Feedback as intervention for team learning in virtual teams: the role of team cohesion and personality

Scholars and practitioners agree that virtual teams (VTs) have become commonplace in today's digital workplace. Relevant literature argues that learning constitutes a significant contributor to team member satisfaction and performance, and that, at least in face-to-face teams, team cohesion fosters team learning. Given the additional challenges VTs face, e.g. geographical dispersion, which are likely have a negative influence on cohesion, in this paper we shed light on the relationship between team cohesion and team learning. We adopted a quantitative approach and studied 54 VTs in our quest to understand the role of feedback in mediating this relationship and, more specifically, the role of personality traits in moderating the indirect effect of team feedback and guided reflection intervention on TL through team cohesion within the VT context. Our findings highlight the importance of considering aspects related to the team composition when devising intervention strategies for VTs, and provide empirical support for an interactionist model between personality and emergent states such as cohesion. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed

Perceived Social Support Network and Achievement : Mediation by Motivational Beliefs and Moderation by Gender

Research has shown that perceived social support (PSS) (from parents and teachers) influences achievement. However, little is known about how this relationship operates. This study examines the multiple mediational effects of students’ motivational beliefs in relationship to the association between PSS and mathematics achievement. The sample included the African countries that participated in the TIMSS 2011 (Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia). A bootstrap analysis indicated a unique pattern of the role of motivational beliefs in mediating the relationships between PSS and achievement. Moreover, gender was found to moderate the indirect effect in some countries. The findings indicate that total mediation effect of students’ motivational belief on the relationship between PSS and achievement is “culture-fair but not culture-free”Research has shown that perceived social support (PSS) (from parents and teachers) influences achievement. However, little is known about how this relationship operates. This study examines the multiple mediational effects of students’ motivational beliefs in relationship to the association between PSS and mathematics achievement. The sample included the African countries that participated in the TIMSS 2011 (Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia). A bootstrap analysis indicated a unique pattern of the role of motivational beliefs in mediating the relationships between PSS and achievement. Moreover, gender was found to moderate the indirect effect in some countries. The findings indicate that total mediation effect of students’ motivational belief on the relationship between PSS and achievement is “culture-fair but not culture-free”.Peer reviewe

CT-guided intratumoural administration of cisplatin/epinephrine gel for treatment of malignant liver tumours

To analyze prospectively the interventional and clinical aspects of computed tomography-guided direct intratumoural injection of a novel chemotherapeutic administration and the parenchymal changes of tumour and necrosis in malignant liver tumours. Eight patients with 17 colorectal liver metastases were treated with a mean of 5.1 injections and nine patients with 13 hepatocellular carcinoma nodules with a mean of 3.1 treatments with computed tomography guided local applications of a novel cisplatin/epinephrine gel. This application provides a higher local and lower systemic drug concentration. Volumes of tumour and necrosis prior and after treatment were measured by computer generated volumetric analysis. Contrast enhanced studies verified pretherapeutic viable tumour volumes with a value of 77.4 ml in the metastases and 29.2 ml in the hepatocellular carcinoma nodules. Intratumoural drug application resulted in a significant increase of necrosis and a decrease in viable tumour volume to be 68.3 ml in metastases and 14.5 ml in hepatocellular carcinoma. Local therapy control rate for the follow up to 6 months was 38 and 71% for the group of metastases and hepatocellular carcinoma, respectively. Direct intratumoural injection of cisplatin/epinepthrine injectable gel is a feasible and good tolerated method and results in the development of a statistically significant increase in necrosis in malignant liver tumours. For hepatocellular carcinoma a higher local therapy control rate compared to colorectal metastases can be reported

Computational Fluid Dynamics of Catalytic Reactors

Today, the challenge in chemical and material synthesis is not only the development of new catalysts and supports to synthesize a desired product, but also the understanding of the interaction of the catalyst with the surrounding flow field. Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD is the analysis of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer and chemical reactions by means of computer-based numerical simulations. CFD has matured into a powerful tool with a wide range of applications in industry and academia. From a reaction engineering perspective, main advantages are reduction of time and costs for reactor design and optimization, and the ability to study systems where experiments can hardly be performed, e.g., hazardous conditions or beyond normal operation limits. However, the simulation results will always remain a reflection of the uncertainty in the underlying models and physicochemical parameters so that in general a careful experimental validation is required. This chapter introduces the application of CFD simulations in heterogeneous catalysis. Catalytic reactors can be classified by the geometrical design of the catalyst material (e.g. monoliths, particles, pellets, washcoats). Approaches for modeling and numerical simulation of the various catalyst types are presented. Focus is put on the principal concepts for coupling the physical and chemical processes on different levels of details, and on illustrative applications. Models for surface reaction kinetics and turbulence are described and an overview on available numerical methods and computational tools is provided

Study protocol: The Intensive Care Outcome Network ('ICON') study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extended follow-up of survivors of ICU treatment has shown many patients suffer long-term physical and psychological consequences that affect their health-related quality of life. The current lack of rigorous longitudinal studies means that the true prevalence of these physical and psychological problems remains undetermined.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The ICON (Intensive Care Outcome Network) study is a multi-centre, longitudinal study of survivors of critical illness. Patients will be recruited prior to hospital discharge from 20–30 ICUs in the UK and will be assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months following ICU discharge for health-related quality of life as measured by the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the EuroQoL (EQ-5D); anxiety and depression as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as measured by the PTSD Civilian Checklist (PCL-C). Postal questionnaires will be used.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The ICON study will create a valuable UK database detailing the prevalence of physical and psychological morbidity experienced by patients as they recover from critical illness. Knowledge of the prevalence of physical and psychological morbidity in ICU survivors is important because research to generate models of causality, prognosis and treatment effects is dependent on accurate determination of prevalence. The results will also inform economic modelling of the long-term burden of critical illness.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN69112866</p

Caspase-2-mediated cell death is required for deleting aneuploid cells

Caspase-2, one of the most evolutionarily conserved of the caspase family, has been implicated in maintenance of chromosomal stability and tumour suppression. Caspase-2 deficient (Casp2-/-) mice develop normally but show premature ageing-related traits and when challenged by certain stressors, succumb to enhanced tumour development and aneuploidy. To test how caspase-2 protects against chromosomal instability, we utilized an ex vivo system for aneuploidy where primary splenocytes from Casp2-/- mice were exposed to anti-mitotic drugs and followed up by live cell imaging. Our data show that caspase-2 is required for deleting mitotically aberrant cells. Acute silencing of caspase-2 in cultured human cells recapitulated these results. We further generated Casp2C320S mutant mice to demonstrate that caspase-2 catalytic activity is essential for its function in limiting aneuploidy. Our results provide direct evidence that the apoptotic activity of caspase-2 is necessary for deleting cells with mitotic aberrations to limit aneuploidy.S Dawar, Y Lim, J Puccini, M White, P Thomas, L Bouchier-Hayes, D R Green, L Dorstyn and S Kuma

Are Pain Intensity and Pain Related Fear Related to Functional Capacity Evaluation Performances of Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain?

Introduction: Pain related fear and pain intensity have been identified as factors negatively influencing Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) performances in patients with CLBP. Conflicting results have been reported in the literature. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships between pain intensity and pain-related fear on the one hand, and performances during an FCE on the other hand in two samples of patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: Two cross sectional observation studies were performed with two samples of patients with CLBP (study 1: n = 79; study 2: n = 58). Pain related fears were operationally defined as the score on the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in study 1, and the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) in study 2. Pain intensity was measured with a Numeric Rating Scale in both studies. Avoidance behavior observed during FCE was in both studies operationally defined as the unwillingness to engage in high intensity performance levels of three different functional activities: high intensity lifting, prolonged standing in a forward bend position, and fast repetitive bending at the waist. Results: A total of 25 correlations between pain and pain related fear, and performance variables were calculated, out of which 7 were significant (p < 0.05). The strength of these significant correlations ranged from r = −0.23 to r = −0.50. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed non-significant relationships in most instances. Pain and pain related fear contributed little if any to these models. Conclusions: The relation between pain and pain related fear and FCE performance is weak or non-existent in patients with CLBP

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Project FIT: Rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a school- and community-based intervention to address physical activity and healthy eating among low-income elementary school children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper describes Project FIT, a collaboration between the public school system, local health systems, physicians, neighborhood associations, businesses, faith-based leaders, community agencies and university researchers to develop a multi-faceted approach to promote physical activity and healthy eating toward the general goal of preventing and reducing childhood obesity among children in Grand Rapids, MI, USA.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>There are four overall components to Project FIT: school, community, social marketing, and school staff wellness - all that focus on: 1) increasing access to safe and affordable physical activity and nutrition education opportunities in the schools and surrounding neighborhoods; 2) improving the affordability and availability of nutritious food in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools; 3) improving the knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity among school staff, parents and students; 4) impacting the 'culture' of the schools and neighborhoods to incorporate healthful values; and 5) encouraging dialogue among all community partners to leverage existing programs and introduce new ones.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>At baseline, there was generally low physical activity (70% do not meet recommendation of 60 minutes per day), excessive screen time (75% do not meet recommendation of < 2 hours per day), and low intake of vegetables and whole grains and high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, French fries and chips and desserts as well as a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (48.5% including 6% with severe obesity) among low income, primarily Hispanic and African American 3^rd-5^thgrade children (n = 403).</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><b>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01385046">NCT01385046</a></b></p

Neuroanatomical heterogeneity and homogeneity in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) demonstrate heterogeneity in clinical profiles and outcome features. However, the extent of neuroanatomical heterogeneity in the CHR-P state is largely undetermined. We aimed to quantify the neuroanatomical heterogeneity in structural magnetic resonance imaging measures of cortical surface area (SA), cortical thickness (CT), subcortical volume (SV), and intracranial volume (ICV) in CHR-P individuals compared with healthy controls (HC), and in relation to subsequent transition to a first episode of psychosis. The ENIGMA CHR-P consortium applied a harmonised analysis to neuroimaging data across 29 international sites, including 1579 CHR-P individuals and 1243 HC, offering the largest pooled CHR-P neuroimaging dataset to date. Regional heterogeneity was indexed with the Variability Ratio (VR) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) ratio applied at the group level. Personalised estimates of heterogeneity of SA, CT and SV brain profiles were indexed with the novel Person-Based Similarity Index (PBSI), with two complementary applications. First, to assess the extent of within-diagnosis similarity or divergence of neuroanatomical profiles between individuals. Second, using a normative modelling approach, to assess the 'normativeness' of neuroanatomical profiles in individuals at CHR-P. CHR-P individuals demonstrated no greater regional heterogeneity after applying FDR corrections. However, PBSI scores indicated significantly greater neuroanatomical divergence in global SA, CT and SV profiles in CHR-P individuals compared with HC. Normative PBSI analysis identified 11 CHR-P individuals (0.70%) with marked deviation (>1.5?SD) in SA, 118 (7.47%) in CT and 161 (10.20%) in SV. Psychosis transition was not significantly associated with any measure of heterogeneity. Overall, our examination of neuroanatomical heterogeneity within the CHR-P state indicated greater divergence in neuroanatomical profiles at an individual level, irrespective of psychosis conversion. Further large-scale investigations are required of those who demonstrate marked deviation.© 2022. The Author(s)