Prevalence and Determinants of Bullying Among Health Care Workers in Portugal

Bullying is defined as systematic exposure to humiliation as well as hostile and violent behaviors against one or more individuals. These behaviors are a serious, growing problem, which affects a significant proportion of health care professionals. To support the hospital’s risk management policy, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of bullying in this institution and identify the determinants of bullying. Bullying was measured using the Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised, Portuguese version (NAQ-R), a self-administered tool. The questionnaire was made available in digital format on the hospital’s internal network (Intranet) and in hard copy; questionnaires were returned via nonidentified internal mail addressed to the occupational health unit or deposited in suggestion boxes located throughout the hospital. Multiple questionnaire delivery methods guaranteed data anonymity and confidentiality. The prevalence of bullying in this hospital was 8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [6.2, 10.2]). Reported bullying was predominantly vertical and more frequently occurring among nurses, clerical staff, and health care assistants (12.5%, 7.6%, 6.4%, respectively; p = .005). After adjusting for gender, age, occupation, type of contract, and work schedule, only type of contract was significantly associated with bullying in the workplace; the risk of bullying was twice as high among government employees compared to workers with indefinite duration employment contracts (p = .038). This study identified a high prevalence of bullying among health professionals; hence a program to prevent and control this phenomenon was implemented in this institution

Psychoimmunology Consultation - A Study on Comorbidity

Introdução: Os doentes VIH-positivos notificados apresentam taxas de prevalência superiores à população geral para a maioria das perturbações mentais, com valores atingindo os 30 a 60%. Objetivos: Caracterizar a população que é referenciada à consulta de Psiquiatria-Psicoimunologia; explorar a possível relação entre o diagnóstico psiquiátrico e as restantes variá- veis em estudo; assim como a possível associa- ção do tratamento antirretrovírico e da coinfe- ção pelo VHC com variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas. Métodos: Selecionámos os doentes VIH-positivos referenciados pela primeira vez à consulta de Psiquiatria-Psicoimunologia, entre janeiro de 2012 e julho de 2015. A informação necessária acerca dos mesmos foi recolhida através do processo clínico em suporte informático. A análise estatística foi efetuada utilizando o programa de análise estatística Statistical Package for Social Sciences©, versão 20. Resultados: A amostra continha 209 doentes, com uma mediana de idades de 43 anos, maioritariamente homens, com quatro anos de escolaridade, solteiros, profissionalmente inativos, infetados via comportamento heterossexual. Porém, verificámos diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre sexos para as últimas três variáveis. A maior parte encontrava-se sob tratamento antirretrovírico, sem diferenças significativas entre sexos. Na primeira consulta, 29,0% e 30,1% apresentavam, respetivamente, consumo de substâncias e coinfeção pelo VHC, com predomínio significativo nos homens. Mais de metade tinha antecedentes psiquiátricos, e os sintomas depressivos e a perturbação de adaptação à doença constituíram, respetivamente, o motivo de referenciação e o diagnóstico psiquiátrico mais frequente, em ambos os sexos. A coinfecção pelo VHC correlacionou-se de forma estatisticamente significativa com as variáveis sexo, situação ocupacional, via de transmissão da infeção, história psiquiátrica e consumo de álcool e/ou drogas ilícitas. O mesmo aconteceu entre o diagnóstico psiquiátrico e as variáveis tempo de notificação da infeção, consumo de álcool e/ou drogas e coinfeção pelo VHC.Conclusões: Ao longo do curso da infeção, estes doentes deparam-se frequentemente com múltiplos stressores que podem torná-los mais vulneráveis ao adoecimento psíquico. A disponibilidade de uma assistência psiquiá- trica eficaz revela-se, portanto, crucial, sendo necessário o aumento de investigação futura nesta área.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of ruthenium polypyridyl compounds against breast cancer

[Abstract] The clinical success of cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin has sparked the interest of medicinal inorganic chemistry to synthesize and study compounds with non-platinum metal centers. Despite Ru(II)–polypyridyl complexes being widely studied and well established for their antitumor properties, there are not enough in vivo studies to establish the potentiality of this type of compound. Therefore, we report to the best of our knowledge the first in vivo study of Ru(II)–polypyridyl complexes against breast cancer with promising results. In order to conduct our study, we used MCF7 zebrafish xenografts and ruthenium complexes [Ru(bipy)2(C12H8N6-N,N)][CF3SO3]2Ru1 and [{Ru(bipy)2}2(μ-C12H8N6-N,N)][CF3SO3]4Ru2, which were recently developed by our group. Ru1 and Ru2 reduced the tumor size by an average of 30% without causing significant signs of lethality when administered at low doses of 1.25 mg·L−1. Moreover, the in vitro selectivity results were confirmed in vivo against MCF7 breast cancer cells. Surprisingly, this work suggests that both the mono- and the dinuclear Ru(II)–polypyridyl compounds have in vivo potential against breast cancer, since there were no significant differences between both treatments, highlighting Ru1 and Ru2 as promising chemotherapy agents in breast cancer therapy.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/39Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; PEst 2015-2020Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; UID/Multi/04349/2013Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; RECI/QEQ-QIN/0189/2012Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; UID/QUI/00100/2020Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; UIDP/04378/2020Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; UIDB/04378/2020Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; LA/P/0140/202

Genotoxic effects of occupational exposure to lead and influence of polymorphisms in genes involved in lead toxicokinetics and in DNA repair

This work was partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PSI2010-15115) and Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (grants PDCT/SAU-OBS/59821/2004, PTDC/QUI/ 67522/2006 and PTDC/SAU-OSM/105572/2008, and fellowship SFRH/ BD/22612/2005 to M. Pingarilho).publishersversionpublishe

Geographical patterns in blood lead in relation to industrial emissions and traffic in Swedish children, 1978–2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blood lead concentrations (B-Pb) were measured in 3 879 Swedish school children during the period 1978–2007. The objective was to study the effect of the proximity to lead sources based on the children's home and school location.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The children's home address and school location were geocoded and their proximity to a lead smelter and major roads was calculated using geographical information system (GIS) software. All the statistical analyses were carried out using means of generalized log-linear modelling, with natural-logarithm-transformed B-Pb, adjusted for sex, school year, lead-exposing hobby, country of birth and, in the periods 1988–1994 and 1995–2007, parents' smoking habits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The GIS analysis revealed that although the emission from the smelter and children's B-Pb levels had decreased considerably since 1978, proximity to the lead smelter continued to affect levels of B-Pb, even in recent years (geometric mean: near smelter: 22.90 μg/l; far from smelter 19.75 μg/l; p = 0.001). The analysis also revealed that proximity to major roads noticeably affected the children's B-Pb levels during the period 1978–1987 (geometric mean near major roads: 44.26 μg/l; far from roads: 38.32 μg/l; p = 0.056), due to the considerable amount of lead in petrol. This effect was, however, not visible after 1987 due to prohibition of lead in petrol.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show that proximity to the lead smelter still has an impact on the children's B-Pb levels. This is alarming since it could imply that living or working in the vicinity of a former lead source could pose a threat years after reduction of the emission. The analysis also revealed that urban children exposed to lead from traffic were only affected during the early period, when there were considerable amounts of lead in petrol, and that the prohibition of lead in petrol in later years led to reduced levels of lead in the blood of urban children.</p

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa

There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013) and EU FEDER through COMPETE 2020 program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Two Homologous Putative Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, OsPFA-DSP2 and AtPFA-DSP4, Negatively Regulate the Pathogen Response in Transgenic Plants

Protein phosphatases, together with protein kinases, regulate protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, and play critical roles in plant growth and biotic stress responses. However, little is known about the biological functions of plant protein tyrosine dual-specificity phosphatase (PFA-DSP) in biotic stresses. Here, we found that OsPFA-DSP2 was mainly expressed in calli, seedlings, roots, and young panicles, and localized in cytoplasm and nucleus. Ectopic overexpression of OsPFA-DSP2 in rice increased sensitivity to Magnaporthe grisea (M. grisea Z1 strain), inhibited the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and suppressed the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes after fungal infection. Interestingly, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing AtPFA-DSP4, which is homologous to OsPFA-DSP2, also exhibited sensitivity to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000), reduced accumulation of H2O2 and decreased photosynthesic capacity after infection compared with Col-0. These results indicate that OsPFA-DSP2 and AtPFA-DSP4 act as negative regulators of the pathogen response in transgenic plants

Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two widely separated 4 km laser interferometers designed to detect gravitational waves from distant astrophysical sources in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 10 kHz. The first observation run of the Advanced LIGO detectors started in September 2015 and ended in January 2016. A strain sensitivity of better than 10−23/Hz−−−√ was achieved around 100 Hz. Understanding both the fundamental and the technical noise sources was critical for increasing the astrophysical strain sensitivity. The average distance at which coalescing binary black hole systems with individual masses of 30  M⊙ could be detected above a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 was 1.3 Gpc, and the range for binary neutron star inspirals was about 75 Mpc. With respect to the initial detectors, the observable volume of the Universe increased by a factor 69 and 43, respectively. These improvements helped Advanced LIGO to detect the gravitational wave signal from the binary black hole coalescence, known as GW150914

First measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary–Black-hole Merger GW170814

International audienceWe present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in , which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0