El diseño del trabajo y sus consecuencias sobre la satisfacción laboral y el desempeño

The global change from production systems towards knowledge and service economies has significantly altered the nature of work in organizations (Parker, 2014). Theory and research of work design are undergoing a transformation to respond to these important changes. A research question in this field is to gain understanding on how these work changes affect work-related outcomes. The contemporary model of work characteristics with its measurement instrument The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) exemplify this transformation and brings us closer to the reality of current organizations (Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006). This instrument includes 21 work characteristics grouped into four general categories: task characteristics (represent the nature of the tasks associated to a specific job; e.g., autonomy, task significance, feedback from job), knowledge characteristics (represent the demands and skills that people require to perform their work; e.g., information processing, skill variety), social characteristics (represent the social interactions of workers in organizations; e.g., social support, feedback from others), and contextual characteristics (represent the physical and material conditions of the workplace; e.g., physical demands, work conditions). The scientific community demands to invigorate the work design research with a more complete assessment of work characteristics including the cognitive, social, and physical aspects of work beyond the traditional task characteristics. Similar calls have been made to measuring work design outcomes over longer periods, to test theory about temporal processes with enough measurement waves. Advancing the field also requires expanding research on the mechanisms that link work characteristics to work outcomes and to recognize different moderators (Humphrey et al., 2007; Parker et al., 2017). In this context, this thesis aims to investigate the effects of work design on job satisfaction and job performance, also analyzing possible moderating and mediating variables in these relationships. After reviewing the literature and recent research on work design, this thesis sets three research objectives addressed through three empirical studies, which are described below. Data were obtained in a three-wave data collection through questionnaires including measurements of work characteristics, job satisfaction, performance, organizational justice, and socio-demographic questions. The initial sample was composed of 653 employees working for 27 Spanish organizations. The first specific objective is to develop and validate a short version of the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ-S). Research in work design is tightly linked to application, therefore the development of valid and reliable measures of work characteristics is of great relevance. The WDQ is the most complete work characteristics measure (Bayona et al., 2015). However, its length makes it difficult to apply in organizations and to measure it in multivariate research. Study 1 provides a valid and reliable short version of the work design questionnaire. It considers traditional work characteristics (task characteristics), but also the knowledge, social, and contextual characteristics. Additionally, we test a second-order structure which provides both a global and a specific perspective on dimensions of work design. This questionnaire assesses nine work characteristics using 27 items. The WDQ-S is available to researchers and professionals from Spanish-speaking countries. The second specific objective is to investigate the causal relationship between work characteristics and job satisfaction, together with the moderating role of organizational justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional). Some authors consider that the context of (in)justice has an important role in job satisfaction (Colquitt et al., 2001; Williams et al., 2006). Others have analyzed the moderating role of justice to understand the extent of the relationships between the organizational context and individual outcomes (Harris et al., 2007). However, to our knowledge, there are no studies analyzing the moderating role of justice in the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. Based on the fairness heuristic theory (Lind, 2001), study 2 addresses the moderating role of justice in this relationship in an exploratory manner given the absence of prior research. The results show empirical evidence about the predictive role of work characteristics (task and social characteristics) and distributive justice on employee’s job satisfaction. In addition, the results supported a weak but significant moderating role of justice in this relationship. In particular, interactional justice enhanced the relationship between task characteristics and job satisfaction. Finally, the third specific objective is to analyze the causal relationship between work characteristics and organizational citizenship behaviors, together with the potential mediating role of job satisfaction. Building on social exchange theory and the happy-productive worker thesis, study 3 provides empirical evidence about work design as beneficial for job satisfaction over time and, in turn, for promoting employee organizational citizenship behaviors. Specifically, the results show that autonomy and social support are related to organizational citizenship behaviors through job satisfaction. Further, information processing directly affects organizational citizenship behaviors and also, indirectly through job satisfaction. These results support the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between work characteristics and organizational citizenship behaviors. Overall, this doctoral thesis contributes to the contemporary work design literature in three ways. First, by providing a valid and reliable short version of the Work Design Questionnaire in Spanish which showed adequate psychometric properties and provided empirical support to the second-order hierarchical structure of Work Design in four general categories of work characteristics (task, knowledge, social, and contextual). Second, it provided additional evidence on the time-lagged relationship between work characteristics, organizational justice, job satisfaction, and performance. Third, it expanded our knowledge on the direct and indirect influence of different types of work characteristics on organizational citizenship behaviors over time, and the mediating role of job satisfaction. In conclusion, it contributes to a better understanding of the relevance of work characteristics in the current world of work, and the need to consider knowledge and social work characteristics in work design and in studies on their impact on work outcomes

Role of minor determinants of amoxicillin in the diagnosis of immediate allergic reactions to amoxicillin.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/3704Background: Skin testing of subjects with immediate hypersensitivity to amoxicillin is performed using major and minor determinants of benzylpenicillin plus amoxicillin. However, sensitivity is not optimal, and other determinants need to be considered. We assessed the sensitivity of stable, well-characterized minor determinants of amoxicillin in subjects with immediate allergic reactions to amoxicillin to improve skin test sensitivity. Methods: Amoxicillin, amoxicilloic acid, and diketopiperazine were prepared and characterized by reverse-phase HPLC, tested in vivo by skin testing and in vitro by basophil activation test and RAST inhibition assay. Results: Patients with immediate hypersensitivity to amoxicillin were selected: Group A (n = 32), skin test positive just to amoxicillin; Group B (n = 19), skin test positive to benzylpenicillin determinants; Group C (n = 10), skin test negative and amoxicillin drug provocation test positive. In Group A, 27 subjects (81.8%) were skin test positive to amoxicillin, ten (30.3%) to amoxicilloic acid, two (6.1%) to diketopiperacine, and six (18.2%) negative. In Group B, nine (50%) were positive to amoxicillin, eight (42.1%) to amoxicilloic acid, none to diketopiperacine, and nine (50%) negative. In Group C, skin tests were negative. BAT was positive to amoxicillin in 26 patients (50.9%), to amoxicilloic acid in 15 (29.1%), and diketopiperazine in four (7.8%). RAST inhibition studies showed > 50% inhibition in all sera, with the highest concentration of amoxicillin and amoxicilloic acid. Conclusions: The combination of minor determinants of amoxicillin, amoxicilloic acid, and diketopiperazine seems to be of no greater value than the use of amoxicillin alone. Further efforts are needed to find new structures to improve sensitivity in the diagnosis of immediate hypersensitivity to betalactams

Dendrimer-Modified Solid Supports: Nanostructured Materials with Potential Drug Allergy Diagnostic Applications

Complex functional materials consisting of bioactive molecules immobilized on solid supports present potential applications in biosensoring. Advances in the fabrication of these surface materials are of growing interest for antibody-based diagnosis. This work exploits dendrimers as versatile nanostructures for templating sensor surfaces and the critical role of the immobilization protocol in the solid supports cellulose and zeolites, of organic and inorganic composition respectively. The fabrication and characterization, including the degree of functionalization and reproducibility, of different nanostructured materials are described. To validate the approach, the fabricated supports were further used as a solid phase for developing a radioimmunoassay to detect immunoglobulin E (IgE) specific to penicillin, the antibody involved in immediate allergy responses to this drug. The dendrimer-modified supports provide assays with significantly enhanced sensitivity, as well as increase the availability of biomolecules for specific interaction and minimize nonspecific adsorptions through appropriate functionalization protocols in each case. The manufacturing methodology involved the use of a long, flexible hydrophilic spacer in the cellulose materials, and a higher surface density of the immobilized dendrimers in the zeolite crystals. The ability of hybrid zeolite materials in such biosensing applications was evaluated for the first time. The assays were validated in human serum samples from patients allergic to penicillin and from non-allergic controls. The specificity and improved sensitivity of the dendrimer- modified supports make these strategies versatile for different bioactive molecules and could have significant implications for the quantification of a wide range of specific IgE antibodies and other biomolecules of diagnostic interest

Occupational asthma caused by IgE-mediated sensitization to multiple woods

Wood is a natural material that is able to trigger rhinitis and asthma in exposed subjects in occupational settings. This has been described with both soft and hard woods.1,2 Involvement of both low- and high-molecular-weight allergens has been reported, and the relevance of these is related with the wood type.1 There are cases where protein may be the responsible allergen. Crossreactivity between obeche and ramin woods3 and between obeche and latex4 has been shown. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a multiple IgE-mediated sensitization to different woods that caused occupational respiratory symptoms in the same worker

Influence of pore size in protein G'-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a serum pretreatment system for in vitro allergy diagnosis

Particles with the capacity to bind to immunoglobulin G (IgG) can be used for the purification of IgG or to process clinical samples for diagnostic purposes. For in vitro allergy diagnosis, the high IgG levels in serum can interfere with the detection of allergen-specific IgE, the main diagnostic biomarker. Although commercially available, current materials present a low IgG capture capacity at large IgG concentrations or require complex protocols, preventing their use in the clinic. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are prepared with different pore sizes, to which IgG-binding protein G’ is grafted. It is found that for one particular optimal pore size, the IgG capture capacity of the material is greatly enhanced. The capacity of this material to efficiently capture human IgG in a selective way (compared to IgE) is demonstrated in both solutions of known IgG concentrations as well as in complex samples, like serum, from healthy controls and allergic patients using a simple and fast incubation protocol. Interestingly, IgG removal using the best-performing material enhances in vitro IgE detection in sera from patients allergic to amoxicillin. These results highlight the great translation potential of this strategy to the clinic in the context of in vitro allergy diagnosis.Funding for Open Access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA. TEM experiments were performed in the ICTS “NANBIOSIS,” more specifically in the U28 Unit at IBIMA Plataforma BIONAND

Silica Particle based nanocomposites for Specific IgE Determination to Betalactams

Current immunoassays for diagnosing betalactam (BL) allergy have limited sensitivity and poor specificity. These include ImmunoCAP, the commercial immunoassay, and the radioallergosorbent test (RAST), a handmade test performed only in specialized laboratories. Both are based on cellulose polymers modified with covalently attachedbetalactam-poly-L-lysine conjugates, which are able to interact with specific IgE (sIgE). In RAST, dendrimers have been used instead of poly-L-lysine in the formation of penicilloyl- conjugates, showing specific recognition by penicillin-sIgE. In this work, we propose the use of nanomaterials consisting on silica particles highly functionalized with drug-dendrimer conjugates (including mono- and bi-epitopic structures), as precise and controlled solid phases able to improve the tests’ reliability. The homogeneous composition of the nano-composites provides high reproducibility and quality, which is critical for hospital applications, while silica particles possess promising properties as biocompatibility, tuneable size, and functionalisation, and their preparation is affordable and reproducible. The use of nano-scaled silica particles improved the results of available immunoassays techniques in terms of sensitivity and specificity, providing the possibility of testing different betalactams, simultaneously.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

New approaches for Basophil Activation Tests employing Dendrimeric Antigen-Silica Nanoparticle composites.

Publicación en Open Acces. https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/16/8/1039In vitro detection of specific IgE bound to high-affinity receptor on basophils’ surface is 25 a widely used strategy for the evaluation of IgE-mediated immediate hypersensitivity reactions to 26 drugs. Due to the drug small size, IgE recognition requires conjugation to a carrier molecule present 27 in blood. Thus, the conjugate formed is large enough to allow the cross-linking of two IgE bound to 28 the basophil’s surface and their degranulation. However, no information about size and composi-29 tions of these conjugates is available. The use of well-defined hapten-carrier conjugates would be a 30 valuable tool for the investigation of the mechanism through which the activation occurs and could 31 offer clinical potential for diagnosis of drug-allergy. Silica Nanoparticles decorated with PAMAM-32 dendrimer-amoxicilloyl conjugates (NpDeAXO) of different size and amoxicilloyl densities have 33 been prepared and chemically characterized. Their functional effect on basophils was measured 34 using an in-house basophil activation test (BAT) by determining CD63+ or CD203chigh activation 35 markers. It was observed that NpDeAXO nanocomposites are not only able to specifically activate 36 basophils, but also do so with a lower concentration of amoxicilloyl compared to free amoxicillin. 37 These results indicate that NpDeAXO possess high basophil activation potency, pointing to a trans-38 lational potential of this strategy in the context of in vitro allergy determination.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Proyectos 639 de I+D+I «Programación Conjunta Internacional», EuroNanoMed 2019 (PCI2019-111825-2), Minis-640 terio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2022-136705NB-I00, CNS2022-136144), Instituto de Salud Carlos 641 III (ISCIII) (through projects co-funded by the European Union: AC19/00082, PI21/00329, 642 PI20/01734, PI23/00620, RETICS ARADYAL RD16/0006/0001 and RD16/0006/0012, RICORS Red de 643 Enfermedades Inflamatorias RD21/0002/0008); Junta de Andalucía (ProyExcel00971 and PE-0172-644 2018, all co-funded by the European Union). C.M. holds “Nicolas Monardes” research contract by 645 Andalusian Regional Ministry Health (Grant No. RC-0004-2021). This project has received funding 646 from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie 647 Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101027955”. S.C.S. holds a grant from the Ministry of Eco-648 nomic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge, and Universities of the Andalusian Regional Govern-649 ment under the predoctoral contract with reference PREDOC_01545

Dendrímeros antigénicos sobre partículas de sílica para determinar IgE específicas de antibióticos betalactámicos

Los inmunoensayos empleados para el diagnóstico in vitro de alergias a antibióticos betalactámicos actualmente presentan una limitada sensibilidad y pobre especificidad, además de no estar disponibles de forma comercial para todos los antibióticos implicados en procesos alérgicos. En este trabajo, se han diseñado nanopartículas de sílica altamente funcionalizadas con dendrímeros y conjugadas con amoxicilina y bencilpenicilina con objeto de mejorar el diagnóstico clínico in vitro de alergia a estos antibióticos.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Fluoroquinolone photodegradation influences specific basophil activation

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are photoreactive drugs, but it is not known whether laboratory light exposure can influence the induction of photoproducts and modify in vitro test results. The basophil activation test (BAT) has proven to be useful for evaluating immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated hypersensitivity to FQs, with a higher percentage of positive responders with ciprofloxacin (CIP) than with moxifloxacin (MOX). We studied the effect of laboratory light on CIP and MOX degradation, and drug-protein conjugate formation, and its influence on the BAT for evaluating IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to FQs. The results showed an important decrease in fluorescence emission intensity under light compared to dark conditions for MOX, and that BAT positivity was lower in light (17.9%) than in dark (35.7%) conditions. No changes were found for CIP in either fluorescence emission intensity or BAT results (46.4% in both conditions). We can conclude that light exposure is a critical factor in BAT results when photolabile drugs like MOX are used. Therefore, light is important when interpreting in vitro results. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, BaselWe thank Ian Johnstone for his help with the English language version of the manuscript, and Jose Luis Rodriguez-Bada and Lidia Melendez for their technical support. This study was funded by the FIS-Thematic Networks and Co-operative Research Centres: RIRAAF (RD07/0064) and the Spanish Health Ministry (FIS PS09/01768, PI11/01416 and M Servet contract CP11/00154 for I.A.), the Andalusia Health Ministry (PI-0545-2010), and the Andalusia Economic Innovation and Science Ministry (CTS 06603).Mayorga, C.; Andreu Ros, MI.; Aranda, A.; Doña, I.; Montañez, MI.; Blanca-López, N.; Ariza, A.... (2013). Fluoroquinolone photodegradation influences specific basophil activation. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology. 160(4):377-382. https://doi.org/10.1159/000343023S3773821604Albini, A., & Monti, S. (2003). Photophysics and photochemistry of fluoroquinolones. Chemical Society Reviews, 32(4), 238. doi:10.1039/b209220bBelvedere, A., Boscá, F., Cuquerella, M. C., de Guidi, G., & Miranda, M. A. (2002). Photoinduced N-Demethylation of Rufloxacin and its Methyl Ester Under Aerobic Conditions¶. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 76(3), 252. doi:10.1562/0031-8655(2002)0762.0.co;2Dawe, R. S., Ibbotson, S. H., Sanderson, J. B., Thomson, E. M., & Ferguson, J. (2003). A randomized controlled trial (volunteer study) of sitafloxacin, enoxacin, levofloxacin and sparfloxacin phototoxicity. British Journal of Dermatology, 149(6), 1232-1241. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2003.05582.xHayashi, N., Nakata, Y., & Yazaki, A. (2004). New Findings on the Structure-Phototoxicity Relationship and Photostability of Fluoroquinolones with Various Substituents at Position 1. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 48(3), 799-803. doi:10.1128/aac.48.3.799-803.2004Van Bambeke, F., & Tulkens, P. M. (2009). Safety Profile of the Respiratory Fluoroquinolone Moxifloxacin. Drug Safety, 32(5), 359-378. doi:10.2165/00002018-200932050-00001Sachs, B., Riegel, S., Seebeck, J., Beier, R., Schichler, D., Barger, A., … Erdmann, S. (2006). Fluoroquinolone-Associated Anaphylaxis in Spontaneous Adverse Drug Reaction Reports in Germany. Drug Safety, 29(11), 1087-1100. doi:10.2165/00002018-200629110-00008Manfredi, M., Severino, M., Testi, S., Macchia, D., Ermini, G., Pichler, W. J., & Campi, P. (2004). Detection of specific IgE to quinolones. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 113(1), 155-160. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2003.09.035Aranda, A., Mayorga, C., Ariza, A., Doña, I., Rosado, A., Blanca-Lopez, N., … Torres, M. J. (2010). In vitro evaluation of IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to quinolones. Allergy, 66(2), 247-254. doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2010.02460.xAndreu, I., Mayorga, C., & Miranda, M. A. (2010). Generation of reactive intermediates in photoallergic dermatitis. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 10(4), 303-308. doi:10.1097/aci.0b013e32833bc68cAntunez, C., Fernandez, T., Blanca-Lopez, N., Torres, M. J., Mayorga, C., Canto, G., … Blanca, M. (2006). IgE antibodies to betalactams: relationship between the triggering hapten and the specificity of the immune response. Allergy, 61(8), 940-946. doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2006.01120.xTorres, M. J., Ariza, A., Mayorga, C., Doña, I., Blanca-Lopez, N., Rondon, C., & Blanca, M. (2010). Clavulanic acid can be the component in amoxicillin-clavulanic acid responsible for immediate hypersensitivity reactions. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 125(2), 502-505.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2009.11.032Torres, M. J., & Blanca, M. (2010). The Complex Clinical Picture of β-Lactam Hypersensitivity: Penicillins, Cephalosporins, Monobactams, Carbapenems, and Clavams. Medical Clinics of North America, 94(4), 805-820. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2010.04.00

Genética, riesgo y derecho penal: una aproximación interdisciplinaria

Este texto presenta un estudio científico y jurídico sobre la genética y el derecho penal, con el objeto de realizar un pequeño aporte para la superación de la polarización política y moral de los debates sobre la genética y el derecho, que sólo ha conducido a una desafortunada paralización de la regulación sobre el tema que aumenta los riesgos para la salud humana y el equilibrio de los ecosistemas. Ante una problemática tan compleja, el derecho moderno no plantea una solución unitaria, sino una metodología a través de la cual cada sociedad democráticamente pueda adoptar sus propias decisiones frente a la salvaguarda de su patrimonio genético