An Experience Sampling Study of Expressing Affect, Daily Affective Well-Being, Relationship Quality and Perceived Performance

Few studies have directly examined the processes through which workers use job resources, such as job control and social support, to regulate affect. We focused on affective expression, which is a specific form of affect regulation. We investigated the extent to which workers used both job control and social support to express affect. Thirty-nine call centre workers provided data up to four times a day over five consecutive working days (number of observations = 272). Executing job control to allow workers to express affect was related to using social support to express affect. Workers' understanding of their personal goals mediated relationships between using social support to express affect and four outcomes (negative affect, positive affect, perceived performance, and quality of workplace relationships). Perceived empathy mediated relationships between using social support to express affect and three outcomes (negative affect, positive affect, and quality of workplace relationships). The findings indicated that (1) one job resource can be used to facilitate using another job resource for affect regulation and (2) different job resources may play different roles in conferring benefits from affective expression

French and British perceptions on stress at work and the role of job demand and enhanced coping resources

The aim of this research was first to identify the differences in the perceptions of stress among French and British managers. A second aim was to examine the levels of stress and the role of job demand, support, relationships at work and coping on well-being. Lastly, it was to evaluate the effects of coping resources on well-being. Interviews indicated that differences exist in the understanding of stress. British managers attributed causes of stress more to workload and deadlines, decision latitude and lack of information. French managers viewed relationships at work as a primary cause of stress, followed by incidents and organisational culture. Unclear job role was a similar and important source of stress in both samples. There was no evidence that French managers were more stressed than the British or that they viewed stress as an 'individual issue' as found in previous research. Regression analyses performed on a matching sample of managers (N=156), revealed that job demand had main effects on well-being and intention to quit the organisation in both national samples. However, as already suggested through the interviews, relationships at work turned out to be predictors of intention to quit the company only for the French managers. The UK managers in the repertory grid exercise more often mentioned the term coping in relation to stress than did the French managers. Only in the UK sample, were coping strategies correlated with well-being. While problem-oriented coping strategies correlated positively with well-being, emotion-focused strategies correlated negatively with well-being, confirming previous findings in studies on coping. A longitudinal test of the relationship between job demand and well-being and the moderating effects of coping resources among a French sample (N=150) indicated that some coping resources improved after a training intervention but had no direct or interactive effects on well-being. Only job demand was a significant predictor of well-being. Limitations of the study and implications for further cross-cultural research are discussed

French and British perceptions on stress at work and the role of job demand and enhanced coping resources

The aim of this research was first to identify the differences in the perceptions of stress among French and British managers. A second aim was to examine the levels of stress and the role of job demand, support, relationships at work and coping on well-being. Lastly, it was to evaluate the effects of coping resources on well-being. Interviews indicated that differences exist in the understanding of stress. British managers attributed causes of stress more to workload and deadlines, decision latitude and lack of information. French managers viewed relationships at work as a primary cause of stress, followed by incidents and organisational culture. Unclear job role was a similar and important source of stress in both samples. There was no evidence that French managers were more stressed than the British or that they viewed stress as an 'individual issue' as found in previous research. Regression analyses performed on a matching sample of managers (N=156), revealed that job demand had main effects on well-being and intention to quit the organisation in both national samples. However, as already suggested through the interviews, relationships at work turned out to be predictors of intention to quit the company only for the French managers. The UK managers in the repertory grid exercise more often mentioned the term coping in relation to stress than did the French managers. Only in the UK sample, were coping strategies correlated with well-being. While problem-oriented coping strategies correlated positively with well-being, emotion-focused strategies correlated negatively with well-being, confirming previous findings in studies on coping. A longitudinal test of the relationship between job demand and well-being and the moderating effects of coping resources among a French sample (N=150) indicated that some coping resources improved after a training intervention but had no direct or interactive effects on well-being. Only job demand was a significant predictor of well-being. Limitations of the study and implications for further cross-cultural research are discussed

Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace

Development of the Health ↔ Work Toolbox is described. The toolbox aims to reduce the workplace impact of common health problems (musculoskeletal, mental health, and stress complaints) by focusing on tackling work-relevant symptoms. Based on biopsychosocial principles this toolbox supplements current approaches by occupying the zone between primary prevention and healthcare. It provides a set of evidence-informed principles and processes (knowledge + tools) for tackling work-relevant common health problems. The toolbox comprises a proactive element aimed at empowering line managers to create good jobs, and a ‘just in time’ responsive element for supporting individuals struggling with a work-relevant health problem. The key intention is helping people with common health problems to maintain work participation. The extensive conceptual and practical development process, including a comprehensive evidence review, produced a functional prototype toolbox that is evidence based and flexible in its use. End-user feedback was mostly positive. Moving the prototype to a fully-fledged internet resource requires specialist design expertise. The Health ↔ Work Toolbox appears to have potential to contribute to the goal of augmenting existing primary prevention strategies and healthcare delivery by providing a more comprehensive workplace approach to constraining sickness absence

Developing an intervention toolbox for common health problems in the workplace

The project brief was to develop the content for an intervention toolbox for common health problems in the workplace - musculoskeletal, mental health and stress complaints. The intention was to develop a prototype toolbox that can be taken forward to (1) minimise the occurrence of work-relevant common health problems (CHPs) and (2) reduce avoidable sickness absence, healthcare use and long-term disability for CHP complaints that inevitably occur in the workplac

Quaternary Ammonium Palmitoyl Glycol Chitosan (GCPQ) Loaded with Platinum-Based Anticancer Agents—A Novel Polymer Formulation for Anticancer Therapy

Quaternary ammonium palmitoyl glycol chitosan (GCPQ) has already shown beneficial drug delivery properties and has been studied as a carrier for anticancer agents. Consequently, we synthesised cytotoxic platinum(IV) conjugates of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin by coupling via amide bonds to five GCPQ polymers differing in their degree of palmitoylation and quaternisation. The conjugates were characterised by 1H and 195Pt NMR spectroscopy as well as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), the latter to determine the amount of platinum(IV) units per GCPQ polymer. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the MTT assay in three human cancer cell lines (A549, non-small-cell lung carcinoma; CH1/PA-1, ovarian teratocarcinoma; SW480, colon adenocarcinoma). All conjugates displayed a high increase in their cytotoxic activity by factors of up to 286 times compared to their corresponding platinum(IV) complexes and mostly outperformed the respective platinum(II) counterparts by factors of up to 20 times, also taking into account the respective loading of platinum(IV) units per GCPQ polymer. Finally, a biodistribution experiment was performed with an oxaliplatin-based GCPQ conjugate in non-tumour-bearing BALB/c mice revealing an increased accumulation in lung tissue. These findings open promising opportunities for further tumouricidal activity studies especially focusing on lung tissue

A Probiotic Adjuvant Lactobacillus rhamnosus Enhances Specific Immune Responses after Ocular Mucosal Immunization with Chlamydial Polymorphic Membrane Protein C

Recent advances in the development of chlamydia vaccines, using live-attenuated or ultraviolet light-inactivated chlamydia, are paving the way for new possibilities to oppose the societal challenges posed by chlamydia-related diseases, such as blinding trachoma. An effective subunit vaccine would mitigate the risks associated with the use of a whole-cell vaccine. Our rationale for the design of an efficient subunit vaccine against Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is based on the membrane proteins involved in the initial Ct-host cell contact and on the route of immunization that mimics the natural infection process (i.e., via the ocular mucosa). The first aim of our study was to characterize the specific conjunctival and vaginal immune responses following eye drop immunization in BALB/c mice, using the N-terminal portion of the Ct serovar E polymorphic membrane protein C (N-PmpC) as the subunit vaccine antigen. Second, we aimed to examine the adjuvant properties of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LB) when formulated with N-PmpC. N-PmpC applied alone stimulated the production of N-PmpC-and Ct serovar B-specific antibodies in serum, tears and vaginal washes, whereas the combination with LB significantly enhanced these responses. The N-PmpC/LB combination initiated a T cell response characterized by an elevated percentage of CD25+ T cells and CD8+ effector T cells, enhanced CD4+ T-helper 1 skewing, and increased regulatory T cell responses. Together, these results show that eye drop vaccination with combined use of N-PmpC and a live probiotic LB stimulates specific cellular and humoral immune responses, not only locally in the conjunctiva but also in the vaginal mucosa, which could be a promising approach in Ct vaccine development

A Novel Diagnostic Target in the Hepatitis C Virus Genome

Christian Drosten and colleagues develop, validate, and make openly available a prototype hepatitis C virus assay based on the conserved 3' X-tail element, with potential for clinical use in developing countries

FOXC2 controls formation and maturation of lymphatic collecting vessels through cooperation with NFATc1

The mechanisms of blood vessel maturation into distinct parts of the blood vasculature such as arteries, veins, and capillaries have been the subject of intense investigation over recent years. In contrast, our knowledge of lymphatic vessel maturation is still fragmentary. In this study, we provide a molecular and morphological characterization of the major steps in the maturation of the primary lymphatic capillary plexus into collecting lymphatic vessels during development and show that forkhead transcription factor Foxc2 controls this process. We further identify transcription factor NFATc1 as a novel regulator of lymphatic development and describe a previously unsuspected link between NFATc1 and Foxc2 in the regulation of lymphatic maturation. We also provide a genome-wide map of FOXC2-binding sites in lymphatic endothelial cells, identify a novel consensus FOXC2 sequence, and show that NFATc1 physically interacts with FOXC2-binding enhancers. As damage to collecting vessels is a major cause of lymphatic dysfunction in humans, our results suggest that FOXC2 and NFATc1 are potential targets for therapeutic intervention

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)