The Linkages Between Commitment to Sustainability, Organizational Culture, Quality Management, and Organizational Performance

The growing economic pressures, rising awareness of the importance of environmental protection, and stringent global regulations are leading to more integration of sustainability initiatives into corporate strategies across multiple industries. These sustainability initiatives can alter organization cultures and affect employee perceptions and organizational outcomes. In this study, 331 respondents from a wide variety of industries in the South were surveyed. Results showed that companies’ overall green/sustainability orientation is related to organizational culture, quality management maturity, and companies’ performance. The findings implied that it is imperative to develop an organizational culture that is supportive of quality and sustainability to ensure the success of the green initiatives

Relationships Among Annual Revenue and Green Initiatives, Quality Management, and Organizational Performance

Today’s global awareness of environmental risks and the pressing needs to compete through efficiency have led to stronger initiatives in the green movement across industries. We examine organizations’ annual revenue levels and their connections to organizational green orientation and impact, quality management programs, and employee perceptions of cultural practices and organizational performance. Results indicate high-revenue organizations use quality management tools more extensively with greater green impact and low-revenue organizations have a more informal and decentralized organizational cultur

Improved Federated Learning for Handling Long-tail Words

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) machine learning models are deployed on client devices that include speech interfaces. ASR models can benefit from continuous learning and adaptation to large-scale changes, e.g., as new words are added to the vocabulary. While federated learning can be utilized to enable continuous learning for ASR models in a privacy preserving manner, the trained model can perform poorly on rarely occurring, long-tail words if the distribution of data used to train the model is skewed and does not adequately represent long-tail words. This disclosure describes federated learning techniques to improve ASR model quality when interpreting long-tail words given an imbalanced data distribution. Two different approaches - probabilistic sampling and client loss weighting - are described herein. In probabilistic sampling, the federated clients that include fewer long-tail words are less likely to be selected during training. In client loss weighting, incorrect predictions on long-tail words are more heavily penalized than for other words

Organizational Culture and Quality Improvement on Sustainability Performance During the First Year of Covid-19 in the Healthcare Industry

This research examines employees’ perceptions of green practices implemented in organizations and their impacts on sustainability performance focusing on the healthcare industry during the first year of COVID-19. It explores how organizational culture and quality improvement practices affect the relationship between green practices and sustainability performance. Results indicate a multi-level framework that organizational culture and quality improvement practices significantly affect the relationship between green practices and healthcare organizations’ sustainability performance

Sustainability and Quality Management in Healthcare During COVID-19

This study aims to examine the relationships between healthcare organizations’ sustainability performance and 1) green sustainability practices, 2) organizational culture, and 3) quality management practices. We proposed a conceptual model of the relationships and formulated three hypotheses. The findings showed that green initiatives and quality management practices affect healthcare organizations’ sustainability performance, specifically social and environmental performance. The findings did not support the contribution role of organizational culture on sustainability performance. This study provides important strategic guidance for healthcare professionals who work to balance the implementation of corporate green practices and the triple bottom line dimensions of sustainability performance. The results showed that positive sustainability outcomes can be achieved when healthcare organizations commit to environmental issues and strategically invest in cost-efficient and eco-friendly initiatives

Top-Down Effects on Multiple Meaning Access within and between Languages.

This research investigates context effects on multiple meaning access during word recognition. Previous monolingual word recognition research suggests that multiple meanings of homographs are temporarily activated. In disambiguating context, Reordered Access predicts multiple meaning activation, while Selective Access predicts single meaning activation. The difference arises from differences in their predictions for contextuallyinappropriate meanings: Reordered Access predicts no context effects, and Selective Access predicts suppression due to context. Two eyetracking during listening experiments showed that top-down context both increased activation of the appropriate meaning of a homophone and decreased activation of the inappropriate meaning, however, multiple meanings were still activated. Thus, a strict form of neither Reordered Access or Selective Access can account for the present results. Most previous research on context effects on homophone resolution assumed that participants fully engaged in the sentence processing tasks and fully understood the sentence contexts. However, if this assumption is invalid, the conclusions of previous studies may also be invalid. Two naming experiments investigated motivational effects (monetary compensation, supervision, feedback) on homograph meaning resolution. The results indicated that participant motivation increased overall task performance, but did not reliably affect homograph meaning activation. Previous bilingual research has found that word-initial cohort competitors from multiple languages are activated, even in monolingual contexts. BIA+ and BIMOLA both account for multiple language activation, but differ in how context affects the nontarget language. BIA+ assumes that lexicons of multiple languages are integrated; context affects words in both languages simultaneously. In contrast, BIMOLA assumes that lexicons of multiple languages are stored in different language networks; context effects can be selective to one language. Three eyetracking-during-listening experiments showed that biasing context increased activation of the target language meaning, but did not affect the nontarget language activation. Thus, context effects on multiple language activation are language-selective, although multiple languages are activated, supporting the BIMOLA. The present set of experiments demonstrated that regardless of surrounding context, multiple meanings and multiple languages are activated. Biasing context plays a role in modulating lexical activation, both facilitating appropriate meanings and inhibiting inappropriate meanings. However, context effects modulate meaning activation only in the target language.Ph.D.PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61551/1/lillianc_1.pd

Locus coeruleus input to hippocampal CA3 drives single-trial learning of a novel context

The memory for a new episode is formed immediately upon experience and can last up to a lifetime. It has been shown that the hippocampal network plays a fundamental role in the rapid acquisition of a memory of a one-time experience, in which the novelty component of the experience promotes the prompt formation of the memory. However, it remains unclear which neural circuits convey the novelty signal to the hippocampus for the single-trial learning. Here, we show that during encoding neuromodulatory input from locus coeruleus (LC) to CA3, but not CA1 or to the dentate gyrus, is necessary to facilitate novel contextual learning. Silencing LC activity during exposure to a novel context reduced subsequent reactivation of the engram cell ensembles in CA3 neurons and in downstream CA1 upon reexposure to the same context. Calcium imaging of the cells reactivated in both novel and familiar contexts revealed that suppression of LC inputs at the time of encoding resulted in more variable place fields in CA3 neurons. These results suggest that neuromodulatory input from LC to CA3 is crucial for the formation of a persistent memory in the hippocampus

Don’t worry deer, predators are not real (no one has seen one before).

The absence of natural predators could have profound behavioral and ecological impacts. Black tail deer (BTD) on Blakely Island provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of predation as there is a multigenerational lack of predators on the island. Therefore, the current study was designed to determine if the lack of predators has a behavioral impact (e.g., vigilance) on BTD as well as forest ecology. Two Douglas Fir saplings, and either cow or wolf urine, were placed in ten locations across the island. Trail cameras recorded BTD behavior. We predicted that predator cues would influence BTD behaviors and foraging

CXCR7 antagonism prevents axonal injury during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis as revealed by in vivo axial diffusivity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is characterized by the pathological trafficking of leukocytes into the central nervous system (CNS). Using the murine MS model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), we previously demonstrated that antagonism of the chemokine receptor CXCR7 blocks endothelial cell sequestration of CXCL12, thereby enhancing the abluminal localization of CXCR4-expressing leukocytes. CXCR7 antagonism led to decreased parenchymal entry of leukocytes and amelioration of ongoing disease during EAE. Of note, animals that received high doses of CXCR7 antagonist recovered to baseline function, as assessed by standard clinical scoring. Because functional recovery reflects axonal integrity, we utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate axonal injury in CXCR7 antagonist- versus vehicle-treated mice after recovery from EAE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>C57BL6/J mice underwent adoptive transfer of MOG-reactive Th1 cells and were treated daily with either CXCR7 antagonist or vehicle for 28 days; and then evaluated by DTI to assess for axonal injury. After imaging, spinal cords underwent histological analysis of myelin and oligodendrocytes via staining with luxol fast blue (LFB), and immunofluorescence for myelin basic protein (MBP) and glutathione S-transferase-π (GST-π). Detection of non-phosphorylated neurofilament H (NH-F) was also performed to detect injured axons. Statistical analysis for EAE scores, DTI parameters and non-phosphorylated NH-F immunofluorescence were done by ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test. For all statistical analysis a p < 0.05 was considered significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vivo </it>DTI maps of spinal cord ventrolateral white matter (VLWM) axial diffusivities of naïve and CXCR7 antagonist-treated mice were indistinguishable, while vehicle-treated animals exhibited decreased axial diffusivities. Quantitative differences in injured axons, as assessed via detection of non-phosphorylated NH-F, were consistent with axial diffusivity measurements. Overall, qualitative myelin content and presence of oligodendrocytes were similar in all treatment groups, as expected by their radial diffusivity values. <b/>Quantitative assessment of persistent inflammatory infiltrates revealed significant decreases within the parenchyma of CXCR7 antagonist-treated mice versus controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that CXCR7 antagonism not only prevents persistent inflammation but also preserves axonal integrity. Thus, targeting CXCR7 modifies both disease severity and recovery during EAE, suggesting a role for this molecule in both phases of disease.</p

Impact of pharmacodynamic biomarkers in immuno-oncology phase 1 clinical trials

Background: Phase 1 immuno-oncology (IO) trials frequently involve pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker assessments involving tumour biopsies and/or blood collection, with increasing use of molecular imaging. PD biomarkers are set to play a fundamental role in early drug development of immuno-oncology (IO) agents. In the IO era, the impact of PD biomarkers for confirmation of biologic activity and their role in subsequent drug development have not been investigated. Methods: Phase 1 studies published between January 2014 and December 2020 were reviewed. Studies that reported on-treatment PD biomarkers [tissue-derived (tissue-PD), blood-based (blood-PD) and imaging-based (imaging-PD)] were analysed. PD biomarker results and their correlation with clinical activity endpoints were evaluated. Authors' statements on the influence of PD biomarkers on further drug development decisions, and subsequent citations of PD biomarker study results were recorded. Results: Among 386 trials, the most frequent IO agent classes evaluated were vaccines (32%) and PD-(L)1 inhibitors (25%). No PD biomarker assessments were reported in 100 trials (26%). Of the remaining 286, blood-PD, tissue-PD, and imaging-PD data were reported in 270 (94%), 94 (33%), and 12 (4%) trials, respectively. Assessments of more than one PD biomarker type were reported in 82 studies (29%). Similar proportions of blood-PD (9%), tissue-PD (7%), and imaging-PD studies (8%) had positive results that correlated with clinical activity. Results of 22 PD biomarker studies (8%) were referenced in subsequent clinical trials. Conclusions: Most phase 1 IO studies performed PD biomarker assessments. Overall, positive PD biomarker results were infrequently correlated with clinical activity or cited in subsequent trials, suggesting a limited impact on subsequent drug development. With emerging health regulatory emphasis on optimal dose selection based on PD activity, more informative and integrative multiplexed assays that capture the complexity of tumour-host immunity interactions are warranted to improve phase 1 IO trial methodology. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)