473 research outputs found
Exploring social constructions of followership: A qualitative study
This study adopts a qualitative approach to deconstruct the meaning of followership. Interviews were conducted with employees in various industries to examine how individuals socially construct their roles as followers and to explore followership schemas and contextual influences that relate to these constructions. Results suggest that while some individuals socially construct definitions around passivity, deference and obedience, others emphasize the importance of constructively questioning and challenging their leaders. With regard to personal qualities that are thought to make followers effective, major themes such as obedience, expressing opinions, and taking initiative were found to be most disparate across different groups of followers. Results also revealed that contextual factors may affect both followership constructions and behavior in the follower role. These findings have important implications regarding a need to examine the construct of followership in leadership research, as well as raise interesting possibilities for advancing an “expanded” view of leadership in organizations
Inequalities in oral health:The economic burden of dental caries
Aim or Purpose: This study aimed to: determine the lifetime costs of preventing and managing of dental caries in five countries (Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, UK), and assess the impact on these costs from levelling up prevention and management across socioeconomic groups in the five study countries. We comment on plausible actions for stakeholders to better manage the burden presented by dental caries. Materials and Methods: We conducted an evidence review, expert engagement via a group meeting and one-on-one expert interviews, alongside an economic evaluation. A cohort simulation model was developed, estimating the projected lifetime costs for a cohort aged 12 years old today, using national-level DMFT data and progression rates of dental caries through an individual's lifetime. Results: Base on the preliminary analysis, the lifetime costs of dental caries represent a significant burden on individuals and health systems. The lowest socioeconomic groups in each country face the greatest health and economic burden from the disease. By targeting preventative interventions to reduce the incidence of dental caries, there is considerable potential for individual countries to improve oral health across their population. Conclusions: This unique analysis of the economic costs of preventing and managing dental caries across socioeconomic groups in five countries supports policymakers in raising awareness of this important issue amongst their stakeholders. Prioritising the prevention of dental caries can be justified based on these data that quantify the benefit in economic terms and provides a broad agenda for action. This study was commissioned by the EFP. This research was funded by a grant from Haleon
Ares I Flight Control System Overview
This paper describes the control challenges posed by the Ares I vehicle, the flight control system design and performance analyses used to test and verify the design. The major challenges in developing the control system are structural dynamics, dynamic effects from the powerful first stage booster, aerodynamics, first stage separation and large uncertainties in the dynamic models for all these. Classical control techniques were employed using innovative methods for structural mode filter design and an anti-drift feature to compensate for translational and rotational disturbances. This design was coded into an integrated vehicle flight simulation and tested by Monte Carlo methods. The product of this effort is a linear, robust controller design that is easy to implement, verify and test
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A human lung tumor microenvironment interactome identifies clinically relevant cell-type cross-talk.
BackgroundTumors comprise a complex microenvironment of interacting malignant and stromal cell types. Much of our understanding of the tumor microenvironment comes from in vitro studies isolating the interactions between malignant cells and a single stromal cell type, often along a single pathway.ResultTo develop a deeper understanding of the interactions between cells within human lung tumors, we perform RNA-seq profiling of flow-sorted malignant cells, endothelial cells, immune cells, fibroblasts, and bulk cells from freshly resected human primary non-small-cell lung tumors. We map the cell-specific differential expression of prognostically associated secreted factors and cell surface genes, and computationally reconstruct cross-talk between these cell types to generate a novel resource called the Lung Tumor Microenvironment Interactome (LTMI). Using this resource, we identify and validate a prognostically unfavorable influence of Gremlin-1 production by fibroblasts on proliferation of malignant lung adenocarcinoma cells. We also find a prognostically favorable association between infiltration of mast cells and less aggressive tumor cell behavior.ConclusionThese results illustrate the utility of the LTMI as a resource for generating hypotheses concerning tumor-microenvironment interactions that may have prognostic and therapeutic relevance
Academic careers in global pulmonary and critical care medicine
The burden of respiratory and critical illness is high worldwide,
yet specialist care is underrepresented in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [1]. For many areas of medicine, the
past decade has witnessed tremendous growth in global health opportunities for trainees; however, these opportunities tend to be restricted to individual institutions and geographic regions and academic global pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) remains
a relatively novel concept [2]. Consequently, PCCM fellows and junior faculty at institutions with limited global health mentorship have little guidance in building successful global health careers
Academic careers in global pulmonary and critical care medicine: perspectives from experts in the field
Academic global pulmonary/critical care medicine (PCCM) remains a relatively novel concept not fully embraced by all training programs, so PCCM early-career professionals may have little guidance in building successful careers in this field. To highlight various approaches used by current PCCM faculty to incorporate global health into their academic careers, speakers from a global health careers mini symposia held at the 2017 and 2018 American Thoracic Society International Conferences were invited to submit perspectives reflecting on academic PCCM and global health. The collection of essays was collated into a single manuscript. Eight current global PCCM faculty from diverse geographic and professional backgrounds provide experiential guidance for early-career professionals interested in global academic PCCM. Trainees and junior faculty interested in academic global PCCM will find innumerable obstacles to developing this non-traditional career pathway, but there exist diverse pathways to success
Study Protocol - Alcohol Management Plans (AMPs) in remote indigenous communities in Queensland: their impacts on injury, violence, health and social indicators and their cost-effectiveness
BACKGROUND:
In 2002/03 the Queensland Government responded to high rates of alcohol-related harm in discrete Indigenous communities by implementing alcohol management plans (AMPs), designed to include supply and harm reduction and treatment measures. Tighter alcohol supply and carriage restrictions followed in 2008 following indications of reductions in violence and injury. Despite the plans being in place for over a decade, no comprehensive independent review has assessed to what level the designed aims were achieved and what effect the plans have had on Indigenous community residents and service providers. This study will describe the long-term impacts on important health, economic and social outcomes of Queensland’s AMPs. METHODS/DESIGN:
The project has two main studies, 1) outcome evaluation using de-identified epidemiological data on injury, violence and other health and social indicators for across Queensland, including de-identified databases compiled from relevant routinely-available administrative data sets, and 2) a process evaluation to map the nature, timing and content of intervention components targeting alcohol. Process evaluation will also be used to assess the fidelity with which the designed intervention components have been implemented, their uptake and community responses to them and their perceived impacts on alcohol supply and consumption, injury, violence and community health. Interviews and focus groups with Indigenous residents and service providers will be used. The study will be conducted in all 24 of Queensland’s Indigenous communities affected by alcohol management plans. DISCUSSION:
This evaluation will report on the impacts of the original aims for AMPs, what impact they have had on Indigenous residents and service providers. A central outcome will be the establishment of relevant databases describing the parameters of the changes seen. This will permit comprehensive and rigorous surveillance systems to be put in place and provided to communities empowering them with the best credible evidence to judge future policy and program requirements for themselves. The project will inform impending alcohol policy and program adjustments in Queensland and other Australian jurisdictions.The study was funded by the National
Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC, Project Grant
#APP1042532), with additional support from the Australian Primary Health
Care Research Institute-funded Centre for Research Excellence for the Prevention
of Chronic Conditions in Rural and Remote High Risk Populations at
James Cook University & University Adelaide. Dr Caryn West is a National
Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Early Career Research Post –
Doctoral Fellow (NHMRC ECR, #APP1070931).Associate Professor Clough holds a
NHMRC Career Development Award (#APP1046773)
Technical development and validation of a clinically applicable microenvironment classifier as a biomarker of tumour hypoxia for soft tissue sarcoma
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