Predictors of Post-Traumatic Growth in a Sample of United Kingdom Mental and Community Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Experiences of adversity can generate positive psychological effects alongside negative impacts. Little research to date has evaluated predictors of post-traumatic growth in mental or community healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a survey of 854 community and mental healthcare staff in the United Kingdom in July to September 2020, multiple linear regression was used to determine the association between hypothesised risk and protective factors (personal, organisational and environmental variables) and total scores on the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory-Short Version. Positive self-reflection activities, black and minority ethnic status, developing new healthcare knowledge and skills, connecting with friends and family, feeling supported by senior management, feeling supported by the UK people, and anxiety about the personal and work-related consequences of COVID-19 each significantly independently predicted greater post-traumatic growth. Working in a clinical role and in mental healthcare or community physical healthcare predicted lower post-traumatic growth. Our research supports the value of taking an organisational growth-focused approach to occupational health during times of adversity, by supporting staff to embrace opportunities for personal growth. Valuing staff's cultural and religious identity and encouraging self-reflective activities, such as mindfulness and meditation, may help to promote post-traumatic growth.

SpatTrack: an imaging toolbox for analysis of vesicle motility and distribution in living cells.

The endocytic pathway is a complex network of highly dynamic organelles, which has been traditionally studied by quantitative fluorescence microscopy. The data generated by this method can be overwhelming and its analysis, even for the skilled microscopist, is tedious and error-prone. We developed SpatTrack, an open source, platform-independent program collecting a variety of methods for analysis of vesicle dynamics and distribution in living cells. SpatTrack performs 2D particle tracking, trajectory analysis and fitting of diffusion models to the calculated mean square displacement. It allows for spatial analysis of detected vesicle patterns including calculation of the radial distribution function and particle-based colocalization. Importantly, all analysis tools are supported by Monte Carlo simulations of synthetic images. This allows the user to assess the reliability of the analysis and to study alternative scenarios. We demonstrate the functionality of SpatTrack by performing a detailed imaging study of internalized fluorescence-tagged Niemann Pick C2 (NPC2) protein in human disease fibroblasts. Using SpatTrack, we show that NPC2 rescued the cholesterol-storage phenotype from a subpopulation of late endosomes/lysosomes (LE/LYSs). This was paralleled by repositioning and active transport of NPC2-containing vesicles to the cell surface. The potential of SpatTrack for other applications in intracellular transport studies will be discussed.

Photobleaching kinetics and time-integrated emission of fluorescent probes in cellular membranes.

Since the pioneering work of Hirschfeld, it is known that time-integrated emission (TiEm) of a fluorophore is independent of fluorescence quantum yield and illumination intensity. Practical implementation of this important result for determining exact probe distribution in living cells is often hampered by the presence of autofluorescence. Using kinetic modelling of photobleaching combined with pixel-wise bleach rate fitting of decay models with an updated plugin to the ImageJ program, it is shown that the TiEm of a fluorophore in living cells can be determined exactly from the product of bleaching amplitude and time constant. This applies to mono-exponential bleaching from the first excited singlet and/or triplet state and to multi-exponential combinations of such processes. The TiEm can be used to correct for illumination shading and background autofluorescence without the need for fluorescent test layers or separate imaging of non-stained cells. We apply the method to simulated images and to images of cells, whose membranes were labelled with fluorescent sterols and sphingolipids. Our bleaching model can be extended to include a probability density function (PDF) of intrinsic bleach rate constants with a memory kernel. This approach results in a time-dependent bleach rate coefficient and is exemplified for fluorescent sterols in restricted intracellular environments, like lipid droplets. We show that for small deviations from the classical exponential bleaching, the TiEm of decay functions with rate coefficients remains largely independent of fluorescence lifetime and illumination, and thereby represents a faithful measure of probe distribution.

Evaluation of the case method in nursing education.

The case based learning (CBL) is a problem-based learning which engaging students and presenting them with learning-related and cognitive challenges. The purpose of the study was to elucidate nursing students experiences of the CBL as an educational tool in order to find out if it supports their learning. Qualitative content analysis was used and performed on the statements from nursing students' course evaluations. Students perceived the CBL as an approach combining theory with practice which provides an overview of upcoming profession. Students gain adequate knowledge about patient care in reality and thereby enabling them to obtain a holistic understanding of patients health problems. Reflections related to case seminars widen students perspectives, improve their capacity for cooperation and help them to achieve long-lasting knowledge. This learning method offers nursing students an opportunity to enhance their judgement and critical thinking skills by applying theory in practice. Students gain adequate knowledge about patient care which may benefit patient care due to students acting professionally in their future role.