units (ICUs) could decrease their professional quality of life, thereby leading to mental issues, such as the declined quality of patient care and other consequences. Given the importance of ...resilience in difficult situations, the present study aimed to determine the association of resilience with the professional quality of life of ICU nurses. Materials & Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 200 nurses working in the ICUs of the teaching hospitals affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences in South Khorasan province, Iran in 2018. The participants were selected via census sampling. Data were collected using Connor-Davidson resilience questionnaire and Stamm professional quality of life scale. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive and inferential statistics, including t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The mean total score of resilience was 60.31±20.39. As for the three dimensions of the quality of professional life, the mean score of compassion fatigue was 34.54±9.13, the mean score of job burnout was 24.06±5.70, and the mean score of secondary trauma was 26.49±7.86. Moreover, an inverse, significant correlation was observed between resilience and compassion fatigue (r=-0.44; P=0.001). Conclusion: Considering the average level of the professional quality of life in the nurses, special attention must be paid to the influential factors in professional quality of life. In addition, due to the significant association between resilience and compassion fatigue, incorporating resilience-promoting strategies into the nursing curriculum is recommended.
Taxonomy of Afghan pikas Ochotona rufescens distributed in Western and Central Asia has long been debated, and the presence of cryptic diversity within the species has been suggested. In this study, ...we used one mitochondrial (cyt b) and six nuclear (nuDNA) markers to investigate genetic diversity within Afghan pikas O. rufescens populations based on 54 new samples from Western and Central Asia. In total, we included 200 new sequences of mitochondrial cyt b and six nuclear markers from 60 samples. Our results reveal a genetic split within Afghan pikas both in mitochondrial and nuclear markers, estimated to date back to at least 0.58 Mya, suggesting that two cryptic and isolated lineages exist among Afghan pikas in Western and Central Asia. Geographic patterns corresponding to known subspecies were largely corroborated. We hypothesize that during interglacials pikas are forced to track their habitat and move to higher elevations to avoid the desertification of the lowlands, effectively trapping them in refugia at the highest elevations. During glacials, cool climate may have created lowland habitats that pikas could tolerate, potentially allowing them to disperse between mountains. Pikas thus appear to be forced into refugia during the warmer climates of interglacials, rather than enduring ice ages in refugia, like most other organisms discussed in the context of Pleistocene refugia.
Hares from Iran can be divided into three morphological groups, with
Lepus europaeus
inhabiting the western parts of Iran. Hares from lowland areas along the southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea ...are morphologically similar to both
L. tolai
and
L. tibetanus
, but diagnosis is complicated by a lack of taxonomic agreement. Mitochondrial DNA suggests
L. tibetanus
rather than
L. tolai
, although comparative material is not incontestable. The third group, in more xeric habitats of eastern Iran, shows a mixture of traits characteristic of both the west Iranian
L. europaeus
and the Golestan population, the southeast Caspian Sea. Mitochondrial and nuclear loci reveal conflicting patterns, where hares from eastern Iran cluster with
L. europaeus
based on mtDNA, but with the Golestan population based on nuclear transferrin, suggesting a mixed ancestry. Ecological niche modeling indicates that the preferred habitat of the Golestan population is more restricted than that of the other two groups. Pure
L. europaeus
occur in areas of high seasonality, low temperature, and high precipitation, whereas the population in eastern Iran inhabits areas characterized by high contrast in daily temperatures and the highest isothermality in eastern Iran. Parts of the range of this population are also indicated to correspond to the fundamental niche of
L. europaeus
, yet both parental forms appear to be absent from this area occupied by individuals of apparent mixed ancestry. This suggests that the population of mixed ancestry may have selective advantages over the parental forms, and that the absence of the latter from this area may be due to competitive exclusion. As the population of mixed ancestry thus appears to be self-sustaining, incipient speciation of a stabilized hybrid may be implied.
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