The Relationship between Leadership Styles and Employees’ Performance in Organizations (A Study of Selected Business Organizations in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria)

Every organization is set up with the expectations of effective and efficient performance, growth in terms of increase in productivity, revenue generation, profit maximization, customer’s satisfaction and increase employees’ performance. The extent to which this performance and growth objectives are achieved is mostly determined by the type of leadership style used in the organization which accounts for its efficiency and effectiveness. This study was carried out to look at the extent to which this trend has continued and specially, the relationship between leadership style and employee performance in an organization. This study was conducted in Federal Capital Territory Abuja with the use of questionnaire and interview to gather relevant data that was statistically analyzed using Correlation analysis with the help of SPSS , the findings shows that there is a significant relationship between leadership style and performance in an organization, This study has observed that leaders and leadership style in organizations have affected the ability of their organizations to achieve corporate goals and objectives. The study concluded and recommends that efficiency is a function of perceived reward. Good motivation is critical for achieving organizational objectives. Therefore, recognizing worker’s needs is an essential step to planning and motivational effort. Hence, every action taken by a leader stimulates a reaction in the employees. Therefore, the attainment of the objectives of most business organization would be borne out of the fact that leadership recognizes the needs of the workers, employ appropriate motivational tool such as promotion of staff based on merit and relevant skill. Also provision of suitable working environment and employ an appropriate leadership style that will encourage free flow of information among leaders and employees as this will lead to good organization and employee performance. Keywords: Leadership, Performance, Employee’s, Style, Nigeria

Comment: silent burden no more: a global call to action to prioritize perinatal mental health

Common perinatal mental disorders are the most frequent complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, and the prevalence among women in low- and middle-income countries is the highest at nearly 20%. Women are the cornerstone of a healthy and prosperous society and until their mental health is taken as seriously as their physical wellbeing, we will not improve maternal mortality, morbidity and the ability of women to thrive. On the heels of several international efforts to put perinatal mental health on the global agenda, we propose seven urgent actions that the international community, governments, health systems, academia, civil society, and individuals should take to ensure that women everywhere have access to high-quality, respectful care for both their physical and mental wellbeing. Addressing perinatal mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment of common perinatal mental disorders must be a global priority

APOE E4 is associated with impaired self-declared cognition but not disease risk or age of onset in Nigerians with Parkinson's disease

The relationship between APOE polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease (PD) in black Africans has not been previously investigated. We evaluated the association between APOE polymorphic variability and self-declared cognition in 1100 Nigerians with PD and 1097 age-matched healthy controls. Cognition in PD was assessed using the single item cognition question (item 1.1) of the MDS-UPDRS. APOE genotype and allele frequencies did not differ between PD and controls (p > 0.05). No allelic or genotypic association was observed between APOE and age at onset of PD. In PD, APOE ε4/ε4 conferred a two-fold risk of cognitive impairment compared to one or no ε4 (HR: 2.09 (95% CI: 1.13-3.89; p = 0.02)), while APOE ε2 was associated with modest protection against cognitive impairment (HR: 0.41 (95% CI 0.19-0.99, p = 0.02)). Of 773 PD with motor phenotype and APOE characterized, tremor-dominant (TD) phenotype predominated significantly in ε2 carriers (87/135, 64.4%) compared to 22.2% in persons with postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) (30/135) and 13.3% in indeterminate (ID) (18/135, 13.3%) (p = 0.037). Although the frequency of the TD phenotype was highest in homozygous ε2 carriers (85.7%), the distribution of motor phenotypes across the six genotypes did not differ significantly (p = 0.18). Altogether, our findings support previous studies in other ethnicities, implying a role for APOE ε4 and ε2 as risk and protective factors, respectively, for cognitive impairment in PD

MAPT allele and haplotype frequencies in Nigerian Africans: Population distribution and association with Parkinson's disease risk and age at onset

INTRODUCTION: The association between MAPT and PD risk may be subject to ethnic variability even within populations of similar geographical origin. Data on MAPT haplotype frequencies, and its association with PD risk in black Africans are lacking. We aimed to determine the frequencies of MAPT haplotypes and their role as risk factors for PD and age at onset in Nigerians. METHODS: The haplotype and genotype frequencies of MAPT rs1052553 were analysed in 907 individuals with PD and 1022 age-matched healthy controls from the Nigeria Parkinson's Disease Research network cohort. Clinical data related to PD included age at study, age at onset (AAO), and disease duration. RESULTS: The frequency of the H1 haplotype was 98.7% in PD, and 99.1% in controls (p = 0.19). The H2 haplotype was present in - 1.3% of PD and 0.9% of controls (p = 0.24). The most frequent MAPT genotype was H1H1 (PD - 97.5%, controls - 98.2%). The H1 haplotype was not associated with PD risk after accounting for gender and AAO (Odds ratio for H1/H1 vs H1/H2 and H2/H2: 0.68 (95% CI:0.39-1.28); p = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support previous studies that report a low frequency of the MAPT H2 haplotype in black ancestry Africans but document its occurrence in Nigerians. The MAPT H1 haplotype was not associated with an increased risk or age at onset of PD in this cohort

Identification of genetic risk loci and causal insights associated with Parkinson's disease in African and African admixed populations: a genome-wide association study

BACKGROUND: An understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying diseases in ancestrally diverse populations is an important step towards development of targeted treatments. Research in African and African admixed populations can enable mapping of complex traits, because of their genetic diversity, extensive population substructure, and distinct linkage disequilibrium patterns. We aimed to do a comprehensive genome-wide assessment in African and African admixed individuals to better understand the genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease in these underserved populations. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in people of African and African admixed ancestry with and without Parkinson's disease. Individuals were included from several cohorts that were available as a part of the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program, the International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium Africa, and 23andMe. A diagnosis of Parkinson's disease was confirmed clinically by a movement disorder specialist for every individual in each cohort, except for 23andMe, in which it was self-reported based on clinical diagnosis. We characterised ancestry-specific risk, differential haplotype structure and admixture, coding and structural genetic variation, and enzymatic activity. FINDINGS: We included 197 918 individuals (1488 cases and 196 430 controls) in our genome-wide analysis. We identified a novel common risk factor for Parkinson's disease (overall meta-analysis odds ratio for risk of Parkinson's disease 1·58 [95% CI 1·37-1·80], p=2·397 × 10-14) and age at onset at the GBA1 locus, rs3115534-G (age at onset β=-2·00 [SE=0·57], p=0·0005, for African ancestry; and β=-4·15 [0·58], p=0·015, for African admixed ancestry), which was rare in non-African or non-African admixed populations. Downstream short-read and long-read whole-genome sequencing analyses did not reveal any coding or structural variant underlying the GWAS signal. The identified signal seems to be associated with decreased glucocerebrosidase activity. INTERPRETATION: Our study identified a novel genetic risk factor in GBA1 in people of African ancestry, which has not been seen in European populations, and it could be a major mechanistic basis of Parkinson's disease in African populations. This population-specific variant exerts substantial risk on Parkinson's disease as compared with common variation identified through GWAS and it was found to be present in 39% of the cases assessed in this study. This finding highlights the importance of understanding ancestry-specific genetic risk in complex diseases, a particularly crucial point as the Parkinson's disease field moves towards targeted treatments in clinical trials. The distinctive genetics of African populations highlights the need for equitable inclusion of ancestrally diverse groups in future trials, which will be a valuable step towards gaining insights into novel genetic determinants underlying the causes of Parkinson's disease. This finding opens new avenues towards RNA-based and other therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing lifetime risk of Parkinson's disease. FUNDING: The Global Parkinson's Genetics Program, which is funded by the Aligning Science Across Parkinson's initiative, and The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research