Farming and incidence of motor neuron disease: French nationwide study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The association of farming with motor neuron disease (MND) is unclear, with conflicting studies. We performed a French nationwide study of the association of farming with MND incidence, and compared findings with those for Parkinson's disease (PD), which has been shown to be more frequent in farmers. METHODS: We used the French national health insurance and hospital discharge databases to identify MND/PD incident cases. The Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) guarantees health insurance for farmers and agricultural workers. We compared the incidence of MND (2010-2014) and PD (2011-2012) in MSA farmers, MSA workers and non-MSA affiliates, and estimated relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were used for external smoking adjustment. RESULTS: Analyses relied on 8931 MND (MSA, 9%) and 45 409 PD (MSA,11%) cases. There was a trend towards higher MND incidence in MSA farmers compared with non-MSA affiliates (RR,1.08; 95% CI,0.99-1.18) and MSA workers (RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.97-1.31) that strengthened after smoking adjustment (if associated with MND). PD incidence was higher in MSA farmers than non-MSA affiliates (RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.08-1.17) and MSA workers (RR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02-1.18); this association remained after smoking adjustment (RR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.05-1.14). CONCLUSIONS: This French nationwide study suggested an association between farming and MND, and confirmed higher PD incidence in farmers in France, a country with high pesticide use.

[Identification of neurodegenerative diseases in administrative databases in France: A systematic review of the literature]. / Identification des maladies neurodégénératives dans les bases de données médicoadministratives en France : revue systématique de la littérature.

BACKGROUND: Given the health, social and economic burden of neurodegenerative diseases (ND), the development of epidemiologic studies is required. Administrative databases, such as the French national health insurance database (SNIIRAM) could represent an opportunity for researchers. ND could be presumed from drug reimbursement data, hospital stays or registration of a chronic condition. The aim of this study was to describe, in French administrative databases, algorithms used to identify Alzheimer's disease and associated disorders (ADAD), Parkinson's disease and associated disorders (PDAD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed in Medline and gray literature through December 31th, 2015. French studies focusing on ADAD, PDAD, MS or ALS as a primary health outcome, conducted among one of the SNIIRAM data sources (outpatient reimbursements, chronic condition registration, hospital discharge) were included. RESULTS: Thirty-four studies were included (ADAD, n=18, PDAD, n=9, MS, n=4, ALS, n=3), leading to 36 algorithms. For each studied ND, there was an important variability in the algorithms, concerning (i) the type of criteria used (administrative database versus multi-source systems); (ii) the number of criteria used; (iii) the definition used for each criteria. The extent and level of drug exposure highly varied. Identification through hospitalizations showed variations in terms of type of stay (short stay, long-term stay, psychiatric ward…), extent of diagnosis codes used, diagnosis type (principal, related, associated diagnosis) and period used. A validation study was conducted for 2 out of 36 algorithms (PDAD), and criteria completeness was estimated for 3 algorithms (MS, ALS). CONCLUSION: Despite the increase in ND identification among French administrative databases, few algorithms have been validated. Validation studies should be encouraged.

Characterisation of a BC501A compact neutron spectrometer for fusion research.

The compact neutron spectrometer used at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak is characterised to obtain its response matrix. This paper describes the characterisation procedure and the derived response matrix, based on a campaign at the PTB ion accelerator facility (PIAF) and on the subsequent time-of-flight (TOF) analysis of neutrons from a field with a broad energy distribution. The response of mono-energetic neutrons generated at the PIAF is used as reference for the TOF analysis. The detector's response functions for spectrum deconvolution are obtained by Gaussian broadening of the simulated responses to fit the experimental ones, using a maximum-entropy ansatz. In this way, the response functions are smooth enough to ensure a reliable unfolding of pulse height spectra into neutron emission spectra, which provide information on the fast ion velocity distribution in neutral beam heated tokamak plasmas.

Public health structures attendance during the Ebola outbreak in Guéckédou, Guinea.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa may affect healthcare attendance. We describe, in the Guinean prefecture of Guéckédou, trends in attendance of public healthcare structures and the main reported diagnoses over the year following the EVD outbreak notification (March 2014). Monthly numbers of visits and main diagnoses such as malaria, schistosomiasis and measles reported by Guéckédou health centres and health posts were described from January 2012 to March 2015. The median number of visits was 15 724/month. From 1 April to 30 September 2014 (EVD outbreak peak), 90 947 visits were reported, representing decreases of 4·8% and 7·4% compared to 2013 and 2012, respectively. Following December 2014 (last EVD notification in Guéckédou), visits increased from 12 540 in January to 16 032 in March 2015. Malaria seasonality was observed in 2014 with 22 519 notifications from 1 April to 31 July. No seasonality was observed for intestinal schistosomiasis (median 485 cases/month); however, a peak was notified in March 2014 (824 cases). Over the study period, all measles cases were notified in 2015 (183 cases). Reduction in healthcare attendance in Guéckédou was modest during the EVD outbreak. Enhanced infectious disease surveillance is a challenge in this context, due to the impact of EVD on traditional prevention programmes.

Epidemiology of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. PD is considered a multifactorial disorder that results, in most cases, from the combined effects of multiple risk and protective factors, including genetic and environmental ones. This review discusses some of the methodological challenges involved in assessing the descriptive, prognostic and etiological epidemiological studies of PD, and summarizes their main findings.

Characterization of single crystal chemical vapor deposition diamond detectors for neutron spectrometry.

Detectors made from artificial chemical vapor deposition single crystal diamond have shown great potential for fast neutron spectrometry. In this paper, we present the results of measurements made at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt accelerator using neutron fields in the energy range from 7 MeV to 16 MeV. This study presents the first results of the characterization of the detector in this energy range.

[Parkinson's disease: Is there a strong environmental contribution?]. / Maladie de Parkinson: une maladie à forte composante environnementale ?

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common cause of the parkinsonian syndromes and the most frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Only a minority of PD cases is due to a single factor, in particular a genetic mutation. In the large majority of cases, it is considered that PD is a complex or multifactorial disease that results from the effect of multiple risk or protective factors, either genetic or environmental, and, possibly, from their interaction. Epidemiological studies, through a variety of approaches, have brought important evidence in favour of the contribution of environmental factors to the etiology of PD. In this review, we will present current evidence by focusing on specific illustrative examples.

New scalings in nuclear fragmentation.

Fragment partitions of fragmenting hot nuclei produced in central and semiperipheral collisions have been compared in the excitation energy region 4-10 MeV per nucleon where radial collective expansion takes place. It is shown that, for a given total excitation energy per nucleon, the amount of radial collective energy fixes the mean fragment multiplicity. It is also shown that, at a given total excitation energy per nucleon, the different properties of fragment partitions are completely determined by the reduced fragment multiplicity (i.e., normalized to the source size). Freeze-out volumes seem to play a role in the scalings observed.

Bimodal behavior of the heaviest fragment distribution in projectile fragmentation.

The charge distribution of the heaviest fragment detected in the decay of quasiprojectiles produced in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been observed to be bimodal. This feature is expected as a generic signal of phase transition in nonextensive systems. In this Letter, we present new analyses of experimental data from Au on Au collisions at 60, 80, and 100 MeV/nucleon showing that bimodality is largely independent of the data selection procedure and of entrance channel effects. An estimate of the latent heat of the transition is extracted.

Identification of gene polymorphisms of human DNA topoisomerase I in the National Cancer Institute panel of human tumour cell lines.

Topoisomerase 1 (Top1), a nuclear enzyme involved in DNA relaxation, is the target of several anticancer drugs. TOP1 mutations occur in camptothecin-resistant tumour cell lines. We explored, in the NCI panel of 60 human tumour cell lines, whether polymorphic variations in the TOP1 gene could explain differences in drug sensitivity. The 21 exons of the gene were fully studied as well as five intronic domains that had previously been shown to harbour single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or mutations. PCR products covering the whole exonic sequences or the relevant intronic domains were subjected to denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. Nucleotide variations were then determined by sequencing. Discrimination between intronic common and variant homozygous samples was performed using a restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Only one exonic mutation was detected, at the heterozygous state; it occurs in exon 19 of a colon cancer cell line (HCT-15) and consists of a G>A transition at position 75, resulting in a Met675Ile change. The intronic sequences studied harboured the SNPs expected with allelic frequencies between 20 and 40%. Three major haplotypes, generating 92% of the 10 genotypes encountered, were defined as containing none of the intronic SNPs, or three of them, or all of them. No significant relationship was evidenced between Top1 expression and the TOP1 polymorphisms studied. However, when comparing the cytotoxicity of 138 drugs as a function of the genotypes, several drug groups, namely Top1 inhibitors, antifolates and taxanes, had significantly different IC(50)s as a function of the distribution of the intronic SNPs of the TOP1 gene.