Ethical conflicts among physicians and nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Rationale, Aims and Objectives The healthcare system and professionals working in the sector have experienced a high caseload during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has increased the potential for morally harmful events that violate professionals' moral codes and values. The aim of this study was to understand and explore experiences of new moral challenges emerging among physicians and nurses caring for individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist was used in this qualitative study based on Gadamer's phenomenology. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Thirteen medicine and nursing graduates were interviewed in depth. The participants all worked on the frontline at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were gathered in two basic healthcare districts in Spain, encompassing both primary care and hospital care. Results Four main themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) Betrayal of moral and ethical values as a key source of suffering; (2) Ethical and moral sense of failure accompanying loss of meaning; (3) Lack of confidence in performance; (4) Self-demand and self-punishment as personal condemnation among healthcare workers. Conclusions Health institutions must implement interventions for health professionals to help mitigate the consequences of experiencing complex ethical scenarios during the pandemic. In addition, they should promote training in moral and ethical deliberation and prepare them to make decisions of great ethical significance

Occupational factors associated with health-related quality of life in nursing professionals: a multi-centre study

Background: Nursing professionals are exposed to stressful situations arising from the work context that may affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between sociodemographic and work-related variables regarding HRQoL in nursing professionals. Methods: A multi-centre, cross-sectional descriptive design was used. The participants consisted 1521 nurses working in healthcare centres, in both primary care and hospital care, in the eight provinces of the Andalusian Public Health System (APHS), Spain. Sociodemographic and work-related variables were analysed: Compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction and burnout were measured using the professional quality of life questionnaire (ProQOL), and HRQoL was measured using the SF-12 health questionnaire. Results: Compassion fatigue, burnou, and, to a lesser extent, compassion satisfaction significantly influence the physical and mental components of HRQoL. The simple regression analysis showed that burnout and compassion fatigue were significantly associated with the mental component of HRQoL. Gender influenced the mental component of HRQoL. The rest of the sociodemographic and work-related variables were not significantly related to HRQoL. Conclusion: Work-related stress and repeated contact with situations of suffering influence HRQoL. Health systems must implement programmes to increase the emotional well-being of workers

The photosynthetic cytochrome c550 from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

The photosynthetic cytochrome c550 from the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been purified and characterized. Cytochrome c550 is mostly obtained from the soluble cell extract in relatively large amounts. In addition, the protein appeared to be truncated in the last hydrophobic residues of the C-terminus, both in the soluble cytochrome c550 and in the protein extracted from the membrane fraction, as deduced by mass spectrometry analysis and the comparison with the gene sequence. Interestingly, it has been described that the C-terminus of cytochrome c550 forms a hydrophobic finger involved in the interaction with photosystem II in cyanobacteria. Cytochrome c550 was almost absent in solubilized photosystem II complex samples, in contrast with the PsbO and Psb31 extrinsic subunits, thus suggesting a lower affinity of cytochrome c550 for the photosystem II complex. Under iron-limiting conditions the amount of cytochrome c550 decreases up to about 45% as compared to iron-replete cells, pointing to an iron-regulated synthesis. Oxidized cytochrome c550 has been characterized using continuous wave EPR and pulse techniques, including HYSCORE, and the obtained results have been interpreted in terms of the electrostatic charge distribution in the surroundings of the heme centre

The photosynthetic cytochrome c550 from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

The photosynthetic cytochrome c550 from the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been purified and characterized. Cytochrome c550 is mostly obtained from the soluble cell extract in relatively large amounts. In addition, the protein appeared to be truncated in the last hydrophobic residues of the C-terminus, both in the soluble cytochrome c550 and in the protein extracted from the membrane fraction, as deduced by mass spectrometry analysis and the comparison with the gene sequence. Interestingly, it has been described that the C-terminus of cytochrome c550 forms a hydrophobic finger involved in the interaction with photosystem II in cyanobacteria. Cytochrome c550 was almost absent in solubilized photosystem II complex samples, in contrast with the PsbO and Psb31 extrinsic subunits, thus suggesting a lower affinity of cytochrome c550 for the photosystem II complex. Under iron-limiting conditions the amount of cytochrome c550 decreases up to about 45% as compared to iron-replete cells, pointing to an iron-regulated synthesis. Oxidized cytochrome c550 has been characterized using continuous wave EPR and pulse techniques, including HYSCORE, and the obtained results have been interpreted in terms of the electrostatic charge distribution in the surroundings of the heme centre.España, MINECO BIO2012-35271, BIO2015-64169-P, MAT2011-23861 and CTQ2015-64486-

The photosynthetic cytochrome c 550 from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

The photosynthetic cytochrome c550 from the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been purified and characterized. Cytochrome c550 is mostly obtained from the soluble cell extract in relatively large amounts. In addition, the protein appeared to be truncated in the last hydrophobic residues of the C-terminus, both in the soluble cytochrome c550 and in the protein extracted from the membrane fraction, as deduced by mass spectrometry analysis and the comparison with the gene sequence. Interestingly, it has been described that the C-terminus of cytochrome c550 forms a hydrophobic finger involved in the interaction with photosystem II in cyanobacteria. Cytochrome c550 was almost absent in solubilized photosystem II complex samples, in contrast with the PsbO and Psb31 extrinsic subunits, thus suggesting a lower affinity of cytochrome c550 for the photosystem II complex. Under iron-limiting conditions the amount of cytochrome c550 decreases up to about 45% as compared to iron-replete cells, pointing to an iron-regulated synthesis. Oxidized cytochrome c550 has been characterized using continuous wave EPR and pulse techniques, including HYSCORE, and the obtained results have been interpreted in terms of the electrostatic charge distribution in the surroundings of the heme centre.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIO2012-35271, BIO2015-64169-P, MAT2011-23861 and CTQ2015-64486-R) the Andalusian Government (PAIDI BIO-022) and the Aragón Government (Grupo consolidado B-18). All these grants were partially financed by the EU FEDER ProgramPeer reviewe

Low Background Micromegas in CAST

Solar axions could be converted into x-rays inside the strong magnetic field of an axion helioscope, triggering the detection of this elusive particle. Low background x-ray detectors are an essential component for the sensitivity of these searches. We report on the latest developments of the Micromegas detectors for the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), including technological pathfinder activities for the future International Axion Observatory (IAXO). The use of low background techniques and the application of discrimination algorithms based on the high granularity of the readout have led to background levels below 10$^{-6}$ counts/keV/cm$^2$/s, more than a factor 100 lower than the first generation of Micromegas detectors. The best levels achieved at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) are as low as 10$^{-7}$ counts/keV/cm$^2$/s, showing good prospects for the application of this technology in IAXO. The current background model, based on underground and surface measurements, is presented, as well as the strategies to further reduce the background level. Finally, we will describe the R&D paths to achieve sub-keV energy thresholds, which could broaden the physics case of axion helioscopes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Large TPC Conference 2014, Pari

Seminar Users in the Arabic Twitter Sphere

We introduce the notion of "seminar users", who are social media users engaged in propaganda in support of a political entity. We develop a framework that can identify such users with 84.4% precision and 76.1% recall. While our dataset is from the Arab region, omitting language-specific features has only a minor impact on classification performance, and thus, our approach could work for detecting seminar users in other parts of the world and in other languages. We further explored a controversial political topic to observe the prevalence and potential potency of such users. In our case study, we found that 25% of the users engaged in the topic are in fact seminar users and their tweets make nearly a third of the on-topic tweets. Moreover, they are often successful in affecting mainstream discourse with coordinated hashtag campaigns.Comment: to appear in SocInfo 201

Ethical conflicts among physicians and nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Rationale, Aims and Objectives The healthcare system and professionals working in the sector have experienced a high caseload during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has increased the potential for morally harmful events that violate professionals' moral codes and values. The aim of this study was to understand and explore experiences of new moral challenges emerging among physicians and nurses caring for individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist was used in this qualitative study based on Gadamer's phenomenology. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Thirteen medicine and nursing graduates were interviewed in depth. The participants all worked on the frontline at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were gathered in two basic healthcare districts in Spain, encompassing both primary care and hospital care. Results Four main themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) Betrayal of moral and ethical values as a key source of suffering; (2) Ethical and moral sense of failure accompanying loss of meaning; (3) Lack of confidence in performance; (4) Self-demand and self-punishment as personal condemnation among healthcare workers. Conclusions Health institutions must implement interventions for health professionals to help mitigate the consequences of experiencing complex ethical scenarios during the pandemic. In addition, they should promote training in moral and ethical deliberation and prepare them to make decisions of great ethical significance

New solar axion search in CAST with 4^4He filling

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) searches for $a\to\gamma$ conversion in the 9 T magnetic field of a refurbished LHC test magnet that can be directed toward the Sun. Two parallel magnet bores can be filled with helium of adjustable pressure to match the X-ray refractive mass $m_\gamma$ to the axion search mass $m_a$. After the vacuum phase (2003--2004), which is optimal for $m_a\lesssim0.02$ eV, we used $^4$He in 2005--2007 to cover the mass range of 0.02--0.39 eV and $^3$He in 2009--2011 to scan from 0.39--1.17 eV. After improving the detectors and shielding, we returned to $^4$He in 2012 to investigate a narrow $m_a$ range around 0.2 eV ("candidate setting" of our earlier search) and 0.39--0.42 eV, the upper axion mass range reachable with $^4$He, to "cross the axion line" for the KSVZ model. We have improved the limit on the axion-photon coupling to $g_{a\gamma}< 1.47\times10^{-10} {\rm GeV}^{-1}$ (95% C.L.), depending on the pressure settings. Since 2013, we have returned to vacuum and aim for a significant increase in sensitivity.Comment: CAST Collaboration 6 pages 3 figure

Search for chameleons with CAST

In this work we present a search for (solar) chameleons with the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST). This novel experimental technique, in the field of dark energy research, exploits both the chameleon coupling to matter ($\beta_{\rm m}$) and to photons ($\beta_{\gamma}$) via the Primakoff effect. By reducing the X-ray detection energy threshold used for axions from 1$\,$keV to 400$\,$eV CAST became sensitive to the converted solar chameleon spectrum which peaks around 600$\,$eV. Even though we have not observed any excess above background, we can provide a 95% C.L. limit for the coupling strength of chameleons to photons of $\beta_{\gamma}\!\lesssim\!10^{11}$ for $1<\beta_{\rm m}<10^6$.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure