25 research outputs found
Amidst the ASF Outbreak: The Job Burnout and Employee Performance in the Feed Industry
This study aims to investigate the relationship between job burnout and employee performance in the
feed industry during the ASF outbreak. Further, the researchers employed a descriptive-correlational
research design in order to analyze the acquired data and produce pertinent findings. Thus, the
researchers gathered data from one hundred two (102) feed industry employees. The Maslach
Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ) were employed
to ascertain the extent of job burnout experienced by the respondents and evaluate employee
performance, respectively. Based on the statistical analysis, there is a significant relationship between
job burnout and employee performance. Moreover, the study's findings were thoroughly analyzed and
discussed
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Combined Point-of-Care Nucleic Acid and Antibody Testing for SARS-CoV-2 following Emergence of D614G Spike Variant.
Rapid COVID-19 diagnosis in the hospital is essential, although this is complicated by 30%-50% of nose/throat swabs being negative by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Furthermore, the D614G spike mutant dominates the pandemic and it is unclear how serological tests designed to detect anti-spike antibodies perform against this variant. We assess the diagnostic accuracy of combined rapid antibody point of care (POC) and nucleic acid assays for suspected COVID-19 disease due to either wild-type or the D614G spike mutant SARS-CoV-2. The overall detection rate for COVID-19 is 79.2% (95% CI 57.8-92.9) by rapid NAAT alone. The combined point of care antibody test and rapid NAAT is not affected by D614G and results in very high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis with very high specificity
Racial differences in systemic sclerosis disease presentation: a European Scleroderma Trials and Research group study
Objectives. Racial factors play a significant role in SSc. We evaluated differences in SSc presentations between white patients (WP), Asian patients (AP) and black patients (BP) and analysed the effects of geographical locations.Methods. SSc characteristics of patients from the EUSTAR cohort were cross-sectionally compared across racial groups using survival and multiple logistic regression analyses.Results. The study included 9162 WP, 341 AP and 181 BP. AP developed the first non-RP feature faster than WP but slower than BP. AP were less frequently anti-centromere (ACA; odds ratio (OR) = 0.4, P < 0.001) and more frequently anti-topoisomerase-I autoantibodies (ATA) positive (OR = 1.2, P = 0.068), while BP were less likely to be ACA and ATA positive than were WP [OR(ACA) = 0.3, P < 0.001; OR(ATA) = 0.5, P = 0.020]. AP had less often (OR = 0.7, P = 0.06) and BP more often (OR = 2.7, P < 0.001) diffuse skin involvement than had WP.AP and BP were more likely to have pulmonary hypertension [OR(AP) = 2.6, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.7, P = 0.03 vs WP] and a reduced forced vital capacity [OR(AP) = 2.5, P < 0.001; OR(BP) = 2.4, P < 0.004] than were WP. AP more often had an impaired diffusing capacity of the lung than had BP and WP [OR(AP vs BP) = 1.9, P = 0.038; OR(AP vs WP) = 2.4, P < 0.001]. After RP onset, AP and BP had a higher hazard to die than had WP [hazard ratio (HR) (AP) = 1.6, P = 0.011; HR(BP) = 2.1, P < 0.001].Conclusion. Compared with WP, and mostly independent of geographical location, AP have a faster and earlier disease onset with high prevalences of ATA, pulmonary hypertension and forced vital capacity impairment and higher mortality. BP had the fastest disease onset, a high prevalence of diffuse skin involvement and nominally the highest mortality
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Challenges and opportunities for conducting a vaccine trial during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. It has also stimulated research in a wide range of areas including rapid diagnostics, novel therapeutics, use of technology to track patients and vaccine development. Here, we describe our experience of rapidly setting up and delivering a novel COVID-19 vaccine trial, using clinical and research staff and facilities in three National Health Service Trusts in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. We encountered and overcame a number of challenges including differences in organisational structures, research facilities available, staff experience and skills, information technology and communications infrastructure, and research training and assessment procedures. We overcame these by setting up a project team that included key members from all three organisations that met at least daily by teleconference. This group together worked to identify the best practices and procedures and to harmonise and cascade these to the wider trial team. This enabled us to set up the trial within 25 days and to recruit and vaccinate the participants within a further 23 days. The lessons learned from our experiences could be used to inform the conduct of clinical trials during a future infectious disease pandemic or public health emergency
Complement lectin pathway activation is associated with COVID-19 disease severity, independent of MBL2 genotype subgroups
IntroductionWhile complement is a contributor to disease severity in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, all three complement pathways might be activated by the virus. Lectin pathway activation occurs through different pattern recognition molecules, including mannan binding lectin (MBL), a protein shown to interact with SARS-CoV-2 proteins. However, the exact role of lectin pathway activation and its key pattern recognition molecule MBL in COVID-19 is still not fully understood.MethodsWe therefore investigated activation of the lectin pathway in two independent cohorts of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, while also analysing MBL protein levels and potential effects of the six major single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in the MBL2 gene on COVID-19 severity and outcome.ResultsWe show that the lectin pathway is activated in acute COVID-19, indicated by the correlation between complement activation product levels of the MASP-1/C1-INH complex (p=0.0011) and C4d (p<0.0001) and COVID-19 severity. Despite this, genetic variations in MBL2 are not associated with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection or disease outcomes such as mortality and the development of Long COVID.ConclusionIn conclusion, activation of the MBL-LP only plays a minor role in COVID-19 pathogenesis, since no clinically meaningful, consistent associations with disease outcomes were noted
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
Abstract
Background
Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres.
Methods
This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries.
Results
In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia.
Conclusion
This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries
Towards an improved understanding of biogeochemical processes across surface-groundwater interactions in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams
Este artículo contiene 17 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 tabla.Surface-groundwater interactions in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), waterways which do not
flow year-round, are spatially and temporally dynamic because of alternations between flowing, non-flowing and
dry hydrological states. Interactions between surface and groundwater often create mixing zones with distinct
redox gradients, potentially driving high rates of carbon and nutrient cycling. Yet a complete understanding of
how underlying biogeochemical processes across surface-groundwater flowpaths in IRES differ among various
hydrological states remains elusive. Here, we present a conceptual framework relating spatial and temporal
hydrological variability in surface water-groundwater interactions to biogeochemical processing hotspots in
IRES. We combine a review of theIRES biogeochemistry literature with concepts of IRES hydrogeomorphology to:
(i) outline common distinctions among hydrological states in IRES; (ii) use these distinctions, together with considerations of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles within IRES, to predict the relative potential for
biogeochemical processing across different reach-scale processing zones (flowing water, fragmented pools,
hyporheic zones, groundwater, and emerged sediments); and (iii) explore the potential spatial and temporal
variability of carbon and nutrient biogeochemical processing across entire IRES networks. Our approach estimates the greatest reach-scale potential for biogeochemical processing when IRES reaches are fragmented into
isolated surface water pools, and highlights the potential of relatively understudied processing zones, such as
emerged sediments. Furthermore, biogeochemical processing in fluvial networks dominated by IRES is likely
more temporally than spatially variable. We conclude that biogeochemical research in IRES would benefit from
focusing on interactions between different nutrient cycles, surface-groundwater interactions in non-flowing
states, and consideration of fluvial network architecture. Our conceptual framework outlines opportunities to
advance studies and expand understanding of biogeochemistry in IRES.This study is based upon work from COST Action CA15113 (SMIRES,
Science and Management of Intermittent Rivers and Ephemeral Streams,
www.smires.eu), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science
and Technology). A.S. was supported by the InterNet Project (Eawag
Discretionary Funds, Ernst Gohner ¨ Foundation and Gelbert Foundation),
S.A. was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant 682/17). G.
W. was supported by Klima- and Energiefonds within the ACRP program
(PURIFY - KR17AC0K13643). S.B. was supported by the Spanish Government through “Ramon ´ y Cajal” fellow (RYC-2017-22643). HP.G. was
supported by the Leibniz Foundation via the IGB household. O.S. was
supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG grant SU 405/10-
1). A.W. was additionally supported by Klima- and Energiefonds within
the ACRP program (PURIFY - KR17AC0K13643). V.P. is partially funded
by the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) (EPA). U.R. was
supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation (RI 2093/2-
1). S.O. was partially supported by the German Research Foundation
(DFG grant SU 405/10-1). O.T. was partially supported by the National
Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF). D.vS. was supported by a “Serra
Húnter” Fellow. M.I.A. was supported by the “Juan de Cierva” postdoctoral program funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation
and Universities (Ref: IJC2018-036969-I).Peer reviewe