Pregnancy-Associated Pyogenic Sacroiliitis: Case Report and Review

Background: Pyogenic sacroiliitis occurs infrequently during the peripartum period. Case: A case at our institution and a review of the literature were analyzed. A total of 15 cases were discovered. The onset of illness was during pregnancy (40% of cases), within 3 weeks postpartum (40%) or post-abortion (20%), and the presentation was usually acute (< 7 days in 67% of cases). Frequent manifestations included localized pain in the hips or buttock, sacroiliac joint tenderness and fever. Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging revealed joint involvement in all cases tested. Microbiology was confirmed by blood (40%) or joint aspirate (75%), and most patients were treated with antibiotics. Surgical intervention took place in five cases. Pretermlabor was reported in only one case. All patients respondedwell to therapy without locomotive disability, and persistent pain was uncommon. Conclusion: Septic sacroiliitis should be considered in peripartum patients who present with fever and severe localized pain. Medical management is usually curative, and without an adverse effect on pregnancy

Organizational Identification: A Context-Specific Mitigating Resource of Work–Family Conflict

The tension between work and non-work life remains a critical issue in contemporary careers. This study explores the role of organizational identification (OI) in reducing work–family conflict (WFC) within demanding and high-stakes jobs in dynamic, uncertain and potentially dangerous contexts (e.g., firefighting). Survey data from 341 firefighters suggest that, congruent with conservation of resources theory and scarcity theory, OI may serve as a resource that mitigates WFC in these contexts. Additionally, the data suggest that the negative relationship between OI and WFC is stronger when trauma is low. For practice, this study provides important implications for employees in similar contexts concerning potential ways to mitigate WFC as well as recommendations concerning exposure to trauma

Ambiguity and Freedom of Dissent in Post-Incident Discussion

The after-action review (AAR) is a discussion technique some high-reliability organizations employ to encourage learning via collective retrospection. AARs are an effective communication tool for promoting reliability if they are held regularly. One way to encourage frequent AARs is to increase participants’ satisfaction with these meetings. This study examined the impact of post-incident, pre-discussion ambiguity and freedom of dissent on participant satisfaction with AARs. Firefighters (N = 119) completed a survey on their most recent AAR. As predicted, the level of post-incident, pre-discussion ambiguity was negatively related to AAR satisfaction. Freedom of dissent, however, attenuated the negative influence of ambiguity on AAR satisfaction

Shouldering a silent burden: The toll of dirty tasks

Dirty work involves tasks that are stigmatized owing to characteristics that the public finds disgusting, degrading, or objectionable. Conservation of resources theory suggests such experiences should induce strain and decreased work satisfaction; social identity theory suggests such work should lead to strong psychological investment in the work, among other outcomes. Integrating these two perspectives, this study hypothesizes and presents quantitative evidence from 499 animal-shelter workers, demonstrating how dirty-work engagement relates to higher levels of strain, job involvement, and reluctance to discuss work while negatively influencing work satisfaction. Additionally, this study takes a unique perspective on dirty work by focusing on dirty tasks within a dirty-work occupation. The data suggest meaningful differences between the outcomes of dirty-task frequency and dirty-task psychological salience, providing additional insight into the complexity of stigmatized occupations and ways in which future research and theory benefit as a result

Less acting, more doing: How surface acting relates to perceived meeting effectiveness and other employee outcomes

This study adds to the growing body of research on work meetings and extends the emotional labour literature beyond a service context by examining the relationship between surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness. Additionally, the relationships of surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness with time-lagged reports of intention to quit and emotional exhaustion 3 months later were investigated. Structural equation modelling of data from 178 working adults revealed negative relationships between surface acting and perceptions of meeting effectiveness. Perceived meeting effectiveness partially mediated the relationship between surface acting and both intention to quit and emotional exhaustion 3 months later. These findings expand both the limited research on perceived meeting effectiveness and the surface acting nomological network to include a consideration that expressing inauthentic emotions in meetings (surface acting) may relate to the perceived effectiveness of the meeting. As well, both surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness may relate to how emotionally exhausted employees feel and their intentions to seek other employment. Given the cost and pervasiveness of meetings in daily organizational life and their potential effects on the well-being of employees, understanding how to make meetings effective is paramount – particularly if researchers and practitioners want to better understand how perceived meeting effectiveness may be related to various employee outcomes

Huntington’s Disease: Assessing The Needs of Patients and Caregivers in Vermont

Introduction: Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurological disorder that causes a progressive decline in motor, cognitive and psychiatric function. • HD affects 30,000 people in the USA. In Vermont it is estimated that 69 individuals have HD and 420 people are at risk for developing the disease. • Crescent Manor Care Centers is currently the only long term care facility in Vermont that houses Huntington’s patients. Patients receive care specific to HD including PT, OT, Speech Therapy and community activities. Currently, 13 of 40 beds are occupied. • There is one HD support group in the state located in South Burlington which meets once a month. Due to the low population of HD patients in the state, there is no single state government agency responsible for managing the care of HD patients.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1077/thumbnail.jp

Euthanasia-related strain and coping strategies in animal shelter employees

Objective—To identify and evaluate coping strategies advocated by experienced animal shelter workers who directly engaged in euthanizing animals. Design—Cross-sectional study. Sample Population—Animal shelters across the United States in which euthanasia was conducted (5 to 100 employees/shelter). Procedures—With the assistance of experts associated with the Humane Society of the United States, the authors identified 88 animal shelters throughout the United States in which animal euthanasia was actively conducted and for which contact information regarding the shelter director was available. Staff at 62 animal shelters agreed to participate in the survey. Survey packets were mailed to the 62 shelter directors, who then distributed them to employees. The survey included questions regarding respondent age, level of education, and role and asked those directly involved in the euthanasia of animals to provide advice on strategies for new euthanasia technicians to deal with the related stress. Employees completed the survey and returned it by mail. Content analysis techniques were used to summarize survey responses. Results—Coping strategies suggested by 242 euthanasia technicians were summarized into 26 distinct coping recommendations in 8 categories: competence or skills strategies, euthanasia behavioral strategies, cognitive or self-talk strategies, emotional regulation strategies, separation strategies, get-help strategies, seek long-term solution strategies, and withdrawal strategies. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Euthanizing animals is a major stressor for many animal shelter workers. Information regarding the coping strategies identified in this study may be useful for training new euthanasia technicians

Age-Specific Induction of Mutant P53 Drives Clonal Hematopoiesis and Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Adult Mice

The investigation of the mechanisms behind p53 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been limited by the lack of suitable mouse models, which historically have resulted in lymphoma rather than leukemia. This study introduces two new AML mouse models. One model induces mutant p53 and Mdm2 haploinsufficiency in early development, showing the role of Mdm2 in myeloid-biased hematopoiesis and AML predisposition, independent of p53. The second model mimics clonal hematopoiesis by inducing mutant p53 in adult hematopoietic stem cells, demonstrating that the timing of p53 mutation determines AML vs. lymphoma development. In this context, age-related changes in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) collaborate with mutant p53 to predispose toward myeloid transformation rather than lymphoma development. Our study unveils new insights into the cooperative impact of HSC age, Trp53 mutations, and Mdm2 haploinsufficiency on clonal hematopoiesis and the development of myeloid malignancies

A qualitative study of stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment

Over two billion people are using the Internet at present, assisted by the mediating activities of software agents which deal with the diversity and complexity of information. There are, however, ethical issues due to the monitoring-and-surveillance, data mining and autonomous nature of software agents. Considering the context, this study aims to comprehend stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment in order to identify the main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services in the near future. Twenty-one stakeholders, belonging to three key stakeholder groups, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy for unstandardised semi-structured e-mail interviews. The interview data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. It was possible to identify three main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services, which were classified into the following categories: comprehensive understanding of users' perception of privacy, user type recognition algorithms for software agent development and existing software agents enhancement