Effective Personality as a Protective Factor in Teachers' Occupational Health.

In recent decades, there has been a growing body of research showing the relationship between teaching work and several health problems, both physical and psychological. Some of these studies relate personal competencies and resources to teachers' occupational health. Based on the construct of Effective Personality, proposed by Martin del Buey, Martín Palacio, and Di Giusto, the aim was to analyse the relationship between the dimensions of the construct and Teachers' Occupational Health. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. It was based on the application of the Teacher Health Questionnaire (CSD) and the Efficacy Personality Questionnaire-Adults (CPE-A). The sample consisted of 700 non-university teachers aged between 26 and 66 years, M = 47.65 SD = 8.68. Descriptive, correlational, linear regression, and structural equation analyses were carried out. The results confirmed the relationship between the Efficacy Personality construct and Teachers' Occupational Health (r = 0.45 **). In addition, the regression analysis indicated the relevance of each factor of Efficacy Personality in the factors of Teachers' Occupational Health. The variance of Self-efficacy is the most explained by the dimensions of Efficacy Personality (40.2%), with positive relationships. The structural equation analysis confirmed the influence between Efficacy Personality and the factors of Self-Efficacy and Satisfaction, explaining 55.0% of the variance. It is concluded, therefore, that Efficacy Personality has a protective function on Teacher Occupational Health; the higher the Efficacy Personality scores are, the better the results in health gain-Self-efficacy and satisfaction-and the lower the result in health loss-burnout, cognitive affections, musculoskeletal affections, and voice alterations. These results facilitate the design of prevention and intervention programmes for teachers' occupational health, which strengthen and improve personal and socio-affective competencies.

Comparison of Emotional Behaviour of Spanish, Chilean and England Adolescents, and Their Relationship with Effective Personality.

Analysing the emotional behaviour of adolescents is fundamental because of its relationship with maladaptive behaviour and even possible psychological maladjustments. For this reason, this study had two objectives: to analyse the existence of significant differences in socio-emotional behaviour in English, Spanish, and Chilean adolescents, taking gender into account, and to analyse the relationship between emotional behaviour and the effective personality model in the Spanish and Chilean samples. A total of 2534 adolescents participated (609 English, 1677 Spanish, and 248 Chilean). The Abbreviated Scale of Emotional Behaviour (ECEA_R: aggressive tendency, social reactivity, and social support) and the Effective Personality Questionnaire-Adolescents (CPE-A: academic self-realisation, socio-affective self-realisation, and resolute efficacy) were applied. A MANOVA was carried out to study the differences in adolescents' socio-emotional behaviour, taking gender and nationality into account, and a correlational analysis was undertaken to explore the relationship between the variables of emotional behaviour (aggressive tendency, social reactivity, and social support) and effective personality (academic self-realisation, socio-affective self-realisation, and resolute efficacy). Regarding the first objective, for aggressive tendency, English male adolescents stood out, followed by Spanish and Chilean male adolescents and females of all nationalities. In terms of social reactivity, female adolescents stood out over male adolescents and, with regard to social support, Spanish adolescents (male and female) stood out over other nationalities, followed by Chilean and English adolescents (males and females). The results of the second objective indicated a negative relationship between aggressive tendency and academic self-realisation, but a positive relationship for social reactivity and social support (only in the Spanish sample) with most of the effective personality factors. The results are relevant for the application of prevention and intervention programs that improve or implement social and affective competencies in adolescents who develop the effective personality construct.

Nested PCR for the detection of Candidatus arthromitus in fish.

Rainbow trout gastroenteritis has been related to the accumulation of segmented filamentous bacteria in the digestive tract of fish, which presents lethargy, reduced appetite and accumulation of mucoid faeces. Some authors associate the comparison of illness with the presence of viable filaments, which produce and release strings of endospores in the lumen of the gut. The segmented filamentous bacteria that could not be cultured in vitro have been related to Clostridium group I, and they have been named Candidatus arthromitus. Despite the various strategies that have been used to detect unculturable microorganisms, molecular methods have facilitated studies on culture-independent microorganisms. Direct DNA extraction from samples and subsequent study of 16S rRNA genes represent a tool for studying unculturable microbial flora. As direct detection of specific microorganisms is possible through the utilization of primers or probes annealing specific DNA sequences, the aim of this work was to design specific primers for the direct detection of C. arthromitus in fish using a nested PCR.

Molecular methods to evaluate biodiversity in Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis strains from different origins.

The spore-forming genus Bacillus includes species of industrial, clinical and environmental significance. The possibility of differentiating between Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis, toxin producers associated with illness, is a real need in monitoring potentially contaminated foods to understand the real distribution of B. cereus/B. thuringiensis in different outbreak cases. As the use of DNA comparison obtains clearer results than classical microbiological methods in distinguishing B. cereus from B. thuringiensis in this work PCR-TTGE (Temporal Temperature Gradient gel Electrophoresis), rep-PCR and RAPD-PCR methods have been compared to assess the intra- and inter-specific variability of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis. 80 strains of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis isolated from food, patients and pesticides were analyzed using a gyrB gene DNA sequence in TTGE; primer M13 in the RAPD-PCR and primers REP1DT and REP2DT in the rep-PCR methods. A widespread distribution of the electrophoretic profiles was obtained either for B. cereus or for B. thuringiensis using TTGE. rep-PCR and RAPD-PCR were not always able to group strains from the same origin or belonging to the same species. The fingerprints obtained with the rep- and RAPD-PCR methods confirm the high intraspecific variability present in B. cereus and B. thuringiensis indicating the difficulty to discriminate between these two species in outbreak cases.