Optimal Turnover Rates and Organizational Performance in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Until recent years, most public and nonprofit management studies have focused on the determinants of turnover rather than the consequences. In this line of literature, a better theory of turnover for public and nonprofit organizations, especially the one focused on outcomes of turnover, is needed. This dissertation seeks to advance our knowledge on the issues of turnover and organizational performance in public and nonprofit management. Using the three-paper model, the dissertation not only develops a theoretical model on turnover and performance, but also conduct empirical testing on how turnover affects the performance of public and nonprofit organizations. Specifically, the first essay presents an economic model based on turnover cost-benefit theories by incorporating labor market conditions and quality of employees, which can be applied regardless of sector and industry. To do so, I re-evaluate turnover and retention costs that change according to employee quality and labor supply and demand. I also propose several testable hypotheses for future scholars, which enable them to examine under what conditions the optimal rates of turnover change and how public managers would benefit from an occurrence of turnover. The second essay investigates the effects of employee turnover on organizational performance in Florida school districts, distinguishing types of turnover as voluntary and involuntary. In the essay, I find an inverted-U shaped relationship between involuntary turnover and organizational performance, first positive and then negative. The last essay tests an inverted-U shaped relationship in the context of the United Way nonprofit organizations. Findings suggest that governing board turnover rates have a nonlinear effect on nonprofit financial capacity, first positive and then negative. Taken together, both theoretical and empirical investigations in this dissertation suggest that optimal turnover rates exist and that those can vary by sector. The findings provide an important lesson for both scholars and practitioners that turnover should be appropriately managed, not necessarily minimized

Sector bias in public programs: US nonprofit hospitals

This letter investigates whether the public perceives nonprofit organizations different from private and public organizations and whether introducing new performance management systems would provide positive credits to organizations. Using two randomized survey experiments on US hospitals (one with adult sample and the other with student sample), we replicate the study of Hvidman and Andersen (2016) in Denmark with an extension of adding a nonprofit organization cue. The results show no sectoral differences among the hospitals and no positive feedback for adopting a new performance management system

Leadership and job satisfaction: addressing endogeneity with panel data from a field experiment

The interaction between leaders and employees plays a key role in determining organizational outcomes and performance. Although the human resources management literature posits positive effects of leadership behaviors on employee job satisfaction, the causal path between the two is unclear due to potential endogeneity issues inherent in this relationship. To address the issue, we first provide theoretical explanations about why and how transformational and transactional leadership behaviors would enhance employee job satisfaction. Second, we test the relationship between leadership behaviors and employee job satisfaction using panel data from a year-long randomized field experiment that engaged leaders and employees from hundreds of public and private organizations in Denmark. Primary findings suggest that although leadership training does not have direct effects on changes in employee job satisfaction, leadership-training-induced changes in leadership behaviors (transformational leadership and verbal rewards) are positively related to changes in job satisfaction

In Situ Self-Cross-Linkable, Long-Term Stable Hyaluronic Acid Filler by Gallol Autoxidation for Tissue Augmentation and Wrinkle Correction

Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.Injectable fillers mainly aim to augment tissue volume and correct wrinkles in cosmetic and plastic reconstructions. However, the development of long-lasting, injectable fillers with minimal complications of pain, toxicity, and displacement has been challenging because of the absence of reliable cross-linking chemistry. Here, we report a novel cross-linker-free injectable hydrogel formulated by autoxidation as a highly biocompatible, easily injectable, and long-term volumetrically stable filler agent. Self-cross-linkable hyaluronic acid (SC-HA) with gallol moieties could form a hydrogel via autoxidation of gallols in vivo without additional cross-linking agents. The gelation of SC-HA in situ after injection is accelerated by the self-production of oxygen species and endogenous peroxidase in vivo. The SC-HA filler does not require a high injection force, thus minimizing pain, bleeding, and tissue damage-associated complications. In addition, improved tissue adhesiveness of the SC-HA hydrogel by oxidized gallols (shear strength; 2 kPa) prevented displacement of the filler constructs from the injection site. The SC-HA filler retained its mechanical properties in vivo (600-700 Pa) for wrinkle correction and volumetric augmentation up to 1 year after injection. Overall, the performance of the SC-HA hydrogel as an injectable dermal filler was superior to that of commercially available, chemically cross-linked biphasic HA filler composites in terms of injectability, tissue adhesiveness, and long-term volumetric augmentation. Our injectable HA hydrogel with no need of cross-linkers provides a long-lasting filler that has clinical utility for cosmetic applications11sciescopu

Hemorrhagic pericarditis with cardiac tamponade after percutaneous coronary intervention associated with the use of abciximab

Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors, such as abciximab, are used as adjunctive therapy for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in high-risk non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), although their effects when used for STEMI are less clear. As the use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors becomes more widespread, determining the risks associated with them becomes more important. The major risks associated with the use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors are the potential for major bleeding and thrombocytopenia. This is the first reported case in Korea of hemorrhagic pericarditis resulting in cardiac tamponade associated with the use of abciximab, a commonly used GP Ilb/IIa inhibitor, following PCI

Dependence of reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching on photosystem II antenna size

AbstractThe effects of photosystem II antenna size on reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching (qE) were examined in rice plants grown under two different light intensities using both wild type and qE-less (OsPsbS knockout) mutant plants. Reaction center-type qE was detected by measuring non-photochemical quenching at 50 μmol photons m−2 s−1 white light intensity. We observed that in low light-grown rice plants, reaction center-type qE was higher than in high light-grown plants, and the amount of reaction center-type qE did not depend on zeaxanthin accumulation. This was confirmed in Arabidopsis npq1–2 mutant plants that lack zeaxanthin due to a mutation in the violaxanthin de-epoxidase enzyme. Although the electron transport rate measured at a light intensity of 50 μmol photons m−2 s−1 was the same in high light- and low light-grown wild type and mutant plants lacking PsbS protein, the generation of energy-dependent quenching was completely impaired only in mutant plants. Analyses of the pigment content, Lhcb proteins and D1 protein of PSII showed that the antenna size was larger in low light-grown plants, and this correlated with the amount of reaction center-type qE. Our results mark the first time that the reaction center-type qE has been shown to depend on photosystem II antenna size and, although it depends on the existence of PsbS protein, the extent of reaction center-type qE does not correlate with the transcript levels of PsbS protein. The presence of reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching, in addition to antenna-type quenching, in higher plants for dissipation of excess light energy demonstrates the complexity and flexibility of the photosynthetic apparatus of higher plants to respond to different environmental conditions

Usefulness of endoscopic resection using the band ligation method for rectal neuroendocrine tumors

Background/AimsRectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are among the most common of gastrointestinal NETs. Due to recent advances in endoscopy, various methods of complete endoscopic resection have been introduced for small (≤10 mm) rectal NETs. However, there is a debate about the optimal treatment for rectal NETs. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of endoscopic resection using pneumoband and elastic band (ER-BL) for rectal NETs smaller than 10 mm in diameter.MethodsA total of 55 patients who were diagnosed with rectal NET from January 2004 to December 2011 at Gil Medical Center were analyzed retrospectively. Sixteen patients underwent ER-BL. For comparison, 39 patients underwent conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR).ResultsThere was a markedly lower deep margin positive rate for ER-BL than for conventional EMR (6% [1/16] vs. 46% [18/39], P=0.029). Four patients who underwent conventional EMR experienced perforation or bleeding. However, they recovered within a few days. On the other hand, patients whounderwent endoscopic resection using a pneumoband did not experience any complications. In multivariate analysis, ER-BL (P=0.021) was independently associated with complete resection.ConclusionsER-BL is an effective endoscopic treatment with regards to deep margin resection for rectal NET smaller than 10 mm

Dairy Cattle, a Potential Reservoir of Human Campylobacteriosis: Epidemiological and Molecular Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni From Cattle Farms

Campylobacter jejuni is a major foodborne pathogen that is increasingly found worldwide and that is transmitted to humans through meat or dairy products. A detailed understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of C. jejuni in dairy cattle farms, which are likely to become sources of contamination, is imperative and is currently lacking. In this study, a total of 295 dairy cattle farm samples from 15 farms (24 visits) in Korea were collected. C. jejuni prevalence at the farm level was 60% (9/15) and at the animal level was 23.8% (68/266). Using the multivariable generalized estimating equation (GEE) model based on farm-environmental factors, we estimated that a high density of cattle and average environmental temperature (7 days prior to sampling) below 24°C affects the presence and survival of C. jejuni in the farm environment. Cattle isolates, together with C. jejuni from other sources (chicken and human), were genetically characterized based on analysis of 10 virulence and survival genes. A total of 19 virulence profile types were identified, with type 01 carrying eight genes (all except hcp and virB11) being the most prevalent. The prevalence of virB11 and hcp was significantly higher in isolates from cattle than in those from other sources (p < 0.05). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of C. jejuni isolates from three different sources mainly clustered in the CC-21 and CC-48. Within the CC-21 and CC-48 clusters, cattle isolates shared an indistinguishable pattern with human isolates according to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and flaA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. This suggests that CC-21 and CC-48 C. jejuni from dairy cattle are genetically related to clinical campylobacteriosis isolates. In conclusion, the farm environment influences the presence and survival of C. jejuni, which may play an important role in cycles of cattle re-infection, and dairy cattle represent potential reservoirs of human campylobacteriosis. Thus, environmental management practices could be implemented on cattle farms to reduce the shedding of C. jejuni from cattle, subsequently reducing the potential risk of the spread of cattle-derived C. jejuni to humans through the food chain