The work readiness scale (WRS): developing a measure to assess work readiness in college graduates

Work readiness is a relatively new concept which has emerged in the literature as a selection criterion for predicting graduate potential. Its definition and validity however, is contentious. To address this issue, the current study aimed to identify the attributes and characteristics that comprise work readiness and develop a scale to assess graduate work readiness. A qualitative study was conducted to assist in generating a representative pool of items for quantitative measurement. The resultant 167 item Work Readiness Scale (WRS) which we developed was validated in a sample of 251 graduates across a range of disciplines. Item analysis assisted in refining the scale. Exploratory factor analyses supported a 4-factor solution, with the final WRS consisting of 64 items. The four factors explained 44.7% of the variance, demonstrated excellent reliability and were labelled personal characteristics, organisational acumen, work competence, and social intelligence. The findings indicate that work readiness is a multidimensional construct and initial evidence is provided for the construct validity of the WRS

Disaster Awareness Simulation for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Android Virtual Reality

The study serves as a technological advancement for learning, utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) and a new experience for children, adolescents, and adults especially with autism disorder. Safety and preparedness are major concerns regarding disasters and calamities. In 2014, 324 natural disasters were registered and 140.8 million people became victims worldwide. The study also wants to catch the attention of the children with autism using VR, immersing them inside the VR world teaching them to be prepared and ready against calamities and disasters. The intention of the study is to create an immersive simulation of different events about disasters to raise awareness of these children towards disaster and calamity. It consists of series of decision making, giving them a choice of what is right and what is wrong. The proponents created simulation in a portable way, utilizing ICT as learning material to expand the social and cognitive development of the children with ASD in emergencies and disaster situation. The system was tested and evaluated by the different professionals and experts related to the study that obtained overall evaluation of 4.39 which was highly acceptable to the respondents. Furthermore, it is well recommended to deploy the system to the school of special children to experience a good tool to educate the children with ASD. Lastly, it should be used and tested as training material for fast responses to any disaster, calamity and emergency situation

The success elements of humor use in workplace leadership: A proposed framework with cognitive and emotional competencies.

This qualitative study aims to investigate the competencies and effectiveness of humor use in workplace leadership. By exploring the elements underlying successful and unsuccessful humor use, this research offers insights into the competencies required for leaders to leverage humor effectively. Adopting a qualitative inductive approach, fifteen individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, generating a dataset of 51 critical incidents of humor use. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes, resulting in the identification of five central elements: Reading the context, Intention and motivation, Judgement and decision, Skillful delivery, and Understanding reactions. These elements provide a comprehensive framework for understanding humor use in the context of workplace leadership, emphasizing the importance of cognitive and emotional intelligence / competencies. The study proposes a theoretical framework based on these findings, providing the foundation of a new paradigm for understanding and measuring humor use. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the competencies and complexities involved in using humor as a leadership tool and provides practical implications for leaders aiming to enhance their leadership effectiveness through humor

Database Tipologias cafetaleras en Centroamerica

En esta base de datos se encuentran encuestas realizadas a propietarios de fincas cafetaleras de Costa Rica, Nicaragua y El Salvador, realizadas por estudiantes de maestria en sus correspondientes investigaciones de tesis para determinar y clasificar las tipologias cafetaleras de Centroamerica. Son archivos en formato Excel (.XLS) y contienen toda la informacion socieconomica y biofisica de las fincas encuestadas

Derived Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts Pathological Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer.

Derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) is a biomarker associated with clinical outcome in breast cancer (BC). We analyzed the association of dNLR with pathological complete response (pCR) in triple-negative BC (TNBC) patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT). This is a retrospective analysis of two randomized studies involving early stage/locally advanced TNBC patients receiving anthracycline/taxane-based CT+/-carboplatin (GEICAM/2006-03) or nab-paclitaxel/paclitaxel followed by anthracycline regimen (ETNA). dNLR was calculated as the ratio of neutrophils to the difference between total leukocytes and neutrophils in peripheral blood before CT (baseline) and at the end of treatment (EOT). Logistic regression analyses were used to explore dNLR association with pCR. In total, 308 TNBC patients were analyzed, 216 from ETNA and 92 from GEICAM/2006-03. Baseline median dNLR was 1.61 (interquartile range (IQR): 1.25-2.04) and at EOT 1.53 (IQR: 0.96-2.22). Baseline dNLR showed positive correlation with increased tumor size (p-value = 1e-04). High baseline dNLR, as continuous variable or using median cutoff, was associated with lower likelihood of pCR in univariate analysis. High EOT dNLR as continuous variable or using quartiles was also associated with lower pCR rate in uni- and multivariate analyses. High baseline and EOT dNLR correlates with lower benefit from neoadjuvant CT in TNBC