Authentic leadership’s effect on customer orientation and turnover intention among Portuguese hospitality employees

Abstract Purpose Hospitality employees’ attitudes and behaviors play a crucial role in enhancing customer satisfaction and service quality and ultimately firms’ success; therefore, organizations must have skilled, customer-oriented staff. More research is required to help hospitality managers gain insights into the best strategies to promote and retain customer-oriented employees. This study specifically sought to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the ways that authentic leadership (AL) can affect employees’ customer orientation and turnover intention, including exploring affective commitment’s (AC) potential mediating role.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Brazilian Dentists Regarding Silver Diamine Fluoride

Objective: Current acceptability, barriers to use, and clinical/teaching practices of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) among Brazilian dentists were investigated. Material and Methods: A Google forms questionnaire was sent to dentists (n=10,500) to collect information about the use of SDF and the dentists' workplace, experience, specialty, and city of practice. A logistic regression model was performed. Results: From 409 respondents, 13.2% used SDF. Working at universities increased the use of SDF by 2.29 times (p=0.018) compared to private offices. Each training year, the chance of SDF usage increased by 3%  (p=0.008). Pediatric dentists are more likely to use SDF (OR=6.76, p<0.001). There is no association between SDF usage and the city of practice. The majority (75.9%) indicated SDF for noncompliant patients. Dentists (75.9%) reported the exclusive use in deciduous teeth, while 24.1% also use in permanent teeth. The main barrier for non-users was a lack of knowledge (58.3%), while for users, tooth staining (90.7%) and parental acceptance (64.8%) were the complaints. Conclusion: The Silver Diamine Fluoride is not a common product used by the dentists from RJ. Its clinical applicability should be further disseminated; thus, lack of scientific knowledge would cease to be a problem in the use of SDF to arrest caries lesions

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

O impacto das redes sociais na saúde mental dos jovens

Trabalho Final do Curso de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2018Em 2014, o INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatística) verificou que 70% dos jovens portugueses com mais de 15 anos usava as redes sociais, dos quais 98% tinham um perfil no Facebook, a rede social mais utilizada em todo o mundo. As redes sociais digitais são aplicações da Internet que permitem a conexão e o contacto permanente e constante entre os indivíduos, sendo cada vez mais usadas, principalmente entre os mais novos. O seu uso versátil, que coloca ao dispor dos seus utilizadores uma grande variedade de atividades, torna-as quase irresistíveis e demasiado apelativas, tanto para os mais novos como para os mais crescidos. No entanto, estas podem ser vistas de dois pontos de vista diferentes: se, por um lado, podem ser encaradas como um apoio importante para a socialização dos indivíduos, por outro, podem ser um obstáculo ao confronto dos problemas do quotidiano. A pressão intrínseca entre os mais novos para se estar sempre disponível, sempre online, pode culminar no uso compulsivo das redes sociais, principalmente por parte dos adolescentes, grupo etário no qual se verifica a maior incidência de dependência da Internet e das redes sociais. Assim, percebe-se a importância crescente de se alertar para esta temática e para se começar a agir, de modo a reverter as novas tendências virtuais, sendo fulcral estar atento aos sinais de alarme. Além disso, tem-se tentado compreender qual o verdadeiro impacto do uso problemático da Internet (UPI), inclusive das redes sociais, na expressão ou no surgimento de perturbações psiquiátricas. No entanto, esta é ainda uma questão que levanta bastante controvérsia. No final de contas, será o uso problemático da Internet causa ou consequência de perturbações psiquiátricas?In 2014, INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatística) showed that 70% of Portuguese 15 years old or older, had social network sites, and that 98% of them had a profile on Facebook, the most popular social network in the world. Social network sites are internet applications that allow the constant communication and interaction between individuals; they are being increasingly used especially among young people. Their versatility make a wide variety of activities available which make their use very attractive and almost irresistible, both for youngsters and the grown-ups. However, their use can be seen from different points of view: they can, on one hand, be considered as an important tool for the socialization of individuals, but on the other hand can be an obstacle to facing the problems of daily life. The intrinsic pressure among youngsters to be always online, can culminate in the compulsive use of social networks, mainly by adolescents, the age group showing greatest dependence on the Internet and social networks. Thus, it is increasingly important to recognize this problem and to begin to act, in order to reverse these new virtual tendencies; it is vitally important to recognize alarm signals. In addition, the definition of the impact of the problematic use of the Internet, including social networks, has been included in the expansion or onset of psychiatric disorders. However, this is still a very controversial issue. In the end, is the problematic use of the Internet the cause or the consequence of psychiatric disorders

Evaluating the utility of daily speech assessments for monitoring depression symptoms

Objective Depression is a common mental health disorder and a major public health concern, significantly interfering with the lives of those affected. The complex clinical presentation of depression complicates symptom assessments. Day-to-day fluctuations of depression symptoms within an individual bring an additional barrier, since infrequent testing may not reveal symptom fluctuation. Digital measures such as speech can facilitate daily objective symptom evaluation. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of daily speech assessment in characterizing speech fluctuations in the context of depression symptoms, which can be completed remotely, at a low cost and with relatively low administrative resources. Methods Community volunteers ( N  = 16) completed a daily speech assessment, using the Winterlight Speech App, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for 30 consecutive business days. We calculated 230 acoustic and 290 linguistic features from individual's speech and investigated their relationship to depression symptoms at the intra-individual level through repeated measures analyses. Results We observed that depression symptoms were linked to linguistic features, such as less frequent use of dominant and positive words. Greater depression symptomatology was also significantly correlated with acoustic features: reduced variability in speech intensity and increased jitter. Conclusions Our findings support the feasibility of using acoustic and linguistic features as a measure of depression symptoms and propose daily speech assessment as a tool for better characterization of symptom fluctuations

The Tuberin and Cyclin B1 complex functions as a novel G2/M sensor of serum conditions and Akt signaling.

A great deal of ground breaking work has determined that the Tuberin and Hamartin Complex function as a negative regulator of protein synthesis and cell cycle progression through G1/S. This is largely attributed to the GTPase activity of Tuberin that indirectly inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). During times of ample nutrition Tuberin is inhibited by growth factor signaling, including direct phosphorylation by Akt/PKB, allowing for activation of mTOR and subsequent protein synthesis. It is well rationalized that maintaining homeostasis requires communication between cell growth (mTOR signaling) and cell division (cell cycle regulation), however how this occurs mechanistically has not been resolved. This work demonstrates that in the presence of high serum, and/or Akt signaling, direct binding between Tuberin and the G2/M cyclin, Cyclin B1, is stabilized and the rate of mitotic entry is decreased. Importantly, we show that this results in an increase in cell size. We propose that this represents a novel cell cycle checkpoint linking mitotic onset with the nutritional status of the cell to control cell growth

Reactive oxygen species generation mediated by NADPH oxidase and PI3K/Akt pathways contribute to invasion of Streptococcus agalactiae in human endothelial cells

<div><p> BACKGROUND Streptococcus agalactiae can causes sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis in neonates, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. Although the virulence properties of S. agalactiae have been partially elucidated, the molecular mechanisms related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in infected human endothelial cells need further investigation. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the influence of oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) during S. agalactiae infection. METHODS ROS production during S. agalactiae-HUVEC infection was detected using the probe CM-H2DCFDA. Microfilaments labelled with phalloidin-FITC and p47phox-Alexa 546 conjugated were analysed by immunofluorescence. mRNA levels of p47phox (NADPH oxidase subunit) were assessed using Real Time qRT-PCR. The adherence and intracellular viability of S. agalactiae in HUVECs with or without pre-treatment of DPI, apocynin (NADPH oxidase inhibitors), and LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) were evaluated by penicillin/gentamicin exclusion. Phosphorylation of p47phox and Akt activation by S. agalactiae were evaluated by immunoblotting analysis. FINDINGS Data showed increased ROS production 15 min after HUVEC infection. Real-Time qRT-PCR and western blotting performed in HUVEC infected with S. agalactiae detected alterations in mRNA levels and activation of p47phox. Pre-treatment of endothelial cells with NADPH oxidase (DPI and apocynin) and PI3K/Akt pathway (LY294002) inhibitors reduced ROS production, bacterial intracellular viability, and generation of actin stress fibres in HUVECs infected with S. agalactiae. CONCLUSIONS ROS generation via the NADPH oxidase pathway contributes to invasion of S. agalactiae in human endothelial cells accompanied by cytoskeletal reorganisation through the PI3K/Akt pathway, which provides novel evidence for the involvement of oxidative stress in S. agalactiae pathogenesis.</p></div