Developing middle managers in the Hong Kong Public sector: A critique of leadership development from a labour process perspective

Critical scholars have written about the ‘squeezed middle’ and the new labour process of front line and middle managers generally, but there is a gap in the literature relating to both how changes to managerial work have affected those subjected to them and how individuals and organisations have attempted to respond to, and cope with, public sector cuts and challenges. Much of contemporary HRD writing on change management suggests that leadership development has a privileged role in adjusting the ‘worker’ to the situation. However, given the implicitly unitarist nature of much HRD writing, this thesis argues that insights from such literature is inadequate or incomplete because it fails to consider the interests of managers as employees.The focus of this thesis is on middle managers’ (MM) ability to overcome the public sector challenges associated with work intensification; control and skills adaption via learning and development initiatives. This qualitative research comprises a data set of 17 in-depth interviews and 34 complementary semi-structured questionnaire’s with middle managers in the Hong Kong Civil Service. Thematic analysis revealed that whilst managers and the organisation benefit from leadership development in terms of human capital development, power differentials and structural impediments limit the capacity to benefit from social capital and networking opportunities provided. As such LDP cannot compensate for work intensification, leading to a stressed-out, disempowered, squeezed middle management cadre, which in turn impacts on public service delivery

Immediate Memory and Electrophysiologic Effects of Prefrontal Cortex Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Neurotypical Individuals and Individuals with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE/AIM: Memory impairment post-TBI is common, frequently persistent, and functionally debilitating. The purposes of this pilot study were to assess and to compare immediate behavioral auditory working memory and electrophysiologic effects of three different, randomized, conditions of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to four neurotypical adults and four adults with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). MATERIALS/METHODS: Pre- and post- anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS auditory memory performance, auditory event-related potentials (P300 amplitude and latency) and power of alpha and theta EEG bands were measured across individuals in each group. RESULTS: Post-anodal tDCS only, the neurotypical and TBI groups both demonstrated significantly improved immediate auditory memory function. Also post-anodal tDCS, the TBI group demonstrated significantly increased P300 amplitude versus post-sham tDCS. The neurotypical group demonstrated no pre- post tDCS electrophysiologic changes across conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with findings of other studies of immediate tDCS effects on other types of memory in neurotypical individuals and in individuals with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke and suggest that individuals with memory impairments second to chronic TBI may benefit from LDLPFC anodal tDCS. Pairing tDCS with traditional behavioral memory interventions may facilitate TBI rehabilitation outcomes and warrants continued investigation

Exploring Women’s Experience in Ivy League Law School Classrooms

This study seeks to explore the experiences of women in the law school classroom. Participants from an Ivy League law school were placed in focus groups and asked to reflect on their law classroom experiences as it pertained to their gender. Results indicated that in an environment that adheres to typical law school pedagogy – such as the Socratic method – women experienced a multitude of challenges within the classroom. The issues reported by the focus group participants generally fell into these five main themes: (1) concern about being perceived as overly emotional or speaking from experience, (2) apprehension about discussing women’s issues, (3) gender differences in participation and reinforcement, (4) gendered speech, and (5) differential treatment of female faculty members. This study demonstrates the need for an examination of pedagogical approaches to eradicate unfavorable learning environments for women in law school classrooms

Exploring Women’s Experience in Ivy League Law School Classrooms

This study seeks to explore the experiences of women in the law school classroom. Participants from an Ivy League law school were placed in focus groups and asked to reflect on their law classroom experiences as it pertained to their gender. Results indicated that in an environment that adheres to typical law school pedagogy – such as the Socratic method – women experienced a multitude of challenges within the classroom. The issues reported by the focus group participants generally fell into these five main themes: (1) concern about being perceived as overly emotional or speaking from experience, (2) apprehension about discussing women’s issues, (3) gender differences in participation and reinforcement, (4) gendered speech, and (5) differential treatment of female faculty members. This study demonstrates the need for an examination of pedagogical approaches to eradicate unfavorable learning environments for women in law school classrooms

Medical device design in context: a model of user–device interaction and consequences

The practice of evaluating interaction with devices is embedded in disciplines such as human-computer interaction and cognitive ergonomics, including concepts such as affordances, error analysis, skill, rule and knowledge based behaviour and decision making biases. This paper considers the way in which the approach that has been routinely applied to displays and control design within the control and transport domains can be transferred to the context of medical devices. The importance of considering the context in which medical devices are used and implemented is presented, and the need for a systems approach to medical device design is emphasised. Five case studies from medical device control and display design are presented as an aide to developing an understanding of the relationship between device design and resultant behaviours. On the basis of these case studies, four types of mediating factors (catalysts, enablers, facilitators and enhancers) are proposed and a model to describe the link between device design, user, context and consequences is presented

Differential effects of hyaluronan synthase 3 deficiency after acute vs chronic liver injury in mice

A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.Background Hyaluronan (HA) is a ubiquitous extracellular matrix (ECM) glycosaminoglycan synthesized by three different enzymes, hyaluronan synthase (HAS)1, 2, and 3. HA synthesis mediated by HAS3 promotes inflammation and is pathogenic in animal models of human lung and intestinal disease. Liver fibrosis is a common endpoint to chronic liver injury and inflammation for which there is no cure. Although plasma HA is a commonly used biomarker for liver disease, if and how HA contributes to disease pathogenesis remains unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that HA synthesized by HAS3 enhances inflammation and fibrosis. To test this hypothesis, we exposed wild-type or Has3−/− mice to carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) once (acute) or ten (chronic) times. Results HAS3-deficient mice exhibited increased hepatic injury and inflammatory chemokine production 48 h after acute CCl4; this was associated with a threefold reduction in plasma HA levels and alterations in the proportions of specific molecular weight HA polymer pools. Hepatic accumulation of fibrosis-associated transcripts was also greater in livers from HAS3-deficient mice compared to controls after acute CCl4 exposure. Surprisingly, fibrosis was not different between genotypes. Hepatic matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)13 mRNA and MMP13 activity was greater in livers from Has3-null mice after chronic CCl4; this was prevented by a MMP13-specific inhibitor. Collectively, these data suggest that Has3, or more likely HA produced by HAS3, limits hepatic inflammation after acute injury and attenuates MMP13-mediated matrix metabolism after chronic injury. Conclusions These data suggest that HA should be investigated further as a novel therapeutic target for acute and chronic liver disease. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13069-016-0041-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Do Learners Fear More than Fear Itself: The Role of Fear in Law Students Educational Experiences

While previous research has examined the various relationships between fear and learning in K-12 academic settings, the relationship is surprisingly unexplored amongst law students. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, we examine the role fear plays in law students’ learning experiences. Through a series of semi-structured interviews a few areas of interest emerged including: fears related to disappointing family members and professors, as well as fears of peer judgment from classmates. The findings of this study demonstrate the unique relationship between the type of fear and how it influences academic motivation within this sample of law students. Based on our findings, we propose suggestions for future research that addresses the potentially detrimental effect of peer judgment on graduate students’ academic motivation

NP108, an Antimicrobial Polymer with Activity against Methicillin- and Mupirocin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

D.K.M., L.K.K., D.W.S., J.R., and D.A.O. are employees of NovaBiotics Ltd. D.A.O. is a director and shareholder of NovaBiotics Ltd. D.K.M., L.K.K., F.H., D.W.S., and J.R. carried out the experiments described in the manuscript. D.K.M., L.K.K., and D.A.O. came up with the ideas and designed the experiments conducted in the manuscript. D.K.M., D.A.O., and L.K.K. wrote and edited the manuscript. Samples for electron microscopy were prepared by the microscopy and histology facility at the University of Aberdeen. The work of Laura K. Katvars was partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (1091582). Carol Munro was supported by the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). AUTHOR CORRECTION Volume 61, no. 9, e00502-17, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00502-17. Page 1: Carol A. Munro should be added to the list of authors. The updated byline and affiliations are shown above. Page 11: the last paragraph of Acknowledgments should be replaced with the following sentences. The work of Laura K. Katvars was partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (1091582). Carol Munro was supported by the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.Peer reviewedPublisher PD