Controlled clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of a mindfulness and self-compassion 4-session programme versus an 8-session programme to reduce work stress and burnout in family and community medicine physicians and nurses: MINDUUDD study protocol

Background: Health personnel are susceptible to high levels of work stress and burnout due to the psychological and emotional demands of their work, as well as to other aspects related to the organisation of that work. This paper describes the rationale and design of the MINDUUDD study, the aim of which is to evaluate the effectiveness of a mindfulness and self-compassion 4-session programme versus the standard 8-session programme to reduce work stress and burnout in Family and Community Medicine and Nursing tutors and residents. Methods: The MINDUDD study is a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with three parallel arms. Six Teaching Units will be randomised to one of the three study groups: 1) Experimental Group-8 (EG8); 2) Experimental Group-4 (EG4) Control group (CG). At least 132 subjects will participate (66 tutors/66 residents), 44 in the EG8, 44 in the EG4, and 44 in the CG. Interventions will be based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, including some self-compassion practices of the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) programme. The EG8 intervention will be implemented during 8 weekly face-to-face sessions of 2.5 h each, while the EG4 intervention will consist of 4 sessions of 2.5 h each. The participants will have to practice at home for 30 min/day in the EG8 and 15 min/day in the EG4. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), and Goldberg Anxiety-Depression Scale (GADS) will be administered. Measurements will be taken at baseline, at the end of the programs, and at three months after completion. The effect of the interventions will be evaluated by bivariate and multivariate analyses (Multiple Linear Regression). Discussion: If the abbreviated mindfulness programme is at least as effective as the standard program, its incorporation into the curriculum and training plans will be easier and more appropriate. It will also be more easily applied and accepted by primary care professionals because of the reduced resources and means required for its implementation, and it may also extend beyond care settings to academic and teaching environments as well

Gravitational compression of colloidal gels

We study the compression of depletion gels under the influence of a gravitational stress by monitoring the time evolution of the gel interface and the local volume fraction, $\phi$, inside the gel. We find $\phi$ is not constant throughout the gel. Instead, there is a volume fraction gradient that develops and grows along the gel height as the compression process proceeds. Our results are correctly described by a non-linear poroelastic model that explicitly incorporates the $\phi$ -dependence of the gravitational, elastic and viscous stresses acting on the gel

Simulation of Polyelectrolyte Electrophoresis: Effects of the Aspect Ratio, Double-Layer Polarization, Effective Charge, and Electroosmotic Flow

[[abstract]]The electrophoresis of a deformable polyelectrolyte (PE) is studied theoretically by considering a Poisson–Nernst–Planck model coupled with modified Navier–Stokes equations, taking account of the effects of double-layer polarization, counterion condensation, and electroosmotic flow. The influences of the local electric field and the effective PE charge on the PE mobility are discussed, thereby providing a complete picture for the phenomenon under consideration. Our model explains successfully the presence of a local minimum in the mobility of a highly charged PE as the bulk salt concentration varies, as observed experimentally. Numerical simulation also reveals several interesting and important results. For example, the more a PE is stretched in the direction of electrophoresis, the larger is its mobility. As the double layer becomes thin, the local electric field becomes independent of the PE shape, and its behavior mainly depends upon its effective charge. We show that the force that stretches a PE is maximal when it is spherical and decreases with an increasing aspect ratio, which has not been reported previously.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]US