Is Smart Working Beneficial for Workers' Wellbeing? A Longitudinal Investigation of Smart Working, Workload, and Hair Cortisol/Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Building on the job demands-resources (JD-R) and allostatic load (AL) models, in the present study we examined the role of smart working (SW) in the longitudinal association between workload/job autonomy (JA) and a possible biomarker of work-related stress (WRS) in the hair-namely, the cortisol-dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA(S)) ratio-during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 124 workers completed a self-report questionnaire (i.e., psychological data) at Time 1 (T1) and provided a strand of hair (i.e., biological data) three months later (Time 2, T2). Results from moderated multiple regression analysis showed that SW at T1 was negatively associated with the hair cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio at T2. Additionally, the interaction between workload and SW was significant, with workload at T1 being positively associated with the hair cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio at T2 among smart workers. Overall, this study indicates that SW is a double-edged sword, with both positive and negative consequences on employee wellbeing. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the hair cortisol/DHEA(S) ratio is a promising biomarker of WRS. Practical implications that organizations and practitioners can adopt to prevent WRS and promote organizational wellbeing are discussed

Validation of an ELISA kit to measure allopregnanolone in human and equine hair

In humans, allopregnanolone plays important roles in a number of different neurodegenerative disorders, and it has been proposed for use in some therapies. Horses are commonly used as animal models for human neurodegenerative diseases, mental and behavioral disorders, and neuropsychiatric disorders, and there is interest in using hair as a biological sample to study hormones in these conditions. We validated the use of a commercial ELISA kit (DetectX allopregnanolone kit; Arbor Assays), which was designed for serum, plasma, feces, urine, and tissue samples, to assess allopregnanolone in hair samples from 30 humans and 63 horses. The ELISA kit had good precision (intra- and inter-assay CVs: 6.4% and 11.0% for equine hair; 7.3% and 11.0% for human hair, respectively), sensitivity (50.4 pg/mL for both equine and human hair), and accuracy (parallelism and recovery tests) in determining allopregnanolone concentrations in hair from both species. The allopregnanolone concentrations in human hair were 7.3–79.1 pg/mg; the concentrations were 286 ± 141 pg/mg (x̄ ± SD) in mares on the day of parturition and 16.9 ± 5.5 pg/mg in nonpregnant mares. The DetectX ELISA kit offered a simple and accessible analysis of allopregnanolone in human and equine hair samples

Validation of a radioimmunoassay method for cortisol in buffalo milk whey. A preparatory step for future sensor technology

One animal-based method to evaluate welfare is the presence of stress. In dairy ruminants, the responses to stressors include the activation of both neuroendocrine and autonomous nervous system that can be evaluated through an endocrine assessment. The present study aimed to validate a radioimmunoassay method for cortisol in buffalo milk. Three formulations (whole and skimmed milk and whey) and three solvents (methanol diethyl ether and dichloromethane) were tested: methanol was characterised by the best extraction efficiency (69.88%), whey cortisol concentrations showed a significant correlation with whole extracted milk and were not affected by fat content variation during the milking session. The RIA used in the present study showed good precision, sensitivity and specificity: the dilutions test indicated the high reproducibility of the results, overlapping of the dilution curve and standard curve highlighted high specificity and the lack of interfering factors by buffalo whey matrix. It is concluded that the present assay suits the cortisol measurement in buffalo milk and the ranges described could be employed in the calibration of a biosensing technologies directly integrated in milking parlour systems.Highlights Buffalo milk whey revealed to be a matrix of great interest because of its high stability in terms of storage, transportation and processing. RIA method suits the cortisol measurement in buffalo milk Ranges described can be employed in the calibration of biosensors for non-invasive assessment of cortiso

Sow’s pre- and post-delivery in different confinement systems evaluated by hair hormones concentrations

Several matrices are available to detect the concentrations of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as markers of allostatic load and resilience but most of them provide a measurement of the concentration at a singletime point or within a 12– 24 h period and are subjected to daily fluctuations; conversely, keratinized derivatives, as hair is, provide a measure of the hormonal concentrations over medium- and long-term periods, appearing unaffected by circadian changes or by factors inducing short-term variations. Aim of this study was to evaluate hair cortisol (HC), hair DHEA (HDHEA) and their ratio (HC/HDHEA ratio) as biomarkers of allostatic load and resilience in sows around farrowing, in relation to four different models of farrowing crates, and in relation to different batches by a non-invasive sampling. The study has been conducted on 296 pregnant sows managed in a batch farrowing system from February to June. Sows were kept in multiple pens of 10–15 sows until 5 days before farrowing, then were randomly divided in 4 different models of farrowing crates. The hair samples were taken by shaving for the first time (ST1) 2.6 ± 1.6 days before the expected delivery date and for the second time (ST2) 88.9 ± 3.3 days after parturition. The environmental temperature and the relative humidity data were recorded and used to calculate the Temperature Humidity Index (THI). HC and HDHEA were determined using a solid-phase microtiter radioimmunoassay (RIA) while HC/HDHEA ratio has been calculated. No differences in terms of hair steroids concentration were found between the four models of farrowing crates and the sampling times (P > 0.05). The interaction between batch and sampling time has been significant for all the biomarkers considered (HC (P < 0.01), HDHEA (P < 0.05) and their ratio (P < 0.01)). During the pregnancy period in collective pens (ST1) HC/HDHEA ratios were never lower (with an exclusion of February) than those in the following characterized by the early postpartum and lactation in individual crates (ST2). It seems that an aggregate effect of different stressors acts on the sows exhausting their ability to cope with adverse events; it should be further investigated the influence of the social interaction in collective pens that cyclically re-occurs in the standard swine production system