Work Hours

BACKGROUND: Optimal cognitive functions, including working memory (WM), are crucial to enable trainee physicians to perform and excel in their clinical practice. Several risk factors, including on-call shifts, poor mental health, burnout, and sleep problems, can impair clinical practice in trainee physicians, potentially through cognitive impairment; however, these associations have not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of on-call shifts on WM among trainee physicians and its association with burnout, depression, anxiety, affect, and sleep...

BACKGROUND: As the population ages and the prevalence of long-term diseases rises, the use of telecare is becoming increasingly frequent to aid older people. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the use and adoption of 3 types of telehealth services among the older population in Israel before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We explored the use characteristics of older adults (aged ≥65 years) belonging to Clalit Health Services in several aspects in the use of 3 types of telehealth services: the use of digital services for administrative tasks; the use of synchronous working-hours telehealth visits with the patient's personal physician during clinic business hours; and the use of after-hours consultations during evenings, nights, and weekends when the clinics are closed...

A major bottleneck limiting the commercialization of aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) is dendrite formation on the zinc anode during the plating/stripping process, which leads to rapid performance and device failure. In this regard, researchers are trying to design more stable anodes toward suppressing dendrite formation. One possible solution to tackle this problem and to extend the cycling life of AZIBs is to modify the zinc anode surface by coating carbonaceous materials, enabling controlled charge flux and uniform ion distribution...

BACKGROUND: Surgical further training faces the challenging task of reconciling technological advancements and patient safety, particularly in the context of the planned hospital reform. Additionally, the generation shift and evolving expectations of Generations Y and Z in the workplace present further challenges. In response to these demands, the Berlin-Brandenburg Surgical Society (Berlin-Brandenburgische Chirurgische Gesellschaft, BCG) initiated a structured discussion and developed a position paper during the Neuhardenberg talks (Neuhardenberger Gespräche)...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the methodological challenges and strategies of a web survey on the working conditions and health among delivery workers. METHODS: The study population consisted of Brazilian delivery workers operating in the national territory. Procedures include building solid and ongoing collaboration with worker representatives and conducting a four-month data collection from February to May 2022, sharing the link to the online questionnaire on social media such as social networks (Facebook, Instagram) and messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram)...

Children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) require bolus insulin before each meal, necessitating self-care activities including blood glucose checking to determine insulin dose (or check for hypoglycemia) and injecting insulin during school hours. Though these activities are essential for optimizing glycemic control, they are met with reluctance from parents, the child, school authorities, and sometimes peers. This requires ongoing education and support for the child, school staff, and other students, by the diabetes care team...

Azido sugars hold great promise as substrates in numerous click-chemistry applications. However, the synthesis of activated azido sugars is limited by cost and complexity. Conventional chemical activation methods are intricate and time-consuming. In response, we have developed a process for the large-scale production of UDP-6-azido-GalNAc through enzymatic nucleotide sugar synthesis on a gram scale. Our optimization strategies encompassed refining the process parameters of an enzyme cascade featuring NahK from Bifidobacterium longum and AGX1 from Homo sapiens...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate silica exposure among Chilean miners at high altitude, using different methodological approaches, for the purpose of determining the safest method to control exposures.  Methods: The 46 miners in the sample worked at 3000 meters above sea level in nonstandard work shifts, consisting of four consecutive 12-hour days, followed by four consecutive days off. Silica samples were obtained in each of the jobs positions of these 46 high-altitude miners. The results of the concentrations are presented in mg/m3...

INTRODUCTION: Ward Clerks are an essential part of the healthcare team, as they provide administrative and organizational support in healthcare institutions. The aim of this study is to determine the training impact of a basic one-hour online course on patient safety for this staff. METHOD: A quasi-experimental before/after study carried out on a population of 170 administrative staff working in the centers of an Occupational Mutual Insurance Company (MC Mutual) who took the patient safety course...

INTRODUCTION: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic put at risk the resilience of healthcare professionals by exposing them to high levels of stress. Our aim was to identify key elements for implementing the STEP  programme, a psychological support service for healthcare professionals. METHODS: qualitative design.  The study participants were hospital healthcare staff. Anonymous questionnaires and transcriptions  of group interventions and focus groups were used to  identify professionals' preferences to receiving psychological support, needs, concerns, resilience (STEP1...

BACKGROUND: While the link between non-standard work schedules and poor health outcomes is established, few studies have examined how resources both in and outside of work can support the well-being of workers with non-standard work schedules. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional survey, we assessed the association between one facet of well-being, life satisfaction, and job and personal resources. In 2019, an electronic survey was administered to two unionized, public service populations who work non-standard work schedules: transportation maintainers and correctional supervisors...

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP), though non-life-threatening, burdens healthcare with treatment expenses and work hours lost. Globally, 70-84% experience it, with risk factors tied to societal structure, income, and living conditions, making it a leading cause of disability. METHODS: This study utilized data from the 2019 Türkiye Health Survey, which consisted of 17,084 individuals aged 15 and above. Our study focused on investigating the factors related to low back pain through a cross-sectional analysis...

BACKGROUND: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff often encounter various safety incidents. Work-related factors can lead to unsafe behaviors and safety incidents. This study assessed unsafe behaviors and their relationship with work-related factors among EMS staff. METHODS: This descriptive-correlational study used census sampling method to select 284 EMS staff in Ardabil Province, northwest of Iran, from April to June 2023. The data collection tools were demographic and occupational information form, Mearns Unsafe Behavior Scale, Cohen Perceived Stress Scale, Michielsen Fatigue Scale, and Patterson Teamwork Scale...

NiMo-S₂/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts are commonly used in hydrotreating to enhance fossil fuel quality. The extensive research on these catalysts reveals a gap in understanding the role of Ni, often underestimated as an inactive sulfide phase or just a MoS₂ promoter. In this work, we focused on analyzing whether well-dispersed supported nickel nanoparticles can be active in the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene. We dispersed Ni by the Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) method over four supports with different types of acidity: silica (~ neutral acidity), γ-Al₂O₃ (Lewis acidity), H+-Y zeolite, and microporous-mesoporous H+-Y zeolite (both with Brønsted-Lewis acidity)...

Four weeks before competition in the 2023 Marathon des Sables, a 6-stage, ~250 km running event in the Sahara Desert, we examined the effects of a 7-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract (210 mg anthocyanins per day) on 1 h treadmill running-induced physiological and metabolic responses in the heat (~34 °C, relative humidity: ~30%) in non-acclimatized amateur female and male athletes (age: 23, 38 yrs, BMI: 24.2, 28.4 kg·m-2 , body fat%: 29.2, 18.8%, V˙O2max : 50.1, 52.1 mL·kg-1 ·min-1 )...

AIMS: This study aimed to determine the peak hours of sleepiness and the factors affecting the sleepiness levels of nurses. BACKGROUND: Sleepiness is commonly seen in individuals working night shifts. However, in case of nurses, this sleepiness can be a major threat to patient and staff safety. METHOD: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Data were collected between July and September 2023, and a stratified sampling method was used according to the departments in which the nurses worked...

BACKGROUND: The labor supply of nurses, as one of the main healthcare workers, is an important issue in health human resources planning in all health systems. Finding the factors affecting it, could help policymakers to solve the shortage of nursing work supply. The present study aimed to investigating the quantity and factors affecting the nurses' labor supply in Iran. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 598 nurses working in public hospitals of Shiraz (Iran) were selected via proportionate stratified random sampling method...

Focusing on the uncontrolled discharge of organic dyes, a known threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems, this work employs a dual-functional catalyst approach, by immobilizing a synthesized bismuth sulfur iodide (BiSI) into a poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) polymeric matrix for multifunctional water remediation. The resulting BiSI@PVDF nanocomposite membrane (NCM), with 20 wt.% filler content, maintains a highly porous structure without compromising morphology or thermal properties...

The II-I phase transition of isotactic poly(1-butene) (iPBu) leads to improved mechanical performance. However, this will take several weeks and increase storage and processing costs. In this work, shear forces were introduced into the supercooled iPBu melt, and the effects of isothermal crystallization temperature (Tc ) and shear temperature (Tshear ) on crystallization and phase transition were explored. Shear-induced transcrystalline morphology of Form II with a significantly shortened crystallization induction period can be observed at relatively high Tc (105 °C)...

BACKGROUND: Seafarers are at increased risk of diabetes due to their lifestyle and working conditions on board ships. There is, however, limited evidence regarding the magnitude of diabetes and its risk factors. In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of self-reported diabetes among seafarers on board ships and identify risk factors associated with it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted among seafarers aboard ships between November and December 2022...