Musculoskeletal disorders among cosmetologists

A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the relationships between physical, psychosocial, and individual characteristics and different endpoints of low back, neck, shoulder, hand/wrist and knee musculoskeletal complaints among cosmetologists in Athens, Greece. The study population consisted of 95 female and seven male beauty therapists (response rate 90%) with a mean age and duration of employment of 38 and 16 years, respectively. Neck pain was the most prevalent musculoskeletal complaint, reported by 58% of the subjects, while hand/wrist and low back complaints resulted more frequently in self-reported consequences (chronicity, care seeking and absenteeism). Significant relationships were found between self-reported physical risk factors like prolonged sitting, use of vibrating tools, reaching far and awkward body postures and the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders at various body sites. Among psychosocial variables co-worker support and skill discretion seem to be the most important reflecting organizational problems and cognitive-behavioral aspects. The study results also suggest that effective intervention strategies most likely have to take into account both ergonomic improvements and organizational aspects. © 2009 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International

A trust management architecture for autonomic Future Internet

The proliferation and integration of communication networks in social life has increased the need for trusted systems of advanced and intelligent capabilities. Future networks are calling for new ways to efficient management, operation and service provisioning. Autonomicity becomes an enabler for self-manageability of future networks and therefore autonomic networking provides the necessary new paradigm for these networks to become manageable and scalable. Autonomic entities base their decision within a network on experience gathered and information exchanged. Trust management mechanisms can provide the necessary security framework in such an environment towards robust coherent autonomic networking. In this paper we present trust models and sketch a trust management architecture, applicable to complex future networking environments. We handle the special requirements set by autonomicity and try to strengthen the autonomic characteristics of the nodes as well as the robu stness of service provisioning

Inflammatory and myeloid-associated gene expression before and one day after infant vaccination with MVA85A correlates with induction of a T cell response.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health problem, with vaccination likely to be a necessary part of a successful control strategy. Results of the first Phase 2b efficacy trial of a candidate vaccine, MVA85A, evaluated in BCG-vaccinated infants were published last year. Although no improvement in efficacy above BCG alone was seen, cryopreserved samples from this trial provide an opportunity to study the immune response to vaccination in this population. METHODS: We investigated blood samples taken before vaccination (baseline) and one and 28 days post-vaccination with MVA85A or placebo (Candin). The IFN-γ ELISpot assay was performed at baseline and on day 28 to quantify the adaptive response to Ag85A peptides. Gene expression analysis was performed at all three timepoints to identify early gene signatures predictive of the magnitude of the subsequent adaptive T cell response using the significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) statistical package and gene set enrichment analysis. RESULTS: One day post-MVA85A, there is an induction of inflammatory pathways compared to placebo samples. Modules associated with myeloid cells and inflammation pre- and one day post-MVA85A correlate with a higher IFN-γ ELISpot response post-vaccination. By contrast, previous work done in UK adults shows early inflammation in this population is not associated with a strong T cell response but that induction of regulatory pathways inversely correlates with the magnitude of the T cell response. This may be indicative of important mechanistic differences in how T cell responses develop in these two populations following vaccination with MVA85A. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the capacity of MVA85A to induce a strong innate response is key to the initiation of an adaptive immune response in South African infants but induction of regulatory pathways may be more important in UK adults. Understanding differences in immune response to vaccination between populations is likely to be an important aspect of developing successful vaccines and vaccination strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00953927