Prevalence of burnout among the health team workers at paediatric intensive care unit

Background: Paediatricians work in the ICU have to deal with babies who have serious or chronic conditions associated with multiple problems and they have to interact with their stressed and often fatigued parents. This makes them more exposed to developed burnout. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of burnout among the paediatric health team at King Abdulaziz University Hospital and to determine the stress predictors among them.Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that was distributed to the all the target group who filled it anonymously. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) Version 16.Results: About 58 % of the participants had moderate grade burn out and 61 % of them had high grade of exhaustion. "Being single" and "being married with children" were significant predictors of burnout among the participants. The top five stressors for the participants were the poor work life balance, patient education, salary, volume of work and decision making in ICU. There was significant positive correlation between the degree of burnout and the lack of institutional resources (p=0.001), poor work life balance (p<0.001), volume of work (0.012), complexity of clinical work (p=0.009) and on call requirement (p=0.004).Conclusions: Large percent of pediatric ICU health team experienced high grade of emotional exhaustion compared to their national or international peers. There should be an interventional preventive plans to deal with such phenomenon

Physiology and ecology of Stylophora pistillata and Echinopora gemmacea from the Red Sea

1. Some aspects of the biology and nutritional physiology of the corals Stylophora pistillata and Echinopora gemmacea from the Red Sea are described in this thesis. The two species were selected on the basis of their differing growth form and nutritional strategies. The main objective was to compare their nutritional energy budgets and to examine the effects upon these of environmental factors associated with differing depths on the reef and with different seasons. 2 . S. pistillata is a branching coral, with small polyps. In shallow water (1m) the coral has compact club-shaped branches, whereas at 10m it has an open growth form with slender branches. E. gemmacea has large polyps, and both encrusting and lightly branching growth forms. It was not found at depths of less than 3m. 4 . Histological examination showed that the coenosarc of S. pistillata is characterised by holotrich nematocysts and mucus-gland cells containing neutral mucopolysaccharides. By contrast, the epidermis of E. gemmacea contains spirocysts and large numbers of mucus-gland cells secreting an acid mucopolysaccharide. The gastrodermis of the tentacles of S. pistillata, which are expanded during the day time are packed with zooxanthellae. In E. gemmacea the tentacles are withdrawn during the day and are devoid of zooxanthellae. In both species, lipid stores are concentrated in the gastrodermal layers only, mainly in the lower half of the polyps. 4 . Four types of nematocyst are present in both species : spirocysts, microbasic P-mastigophores, microbasic B-mastigophores and holotrichs. Spirocysts are most common on the oral discs and mainly at the tentacle tips. Microbasic P-mastigophores are more common in the tentacles of E. gemmacea suggesting a more important role for prey capture in this species. In both species the mesenterial filaments are armed with microbasic P-mastigophores and holotrichs, indicating that they are important for aggression and defence. 5 . S. pistillata displays a weak ability to deal with particulate food when presented as Artemia nauplii or eggs. There is an extensive development of ciliary currents on the outers epidermis, but these appear to be used only for cleansing of the outer surface. E. gemmacea expands its tentacles at night and feeds on particulate organic matters trapped on the surface mucus net. Large particles, including fish faecal pellets, may be ingested. The expansion of the tentacles of S. pistillata during the day time suggests a nutritional economy which is more dependent upon the symbiotic zooxanthellae. 6 . Both species are hermaphrodite with protogynous gametogenesis. S. pistillata has an extended breeding cycle. Oogenesis began in May, whilst spermatogenesis was first detected in August. Fertilisation takes place in the coelenteron and the first planulae were observed in December. E. gemmacea has a short annual cycle of gametogenesis. Oogenesis was first observed in June and spermatogenesis in August. Broadcast-spawning occurred in November. 7 . The distribution of the two species on a shallow fringing reef in Sharm Ubhur, a small creek to the north of Jeddah, is described from a transect survey. At the study site, the lowest mean water temperature of 25.

Long-chain aliphatic wax esters isolated from the sponge Chalinula saudensis (Demospongia) along the Jeddah coast of the Red Sea

A esponja Chalinula saudensis ocorre ao longo da costa de Jeddah, Arabia Saudita, mas apenas recentemente foi isolada e identificada. No presente estudo a matéria orgânica total da esponja foi extraída por solventes e o extrato foi separado por partição sucessiva através do emprego de hexano e água, clorofórmio e água e finalmente t-butanol e água. A camada contendo clorofórmio foi então separada por cromatografia em sílica. Os resultados mostraram a presença de ésteres de quatro ácidos graxos de cadeira longa (C28H56O2, C30H60O2, C32H62O2 e C36H70O2), sendo que o segundo deles foi também identificado nos corais Millepora dichotoma e Millepora platyphylla. Não se tem evidência da presença dos demais compostos em outros organismos marinhos, embora haja relatos para ésteres semelhantes de cadeia longa, mas contendo diferentes cadeias alifáticas e diferentes pesos moleculares. Os compostos isolados em C. saudensis são geralmente ceras e sua presença na esponja tem importância não só nas rotas de biosíntese, mas servem como isolantes nas variações sazonais adversas.The sponge Chalinula saudensis, which occurs along the Jeddah coast, has only recently been isolated and identified. In this study, the total crude organic matter of the sponge was extracted by solvents. The total crude extract was further separated by partitioning it with hexane and water, then with water and chloroform, and finally with water and t-butanol. The chloroform layer was subjected to separation by preparative layer chromatography on silica. One fraction contained four long-chain fatty acid esters, C28H56O2, C30H60O2, C32H62O2 and C36H70 O2. The second ester, C30H60O2, has been identified in the fire corals Millepora dichotoma and Millepora platyphylla. The others have not previously been reported from marine organisms; however similar long-chain esters with different long aliphatic chains and with different molecular weights have been identified from other marine organisms. These compounds are normally waxy and their presence in Chalinula saudensis plays a vital role in the biosynthetic pathways. They also act as insulators against seasonal variations

Spatio-Temporal Analyses of Symbiodinium Physiology of the Coral Pocillopora verrucosa along Large-Scale Nutrient and Temperature Gradients in the Red Sea

Algal symbionts (zooxanthellae, genus Symbiodinium) of scleractinian corals respond strongly to temperature, nutrient and light changes. These factors vary greatly along the north-south gradient in the Red Sea and include conditions, which are outside of those typically considered optimal for coral growth. Nevertheless, coral communities thrive throughout the Red Sea, suggesting that zooxanthellae have successfully acclimatized or adapted to the harsh conditions they experience particularly in the south (high temperatures and high nutrient supply). As such, the Red Sea is a region, which may help to better understand how zooxanthellae and their coral hosts successfully acclimatize or adapt to environmental change (e.g. increased temperatures and localized eutrophication). To gain further insight into the physiology of coral symbionts in the Red Sea, we examined the abundance of dominant Symbiodinium types associated with the coral Pocillopora verrucosa, and measured Symbiodinium physiological characteristics (i.e. photosynthetic processes, cell density, pigmentation, and protein composition) along the latitudinal gradient of the Red Sea in summer and winter. Despite the strong environmental gradients from north to south, our results demonstrate that Symbiodinium microadriaticum (type A1) was the predominant species in P. verrucosa along the latitudinal gradient. Furthermore, measured physiological characteristics were found to vary more with prevailing seasonal environmental conditions than with region-specific differences, although the measured environmental parameters displayed much higher spatial than temporal variability. We conclude that our findings might present the result of long-term acclimatization or adaptation of S. microadriaticum to regionally specific conditions within the Red Sea. Of additional note, high nutrients in the South correlated with high zooxanthellae density indicating a compensation for a temperature-driven loss of photosynthetic performance, which may prove promising for the resilience of these corals under increase of temperature increase and eutrophication

Large scale patterns of antimicrofouling defenses in the hard coral Pocillopora verrucosa in an environmental gradient along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea

Large scale patterns of ecologically relevant traits may help identify drivers of their variability and conditions beneficial or adverse to the expression of these traits. Antimicrofouling defenses in scleractinian corals regulate the establishment of the associated biofilm as well as the risks of infection. The Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast features a pronounced thermal and nutritional gradient including regions and seasons with potentially stressful conditions to corals. Assessing the patterns of antimicrofouling defenses across the Red Sea may hint at the susceptibility of corals to global change. We investigated microfouling pressure as well as the relative strength of 2 alternative antimicrofouling defenses (chemical antisettlement activity, mucus release) along the pronounced environmental gradient along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast in 2 successive years. Microfouling pressure was exceptionally low along most of the coast but sharply increased at the southernmost sites. Mucus release correlated with temperature. Chemical defense tended to anti-correlate with mucus release. As a result, the combined action of mucus release and chemical antimicrofouling defense seemed to warrant sufficient defense against microbes along the entire coast. In the future, however, we expect enhanced energetic strain on corals when warming and/or eutrophication lead to higher bacterial fouling pressure and a shift towards putatively more costly defense by mucus releas

The Role of Budgetary Participation and Environmental Uncertainty in Influencing Managerial Performance of Village Government

Research aims: This study aims to examine the influence of budgetary participation and environmental uncertainty on the managerial performance of the village government. In addition, it examines the budgetary participation as an intervening variable.Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted using a survey method by distributing questionnaires to village governments in Bantul Regency, Indonesia. Totally, 118 completed questionnaires were returned. Data analysis was carried out using a partial least squares (PLS) approach.Research findings: The results revealed that budgetary participation and environmental uncertainty significantly influenced managerial performance. Besides, environmental uncertainty was found as a determinant of budgetary participation implementation. This study confirmed that budgetary participation had an intervening role in the environmental uncertainty-managerial performance relationship.Theoretical contribution/ Originality: This research pioneered the testing of budgetary participation as the intervening variable in the context of a village government study.Practitioner/Policy implication: Referring to the results, the village government needs to appreciate the practice of budgetary participation to encourage managerial performance, especially to convert the negative impact of environmental uncertainty to be a chance to achieve better performance.Research limitation/Implication: This research was only undertaken in the scope of Bantul regency. Therefore, the generalization ability of this study is limited

Extensive phenotypic plasticity of a Red Sea coral over a strong latitudinal temperature gradient suggests limited acclimatization potential to warming

Global warming was reported to cause growth reductions in tropical shallow water corals in both, cooler and warmer, regions of the coral species range. This suggests regional adaptation with less heat-tolerant populations in cooler and more thermo-tolerant populations in warmer regions. Here, we investigated seasonal changes in the in situ metabolic performance of the widely distributed hermatypic coral Pocillopora verrucosa along 12 degrees latitudes featuring a steep temperature gradient between the northern (28.5 degrees N, 21-27 degrees C) and southern (16.5 degrees N, 28-33 degrees C) reaches of the Red Sea. Surprisingly, we found little indication for regional adaptation, but strong indications for high phenotypic plasticity: Calcification rates in two seasons (winter, summer) were found to be highest at 28-29 degrees C throughout all populations independent of their geographic location. Mucus release increased with temperature and nutrient supply, both being highest in the south. Genetic characterization of the coral host revealed low inter-regional variation and differences in the Symbiodinium clade composition only at the most northern and most southern region. This suggests variable acclimatization potential to ocean warming of coral populations across the Red Sea: high acclimatization potential in northern populations, but limited ability to cope with ocean warming in southern populations already existing at the upper thermal margin for coral

Study of biochemical changes after plateletpheresis in healthy male donors

BACKGROUND: There is relatively little information about endogenous biochemical changes in a response to plateletpheresis in healthy donors. We aimed to investigate the changes in different biochemical parameters including glycemic status, insulin resistance, iron status, lipid profile and inflammatory markers after plateletpheresis in healthy male donors with normal glycemic status. METHODS: In this study we enrolled 10 male subjects. The glycemic status in all subjects was assessed using an oral glucose tolerance test pre- and post-plateletpheresis at different time intervals (1, 8 and 22 days). Different biochemical parameters including glucose, HbA1c, insulin, lipids, uric acid, transferrin, ferritin, C-reactive protein and insulin resistance were measured. Repeated ANOVA was utilized for the purpose of statistical comparison of means between different days. RESULTS: Fasting glucose, transferrin, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, and LDL-C were significantly altered (-3.9%, p<0.05; -2.7%, p<0.05; -3.9%, p<0.05; 23.9%, p<0.05; -5.5%, p<0.01; and -9.2%, p<0.05 respectively) at day 1 following plateletpheresis. There was a gradual reduction in HbA1c and ferritin levels during the time-course of the study, and by day 22, both were significantly lower (-2.0%, p<0.01; -18.1%, p<0.05 respectively) when compared to the pre-plateletpheresis levels. CONCLUSIONS: Post-plateletpheresis, several biochemical parameters may change significantly in healthy donors. The changes were particularly evident one and 22 days after donation. The potential effects of plateletpheresis need to be considered when interpreting biochemical tests

Coral Communities, in Contrast to Fish Communities, Maintain a High Assembly Similarity along the Large Latitudinal Gradient along the Saudi Red Sea Coast

The Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast is characterized by a strong environmental gradient from north (28.5°N) to south (16.5°N) with challenging conditions for coral growth particularly in the south (high temperature and nutrient input). We investigated whether assemblies of reef-building corals and the distribution of functional groups follow a latitudinal pattern in the Red Sea, and whether these changes affect the assembly structure of coral associated organisms (e.g. fishes). Functional groups were defined based on life-history traits and functional role. 13 reefs along the north-south gradient, including 5 potentially polluted reefs were investigated. Results showed a substantially weaker latitudinal shift in the assembly structure of coral communities than of fishes communities and of other benthic reef taxa. Competitive fast growing branching and tabular species (mainly Acropora), as well as rather stresstolerant slow growing bulky species (e.g. Porites, Goniastrea, Favites, Favia) were fairly evenly distributed along the north-south axis despite strong changes of environmental conditions. This seems on the one hand attributable to the high species richness within a given functional group (functional redundancy) and on the other hand to a high acclimatization / adaptation potential of some Red Sea coral species. The prime ecosystem service of the coral community, the provision of a habitat complex, is thereby maintained throughout the gradient. In contrast to the coral community, the assembly of the fish community shifts along the environmental gradient with higher abundances of small wrasses and butterfly fishes in the north, and overall higher abundance of fishes including large fishes in the south. This shift seems linked to higher food availability in the south. Altered assembly structures of coral communities were found in reefs close to a source of pollution with either an increased relative abundance of stresstolerant species or a general decrease of coral abundance, latter case accompanied by a substantial reduction in fish abundance