Organizational Ostracism: A Potential Framework in Order to Deal with It

Background: Organizational ostracism is defined as a violation of norms that we are suggested to acknowledge at the workplace. It results in the exclusion of one person or multiple persons, and causes damage to our innate need to belong. This kind of behaviorism can be engaged through a hierarchical or nonhierarchical relationship. Three elements interact in the framework of organizational ostracism: the actor, the target, and the institution. Our aim was to describe the different factors interacting with every element in order to produce recommendations targeting to prevent the occurrence of such behaviorism in an institution and to help targets of such a violence in order to handle this situation and go forward. As psychological impact of ostracism has frequently been studied in the literature, we focused on its impact on professional tasks. Methods: We performed a questionnaire-based study about organizational ostracism. This questionnaire was established through an online platform (https://www.sondageonline.com) and made available through the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/KrkVXe3bMEc79cau2. A keyword was sent to all participants. We created a 23-interrogation questionnaire with open and short questions. Nonwritten consent was obtained from all participants. Results: The actor of ostracism engaged in ostracism, in most of the cases, with other persons without a real purpose. The actor of ostracism had an antecedent of problematic relationship at work in 82.9% of the cases. Of the participants, 58.5% were of the view that ostracism aimed to cause hurt and isolate them. Professional isolation was observed in 58.5% of the cases; 51.2% of the participants tried to improve their work potential and explained their reaction by an intrinsic motivation. The organization atmosphere was judged to be bad in most of the cases. Conclusion: Our study showed that ostracism was mainly observed in public practice. Keywords: isolation, organization, ostracism, reject, task

Dehydroepiandrosterone in nails of infants : a potential biomarker of intrauterine responses to maternal stress

Easily accessible biomarkers for fetal stress biology are lacking. We here explore whether quantification of major fetal steroids, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) or DHEA sulfate (DHEAS), with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in infant nails is a tool to assess fetal stress biology in response to maternal stressful life events during pregnancy. Sufficient nail (?1mg) was available from 80 infants (93% of those providing samples). The concentration of DHEA, but not DHEAS, was increased in infants of mothers with stressful life events during pregnancy (DHEA: F(1,41)=6.105, P=0.018; DHEAS: F(1,77)=0.767, P=0.384). DHEA concentrations were not related to maternal stress before pregnancy (F(1,41)=0.010, P=0.922). Infant nail DHEA may be a fetal biological correlate of intrauterine exposure to maternal stress. The method promises the first non-invasive retrospective biomarker for intrauterine stress biology, opening new ways for research and clinical applications in fetal medicine, endocrinology, obstetrics, gynecology, and for understanding the developmental origins of health and disease

Age estimation based on the acetabulum using global illumination rendering with computed tomography

International audienceIntroduction: The acetabulum has been reported as a reliable age estimation marker. However, analyzing its morphological changes can be challenging using computed tomography (CT) imaging. Newly introduced global illumination rendering (GIR) applied to CT can improve the visualization of the fine details and thus the method's performance. This study aimed to analyze age estimation using morphological features of the acetabulum using GIR applied to CT.Methods: We collected 200 postmortem CT scans. A segmentation of the acetabular joint was initially done. Then, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the images was performed using GIR. These images were saved and then analyzed by two operators based on the three morphological criteria described in the Rougé-Maillart method. Reproducibility was assessed by intraclass correlation (ICC). Age estimation was assessed by multiple linear regression.Results: The sample was composed of 155 males and 45 females, with a mean age of 50 ± 18.3 years old. We observed high agreement in both the inter-observer and intra-observer reproducibility for the three variables (ICC of 75.6 to 90.8% and 89.3 to 95.8%, respectively) and the total score (ICC of 93.5% and 95%, respectively). The three variables, as well as the total score, were significantly correlated with age groups. The total score showed a prediction rate higher than 85% for ages under 40 and over 70 years old. We identified three models with two validated models with an adjusted R2 of 85.6% and 84.8%, respectively; a standard error of 0.688 and 0.706, respectively; and a good correlation of all variables and no inter-correlation. The first validated model included the three morphological criteria scores, and the second model was based on the total score.Conclusion: GIR applied to CT provides photorealistic images that can be useful for forensic imaging intended for age estimation based on morphological methods

Accidental and occupational ligature strangulation in northern Tunisia: four-case study

Abstract Background Death by strangulation is a violent and frequent method of homicides. Strangulation is rarely accidental due to ligature which is caused by a wide variety of objects such as cords, ropes or clothing articles (scarves). It concerns mostly accidents at work, rarely road traffic accidents and domestic ones. We report four cases of occupational and accidental strangulation causing death. Case presentation In our cases, the ligature link was a scarf or a towel. The link was caught on the belt of a tractor in two cases: on a drill pipe and on a combine harvester. Death occurred on site in three cases. The external examination has marked an asphyxia syndrome associated with a large strangulation mark. Furthermore, the autopsy findings have revealed large ecchymotic infiltrations of the neck muscles, a rupture of the trachea, and the oesophagus with a disjunction of cervical vertebra with a contusion of the spinal cord. Conclusions The ruptures of the trachea, oesophagus and cervical vertebra are not classic strangulation lesions but are explained by the brutality and violence of the traction exerted on the neck. We highlight the importance of preventive measures in this accidental type of deaths

Simultaneous measurement of endogenous cortisol, cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in nails by use of UPLC-MS-MS

Steroid hormone concentrations are mostly determined by using different body fluids as matrices and applying immunoassay techniques. However, usability of these approaches may be restricted for several reasons, including ethical barriers to invasive sampling. Therefore, we developed an ultra-performance LC-MS-MS method for high-throughput determination of concentrations of cortisol, cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and DHEA sulfate (DHEAS) in small quantities of human nails. The method was validated for linearity, limits of detection and quantification, recovery, intra and interassay precision, accuracy, and matrix effect. Samples from 10 adult women were analyzed to provide proof-of-principle for the method's applicability. Calibration curves were linear (r (2)?14% for all analytes) and accuracy (relative error (%) -8.3% to 12.2% for all analytes). The median (pg mg(-1), range) hormone concentrations were 69.5 (36-158), 65 (32-133), 212 (50-1077), and 246 (115-547) for cortisol, cortisone, DHEA, and DHEAS, respectively. This method enables measurement of cortisol, cortisone, DHEA, and DHEAS in small quantities of human nails, leading to the development of applications in endocrinology and beyond