The Impact of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Pains on Routine Tasks Among Operating Room Nurses: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: To determine work-related musculoskeletal pain (MSP) among 105 operating room nurses (ORNs) and its effect on their routine work. DESIGN: Multicenter cross-sectional design. METHODS: This study was conducted with 105 nurses working in operating rooms of five different hospitals between December 15, 2021, and February 15, 2022. Data were collected using the "Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire." SPSS 22.0 was used for data analysis, and a significance level of p < .05 was established. RESULTS: Among the nurses, 75.2% were female, 78.1% had undergraduate education, and 59% worked >40 hours/week. In the previous 12 months, 69.5% of ORNs experienced lower back pain; 68.6%, neck pain; and 61.9%, back pain. The duration spent working as a scrub nurse increased the possibility of experiencing pain in the hands, wrists, back, shoulders, and lower back region (p < .05), and women had an increased risk of lower back and back pain (p < .05). Neck, lower back, back, wrist, and hand pain increased the risk of being unable to perform daily tasks (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Extended work hours as a scrub nurse increase the risk of MSP, including lower back region, neck, and back pain among ORNs. Women have a higher risk of lower back and back pain. Addressing musculoskeletal issues in this profession is crucial. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Addressing musculoskeletal discomfort is vital because of its impact on nurses' job performance and potential patient harm. Providing ergonomic equipment, training nurses on musculoskeletal health, and raising awareness can help. It is also important to encourage regular breaks.

Modeling the electrical conductivity value of the model solution.

The ohmic heating process is one of the novel electrical heating methods that are considered as fast, homogeneous and efficient heating. In this study, the details of the relationship between electrical conductivity (EC)-Temperature (Temp) and EC-pH-Temp at different Total Soluble Solid Content (TSSC) and different pH values were examined. Especially, the study explains details of the electrical conductivity value due to pH change (2, 2.5, 3, 3.5) and expressing EC change depending on the pH value of fruit and vegetable juices. At constant pH, EC values decrease with increasing TSSC values (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%) and decrease with increasing pH at constant TSSC value. When the relationship between Temp-EC is analyzed that the EC value increases as Temp increases in all cases and this increase is linear. It was found that the Temp-EC relationship was in high compatibility with an R2 value above 0.97. Also, in the Temp-EC-pH relationship, the R2 value was found to be an acceptable value above 0.95.

Molecular Detection of Virulence Associated Genes in Coagulase Negative Staphylococci Isolated from Blood Culture.

BACKGROUND: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are one of the most important causes of infections. Unlike Staphylococcus aureus, less is known about their pathogenic mechanisms. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the presence of virulence genes among 98 CoNS isolated from blood cultures of inpatients. METHODS: The isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF MS (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany). PCR was performed to detect 29 virulence factors using specific primers for icaA, icaB, icaC, icaD, icaADB, aap, fbe, aae, sesI, atIE, hla, hlb, hld, gehC, gehD, sea, seb, sec, sed, see, seg, seh, sei, tst, eta, etb, etd, etx, and pvl genes. The VITEK2 system (bio-Merieux, France) and the BD Phoenix™ System (Becton Dickinson, USA) were used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. RESULTS: Staphylococcus epidermidis was found to be the most virulent CoNS species. All isolates were negative for eta, etb, etd, sea, seb, sed, see, seg, sei, and pvl virulence genes. We detected up to 15 virulence genes in a single isolate. The most common gene was icaC (73.5%), followed by icaA (57.1%), icaD (56.1%), aap (55.1%), aae (52.0%), sesl (51.0%), gehC (50.0%), hld (50.0%), hlb (49.0%), fbe (44.9%), atIE (37.8%), icaADB (37.8%), gehD (34.7%), icaB (31.6%), hla (30.6%), etx (2.0%), sec (1.0%), seh (1.0%), and tst (1.0%). CONCLUSIONS: We determined high rates of genes encoding biofilm formation. Only four isolates did not possess either the ica operon or aap gene. Although we found low rates of toxin-related genes, our data indicates that apart from biofilm formation, the CoNS isolates could express various virulence genes similar to those of Staphylococcus aureus.

Carbapenem and Colistin Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae ST14 and ST2096 Dominated in Two Hospitals in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The determination of clonal interactions between microorganisms is very important in epidemiological studies. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the resistance mechanisms and genetic relationships of carbapenem and colistin resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) strains isolated from inpatients at two university hospitals in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 38 K. pneumoniae clinical isolates were included in the study. Identification of isolates was confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed with VITEK-2 system (bio-Mérieux, France). Modified Hodge test was used for the detection of carbapenemase activity in isolates. Carbapenem resistance genes (blaOXA-48, blaNDM, blaKPC, blaIMP, blaVIM) and colistin resistance genes (mcr-1, mcr-2 and mcr-3) were investigated by PCR. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis were used to determine the genetic relatedness among the isolates. RESULTS: We detected that 58% of isolates were positive for only blaOXA-48, 5% were only positive for blaNDM, and 34% were positive for both blaOXA-48 and blaNDM. blaKPC, blaIMP, blaVIM, mcr-1, mcr-2, and mcr-3 were not detected among the isolates. Only one carbapenem resistant isolate was negative for the carbapenemase genes tested. A total of nine profiles were found by ERIC-PCR, and MLST results showed seven different sequence types-ST14, ST16, ST79, ST101, ST1543, ST2096, and ST2832. The seven STs were grouped by PHYLOVIZ Online into four clonal complexes. The most common ST was ST14 (81%) in Center 1 and ST2096 (94%) in Center 2. CONCLUSIONS: We determined MLST types of carbapenem and colistin resistant K. pneumoniae isolates from two different centers. Although the most common ST types were different in these centers, both ST types were clustered in CC14. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of ST14 and ST2096 outbreaks in Turkey.

Factors Associated with the Development of Anti-drug Antibodies to TNFi and the Consequences for Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Two-year Follow-up Study.

Objective: To evaluate the development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAb) against tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) therapy during a 2-year period and search the factors linked to patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods: Biologic-naive patients with axSpA were included in this observational study. Serum drug levels and ADAb were measured at weeks 12, 24, 52, and 104 of treatment by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The development of ADAb and factors related to ADAb over time were investigated using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Results: A total of 180 patients with axSpA (116 male, mean (±SD) 45.6 (±11.9) years) who started TNFi treatment (etanercept (32.2%), adalimumab (27.2%), golimumab (20.6%), infliximab (20%)) were included. In the etanercept treatment group, only 1 patient had ADAb at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Anti-drug antibodies against TNFi drugs were present in the adalimumab group in 32.7% of patients and in the infliximab group in 21.2% of patients at 12 weeks, and the proportion of ADAb-positive patients were found to be stable throughout the follow-up for adalimumab- and infliximab-treated patients. In the golimumab group, one patient had ADAb against golimumab at 12 weeks and the proportion of ADAb-positive patients increased throughout follow-up. In longitudinal analysis, baseline age, TNFi type, longitudinal Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and ASDAS-CRP scores, serum C-eeactive protein (CRP) levels, presence of adverse events and treatment discontinuation were associated with the presence of ADAb. Conclusion: The development of ADAb against TNFi therapy is associated with younger age, high disease activity, the development of adverse events and more common treatment discontinuation in patients with axSpA during 2-year follow-up.