Major Stressors Research Articles

Pediatric psychiatric emergency rooms during COVID-19: a multi-center study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been a major stressor for the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. Surveys and reports from hotlines indicate a significant rise in mental health problems. As the psychiatric emergency room (ER) is a first-line free-of-charge facility for psychiatric emergencies, we expected to see a significant increase in visits, specifically of new patients suffering from anxiety, depression, or stress-related disorders.MethodsData from two psychiatric hospital ERs and one general hospital were included. All visits of children and adolescents from the computerized files between March and December of 2019 were analyzed anonymously and compared to the same months in 2020, using multilevel linear modeling.ResultsThere was a significant decline in the total number of visits (p = .017), specifically among those diagnosed as suffering from stress-related, anxiety, and mood disorder groups (p = .017), and an incline in the proportion of visits of severe mental disorders (p = .029).DiscussionThe limited use of child and adolescent psychiatric emergency facilities during the pandemic highlights the importance of tele-psychiatry as part of emergency services. It also suggests the importance of the timeline of the emergence of clinically relevant new psychiatric diagnoses related to the pandemic. Future studies are needed to establish the long-term effects of the pandemic and the expeditious use of tele-psychiatry.

Investigating mental health outcomes of undergraduates and graduate students in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This study is an exploration of the major stressors associated with the COVID-19 for students in higher education in Taiwan. Participants: The sample comprised 838 higher education students studying at various Taiwanese universities. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered at different postsecondary institutions during the semi-lockdown period of COVID-19, which mandated online instruction. Machine learning was employed to determine the variables that most highly predicted students’ mental health using R. Results: The findings revealed that COVID-19-related experiences, including social interactions, financial conditions, and educational experiences, were significantly associated with mental health outcomes. Particularly, loneliness are significantly related to social interactions and educational experiences. Conclusions: Findings revealed that Covid-19 impacted Taiwanese students’ financial conditions, educational experiences, and social interactions, which were significant predictors of their mental health outcomes such as anxiety, loneliness and depression. The current study contributes to the gap in knowledge about mental health issues among postsecondary students during the pandemic.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Career Investigators in Rheumatology: Recommendations to Address Challenges to Early Research Careers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the careers of trainees and early career investigators (ECIs). We sought to assess how the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) can address the needs of those pursuing research careers. The Committee on Research created a survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 and identify topics for the ACR and the RRF to address. In fall of 2020, we surveyed postdoctoral trainees and ECIs within 9 years of terminal training. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Twenty-one percent of invitees responded to the survey (n=365); of these, 60% were pursuing careers in academic research. Seventy-five percent of respondents in academic research career paths placed their primary projects on hold during the pandemic. The number of individuals pursuing a research career from 2020 to 2021 decreased by 5%. Respondents reported funding, caregiving, and lack of preliminary data as significant challenges. Suggested impactful interventions included increased funding, funding process reform, and expanding mentoring and networking resources. Major stressors identified during the pandemic included increased caregiving responsibilities and difficulty obtaining data and funding, for which respondents suggested increases and changes in funding programs as well as more mentoring and networking opportunities. Based on these, the Committee on Research proposes 3 priorities: 1) flexible funding mechanisms for ECIs and additional support for those impacted by caregiving; 2) virtual and in-person programs for career development and networking; and 3) curated content relevant to building a research career available on demand.

Effect of a targeted pain management protocol for the treatment of dermatitis interdigitalis contagiosa in Merino meat sheep in a tilt squeeze chute

IntroductionThe effect of a targeted pain management protocol consisting of sedation and local anesthesia on the stress response to treatment of dermatitis interdigitalis contagiosa (DINCO) was assessed in sheep placed in dorsal recumbency.MethodsBlood cortisol concentrations were measured once a day (Day -3 to 2) and additionally on day 0, six times during the claw treatment (stress model). Twelve healthy sheep (control group; HEALTHY) and 36 sheep with DINCO, randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups, underwent the stress model with or without pain control: the XYLA-IVRA sheep were sedated with 2% xylazine hydrochloride (XYLA) and received retrograde intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA); the IVRA sheep underwent IVRA and received a placebo instead of sedation; the PLACEBO sheep received placebos for sedation and IVRA. The HEALTHY sheep underwent sham claw treatment and received placebos.Results and discussionThe cortisol concentrations were higher in sheep restrained in dorsal recumbency compared with the cortisol concentrations measured four hours later in standing sheep (HEALTHY 37.2 ± 3.3 ng/ml vs. 18.5 ± 3.3 ng/ml; DISEASED 34.0 ± 1.9 ng/ml vs. 17.6 ± 1.9 ng/ml; p < 0.001). The stress response of XYLA-IVRA (area under the curve; AUC = 34.9 ± 2.6 ng/ml) was reduced compared with the stress response of PLACEBO (AUC = 48.0 ± 2.6 ng/ml, p < 0.01) and HEALTHY sheep (AUC = 46.6 ± 2.5 ng/ml; p = 0.01). While cortisol concentration of XYLA-IVRA and HEALTHY sheep did not increase one day after the stress model (Day 1) compared with the day of the stress model (Day 0), both PLACEBO (47.4 ± 3.3 vs. 35.6 ± 3.1 ng/ml, p = 0.02) and IVRA sheep (39.1 ± 2.8 vs. 28.6 ± 3.1 ng/ml, p = 0.01) had higher cortisol concentrations. The results confirm that fixation in dorsal recumbency in a tilt squeeze chute was a major stressor in sheep. The differences in the cortisol concentration of the PLACEBO sheep versus the XYLA-IVRA sheep during and after the stress model illustrate the effect and necessity of pain management protocols in practice.

METABOLIC SYNDROME, GLUCOSE INTOLERANCE, AND PHYSICAL RESILIENCE

Abstract When confronted with a major physical stressor, some older adults are able to recover to baseline with minimal changes, while others undergo irreversible declines. The ability to adapt and recover well from physical stress is called physical resilience and may be impeded by altered glucose-insulin dynamics. Among 55 participants in the pilot phase of the Study of Physical Resilience IN Geriatrics(SPRING), we examined associations between metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes status to physical resiliency recovery parameters after the clinical stressors total knee replacement and bone marrow transplant. These parameters included health outcomes, functional recovery, and pain in the weeks after the intervention. Additionally, we hypothesized that less resilient individuals would have abnormal glucose and insulin responses to a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test at 0, 30, 60, 120 minutes and tested this in a subset (n=40) without known diabetes. Exploratory analyses of this pilot study will be presented during this session.

LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SPOUSAL LOSS, RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT, AND COGNITIVE HEALTH IN LATER LIFE

Abstract Death of a spouse is one of the major stressors which is more frequently observed in one’s late life. Previous literature showed a link between the death of a spouse and late-life cognitive health and suggested a benefit of having more religious involvements. Applying Stress Process Model, this study examines multiple dimensions of religious involvements and whether they buffer a negative impact of spousal loss on cognitive health in old age. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006 – 2016 waves), we selected older adults who were married at baseline (N = 6658). We conducted a) regression analyses to examine the main effect of spousal loss on cognitive health as well as buffering effect of religious involvement and b) growth curve modeling to analyze the trajectories of cognitive functions. Preliminary analyses showed that spousal loss in late life was associated with poorer cognitive function among older adults at baseline and follow-ups. More frequent attendance at religious services and prayer in private setting were associated with better cognitive function, yet, no buffering effect was found. We observed a gradual decline in cognitive function over time among the widowed respondents. Findings confirm that widowed individuals are more likely to experience cognitive decline over time, compared to married counterparts. While religious involvement might not mitigate the negative impact of spousal loss on cognition, the study supports that each dimension of religious involvement may exert different outcomes in terms of older individual’s cognitive health during widowhood.

FINANCIAL HARDSHIPS AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS DURING COVID: THE MODERATING ROLE OF RESILIENCE

Abstract Financial hardships during COVID (FHDC) are a particularly salient stressor that older people faced during the pandemic. Financial stress is associated with increased depressive symptoms and may be especially consequential to mental health among older people who have fewer resources (i.e., financially vulnerable). Recent evidence shows that psychological resilience has important protective effects for mental health among older adults who experience major stressors. This study, based on the recently released full 2020 core wave of the Health and Retirement Study, examines the association between having experienced one or more major financial setbacks following the start of the pandemic and depressive symptoms. We evaluate the consequences of FHDC for mental health, how FHDC are associated with previous financial vulnerability, and the role of psychological resilience in shaping the effects of FHDC. Results show that having experienced FHDC is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms. In addition, reporting financial vulnerabilities four years prior to the pandemic was also associated with increased depressive symptoms. Finally, psychological resilience was associated with a significant, protective effect on depressive symptoms, and moderated the consequences of FHDC. Specifically, we find that those who had FHDC and had average or below average resilience experienced significant increases in depressive symptoms, but those with above average resilience did not experience increases in depressive symptoms despite having FHDC, accounting for the consequences of previous financial vulnerabilities. These results suggest that psychological resilience has potential to be a protective resource for mental health consequences of financial stress among older adults.

Perceived Stress and Stressors among Undergraduate Medical Students of a Nigerian Institution.

To identity stressors and measure the intensity of stress perceived by clinical students in a Nigerian institution. This study was a cross-sectional study of fifth and sixth-year medical students using the 40-item Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ). Students marked their responses to each of the 40 questions on a Likert scale ranging from-causing no stress at all (0) to causing severe stress (4). The median stress scores for the six domains were as follows: Academic related stressor (ARS)- 2.1, Teaching and Learning related stress (TLRS)-1.29, Desire related stressors (DRS)- 1.00, Group activities related stressors (GARS)- 1.00, Social related stressor (SRS) - 0.83, and Interpersonal related stressor (IRS)- 0.57. Overall, ARS was perceived to cause high-level stress in 51.6%, and severe stress in 7.8% of students. Specifically, 'Heavy workload' and 'large amount of content to be learnt' caused severe stress in 45.3% and 40.6% of students respectively. Skipping meals was frequent and associated with high stress scores in IRS, SRS and GRS domains. Academic related stressors cause high-severe stress among a considerable proportion of medical students studied, while interpersonal related stress caused mild stress. 'Heavy workload', 'Tests/Examinations', and 'lack of time to review what has been learnt' are some major stressors identified. Universities need to prioritise accessibility to healthy meals, improved students' living environment, provision of psychological support and formal training on time management and other soft skills, to reduce stress and promote better academic performance. There may be a need to review medical students' curriculum to prioritise relevance over breadth of content.

Multidisciplinary long-term survey of Manila clam grown in farming sites subjected to different environmental conditions

In recent years recurrent bivalve mass mortalities considerably increased around the world, causing the collapse of natural and farmed populations. Venice Lagoon has historically represented one of the major production areas of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum in Europe. However, in the last 20 years a 75 % decrease in the annual production has been experienced. While climate change and anthropogenic interventions may have played a key role in natural and farmed stocks reductions, no studies investigated at multiple levels the environmental stressors affecting farmed Manila clam to date.In this work we carried out a long-term monitoring campaign on Manila clam reared in four farming sites located at different distances from the southern Venice Lagoon inlet, integrating (meta)genomic approaches (i.e. RNA-seq; microbiota characterization), biometric measurements and chemical-physical parameters. Our study allowed to characterize the molecular mechanisms adopted by this species to cope with the different environmental conditions characterizing farming sites and to propose hypotheses to explain mortality events observed in recent years. Among the most important findings, the disruption of clam's immune response, the spread of Vibrio spp., and the up-regulation of molecular pathways involved in xenobiotic metabolism suggested major environmental stressors affecting clams farmed in sites placed close to Chioggia's inlet, where highest mortality was also observed.Overall, our study provides knowledge-based tools for managing Manila clam farming on-growing areas. In addition, the collected data is a snapshot of the time immediately before the commissioning of MoSE, a system of mobile barriers aimed at protecting Venice from high tides, and will represent a baseline for future studies on the effects of MoSE on clams farming and more in general on the ecology of the Venice Lagoon.

Reoxygenation Modulates the Adverse Effects of Hypoxia on Wound Repair.

Hypoxia is a major stressor and a prominent feature of pathological conditions, such as bacterial infections, inflammation, wounds, and cardiovascular defects. In this study, we investigated whether reoxygenation has a protective effect against hypoxia-induced acute injury and burn using the C57BL/6 mouse model. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to hypoxia and treated with both acute and burn injuries and were in hypoxia until wound healing. Next, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to hypoxia for three days and then transferred to normoxic conditions for reoxygenation until wound healing. Finally, skin wound tissue was collected to analyze healing-related markers, such as inflammation, vascularization, and collagen. Hypoxia significantly increased inflammatory cell infiltration and decreased vascular and collagen production, and reoxygenation notably attenuated hypoxia-induced infiltration of inflammatory cells, upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-6 and TNF-α) in the wound, and remission of inflammation in the wound. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that reoxygenation increased the expression of the angiogenic factor α-SMA and decreased ROS expression in burn tissues compared to hypoxia-treated animals. Moreover, further analysis by qPCR showed that reoxygenation could alleviate the expression of hypoxic-induced inflammatory markers (IL-6 and TNF), increase angiogenesis (SMA) and collagen synthesis (Col I), and thus promote wound healing. It is suggested that oxygen can be further evaluated in combination with oxygen-releasing materials as a supplementary therapy for patients with chronic hypoxic wounds.

Trajectories of psychological distress over multiple COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia

The impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, including the indirect effect of policy responses, on psychological distress has been the subject of much research. However, there has been little consideration of how the prevalence of psychological distress changed with the duration and repetition of lockdowns, or the rate of resolution of psychological distress once lockdowns ended. This study describes the trajectories of psychological distress over multiple lockdowns during the first two years of the pandemic across five Australian states for the period May 2020 to December 2021 and examines whether psychological distress trajectories varied as a function of time spent in lockdown, or time since lockdown ended.A total of N = 574,306 Australian adults completed Facebook surveys over 611 days (on average 940 participants per day). Trajectories of psychological distress (depression and anxiety) were regressed on lockdown duration and time since lockdown ended. Random effects reflecting the duration of each lockdown were included to account for varying effects on psychological distress associated with lockdown length.The prevalence of psychological distress was higher during periods of lockdown, more so for longer lockdowns relative to shorter lockdowns. Psychological distress increased rapidly over the first ten weeks of lockdowns spanning at least twelve weeks, though less rapidly for short lockdowns of three weeks or less. Psychological distress levels tended to stabilise, or even decrease, after ten consecutive weeks of lockdown. After lockdown restrictions were lifted, psychological distress rapidly subsided but did not return to pre-lockdown levels within four weeks, although continued to decline afterwards.In Australia short lockdowns of pre-announced durations were associated with slower rises in psychological distress. Lockdowns may have left some temporary residual population effect, but we cannot discern whether this reflects longer term trends in increasing psychological distress. However, the findings do re-emphasise the resilience of individuals to major life stressors.

Negative but antagonistic effects of neonicotinoid insecticides and ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor on Apis mellifera honey bee food glands

Collaborative brood care by workers is essential for the functionality of eusocial Apis mellifera honey bee colonies. The hypopharyngeal food glands of workers play a crucial role in this context. Even though there is consensus that ubiquitous ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor and widespread insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, are major stressors for honey bee health, their impact alone and in combination on the feeding glands of workers is poorly understood. Here, we show that combined exposure to V. destructor and neonicotinoids antagonistically interacted on hypopharyngeal gland size, yet they did not interact on emergence body mass or survival. While the observed effects of the antagonistic interaction were less negative than expected based on the sum of the individual effects, hypopharyngeal gland size was still significantly reduced. Alone, V. destructor parasitism negatively affected emergence body mass, survival, and hypopharyngeal gland size, whereas neonicotinoid exposure reduced hypopharyngeal gland size only. Since size is associated with hypopharyngeal gland functionality, a reduction could result in inadequate brood care. As cooperative brood care is a cornerstone of eusociality, smaller glands could have adverse down-stream effects on inclusive fitness of honey bee colonies. Therefore, our findings highlight the need to further study how ubiquitous stressors like V. destructor and neonicotinoids interact to affect honey bees.

Maternal stress and hair cortisol among pregnant women following hurricane Florence.

We analyzed multiple stress measures among 37 participants who were pregnant during Hurricane Florence. We used questionnaires modeled on previous studies to assess hardship associated with the hurricane, psychological distress, sociodemographic characteristics, social support, and food security. We analyzed cortisol concentrations in proximal and distal hair sections, representing stress around the time of the disaster (distal) and 3-4months following the disaster (proximal). We used linear regression to test relationships between hair cortisol and self-report stress measures, and variations based on marital status. Self-report measures of distress and hardship were similar among married and unmarried participants. Mean cortisol levels in distal and proximal sections were higher among unmarried participants. Controlling for confounding variables, hardship was not associated with hair cortisol. Distress predicted cortisol in distal sections (β=.482, p=.018), with a trend for proximal sections (β=.368, p=.055). Marital status was a significant predictor of distal (β=.388, p=.027) and proximal (β=.333, p=.047) hair cortisol, explaining 8.6%-11.7% of unique variance. Preexisting and intersecting risk factors likely place unmarried pregnant individuals at risk of stress during and following a disaster.

A Comparative Study On Stressor In Children And Adolescent Patients With Dissociative Disorder And Their Age And Gender Matched Controls In Western Rajasthan

Introduction:-The dissociative disorders (DDs) are a disturbance in the organization of identity, memory, perception, or consciousness involving both restricted access of information to consciousness and disruptions of consciousness.Methodology:- This study is a hospital based cross-sectional case-control study. The subjects were selected by consecutive sampling with proper inclusion and exclusion criteria fulfilled. Socio-demographic profile of cases and controls was compared using the Chi-square test. For normally distributed quantitative continuous variables were compared using an independent T-test.Result:-In this study, mean age of onset of dissociative disorder was late adolesesent, female were more affected then male. The cases were more of lower socio-economic status with nuclear family. In cases71% had identifiable stressor while in control only 15% ,major stressor was mainly study related.Conclusion:- Adolescent (late age),Female sex, Nuclear family (poor support system), lower socio-economic status had high prevalence while Children (young age), Male sex, Joint Family (good support system), and Upper socio-economic status had less prevalence of dissociative disorder. Major stressors were study and familial issues.

Battered women continue living in abusive relationships in Pakistan.

Cultural practices, societal views, and customs all significantly impact the mental health of women in Pakistan. Religious and ethnic tensions, attitudes that dehumanize women, extended family structures, and the role in-laws play in women's daily life are major issues and stressors. Such actions have severely marginalized Pakistani women, which has had a negative psychological impact. Men can now control women by using violence against them, which has become one of the acceptable methods for doing so. Still, Pakistani women are generally better off than their counterparts when compared to other South Asian nations. No one hypothesis can categorically foresee this tendency on the part of battered women because the problem is little understood and rarely discussed. A review of the domestic violence was conducted to determine the most important factors that forecast a woman's likelihood of staying in or leaving an abusive relationship.

Examining Perceptions Of Religious Coping, Health-Related Quality Of Life, And Healthcare Support Of ALS Caregivers

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> This cross-sectional study (N=8) built on a prior longitudinal case study (N=1) with a similar aim; that of understanding ALS caregiver experiences by exploring declines in swallowing and communication in ALS patients based on the results of one qualitative and two quantitative measurements. <h3>Design</h3> A mixed method cross-sectional design. <h3>Setting</h3> The interviews were conducted over the phone, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social distancing guidelines. <h3>Participants</h3> Eight informal (non-compensated) family caregivers of ALS patients. <h3>Interventions</h3> Not applicable. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> 1) Qualitative interviews, 2) the Brief RCOPE (a 14-item measure of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors), and 3) a health-related quality of life survey instrument (SF12v2). <h3>Results</h3> Interview data revealed anxiety related to anticipated losses and capacity to meet progressive unrelenting needs of care receivers. In addition, caregivers reported an increased burden as the disease progressed, perceiving a lack of medical personnel training necessary to meet their needs. Caregivers' religious coping ratings attested to feelings of less connectedness with God as the disease progressed. Health quality of life measures suggested emerging issues based on health status, energy levels, pain, and available time for responsibilities. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The unique challenges of ALS caregiver experiences and burdens consist of complex emotional, clinical, financial, secondary supportive care needs, and environmental issues. These perceived experiences and burdens have clinical implications for improved communication in working with caregivers to better meet their needs. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> Nothing to disclose.

Screening of hazardous groundwater pollutants responsible for microbial ecological consequences by integrated nontargeted analysis and high-throughput sequencing technologies

Organic contaminants, especially hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs), pose potential ecological threats even at environmental concentrations. Characterization of HOC profiles and identification of key environmental stressors are vital but still challenging in groundwater quality management. In this study, a strategy for identifying the key environmental stressors among HOCs in groundwater based on integrated chemical monitoring technologies and microbial ecology analysis methods was proposed and applied to typical groundwater samples. Specifically, the characteristics of HOCs were systematically analyzed based on nontargeted and targeted approaches, and microbial community assembly and specific biomarker analysis were combined to determine the major ecological processes and key environmental stressors. The results showed that a total of 234 HOCs were detected in groundwater collected from Tongzhou, Beijing; among them, phthalate esters (PAEs) were screened out as key environmental stressors, considering that they made relatively higher microbial ecology contributions. Furthermore, their influences on the structure and function of the groundwater microbial community were evaluated by adopting high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis technologies. These findings confirmed PAEs as vital determinants driving microbial assembly, shifting community structure, and regulating community function in groundwater; in addition, the findings validated the feasibility and suitability of the proposed strategy.

Influence of interdisciplinary frailty screening on perioperative complication rates in elderly ovarian cancer patients: results of a retrospective observational study

PurposeFrailty is a frequent and underdiagnosed multidimensional age-related syndrome, involving decreased physiological performance reserves and marked vulnerability against major stressors. To standardize the preoperative frailty assessment and identify patients at risk of adverse surgical outcomes, commonly used global health assessment tools were evaluated. We aimed to assess three interdisciplinary preoperative screening assessments to investigate the influence of frailty status with in-hospital complications irrespective of surgical complexity and radicality in older women with ovarian cancer (OC).MethodsPreoperative frailty status was examined by the G8 geriatric screening tool (G8 Score-geriatric screening), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS-oncological screening), and American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status System (ASA PS-anesthesiologic screening). The main outcome measures were the relationship between perioperative laboratory results, intraoperative surgical parameters and the incidence of immediate postoperative in-hospital complications with the preoperative frailty status.Results116 consecutive women 60 years and older (BMI 24.8 ± 5.2 kg/m2) with OC, who underwent elective oncological surgery in University Medical Center Mainz between 2008 and 2019 were preoperatively classified with the selected global health assessment tools as frail or non-frail. The rate of preoperative anemia (hemoglobin ≤ 12 g/dl) and perioperative transfusions were significantly higher in the G8-frail group (65.9% vs. 34.1%; p = 0.006 and 62.7% vs. 41.8%, p = 0.031; respectively). In addition, patients preoperatively classified as G8-frail exhibited significantly more postoperative clinical in-hospital complications (27.8% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.045) independent of chronological age and BMI. In contrast, ECOG PS and ASA PS did not predict the rates of postoperative complications (all p values > 0.05). After propensity score matching, the complication rate in the G8-frail cohort was approximately 1.7 times more common than in the G8-non-frail cohort.ConclusionPreoperative frailty assessment with the G8 Score identified elderly women with OC recording a significantly higher rate of postoperative in-hospital complications. In G8-frail patients, preoperative anemia and perioperative transfusions were significantly more recorded, regardless of chronological age, abnormal BMI and surgical complexity. Standardized preoperative frailty assessment should be added to clinical routine care to enhance risk stratification in older cancer individuals for surgical patient-centered decision-making.

Transcriptomic identification of key genes in Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas responding to major abiotic and biotic stressors

Oysters are commercially important intertidal filter-feeding species. Mass mortality events of oysters often occur due to environmental stresses, such as exposure to fluctuating temperatures, salinity, and air, as well as to metal pollution and pathogen infection. Here, RNA-seq data were used to identify shared and specific responsive genes by differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis. A total of 18 up-regulated and 10 down-regulated shared responsive genes were identified corresponding to five different stressors. Total 27 stressor-specific genes for temperature, 11 for salinity, 80 for air exposure, 51 for metal pollution, and 636 for Vibrio mediterranei pathogen stress were identified in oysters. Elongin-β was identified as a crucial gene for thermal stress response. Some HSP70s were determined to be shared responsive genes while others were specific to thermal tolerance. The proteins encoded by these stress-related genes should be further investigated to characterize their physiological functions. In addition, the uncharacterized proteins and ncRNAs that were identified may be involved in species-specific stress-response and regulatory mechanisms. This study identified specific genes related to stressors relevant to oyster cultivation. These findings provide useful information for new selective breeding strategies using a data driven method.

Stress and Coping Strategies among First Year Students of College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

The study investigated stress and coping strategies among first year students of College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The study was guided by three research questions. The population for the study was first year students in the College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast. A sample size of 300 students comprising 147 males and 153 females were selected. Cluster, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were employed. An adapted version of the Students Stress Inventory and Stress Coping Style Inventory (SCSI) were the data collection instruments. Data were analysed using means and standard deviations. The findings indicated that there was high level of stress among the students. Also, it was revealed that environmental, financial and academic stressors were the major common stressors among students. Most students use active emotional-focused coping and active problem-focused coping strategies. It was, therefore, recommended that students should make use of the University’s Counselling Centre to address their issues in the areas of academic, financial, environmental and interpersonal. Furthermore, students should be educated on both emotional-focused coping strategies and problem-focused coping strategies so that they can use them properly under different situations.