Change-related Stress Research Articles

The impact of climate change-related disasters on mental health and epigenetics: a narrative review

Climate change has contributed to an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods, leading to both immediate physical harm and long-term mental health consequences. Survivors often experience psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a result of these traumatic events. This narrative review explores the intersection of climate change-related disasters, mental health outcomes, and epigenetic modifications. Specifically, we summarize recent findings on how environmental stressors influence both mental health and epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation. Emerging evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, particularly DNA methylation, could mediate the effects of climate change-related stress on mental health, potentially contributing to the onset of mental disorders like depression, panic disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. We also discuss other epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone modifications and non-coding RNAs, and emphasize the importance of longitudinal studies to capture the dynamic nature of epigenetic changes over time. Finally, we propose future research directions to deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between climate change-related disasters, mental health outcomes, and epigenetic mechanisms, which will pave the way for more effective mental health interventions and policy integration.

Applying Digital Technology to Understand Human Experiences of Climate Change Impacts on Food Security and Mental Health: Scoping Review.

The global impact of climate change ranges from intense heatwaves to extreme weather events that endanger entire ecosystems and people's way of life. Adverse climate change events place undue stress on food and health systems, with consequences for human food security and mental health status. Ubiquitous digital devices, such as smartphones, have the potential to manage existing and emerging climate-related crises, given their ability to enable rapid response, instant communication, and knowledge sharing. This scoping review aimed to identify digital apps being used to capture or address climate change impacts on food security and mental health to inform the development of a digital citizen science initiative. A scoping review was conducted using 3 peer-reviewed databases (PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Science) and manual gray literature searches of relevant organizational (ie, governmental and nonprofit) websites to identify articles and reports published between January 2012 and July 2023. Three separate searches were conducted in each database to identify digital apps focused on climate change and (1) food security, (2) mental health, and (3) food security and mental health. Two reviewers conducted initial screening, with a third reviewer resolving any discrepancies. Articles focused on climate change impacts on wildlife or agriculture (ie, not human food security) were excluded. Full-text screening was conducted for shortlisted articles, and a final data abstraction table was generated, summarizing key app features, contextual factors, and participant involvement. From the 656 records screened, 14 digital apps met the inclusion criteria. The food security apps (n=7, 50%) aimed to capture traditional knowledge to preserve food systems, conduct food security assessments, and aid users in decreasing food insecurity risk. The mental health apps (n=7, 50%) assessed climate change-related stress and provided users with coping strategies following adverse weather events. No digital apps examined the intersection of climate change, food security, and mental health. Key app features included user-to-user communication (n=5, 36%), knowledge databases (n=5, 36%), data collection and analysis (n=3, 21%), gamification (n=1, 7%), and educational resources (n=2, 14%) to address climate change impacts on food security or mental health. In total, 3 approaches to participant involvement were used across studies, including contributory (n=1, 7%), collaborative (n=1, 7%), and cocreative (n=1, 7%) approaches, to ensure the relevance and use of digital apps. Most digital apps identified provided a service to citizens to either prevent adverse climate change-related health impacts or manage these effects following an acute event or a natural disaster. The capacity of ubiquitous digital tools to enable near real-time communication, the involvement of various stakeholder groups, and their ability to share relevant educational resources in a timely manner are important for developing tailored climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies across jurisdictions.

High Throughput Image-Based Phenotyping for Determining Morphological and Physiological Responses to Single and Combined Stresses in Potato.

High throughput image-based phenotyping is a powerful tool to non-invasively determine the development and performance of plants under specific conditions over time. By using multiple imaging sensors, many traits of interest can be assessed, including plant biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, canopy temperature, and leaf reflectance indices. Plants are frequently exposed to multiple stresses under field conditions where severe heat waves, flooding, and drought events seriously threaten crop productivity. When stresses coincide, resulting effects on plants can be distinct due to synergistic or antagonistic interactions. To elucidate how potato plants respond to single and combined stresses that resemble naturally occurring stress scenarios, five different treatments were imposed on a selected potato cultivar (Solanum tuberosum L., cv. Lady Rosetta) at the onset of tuberization, i.e. control, drought, heat, waterlogging, and combinations of heat, drought, and waterlogging stresses. Our analysis shows that waterlogging stress had the most detrimental effect on plant performance, leading to fast and drastic physiological responses related to stomatal closure, including a reduction in the quantum yield and efficiency of photosystem II and an increase in canopy temperature and water index. Under heat and combined stress treatments, the relative growth rate was reduced in the early phase of stress. Under drought and combined stresses, plant volume and photosynthetic performance dropped with an increased temperature and stomata closure in the late phase of stress. The combination of optimized stress treatment under defined environmental conditions together with selected phenotyping protocols allowed to revealthe dynamics of morphological and physiological responses to single and combined stresses. Here, a useful tool is presented for plant researchers looking to identify plant traits indicative of resilience to several climate change-related stresses.

Teachers’ motivation and engagement to harness generative AI for teaching and learning: The role of contextual, occupational, and background factors

Since their release in late 2022, generative AI (genAI) tools have led to widespread use, including among teachers. The aim of our study is to examine several factors that may be implicated in teachers' motivation and engagement to harness genAI in teaching and learning. We examined contextual (i.e., autonomy-supportive leadership, autonomy-thwarting leadership), occupational experience (i.e., professional growth striving, change-related stress), and background factors (i.e., gender, age, teaching experience, contract length, class size, school level) as predictors of motivation (i.e., genAI valuing) and, in turn, engagement (i.e., integration in teaching-related work and student learning activities). Among 339 Australian teachers, our findings revealed that perceived autonomy-supportive leadership, professional growth striving, and change-related stress were linked with greater genAI valuing. In turn, genAI valuing was associated with greater genAI integration in both teaching-related work and student learning activities. Perceived autonomy-thwarting leadership was directly linked with greater genAI integration in student learning activities, and professional growth striving was directly associated with greater genAI integration in teaching-related work. Teachers’ gender and school level were also linked with the motivation and engagement factors, and there were several indirect associations as well. Our results pinpoint areas of focus for future research, policy, and practice to support genAI and its application in schools.

Phytochemical and Antioxidant Profile of the Medicinal Plant Melia azedarach Subjected to Water Deficit Conditions.

Environmental stress triggered by climate change can alter the plant's metabolite profile, which affects its physiology and performance. This is particularly important in medicinal species because their economic value depends on the richness of their phytocompounds. We aimed to characterize how water deficit modulated the medicinal species Melia azedarach's lipophilic profile and antioxidant status. Young plants were exposed to water deficit for 20 days, and lipophilic metabolite profile and the antioxidant capacity were evaluated. Leaves of M. azedarach are rich in important fatty acids and oleamide. Water deficit increased the radical scavenging capacity, total phenol, flavonoids, and catechol pools, and the accumulation of β-sitosterol, myo-inositol, succinic acid, sucrose, d-glucose and derivatives, d-psicofuranose, d-(+)-fructofuranose, and the fatty acids stearic, α-linolenic, linoleic and palmitic acids. These responses are relevant to protecting the plant against climate change-related stress and also increase the nutritional and antioxidant quality of M. azedarach leaves.

Salinity reduces site quality and mangrove forest functions. From monitoring to understanding

Mangroves continue to be threatened across their range by a mix of anthropogenic and climate change-related stress. Climate change-induced salinity is likely to alter the structure and functions of highly productive mangrove systems. However, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how rising salinity affects forest structure and functions because of the limited availability of mangrove field data. Therefore, based on extensive spatiotemporal mangrove data covering a large-scale salinity gradient, collected from the world's largest single tract mangrove ecosystem – the Bangladesh Sundarbans, we, aimed to examine (QI) how rising salinity influences forest structure (e.g., stand density, diversity, leaf area index (LAI), etc.), functions (e.g., carbon stocks, forest growth), nutrients availability, and functional traits (e.g., specific leaf area, wood density). We also wanted to know (QII) how forest functions interact (direct vs. indirect) with biotic (i.e., stand structure, species richness, etc.) and abiotic factors (salinity, nutrients, light availability, etc.). We also asked (QIII) whether the functional variable decreases disproportionately with salinity and applied the power-law (i.e., Y = a Xb) to the salinity and functional variable relationships. In this study, we found that rises in salinity significantly impede forest growth and produce less productive ecosystems dominated by dwarf species while reducing stand structural properties (i.e., tree height, basal area, dominant tree height, LAI), soil carbon (organic and root carbon), and macronutrient availability in the soil (e.g., NH4+, P, and K). Besides, species-specific leaf area (related to resource acquisition) also decreased with salinity, whereas wood density (related to resource conservation) increased. We observed a declining abundance of the salt-intolerant climax species (Heritiera fomes) and dominance of the salt-tolerant species (Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops decandra) in the high saline areas. In the case of biotic and abiotic factors, salinity and salinity-driven gap fraction (high transmission of light) had a strong negative impact on functional variables, while nutrients and LAI had a positive impact. In addition, the power-law explained the consistent decline of functional variables with salinity. Our study disentangles the negative effects of salinity on site quality in the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem, and we recognize that nutrient availability and LAI are likely to buffer the less salt-tolerant species to maintain the ability to sequester carbon with sea-level rise. These novel findings advance our understanding of how a single stressor—salinity—can shape mangrove structure, functions, and productivity and offer decision makers a much-needed scientific basis for developing pragmatic ecosystem management and conservation plans in highly stressed coastal ecosystems across the globe.

Quality of life among mothers of preterm newborns in a Malaysian neonatal intensive care unit.

As Quality of Life (QoL) becomes progressively vital in health care services, its importance in mother and child health is of no exception too. Quality of life among mothers with a premature newborn is an issue that has led to growing concerns in the health care system. Yet, despite the knowledge about mother's QoL being essential to family-centered planning on prematurity integrated healthcare, current evidence has been scant. To examine factors related to the QoL of mothers having preterm newborns hospitalized in the neonatal critical unit. A non-probability convenience survey was used in a public hospital in Malaysia, covering 180 mothers whose preterm newborns were hospitalized into level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) through the completion of a 26-questions survey of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and the 26-questions of Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficients. The mean scores for mothers' quality of life were (M = 3.67, SD = 0.73) and maternal stress (M = 3.03, SD = 0.90) out of 5. A mother's occupation was found to be the only factor associated with the quality of life among mothers who have preterm newborns admitted to the NICU. Furthermore, maternal role change was found to have a moderate negative relationship with the quality of life (r = 0.310, p = 0.05). The findings of this study revealed that the main factors contributing to the mother's QoL during their preterm newborns' NICU admission were role change-related stress. Thus, to maintain a better QoL among this group of mothers during this traumatic period, a special nursing intervention program must be implemented immediately, right after the preterm newborns' admission, to relieve the mothers' stress which has been proven to have a direct effect on the mothers' QoL. The study results will alert healthcare providers, particularly neonatal nurses, on the need to support mothers psychologically in terms of role change. This is to ensure a better quality of life among mothers whose newborns were admitted to the NICU.

Pinus elliottii and P. elliottii x P. caribaea hybrid differently cope with combined drought and heat episodes

Extreme climate change events, such as long periods of drought and heat waves, are predicted to increase throughout this century. Pinus species are important economic resources. However, it remains unknown the vulnerability of most species to climate change-related stresses. We aimed to compare the performance reconfiguration of two resin/timber important species [Pinus elliottii var. elliottii (PE) and the hybrid Pinus elliottii var. elliottii × Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis (PE × PCH)] to face combined stress of drought+heat. Young PE and PE × PCH plants were grown at optimal conditions, then exposed to water deficit for 5 days, and in the last day of water deficit, plants were additionally exposed to a heat shock. The physiological responses, antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress were evaluated immediately and 5 days (recovery) after drought+heat treatment. Under control conditions, the hybrid displayed higher photosynthetic and biochemical performance (e.g. higher net CO2 assimilation rate, transpiration rate, photosynthetic pigments and anthocyanins levels, carbohydrates and antioxidant enzyme activities). Immediately after the drought+heat episode, plant water status decreased in both species, as well as the PSII photosynthetic parameters (ФPSII and Fv’/Fm’), while non-photochemical quenching increased. However, the gas-exchange parameters of PE and the hybrid responded differently to the combined stress. The hybrid suffered a stronger reduction on the net CO2 assimilation rate and transpiration rate, and presented higher levels of lipid peroxidation, but with no cell membrane permeability injuries. Principal component analysis supports that the different profile of both species is possibly associated to the stronger antioxidant capacity of PE under stress conditions. Moreover, these differences were still observed during recovery and photosynthesis was re-established totally only in PE. The hybrid clearly demonstrated less ability to restore the gas-exchange in the same period, possibly due to stomata re-opening limitations. The low net CO2 assimilation rates in the hybrid after stress relief could also result in the necessity to use the starch reserves to maintain TSS pools available for stress recovery. We conclude that the hybrid perform better under control conditions, and the PE seems better prepared to cope with the predictable global climate change scenarios forecast for the next decades. The hybrid is more affected by drought+heat, but is able to keep a photosynthetic performance close to the PE under stress, although less efficient during recovery.

Expression Analysis of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) Gene Family in Grapevine Berries

Plants, as sessile living organisms, are dependent on signalling mechanisms. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a highly conserved gene family that take a role in switching an extracellular signal into an intercellular signal. Ripening-related processes in non-climacteric fruits are not as well understood as in climacteric fruits. In this regard, studying MAPKs in grape berries during developmental stages may lead to a better understanding of physiological interactions during commercially relevant stages, such as pigmentation, ripening, and phenolics accumulation in the berries. Each MAPK cascade involves three or four MAPK proteins that facilitate signal transduction by phosphorylation of downstream targets. We examined the relative expression of VvMAP2Ks and VvMAP4Ks in berries at two-weekly intervals, from flowering to over-ripening. Expression analysis of 5 MAP2Ks and 7 MAP4Ks suggested that both gene families may play an active role in development of berries. Expression of VvMAP2K1 showed a correlation with abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene accumulation. Moreover, the expression pattern of VvMAP2K2 and VvMAP2K3 shows a correlation with auxin, and ABA accumulation respectively. Furthermore, VvMAP2K4 may have a role in berry size increment and halting stomatal development. In addition, VvMAP2K5 may play a role in floral organ development. VvMAP4Ks expression pattern moves them forward to be excellent markers for monitoring the effect of for instance climate changerelated stress on berry development.

Plant Cell Walls Tackling Climate Change: Insights into Plant Cell Wall Remodeling, Its Regulation, and Biotechnological Strategies to Improve Crop Adaptations and Photosynthesis in Response to Global Warming.

Plant cell wall (CW) is a complex and intricate structure that performs several functions throughout the plant life cycle. The CW of plants is critical to the maintenance of cells’ structural integrity by resisting internal hydrostatic pressures, providing flexibility to support cell division and expansion during tissue differentiation, and acting as an environmental barrier that protects the cells in response to abiotic stress. Plant CW, comprised primarily of polysaccharides, represents the largest sink for photosynthetically fixed carbon, both in plants and in the biosphere. The CW structure is highly varied, not only between plant species but also among different organs, tissues, and cell types in the same organism. During the developmental processes, the main CW components, i.e., cellulose, pectins, hemicelluloses, and different types of CW-glycoproteins, interact constantly with each other and with the environment to maintain cell homeostasis. Differentiation processes are altered by positional effect and are also tightly linked to environmental changes, affecting CW both at the molecular and biochemical levels. The negative effect of climate change on the environment is multifaceted, from high temperatures, altered concentrations of greenhouse gases such as increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, soil salinity, and drought, to increasing frequency of extreme weather events taking place concomitantly, therefore, climate change affects crop productivity in multiple ways. Rising CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is expected to increase photosynthetic rates, especially at high temperatures and under water-limited conditions. This review aims to synthesize current knowledge regarding the effects of climate change on CW biogenesis and modification. We discuss specific cases in crops of interest carrying cell wall modifications that enhance tolerance to climate change-related stresses; from cereals such as rice, wheat, barley, or maize to dicots of interest such as brassica oilseed, cotton, soybean, tomato, or potato. This information could be used for the rational design of genetic engineering traits that aim to increase the stress tolerance in key crops. Future growing conditions expose plants to variable and extreme climate change factors, which negatively impact global agriculture, and therefore further research in this area is critical.

Analysis of potential future droughts limiting maize production, in the Luvuvhu River catchment area, South Africa

Recurring droughts associated with global warming have raised major concern for the agricultural sector, particularly vulnerable small-scale farmers who rely on rain-fed farming such as in the Luvuvhu River catchment. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI) were calculated to assess drought on a 120-day maturing maize crop based on outputs of the CSIRO-Mk3.6.0 under RCP 4.5 emission scenario, for the period 1980/81–2089/90. Results by SPEI show that 40–54% of the agricultural seasons during the base period experienced mild drought conditions (SPEI 0 to −0.99), equivalent to a recurrence of once in two seasons. However, WRSI results clearly indicated that stations in the drier regions (annual rainfall <600 mm) of the catchment experienced mild drought (WRSI 70 - 79) corresponding to satisfactory crop performance every season. Results further showed overall mild to moderate droughts in the beginning of the near-future climate period (2020/21–2036/37) with SPEI values not decreasing below −1.5. These conditions are then expected to change during the far-future climate period (2055/56–2089/90), whereby results on the expected crop performance predicted significantly drier conditions (p < 0.05). This study provided information on how farmers in the area can prepare for future agricultural seasons, while there is sufficient time to implement strategies to reduce drought risk potential. Thus, integrated interventions could provide best options for improving livelihoods and building the capability of farmers to manage climate change-related stresses.

Impact of climate change on the ontogenetic development of ‘solar-powered’ sea slugs

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 578:87-97 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12227 Impact of climate change on the ontogenetic development of ‘solar-powered’ sea slugs Gisela Dionísio1,2,3,*, Filipa Faleiro1, Meri Bilan1,4,5,6, Inês C. Rosa1,2, Marta Pimentel1, João Serôdio2, Ricardo Calado2, Rui Rosa1 1MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Nossa Senhora do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 2Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal 3Naturalist, Science & Tourism, Rua da Ladeira, n°2, 9900-029 Horta, Faial, Azores, Portugal 4MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of the Azores, 9900-862 Horta, Azores, Portugal 5IMAR - Institute of Marine Research, University of the Azores, 9900-862 Horta, Azores, Portugal 6University Department of Marine Studies, Livanjska 5, 21 000 Split, Croatia *Corresponding author: gisela.dionisio@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Solar-powered animals are particularly susceptible to climate change because photosynthesis brings major risks to animals under environmental stress. Although some groups have been widely studied (e.g. corals), little information is available on how other less charismatic photosynthetic animals (e.g. sea slugs) will respond to future ocean conditions. This study is the first to evaluate the impact of future ocean conditions on the fitness of tropical photosynthetic sacoglossan sea slugs throughout different life stages. Adults of Elysia clarki were exposed (30 d) to conditions simulating present-day and predicted scenarios of ocean acidification (ΔpH = 0.4) and warming (+4°C). Egg masses were incubated under the same conditions as adult broodstock until 15 d after metamorphosis. Exposure to ocean acidification and warming scenarios led to a significant decrease in the number of spawned egg masses and in their membrane thickness. Moreover, a significant decrease in the volume of embryo capsules was accompanied by an increase in embryo volume. These findings suggest that sea slugs shifted their energy allocation towards embryo quality rather than to structures that confer protection from environmental challenges. Climate change-related stress significantly reduced the survival and length of veligers and increased the incidence of deformities, but did not affect chloroplast acquisition by juvenile slugs. The lower reproductive output of adults and the adverse impacts on early life stages recorded under future ocean conditions allows us to anticipate negative consequences for the recruitment of these sea slugs’ populations in the oceans of tomorrow. KEY WORDS: Acidification · Warming · Sacoglossan sea slugs · Ontogenetic development · Growth · Malformations · Chloroplast acquisition Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Dionísio G, Faleiro F, Bilan M, Rosa IC and others (2017) Impact of climate change on the ontogenetic development of ‘solar-powered’ sea slugs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 578:87-97. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12227 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 578. Online publication date: August 31, 2017 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.

Procedural justice as a moderator of the relationship between organizational change intensity and commitment to organizational change

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why different forms of organizational change have different levels of organizational intensity, which in turn differentiate its impact on commitment to organizational change (COC). Its purpose is to also identify how procedural justice can reduce change-related stress and buffer the strain inducing effects of job demands.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the hypotheses using data collected from two sources in Korea. First, the authors conducted a survey in several organizations to identify employees’ attitudes and stress during organizational change. Second, the author surveyed MBA students to evaluate the degree of organizational change intensity (severity) across the types of change.FindingsThere is a hierarchy of the severity of organizational change and the most severe forms of change are the ones that impact employees’ job security and organizational identity. The influence of job demands (represented as organizational change intensity-severity) on COC can depend on the nature of COC. Procedural justice not only facilitates employees to accept values and goals pertaining to organizational change but also adapt themselves to pressures of external change. Buffering effects of job resources (represented as job resources) had significant impacts only on normative commitment to organizational change (NCOC).Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the job demands-resources model by considering organizational change intensity as job demands and procedural justice as job resources and showing the relationships among them. Future studies can further extend the model by identifying other variables related to job demands and resources during organizational change and extending the nomological networks of NCOC and continuance commitment to organizational change.Practical implicationsThe results of this study provide important insights for human resource managers who plan and implement organizational changes. Procedural justice and organizational change intensity-severity should be considered to increase commitment to change.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few studies to identify the different types of organizational change and quantify them to measure organizational change intensity-severity. A new finding is that the buffering role of job resources (procedural justice in this study) can be marginal when the influence of job demands on employees’ attitudes is strong.

Factors affecting the course and severity of adult acne. Observational cohort study

Objective: To identify factors improving symptoms and shortening duration of AA.Material and methods: The observational cohort study was performed in 111 patients with AA (>25 y.o.) in 2015–2016. Clinical manifestation, previous treatments, environmental risk factors and features of juvenile acne affecting AA were assessed.Results: The maximum severity of persistent acne was significantly lower after 25 years of age, as compared to adolescence (7.2 vs. 6.4; p = .0027). The number of acne therapies used in AA was twice as high as in juvenile acne (22 vs. 11). The severity of AA sufficient to leave scars was significantly lower than of juvenile acne (6.0 vs. 7.3; p = .0001) with 22% of patients developing scars only in adult life. Patients linked exacerbations to stress exposure (p = .09 and <.0001 for those reporting at least one stressor and all patients, respectively), finding lifestyle changes the most stressful (p = .046). Those using full-coverage foundations received significantly more acne treatments over lifetime (5.4 vs. 3.6; p = .0359) and for AA (4.4 vs. 2.8; p = .0043). Discontinuation of oral contraceptives or sensitive, erythema-prone skin also worsened the symptoms.Conclusion: Lifestyle change-related stress, sensitive skin, discontinuation of oral contraceptives and using full-coverage foundations increase severity of AA.

Vanishing Springs in Nepalese Mountains: Assessment of Water Sources, Farmers' Perceptions, and Climate Change Adaptation

The Thulokhola watershed of the Nuwakot district in the midhills region of Nepal can be considered typical of climate change-related stresses in the region. To assess the status of water resources and document farmers' perceptions of and adaptation to climate change impacts in this watershed, we invited community groups to monitor water quality and conducted 6 focus group meetings, 3 participatory rural appraisals, and spring and household surveys in 2011 and 2012. Historical precipitation data from a nearby weather station and discharge data for the Tadi Khola, the nearest major river, were also analyzed. The spring survey results confirmed farmers' perceptions and showed that 73.2% of the springs used as water sources had a decreased flow and 12.2% had dried up over the past 10 or more years, as recognized by local residents. In response to the severe decline of precipitation and the drying up of springs, local communities have implemented some climate change adaptation measures, such as constructing water tanks at water sources, using pipes to transport drinking water, diverting water from other springs, digging deeper wells, and traveling farther to wash clothes and fetch drinking water. To enhance drinking water supplies and ensure the agricultural, ecological, and environmental integrity of the watershed, initiatives such as comprehensive research on springs and groundwater hydrology, a spring rejuvenation program, and community capacity building for water sustainability and climate change adaptation are suggested.

Interactive effects of temperature and salinity on shell formation and general condition in Baltic Sea Mytilus edulis and Arctica islandica

Stress often induces metabolically expensive countermeasures. Bivalve shell production is costly and can thus be indirectly impacted by environmental stress. Suboptimal salinity and temperature may constitute stressors that allocate energy away from shell production to cellular processes such as osmoregulation or to the repair of cellular damage. In the course of climate change, water temperatures of the Baltic Sea are predicted to increase, and salinity is predicted to regionally decrease. These shifts may lead to increased stress for temperate marine species adapted to relatively cool water temperatures and high salinity conditions. To better understand the importance of climate change-related stress, we assessed the isolated and interactive effects of salinity and temperature on shell increment (cumulative growth: shell), cellular oxidative stress (accumulation of oxidized lipids and proteins: lipofuscin), instantaneous physiological condition (condition index: CI), and mortality of young Mytilus edulis and Arctica islandica from the western Baltic Sea. Temperature and salinity interactively affected shell increment, lipofuscin accumulation, and mortality of M. edulis as well as shell increment of A. islandica. Shell increment of M. edulis was less affected by hyposalinity than shell increment of A. islandica. In both species the CI decreased and lipofuscin accumulation increased with increasing temperature. Lipofuscin accumulation negatively correlated with shell increment in M. edulis. We conclude that Baltic Sea populations of ecologically relevant bivalve species may experience severe stress by the predicted regional scenario of warming and desalination if evolutionary adaptation does not happen at a similar rate.

The Role of Social Support in Coping during the Anticipatory Stage of Organizational Change: A Test of an Integrative Model

Few researchers have explored how employees use social support to cope during organizational change. The current research proposed and tested a model that integrates moderation and mediation effects in order to understand how perceived available support influences employees' use of support mobilization to deal with change-related stress. Survey data were collected from 476 health professionals working in a large public hospital undergoing large-scale change and downsizing. Moderated path analyses revealed evidence to suggest that perceived available support plays a moderated mediation role during coping with change. Support mobilization mediated the indirect relationship between change-related stress and job satisfaction, at both low and high levels of perceived available colleague support. Perceived available non-work support moderated the relationship between support mobilization and job satisfaction, and perceived available supervisor support moderated the relationship between change-related stress and support mobilization. The direction of simple effects was not always as expected and alternative explanations for these unexpected findings are offered, along with practical implications for supervisors managing organizational change.

Management Are Aliens!

Rumors collected from a large public hospital undergoing change were content analyzed, and a typology comprising the following five broad types of change-related rumors was developed: rumors about changes to job and working conditions, nature of organizational change, poor change management, consequences of the change for organizational performance, and gossiprumors. Rumors were also classified as positive or negative on the basis of their content. As predicted, negative rumors were more prevalent than positive rumors. Finally, employees reporting negative rumors also reported more change-related stress as compared to those who reported positive rumors and those who did not report any rumors. The authors propose that rumors be treated as verbal symbols and expressions of employee concerns during organizational change.

Mid-Career Transition

Abstract The era of change is now the rule rather than the exception. Organizations are adapting to environmental demands such as an expanding international market, individual work techniques in manufacturing are being replaced by work group techniques because of increasing competition, and the individual himself/herself is experiencing changes in values through the maturation process as well. At mid-career these transitions pose difficult questions for the individual; he/she is concerned with maintaining work competency and managing change related stress. A strategy involving the continuous scanning of organizational, work and individual issues may assist the mid-careerist in answering these questions. Learning, understanding, predicting and acting, and controlling are the elements required in the process of problem-solving and decision-making for the individual as he manages his/her mid-career transition through this myriad of organizational, work, and individual change.