58 research outputs found
How Does Leadership Structure Affect the Bottom Line?
Key Findings Investment in High-commitment HR practices lead to key employee-based outcomes. When companies invest in employees with a system of high-commitment HR practices (see examples of these practices below) they are able to build a workforce with higher human capital and motivation to exert discretionary effort for the benefit of the organization. In particular, higher use of these high-commitment HR (HCHR) practices were significantly related to higher levels of employee education, company tenure/experience, collaboration, and helping behaviors. Higher employee human capital and motivation are resources that lead to competitive advantage. In return, these employee outcomes appear to be key organizational resources for driving competitive advantage. Specifically, higher levels of employee company tenure (i.e., firm-specific experience and knowledge), collaboration, and helping behaviors were all significantly related to higher company sales growth and perceived performance (performance relative to competitors as rated by the company CEO). Leaders make a diff in the extent to which these employee-based resources lead to competitive advantage. In general, these employee-based resources were related to higher performance, but CEOs with greater levels of human capital seemed to be able to leverage these resources for even greater performance. Compared to companies with CEOs with less experience, companies with CEOs with higher average industry and company experience and higher levels of employee human capital and motivation had significantly higher performance, suggesting that CEOs with higher experience seem to understand how to take advantage of the employee-based resources that have been built through the investment in HCHR practices
Exploring the physiotherapeutic needs of breast cancer patients: A qualitative study of patient experience
Background: It has been reported that patients should have access to physiotherapy at all stages throughout their treatment pathway following a diagnosis of breast cancer. As the number of breast cancer survivors increases the need for research into the impact of breast cancer and its treatment has been recognised as a priority for the NHS. It is acknowledged that breast cancer patients have specific support needs and if these remain unmet, this is likely to have implications for long term rehabilitation outcomes.
Aim: To explore the experience of physiotherapy care received by patients with breast cancer.
Research design: Based on an exploratory qualitative methodology design, participants (n=19) who had received physiotherapy care from a Specialist Breast Care Physiotherapy Service were stratified into one of three subgroups, dependant on their previous experience of physiotherapy. Phase One involved each subgroup taking part in a group discussion using a modified nominal group technique and in Phase Two one member of each subgroup who volunteered to take part was randomly selected to participate in a one-to-one in-depth interview. A thematic network analysis was undertaken on the data collected.
Research Ethics Committee Reference: 12/NW/0009
Salford Research and Development Number: 2011/266can
University of Central Lancashire Reference Number: BuSH 0413
Results: Participants valued a patient-centred holistic approach to care and access to a Specialist Service with an experienced clinician. In particular the importance of the therapeutic alliance and the value of psychological, emotional and educational support emerged, with the participants feeling empowered in their recovery.
Conclusion: Participants reported an overall positive experience of their physiotherapy care. Breast cancer patients require specialist physiotherapy input at all stages of their treatment pathway, including pre-operative intervention
The need for positive pedagogy in multi-disciplinary STEM courses in higher education: an opinion piece
In the context of market demands and expectations from STEM graduates, we are moving from an
era of specialization to super-specialization to multi-specialization courses. In coming future, a
significant proportion of the next generation of STEM graduates will come from multidisciplinary
courses (e.g. Personalised Medicine) involving interdisciplinary (e.g. Bioinformatics) and crossdisciplinary
subjects (e.g. Computer Science). These courses are very challenging to learn for the
basic reasons of their diverse nature, the aptitude required for learning and the number of
subjects involved in these courses. This challenge is compounded by the expectation that students
will learn not only all of them with equal knowledge and skills but will also be able to integrate
and apply them. Essentially, we want to create “super-graduates” who know everything (as many
STEM subjects as possible) and can do anything (e.g. conduct lab-based experimental work, write
computer programs, perform data analysis, etc.). Considering that most of these multi-disciplinary
courses are new, most of the time they lack appropriately tailored teaching methods. This leads to
a significant portion of this challenge (of learning those diverse subjects) being delegated directly
to the students, causing huge stress and anxiety among them. Therefore, there is an urgent need
for research in the field of Positive Pedagogy for multi-disciplinary STEM courses in higher
education. This opinion piece will reflect on an ongoing AdvanceHE funded project which authors
are conducting, draw facts and figures on the current state of multi-disciplinary STEM courses in
HE, and the pedagogic research available for the same
Smalkanka IV: Tankira tawan wakaia ba. Modulo IV. Gobernanza y gobernabilidad
Naha smalkankara marikisa ta upla, tankira ta briaia laka ba, wan tasbaya kaina kahbaia laka ba bara wan kaina kirba sim kaina kahbaia ba tanka nani dukiara ulbanka nani bar aba wina wahbi saki param saki tawan sirpi uplika nani diplomado dimi nani ba luki kaikbia bara baha wal yamni iwanka r ata baikbia ba dukiara
El buen vivir y el desarrollo desde la perspectiva del pueblo mayangna, Nicaragua
This brief essay is the result of an investigation on the good living “yamni yalahna / atinan lâni”, living well “yamni yalahnin” and development “barakna lâni” conceptualizations, in the sumu-mayangna people worldview. To better understand the concept, the elderly, young people (men and women) and professional people thinking, was taken into account. In the development of the article, it is reflected the words of the characters with whom the direct conversation was made visiting the communities and comparisons with the western theory of good living and development. Likewise, it makes comparison with the theory of the indigenous peoples of other countries.
Este breve ensayo es el resultado de una investigación sobre la conceptualización del buen vivir, “yamni yalahna/atinan lâni”, vivir bien “yamni yalahnin” y el desarrollo “barakna lâni” en la cosmovisión del pueblo sumu-mayangna. Para entender mejor el concepto, se tomó en cuenta el pensar de los ancianos, jóvenes (varones y mujeres) y de personas profesionales. En el desarrollo del artículo se refleja las palabras de los personajes con quienes se realizó la conversación directa visitando las comunidades y comparaciones con la teoría occidental del buen vivir y el desarrollo. Así mismo, hace comparación con la teoría de los pueblos indígenas de otros países
Enhancing teaching practice in a cross-disciplinary subject using Positive Pedagogy approaches
Multi-disciplinary courses such as Personalised Medicine also involve cross-disciplinary subjects such as Computer Science.
Students are challenged by the breadth of skills needed in a multi-disciplinary course. They find computer programming stressful.
Teaching and learning needed to change to reduce the stress and anxiety reported by students and therefore improve wellbeing
Sistematización del Proyecto CARS ejecutado por la URACCAN, Municipio de Puerto Cabezas
The Community Action for Reading and Safety (CARS) Project aimed to improve reading results and contribute to reducing citizen insecurity of children in preschool and in the first grades of primary education. . In this sense, the systematization of the experience and the results of the project in the target groups is presented. It is a qualitative study, with a participatory approach of the actors involved in this experience, focusing on the implementation of the methodologies: I Do, You Do, We Do Method (APA for the Spanish Acronym) and Phonetic-Analytical-Synthetic (FAS for its acronym in Spanish); likewise, the actions developed to identify and address insecurity factors in the school and the community, human trafficking and gender-based violence in eleven schools in Puerto Cabezas municipality in 2018. The results of the systematization show the developed processes, achieved goals and the lessons learned in the application of the pedagogical methodologies that will serve for future experiences.El proyecto Acción Comunitaria para la Lectura y Seguridad (CARS por sus siglas en inglés), tuvo el propósito de mejorar los resultados de la lectura y contribuir a la reducción de la inseguridad ciudadana de la niñez en preescolar y en los primeros grados de educación primaria. En este sentido se presenta la sistematización de la experiencia y los resultados del proyecto en los grupos meta. Es un estudio de carácter cualitativo, con enfoque participativo de los actores involucrados de esta experiencia centrándose en la implementación de las metodologías: Aprendo-Práctico-Aplico (APA) y Fonético-Analítico-Sintético (FAS); así mismo, las acciones desarrolladas para la identificación y abordaje de factores de inseguridad en la escuela y la comunidad, Trata de personas y violencia basada en género, en once escuelas del municipio de Puerto Cabezas en el 2018. Los resultados de la sistematización evidencian los procesos desarrollados, logros alcanzados y las lecciones aprendidas en la aplicación de las metodologías pedagógicas que servirán para futuras experiencias.  
A Systems-Based Analysis of Plasmodium vivax Lifecycle Transcription from Human to Mosquito
Most of the 250 million malaria cases outside of Africa are caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax. Although drugs can be used to treat P. vivax malaria, drug resistance is spreading and there is no available vaccine. Because this species cannot be readily grown in the laboratory there are added challenges to understanding the function of the many hypothetical genes in the genome. We isolated transcriptional messages from parasites growing in human blood and in mosquitoes, labeled the messages and measured how their levels for different parasite growth conditions. The data for 5,419 parasite genes shows extensive changes as the parasite moves between human and mosquito and reveals highly expressed genes whose proteins might represent new therapeutic targets for experimental vaccines. We discover sets of genes that are likely to play a role in the earliest stages of hepatocyte infection. We find intriguing differences in the expression patterns of different blood stage parasites that may be related to host-response status
Insecticide resistance and the future of malaria control in Zambia.
BACKGROUND: In line with the Global trend to improve malaria control efforts a major campaign of insecticide treated net distribution was initiated in 1999 and indoor residual spraying with DDT or pyrethroids was reintroduced in 2000 in Zambia. In 2006, these efforts were strengthened by the President's Malaria Initiative. This manuscript reports on the monitoring and evaluation of these activities and the potential impact of emerging insecticide resistance on disease transmission. METHODS: Mosquitoes were captured daily through a series of 108 window exit traps located at 18 sentinel sites. Specimens were identified to species and analyzed for sporozoites. Adult Anopheles mosquitoes were collected resting indoors and larva collected in breeding sites were reared to F1 and F0 generations in the lab and tested for insecticide resistance following the standard WHO susceptibility assay protocol. Annual cross sectional household parasite surveys were carried out to monitor the impact of the control programme on prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in children aged 1 to 14 years. RESULTS: A total of 619 Anopheles gambiae s.l. and 228 Anopheles funestus s.l. were captured from window exit traps throughout the period, of which 203 were An. gambiae malaria vectors and 14 An. funestus s.s.. In 2010 resistance to DDT and the pyrethroids deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin and permethrin was detected in both An. gambiae s.s. and An. funestus s.s.. No sporozoites were detected in either species. Prevalence of P. falciparum in the sentinel sites remained below 10% throughout the study period. CONCLUSION: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. funestus s.s. were controlled effectively with the ITN and IRS programme in Zambia, maintaining a reduced disease transmission and burden. However, the discovery of DDT and pyrethroid resistance in the country threatens the sustainability of the vector control programme
Evaluation of diversity among common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) from two centers of domestication using 'omics' technologies
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic diversity among wild accessions and cultivars of common bean (<it>Phaseolus vulgaris </it>L.) has been characterized using plant morphology, seed protein allozymes, random amplified polymorphic DNA, restriction fragment length polymorphisms, DNA sequence analysis, chloroplast DNA, and microsatellite markers. Yet, little is known about whether these traits, which distinguish among genetically distinct types of common bean, can be evaluated using omics technologies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three 'omics' approaches: transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics were used to qualitatively evaluate the diversity of common bean from two Centers of Domestication (COD). All three approaches were able to classify common bean according to their COD using unsupervised analyses; these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that differences exist in gene transcription, protein expression, and synthesis and metabolism of small molecules among common bean cultivars representative of different COD. Metabolomic analyses of multiple cultivars within two common bean gene pools revealed cultivar differences in small molecules that were of sufficient magnitude to allow identification of unique cultivar fingerprints.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Given the high-throughput and low cost of each of these 'omics' platforms, significant opportunities exist for their use in the rapid identification of traits of agronomic and nutritional importance as well as to characterize genetic diversity.</p
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