A longitudinal approach of lockdown effects on quality of life and the expression of anxiety-depressive disorders according to sensory processing sensitivity.

The COVID-19 health crisis is perceived as an anxiety-provoking situation. In some cases, policy measures such as containment can generate psychological distress. High sensory processing sensitivity is an innate component of temperament that characterises individuals with higher sensory sensitivity than their peers. It can be understood either as an individual's ability to adapt to specific situations, or as a factor of vulnerability to certain negative stimuli, which may impact upon quality of life, or manifest itself in the expression of anxiety-depressive symptoms. In this study, we investigated the effects of confinement from a longitudinal perspective on these aspects, according to the degree of sensitivity of individuals.Data collection was carried out longitudinally during the lockdown of the French population. The sample was composed of 493 adults who were asked to respond twice, anonymously, to a research protocol hosted online. We used a tool composed of the French version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the French short version of the World Health Organisation Quality Of Life scale.The results did not show a significant change in anxiety and depression disorders and quality of life in general between the beginning and the end of lockdown. Furthermore, notable disparities were observed according to the degrees of sensitivity in relation to the type of lifestyle during lockdown.The data from the literature, based on cross-cutting approaches, was clarified by the results, as they did not show any negative effects of lockdown on anxiety-depressive disorders during the lockdown period. Moreover, the latter even seemed to have improved one aspect of quality of life.

Mental health and motor efficiency of older adults living in the Sardinia's Blue Zone: a follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this study was to examine the impact of age-related changes on mental health, metacognitive, and motor functioning in late adulthood, while controlling for the effect of gender. Additionally, this investigation intended to study the association between motor efficiency indexes and self-reported psychological well-being, depression and cognitive failures over a period of 24 months. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study: post hoc analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-one community-dwelling older participants (mean age = 78.7 years, SD = 5.6) were recruited in a rural village of the Sardinian Blue Zone - an area of exceptional longevity located in the central-eastern region of Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. MEASUREMENTS: All respondents completed a battery of tests and questionnaires assessing motor and general cognitive efficiency, self-reported psychological well-being, negative affect, and cognitive failures. RESULTS: The adoption of a multilevel modeling approach highlighted the significative impact of time on psychological well-being, as well as on mobility parameters like gait speed and cadence, while controlling for the gender effect. Overall, psychological well-being and motor swing significantly increase at follow-up, whereas the further above-mentioned measures decreased after 24 months. Moreover, compared to the national cut-off, at baseline and follow-up, participants reported higher perceived emotional well-being. Finally, significant relationships between motor scores and self-reported mental health and metacognitive measures were found both at baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The maintenance of motor efficiency and preserved mental health seems to contribute to the successful aging of older people living in the Sardinian Blue Zone.

Does long-term dual-language immersion affect children's executive functioning?

Dual-language immersion (DLI) experience has been linked to enhanced reading and math skills in minority- and majority-language elementary school children. However, it remains unclear whether DLI experience can also enhance executive functioning. The current study took a longitudinal approach to this question and examined the effect of DLI experience on the development of executive function skills in majority-language children over a 1-year period. In total, 33 monolingual children attending English-only classrooms (Mage = 9.17 years, SD = 1.03) and 33 English-Spanish bilingual children attending DLI classrooms (Mage = 9.27 years, SD = 0.94) matched on age, gender, nonverbal IQ, and socioeconomic status were tested twice, 1 year apart, on nonverbal measures of inhibition, shifting, switching, and monitoring. Results revealed a significant interaction between group and year only on the response inhibition task, with bilinguals showing superior inhibition in Year 1 but not in Year 2. The two groups performed equivalently on all other measures at both time points. Results suggest that classroom DLI has a minimal impact on executive functions, at least as tested in the current study.

[Minimally invasive carotid artery surgery]. / Maloinvazivnaya khirurgiya sonnykh arterii.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the criteria for choosing a surgical approach and compare an effectiveness of carotid endarterectomy (CEAE) via 3 approaches. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 120 patients who underwent CEAE via 3 different approaches. Intraoperative skin marking included lower jaw angle, skin fold closest to common carotid artery bifurcation. Carotid artery bifurcation and borders of atherosclerotic plaque were visualized using ultrasound. An effectiveness of each access was evaluated in accordance with the following criteria: neurological complications, cosmetic effect and quality of life after 1 and 12 months. The patients were divided into 2 groups. Group I - 80 patients with CEAE with access through the natural skin fold (NSF); group II - 40 patients with CEAE using the classical longitudinal access. The 1st group was divided into 2 subgroups. Subgroup I A - 39 patients with CEAE using mini-access via NSF; subgroup I B - 41 patients with CEAE using extended access via NSF. RESULTS: There were no strokes and transient ischemic attacks in a month after surgery in both groups. After 12 months, stroke occurred in 2 (%) patients of group II, cranial neuropathy - 8 (21%) patients in the same group. The best cosmic effect was achieved in subgroup I A after 1 and 12 months (37.1±6.7 scores). Mean score of physical health was 51.59±5.9 scores in subgroup I A, 46.03±7.53 scores - in subgroup I B, 38.84±5.28 scores - in group II. Index of mental health was 49.63±6.69, 45.68±5.6, and 48.59±7.29 scores, respectively. CONCLUSION: Considering these data, we developed a personalized computer program ensuring fast choice of optimal surgical approach.

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia: a clinical case with a longitudinal approach.

AIM: This paper describes a clinical case of a male with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia submitted to rehabilitation and occlusal dental interventions with follow-up from 3 to 14 years of age. BACKGROUND: Due to the severe effects on function and esthetics, the clinical manifestations of ectodermal dysplasia exert a negative impact on quality of life. However, oral rehabilitation in childhood poses a challenge due to growth and development. CASE DESCRIPTION: A male with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia began dental intervention at the age of 3 years. The clinical and radiographic exams revealed the absence of several primary and permanent teeth and abnormal shape of the primary maxillary incisors. The facial characteristics were compatible with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, such as a prominent brow, everted lips, fattened bridge of the nose and small vertical facial height. The treatment proposed involved rehabilitation through successive temporary partial dentures, functional orthopedics of the jaws, esthetic reconstruction of the anterior teeth, timely occlusal intervention and preventive actions for the control of dental caries and plaque. CONCLUSION: The present case demonstrates that early care plays a fundamental role in minimizing the biopsychosocial consequences of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia and preparing the patient for future oral rehabilitation. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Although, the literature offers a number of papers describing dental treatment for ectodermal dysplasia, few cases include long-term follow-up and the use of a functional orthopedic appliance in combination with removable dentures in such patients.

Emotional labor as emotional regulation: Italian adaptation and longitudinal validation of the scale among undergraduate nursing students.

AIM: The aim of the present study is to perform a longitudinal Italian validation of the scale and to adapt it to the nursing education contest. BACKGROUND: Research on emotional labor has shown that the roles played by surface acting and deep acting are still uncertain. To overcome this gap, scholars suggest observing emotional labor through the lens of the emotional regulation theory. Andela and her colleagues developed a fine grained instrument, which differentiates attentional deployment, cognitive re-evaluation and expressive suppression, emotional amplification and emotional dissonance. DESIGN: To fulfill our aim, a longitudinal study was performed in an Italian University. METHOD: The adapted scale was administered to 168 nursing students across the three years of attendance in the course. RESULTS: Our results confirm the five-factor structure, and the instrument shows good psychometrical properties. CONCLUSION: Having shown satisfactory psychometric properties, this scale can be considered a useful instrument to assess those emotional elements of clinical practice, which are important for the assurance of education quality to the under graduated nursing students.

Agritourism resilience during the COVID-19 crisis.

Resilience is critical to the sustainability of the tourism industry, which was made particularly evident during the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 impacted all sectors of the tourism industry revealing previously unknown strengths and weaknesses. Through a longitudinal qualitative approach, we identified the evolving challenges and coping strategies of agritourism operations under the COVID-19 crisis in North Carolina, USA. The results indicate that agritourism operations not only withstood the health crisis but also advanced the management of their operation and customer satisfaction through diversification and reorganization strategies. We use chaos theory to show how agritourism operations took advantage of the context of uncertainty to employ practices that ultimately showcased their resilience.

Deciphering the sequential changes of monocytes/macrophages in the progression of IDD with longitudinal approach using single-cell transcriptome.

Intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with intricate connections between immune infiltration and oxidative stress (OS). Complex cell niches exist in degenerative intervertebral disk (IVD) and interact with each other and regulate the disk homeostasis together. However, few studies have used longitudinal approach to describe the immune response of IDD progression. Here, we conducted conjoint analysis of bulk-RNA sequencing and single-cell sequencing, together with a series of techniques like weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), immune infiltration analysis, and differential analysis, to systematically decipher the difference in OS-related functions of different cell populations within degenerative IVD tissues, and further depicted the longitudinal alterations of immune cells, especially monocytes/macrophages in the progression of IDD. The OS-related genes CYP1A1, MMP1, CCND1, and NQO1 are highly expressed and might be diagnostic biomarkers for the progression of IDD. Further landscape of IVD microenvironment showed distinct changes in cell proportions and characteristics at late degeneration compared to early degeneration of IDD. Monocytes/macrophages were classified into five distinct subpopulations with different roles. The trajectory lineage analysis revealed transcriptome alterations from effector monocytes/macrophages and regulatory macrophages to other subtypes during the evolution process and identified monocytes/macrophage subpopulations that had rapidly experienced the activation of inflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses. This study further proposed that personalized therapeutic strategies are needed to be formulated based on specific monocyte/macrophage subtypes and degenerative stages of IDD.

Integrated analysis of single-cell transcriptome and structural biology approach reveals the dynamics changes of NP subtypes and roles of Menaquinone in attenuating intervertebral disc degeneration.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a progressive and chronic disease, the mechanisms have been studied extensively as a whole, while the cellular heterogeneity of cells in nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues remained controversial for a long time. This study conducted integrated analysis through single-cell sequencing analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and differential expression analysis, to systematically decipher the longitudinal alterations of distinct NP subtypes, and also analyzed the most essential genes in the development of IDD. Then, this study further conducted structural biology method to discover the potential lead compounds through a suite of advanced approaches like high-throughput screening (HTVS), pharmaceutical characteristics assessment, CDOCKER module as well as molecular dynamics simulation, etc., aiming to ameliorate the progression of IDD. Totally 5 NP subpopulations were identified with distinct biological functions based on their unique gene expression patterns. The predominant dynamics changes mainly involved RegNPs and EffNPs, the RegNPs were mainly aggregated in normal NP tissues and drastically decreased in degenerative NP, while EffNPs, as pathogenic subtype, exhibited opposite phenomenon. Importantly, this study further reported the essential roles of Menaquinone in alleviating degenerative NP cells for the first time, which could provide solid evidence for the application of nutritional therapy in the treatment of IDD. This study combined scRNA-seq, bulk-RNA seq and HTVS techniques to systematically decipher the longitudinal changes of NP subtypes during IDD. EffNPs were considered to be 'chief culprit' in IDD progression, while the novel natural drug Menaquinone could reverse this phenomenon.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Social Status and Emotional Competence in Bullying: A Longitudinal Study of the Transition From Kindergarten to Primary School.

Moving on to a higher level of schooling represents a crucial developmental challenge for children: studies have shown that transitioning to a new school context can increase the perceived importance of peer acceptance, popularity, and adaptation to the new social environment. The aim of this study was to investigate simultaneously the influence of interpersonal variables (social status indices) and personal variables (empathy and understanding of emotions) on role-taking in bullying episodes (hostile, prosocial, victim, and outsider roles) from a longitudinal perspective. These variables were assessed on 41 children in their last year of kindergarten (t1) and in their 1st year of primary school (t2). The main longitudinal results showed that prosocial behaviors are more stable than hostile, victim, and outsider behaviors. Moreover, social preference-together with affective empathy-at t1 had a clear negative predictive effect on hostile roles at t2, while social preference had a positive effect on prosocial roles at t2. Social impact at t1 negatively predicted being a victim at t2. On the other hand, social preference at t2 was negatively predicted only by the victim role at t1. Social impact at t1 had a significant and negative effect on being victimized at t2 while was negatively predicted at t2 by the outsider at t1. Our study-even if exploratory-seems to highlight the existence of a specific, differentiate effect of two distinct social status indices on the participant role-taking in bullying episodes in the transitional period from kindergarten to primary school.

Percutaneous Cannulated Screw Fixation vs. Plating With Minimally Invasive Longitudinal Approach After Closed Reduction for Intra-Articular Tongue-Type Calcaneal Fractures: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Displaced intra-articular tongue-type fractures are often treated with surgical interventions, and there is a lack of consensus regarding the surgical approach. This retrospective cohort study aimed to compare percutaneous cannulated screw (PCS) fixation and plating with a minimally invasive longitudinal approach (MILA) after closed reduction for the treatment of tongue-type calcaneal fractures. Materials and Methods: A total of 77 patients with intra-articular tongue-type calcaneal fractures between September 2015 and July 2019 were included in this study. They were randomly allocated into two groups: PCS fixation (n = 32) and MILA (n = 45). The outcome measures included demographic variables, operation time (OT), preoperative time (POT), hospital stay time (HST), blood loss, visual analog scale (VAS) scores, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot scores, postoperative complications, and imaging parameters. The patients were clinically examined at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, with a final follow-up period of 27 months. Results: No significant differences were observed during the follow-up in calcaneal length, height, Gissane's and Böhler's angles, VAS scores, AOFAS hindfoot scores, or complication rates between the two groups. However, the postoperative VAS scores in the PCS group were significantly lower than those in the MILA group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the OT, POT, and HST in the PCS group were significantly shorter than those in the MILA group (p < 0.05). Blood loss was lower in the PCS group than those in the other group (p = 0.044). However, postoperative calcaneal widening was significantly smaller in the MILA group than that in the PCS group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: After closed reduction for the treatment of tongue-type calcaneal fractures, PCS fixation was superior to MILA in terms of OT, POT, HST, blood loss, pain, and degree of comfort. Meanwhile, MILA has the advantage of restoring the calcaneal width. Under the same rehabilitation program, the two approaches showed similar abilities in maintaining the closed reduction.

Examining change in migration strategies over the life course of international PhD students.

This article examines PhD students' migration plans and strategies, their development over time, and the circumstances of their potential or real return within the changing life course context. The research is based on a longitudinal qualitative study conducted over six years (2012-17) among 21 international PhD students coming from developing countries, studying in the Netherlands. Results are discussed in the context of a cultural shift and the migration-development nexus. We argue that: (1) strong feelings of responsibility towards both their family and the development of their country of origin are leading factors shaping their migration strategies; (2) specialisation of their research project and its applicability in the home country also importantly influences their return potential; and (3) an apparent moral responsibility towards the home society and a willingness to help countries of migratory origin was growing stronger over the observation time (in harmony with post-materialist values the informants gained when studying in the Netherlands) along the progressing life course, which creates a broad potential for brain gain.

A study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial on mindfulness-based stress reduction: studying effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an additional organisational health intervention on mental health and work-related perceptions of teachers in Dutch secondary vocational schools.

BACKGROUND: Dutch teachers in secondary vocational schools suffer from stress and burnout complaints that can cause considerable problems at work. This paper presents a study design that can be used to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a person-focused intervention, both within and outside of the context of an additional organisational health intervention. METHODS: The proposed study comprises a cluster randomised controlled trial that will be conducted in at least three secondary vocational schools, to which teachers will be recruited from three types of courses: Care, Technology, and Economy. The allocation of the intervention programme to the participating schools will be randomised. The teachers from each school will be assigned to intervention group 1 (IG 1), intervention group 2 (IG 2), or the waiting list group (WG). IG 1 will receive MBSR training and IG 2 will receive MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention. WG, that is the control group, will receive MBSR training one year later. The primary outcome variable of the proposed study is mindfulness, which will be measured using the Dutch version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-NL). In the conceptual model, the effects of teachers' mindfulness resulting from the intervention programmes (MBSR training and MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention) will be related to salient (secondary outcome) variables: mental health outcomes (e.g., burnout, work engagement), work performance, work-related perceptions (job demands and job resources), and personal competencies (e.g., occupational self-efficacy). Data will be collected before (T0) and immediately after the MBSR training (T1), and 3 (T2) and 9 months (T3) after the training. The power analysis revealed a required sample size of 66 teachers (22 in each group). DISCUSSION: The proposed study aims to provide insight into (1) the short-term and long-term effects of MBSR on teachers' mental health, (2) the possible enhancing effects of the additional organisational health intervention, and (3) the teachers' experiences with the interventions (working mechanisms, steps in the mindfulness change process). Strengths of this study design are the use of both positive and negative outcomes, the wide range of outcomes, both outcome and process measures, longitudinal data, mixed methods, and an integral approach. Although the proposed study protocol may not address all weaknesses of current studies (e.g., self-selection bias, self-reporting of data, the Hawthorne effect), it is innovative in many ways and can be expected to make important contributions to both the scientific and practical debate on how to beat work-related stress and occupational burnout, and on how to enhance work engagement and work performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch Trial Register (www.trialregister.nl): NL5581. Registered on 6 July 2016.

Impact of Job Demands and Resources on Nurses' Burnout and Occupational Turnover Intention Towards an Age-Moderated Mediation Model for the Nursing Profession.

This longitudinal study among Registered Nurses has four purposes: (1) to investigate whether emotional, quantitative and physical demands, and family-work conflict have a negative impact on nurses' perceived effort; (2) to investigate whether quality of leadership, developmental opportunities, and social support from supervisors and colleagues have a positive impact on meaning of work; (3) to investigate whether burnout from the combined impact of perceived effort and meaning of work mediates the relationship with occupational turnover intention; and (4) whether the relationships in our overall hypothesized framework are moderated by age (nurses categorized under 40 years versus ≥ 40 years old). In line with our expectations, emotional, quantitative, and physical demands, plus family-work conflict appeared to increase levels of perceived effort. Quality of leadership, developmental opportunities, and social support from supervisors and colleagues increased the meaning of work levels. In addition, increased perceived stress resulted in higher burnout levels, while increased meaning of work resulted in decreased burnout levels. Finally, higher burnout levels appeared to lead to a higher occupational turnover intention. Obviously, a nursing workforce that is in good physical and psychological condition is only conceivable when health care managers protect the employability of their nursing staff, and when there is a dual responsibility for a sustainable workforce. Additionally, thorough attention for the character of job demands and job resources according to nurses' age category is necessary in creating meaningful management interventions.

Fostering Children's Connection to Nature Through Authentic Situations: The Case of Saving Salamanders at School.

The aim of this paper is to explore how children learn to form new relationships with nature. It draws on a longitudinal case study of children participating in a stewardship project involving the conservation of salamanders during the school day in Stockholm, Sweden. The qualitative method includes two waves of data collection: when a group of 10-year-old children participated in the project (2015) and 2 years after they participated (2017). We conducted 49 interviews with children as well as using participant observations and questionnaires. We found indications that children developed sympathy for salamanders and increased concern and care for nature, and that such relationships persisted 2 years after participation. Our rich qualitative data suggest that whole situations of sufficient unpredictability triggering free exploration of the area, direct sensory contact and significant experiences of interacting with a species were important for children's development of affective relationships with the salamander species and with nature in an open-ended sense. Saving the lives of trapped animals enabled direct sensory interaction, feedback, increased understanding, and development of new skills for dynamically exploring further ways of saving species in an interactive process experienced as deeply meaningful, enjoyable and connecting. The behavioral setting instilled a sense of pride and commitment, and the high degree of responsibility given to the children while exploring the habitat during authentic situations enriched children's enjoyment. The study has implications for the design of education programs that aim to connect children with nature and for a child-sensitive urban policy that supports authentic nature situations in close spatial proximity to preschools and schools.

Old males reduce melanin-pigmented traits and increase reproductive outcome under worse environmental conditions in common kestrels.

Secondary sexual traits displayed by males and females may have evolved as a signal of individual quality. However, both individual quality and investment on producing or maintaining enhanced sexual traits change as individuals age. At the same time, the costs associated to produce sexual traits might be attenuated or increased if environmental conditions are benign or worse respectively. Accordingly, environmental conditions are expected to shape the association between the expression of sexual traits and their reproductive outcome as individuals age. Nonetheless, little is known about the environmental influence on the co-variation between sexual traits and reproductive outcome throughout the life of individuals. We studied the age-dependency of the number and size of back spots, a melanin-based and sexual trait in adults of common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus). We analysed the age-dependence of reproductive traits and the environmental influence, defined as vole abundance, using a 10-year individual-based dataset. We broke down age-related changes of reproductive traits into within- and between-individual variation to assess their contribution to population-level patterns. Our results showed a within-individual decrease in the number, but not the size, of back spots in males. The size of back spots was positively correlated with food availability in males. Reproductive performance of males increased as they aged, in agreement with the life-history theory but depending of vole abundance. Remarkably, we found that having fewer back spots was positively associated with clutch size only for old individuals under low-food conditions. We suggest that environmental variation may shape the association between the expression of a sexual signal and reproductive outcome. We speculate that the reliability of sexual traits is higher when environmental conditions are poor only for old individuals. Within an evolutionary context, we suggest that the expression of sexual traits might be constrained by environmental conditions at later stages of life.

Models of Professional Career of the Managerial Woman / Modelos de carrera profesional de la mujer directiva

In recent years the professional trajectory of women and their access to management positions has earned relevance in the literary corpus. The aim of this work is to describe the professional trajectories that characterize the evolution towards management. The study is based on a series of open-ended, semi-structured interviews that were subjected to a systematic, interpretive analysis using a phenomenological, longitudinal approach. The analysis perspective is based on life stories, by means of a declaration or story about the last 12 years of nine women's careers. These stories reveal the events, lived and told, which characterize the professional trajectory where they occur. The results show 4 career models as a way of analyzing the professional trajectories.

En los últimos años la trayectoria profesional de la mujer y su acceso a cargos de responsabilidad ha ido ganado relevancia en el corpus literario. El objetivo de este trabajo es, precisamente, describir las trayectorias que caracterizan el paso a la dirección. El estudio se basa en una serie de entrevistas abiertas, semiestructuradas, que fueron sometidas a un análisis interpretativo, sistemático y con un enfoque fenomenológico y longitudinal. La perspectiva de análisis se orienta por las historias de vida, mediante relatos de los doce últimos años de carrera de nueve mujeres. Estas historias revelan los acontecimientos que se viven y se relatan y que caracterizan la trayectoria profesional. Los resultados muestran cuatro modelos de carrera como una forma de analizar las trayectorias profesionales.