Cross-cultural Leadership: the Interaction of Culture, Values, and Leadership Style

The purpose of the study was to examine the interaction of culture, values, and leadership style exhibited in cross-cultural leaders working in the wine industry. Data collected in the mixed method case study was used to provide further insight and understanding of the experiences of American leaders in cross-cultural situations. The enriched insight and understanding lead to the identification of a set of key competencies (specific knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and attitudes), which can be used to identify and describe leadership practices that are most effective in the international context. The enriched insight and understanding into the cross-cultural phenomenon may be used by corporate executives, human resource professionals and individuals to assist in a heightened awareness of traits of that point toward globally mobile leadership candidates. The results of this study indicate that childhood experiences are a pivotal area in the development of global citizens with global mindsets. The recommendations for practice are based upon the findings of this study focus upon educational experiences prior to an individual entering the workforce. Our educational system must take on the challenges of creating individuals that are worthy of global citizenship. It is strongly recommended that proficiency in a second language be a requirement to graduate from college. Monolingualism is a deterrent to successful international performance.It is also strongly recommended that educational policy-makers do all that is possible to encourage, support and provide assistance to increase the participation of American students in international education and exchange programs.Department of Agricultural Education, Communications, and Leadershi

Technological advances and the changing nature of work : deriving a future skills set

Technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics are highly likely to change the nature of work for individuals in the developed world. In line with that, the latest research points to the important role of socio-emotional or soft skills. Investing in these skills enhances the individual’s labor market productivity. Accordingly, the paper seeks to develop an adequate skill set to meet future demands at the workplace. The results reveal four main areas to play a significant role in the future workforce. This holds in particular for areas of human-machine collaboration, where both parties are allowed to demonstrate their comparative advantages

Bioimage informatics: a new category in Bioinformatics

The last two decades have witnessed great advances in biological tissue labeling and automated microscopic imaging that, in turn, have revolutionized how biologists visualize molecular, sub-cellular, cellular, and super-cellular structures and study their respective functions. Tremendous volumes of multi-dimensional bioimaging data are now being generated in almost every branch of biology. How to interpret such image datasets in a quantitative, objective, automatic and efficient way has become a major challenge in current computational biology. Bioimage informatics methods have begun to turn image data into useful biological knowledge (Peng, 2008; Swedlow, et al., 2009; Shamir, et al., 2010; Danuser, 2011). The essential methods of bioimage informatics involve largescale bioimage generation, visualization, analysis and management. Bioimage informatics also encompasses both hypothesis- and datadriven exploratory approaches, with an emphasis on how to generat

Associations of short-term particle and noise exposures with markers of cardiovascular and respiratory health among highway maintenance workers

BACKGROUND: Highway maintenance workers are constantly and simultaneously exposed to traffic-related particle and noise emissions, and both have been linked to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in population-based epidemiology studies. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate short-term health effects related to particle and noise exposure. METHODS: We monitored 18 maintenance workers, during as many as five 24-hour periods from a total of 50 observation days. We measured their exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ultrafine particles, noise, and the cardiopulmonary health endpoints: blood pressure, pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic markers in the blood, lung function and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measured approximately 15 hours post-work. Heart rate variability was assessed during a sleep period approximately 10 hours post-work. RESULTS: PM2.5 exposure was significantly associated with C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A, and negatively associated with tumor necrosis factor α. None of the particle metrics were significantly associated with von Willebrand factor or tissue factor expression. PM2.5 and work noise were associated with markers of increased heart rate variability, and with increased HF and LF power. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure on the following morning were significantly associated with noise exposure after work, and non-significantly associated with PM2.5. We observed no significant associations between any of the exposures and lung function or FeNO. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that exposure to particles and noise during highway maintenance work might pose a cardiovascular health risk. Actions to reduce these exposures could lead to better health for this population of workers

Zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in ‘animal-friendly’ pig production systems in Switzerland

In a cross-sectional study, the impact of ‘animal-friendly’ housing systems on the prevalence of Salmonella species, Campylobacter species, and Yersinia enterocolitica in finishing pigs and pork was investigated. Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolated campylobacter strains were analysed. In faecal samples of two out of 88 fattening pig farms salmonellae were isolated. All 865 samples of pork were found to be negative. Campylobacter was isolated on 98.9 % of the farms but only from 0.2 % of the pork samples. Yersiniae were found in samples of 63.3 % of the farms and in 15.4 % of pork samples. For all three bacteria, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence between conventional and ‘animal-friendly’ housing systems. In ‘animal-friendly’ farms, antimicrobial resistance of campylobacter isolates to fluoroquinolones and streptomycin was significantly less frequent than in conventional farms. Furthermore, fewer isolates had resistance to three or more antimicrobials in ‘animal-friendly’ farms

Evaluation of a pilot consultation for maternity protection at work in Switzerland.

Switzerland's Labour Law and its Ordonnance on Maternity Protection aim to protect the health of pregnant employees and their unborn children while enabling them to continue to pursue their professional activities. Some companies encounter difficulties implementing the law's provisions. The Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, part of the Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), has provided specialist occupational medicine consultations for pregnant employees since 2015. This study aimed to evaluate how well Swiss' maternity protection legislation is implemented by examining a list of relevant indicators measured during the occupational health consultation. The study also sought to investigate the consultation support provided to the relevant stakeholders and the adjustments made to pregnant employees' working conditions. Descriptive variables and indicators relative to the application of the Swiss maternity protection legislation for 83 pregnant employees were collected during the consultation's pilot phase (between 2015 and 2016). Descriptive statistics and cross-analyses of these indicators were made. Most pregnant employees faced multiple exposures to occupational risks. Preventive risk analyses were rare. Few adjustments to workstations were proposed. We found a tendency for employees to leave their workstations early on in their pregnancies due to sick leave certificate prescriptions. Specialist consultation and collaboration with occupational health physicians to recommend interventions for pregnant employees can provide significant benefits and help some pregnant women to continue at their workstations with appropriate adjustments. A specialised occupational health consultation is a useful instrument for identifying occupational hazards for both the pregnant woman and her unborn child. It is also an opportunity to explain employers' legal responsibilities and obligations to safeguard the health of their pregnant employees and to give specific advice for their company's situation. This consultation also enables employers to maintain their employees' valuable professional competencies in the workplace for as long as possible. Finally, occupational health consultation helps and supports healthcare providers who must, according to the law, make decisions about whether pregnant employees can continue working safely or not

Respiratory Variability, Sighing, Anxiety, and Breathing Symptoms in Low- and High-Anxious Music Students Before and After Performing

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a major problem for music students. It is largely unknown whether music students who experience high or low anxiety differ in their respiratory responses to performance situations and whether these co-vary with self-reported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms. Affective processes influence dynamic respiratory regulation in ways that are reflected in measures of respiratory variability and sighing. This study had two goals. First, we determined how measures of respiratory variability, sighing, self-reported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms vary as a function of the performance situation (practice vs. public performance), performance phase (pre-performance vs. post-performance), and the general MPA level of music students. Second, we analyzed to what extent self-reported anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms co-vary with the respiratory responses. The participants were 65 university music students. We assessed their anxiety, tension, and breathing symptoms with Likert scales and recorded their respiration with the LifeShirt system during a practice performance and a public performance..