Lower job satisfaction among workers migrating within Europe: A gender paradox

Intra-European migrants reported lower job satisfaction levels than native workers, in three rounds of the European Social Survey. This deficit was also experienced by their descendants (the second generation), despite the latter generation achieving native levels of household income. At least some part of these lower levels of job satisfaction was associated with a clustering into lower-productivity industries. There are striking gender differences in experiences: among men the first generation is just as likely to be satisfied with their jobs as the ‘native’ population, whilst it is the second generation who are less likely to achieve job satisfaction. For women, both generations experienced a deficit in job satisfaction. This may reflect changing expectations of work among men, and integration for women, across generations, and contrasts with the convergence in earnings over time. The country of origin, within Europe, did not seem to be associated with levels of job satisfaction

Opportunistic skeletal muscle metrics as prognostic tools in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients candidates to receive Radium-223

Objective: Androgen deprivation therapy alters body composition promoting a significant loss in skeletal muscle (SM) mass through inflammation and oxidative damage. We verified whether SM anthropometric composition and metabolism are associated with unfavourable overall survival (OS) in a retrospective cohort of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients submitted to 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (FDG PET/CT) imaging before receiving Radium-223. Patients and methods: Low-dose CT were opportunistically analysed using a cross-sectional approach to calculate SM and adipose tissue areas at the third lumbar vertebra level. Moreover, a 3D computational method was used to extract psoas muscles to evaluate their volume, Hounsfield Units (HU) and FDG retention estimated by the standardized uptake value (SUV). Baseline established clinical, lab and imaging prognosticators were also recorded. Results: SM area predicted OS at univariate analysis. However, this capability was not additive to the power of mean HU and maximum SUV of psoas muscles volume. These factors were thus combined in the Attenuation Metabolic Index (AMI) whose power was tested in a novel uni- and multivariable model. While Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Lactate Dehydrogenase and Hemoglobin, Metabolic Tumor Volume, Total Lesion Glycolysis and AMI were associated with long-term OS at the univariate analyses, only PSA, ALP and AMI resulted in independent prognosticator at the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The present data suggest that assessing individual 'patients' SM metrics through an opportunistic operator-independent computational analysis of FDG PET/CT imaging provides prognostic insights in mCRPC patients candidates to receive Radium-223. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Spinal cord hypermetabolism extends to skeletal muscle in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a computational approach to [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT images

Purpose: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease leading to neuromuscular palsy and death. We propose a computational approach to [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT images to analyze the structure and metabolic pattern of skeletal muscle in ALS and its relationship with disease aggressiveness. Materials and methods: A computational 3D method was used to extract whole psoas muscle\u2019s volumes and average attenuation coefficient (AAC) from CT images obtained by FDG PET/CT performed in 62 ALS patients and healthy controls. Psoas average standardized uptake value (normalized on the liver, N-SUV) and its distribution heterogeneity (defined as N-SUV variation coefficient, VC-SUV) were also extracted. Spinal cord and brain motor cortex FDG uptake were also estimated. Results: As previously described, FDG uptake was significantly higher in the spinal cord and lower in the brain motor cortex, in ALS compared to controls. While psoas AAC was similar in patients and controls, in ALS a significant reduction in psoas volume (3.6 \ub1 1.02 vs 4.12 \ub1 1.33 mL/kg; p < 0.01) and increase in psoas N-SUV (0.45 \ub1 0.19 vs 0.29 \ub1 0.09; p < 0.001) were observed. Higher heterogeneity of psoas FDG uptake was also documented in ALS (VC-SUV 8 \ub1 4%, vs 5 \ub1 2%, respectively, p < 0.001) and significantly predicted overall survival at Kaplan\u2013Meier analysis. VC-SUV prognostic power was confirmed by univariate analysis, while the multivariate Cox regression model identified the spinal cord metabolic activation as the only independent prognostic biomarker. Conclusion: The present data suggest the existence of a common mechanism contributing to disease progression through the metabolic impairment of both second motor neuron and its effector

FDG-PET Imaging of Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity: a New Window on an Old Problem

Purpose of Review The present review focus on the published literature about the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging in the early recognition of anthracyclines-related cardiotoxicity. Recent Findings The application of PET/CT may represent an early predictor of subsequent cardiotoxicity in cancer patients treated with doxorubicin (DXR). However, the application of PET/CT may also extend beyond mere cardiotoxicity identification and monitoring to provide mechanistic delineation of the cardiotoxic pathophysiology. Indeed, this tool further enriched the current knowledge on energy metabolism impairment in the DXR-induced cardiotoxic cascade. The capability of FDG to selectively track the early endoplasmic reticulum pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) response to oxidative stress rather than the later occurring contractile dysfunction might imply the abrupt occurrence of metabolic abnormality during the course of chemotherapy, possibly identifying the ongoing myocardial damage in time to change the chemotherapy scheme or to initiate targeted cardioprotective treatments. Future prospective studies encompassing a specific dietary or pharmacologic preparation before FDG injection, as already performed in infectious and inflammatory heart diseases, are needed to move the obtained preclinical findings supporting the role of FDG imaging in DXR cardiotoxicity from bench to bedside

Patient&apos;s choice of observational strategy for early-stage prostate cancer

Active Surveillance (AS) may represent for selected patients with low risk, potentially indolent prostate cancer (PCa) a viable alternative to radical therapies, thus reducing the risk of over-treatment.Researchers and clinicians emphasized that the choice of AS may be acontroversial one as patients have the chance to avoid the side effects of radical therapies but also the burden of living with an untreated PCa. The aim of our study is to focus on the decision-making process leading patients to elect AS amongst different therapeutic options.An observational, qualitative study was conducted. Between 2007 and 2009, 46 patients (mean age 67 years) were administered a semi-structured interview at enrolment in the Prostate Cancer Research International: Active Surveillance protocol. The focus of the interview was onthe first question, i.e. "Why did you choose AS?". Interviews were audio-recorded and verbatim transcriptions were made. Content analyses were performed by using a text-driven, automatic software (T-lab). Four clusters of themes emerged. In cluster 1, the most meaningful theme was the ambivalence in front of different therapeutic options. In cluster 2, the focus was on patients' assessment of the aggressivenessof their PCa. In cluster 3, the topic was the collection of information from specialists. In cluster 4, the main theme was the collection of data through informal sources. Patients are motivated to opt for AS based on the subjective evaluation of medical information as well as characteristics of their psycho-social context. Understanding motivation for AS will help clinicians support patients in making the bestchoice for them