Creating customer service improvement in retail : building frontline employee engagement

In economically challenging times business needs to focus on all elements of operations to improve profitability. Engagement is an emerging theme that successfully increases profitability by creating a more dedicated and actively present workforce. Within the service and retail industries engagement levers can be used as a profitability mechanism through enhancing customer service, their primary communication channel to customers. Maximising engagement within this core frontline, often semi-skilled workforce is crucial and cannot necessarily be approached in the same way as a white collar, highly educated environment. A qualitative, inductive, exploratory approach was used to understand impacts and influencers in this setting. Nominal Group interviews were held within a South African retail environment with 54 total participants; qualitative and quantitative metrics were extrapolated and analysed. Key findings revealed that the ÒRole the CustomerÓ plays in creating staff engagement is not only a new lever, but the most impactful in a frontline environment. This creates a link not made by existing engagement literature. The qualitative nature of the study also develops a deeper understanding of the complexity of the influences that contribute to the established engagement levers allowing more focused business action. The emergent ÒFrontline Engagement ModelÓ combines these findings and gives management insight into the complexities of engagement, helping to understand the difference in approach from the international literature base. The context of a country in recession and industry facing resource cuts is also seen to be an important influencer of the model and the study. The findings are therefore especially relevant in other struggling developing nations. Ultimately, this research develops an engagement strategy to increase profitability that has been adapted to equip managers for success.Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.za2018Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)MBAUnrestricte

Systems Engineering on the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Web Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2014. System-level verification of critical performance requirements will rely on integrated observatory models that predict the wavefront error accurately enough to verify that allocated top-level wavefront error of 150 nm root-mean-squared (rms) through to the wave-front sensor focal plane is met. This paper describes the systems engineering approach used on the JWST through the detailed design phase

Transformative Learning: a research briefing

The term ‘Transformational Learning’ has been used in varied ways and with varied meanings. At its simplest, Transformational Learning is learning that takes learners’ knowledge and skills into a different or new domain, with a step jump in cognitive and affective processes. Theories of transformational learning (TL) have been described as ‘the process of making meaning of one’s experience’. Transformational learning is ‘unsettling’ in that it leads to questioning of accepted assumptions and views and to new ways of knowing and understanding. The focus of research into TL has been primarily on adult learners, with the concept of TL representing a major theme of research and theory building in adult education. This context setting summary provides a very quick entry to some of the background thinking and research in this area before the exploration of some key questions at our conference on ‘Researching TL’. • What does the academic and applied research to date tell us about the nature of TL? • How might we go about researching TL? • How might this research inform our approaches to pedagogy and practice in higher education? This introduction draws on several useful resources available on the web that provide research summaries and are listed on page 4

039— Daily Attention Bias

Previous research has shown a correlation between anxiety and attentional bias to threat. For anxious individuals, attentional bias to threat has been shown to activate areas in the brain such as the amygdala. The amygdala is (i) associated with fear and anxiety, (ii) involved in the link between anxiety and hyper-vigilance for threat, and (iii) exerts excitatory influence on the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, which follows a daily (diurnal) pattern. Previous research has yet to study the diurnal patterns of attention bias to threat and its association with levels of anxiety. To address this gap, we examined whether attention biases to threat follows a similar pattern of daily fluctuations, and if the variation in that pattern relates to levels of anxiety. To assess this relationship, SUNY Geneseo students completed the Dot-Probe paradigm, which is a commonly used method to measure attention to threat, at five time periods in one day. The hypothesis is that attentional biases will follow a similar diurnal pattern as seen with cortisol levels, and this pattern will be related to daily fluctuations in anxiety. The study’s findings showed that participants with higher levels of anxiety had a greater threat bias

Transformative Learning: a research briefing

The term ‘Transformational Learning’ has been used in varied ways and with varied meanings. At its simplest, Transformational Learning is learning that takes learners’ knowledge and skills into a different or new domain, with a step jump in cognitive and affective processes. Theories of transformational learning (TL) have been described as ‘the process of making meaning of one’s experience’. Transformational learning is ‘unsettling’ in that it leads to questioning of accepted assumptions and views and to new ways of knowing and understanding. The focus of research into TL has been primarily on adult learners, with the concept of TL representing a major theme of research and theory building in adult education. This context setting summary provides a very quick entry to some of the background thinking and research in this area before the exploration of some key questions at our conference on ‘Researching TL’. • What does the academic and applied research to date tell us about the nature of TL? • How might we go about researching TL? • How might this research inform our approaches to pedagogy and practice in higher education? This introduction draws on several useful resources available on the web that provide research summaries and are listed on page 4

Confusion and Conflict in Assessing the Physical Activity Status of Middle-Aged Men

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (including exercise) is prescribed for health and there are various recommendations that can be used to gauge physical activity status. The objective of the current study was to determine whether twelve commonly-used physical activity recommendations similarly classified middle-aged men as sufficiently active for general health. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We examined the commonality in the classification of physical activity status between twelve variations of physical activity recommendations for general health in ninety men aged 45-64 years. Physical activity was assessed using synchronised accelerometry and heart rate. Using different guidelines but the same raw data, the proportion of men defined as active ranged from to 11% to 98% for individual recommendations (median 73%, IQR 30% to 87%). There was very poor absolute agreement between the recommendations, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (A,1) of 0.24 (95% CI, 0.15 to 0.34). Only 8% of men met all 12 recommendations and would therefore be unanimously classified as active and only one man failed to meet every recommendation and would therefore be unanimously classified as not sufficiently active. The wide variability in physical activity classification was explained by ostensibly subtle differences between the 12 recommendations for thresholds related to activity volume (time or energy), distribution (e.g., number of days of the week), moderate intensity cut-point (e.g., 3 vs. 4 metabolic equivalents or METs), and duration (including bout length). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity status varies enormously depending on the physical activity recommendation that is applied and even ostensibly small differences have a major impact. Approximately nine out of every ten men in the present study could be variably described as either active or not sufficiently active. Either the effective dose or prescription that underlies each physical activity recommendation is different or each recommendation is seeking the same prescriptive outcome but with variable success

A Catalog of Neutral and Deleterious Polymorphism in Yeast

The abundance and identity of functional variation segregating in natural populations is paramount to dissecting the molecular basis of quantitative traits as well as human genetic diseases. Genome sequencing of multiple organisms of the same species provides an efficient means of cataloging rearrangements, insertion, or deletion polymorphisms (InDels) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). While inbreeding depression and heterosis imply that a substantial amount of polymorphism is deleterious, distinguishing deleterious from neutral polymorphism remains a significant challenge. To identify deleterious and neutral DNA sequence variation within Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we sequenced the genome of a vineyard and oak tree strain and compared them to a reference genome. Among these three strains, 6% of the genome is variable, mostly attributable to variation in genome content that results from large InDels. Out of the 88,000 polymorphisms identified, 93% are SNPs and a small but significant fraction can be attributed to recent interspecific introgression and ectopic gene conversion. In comparison to the reference genome, there is substantial evidence for functional variation in gene content and structure that results from large InDels, frame-shifts, and polymorphic start and stop codons. Comparison of polymorphism to divergence reveals scant evidence for positive selection but an abundance of evidence for deleterious SNPs. We estimate that 12% of coding and 7% of noncoding SNPs are deleterious. Based on divergence among 11 yeast species, we identified 1,666 nonsynonymous SNPs that disrupt conserved amino acids and 1,863 noncoding SNPs that disrupt conserved noncoding motifs. The deleterious coding SNPs include those known to affect quantitative traits, and a subset of the deleterious noncoding SNPs occurs in the promoters of genes that show allele-specific expression, implying that some cis-regulatory SNPs are deleterious. Our results show that the genome sequences of both closely and distantly related species provide a means of identifying deleterious polymorphisms that disrupt functionally conserved coding and noncoding sequences

Improving the assessment of risk factors relevant to potential carcinogenicity of gene therapies: a consensus article

Regulators and industry are actively seeking improvements and alternatives to current models and approaches to evaluate potential carcinogenicity of gene therapies (GTs). A meeting of invited experts was organized by NC3Rs/UKEMS (London, March 2023) to discuss this topic. This article describes the consensus reached among delegates on the definition of vector genotoxicity, sources of uncertainty, suitable toxicological endpoints for genotoxic assessment of GTs, and future research needs. The collected recommendations should inform the further development of regulatory guidelines for the nonclinical toxicological assessment of GT products

Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in Covid-19.

Host-mediated lung inflammation is present,1 and drives mortality,2 in critical illness caused by Covid-19. Host genetic variants associated with critical illness may identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic development.3 Here we report the results of the GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) genome-wide association study(GWAS) in 2244 critically ill Covid-19 patients from 208 UK intensive care units (ICUs). We identify and replicate novel genome-wide significant associations, on chr12q24.13 (rs10735079, p=1.65 [Formula: see text] 10-8) in a gene cluster encoding antiviral restriction enzyme activators (OAS1, OAS2, OAS3), on chr19p13.2 (rs2109069, p=2.3 [Formula: see text] 10-12) near the gene encoding tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2), on chr19p13.3 (rs2109069, p=3.98 [Formula: see text] 10-12) within the gene encoding dipeptidyl peptidase 9 (DPP9), and on chr21q22.1 (rs2236757, p=4.99 [Formula: see text] 10-8) in the interferon receptor gene IFNAR2. We identify potential targets for repurposing of licensed medications: using Mendelian randomisation we found evidence in support of a causal link from low expression of IFNAR2, and high expression of TYK2, to life-threatening disease; transcriptome-wide association in lung tissue revealed that high expression of the monocyte/macrophage chemotactic receptor CCR2 is associated with severe Covid-19. Our results identify robust genetic signals relating to key host antiviral defence mechanisms, and mediators of inflammatory organ damage in Covid-19. Both mechanisms may be amenable to targeted treatment with existing drugs. Large-scale randomised clinical trials will be essential before any change to clinical practice

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure