Occupational and Environmental Exposures Associated with Testicular Germ Cell Tumours: Systematic Review of Prenatal and Life-Long Exposures

<div><p>Background</p><p>Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) are the most common cancers in men aged between 15 and 44 years and the incidence has increased steeply over the past 30 years. The rapid increase in the incidence, the spatial variation and the evolution of incidence in migrants suggest that environmental risk factors play a role in TGCT aetiology. The purpose of our review is to summarise the current state of knowledge on occupational and environmental factors thought to be associated with TGCT.</p> <p>Methods</p><p>A systematic literature search of PubMed. All selected articles were quality appraised by two independent researchers using the ‘Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale’.</p> <p>Results</p><p>After exclusion of duplicate reports, 72 relevant articles were selected; 65 assessed exposure in adulthood, 7 assessed parental exposures and 2 assessed both. Associations with occupation was reported for agricultural workers, construction workers, firemen, policemen, military personnel, as well as workers in paper, plastic or metal industries. Electromagnetic fields, PCBs and pesticides were also suggested. However, results were inconsistent and studies showing positive associations tended to had lower quality ranking using the assessment scale (p=0.02).</p> <p>Discussion</p><p>Current evidence does not allow concluding on existence of any clear association between TGCT and adulthood occupational or environmental exposure. The limitations of the studies may partly explain the inconsistencies observed. The lack of association with adulthood exposure is in line with current hypotheses supporting the prenatal origin of TGCT. Future research should focus on prenatal or early life exposure, as well as combined effect of prenatal and later life exposure. National and international collaborative studies should allow for more adequately powered epidemiological studies. More sophisticated methods for assessing exposure as well as evaluating gene–environment interactions will be necessary to establish clear conclusion.</p> </div

Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on the structure of the soluble protein fraction in Porphyridium cruentum extracts

International audienceHigh hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments are trending as “green” stabilization and extraction process. The extraction of B-phycoerythrin from microalgae is getting more and more interest due to its numerous potentialities in foods, cosmetics and medicine. Thus, the effects of high pressure on the structural characteristics of B-phycoerythrin extracted from Porphyridium cruentum are explored in this paper.Spectrophotometric methods allowed to measure B-phycoerythrin content (UV–visible) and gave an indication on the protein structure (fluorescence). Micro-DSC analysis and electrophoresis complemented this structural investigation for all the protein fractions of P. cruentum extracts.Applying high hydrostatic pressure treatments up to 300 MPa during 5 min had no significant effect on B-phycoerythrin content and structure in P. cruentum extracts. Nevertheless, conformational changes of the protein are suggested by fluorescence yield decrease at 400 MPa, and protein aggregation of B-phycoerythrin, observed by Micro-DSC and electrophoresis, occurred at 500 MPa.Industrial relevanceThe HHP process is an emerging technology for the microbiological stability of various food matrices, including the proteins of microalgae as natural colorant. The target pressure to stabilize is around 400 MPa. High hydrostatic pressure can be used on P. cruentum extracts up to 300 MPa without any change in protein structure, as the threshold of protein aggregation is observed at 400 MPa. The observed changes of the proteins structure after applying HHP above 400 MPa can have a strong impact at macroscopic scale on the food matrices: increase of turbidity, change of texture, stability of emulsion

The Protective Role of Job Control/Autonomy on Mental Strain of Managers: A Cross-Sectional Study among Wittyfit’s Users

International audienceBackground: Karasek’s Job Demand-Control-Support model is the gold standard to assess the perception of work; however, this model has been poorly studied among managers. We aimed to explore the perception of work (job demand, control, and support) in managers, and to quantify their risk of job strain (high job demand and low job control) and isostrain (job strain with low job support). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on workers from various French companies using the Wittyfit software. Job demand, control, and support were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires, as well as sociodemographic data. Results: We included 9257 workers: 8488 employees (median age of 45 years, median seniority of 10 years, 39.4% women) and 769 managers (463 were more than 45 years old, 343 with more than 10 years of service, 33.3% women). Managers had higher mean ± SD levels than employees in job control (79.2 ± 14.9 vs. 75.4 ± 16.9) and job support (25.2 ± 5.1 vs. 24.0 ± 6.1) (p < 0.001). Compared to employees, managers had a 37% decreased risk of job strain (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.77) and a 47% decreased risk of isostrain (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.69) (p < 0.001). Workers over age 45 (OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.40, p < 0.001) and women (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.01 to 1. 25, p = 0.03) were at greater risk of job strain. Furthermore, workers over age 45 (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.32 to 1.73, p < 0.001), workers with over 10 years of service (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.56, p < 0.001), and women (OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.31, p = 0.04) were at greater risk of isostrain. Conclusions: Managers seem to have higher autonomy and greater social support and therefore are less at risk of job strain or isostrain than employees. Other factors such as age, seniority, and sex may influence this relationship. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02596737

Flow diagram of identified articles published between 1990 and 2012.

<p>Flow diagram of identified articles published between 1990 and 2012.</p

Stress and job satisfaction over time, the influence of the managerial position: a bivariate longitudinal modelling of Wittyfit data (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The managerial position affects stress and job satisfaction of workers, but these influences have always been studied separately. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess bivariate influence of the managerial position on workers’ stress and job satisfaction and the inter-relationship of these indicators over time. METHODS We have analyzed data from workers who use the Wittyfit software, collected annually between 2018 and 2021. Stress and job satisfaction were evaluated by self-report questionnaires. Job position (manager or employee) was provided by the software’s client companies. RESULTS Data of 704 workers were included in the study. Cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariate analyses revealed that managerial position improves job satisfaction (P<.001), but not stress (P=.4). Overall, while workers’ job satisfaction has improved (P<.001), stress has remained stable over time (P=.3). Three latent groups, with specific evolutionary multi-trajectory of stress and job satisfaction were identified in the sample (entropy=.80). Age and seniority, but not gender tended to influence managers’ and employees’ indicators. Over time, stress and job satisfaction have tended to negatively interconnect, in cross-section and in a cross-lagged manner (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS The managerial position improves workers’ job satisfaction but has no effect on stress. Sociodemographics including age and seniority, but not gender, can affect this relationship. Stress and job satisfaction can influence each other, both cross-sectionally and over time. To be more effective, organizations should implement holistic strategies targeting multiple indicators. CLINICALTRIAL Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02596737

The Managerial Role and Psychosocial Factors of Job Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study among Wittyfit’s Users

International audienceAbstract Objective Job satisfaction is an emerging indicator for measuring workers’ occupational well-being; however, this has been poorly studied in managers. We aimed to explore job satisfaction between managers and employees and assess its factors. Methods Data from Wittyfit’s users were collected between January 2018 and February 2020. Volunteers anonymously provided their socio-demographic profile, their sense of job satisfaction and their psychosocial feelings (ambiance, meaning, organization, recognition, values, work-life balance). Results Data of 10,484 employees and 836 managers was collected. Job satisfaction was higher in managers than employees. All psychosocial factors had an impact on job satisfaction in workers. There was a higher prevalence of satisfied managers than employees. Managerial position and other socio-demographic variables influenced this prevalence. Conclusion Managers appear to be more satisfied than employees. Psychosocial and socio-demographic factors can influence workers’ job satisfaction

Methodological Issues in Analyzing Real-World Longitudinal Occupational Health Data: A Useful Guide to Approaching the Topic

International audienceEver greater technological advances and democratization of digital tools such as computers and smartphones offer researchers new possibilities to collect large amounts of health data in order to conduct clinical research. Such data, called real-world data, appears to be a perfect complement to traditional randomized clinical trials and has become more important in health decisions. Due to its longitudinal nature, real-world data is subject to specific and well-known methodological issues, namely issues with the analysis of cluster-correlated data, missing data and longitudinal data itself. These concepts have been widely discussed in the literature and many methods and solutions have been proposed to cope with these issues. As examples, mixed and trajectory models have been developed to explore longitudinal data sets, imputation methods can resolve missing data issues, and multilevel models facilitate the treatment of cluster-correlated data. Nevertheless, the analysis of real-world longitudinal occupational health data remains difficult, especially when the methodological challenges overlap. The purpose of this article is to present various solutions developed in the literature to deal with cluster-correlated data, missing data and longitudinal data, sometimes overlapped, in an occupational health context. The novelty and usefulness of our approach is supported by a step-by-step search strategy and an example from the Wittyfit database, which is an epidemiological database of occupational health data. Therefore, we hope that this article will facilitate the work of researchers in the field and improve the accuracy of future studies

Estimation of atrazine-degrading genetic potential and activity in three French agricultural soils

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Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on extraction of B-phycoerythrin from Porphyridium cruentum: Use of confocal microscopy and image processing

The aim of the study was to extract B-phycoerythrin from Porphyridium cruentum while preserving its structure. The high hydrostatic pressure treatments were chosen as extraction technology. Different methods have been used to observe the effects of the treatment: spectrophotometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy followed by image processing analysis. Image processing led to the generation of masks used for the identification of three clusters: intra, extra and intercellular. All methods showed that high hydrostatic pressure treatments between 50 and 500 MPa failed to extract B-phycoerythrin from Porphyridium cruentum cells. The fluorescence emission was negatively impacted by high hydrostatic pressure treatment from 400 MPa for the extracellular and intercellular cluster and from 500 MPa for the intercellular cluster. These results suggest that high pressure treatments could induce the denaturation of B-phycoerythrin in all clusters but with different intensities depending on the cluster