Biomechanical constraints remain major risk factors for low back pain. Results from a prospective cohort study in French male employees

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Low back pain (LBP) is a major public health problem, with a considerable impact on workers. PURPOSE: To model the risk of LBP in the male general working population. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Repeated cross-sectional surveys in a wide occupational setting. PATIENT SAMPLE: A random sample of 2,161 men working in various occupations in a French region participated in a first survey in 2002, and 1,313 of these (60.8%) participated in a second survey in 2007. OUTCOME MEASURE: The self-reported prevalence of LBP during the previous week in the second survey. METHODS: Twenty-one biomechanical, organizational, psychosocial, and individual factors were assessed in the first survey. The association between these potential risk factors and the prevalence of later LBP (in the second survey) was studied, using multistep logistic regression models. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety-four men reported LBP in the second survey (prevalence 30.0%). The final multivariate model highlighted four risk factors: frequent bending (odds ratio [OR], 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.97 for bending forward only; and OR, 2.13, 95% CI, 1.52-3.00 for bending both forward and sideways), driving industrial vehicles (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.00-1.81), working more hours than officially planned (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.05-1.81), and reported low support from supervisors (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.02-1.79). CONCLUSIONS: These results emphasize that biomechanical factors remain worth considering, even when psychosocial factors are taken into account, and provide a significant contribution to preventive strategies

Relationship between the effects of the BMP15 gene and the polygenic effects on prolificacy in the rasa Aragonesa sheep breed

Los efectos del gen BMP15, localizado en el cromosoma X, sobre la media y la variabilidad de la prolificidad fueron estimados en la población Rasa Aragonesa, donde se analizaron 918.956 partos de ovejas de distintos genotipos (heterocigotas para el alelo FecXR o ROA®; y no portadoras). En primer lugar, se utilizaron modelos umbral que incluían o no el efecto del gen para estimar el efecto del genotipo BMP15 y su contribución a la variabilidad genética de la prolificidad en esta población. También se utilizaron otros dos modelos para estimar las interacciones entre el genotipo y los poligenes, así como el efecto del genotipo sobre la variabilidad de la prolificidad. Todos los análisis se hicieron con el programa ASReml. El efecto del genotipo sobre la media fue de 0,32 corderos adicionales por parto cuando el alelo ROA® se encontraba presente. Debido a que durante muchos años la selección por prolificidad en esta población se ha llevado a cabo desconociendo la presencia de esta mutación, los animales selectos portadores tienen un valor genético poligénico residual más bajo que los no portadores. No se encontró interacción significativa entre el genotipo y los efectos poligénicos sobre el valor genético. Aunque la interacción entre el genotipo y el conjunto de umbrales fue significativa, la diferencia entre ambos genotipos en la varianza de la prolificidad sobre la escala observada a una prolificidad media dada es escasa y muy poco relevanteThe effects of the BMP15 gene, located on the X chromosome, on mean prolificacy and its variability, were estimated in the Rasa Aragonesa sheep population through the analysis of 918,956 lambing records from ewes of different genotypes (FecXR or ROA® heterozygous ewes; and non-carrier ewes). Threshold models including or not the gene effect were first run to determine the effect of the BMP15 genotype and its importance in the total genetic variability of prolificacy. Two other models were also run to estimate the interaction between the BMP15 genotype and the polygenic background, as well as the effect of the genotype on the variability prolificacy. All the models were run using the ASReml software. The effect of the presence of the ROA® allele of the BMP15 gene on the mean prolificacy was 0.32 extra lambs per lambing. Due to the selection on prolificacy performed during many years in this population ignoring the presence of this major gene, animals carrying the mutation were found to have lower remaining polygenic estimated breeding values than non-carrier animals, and there was no interaction between the BMP15 genotype and the polygenic background. Although the interaction between the genotype and the set of thresholds was significant, the resulting between-genotypes difference of variance of prolificacy on the observed scale, at a similar mean litter size, was very low and not relevantPublishe

Efecto del gen BMP15 sobre la distribución del tipo de parto en ovejas Rasa Aragonesa

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Simultaneous quantification of 12 different nucleotides and nucleosides released from renal epithelium and in human urine samples using ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC

Nucleotides and nucleosides are not only involved in cellular metabolism but also act extracellularly via P1 and P2 receptors, to elicit a wide variety of physiological and pathophysiological responses through paracrine and autocrine signalling pathways. For the first time, we have used an ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet (UV)-coupled method to rapidly and simultaneously quantify 12 different nucleotides and nucleosides (adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, adenosine monophosphate, adenosine, uridine triphosphate, uridine diphosphate, uridine monophosphate, uridine, guanosine triphosphate, guanosine diphosphate, guanosine monophosphate, guanosine): (1) released from a mouse renal cell line (M1 cortical collecting duct) and (2) in human biological samples (i.e., urine). To facilitate analysis of urine samples, a solid-phase extraction step was incorporated (overall recovery rate ? 98 %). All samples were analyzed following injection (100 ?l) into a Synergi Polar-RP 80 Å (250 × 4.6 mm) reversed-phase column with a particle size of 10 ?m, protected with a guard column. A gradient elution profile was run with a mobile phase (phosphate buffer plus ion-pairing agent tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate; pH 6) in 2-30 % acetonitrile (v/v) for 35 min (including equilibration time) at 1 ml min(-1) flow rate. Eluted compounds were detected by UV absorbance at 254 nm and quantified using standard curves for nucleotide and nucleoside mixtures of known concentration. Following validation (specificity, linearity, limits of detection and quantitation, system precision, accuracy, and intermediate precision parameters), this protocol was successfully and reproducibly used to quantify picomolar to nanomolar concentrations of nucleosides and nucleotides in isotonic and hypotonic cell buffers that transiently bathed M1 cells, and urine samples from normal subjects and overactive bladder patients

Taxing the Informal Economy: The Current State of Knowledge and Agendas for Future Research

This paper reviews the literature on taxation of the informal economy, taking stock of key debates and drawing attention to recent innovations. Conventionally, the debate on whether to tax has frequently focused on the limited revenue potential, high cost of collection, and potentially adverse impact on small firms. Recent arguments have increasingly emphasised the more indirect benefits of informal taxation in relation to economic growth, broader tax compliance, and governance. More research is needed, we argue, into the relevant costs and benefits for all, including quasi-voluntary compliance, political and administrative incentives for reform, and citizen-state bargaining over taxation

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO