The impact of remuneration on staff motivation (The case of a bank branch)

Researchers and managers have created the concept of work motivation to better understand the operation of firms and organizations, as they recognize the need of creating this emotion in order to provide more effort. Managers began to place a greater emphasis on the social climate and the relationship between employees and their workplaces, i.e.the elements that motivate people to be more dedicated to their jobs. They were also interested in the salary practices that will be implemented in the firm in order to boost employee performance. The purpose of this research is to look into the role of salary as a motivator in a finance department. In fact, we conducted a questionnaire study of a sample of employees, concentrating on motivating factors and the value placed on pay (and its components). Pay is the most motivating element, along with other variables such as effective career management, training, recognition by superiors, and better working environment, according to the findings

Investigation of a Cluster of Candida albicans Invasive Candidiasis in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Nosocomial invasive candidiasis (IC) has emerged as a major problem in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). We investigated herein the temporal clustering of six cases of neonatal IC due to Candida albicans in an NICU. Eighteen isolates obtained from the six neonates and two isolates from two health care workers (HCWs) working at the same unit and suffering from fingers' onychomycosis were genotyped by electrophoretic karyotyping (EK) and restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA by using Sfi I (PFGE-Sfi I). PFGE-Sfi I was more effective in discriminating between temporally related isolates. It showed that (i) both HCWs had specific strains excluding them as a source of infections in neonates. (ii) Isolates collected from three neonates were identical providing evidence of their clonal origin and the occurrence of a horizontal transmission of C. albicans in the unit. (iii) The three remaining neonates had specific strains confirming that the IC cases were coincidental. (iv) Microevolution occurred in one catheter-related candidemia case. Our results illustrate the relevance of the molecular approach to investigate suspected outbreaks in hospital surveys and the effectiveness of PFGE-Sfi I for typing of epidemiologically related C. albicans isolates

Occurrence of Leishmania infantum cutaneous leishmaniasis in central Tunisia

International audienceCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) due to Leishmania infantum occurs sporadically in Tunisia where its distribution is confined to the northern parts of the country. However, during the past decade there have been occasional repeated reports of cases from areas in central Tunisia, known to be free of CL. Epidemiological, clinical and parasitological data regarding these patients were collected and analysed. Data were very suggestive of the sporadic form of CL due to L. infantum. The parasites contained within the lesions of some of the patients were characterised by two different previously described PCR assays, each having different resolutive powers. The first assay, which amplified complete kDNA minicircles, showed a fragment size characteristic of the L. donovani complex; whilst the second consisted of a PCR-RFLP analysis targeting the gp63 coding sequences that confirmed assignment of the parasites to L. infantum species while illustrating its differences from the reference isolate. These findings confirm the aetiology of CL in the concerned areas in central Tunisia and suggest that L. infantum CL might be more prevalent and widespread than previously thought, or possibly emerging in these areas

A new IgG immunoblot kit for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women.

International audienceThe determination of the accurate immune status of pregnant women is crucial in order to prevent congenital toxoplasmosis. Equivocal results with conventional serological techniques are not uncommon when IgG titers are close to the cut-off value of the test, so that a confirmatory technique is needed. For this purpose, we developed a homemade immunoblot (IB) using soluble extract of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and assessed it by testing 154 positive, 100 negative, and 123 equivocal sera obtained from pregnant women. In order to select the more valuable bands in terms of sensitivity and specificity, we used the Youden Index (YI). The highest YIs were those given by the 32, 36, 98, 21, and 33 bands. The simultaneous presence on the same blot of at least 3 bands showed a much higher YI (0.964) and was adapted as the positivity criterion. The analysis of results showed that our homemade IB correlated well with the commercial LDBIO Toxo II IgG® kit recently recommended as a confirmatory test (96.7% of concordance)

Microsatellite Typing of Aspergillus flavus Strains in a Tunisian Onco-hematology Unit

International audienceAspergillus flavus is the most common species associated with invasive aspergillosis in Tunisia. The molecular epidemiology of the species is poorly documented. We used five highly discriminative microsatellite markers for the genotyping of clinical and hospital environmental A. flavus strains to assess whether IA could be hospital-acquired in the onco-hematology unit of the Farhat Hached teaching hospital of Sousse, Tunisia. The genotyping of 18 clinical isolates, collected from sputa of 17 acute leukemia patients, and 81 isolates, collected in these patients' hospital environment and food, identified 57 isolates that were grouped in 10 clones, each of them including 2-17 isolates. The remaining 42 isolates showed a unique genotype. Two main transmission scenarios were observed: (1) the same clone was isolated from different patients; (2) the same clone was isolated from a patient, its hospital environment and/or food. These findings strongly suggest the occurrence of hospital-acquired A. flavus infection/colonization in the investigated onco-hematology unit