Search

Many employees think about their work during off-job time. Scholars have suggested that whether work-related thoughts during off-job time have detrimental or beneficial effects on employees’ well-being and performance depends on the nature of these thoughts. In this study with dual-earner couples we examined whether employees’ positive and negative work reflection during off-job time are associated with their own and with their partners’ work engagement and exhaustion. Furthermore, we investigated whether (a) living with children and (b) being work-linked (i.e. working in the same organisation and/or working in the same profession) moderated these relations. Both partners of 130 German heterosexual dual-earner couples responded to online questionnaires. We estimated multilevel analyses using the actor–partner interdependence model to analyse our dyadic data. We found positive associations between employees’ positive work reflection and both their own and their partners’ work engagement. Employees’ positive work reflection was also associated with their decreased exhaustion. Employees’ negative work reflection was negatively associated with their own work engagement and positively associated with their own exhaustion but unrelated to their partners’ outcomes. Moderator analyses revealed that living with children weakened the link between employees’ positive work reflection and their own work engagement and strengthened the link between their negative work reflection and exhaustion. The presence of couples’ work-linkage did not moderate any of these relations. This study builds on previous research by showing that employees’ positive work-related thinking is not only beneficial to themselves but also to their partners. Furthermore, the results suggest that living with children constitutes an additional demand that reduces the motivational effects of positive work reflection and amplifies the detrimental effects of employees’ negative work reflection.

For improved cost-effectiveness and temperature-stability, a ready to use lateral flow assay (LFA) is developed in this work for detecting inflammation/infection biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP) in human patient samples on the basis of aptamers. In prescreening investigations, an aptamer with CRP affinity was immobilized on microarray chips in forward and sandwich formats to optimize assay conditions. We suggest these microarray techniques as a resource-sparing and fast-screening instrument for evaluation of various conditions. The capability of the aptamer to detect CRP was shown. Optimized assay conditions were consequently transferred to the LFA-platform. Here we could demonstrate for the first time an aptamer-based LFA for the detection of CRP in human patient samples in pathologically relevant concentrations. The cutoff for CRP detection is set at 10 mg/L, providing a distinctive "yes" (≥10 mg/L CRP) or "no" (

While previous research has indicated that segmenting work and home is beneficial to employees’ recovery, this study, which includes 130 dual-earner couples, investigates if and when integrating work and home by receiving work-related support from one’s partner fosters employees’ recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery). Moreover, we examine couples’ work-linkage (i.e., both partners working in the same organization and/or the same occupation) as a moderator. Additionally, we consider the consequences of offering work-related support for the supporting partner’s recovery experiences. We used the actor-partner interdependence model to account for the dependent structure of dyadic data. Results of multiple group analyses comparing work-linked with non-work-linked couples showed that receiving work-related support from a partner was associated with increased relaxation and mastery experiences, at least among work-linked couples. Work-related support was not associated with employees’ detachment. Providing work-related support was positively related to employees’ mastery experiences in non-work-linked couples only, whereas it was unrelated to psychological detachment and relaxation both in couples with and without work-linkage. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and on boundary theory, the findings of this study shed light on work-related spousal support as an enabler of recovery experiences in work-linked couples, extending the limited view that segmenting work and home is the only beneficial approach for recovery during leisure time.

OBJECTIVE To identify and assess the magnitude of effect of pregnancy outcome predictors in women with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) by means of systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS PubMed and Embase were searched (13th June 2020) for studies reporting on pre-pregnancy risk factors of pregnancy outcomes in APS patients. Literature screening and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently, in a blinded standardized manner. Pooled univariate odds ratios (OR) were computed using a random effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed by I2%. RESULTS The search yielded 3013 unique results; 27 records were included in this meta-analysis. Previous thrombosis was associated with a decreased live birth risk (OR 0.60, p

Aptamers, a group of nucleic acids which can specifically bind to a target molecule, have drawn extensive interest over the past few decades. For analytics, aptamers represent a viable alternative to gold-standard antibodies due to their oligonucleic nature combined with advantageous properties, including higher stability in harsh environments and longer shelf-life. Indeed, over the last decade, aptamers have been used in numerous bioanalytical assays and in various point-of-care testing (POCT) platforms. The latter allows for rapid on-site testing and can be performed outside a laboratory by unskilled labor. Aptamer technology for POCT is not limited just to medical diagnostics; it can be used for a range of applications, including environmental monitoring and quality control. In this review, we critically examine the use of aptamers in POCT with an emphasis on their advantages and limitations. We also examine the recent success of aptasensor technology and how these findings pave the way for the analysis of small molecules in POCT and other health-related applications. Finally, the current major limitations of aptamers are discussed, and possible approaches for overcoming these challenges are presented. © 2020 by the authors.

Since aptamers have been selected against a broad range of target structures of medical interest and nanoparticles are available with diverse properties, aptamer-modified nanoparticles can be used in various diagnostic and therapeutic applications. While the aptamer is responsible for specificity and affinity of the conjugate, the nanoparticles' function varies from signal generation in diagnostic approaches to drug loading in drug delivery systems. Within this chapter different medical applications of aptamer-modified nanoparticles will be summarized and underlying principles will be described.

Since aptamers have been selected against a broad range of target structures of medical interest and nanoparticles are available with diverse properties, aptamer-modified nanoparticles can be used in various diagnostic and therapeutic applications. While the aptamer is responsible for specificity and affinity of the conjugate, the nanoparticles’ function varies from signal generation in diagnostic approaches to drug loading in drug delivery systems. Within this chapter different medical applications of aptamer-modified nanoparticles will be summarized and underlying principles will be described.

Detection of the small molecule 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as the most relevant marker for vitamin D supply suffers from a high variability of results using the current detection methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and immunoassays. A new detection approach using a highly specific aptamer directed against 25(OH)D was established in this study based on the target-induced dissociation (TID) sensing approach. In this work, the aptamer was investigated regarding its structural properties as well as its binding affinity by using microscale thermophoresis (MST). Moreover, complementary oligonucleotides were designed based on the aptamer structure and were evaluated in MST experiments. Binding experiments of immobilized aptamers were conducted in microarray experiments. It could be shown that the aptamer exhibited the usual B-DNA structure and did not form any G-quadruplexes. The design of complementary oligonucleotides for the TID assay identified a putative 25(OH)D binding site within the aptamer. The limit of detection of the established competitive assay was determined to be 5.4 nM, which sets the stage for the development of a biosensor system.

Driven by demands from medicine and the life sciences, for example, a variety of new point of care tests (POCT) based on smartphones are currently investigated [e.g. 1]. For instance, in combination with an external electrical read out system smartphones have been applied for the monitoring of diabetes or, by employing the smartphone camera, for the interrogation of lateral flow tests.

This article presents a cost-benefit analysis of Britain’s Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration, which was evaluated through the first large-scale randomized control trial in the UK. ERA used a combination of job coaching and financial incentives in attempting to help long-term unemployed men and low-income lone parents sustain employment and progress in work once they were employed. Using both administrative and survey data, ERA’s effects on benefits and costs were estimated through impact analyses, which exploited the experimental design. The findings indicated that ERA was cost beneficial for long-term unemployed adult men, but not for lone parents. The key findings appear robust to sensitivity tests. Uncertainty, as implied by the SEs of the estimated impacts, was addressed through a Monte Carlo analysis, an approach seldom previously used in cost-benefit analyses of social programs.

The highly specific and highly sensitive ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) technique is the most commonly used method for immunological diagnostics in general. In combination with protein microarrays and their ability to allow performing thousands of experiments in parallel, a promising tool for global analytical approaches with reduced consumption of time, analytes, and reagents is given. In this study a protein microarray-based sandwich-ELISA for human interferon-gamma (hINF-gamma) is established. In consideration of the immense importance of the surface chemistry, a new black nitrocellulose matrix that generates very high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and a very low autofluorescence was tested and optimized as microarray substrate. A validation of the applicability of the system was performed with a comparison to different commercially available systems. Experimental results show that the microarray-based ELISA is faster and easier to perform and shows a lower limit of detection (LOD) than a comparable system in a 96-well plate. The spotted slides with the capture antibody can be stored up to 1 month with no significant loss of signal intensity. A second model system with immobilized His-tagged restriction enzyme EcoRV and an anti-His antibody shows in coincidence the good applicability of the black nitrocellulose membrane and no cross-reactivity toward the ELISA.

Analysis of variations in DNA structure using a low-density microarray technology for routine diagnostic in evidence-based medicine is still relevant. In this work the applicability of 3-D macroporous monolithic methacrylate-based platforms for detection of different pathogenic genomic substitutions was studied. The detection of nucleotide replacements in F5 (Leiden G/A, rs6025), MTHFR (C/T, rs1801133) and ITGB3 (T/C, rs5918), involved in coagulation, and COMT (C/G, rs4818), TPH2 (T/A, rs11178997), PON1 (T/A rs854560), AGTR2 (C/A, rs11091046) and SERPINE1 (5G/4G, rs1799889), associated with pregnancy complications, was performed. The effect of such parameters as amount and type of oligonucleotide probe, amount of PCR product on signal-to-noise ratio, as well as mismatch discrimination was analyzed. Sensitivity and specificity of mutation detections were coincided and equal to 98.6%. The analysis of SERPINE1 and MTHFR genotypes by both NGS and developed microarray was performed and compared.

The purification of proteins from complex cell culture samples is an essential step in proteomic research. Traditional chromatographic methods often require several steps resulting in time consuming and costly procedures. In contrast, protein purification via membrane adsorbers offers the advantage of fast and gentle but still effective isolation. In this work, we present a new method for purification of proteins from crude cell extracts via membrane adsorber based devices. This isolation procedure utilises the membranes favourable pore structure allowing high flow rates without causing high back pressure. Therefore, shear stress to fragile structures is avoided. In addition, mass transfer takes place through convection rather than diffusion, thus allowing very rapid separation processes. Based on this membrane adsorber technology the separation of two model proteins, human serum albumin (HSA) and immungluboline G (IgG) is shown. The isolation of human growth hormone (hGH) from chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell culture supernatant was performed using a cation exchange membrane. The isolation of the enzyme penicillin acylase from the crude Escherichia coli supernatant was achieved using an anion exchange spin column within one step at a considerable purity. In summary, the membrane adsorber devices have proven to be suitable tools for the purification of proteins from different complex cell culture samples.

For low-energy organisms such as bivalves, the costs of thermal compensation of biological rates (synonymous with acclimation or acclimatization) may be higher than the benefits. We therefore conducted two experiments to examine the effect of seasonal temperature changes on behaviour and oxygen consumption. In the first experiment, we examined the effects of seasonal temperature changes on the freshwater bivalve Anodonta anatina, taking measurements each month for a year at the corresponding temperature for that time of year. There was no evidence for compensation of burrowing valve closure duration or frequency, or locomotory speed. In the second experiment, we compared A. anatina at summer and winter temperatures (24 and 4°C, respectively) and found no evidence for compensation of the burrowing rate, valve closure duration or frequency, or oxygen consumption rates during burrowing, immediately after valve closure or at rest. Within the experimental limits of this study, the evidence suggests that thermal compensation of biological rates is not a strategy employed by A. anatina. We argue that this is due to either a lack of evolutionary pressure to acclimatize, or evolutionary pressure to not acclimatize. Firstly, there is little incentive to increase metabolic rate to enhance predatory ability given that these are filter feeders. Secondly, maintained low energetic demand, enhanced at winter temperatures, is essential for predator avoidance, i.e. valve closure. Thus, we suggest that the costs of acclimatization outweigh the benefits in A. anatina.

Macroporous monoliths with different surface functionalization (reactive groups) were utilized as platforms for DNA analysis in microarray format. The slides based on a copolymer glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate (GMA-EDMA) have been chosen as well known and thoroughly studied standard. In particular, this material has been used at optimization of DNA microanalytical procedure. The concentration and pH of spotting solution, immobilization temperature and time, blocking agent and coupling reaction duration were selected as varied parameters. The efficiency of analysis performed on 3-D monolithic platforms was compared to that established for commercially available glass slides. As a practical example, a diagnostic test for detection of CFTR gene mutation was carried out. Additionally, the part of presented work was devoted to preparation of aptamer-based test-system that allowed successful and highly sensitive detection both of DNA and protein.

Transcriptome analysis technologies are important systems-biology methods for the investigation and optimization of mammalian cell cultures concerning with regard to growth rates and productivity. For the production of recombinant proteins, knowledge of the expression conditions of the influencing genes is a major issue in the improvement of cell lines by means of genome engineering. This chapter presents two main techniques for transcriptome analysis: microarray technology and next-generation sequencing. Protein-based methods are also briefly outlined. Furthermore, the impact of these technologies on mammalian cell culture improvement is discussed.

The screening of high-producing cells is a time consuming procedure. Starting from a single cell after a single cell dilution the procedure takes weeks to complete. The affinity matrix method is a technique for screening a cell population for high producers. Using this method it is possible to perform bulk sorting via FACS and get a complete sub population containing high producing cells instead of single cells. The affinity matrix is a “molecular anchor” which captures the secreted product via a specific antibody immobilized on the cell surface. In this manner the captured product can be detected with a fluorescence labeled antibody. Cells showing a high fluorescence after this procedure have numerous products bond on their surface and are supposed to be high producers. The present work describes a variant of the affinity matrix method which can be used for antibody secreting cells. The antibodies become captured on the cell surface by immobilized protein A instead of high priced capture antibodies. We show that these affinity matrix construct is functional on the cell surface of hybridoma cells. Also we prove the bonds of the components via protein micro array and can confirm that no unspecific binding within the construct occurs.

This report presents the final results on the implementation, impacts, costs, and economic benefits of the UK Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) programme. ERA’s distinctive combination of post-employment advisory support and financial incentives was designed to help low-income individuals who entered work sustain employment and advance in the labour market. Launched in 2003 in selected Jobcentre Plus offices, ERA targeted three groups: (1) unemployed lone parents receiving Income Support and volunteering for the New Deal for Lone Parents welfare-to-work programme, (2) lone parents working part time and receiving Working Tax Credit, and (3) long-term unemployed people aged 25 or older receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance who were required to participate in the New Deal 25 Plus welfare-to-work programme. The effectiveness of the programme was evaluated using a random assignment research design. The evaluation found that ERA produced short-term earnings gains for the two lone parent target groups. The early gains resulted from increases in the proportion of participants who worked full time (at least 30 hours per week). However, these effects generally faded after the programme ended, largely because the control group caught up with the ERA group. More impressive were the results for the long-term unemployed participants (mostly men) in the New Deal 25 Plus target group. For them, ERA produced modest but sustained increases in employment and substantial and sustained increases in earnings. These positive effects emerged after the first year and were still evident at the end of a five-year follow-up period. The earnings gains were accompanied by lasting reductions in benefits receipt. ERA proved cost-effective for this group from the perspectives of the participants themselves, the Government budget, and society as a whole.

This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of Britain’s Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration, which was evaluated though the first large-scale randomized control trial in the United Kingdom (over 16,000 people were randomly assigned). Aimed at helping three separate target groups of low-income individuals sustain employment and progress in work, ERA was distinguished by a combination of job coaching and financial incentives that it offered to participants once they were working. The ERA demonstration project began operations in late 2003 as a pilot programs administered by federally operated Jobcentre Plus offices in six regions of Great Britain. In the cost-benefit analysis, ERA’s effects on monetary benefits and costs were estimated through impact analyses, which exploited the experimental design and used a variety of both administrative and survey data, while non-financial effects were assessed through a diversity of methods. The administrative and survey data covered a five year observation period and benefits and costs were projected for an additional five years. Uncertainty, as implied by the standard errors of the estimated impacts, was addressed through a Monte Carlo analysis, an approach that has seldom been previously used in cost-benefit analyses of social programs. The cost-benefit results vary considerably among the three ERA target groups. For example, ERA seemed to be cost-beneficial for long-term unemployed adult men, but not for single mothers, some of whom were working when they began participating in ERA and others of whom were not. The key findings appear robust to sensitivity tests.

Although low-income individuals are disproportionately likely to suffer from depression, few receive treatment, and even fewer persist with their treatment. Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that telephone care management interventions can successfully encourage primary care patients and employed workers to talk with mental health specialists, increase their use of antidepressants, reduce their depression, and even improve their work performance and job retention. This report presents the 36-month results from a program called “Working toward Wellness” (WtW) that provided telephone care management to a low-income population — depressed parents receiving Medicaid in Rhode Island — to encourage them to seek treatment from a mental health professional. The project was conducted as one of four studies in the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, which was sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with additional funding from the Department of Labor. WtW is being evaluated by MDRC in partnership with United Behavioral Health (UBH) and Group Health Cooperative (GHC). UBH delivered the care management services, and GHC designed the intervention and provided technical assistance and training to UBH staff. This report presents the following key findings: - WtW care managers used the telephone effectively to initiate engagement with people with depression to consider treatment. - WtW increased the use of mental health services while the intervention was running, but it did not help individuals sustain treatment after the intervention ended. - Authorization procedures limited the capacity of WtW care managers to function as liaisons between clients and clinicians; care managers could not provide direct feedback to the clinicians regarding WtW clients as they progressed in treatment. - WtW did not have an effect on depression or employment outcomes at 36 months after the end of the intervention.

The improvement of specific productivity is a continuous challenge for bioprocesses involving mammalian cells, and hence, high-throughput methods and low-cost strategies are needed for the selection of high producers. The aim of this study was the productivity improvement of the hybridoma cell line IV F 19.23. For this purpose, a cell surface affinity matrix assay was established to identify and select high producers. This assay is based on the binding of secreted monoclonal antibodies to an affinity matrix assembled on the outer cell membrane. A protein microarray approach was used to investigate and optimize the functionality of the affinity matrix. The protein microarray was particularly useful to identify critical steps of the staining method, such as unspecific binding, before it was applied to the hybridoma cell line. Secreting hybridomas were treated with the affinity matrix and then selected via flow-cytometric cell sorting in four consecutive bulk sort rounds. The applied bulk strategy, allowing low screening costs, resulted in a 125% increase in specific productivity of the cell line in comparison to the initial population.

This report presents a preliminary analysis of the cost of operating Britain's Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration, which is being evaluated though a large-scale randomised control trial. This assessment of costs will become an important element of the full cost-benefit analysis to be presented in future ERA reports. Aimed at helping low-income individuals sustain employment and progress in work, ERA is distinguished by a combination of job coaching and financial incentives that it offers to participants once they are working. The ERA demonstration project began operations in late 2003 as a pilot programme administered by Jobcentre Plus in six regions of the country.

Polymer macroporous monoliths are widely used as efficient sorbents in different, mostly dynamic, interphase processes. In this paper, monolithic materials strongly bound to the inert glass surface are suggested as operative matrices at the development of three-dimensional (3-D) microarrays. For this purpose, several rigid macroporous copolymers differed by reactivity and hydrophobic–hydrophilic properties were synthesized and tested: (1) glycidyl methacrylate -co- ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(GMA -co- EDMA)), (2) glycidyl methacrylate -co- glycerol dimethacrylate (poly(GMA -co- GDMA)), (3) N-hydroxyphthalimide ester of acrylic acid -co- glycidyl methacrylate -co- ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(HPIEAA -co- GMA -co- EDMA)), (4) 2-cyanoethyl methacrylate -co- ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(CEMA -co- EDMA)), and (5) 2-cyanoethyl methacrylate -co- 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate -co- ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(CEMA -co- HEMA -co- EDMA)). The constructed devices were used as platforms for protein microarrays construction and model mouse IgG—goat anti-mouse IgG affinity pair was used to demonstrate the potential of developed test-systems, as well as to optimize microanalytical conditions. The offered microarray platforms were applied to detect the bone tissue marker osteopontin directly in cell culture medium.

dringen konnen. Fur kontinuierlich betriebene Kulturen ist es von besonderem Interesse zu untersuchen, welche Abhangigkeit sich fur den Promotor ergibt und ob ein stabiler Betrieb eines Chemostaten moglich ist. Zur Stabilisierung wurden alternative Plasmidselektionsmechanismen eingesetzt, die nicht auf der Wirkung von Antibiotika basieren. Dieser Beitrag berichtet uber die Durchfuhrung kontinuierlicher Kultivierungsprozesse mit einem Leucin-auxotrophen Stamm von E. coli mit b-Glucanase als Modellzielprotein. Die Plasmide wurden durch die Auxotrophiekomplimentierende Gen leuB stabilisiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Strategie ein guter Ansatz fur die antibiotikafreie Ausubung von Selektionsdruck zur Stabilisierung kontinuierlicher Kulturen ist.

In this work, a very simple one-pot synthetic approach was developed to generate aqueous CdTe/CdS/ZnS type-II/type-I red-emitting nanocrystals (NCs). Strain-induced optical properties of CdTe/CdS particles having core((small))/shell((thick)) structure with a maximum quantum yield (QY(max)) similar to 57% were further improved with the overgrowth of a ZnS shell, resulting in a core((small))/shell((thick))/shell((small)) structure (QY(max) similar to 64%). The spectral properties were tuned further to the near-infrared region as the ZnS shell grew in thickness. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images showed the crystalline structure of NCs proving the epitaxial growth of ZnS without crystalline defects. Under continuous UV-irradiation for 5 h, the NCs did not exhibit any photo-degradation but instead displayed a photo-annealing process. These extremely photostable NCs were further characterized in terms of their cytotoxicity and their cell labeling performances. The presence of a ZnS shell was found to reduce the toxicity of the CdTe/CdS NCs. Furthermore, aptamer-conjugated NCs were successfully utilized in targeted cell imaging. Promisingly, the aptamer-NCs bioconjugates were internalized by A549 cells within 2 hours of incubation and retained their fluorescence even after 24 hours of internalization. DAAD