Doing cultural fit in job interviews: the challenge of diversity in recruitment practices

Previous studies have identified several factors that lead to unsuccessful job interviews amongst candidates of minority backgrounds in Britain and other parts of the west. These include: ideology-based prejudice, power, limited knowledge of institutional discourse and lack of linguistic capital (Gumperz 1999; Roberts 2011). There is an underlying assumption that there are certain norms that outsiders need to comply with. However, in superdiverse recruitment interview contexts, it is unclear whose cultural norms these are because interlocutors bring with them a “briefcase” (Gordon 2011) of: expectations, norms, values, and interpretations resulting in the negotiation of meaning-making processes and the co-construction of the interview outcome. Focusing on the under-researched context of recruitment, where recruitment agencies work with companies to find suitable candidates for their vacancies, this research aims to further understand how cultural fit is performed within a super diverse setting. It draws on the data collected from 30 real video-recorded recruitment interviews that took place in one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies. This study argues that recruitment interview success is heavily reliant on “cultural fit.” The analysis from this study contributes to the literature in the field by addressing how cultural fit is an interactional accomplishment, achieved collaboratively by aligning in the “9 areas of cultural fit. ”The nine areas that are drawn from the analysis of this study include: linguistic alignment, world views, power dynamics, performed identities, levels of formality, positioning, shared knowledge, similar backgrounds, and emotional connections. Recruiters enable the performance of cultural fit by facilitating a good rapport and providing an equal opportunity for candidates to demonstrate cultural fit in the interview. Candidates are invited to participate in a power game through the “faking friendship” dynamic. Candidates that are unable to play the power game are put at a disadvantage

Selective Affimers Recognise the BCL‐2 Family Proteins BCL‐xL and MCL‐1 through Noncanonical Structural Motifs

The BCL‐2 family is a challenging group of proteins to target selectively due to sequence and structural homologies across the family. Selective ligands for the BCL‐2 family regulators of apoptosis are useful as probes to understand cell biology and apoptotic signalling pathways, and as starting points for inhibitor design. We have used phage display to isolate Affimer reagents (non‐antibody‐binding proteins based on a conserved scaffold) to identify ligands for MCL‐1, BCL‐xL, BCL‐2, BAK and BAX, then used multiple biophysical characterisation methods to probe the interactions. We established that purified Affimers elicit selective recognition of their target BCL‐2 protein. For anti‐apoptotic targets BCL‐xL and MCL‐1, competitive inhibition of their canonical protein‐protein interactions is demonstrated. Co‐crystal structures reveal an unprecedented mode of molecular recognition; where a BH3 helix is normally bound, flexible loops from the Affimer dock into the BH3 binding cleft. Moreover, the Affimers induce a change in the target proteins towards a desirable drug‐bound‐like conformation. These proof‐of‐concept studies indicate that Affimers could be used as alternative templates to inspire the design of selective BCL‐2 family modulators and more generally other protein‐protein interaction inhibitors

Determinants of mortality in patients with cirrhosis and uncontrolled variceal bleeding

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Failure to control oesophago-gastric variceal bleeding (OGVB) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) are both important prognostic factors in liver cirrhosis. The aims of this study were to determine whether ACLF and its severity define the risk of death in OGVB and whether insertion of rescue transjugular intrahepatic stent-shunt (TIPSS) improves the survival of patients with failure to control OGVB and ACLF. METHODS: From a prospectively maintained ICU registry, data of 174 consecutive eligible patients with failure to control OGVB between 2005 and 2015, were included. Rescue TIPSS was defined as technically successful TIPSS within 72-hours of presentation with failure to control OGVB. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were applied to explore the impact of ACLF and TIPSS on survival in failure-to-control OGVB. RESULTS: ACLF patients (n=119) were significantly older, had organ failures and higher white cell count compared with patients with acute decompensation (AD, n=55). Mortality at 42-days and 1-year was significantly higher in ACLF (47.9% and 61.3%) as compared to AD patients (9.1% and 12.7%, p<0.001), whereas there was no difference in the number of endoscopies and transfusion requirements between these groups. TIPSS was inserted in 78 patients [AD: 21 (38.2%); ACLF: 57 (47.8%), p=0.41]. In ACLF, rescue TIPSS insertion was an independent favorable prognostic factor for 42-day mortality. In contrast, rescue TIPSS did not impact on the outcome of AD patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows for the first time that in patients with failure to control OGVB, the presence and severity of ACLF determines the risk of 42-day and 1-year mortality. Rescue TIPSS is associated with improved survival of ACLF patients

Luminescence tuning of MOFs via ligand to metal and metal to metal energy transfer by co-doping of 2∞[Gd2Cl6(bipy)3]*2bipy with europium and terbium

The series of anhydrous lanthanide chlorides LnCl3, Ln=Pr–Tb, and 4,4'-bipyridine (bipy) constitute isotypic MOFs of the formula 2∞[Ln2Cl6(bipy)3]*2bipy. The europium and terbium containing compounds both exhibit luminescence of the referring trivalent lanthanide ions, giving a red luminescence for Eu3+ and a green luminescence for Tb3+ triggered by an efficient antenna effect of the 4,4'-bipyridine linkers. Mixing of different lanthanides in one MOF structure was undertaken to investigate the potential of this MOF system for colour tuning of the luminescence. Based on the gadolinium containing compound, co-doping with different amounts of europium and terbium proves successful and yields solid solutions of the formula 2∞[Gd2-x-yEuxTbyCl6(bipy)3]*2bipy (1–8), 0≤x, y≤0.5. The series of MOFs exhibits the opportunity of tuning the emission colour in-between green and red. Depending on the atomic ratio Gd:Eu:Tb, the yellow region was covered for the first time for an oxygen/carboxylate-free MOF system. In addition to a ligand to metal energy transfer (LMET) from the lowest ligand-centered triplet state of 4,4'-bipyridine, a metal to metal energy transfer (MMET) between 4f-levels from Tb3+ to Eu3+ is as well vital for the emission colour. However, no involvement of Gd3+ in energy transfers is observed rendering it a suitable host lattice ion and connectivity centre for diluting the other two rare earth ions in the solid state. The materials retain their luminescence during activation of the MOFs for microporosity