TY - JOUR A1 - Cassel, Michael A1 - Müller, Steffen A1 - Carlsohn, Anja A1 - Baur, Heiner A1 - Jerusel, N. A1 - Mayer, Frank T1 - Intra- and interrater variability of sonographic investigations of patella and achilles tendons JF - Sportverletzung, Sportschaden : Grundlagen, Prävention, Rehabilitation N2 - Background: Clinical examinations of tendon disorders routinely include ultrasound examinations, despite the fact that availability of data concerning validity criteria of these measurements are limited. The present study therefore aims to evaluate the reliability of measurements of Achilles- and Patella tendon diameter and in the detection of structural adaptations. Materials and Methods: In 14 healthy, recreationally active subjects both asymptomatic Achilles (AT) and patella tendons (PT) were measured twice by two examiners in a test-retest design. Besides the detection of anteroposterior (a.p.-) and mediolateral (m.l.-) diameters, areas of hypoechogenicity and neovascularisation were registered. Data were analysed descriptively with calculation of test-retest variability (TRV), intraclass-correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland and Altman's plots with bias and 95% limits of agreement (LOA). Results: Intra- and interrater differences of AT- and PT-a.p.-diameter varied from 0.2 - 1.2 mm, those of AT- and PT-m.l-diameter from 0.7-5.1 mm. Areas of hypoechogenicity were visible in 24% of the tendons, while 15% showed neovascularisations. Intrarater AT-a.p.-diameters showed sparse deviations (TRV 4.5-7.4%; ICC 0.60-0.84; bias -0.05-0.07 mm; LOA-0.6-0.5 to -1.1 - 1.0 mm), while interrater AT- and PT-m.l.-diameters were highly variable (TRV 13.7-19.7%; ICC 0.11-0.20; bias -1.4-4.3 mm; LOA-5.5-2.7 to -10.5 - 1.9 mm). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the measurement of AT- and PT-a.p.-diameters is a reliable parameter. In contrast, reproducibility of AT- and PT-m.l.-diameters is questionable. The study corroborates the presence of hypoechogenicity and neovascularisation in asymptomatic tendons. KW - ultrasound KW - Achilles tendon KW - Patella tendon KW - intra- and inter-rater variability KW - tendon diameter Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0031-1281839 SN - 0932-0555 VL - 26 IS - 1 SP - 21 EP - 26 PB - Thieme CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Trauth, Martin H. A1 - Bergner, Andreas G. N. A1 - Foerster, Verena A1 - Junginger, Annett A1 - Maslin, Mark A. A1 - Schäbitz, Frank T1 - Episodes of environmental stability versus instability in Late Cenozoic lake records of Eastern Africa JF - Journal of human evolution N2 - Episodes of environmental stability and instability may be equally important for African hominin speciation, dispersal, and cultural innovation. Three examples of a change from stable to unstable environmental conditions are presented on three different time scales: (1) the Mid Holocene (MH) wet dry transition in the Chew Bahir basin (Southern Ethiopian Rift; between 11 ka and 4 ka), (2) the MIS 5-4 transition in the Naivasha basin (Central Kenya Rift; between 160 ka and 50 ka), and (3) the Early Mid Pleistocene Transition (EMPT) in the Olorgesailie basin (Southern Kenya Rift; between 1.25 Ma and 0.4 Ma). A probabilistic age modeling technique is used to determine the timing of these transitions, taking into account possible abrupt changes in the sedimentation rate including episodes of no deposition (hiatuses). Interestingly, the stable-unstable conditions identified in the three records are always associated with an orbitally-induced decrease of insolation: the descending portion of the 800 kyr cycle during the EMPT, declining eccentricity after the 115 ka maximum at the MIS 5-4 transition, and after similar to 10 ka. This observation contributes to an evidence-based discussion of the possible mechanisms causing the switching between environmental stability and instability in Eastern Africa at three different orbital time scales (10,000 to 1,000,000 years) during the Cenozoic. This in turn may lead to great insights into the environmental changes occurring at the same time as hominin speciation, brain expansion, dispersal out of Africa, and cultural innovations and may provide key evidence to build new hypotheses regarding the causes of early human evolution. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Paleoclimate KW - East Africa KW - Human evolution KW - Lakes KW - Sediments Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.011 SN - 0047-2484 VL - 87 SP - 21 EP - 31 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Szymanski, Kolja V. A1 - Tönnies, Mario A1 - Becher, Anne A1 - Fatykhova, Diana A1 - N'Guessan, Philippe D. A1 - Gutbier, Birgitt A1 - Klauschen, Frederick A1 - Neuschäfer-Rube, Frank A1 - Schneider, Paul A1 - Rückert, Jens A1 - Neudecker, Jens A1 - Bauer, Torsten T. A1 - Dalhoff, Klaus A1 - Droemann, Daniel A1 - Gruber, Achim D. A1 - Kershaw, Olivia A1 - Temmesfeld-Wollbrueck, Bettina A1 - Suttorp, Norbert A1 - Hippenstiel, Stefan A1 - Hocke, Andreas C. T1 - Streptococcus pneumoniae-induced regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 in human lung tissue JF - The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology N2 - The majority of cases of community-acquired pneumonia are caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and most studies on pneumococcal host interaction are based on cell culture or animal experiments. Thus, little is known about infections in human lung tissue. Cyclooxygenase-2 and its metabolites play an important regulatory role in lung inflammation. Therefore, we established a pneumococcal infection model on human lung tissue demonstrating mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent induction of cyclooxygenase-2 and its related metabolites. In addition to alveolar macrophages and the vascular endothelium, cyclooxygenase-2 was upregulated in alveolar type II but not type I epithelial cells, which was confirmed in lungs of patients suffering from acute pneumonia. Moreover, we demonstrated the expression profile of all four E prostanoid receptors at the mRNA level and showed functionality of the E prostanoid(4) receptor by cyclic adenosine monophosphate production. Additionally, in comparison to previous studies, cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin E-2 related pro- and anti-inflammatory mediator regulation was partly confirmed in human lung tissue after pneumococcal infection. Overall, cell type-specific and MAPK-dependent cyclooxygenase-2 expression and prostaglandin E-2 formation in human lung tissue may play an important role in the early phase of pneumococcal infections. KW - Alveolar epithelial cells KW - cytokines KW - inflammation KW - lung infection KW - pneumonia KW - prostaglandins Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00186911 SN - 0903-1936 VL - 40 IS - 6 SP - 1458 EP - 1467 PB - European Respiratory Society CY - Sheffield ER -