Phytoextraction of heavy metals after application of bottom ash and municipal sewage sludge considering the risk of environmental pollution.

Waste management to reduce the loss of natural resources has become a basis of sustainable development and a circular economy. When using waste, the heavy metal (HM) concentration must be taken into account since HMs can be potentially released to the environment, posing a toxicity threat. The aim of the study was thus to estimate the availability for plants of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb introduced into the soil with waste. We hypothesized that the prepared waste mixtures containing coal or biomass ash and municipal sewage sludge would reduce the environmental risk compared to the studied waste used separately. The research was conducted during a 6-year field experiment with grasses and legumes. HM concentration in soil, waste, and plant biomass; tolerance index; and uptake of HMs by plants were measured. The ash-sludge mixtures had a more favourable effect on the soil in terms of pHKCl, TOC, total nitrogen, and total exchangeable bases than the waste used separately. This provided beneficial conditions for plant growth and development. Consequently, the ash-sludge mixtures increased the plant yield as compared to ash alone, while the mixture containing the biomass ash also enhanced the yield in relation to the sewage sludge. The study showed that the mixtures allowed for a reduction of environmental risk arising from the HM input with waste to the soil. It was proven that HM availability for plants could be beneficially modified by mixing waste. Combining the coal ash with the sewage sludge is particularly recommended, owing to the unfavourable properties of coal ash for plants. The application of the higher dose of the coal ash-sludge mixture showed a better effect than the lower dose, while the influence of both doses of the biomass ash-sludge mixture was similar. Under the ash-sludge treatment, plants took up more HM than under the ash used separately, and the HM concentration in the obtained biomass did not generally exceed that observed under single wastes. This should reduce the accumulation of HMs in the soil during a long-term use of the waste and facilitates the utilisation of the produced biomass.

Determination of urinary androgens in women with polycystic ovary syndrome using LC-QqQ/MS and the application of thin film solid-phase microextraction (TF-SPME).

Hyperandrogenism is one of the most pronounced symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and seems to play a key role in the pathogenesis of this complex disorder. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of consistent results regarding common steroid predictors of PCOS. Therefore, a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-QqQ/MS) method was developed and validated to determine the concentrations of four classic androgens: androstenedione (An-dione), testosterone (T), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and androsterone (An) in urine samples obtained from women with PCOS and healthy controls. The limits of detection were between 0.04 and 0.09 ng/mL, while the limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 ng/mL respectively. As a pre-treatment procedure prior to analysis, hydrolysis using ß-glucuronidase and thin film solid-phase microextraction (TF-SPME) was applied. The methodology was employed to perform targeted metabolomics of urinary steroids in women with PCOS and healthy controls. All measured androgens: An-dione (p < 0.0001), T (p = 0.0001), DHT (p < 0.0001) and An (p = 0.0002) showed significantly higher concentrations in the urine of women with PCOS. The largest difference in the mean concentration was found for DHT, which was 2.8 times higher in the PCOS group (13.9 ± 14.1 ng/mg creatinine) in comparison to healthy controls (4.9 ± 3.4 ng/mg creatinine). The results of receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that determination of the panel of three urinary androgens: T+DHT+An-dione with, under the study assumptions, was the best predictor of PCOS diagnosis (AUC of ROC curve = 0.91 (95 % CI: 0.8212-0.9905). The application of an LC-MS/MS-based analysis, together with highly sensitive extraction techniques like TF-SPME, is a suitable approach to perform fast assays and obtain reliable results - crucial in the search for valuable and significant steroids predictors of PCOS.

Searching for the primary metabolic alterations of polycystic ovary syndrome by application of the untargeted metabolomics approach.

Despite a large number of studies, the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) still remains unexplained. In light of ambiguous observations reported in metabolomics, there is a need to carry out studies focusing on confirming the discriminating power of the proposed metabolomics biomarkers. Our research aimed to perform a validation study of metabolites detected in our previous study from serum samples, on the new set of samples obtained from PCOS women and healthy controls to confirm previously selected compounds. Additionally, the second biological matrix - urine - was used to get a more comprehensive insight into metabolic alterations. We applied two analytical techniques - gas chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to analyze both serum and urine samples obtained from 35 PCOS patients and 35 healthy women. Thank to our approach, we identified and described a comprehensive set of metabolites altered in PCOS patients. Results of our study indicate increased steroid hormone synthesis, alteration in sphingo- and phospholipids metabolism, and disturbed fatty acids metabolism. Moreover, the citric acid cycle, γ-glutamyl cycle, vitamin B metabolism, and a few primary amino acids like tryptophan, phenylalanine, histidine, and alanine are altered.

The risk of injuries and physiological benefits of pole dancing.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of pole dance training. METHODS: We included 30 women trained in pole dancing and 30 untrained young women. We measured maximal hand strength, lower back and hamstring muscle flexibility, and body composition. Participants also completed an anonymous questionnaire, which mainly asked about injuries. RESULTS: The pole dancers possessed significantly greater muscle strength and lower back and hamstring muscle flexibility compared to untrained controls. Pole dancers had significantly less body fat and significantly more muscle mass in the upper limbs compared to untrained controls. During two years of pole dance training, 36.7% of the dancers had sustained acute injuries (mainly muscle, shoulder joint, and wrist injuries) and 80% of the dancers had sustained a chronic injury. Most injuries occurred during handsprings, twines, and carousel performances. Moreover, pole dancers experienced more menstrual irregularities than the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Pole dancing had many positive physiological effects, but pole dancers should be aware that pole dancing and behavior associated with training significantly increased the risk of injury. The most important factors which can protect pole dancers by acute injuries are well performed warm-up and balanced diet. Results indicate that many attempts at weight loss are connected with high risk of acute injury.

Identification of the metabolic fingerprints in women with polycystic ovary syndrome using the multiplatform metabolomics technique.

In addition to chronic anovulation and clinical signs of hyperandrogenism women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are insulin resistant and therefore, develop central obesity with its long term consequences such as dyslipidaemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which all lead to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Due to the polysymptomatic nature of this syndrome and lack of consensus on its diagnostic criteria there is a strong need of finding a reliable biochemical or molecular marker, which would facilitate making the accurate diagnosis of PCOS. Therefore, the aim of our study was to perform a metabolomics analysis with the use of two complementary techniques: gas chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, of the serum samples from women with PCOS (n = 30) and to compare them with healthy age and BMI matched controls (n = 30). Obtained results were subjected to one-dimensional statistical analysis (student's t-test or its non-parametric equivalent U Mann-Whitney test) and multivariate statistical analysis (the principal component analysis [PCA], variable importance into projection [VIP] and selectivity ratio [SR]). The results of our study showed that women with PCOS are characterised by metabolic disorders of the amino acids, carbohydrates, steroid hormones, lipids and purines. Compared to control subjects, women with PCOS had increased serum levels of phospholipids, aromatic amino acids, organic acids, hormones and sphinganine and decreased total cholesterol. Among the identified compounds, total cholesterol, phenylalanine and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, uric and lactic acid were the compounds with the strongest discriminating power.

Serum bisphenol A concentrations correlate with serum testosterone levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

The aim of this study was to determine serum bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations using high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (n = 106, age range 18-40 yrs) and to evaluate its potential impact on their hormonal and metabolic profile. The control group consisted of age- and BMI-matched 80 eumenorrheic women with no clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism. Our results showed that women with PCOS had significantly higher serum BPA concentrations than healthy controls (geometric mean and [95% CI]: 0.202 ng/mL [0.150; 0.255] vs. 0.154 ng/mL [0.106; 0.201], P = 0.035), which correlated positively with serum total testosterone (TST) (R=0.285, P = 0.004) and the free androgen index (FAI) (R = 0.196, P = 0.049). There were no significant correlations between serum BPA and BMI, waist circumference, serum glucose, insulin and lipids. These results point to the potential role of BPA in the pathogenesis of the ovarian hyperandrogenism in women with PCOS.