Leadership Development, Identity, Culture and Context: A Qualitative Case Study

This thesis explores the impact and effects of a leadership development programme in-depth and over time. There has been a lack of attention given to understanding the impact of such interventions in the academic literature. Where studies do investigate the impact (s) of leadership development they tend to focus almost exclusively on positive outcomes or the achievement of pre-determined targets and tend to be short-term in focus. This research finds that there is also a shadow side of leadership development, defined as the unintended effects of leadership development programmes which can be counter-productive and dysfunctional. A longitudinal case study approach was adopted comprising documentary analysis, observation and interviews, the latter of which were conducted with multiple stakeholders at three different junctures in time during and beyond the length of the leadership development programme. Three conceptual dimensions of identity, organisational culture and organisational context were identified which together facilitated a multi-faceted understanding of the changing impact and effects of the leadership development programme over time. In conclusion this thesis makes both a theoretical and methodological contribution by adding a longitudinal, multi-level analysis and evaluation of leadership development, evidencing both positive and shadow impacts and effects

The Macedonian Labour Market: What makes it so different?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of the Macedonian labour market in the period 2006-2011, as well as to provide a comparative analysis with the countries from the region and the EU. In particular, for over a decade, Macedonian labour market puzzles economic researchers. Despite the expected improvement in the allocative efficiency of the markets (including labour market) in the process of transition to a market economy, the performance of the Macedonian labour market has deteriorated during the transition. Unemployment rate for the population aged 15-64 reached 37.7% in 2005, though has been declining modestly since then to 31.6% in 2011. Participation and employment rates of 64.2% and 43.9%, respectively, are low compared to the peer countries form the region, and even more if compared to the EU countries. This holds even more so for Macedonian females. In this regard, the paper examines the main challenges in the labour market, in general, but also does so for specific groups of workers (differentiated by age, gender анд education). We also calculate the extent of the skill match, as well as the presence of the over/under-education phenomenon (mismatches). Moreover, it empirically tests the determinants of the employment, that is which factors might bring higher employment rates

The Macedonian Labour Market: What makes it so different?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of the Macedonian labour market in the period 2006-2011, as well as to provide a comparative analysis with the countries from the region and the EU. In particular, for over a decade, Macedonian labour market puzzles economic researchers. Despite the expected improvement in the allocative efficiency of the markets (including labour market) in the process of transition to a market economy, the performance of the Macedonian labour market has deteriorated during the transition. Unemployment rate for the population aged 15-64 reached 37.7% in 2005, though has been declining modestly since then to 31.6% in 2011. Participation and employment rates of 64.2% and 43.9%, respectively, are low compared to the peer countries form the region, and even more if compared to the EU countries. This holds even more so for Macedonian females. In this regard, the paper examines the main challenges in the labour market, in general, but also does so for specific groups of workers (differentiated by age, gender анд education). We also calculate the extent of the skill match, as well as the presence of the over/under-education phenomenon (mismatches). Moreover, it empirically tests the determinants of the employment, that is which factors might bring higher employment rates

Ranking diffusion-MRI models with in-vivo human brain data

Diffusion MRI microstructure imaging provides a unique non-invasive probe into the microstructure of biological tissue. Its analysis relies on mathematical models relating microscopic tissue features to the MR signal. This work aims to determine which compartment models of diffusion MRI are best at describing the signal from in-vivo brain white matter. Recent work shows that three compartment models, including restricted intra-axonal, glial compartments and hindered extra-cellular diffusion, explain best multi b-value data sets from fixed rat brain tissue. Here, we perform a similar experiment using in-vivo human data. We compare one, two and three compartment models, ranking them with standard model selection criteria. Results show that, as with fixed tissue, three compartment models explain the data best, although simpler models emerge for the in-vivo data. We also find that splitting the scanning into shorter sessions has little effect on the models fitting and that the results are reproducible. The full ranking assists the choice of model and imaging protocol for future microstructure imaging applications in the brain

Countering the Zika epidemic in Latin America

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On the dynamic analysis of a novel snake robot: preliminary results

In recent years, modular robotics has become of great interest in the robotics community. Among them, snake robots are among the most flexible and versatile type of mobile robots, well-suited to a large number of applications, such as exploration and inspection tasks, participation to search and rescue missions etc. The present paper investigates the design of a novel snake robot, named Rese_Q01, currently being designed at Politecnico di Torino. In order to characterise the dynamic behaviour of the robot, a simple vehicle dynamics model is developed and basic simulations are carried out for a first implementation of a unit consisting of two modules. Preliminary results show the influence of the robot velocity on the trajectory curvature radius, as well as the effect of different ground/tire friction conditions. This analysis is the first step in order to develop effective control strategies for robot trajectories

The role of rapid diagnostics in managing Ebola epidemics

Ebola emerged in West Africa around December 2013 and swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, giving rise to 27,748 confirmed, probable and suspected cases reported by 29 July 2015. Case diagnoses during the epidemic have relied on polymerase chain reaction-based tests. Owing to limited laboratory capacity and local transport infrastructure, the delays from sample collection to test results being available have often been 2 days or more. Point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests offer the potential to substantially reduce these delays. We review Ebola rapid diagnostic tests approved by the World Health Organization and those currently in development. Such rapid diagnostic tests could allow early triaging of patients, thereby reducing the potential for nosocomial transmission. In addition, despite the lower test accuracy, rapid diagnostic test-based diagnosis may be beneficial in some contexts because of the reduced time spent by uninfected individuals in health-care settings where they may be at increased risk of infection; this also frees up hospital beds. We use mathematical modelling to explore the potential benefits of diagnostic testing strategies involving rapid diagnostic tests alone and in combination with polymerase chain reaction testing. Our analysis indicates that the use of rapid diagnostic tests with sensitivity and specificity comparable with those currently under development always enhances control, whether evaluated at a health-care-unit or population level. If such tests had been available throughout the recent epidemic, we estimate, for Sierra Leone, that their use in combination with confirmatory polymerase chain-reaction testing might have reduced the scale of the epidemic by over a third

Report 8: Symptom progression of COVID-19

The COVID-19 epidemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by WHO on 30th January 2020 [1]. As of 8 March 2020, over 107,000 cases had been reported. Here, we use published and preprint studies of clinical characteristics of cases in mainland China as well as case studies of individuals from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea to examine the proportional occurrence of symptoms and the progression of symptoms through time. We find that in mainland China, where specific symptoms or disease presentation are reported, pneumonia is the most frequently mentioned, see figure 1. We found a more varied spectrum of severity in cases outside mainland China. In Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, fever was the most frequently reported symptom. In this latter group, presentation with pneumonia is not reported as frequently although it is more common in individuals over 60 years old. The average time from reported onset of first symptoms to the occurrence of specific symptoms or disease presentation, such as pneumonia or the use of mechanical ventilation, varied substantially. The average time to presentation with pneumonia is 5.88 days, and may be linked to testing at hospitalisation; fever is often reported at onset (where the mean time to develop fever is 0.77 days)