Coping with stress and surviving the male-oriented organisational culture : The case of exemplary Icelandic female leaders

Previous research haas demonstrated that the corporate ladder is more slippery for women than men. Furthermore, women are more likely than men to shoulder responsibilities in their personal life (the third shift), even if they earn more than their spouses and this is even the case with women in top management positions. Iceland is renowned for its position at the top of the Gender Equality Index for 12 years in a row. Even so, Icelandic women are still a minority of managers and CEOs and until early 2021, no company registered in the Icelandic Stock Market was governed by a woman. Now they are two. This paper presents the experience of nine exemplary women leaders and their experience in dealing with male-oriented corporate culture and coping with gender-based obstacles, stress and challenges related to the gender-based third shift. Findings demonstrate that participants all had their horror stories and bad experiences of toxic management styles, mansplaining and gender-based harassment, and having to deal with ,,organisational housework“ in order to prove their worth. Findings also emphasized that coping with stress is an important factor in preventing burnout and help prospective female leaders to reach their potential in top management positions. Other factors like support network, family-based support, healthy lifestyle, having a ,,good husband“ and other general support in their private life played an important role in their careers. Findings also indicate that toxic masculinity and male-oriented company culture make the corporate ladder more slippery for women.Peer reviewe

In vitro analysis of expression vectors for DNA vaccination of horses: the effect of a Kozak sequence

One of the prerequisite for developing DNA vaccines for horses are vectors that are efficiently expressed in horse cells

The vif gene of maedi-visna virus is essential for infectivity in vivo and in vitro

AbstractWe have investigated the role of vif in maedi-visna virus (MVV), a lentivirus of sheep, by studying in vitro replication of vif-deleted MVV in several cell types, and the effects of vif deletion on in vivo infection. By measuring RT activity, we found that in comparison to wild-type MVV, growth of vif-deleted MVV was similar in fetal ovine synovial (FOS) cells, highly attenuated in sheep choroid plexus (SCP) cells, and not detectable in macrophages, natural target cells of MVV. Productive infection by vif-deleted MVV could not be demonstrated in sheep. An increased mutation frequency was observed in DNA produced by endogenous reverse transcription of viral RNA in vif-deleted virions, indicating the existence of a factor comparable in action to human APOBEC3G. These results suggest that the vif gene of MVV is essential for infectivity and that the Vif protein protects the viral genome from enpackaged mutagenic activities

Comparison of Icelandic and Danish managers’ evaluation of their working environment in light of Nordic values

Norræn forysta byggir á gildum sem notið hafa aukinnar athygli og vinsælda. Viðfangsefni greinarinnar er að fjalla um opinbera stjórnun á Íslandi og skoða hvort og þá með hvaða hætti íslenskir stjórnendur falla að gildum norrænnar forystu. Gerð var rannsókn að danskri fyrirmynd sem nefnist Opinberir stjórnendur – verkefni og viðhorf. Spurningalisti í formi vefkönnunar var lagður fyrir 1.685 opinbera stjórnendur, 524 svör bárust eða 31%. Megintilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að draga fram áherslur íslenskra stjórnenda í daglegum störfum, viðhorfum til starfsumhverfis og þess ramma sem unnið er í. Skoðað var starfsumhverfi íslenskra og danskra stjórnenda í samhengi við norræn gildi. Helstu niðurstöður benda til þess að opinber stjórnun á Íslandi einkennist af trausti, skýrum verkferlum, stuttum boðleiðum og litlu skrifræði. Helstu hindranir voru lítil áhrif á löggjöf og pólitískt bakland, tækifæri felast hins vegar í að hafa meiri áhrif og auka árangur í starfseminni. Samstarf og tengslanet var gott á vinnustaðnum og sanngjarnar kröfur voru gerðar til stjórnenda. Sérstaða hvors hóps fólst í því að danskir stjórnendur töldu skrifræði vera of mikið og að einfalda mætti verkferla í því sambandi. Íslenskir stjórnendur virtust hins vegar almennt hafa minni áhrif á starfsumhverfið en danskir starfsfélagar. Verkefni og viðhorf íslenskra opinberra stjórnenda ríma við norræn gildi þar sem opin samskipti, gagnrýni í hugsun og umhyggja eru helstu einkennin.Nordic leadership values have gained increased publicity and popularity recently. The paper looks at Icelandic public management. The main research question is if and how Icelandic managers adhere to Nordic leadership values. The research is based on a prior Danish study: Public managers – tasks and opinions. An online questionnaire was sent to 1.685 public managers in Iceland, with 524 respondents so the participation rate is 31%. The main purpose of the research was to highlight the emphasis of Icelandic managers in daily tasks and get their opinions on their working environment and regulatory framework. Another point was to compare the public working environment in Iceland and Denmark regarding the basic values of Nordic leadership. The main findings show that public management in Iceland is characterized by trust, clear work-processes, short chains of command and minimal bureaucracy. Cooperation and social networking at the workplace was positive and reasonable demands towards the managers. At the same time, there seem to be opportunities for the managers to have more influence to enhance performance in their institutions. The main barriers were minimal influence on legislation and the political stakeholders. In comparison, the Danish managers thought bureaucracy too burdensome and that work-processes could be simplified. However, the Danish managers feel they have greater impact and influence on their working environment and political stakeholders. The work-processes and perspectives of Icelandic managers are in line with the Nordic management values: Open communication, critical thinking and care.Peer Reviewe

Organizational structure in Icelandic companies before and after the financial crisis

Viðfangsefni greinarinnar er þróun á skipulagi fyrirtækja á Íslandi fyrir og eftir fjármálahrunið árið 2008. Byggt er á rannsóknum í verkefninu Innform á Íslandi, annars vegar frá 2004 til 2007 og hins vegar frá 2010 til 2014. Einnig er gerður samanburður á milli fimm rannsókna sem gerðar hafa verið um skipulag fyrirtækja á Íslandi á árunum fyrir og eftir hrun. Markmið greinarinnar er að lýsa megineinkennum á stjórnskipulagi íslenskra fyrirtækja og gera grein fyrir þróun á skipulagi þeirra. Jafnframt er markmiðið að kanna hvort sjá megi breytingar á skipulagi íslenskra fyrirtækja eftir efnahagshrunið 2008 á ýmsum stjórnunarþáttum sem tengjast skipulagi. Helstu niðurstöður gefa vísbendingar um að stjórnskipulag íslenskra fyrirtækja hafi tekið nokkrum breytingum og að áhersla á innri ferla og skilvirkni sé meiri. Umboðsveiting hefur aukist og sú breyting tengist aukningu á fléttu- og verkefnaskipulagi. Rannsóknirnar sýna að flest stór íslensk fyrirtæki notast bæði við afurðaskipulag og starfaskipulag, sem gefur vísbendingu um blandað skipulag. Starfaskipulag er hins vegar ríkjandi skipulagsform þegar litið er til bæði smærri og stærri fyrirtækja. Það virðist hafa verið millibilsástand hjá fyrirtækjum á Íslandi varðandi stjórnskipulag fyrst eftir hrun þar sem áhersla æðstu stjórnenda á formlegt skipulag minnkaði tímabundið.This paper discusses the development of organizational structure in Icelandic enterprises before and after the economic crash in 2008. This is built on data compiled in the Innform research project in Iceland, first from the pre-crash years 2004 to 2007 and second the post-crash years 2010 to 2014. A comparison is also drawn up with an overview of the five published research results about the structure of Icelandic companies in the period of 2004-2016. The purpose of this article is to describe the main characteristics of the organizational structure of Icelandic companies and their evolution. At the same time the aim is to look for changes after the economic crash in 2008 on different management practices related to organizational structure. The main findings point to the direction that organizational structure has partly changed. Especially with more focus on effectiveness and internal processes. Empowerment has increased with correlation to matrix structure and project structure which are increasingly in use. Previous research shows that most big Icelandic companies are using both functional and divisional structure, that relates to a mixed structure. The functional structure is the overarching form in both the smaller and bigger companies. It looks like a flux period in the structure in the first years after the crash, where the focus of the directors on formal structure dwindled temporarily.Peer Reviewe

Neonatal Immunization with a Single IL-4/Antigen Dose Induces Increased Antibody Responses after Challenge Infection with Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) at Weanling Age

Neonatal foals respond poorly to conventional vaccines. These vaccines typically target T-helper (Th) cell dependent B-cell activation. However, Th2-cell immunity is impaired in foals during the first three months of life. In contrast, neonatal basophils are potent interleukin-4 (IL-4) producers. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel vaccine triggering the natural capacity of neonatal basophils to secrete IL-4 and to evaluate if vaccination resulted in B-cell activation and antibody production against EHV-1 glycoprotein C (gC). Neonatal vaccination was performed by oral biotinylated IgE (IgE-bio) treatment at birth followed by intramuscular injection of a single dose of streptavidin-conjugated gC/IL-4 fusion protein (Sav-gC/IL-4) for crosslinking of receptor-bound IgE-bio (group 1). Neonates in group 2 received the intramuscular Sav-gC/IL-4 vaccine only. Group 3 remained non-vaccinated at birth. After vaccination, gC antibody production was not detectable. The ability of the vaccine to induce protection was evaluated by an EHV-1 challenge infection after weaning at 7 months of age. Groups 1 and 2 responded to EHV-1 infection with an earlier onset and overall significantly increased anti-gC serum antibody responses compared to control group 3. In addition, group 1 weanlings had a decreased initial fever peak after infection indicating partial protection from EHV-1 infection. This suggested that the neonatal vaccination induced a memory B-cell response at birth that was recalled at weanling age after EHV-1 challenge. In conclusion, early stimulation of neonatal immunity via the innate arm of the immune system can induce partial protection and increased antibody responses against EHV-1.Funding for this project was provided by the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund for Equine Research at Cornell University ‘A Novel Strategy to Boost Antibody Production to EHV-1 in Neonates’ (http://vet.cornell.edu/research/Zweig/). Monoclonal antibody development for horse cell surface markers and cytokines was supported by USDA grant #2005-01812 ‘The US Veterinary Immune Reagent Network’ and #2015-67015-23072 ‘Equine Immune Reagents: Development of monoclonal antibodies to improve the analysis of immunity in horses’ (https://nifa.usda.gov/).Peer Reviewe

Postural control adaptation and habituation during vibratory proprioceptive stimulation: an HD-EEG investigation of cortical recruitment and kinematics

The objective of the present work is to measure postural kinematics and power spectral variation from HD-EEG to assess changes in cortical activity during adaptation and habituation to postural perturbation. To evoke proprioceptive postural perturbation, vibratory stimulation at 85 Hz was applied to the calf muscles of 33 subjects over four 75-second stimulation periods. Stimulation was performed according to a pseudorandom binary sequence. Vibratory impulses were synchronized to high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG, 256 channels). Changes in absolute spectral power (ASP) were analyzed over four frequency bands (Δ: 0.5-3.5 Hz; θ: 3.5-7.5 Hz; α: 7.5-12.5 Hz; β: 12.5-30 Hz). A force platform recorded torque actuated by the feet, and normalized sway path length (SPL) was computed as a construct for postural performance during each period. SPL values indicated improvement in postural performance over the trial periods. Significant variation in absolute power values (ASP) was found in assessing postural adaptation: an increase in θ band ASP in the frontal-central region for closed-eyes trials, an increase in θ and β band ASP in the parietal region for open-eyes trials. In habituation, no significant variations in ASP were observed during closed-eyes trials, whereas an increase in θ, α, and β band ASP was observed with open eyes. Furthermore, open-eyed trials generally yielded a greater number of significant ASP differences across all bands during both adaptation and habituation, suggesting that following cortical activity during postural perturbation may be up-regulated with the availability of visual feedback. These results altogether provide deeper insight into pathological postural control failure by exploring the dynamic changes in both cortical activity and postural kinematics during adaptation and habituation to proprioceptive postural perturbation

Round table on morbilliviruses in marine mammals.

Since 1988 morbilliviruses have been increasingly recognized and held responsible for mass mortality amongst harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and other seal species. Virus isolations and characterization proved that morbilliviruses from seals in Northwest Europe were genetically distinct from other known members of this group including canine distemper virus (CDV), rinderpest virus, peste des petits ruminants virus and measles virus. An epidemic in Baikal seals in 1987 was apparently caused by a morbillivirus closely related to CDV so that two morbilliviruses have now been identified in two geographically distant seal populations, with only the group of isolates from Northwest Europe forming a new member of the genus morbillivirus: phocid distemper virus (PDV). Because of distemper-like disease, the Baikal seal morbillivirus was tentatively named PDV-2 in spite of its possible identity with CDV. The appearance of morbilliviruses in the Mediterranean Sea causing high mortality amongst dolphins should further increase the research activities on protection strategies for endangered species of marine mammals

Meteorological influence on summertime baroclinic exchange in the Straits of Mackinac

Straits flows can impose a complex hydrodynamic environment with high seasonal variability and significant impacts to nearby water bodies. In the Straits of Mackinac, exchange flow between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron influences water quality and ecological processes, as well as the transport of any contaminants released in or near the straits. Although previous work has shown that a Helmholtz mode is responsible for the barotropic flow oscillations in the straits, baroclinic effects impose opposite surface and subsurface flows during the summer months. In this study, we use observations of currents and water temperatures from instruments deployed in the straits to validate a hydrodynamic model of the combined Lake Michigan‐Huron system and then use the model results to investigate the baroclinic flow and determine the forcing mechanisms that drive exchange flow in the Straits of Mackinac. Analysis shows that although the Helmholtz mode drives a 3 day oscillation throughout the year, thermal stratification in the summer establishes a bidirectional flow that is governed by a shift from regional‐scale to local‐scale meteorological conditions. These results detail the seasonal variability in the straits, including the barotropic and baroclinic contributions to exchange flow and the influence of local atmospheric forcing on transport through the Straits of Mackinac.Key PointsExchange flow in the Straits of Mackinac is governed by a Helmholtz mode and summer baroclinic modeSeasonal variability in flow is driven by thermal stratification and is marked by a shift from regional‐scale to local‐scale meteorologyFlow due to the baroclinic mode is controlled by the local wind forcingPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136720/1/jgrc22183_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136720/2/jgrc22183.pd