Mental health practitioners in many developing countries are faced with high job demands and a lack of institutional support. Given their high levels of work-related stress, it is important to identify mechanisms that help them to maintain psychological well-being and job satisfaction. Recent research has focused on the role that positive orientation (POS), comprising high life satisfaction, self-esteem and optimism, may play in mediating the negative impact of stress on individual well-being. The present study investigated whether POS predicts mental health practitioners' perceived levels of stress, mental health and job satisfaction. If POS measures a person's tendency to take a positive attitude to life and their ability to cope with difficulties, a high POS could be linked to reduced levels of stress and increased levels of job satisfaction and well-being. This study examined associations between self-reported POS and psychological outcomes in a sample of 100 Malaysian mental health practitioners. Participants including clinical psychologists and counsellors practicing in the country were invited to take part in an online questionnaire. The results showed that POS significantly predicted job satisfaction positively and mental health issues and perceived stress negatively, even when socio-demographic variables were controlled. Overall, we found a strong effect of POS on individual functioning across the sample of mental health practitioners. Our results have implications for improving practitioner wellbeing and job satisfaction.

Periodontitis is one of the most common oral diseases in humans, affecting over 40% of adult Americans. Pain-sensing nerves, or nociceptors, sense local environmental changes and often contain neuropeptides. Recent studies have suggested that nociceptors magnify host response and regulate bone loss in the periodontium. A subset of nociceptors projected to periodontium contains neuropeptides, such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) or substance P (SP). However, the specific roles of neuropeptides from nociceptive neural terminals in periodontitis remain to be determined. In this study, we investigated the roles of neuropeptides on host responses and bone loss in ligature-induced periodontitis. Deletion of tachykinin precursor 1 (Tac1), a gene that encodes SP, or treatment of gingiva with SP antagonist significantly reduced bone loss in ligature-induced periodontitis, whereas deletion of calcitonin related polypeptide alpha (Calca), a gene that encodes CGRP, showed a marginal role on bone loss. Ligature-induced recruitment of leukocytes, including neutrophils, and increase in cytokines leading to bone loss in periodontium was significantly less in Tac1 knockout mice. Furthermore, intra-gingival injection of SP, but not neurokinin A, induced a vigorous inflammatory response and osteoclast activation in alveolar bone and facilitated bone loss in ligature-induced periodontitis. Altogether, our data suggest that SP plays significant roles in regulating host responses and bone resorption in ligature-induced periodontitis.

No abstract

In the age of digitization, telemedicine services are utilized more than ever, and this trend affects healthcare as well. Although the utilization of technology serves as a benefit in allowing more access to care, COVID-19 has identified some of the weaknesses and discrepancies of the system. The increase in usage of technology has shed light on and increased the severity of the gaps in the regulatory and legal infrastructure overseeing this rapid growth. We aim to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the telemedicine healthcare system, as well as address the frequent misconduct that occurs between patients and their nurses, pharmacists, and physician assistants, in order to highlight the necessity of a standardized method of reporting misconduct on an international, national, state, county, and local level. Our findings should alert the healthcare community of the growing urgency to address the policy and regulatory aspects of telemedicine to provide greater quality and safety during the post-COVID era.

Take Home Messages Among men with low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer who choose active surveillance, those with suspicious magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the time of inclusion in active surveillance are more likely to show switch to treatment than men with nonsuspicious MRI.