Night-time shift work and related stress responses: A study on security guards

Work-related stress can induce a break in homeostasis by placing demands on the body that are met by the activation of two different systems, the hypothalamic\u2013pituitary\u2013adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Night-shift work alters the body\u2019s exposure to the natural light\u2013 dark schedule and disrupts circadian (daily) rhythms. The greatest effect of night-shift work is the disruption of circadian rhythms. The impact that these disruptions may have on the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancer, is unknown. This study aims to discover the relationship among three different job activities of security guards and their stress-related responses by evaluating salivary cortisol levels and blood pressure. Methods: Ninety security guards, including night-time workers and night-time and daily-shift workers, were recruited for this study. Each security guard provided two saliva samples before and after three scheduled time points: (i) at 22:00, (ii) at 06:30, and (iii) at 14:00. Results: The results of the study showed a significant alteration in cortisol levels. Night-time shift cortisol levels significantly increased before and after the work shifts. A physiological prevalence of the vagal tone on the cardiocirculatory activity was found during night-shift work. Conclusions: This study indicates that cortisol levels and blood pressure are sensitive markers of biological responses to severe work stress. Shift-change consequences may occur at the end of the night shift when there is a significant increase in the cortisol level and a significant variation in cardiovascular parameters

Uniform non-stoichiometric titanium nitride thin films for improved kinetic inductance detector array

We describe the fabrication of homogeneous sub-stoichiometric titanium nitride films for microwave kinetic inductance detector (mKID) arrays. Using a 6 inch sputtering target and a homogeneous nitrogen inlet, the variation of the critical temperature over a 2 inch wafer was reduced to <25 %. Measurements of a 132-pixel mKID array from these films reveal a sensitivity of 16 kHz/pW in the 100 GHz band, comparable to the best aluminium mKIDs. We measured a noise equivalent power of NEP = 3.6e-15 W/Hz^(1/2). Finally, we describe possible routes to further improve the performance of these TiN mKID arrays.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Journal of low temperature physics, Proceedings of LTD-1

Preterm birth after loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). how cone features and microbiota could influence the pregnancy outcome

OBJECTIVE: In the last years, the mean age of women who underwent cervical treatment for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2-3) is similar to the age of women having their first pregnancy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies after loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2013 to January 2016 the study identified a total of 1435 women, nulliparous, who underwent LEEP for CIN 2-3, and who wished to have their first pregnancy. Before surgery, the lengths of the cervix were calculated by transvaginal sonography. After the treatment, the dimension of the removed tissue was evaluated. During the pregnancy, all women carried out periodic transvaginal sonography and vaginal-cervical swabs. RESULTS: The average age of patients was 31.96±5.24 years; the interval between the surgical procedure and pregnancy was 12.04±4.67 months; the gestational age at births was 37.53±2.91 weeks. The first vaginal and cervical swab performed during pregnancy was negative in 81.8% of patients. The most prevalent infections were related to C. Albicans, G. Vaginalis, and Group B Streptococcus (GBS). The rate of preterm delivery was significantly higher in women with a minor cervical length. CONCLUSIONS: The length and the volume of cervical tissue excised have been shown to be directly related to the risk for preterm birth. Furthermore, vaginal infections and their persistence during pregnancy in women with a history of LEEP may be associated with an increased risk for preterm birth, compared with women with no history of LEEP

Cascading the use of Web 2.0 technology in secondary schools in the United Kingdom: identifying the barriers beyond pre-service training

This paper reports on research that took place at Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom, over two years. The research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technology, specifically web logs, with pre-service teachers, both during their university programme and the first year of teaching as full-time newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The purpose of this research was to add a developing body of knowledge by identifying whether technology used by pre-service teachers during their training course can be cascaded into their practice once qualified. Key findings identify a number of enablers and barriers to cascading technology in the classroom; these include curriculum time, pupil skills and support. The research concludes that early professional support and development should be on-going and assumptions about new teachers as champions of cascading innovative use of Web 2 technologies into their practice as NQTs may be over optimisti

Cementing proteins provide extra mechanical stabilization to viral cages

The study of virus shell stability is key not only for gaining insights into viral biological cycles but also for using viral capsids in materials science. The strength of viral particles depends profoundly on their structural changes occurring during maturation, whose final step often requires the specific binding of ‘decoration’ proteins (such as gpD in bacteriophage lambda) to the viral shell. Here we characterize the mechanical stability of gpD-free and gpD-decorated bacteriophage lambda capsids. The incorporation of gpD into the lambda shell imparts a major mechanical reinforcement that resists punctual deformations. We further interrogate lambda particle stability with molecular fatigue experiments that resemble the sub-lethal Brownian collisions of virus shells with macromolecules in crowded environments. Decorated particles are especially robust against collisions of a few kBT (where kB is the Boltzmann’s constant and T is the temperature ~300 K), which approximate those anticipated from molecular insults in the environmentWe acknowledge the MINECO of Spain (PIB2010US-00233, FIS3011-29493, Consolider CSD2010-00024, CAMprojectNo.S3009/MAT-1467), and the US National Science Foundation (MCB-1158107) for their financial support of this researc

Quantitative assessment of diffuse myocardial fibrosis in II-type diabetes mellitus patients using T1 mapping technique: preliminary data

In diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), ventricular remodelling consists in a progressive impairment of myocardial contraction (evolving from diastolic to combined diastolic-systolic dysfunction) occurring regardless of ischemic heart disease, hypertension or other macrovascular complications, which ultimately leads to heart failure. Early stages of DCM are asymptomatic and characterised by initial contractile disfunction and various degree of myocardial fibrosis, that may not be recognised by traditional cardiology tests. Our purpose was to detect myocardial fibrotic infiltration in DM-II patients by using T1-mapping technique with extracellular volume fraction (ECV) measurement