Labour Contracts and Performance of Cameroonian Firms

The aim of this study is to evaluate employees' productivity in relation to their contract status. This study uses (a) survey data collected among manufacturing sector firms, having more than 15 employees, in Cameroon between April and May 2006 and (b) information issued by the National Institute of Statistics. Information collected concerned 45 firms spanning the period 2003 to 2005. This study uses the stochastic production frontier, distinguishing employees holding fixed-term contract (FTC) from employees that do not have fixed-term contracts (indefinite-term contract (ITC)). Results are estimated in 2 stages. First, we evaluate the determinants of the utilisation of FTC workers and second, we estimate the level of efficiency and productivity of two types of workers. Empirical results indicate that employees holding FTC are twice more productive than those holding ITC. Likewise, parameters indicating returns to scale are 1.3. This parameter, though not significant, is greater than one indicating constant returns to scale in the firm production function.labour contract, fixed-term contract, indefinite-term contract, production frontier

Estimation of Recovery Factor during a Waterflood

Imperial Users onl

Investing in existing passenger rail and building new high-speed services will help to decarbonize America’s transportation

In the U.S. today, driving is easy, accessible, relatively affordable, and convenient. But Americans’ reliance on the car has huge impacts on CO2 emissions and encourages unsustainable urban sprawl. Camille Kamga writes that making better and more efficient cars is not the answer to these problems; he argues that more, better, faster rail services are needed. These kinds of investments will take advantage of emerging trends away from driving and car ownership and will help to decarbonize America’s transportation

Strategies Leaders Use to Mitigate Voluntary Employee Turnover

Employee turnover is an issue in the US healthcare industry, and nursing home leaders are concerned with its adverse effect on organizational performance, profit, and viability. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies nursing home leaders used to mitigate voluntary nurse turnover. Data were collected using semistructured interviews via videoconference with five nursing home managers and gathering public information from the leaders’ institutions. Lester et al.’s seven-step thematic analysis process informed the findings\u27 interpretation. Four themes emerged: compensation and rewards, effective communication, effective leadership, and training and development. A key recommendation is for nursing home leaders to focus on nurses’ job satisfaction while promoting a healthy work-life balance. The implications for positive social change include the potential to create employment, which may enhance people’s living standards and prosperity and reduce poverty within the community

Conserved Features of the T Cell Receptor Repertoire Contribute to the Persistence of EBV-Specific CD8 T Cells

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous human virus linked to several diseases, including cancers. CD8 T cells are important for controlling EBV replication. Generation and maintenance of virus-specific CD8 T cells is dependent on specific interaction between MHC-peptide complexes on the infected cell and the CD8 T cell receptor (TCR). Several lines of evidence suggest that the TCR repertoire is an essential component of the CD8 T-cell immune response. The current work focuses on delineating the features of the TCR repertoire that drive the selection of EBV-specific CD8 T cells into the memory phase. We used bulk and single-cell TCRαβ sequencing to analyze the TCR repertoire of human CD8 T cells specific for two immunodominant HLA-A02:01-restricted EBV-derived epitopes: BRLF1109-117 (YVLDHLIVV) and BMLF1280-288 (GLCTLVAML) during the acute and memory phases of primary EBV infection in humans. We showed that persistent EBV-specific clonotypes accounted for only 9% of unique clonotypes but were highly expanded in acute EBV infection and more commonly expressed identifiable features than non-persistent clonotypes. The other 91% of highly diverse unique clonotypes disappeared and were replaced in convalescence by equally diverse “de-novo” clonotypes. We provide evidence suggesting that recognition of BRLF1109-117may be driven by the TCRα. We identified a highly dominant and degenerate BRLF1109-117-specific TCRα sequence, AV8.1-CAVKDTDKLIF-AJ34, that was shared by all donors studied and identified conserved residues within this sequence that were important for antigen recognition. These findings are relevant to current efforts to develop or optimize the efficacy of T cell based therapies or vaccines

Low Cost, Adhesion Strength Based Cell Sorter

In many in vitro experiments, primary cells are harvested from an animal species to undergo experimental manipulation and subsequent analysis. Cell sorters are a luxury to have after cell harvesting to ensure pure populations of cells. Recently, it was discovered that different cell types adhere to cell culture dishes at different strengths. This observation was utilized in the invention of a cell sorting system that sorts cells based on this adhesion strength difference. The resulting system is marketable at under $2000, compared to$50000 plus for current commercially available systems, and is the first commercially-oriented cell adhesion strength based cell sorter. The system allows for use of tissue culture flasks, a tool that any researcher using cells will be very familiar with, that have been customized with a removable bottom. After cells are adhered, the bottom is removed and placed into the cell sorting system and sealed with a removable sealing putty. Flow is imparted to the cells, generating a shear force over the surface of the cells, lifting the cells and depositing them into a centrifuge tube. Prior experiments have shown this system to have a cell purity and cell viability greater than currently available solutions without the use of expensive antibodies and using equipment available at a fraction of the cost.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1145/thumbnail.jp