Boss competence and worker well-being

Nearly all workers have a supervisor or “boss.” Yet little is known about how bosses influence the quality of employees’ lives. This study offers new evidence. First, the authors find that a boss’s technical competence is the single strongest predictor of a worker’s job satisfaction. Second, they demonstrate using longitudinal data, after controlling for fixed-effects, that even if a worker stays in the same job and workplace, a rise in the competence of a supervisor is associated with an improvement in the worker’s well-being. Third, the authors report a variety of robustness checks, including tentative instrumental variable results. These findings, which draw on U.S. and British data, contribute to an emerging literature on the role of “expert leaders” in organizations

Identification of Complex Rumen Microbiome Interaction Within Diverse Functional Niches as Mechanisms Affecting the Variation of Methane Emissions in Bovine

A network analysis including relative abundances of all ruminal microbial genera (archaea, bacteria, fungi, and protists) and their genes was performed to improve our understanding of how the interactions within the ruminal microbiome affects methane emissions (CH 4). Metagenomics and CH 4 data were available from 63 bovines of a two-breed rotational cross, offered two basal diets. Co-abundance network analysis revealed 10 clusters of functional niches. The most abundant hydrogenotrophic Methanobacteriales with key microbial genes involved in methanogenesis occupied a different functional niche (i.e., "methanogenesis" cluster) than methylotrophic Methanomassiliicoccales (Candidatus Methanomethylophylus) and acetogens ( Blautia). Fungi and protists clustered together and other plant fiber degraders like Fibrobacter occupied a seperate cluster. A Partial Least Squares analysis approach to predict CH 4 variation in each cluster showed the methanogenesis cluster had the best prediction ability (57.3%). However, the most important explanatory variables in this cluster were genes involved in complex carbohydrate degradation, metabolism of sugars and amino acids and Candidatus Azobacteroides carrying nitrogen fixation genes, but not methanogenic archaea and their genes. The cluster containing Fibrobacter, isolated from other microorganisms, was positively associated with CH 4 and explained 49.8% of its variability, showing fermentative advantages compared to other bacteria and fungi in providing substrates (e.g., formate) for methanogenesis. In other clusters, genes with enhancing effect on CH 4 were related to lactate and butyrate ( Butyrivibrio and Pseudobutyrivibrio) production and simple amino acids metabolism. In comparison, ruminal genes negatively related to CH 4 were involved in carbohydrate degradation via lactate and succinate and synthesis of more complex amino acids by γ-Proteobacteria. When analyzing low- and high-methane emitters data in separate networks, competition between methanogens in the methanogenesis cluster was uncovered by a broader diversity of methanogens involved in the three methanogenesis pathways and larger interactions within and between communities in low compared to high emitters. Generally, our results suggest that differences in CH 4 are mainly explained by other microbial communities and their activities rather than being only methanogens-driven. Our study provides insight into the interactions of the rumen microbial communities and their genes by uncovering functional niches affecting CH 4, which will benefit the development of efficient CH 4 mitigation strategies

Survey of the quality of experimental design, statistical analysis and reporting of research using animals

For scientific, ethical and economic reasons, experiments involving animals should be appropriately designed, correctly analysed and transparently reported. This increases the scientific validity of the results, and maximises the knowledge gained from each experiment. A minimum amount of relevant information must be included in scientific publications to ensure that the methods and results of a study can be reviewed, analysed and repeated. Omitting essential information can raise scientific and ethical concerns. We report the findings of a systematic survey of reporting, experimental design and statistical analysis in published biomedical research using laboratory animals. Medline and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting research on live rats, mice and non-human primates carried out in UK and US publicly funded research establishments. Detailed information was collected from 271 publications, about the objective or hypothesis of the study, the number, sex, age and/or weight of animals used, and experimental and statistical methods. Only 59% of the studies stated the hypothesis or objective of the study and the number and characteristics of the animals used. Appropriate and efficient experimental design is a critical component of high-quality science. Most of the papers surveyed did not use randomisation (87%) or blinding (86%), to reduce bias in animal selection and outcome assessment. Only 70% of the publications that used statistical methods described their methods and presented the results with a measure of error or variability. This survey has identified a number of issues that need to be addressed in order to improve experimental design and reporting in publications describing research using animals. Scientific publication is a powerful and important source of information; the authors of scientific publications therefore have a responsibility to describe their methods and results comprehensively, accurately and transparently, and peer reviewers and journal editors share the responsibility to ensure that published studies fulfil these criteria

ROBERT BURNS AND FRIENDS essays by W. Ormiston Roy Fellows presented to G. Ross Roy

Robert Burns & Friends essays by W. Ormiston Roy Fellows presented to G. Ross Roy edited by Patrick Scott and Kenneth Simpson This volume of essays about the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) pays tribute to the distinguished Burns scholar G. Ross Roy. Subjects covered include writers who influenced Burns; aspects of the writing of Burns and that of his friends and contemporaries; and Burns\u27s influence on later writers. The volume also includes essays on Ross Roy\u27s own accomplishments and on the Burns collection he built (now at the University of South Carolina), together with a checklist of his published writings. G. Ross Roy, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature, founded the journal Studies in Scottish Literature in 1963, and as its editor for nearly fifty years he has had a central role in establishing international academic recognition for the field. His own scholarly work includes the standard Letters of Robert Burns (2 vols., Clarendon Press, 1985). His contributions to Scottish literature have earned him honorary doctorates from the Universities of Edinburgh (2002) and Glasgow (2009). The contributors are all former W. Ormiston Roy Visiting Fellows at the University of South Carolina. This book is also available in a print edition (ISBN: 978-1439270974) through the usual on-line vendors. It is not available for direct purchase from the editors or the University of South Carolina

Identification of Rumen Microbial Genes Involved in Pathways Linked to Appetite, Growth, and Feed Conversion Efficiency in Cattle

The project was supported by grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC BB/N01720X/1 and BB/N016742/1) and by the Scottish Government (RESAS Division) as part of the 2016–2021 commission. The research is based on data from experiments funded by the Scottish Government as part of the 2011–2016 commission, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Beef & Lamb, Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), and Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Poverty and the multiple stakeholder challenge for global leaders

The article presents a case study in which business leaders deal with challenging problems related to poverty, involving multiple stakeholders. This emphasizes the importance of training prospective global leaders to manage stakeholder relationships and engage in stakeholder dialogue. The authors highlight the stakeholder role played by nongovernmental organizations and include a simulation that develops stakeholder dialogue skills. They identify practical lessons and assumptions underlying business education that are not shared by all stakeholders in the context of poverty

The rumen microbiome as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity genes is directly affected by diet in beef cattle

Abstract Background The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is the most urgent current threat to human and animal health. An improved understanding of the abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes and genes associated with microbial colonisation and pathogenicity in the animal gut will have a major role in reducing the contribution of animal production to this problem. Here, the influence of diet on the ruminal resistome and abundance of pathogenicity genes was assessed in ruminal digesta samples taken from 50 antibiotic-free beef cattle, comprising four cattle breeds receiving two diets containing different proportions of concentrate. Results Two hundred and four genes associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR), colonisation, communication or pathogenicity functions were identified from 4966 metagenomic genes using KEGG identification. Both the diversity and abundance of these genes were higher in concentrate-fed animals. Chloramphenicol and microcin resistance genes were dominant in samples from forage-fed animals (P < 0.001), while aminoglycoside and streptomycin resistances were enriched in concentrate-fed animals. The concentrate-based diet also increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, which includes many animal and zoonotic pathogens. A high ratio of Proteobacteria to (Firmicutes + Bacteroidetes) was confirmed as a good indicator for rumen dysbiosis, with eight cases all from concentrate-fed animals. Finally, network analysis demonstrated that the resistance/pathogenicity genes are potentially useful as biomarkers for health risk assessment of the ruminal microbiome. Conclusions Diet has important effects on the complement of AMR genes in the rumen microbial community, with potential implications for human and animal health