Job anxiety, organizational commitment and job satisfaction: An empirical assessment of supervisors in the state of Eritrea

In the present investigation, an attempt is made to find out the relationship between job anxiety, organizational commitment, age and work experience with job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 116 supervisors selected randomly from different service sectors in Eritrea. A set of tools containing job anxiety, organizational commitment, job satisfaction along with biographical data sheet were used to gather information. Pearson’s product moment coefficient correlation was used to analyze the data. The findings of the present research revealed that (i) recognition and self-esteem facets of job anxiety were found to be significantly related to job satisfaction, (ii) facets of organizational commitment and over all organizational commitment was found to be significantly related to job satisfaction and (iii) age and experience showed significant correlation with job satisfaction. The study also suggested somemechanisms to be considered for maximizing the level of job satisfaction.Keywords: Job Anxiety, Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction, Correlation, Age, Eritre

Identification and detection of antibiotic susceptibility of the most common anerobes causing infection in surgical hospital, Faculty of Medicine Zagazig University, Egypt

Objectives: Anaerobic infections are considered to be the most difficult organisms to be identified in the microbiology laboratory. It requires strict conditions, proper sampling , long time and laboratory skills. In addition most of them are mixed infections having both aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Choice of the proper antibiotic for treating these anaerobes is live saving for the patient.Methods: Identification of anaerobic organisms using MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) as a recent tool for identification together with API 20A (as a reference method). Antibiotic susceptibility test was done for the anaerobic isolates using Agar Dilution Method. With the the most commonly used antibiotic in our hospital which are Amoxacillin/Clavulonic acid, clindamycin, metronidazole and Imipenem.Results: Anaerobic infections constitutes 21.7% of total 249 specimen from different surgical departments. Bacteroids spp. (41%) were the most prevalent anaerobic organisms followed by peptostreptococcus (26.9%). MALDI TOF MS system and API achieved 100% agreement for identification of Porphoryomonas spp. and Fusobacterium, while near results were obtained for other isolates. Bacteroid spp. shows the highest rate of resistance to clindamycin (69%). Excellent results were obtained for Imipenem and metronidazole. Most of resistance to Amoxacillin/Clavulonic acid is related to Bacteroid spp. and Fusobacterium spp.Conclusion: MALDI TOF MS System is a useful tool for identification of. Anerobes are showing higher rates of resistance to commonly used antibiotics thus detection of resistant strains is vital for proper selection of antibiotics.Keywords: Anaerobes, MALDI TOF System, API 20, Agar Dilution Method, Zagazi

Introducing a global planetary ecosystem accounting in the wake of the Amazon Forest fires

Since the 19th century, rapid urbanisation coupled with a demographic boom has increased pressures on the global exploitation of natural resources leading to an array of issues at planetary scale. Even though there have been significant ecologically driven human policy efforts, with frameworks addressing ecosystem accounting and management, such are principally constricted at sub-global levels; being regionally focussed, and hence lacking both cohesivity and accountability. Resource management viewed through this lens leads to a number of geopolitical factors as demonstrated recently with the Amazon Forest fires. This incident witnessed calls from numerous countries calling for rapid remediation even though their own policies are harbingers of equally damaging the environments through other means. This disparity in resource accounting and management on a planetary scale is apparent from diverse local and regional groups and needs to be addressed in order to sustain a truly sustainable and liveable ecosystem and their failures in realising a viable ecosystem accounting system. This perspective paper explores this theme and proposes a ‘Global Planetary Ecosystem Accounting’ system based on the principle that ecologically sensitive areas benefiting the global ecosystem need to be economically weighted and its preservation equated to a revenue-generating activity

Low expression and promoter hypermethylation of the tumour suppressor SLIT2, are associated with adverse patient outcomes in diffuse large B cell lymphoma

SLIT2 has been classified as a major tumour suppressor gene due to its frequent inactivation in different cancer types. However, alterations of SLIT2 expression and relation to patient outcomes in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remain undefined. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and the methylation status of SLIT2 gene as well as its relation to patient outcomes in DLBCL. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was carried out to detect the expression of SLIT2 in a series of 108 DLBCL cases. Re-analysis of previously published dataset (GSE10846) that measured gene expression in DLBCL patients who had received CHOP or R-CHOP therapy was performed to identify associations between SLIT2 and patients survival. Laser capture microdissection was performed to isolate GC B cells and DLBCL primary tumor cells. Bisulfite treatment and methylation-specific PCR (MSP) analysis were done to assess SLIT2 promotor methylation status. We report that the expression of SLIT2 protein was reduced in a subset of DLBCL cases and this was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage (p = 0.041) and was an independent predictor of worse overall survival (OS) (p = 0.012). Re-analysis of published gene expression data showed that reduced SLIT2 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with worse OS in R-CHOP-treated ABC DLBCL patients (p = <0.01). Hypermethylation of the SLIT2 promotor was significantly correlated with low SLIT2 expression (p = 0.009). Our results provide a novel evidence of reduced expression of SLIT2 that is associated with promoter hypermethylation and adverse outcomes in patients with DLBCL

Measurement of a reaction-diffusion crossover in exciton-exciton recombination inside carbon nanotubes using femtosecond optical absorption

Exciton-exciton recombination in isolated semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes was studied using femtosecond transient absorption. Under sufficient excitation to saturate the optical absorption, we observed an abrupt transition between reaction- and diffusion- limited kinetics, arising from reactions between incoherent localized excitons with a finite probability of ~ 0.2 per encounter. This represents the first experimental observation of a crossover between classical and critical kinetics in a 1D coalescing random walk, which is a paradigm for the study of non- equilibrium systems.Comment: Accepted for Physical Review Letters. Title changed, and "exciton fusion" replaced by "exciton-exciton recombination". Present address of Prof Tom Brown added. 12 pages plus 3 figure

Effect of Adding Physiotherapy Program to the Conservative Medical Therapy on Quality of Life and Pain in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients

Objective To assess the effectiveness of combining physiotherapy techniques with conservative medical treatment in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients. Methods Sixty-eight volunteers with CRS were randomly assigned. Group A received only traditional medical treatment, whereas group B received a physiotherapy program that included pulsed ultrasound therapy, sinus manual drainage techniques, and self-sinus massage technique in addition to traditional medical treatment. Interventions were applied 3 sessions a week for 4 weeks. The rhinosinusitis disability index (RSDI) served as the main outcome indicator for assessing the quality of life, and the secondary outcome measure was the pressure pain threshold (PPT) using a pressure algometer. Results Wilcoxon signed rank test revealed a significant reduction (p<0.001) in total RSDI values from 71.08±1.13 pretest to 47.14±1.15 posttest for group A, while it decreased from 70.64±1.20 pretreatment to 31.76±1.04 posttreatment for group B; furthermore, Mann–Whitney U-test revealed a significant difference (p<0.001) in total RSDI values between both groups when comparing the change of the pre-post data values, it was 23.94±0.95 for group A and 38.88±0.67 for group B. The independent t-test revealed a highly statistically significant increase (p<0.001) in the PPT values in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion The physiotherapy program which included pulsed ultrasound therapy, sinus manual drainage technique, and self-sinus massage technique in conjunction with conventional medical treatment was more beneficial for enhancing the quality of life and PPT than traditional medical treatment alone in CRS patients

Tissue Microenvironments Define and Get Reinforced by Macrophage Phenotypes in Homeostasis or during Inflammation, Repair and Fibrosis

Current macrophage phenotype classifications are based on distinct in vitro culture conditions that do not adequately mirror complex tissue environments. In vivo monocyte progenitors populate all tissues for immune surveillance which supports the maintenance of homeostasis as well as regaining homeostasis after injury. Here we propose to classify macrophage phenotypes according to prototypical tissue environments, e.g. as they occur during homeostasis as well as during the different phases of (dermal) wound healing. In tissue necrosis and/or infection, damage- and/or pathogen-associated molecular patterns induce proinflammatory macrophages by Toll-like receptors or inflammasomes. Such classically activated macrophages contribute to further tissue inflammation and damage. Apoptotic cells and antiinflammatory cytokines dominate in postinflammatory tissues which induce macrophages to produce more antiinflammatory mediators. Similarly, tumor-associated macrophages also confer immunosuppression in tumor stroma. Insufficient parenchymal healing despite abundant growth factors pushes macrophages to gain a profibrotic phenotype and promote fibrocyte recruitment which both enforce tissue scarring. Ischemic scars are largely devoid of cytokines and growth factors so that fibrolytic macrophages that predominantly secrete proteases digest the excess extracellular matrix. Together, macrophages stabilize their surrounding tissue microenvironments by adapting different phenotypes as feed-forward mechanisms to maintain tissue homeostasis or regain it following injury. Furthermore, macrophage heterogeneity in healthy or injured tissues mirrors spatial and temporal differences in microenvironments during the various stages of tissue injury and repair. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base