Understanding job performance through persistence and job competency

AbstractTwo related researches are presented in this paper: the first study tested a predicting model of the job performance based on competency matching indices analysis, on a sample of 200 Romanian employees, while the second one analyzed the influence of three persistence factors on the job performance. Surprisingly, results showed that job competency matching index proved a low predictive power for the job performance, while two persistence factors seemed to be high predictive. These results might question the general assessment practice beliefs in the human resources field

Developing Academic Persistence in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Educational Strategies, Associated Personality Traits and Outcomes

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between certain educational strategies and students' personality traits, on the one hand, and students' academic performance, on the other, respectively between the latter and two types of outcomes (i.e. students' academic performance and intentions to drop out of high school). These relationships were examined in two educational settings: in the Diploma Programme (DP), a two-year college-preparatory curriculum offered by the International Baccalaureate (IB), an international private educational system, and the traditional Romanian schools. A sample of IB students in 3 Eastern and Central European countries, and a comparison sample of non-IB students in Romania participated in the research. Results reveal several educational strategies and personality traits among those suggested by previous investigations that significantly sustain IB DP students’ academic persistence. Also, IB students’ academic performance and dropout intentions are influenced by these traits and educational strategies, and these effects are fully or partially mediated by academic persistence. A different pattern of associations emerged in the non-IB sample, with independent work style as the most important determinant of academic persistence, suggesting that relative to the traditional Romanian schools, the IB programme promotes a climate that better supports students in completing their education

Role of tumoural markers in the treatment and the prognosis of head and neck cancer

Head and neck cancer has important mortality, incidence and prevalence in Romania, therefore prompting for studies meant to detect reliable markers capable of predicting the disease’s progression and its response to treatment. The study was conducted in the Oncology Clinic of Craiova, Romania during ianuarie 2000-decembrie 2009. Patients were randomized 1:1 (using a simple randomization software) in 2 groups: A receiving standard radiotherapy, В comprising patients who received radiochemotherapy (protocol 5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/mp/d iv Cl + Cisplatin 20 mg/mp/d IV Cl x 4 days/4 week or Cisplatin 20 mg/mp IV Cl weekly or 20 mg/mp/d IV 0 x 5 days/3 week). The endpoints of the study were: response rate, median overall survival, disease progression free survival and quality of life in each group. Kaplan Meier curves were used for statistical analysis - for overall survival and the logrank test. The response rate was high for patients with radiochemotherapy which was possible radical surgery. Is significant difference between median overall survival appeared between the 2 groups: 18,8 months in group A and 17,2 months in group В with a hazard ratio for survival of 0,88 (95%CI, 0,75-1,12, p<0.004). Progression free survival was not significant different between these 2 groups: 6.9 months for group A and 7.2 months for group B. Multivariate analysis revealed TNM stage and site of the tumor significant factors for overall survival, and TNM stage, site of the tumor and EGFR expression as significant factors for time to progression. The molecular biomarkers EGFR and VEGF have a prognostic significance in head and neck cancer in addition to the established clinical prognostic factors such as the stage and site of the tumor.Also hypermethylated TSG promoters were detected in saliva using microarray based (DCC, MINT31, pl6, cyclin Al, MINŢI, T1MP3, DAPK) and this test can be a surveillance prediction and model of recurrence that might be applied to screening the population. First line chemoradiotherapy regimen associated with molecular target therapy in advanced head and neck carcinoma remains a decision of the physician. New approaches include the combination of anti VEGFR agents and antiEGFR monoclonal antibodies, and combined antiEGFR therapy with small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors

SCLERODERMA – LUPUS OVERLAP SYNDROME: CASE REPORT

The overlap syndromes are a diverse group of conditions that usually have characteristic features of at least two well-defined rheumatic diseases occurring together. We present the case of a 32-year-old patient who sequentially develops manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis. The first manifestation of the disease was the pleural effusion and, over time, the patient associated various other complications which influenced the diagnostic course. Digital ulcerations associated to scleroderma have evolved into ischemic necrosis lesions, requiring amputation. This case is a clinically suggestive example of the complexity of autoimmune diseases, of associations between pathologies and unexpected evolutions, requiring constant and long-term follow-up of the patients

Molecular dynamics of ribosomal elongation factors G and Tu

Translation on the ribosome is controlled by external factors. During polypeptide lengthening, elongation factors EF-Tu and EF-G consecutively interact with the bacterial ribosome. EF-Tu binds and delivers an aminoacyl-tRNA to the ribosomal A site and EF-G helps translocate the tRNAs between their binding sites after the peptide bond is formed. These processes occur at the expense of GTP. EF-Tu:tRNA and EF-G are of similar shape, share a common binding site, and undergo large conformational changes on interaction with the ribosome. To characterize the internal motion of these two elongation factors, we used 25 ns long all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. We observed enhanced mobility of EF-G domains III, IV, and V and of tRNA in the EF-Tu:tRNA complex. EF-Tu:GDP complex acquired a configuration different from that found in the crystal structure of EF-Tu with a GTP analogue, showing conformational changes in the switch I and II regions. The calculated electrostatic properties of elongation factors showed no global similarity even though matching electrostatic surface patches were found around the domain I that contacts the ribosome, and in the GDP/GTP binding region

Spectroscopic studies of neutron-rich in 129 and its β -decay daughter, Sn 129, using the GRIFFIN spectrometer

The β decay of neutron-rich In129 into Sn129 was studied using the GRIFFIN spectrometer at the ISAC facility at TRIUMF. The study observed the half-lives of the ground state and each of the β-decaying isomers. The level scheme of Sn129 has been expanded with thirty-one new γ-ray transitions and nine new excited levels, leading to a reevaluation of the β branching ratios and level spin assignments. The observation of the β decay of the (29/2+) 1911-keV isomeric state in In129 is reported for the first time, with a branching ratio of 2.0(5)%

A target-protection mechanism of antibiotic resistance at atomic resolution: insights into FusB-type fusidic acid resistance

Antibiotic resistance in clinically important bacteria can be mediated by proteins that physically associate with the drug target and act to protect it from the inhibitory effects of an antibiotic. We present here the first detailed structural characterization of such a target protection mechanism mediated through a protein-protein interaction, revealing the architecture of the complex formed between the FusB fusidic acid resistance protein and the drug target (EF-G) it acts to protect. Binding of FusB to EF G induces conformational and dynamic changes in the latter, shedding light on the molecular mechanism of fusidic acid resistance