Burnout Mediates the Association Between Workaholism and Substance Use: Findings from a French National Company

To examine the mediation effect of burnout on the association between workaholism and tobacco and alcohol use. A total of 2199 workers from the French national electricity company fulfilled an online questionnaire. Smoking status, alcohol use disorder based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption and workaholism based on the Work Addiction Risk Test were used as binary variables. Burnout was assessed as a continuous variable with the Copenhagen Burn-Out Inventory. Mediation analyses tested the direct effect of the associations between workaholism and each substance use, as well as the indirect effect passing through burnout, while adjusting for sociodemographic factors (gender, age, occupational grade and marital life), work stress using the effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment. When testing the mediation effect of burnout on the relation between workaholism and smoking, there was a significant direct effect of workaholism on smoking (Estimated effect of 0.27 [95% CI 0.01; 0.54]) and a significant indirect effect passing through burnout (Estimated effect of 0.09 [95% CI 0.02; 0.15]). When testing the mediation effect of burnout on the relation between workaholism and alcohol use, the direct effect of workaholism on alcohol use was not significant (Estimated effect of 0.21 [95% CI - 0.01; 0.44]) while the indirect effect passing through burnout was significant (Estimated effect of 0.10 [95% CI 0.04; 0.17]). Information and prevention regarding substance use should be reinforced among workers exposed to workaholism, especially if their workaholism led to a high level of burnout. Preventing the emergence of burnout among workaholics might have some benefits on their tobacco and alcohol use.

Seroprevalence of Baylisascaris procyonis Infection among Humans, Santa Barbara County, California, USA, 2014-2016

Baylisascaris procyonis (raccoon roundworm) infection is common in raccoons and can cause devastating pathology in other animals, including humans. Limited information is available on the frequency of asymptomatic human infection. We tested 150 adults from California, USA, for B. procyonis antibodies; 11 were seropositive, suggesting that subclinical infection does occur.

West Nile encephalitis, status epilepticus and West Nile pneumonia in a renal transplant patient

West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) represents a small fraction of cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) infection. Organ transplantation is associated with increased risk of acquiring WNND. We report a patient with living-related renal transplantation who developed unusual manifestations of WNND. First, fatal status epilepticus unresponsive to pentobarbital ensued. Status epilepticus from WNV has been described very rarely in the medical literature. Second, this patient grew WNV on broncho-alveolar lavage samples. To our knowledge, this is the first case of culture positive West Nile pneumonia. Third, the finding in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a negative West Nile immunoglobulin M (IgM) and a positive West Nile polymerase chain reaction is striking. It is consistent with a high-viral burden and impaired immune response. This finding raises questions about the appropriateness of relying on CSF IgM assays to rapidly diagnose WNV encephalitis in organ transplant patients, as has been recommended.

Impaired Cerebral Autoregulation and 6-Month Outcome in Children with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Preliminary Findings

The objective of this study was to describe the incidence of impaired cerebral autoregulation and to describe the relationship between impaired cerebral autoregulation and outcome after severe pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). We prospectively examined cerebral autoregulation in 28 children<or=17 (10+/-5) years with a Glasgow coma scale score<9 within the first 72 h of pediatric intensive care unit admission. Children with isolated focal TBI were excluded. Glasgow outcome scores (GOS) were collected at hospital discharge, as well as 3 and 6 months after severe TBI. GOS<4 reflected poor outcome. Cerebral autoregulation was impaired in 12/28 children. An autoregulatory index<0.4 was associated with GOS<4 at 6 months (p=0.005). Impaired cerebral autoregulation, early after severe pediatric TBI, was associated with a poor 6-month outcome.

Increase in prevalence of Pneumocystis carinii mutations in patients with AIDS and P. carinii pneumonia, in the United States and China

This study of Pneumocystis carinii dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) mutations in patients with AIDS who have P. carinii pneumonia compares the change in the prevalence of such mutations in the United States, where sulfa-drug prophylaxis is widespread, to that in China, where it is infrequent. The DHPS gene from 145 US patients presenting during 1983-2001 and from 15 Chinese patients presenting during 1998-2001 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and was sequenced. In the United States, 40% of patients had DHPS mutations; 38% received sulfa-drug prophylaxis. Mutation prevalence increased to 70% during 2000-2001, from 25% during 1994-1995 (P<.01). In China, 7% of patients had DHPS mutations; none received sulfa-drug prophylaxis. The prevalence of P. carinii DHPS mutations has markedly increased in the United States but remains low in China.

Clinical responsibility and client autonomy: dilemmas in mental health work at the margins

Mental health outreach to homeless persons requires practice standards for cases in which clinical assessment and client autonomy conflict. After reviewing the principles of mental health outreach and presenting case examples, conditions and boundaries within which outreach workers negotiate the clinical responsibility/client autonomy dilemma are discussed. Guidelines to support sound clinical practice while respecting client autonomy are also discussed.

Family accommodation of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: instrument development and assessment of family behavior

Relatives frequently accommodate patients' obsessive-compulsive symptoms and clinicians hypothesize that such accommodations adversely affect patient outcome. This study's purpose was to develop a valid and reliable measure, the Family Accommodation Scale for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (FAS), and to investigate the family accommodation construct. We administered the FAS and additional family and patient measures to 36 adult obsessive-compulsive patients and their primary caregivers. The FAS demonstrated excellent interrater reliability and good internal consistency and performed well on assessment of its convergent and discriminant validity. Family accommodation was significantly associated with patient symptom severity and functioning, and with relatives' own obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Although most relatives accommodated patient symptoms, many did not believe that such accommodations improved the patient's clinical status. The FAS will provide researchers and clinicians with a useful tool for assessing family accommodation and for identifying families who may benefit from interventions aimed at developing more adaptive coping strategies.

Outreach workers' experiences in a homeless outreach project: issues of boundaries, ethics and staff safety

Mental health professionals and researchers have emphasized the importance of conducting outreach to locate homeless persons with mental illness, and of creatively engaging these persons into a therapeutic relationship. These outreach and engagement activities raise challenging issues in the areas of client-staff boundaries, professional ethics, and staff safety. While several issues in each of these three key areas have received attention in the growing literature on homelessness, certain issues within each area remain unexplored. The authors draw from the street experiences of outreach staff in a federally funded homeless outreach project to further explore each of these areas, and suggest that experiences of outreach workers are essential in shaping and redefining work activities in these, and other important areas.

Services for mentally ill homeless persons: street-level integration

The key elements of a systems integration approach to delivery of human services are reviewed in terms of their application to services for mentally ill homeless persons. The example of a mental health outreach project illustrates the service- and systems-integrating influences of clinical case management with this population, and the ability of a "bottom-up" street-level approach to improve coordination and service accessibility for clients in general is discussed.

Multi-capillary optical waveguides for DNA sequencing

Cylindrical capillaries can be used as optical elements in a waveguide, where refraction will confine an appropriately focused light beam to pass through the interiors of successive capillaries in a flat parallel array. Such a capillary waveguide allows efficient illumination of samples in multiple capillaries with relatively little laser power. Analytical expressions derived under paraxial and thin-lens approximations provide guidance in selecting the capillary sizes and the refractive indices that will produce the waveguiding effect, but accurate predictions require exact ray tracing. Small reflective losses as the light passes through the capillary surfaces cause cumulative intensity decreases, but the resulting lack of uniformity can be compensated to a considerable extent by illuminating the capillary array from both sides. A 12-capillary waveguide illuminated from both sides in air has a difference of less than 10% from the strongest to the weakest illumination. By increasing the refractive index of both the external medium and the contents of the capillaries, a 96-capillary waveguide for DNA sequencing could be produced that would also provide nearly uniform illumination. A 12-capillary, bi-directionally illuminated waveguide system for DNA sequencing has been constructed. The two focused laser beams are delivered by integrated fiber optic transmitters (IFOTs), and fluorescence is collected by a set of optical fibers whose spacing exactly matches that of the capillaries in the waveguide. The system is easy to align and provides sensitive detection of fluorescence with minimal cross-talk between channels.

Expression of N-myc, c-myc, and MDR-1 proteins in newly established neuroblastoma cell lines: a study by immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry

A methodology for rapid isolation of neuroblastoma cells from marrow with metastatic neuroblastoma cells was developed using a cocktail of five antibodies and magnetic microspheres coated with secondary antibodies. Cells bound to microspheres were released by brief exposure to chymopapain, followed by repeated culture of released cells in serum-supplemented Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and selection for adherent cells. Using this methodology, over 35 primary cell lines were obtained free of contaminating normal cells. Detailed analyses of over 14 cell lines revealed gross differences in cell phenotype, size, morphology development of neurite processes, and doubling time (40 to 80 h). All cell lines expressed the M(r) 145,000 neurofilament, and a few expressed the M(r) 200,000 neurofilament, with very little or no expression of the M(r) 68,000 neurofilament. Eight % of all cells lines had near-diploid DNA content. High expression of the MDR-1 protein was detected in six of the 22 cell lines tested. Great heterogeneity was observed in the expression of N-myc oncoprotein, with ten of 13 patients overexpressing the protein. c-myc oncoprotein was also expressed in all cell lines; however, the level of expression was 4- to 10-fold lower than the N-myc oncoprotein. Localization studies of c-myc and N-myc oncoproteins on the level of light microscopy and electron microscopy revealed exclusive nuclear localization of c-myc, whereas N-myc was localized to the nucleus and to the cytoplasm.

Abnormal cellular copper metabolism in the blotchy mouse

Defective copper metabolism was demonstrated in male mice bearing the blotchy (Moblo/y) allele at the mottled locus on the X-chromosome. Copper absorption from the gut was only 64% of that found in normal mice and hepatic copper levels were only 56% of the controls. Ceruloplasmin and heart cytochrome c oxidase activities were normal, yet lysyl oxidase activity from cultured fibroblasts was only 45% of control levels. Copper accumulated in fibroblasts cultured from these mutants to values that were five times normal. The accumulation of copper in the fibroblasts was associated with a protein of approximately 12,000 molecular weight.