Healing a Vulnerable Self:Exploring Return to Work for Women With Mental Health Problems

Mental health problems (MHPs) such as stress and depression are among the leading causes of work disability. In this article we explore how women with MHPs experience sickness absence and subsequent return to work. We conducted 16 semistructured interviews and employed constructivist grounded theory for the analysis. We found that whereas sickness absence constituted a major threat to positive self-images, the experience had potential as a personal growth experience: Although some women felt handicapped, others became stronger and more self-confident. The core of the experience was not the return to work but a process of healing a vulnerable self-the ability both to refocus attention from symptoms to other life goals and to maintain or reconstruct a positive self-image. Supportive health care and acknowledgment from others facilitated the healing process

Økologiske hangrise: Effekt af reduceret slagtevægt kombineret med fire dages kornfodring på hangriselugt

Ca. 80 kg levendevægt ved slagtning og fire dages slutfodring med korn resulterede i færre frasorterede grise pga. skatol, en signifikant lavere androstenonkoncentration i spækket samt en lavere lugtkarakter (human nose)

The role of ClpP, RpoS and CsrA in growth and filament formation of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium at low temperature

BACKGROUND: Salmonellae are food-borne pathogens of great health and economic importance. To pose a threat to humans, Salmonellae normally have to cope with a series of stressful conditions in the food chain, including low temperature. In the current study, we evaluated the importance of the Clp proteolytic complex and the carbon starvation protein, CsrA, for the ability of Salmonella Typhimurium to grow at low temperature. RESULTS: A clpP mutant was severely affected in growth and formed pin point colonies at 10°C. Contrary to this, rpoS and clpP/rpoS mutants were only slightly affected. The clpP mutant formed cold resistant suppressor mutants at a frequency of 2.5 × 10(−3) and these were found not to express RpoS. Together these results indicated that the impaired growth of the clpP mutant was caused by high level of RpoS. Evaluation by microscopy of the clpP mutant revealed that it formed filamentous cells when grown at 10°C, and this phenotype too, disappered when rpoS was mutated in parallel indicating a RpoS-dependency. A csrA (sup) mutant was also growth attenuated a low temperature. An rpoS/csrA (sup) double mutant was also growth attenuated, indicating that the phenotype of the csrA mutant was independent from RpoS. CONCLUSIONS: The cold sensitivity of clpP mutant was associated with increased levels of RpoS and probably caused by toxic levels of RpoS. Although a csrA mutant also accumulated high level of RpoS, growth impairment caused by lack of csrA was not related to RpoS levels in a similar way

Health, work, and personal-related predictors of time to return to work among employees with mental health problems

Purpose: To identify health-, personal- and work-related factors predictive of return to work (RTW) in employees sick-listed due to common mental health problems, such as, stress, depression, burnout, and anxiety. Methods: We distributed a baseline questionnaire to employees applying for sickness absence benefits at a large Danish welfare Department (n = 721). A total of 298 employees returned the questionnaire containing information on possible predictors of RTW. We followed up all baseline responders for a maximum of one year in a national registry of social transfer payments, including sickness absence benefits. Results: At baseline, about 9% of respondents had quit their job, 10% were dismissed and the remaining 82% were still working for the same employer. The mean time to RTW, measured from the first day of absence, was 25 weeks (median = 21) and at the end of follow-up (52 weeks) 85% had returned to work. In the fitted Cox model we found that fulfilling the DSM-IV criteria for depression predicted a longer time to RTW (HR: 0.61, CI: 0.45-0.84), whereas a better self-rated health predicted a shorter time to RTW (HR: 1.18, CI: 1.03-1.34). Employees working in the municipal (HR: 0.62, CI: 0.41-0.94) and private sector (HR: 0.65, CI: 0.44-0.96) returned to work slower compared to employees working in the governmental sector. Gender, education, cohabitation, size of workplace, low-back and upper-neck pain and employment at baseline did not predict RTW. Conclusion: Our results indicate that time to RTW is determined by both health- and work-related factors

The immune microenvironment and relation to outcome in patients with advanced breast cancer treated with docetaxel with or without gemcitabine

Preclinical studies suggest that some effects of conventional chemotherapy, and in particular, gemcitabine, are mediated through enhanced antitumor immune responses. The objective of this study was to use material from a randomized clinical trial to evaluate whether patients with preexisting immune infiltrates responded better to treatment with gemcitabine + docetaxel (GD) compared to docetaxel alone. Formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues from SBG0102 phase 3 trial patients randomly assigned to treatment with GD or docetaxel were used. Immunohistochemical staining for CD8, FOXP3, LAG3, PD-1, PD-L1 and CD163 was performed. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor associated macrophages were evaluated. Prespecified statistical analyses were performed in a formal prospective-retrospective design. Time to progression was primary endpoint and overall survival secondary endpoint. Correlations between biomarker status and endpoints were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models. Biomarker data was obtained for 237 patients. There was no difference in treatment effect according to biomarker status for the whole cohort. In planned subgroup analysis by PAM50 subtype, in non-luminal (basal-like and HER2E) breast cancers FOXP3 was a significant predictor of treatment effect with GD compared to docetaxel, with a HR of 0.22 (0.09-0.52) for tumors with low FOXP3 compared to HR 0.92 (0.47-1.80) for high FOXP3 TILs (Pinteraction = 0.01). Immune biomarkers were not predictive of added benefit of gemcitabine in a cohort of mixed breast cancer subtypes. However, in non-luminal breast cancers, patients with low FOXP3+ TILs may have significant benefit from added gemcitabine

Workplace sexual harassment and depressive symptoms:A cross-sectional multilevel analysis comparing harassment from clients or customers to harassment from other employees amongst 7603 Danish employees from 1041 organizations

Abstract Background Previous research has reported that sexual harassment can lead to reduced mental health. Few studies have focused on sexual harassment conducted by clients or customers, which might occur in person-related occupations such as eldercare work, social work or customer service work. This study examined the cross-sectional association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and depressive symptoms. We also examined if this association was different compared to sexual harassment conducted by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate. Further, we investigated if psychosocial workplace initiatives modified the association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and level of depressive symptoms. Methods We used data from the Work Environment and Health in Denmark cohort study (WEHD) and the Work Environment Activities in Danish Workplaces Study (WEADW) collected in 2012. WEHD is based on a random sample of employed individuals aged 18–64. In WEADW, organizational supervisors or employee representatives provided information on workplace characteristics. By combining WEHD and WEADW we included self-reported information on working conditions and health from 7603 employees and supervisors in 1041 organizations within 5 occupations. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression and analyses adjusted for gender, age, occupation and socioeconomic position. Results Exposure to workplace sexual harassment from clients or customers was statistically significantly associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms (2.05; 95% CI: 0.98–3.12) compared to no exposure. Employees harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates had a higher mean level of depressive symptoms (2.45; 95% CI: 0.57–4.34) than employees harassed by clients or customers. We observed no statistically significant interactions between harassment from clients and customers and any of the examined psychosocial workplace initiatives (all p > 0.05). Conclusions The association between sexual harassment and depressive symptoms differed for employees harassed by clients or customers and those harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates. The results underline the importance of investigating sexual harassment from clients or customers and sexual harassment by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates as distinct types of harassment. We found no modification of the association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and depressive symptoms by any of the examined psychosocial workplace initiatives