BackgroundCervical spine dysfunction is common among video display terminal (VDT) workers. Although long work hours have been linked to musculoskeletal problems, how extended work hours relate to cervical spine dysfunction via psychosocial and behavioral factors remains insufficiently characterized. We examined the association between weekly work hours and cervical spine dysfunction and explored the potential mediating roles of occupational stress and sleep quality.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 929 VDT workers from 10 companies in Shenzhen, China. Cervical spine dysfunction was assessed using the Neck Disability Index and dichotomized as dysfunction (NDI > 4) versus no dysfunction (NDI ≤ 4). Weekly work hours were categorized as ≤40, 41–48, 49–56, and ≥57 h/week. Occupational stress was measured using the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ-22) and defined as a demand–control ratio >1. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and categorized as poor (PSQI >5) versus good (PSQI ≤5). Multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for prespecified confounders were used. Mediation analyses were conducted using single- and parallel-mediator models; 5,000 bootstrap resamples were used for single-mediator models.ResultsLonger weekly working hours were associated with higher odds of cervical spine dysfunction (adjusted ORs 2.10–2.70 vs. ≤ 40 h/week; all p ≤ 0.005). Occupational stress was associated with higher odds of cervical spine dysfunction (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.29–2.03, p < 0.001), whereas good sleep quality was associated with lower odds (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.19–0.32, p < 0.001). Weekly working hours were also associated with increased occupational stress (all p ≤ 0.002) and poorer sleep quality in some categories. In single-mediator models, the indirect effect via occupational stress was significant (p = 0.003), whereas the indirect effect via sleep quality was marginal (p = 0.068). In the parallel mediation model, indirect effects via occupational stress (IE 0.04, 95% CI 0.01–0.06, p = 0.009) and sleep quality (IE 0.06, 95% CI 0.01–0.11, p = 0.019) were significant, and the direct effect was not statistically significant (DE 0.05, 95% CI −0.05 to 0.15, p = 0.356).ConclusionLonger weekly work hours were associated with higher odds of cervical spine dysfunction among VDT workers. This association may be partly explained through indirect pathways involving occupational stress and sleep quality, supporting prevention strategies integrating working-time management with ergonomic/posture interventions, stress reduction, and sleep health promotion.

Sedentary behavior in the workplace has emerged as a critical public health concern, with bus drivers representing a high-risk group due to prolonged compulsory sitting. This study aimed to investigate metabolic alterations associated with sedentary work in professional bus drivers compared to active controls. A total of 60 bus drivers and 60 sanitation workers (matched for age, sex, and lifestyle) as controls were enrolled. Fasting serum samples of the subjects were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for metabolomic profiling. Demographic data and biochemical parameters were also collected. Metabolomic analysis identified 322 metabolites, with 57 differential metabolites (52 up-regulated and 5 down-regulated) in the bus drivers relative to the controls, based on criteria of variable important for the projection value (VIP) ≥ 1, fold change ≥ 1.2 or ≤ 0.83, and P < 0.05. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant perturbations in metabolic pathways, including valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis; 2-oxocarboxylic acid metabolism; and biosynthesis of amino acids. Additionally, biochemical analysis showed higher triglyceride levels in the bus drivers (P = 0.037). These findings highlight distinct metabolic signatures associated with prolonged sedentary work in bus drivers, providing insights into potential mechanisms linking occupational sedentary behavior to adverse health outcomes.

This study aims to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model to assist radiologists in pneumoconiosis screening and staging using chest radiographs. The model, based on chest radiographs, was developed using a training cohort and validated using an independent test cohort. Every image in the training and test datasets were labeled by experienced radiologists in a double-blinded fashion. The computational model started by segmenting the lung field into six subregions. Then, convolutional neural network classification model was used to predict the opacity level for each subregion respectively. Finally, the diagnosis for each subject (normal, stage I, II, or III pneumoconiosis) was determined by summarizing the subregion-based prediction results. For the independent test cohort, pneumoconiosis screening accuracy was 0.973, with both sensitivity and specificity greater than 0.97. The accuracy for pneumoconiosis staging was 0.927, better than that achieved by two groups of radiologists (0.87 and 0.84, respectively). This study develops a deep learning-based model for screening and staging of pneumoconiosis using man-annotated chest radiographs. The model outperformed two groups of radiologists in the accuracy of pneumoconiosis staging. This pioneer work demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of AI-assisted radiography screening and diagnosis in occupational lung diseases.

Objectives Experimental studies suggested that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure increased the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) through the mechanism of insulin resistance. All previous epidemiological studies of BPA and MetS were cross-sectional studies, and their findings were mixed. This study aims to provide further evidence on the association between urinary BPA and risk of MetS using a prospective cohort study in China. Methods The study population was from the Shenzhen Night shift workers’ cohort. A total of 1227 male workers were recruited from the baseline survey in 2013 and then followed until 2017. Modified Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to identify the cases of MetS. Urinary BPA concentration was assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and it was categorised into three subgroups by tertiles to obtain the adjusted HR (aHR) and 95% CI using Cox proportional hazard model. Results During 4 years of follow-up, 200 subjects developed MetS. Compared with the lowest urinary BPA subgroup, a weakly increased risk of MetS was suggested among those with the middle (aHR=1.19, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.63) and high level of urinary BPA (aHR=1.16, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.59); however, the significant association with MetS was restricted primarily to the smokers, showing a positive gradient with urinary BPA (middle level: aHR=2.40, 95% CI 1.13 to 5.08; high level: aHR=2.87, 95% CI 1.38 to 5.98; p trend= 0.010). Conclusion This prospective cohort study provided further evidence that exposure to BPA may increase the risk of MetS, and this association was further positively modified by cigarette smoking.

OBJECTIVES:An efficient bacterial surface display system based on the anchoring motif derived from Escherichia coli (E. coli) outer membrane protease OmpT was developed in this study.RESULTS:Referring to the classical Lpp-OmpA (LOA) display system, the signal peptide and nine amino acids of mature Lpp were fused to the transmembrane domain comprising five β-strands of truncated OmpT to generate a novel Lpp-OmpT (LOT) display system. The C-terminal fusion strategy was used to fuse a small peptide (His tag) and red fluorescent protein (mCherry) to the C-terminus of LOT. Cell surface exposure of His tag and mCherry were compared between the LOA and LOT display systems. E. coli expressing LOT-His tag adsorbed more Cu2+ than E. coli expressing LOA-His tag. E. coli expressing both LOT-mCherry-His tag and LOA-mCherry-His tag adhered to Cu2+ chelating sepharose beads, and adhered cells could be dissociated from the beads after excess Cu2+ treatment. More importantly, compared with the LOA system, a higher amount of LOT-mCherry-His tag hybrid protein was demonstrated to be localized at the outer membrane by both fluorescence spectrophotometric determination of cell fractions and cell-surface immunofluorescence assay.CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that genetically modified OmpT can be used as a potential anchoring motif to efficiently and stably display polypeptides and proteins, and that the LOT system could be used in a variety of biotechnological and industrial processes.

We exploratively characterized T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires from occupational medicamentosa-like dermatitis due to trichloroethylene (OMDT) patients to better understand the underlying pathological mechanism. We used a combination of multiplex-PCR, Illumina sequencing and IMGT/High V-QUEST to analyze the characteristics and polymorphisms of the TCR β-chain complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) gene in 10 OMDT cases and 10 trichloroethylene-exposed healthy tolerant controls. Compared with the tolerant controls, OMDT cases showed no significant difference in TCR repertoire diversity including repertoire breadth, highly expanded clone, and CDR3 length distribution. However, we observed several differences in TRBV/TRBJ usage and combination between the two groups, as well as some shared and unique T cell clones in the cases. The pilot study delineated some features of TCR repertoire in OMDT patients that warrant further investigation.

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between night shift work and elevated level of alanine transaminase (e-ALT) of workers, stratified by status of non-alcohol fatty liver.MethodsWe established a prospective cohort of night shift workers in Shenzhen, China. All 4740 male workers who had liver function data from the baseline survey of this night shift workers’ cohort were included in the current analysis. We collected information on demographics, lifestyles, and lifetime working schedule from standardized questionnaire. We examined workers’ NAFL status using liver sonography and their serum ALT levels using the automatic biochemical analyzer. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI).ResultsThis cohort contained 39.5% night shift workers. Compared with the day workers, night shift workers had higher odds of e-ALT (OR: 1.18; 95% CI 1.00–1.40). Stratified analysis showed that a positive gradient between night shift years and elevated e-ALT was only restricted to the night shift workers without NAFL. No similar trend was observed among those with NAFL.ConclusionsNight shift work is positively associated with the abnormal liver function in workers without NAFL, which indicates that shift work involving circadian disruption is likely to affect abnormal liver function.[National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 81273172 and 81372964), Shelly@cuhk.edu.hk (Lap Ah Tse)]

Introduction Previous studies in Asia developed areas showed inconsistent findings on the association between nightshift work and obesity occurrence, and there has been no study in Chinese. This study aims to examine the association between nightshift work, body weight gain and obesity occurrence in a Chinese night shift cohort after 3 years of follow-up. Methods We recruited 5256 male workers from 6 companies in China in 2013. We used standardised questionnaire to collect participants' information on occupational history of shift work. Night shift work was defined as ever worked in a working schedule during 00–5 am at least once per month for no less than one year. Anthropometric parameters were measured using standard medical protocols. All participants were followed up till the end of 2017. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between night shift work and overweight (BMI ≥25), obesity (BMI ≥30) and BMI gain status. Results We only included 492 male workers in this report, as the data of other participants have not been input whilst the overall results from entire cohort will be presented in ICOH 2018. The mean age of night shift work and daytime workers is comparable (30 vs 29 years). Compared with the daytime workers, slightly more night shift workers were current smokers (25.1% vs 23.7%) and alcohol drinkers (28.1% vs 22.2%), but fewer had vigorous physical activity (29.9% vs 59.4%). More nightshift workers than daytime workers slept less than 8 hours per night (60.5% vs 34.8%) but the proportion of working longer than 55 hours per week was substantially higher (6.6% vs 3.7%). After three years of follow-up, night shift workers showed more BMI gain than the daytime workers (1.45±1.10 vs 1.32±1.09). More night shift workers with large body mass index at baseline tended to retaining in the same category of overweight (BMI ≥24 kg/m2) status with odds ratios of 1.49 (95% CI: 0.95 to 2.33), and stayed in the same category of abdominal obesity with OR of 1.34 (95% CI: 0.86 to 2.11). More night shift workers developed abdominal obesity from normal body size during 3 year period of follow-up and the risk of abdominal obesity was 1.43 (95% CI: 0.75 to 2.73), but there was no statistical significance. Conclusions This study provided preliminary evidence to on a possible link between nightshift work and obesity occurrence or body weight gain in Chinese male workers; however, these findings would be verified in a larger dataset of all 5256 workers. Funding This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 81273172 and 81372964).

Objectives Accumulated evidence implies that night shift work may trigger liver dysfunction. Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) is suggested to be a necessary mediator in this process. This study aimed to examine the relationship between night shift work and elevated level of alanine transaminase (e-ALT) of workers and investigate the potential mediation effect of NAFL. Methods This study included all male workers from the baseline survey of a cohort of night shift workers. Information on demographics, lifestyle and lifetime working schedule was collected by face-to-face interview. Liver sonography was used to identify NAFL cases. Serum ALT level was detected by an automatic biochemical analyser. e-ALT was defined as ALT >40 U/L. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate ORs, and mediation analysis was employed to examine the mediation effect. Results Among 4740 male workers, 39.5% were night shift workers. Night shift workers had an increased risk of e-ALT (OR, 1.19, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.42). With the increase in night shift years, the OR of e-ALT increased from 1.03 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.36) to 1.60 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.39) among workers without NAFL. A similar trend was not found among workers with NAFL. In addition, no significant mediation effect of NAFL in the association between night shift work and e-ALT was found. Conclusions Night shift work is positively associated with abnormal liver function, in particular among workers without NAFL. Shift work involving circadian disruption is likely to exert a direct effect on liver dysfunction rather than rely on the mediation effect of NAFL.

AIMS:This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. METHODS:A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants' demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. RESULTS:Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97-1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74-2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01-1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40-11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19-9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13-2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94-1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. CONCLUSION:Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies.

[目的]使用随机森林对职业健康监护数据和人群焦虑情况进行分析,探讨数据挖掘方法的应用.[方法]收集某企业职业健康监护数据,并使用GAD-7广泛性焦虑量表进行问卷调查,然后用随机森林对职业健康监护数据以焦虑情况为结局变量进行分类.[结果]随机森林对焦虑情况的分类效果较好,焦虑高分组错分率为14.62%,焦虑低分组错分率为5.95%,袋外数据误差率估计为10.27%.[结论]将职业健康监护数据与随机森林相结合,能够为焦虑人群的早期发现、筛选和干预提供帮助,为职业健康监护数据的利用提供新思路.

Objectives The prevalence of night shift work is increasing in China. Systematic inflammation is supposed as one of the important pathways which mediate night shift work and metabolic-cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to investigate the relationship between night shift work and leucocyte counts by analysing the baseline data of a prospective night shift workers cohort. Methods We are establishing a prospective night shift worker cohort in Shenzhen, China. More than 70,000 workers were recruited till the end of 2015. A standardised questionnaire is used to collect information on lifetime night shift work, light at night, occupational hazards, sleep disorders, etc. Diseases history and medicine taking of recent two weeks were also collected by the questionnaire. White blood cell counts were determined by automated analyser. Results Currently, we reported data from 1338 day workers and 398 night shift workers with a response rate of 95%. The shift workers are about two-years younger than day workers. The smoking and alcohol drinking status are comparable in two groups. The leucocytes count of night shift workers was significantly higher than that of day workers after adjusting for age and other confounding factors. Conclusion These preliminary results suggest long-term night shift work may increase the leucocytes, while these will be updated in the conference. [National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 81273172 and 81372964), Shelly@cuhk.edu.hk (Lap Ah Tse)]

目的 了解深圳市职业人群接触职业病危害因素种类间的关联规则.方法 采用Apriori关联规则算法,对2014年接受职业健康检查的深圳市44 558名工人所接触的职业病危害因素进行分析.结果 44 558名研究对象共接触到85种职业病危害因素,接触单一职业病危害因素的有24 264人(占54.45％),接触1种以上职业病危害因素的有20 294人(占45.55％),其中有12 805人(占28.74％)接触3种以上的职业病危害囚素.共挖掘出5组27条强关联规则,分别为苯系物、粉尘、噪声;放射线、高温、噪声;汽油、噪声、高温;锰及其无机化合物、紫外线、粉尘;噪声及其他一些危害因素.结论 职业病危害因素间存在一定的关联性;了解和掌握这些规则,可为进一步研究职业病危害因素的联合作用提供背景和基础资料,并为开展职业健康监护工作提供科学依据.

OBJECTIVE To establish a modified method for microculturing whole human blood for cytogenetic analysis. METHODS A novel tube rack was designed to overcome the drawbacks of directly culturing the cells within centrifuge tubes. The fractions of human plasma, human serum and two commercial fetal bovine sera were analyzed with 15% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The influence of adding 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% autologous plasma to the culture on lymphocyte transformation rate and mitotic index (MI) was examined. RESULTS The SDS-PAGE analysis showed a significant difference between commercial fetal bovine sera, and that the components of human plasma were similar to those of fetal bovine serum. The value of MI in lymphocyte was evidently increased along with addition of autologous plasma. However, this has exerted no significant effect on the transformation rate. With the addition of 10% autologous plasma, the MI value has become much higher than the conventional method. CONCLUSION A modified method was established by application of a novel tube inclined rack and optimization of whole blood inoculation. This method is easier and cheaper, and is suitable for application in clinical practice.

Objectives As an indispensable job nature, night shift work may cause the night work disorder, working stress and emotion problems. This study aims to investigate the relationship between night shift work and depression by analysing the baseline data of a prospective night shift workers cohort. Methods We are establishing a prospective night shift worker cohort in Shenzhen, China. More than 70,000 workers were recruited till the end of 2015. A standardised questionnaire is used to collect information on lifetime night shift work, light at night, occupational hazards, sleep disorders, etc. Diseases history and medicine taking of recent two weeks were also collected by the questionnaire. Depression was assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression test questionnaire. Results Currently, we reported data from 1338 day workers and 398 night shift workers with a response rate of 95%. The shift workers are about two-years younger than day workers. The smoking and alcohol drinking status are comparable in two groups. The prevalent of moderate-severe depression is 1.6% among all participants. However, the prevalence of depression is no deferent between night shift workers and day workers after adjusting for age and other confounding factors. Conclusion These preliminary results didn’t support that long-term night shift work may increase the risk of depression, while this result will be updated in the conference after fully considering of sleep disorders. [National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 81273172 and 81372964), Shelly@cuhk.edu.hk (Lap Ah Tse)]

目的 探讨慢性肌肉骨骼损伤与电解铝厂工人职业病的相关性.方法 选取某电解铝厂100名电解铝工人和100名行政管理工作人员分别设为观察组和对照组,分析比较两组人员慢性肌肉骨骼损伤的检出率.结果 观察组肌肉骨骼损伤检出率(54.00％)高于对照组(14.00％),差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01).腰背部疼痛检出率最高,观察组肩部、腕部和腰背部肌肉骨骼损伤检出率均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).检出率随着工龄的增加而增加(P＜0.01),采用固定站立操作姿势工作的人员肌肉骨骼损伤检出率高于采用“自由站立”和“坐姿”操作姿势工作的人员(P＜ 0.008).结论 保持同一姿势进行长时间作业是导致电解铝厂工人肌肉骨骼损伤的首要原因,应采取相应的措施对病情的发生和发展进行控制.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the cytotoxicity of indium chloride (InCl₃) and its effects on micro-nucleus formation in primary human lymphocytes cultured in vitro. METHODS The CCK-8 assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of 24 h exposure to different concentrations of InCl₃(4, 40, 80, 200, 500, and 1 000 µmol/L) in lymphocytes cultured in vitro. The cytokinesis-block method was used to determine the micronucleus level in lymphocytes exposed to different concentrations of InCl₃and the effects of anti-oxidant vitamin C on micronucleus frequency. RESULTS Lymphocytes exposed to InCl₃of no less than 500 µmol/L had significantly lower survival rates than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Lymphocytes exposed to 80 µmol/L InCl₃had a significantly higher micronucleus frequency than those in the control group (P < 0.05). However, there was no further increase in micronucleus frequency of lymphocytes exposed to 200 µmol/L InCl₃. Lymphocytes cultured in whole blood and exposed to 500 or 1000 µmol/L InCl₃had a significantly increased micronucleus frequency than those in the control group (P < 0.001). The increase in micronucleus frequency of lymphocytes induced by indium could be partially antagonized by 20 or 100 µmol/L vitamin C. CONCLUSION InCl₃can induce an increase in micronucleus frequency of primary human lymphocytes cultured in vitro, which might be associated with DNA damage induced by oxidative stress.