Impact of Rotating Shifts on Lifestyle Patterns and Perceived Stress among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Although rotating shifts have a negative health impact, their association with hospital nurses' health risks remains controversial due to incomplete adjustment in lifestyle patterns and heterogeneity of work schedules. However, whether work schedule characteristics are associated with lifestyle patterns and perceived stress remains undetermined. We assessed the correlations of work schedule characteristics, lifestyle patterns, and perceived stress among hospital nurses. This cross-sectional study included 340 nurses from two hospitals. Final data from 329 nurses regarding work schedule characteristics, lifestyle patterns (physical activity, dietary behavior, and sleep pattern), and perceived stress were analyzed via linear regression models. Fixed-day-shift nurses had reduced perceived stress (ß = 0.15, p = 0.007) compared with rotating-shift nurses. Additionally, among rotating-shift nurses, fixed-evening- and fixed-night-shift nurses had longer sleep duration (ß = 0.27, p < 0.001; ß = 0.25, p < 0.001) compared to non-fixed-rotating-shift nurses. Longer rotating-shift work was associated with healthier dietary behaviors (ß = 0.15, p = 0.008), better sleep quality (ß = −0.17, p = 0.003), lower perceived stress (ß = −0.24, p < 0.001), and shorter sleep duration (ß = −0.17, p = 0.003). Hospital nurses' work schedule characteristics were associated with lifestyle patterns, dietary behavior, sleep pattern, and perceived stress. Fixed-shifts were beneficial for lifestyle and lower perceived stress. Longer rotating shifts could help nurses adjust their lifestyles accordingly.

Generation and Control of Terahertz Spin Currents in Topology-Induced 2D Ferromagnetic Fe3 GeTe2 |Bi2 Te3 Heterostructures.

Future information technologies for low-dissipation quantum computation, high-speed storage, and on-chip communication applications require the development of atomically thin, ultracompact, and ultrafast spintronic devices in which information is encoded, stored, and processed using electron spin. Exploring low-dimensional magnetic materials, designing novel heterostructures, and generating and controlling ultrafast electron spin in 2D magnetism at room temperature, preferably in the unprecedented terahertz (THz) regime, is in high demand. Using THz emission spectroscopy driven by femtosecond laser pulses, optical THz spin-current bursts at room temperature in the 2D van der Waals ferromagnetic Fe3 GeTe2 (FGT) integrated with Bi2 Te3 as a topological insulator are successfully realized. The symmetry of the THz radiation is effectively controlled by the optical pumping incidence and external magnetic field directions, indicating that the THz generation mechanism is the inverse Edelstein effect contributed spin-to-charge conversion. Thickness-, temperature-, and structure-dependent nontrivial THz transients reveal that topology-enhanced interlayer exchange coupling increases the FGT Curie temperature to room temperature, which provides an effective approach for engineering THz spin-current pulses. These results contribute to the goal of all-optical generation, manipulation, and detection of ultrafast THz spin currents in room-temperature 2D magnetism, accelerating the development of atomically thin high-speed spintronic devices.

Revised Atomic Charges for OPLS Force Field Model of Poly(Ethylene Oxide): Benchmarks and Applications in Polymer Electrolyte.

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymers are common hosts in solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for high-power energy devices. Molecular simulations have provided valuable molecular insights into structures and ion transport mechanisms of PEO-based SPEs. The calculation of thermodynamic and kinetic properties rely crucially on the dependability of the molecular force fields describing inter- and intra-molecular interactions with the target system. In this work, we reparametrized atomic partial charges for the widely applied optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS) force field of PEO. The revised OPLS force field, OPLSR, improves the calculations of density, thermal expansion coefficient, and the phase transition of the PEO system. In particular, OPLSR greatly enhances the accuracy of the calculated dielectric constant of PEO, which is critical for simulating polymer electrolytes. The reparameterization method was further applied to SPE system of PEO/LiTFSI with O:Li ratio of 16:1. Based on the reparametrized partial charges, we applied separate charge-scaling factors for PEO and Li salts. The charge-rescaled OPLSR model significantly improves the resulting kinetics of Li+ transport while maintaining the accurate description of coordination structures within PEO-based SPE. The proposed OPLSR force field can benefit the future simulation studies of SPE systems.

Comparing the Ion-Conducting Polymers with Sulfonate and Ether Moieties as Cathode Binders for High-Power Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Two types of ion-conducting polyimides with sulfonate or ether functional groups were synthesized as ion-type or coordination-type cathode binders for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), respectively. Although superior ion transport abilities have been reported for both types of ion-conducting polymers, their electrochemical performances are significantly different and the corresponding transport mechanisms at the electrolyte/electrode interface remain elusive. Here, we combine experimental and computational techniques to investigate the cathode interface in the presence of both functional polymer binders in comparison with the poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) binder as reference. A broad shoulder in the cyclic voltammogram accompanied by a poor rate performance of battery tests was observed for a LiFePO4 cathode with coordination-type ether-based polyimide (EPI) binder. In contrast, a LiFePO4 cathode with ion-type sulfonated polyimide (SPI) binder exhibits smaller concentration polarization, achieving satisfactory capacity at high current density. Simulations show that the ether-based binder strongly coordinates Li ions and thus slows the diffusion of Li ions. This leads to the reduction of the LIB electrochemical performance at a high C-rate. In contrast, the negative moiety of the SPI binder leads to less localization of Li ions, allowing a slightly higher Li-ion mobility. Conventional PVDF shows no affinity to Li ions, leading to less Li-ion accumulation at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Yet, the cathode surface covered with PVDF shows the lowest Li-ion diffusivity compared to those with the two types of Li-ion-conducting binders. Therefore, cathodes with SPI and PVDF binders show less polarization at the electrode interface and allow higher C-rate performance of LIBs. The combined results provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of ion conduction in ion- and coordination-type Li-ion-conducting polymer binders. This gives valuable insight into the design of next-generation polymer materials for high-power LIBs.

Indispensable outsiders: A qualitative study of the working experiences of hospital care workers in China.

AIMS: To explore the working experiences of Chinese hospital care workers from their own perspectives. BACKGROUND: Many countries face an increasing demand for nursing care and an acute shortage of registered nurses. As a result, much of the care work at hospitals is delegated to assistant staff, such as care workers. METHODS: Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 22 hospital care workers in three hospitals of Guangzhou City, China. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Hospital care workers are mainly rural-to-urban migrant women, partaking in caregiver jobs to make a living. They play a significant role in the hospital to aid patients as well as nurses. Hospital care workers experience a sense of ambiguity towards their job, viewing it as "low" and "isolated", yet at the same time, "acceptable" and "helping". CONCLUSION: Hospital care workers are a workforce that is not well supported, trained or regulated. Their working experiences suggest that attention needs to be given to protecting this vulnerable group. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The working conditions of hospital care workers should be improved. Hospital care workers need improved status, increased rewards, and channels for further training and opportunities for continued career advancement.

[Acute Kidney Injury in Newborns].

Neonatal acute kidney injury is a common clinical condition encountered in neonatal intensive care units. Acute kidney injury in newborns is associated with a poor prognosis and significantly increased risks of mortality and chronic kidney disease. Neonatal kidney function changes with gestation and neonatal extra-uterine adaptation affects the transformation and regulation of renal functions. In particular, premature infants are more likely to develop acute kidney injury due to incomplete kidney development, which increases the difficulty of care. It is necessary to understand the definition and risk factors of acute kidney injury in neonates as well as treatment options, which include maintai­ning body fluid and water balance, stabilizing electrolyte levels, and implementing renal replacement therapy. Healthcare providers must carefully evaluate a newborn's physiological changes after birth and use relevant biological indicators to detect acute kidney injury as early as possible in order to prevent or reduce the risk of acute kidney injury and provide appropriate care to improve the quality of newborn care.

Methyl ferulic acid attenuates ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis by regulating AMPK and FoxO1 Pathways in Rats and L-02 cells.

Methyl ferulic acid (MFA) is a biologically active monomer extracted and purified from the Chinese herbal medicine Securidaca inappendiculata hasskarl. The previously studies showed that MFA improved acute liver injury induced by ethanol. However, the effect of MFA on ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis in alcoholic liver disease (ALD) still remains unclear. The current study was aimed at elucidating the effect of MFA on alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis and the underlying mechanisms. Human hepatocyte L-02 cells exposed to 200 mM ethanol for 24 h to simulate alcoholic steatosis in vitro. SD rats were fed a Lieber-DeCarli diet containing 5% (w/v) alcohol for 16 weeks to induce alcoholic liver disease in vivo. We examined the effect of MFA on ethanol-induced lipid deposition in L-02 cells and SD rats. The results showed that MFA reduced the accumulation of lipid in L-02 cells, improved alcoholic liver injury in rats, alleviated hepatic pathological lesions, and reduced lipid deposition in rat serum and liver. Further studies suggest that MFA reduces lipid synthesis by activating AMPK-ACC/MAPK-FoxO1 pathway. In addition, MFA also promotes lipid oxidation by up-regulating the expression of SIRT1, PPAR-α, and CPT-1α. Taken together, MFA ameliorates ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis by activating AMPK-ACC/MAPK-FoxO1 pathway and up-regulating the expression levels of SIRT1, PPAR-α, and CPT-1α.

Cervical pessary in the prevention of preterm births in multiple pregnancies with a short cervix: PRISMA compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Preterm births occur frequently in multiple pregnancies with a short cervix. The cervical pessary is a potential intervention for prevention of preterm births. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of cervical pessary in the prevention of preterm births in multiple pregnancies with a short cervix (<25 mm). SEARCH STRATEGY: Major databases from 2006 to 20th November 2016 were searched for relevant terms. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials that assessed the effectiveness of cervical pessary on pregnancy outcomes in multiple pregnancies with a short cervix. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Risk ratio was used as the summary measure with random effects model. We assessed heterogeneity between studies using the I2 index. Quality assessment was done based on Cochrane Handbook Method. MAIN RESULTS: Pooled data showed no benefit of using cervical pessary in the prevention of preterm births, birth weights less than 1500 g, less than 2500 g, adverse neonatal events and fetal/neonatal deaths in twin pregnancies with a short cervix. CONCLUSION: We are unable to show benefit of using cervical pessary in preventing preterm births in twin pregnancies with a short cervix. However, as cervical pessary is a reasonable intervention, there is a need for more randomized controlled trials in this area.

[Genes of metal-binding proteins and their application in bioremediation of heavy metals].

Heavy metal pollution has become a global environmental hazard. The use of microorganisms and plants for the decontamination of heavy metals is recognized as a low lost and high efficiency method for cleaning up metal contamination. It shows that various metal-binding proteins such as metallothioneins (MTs) or phytochelatines (PCs) play an important role in defense systems and detoxification to heavy metals in organisms. Many genes of MTs and PCs have been cloned and utilized successfully in genetically modified bacteria and plants for increasing remediation capacity. These transgenic organisms have been displayed a great potential in bioremediation and phytoremediation of heavy metals.