Survival and major neurodevelopmental impairment in extremely low gestational age newborns born 1990–2000: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is important to determine if rates of survival and major neurodevelopmental impairment in extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs; infants born at 23–27 weeks gestation) are changing over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study infants were born at 23 to 27 weeks of gestation without congenital anomalies at a tertiary medical center between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2000, to mothers residing in a thirteen-county region in North Carolina. Outcomes at one year adjusted age were compared for two epochs of birth: epoch 1, July 1, 1990 to June 30, 1995; epoch 2, July 1, 1995 to June 30, 2000. Major neurodevelopmental impairment was defined as cerebral palsy, Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Developmental Index more than two standard deviations below the mean, or blindness.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Survival of ELGANs, as a percentage of live births, was 67% [95% confidence interval: (61, 72)] in epoch 1 and 71% (65, 75) in epoch 2. Major neurodevelopmental impairment was present in 20% (15, 27) of survivors in epoch 1 and 14% (10, 20) in epoch 2. When adjusted for gestational age, survival increased [odds ratio 1.5 (1.0, 2.2), p = .03] and major neurodevelopmental impairment decreased [odds ratio 0.54 (0.31, 0.93), p = .02] from epoch 1 to epoch 2.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The probability of survival increased while that of major neurodevelopmental impairment decreased during the 1990's in this regionally based sample of ELGANs.</p

Leadership = Communication? The relations of leaders' communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing and leadership outcomes

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between leaders' communication styles and charismatic leadership, human-oriented leadership (leader's consideration), task-oriented leadership (leader's initiating structure), and leadership outcomes. Methodology: A survey was conducted among 279 employees of a governmental organization. The following six main communication styles were operationalized: verbal aggressiveness, expressiveness, preciseness, assuredness, supportiveness, and argumentativeness. Regression analyses were employed to test three main hypotheses. Findings: In line with expectations, the study showed that charismatic and human-oriented leadership are mainly communicative, while task-oriented leadership is significantly less communicative. The communication styles were strongly and differentially related to knowledge sharing behaviors, perceived leader performance, satisfaction with the leader, and subordinate's team commitment. Multiple regression analyses showed that the leadership styles mediated the relations between the communication styles and leadership outcomes. However, leader's preciseness explained variance in perceived leader performance and satisfaction with the leader above and beyond the leadership style variables. Implications: This study offers potentially invaluable input for leadership training programs by showing the importance of leader's supportiveness, assuredness, and preciseness when communicating with subordinates. Originality/value: Although one of the core elements of leadership is interpersonal communication, this study is one of the first to use a comprehensive communication styles instrument in the study of leadership. © 2009 The Author(s)

Q&A: How do plants respond to ethylene and what is its importance?

Ethylene gas is a major plant hormone that influences diverse processes in plant growth, development and stress responses throughout the plant life cycle. Responses to ethylene, such as fruit ripening, are significant to agriculture. The core molecular elements of the ethylene-signaling pathway have been uncovered, revealing a unique pathway that is negatively regulated. Practical applications of this knowledge can lead to substantial improvements in agriculture.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-016-0230-

Integrated Reporting, Integrated Thinking and Gaming Companies: Myths and Paradoxes

The paper move from the idea that there are some situations in which it is very difficult to speak about integrated thinking and integrated reporting. Especially when there are economic mechanisms that try to follow the patterns of development and money drain. One of them is about the "poison" that creeps in economy through various forms of "dependency". The different forms of "addiction" create social costs that are downloaded on the community in the name of pure profit. Thus, they develop forms of \u201cill\u201d economy. Among those, in this paper we want to focus on the "gambling" enterprises and according to our point of view, it is may be more difficult to speak about integrated thinking and integrated reporting if you endorse and develop behaviors that destabilize the development of civil economy. In particular, about the integrated tools of measurement and accountability, that have a crucial function of legitimation of the companies in their own territory. In this we want to answer to the research question: \u201c What are the features that impede to develop the process of integrated thinking in gambling enterprises\u201d. The paper use inductive ad deductive methodology and involves the myths and paradoxes that can be found in the accountability instruments in certain sectors, such as gambling. These reflections can be considered in the relationship between the integrated reporting and integrated thinking