumors (SCT).METHODS:Between 1995 and 2005, children (<18 years) with gonadal SCT were prospectively registered. Primary gonadal resection was recommended whenever feasible. Patients with disseminated disease or an incomplete resection received neoadjuvant or adjuvant VIP chemotherapy (etoposide, ifosfamide, cisplatinum).RESULTS:Thirty-eight children with ovarian SCT were registered. Median age was 10.7y. Endocrine symptoms were present in 21 cases. The histological diagnoses were as follows: juvenile (23) and adult (3) granulosa cell tumors, Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (11), and mixed germ cell SCT (1). An initial oophorectomy ± salpingectomy led to complete resection in 23 patients who did not receive adjuvant treatment; two of them relapsed: one achieved second complete remission whereas the other one died of disease. Fifteen patients had tumor rupture and/or malignant ascites: 11 received chemotherapy and did not relapse, four did not receive chemotherapy and relapsed with a fatal outcome in two cases. With a median follow-up of 5.9y, the 5-y EFS and OS rates were respectively 85% and 94%. Eleven patients had localized testicular tumors (median age 0.83y): juvenile granulosa cell tumors (4), Sertoli or Leydig cell tumors (5) and not otherwise specified SCT (2). Treatment was surgery alone with an inguinal orchiectomy. None have relapsed (median follow-up: 5.4y).CONCLUSIONS:Childhood SCT carry favorable prognosis. In ovarian SCT, surgery should be complete and non-mutilating. Adjuvant chemotherapy efficiently prevents recurrences in cases of tumor rupture. In childhood testicular SCT, the prognosis is excellent with an inguinal orchiectomy, prompting the debate on testis-sparing surgery

Limiting the environmental impact of food waste: ecodesign of the reuse of unsold bread and spent grains in cookies making

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Analysis of Phthalates and Alternative Plasticizers in Gloves by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography–UV Detection: A Comparative Study

International audienceGloves represent an essential feature for hand protection because it is a requirement in the professional framework to comply with both hand hygiene standards and the principles of good laboratory practice. Despite their wide use, there is a knowledge gap regarding their composition, including phthalates. The purpose of the present study was to develop two orthogonal methods, GC–MS and HPLC–DAD, for the screening of plasticizers in gloves. Performances of these two methods were compared in terms of ease of use, number of analyzed plasticizers, and sample preparation. The two methods were validated and applied for the identification and quantification of plasticizers in ten gloves made with different materials (vinyl, nitrile, latex, and neoprene). Results revealed the presence of three main ones: DEHP, DEHT, and DINP. Additionally, the contents of plasticizers were extremely variable, depending on the glove material. As expected, the results point out a predominant use of plasticizers in vinyl gloves with an amount that should be of concern. While DEHP is classified as a toxic substance for reproduction 1B, it was, however, quantified in the ten different glove samples studied. This study provides new data regarding the plasticizers’ content in protective gloves, which could be useful for risk assessment