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Abstract Background Early-life environmental exposures are suspected to be involved in the development of chronic diseases later in life. Most studies conducted so far considered single or few exposures and single-health parameter. Our study aimed to identify a childhood general health score and assess its association with a wide range of pre- and post-natal environmental exposures. Methods The analysis is based on 870 children (6–12 years) from six European birth cohorts participating in the Human Early-Life Exposome project. A total of 53 prenatal and 105 childhood environmental factors were considered, including lifestyle, social, urban and chemical exposures. We built a general health score by averaging three sub-scores (cardiometabolic, respiratory/allergy and mental) built from 15 health parameters. By construct, a child with a low score has a low general health status. Penalized multivariable regression through Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) was fitted in order to identify exposures associated with the general health score. Findings The results of LASSO show that a lower general health score was associated with maternal passive and active smoking during pregnancy and postnatal exposure to methylparaben, copper, indoor air pollutants, high intake of caffeinated drinks and few contacts with friends and family. Higher child’s general health score was associated with prenatal exposure to a bluespace near residency and postnatal exposures to pets, cobalt, high intakes of vegetables and more physical activity. Against our hypotheses, postnatal exposure to organochlorine compounds and perfluorooctanoate were associated with a higher child’s general health score. Conclusion By using a general health score summarizing the child cardiometabolic, respiratory/allergy and mental health, this study reinforced previously suspected environmental factors associated with various child health parameters (e.g. tobacco, air pollutants) and identified new factors (e.g. pets, bluespace) warranting further investigations.

A reduction in greenhouse gases has become an inescapable requirement. An effective scenario for achieving carbon neutrality is to develop a hydrogen economy. Its success, however, requires strict control of the different processes involved in planned hydrogen chains. The energy chain considered in this paper is a stationary application which involves the production of hydrogen by electrolysis (a power-to gas process) and its combustion in gas turbine combined cycles to generate electricity (a gas-to-power process). In such applications, the need is twofold: (i) to control the risk of explosive atmospheres by performing safe gas detection in the presence of hydrogen and (ii) to secure the reliability of all chain processes using hydrogen-rich gases by achieving reliable analyses of these gases. This paper is dedicated to the development of hydrogen energy to decarbonize the thermal production of electricity. We will first describe the hydrogen chain that would best suit the power generation sector. Then, we will highlight the properties of hydrogen that are critical for its reliable operation. Finally, we will review the sensing technologies suitable for hydrogen-containing fuels. This review paper was published as part of a Joint Industrial Project (JIP) aimed at enabling the safe and reliable deployment of hydrogen energy.

IntroductionExposure to respiratory viruses is a significant cause of morbidity and affects virus-specific antibody levels. Little is known about determinants associated with immune response to these viruses. We aimed to investigate the determinants of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)- and rhinovirus (RV)- specific IgG responses in both children and adults.MethodsThe study is based on the EGEA cohort, composed of 530 samples of children in EGEA1 (1991-95) and 1241 samples of adults in EGEA2 (2003-07). Cumulative RV-specific IgG levels (species A, B and C) and IgG levels to RSV-G protein were measured by using micro-array technoloy. Multiple linear mixed models (random effect to account for familial dependence) were performed to assess associations between age, sex, body mass index (BMI), tobacco smoke exposure and season of blood sampling with RSV-and RV-specific IgG levels.ResultsIn children (11.1 ± 2.8 years old, 57% boys), higher RV-specific IgG levels were associated with older age (only for RV-B), female sex and lower BMI, while only older age was associated with higher RSV-specific IgG levels. In adults (43.5 ± 16.7 years old, 48% men), younger age, female sex, lower BMI, active smoking and all seasons except summer were associated with higher RV-specific IgG levels. Older age, active smoking and all seasons except summer were associated with higher RSV-specific IgG levels.ConclusionPersonal and seasonal determinants of RSV- and RV-specific IgG levels seem to vary according to the respiratory virus type and between children and adults, suggesting different patterns of responses along the life course.

Objective To determine whether changes in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and changes in pulmonary artery compliance (Cpa) are associated with changes in exercise capacity assessed either by changes in peak oxygen consumption (V′O2) or by changes in 6-min walk distance (6MWD) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) undergoing balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA). Methods Invasive haemodynamic parameters, peak V′O2 and 6MWD were measured within 24 h, before and after BPA (interval 3.1±2.4 months) in 34 CTEPH patients without significant cardiac and/or pulmonary comorbidities, of whom 24 received at least one pulmonary hypertension-specific treatment. Cpa was calculated according to the pulse pressure method: Cpa=((SV/PP)/1.76+0.1), where SV is the stroke volume and PP is the pulse pressure. The resistance–compliance (RC)-time of the pulmonary circulation was calculated as the PVR and Cpa product. Results After BPA, PVR decreased (562±234 versus 290±106 dyn·s·cm−5; p

Background: How to manage patients with severe kidney disease in pregnancy is still a matter of discussion, and deciding if and when to start dialysis is based on the specialist’s experience and dialysis availability. The effect of toxic substances usually cleared by the kidney may be more severe and readily evident. The review, and related case, underlines the importance of considering the presence of additives in food in delicate conditions, such as CKD pregnancy. The Case: A 39-year-old indigenous woman from a low-resourced area in Mexico was referred to the obstetric nephrology at 25 gestational weeks because of serum creatinine at 3.6 mg/dL, hypertension on low-dose alpha-methyl-dopa, and nephrotic-range proteinuria. Kidney ultrasounds showed small poorly differentiated kidneys; foetal ultrasounds detected a female foetus, normal for gestational age. The patient’s baseline protein intake, which was estimated at 1.2–1.3 g/kg/day, was mostly of animal-origin (>70%) poor-quality food (“junk food”). In the proposed diet, protein intake was only slightly reduced (1.0–1.2 g/kg/day), but the source of proteins was changed (only 30% of animal origin) with attention to food quality. A remarkable decrease in BUN was observed, in concomitance with adequate dietary follow-up, with rapid rise of BUN when the patient switched temporarily back to previous habits. A healthy female baby weighing 2,460 g (11th centile for gestational age) was delivered at 37 gestational weeks. Discussion and Literature Review: While data on patients with chronic kidney disease are scant, the long list of contaminants present in food, especially if of low quality, should lead us to reflect on their potential negative effect on kidney function and make us realize that eating healthy, unprocessed “organic” food should be encouraged, in delicate conditions such as pregnancy and breastfeeding and for young children, in particular when kidney function is failing. The case herein described gave us the opportunity to reflect on the importance of diet quality and on the potential risks linked to food additives, many of which, including phosphates and potassium, are not declared on food labels, while others, including dyes, antioxidants, thickeners, emulsifiers, and preservatives, are qualitatively, but not quantitatively, reported.

Thibaud Soumagne,1 Alicia Guillien,2 Nicolas Roche,3 Isabella Annesi-Maesano,4 Pascal Andujar,5,6 Lucie Laurent,1 Stéphane Jouneau,7,8 Martial Botebol,9 Jean-Jacques Laplante,10 Jean-Charles Dalphin,1,11 Bruno Degano12,13 1Service de Pneumologie, Oncologie Thoracique et Allergologie Respiratoire, CHU de Besançon, Besançon, France; 2Equipe d’Epidémiologie Environnementale, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Centre de Recherche UGA, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Grenoble, France; 3Service de Pneumologie, Groupe Hospitalier Cochin, Site Val de Grâce, AP-HP and Université Paris Descartes (EA2511), Sorbonne-Paris-Cité, Paris, France; 4Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases UMR-S 707 Inserm/UPMC, Université Paris 6, Paris, France; 5Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, Service de Pathologie Professionnelle et de l’Environnement, Créteil, France; 6Université Paris-Est Créteil, Faculté de Médecine, Créteil, France; 7Service de Pneumologie, CHU de Rennes, Rennes, France; 8Univ Rennes, CHU Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Univ Rennes, CHU Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail) – UMR-S 1085, Rennes, France; 9Fédération des Maisons de Santé Comtoises (FéMaSaC), Beure, France; 10Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), Besançon, France; 11UMR CNRS Chrono Environnement, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France; 12Service Hospitalier Universitaire Pneumologie Physiologie, Pôle Thorax et Vaisseaux, CHU Grenoble, Alpes, France; 13Université Grenoble Alpes, INSERM U 1042, Grenoble, FranceCorrespondence: Thibaud Soumagne Email thibaud_soumagne@live.frBackground: Comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases are very common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) secondary to tobacco smoking and contribute to the overall severity of the disease. In non-smoking COPD, which accounts for about 25% of COPD cases worldwide, current knowledge on the frequency and determinants of comorbidities remains scarce. The aims of the current study were to assess the frequency of major comorbidities and to evaluate their determinants in a group of non-selected patients with mild-to-moderate COPD who were exposed to organic dust (dairy farmers), to tobacco smoking, or to both, and in controls without COPD who were exposed to organic dust (dairy farmers), or to tobacco smoking, or to both, or who were without exposure.Patients and Methods: A total of 4665 subjects (2323 dairy farmers and 2342 non-farmers) including 355 patients with COPD and 4310 controls with normal spirometry were recruited through a large COPD screening program. Self-reported physician-diagnosed diseases with plausible links to COPD were recorded in this cross-sectional study.Results: Whatever the exposure, cardiovascular comorbidities were not more frequent in patients with COPD than their counterparts without airflow limitation. A higher risk of major cardiovascular comorbidities was associated with tobacco smoking and a lower risk was associated with exposure to organic dusts.Conclusion: Tobacco smoking (but not COPD) is associated with higher frequency of cardiovascular comorbidities. By contrast, being a dairy farmer exposed to organic dusts is associated with a lower frequency of the same comorbidities. This reinforces the crucial need for controlling established cardiovascular risk factors even in patients with mild-to-moderate COPD.Keywords: cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, comorbidity, diabetes mellitus, tobacco smoking

A reduction in greenhouse gases has become an inescapable requirement. An effective scenario for achieving carbon neutrality is to develop a hydrogen economy. Its success, however, requires strict control of the different processes involved in planned hydrogen chains. The energy chain considered in this paper is a stationary application which involves the production of hydrogen by electrolysis (a power-to gas process) and its combustion in gas turbine combined cycles to generate electricity (a gas-to-power process). In such applications, the need is twofold: (i) to control the risk of explosive atmospheres by performing safe gas detection in the presence of hydrogen and (ii) to secure the reliability of all chain processes using hydrogen-rich gases by achieving reliable analyses of these gases. This paper is dedicated to the development of hydrogen energy to decarbonize the thermal production of electricity. We will first describe the hydrogen chain that would best suit the power generation sector. Then, we will highlight the properties of hydrogen that are critical for its reliable operation. Finally, we will review the sensing technologies suitable for hydrogen-containing fuels. This review paper was published as part of a Joint Industrial Project (JIP) aimed at enabling the safe and reliable deployment of hydrogen energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Allergic mechanisms related to environmental and occupational exposure have been suggested to contribute to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objectives To investigate the relationships between atopy markers, persistent airflow limitation (PAL) and occupational exposure in dairy farmers. Methods Clinical and biological (total IgE and 21 allergen specific IgE) markers of atopy were assessed in 101 dairy farmers with PAL (DF-PAL), 85 non-farmers with PAL (NF-PAL) (both groups were prospectively included from a screening program performed between 2011 and 2015), and matched controls, i.e. 98 farmers without PAL (DF-controls) and 89 non-farming subjects without PAL (NF-controls). Occupational exposure in farmers was estimated using a validated questionnaire. Results Prevalence of allergy history was significantly higher in DF-PAL and in NF-PAL than in controls. Polysensitization, and sensitization to seasonal and food allergens were more frequent in DF-PAL than in DF-controls, respectively: 13.8% vs 1% (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 17.5 (2.2–134), 11.9% vs 3.1% (aOR: 4.4 (1.2–7.2) and 16.8% vs 4.1% (aOR: 5.2 (1.7–7.2)). The prevalence of atopy markers was similar between NF-PAL patients and NF-controls. Conclusions PAL in farmers is associated with a high rate of markers of atopy, supporting atopy as a risk indicator. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02540408).

Arrestin-dependent pathways are a central component of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCRs) signaling. However, the molecular processes regulating arrestin binding are to be further illuminated, in particular with regard to the structural impact of GPCR C-terminal disordered regions. Here, we used an integrated biophysical strategy to describe the basal conformations of the C-terminal domains of three class A GPCRs, the vasopressin V2 receptor (V2R), the growth hormone secretagogue or ghrelin receptor type 1a (GHSR) and the β2-adernergic receptor (β2AR). By doing so, we revealed the presence of transient secondary structures in these regions that are potentially involved in the interaction with arrestin. These secondary structure elements differ from those described in the literature in interaction with arrestin. This suggests a mechanism where the secondary structure conformational preferences in the C-terminal regions of GPCRs could be a central feature for optimizing arrestins recognition.

Alicia Guillien,1 Lucie Laurent,2 Thibaud Soumagne,3 Marc Puyraveau,4 Jean-Jacques Laplante,5 Pascal Andujar,6 Isabella Annesi-Maesano,7 Nicolas Roche,8,9 Bruno Degano,1,* Jean-Charles Dalphin3,* 1Research Unit EA 3920, Franche-Comté University, Besançon, France; 2Department of Clinical Physiology, University Hospital, Besançon, France; 3Department of Respiratory Diseases, University Hospital, Besançon, France; 4Clinical Methodology Center, University Hospital, Besançon, France; 5Department of Occupational Diseases, Mutualité sociale agricole, Besançon, France; 6University of Medical Sciences, Paris-est Créteil University, Créteil, France; 7Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Department (EPAR), Saint-Antoine Medical School, Paris, France; 8Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine, Cochin Hospital (AP-HP), University Paris Descartes, Paris, France; 9Research Unit EA 2511, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and farming are two conditions that have been associated with an increased risk of anxiety and depression. Dairy farming is an independent risk factor for COPD.Objective: To test the hypotheses that the prevalence of anxiety and/or depression is higher in dairy farmers with COPD than in farmers without COPD, and higher in dairy farmers with COPD than in non-farmers with COPD.Methods: Anxiety and depression were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in 100 dairy farmers with COPD (DF-COPD), 98 dairy farmers without COPD (DF-controls), 85 non-farming patients with COPD (NF-COPD) and 89 non-farming subjects without COPD (NF-controls), all identified by screening in the Franche-Comté region of France. Anxiety and depression were considered present when the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score was ≥8. COPD was defined by a post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity ratio

Abstract Background Farmers are exposed to multiple air contaminants that may interact with tobacco smoking in the development of respiratory diseases. Farmers are currently considered to smoke less than non-farmers, but precise data in different categories of age and farming activities are lacking. Methods Smoking habits were studied in a cross-sectional study involving 4105 farmers and 996 non-farming controls aged 40–74 years in 9 French departments between October 2012 and May 2013. Three age groups were defined (40–54, 55–64 and 65-74years). Farmers were divided into four activity groups, namely cattle breeders, livestock farmers working in confined spaces, crop farmers and others. Smoking prevalence was compared between farmers and controls, and odds ratios (ORs) for smoking adjusted for age were calculated. Results The adjusted OR for ever-smoking was lower among farmers than among non-farmers in all age categories, but the ORs for current smoking were similar in farmers and controls. Smoking prevalence varied according to the type of farming activity, and was lower than in non-farming controls only among cattle breeders and confined livestock farmers. In farmers, the proportion of smokers was higher in the youngest age categories compared with the older age classes. Conclusions Our results confirm that the prevalence of ever-smokers is lower in farmers than in non-farmers. Nevertheless, our data show that active smoking prevalence is similar in farmers and in non-farmers. This suggests that farmers, just like non-farmers, should be targeted by primary prevention campaigns against smoking.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the main cause of chronic airway infection in cystic fibrosis (CF). However, for unclear reasons some patients are never colonized by P. aeruginosa. The objectives of this study were to better define the clinical, genetic, and microbiological characteristics of such a subpopulation and to identify predictive factors of non-colonization with P. aeruginosa. The French CF patient registry 2013-2014 was used to identify CF patients aged ≥ 20 years. The clinical outcomes, CF Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) genotypes, and microbiological data of patients reported positive at least once for P. aeruginosa ("Pyo" group, n = 1,827) were compared to those of patients with no history of P. aeruginosa isolation ("Never" group, n = 303). Predictive factors of non-colonization by P. aeruginosa were identified by multivariate logistic regression model with backward selection. Absence of aspergillosis (odds ratio (OR) [95% CI] = 1.64 [1.01-2.66]), absence of diabetes (2.25 [1.21-4.18]), pancreatic sufficiency (1.81 [1.30-2.52]), forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1) ≥ 80% (3.03 [2.28-4.03]), older age at CF diagnosis (1.03 [1.02-1.04]), and absence of F508del/F508del genotype (2.17 [1.48-3.19]) were predictive clinical factors associated with absence of infection ("Never" group). Microbiologically, this same group was associated with more frequent detection of Haemophilus influenzae and lower rates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Aspergillus spp. (all p