Performance appraisal in a family business

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of effectiveness of a performance review process at one family business. Ten employees across the firm were interviewed in order to describe the process, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and offer suggestions for improvement. Findings suggest that participants understood the process steps and timing, but had less accurate understanding of the process outcomes. Participants generally perceived the process as fair, helpful, and valuable to their development. Noted strengths included the process design and support from direct managers, executive leaders, and the organization. Weaknesses included the lack of structure, poor consistency in ratings, timing issues, and lack of goal alignment. Recommendations include improving the rating system, adjusting the process timing and structure, leveraging evaluation data as a talent management tool, and increasing stakeholder involvement. However, these study findings are considered exploratory, and more research should be conducted to determine how representative these findings are of family businesses

Insomnia and Associated Risk Factors in Later Adolescence

Sleep is an essential component of health and well-being. The effect of insomnia, whether as a primary or secondary symptom, is a major health concern and should be closely studied and examined across all age groups. There is growing evidence that the effect of insomnia on adolescent’s functioning is comparable to that of other major psychiatric disorders (e.g., mood disorders, anxiety disorders, etc.). Insomnia is associated with significant negative consequences, impairing functioning across a number of emotional, social, cognitive, and physical domains (Carskadon, 1999; Johnson, Roth, Schultz, & Breslau, 2006; Roberts, Roberts, & Duong, 2008b; Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998). This study examines insomnia in a sub-sample of 15 to 19 year old participants (n = 2,866) using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS): Mental Health and Well-being (Cycle 1.2). Specifically, this study aims to: 1) assess the prevalence of insomnia among Canadian adolescents, 15 to 19 years of age; and 2) identify the variables associated with insomnia in this population. Based on the academic literature to date, it is hypothesized that insomnia will be significantly more prevalent among adolescents of the female sex and among those reporting psychological and/or physical health concerns. The analyses conducted included basic descriptive statistics (frequencies/percentages), bivariate analyses (Chi-square tests), and a multiple logistic regression. The prevalence rate of insomnia in adolescents was 9.5%, with no significant association found between sex and insomnia. The multivariate analysis showed insomnia to be significantly associated with the presence of a chronic condition, selected mood disorders (12 months), in adolescents who are experiencing “quite a bit” to “extreme” life stress, and in adolescents who were living in households other than with both parents. Insomnia was not found to be significantly associated with sex, selected anxiety disorder (12 months), heavy drinking, heavy cannabis use, and in adolescents who were only experiencing “some life stress”. What was interesting was that when all other variables were not held constant, heavy cannabis use and having a selected anxiety disorder was significantly associated with insomnia. By examining the prevalence rate and variables associated with adolescent insomnia, more informed knowledge can be used to create prevention and treatment strategies to address adolescent sleep problems. By doing this, we can hopefully mitigate any negative impact insomnia may have on the adolescent’s ability to function and address the concerns before they become chronic

Desempeño directivo y compromisos de gestión escolar en la institución educativa n° 0707 Emilio San Martín, Tabalosos - 2021

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la relación entre el desempeño directivo y los compromisos de gestión escolar en la institución iducativa n° 0707 Emilio San Martín, Tabalosos - 2021. El tipo de investigación fue básica, con un diseño no experimental, la población y muestra estuvo conformada por 43 trabajadores, la técnica fue la encuesta y el instrumento el cuestionario. En los resultados a nivel de dimensiones de la variable desempeño directivo destaca los procesos pedagógicos, con un nivel regular de un 100 %. Asimismo, en la variable compromisos de gestión escolar, el nivel predominante fue la dimensión acceso y permanencia de los estudiantes, con un nivel medio de un 100 %. Se concluyó que, existe relación significativa entre el desempeño directivo y los compromisos de gestión escolar, de acuerdo al coeficiente de Spearman que fue de 0.784 (correlación positiva alta) y un p-valor igual a 0,000 (p-valor ≤ 0.01), además se tuvo un 61.47 % de dependencia entre las variables de estudio

Fin whales of the Great Bear Rainforest : Balaenoptera physalus velifera in a Canadian Pacific fjord system

Funding: This research was supported by a Mitacs Accelerate Internship (IT21479); the Save Our Seas Foundation; Willow Grove Foundation; Donner Canadian Foundation; Tides Canada; LUSH Charity Pot; private donations to North Coast Cetacean Society; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk (CANAFSAR 2019-2021).Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are widely considered an offshore and oceanic species, but certain populations also use coastal areas and semi-enclosed seas. Based upon fifteen years of study, we report that Canadian Pacific fin whales (B. p. velifera) have returned to the Kitimat Fjord System (KFS) in the Great Bear Rainforest, and have established a seasonally resident population in its intracoastal waters. This is the only fjord system along this coast or elsewhere in which fin whales are known to occur regularly with strong site fidelity. The KFS was also the only Canadian Pacific fjord system in which fin whales were commonly found and killed during commercial whaling, pointing to its long-term importance. Traditional knowledge, whaling records, and citizen science databases suggest that fin whales were extirpated from this area prior to their return in 2005-2006. Visual surveys and mark-recapture analysis documented their repopulation of the area, with 100-120 whales using the fjord system in recent years, as well as the establishment of a seasonally resident population with annual return rates higher than 70%. Line transect surveys identified the central and outer channels of the KFS as the primary fin whale habitat, with the greatest densities occurring in Squally Channel and Caamano Sound. Fin whales were observed in the KFS in most months of the year. Vessel- and shore-based surveys (27,311 km and 6,572 hours of effort, respectively) indicated regular fin whale presence (2,542 detections), including mother-calf pairs, from June to October and peak abundance in late August-early September. Seasonal patterns were variable year-to-year, and several lines of evidence indicated that fin whales arrived and departed from the KFS repeatedly throughout the summer and fall. Additionally, we report on the population's social network and morphometrics. These findings offer insights into the dynamics of population recovery in an area where several marine shipping projects are proposed. The fin whales of the Great Bear Rainforest represent a rare exception to general patterns in this species' natural history, and we highlight the importance of their conservation.Peer reviewe

Muscle Expression of Mutant Androgen Receptor Accounts for Systemic and Motor Neuron Disease Phenotypes in Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy

SummaryX-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is characterized by adult-onset muscle weakness and lower motor neuron degeneration. SBMA is caused by CAG-polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat expansions in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. Pathological findings include motor neuron loss, with polyQ-AR accumulation in intranuclear inclusions. SBMA patients exhibit myopathic features, suggesting a role for muscle in disease pathogenesis. To determine the contribution of muscle, we developed a BAC mouse model featuring a floxed first exon to permit cell-type-specific excision of human AR121Q. BAC fxAR121 mice develop systemic and neuromuscular phenotypes, including shortened survival. After validating termination of AR121 expression and full rescue with ubiquitous Cre, we crossed BAC fxAR121 mice with Human Skeletal Actin-Cre mice. Muscle-specific excision prevented weight loss, motor phenotypes, muscle pathology, and motor neuronopathy and dramatically extended survival. Our results reveal a crucial role for muscle expression of polyQ-AR in SBMA and suggest muscle-directed therapies as effective treatments

Policy Brief 2: Building Community Resilience

Building resilience in Ocean Cities of the Pacific region is key to converting challenges and risks communities face into opportunities for systemic transformation toward sustainable development. Island settlements at the nexus of ocean health, climate change and urban development will need to build anticipatory, adaptive, absorptive and transformative capacity in the face of complex stressors. The interlinked challenges and resource constraints in rapidly growing Ocean Cities in the Pacific means that the ability to absorb shocks and bounce back relevant partners and stakeholders to promote equitable opportunities for all people in urban communities to access resources and use them sustainably, and to apply standardized methods contextualized for the Pacific to assess the relative vulnerability of communities in Ocean Cities. It also recognizes the importance of promoting stronger governance regimes within urban communities, aligning these with the policies of local government, and encouraging partnerships between urban and rural communities. This second policy brief in the Ocean Cities series offers guidance in this direction

The Multiscenario Multienvironment BioSecure Multimodal Database (BMDB)

A new multimodal biometric database designed and acquired within the framework of the European BioSecure Network of Excellence is presented. It is comprised of more than 600 individuals acquired simultaneously in three scenarios: 1) over the Internet, 2) in an office environment with desktop PC, and 3) in indoor/outdoor environments with mobile portable hardware. The three scenarios include a common part of audio/video data. Also, signature and fingerprint data have been acquired both with desktop PC and mobile portable hardware. Additionally, hand and iris data were acquired in the second scenario using desktop PC. Acquisition has been conducted by 11 European institutions. Additional features of the BioSecure Multimodal Database (BMDB) are: two acquisition sessions, several sensors in certain modalities, balanced gender and age distributions, multimodal realistic scenarios with simple and quick tasks per modality, cross-European diversity, availability of demographic data, and compatibility with other multimodal databases. The novel acquisition conditions of the BMDB allow us to perform new challenging research and evaluation of either monomodal or multimodal biometric systems, as in the recent BioSecure Multimodal Evaluation campaign. A description of this campaign including baseline results of individual modalities from the new database is also given. The database is expected to be available for research purposes through the BioSecure Association during 2008Comment: Published at IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence journa

The cytotoxic T cell proteome and its shaping by the kinase mTOR

High-resolution mass spectrometry maps the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) proteome and the impact of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) on CTLs. The CTL proteome was dominated by metabolic regulators and granzymes and mTORC1 selectively repressed and promoted expression of subset of CTL proteins (~10%). These included key CTL effector molecules, signaling proteins and a subset of metabolic enzymes. Proteomic data highlighted the potential for mTORC1 negative control of phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3)) production in CTL. mTORC1 was shown to repress PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) production and to determine the mTORC2 requirement for activation of the kinase Akt. Unbiased proteomic analysis thus provides a comprehensive understanding of CTL identity and mTORC1 control of CTL function

cIAP-1 Controls Innate Immunity to C. pneumoniae Pulmonary Infection

The resistance of epithelial cells infected with Chlamydophila pneumoniae for apoptosis has been attributed to the induced expression and increased stability of anti-apoptotic proteins called inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). The significance of cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein-1 (cIAP-1) in C. pneumoniae pulmonary infection and innate immune response was investigated in cIAP-1 knockout (KO) mice using a novel non-invasive intra-tracheal infection method. In contrast to wildtype, cIAP-1 knockout mice failed to clear the infection from their lungs. Wildtype mice responded to infection with a strong inflammatory response in the lung. In contrast, the recruitment of macrophages was reduced in cIAP-1 KO mice compared to wildtype mice. The concentration of Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) was increased whereas that of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α) was reduced in the lungs of infected cIAP-1 KO mice compared to infected wildtype mice. Ex vivo experiments on mouse peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes revealed that cIAP-1 is required for innate immune responses of these cells. Our findings thus suggest a new immunoregulatory role of cIAP-1 in the course of bacterial infection