Government supported women’s leadership development programmes: a case study of Dubai

Since its inception in 1971, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) government has undertaken to develop the capabilities of its citizens (nationals), in order to satisfy the country’s need for rapid economic growth. One of the seven Emirates, Dubai, has played an integral role in implementing this national objective by leading associated initiatives. Consequently, the government of Dubai emphasizes the importance of developing its people through human resources programmes that focus on specific demographic groups, such as women, and specific aspects of human development, with leadership being an important segment. The purpose of this study is to examine women’s leadership in the UAE. Specifically, this study attempts to explore the characteristics and behaviours of a group of women leaders who were the first candidates of the UAE Women Leadership Development Programme (UAE WLDP) in Dubai.The study included an on-line survey that was sent to a sample of 35 women leaders. Demographically, all of the respondents were aged between 25 and 35 years. Most of the women were unmarried and held degrees of higher education, specifically from a business background. The survey indicated that respondents believed they practiced a combination of the four categories of leaders’ behaviours: pragmatist, visionary, motivator, and facilitator. Finally, they rated their managerial potential and management performance as very good.The respondents reported that one of the major challenges they faced at work was gender discrimination and issues related to work-family balance. A quarter of the women indicated that they felt some kind of gender-bias towards them. Respondents suggested policies or interventions that could be undertaken in order to improve their performance as leaders. The study concluded that government sponsored leadership programmes enhance the abilities of women who were already progressing in their chosen fields. It highlights other areas in which the government could intervene to improve the capabilities of women in leadership. Overall, although good progress has been made, more could be done to benefit the national population using programmes of this nature

First record of the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event from the Southern Hemisphere, Neuquén Basin, Argentina

The first record of the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (c. 183 Ma) from the Southern Hemisphere is described from the Neuque´n Basin, Argentina, identified chemostratigraphically on the basis of a relative increase in marine organic carbon and a characteristic negative carbon-isotope excursion ( 13Corg) in bulk rock and fossil wood. The negative excursion of 26‰ in bulk organic carbon (falling to 231.3‰) crosses the boundary of the tenuicostatum–hoelderi Andean ammonite Zones, equivalent to the tenuicostatum–falciferum/serpentinum zones of Europe. These data indicate that the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event was a global phenomenon.Fil: Al Suwaidi, Aisha. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Angelozzi, G. N.. GEMA S.R.L.; ArgentinaFil: Baudin, F.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Institut des sciences de la Terre de Paris; FranciaFil: Damborenea, Susana Ester. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Hesselbo, S. P.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Jenkyns, Hugh. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Manceñido, Miguel Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Riccardi, Alberto Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; Argentin

The toarcian oceanic anoxic event (Early Jurassic) in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina: A reassessment of age and carbon isotope stratigraphy

The Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (T-OAE) is recorded by the presence of globally distributed marine organic carbon– rich black shales and a negative carbon isotope shift, with δ13Corg values as low as -33‰, interrupting an overarching positive excursion. Here we present new biostratigraphic data and high-resolution δ13Corg data from two Southern Hemisphere localities: Arroyo Serrucho in the north and Arroyo Lapa in the south of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Previous studies at these localities aimed to provide an accurate numerical age for the T-OAE and characterization of its carbon isotope stratigraphy. The new carbon isotope data and ammonite biostratigraphy presented here from Arroyo Serrucho show the T-OAE to be recorded lower in the section than supposed by previous authors, thus calling into question the published age of the T-OAE in this section. A newly investigated exposure at Arroyo Lapa North shows a complex carbon isotope record with at least three high-amplitude fluctuations in the hoelderi zone (equivalent to the serpentinum zone in northwestern Europe), with δ13Corg values of <-28‰, and two intervening positive isotope excursions, with δ13Corg values around -24‰. At Arroyo Lapa South, the characteristic major stepped negative carbon isotope excursion is recorded, with δ13Corg values of <-30‰ and total organic-carbon contents increasing to 11%; above this level an erosional surface of a submarine channel truncates the section. These new data are globally correlative and unambiguously illustrate the global reach of the T-OAE.Fil: Al Suwaidi, Aisha H.. Petroleum Institute University; Emiratos Árabes UnidosFil: Hesselbo, Stephen P.. University of Exeter; Reino UnidoFil: Damborenea, Susana Ester. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleozoología Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Manceñido, Miguel Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleozoología Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Jenkyns, Hugh C.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Riccardi, Alberto Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Angelozzi, Gladys Noemí. YPF - Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Baudin, François. Université Pierre et Marie Curie; Franci

Results from the United Arab Emirates 2022 report card on physical activity for children and adolescents

Objective: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2022 Report Card provides a systematic evaluation of the physical activity (PA) levels of children and adolescents in the UAE. Methods: The 2022 Report Card utilized data from 2017 to 2021 to inform 10 core PA indicators that were common to the Global Matrix 4.0. Results: One in five (19%) UAE school children achieved the recommended amount of moderate-to-vigorous PA (i.e. ≥60 min/d; Total Physical Activity Grade F). Less than 1% of school children used active transport to and from school (Active Transportation Grade F). One in four (26%) secondary school children achieved the recreational screen time recommendations (i.e. ≤2 h/d; Sedentary Behaviours Grade D-). A quarter of adults reported achieving the recommended PA level (i.e. ≥150 min of moderate-intensity PA per week, or equivalent) (Family and Peers Grade D-). All school children are taught physical education (PE) by a specialist with at least a bachelor\u27s degree in PE; however, the duration of weekly PE classes varied between schools (School Grade A-). The UAE Government has invested significant funds and resources into developing and implementing strategies and facilities that will increase PA across the entire population (Government Grade B+). Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Active Play, Physical Fitness, and Community and Environment indicators were graded ‘Incomplete’ (INC) due to a lack of available data. Conclusions: Overall, PA levels remain low and sedentary behaviours remain high amongst UAE children and adolescents. The UAE Government has sustained investment in further developing PA opportunities for all children and adults which should translate to increased PA and health improvements at a population level

Integrated stratigraphy of Pliensbachian and Toarcian strata from the northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina

The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ~183 Ma) was marked by globally recognized environmental perturbations, most notably disturbances to the global carbon cycle and climate. To date, geochemical records providing information about the T-OAE have been largely generated from the warm temperate climate zone of the NW European realm. Coeval geochemical records from the Southern Hemisphere, providing a more global perspective on palaeoenvironmental changes associated with the T-OAE, are comparatively scarce. In this study, we present a biostratigraphically calibrated litho- and chemostratigraphic recordof Lower Jurassic strata from the northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina, covering the Upper Pliensbachian and Toarcian upper tenuicostatum to lower Dumortieria Andean ammonite zones, equivalent to the uppermost tenuicostatum to pseudoradiosa European standard zones. The integrated stratigraphic data re-define the stratigraphic position of the Andean tenuicostatum–D. hoelderi ammonite Zone boundary and support near-synchroneity of this horizon with the tenuicostatum–serpentinum zonal boundary in NW Europe. The stratigraphic interval recording the negative carbon-isotope excursion associated with the T-OAE appears massively expanded and organic lean in contrast to the coeval organic-rich deposits in other parts of the Neuquén Basin and in European sections. At Las Overas, persistent sedimentary organic-matter enrichment was limited to brief intervals of black-shale deposition, possibly coinciding with reduced sedimentary organic matter dilution. Depositional rates and inorganic redox proxies suggest that the development of oxygen-depleted conditions may have been disrupted by the interplay between basin subsidence, sedimentation rate, relative sea-level change, depositional setting and deep-water currents.Fil: Storm, Marisa S.. Netherland Institute For Sea Research; Países BajosFil: Hesselbo, Stephen P.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Jenkyns, Hugh C.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Ruhl, Micha. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Al Suwaidi, Aisha. Khalifa University of Science and Technology; Emiratos Arabes UnidosFil: Percival, Lawrence M.. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Países BajosFil: Mather, Tamsin A.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Damborenea, Susana Ester. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Manceñido, Miguel Oscar. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Riccardi, Alberto Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento de Paleontología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Triumph and tribulation for shallow water fauna during the Paleocene–Eocene transition; insights from the United Arab Emirates

This is the final version. Available on open access from Borntraeger Science Publishers via the DOI in this recordThe Paleocene–Eocene transition was a time of short-term rapid climatic and biotic change, superimposed on a long-term warming trend. The response of shallow tropical carbonate systems to past rapid warming is important to understand in the context of ongoing and future anthropogenic global warming. Larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) were abundant and important components of shallow water ecosystems throughout the early Paleogene and are sensitive to environmental change, making them ideal organisms to track shallow marine biodiversity. Furthermore, through the use of integrated bio- and chemostratigraphy it is possible to correlate the shallow (<100 m) and deep water realms to create a regional stratigraphic framework for the time period. Here we present a new LBF biostratigraphic and high-resolution carbonate carbon isotopic record spanning the Paleocene– Eocene transition from the onshore sub-surface of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Results show a turnover event in the LBF assemblage during the early Eocene, wherein there are a number of first and last occurrences of species. However, assemblages remain generally stable coincident with the large negative carbon isotope excursion interpreted to be the onset of the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). Turnover in the LBF assemblage in the early Eocene likely occurred due to the crossing of a long-term climatic and oceanographic threshold. The impacts of this long-term climatic change on the overall biotic assemblage at this site are significant, with LBF outcompeting a previously diverse community of corals, gastropods, and bivalves to become the dominant carbonate producers through the Paleocene–Eocene transition. Despite this, modern studies suggest that LBF are not immune to impacts of anthropogenic climate change, perhaps due to the significantly higher rates of change in the modern compared to the Paleocene–Eocene transition.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)European Research Council (ERC

New age constraints on the Lower Jurassic Pliensbachian–Toarcian Boundary at Chacay Melehue (Neuquén Basin, Argentina)

The Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary interval is characterized by a ~ 3‰ negative carbon-isotope excursion (CIE) in organic and inorganic marine and terrestrial archives from sections in Europe, such as Peniche (Portugal) and Hawsker Bottoms, Yorkshire (UK). A new high-resolution organic-carbon isotope record, illustrating the same chemostratigraphic feature, is presented from the Southern Hemisphere Arroyo Chacay Melehue section, Chos Malal, Argentina, corroborating the global significance of this disturbance to the carbon cycle. The negative carbon-isotope excursion, mercury and organic-matter enrichment are accompanied by high-resolution ammonite and nannofossil biostratigraphy together with U–Pb CA-ID-TIMS geochronology derived from intercalated volcanic ash beds. A new age of ~ 183.73 + 0.35/− 0.50 Ma for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary, and 182.77 + 0.11/− 0.15 for the tenuicostatum–serpentinum zonal boundary, is assigned based on high-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology and a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) stratigraphic age model

Population response during an Oceanic Anoxic Event: The case of Posidonotis (Bivalvia) from the Lower Jurassic of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina

Benthonic marine species show a wide range of biological reactions to seawater chemical changes through time, from subtle adjustments to extinction. The Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) was recently recognized in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, confirming its global scope. The event was identified chemostratigraphically on the basis of a relative increase in marine organic carbon and a characteristic negative carbonisotope excursion (δ13Corg) in bulk rock and fossil wood in the upper Pliensbachian-lower Toarcian interval in the Arroyo Lapa section (Neuquén). Simultaneously with collection of lithological samples, a high-resolution biostratigraphical survey was carried out, and the scarce benthonic fauna was collected in order to check the biotic response to changing marine geochemical conditions. We present here an analysis of size and abundance data from the T-OAE interval in the Neuquén Basin for the dominant bivalve species, the paper-clam Posidonotis cancellata (Leanza), and relate these data to geochemical proxies (%TOC and δ13Corg) obtained at the same locality. The abundance of P. cancellata increased when the rest of the benthos diminished, reaching a maximum at the onset level of the T-OAE, and then decreasing. Size-frequency distributions show a noteworthy lack of juvenile shells. Shell size shows a positive correlation with %TOC in the whole section, though over the T-OAE interval proper, it decreases below the level where the maximum %TOC value is attained and increases above it. Posidonotis cancellata shows features of opportunistic species, such as high tolerance to hypoxia, strong dominance in impoverished environments and a strong dependence on primary productivity, but at the same time had a reproductive strategy more similar to equilibrium species, with relatively low juvenile mortality rates. Several anatomical features suggest adaptation to permanently dysaerobic environments. The species disappeared just before the minimum negative carbon-isotope value was reached; and by the same time the genus became extinct worldwide

Serum immune mediators as novel predictors of response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in non-small cell lung cancer patients with high tissue-PD-L1 expression

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) including anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies, have significantly changed the treatment outcomes with better overall survival, but only 15-40% of the patients respond to ICIs therapy. The search for predictive biomarkers of responses is warranted for better clinical outcomes. We aim here to identify pre-treatment soluble immune molecules as surrogate biomarkers for tissue PD-L1 (TPD-L1) status and as predictors of response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in NSCLC patients. Sera from 31 metastatic NSCLC patients, eligible for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 or combined chemoimmunotherapy, were collected prior to treatment. Analysis of soluble biomarkers with TPD-L1 status showed significant up/down regulation of the immune inhibitory checkpoint markers (sSiglec7, sSiglec9, sULBP4 and sPD-L2) in patients with higher TPD-L1 (TPD-L1 >50%) expression. Moreover, correlation analysis showed significant positive linear correlation of soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) with higher TPD-L1 expression. Interestingly, only responders in the TPD-L1 >50% group showed significant down regulation of the immune inhibitory markers (sPD-L2, sTIMD4, sNectin2 and CEA). When responders vs. non-responders were compared, significant down regulation of other immune inhibitory biomarkers (sCD80, sTIMD4 and CEA) was recorded only in responding patients. In this, the optimal cut-off values of CD80 <91.7 pg/ml and CEA <1614 pg/ml were found to be significantly associated with better progression free survival (PFS). Indeed, multivariate analysis identified the cutoff-value of CEA <1614 pg/ml as an independent predictor of response in our patients. We identified here novel immune inhibitory/stimulatory soluble mediators as potential surrogate/predictive biomarkers for TPD-L1 status, treatment response and PFS in NSCLC patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.This research was funded by Academic Health System, Medical Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, grant number MRC-01-20-507 and the Article Processing Charges was funded by Academic Health System, Medical Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. AcknowledgmentsScopu