Article Review: Entrepreneurship in Public Management: The Case of Sri Lankan Administrative Service (SLAS) by R. Lalitha S. Fernando (2006)

The application of the concept of entrepreneurship in public sector management is subject to criticism but it is very familiar in the context of the business field. Entrepreneurial behavior in the private sector is a very old but very important and popular concept that is practiced by managers and entrepreneurs aiming to improve organizational performance. The concept has not been given adequate attention in the public sector. The central theme of the paper is to highlight the concept of managerial entrepreneurship in improving the public sector’s organizational performance. This is a review article titled “Entrepreneurship in Public Management: The Case of Sri Lankan Administrative Service (SLAS)” written by Fernando, (2006). This paper explores the applicability of Managerial Entrepreneurship (ME) in selected public sector organizations with some practical examples. The findings of this paper highlight factors affecting ME motivation to achieve, leadership skills, goal clarity, managerial autonomy, performance-based reward system, citizen participation, and public support. This paper also describes the nature of ME in the public sector and critiques the concept of entrepreneurship in the public sector. Drawing on this literature review, recommendations for future research and the possibility of applications of ME in other areas of the public sector are proposed. Key Words: Managerial Entrepreneurship, Public Sector, Sri Lank

Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Performance in Public Sector Organizations: with reference to Development Officers in the Colombo District in Sri Lanka

Human resources management concerns how people are employed, utilized, and maintained effectively and efficiently in achieving organizational objectives.   The performance of any organization largely depends on its human resources. Among the human resources management practices, recruitment, and selection of the right pool of employees, proper training and development, performance appraisal, and compensation directly affect achieving organizational objectives. However, these Human Resource (HR) practices in the public sector, especially in relation to the position of Development Officers (DOs) of Sri Lanka have not been practiced in an effective manner. Recruitment of Graduates as Development Officers has been a major reason for increasing the growth of public service in the country. Since the 1990s, the government of Sri Lanka has practiced bulk recruitment of graduates without having a clear and formal duty list, service minutes, recruitment procedures, training and development programs, promotion policy, and salary scale. The main purpose of this study is to discuss the existing Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing HRM practices, and examine how these weaknesses affect the performance of the public sector organizations in relation to Development Officers in the public sector in Sri Lanka. The study used a qualitative research method with the inductive approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews from all 13 Divisional Secretaries in the Colombo District and the data were analyzed narratively. The study revealed that the existing recruiting, training, and performance appraisal practices negatively affect the performance of the public sector due to some weaknesses in these practices.  Finally, this study proposes policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of these practices for enhancing the public sector performance in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Human resource management practices, Development officers, Public sector, Sri Lank

Best foot forward, watching your step, jumping in with both feet, or sticking your foot in it? - the politics of researching academic viewpoints

This article presents our experiences of conducting research interviews with Australian academics, in order to reflect on the politics of researcher and participant positionality. In particular, we are interested in the ways that academic networks, hierarchies and cultures, together with mobility in the higher education sector, contribute to a complex discursive terrain in which researchers and participants alike must maintain vigilance about where they 'put their feet' in research interviews. We consider the implications for higher education research, arguing that the positionality of researchers and participants pervades and exceeds these specialised research situations.15 page(s

Legionella pneumonia as a cause of atypical pneumonia in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka

Atypical pneumonia which contributes to an important proportion of community acquired pneumonia and Legionella pneumophila is a noteworthy pathogen worldwide. Legionnaires’ disease, the severe form of pneumonia is predominantly caused by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. This study was conducted to determine the presence of Legionella pneumophila as a pathogen and the associated risk factors among the patients admitted with atypical pneumonia to a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka. Seventy-five adult patients diagnosed with atypical pneumonia attending professorial medical unit of Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka were enrolled. Risk factors related to the disease was assessed by an interviewer administered questionnaire. Expectorated sputum was processed on supplemented buffered charcoal yeast extract medium and urine specimens were tested for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 antigen. Fifty-six percent of the patients were males and 91% were residing in urban areas. Smoking was admitted by 32% and that of alcohol consumption was in 25%. Composting and potting, distant travelling and frequent use of air conditioning was reported in 28%, 37% and 4% respectively. Majority of participants were not exposed to cooling towers, humidifiers or plumbing and not visited high risk areas. Among the study group, 21% had diabetes, 24% had ischaemic heart disease and 36% had chronic lung diseases. None of the sputum samples grew Legionella pneumophila, and all urine samples were negative for the antigen of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. It is concluded that, in this population of community acquired atypical pneumonia, Legionella pneumophila was not identified as a causative agent. KEYWORDS: Atypical pneumonia, community acquired pneumonia, Legionella pneumophil

A machine learning case–control classifier for schizophrenia based on DNA methylation in blood

Epigenetic dysregulation is thought to contribute to the etiology of schizophrenia (SZ), but the cell type-specificity of DNA methylation makes population-based epigenetic studies of SZ challenging. To train an SZ case–control classifier based on DNA methylation in blood, therefore, we focused on human genomic regions of systemic interindividual epigenetic variation (CoRSIVs), a subset of which are represented on the Illumina Human Methylation 450K (HM450) array. HM450 DNA methylation data on whole blood of 414 SZ cases and 433 non-psychiatric controls were used as training data for a classification algorithm with built-in feature selection, sparse partial least squares discriminate analysis (SPLS-DA); application of SPLS-DA to HM450 data has not been previously reported. Using the first two SPLS-DA dimensions we calculated a “risk distance” to identify individuals with the highest probability of SZ. The model was then evaluated on an independent HM450 data set on 353 SZ cases and 322 non-psychiatric controls. Our CoRSIV-based model classified 303 individuals as cases with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 80%, far surpassing the performance of a model based on polygenic risk score (PRS). Importantly, risk distance (based on CoRSIV methylation) was not associated with medication use, arguing against reverse causality. Risk distance and PRS were positively correlated (Pearson r = 0.28, P = 1.28 × 10−12), and mediational analysis suggested that genetic effects on SZ are partially mediated by altered methylation at CoRSIVs. Our results indicate two innate dimensions of SZ risk: one based on genetic, and the other on systemic epigenetic variants

Non-cysteine linked MUC1 cytoplasmic dimers are required for Src recruitment and ICAM-1 binding induced cell invasion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mucin MUC1, a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, is overexpressed in breast cancer and has been correlated with increased metastasis. We were the first to report binding between MUC1 and Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), which is expressed on stromal and endothelial cells throughout the migratory tract of a metastasizing breast cancer cell. Subsequently, we found that MUC1/ICAM-1 binding results in pro-migratory calcium oscillations, cytoskeletal reorganization, and simulated transendothelial migration. These events were found to involve Src kinase, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase also implicated in breast cancer initiation and progression. Here, we further investigated the mechanism of MUC1/ICAM-1 signalling, focusing on the role of MUC1 dimerization in Src recruitment and pro-metastatic signalling.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To assay MUC1 dimerization, we used a chemical crosslinker which allowed for the detection of dimers on SDS-PAGE. We then generated MUC1 constructs containing an engineered domain which allowed for manipulation of dimerization status through the addition of ligands to the engineered domain. Following manipulation of dimerization, we immunoprecipitated MUC1 to investigate recruitment of Src, or assayed for our previously observed ICAM-1 binding induced events. To investigate the nature of MUC1 dimers, we used both non-reducing SDS-PAGE and generated a mutant construct lacking cysteine residues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We first demonstrate that the previously observed MUC1/ICAM-1signalling events are dependent on the activity of Src kinase. We then report that MUC1 forms constitutive cytoplasmic domain dimers which are necessary for Src recruitment, ICAM-1 induced calcium oscillations and simulated transendothelial migration. The dimers are not covalently linked constitutively or following ICAM-1 binding. In contrast to previously published reports, we found that membrane proximal cysteine residues were not involved in dimerization or ICAM-1 induced signalling.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data implicates non-cysteine linked MUC1 dimerization in cell signalling pathways required for cancer cell migration.</p