Putting context into organizational intervention design:Using tailored questionnaires to measure initiatives for worker well-being

Realistic evaluation emphasizes the importance of exploring the mechanisms through which organizational interventions are effected. A well-known mechanism in organizational interventions is the screening process. Standardized questionnaires, in popular use, neither consider individuals’ appraisals of working conditions nor the specific context of the workplace. Screening with items tailored to intervention contexts may overcome the limitations of standardized questionnaires. In the present study, we evaluate an approach to develop a tailored questionnaire to measure employees’ appraisals of their specific working conditions. First, we interviewed 56 employees and 17 managers and, later, developed tailored items focused on the working conditions in a postal service. In follow-up interviews, we explore participants’ experiences with the tailored questionnaire, including the development of initiatives, compared to their previous experiences with the company´s annual attitude survey that used standardized scales. Results indicated that participants felt the tailored questionnaire highlighted issues that had previously been ignored, that initiatives were easier to develop due to its specificity, and that the feedback strategy was useful in prioritizing questionnaires. Overall, it can be concluded that tailored questionnaires may be appropriate for use in organizational intervention research and more broadly that evaluations of organizational interventions need to be contextually grounded

Use of AMBR250 as a small scale model for manufacturing-scale single-use bioreactors

Quality by Design (QbD) has become an integral part of biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing. To gain the enhanced process understanding required by QbD, a well-designed small scale model that accurately predicts behavior at manufacturing scale is essential. This process understanding should ideally be achieved with rapid, efficient experimentation to decrease both the time and cost required for development. The ambr250 automated microscale bioreactor system has the potential to address all of these challenges. By embedding the ambr250 into the upstream process development workflow, throughput can be dramatically increased allowing for greater exploration of parameter operating ranges and more complete process understanding. However, the value of such microscale technologies hinges on their ability to accurately mimic manufacturing scale. We embarked on a study to demonstrate the applicability of the ambr250 (250 mL) as a small scale model for a 2000-L single-use bioreactor (SUB). We evaluated consistency of cell culture process performance from the ambr250 to 2000-L SUB scale along with intermediate scales such as our legacy small scale model (3-L glass stirred-tank reactors) and 50-L to 1000-L SUBs. Scalability was assessed using two monoclonal antibody molecules expressed from different CHO hosts (CHO K1 and DG44) and cultivated in different media platforms (chemically-defined and yeastolate-containing) to ensure broad applicability of the small scale model. Engineering principles were applied to develop appropriate agitation and gassing strategies at each scale to ensure comparability, with a power input based scaling strategy performing the best. Based on both univariate and multivariate data analysis methods the ambr250 behaved comparably to both our legacy small scale model and the SUBs for the assets evaluated. Areas of focus to further refine the ambr250 as a small scale model have also been identified

Job design, employment practices and well-being: a systematic review of intervention studies

There is inconsistent evidence that deliberate attempts to improve job design realise improvements in well-being. We investigated the role of other employment practices, either as instruments for job redesign or as instruments that augment job redesign. Our primary outcome was well-being. Where studies also assessed performance, we considered performance as an outcome. We reviewed 33 intervention studies. We found that well-being and performance may be improved by: training workers to improve their own jobs; training coupled with job redesign; and system wide approaches that simultaneously enhance job design and a range of other employment practices. We found insufficient evidence to make any firm conclusions concerning the effects of training managers in job redesign and that participatory approaches to improving job design have mixed effects. Successful implementation of interventions was associated with worker involvement and engagement with interventions, managerial commitment to interventions and integration of interventions with other organisational systems. Practitioner Summary: Improvements in well-being and performance may be associated with system-wide approaches that simultaneously enhance job design, introduce a range of other employment practices and focus on worker welfare. Training may have a role in initiating job redesign or augmenting the effects of job design on well-being

Measuring affective well-being at work using short-form scales : implications for affective structures and participant instructions

Measuring affective well-being in organizational studies has become increasingly widespread, given its association with key work-performance and other markers of organizational functioning. As such, researchers and policy-makers need to be confident that well-being measures are valid, reliable and robust. To reduce the burden on participants in applied settings, short-form measures of affective well-being are proving popular. However, these scales are seldom validated as standalone, comprehensive measures in their own right. In this article, we used a short-form measure of affective well-being with 10 items: the Daniels five-factor measure of affective well-being (D-FAW). In Study 1, across six applied sample groups (N = 2624), we found that the factor structure of the short-form D-FAW is robust when issued as a standalone measure, and that it should be scored differently depending on the participant instruction used. When participant instructions focus on now or today, then affect is best represented by five discrete emotion factors. When participant instructions focus on the past week, then affect is best represented by two or three mood-based factors. In Study 2 (N = 39), we found good construct convergent validity of short-form D-FAW with another widely used scale (PANAS). Implications for the measurement and structure of affect are discussed

Study Protocol - Accurate assessment of kidney function in Indigenous Australians: aims and methods of the eGFR Study

Background: There is an overwhelming burden of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease among Indigenous Australians. In this high risk population, it is vital that we are able to measure accurately kidney function. Glomerular filtration rate is the best overall marker of kidney function. However, differences in body build and body composition between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians suggest that creatinine-based estimates of glomerular filtration rate derived for European populations may not be appropriate for Indigenous Australians. The burden of kidney disease is borne disproportionately by Indigenous Australians in central and northern Australia, and there is significant heterogeneity in body build and composition within and amongst these groups. This heterogeneity might differentially affect the accuracy of estimation of glomerular filtration rate between different Indigenous groups. By assessing kidney function in Indigenous Australians from Northern Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, we aim to determine a validated and practical measure of glomerular filtration rate suitable for use in all Indigenous Australians

Cubes to Quads: The Move of Qqq from Amex to Nasdaq

Chabroud Charles. Renvoi au comité des finances d'une lettre de M. Potin de Vauvineux concernant l'établissement d'un bureau pour escompter les assignats, lors de la séance du 22 avril 1791. In: Archives Parlementaires de 1787 à 1860 - Première série (1787-1799) Tome XXV - Du 13 avril 1791 au 11 mai 1791. Paris : Librairie Administrative P. Dupont, 1886. p. 239

Bring me home: renal dialysis in the Kimberley

SUMMARY: The incidence of end-stage renal failure (ESRF) in the Kimberley region at the top end of Western Australia far exceeds known national rates and trend analysis demonstrates a close parallel to what is occurring in the Northern Territory. Dialysis prevalence in the Kimberley has nearly tripled in the last decade and has increased at a much faster rate than the rest of Western Australia. Almost all of these people with ESRF are Aboriginal Australians living in remote communities.\ud \ud In January 2004, the Western Australia Country Health Service and Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services' Council, under the auspices of the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Planning Forum, embarked upon a review of renal disease in the Kimberley funded by the Western Australia Department of Health. The main purpose of the review was to identify the scope of the problem and make projections upon which to base programme and service development over the next 10 years.\ud \ud This paper outlines the findings of the Review of Renal Disease in the Kimberley and presents, for the first time, regional data analysis and comparisons. In addition, future projections on the impact of ESRF and recommendations for improving current service delivery are discussed. Given the challenges of remoteness and individuals' desire to return home, this review recommends development of locally-based expertise capable of providing training and support to patients and their families, reinvigoration of community-based dialysis modalities, and the initiation of planning for a second satellite service in the Kimberley

Nair_et_al_IoT_Device_Authentication_CommsMag

There are 2 zip files containing Matlab data and post processed image images (SOFMs) for the paper by Manish Nair, Shuping Dang, Tommaso Cappello & Mark Beach, “IoT Device Authentication Using Self-Organizing Feature Map Data Sets” as submitted for review to the the IEEE Communications Magazine Data set 1 contains 6 matlab files containing the raw LoRa I/Qs. The file format is as per table in the paper. Data set 2 contains the output images in .PNG format from the application of the unsupervised batch-SOFM competitive learning algorithm to data set

Analytical Formulas for the Coverage of Tunable Matching Networks for Reconfigurable Applications

MATLAB m-files for the implementation of the formulas reported in the paper