Environ Res Research Articles

High levels of antibodies 6 months after COVID-19 vaccination in children with severe chronic diseases: A prospective longitudinal case series.

High levels of antibodies 6 months after COVID-19 vaccination in children with severe chronic diseases: A prospective longitudinal case series.

Why we need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

Why we need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

THE NEED FOR OPTIMUM NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IN PAKISTANI POPULATION

THE NEED FOR OPTIMUM NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IN PAKISTANI POPULATION

Invited Perspective: Diabetes and Road Traffic Noise at the Most and Least Exposed Façade.

Invited Perspective: Diabetes and Road Traffic Noise at the Most and Least Exposed Façade.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND MANAGEMENT OF HYPERTENSION

Dear Editor, In December 2019, a new virus which is known as SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) was identified. In a short period, this virus spread rapidly and caused significant morbidities and mortalities across the earth. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the logarithmic expansion of COVID-19 cases globally.1 Various guidelines were issued, and a complete lockdown has been observed on a large scale to stop the spread of the virus. Currently, there is no specific treatment for COVID-19 is available. Throughout the year 2020, scientists struggled a lot to find the COVID-19 cure, and many vaccines are successfully developed which would be helpful in the prevention of disease. Nevertheless, the emergence of virus variants remains an issue. The epidemiological trends and clinical features of this disease have been reported in several publications.2 Due to comorbidities, COVID-19 disease can exacerbate and may result in increased severity and deadly consequences. In a study, the most common comorbidities in COVID-19 patients were reported as following; diabetes (19%), hypertension (30%), and coronary heart disease (8%). In hypertension, blood pressure elevates from the threshold level. The occurrence of hypertension is not necessarily to be associated with COVID-19 as hypertension is quite frequent in geriatric patients, and these patients are at higher risk of being infected with COVID-19.3,4 Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are widely prescribed for the cure of hypertension and other cardiovascular-related diseases. On the other hand, the COVID-19 virus binds with ACE2 to gain entry into the lung cells. ACE inhibitors and ARBs escalate ACE2 that could hypothetically increase the chance of COVID-19 binding to lung cells and could headway to more damage. Conversely, in experimental studies, ACE2 showed a protective effect against lung injury. Due to the anti-inflammatory potential of ACE inhibitors and ARBs, these agents can reduce the incidence of developing myocarditis and acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19 patients. There is no evidence that hypertension is linked with the COVID-19 and anti-hypertensive medicines (ACE inhibitors and ARBs) are either harmful or beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic.5 During this unprecedented situation, the Council on Hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology released a statement that “The Council on Hypertension strongly recommends that physicians and patients should continue treatment with their usual anti-hypertensive therapy because there is no clinical or scientific evidence to suggest that treatment with ACEIs or ARBs should be discontinued because of the COVID-19 infection.” After this announcement, many other societies also recommend that patients should continue using their current hypertensive therapy and if necessary, after careful assessment, changes can be made in the hypertensive regimen.6 According to estimation, globally, 1.5 billion people can suffer from hypertension by 2025 which may contribute approximately 75% of stroke risk and 50% of heart disease risk. CVDs accounts almost 38% of deaths related to the non-communicated disease (NCDs). In Pakistan, hypertension is a chief health concern that leads to significant morbidity and mortality. Blood pressure can be control with medications and lifestyle modifications. One of the best approaches to control and improve blood pressure is team-based care consisting of doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. During COVID-19, collaborative efforts are required to improve patient’s quality of life and to reduce the healthcare burden.7,8 Keywords: COVID-19, Hypertension, Pandemic, ACE inhibitors

Invited Perspective: Oil and Gas Development and Adverse Birth Outcomes: What More Do We Need to Know?

Invited Perspective: Oil and Gas Development and Adverse Birth Outcomes: What More Do We Need to Know?

Invited Perspective: Metal Mixtures and Child Health: The Complex Interplay of Essential and Toxic Elements.

Invited Perspective: Metal Mixtures and Child Health: The Complex Interplay of Essential and Toxic Elements.

Invited Perspective: Air Pollution and Breast Cancer Risk: Current State of the Evidence and Next Steps.

Invited Perspective: Air Pollution and Breast Cancer Risk: Current State of the Evidence and Next Steps.

Inconsistencies in Yangtze River annual maxima analyses

Yangtze River annual maxima data are available for 1877–1981, for Yichang near the Three Gorges Dam. However, subsequent annual maxima seem not available outside China. Therefore, published methodologies applied to Yangtze discharge maxima cannot always be checked independently against data, despite papers appearing in international journals. The point is illustrated with respect to apparent anomalies in parameter estimation for the generalised extreme value distribution (GEV) applied to Yichang annual maxima. Specifically, Wang et al. (Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 31: 2281–2296, 2017) list GEV parameter estimates derived from the period 1890–2000. These parameter values give underfit of all Yichang annual maxima between 1877 and 1981. In contrast, the GEV parameter estimates of Sutcliffe (J Hydrol 96: 159–171) paper give better data fits. It may be that the underfit is related to the proposed methodology, which should then be treated with caution. Alternatively, there may be just a typographical error in a listed parameter value. Whatever the cause, the point is made that it would be helpful to have complete time series of hydrological data from China to confirm published analyses.

Abstract P5-07-04: Patient-administered breast cancer risk assessment: BIRADS and pathology outcomes

Abstract Materials and Methods: A total of 32,024 women were offered the CRA survey at the time of their screening mammograms between January 2017 and June 2018. 8,438 women who declined the CRA and 7 symptomatic women were excluded. Of the remaining 23,579 women, 16,548 had one screening, and 7,031 had two screenings in this time period, leading to 30,610 total screening mammograms in women who filled out the CRA. Lifetime risk of breast cancer was assessed using the BRCAPRO, and Tyrer-Cuzick v7 (TC7) models, while the risk of BRCA mutation was estimated using the BRCAMUTATION model. Patients were identified as HR if either their BRCAPRO or TC7 lifetime risk was greater than 20%, or if their BRCAMUTATION risk was higher than 5%. Otherwise, patients were identified as LR. Pathologies were broken down into four groups: “Invasive Cancer”, “In Situ Cancer” (excluding lobular carcinoma in situ without pleomorphic features), “Benign Excision” (which often are surgically excised, including atypia and complex sclerosing lesion), and “Benign”. The Call Back Rate (percent of BIRADS 0 per screening mammogram, CBR), Cancer Detection Rate (number of “Invasive” plus “In Situ” cancers per 1,000 screening mammograms, CDR), and percent (as a fraction of screening mammograms) of each of the four pathology groups were calculated for HR and LR patients. Results: 13.6% (4,150) of screens were HR, and 86.4% (26,460) were LR. CBR was 11.1% (460) and 8.1% (2,133) for HR and LR, respectively (p<0.0001). On subsequent diagnostic imaging, 2.4% (101) and 1.7% (442) received a BIRADS 4 or 5 (HR & LR respectively, p<0.05). Of these, only 4 HR and 18 LR did not undergo biopsy, in part due to comorbidities. The CDR was 7.7 and 4.6 (HR & LR respectively, p<0.05). The number of “Invasive Cancer”, “In Situ Cancer”, “Benign Excision”, and “Benign” pathologies were 26 (0.63%), 6 (0.14%), 9 (0.22%), and 56 (1.35%) for HR and 91 (0.34%), 32 (0.12%), 70 (0.26%) and 231 (0.87%) for LR with p-values of p<0.05, p=0.73, p=0.63, and p<0.05, respectively. Conclusion: The cancer detection rate was greater in high risk vs. low risk patients (7.7 vs. 4.6, HR vs. LR, p<0.05). High risk patients had a higher percent of “Invasive Cancer” compared to low risk patients (0.63 vs. 0.34, HR vs. LR, p<0.05). These results indicate that this self-administered breast cancer risk stratification is clinically relevant.

Bushfires in Australia: a serious health emergency under climate change

Bushfires in Australia: a serious health emergency under climate change

The effect and burden modification of heating on adult asthma hospitalizations in Shijiazhuang: a time-series analysis

BackgroundPrevious studies have found associations between asthma morbidity and air pollution especially in young population, (PLoS One 12:e0180522, 2017; Can J Public Health 103:4-8, 2012; Environ Health Perspect 118:449-57, 2010; Am J Respir Crit Care Med 182:307-16, 2010; J Allergy Clin Immunol 104:717-22, 2008; J Allergy Clin Immunol 104:717-22, 1999; Environ Res 111:1137-47, 2011) but most of them were conducted in areas with relatively low air pollutant level. Moreover, very few studies have investigated the effect and burden modification of heating season during which the ambient air pollution level is significantly different from that during non-heating season in north China.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the effect and burden modification of heating on short-term associations between adult asthma hospitalizations and ambient air pollution in the north China city of Shijiazhuang.MethodsGeneralized additive models combined with penalized distributed lag nonlinear models were used to model associations between daily asthma hospitalizations and ambient air pollutants from 1 January 2013 to 16 December 2016 in Shijiazhuang city, adjusting for long-term and seasonality trend, day of week, statutory holiday, daily mean air pressure and temperature. Attributable risks were calculated to evaluate the burden of asthma hospitalizations due to air pollutants exposure. The effect of pollutants on hospitalization and the attributable measures were estimated in heating and non-heating season separately and the comparisons between the two seasons were conducted.ResultsAll pollutants demonstrated positive and significant impacts on asthma hospitalizations both in heating season and non-heating season, except for O3 in heating season where a negative association was observed. However, the differences of the pollutant-specific effects between the two seasons were not significant. SO2 and NO2 exposure were associated with the heaviest burden among all pollutants in heating season; meanwhile, PM10 and PM2.5 were associated with the heaviest burden in heating season.ConclusionsIn conclusion, we found evidence of the effect of ambient air pollutants on asthma hospitalizations in Shijiazhuang. The central heating period could modify the effects in terms of attributable risks. The disease burden modification of heating should be taken into consideration when planning intervention measures to reduce the risk of asthma hospitalization.

Big Data and Discovery Sciences in Psychiatry.

The modern society is a so-called era of big data. Whereas nearly everybody recognizes the "era of big data", no one can exactly define how big the data is a "big data". The reason for the ambiguity of the term big data mainly arises from the widespread of using that term. Along the widespread application of the digital technology in the everyday life, a large amount of data is generated every second in relation with every human behavior (i.e., measuring body movements through sensors, texts sent and received via social networking services). In addition, nonhuman data such as weather and Global Positioning System signals has been cumulated and analyzed in perspectives of big data (Kan et al. in Int J Environ Res Public Health 15(4), 2018 [1]). The big data has also influenced the medical science, which includes the field of psychiatry (Monteith et al. in Int J Bipolar Disord 3(1):21, 2015 [2]). In this chapter, we first introduce the definition of the term "big data". Then, we discuss researches which apply big data to solve problems in the clinical practice of psychiatry.

Effects of Occupational Metal Exposure on the Auditory System

Effects of Occupational Metal Exposure on the Auditory System

Air pollution: an important threat to infant health.

There is abundant scientific evidence indicating that ambient air pollution is associated with a variety of mortality and morbidity outcomes ranging from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases to effects in early life and during pregnancy (Landrigan et al. Lancet 2018;391:462–512). A recent updated estimate from the World Health Organization, indicating that nine out of 10 people in the world breathe air containing high levels of pollutants, reinforces the role of poor ambient air quality as one of the greatest threats to human health in present times. This is because human exposure is practically ubiquitous. For those living in urbanised areas pollution comes mainly from the burning of fossil fuels in transport, industry, and energy production, but air pollution can also be generated by many other process, such as mining industry operations, which involve the emission of particulate matter composed of noxious materials like copper, cadmium, and lead. Arrieta and Guillen show the effect of exposure to mining pollution on birth weight in a community in the Andean region. Their study contributes to the growing body of evidence indicating that pregnant women exposed to atmospheric contaminants are at an increased risk for infants with low birth weight or intrauterine growth restriction (Vrijheid et al. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2016;219:331–342). The underlying mechanisms of these potential adverse effects is not completely understood. Air pollution, in general, induces oxidative stress, inflammation, and haemodynamic changes, which are supposed to impair oxygen and nutrient transport to the fetus, causing anthropometric adverse effects (Laurent et al. Environ Res, 2014;134,488–495). Emitted in several process including mining operations, toxic heavy metals such as lead can accumulate in the placenta, causing abnormal function and reducing nutrient transfer. In particular, lead could also impair fetal bone growth by competing with calcium for deposition into bone, and reducing fetal thyroid hormones (Taylor et al. BJOG 2015;122,322–328). The study by Arrieta and Guillen brings important contributions to the field. Although they did not examine the direct relationship of mining pollution with low birth weight, one expects that reductions on mean birth weight will result in some otherwise normal weight babies being born at <2500 g, increasing their risk of infant mortality and other health outcomes. In addition, they took advantage of a unique natural experiment to show increases in birth weight that followed sharp reductions in air pollution associated with the closure of the mine. Like the landmark study conducted in the Utah Valley in the 1980's (Pope et al. Arch Environ Health 1992;47:211–217), natural experiments ranks high for the strength of evidence for epidemiology, and there are not many studies reported in the air pollution literature using this design. Finally, an important message from their study is that partial or small reductions in air pollution levels might not be enough to provide substantive protection to the health of the population. Only stringent environmental regulations that can lower air pollution levels considerably will be truly effective. None declared. Completed disclosure of interests form available to view online as supporting information. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

The Uncertain Relationship between Air Pollution and Risk of Preterm Birth: Does Spatial Variation Drive Disparate Findings?

Air pollution isn’t just bad for those who breathe it; it also could potentially impact the future health of unborn babies. For instance, maternal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have been associated with small but consistent decreases in birth weight. 1 , 2 , 3 However, associations with preterm birth have been less consistent. A new study of more than 258,000 New York City births published this month in EHP takes an innovative approach to this question by considering the hospital where a baby is born as a factor that may explain the results of studies of air pollution and preterm birth. 4

Corrective pattern-matching simulation with controlled local-mean histogram

This paper presents a new stochastic simulation method that improves on our unilateral patchwork simulation method (Faucher et al., Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess, 27:253–273, 2012) by eliminating anisotropy biases. As in our unilateral method, images are built by assembling patterns together while controlling the local-mean histogram. The patterns, which are square image-pieces, are picked in a reference image. The reference image is used as a data bank holding the statistical informations about the random field to simulate. In contrast with the unilateral method, the path followed by our new simulation is random and guided by local errors. The new method, called corrective pattern-matching simulation, proceeds iteratively by making local corrections to the simulated image. For several types of images, it is shown that our simulations respect conditioning data and reproduce faithfully the reference image visual appearance. It is shown that the control of the local-mean histogram allows to control one-point statistics and multi-point statistics.

Climate Change Linked With Increase in Diarrheal Disease

Changes in climate that lead to an increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation are associated with an increase in diarrheal disease in children in Botswana, a sub-Saharan country with distinct wet and dry seasons (Alexander KA et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013;10[4]:1202-1230).

Indoor inhalation dose estimates due to radon and thoron in some areas of South-Western Punjab, India

LR-115 (type II)-based radon-thoron discriminating twin-chamber dosemeters have been used for estimating radon ((222)Rn) and thoron ((220)Rn) concentrations in dwellings of south-western Punjab, India. The present study region has shown pronounced cases of cancer incidents in the public [Thakur, Rao, Rajwanshi, Parwana and Kumar (Epidemiological study of high cancer among rural agricultural community of Punjab in Northern India. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2008; 5(5):399-407) and Kumar et al. (Risk assessment for natural uranium in subsurface water of Punjab state, India. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 2011;17:381-93)]. Radon being a carcinogen has been monitored in some dwellings selected randomly in the study area. Results show that the values of radon ((222)Rn) varied from 21 to 79 Bq m(-3), with a geometric mean of 45 Bq m(-3) [geometric standard deviation (GSD 1.39)], and those of thoron ((220)Rn) from minimum detection level to 58 Bq m(-3) with a geometric mean of 19 Bq m(-3) (GSD 1.88). Bare card data are used for computing the progeny concentration by deriving the equilibrium factor (F) using a root finding method [Mayya, Eappen and Nambi (Methodology for mixed field inhalation dosimetry in monazite areas using a twin-cup dosemeter with three track detectors. Radiat Prot Dosim 1998;77(3):177-84)]. Inhalation doses have been calculated and compared using UNSCEAR equilibrium factors and by using the calculated F-values. The results show satisfactory comparison between the values.

Something's Fishy: A Connection Between Mercury Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease?

You don't see many articles in the cardiovascular literature based on toenail clippings, but if you want to measure mercury exposure, the clippings are a good place to start. Some studies ( Int J Environ Res Public Health 2009; 6:1984 and Neurotoxicol Teratol 2010; 32:240) have raised …