Navigating the Contemporary Rites of Passage: A Typology of STEM Professional Identity Transition

Anchored upon a renewed rites of passage perspective, this study employs a narrative inquiry to understand how professional identities are enacted, developed, negotiated, and reconstructed among final year STEM undergraduates in Malaysia. While professional identities are largely studied within the workplace or organisational context, there is limited knowledge of how students make sense of their professional identities during their study. To address this gap, this study explores the dilemmas and dreams of twenty-four final year STEM undergraduates as they were at the critical juncture of transition towards their first full-time career.  While the participants shared a common experience of STEM professional identity formation during their childhood and adolescent phases of life, there were variations in how individuals negotiated their professional identities as they reached the crossroads upon university enrolment and graduation. In navigating the liminal phase of uncertainties, negotiation strategies included defending and rethinking STEM professional identities while balancing identities in work and non-work roles. Towards the reconstruction phase, a process of redefining, affirming, and securing STEM professional identity takes place as individuals make sense of their roles and place in the communities. The narrative findings illustrate contemporary dynamics of societal expectations, structural forces and personal agency that facilitate STEM professional transitions.   The study also adds insights into emerging discourses surrounding STEM education and talent retention strategies among the contemporary STEM workforce

Does caffeine consumption affect work performance across different job types?

We propose executing a panel series case study for a large organization in Singapore over a year to examine how caffeine impacts work performance across different job types. Our research question is how does caffeine affect work performance under different conditions due to work type differences. Our dependent variable would be work performance as measured by employees’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We propose to gather data for two of our important independent variables: caffeine use through a recorded pantry system and average sleep hours from a survey. We will analyze the data by using two-factor ANOVA with replication to find the interaction between Caffeine and Work types, as well as regression analysis to determine the impact of key-independent variables. The findings of our study has the potential to influence safety regulations surrounding jobs relating to caffeine, similar to the regulations for alcohol

From Big Data To Knowledge – Good Practices From Industry

Recent advancements in data gathering technologies have led to the rise of a large amount of data through which useful insights and ideas can be derived. These data sets are typically too large to process using traditional data processing tools and applications and thus known in the popular press as ‘big data’. It is essential to extract the hidden meanings in the available data sets by aggregating big data into knowledge, which may then positively contribute to decision making. One way to engage in data-driven strategy is to gather contextual relevant data on specific customers, products, and situations, and determine optimised offerings that are most appealing to the target customers based on sound analytics. Corporations around the world have been increasingly applying analytics, tools and technologies to capture, manage and process such data, and derive value out of the huge volumes of data generated by individuals. The detailed intelligence on consumer behaviour, user patterns and other hidden knowledge that was not possible to derive via traditional means could now be used to facilitate important business processes such as real-time control, and demand forecasting. The aim of our research is to understand and analyse the significance and impact of big data in today’s industrial environment and identify the good practices that can help us derive useful knowledge out of this wealth of information based on content analysis of 34 firms that have initiated big data analytical projects. Our descriptive and network analysis shows that the goals of a big data initiative are extensible and highlighted the importance of data representation. We also find the data analytical techniques adopted are heavily dependent on the project goals

UV Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Outer Valence Electronic Structure of Dihalobenzenes

The electronic structures of nine dihalobenzenes (C6H4FX; X = Cl, Br, I) have been studied by UV photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and assigned by comparison with the reported spectra of monoha-lobenzenes (C6H5X; X = Cl, Br, I). and quantum chemical calculations. Our results show that the fluorine substituent modifies energies of π- and halogen lone pair orbitals to a significant degree depending on its location (topology). We also demonstrate that the inductive effect of fluorine atom on the benzene ring can be readily observed and interpreted

Assessing Junior Faculty Research Productivity in the IS Field: Recommendations for Promotion and Tenure Standards for Asian Schools

We gathered information about junior faculty research productivity in the information systems (IS) field in North America and in a set of top Asian schools. Our work complements prior studies on IS faculty research productivity in several ways. First, we focused on junior faculty research productivity, which refers to publication records of current tenure-track assistant professors. To provide statistics with a greater coverage of IS researchers, we also collected information about the pre-tenure publication records of associate professors. Second, we covered IS researchers who obtained their doctoral degrees in or after the year 2000 and counted their publications until 2013 to provide the most up-to-date information about junior faculty research productivity. Third, we collected information about IS researchers’ publications in leading IS journals (based on the AIS Senior Scholar basket of journals) and in elite broader business journals (based on the Financial Times list and UT Dallas list). Finally, examining junior faculty research productivity in the IS field in Asian schools and in North America enabled us to provide recommendations for promotion and tenure standards for Asian schools in light of the research productivity and tenure standards in North America

Identification of novel transcripts and peptides in developing murine lens.

We previously investigated the transcriptome and proteome profiles of the murine ocular lens at six developmental time points including two embryonic (E15 and E18) and four postnatal time points (P0, P3, P6, and P9). Here, we extend our analyses to identify novel transcripts and peptides in developing  mouse lens. We identified a total of 9,707 novel transcripts and 325 novel fusion genes in developing mouse lens. Additionally, we identified 13,281 novel alternative splicing (AS) events in mouse lens including 6,990 exon skipping (ES), 2,447 alternative 3' splice site (A3SS), 1,900 alternative 5' splice site (A5SS), 1,771 mutually exclusive exons (MXE), and 173 intron retention (IR). Finally, we integrated our OMIC (Transcriptome and Proteome) datasets identifying 20 novel peptides in mouse lens. All 20 peptides were validated through matching MS/MS spectra of synthetic peptides. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report integrating OMIC datasets to identify novel peptides in developing murine lens

A good death in the child with life shortening illness:A qualitative multiple-case study

Background: Understanding what makes a ‘good death’ in the child with life shortening illness is important, as it informs appropriate and effective end-of-life care. Above play, peer contact and opportunities for assent, prior literature review found meeting needs and managing control were critical. The influence of disease types, location of death and palliative care support remains unclear. Aim: Explore how a good death for children can occur in the real-world context and identify factors influencing it. Design: A qualitative multiple-case study. The case was defined as family and professional caregivers of children who died, stratified across disease categories (cancer or non-cancer) and palliative care contact. Data collection included (1) interviews, (2) artefacts, (3) clinical notes. Framework Analysis facilitated in-depth within and cross-case analysis. Setting/participants: Singapore health-care context. Respondents included bereaved parents, health and social care providers from hospital, and a community palliative care service. Results: Five cases were constituted, with eight parents and 14 professionals as respondents. Eight common themes were identified, sub-categorised under three domains and interpreted theoretically: (1) Antecedents: Letting go, Acknowledging the child, Closure (2) Determinants: Suffering, Control, Systems and processes (3) Attributes: Comfort, Dying not prolonged. These factors were consistent across all cases, regardless of individual diagnoses, place of care and palliative care access. Conclusions: Elements that universally influence a good death are revealed within an ecologically sound and holistic conceptual framework. The impact of attitudes among healthcare professionals, and service delivery at systems level highlighted in this study have immediate applications in practice and policy

A good death in the child with life shortening illness:A multiple case study

Introduction: Understanding what a ‘good death’ in children might look like is important, as it impacts all stakeholders and promotes tailored support. Existing research indicates that opportunities for play, peer support and assent may be crucial. Our integrative review found meeting needs and managing control instrumental. The influence of disease type, location of death and access to palliative care is still unclear. Aim: To explore how a good death in a child with life shortening illness can be achieved in the real-world context and the key factors that shape it. Method: A qualitative multiple-case study design. The case was defined as family and professional caregivers of children who died. Cases were identified from a single institution in Singapore, stratified according to disease categories (cancer or non-cancer) and whether specialist palliative care was received. Participants included parents, and healthcare providers from a hospital and a community palliative care service. Data collection included (1) interviews, (2) artefacts, (3) clinical notes, focusing on the month before death. Framework Analysis was used to facilitate within and across case analysis, involving pattern matching and theoretical replication. Results: Five cases were formed, with eight parents and fourteen professionals as respondents. Eight common and five contingent themes were identified. Common themes are universal in salience; contingent themes, though equally relevant, apply in a subset. Based on their relationship with a child’s death, all themes are sub-categorised under three headings. (1) Antecedents: Common – Letting go, Acknowledging the child, Closure; Contingent – Doing everything possible, Miracle hope, Different levels of awareness. (2) Determinants: Common – Suffering, Control, Systems and processes; Contingent – Being home, Palliative care. (3) Attributes: Common – Comfort, Dying not prolonged. An ecologically sound and holistic conceptual framework is represented. Conclusion: Elements critical to a good death in a child are revealed, particularly around personal attitudes and service at a systemic level

Perceptions of a Good Death in Children with Life-Shortening Conditions:An Integrative Review

BACKGROUND: For children with life-shortening illness, achieving a "good death" can be a tacit goal. There is little understanding of how different stakeholders perceive what a "good death" might be. OBJECTIVE: To review empirical literature to construct an understanding of a "good death" for children with life-shortening conditions. DESIGN: An integrative review approach was followed. This involved searching across Embase, Web of Science, Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (no date limits set), as well as identifying eligible studies tracking reference lists. Appraisal of shortlisted articles in full text was performed, followed by data extraction, synthesis, and interpretation. RESULTS: Analysis of articles (n = 24) yielded a dynamic and layered narrative about a good death that revolved around three themes. (1) Level of needs: includes both practical support and aspirational goals such as "do everything." (2) The composite experience: whether positive or negative adds to produce a sense of suffering. (3) Control (preservation and letting go): moving from maintaining status quo to acceptance of the child's death, the experience of which also contributes to suffering. Framed using a health care system perspective, a concept map that interprets a good death in children with life-shortening conditions is represented. CONCLUSIONS: A single yet holistic understanding of a good death experienced in the "real world" is suggested. Pediatric health and social care providers, and even policy makers, can use this new understanding to conceive alternative approaches to enhance support to dying children and their families