Relationships between personality and burn-out : an empirical study with helping professions' workers

Stress-related illnesses, such as burnout, had an increase over the last decade, even though not every employee, in the same workplace, shows burnout symptoms, suggesting that individual factors may contribute to this phenomenon. In fact, even though research on burnout generally has tended to explore the organizational factors associated with this condition, which play certainly an important role, however we cannot ignore the relationship between burnout and personality. This study explored the relationship between personality and burn-out in 144 helping professions' workers. Personality was measured by the Big Five Questionnaire; burn-out was measured by the Link Burn-out Questionnaire. Results confirm a relationship between the two constructs, partially supporting previous research that explained burn-out not only by organizational factors, but also by individual dimensions

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Resilience and emotional Intelligence

In the framework of Positive Organizational Behavior, the construct of Psychological Capital identifies four psychological capacities that affect motivation and performance in the workplace: self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. Emotional Intelligence, then, addresses self-regulatory processes of emotions and motivation that enable people to make adjustments to achieve individual, group, and organizational goals; Emotional Intelligence is strongly correlated with individual advancement and success in an organizational setting and with individual performance. Moreover, Emotional Intelligence is considered an antecedent to resilience. The present study aims to investigate the role of resilience and emotional intelligence in achievement motivation, verifying if emotional intelligence mediates the relationship among resilience and achievement motivation. Participants are 488 Italian workers, aged between 18 and 55 years. The findings confirm the significant role played by emotional intelligence on resilience and on motivation to achievement. RESUMEN Palabras clave: Comportamiento positivo organizacional, capital psicológico, inteligencia emocional, resiliencia, motivación al logro. En el marco del Comportamiento Positivo Organizacional, el constructo de Capital Psicológico identifica cuatro capacidades psicológicas que afectan la motivación y el desempeño en el trabajo: autoeficia, esperanza, optimismo y resiliencia. La inteligencia emocional entonces, se dirige a los procesos de autorregulación emocional y la motivación habilita a las personas realizar ajustes para alcanzar metas individuales, grupales y organizacionales; la Inteligencia emocional está fuertemente correlacionada con el progreso individual y el éxito en un entorno organizacional, y el rendimiento individual. Por otra parte, la inteligencia emocional se considera un antecedente de la resiliencia. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo investigar el papel de la resiliencia y la inteligencia emocional en la motivación al logro, verificando si la inteligencia emocional media la relación entre la resiliencia y la motivación al logro. Los participantes fueron 488 trabajadores italianos, con edades entre 18 y 55 años. Los resultados confirman el rol significativo que juegan la inteligencia emocional en la resiliencia y en la motivación al logro. Resilience and Emotional Intelligence: which role in achievement motivation Resiliencia e Inteligencia Emocional: qué rol tienen en la motivación al logro R e s e a r c

Organizational Justice, Optimism and Commitment to Change

AbstractLiterature stressed that, although change is often essential for organizational success, employees usually find it rather difficult to change. Justice has been shown to be predictive of many organizational dynamics related to change and optimism can also be instrumental to help in dealing with different kinds of job stress, like organizational change. Moving ahead from that, the main aim of the present research was to explore the mediating role of optimism between global justice and continuance commitment to change. Data was collected using a questionnaire. The previously validated measures used included the Perceived Overall Justice Scale – POJ, the Life Orientation Test-Revised LOT-R and the Continuance Commitment to Change subscale. The sample includes 122 employees of Italian companies from different sectors. Data analyses showed high correlations among the considered variables (p <.001) and they confirmed the possibility to test the mediation. Results reveal that organizational justice effect decrease when the mediator was introduced. Namely, optimism have a mediation role between overall perceived justice and commitment to change. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Chromatin remodeling agents for cancer therapy

Alterations in chromatin structure profoundly influence gene expression during normal cellular homeostasis and malignant transformation. Methylation of cytosines within CpG islands located in promoter and proximal coding regions facilitates recruitment of chromatin-remodeling proteins, which inhibits gene expression. Posttranslational modifications, such as acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation, of core histone proteins \u27\u27mark\u27\u27 regions of chromatin for recognition by multiprotein complexes, which promote either chromatin relaxation and gene expression or chromatin compaction and repression of gene expression. Many genes become transcriptionally silenced during the development of cancer. Covalent epigenetic modifications such as DNA hypermethylation and histone post-translational modifications are an important early event during carcinogenesis and tumor development. Genes involved in key DNA damage responses pathways, apoptosis signaling and DNA repair, can frequently become methylated and epigenetically silenced in tumors. This may lead to differences in intrinsic sensitivity of tumors to chemotherapy, depending on the specific function of the gene inactivated. The fact that cancer can have an epigenetic etiology has encouraged the development of a new therapeutic option that might be termed "epigenetic therapy". The DNA methylation paradox, manifested as derepression of cancer-testis antigens and silencing of tumor suppressors during malignant transformation, provides rationale for the utilization of chromatin remodeling agents for cancer therapy. In this review, the recent advances in the understanding and clinical development of DNA methyltransferase and Histone deacetylase inhibitors, as well as their current role in cancer therapy, will be discussed

Herbal products in Italy: the thin line between phytotherapy, nutrition and parapharmaceuticals; a normative overview of the fastest growing market in Europe

The Italian herbal products market is the most prosperous in Europe. The proof is represented by the use of these products in several marketing categories, ranging from medicine to nutrition and cosmetics. Market and legislation in Italy are at the same time cause and consequence of this peculiar situation. In fact, the legislation on botanical food supplements in Italy is very permissive and at the same time the market shows an overall satisfaction of users and strong feedback in terms of consumption, which brings a widening use of medicinal plants, formerly the prerogative of pharmaceuticals, to other fields such as nutrition. This review summarizes the market and normative panorama of herbal products in Italy, highlighting the blurred boundaries of health indications, marketing authorizations and quality controls between herbal medicines and non pharmaceutical products, such as food supplements, cosmetics and other herbal-based “parapharmaceuticals”

An assessment of option B implementation for the prevention of mother to child transmission in Dschang, Cameroon: results from the DREAM (Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition) cohort

Introduction: Scaling up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV+ pregnant women is crucial for the elimination of HIV infection in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of triple ART for Prevention of Mother-to Child Transmission (PMTCT) in Cameroon. Methods: HIV-positive pregnant women attending the DREAM Centre of Dschang, Cameroon for prenatal care were enrolled in a prospective cohort study, and received ART until the end of breastfeeding or indefinitely if their CD4 count was &lt;350mm3. Infants were evaluated for HIV infection at 1, 6 and 12 months of age. Results: A total of 298 women were enrolled. Among them, 152 were already on established ART. Women were followed until 6 months after delivery with a retention rate of 92.6%. Eight women died. Those with a CD4 count &lt;350 cells/mm3 during pregnancy had the highest mortality risk (RR 2.53; 95% CL= 1.86-3.44). The HIV  transmission rate was 1.2% at 12 months with an HIV free survival of 91%. In the proportional Cox regression analysis, the following factors were positively associated with infant mortality: maternal CD4&lt; 350 cells/mm3, no breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life, weight-for-age z score &lt; -2. Conclusion: Results confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the implementation of Option B, with very low rates of HIV MTC  transmission, and potential benefits to the health of mothers and infants with earlier initiation of ART. Breastfeeding again demonstrates to be highly beneficial for the growth and survival of HIV exposed children.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2

Hypoperfusion of brain parenchyma is associated with the severity of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in patients with multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional preliminary report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several studies have reported hypoperfusion of the brain parenchyma in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. We hypothesized a possible relationship between abnormal perfusion in MS and hampered venous outflow at the extracranial level, a condition possibly associated with MS and known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the relationship between CCSVI and cerebral perfusion in 16 CCSVI MS patients and 8 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Subjects were scanned in a 3-T scanner using dynamic susceptibility, contrast-enhanced, perfusion-weighted imaging. Cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were measured in the gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and the subcortical GM (SGM). The severity of CCSVI was assessed according to the venous hemodynamic insufficiency severity score (VHISS) on the basis of the number of venous segments exhibiting flow abnormalities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a significant association between increased VHISS and decreased CBF in the majority of examined regions of the brain parenchyma in MS patients. The most robust correlations were observed for GM and WM (<it>r </it>= -0.70 to -0.71, <it>P </it>< 0.002 and <it>P </it>corrected = 0.022), and for the putamen, thalamus, pulvinar nucleus of thalamus, globus pallidus and hippocampus (<it>r </it>= -0.59 to -0.71, <it>P </it>< 0.01 and <it>P </it>corrected < 0.05). No results for correlation between VHISS and CBV or MTT survived multiple comparison correction.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This pilot study is the first to report a significant relationship between the severity of CCSVI and hypoperfusion in the brain parenchyma. These preliminary findings should be confirmed in a larger cohort of MS patients to ensure that they generalize to the MS population as a whole. Reduced perfusion could contribute to the known mechanisms of virtual hypoxia in degenerated axons.</p