The risk ogf high-risk jobs : psychological health consequences in forensic physicians and ambulance workers

The risk of high-risk jobs: Psychological health consequences in forensic doctors and ambulance workers This thesis has shown that forensic physicians and ambulance personnel frequently suffer from psychological complaints as a result of dramatic events and sources of chronic work stress. A significant number of forensic physicians and ambulance personnel experience serious problems in coming to terms with dramatic events they have experienced. These complaints are often expressed in the form of the events being relived, dreams about these events and avoiding talking about these events. The more frequently the events occur, the greater the number of psychological complaints suffered. The most dramatic events are those involving children. Up until now little research or attention has been devoted to the psychological consequences of either dramatic experiences at work or sources of chronic work stress. This study is unique because it investigates both of these stress factors. The medical personnel filled in a questionnaire on two separate occasions. This questionnaire covered dramatic events at work, sources of chronic work stress, posttraumatic stress complaints, fatigue and burnout. The purpose of the second questionnaire was to predict health complaints that would arise due to dramatic events and sources of chronic work stress. The majority of the 84 forensic physicians and 221 ambulance personnel questioned indicated that they regularly experienced dramatic events at work. Examples of these are confrontations with ill people and with victims of violence and accidents. Forensic physicians regularly encounter aggression in their daily work. This is because they carry out research and issue recommendations to the government, the police and the judiciary with respect to the maintenance of law and order. Ambulance personnel also report that they are regularly confronted with violence. It was also found that these employees are exposed to various sources of chronic stress. For both groups the most frequently cited stress factor was the lack of social support from management and colleagues. Poor communication within the organisation leads to extra tensions. Together with the dramatic events, these sources of work stress lead to psychological complaints. More than one in ten of those questioned suffered from burnout and/or serious fatigue

The impact of the Roman Empire on the cult of Asclepius

Asclepius was worshipped in over 900 sanctuaries across the Graeco-Roman world. Although the cult had been disseminated across eastern Mediterranean from the 5th century onwards, it was only when the Romans took over the cult that it was dispersed all over the empire to become an empire-wide cult. This thesis looks at the impact of the Roman Empire on the cult, examining how Rome took over the existing cult, the ways in which Rome influenced it, and the relationship between the religion of Empire and local religion. The key questions that this thesis aims to ask are: How did the Roman Empire impact upon the cult of Asclepius? How were global and regional cult identities articulated in response to each other as a result of this impact? How did increased connectivity between areas play an important part in the creation and stimulation of cultic identities? Did Asclepius’ spheres of influence grow or adapt as a result of Roman benefactions? and What were provincial responses to Roman worship and dissemination of the cult? The timeframe for this thesis will be from 27 BC until Severus Alexander’s death in AD 235. Chapter One will introduce the scope of this thesis as well as the general theories which underpin this research. A survey of the cult before the Augustan period will be presented in Chapter Two. Further chapters will each examine a different aspect of the Roman impact on the cult, with the third focussing on imperial influences and the worship of the god by Roman and provincial elites; the fourth on how the Roman army influenced the cult; the fifth how multiple forms of the god were worshipped side-by-side in North Africa

Trends in Australian children traveling to school 1971–2003: Burning petrol or carbohydrates?

Objective. To determine how Australian children traveled to and from school between 1971 and 2003. Methods. The 1971 (n=4284), 1981 (n=4936), 1991 (n=662) and 1999–2003 (n=816) Household Travel Surveys from the New South Wales Government Department of Planning were used to determine the mode of transport kids (5–14 years) took to and from school in the area of Sydney (Australia). Results. The results showed that the percentage of children aged 5–9 that walked to school was 57.7, 44.5, 35.3 and 25.5 in 1971, 1981, 1991 and 1999–2003, respectively. The percentage of children aged 5–9 that were driven to school by car in the four surveys was 22.8, 37.3, 53.9 and 66.6, respectively. The results for children aged 10–14 were similar, walking decreased from 44.2% to 21.1% and car use increased from 12.2% to 47.8% over the study period. Similar results were found for travel from school and there were no major differences between boys and girls. Conclusion. Between 1971 and 2003, Australian children's mode of travel to and from school has markedly shifted from active (walking) to inactive (car) modes

Antisense Oligonucleotides Promote Exon Inclusion and Correct the Common c.-32-13T>G GAA Splicing Variant in Pompe Disease

The most common variant causing Pompe disease is c.-32-13T>G (IVS1) in the acid α-glucosidase (GAA) gene, which weakens the splice acceptor of GAA exon 2 and induces partial and complete exon 2 skipping. It also allows a low level of leaky wild-type splicing, leading to a childhood/adult phenotype. We hypothesized that cis-acting splicing motifs may exist that could be blocked using antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) to promote exon inclusion. To test this, a screen was performed in patient-derived primary fibroblasts using a tiling array of U7 small nuclear RNA (snRNA)-based AONs. This resulted in the identification of a splicing regulatory element in GAA intron 1. We designed phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer-based AONs to this element, and these promoted exon 2 inclusion and enhanced GAA enzyme activity to levels above the disease threshold. These results indicate that the common IVS1 GAA splicing variant in Pompe disease is subject to negative regulation, and inhibition of a splicing regulatory element using AONs is able to restore canonical GAA splicing and endogenous GAA enzyme activity

Breeding for a more energy efficient greenhouse tomato: past and future perspectives

Energy efficiency can be increased either by increasing the production per m2 or by reducing the energy input per m2, e.g. by reducing temperature set-points in the greenhouse. So far, in Dutch glasshouse tomatoes energy efficiency was almost exclusively raised by yield increases. To study the role of tomato breeding in this production increase, yield and underlying components of 7 cultivars released between 1950 and 2002 were studied. Furthermore, variation in temperature response between cultivars was studied. In three experiments yield and biomass production of in total 11 cultivars were evaluated at two temperature regimes (17/15°C and 21/19°C day/night temperature set-points). Breeding has resulted in a remarkable increase in production. Under current conditions, yield of modern cultivars was on average 40% higher than yield of `Moneymaker¿, released in 1950. This increase in production resulted from a higher light use efficiency. Although the fraction of assimilates partitioned to the fruits showed small differences between cultivars, this trait was not related to year of release. Furthermore, more recently introduced cultivars produced larger fruits rather than more fruits. All cultivars responded similar to both temperature regimes for all important characteristics, limiting the possibilities of using existing cultivars in a breeding program for improved yield at lower temperatures

Cultivar Differences in Temperature Demand of Cut Chrysanthemum

The influence of temperature on dry matter production, growth analysis parameters, stem length, number of leaves and flower characteristics of 25 cut chrysanthemum cultivars was investigated. Plants were grown in the greenhouse at two constant temperatures setpoints, 16 and 20ºC. Destructive measurements were carried out at the end of the long day period and at flowering. During the long day period relative growth rate was increased at high temperature for all cultivars due to an increase in net assimilation rate and for a few cultivars also by an increase in leaf area ratio. Significant temperature x cultivar interactions were only present for stem length, number of leaves and leaf area ratio. For all other characteristics there were clear differences between the two temperature treatments and the cultivars. Depending on the cultivar, flowering was delayed by 4 to 13 days when cultivated at low temperature. At flowering, a significant temperature x cultivar interaction was observed for all measured or calculated parameters. For example, for one cultivar both the differences in number of days till flowering and the total dry mass between 16ºC and 20ºC were small while for another cultivar there was a 34% higher dry mass at lower temperature, while the growth period was not much extended. Differences in dry mass at flowering between the two temperature treatments could be explained by differences in growth rate. These data show good possibilities for breeding for low temperature demand in cut chrysanthemu

Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Dutch Newborns: Results of the Nationwide Well-Baby Newborn Hearing Screening Program

Background: Few studies report prevalence rates of hearing loss in newborns for nationwide populations. The Dutch well-baby newborn hearing screening covers almost all eligible children and has high participation rates for follow-up screening rounds and diagnosis. This allows calculating reliable prevalence rates of permanent neonatal hearing loss specified by severity. Methods: Results from the well-baby newborn hearing screening program and diagnostic follow-up of referred children from 2015 to 2019 were included in calculating prevalence rates. Hearing loss was classified according to the degree of severity. Results: A total of 99.7% of 833,318 children eligible for screening were included. A total of 0.3% were referred for audiological diagnostics. Permanent bilateral hearing loss of ≥40 dB was diagnosed in 23.7% of them and unilateral hearing loss in 14.4%. A prevalence rate of 1.23 per 1000 children was found, 0.46 for unilateral hearing loss and 0.76 for bilateral hearing loss. Moderate hearing loss is most common in children with bilateral hearing loss (0.47), followed by profound (0.21) and severe (0.06) hearing loss. In children with unilateral hearing loss, prevalence rates are the highest for profound hearing loss (0.21), followed by moderate (0.16) and severe (0.09) hearing loss. A total of 87.5% of the children were diagnosed within the age of 3 months. Conclusions: Because of the high quality of the Dutch well-baby hearing screening program, reported results approximate true prevalence rates of permanent hearing loss by severity