Toward Understanding Team Leadership: The Empirical Development of a Team Leadership Classification System

The purpose of this research was to develop a classification system of team leadership through the empirical process of numerical classification. Although the value and importance of leadership have been recognized in the team literature, few empirical studies have been conducted to understand the phenomenon of team leadership. A thorough review of the relevant literature was conducted to identify the various behaviors, functions, traits, and KSAOs associated with team leadership. This information was then used to select and construct data collection instruments for the classification process. Two separate studies were conducted to achieve the overall goal of developing a team leadership classification system. In the first study, the data collection instruments were constructed and tested with a sample of 71 teams, each team being represented by a single subject matter expert. The instruments included a structured interview, a leadership questionnaire, a leadership behaviors form requiring extent of involvement and importance ratings, a leader behavior rating task based on the LBDQ-XII and LOQ, a KSAO rating task, a leader involvement rating task, and a measure designed to assess an entity\u27s level of teamness. A series of statistical analyses (e.g., exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, reliability and item analyses) were performed to evaluate and refine the psychometric properties of the measures. In the second study, the revised and refined measures were used to collect data on a diverse sample of 100 teams. Data from four of the measures were used to identify team leadership types by means of Ward\u27s method of hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis. Various cluster solutions were evaluated through the two-sample cross-validation procedure, and the best solutions were identified on the basis of their stability and estimated accuracy. The external validity of the three most accurate solutions was then evaluated through a series of analysis of variance procedures with dependent data provided by the interview, questionnaire, and teamness measure. Based on the results, a classification system of five team leadership types was selected, described, and validated. Implications of the research are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided

Haemophilus influenzae type b reemergence after combination immunization

An increase in Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in British children has been linked to the widespread use of a diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis combination vaccine (DTaP-Hib). We measured anti-polyribosyl-ribitol phos- phate antibody concentration and avidity before and after a Hib booster in 176 children 2–4 years of age who had received 3 doses of DTP-Hib (either DT whole cell pertus- sis-Hib or DTaP-Hib) combination vaccine in infancy. We also measured pharyngeal carriage of Hib. Antibody con- centrations before and avidity indices after vaccination were low (geometric mean concentration 0.46μg/mL, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.36–0.58; geometric mean avidity index 0.16, 95% CI 0.14–0.18) and inversely related to the number of previous doses of DTaP-Hib (p = 0.02 and p<0.001, respectively). Hib was found in 2.1% (95% CI 0.7%–6.0%) of study participants. Our data support an association between DTaP-Hib vaccine combinations and clinical Hib disease through an effect on antibody concen- tration and avidit

Frequency of medically attended adverse events following tetanus and diphtheria toxoid vaccine in adolescents and young adults: a Vaccine Safety Datalink study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Local reactions are the most commonly reported adverse events following tetanus and diphtheria toxoid (Td) vaccine and the risk of local reactions may increase with number of prior Td vaccinations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To estimate the risk of medically attended local reactions following Td vaccination in adolescents and young adults we conducted a six-year retrospective cohort study assessing 436,828 Td vaccinations given to persons 9 through 25 years of age in the Vaccine Safety Datalink population from 1999 through 2004.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, the estimated risk of a medically attended local reaction was 3.6 events per 10,000 Td vaccinations. The lowest risk (2.8 events per 10,000 vaccinations) was found in the 11 to 15 year old age group. In comparison with that group, the event risks were significantly higher in both the 9 to 10 and 21 to 25 year old age groups. The risk of a local reaction was significantly higher in persons who had received another tetanus and diphtheria toxoid containing vaccine (TDCV) in the previous five years (incidence rate ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 7.2). Twenty-eight percent of persons with a local reaction to Td vaccine were prescribed antibiotics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Medically attended local reactions were uncommon following Td vaccination. The risk of those reactions varied by age and by prior receipt of TDCVs. These findings provide a point of reference for future evaluations of the safety profile of newer vaccines containing tetanus or diphtheria toxoid.</p

Effect of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on invasive pneumococcal disease in preterm born infants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence for protection of preterm born infants from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) by 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV7) is relatively sparse. Data from randomized trials is based on relatively small numbers of preterm born children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We report data from active prospective surveillance of IPD in children in Germany. The cohorts of preterm born children in 2000 and 2007 and the respective whole birth cohorts are compared regarding occurrence of IPD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After introduction of PCV7 we observed a reduction in the rate of IPD in preterm born infants comparing the 2000 and 2007 birth cohort. The rate of IPD among the whole birth cohorts was reduced from 15.0 to 8.5 notifications per 100,000 (<it>P </it>< .001). The impact among the preterm birth cohort was comparable: A reduction in notification rate from 26.1 to 16.7 per 100,000 comparing the 2000 with the 2007 preterm birth cohort (<it>P </it>= .39). Preterm born infants with IPD were either unvaccinated or vaccinated delayed or incomplete.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This adds to evidence that PCV7 also protects preterm born infants effectively from IPD. Preterm born infants should receive pneumococcal vaccination according to their chronological age.</p