Responding to the Workplace Narcissist

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The presence of narcissism in the workplace is well established. Some have even gone so far as to extol the virtues of the narcissistic personality and the effect that it has on the leadership roles in organizations. Still, research suggests that there are more narcissists than there are leadership positions that might be filled. It is well established that the presence of those with strong narcissistic tendencies at the lower levels of organizations are disruptive to the productivity and the morale of the organization as a whole. This paper found that five coping method categories existed: non-responding, quitting one’s job, befriending the narcissist, confronting the narcissist, and going to management. Contrary to existing literature, only quitting one’s job or going to management were perceived by respondents as effective methods

Effect of Preoperative N-Acetylcysteine on Postoperative Blood Loss Parameters in Cardiac Surgery Patients

Purpose. To determine if recent preoperative exposure to n-acetylcysteine (NAC), Mucomyst, increases postoperative blood loss in cardiac surgery patients. Methods. Retrospective review of cardiac surgery patients who underwent a cardiac catheterization within four days of surgery and whose serum creatinine was ≥1.0 mg/dL. The study groups were those who received NAC in the pericatheterization period versus those who did not. The primary endpoint was postoperative chest tube output at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Secondary endpoints included number of transfusions and other bleeding parameters. Results. Mean blood loss in the first 24 hours was 962 ± 595 mL in the treatment group (n = 79) and 1,178 ± 788 mL in the control group (n = 106), P = .040. Blood loss between groups at 48 (366 ± 318 mL versus 412 ± 363 mL, P = .382) and 72 (194 ± 300 mL versus 176 ± 224 mL, P = .643) hours was not significantly different. There were no significant differences in postoperative transfusions or other bleeding parameters. Conclusions. Preoperative exposure to NAC did not increase postoperative blood loss or negatively affect other bleeding parameters

Bayesian hierarchical modelling of size spectra

A fundamental pattern in ecology is that smaller organisms are more abundant than larger organisms. This pattern is known as the individual size distribution (ISD), which is the frequency distribution of all individual body sizes in an ecosystem. The ISD is described by a power law and a major goal of size spectra analyses is to estimate the exponent of the power law, λ. However, while numerous methods have been developed to do this, they have focused almost exclusively on estimating λ from single samples. Here, we develop an extension of the truncated Pareto distribution within the probabilistic modelling language Stan. We use it to estimate multiple λs simultaneously in a hierarchical modelling approach. The most important result is the ability to examine hypotheses related to size spectra, including the assessment of fixed and random effects, within a single Bayesian generalized mixed model. While the example here uses size spectra, the technique can also be generalized to any data that follow a power law distribution

Receiver Mount Design, Transmitter Depth, and Wind Speed Affect Detection Probability of Acoustic Telemetry Transmitters in a Missouri River Tributary

Background One of the most important considerations for acoustic telemetry study designs is det:ection probability between the transmitter and the receiver. Variation in environmental (i.e., wind and flow) and abiotic (i.e., bathymetry) conditions among aquatic systems can lead to differences in detection probability temporally or between systems. In this study we evaluate the effect of distance, receiver mount design, transmitter depth, and wind speed on detection probabilities of two models of acoustic transmitters in a mid-sized river. InnovaSea V16-6H (hereafter V16) and V13-1L (hereafter V13) tags were deployed in the James River, SD at 0.36 m (deep) and 2.29 m (V16 tag) or 1.98 m (V13 tag; shallow) above the benthic surface downstream of InnovaSea VR2W stationary receivers at distances of 100, 200, or 300 m. We used two receiver mount designs that included a fixed position within a PVC pipe on the downstream side of a bridge piling or a metal frame deployed in the middle of the river channel. Tags were deployed for 72 h at each location, and hourly detections were summarized. We evaluated downstream distance, receiver mount design, tag depth, and wind effects on tag detection using Bayesian logistic regression. Results: Detection probability decreased as distance increased for all combinations of tag types and mount designs and varied from nearly 100% at 100 m to less than 10% at 300 m. The V16 transmitter had greater detection probability by the receiver mounted in the pipe than in the midriver frame. For both mounts, the deep V16 transmitter had greater detection probability than the V16 shallow transmitter. Detection probability of the V13 transmitter was similar between receiver mounts or transmitter depths. Wind speed had a negative impact on detection probabilities of both transmitter types and depths, except the deep V16 transmitter. Conclusions: Deploying acoustic receivers in PVC pipes rather than midriver frames provided greater downstream detection probabilities for V16 transmitters under conditions evaluated in this study. In addition, V16 transmitters had greater detection probabilities when positioned deep within the water column rather than near the surface. We also demonstrated that wind speed can have a negative impact on detection probabilities

Loss of Potential Aquatic-Terrestrial Subsidies Along the Missouri River Floodplain

The floodplains of large rivers have been heavily modified due to riparian development and channel modifications, both of which can eliminate shallow off-channel habitats. The importance of these habitats for aquatic organisms like fishes is well studied. However, loss of off-channel habitat also eliminates habitats for the production of emerging aquatic insects, which subsidize riparian consumers in terrestrial food webs. We used field collections of insect emergence, historical mapping, and statistical modeling to estimate the loss of insect emergence due to channel modifications along eight segments of the Missouri River (USA), encompassing 1566 river km, between 1890 and 2012. We estimate annual production of emerging aquatic insects declined by a median of 36,000 kgC (95% CrI: 3000 to 450,000) between 1890 and 2012 (a 34% loss), due to the loss of surface area in backwaters and related off-channel habitats. Under a conservative assumption that riparian birds obtain 24% of their annual energy budget from adult aquatic insects, this amount of insect loss would be enough to subsidize approximately 790,000 riparan woodland birds during the breeding and nesting period (May to August; 95% CrI: 57,000 to 10,000,000). Most of the loss is concentrated in the lower reaches of the Missouri River, which historically had a wide floodplain, a meandering channel, and a high density of off-channel habitats, but which were substantially reduced due to channelization and bank stabilization. Our results indicate that the loss of off-channel habitats in large river floodplains has the potential to substantially affect energy availability for riparian insectivores, further demonstrating the importance of maintaining and restoring these habitats for linked aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems

The ethics of (not) giving back

Recent concerns with academic research 'giving back' and 'having impact' are encouraging the adoption of various practices through which academics are able to share research findings with host communities. While we support the laudable principles behind these efforts, in this contribution we reflect on the viability of such practices in relation to overseas, undergraduate fieldclasses. Drawing on our experiences of leading and teaching on a range of international fieldclasses, we explore the complexities of giving back and caution against a drift towards universalising such practices in specific ways. Instead we call for greater critical honesty as to the potential for fieldclasses to give back in multiple ways and the need to avoid inadvertently doing harm when seeking to engage in ethical practices

RegaDB: Community-driven data management and analysis for infectious diseases

Summary: RegaDB is a free and open source data management and analysis environment for infectious diseases. RegaDB allows clinicians to store, manage and analyse patient data, including viral genetic sequences. Moreover, RegaDB pr