An appraisal of the utility of current measures in estimating the population subregions of Virginia

The need for estimating population below the state level during intercensal periods has been recognized for a number of years. Many varied methods have been suggested as possible measures; this thesis will examine and test some of these current measures with respect to the situation in Virginia and will also experiment with a new technique

Best Practices for Internal Communications to Improve Employee Engagement

The purpose of this study is to recommend best practices for employee engagement through internal communications strategy. This study utilizes a survey of the communications preferences and habits of employees in a mid-size healthcare company, Premier Inc., recommendations from internal communications professionals, and standards from published communications professionals. It was discovered that many employees still preferred email communication over multimedia such as video or podcasts, though several professionals feel email is outdated. Additionally, Premier’s current strategy had good overall engagement with 88% of survey respondents feeling that they are least mostly informed about what’s happening in their company. Overall communication strategy was found to work best in enhancing engagement when created around employees’ most-used platforms and channels and featuring their topics of concern such as company events and benefits, all with well-formatted text and webpages. In conclusion, the best method for creating an overall communications strategy is to choose the platforms that employees interact with the most on a daily basis (e.g., Microsoft Teams for Premier employees) and utilize those to increase employee engagement with internal communications and the company as a whole.Master of Arts in Digital Communicatio

High cyclin A expression, but not Ki67, is associated with early recurrence in desmoid tumors

Background and Objectives: Desmoid tumors are soft-tissue tumors originating from myofibroblasts with a tendency to recur after surgery. High expression of proliferation markers is associated with shortened progression-free and/or overall survival in many neoplasms, including soft-tissue sarcomas. We investigated the prognostic role of cyclin A and Ki67 in desmoid tumors by immunohistochemistry. Methods: The study included 76 patients with desmoid tumor operated at Helsinki University Hospital between 1987 and 2011. A tissue micro array (TMA) was constructed and the TMA sections were immunostained with cyclin A and Ki67 antibodies. A computer-assisted image analysis was performed. Results: Cyclin A expression was evaluable in 74 and Ki67 in 70 patients. Cyclin A immunopositivity varied from 0% to 9.9%, with a mean of 1.9%. Cyclin A expression correlated significantly with Ki67. Cyclin A expression was associated with recurrence-free survival (HR 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1-3.2, P = .02), as were positive margin (HR 6.0, 95% CI = 1.6-22.5, P = .008) and extremity location (HR 5.3, 95% CI = 1.7-16.8, P = 0.005). Ki67 immunopositivity varied from 0.33% to 13.8%, with a mean of 4.6%, but had no significant prognostic impact (HR 1.1, P = .2). Conclusions: Our study indicates that cyclin A may be a new prognostic biomarker in surgically treated desmoid tumors.Peer reviewe

Clinical outcome and prognostic factors for central neurocytoma: twenty year institutional experience

Central neurocytomas are uncommon intraventricular neoplasms whose optimal management remains controversial due to their rarity. We assessed outcomes for a historical cohort of neurocytoma patients and evaluated effects of tumor atypia, size, resection extent, and adjuvant radiotherapy. Progression-free survival (PFS) was measured by Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards methods. A total of 28 patients (15 males, 13 females) were treated between 1995 and 2014, with a median age at diagnosis of 26 years (range 5-61). Median follow-up was 62.2 months and 3 patients were lost to follow-up postoperatively. Thirteen patients experienced recurrent/progressive disease and 2-year PFS was 75% (95% CI 53-88%). Two-year PFS was 48% for MIB-1 labeling >4% versus 90% for ≤4% (HR 5.4, CI 2.2-27.8, p = 0.0026). Nine patients (32%) had gross total resections (GTR) and 19 (68%) had subtotal resections (STR). PFS for >80% resection was 83 versus 67% for ≤80% resection (HR 0.67, CI 0.23-2.0, p = 0.47). Three STR patients (16%) received adjuvant radiation which significantly improved overall PFS (p = 0.049). Estimated 5-year PFS was 67% for STR with radiotherapy versus 53% for STR without radiotherapy. Salvage therapy regimens were diverse and resulted in stable disease for 54% of patients and additional progression for 38 %. Two patients with neuropathology-confirmed atypical neurocytomas died at 4.3 and 113.4 months after initial surgery. For central neurocytomas, MIB-1 labeling index >4% is predictive of poorer outcome and our data suggest that adjuvant radiotherapy after STR may improve PFS. Most patients requiring salvage therapy will be stabilized and multiple modalities can be effectively utilized

NEK Family Review and Correlations with Patient Survival Outcomes in Various Cancer Types

The Never in Mitosis Gene A (NIMA)–related kinases (NEKs) are a group of serine/threonine kinases that are involved in a wide array of cellular processes including cell cycle regulation, DNA damage repair response (DDR), apoptosis, and microtubule organization. Recent studies have identified the involvement of NEK family members in various diseases such as autoimmune disorders, malignancies, and developmental defects. Despite the existing literature exemplifying the importance of the NEK family of kinases, this family of protein kinases remains understudied. This report seeks to provide a foundation for investigating the role of different NEKs in malignancies. We do this by evaluating the 11 NEK family kinase gene expression associations with patients’ overall survival (OS) from various cancers using the Kaplan–Meier Online Tool (KMPlotter) to correlate the relationship between mRNA expression of NEK1-11 in various cancers and patient survival. Furthermore, we use the Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database to identify NEK family mutations in cancers of different tissues. Overall, the data suggest that the NEK family has varying associations with patient survival in different cancers with tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting effects being tissue-dependent

Hierarchically nested identities and motivation to help at work : a social identity perspective

Helping behaviours at work have significant associations with the organisations' long term performance. however it is difficultly to make formal agreements with employees describing when and how they should help because effective helping behaviours are dynamic and what is helpful in one situation may not be helpful in another. However, if employees become intrinsically motivated to help others they may respond efficiently in situations where help is beneficial. Social identity theory (SIT) and self-categorisation theory (SCT) (Tajfel & Turner. 1986) describe when the group becomes self and influences behaviours.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo