Multitasking in postanesthesia care unit following nurse interruptions, an analysis of the causes and consequences using classification tree: an observational prospective study

Abstract Background: Postanesthesia Care Unit (PACU) is an environment associated with an important workload which is susceptible to lead to task interruption (TI), leading to task-switching or concurrent multitasking. The objective of the study was to determine the predictors of the reaction of the nurses facing TI and assess those who lead to an alteration of the initial task. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study into the PACU of a university hospital during February 2017. Among 18 nurses, a selected one was observed each day, documenting for each TI the reaction of the nurse (task switching or concurrent multitasking), and the characteristics associated with the TI. We performed classification tree analyses using C5.0 algorithm in order to select the main predictors of the type of multitasking performed and the alteration of the initial task. Results: We observed 1119 TI during 132 hours (8.5 TI/hour). The main reaction was concurrent multitasking (805 TI, 72%). The short duration of the task interruption (one minute or less) was the most important predictor leading to concurrent multitasking. Other predictors of response to TI were the identity of the task interrupter and the number of nurses present. Regarding the consequences of the task switching, long interruption (more than five minutes) was the most important predictor of the alteration of the initial task. Conclusions: By analysing the predictors of the type of multitasking in front of TI, we propose a novel approach to understanding TI, offering new perspective for prevention strategies.

Ways of living and working of Haitian immigrants in Western Paraná/Brazil / Modo de vida y trabajo de inmigrantes haitianos en el oeste de Paraná/Brasil / Modos de vida e trabalho de imigrantes haitianos no Oeste do Paraná/Brasil

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the migratory process, ways of living, and working conditions of Haitians residing in the municipality of Cascavel, Paraná, as well as their impact on health conditions, consumption patterns, and political and ideological life. Method: cross-sectional observational design. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted from December 2019 to December 2020 with 128 participants who were Haitian immigrants residing in the municipality. Simple descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis, and the findings were discussed in conjunction with relevant literature, with the social determination theory serving as a reference. Results: The majority of participants were male 75.0% (n = 96), young adults 71.0% (n = 91), speakers of two or more languages 87.5% (n = 112), catholic 61.7% (n = 79), high school education or higher 57.0% (n = 73). They consider their life and health conditions good but are unsatisfied with the working conditions and salary. Conclusion: Haitian immigrants' arrival facilitation to work in cold stores may indicate labor exploitation of economically and socially vulnerable groups. Immigration policies and the recognition of the educational level of their country of origin may contribute to improving the living condition of this population.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Analizar el proceso migratorio, el modo de vida y el trabajo de haitianos que residen en la ciudad de Cascabel, Paraná y sus expresiones en las condiciones de salud, en las costumbres de consumo y en la vida política e ideológica. Método: Se trata de una investigación observacional transversal, con datos recopilados y sopesados con la literatura pertinente y la teoría de la determinación social. La entrevista semiestructurada se llevó a cabo con 128 participantes, inmigrantes haitianos residentes en el municipio, de diciembre de 2019 a diciembre de 2020. Para el análisis, se utilizó la estadística descriptiva simple. Resultados: La mayoría de los participantes eran hombres (75,0%) (n = 96), adultos jóvenes (71,0%) (n = 91), hablaban dos idiomas o más (87,5%) (n = 112), eran católicos (61,7%) (n = 79) y tenían estudios secundarios o terciarios (57,0%) (n = 73). Consideran que sus condiciones de vida y de salud son buenas, pero están insatisfechos con su situación laboral y su salario. Conclusión: La facilitación de la venida de inmigrantes haitianos para trabajar en frigoríficos de la región puede indicar explotación laboral de grupos económica y socialmente vulnerables. Las políticas de integración y el reconocimiento de la escolaridad del país de origen pueden contribuir a mejorar las condiciones de vida de este grupo de inmigrantes.

RESUMO Objetivo: Analisar o processo migratório, os modos de vida e trabalho de haitianos que residem no município de Cascavel-Paraná e suas expressões nas condições de saúde, no padrão de consumo e na vida política e ideológica. Método: Pesquisa observacional transversal. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de entrevista semiestruturada, de dezembro de 2019 a dezembro de 2020 com 128 participantes, imigrantes haitianos residentes no município. Para análise, utilizou-se estatística descritiva simples, discutidos com a literatura pertinente, tendo como referencial a teoria da determinação social. Resultados: A maioria dos participantes foi da população masculina 75,0% (n = 96), adultos jovens 71,0% (n = 91), falam duas línguas ou mais 87,5% (n = 112), de religião católica 61,7% (n = 79), com escolaridade de nível médio ou acima 57,0% (n = 73). Consideram boas suas condições de vida e saúde, mas estão insatisfeitos com as condições de trabalho e salário. Conclusão: O favorecimento da vinda de imigrantes haitianos para atuarem em frigoríficos da região, pode indicar exploração do trabalho de grupos vulneráveis econômica e socialmente. Políticas de integração e o reconhecimento da formação escolar do país de origem, podem contribuir para melhorar a condição de vida desta população.

Monitoring resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis in the field by performing bioassays with each Cry toxin separately

Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) is increasingly used worldwide for mosquito control and is the only larvicide used in the French Rhône-Alpes region since decades. The artificial selection of mosquitoes with field-persistent Bti collected in breeding sites from this region led to a moderate level of resistance to Bti, but to relatively high levels of resistance to individual Bti Cry toxins. Based on this observation, we developed a bioassay procedure using each Bti Cry toxin separately to detect cryptic Bti-resistance evolving in field mosquito populations. Although no resistance to Bti was detected in none of the three mosquito species tested (Aedes rusticus, Aedes sticticus and Aedes vexans), an increased tolerance to Cry4Aa (3.5-fold) and Cry11Aa toxins (8-fold) was found in one Ae. sticticus population compared to other populations of the same species, suggesting that resistance to Bti may be arising in this population. This study confirms previous works showing a lack of Bti resistance in field mosquito populations treated for decades with this bioinsecticide. It also provides a first panorama of their susceptibility status to individual Bti Cry toxins. In combination with bioassays with Bti, bioassays with separate Cry toxins allow a more sensitive monitoring of Bti-resistance in the field.

Multidimensional analysis of Drosophila wing variation in Evolution Canyon.

Environmental stress has been suggested to be a major evolutionary force, both through inducing strong selection and because of its direct impact on developmental buffering processes that alter the evolvability of organisms. In particular, temperature has attracted much attention because of its importance as an ecological feature and the relative ease with which it can be experimentally manipulated in the lab. Evolution Canyon, Lower Nahal Oren, Israel, is a well studied natural site where ecological parameters are suspected to drive evolutionary differentiation. In this study, using Drosophila melanogaster isofemale lines derived from wild flies collected on both slopes of the canyon, we investigated the effect of developmental temperature upon the different components of phenotypic variation of a complex trait: the wing. Combining geometric and traditional morphometrics, we find only limited evidence for a differentiation among slopes. Investigating simultaneously phenotypic plasticity, genetic variation among isofemale lines, variation among individuals and fluctuating asymmetry, we could not identify a consistent effect of the stressful conditions encountered on the south facing slope. The prevailing structuring effect is that of the experimentally manipulated temperature which clearly influences wing mean size and shape. Variability, in contrast, is not consistently affected by temperature. Finally, we investigated the specific relationship between individual variation and fluctuating asymmetry. Using metric multi-dimensional scaling we show that the related patterns of wing shape variation are not identical, supporting the view that the underlying developmental processes are to a certain extent different.

Adaptation to different climates results in divergent phenotypic plasticity of wing size and shape in an invasive drosophilid.

The phenotypic plasticity of wing size and wing shape of Zaprionus indianus was investigated in relation to growth temperature (17 degrees C to 31 degrees C) in two natural populations living under different climates, equatorial and subtropical. The two populations were clearly distinguished not only by their wing size (the populations from the colder climate being bigger in size), but also by the shape of the response curves to growth temperature i.e., their reaction norms. In this respect, the temperature at which the size of the wing was maximum was about 3 degrees C higher in the equatorial population. Such a difference in size plasticity is already found in two other nonclosely related species, might be a general evolutionary pattern in drosophilids. Wing shape was investigated by calculating an ellipse included into the wing blade, then by considering the ratio of the two axes, and also by analysing the angular position of 10 wing-vein landmarks. For an overall shape index (ratio of the two axes of the ellipse), a regular and almost linear increase was observed with increasing temperature i.e., a more round shape at high temperatures. Wing shape was also analysed by considering the variations of the various angles according to temperature. A diversity of response curves was observed, revealing either a monotonous increase or decrease with increasing temperature, and sometimes a bell shape curve. An interesting conclusion is that, in most cases, a significant difference was observed between the two populations, and the difference was more pronounced at low temperatures. These angular variations are difficult to interpret in an evolutionary context. More comparative studies should be undertaken before reaching some general conclusions.

Mesosternal bristle number in a cosmopolitan drosophilid: an X-linked variable trait independent of sternopleural bristles.

Mesosternal (MS) bristles in Drosophila are a pair of machrochaetae found at the sternal end of the sternopleural (STP) microchaetae, and are thought to be invariable. In a closely related drosophilid genus, Zaprionus, their number is four and, in contrast to Drosophila, they show interspecific and intraspecific variability. The genetic basis of MS bristle number variability was studied in Z. indianus, the only cosmopolitan species of the genus. The trait responded rapidly to selection and two lines were obtained, one lacking any bristles (0-0) and the other bearing the normal phenotype (2-2). Other symmetrical phenotypes, (1-1) and (3-3), could also be selected for, but with lesser success. By contrast, STP bristle number did not vary significantly between the two lines (0-0) and (2-2), revealing its genetic independence from MS bristle number. Reciprocal crosses between these two lines showed that MS bristle number is mainly influenced by a major gene on the X chromosome (i.e. F(1) males always resembled their mothers) with codominant expression (i.e. heterozygous F(1) females harboured an average phenotype of 2 bristles). However, trait penetrance was incomplete and backcrosses revealed that this variability was partly due to genetic modifiers, most likely autosomal. The canalization of MS bristle number was investigated under different temperatures, and the increased appearance of abnormal phenotypes mainly occurred at extreme temperatures. There was a bias, however, towards bristle loss, as shown by a liability (developmental map) analysis. Finally, when ancestral and introduced populations were compared, the latter were far less stable, suggesting that genetic bottlenecks may perturb the MS bristle number canalization system. MS bristle number, thus, appears to be an excellent model for investigating developmental canalization at both the quantitative and the molecular level.

Phenotypic plasticity of body size in a temperate population of Drosophila melanogaster: when the temperature-size rule does not apply.

A natural population of Drosophila melanogaster in southern France was sampled in three different years and 10 isofemale lines were investigated from each sample. Two size-related traits, wing and thorax length, were measured and the wing/thorax ratio was also calculated. Phenotypic plasticity was analysed after development at seven different constant temperatures, ranging from 12 degrees C to 31 degrees C. The three year samples exhibited similar reaction norms, suggesting a stable genetic architecture in the natural population. The whole sample (30 lines) was used to determine precisely the shape of each reaction norm, using a derivative analysis. The practical conclusion was that polynomial adjustments could be used in all cases, but with different degrees: linear for the wing/thorax ratio, quadratic for thorax length, and cubic for wing length. Both wing and thorax length exhibited concave reaction norms, with a maximum within the viable thermal range. The temperatures of the maxima were, however, quite different, around 15 degrees C for the wing and 19.5 degrees C for the thorax. Assuming that thorax length is a better estimate of body size, it is not possible to state that increasing the temperature results in monotonically decreasing size (the temperature-size rule), although this is often seen to be the case for genetic variations in latitudinal clines. The variability of the traits was investigated at two levels-within and between lines-and expressed as a coefficient of variation. The within-line (environmental) variability revealed a regular, quadratic convex reaction norm for the three traits, with a minimum around 21 degrees C. This temperature of minimum variability may be considered as a physiological optimum, while extreme temperatures are stressful. The between-line (genetic) variability could also be adjusted to quadratic polynomials, but the curvature parameters were not significant. Our results show that the mean values of the traits and their variance are both plastic, but react in different ways along a temperature gradient. Extreme low or high temperatures decrease the size but increase the variability. These effects may be considered as a functional response to environmental stress.

Phenotypic plasticity and reaction norms of abdominal bristle number in Drosophila melanogaster.

The phenotypic plasticity of abdominal bristle number (segments 3 and 4 in females) was investigated in 10 isofemale lines from a French population, grown at 7 constant temperatures, ranging from 12 to 31 degrees C. Overall concave reaction norms were obtained with a maximum around 20-21 degrees C. Intraclass correlation (isofemale line heritability) was not affected by temperature. Correlations between segments 3 and 4 strongly contrasted a low within-line phenotypic correlation (r=0.39+/-0.04) and a high, between-line genetic correlation (r=0.89+/-0.03). A significant decrease of the genetic correlation was observed when comparing more different temperatures. Finally, among 7 other morphometrical traits which were measured on the same set of lines, 3 provided a significant positive genetic correlation with abdominal bristles: thoracic bristles, abdomen pigmentation and thoracic pigmentation.

REML estimates of genetic parameters of sexual dimorphism for wing and thorax length in Drosophila melanogaster.

Restricted maximum likelihood was used to estimate genetic parameters of male and female wing and thorax length in isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster, and results compared to estimates obtained earlier with the classical analysis of variance approach. As parents within an isofemale line were unknown, a total of 500 parental pedigrees were simulated and mean estimates computed. Full and half sibs were distinguished, in contrast to usual isofemale studies in which animals were all treated as half sibs and hence heritability was overestimated. Heritability was thus estimated at 0.33, 0.38, 0.30 and 0.33 for male and female wing length and male and female thorax length, respectively, whereas corresponding estimates obtained using analysis of variance were 0.46, 0.54, 0.35 and 0.38. Genetic correlations between male and female traits were 0.85 and 0.62 for wing and thorax length, respectively. Sexual dimorphism and the ratio of female to male traits were moderately heritable (0.30 and 0.23 for wing length, 0.38 and 0.23 for thorax length). Both were moderately and positively correlated with female traits, and weakly and negatively correlated with male traits. Such heritabilities confirmed that sexual dimorphism might be a fast evolving trait in Drosophila.

Genetic variability of sexual size dimorphism in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster: an isofemale-line approach.

Most animal species exhibit sexual size dimorphism (SSD). SSD is a trait difficult to quantify for genetical purposes since it must be simultaneously measured on two kinds of individuals, and it is generally expressed either as a difference or as a ratio between sexes. Here we ask two related questions: What is the best way to describe SSD, and is it possible to conveniently demonstrate its genetic variability in a natural population? We show that a simple experimental design, the isofemale-line technique (full-sib families), may provide an estimate of genetic variability, using the coefficient of intraclass correlation. We consider two SSD indices, the female-male difference and the female/male ratio. For two size-related traits, wing and thorax length, we found that both SSD indices were normally distributed. Within each family, the variability of SSD was estimated by considering individual values in one sex (the female) with respect to the mean value in the other sex (the male). In a homogeneous sample of 30 lines of Drosophila melanogaster, both indices provided similar intraclass correlations, on average 0.21, significantly greater than zero but lower than those for the traits themselves: 0.50 and 0.36 for wing and thorax length respectively. Wing and thorax length were strongly positively correlated within each sex. SSD indices of wing and thorax length were also positively correlated, but to a lesser degree than for the traits themselves. For comparative evolutionary studies, the ratio between sexes seems a better index of SSD since it avoids scaling effects among populations or species, permits comparisons between different traits, and has an unambiguous biological significance. In the case of D. melanogaster grown at 25 degrees C, the average female/male ratios are very similar for the wing (1.16) and the thorax (1.15), and indicate that, on average, these size traits are 15-16% longer in females.

Evolution and development: some insights from evolutionary theory

Developmental biology and evolutionary biology are both mature integrative disciplines which started in the 19th century and then followed parallel and independent scientific pathways. Recently, a genetical component has stepped into both disciplines (developmental genetics and evolutionary genetics) pointing out the need for future convergent maturation. Indeed, the Evo-Devo approach is becoming popular among developmental biologists, based on the facts that distant groups share a common ancestry, that precise phylogenies can be worked out and that homologous genes often play similar roles during the development of very different organisms. In this essay, I try to show that the real future of Evo-Devo thinking is still broader. The evolutionary theory is a set of diverse concepts which can and should be used in any biological field. Evolutionary thinking trains to ask ® why ¼ questions and to provide logical and plausible answers. It can shed some light on a diversity of general problems such as how to distinguish homologies from analogies, the costs and benefits of multicellularity, the origin of novel structures (e.g. the head), or the evolution of sexual reproduction. In the next decade, we may expect a progressive convergence between developmental genetics and quantitative genetics