Does mindfulness reduce perceived stress in healthcare professionals?

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are exposed to multiple psychosocial risks that may lead to high levels of stress and low levels of life satisfaction and well-being. Mindfulness, defined as the awareness that arises by intentionally paying attention in the present moment and in a non-judgmental way, seems to be a moderator in the causal association between life stressors and well-being. AIMS: The aim of the present study was to test the model of relationships between self-reported mindfulness, perceived stress, well-being index and life satisfaction in a sample of Tunisian HCPs. METHODS: We performed a correlational cross-sectional study on a sample of HCPs at Hedi Chaker University Hospital, Tunisia. We used validated self-reporting instruments: the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the World Health Organisation Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). For data analysis, the SPSS version 23 program was used. RESULTS: Participants (n=297) included staff nurses (49.2%), medical technicians (19.2%) and doctors (31.6%). The overall model revealed that reduced perceived stress (ß=-0.30, P<0.000) and high levels of well-being (ß=0.13, P=0.03) were associated with mindfulness, explaining 14% of the variance. Individually, perceived stress significantly predicted mindfulness explaining 13% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The study explores a variety of elements that can support the development of mindfulness interventions for stress prevention, staff well-being, and improvement of services as a whole.

Workaholism in engineers: Prevalence and associated factors.

INTRODUCTION: Workaholism is an emerging form of behavioural addiction encountered in the workplace. The present study aims to assess the prevalence and the associated factors of this phenomenon in engineers. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted for two months by means of an online questionnaire of engineers practising in Tunisia. The evaluation of workaholism was based on the WART questionnaire (Work Addiction Risk Test). RESULTS: A total of 107 engineers have answered the questionnaire. The mean age of participants was 29.2±4.4 years. Computer engineers represented 32.7% of our sample. Most of engineers worked more than 8hours per day (45.8%) and less than 6 days per week (63.6%). A high risk of workaholism was noted in 42.1% of cases. Statistical analysis showed that workaholism was not associated with socio-demographic characteristics. However, it was associated with smoking cigarettes, psychotropic drug consumption and poly-addiction and inversely associated with the presence of a leisure activity. With regard to occupational factors, workaholism was associated with agronomic engineering, working more than 8hours per day, working the whole week and a job satisfaction score under 5/10. CONCLUSION: Workaholism interested a significant proportion of this sample, and several professional factors could increase the likelihood of adopting this behaviour. The intervention of occupational doctors seems important in order to raise awareness about this form of addiction and to identify its early signs among employees.

Rotational (de)-excitation of C5 by collision with He at low temperature.

An appropriate estimation of the abundance of the observed C5 radical in the interstellar medium requires accurate radiative and collisional rate coefficients. We present the first two-dimensional potential energy surface (2D-PES) for the ground electronic state of the C5(X1Σ+)-He(X1S) van der Waals system, obtained using an explicitly correlated coupled-cluster method with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (RCCSD(T)-F12). This PES is subsequently used in quantum close-coupling (CC) scattering calculations. Collisional excitation cross-sections of the rotational levels of C5 by He were calculated for energies up to 1500 cm-1 using the standard (CC) method. The thermal dependence of the corresponding rate coefficients is given for the low and moderate temperature T ≤ 300 K regime of interstellar molecular clouds. This is the first study on the collisional rate coefficients for this system and may have important implications for the astrophysical detection of C5(X1Σ+) and modeling of carbon-rich media.

Rotational quenching of an interstellar gas thermometer: CH3CNHe collisions.

Among all the molecular species found in the interstellar medium, molecules with threefold symmetry axes play a special role, as their rotational spectroscopy allows them to act as practical gas thermometers. Methyl-cyanide (CH3CN) is the second most abundant of those (after ammonia). We compute in this paper the collisional dynamics of methyl-cyanide in collision with helium, for both the A- and the E-symmetries of CH3CN. The potential energy surface is determined using the CCSD(T)-F12b formalism and fit with convenient analytic functions. We compute the rotationally inelastic cross sections for all levels up to 510 cm-1 of collision energy, employing at low energy exact Coupled Channels methods, and at higher energies, approximate Coupled States methods. For temperatures from 7 K up to 300 K, rates of quenching are computed and most are found to differ from those reported earlier (up to a factor of a thousand), calling for a possible reexamination of the temperatures assigned to low density gasses.

Interaction of the simple carbene c-C3H2 with H2: potential energy surface and low-energy scattering.

Cyclopropenylidene, c-C3H2, is a simple hydrocarbon, ubiquitous in astrophysical gases, and possessing a permanent electric dipole moment. Its readily observed rotational transitions make it an excellent probe for the physics and history of interstellar matter. The collisional properties of c-C3H2 with the main background gas, H2, are computed here. We present a full 5-D Potential Energy Surface in the rigid molecule approach, and fit it to relevant functionals for subsequent scattering. We perform low-energy quantum scattering at energies less than 50 cm-1. We use both ortho and para H2 as projectiles. We determine the quality of the various approximations to exact coupled channel scattering and examine paths to go towards higher energy scattering relevant for astrophysics. We compare the results obtained here with earlier ones for scattering with helium.

Rotational (de)-excitation of cyclic and linear C3H2 by collision with He.

Among the closed-shell hydrocarbons, the carbenes c- and l-C3H2 are the lightest ones to display a permanent electric dipole moment and be detectable by rotational spectroscopy. The cyclic form, cyclopropenylidene, is ubiquitous in the InterStellar Matter (ISM) of the Milky Way and external galaxies. As such, it serves as a marker to help in characterizing the physical conditions of the ISM. The linear form, propadienylidene, is less abundant. In order to get access to their absolute and relative abundances, it is essential to understand their collisional excitation/quenching schemes. We compute here a precise ab initio potential energy surface for the interaction of c- and l-C3H2 with helium, by means of a CCSD(T)-F12a formalism and a fit onto relevant spherical harmonics functions. We conduct quantum dynamical scattering in order to get precise cross sections using a coupled-channel approach for solving the nuclear motion. We average sections to have rates for rotational quenching from 5 to 150 K. We show that these new rates are vastly different, up to more than an order of magnitude, from the older rates presented in the literature, computed with angular momentum algebra only. We expect large differences in the astrophysical analyses of C3H2, including the chemical history of those ubiquitous carbenes.

Collisional excitation of interstellar CCN(X2Π) induced by He.

The CCN radical has been recently detected in the interstellar medium. Accurate modeling of its abundance in such media requires one to model its excitation by both radiation and collisions. Here, we report the first quantum mechanical close-coupling study of CCN-He collisions. Calculations of fine-structure resolved excitation cross sections of CCN(X2Π) induced by collision with He are performed for kinetic energies below 500 cm-1. The calculations are based on new two-dimensional potential energy surfaces obtained from coupled cluster approaches. We found that the inelastic cross sections for spin-orbit conserving transitions are larger than those for spin-orbit changing transitions. The new collisional data should significantly help the interpretation of interstellar CCN emission lines observed with current and future telescopes and we expect that they will allow accurate determination of the CCN abundance in the interstellar medium, which is crucial to understand the chemistry of carbon chain species in the interstellar gas.

Cold collisions of SH- with He: Potential energy surface and rate coefficients.

Collisional energy transfer under cold conditions is of great importance from the fundamental and applicative point of view. Here, we investigate low temperature collisions of the SH- anion with He. We have generated a three-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) for the SH-(X1Σ+)-He(1S) van der Waals complex. The ab initio multi-dimensional interaction PES was computed using the explicitly correlated coupled cluster approach with simple, double, and perturbative triple excitation in conjunction with the augmented-correlation consistent-polarized valence triple zeta Gaussian basis set. The PES presents two minima located at linear geometries. Then, the PES was averaged over the ground vibrational wave function of the SH- molecule and the resulting two-dimensional PES was incorporated into exact quantum mechanical close coupling calculations to study the collisional excitation of SH- by He. We have computed inelastic cross sections among the 11 first rotational levels of SH- for energies up to 2500 cm-1. (De-)excitation rate coefficients were deduced for temperatures ranging from 1 to 300 K by thermally averaging the cross sections. We also performed calculations using the new PES for a fixed internuclear SH- distance. Both sets of results were found to be in reasonable agreement despite differences existing at low temperatures confirming that accurate predictions require the consideration of all internal degrees of freedom in the case of molecular hydrides. The rate coefficients presented here may be useful in interpreting future experimental work on the SH- negative ion colliding with He as those recently done for the OH--He collisional system as well as for possible astrophysical applications in case SH- would be detected in the interstellar medium.

Rotational Excitation of the CP(Χ2Σ+) Open Shell Molecule Due to Collision with He(1S).

Phosphorus bearing molecules have been discovered in the circumstellar and interstellar media. Modeling their abundance accurately requires computations of rate coefficients induced by collision with He and H2 (i.e., the most abundant gaseous components). These calculations may be carried out by first determining highly accurate potential energy surface (PES) and cross sections. In this paper, we present the first PES of the CP(X2Σ+)-He(1S) van der Waals collisional complex. The ab initio interaction potential was performed using the explicitly correlated restricted coupled cluster approach with simple, double, and perturbative triple excitation (RCCSD(T)-F12) in connection with the augmented-correlation consistent-polarized valence triple-ζ Gaussian basis set (aug-cc-pVTZ). The potential presents two minima of -18.62 cm-1 and -18.72 cm-1. From the PES obtained, we have computed state-to-state excitation cross sections of CP due to collision with He for energies up to 500 cm-1. Rotational transitions involving the fine-structure levels of the CP molecule were treated with a recoupling technique based on the scattering matrix calculated with the exact quantum mechanical close coupling method. Discussions on the propensity rules between the fine-structure levels were made and we found that the Δj = ΔN transitions are favored with respect to the Δj ≠ ΔN ones. The data presented in this paper may have a great impact on the accurate determination of the CP abundance in space.

Occupational blood exposure among health care personnel and hospital trainees.

Blood and body fluid Exposure is a major occupational safety problems for health care workers. Therefor We conducted a descriptive and retrospective study to identify the characteristics of blood exposure accidents in health care settings which lasted five years (2005-2009) at the two university hospitals of Sfax. We have 593 blood exposure accidents in health care settings 152 (25.6%) health personnel and 441 (74.4%) trainees' doctors, nurses and health technicians. The mechanism of blood and body fluid exposure was accidental needle-stick injury in 78.9% of health staff, and 81% of trainees, accidental cut in 14.7% of health workers and 10.2% of trainees. The increasing severity of blood exposure accidents is linked to the lack of safe behavior against this risk.

Rotationally inelastic collisions of methinoposphide (HCP) with para-H(2) at low temperature.

The interaction potential energy surface of the methinoposphide (HCP)-H(2) complex is calculated at the ab initio coupled-cluster level of theory with an aug-cc-pVTZ Gaussian basis set. The [H-C] and [C-P] bond lengths of HCP are set to their values at the linear equilibrium ground vibrational level of the molecule. The calculated interaction energy presents two minima located 106.3 and 67.6 cm(-1) below the HCP+H(2) dissociation limit. Using the interaction potential obtained, we have computed collision excitation cross sections in the close-coupling approach and downward rate coefficients at low temperature, i.e., T

New ab initio potential energy surface for the (HOCO+-He) van der Waals complex.

A three-dimensional potential energy surface has been calculated for the ground electronic state of the HOCO+-He system. The calculations were performed at the coupled electron pair approximation level with an extended basis set which ensures a balance between accuracy and feasability. The validity of the method and of the basis set was tested through calculations of the polarizability of the He atom and of the spectroscopic constants of the HOCO+ ion. The calculated potential energy surface has been fitted to a spherical harmonic expansion to facilitate calculations of rotational excitation of HOCO+ by collisions with He.