Increased concentrations of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in cases with breast cancer--results from a case-control study

Organochlorines are persistent and highly lipophilic environmental contaminants which bioaccumulate in the food chain. Some of these chemicals, 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been suggested to be of significance in the aetiology of breast cancer. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is an anti-oestrogen in animal studies and should be thus lower the risk of breast cancer. The other isomers of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) or the chemically related polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have not been tested regarding carcinogenesis of the breast. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether PCDDs or PCDFs influence the risk for breast cancer. Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for a breast disease between 1993 and 1995 were recruited for the study. Cases were 22 patients with infiltrative breast cancer and controls were 19 patients operated for a benign breast disease during the same time period. Approximately 10 g of breast tissue free from tumour was taken from the specimen and frozen until analysis. Fat was extracted, cleaned and analysed with a high-resolution gas chromatograph coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Median concentrations of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) were 598 (170-14,880) and 396 (103-1,847) pg/g lipid in the cases and in the controls, respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for other risk factors for breast cancer increased odds ratio (OR) was obtained for OCDD: 401-1000 pg/g lipid yielded OR 3.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4-39, > 1000 pg/g lipid gave OR 5.2, CI 0.4-72. When the lipid OCDD variable was examined as a continuous risk factor there was a 1.09 (9%), CI 0.95-1.25, increase in the adjusted OR for breast cancer per 100 unit (pg/g lipid) increase in OCDD. No differences were found between cases and controls for the other six tested PCDDs. Mean concentration of TCDD was in the cases 3.6 (1.0-7.9) and in the controls 3.3 (1.1-6.3) pg/g lipid. For PCDFs no significant differences were found between cases and controls. The results were not changed if oestrogen or progesterone receptor status, S-phase fraction and DNA ploidy were considered. Breast tissue concentration of OCDD was increased in cancer patients, whereas the concentrations of other PCDDs and PCDFs were equal in cases and controls.     

Development of a Solid Phase Carbon Trap for Simultaneous Determination of PCDDs, PCDFs, PCBs, and Pesticides in Environmental Samples Using SFE-LC

The purpose of this study was to find materials that can be used as a solid phase trap in a commercial supercritical fluid extraction instrument. PX-21 active carbon mixed with ODS proved to yield the best results. After SFE of the target compounds, the planar fraction containing the environmental pollutants PCDDs, PCDFs, and planar PCBs was successfully separated on a PX-21 solid phase trap from the nonplanar fraction containing the other PCBs and pesticides. Direct injection of the concentrated fractions on GC/MS was possible without further cleanup. SFE followed by on-line carbon column chromatography was tested using standard solutions (applied on filter paper) as well as biological samples (human adipose tissue).     

Polylactide latex/nanofibrillated cellulose bionanocomposites of high nanofibrillated cellulose content and nanopaper network structure prepared by a papermaking route

Previous attempts to use polylactide (PLA) latex particles and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in papermaking processing have been limited to low NFC content. In the present study, a bionanocomposite material was successfully produced using a PLA latex and NFC. The components were mixed using a wet mixing method and bionanocomposite films were made by filtration followed by hot pressing. In composite materials, the dispersion of the reinforcing component in the matrix is critical for the material properties. Biopolymers such as PLA are non-polar and soluble only in organic solvents; NFC is, however, highly hydrophilic. By utilizing latex, i.e., an aqueous dispersion of biopolymer micro-particles, wet mixing is possible and the problem of aggregation of the hydrophilic nanocellulose in organic solvent is avoided. The properties of the resulting NFC/PLA latex bionanocomposite films were analyzed. Thorough blending resulted in good dispersion of the reinforcing component within the matrix. Adding increasing amounts of NFC improved the Young's modulus, tensile strength, and strain at break of the bionanocomposite material. The increase in the tensile properties was linear with increasing NFC content as a result of the good dispersion. The NFC also improved the thermal stability of the bionanocomposite material. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Study on the Possibility of Using ZnO to Increase the Desulfurization Potential of Blast Furnace Slag and Sulfide Capacities

Zinc oxide has recently been suggested to be a potential material for hot metal desulfurization. The present work was carried out to examine whether ZnO could help the remaining blast furnace (BF) slag to capture sulfur. For this purpose, slags prepared with relatively high ZnO content was equilibrated with either liquid silver or liquid copper under controlled oxygen potential at 1773 K. It was found that most of the ZnO escaped during the experiment, indicating thereby that ZnO could not increase the desulfurization potential of the BF slag in the case of hot metal. The experimental data were used to evaluate the sulfide capacities of the studied slags. In some of the slags equilibrated with silver, the MgO activities were evaluated.     

Effects of Ospemifene on Drug Metabolism Mediated by Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in Humans in Vitro and in Vivo

The objective of these investigations was to determine the possible effects of the novel selective estrogen receptor modulator, ospemifene, on cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated drug metabolism. Ospemifene underwent testing for possible effects on CYP enzyme activity in human liver microsomes and in isolated human hepatocytes. Based on the results obtained in vitro, three Phase 1 crossover pharmacokinetic studies were conducted in healthy postmenopausal women to assess the in vivo effects of ospemifene on CYP-mediated drug metabolism. Ospemifene and its main metabolites 4-hydroxyospemifene and 4′-hydroxyospemifene weakly inhibited a number of CYPs (CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2C8, and CYP2D6) in vitro. However, only CYP2C9 activity was inhibited by 4-hydroxyospemifene at clinically relevant concentrations. Induction of CYPs by ospemifene in cultured human hepatocytes was 2.4-fold or less. The in vivo studies showed that ospemifene did not have significant effects on the areas under the plasma concentration-time curves of the tested CYP substrates warfarin (CYP2C9), bupropion (CYP2B6) and omeprazole (CYP2C19), demonstrating that pretreatment with ospemifene did not alter their metabolism. Therefore, the risk that ospemifene will affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs that are substrates for CYP enzymes is low.     

Centralized and distributed spectrum channel assignment in cognitive wireless networks: A Harmony Search approach

This paper gravitates on the spectrum channel allocation problem where each compounding node of a cognitive radio network is assigned a frequency channel for transmission over a given outgoing link, based on optimizing an overall network performance metric dependant on the level of interference among nearby nodes. In this context, genetically inspired algorithms have been extensively used so far for solving this optimization problem in a computationally efficient manner. This work extends previous preliminary research carried out by the authors on the application of the heuristic Harmony Search (HS) algorithm to this scenario by presenting further results and derivations on both HS-based centralized and distributed spectrum allocation techniques. Among such advances, a novel adaptive island-like distributed allocation procedure is presented, which dramatically decreases the transmission rate required for exchanging control traffic among nodes at a quantifiable yet negligible performance penalty. Extensive simulation results executed over networks of increasing size verify, on one hand, that our proposed technique achieves near-optimum spectral channel assignments at a low computational complexity. On the other hand, the obtained results assess that HS vastly outperforms genetically inspired allocation algorithms for the set of simulated scenarios. Finally, the proposed adaptive distributed allocation approach is shown to attain a control traffic bandwidth saving of more than 90% with respect to the naive implementation of a HS-based island allocation procedure.     

A Microprocessor Controlled System For Photoelectrochemical Measurements

ABSTRACT

An automatic system for measuring photocurrent of electrodes as a function of excitation wavelength and electrode potential is described. Applications to a chemically modified transparent Sn0₂ electrode and an oxide-covered tantalum electrode are shown.