Evaluating Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Sleep Disturbances in Healthcare Professionals During a Global Pandemic

Introduction: For healthcare workers, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased workload, work related stress and patient acuity potentially leading to burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and sleep disruptions. This study aims to assess the prevalence of burnout and STS symptoms, as well as sleep disturbances among healthcare personnel working in the United States during the pandemic. Methods: Healthcare workers from all disciplines and settings in the United States completed a cross-sectional survey about work and personal characteristics from January 20-March 1, 2021. Participants reported on symptoms of burnout, STS, and sleep disruptions. Results: A total of 360 participants in the United States responded to the survey with representation from 32 states. The average number of reported burnout symptoms (M = 5.28; out of a total of 12 possible symptoms), STS symptoms (M = 2.88; 8 possible), and sleep disturbances (M = 2.29; 5 possible) suggest a high prevalence of negative emotional and wellness experiences among healthcare workers during the pandemic. No differences based on profession were identified. A significant difference in burnout by age and time in the profession demonstrated the youngest participants experienced more burnout symptoms (F = 8.04, p \u3c 0.001), as well as those with fewer years of experience in their profession (F = 6.78, p \u3c 0.001). Correlational analyses demonstrated that increased sleep disturbances had a significant association with increased burnout and STS symptoms, as well as perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the number of STS and burnout symptoms were found to have a moderate, positive correlation, suggesting a relationship between burnout and STS. Conclusion: Most healthcare professionals working since COVID-19 experience symptoms of burnout, STS, and sleep disturbances. Younger healthcare workers may be more susceptible to negative emotional coping and sleep-related changes. Results suggest symptoms of burnout, STS, and sleep disturbance are interrelated, and also affected by perceived impact of the pandemic. These findings have implications for the state of healthcare workers as a whole

A spatially explicit degree-day model of Rift Valley fever transmission risk in the continental United States

A spatially explicit degree-day model was used to evaluate the risk of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) transmission by mosquitoes to humans and livestock within five target states in the continental United States: California, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, and Texas. A geographic information system was used to model potential virus transmission based on a 12-day moving window assessment of the extrinsic incubation period theorized for RVFV in the United States. Risk of potential virus transmission in each state was spatially evaluated on a 10-km grid using average historical daily temperature data from 1994 to 2003. The highest levels of transmission risk occur in California and Texas, with parts of these states at risk of RVFV transmission for up to 8 months per year. Northern Minnesota, central New York, and most of coastal and high-elevation California are at low to null risk. Risk of impact to the livestock industry is greatest in California, Texas, and Nebraska. A standard global climate model was used to evaluate future risk in the year 2030 in Nebraska, and showed an increase of transmission risk days from approximately 3 to 4 months per year

Exploring heritage through time and space : Supporting community reflection on the highland clearances

On the two hundredth anniversary of the Kildonan clearances, when people were forcibly removed from their homes, the Timespan Heritage centre has created a program of community centred work aimed at challenging pre conceptions and encouraging reflection on this important historical process. This paper explores the innovative ways in which virtual world technology has facilitated community engagement, enhanced visualisation and encouraged reflection as part of this program. An installation where users navigate through a reconstruction of pre clearance Caen township is controlled through natural gestures and presented on a 300 inch six megapixel screen. This environment allows users to experience the past in new ways. The platform has value as an effective way for an educator, artist or hobbyist to create large scale virtual environments using off the shelf hardware and open source software. The result is an exhibit that also serves as a platform for experimentation into innovative ways of community co-creation and co-curation.Postprin

The Impact of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene on Trauma and Spatial Processing.

The influence of genes and the environment on the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) continues to motivate neuropsychological research, with one consistent focus being the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) gene, given its impact on the integrity of the hippocampal memory system. Research into human navigation also considers the BDNF gene in relation to hippocampal dependent spatial processing. This speculative paper brings together trauma and spatial processing for the first time and presents exploratory research into their interactions with BDNF. We propose that quantifying the impact of BDNF on trauma and spatial processing is critical and may well explain individual differences in clinical trauma treatment outcomes and in navigation performance. Research has already shown that the BDNF gene influences PTSD severity and prevalence as well as navigation behaviour. However, more data are required to demonstrate the precise hippocampal dependent processing mechanisms behind these influences in different populations and environmental conditions. This paper provides insight from recent studies and calls for further research into the relationship between allocentric processing, trauma processing and BDNF. We argue that research into these neural mechanisms could transform PTSD clinical practice and professional support for individuals in trauma-exposing occupations such as emergency response, law enforcement and the military

Temporally Graded Activation of Neocortical Regions in Response to Memories of Different Ages

The temporally graded memory impairment seen in many neurobehavioral disorders implies different neuroanatomical pathways and/or cognitive mechanisms involved in storage and retrieval of memories of different ages. A dynamic interaction between medial-temporal and neocortical brain regions has been proposed to account for memory\u27s greater permanence with time. Despite considerable debate concerning its time-dependent role in memory retrieval, medial-temporal lobe activity has been well studied. However, the relative participation of neocortical regions in recent and remote memory retrieval has received much less attention. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrate robust, temporally graded signal differences in posterior cingulate, right middle frontal, right fusiform, and left middle temporal regions in healthy older adults during famous name identification from two disparate time epochs. Importantly, no neocortical regions demonstrated greater response to older than to recent stimuli. Our results suggest a possible role of these neocortical regions in temporally dating items in memory and in establishing and maintaining memory traces throughout the lifespan. Theoretical implications of these findings for the two dominant models of remote memory functioning (Consolidation Theory and Multiple Trace Theory) are discussed

Age-Related Functional Recruitment for Famous Name Recognition: An Event-Related fMRI Study

Recent neuroimaging research shows that older adults exhibit recruitment, or increased activation on various cognitive tasks. The current study evaluated whether a similar pattern also occurs in semantic memory by evaluating age-related differences during recognition of Recent (since the 1990s) and Enduring (1950s to present) famous names. Fifteen healthy older and 15 healthy younger adults performed the name recognition task with a high and comparable degree of accuracy, although older adults had slower reaction time in response to Recent famous names. Event-related functional MRI showed extensive networks of activation in the two groups including posterior cingulate, right hippocampus, temporal lobe and left prefrontal regions. The Recent condition produced more extensive activation than the Enduring condition. Older adults had more extensive and greater magnitude of activation in 15 of 20 regions, particularly for the Recent condition (15 of 15; 7 of 15 also differed for Enduring); young adults did not show greater activation magnitude in any region. There were no group differences for non-famous names, indicating that age differences are task-specific. The results support and extend the existing literature to semantic memory tasks, indicating that older adult brains use functional recruitment to support task performance, even when task performance accuracy is high

Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis in a 66-Year-Old Woman After Fusion of the Second Right Metatarsocuneiform Joint Using Titanium Plate and Screws: A Case Report

Metallic orthopaedic implants are known to instigate cutaneous reactions; however, the mechanism by which this occurs is not fully understood. Contact dermatitis after implantation of stainless steel fracture plates was first described in 1966, and similar reactions to various implants have been documented subsequently. Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV) is an inflammatory condition of small dermal blood vessels resulting from neutrophil invasion, degranulation, and cell death caused by a type III hypersensitivity reaction. No studies have reported use of titanium orthopaedic implants resulting in LCV. We describe a 66-year-old woman who developed LCV after the fusion of her second right metatarsocuneiform joint with a titanium plate and screws. At 4 months after removal of the titanium plate and screws, the LCV symptoms had resolved without further intervention. Although this rash might be a rare complication associated with orthopaedic implants, it is an important differential diagnosis for orthopaedic surgeons to consider when assessing and treating postoperative rashes

Medial Temporal Lobe Activity for Recognition of Recent and Remote Famous Names: an Event-Related fMRI Study

Previous neuroimaging studies examining recognition of famous faces have identified activation of an extensive bilateral neural network [Gorno Tempini, M. L., Price, C. J., Josephs, O., Vandenberghe, R., Cappa, S. F., Kapur, N. et al. (1998). The neural systems sustaining face and proper-name processing. Brain, 121, 2103–2118], including the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and specifically the hippocampal complex [Haist, F., Bowden, G. J., & Mao, H. (2001). Consolidation of human memory over decades revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 1139–1145; Leveroni, C. L., Seidenberg, M., Mayer, A. R., Mead, L. A., Binder, J. R., & Rao, S. M. (2000). Neural systems underlying the recognition of familiar and newly learned faces. Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 878–886]. One model of hippocampal functioning in autobiographical, episodic memory retrieval argues that the hippocampal complex remains active in retrieval tasks regardless of time or age of memory (multiple trace theory, MTT), whereas another proposal posits that the hippocampal complex plays a time-limited role in retrieval of autobiographical memories. The current event-related fMRI study focused on the medial temporal lobe and its response to recognition judgments of famous names from two distinct time epochs (1990s and 1950s) in 15 right-handed healthy older adults (mean age = 70 years). A pilot study with an independent sample of young and older subjects ensured that the stimuli were representative of a recent and remote time period. Increased MR signal activity was observed on a bilateral basis for both the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) during recognition of familiar names from both the recent and remote time periods when compared to non-famous names. However, the impulse response functions in the right hippocampus and right PHG demonstrated a differential response to stimuli from different time epochs, with the 1990s names showing the greatest MR signal intensity change, followed by the 1950s names, followed by foils. The finding that recognition of famous names produced significant bilateral MTL activation regardless of time epoch relative to foils provides support for the MTT model. However, the finding of a temporal gradient in the right MTL also provides support for the HC model, given the greater MTL response associated with recently famous names relative to remotely famous names