Surfactant protein-D and exposure to bioaerosols in wastewater and garbage workers.

PURPOSE: Bioaerosols and their constituents, such as endotoxins, are capable of causing an inflammatory reaction at the level of the lung-blood barrier, which becomes more permeable. Thus, it was hypothesized that occupational exposure to bioaerosols can increase leakage of surfactant protein-D (SP-D), a lung-specific protein, into the bloodstream. METHODS: SP-D was determined by ELISA in 316 wastewater workers, 67 garbage collectors, and 395 control subjects. Exposure was assessed with four interview-based indicators and by preliminary endotoxin measurements using the Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay. Influence of exposure on serum SP-D was assessed by multiple linear regression considering smoking, glomerular function, lung diseases, obesity, and other confounders. RESULTS: Overall, mean exposure levels to endotoxins were below 100 EU/m(3). However, special tasks of wastewater workers caused higher endotoxin exposure. SP-D concentration was slightly increased in this occupational group and associated with the occurrence of splashes and contact to raw sewage. No effect was found in garbage collectors. Smoking increased serum SP-D. No clinically relevant correlation between spirometry results and SP-D concentrations appeared. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the hypothesis that inhalation of bioaerosols, even at low concentrations, has a subclinical effect on the lung-blood barrier, the permeability of which increases without associated spirometric changes.

Determination of chemical composition and its relationship with optical properties of Ti-N and Ti-V-N sputtered thin films

In the investigation of thin films of transition metal nitrides, an essential role is played by the accurate determination of their chemical composition. Actually the chemical composition depends on the deposition parameters and influences the optical properties. These relations are illustrated in thin films of TiNx and (Ti1-yVy)N-x deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering from composite targets of the elements. By variation of the nitrogen partial pressure and the target composition, different samples have been obtained. The chemical composition has been measured by electron probe microanalysis at low irradiation voltages. The optical properties are evaluated by ex-situ ellipsometry. Using the screened Drude model, they are correlated with the differences in composition. Adding vanadium or nitrogen in Ti-N is shown to have the same effect on the optical properties.

Cinéma, machine à mondes : essai sur les films à univers multiples

Dans cet ouvrage, l'auteur propose une conceptualisation théorique de la coprésence en un même film de mondes multiples en abordant différents paramètres (hétérogénéité de la facture de l'image, pratiques du montage alterné, typologie des enchâssements, expansion sérielle, etc.) sur la base d'un corpus de films de fiction récents qui appartiennent pour la plupart au genre de la science-fiction (Matrix, Dark City, Avalon, Resident Evil, Avatar,...). Issue de la filmologie, la notion de « diégèse » y est développée à la fois dans le potentiel d'autonomisation dont témoigne la conception mondaine qui semble dominer aujourd'hui à l'ère des jeux vidéo, dans ses liens avec le récit et dans une perspective intermédiale. Les films discutés ont la particularité de mettre en scène des machines permettant aux personnages de passer d'un monde à l'autre : les modes de figuration de ces technologies sont investigués en lien avec les imaginaires du dispositif cinématographique et les potentialité du montage. La comparaison entre les films (Tron et son récent sequel, Totall Recall et son remake) et entre des oeuvres filmiques et littéraires (en particulier les nouvelles de Philip K. Dick et Simlacron 3 de Galouye) constitue un outil d'analyse permettant de saisir la contemporanéité de cette problématique, envisagée sur le plan esthétique dans le contexte de l'imagerie numérique.

Le «corps» du texte néotestamentaire dans les films Ben-Hur (1925) et Golgotha (1935)

L'article se propose de discuter la question des modalités de la référence aux évangiles au cinéma en s'attachant à l'étude de la composante verbale et de ses liens avec la représentation de la figure christique dans deux films: le premier, Ben-Hur (Fred Niblo, 1925), est une superproduction produite par Hollywood à l'époque de l'apogée du muet; le second, Golgotha (1935), est réalisé par le cinéaste français Julien Duvivier durant les premières années de la généralisation du parlant. D'un côté l'écrit (sous forme d'intertitres), de l'autre la profération orale d'un texte. Le rapprochement proposé entre ces deux films tient à la façon dont la citation néotestamentaire participe à la construction par le film de la figure de Jésus, ou plutôt à la mise à distance de celle-ci, constamment rejetée dans une forme de hors-champ.

Clara cell protein and surfactant protein B in garbage collectors and in wastewater workers exposed to bioaerosols

OBJECTIVES: Inhalation of bioaerosols has been hypothesised to cause "toxic pneumonitis" that should increase lung epithelial permeability at the bronchioloalveolar level. Serum Clara cell protein (CC16) and serum surfactant protein B (SPB) have been proposed as sensitive markers of lung epithelial injury. This study was aimed at looking for increased lung epithelial permeability by determining CC16 and SPB in workers exposed to bioaerosols from wastewater or garbage. METHODS: Subjects (778 wastewater, garbage and control workers; participation 61%) underwent a medical examination, lung function tests [American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria], and determination of CC16 and SPB. Symptoms of endotoxin exposure and several potential confounders (age, gender, smoking, kidney function, obesity) were looked for. Results were examined with multiple linear or logistic regression. RESULTS: Exposure to bioaerosols increased CC16 concentration in the wastewater workers. No effect of exposure on SPB was found. No clue to work-related respiratory diseases was found. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in CC16 in serum supports the hypothesis that bioaerosols cause subclinical "toxic pneumonitis", even at low exposure. [Authors]

Neuroticism modifies psychophysiological responses to fearful films

Background: Neuroticism is a personality component frequently found in anxious and depressive psychiatric disorders. The influence of neuroticism on negative emotions could be due to its action on stimuli related to fear and sadness, but this remains debated. Our goal was thus to better understand the impact of neuroticism through verbal and physiological assessment in response to stimuli inducing fear and sadness as compared to another negative emotion (disgust).¦Methods: Fifteen low neurotic and 18 high neurotic subjects were assessed on an emotional attending task by using film excerpts inducing fear, disgust, and sadness. We recorded skin conductance response (SCR) and corrugator muscle activity (frowning) as indices of emotional expression.¦Results: SCR was larger in high neurotic subjects than in low neurotics for fear relative to sadness and disgust. Moreover, corrugator activity and SCR were larger in high than in low neurotic subjects when fear was induced.¦Conclusion: After decades of evidence that individuals higher in neuroticism experience more intense emotional reactions to even minor stressors, our results indicate that they show greater SCR and expressive reactivity specifically to stimuli evoking fear rather than to those inducing sadness or disgust. Fear processing seems mainly under the influence of neuroticism. This modulation of autonomic activity by neurotics in response to threat/fear may explain their increased vulnerability to anxious psychopathologies such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).