Stress management: how does the academic staff cope with it? a cross-sectional study at the university of Udine

Background: Increasing work-related stress in academia can have an impact on physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to analyse the coping strategies of staff employed at the University of Udine and to verify whether sociodemographic data, professional position, and the presence of anxiety or depression symptoms are related to the use of different coping strategies. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between June and December 2020 using the Brief COPE questionnaire. We correlated coping strategies with professional position, sociodemographic data, and the presence of anxiety or depressive symptoms measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the General Anxiety Disorder-7. Results: A total of 366 people participated in the study, including 109 junior academics, 146 senior academics, and 111 administrative staff (response rate 23.6%). The three most frequently used coping strategies in terms of approach coping style were planning (6.77 ± 1.41), active coping (6.58 ± 1.45) and acceptance (6.23 ± 1.44). Women were more likely than men to report using approach and avoidant coping strategies (p < 0.001). Positive reframing and religion were most commonly used by administrative staff (p < 0.05), in contrast to junior academics, who were more likely to use substances and self-blame (p < 0.05). Anxiety was found to correlate with self-blame (OR 1.94) as a coping strategy, while depression was associated with venting (OR 2.83), self-blame (OR 3.27), and humor (OR 3.02). Conclusion: Identifying profiles of coping strategies can help higher education institutions to implement support strategies for the academic community, ultimately promoting healthier lives and more effective teaching and research. Our study has shown that women and junior academics among staff at the Udine University would benefit from a tailored health promotion intervention that encourages the use of approach coping styles to reduce their risk of developing anxiety and depressive symptoms

A look at the past to draw lessons for the future: how the case of an urgent ICU transfer taught us to always be ready with a plan B

Objective: The urgent transfer of an intensive care unit (ICU) is particularly challenging because it carries a high clinical and infectious risk and is a critical node in a hospital’s patient flow. In early 2017, exceptional rainfall damaged the roof of the tertiary hospital in Udine, necessitating the relocation of one of the three ICUs for six months. We decided to assess the impact of this transfer on quality of care and patient safety using a set of indicators, primarily considering the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and mortality rates. Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational analysis of structural, process, and outcome indicators comparing the pre- and posttransfer phases. Specifically, we analyzed data between July 2016 and June 2017 for the transferred ICU and examined mortality and the incidence of HAI. Results: Despite significant changes in structural and organizational aspects of the unit, no differences in mortality rates or cumulative incidence of HAIs were observed before/after transfer. We collected data for all 393 patients (133 women, 260 men) admitted to the ICU before (49.4%) and after transfer (50.6%). The mortality rate for 100 days in the ICU was 1.90 (34/1791) before and 2.88 (37/1258) after transfer (p = 0.063). The evaluation of the occurrence of at least one HAI included 304 patients (102 women and 202 men), as 89 of them were excluded due to a length of stay in the ICU of less than 48 h; again, there was no statistical difference between the two cumulative incidences (13.1% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.075). Conclusion: In the case studied, no adverse effects on patient outcomes were observed after urgent transfer of the injured ICU. The indicators used in this study may be an initial suggestion for further discussion

Clinical, anamnestic, and sociodemographic predictors of positive SARS-CoV-2 testing in children: A cross sectional study in a tertiary hospital in Italy

ObjectivesWe aimed to identify clinical, anamnestic, and sociodemographic characteristics associated with a positive swab for SARS-CoV2, and to provide a predictive score to identify at risk population in children aged 2-14 years attending school and tested for clinical symptoms of COVID-19.DesignCross sectional study.SettingOutpatient clinic of the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, a maternal and child health tertiary care hospital and research centre in Italy.Data collection and analysisData were collected through a predefined form, filled out by parents, and gathered information on sociodemographic characteristics, and specific symptoms, which were analysed to determine their association with a positive SARS-CoV-2 swab. The regression coefficients of the variables included in the multivariate analysis were further used in the calculation of a predictive score of the positive or negative test.ResultsBetween September 20th and December 23rd 2020, from 1484 children included in the study, 127 (8.6%) tested positive. In the multivariate analysis, the variables retained by the model were the presence of contact with a cohabiting, non-cohabiting or unspecified symptomatic case (respectively OR 37.2, 95% CI 20.1-68.7; 5.1, 95% CI 2.7-9.6; 15.6, 95% CI 7.3-33.2); female sex (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.0-2.3); age (6-10 years old: OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.7-6.1 p&lt;0.001; &gt;10 years old: OR 4.8, 95% CI 2.7-8.8 p&lt;0.001); fever (OR 3.9, 95% CI 2.3-6.4); chills (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.3); headache (OR 1.45, 95% CI 0.9-2.4); ageusia (OR 1.3, 95% CI 0.54.0); sore throat (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.3-0.8); earache (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.1-1.3); rhinorrhoea (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.5-1.3); and diarrhoea (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.2-1.1). The predictive score based on these variables generated 93% sensitivity and 99% negative predictive value.ConclusionsThe timely identification of SARS-CoV2 cases among children is useful to reduce the dissemination of the disease and its related burden. The predictive score may be adopted in a public health perspective to rapidly identify at risk children

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Nrf2-interacting nutrients and COVID-19 : time for research to develop adaptation strategies

There are large between- and within-country variations in COVID-19 death rates. Some very low death rate settings such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and Africa have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods whose intake is associated with the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2) anti-oxidant transcription factor. There are many Nrf2-interacting nutrients (berberine, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, quercetin, resveratrol, sulforaphane) that all act similarly to reduce insulin resistance, endothelial damage, lung injury and cytokine storm. They also act on the same mechanisms (mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin, PPAR gamma:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, NF kappa B: Nuclear factor kappa B, ERK: Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and eIF2 alpha:Elongation initiation factor 2 alpha). They may as a result be important in mitigating the severity of COVID-19, acting through the endoplasmic reticulum stress or ACE-Angiotensin-II-AT(1)R axis (AT(1)R) pathway. Many Nrf2-interacting nutrients are also interacting with TRPA1 and/or TRPV1. Interestingly, geographical areas with very low COVID-19 mortality are those with the lowest prevalence of obesity (Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia). It is tempting to propose that Nrf2-interacting foods and nutrients can re-balance insulin resistance and have a significant effect on COVID-19 severity. It is therefore possible that the intake of these foods may restore an optimal natural balance for the Nrf2 pathway and may be of interest in the mitigation of COVID-19 severity

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening, had elevated FPG, HbA1c or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardized proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed and detected in survey screening ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the age-standardized proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c was more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance

Observation of γγ → ττ in proton-proton collisions and limits on the anomalous electromagnetic moments of the τ lepton

The production of a pair of τ leptons via photon–photon fusion, γγ → ττ, is observed for the f irst time in proton–proton collisions, with a significance of 5.3 standard deviations. This observation is based on a data set recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Events with a pair of τ leptons produced via photon–photon fusion are selected by requiring them to be back-to-back in the azimuthal direction and to have a minimum number of charged hadrons associated with their production vertex. The τ leptons are reconstructed in their leptonic and hadronic decay modes. The measured fiducial cross section of γγ → ττ is σfid obs = 12.4+3.8 −3.1 fb. Constraints are set on the contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment (aτ) and electric dipole moments (dτ) of the τ lepton originating from potential effects of new physics on the γττ vertex: aτ = 0.0009+0.0032 −0.0031 and |dτ| &lt; 2.9×10−17ecm (95% confidence level), consistent with the standard model