Low back pain around retirement age and physical occupational exposure during working life

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical occupational exposure is a risk factor for low back pain in workers but the long term effects of exposure remain unclear. As several countries consider increasing the retirement age, further information on this topic is relevant. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of low back pain among middle aged and aging individuals in the general French population according to physical occupational exposure and retirement status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population originated from the French national survey 'Enquête décennale santé 2002'. Low back pain for more than 30 days within the previous twelve months (LBP) was assessed using a French version of the Nordic questionnaire. Occupational exposure was self assessed. Subjects were classified as "exposed" if they were currently or had previously been exposed to handling of heavy loads and/or to tiring postures. The weighted prevalence of LBP was computed separately for men and women, for active (aged 45-59) and retiree (aged 55-74), according to 5-year age group and past/present occupational exposure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For active men, the prevalence of LBP was significantly higher in those currently or previously exposed (n = 1051) compared with those never exposed (n = 1183), respectively over 20% versus less than 11%. Among retired men, the prevalence of LBP tended towards equivalence with increasing age among those previously exposed (n = 748) and those unexposed (n = 599).</p> <p>Patterns were quite similar for women with a higher prevalence in exposed active women (n = 741) compared to unexposed (n = 1260): around 25% versus 15%. Similarly, differences between previously exposed (n = 430) and unexposed (n = 489) retired women tended to reduce with age.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of LBP in active workers was associated with occupational exposure. The link with past exposure among retirees decreased with age. These results should be considered for policies dealing with prevention at the workplace and retirement.</p

The Shift from Local to Global Visual Processing in 6-Year-Old Children Is Associated with Grey Matter Loss

International audienceBackground: A real-world visual scene consists of local elements (e.g. trees) that are arranged coherently into a global configuration (e.g. a forest). Children show psychological evolution from a preference for local visual information to an adult-like preference for global visual information, with the transition in visual preference occurring around 6 years of age. The brain regions involved in this shift in visual preference have not been described. Methods and Results: We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to study children during this developmental window to investigate changes in gray matter that underlie the shift from a bias for local to global visual information. Six-year-old children were assigned to groups according to their judgment on a global/local task. The first group included children who still presented with local visual processing biases, and the second group included children who showed global visual processing biases. VBM results indicated that compared to children with local visual processing biases, children with global visual processing biases had a loss of gray matter in the right occipital and parietal visuospatial areas. Conclusions: These anatomical findings are in agreement with previous findings in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and represent the first structural identification of brain regions that allow healthy children to develop a global perception of the visual world

Microbial communities and processes in Arctic permafrost environments

In polar regions, huge layers of frozen ground, termed permafrost, are formed. Permafrost covers more than 25 % of the land surface and significant parts of the coastal sea shelfs. Its habitats are controlled by extreme climate and terrain conditions. Particularly, the seasonal freezing and thawing in the upper active layer of permafrost leads to distinct gradients in temperature and geochemistry. Microorganisms in permafrost environments have to survive extremely cold temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles, desiccation and starvation under long-lasting background radiation over geological time scales. Although the biology of permafrost microorganisms remains relatively unexplored, recent findings show that microbial communities in this extreme environment are composed by members of all three domains of life (Archaea, Bacteria, Eukarya), with a total biomass comparable to temperate soil ecosystems. This chapter describes the environmental conditions of permafrost and reviews recent studies on microbial processes and diversity in permafrost-affected soils as well as the role and significance of microbial communities with respect to global biogeochemical cycles