The Relationship Between Psychosocial Work Factors,Work Stress and Computer-Related Musculoskeletal Discomforts Among Computer Users in Malaysia

We analyzed occupational exposure to potentially infectious body fluids among health care workers (HCWs). Nurses were the most common exposed category of HCWs. In 73.6% cases needle sticks had been the reason of exposure. Recapping a needle was the cause of exposure in 6.9% accidents. Among 189 registered HCWs, 66 (34.9%) performed invasive procedures without any personal protective equipment. Prophylaxis with antiretroviral drugs was necessary in 43 (22.8%) cases.

As many as 60.3% of exposure incidents to potentially infectious material result from non-compliance with the relevant recommendations. Continuous education and training is critically needed to prevent occupational exposure to blood-borne infections among health care workers.     

Biomolecules preserved in ca. 168 million year old fossil conifer wood

Biomarkers are widely known to occur in the fossil record, but the unaltered biomolecules are rarely reported from sediments older than Paleogene. Polar terpenoids, the natural products most resistant to degradation processes, were reported mainly from the Tertiary conifers, and the oldest known are Cretaceous in age. In this paper, we report the occurrence of relatively high concentrations of ferruginol derivatives and other polar diterpenoids, as well as their diagenetic products, in a conifer wood Protopodocarpoxylon from the Middle Jurassic of Poland. Thus, the natural product terpenoids reported in this paper are definitely the oldest polar biomolecules detected in geological samples. The extracted phenolic abietanes like ferruginol and its derivatives (6,7-dehydroferruginol, sugiol, 11,14-dioxopisiferic acid) are produced only by distinct conifer families (Cupressaceae s. l., Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae), to which Protopodocarpoxylon could belong based on anatomical characteristics. Therefore, the natural product terpenoids are of great advantage in systematics of fossil plant remains older than Paleogene and lacking suitable anatomical preservation.     

Unexpected skeletal histology of an ichthyosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Patagonia: implications for evolution of bone microstructure among secondary aquatic tetrapods

During the Mesozoic, one of the most significant evolutionary processes was the secondary adaptation of tetrapods to life in water. Several non-related lineages invaded from the terrestrial realms and from the oceans of the entire world. Among these lineages, ichthyosaurs were particularly successful. Advance parvipelvian ichthyosaurs were the first tetrapods to evolve a fish-shaped body profile. The deep skeletal modifications of their bodies, as well as their biology, depict advance ichthyosaurs as the paradigm of secondary adaptation of reptiles to marine life. Functional inferences point to them as off-shore cruising forms, similar to a living tuna, and some of them were capable of deep diving. Bone histology of some genera such as Temnodontosaurus, Stenopterygius, Ichthyosaurus, and Caypullisaurus, characterized by overall cancellous bone, is consistent with the idea of a fish-shaped ichthyosaurs as fast and far cruisers. Here, we provide histological examination of the ribs of the Middle Jurassic parvipelvian Mollesaurus. Contrasting with the bone histology of other parvipelvian, Mollesaurus ribs are characterized by a compact and thick cortex. Our data indicate that the rib cage was heavy and suggest that not all advanced ichthyosaurs were fast cruisers. The compact and dense ribs in these parvipelvian show that advance ichthyosaurs were ecologically more diverse than previously thought and that the lightening of the skeleton reversed, as also occurred in the evolution of cetacean, at least once along the evolutionary history of ichthyosaurs.     

470-Million-year-old black corals from China

Phosphatic (possibly secondarily phosphatised) remains of antipatharian coralla, previously unknown in the fossil record, occur abundantly in the early Ordovician Fenxiang Formation in the Hubei Province, southern China. Probably two species (and genera) are represented, which differ in spinosity of branches. The more spinose one, Sinopathes reptans, has its lateral spines bearing regular, longitudinally arranged costellae. The early Floian geological age of this finding, about 470?Ma, supports predictions on the timing of anthozoan phylogeny derived from the molecular phylogenetic evidence. Black corals (Antipatharia) are basal to the scleractinians in the Hexacorallia clade, being more derived than sea anemones and the Zoantharia. Based on calibration of the molecular clock with Mesozoic data, the first split of lineages within the scleractinian hexacorals was proposed to take place approximately 425 million years ago. This implies that the origin of Antipatharia should precede this date. They have not been known in the fossil record because of unmineralised skeleton composed primarily of laminar chitin complexed with a protein. Unlike all recent species, the encrusting basal part of the colony dominated in the Ordovician ones and only occasionally erect branches developed, rather chaotically ramified. This presumably plesiomorphic trait seems consistent with ancient geological age and suggests that some problematic fossils from the Late Cambrian may be their, even less-derived, relatives.     

Natural Plant Essential Oils Do Not Inactivate Non-enveloped Enteric Viruses

The application of plant essential oils (EOs) (hyssop and marjoram) was evaluated for inactivation of non-enveloped viruses using murine norovirus and human adenovirus as models. No significant reduction of virus titres (TCID₅₀) was observed when EOs were used at different temperatures and times.     

Amylose Modified Starches as Superabsorbent Systems for Release of Potassium Fertilizers

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - High-amylose maize starch (AS) was modified by graft copolymerization with sodium acid maleate and disodium maleate, using the KMnO4-NaHSO3 redox system,...     

Kinetic Modeling of the Post-consumer Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Hydrolysis Catalyzed by Cutinase from Humicola insolens

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The search for a straightforward technology for post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PC-PET) degradation is essential to develop a circular economy....     

Structural and Thermal Properties of Starch Plasticized with Glycerol/Urea Mixture

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The paper presents the results of research on the influence of used plasticizing system on the structural and thermal properties of thermoplastic starch...     

Moderating effects of empathic concern and personal distress on the emotional reactions of disaster volunteers

This study examines stress and mood outcomes in community volunteers who undertook one week's worth of post‐disaster relief work in L'Aquila, Italy, which had been hit by an earthquake four months earlier. The study team obtained pre‐ and post‐relief work data from 130 volunteers involved in activities such as preparing food for the displaced, cleaning the camps and distributing clean linen. The Perceived Stress Scale, the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Profile of Mood States were administered at the start and at the end of the aid activities. Psychopathological symptoms and empathy were assessed in the beginning, using the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, respectively. The results show that, following the assistance work, volunteers displayed decreases in perceived stress, general distress, anxiety and anger, as well as increases in positive emotions. The empathy facets empathic concern and personal distress showed different patterns in modulating the post‐disaster relief work adaptation for some of the mood outcomes.