Improving Mental Wellbeing in Organizations with Targeted Psychosocial Interventions

Background: Mental wellbeing of employees is crucial for successful organizations. Psychosocial interventions that target highly contagious individuals (i.e., individuals that can ‘transmit’ their wellbeing to others) could efficiently improve overall wellbeing in the workplace. Objectives: Using the magnitudes of effects observed in existing studies on psychosocial interventions and the contagion of mental wellbeing, we aimed to examine how the wellbeing of a group (based on WHO-5 Well-Being Index scores) changes if interventions are provided to highly contagious people instead of randomly selected individuals. Methods/Approach: Based on the data on mental wellbeing of 414 nursing home employees, we created a social network that includes individual levels of wellbeing and the strength of the connection between people. Simulation-based influence-maximization was used on the network and interventions were interventions were provided to either contagious or randomly selected individuals. Results: Overall, mental wellbeing of the group increased slightly more when individuals had received a simulated psychosocial intervention in order of contagiousness compared to the cases in which interventions were provided to randomly selected individuals. Conclusions: Selectively targeting highly contagious individuals could be an efficient approach to improving wellbeing in organizations, especially in social contexts, where the contagion of mental wellbeing is likelier

Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses reveal activity and hosts of antibiotic resistance genes in activated sludge

This is the author accepted manuscript.Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a source and reservoir for subsequent spread of various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, little is known about the activity and hosts of ARGs in WWTPs. Here, we utilized both metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to comprehensively reveal the diversity, abundance, expression and hosts of ARGs in activated sludge (AS) from three conventional WWTPs in Taiwan. Based on deep sequencing data and a custom-made ARG database, a total of 360 ARGs associated with 24 classes of antibiotics were identified from the three AS metagenomes, with an abundance range of 7.06 × 10−1–1.20 × 10−4 copies of ARG/copy of 16S rRNA gene. Differential coverage binning analysis revealed that >22 bacterial phyla were the putative hosts of the identified ARGs. Surprisingly, genus Mycobacterium and family Burkholderiaceae were observed as multi-drug resistant harboring 14 and 50 ARGs. Metatranscriptome analysis showed 65.8% of the identified ARGs were being expressed, highlighting that ARGs were not only present, but also transcriptionally active in AS. Remarkably, 110 identified ARGs were annotated as plasmid-associated and displayed a close to two-fold increased likelihood of being transcriptionally expressed compared to those ARGs found exclusively within bacterial chromosomes. Further analysis showed the transcript abundance of aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, and tetracycline resistance genes was mainly contributed by plasmid-borne ARGs. Our approach allowed us to specifically link ARGs to their transcripts and genetic context, providing a comprehensive insight into the prevalence, expression and hosts of ARGs in AS. Overall, results of this study enhance our understanding of the distribution and dissemination of ARGs in WWTPs, which benefits environmental risk assessment and management of ARB and ARGsEuropean Union's Horizon 202

Macrosomia and large for gestational age in Asia:One size does not fit all

Macrosomia, usually defined as infant birth weight of >= 4000 g, does not consider gestational age, sex, or country/region-specific differences in mean birth weight and maternal body weight. This issue is particularly relevant for Asia, where 60% of the world's population lives, due to variations in maternal size and birth weights across populations. Large for gestational age (LGA), defined as birth weight > 90th centile, is a more sensitive measure as it considers gestational age and sex, though it is dependent on the choice of growth charts. We aimed to review reporting of macrosomia and LGA in Asia. We reviewed the literature on prevalence and risk of macrosomia and LGA in Asia over the last 29 years. Prevalence of macrosomia ranged from 0.5% (India) to 13.9% (China) while prevalence of LGA ranged from 4.3% (Korea) to 22.1% (China), indicating substantial variation in prevalence within and between Asian countries. High pre-pregnancy body mass index, excessive gestational weight gain, and impaired glucose tolerance conferred risk of macrosomia/LGA. Incidence of macrosomia and LGA varies substantially within and between Asian countries, as do the growth charts and definitions. The latter makes it impossible to make comparisons but suggests differences in intrauterine growth between populations. Reporting LGA, using standardized country/regional growth charts, would better capture the incidence of high birth weight and allow for comparison and identification of contributing factors. Better understanding of local drivers of excessive intrauterine growth could enable development of improved strategies for prevention and management of LGA

Bruk av tre i helsebygg : ei kartleggingsstudie

Tre som bygningsmateriale gir eit positivt klimabidrag mellom anna ved å ta opp og lagre CO2 og auka ressursutnytting av tre som del av ein fornybar og sirkulær økonomi er eit internasjonalt satsingsområde. Resultat frå studiar av samanheng mellom bruk av tre i bygg og helserelaterte utfall indikerer at tre, som eit naturelement i innemiljøet, kan ha positiv effekt. Å dokumentere slike helsefremmande effektar vil gi trematerialar eit fortrinn og såleis kunne bidra til auka bruk av tre i offentlege rom. I prosjektet Tre og helse undersøker vi samanhengar mellom tre i helsebygg og helse og livskvalitet hos brukarar av bygningane. Første trinn var å kartlegge tre i helsebygg for å stadfeste i kor stor grad tre blir brukt i dag og om det hovudsakleg blir nytta i bærande konstruksjon eller interiør. Tre har blitt kartlagt ved 14 kommunale helsebygg i 10 kommunar. Ein forskar kartla bruk av tre i kvar type rom og til kvart bruksområde i interiøret. Kartleggingsmetoden vart kontinuerlig revidert under kartleggingsarbeidet. Institusjonane sjølve bidrog med informasjon om bruk av tre i bærande konstruksjon og utvendig kledning. Vi fant at tre er brukt i større grad i interiør enn i konstruksjon og kledning, og i møblar og små flater i større grad enn i veggar, golv og tak. Kartlegginga indikerer at det er rom for å auke bruken av tre i helsebygg betydeleg