What is the impact of restricted access policy on workplace violence in general hospital? A before-after study in a CHINESE tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the impact of a restricted access policy on workplace violence in a healthcare setting. METHODS: We surveyed healthcare workers before and after the implementation of a restricted-access policy at a tertiary hospital in north-eastern China. Data were collected in April 2017 and January 2019. Fisher's exact test were used to compare the difference in workplace violence prevalence between responses to two surveys. Survey 1 (S1) collected data from 345 healthcare professionals who had worked in the inpatient ward for at least 12 months. Survey 2 (S2) included 338 healthcare workers from the same ward who had been employed for more than two years. The effective response rates for the two studies was 79.31 and 83.25%, respectively. All 18 female security guards were included in the investigation in S2. RESULTS: The prevalence of psychological violence was 62.03% in S1 and 34.62% in S2, the difference in prevalence showing statistical significance (P = 0.000), while the prevalence of physical violence was 3.77 and 4.73% respectively, showing no statistical significance (P = 0.573). The change in the rate of injury caused by physical violence was also statistically significant at 76.92 and 31.25% (P = 0.025), respectively. Security guards were at high risk of workplace violence under the policy. Most healthcare professionals thought this policy ameliorated treatment order, the sense of security, anxiety about workplace violence, and so forth, but one-third of the respondents thought that it caused patient dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION: While the restricted access policy may be effective for healthcare professionals in avoiding or dealing with violence, such policy could contribute to new problems regarding the safety of security guards and the potential dissatisfaction of patients. The policy should be further developed to alleviate this phenomenon.

Workplace violence against healthcare professionals in a multiethnic area: a cross-sectional study in southwest China.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine workplace violence (WPV) towards healthcare professionals in a multiethnic area in China, including prevalence, influencing factors, healthcare professionals' response to WPV, expected antiviolence training measures and content, and evaluation of WPV interventions. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: A grade III, class A hospital in the capital of Yunnan Province, which is the province with the most diverse ethnic minority groups in China. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 2036 healthcare professionals participated, with a response rate of 83.79%. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical and psychological violence was 5.5% and 43.7%, respectively. Healthcare professionals of ethnic minority were more likely to experience psychological violence (OR=1.54, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.05). Stratified by gender, male healthcare professionals of ethnic minority suffered from more physical violence (OR=3.31, 95% CI 1.12 to 9.79), while female healthcare professionals suffered from psychological violence (OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.36). We also found a unique work situation in China: overtime duty on-call work (18:00-07:00) was a risk factor for psychological violence (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.93). Healthcare professionals of ethnic minority are less likely to order perpetrators to stop or to report to superiors when faced with psychological violence. They are also more interested in receiving training in force skills and self-defence. Both Han and ethnic minority participants considered security measures as the most useful intervention, while changing the time of shift the most useless one. CONCLUSION: Our study comprehensively described WPV towards healthcare professionals in a multiethnic minority area. More research on WPV conducted in multiethnic areas is needed.

Resveratrol Supplementation Prevents Hypertension in Hypertensive Pregnant Rats by Increasing Sodium Excretion and Serum Nitric Oxide Level.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy worldwide. This study was designed to study the blood pressure-lowering effect of resveratrol (RES) in a salt-induced hypertensive pregnant rat model. METHODS: Forty female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into 4 groups: Normal Preg (0.9% salt diet), Normal Preg + RES (0.9% salt diet plus daily oral RES for 4 weeks), Salt Preg (8% salt diet), and Salt Preg + RES (8% salt diet plus daily oral RES for 4 weeks). Noninvasive blood pressure was recorded on gestational days 7 and 14. On the gestational day 19, foetuses were weighed, and blood and urine samples were harvested for electrolytes and biochemical assays. RESULTS: RES significantly reduced SBP, DBP, and MAP on gestational days 7 and 14 in the Salt Preg + RES group compared to the Salt Preg group (all P < 0.05). Compared to the Salt Preg group, the foetal weight, serum NO level, urinary sodium, and 24 hour urine volume were significantly increased in the Salt Preg + RES group (all P < 0.05). Compared to the Salt Preg group, the foetal weight, serum NO level, urinary sodium, and 24 hour urine volume were significantly increased in the Salt Preg + RES group (all P < 0.05). Compared to the Salt Preg group, the foetal weight, serum NO level, urinary sodium, and 24 hour urine volume were significantly increased in the Salt Preg + RES group (all. CONCLUSIONS: RES decreases blood pressure in a hypertensive pregnant rat model. Increasing sodium excretion and serum nitric oxide level might be, at least part of, the underlying mechanisms.

Cold plasma treatment and exogenous salicylic acid priming enhances salinity tolerance of Oryza sativa seedlings.

The present study was designed to highlight the effects of cold plasma (10 kV) treatment and priming with 2 mM salicylic acid (SA) and their combination (10 kV of plasma + 2 mM SA) on the physiological parameters and metabolism of two cultivars of Oryza sativa, i.e., Zhu Liang You 06 (ZY) and Qian You No. 1 (QY), under salinity stress (150 mM NaCl) and normal growth condition (0 mM NaCl). Seed germination and seedling growth were enhanced by SA priming and cold plasma treatment either alone or in combination under salinity stress. Photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence were improved by cold plasma treatment and SA priming under salinity stress as compared to the untreated seeds. The activities of antioxidant enzymes were significantly improved by the combination of SA priming and cold plasma treatment in both cultivars under salinity stress. There were rapid changes in the cellular content of sodium (Na+) and calcium (Ca+), where the plants grown under saline conditions accumulate more Na+ and less Ca+ contents resulting in ionic imbalances. Interestingly, cold plasma and SA treatments diminished this action by reducing Na+ accumulation and increasing K+ and Ca+ contents in the plant cell under salinity stress. The activities of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism assimilation were up-regulated with cold plasma and SA priming either alone or combination under salinity stress. An increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and malondialdehyde (MDA) content was also observed under salinity stress condition. On contrast, seed treated with SA and plasma alone or combined resulted in a significant decrease in ROS and MDA contents under salinity stress. Our results indicated that SA priming and cold plasma treatment either alone or combined improved plant uptake of nutrients in both cultivars under stress conditions. The ultrastructural changes were observed to be more prominent in ZY than QY cultivar. Plants without SA priming or cold plasma treatments have a big vacuole due to the movement of ions into the vacuole directly from the apoplast into the vacuole through membrane vesiculation leading to membrane destabilization. However, SA priming and cold plasma treatment alone or combined helped the plants to recover their cell turgidity under salinity stress.

Correction to: Cold plasma treatment and exogenous salicylic acid priming enhances salinity tolerance of Oryza sativa seedlings.

Figures 3 and 6 in the published online version of the paper have been replaced with the incorrect artworks which has no relevance to the study. The correct version of the figures are shown below.

Genome Survey Sequencing of Luffa Cylindrica L. and Microsatellite High Resolution Melting (SSR-HRM) Analysis for Genetic Relationship of Luffa Genotypes.

Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem. is an economically important vegetable crop in China. However, the genomic information on this species is currently unknown. In this study, for the first time, a genome survey of L. cylindrica was carried out using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. In total, 43.40 Gb sequence data of L. cylindrica, about 54.94× coverage of the estimated genome size of 789.97 Mb, were obtained from HiSeq 2500 sequencing, in which the guanine plus cytosine (GC) content was calculated to be 37.90%. The heterozygosity of genome sequences was only 0.24%. In total, 1,913,731 contigs (>200 bp) with 525 bp N50 length and 1,410,117 scaffolds (>200 bp) with 885.01 Mb total length were obtained. From the initial assembled L. cylindrica genome, 431,234 microsatellites (SSRs) (≥5 repeats) were identified. The motif types of SSR repeats included 62.88% di-nucleotide, 31.03% tri-nucleotide, 4.59% tetra-nucleotide, 0.96% penta-nucleotide and 0.54% hexa-nucleotide. Eighty genomic SSR markers were developed, and 51/80 primers could be used in both "Zheda 23" and "Zheda 83". Nineteen SSRs were used to investigate the genetic diversity among 32 accessions through SSR-HRM analysis. The unweighted pair group method analysis (UPGMA) dendrogram tree was built by calculating the SSR-HRM raw data. SSR-HRM could be effectively used for genotype relationship analysis of Luffa species.

Electronic evidence of temperature-induced Lifshitz transition and topological nature in ZrTe5.

The topological materials have attracted much attention for their unique electronic structure and peculiar physical properties. ZrTe5 has host a long-standing puzzle on its anomalous transport properties manifested by its unusual resistivity peak and the reversal of the charge carrier type. It is also predicted that single-layer ZrTe5 is a two-dimensional topological insulator and there is possibly a topological phase transition in bulk ZrTe5. Here we report high-resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission measurements on the electronic structure and its detailed temperature evolution of ZrTe5. Our results provide direct electronic evidence on the temperature-induced Lifshitz transition, which gives a natural understanding on underlying origin of the resistivity anomaly in ZrTe5. In addition, we observe one-dimensional-like electronic features from the edges of the cracked ZrTe5 samples. Our observations indicate that ZrTe5 is a weak topological insulator and it exhibits a tendency to become a strong topological insulator when the layer distance is reduced.

Temperature-induced Lifshitz transition in topological insulator candidate HfTe5.

The ongoing discoveries and studies of novel topological quantum materials have become an emergent and important field of condensed matter physics. Recently, HfTe5 ignited renewed interest as a candidate of a novel topological material. The single-layer HfTe5 is predicted to be a two-dimensional large band gap topological insulator and can be stacked into a bulk that may host a temperature-driven topological phase transition. Historically, HfTe5 attracted considerable interest for its anomalous transport properties characterized by a peculiar resistivity peak accompanied by a sign reversal carrier type. The origin of the transport anomaly remains under a hot debate. Here we report the first high-resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission measurements on the temperature-dependent electronic structure in HfTe5. Our results indicated that a temperature-induced Lifshitz transition occurs in HfTe5, which provides a natural understanding on the origin of the transport anomaly in HfTe5. In addition, our observations suggest that HfTe5 is a weak topological insulator that is located at the phase boundary between weak and strong topological insulators at very low temperature.

Utility of MRI Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND After successful utilization of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in detecting brain pathologies, it is now being examined for use in the detection of peripheral neuropathies. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic potentials of DTI in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). MATERIAL AND METHODS The literature search was performed in multiple electronic databases using a keyword search and final selection of the studies was based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We performed a meta-analyses of mean differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between CTS patient and healthy subjects. Publication bias detection was done with Begg's test and sensitivity analyses were performed to explore the source/s of higher heterogeneity and the authenticity of results. RESULTS FA was significantly lower in CTS patients in comparison with healthy subjects (mean and the difference [95% confidence interval] was -0.06 [-0.10, -0.02] (p=0.003). The ADC was significantly higher in CTS patients (mean difference [95% CI] was 0.10 [0.02, 0.18], p=0.02). Overall sensitivity of FA-based diagnosis was 82.82%, with 77.83% specificity. CONCLUSIONS DTI can be a valuable tool in diagnosing CTS.

Anomalous High-Energy Waterfall-Like Electronic Structure in 5 d Transition Metal Oxide Sr2IrO4 with a Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling.

The low energy electronic structure of Sr2IrO4 has been well studied and understood in terms of an effective Jeff = 1/2 Mott insulator model. However, little work has been done in studying its high energy electronic behaviors. Here we report a new observation of the anomalous high energy electronic structure in Sr2IrO4. By taking high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on Sr2IrO4 over a wide energy range, we have revealed for the first time that the high energy electronic structures show unusual nearly-vertical bands that extend over a large energy range. Such anomalous high energy behaviors resemble the high energy waterfall features observed in the cuprate superconductors. While strong electron correlation plays an important role in producing high energy waterfall features in the cuprate superconductors, the revelation of the high energy anomalies in Sr2IrO4, which exhibits strong spin-orbit coupling and a moderate electron correlation, points to an unknown and novel route in generating exotic electronic excitations.

Robustness of topological order and formation of quantum well states in topological insulators exposed to ambient environment.

The physical property investigation (like transport measurements) and ultimate application of the topological insulators usually involve surfaces that are exposed to ambient environment (1 atm and room temperature). One critical issue is how the topological surface state will behave under such ambient conditions. We report high resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements to directly probe the surface state of the prototypical topological insulators, Bi(2)Se(3) and Bi(2)Te(3), upon exposing to various environments. We find that the topological order is robust even when the surface is exposed to air at room temperature. However, the surface state is strongly modified after such an exposure. Particularly, we have observed the formation of two-dimensional quantum well states near the exposed surface of the topological insulators. These findings provide key information in understanding the surface properties of the topological insulators under ambient environment and in engineering the topological surface state for applications.

Distinct fermi surface topology and nodeless superconducting gap in a (Tl0.58Rb0.42)Fe1.72Se2 superconductor.

High resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been carried out to study the electronic structure and superconducting gap of the (Tl0.58Rb0.42)Fe1.72Se2 superconductor with a T(c) = 32 K. The Fermi surface topology consists of two electronlike Fermi surface sheets around the Γ point which is distinct from that in all other iron-based superconductors reported so far. The Fermi surface around the M point shows a nearly isotropic superconducting gap of ∼12 meV. The large Fermi surface near the Γ point also shows a nearly isotropic superconducting gap of ∼15 meV, while no superconducting gap opening is clearly observed for the inner tiny Fermi surface. Our observed new Fermi surface topology and its associated superconducting gap will provide key insights and constraints into the understanding of the superconductivity mechanism in iron-based superconductors.

Unusual electronic structure and observation of dispersion kink in CeFeAsO parent compound of FeAs-based superconductors.

We report the first comprehensive high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on CeFeAsO, a parent compound of FeAs-based high temperature superconductors with a magnetic-structural transition at ∼150 K. In the magnetic-ordering state, four holelike Fermi surface sheets are observed near Γ(0,0), and the Fermi surface near M(±π,±π) shows a tiny electronlike pocket at M surrounded by four strong spots. The unusual Fermi surface topology deviates strongly from the band structure calculations. The electronic signature of the magnetic-structural transition shows up in the dramatic change of the quasiparticle scattering rate. A dispersion kink at ∼25 meV is observed for the first time in the parent compound of Fe-based superconductors.

Coexistence of Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets in a high-T(c) copper oxide superconductor.

In the pseudogap state of the high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) copper oxide superconductors, angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements have seen Fermi arcs-that is, open-ended gapless sections in the large Fermi surface-rather than a closed loop expected of an ordinary metal. This is all the more puzzling because Fermi pockets (small closed Fermi surface features) have been suggested by recent quantum oscillation measurements. The Fermi arcs cannot be understood in terms of existing theories, although there is a solution in the form of conventional Fermi surface pockets associated with competing order, but with a back side that is for detailed reasons invisible to photoemission probes. Here we report ARPES measurements of Bi(2)Sr(2-x)La(x)CuO(6+delta) (La-Bi2201) that reveal Fermi pockets. The charge carriers in the pockets are holes, and the pockets show an unusual dependence on doping: they exist in underdoped but not overdoped samples. A surprise is that these Fermi pockets appear to coexist with the Fermi arcs. This coexistence has not been expected theoretically.