[Analysis of workplace health promotion and its effect on work ability and health-related quality of life in a medium-sized business]. / Analyse der Arbeitsfähigkeit und gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität im Rahmen bewegungsbezogener Maßnahmen der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung in einem mittelständischen Unternehmen.

This study analyses the effect of workplace health promotion on work ability and health-related quality of life in white-collar and blue-collar workers in a medium-sized business. The intervention group contains 75 subjects with a mean age of 36.6±10.63 years (55 men, 20 women). The participation rate is 47%. White-collar workers show improvement in their health-related quality of life regarding physical and psychological aspects and work ability. Physically inactive employees show improvement in their health-related quality of life regarding physical and psychological aspects as well as context. Active employees only show significant improvement in terms of work ability. In conclusion, the promotion of exercise in the context of occupational health promotion has a positive effect on quality of life and work ability of employees and, thus, is a benefit for both the individual as well as the business itself.

Carriage of encapsulated bacteria in Gabonese children with sickle cell anaemia.

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a haemoglobin disorder that alters the deformability of erythrocytes through abnormal polymerization of haemoglobin. Children with SCA have an increased risk of infections with encapsulated bacteria. To guide the antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccinations in children with SCA in Gabon, we characterized Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae from children with and without SCA. We performed a cross-sectional study and compared nasal and pharyngeal S. pneumoniae, Staph. aureus and H. influenzae isolates from SCA children (n = 73) with comparators matched for age, residence and sex (n = 143) in a matched-comparison analysis. The resistance pattern and capsular type were identified for each isolate. The total carriage rate for S. pneumoniae, Staph. aureus and H. influenzae was 13.8%, 46.7% and 12.5%, respectively, and did not differ between groups (p >0.05). The mean number of days under antibiotic treatment in the past year was higher in children with SCA than in controls (penicillin: 70.1 vs 0.1 days, p 0.00002). The total non-susceptibility rate was 30% for oral and parenteral (meningitis) penicillin in S. pneumoniae, resistance rates were 1.6% for oxacillin in Staph. aureus and 14.8% for ampicillin in H. influenzae. Susceptibility to antibiotic agents and distribution of capsular types did not differ significantly between both groups. In conclusion, carriage and resistance rates are similar in children with and without SCA. Our data provide the basis to guide empiric therapy of invasive diseases caused by S. pneumoniae, Staph. aureus and H. influenza in children in Gabon.

Clonal structure of Staphylococcus aureus colonizing children with sickle cell anaemia and healthy controls.

Children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) might carry hospital-associated bacterial lineages due to frequent hospital stays and antibiotic treatments. In this study we compared Staphylococcus aureus from SCA patients (n=73) and healthy children (n=143) in a cross-sectional study in Gabon. S. aureus carriage did not differ between children with SCA (n=34, 46∙6%) and controls matched for age, residence and sex (n=67, 46∙9%). Both groups shared similar S. aureus genotypes. This finding points towards a transmission of S. aureus between both groups in the community. We conclude that resistance rates from population-based studies with healthy participants could therefore also be used to guide treatment and prophylaxis of endogenous infections in children with SCA despite a different selection pressure.

Actin-dependent motility of melanosomes from fish retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells investigated using in vitro motility assays.

Melanosomes (pigment granules) within retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells of fish and amphibians undergo massive migrations in response to light conditions to control light flux to the retina. Previous research has shown that melanosome motility within apical projections of dissociated fish RPE cells requires an intact actin cytoskeleton, but the mechanisms and motors involved in melanosome transport in RPE have not been identified. Two in vitro motility assays, the Nitella assay and the sliding filament assay, were used to characterize actin-dependent motor activity of RPE melanosomes. Melanosomes applied to dissected filets of the Characean alga, Nitella, moved along actin cables at a mean rate of 2 microm/min, similar to the rate of melanosome motility in dissociated, cultured RPE cells. Path lengths of motile melanosomes ranged from 9 to 37 microm. Melanosome motility in the sliding filament assay was much more variable, ranging from 0.4-33 microm/min; 70% of velocities ranged from 1-15 microm/min. Latex beads coated with skeletal muscle myosin II and added to Nitella filets moved in the same direction as RPE melanosomes, indicating that the motility is barbed-end directed. Immunoblotting using antibodies against myosin VIIa and rab27a revealed that both proteins are enriched on melanosome membranes, suggesting that they could play a role in melanosome transport within apical projections of fish RPE.