Using Rasch Wright map to identify hospital employee satisfaction during and before COVID-19.

During the surge of the COVID-19 outbreak, medical personnel attended to countless patients, which adversely affected their mental well-being. To support their staff, hospitals implemented guidelines that focused on promoting mental health among medical professionals. The hypothesis that employee satisfaction declined during the COVID-19 pandemic needs confirmation. Several findings were derived from a series of visualizations using Rasch Wright map. The research sample was taken from a medical center in southern Taiwan based on satisfaction survey data from 2017 to 2022 (n = 1222). Perceptions on job satisfaction perceptions during and prior to COVID-19 in 2 stages of 2017 to 2019 and 2020 to 2022 were compared using Rasch Wright map. Through a series of visualizations, including the dimension with the highest satisfaction, the demographical category of hospital employees with the lowest satisfaction during the pandemic, and Rasch Wright map displaying employs' perfections on 4 domains over years. The results indicated: Employee satisfaction was significantly lower during the COVID-19 period in 2 domains: compensation and benefits, work atmosphere; among the 23 questions, Question 5 (regarding meals provided by the hospital to staff) scored the lowest, while Question 23 (regarding the hospital emergency response and disaster prevention capabilities) scored the highest. Among the 4 domains, organizational leadership had the highest satisfaction; out of 104 demographic variables, 21 groups showed that employee satisfaction during the pandemic was significantly (P < .05) lower than before the pandemic; the selection of specific demographic variables is for top-tier supervisors, and they showed that employee satisfaction during the pandemic was significantly (P < .05) lower than before the pandemic across all 4 dimensions. Therefore, this study accepts the hypothesis that employee satisfaction was negatively affected during the COVID-19 period on 2 domains only: compensation and benefits, work atmosphere. The study visual examination, especially using Rasch Wright map, offers a comparative perspective on hospital staff satisfaction and serves as a methodological guide for subsequent satisfaction research.

Dynamic Changes of Fetal-Derived Hypermethylated RASSF1A and Septin 9 Sequences in Maternal Plasma.

DNA methylation has a tissue-specific feature, and placenta has distinct methylation patterns from peripheral blood cells. Although fetal/placental-derived cell free DNA (cfDNA) in the maternal blood has been reported in recent decades, systematic exploration of dynamic changes of the placental epigenetic signatures across gestation is lacking. The primary goal of this study was to characterize prenatal and postnatal methylation levels of placental-sourced RASSF1A and Septin 9 sequences in maternal plasma. Here, we used a quantitative methylation-sensitive PCR (qMS-PCR) assay to check the methylation status of RASSF1A and Septin 9 in placental tissues of pregnant women and plasma samples from non-pregnant individuals. Then, we examined the methylation levels of the two targets in maternal plasma from expectant women at different gestational ages and postdelivery. Hypermethylated RASSF1A and Septin 9 were identified in placental samples but undetectable in peripheral blood of healthy non-pregnant women. Further, hypermethylated RASSF1A sequence was found in all three trimesters of pregnancy except for early gestation (8 weeks). Moreover, methylation scores of the two targets increased as pregnancy progressed. In addition, hypermethylated RASSF1A sequence was detectable in maternal plasma from 12 h (one case) to 24 h postdelivery (three cases) in 18 pregnant women. Our data on the variation of fetal-sourced methylated RASSF1A levels in maternal plasma in relation to gestational age provide a useful basis for improving the reliability of the methylation assay for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) in clinical practice.

The discovery of novel heat-stable keratinases from Meiothermus taiwanensis WR-220 and other extremophiles.

Billions of tons of keratin bio-wastes are generated by poultry industry annually but discarded that result in serious environmental pollution. Keratinase is a broad spectrum protease with the unique ability to degrade keratin, providing an eco-friendly way to convert keratin wastes to valuable amino acids. In this report, a feather-degrading thermophilic bacterium, Meiothermus taiwanensis WR-220, was investigated due to its ability to apparently complete feather decay at 65 °C in two days. By genomics, proteomics, and biochemical approaches, the extracellular heat-stable keratinase (MtaKer) from M. taiwanensis WR-220 was identified. The recombinant MtaKer (rMtaKer) possesses keratinolytic activities at temperatures ranging from 25 to 75 °C and pH from 4 to 11, with a maximum keratinolytic activity at 65 °C and pH 10. The phylogenetic and structural analysis revealed that MtaKer shares low sequence identity but high structural similarity with known keratinases. Accordingly, our findings have enabled the discovery of more keratinases from other extremophiles, Thermus and Deinococcus. Proteins encoded in the extremophiles shall be evolved to be functional in the extreme conditions. Hence, our study expands the current boundary of hunting keratinases that can tolerate extreme conditions for keratin wastes biorecycle and other industrial applications.