Selectins as mediators of lung metastasis

Lung metastasis remains the major cause of cancer related mortality in patients with breast, gastrointestinal, sarcoma, melanoma and kidney cancer. Here we characterize the expression of selectins during metastatic lung colonization and analyzed their function in the formation of pulmonary metastasis. E-selectin, together with VCAM-1, were detected 6h after the microvascular arrest of tumor cells indicating an inflammatory activation of the local endothelial cells. No E-selectin expression was detected in pre-metastatic lungs of mice carrying primary tumors. P- and L-selectin were present during initiating steps of lung colonization and correlated with the recruitment of platelets and leukocytes to metastatic tumor cells. Experimental metastasis was significantly reduced in the absence of P- or L-selectin while no attenuation of metastasis was observed in E-selectin-deficient mice. Collectively, selectins are upregulated within the metastatic microenvironment of tumor cells and the formation of a permissive metastatic microenvironment is facilitated by P- and L-selectin mediated interactions between tumor cells and blood components. E-selectin does not affect metastatic initiation in the lung tissue and its expression rather indicates a local activation of lung microvascular endothelial cell

What's the Difference Between Professional Human and Machine Translation? A Blind Multi-language Study on Domain-specific MT

Machine translation (MT) has been shown to produce a number of errors that require human post-editing, but the extent to which professional human translation (HT) contains such errors has not yet been compared to MT. We compile pre-translated documents in which MT and HT are interleaved, and ask professional translators to flag errors and post-edit these documents in a blind evaluation. We find that the post-editing effort for MT segments is only higher in two out of three language pairs, and that the number of segments with wrong terminology, omissions, and typographical problems is similar in HT.Comment: EAMT 2020 (Research Track

Motor unit identification in two neighboring recording positions of the human trapezius muscle during prolonged computer work

Work-related shoulder-neck pain is a major health risk in computer operators. To understand the physiological mechanisms behind the development of these disorders, EMG recordings of some minutes up to several hours must be accurately decomposed. For this reason we developed EMG-LODEC, an automatic decomposition software program, especially designed for multi-channel long-term recordings of signals detected during slight muscle movements. The subjects executed a 30-min computer task to simulate real work conditions while working at an ergonomically designed workstation. Six-channel intramuscular EMG signals were recorded from two positions of the upper trapezius muscle. The EMG signals were decomposed into individual motor unit action potential trains using EMG-LODEC. The study design enabled us first to study the dependence of intramuscular analysis on the insertion points and second to test the accuracy of the decomposition technique under laboratory conditions during a real experiment. The two positions yielded 887 motor units - 452 located in position 1 and 435 in position 2. Although the numbers of detected action potentials were strongly correlated between the two insertion positions, different motor units were mostly recorded. In particular, the detection of continuously active motor units is specific for the selected insertion points and may not be representative of a muscle, not even for parts with common functions. The approach for the quantitative evaluation of the decomposition technique was to independently decompose two signals that were simultaneously detected by separate sets of wire electrodes placed close to each other in the muscle. Common trains discovered in each signal were compared for consistency. A cross-correlation analysis was performed to find corresponding motor unit pairs that were concurrently active. Concurrently active motor units were found in six subjects. For these motor units the extent of simultaneous occurrence of motor unit action potentials between the two positions ranged from 23% to 78% depending on the distinction of the single motor units and the number of superimposed motor unit action potentials. High concordance was seen in 3 out of the 15 motor unit pairs. Based on the results, EMG-LODEC is capable of providing reliable decompositions with satisfying accuracy and reasonable processing time. EMG-LODEC is suitable for the study of motor unit discharge patterns and recruitment order in subjects with and without musculoskeletal pain during long-term measurements to study work-related musculoskeletal disorder

Klassifikationsmodelle in der Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen für die Konzeption und Evaluation von Projekten und Programmen

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Um die komplexe Planung und Evaluation von Projekten und Programmen im Gesundheitsbereich zu unterstützen, kommen heute v.a. im angelsächsischen Raum unterschiedliche Klassifikationsmodelle zum Einsatz. In diesem Artikel geht es um eine kritische Prüfung von 2 Klassifikationsmodellen, die derzeit in diversen Institutionen der Schweiz angewendet werden. Methode: Das Ergebnismodell von Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz sowie das "Program-Logic-Modell" von Sue Funnell werden als 2 Typen von Klassifikationsmodellen verglichen und auf ihre Einsatzmöglichkeiten in der Planungs- und Evaluationsphase von Gesundheitsprojekten untersucht. Dazu verdeutlichen wir die vielfältigen Implikationen von Klassifikationssystemen im Gesundheitsbereich und zeigen anhand von 2 Fallstudien die Problematiken bei der praktischen Umsetzung der Modelle. Ergebnisse: Die Modelle basieren auf unterschiedlichen, impliziten Annahmen und unterscheiden sich im Strukturierungsgrad der Kategorien sowie im Grad der Explizierung von Kausalitäten. Bei der Nutzung der Modelle ergeben sich dadurch spezifische Vor- und Nachteile. Schlussfolgerungen: Unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Grenzen und inhärenten Logik sind Klassifikationsmodelle nützliche Instrumente, um die Komplexität in der Planung und Evaluation von Gesundheitsprojekten zu reduzieren. Darüber hinaus erzwingen sie einen Austausch der Stakeholder über Gesundheitsvorstellungen und Ziele im Gesundheitsbereic

Evidence for repetitive load in the trapezius muscle during a tapping task

Many studies describe the trapezius muscle activation pattern during repetitive key-tapping focusing on continuous activation. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the upper trapezius is phasically active during supported key tapping, whether this activity is cross-correlated with forearm muscle activity, and whether trapezius activity depends on key characteristic. Thirteen subjects (29.7±11.4years) were tested. Surface EMG of the finger's extensor and flexor and of the trapezius muscles, as well as the key on-off signal was recorded while the subject performed a 2-min session of key tapping at 4Hz. The linear envelopes obtained were cut into single tapping cycles extending from one onset to the next onset signal and subsequently time-normalized. Effect size between mean range and maximal standard deviation was calculated to determine as to whether a burst of trapezius muscle activation was present. Cross-correlation was used to determine the time-lag of the activity bursts between forearm and trapezius muscles. For each person the mean and standard deviation of the cross-correlations coefficient between forearm muscles and trapezius were determined. Results showed a burst of activation in the trapezius muscle during most of the tapping cycles. The calculated effect size was ≥0.5 in 67% of the cases. Cross-correlation factors between forearm and trapezius muscle activity were between 0.75 and 0.98 for both extensor and flexor muscles. The cross-correlated phasic trapezius activity did not depend on key characteristics. Trapezius muscle was dynamically active during key tapping; its activity was clearly correlated with forearm muscles' activit

Symptomatology of recurrent low back pain in nursing and administrative professions

The aim of the present study was to explore if (a) recurrent low back pain (LBP) has different symptomatologies in cases from occupations with predominantly sitting postures compared to cases from occupations involving dynamic postures and frequent lifting and (b) if in the two occupational groups, different factors were associated with the presence of recurrent LBP. Hundred and eleven female subjects aged between 45 and 62years with a long-standing occupation either in administrative or nursing professions, with and without recurrent LBP were examined. An extensive evaluation of six areas of interest (pain and disability, clinical examination, functional tests, MR examination, physical and psychosocial workplace factors) was performed. The variables from the six areas of interest were analyzed for their potential to discriminate between the four groups of subjects (administrative worker and nurses with and without recurrent LBP) by canonical discriminant analysis. As expected, the self-evaluation of physical and psychosocial workplace factors showed significant differences between the two occupational groups, which holds true for cases as well as for controls (P<0.01). The functional tests revealed a tendency for rather good capacity in nurses with LBP and a decreased capacity in administrative personnel with LBP (P=0.049). Neither self completed pain and disability questionnaires nor clinical examination or MR imaging revealed any significant difference between LBP cases from sedentary and non-sedentary occupations. When comparing LBP cases and controls within the two occupational groups, the functional tests revealed significant differences (P=0.0001) yet only in administrative personnel. The clinical examination on the other hand only discriminated between LBP cases and controls in the nurses group (P<0.0001). Neither MRI imaging nor self reported physical and psychosocial workplace factors discriminated between LBP cases and controls from both occupational groups. Although we used a battery of tests that have broad application in clinical and epidemiological studies of LBP, a clear difference in the pattern of symptoms between LBP cases from nursing and hospital administration personnel could not be ascertained. We conclude that there is no evidence for different mechanisms leading to non-specific, recurrent LBP in the two occupations, and thus no generalizable recommendations for the prevention and therapy of non-specific LBP in the two professions can be give

Long-term effects of supervised physical training in secondary prevention of low back pain

Background and objectives: In the last few years, several studies have focused on short-term treatment effects of exercise therapy. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the long-term treatment effects recorded after several years. Hence, this study was performed to investigate the short- and long-term effects of supervised physical training on functional ability, self-rated pain and disability in secondary prevention of low back pain. Methods: One hundred and eighty-three hospital employees with chronic low back pain were randomly assigned either to back school (comparison group), or three-months supervised physical training including a back school (exercise group). Various measurements of functional ability were performed and subjects completed questionnaires on self-rated pain, disability, and general well-being before treatment, immediately after intervention, and at six-months follow-up. At one-year and at ten-years follow-up participants evaluated treatment effectiveness. Results: Out of 183 employees, 148 completed the program. Participation at follow-ups ranged from 66 to 96%. Supervised physical training significantly improved muscular endurance and isokinetic strength during a six-months follow-up, and effectively decreased self-rated pain and disability during a one-year follow-up. At ten-years follow-up the subjects' assessment of the effectiveness of treatment was significantly better in the exercise group. Conclusions: Supervised physical training effectively improved functional capacity and decreased LBP and disability up to one-year follow-up. The subjects' positive evaluation of the treatment effect at ten-years follow-up suggests a long-term benefit of trainin