A cross-national study on the antecedents of work–life balance from the fit and balance perspective

Drawing on the perceived work–family fit and balance perspective, this study investigates demands and resources as antecedents of work–life balance (WLB) across four countries (New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain), so as to provide empirical cross-national evidence. Using structural equation modelling analysis on a sample of 870 full time employees, we found that work demands, hours worked and family demands were negatively related to WLB, while job autonomy and supervisor support were positively related to WLB. We also found evidence that resources (job autonomy and supervisor support) moderated the relationships between demands and work–life balance, with high resources consistently buffering any detrimental influence of demands on WLB. Furthermore, our study identified additional predictors of WLB that were unique to some national contexts. For example, in France and Italy, overtime hours worked were negatively associated with WLB, while parental status was positively associated with WLB. Overall, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Off shell behaviour of the in medium nucleon-nucleon cross section

The properties of nucleon-nucleon scattering inside dense nuclear matter are investigated. We use the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock model to determine on-shell and half off-shell in-medium transition amplitudes and cross sections. At finite densities the on-shell cross sections are generally suppressed. This reduction is, however, less pronounced than found in previous works. In the case that the outgoing momenta are allowed to be off energy shell the amplitudes show a strong variation with momentum. This description allows to determine in-medium cross sections beyond the quasi-particle approximation accounting thereby for the finite width which nucleons acquire in the dense nuclear medium. For reasonable choices of the in-medium nuclear spectral width, i.e. $\Gamma\leq 40$ MeV, the resulting total cross sections are, however, reduced by not more than about 25% compared to the on-shell values. Off-shell effect are generally more pronounced at large nuclear matter densities.Comment: 31 pages Revtex, 12 figures, typos corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Guanosine-based hydrogen-bonded 2D scaffolds: Metal-free formation of G-quartet and G-ribbon architectures at the solid/liquid interface

We report on the synthesis and self-assembly of three novel lipophilic guanosine derivatives exposing a ferrocene moiety in the C(50) position of the sugar unit. Their self-association in solution, and at the solid/ liquid interface, can be tuned by varying the size and nature of the C(8)-substituent, leading to the generation of either G-ribbons, lamellar G-dimer based arrays or the G4 cation-free architecture

Effectiveness of Mechanisms and Models of Coordination between Organizations, Agencies and Bodies Providing or Financing Health Services in Humanitarian Crises: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Effective coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises is required to ensure efficiency of services, avoid duplication, and improve equity. The objective of this review was to assess how, during and after humanitarian crises, different mechanisms and models of coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services compare in terms of access to health services and health outcomes. METHODS: We registered a protocol for this review in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews under number PROSPERO2014:CRD42014009267. Eligible studies included randomized and nonrandomized designs, process evaluations and qualitative methods. We electronically searched Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the WHO Global Health Library and websites of relevant organizations. We followed standard systematic review methodology for the selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. RESULTS: Of 14,309 identified citations from databases and organizations' websites, we identified four eligible studies. Two studies used mixed-methods, one used quantitative methods, and one used qualitative methods. The available evidence suggests that information coordination between bodies providing health services in humanitarian crises settings may be effective in improving health systems inputs. There is additional evidence suggesting that management/directive coordination such as the cluster model may improve health system inputs in addition to access to health services. None of the included studies assessed coordination through common representation and framework coordination. The evidence was judged to be of very low quality. CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides evidence of possible effectiveness of information coordination and management/directive coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises. Our findings can inform the research agenda and highlight the need for improving conduct and reporting of research in this field

Origins of robustness in translational control via eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 2

Phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2) is one of the best studied and most widely used means for regulating protein synthesis activity in eukaryotic cells. This pathway regulates protein synthesis in response to stresses, viral infections, and nutrient depletion, among others. We present analyses of an ordinary differential equation-based model of this pathway, which aim to identify its principal robustness-conferring features. Our analyses indicate that robustness is a distributed property, rather than arising from the properties of any one individual pathway species. However, robustness-conferring properties are unevenly distributed between the different species, and we identify a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) complex as a species that likely contributes strongly to the robustness of the pathway. Our analyses make further predictions on the dynamic response to different types of kinases that impinge on eIF2

Calculation of the relative metastabilities of proteins using the CHNOSZ software package

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Proteins of various compositions are required by organisms inhabiting different environments. The energetic demands for protein formation are a function of the compositions of proteins as well as geochemical variables including temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity and pH. The purpose of this study was to explore the dependence of metastable equilibrium states of protein systems on changes in the geochemical variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A software package called CHNOSZ implementing the revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) equations of state and group additivity for ionized unfolded aqueous proteins was developed. The program can be used to calculate standard molal Gibbs energies and other thermodynamic properties of reactions and to make chemical speciation and predominance diagrams that represent the metastable equilibrium distributions of proteins. The approach takes account of the chemical affinities of reactions in open systems characterized by the chemical potentials of basis species. The thermodynamic database included with the package permits application of the software to mineral and other inorganic systems as well as systems of proteins or other biomolecules.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Metastable equilibrium activity diagrams were generated for model cell-surface proteins from archaea and bacteria adapted to growth in environments that differ in temperature and chemical conditions. The predicted metastable equilibrium distributions of the proteins can be compared with the optimal growth temperatures of the organisms and with geochemical variables. The results suggest that a thermodynamic assessment of protein metastability may be useful for integrating bio- and geochemical observations.</p

Origins of robustness in translational control via eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 2

Phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2) is one of the best studied and most widely used means for regulating protein synthesis activity in eukaryotic cells. This pathway regulates protein synthesis in response to stresses, viral infections, and nutrient depletion, among others. We present analyses of an ordinary differential equation-based model of this pathway, which aim to identify its principal robustness-conferring features. Our analyses indicate that robustness is a distributed property, rather than arising from the properties of any one individual pathway species. However, robustness-conferring properties are unevenly distributed between the different species, and we identify a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) complex as a species that likely contributes strongly to the robustness of the pathway. Our analyses make further predictions on the dynamic response to different types of kinases that impinge on eIF2

Glioblastoma hijacks microglial gene expression to support tumor growth

Background: Glioblastomas are the most common and lethal primary brain tumors. Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, survey their environment and respond to pathogens, toxins, and tumors. Glioblastoma cells communicate with microglia, in part by releasing extracellular vesicles (EVs). Despite the presence of large numbers of microglia in glioblastoma, the tumors continue to grow, and these neuroimmune cells appear incapable of keeping the tumor in check. To understand this process, we analyzed gene expression in microglia interacting with glioblastoma cells.Methods: We used RNASeq of isolated microglia to analyze the expression patterns of genes involved in key microglial functions in mice with glioblastoma. We focused on microglia that had taken up tumor-derived EVs and therefore were within and immediately adjacent to the tumor.Results: We show that these microglia have downregulated expression of genes involved in sensing tumor cells and tumor-derived danger signals, as well as genes used for tumor killing. In contrast, expression of genes involved in facilitating tumor spread was upregulated. These changes appear to be in part EV-mediated, since intracranial injection of EVs in normal mice led to similar transcriptional changes in microglia. We observed a similar microglial transcriptomic signature when we analyzed datasets from human patients with glioblastoma.Conclusion: Our data define a microgliaGlioblastoma specific phenotype, whereby glioblastomas have hijacked gene expression in the neuroimmune system to favor avoiding tumor sensing, suppressing the immune response, clearing a path for invasion, and enhancing tumor propagation. For further exploration, we developed an interactive online tool at http://www.glioma-microglia.com with all expression data and additional functional and pathway information for each gene.</p

Factors associated with mortality in HIV-infected and uninfected patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV has fuelled the TB epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Mortality in patients co-infected with TB and HIV is high. Managing factors influencing mortality in TB patients might help reducing it. This study investigates factors associated with mortality including patients' HIV sero-status, CD4 cell count, laboratory, nutritional and demographic characteristics in AFB smear positive pulmonary TB patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 887 sputum smear positive PTB patients, between 18 and 65 years of age receiving standard 8 months anti-TB treatment. Demographic, anthropometric and laboratory data including HIV, CD4 and other tests were collected at baseline and at regular intervals. Patients were followed for a median period of 2.5 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 887 participants, 155 (17.5%) died, of whom 90.3% (140/155) were HIV-infected, a fatality of 29.7% (140/471) compared to 3.6% (15/416) among HIV-uninfected. HIV infection, age, low Karnofsky score, CD4 cell counts and hemoglobin, high viral load, and oral thrush were significantly associated with high mortality in all patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mortality among HIV-infected TB patients is high despite the use of effective anti-TB therapy. Most deaths occur after successful completion of therapy, an indication that patients die from causes other than TB. HIV infection is the strongest independent predictor of mortality in this cohort.</p

Glioblastoma hijacks microglial gene expression to support tumor growth

Background: Glioblastomas are the most common and lethal primary brain tumors. Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, survey their environment and respond to pathogens, toxins, and tumors. Glioblastoma cells communicate with microglia, in part by releasing extracellular vesicles (EVs). Despite the presence of large numbers of microglia in glioblastoma, the tumors continue to grow, and these neuroimmune cells appear incapable of keeping the tumor in check. To understand this process, we analyzed gene expression in microglia interacting with glioblastoma cells. Methods: We used RNASeq of isolated microglia to analyze the expression patterns of genes involved in key microglial functions in mice with glioblastoma. We focused on microglia that had taken up tumor-derived EVs and therefore were within and immediately adjacent to the tumor. Results: We show that these microglia have downregulated expression of genes involved in sensing tumor cells and tumor-derived danger signals, as well as genes used for tumor killing. In contrast, expression of genes involved in facilitating tumor spread was upregulated. These changes appear to be in part EV-mediated, since intracranial injection of EVs in normal mice led to similar transcriptional changes in microglia. We observed a similar microglial transcriptomic signature when we analyzed datasets from human patients with glioblastoma. Conclusion: Our data define a microgliaGlioblastoma specific phenotype, whereby glioblastomas have hijacked gene expression in the neuroimmune system to favor avoiding tumor sensing, suppressing the immune response, clearing a path for invasion, and enhancing tumor propagation. For further exploration, we developed an interactive online tool at http://www.glioma-microglia.com with all expression data and additional functional and pathway information for each gene