Comparing empowering, transformational, and transactional leadership on supervisory coaching and job performance: A multilevel perspective.

Caul read and publishWith a leader being able to possess different types of leadership styles, there is a lack of literature investigating which leadership style best facilitates supervisory coaching behavior. The current study aimed to investigate which leadership style would exhibit supervisory coaching behavior, and if supervisory coaching behavior would mediate the relationship between leadership styles and job performance. The study compared the effects of three leadership styles-transformational, transactional, and empowering leadership-on supervisory coaching behavior, which has been reported to influence job performance. A multilevel approach was adopted in this study using 500 employees from 65 organizations within Malaysia. The study found that only empowering and transactional leadership styles exhibited supervisory coaching behavior, which in turn mediated their relationships with job performance. Overall, the findings suggest the importance of leadership styles that prioritize employee development, as these would lead to improved job performance in employees.Publishe

Job resources as a mediator between management trust climate and employees’ well-being: A cross-sectional multilevel approach

Adopting the notion that environmental factors affect employees, we investigated the importance of management trust climate as a precursor to job resources (i.e., personal development), positive work outcomes (engagement and job performance) and better well-being (i.e., avoidance of burnout and sleeping problems). Because the Malaysian society is considered to have a higher level of trust than other Asian countries, we used a snowball sampling method and recruited 377 employees from 44 private organisations (62% response rate) in Malaysia as participants in the current study. Multilevel analyses revealed that management trust climate led to higher levels of personal development and job performance; however, it showed no relation to sleeping problems. In addition, personal development mediated management trust climate and job performance, whereas engagement mediated personal development and job performance. Higher burnout led to increased sleeping problems. This study showed organisational level to be an antecedent of job resources and its job resource-engagement model. Since trust conveys a soft psychological contract between two parties, organisations should be aware of the ways trust can be cultivated within the organisation, such as by allowing employees to grow and develop their skills. This may be an effective strategy for ensuring that employees are able to grow within their organisations and execute their duties effectively, without reprisals from higher management.Publishe

Exploring the mediating role of flexible working hours in the relationship of supervisor support, job and life satisfaction: A study of female nurses in China.

(c) The Author/sAIMS: To examine the mediating role of flexible working hours on the relationship between supervisor support, job and life satisfaction among female nurses in China. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted with online survey questionnaires. METHODS: Convenience sampling was implemented with 171 female nurses from two tertiary public hospitals in 2019. RESULTS: The mediation analysis demonstrates that flexible working hours significantly and positively mediate the relationship between supervisor support to job (β = 0.775, p < .001) and life satisfaction (β = 0.745, p < .001). In addition, supervisor support and flexible working hours significantly and positively influence job (r = 0.520, p < .01; r = 0.520, p < .01) and life satisfaction (r = 0.487, p < .01; r = 0.487, p < .01). The study suggested that flexible working hours iarean indicator of what supervisor support (r = 0.656, p < .01) is to improve nurses' job and life satisfaction. The study revealed that flexible working hours and supervisor support are crucial to female nurses who face high demands at both work and home.Publishe

Does the Millennium Challenge Corporation reinforce capitalist power structures or empower citizens?

In development practice, how does ‘mutual benefit’ accrue, and to whom? China criticises America for perpetuating capitalist power relations and claims it can seek a new geo-political order based on South-South cooperation. Meanwhile, there has been an extraordinary shift of emphasis toward the private sector as a driver of development, but this shift is attracting increasing criticism. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) - the only development agency to grow in influence under the Trump administration - is evaluated in the light of these two key themes. Neither China nor the private sector are successful in achieving ‘mutual benefit’ for ordinary citizens – both replicate existing power inequalities. As with the rise of both China and the private sector, the MCC also enmeshes developing countries further into the existing neoliberal capitalist structures. However, the advantages of the agency should not be dismissed outright, as its Ruling Justly and Investing in People indicators can enhance the capacity of citizens to challenge these power structures themselves

WHO global vaccine safety multi-country collaboration project on safety in pregnancy: Assessing the level of diagnostic certainty using standardized case definitions for perinatal and neonatal outcomes and maternal immunization.

Standardized case definitions strengthen post-marketing safety surveillance of new vaccines by improving generated data, interpretation and comparability across surveillance systems. The Global Alignment of Immunization Safety Assessment in Pregnancy (GAIA) project developed standardized case definitions for 21 key obstetric and neonatal terms following the Brighton Collaboration (BC) methodology. In this prospective cohort study, we assessed the applicability of GAIA definitions for maternal immunization exposure and for low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), stillbirth, neonatal death, neonatal infection, and congenital microcephaly. We identified the missing data elements that prevented identified cases and exposures from meeting the case definition (level 1-3 of BC diagnostic certainty). Over a one-year period (2019-2020), all births occurring in 21 sites (mostly secondary and tertiary hospitals) in 6 Low Middle Income Countries and 1 High Income Country were recorded and the 7 perinatal and neonatal outcome cases were identified from routine medical records. Up to 100 cases per outcome were recruited sequentially from each site. Most cases recruited for LBW, preterm birth and neonatal death met the GAIA case definitions. Birth weight, a key parameter for all three outcomes, was routinely recorded at all sites. The definitions for SGA, stillbirth, neonatal infection (particularly meningitis and respiratory infection) and congenital microcephaly were found to be less applicable. The main barrier to obtaining higher levels of diagnostic certainty was the lack of sonographic documentation of gestational age in first or second trimester. The definition for maternal immunization exposure was applicable, however, the highest level of diagnostic certainty was only reached at two sites. Improved documentation of maternal immunization will be important for vaccine safety studies. Following the field-testing of these 8 GAIA definitions, several improvements are suggested that may lead to their easier implementation, increased standardization and hence comparison across studies

Genome-level homology and phylogeny of Shewanella (Gammaproteobacteria: lteromonadales: Shewanellaceae)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The explosion in availability of whole genome data provides the opportunity to build phylogenetic hypotheses based on these data as well as the ability to learn more about the genomes themselves. The biological history of genes and genomes can be investigated based on the taxomonic history provided by the phylogeny. A phylogenetic hypothesis based on complete genome data is presented for the genus <it>Shewanella </it>(Gammaproteobacteria: Alteromonadales: Shewanellaceae). Nineteen taxa from <it>Shewanella </it>(16 species and 3 additional strains of one species) as well as three outgroup species representing the genera <it>Aeromonas </it>(Gammaproteobacteria: Aeromonadales: Aeromonadaceae), <it>Alteromonas </it>(Gammaproteobacteria: Alteromonadales: Alteromonadaceae) and <it>Colwellia </it>(Gammaproteobacteria: Alteromonadales: Colwelliaceae) are included for a total of 22 taxa.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Putatively homologous regions were found across unannotated genomes and tested with a phylogenetic analysis. Two genome-wide data-sets are considered, one including only those genomic regions for which all taxa are represented, which included 3,361,015 aligned nucleotide base-pairs (bp) and a second that additionally includes those regions present in only subsets of taxa, which totaled 12,456,624 aligned bp. Alignment columns in these large data-sets were then randomly sampled to create smaller data-sets. After the phylogenetic hypothesis was generated, genome annotations were projected onto the DNA sequence alignment to compare the historical hypothesis generated by the phylogeny with the functional hypothesis posited by annotation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Individual phylogenetic analyses of the 243 locally co-linear genome regions all failed to recover the genome topology, but the smaller data-sets that were random samplings of the large concatenated alignments all produced the genome topology. It is shown that there is not a single orthologous copy of 16S rRNA across the taxon sampling included in this study and that the relationships among the multiple copies are consistent with 16S rRNA undergoing concerted evolution. Unannotated whole genome data can provide excellent raw material for generating hypotheses of historical homology, which can be tested with phylogenetic analysis and compared with hypotheses of gene function.</p

Best practices in heterotrophic high-cell-density microalgal processes: achievements, potential and possible limitations

Microalgae of numerous heterotrophic genera (obligate or facultative) exhibit considerable metabolic versatility and flexibility but are currently underexploited in the biotechnological manufacturing of known plant-derived compounds, novel high-value biomolecules or enriched biomass. Highly efficient production of microalgal biomass without the need for light is now feasible in inexpensive, well-defined mineral medium, typically supplemented with glucose. Cell densities of more than 100 g l−1 cell dry weight have been achieved with Chlorella, Crypthecodinium and Galdieria species while controlling the addition of organic sources of carbon and energy in fedbatch mode. The ability of microalgae to adapt their metabolism to varying culture conditions provides opportunities to modify, control and thereby maximise the formation of targeted compounds with non-recombinant microalgae. This review outlines the critical aspects of cultivation technology and current best practices in the heterotrophic high-cell-density cultivation of microalgae. The primary topics include (1) the characteristics of microalgae that make them suitable for heterotrophic cultivation, (2) the appropriate chemical composition of mineral growth media, (3) the different strategies for fedbatch cultivations and (4) the principles behind the customisation of biomass composition. The review confirms that, although fundamental knowledge is now available, the development of efficient, economically feasible large-scale bioprocesses remains an obstacle to the commercialisation of this promising technology

Caracterización de hábitos de higiene y ambientes en lugares de atención integral a población infantil

RESUMEN Objetivo: Identificar hábitos de higiene de niños y cuidadores para la prevención y el control de enfermedades infecciosas en lugares de atención en Bogotá, Colombia; asimismo, caracterizar las bacterias en las superficies de estos ambientes. Método: Se diseñaron, validaron y aplicaron dos instrumentos para evaluar hábitos saludables y se tomaron muestras de superficies en cocinas, baños, salones, colchonetas y juguetes de 230 lugares. Las bacterias aisladas fueron clasificadas por metodologías automatizadas. Resultados: Se aislaron 699 bacterias, donde el mayor porcentaje de crecimiento fue en cocinas (36%). Estos resultados contrastan con lo observado, donde se evidenció que la mayoría de las cocinas se encontraron limpias (80%). La encuesta reportó que 93% de los cuidadores reconocen lavarse las manos antes de manipular alimentos y 23% informó utilizar elementos de protección para la manipulación de alimentos. Conclusión: Se evidencia la necesidad de acompañar e intervenir los hábitos de higiene y de cuidado del ambiente en lugares de atención a población infantil

Projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment to the 0νββ decay of 136Xe

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will enable a neutrinoless double beta decay search in parallel to the main science goal of discovering dark matter particle interactions. We report the expected LZ sensitivity to ^136Xe neutrinoless double beta decay, taking advantage of the significant (>600 kg) ^136Xe mass contained within the active volume of LZ without isotopic enrichment. After 1000 live-days, the median exclusion sensitivity to the half-life of ^136Xe is projected to be 1.06×10^26 years (90% confidence level), similar to existing constraints. We also report the expected sensitivity of a possible subsequent dedicated exposure using 90% enrichment with ^136Xe at 1.06×10^27 years