Safeguarding Health at the Workplace: A Study of Work Engagement, Authenticity and Subjective Wellbeing among Religious Workers

: Research in work and organizational psychology has paid little attention to religious workers, something certainly surprising as faith-based organizations play a key role in the welfare state of many countries. This research shows that religious workers in a Catholic order present a high degree of subjective wellbeing, both in terms of flourishing and satisfaction with life in general, and a positive balance of positive and negative feelings. More specifically, this study examines the relationship between authenticity and wellbeing amongst religious workers. Survey responses from 142 religious workers in Spain were analyzed using partial least squares path modelling. The results reveal that subjective wellbeing at work is positively related to authenticity. In addition, this relationship is mediated by their level of work engagement

Creencias de Estudiantes de Secundaria Españoles y Mexicanos sobre las Causas de la Obesidad

ResumenSe exploraron, a través de un cuestionario diseñado ex profeso, las creencias sobre las causas de la obesidad en una muestra de 142 estudiantes de segundo y tercer grados de secundaria (71 españoles y 71 mexicanos). El rango de edad de los participantes fue de 13 a 16 años (M=14.02, DE=.846). Los participantes consideraron que la Voluntad y la Personalidad son las causas más importantes de la obesidad, X2(5, 142)=265.353, p<.001, en tanto que los factores considerados menos importantes fueron Comida, Educación, Ejercicio y Genética. Dicha forma de conceptuar las causas de la obesidad parece dar pie a que los participantes responsabilicen a las personas obesas de su condición, t(141)=-13.740, p<.001. Por último, se discute cómo se articula las creencias sobre las causas de la obesidad y las actitudes mantenidas hacia las personas obesas.AbstractIn order to explore the beliefs about the causes of obesity, one questionnaire designed on purpose were applied to a sample of 142 students of second and third grades of secondary school (71 Spaniard and 71 Mexican), with ages between 13 and 16 years (M=14.02, SD=.846). Participants considered that Volition and Personality were the most important causes of obesity, X2 (5, 142)=265 353, p<.001, while Food, Education, Exercise and Genetics were the least important factors. This way of conceptualizing the causes of obesity seems to lead participants to blame obese people because of their condition, t(141)=13,740, p<.001. Finally, we discuss how beliefs about the causes of obesity and attitudes held towards obese people are articulated

Exergy Optimization of a Moving Bed Heat Exchanger

The MBHE proposed can be analyzed as a crossflow heat exchanger where one of the phases is a moving granular medium. In the present work the exergy analysis of the MBHE is carried out over operation data of the exchanger obtained in two ways: a numerical simulation of the stationary problem and a simplified analysis. The numerical simulation is carried over the two steady state energy equations (fluid and solid), involving (for the fluid) the convection heat transfer to the solid and the diffusion term in the flow direction, and (for the solid) only the convection heat transfer to the fluid. The simplified analysis followed the well-known e-NTU method, taking the equipment as a crossflow heat exchanger with both fluids unmixed.Publicad

Work Engagement and Flourishing at Work Among Nuns: The Moderating Role of Human Values

Faith-based organizations are a key player in major sectors of activity for maintaining the welfare state, including health, education, and social services. This paper uses a multivariate regression model in an attempt to identify the factors that affect the relationship between work engagement and flourishing. The paper also discusses the empirical research gap that has been identified in the literature about the moderated effect of human values on this relationship. This study is based on a sample of 142 nuns of a congregation belonging to a religious organization with an international scope and a Catholic inspiration. The case of religious women who have chosen to live a life consistent with the charism of the congregation constitutes a paradigmatic and unique environment to investigate the potential alignment of personal values with professional activity. This work unveils two main findings. First, the more engaged nuns are in their work (social action to serve the poorest and most disadvantaged people), the more they flourish in their working environment and in their personal lives. Second, Schwartz’s values reinforce the relationship between the professional role (work engagement) and the personal role (flourishing at work). In conclusion, flourishing at work could be improved through work engagement and this relationship is moderated by human values. These results add insights to better know the relationship among life and work domains

Experimental observations on the different mechanisms for solid ejection in gas-fluidized beds

This work presents an experimental study of the ejection velocity for different mechanisms of solid ejection in fluidized beds. The experiments were carried out in a 2D fluidized bed, where the bubble eruptions were recorded with a frequency of 250 frames per second using a high speed video camera with a resolution of 1.3 Megapixels. The results show that in isolated bubble eruption, the dome velocity is significantly reduced by the effect of a group of raining particles in the form of stalactites within the bubble. Higher velocities are observed when bubble coalescence takes place. If bubbles coalesce before the leading bubble breaks, the momentumof the trailing bubble together with the increase in the throughflowaccelerate the dome of the leading bubble. In contrast, when coalescence occurs after the breakage of the leading bubble, the wake of the trailing bubble is projected into the freeboard with a very high velocity (wake spike mechanism). The last observed mechanism, the jet spike mechanism, occurs when a stream of bubbles reaches the bed surface following the path opened by the previous bubbles. A cloud of particles moving upward is observed, although their velocities are not as high as in thewake spike mechanism due to the interchange of momentum during the collisions with other particles. Finally, an explanation for some of the patterns of gas release from erupting bubbles recently observed by Hartung et al. [G. Hartung, C.R. Müller, J. Hult, J.S. Dennis, C.F. Kaminski, Laser diagnostic investigation of the bubble eruption patterns in the freeboard of fluidized beds. 1. Optimization of acetone planer laser induced fluorescence measurements. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47 (2008) 5686–5697] is proposedThis work has been supported by the National Energy Programme of the Spanish Ministry of Education under the project number ENE2006-01401Publicad

Interleukin-10 facilitates the selection of patients for systemic thrombolysis

Background: Clinical-Diffusion mismatch (CDM; NIHSS score ≥8 & DWI lesion volume ≤25 mL) and Perfusion-Diffusion mismatch (PDM; difference >20% between initial DWI and MTT lesion volumes) have been proposed as surrogates for ischemic brains that are at risk of infarction. However, their utility to improve the selection of patients for thrombolytic treatment remains controversial. Our aim was to identify molecular biomarkers that can be used with neuroimaging to facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients for systemic thrombolysis. Methods: We prospectively studied 595 patients with ischemic stroke within 12 h of the stroke onset. A total of 184 patients received thrombolytic treatment according to the SITS-MOST criteria. DWI and MTT volumes were measured at admission. The main outcome variable was good functional outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale <3). Serum levels of glutamate (Glu), IL-10, TNF-α, IL-6, NSE, and active MMP-9 also were determined at admission. Results: Patients treated with t-PA who presented with PDM had higher IL-10 levels at admission (p < 0.0001). In contrast, patients with CDM had higher levels of IL-10 (p < 0.0001) as well as Glu and TNF-α (all p < 0.05) and lower levels of NSE and active MMP-9 (all p < 0.0001). IL-10 ≥ 30 pg/mL predicts good functional outcome at 3 months with a specificity of 88% and a sensitibity of 86%. IL-10 levels ≥30 pg/mL independently in both patients with PDM (OR, 18.9) and CDM (OR, 7.5), after an adjustment for covariates. Conclusions: Serum levels of IL-10 facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients with CDM and PDM for systemic thrombolysis

Improving multi-technique monitoring using Sentinel-1 and Cosmo-SkyMed data and upgrading groundwater model capabilities

Aquifer-systems have become a strategic source of fresh water in the present climatic conditions, especially under stress in arid regions like the Iberian Mediterranean Arc. Understanding the behavior of groundwater reservoirs is crucial to their well-management and mitigation of adverse consequences of overexploitation. In this work, we use space geodetic measurements from satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) data, covering the period 2011–2017, to predict and validate the ground surface displacement over the fastest subsiding basin due to groundwater withdrawal in Europe (>10 cm/year). The 2D decomposition of InSAR displacements from Cosmo-SkyMed and Sentinel-1 satellites allows us to detect horizontal deformation towards the basin center, with a maximum displacement of 1.5 cm/year. InSAR results were introduced in a newly developed methodology for aquifer system management to estimate unknown pumping rates for the 2012–2017 period. This study illustrates how the combination of InSAR data, groundwater flow and deformation models can be used to improve the aquifer-systems sustainable management.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN), Spain; the State Agency of Research (AEI), Spain; and European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER), under projects AQUARISK (ESP2013-47780-C2-2-R), TEMUSA (TEC2017-85244-C2-1-P) and STAR-EO (TIN2014-55413-C2-2-P). First author shows gratitude for PhD student contract BES-2014-069076. A first version of this work was written during the research stay of first and second authors in the Università degli Studi di Firenze supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, under fellowships EEBB-I-18-13014 and PRX17/00439, respectively

Post-disturbance vegetation dynamics during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene: An example from NW Iberia

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Global and Planetary Change. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.There is a wealth of studies dealing with the reconstruction of past environmental changes and their effects on vegetation composition in NW Iberia, but none of them have focused specifically on the post-disturbance dynamics (i.e. the type of response) of the vegetation at different space and time scales. To fill this gap, we analysed the record of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) of a 235-cm thick colluvial sequence spanning the last ~ 13,900 years. The aims were to detect the changes in vegetation, identify the responsible drivers and determine the type of responses to disturbance. To extract this information we applied multivariate statistical techniques (constrained cluster analysis and principal components analysis on transposed matrices, PCAtr) to the local (hydro-hygrophytes and NPP) and regional (land pollen) datasets separately. In both cases the cluster analysis resulted in eight local and regional assemblage zones, while five (local types) and four (regional types) principal components were obtained by PCAtr to explain 94.1% and 96.6% of the total variance, respectively. The main drivers identified were climate change, grazing pressure, fire events and cultivation. The vegetation showed gradual, threshold and elastic responses to these drivers, at different space (local vs. regional) and time scales, revealing a complex ecological history. Regional responses to perturbations were sometimes delayed with respect to the local response. The results also showed an ecosystem resilience, such as the persistence of open Betula-dominated vegetation community for ~ 1700 years after the onset of the Holocene, and elastic responses, such as the oak woodland to the 8200 cal yr BP dry/cold event. Our results support the notion that palaeoecological research is a valuable tool to investigate ecosystem history, their responses to perturbations and their ability to buffer them. This knowledge is critical for modelling the impact of future environmental change and to help to manage the landscape more sustainably.The Spanish Governmen

Interleukin-10 facilitates the selection of patients for systemic thrombolysis

Background Clinical-Diffusion mismatch (CDM; NIHSS score ≥8 & DWI lesion volume ≤25 mL) and Perfusion-Diffusion mismatch (PDM; difference >20% between initial DWI and MTT lesion volumes) have been proposed as surrogates for ischemic brains that are at risk of infarction. However, their utility to improve the selection of patients for thrombolytic treatment remains controversial. Our aim was to identify molecular biomarkers that can be used with neuroimaging to facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients for systemic thrombolysis. Methods We prospectively studied 595 patients with ischemic stroke within 12 h of the stroke onset. A total of 184 patients received thrombolytic treatment according to the SITS-MOST criteria. DWI and MTT volumes were measured at admission. The main outcome variable was good functional outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale <3). Serum levels of glutamate (Glu), IL-10, TNF-α, IL-6, NSE, and active MMP-9 also were determined at admission. Results Patients treated with t-PA who presented with PDM had higher IL-10 levels at admission (p < 0.0001). In contrast, patients with CDM had higher levels of IL-10 (p < 0.0001) as well as Glu and TNF-α (all p < 0.05) and lower levels of NSE and active MMP-9 (all p < 0.0001). IL-10 ≥ 30 pg/mL predicts good functional outcome at 3 months with a specificity of 88% and a sensitibity of 86%. IL-10 levels ≥30 pg/mL independently in both patients with PDM (OR, 18.9) and CDM (OR, 7.5), after an adjustment for covariates. Conclusions Serum levels of IL-10 facilitate the selection of ischemic stroke patients with CDM and PDM for systemic thrombolysis.This project has been partially supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto Salud Carlos III, RETICS-RD06/0026 and PI081472) and Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Economía e Industria: 09CSA057918PR, Consellería de Sanidade: PS09/32)S

Increased Endothelial Progenitor Cell Levels are Associated with Good Outcome in Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a role in the regeneration of damaged brain tissue. However, the relationship between circulating EPC levels and functional recovery in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has not yet been tested. Therefore, our aim was to study the influence of circulating EPCs on the outcome of ICH. Forty-six patients with primary ICH (males, 71.7%; age, 72.7 ± 10.8 years) were prospectively included in the study within 12 hours of symptom onset. The main outcome variable was good functional outcome at 12 months (modified Rankin scale ≤2), considering residual volume at 6 months as a secondary variable. Circulating EPC (CD34+/CD133+/KDR+) levels were measured by flow cytometry from blood samples obtained at admission, 72 hours and day 7. Our results indicate that patients with good outcome show higher EPC numbers at 72 hours and day 7 (all p < 0.001). However, only EPC levels at day 7 were independently associated with good functional outcome at 12 months (OR, 1.15; CI95%, 1.01–1.35) after adjustment by age, baseline stroke severity and ICH volume. Moreover, EPC levels at day 7 were negatively correlated to residual volume (r = −0.525; p = 0.005). In conclusion, these findings suggest that EPCs may play a role in the functional recovery of ICH patients.This study has been partially supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI14/01879), Spanish Research Network on Cerebrovascular Diseases RETICS-INVICTUS (RD12/0014), Xunta de Galicia (Consellería Educación GRC2014/027) and the European Union program FEDER. Furthermore, F. Campos (CP14/00154) and T. Sobrino (CP12/03121) are recipients of a research contract from Miguel Servet Program of Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIS