The Effect of Hotel Employees’ Emotional Labour on Interpersonal Counterproductive Work Behaviours

This research aims to shed light on the effect of hotels’ employees' emotional labour with its three levels (surface acting, deep acting and genuine emotions) on interpersonal counterproductive work behaviours. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was designed for Egyptian hotels’ employees which was structured to cover three main parts: (1) demographic characteristics of employees, (2) employees' emotional labour and (3) interpersonal counterproductive work behaviours. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used involving (smart- PLS) software, IBM, version 4. The results show that the hotels’ employees' emotional labour with its three levels (surface acting, deep acting and genuine emotions) affects interpersonal counterproductive work behaviours with its two types (task focused and person focused) as there is a positive effect of surface acting on interpersonal counterproductive work behaviour. Employees' emotional labour must be seriously handled within the hospitality industry as it is a very important element affecting task-focused or person-focused ICWBs in the hotel. As both surface acting and genuine emotions increase task-focused or person-focused ICWBs, deep acting decreases task-focused or person-focused ICWBs

High shear granulation: an investigation into the granule consolidation mechanism

The mechanisms of early granule growth are difficult to study and poorly understood. Consolidation and layering play a critical role in the growth process. However, little is known about the kinetics. In this work, a novel consolidation-only granulator (COG) was used to study dynamic consolidation and layering only, eliminating other granulation mechanisms. Prenucleated granule growth was studied over time. Based on experimental data and literature models, a mechanistic layering kernel for population balance modelling was developed. Granule growth kinetics were qualitatively predicted by a previously reported model; growth behaviour was linear with the square root of time to a certain critical size, after which growth stopped. X-ray computed tomography revealed that consolidation mainly occurred in the outer layers of the granules. The results greatly advance understanding of consolidation and layered growth, and the new model opens the way for improved predictive modelling and design of granulation processes and products

Older adults' beliefs about physician-estimated life expectancy: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Estimates of life expectancy assist physicians and patients in medical decision-making. The time-delayed benefits for many medical treatments make an older adult's life expectancy estimate particularly important for physicians. The purpose of this study is to assess older adults' beliefs about physician-estimated life expectancy. METHODS: We performed a mixed qualitative-quantitative cross-sectional study in which 116 healthy adults aged 70+ were recruited from two local retirement communities. We interviewed them regarding their beliefs about physician-estimated life expectancy in the context of a larger study on cancer screening beliefs. Semi-structured interviews of 80 minutes average duration were performed in private locations convenient to participants. Demographic characteristics as well as cancer screening beliefs and beliefs about life expectancy were measured. Two independent researchers reviewed the open-ended responses and recorded the most common themes. The research team resolved disagreements by consensus. RESULTS: This article reports the life-expectancy results portion of the larger study. The study group (n = 116) was comprised of healthy, well-educated older adults, with almost a third over 85 years old, and none meeting criteria for dementia. Sixty-four percent (n = 73) felt that their physicians could not correctly estimate their life expectancy. Sixty-six percent (n = 75) wanted their physicians to talk with them about their life expectancy. The themes that emerged from our study indicate that discussions of life expectancy could help older adults plan for the future, maintain open communication with their physicians, and provide them knowledge about their medical conditions. CONCLUSION: The majority of the healthy older adults in this study were open to discussions about life expectancy in the context of discussing cancer screening tests, despite awareness that their physicians' estimates could be inaccurate. Since about a third of participants perceived these discussions as not useful or even harmful, physicians should first ascertain patients' preferences before discussing their life expectancies

Effect of air voids content on thermal properties of asphalt mixtures

Air voids content is considered as one of the factors that may affect heat transfer through asphalt mixture, although their specific role on the asphalt mixture temperature is still unclear. The objective of this research is to have a deep insight of the effect of air voids content on the temperature evolution, transport and storage of heat in asphalt mixture under dry conditions. With this objective, asphalt mixture slabs with different air voids content have been built and their thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, light absorptivity and thermal diffusivity related to their temperature evolution have been measured when they are exposed to infrared light and during the cooling process. It was observed that asphalt mixture with high air voids content exhibited slightly higher steady state temperatures than denser asphalt mixture and that the heating and cooling rates are higher in porous asphalt mixture than in denser materials. The reason for the faster increase and decrease in temperature of porous mixture and for the higher temperature reached by porous asphalt is its lower specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity. Finally, it could be observed that the connectivity of air voids in asphalt mixture did not play an important role on the temperature reached by asphalt mixture

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Effectiveness of a quality improvement collaborative in reducing time to surgery for patients requiring emergency cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: Acute gallstone disease is a high-volume emergency general surgery presentation with wide variations in the quality of care provided across the UK. This controlled cohort evaluation assessed whether participation in a quality improvement collaborative approach reduced time to surgery for patients with acute gallstone disease to fewer than 8 days from presentation, in line with national guidance. METHODS: Patients admitted to hospital with acute biliary conditions in England and Wales between 1 April 2014 and 31 December 2017 were identified from Hospital Episode Statistics data. Time series of quarterly activity were produced for the Cholecystectomy Quality Improvement Collaborative (Chole-QuIC) and all other acute National Health Service hospitals (control group). A negative binomial regression model was used to compare the proportion of patients having surgery within 8 days in the baseline and intervention periods. RESULTS: Of 13 sites invited to join Chole-QuIC, 12 participated throughout the collaborative, which ran from October 2016 to January 2018. Of 7944 admissions, 1160 patients had a cholecystectomy within 8 days of admission, a significant improvement (P < 0·050) from baseline performance. This represented a relative change of 1·56 (95 per cent c.i. 1·38 to 1·75), compared with 1·08 for the control group. At the individual site level, eight of the 12 Chole-QuIC sites showed a significant improvement (P < 0·050), with four sites increasing their 8-day surgery rate to over 20 per cent of all emergency admissions, well above the mean of 15·3 per cent for control hospitals. CONCLUSION: A surgeon-led quality improvement collaborative approach improved care for patients requiring emergency cholecystectomy

Effect of air voids content on thermal properties of asphalt mixtures

Air voids content is considered as one of the factors that may affect heat transfer through asphalt mixture, although their specific role on the asphalt mixture temperature is still unclear. The objective of this research is to have a deep insight of the effect of air voids content on the temperature evolution, transport and storage of heat in asphalt mixture under dry conditions. With this objective, asphalt mixture slabs with different air voids content have been built and their thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, light absorptivity and thermal diffusivity related to their temperature evolution have been measured when they are exposed to infrared light and during the cooling process. It was observed that asphalt mixture with high air voids content exhibited slightly higher steady state temperatures than denser asphalt mixture and that the heating and cooling rates are higher in porous asphalt mixture than in denser materials. The reason for the faster increase and decrease in temperature of porous mixture and for the higher temperature reached by porous asphalt is its lower specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity. Finally, it could be observed that the connectivity of air voids in asphalt mixture did not play an important role on the temperature reached by asphalt mixture

Effects of Ni - Doping on the Characterization of Nanostructured CdS Thin Films

Effect of nickel doping was investigated on doped CdS films by spray pyrolysis technique and examined by XRD, AFM, and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The increasing of Ni doping ratio improve (020) preferential orientation. XRD analysis confirmed the CdS nanostructure for all samples. The crystallite size for pure CdS showed an increase from 19.98 nm to 27.04 nm on doping, whereas the strain (%) parameter was decreased from 25.0 to 13.3. AFM images offer a decrease in roughness from 6.5 nm to 3.48 nm with Ni – 4% content. Transmittance was exceeding 70% in the visible range by Ni content. Also, the bandgap was decreased from 2.4 to 2.3 eV with the increment of Ni content