Tecniche di 3D bioprinting per la stampa di tessuto cutaneo

Ogni anno 11 milioni di persone necessitano di cure legate alle ustioni il cui trattamento (in caso di lesioni estese) comporta l'asportazione chirurgica della pelle danneggiata e la ricostruzione della lesione con l'aiuto di sostituti della pelle. La creazione di un tessuto cutaneo 3D in vitro deve considerare la presenza delle diverse componenti del tessuto nativo (vasi sanguigni ecc.) e delle sue funzioni primarie biologiche e biomeccaniche. Attraverso un adeguato trattamento sarà possibile creare modelli di tessuto malato per studiare patologie come tumori o malattie cutanee. I costrutti potranno essere utilizzati anche per effettuare test in vitro di farmaci e cosmetici. Le tecniche tradizionali per realizzarli presentano limiti come l’impossibilità di avere un controllo preciso sulla porosità degli scaffold e sulla distribuzione cellulare in essi, o il rischio di incorrere in stress fisico/chimici sui biomateriali. Possono essere implementate solo in vitro. La 3D bioprinting ha le potenzialità per colmare tali limiti, portando ad ottenere un tessuto sempre più fisiologicamente simile a quello nativo e adatto ad essere impiantato. Questa tecnologia gode di altri benefici come la possibilità di stampare costrutti su misura, con struttura identica al sito della ferita e disposizione cellulare omogenea, che consente una maggiore vitalità cellulare in tutte le zone del costrutto. Consente anche una notevole riduzione dei tempi di generazione del costrutto. Vengono presentate le principali tecniche di 3D bioprinting attualmente utilizzate, i metodi di pre- e post-processing, pregi e difetti di ogni tecnica evidenziando i risultati migliori ottenuti con esse. Inoltre, ci si focalizzerà su alcuni lavori presenti in letteratura, che propongono varie modifiche apportate ai bioinchiostri o alle stampanti, per stampare un tessuto cutaneo strutturalmente completo. Si discutono infine le sfide future alle quali si andrà incontro e le innovazioni possibili in questo ambito

ITALIAN ADAPTATION OF WARR’S JOB-RELATED AFFECTIVE WELL-BEING SCALE: FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE HSE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS INDICATOR TOOL

Standardized methodological frameworks including the UK Health and Safety Executive Manage-ment Standards (HSE-MS) have been proposed to aid comparison across organizations in quantifying job stressors. In contrast, the measurement of job strain (and job-related well-being) has been character-ized by lower standardization, resulting in multiple conceptualizations and indicators. Here, we evaluated the psychometrics of the Italian adaptation of Warr’s (1990a) Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (W-JAWS), and its suitability as a job strain indicator to be integrated with the HSE-MS approach. In line with previous studies, data from 541 civil servants supported a 4-factor measurement model (i.e., Anxi-ety, Comfort, Depression, and Enthusiasm), and highlighted linear relationships with multiple HSE-MS risk indicators (i.e., Demand, Control, Peer Support, Change, and Role). Overall, our findings qualify the W-JAWS as a suitable standardized job strain indicator tool, which could be used synergically within the HSE-MS approach to provide comparable results across organizations and countries

A weekly diary within-individual investigation of the relationship between exposure to bullying behavior, workplace phobia, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology

Most studies on workplace bullying have adopted a between-person approach, neglecting the potential within-individual fluctuations in the experience of bullying behaviors. However, investigating such fluctuations may prove useful for uncovering processes and mechanisms associated with bullying and its antecedents and consequences as they unfold over time. In the present study, based on recent discoveries on traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress (PTS), we hypothesized that even short-term exposure to bullying behaviors—such as the exposure that characterizes an individual when the time window considered is a working week—may already have a substantial psychological impact at the within-individual level, as indicated by the experience of PTS symptoms. Additionally, we hypothesized that the development of workplace phobia may act as a mechanism linking the exposure to bullying behaviors during the week and the reported PTS symptomatology, and that person-level vulnerability factors to PTS (e.g., a recent trauma and female gender) accentuate the within-individual relationships. We tested the proposed hypotheses on a sample of 158 workers that were followed for 6 consecutive working weeks for a total of 860 observations. In line with other recent within-individual investigations, we found that exposure to bullying behaviors shows substantial week-level fluctuations. We also found overall support for the hypotheses, including evidence of a within-level lagged impact of bullying behaviors on workplace phobia, suggesting that even nonpersistent exposure to such behaviors is related to potentially nonignorable psychological suffering and PTS symptoms

Workplace Bullying as a Risk Factor for Musculoskeletal Disorders: The Mediating Role of Job-Related Psychological Strain

Workplace bullying is considered by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work one of the emerging psychosocial risk factors that could negatively affect workers’ health. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the process that leads from bullying to negative health (such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)), testing the mediating role of job-related strain. Data were collected on 512 workers (62.9% female; mean age = 43.6 years) of a retail chain who filled in a self-report questionnaire after a one-hour training session on work-related stress. Data analyses were performed controlling for potentially confounding variables (i.e., gender, age, organizational role, type of contract, and perceived physical job demands). Preacher and Hayes analytical approach was used to test the indirect relationship between bullying and MSDs. Results showed that work-related strain mediates the relationship between bullying and MSDs considered (low back, upper back, and neck) except for MSDs of the shoulders. Our study confirms the role played by bullying and job-related strain in determining workers’ MSDs

Long-term associations of psychosocial working conditions with depressive symptoms and work-related emotional exhaustion: comparing effects in a 5-year prospective study of 1949 workers in Germany

Objective: To test the hypothesis that psychosocial working conditions are more strongly associated with subsequent work-related emotional exhaustion (core component of burnout) than with depressive symptoms at follow-up. Methods: A 5-year cohort study (2011/2012–2017), based on a random sample of persons in employment subject to payment of social contributions aged 31–60 years (Study on Mental Health at Work; S-MGA; N = 1949), included self-reported measures of organisational demands (organisational layoffs and restructuring), task-level demands (work pace and amount of work) and job resources (influence at work, possibilities for development, control over working time, role clarity), all taken from the COPSOQ, except the organisational demands that were single-item measures. Work-related emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms were measured with the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, respectively. Results: Cochrane Q tests revealed stronger associations between psychosocial working conditions and work-related emotional exhaustion only for the amount of work (p = 0.013) and control over working time (p = 0.027). No differences were observed for the Demands and Resources Indexes, capturing overall exposure to psychosocial working conditions. The same differences were observed in a subsample including only participants who remained at the same employer from baseline to follow-up, although more psychosocial working conditions were associated with work-related emotional exhaustion than with depressive symptoms. Supplementary analyses employing dichotomous measures of work-related emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms confirmed these results. Conclusions: Overall, the findings provide limited evidence supporting the hypothesis that psychosocial working conditions are more strongly associated with work-related emotional exhaustion than with depressive symptoms

Acute Effects of Kinesio Taping on Functional Performance in Healthy Soccer Players: A Randomized, Controlled Crossover Trial

this study aimed to investigate the acute effects of the kinesio tape (KT) application on functional performance in healthy athletes. in this randomized, controlled crossover trial, a total of sixteen healthy soccer players (male = 14; age = 23.28 +/- 3.13 years old) were assigned randomly into either KT over quadriceps, KT over hamstring, KT over quadriceps plus hamstring, or no intervention control condition. four conditions were applied in a crossover design through three consecutive test sessions for each condition with a washout period of 2 days between the trials. afterwards, all participants performed a 5-min warm-up routine and four sets of 30-s static stretching exercises for the hamstring and gluteal muscles for three consecutive treatment sessions. the running, jump, and flexibility tests were used to assess the functional performance of healthy athletes. a total of sixteen participants completed the study. no significant differences in the jump, flexibility, and running tests among the conditions were reported (p > 0.05). these findings suggest that KT application has no acute effects in improving functional performance in healthy athletes. however, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to verify our results

Psychopathological Burden among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared to the Pre-Pandemic Period

This retrospective observational study on hospital staff requesting an “application visit” (from 2017 to 2022) at the Occupational Medicine department aimed at comparing a “pre-COVID group” (2017–2019) with a “COVID group” (2020–2022) regarding (a) sociodemographic data (i.e., age, sex, occupation, years of employment at the hospital), (b) rate and type of psychiatric diagnoses in both groups and rate of psychiatric diagnoses per subject, and (c) rate of drug/psychotherapeutic prescriptions. Two hundred and five healthcare workers (F = 73.7%; mean age = 50.7 ± 10.33) were visited. Compared with the pre-COVID group, healthcare workers evaluated during COVID-19 were significantly younger and reported fewer years of employment at the hospital. Although rates of primary psychiatric diagnoses were similar in both samples, an increased number of psychopathologies per subject and associated treatment prescriptions in the COVID group was observed. In the COVID group, 61% had one psychiatric diagnosis, and 28% had 2+ psychiatric diagnoses, compared with 83.8% and 6.7% of pre-COVID. Furthermore, 56.2%/1.9% in pre-COVID and 73%/6% in the COVID group were prescribed drugs/psychotherapy, respectively. The findings of the present study highlighted an increase in both younger workers’ requests and psychiatric comorbidities during the pandemic, representing a burden on the Italian healthcare system. It is thus relevant to address the mental health challenges of healthcare workers accordingly

Manager–Team (Dis)agreement on Stress-Preventive Behaviours: Relationship with Psychosocial Work Environment and Employees’ Well-Being

The “Management Competencies to Prevent and Reduce Stress at Work” (MCPARS) approach focuses on identifying the stress-preventive managers’ competencies able to optimise the employees’ well-being through the management of the psychosocial work environment. Considering leadership as contextualised in complex social dynamics, the self–other agreement (SOA) investigation of the MCPARS may enhance previous findings, as it allows for exploring the manager–team perceptions’ (dis)agreement and its potential implications. However, no studies have tested the MCPARS using the SOA and multisource data. Grounded in Yammarino and Atwater’s SOA reference theory, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the MCPARS’s theoretical framework by examining the implications of manager–team (dis)agreement, regarding managers’ competencies, on employees’ psychosocial environment (H1–H2) and affective well-being (H3). Data from 36 managers and 475 employees were analysed by performing several polynomial regressions, response surface, and mediation analyses. The results reveal a significant relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ perceptions of the psychosocial environment (H1). Employees report better perceptions when supervised by in-agreement good or under-estimator managers, while lower ratings occur under over-estimator or in-agreement poor managers (H2). Moreover, the psychosocial environment significantly mediated the relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ well-being (H3). The MCPARS theoretical model’s soundness is supported, and its implications are discussed