Too proactive to switch off: When taking charge drains resources and impairs detachment

Although proactive behavior is an important determinant of individual work performance, its consequences for employee well-being and other personal outcomes have been largely neglected. In this study, we adopted a within-person perspective to investigate how taking charge behavior (a form of proactivity) affects employees' life outside of work by examining when and how it impacts on their ability to detach and recover from work. Drawing upon resource drain theory, we hypothesized that taking charge has the potential to undermine the process of detachment and recovery from work by draining personal resources. However, based on self-determination theory, we identified autonomous motivation as an essential boundary condition, such that the negative effects of taking charge on detachment and recovery via resource drain occur only when daily autonomous motivation is low. We tested this model on a sample of 77 managers, who provided daily survey data 3 times per day over 5 consecutive working days. Our analyses showed that daily taking charge behavior was negatively related to detachment in the evening, via resource drain, only on days in which people reported low autonomous motivation at work. However, this conditional effect of taking charge did not reach through to next morning recovery. No negative effects of daily taking charge on detachment were observed when people had high autonomous motivation. Overall, these findings suggest that, under some motivational conditions, proactivity can consume resources and interfere with the process of detachment. We offer practical advice for how organizations might encourage proactive behavior while minimizing its drawbacks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Difficult diagnosis of atypical kawasaki disease in an infant younger than six months: a case report

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute inflammatory vasculitis of unknown origin. Case presentation: We report the case of a 5-month-old child with an atypical form of KD, characterized by undulating symptoms, who developed an aneurysm of the right coronary artery and an ectasia of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Conclusion: This case report underlines the difficulties in recognizing incomplete forms of the illness in young infants, who are at higher risk of cardiac complications

Thyroid function in Klinefelter syndrome: a multi center study from KING group

Purpose The prevalence and the etiopathogenesis of thyroid dysfunctions in Klinefelter syndrome (KS) are still unclear. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the pathogenetic role of hypogonadism in the thyroid disorders described in KS, with the scope to distinguish between patients with KS and hypogonadism due to other causes (Kallmann syndrome, idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, iatrogenic hypogonadism and acquired hypogonadotropic hypogonadism after surgical removal of pituitary adenomas) called non-KS. Therefore, we evaluated thyroid function in KS and in non-KS hypogonadal patients. Methods This is a case\u2013control multicentre study from KING group: Endocrinology clinics in university-affiliated medical centres. One hundred and seventy four KS, and sixty-two non-KS hypogonadal men were enrolled. The primary outcome was the prevalence of thyroid diseases in KS and in non-KS. Changes in hormonal parameters were evaluated. Exclusion criterion was secondary hypothyroidism. Analyses were performed using Student\u2019s t test. Mann\u2013Whitney test and Chi-square test. Results FT4 was significantly lower in KS vs non-KS. KS and non-KS presented similar TSH and testosterone levels. Hashimoto\u2019s thyroiditis (HT) was diagnosed in 7% of KS. Five KS developed hypothyroidism. The ratio FT3/FT4 was similar in both groups. TSH index was 1.9 in KS and 2.3 in non-KS. Adjustment for differences in age, sample size and concomitant disease in multivariate models did not alter the results. Conclusions We demonstrated in KS no etiopathogenic link to hypogonadism or change in the set point of thyrotrophic control in the altered FT4 production. The prevalence of HT in KS was similar to normal male population, showing absence of increased risk of HT associated with the XXY karyotype

Evidence for a Common Genetic Origin of Classic and Milder Adult-Onset Forms of Isolated Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism

Multiple metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms are considered the determinants of acquired functional isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) in males, whereas classic IHH is a rare congenital condition with a strong genetic background. Since we recently uncovered a frequent familiarity for classic IHH among patients with mild adult-onset hypogonadism (AO-IHH), here we performed a genetic characterization by next generation sequencing of 160 males with classic or "functional" forms. The prevalence of rare variants in 28 candidate genes was significantly higher than in controls in all IHH patients, independently of the age of IHH onset, degree of hypogonadism or presence of obesity. In fact, it did not differ among patients with classic or milder forms of IHH, however particular genes appear to be more specifically associated with one or the other category of IHH. ROC curves showed that Total Testosterone <6.05 nmol/L and an age of onset <41 years are sensitive cutoffs to identify patients with significantly higher chances of harboring rare IHH gene variants. In conclusion, rare IHH genes variants can frequently predispose to AO-IHH with acquired mild hormonal deficiencies. The identification of a genetic predisposition can improve the familial and individual management of AO-IHH and explain the heritability of congenital IHH

Vitamin D and COVID-19 severity and related mortality: a prospective study in Italy

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has been suggested to favor a poorer outcome of Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). We aimed to assess if 25-hydroxyvitamin-D (25OHD) levels are associated with interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and with disease severity and mortality in COVID-19. Methods: We prospectively studied 103 in-patients admitted to a Northern-Italian hospital (age 66.1 ± 14.1 years, 70 males) for severely-symptomatic COVID-19. Fifty-two subjects with SARS-CoV-2 infection but mild COVID-19 symptoms (mildly-symptomatic COVID-19 patients) and 206 subjects without SARS-CoV-2 infection were controls. We measured 25OHD and IL-6 levels at admission and focused on respiratory outcome during hospitalization. Results: Severely-symptomatic COVID-19 patients had lower 25OHD levels (18.2 ± 11.4 ng/mL) than mildly-symptomatic COVID-19 patients and non-SARS-CoV-2-infected controls (30.3 ± 8.5 ng/mL and 25.4 ± 9.4 ng/mL, respectively, p &lt; 0.0001 for both comparisons). 25OHD and IL-6 levels were respectively lower and higher in severely-symptomatic COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care Unit [(ICU), 14.4 ± 8.6 ng/mL and 43.0 (19.0–56.0) pg/mL, respectively], than in those not requiring ICU admission [22.4 ± 1.4 ng/mL, p = 0.0001 and 16.0 (8.0–32.0) pg/mL, p = 0.0002, respectively]. Similar differences were found when comparing COVID-19 patients who died in hospital [13.2 ± 6.4 ng/mL and 45.0 (28.0–99.0) pg/mL] with survivors [19.3 ± 12.0 ng/mL, p = 0.035 and 21.0 (10.5–45.9) pg/mL, p = 0.018, respectively). 25OHD levels inversely correlated with: i) IL-6 levels (ρ − 0.284, p = 0.004); ii) the subsequent need of the ICU admission [relative risk, RR 0.99, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.98–1.00, p = 0.011] regardless of age, gender, presence of at least 1 comorbidity among obesity, diabetes, arterial hypertension, creatinine, IL-6 and lactate dehydrogenase levels, neutrophil cells, lymphocytes and platelets count; iii) mortality (RR 0.97, 95%CI, 0.95–0.99, p = 0.011) regardless of age, gender, presence of diabetes, IL-6 and C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase levels, neutrophil cells, lymphocytes and platelets count. Conclusion: In our COVID-19 patients, low 25OHD levels were inversely correlated with high IL-6 levels and were independent predictors of COVID-19 severity and mortality

Handling Time and Bite Mass Mechanisms in Large Herbivores: Contrasts between Sward Structure and Grazing Methods

Grazing is a time-dependent process where jaw movements of prehension, handling and chewing compete with them (Laca et al. 1994; Ungar et al. 2006). The grazing efficiency is dependent of bite mass and time per bite. Bite mass has been related to sward structure by forage height, structural components (Cangiano et al. 2002). In rotational stocking this effect becomes more pronounced, especially under high grazing down levels. Consequently, there is a progressive reduction in short-term intake rate (Fonseca et al. in press). New management targets should be proposed based on the predominant influence of sward structure in short-term intake rate by grazing animals (Carvalho et al. 2007). We hypothesise that intake potential of animals grazing tropical pastures will be reduced due to higher constraints in bite formation when compared to temperate pastures. This study aimed to investigate the intake process of heifers under the influence of different sward heights and grazing down levels in two contrasting - tropical and temperate - forage species

Processing of Retinal Signals in Normal and HCN Deficient Mice

This study investigates the role of two different HCN channel isoforms in the light response of the outer retina. Taking advantage of HCN-deficient mice models and of in vitro (patch-clamp) and in vivo (ERG) recordings of retinal activity we show that HCN1 and HCN2 channels are expressed at distinct retinal sites and serve different functions. Specifically, HCN1 operate mainly at the level of the photoreceptor inner segment from where, together with other voltage sensitive channels, they control the time course of the response to bright light. Conversely, HCN2 channels are mainly expressed on the dendrites of bipolar cells and affect the response to dim lights. Single cell recordings in HCN1−/− mice or during a pharmacological blockade of Ih show that, contrary to previous reports, Ikx alone is able to generate the fast initial transient in the rod bright flash response. Here we demonstrate that the relative contribution of Ih and Ikx to the rods' temporal tuning depends on the membrane potential. This is the first instance in which the light response of normal and HCN1- or HCN2-deficient mice is analyzed in single cells in retinal slice preparations and in integrated full field ERG responses from intact animals. This comparison reveals a high degree of correlation between single cell current clamp data and ERG measurements. A novel picture emerges showing that the temporal profile of the visual response to dim and bright luminance changes is separately determined by the coordinated gating of distinct voltage dependent conductances in photoreceptors and bipolar cells