Pollution; Exposure

The main objective of this study is to develop baseline "normal" reference values of both lung and heart function for healthy adults within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population who served in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations. This study will involve performing key components of the Department of Veterans Affairs the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Center of Excellence (AHOBPCE) and a VA network of Post-Deployment Cardiopulmonary Evaluation Network (PDCEN) Core Clinical Evaluation in asymptomatic unexposed healthy controls without known lung or heart disease to serve as a "normal" control comparator group for veterans evaluated by PDCEN.

The CCS-plastics is an investigator-initiated, prospective, multicenter study of patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA) for suspected or known chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) referred to invasive coronary angiography for clinical indication. Patients identified as eligible for the protocol will be asked for written consent to participate in the study. The patients' dossiers will be uploaded and transmitted to the core laboratory for analysis. The routine management of the CCS patients will not be affected and all patients will be managed according to current standards. Invasive coronary angiography and coronary blood samples will be performed following the current standards, guidelines, and indications. During invasive coronary angiography, coronary blood samples will be collected per standard of care and sent to a centralized, specialized core laboratory for MNPs and biomarkers analysis. The central core lab for MNPs analyses will be the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy. The identification, quantification (concentration, mcg/ml), and typing of plastic particles will be performed in each tube for each patient, using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and laser direct infrared (LDIR) spectroscopy. The CCTA will be centrally analyzed by Centro Cardiologico Monzino to evaluate qualitative and quantitative plaque features. Patients will be followed clinically at 1 and 3 years per standard of care.

The goal of this clinical trial is to collect environmental, bio-humoral, and clinical data derived from patients with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) and systemic metal allergic syndromes related to the exposure to heavy metals, nanoparticles, and emergent contaminants and from healthy subjects. The main question it aims to answer is: are environmental, bio-humoral, and clinical data derived from patients with ACD and systemic metal allergic syndromes, related to the exposure to heavy metals, nanoparticles, and emergent contaminants, different from ones obtained by healthy subjects? Researchers will compare serum and urine concentration of heavy metals and nanoparticles, patch test to metals, within-breath analysis of oscillometry parameters, serum zonulin, and serum levels of protein oxidation products among patients with systemic allergic syndrome (1st study group), patients with ACD (2nd study group) and healthy subjects (3rd study group). Participants will undergo: * measurement of exposure to heavy metals and nanoparticles including nickel, cobalt, chromium, palladium, molybdenum, aluminium, and copper, through serum and urine measurement of concentration. * Patch test to before mentioned metals. * Within-breath analysis of oscillometry parameters. * Measurement of serum zonulin (related to gastro-intestinal exposure). * Measurement of serum levels of protein oxidation products (as markers of systemic oxidative stress).

Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality in the world, and also in Taiwan.Despite the researches and availability in new therapies, it causes the highest mortality and is one of the most preventable cancers as well. Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer worldwide. Compared to lung cancer in smokers, lung cancer in never-smokers is associated with East Asian ethnicity, female sex, and adenocarcinoma histology. This unique risk group is likely to have distinct molecular drivers, especially EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 mutations.In National Taiwan Cancer Registry data, more than half (53%) of all newly diagnosed lung cancer patients and 93% of female patients are lifelong never-smokers. This scenario is common in East Asia. It is essential to develop a different strategy for screening lung cancer patients with other high-risk profiles. Several risk factors have been identified in never-smoking lung cancer and one of the most important factor is a lung cancer family history (LCFH) in a first-degree relative. Other high-risk occupational or environmental factors include air-pollution exposed occupations (such as traffic policeman and street cleaners) for at least 10 years, cooking index ≥ 110, defined as 2/7 \* days cooking by pan frying, stir frying, or deep frying in one week \* years cooking, cooking without using ventilation, passive smoke exposure, and history of pulmonary tuberculosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders. As described above, three high risk groups are interested in this study, the previous heavy smokers (group 1); those who has family history (group 2) and those who have high risk occupation or environment factors (group 3). From the published researches, we assume the detection rate to be 1.1% for group 1 based on NLST results16, 2.6% for group 2 (395 out of 12,011 subjects in TALENT), and we assume the detection Group 3 to be 1% after consulting board-certified senior specialists in this field. This is a prospective, multi-center, single arm study in Taiwan of subjects who are eligible to receive LDCT screening based on recommendation of Health Promotion Administration of Taiwan. The primary objective of TRIO part A is the LDCT screening acceptance rate of high lung cancer risk subjects. The primary objective of TRIO part B is the exact lung cancer detection rates in these three groups. Other secondary objectives are also included.

Air pollution and microplastics pose major public health threats. Emerging data have shown that micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants accumulating in human tissues, triggering inflammation and prothrombotic state. This study will investigate the presence and burden of MNPs within coronary thrombi/thromboaspirate of patients presenting with ST segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention and their association with cardiac damage, plaque vulnerability, microvascular obstruction, and cardiovascular events. Plaque vulnerability will be explored by optical coherence tomography, while microvascular obstruction will be assessed by bolus thermodilution and cardiac magnetic resonance. Participants will be followed up for 1-year to evaluate whether the presence and the burden of MNPs will be associated with a higher incidence of the cardiovascular events.

To quantify health effects of synergizing chemical and biological pollutants in a targeted population setting, i.e., school-aged children. Indoor air pollutants will be monitored within the classrooms with high end sensors. Exposure data from additional sources (outdoor, home, transports) will be obtained. Health outcomes will be assessed prospectively using validated medical procedures and real-time tracking with mobile health (mHealth) equipment and a gamified computer app.