Linking Empowering Leadership to Task Performance, Taking Charge, and Voice: The Mediating Role of Feedback-Seeking

Drawing upon social exchange theory, the present study focuses on the role of feedback-seeking in linking empowering leadership to task performance, taking charge, and voice. We tested the hypothesized model using data from a sample of 32 supervisors and 197 their immediate subordinates. Performing CFA, SEM, and bootstrapping, the results revealed that: (1) empowering leadership was positively associated with followers’ feedback-seeking; (2) employees’ feedback-seeking was positively correlated with task performance, taking charge, and voice; and (3) employees’ feedback-seeking mediated the positive relationships between empowering leadership and task performance, taking charge, and voice. We make conclusions by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, alongside a discussion of the present limitations and directions for future studies

Multi-Vector Retrieval as Sparse Alignment

Multi-vector retrieval models improve over single-vector dual encoders on many information retrieval tasks. In this paper, we cast the multi-vector retrieval problem as sparse alignment between query and document tokens. We propose AligneR, a novel multi-vector retrieval model that learns sparsified pairwise alignments between query and document tokens (e.g. `dog' vs. `puppy') and per-token unary saliences reflecting their relative importance for retrieval. We show that controlling the sparsity of pairwise token alignments often brings significant performance gains. While most factoid questions focusing on a specific part of a document require a smaller number of alignments, others requiring a broader understanding of a document favor a larger number of alignments. Unary saliences, on the other hand, decide whether a token ever needs to be aligned with others for retrieval (e.g. `kind' from `kind of currency is used in new zealand}'). With sparsified unary saliences, we are able to prune a large number of query and document token vectors and improve the efficiency of multi-vector retrieval. We learn the sparse unary saliences with entropy-regularized linear programming, which outperforms other methods to achieve sparsity. In a zero-shot setting, AligneR scores 51.1 points nDCG@10, achieving a new retriever-only state-of-the-art on 13 tasks in the BEIR benchmark. In addition, adapting pairwise alignments with a few examples (<= 8) further improves the performance up to 15.7 points nDCG@10 for argument retrieval tasks. The unary saliences of AligneR helps us to keep only 20% of the document token representations with minimal performance loss. We further show that our model often produces interpretable alignments and significantly improves its performance when initialized from larger language models

Initial intravitreal injection of high-dose ganciclovir for cytomegalovirus retinitis in HIV-negative patients

Abstract Background The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical outcomes achieved by using initial high-dose intravitreal ganciclovir injections to treat cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Methods Twenty-four eyes (24 patients) with cytomegalovirus retinitis received multiple intravitreal injections of ganciclovir in weekly intervals. A higher dose (6 mg) of ganciclovir was applied at the first intravitreal injection, and a lower dose was used for maintenance. Anterior aqueous humour was obtained before each injection. The best-corrected visual acuity and cytomegalovirus loads in the anterior aqueous humour were measured. Results The mean cytomegalovirus DNA load in aqueous humour decreased significantly from (2.59 ± 2.28) × 105 copies/mL at baseline to (1 ± 1.76) × 104 copies/mL one month later. The aqueous cytomegalovirus DNA load was negative in 17 eyes (70.8%) one month later. No obvious improvement of best-corrected visual acuity was found during the treatment. A positive correlation was proven between initial cytomegalovirus DNA titers in aqueous humour and the total number of intravitreal injections of ganciclovir, as well as between the baseline and final best-corrected visual acuities. No severe complications developed. Conclusions An initial high dose of ganciclovir (6 mg) and continuous intravitreal injections of ganciclovir could significantly decrease the cytomegalovirus load in HIV-negative patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis. Trial registration http://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03598452, retrospectively registered on 24 July 2018

Three-dimensional digital visualization of phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of heads-up three-dimensional (3D) vision system for phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation surgery. Methods: In this prospective, randomized controlled study, 20 eyes with age-related cataract received phacoemulsification and IOL implantation and were randomly divided into “heads-up” 3D vision group and conventional surgery group. Ocular and surgical parameters such as surgery time, pre and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and corneal endothelial cells density were recorded and statistically analyzed. Results: The result showed significant postoperative improvement of BCVA in both groups. There was no difference in either mean surgery time or postoperative mean endothelial cell density between the 3D group and the conventional group. No major complication occurred during surgery in either group. Conclusion: The heads-up 3D vision system is suitable and safe for cataract phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. This technique can be of widespread use

Leaders’ Behaviors Matter: The Role of Delegation in Promoting Employees’ Feedback-Seeking Behavior

Feedback helps employees to evaluate and improve their performance, but there have been relatively few empirical investigations into how leaders can encourage employees to seek feedback. To fill this gap we examined the relationship among delegation, psychological empowerment, and feedback-seeking behavior. We hypothesized that delegation promotes feedback-seeking behavior by psychologically empowering subordinates. In addition, power distance moderates the relationship between delegation and feedback-seeking behavior. Analysis of data from a sample of 248 full-time employees of a hotel group in northern China indicated that delegation predicts subordinates’ feedback seeking for individuals with moderate and high power distance orientation, but not for those with low power distance orientation. The mediation hypothesis was also supported

Effects of different harvesting times and processing methods on the quality of cultivated Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don

Abstract Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don is the major source plants of traditional Chinese medicine Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (FCB). Domestication, introduction, and cultivation is an important strategy to alleviate the shortage of endangered medicinal plants of F. cirrhosa. However, until now, the yield and quality changes of FCB in different harvest periods and drying treatments after harvest were not well understood. Therefore, in this paper, we investigated the yield and quality of cultivated F. cirrhosa at different harvest periods and postharvest processing methods. The results showed that dry weight per bulb ranged from 0.8913 to 1.4681 g and reached the highest at the wilting stage. The soluble sugar content ranged from 0.075% to 0.127% and reached the highest at the wilting stage. The content of total alkaloids ranged from 0.088% to 0.218% and reached the highest at the late‐flowering stage. The contents of peimisine, sipeimine, peimine, and peiminine were 0.01178%‐0.02615%, 0%–0.01713%, 0%–0.00745%, and 0%–0.00621% and reached the highest at the late‐flowering period, wilting period, young fruit period, and initial flowering period, respectively. For the two different postharvest processing methods, the contents of total alkaloids and the 16 main characteristic peaks did not exhibit significant differences. Still, the alkaloid contents of the oven drying after washing were slightly higher than the sun drying. In conclusion, the best harvest period is the wilting period of F. cirrhosa, and oven drying after washing is more beneficial to ensure the quality of FCB and improve productivity

Regulation of symbiotic interactions and primitive lichen differentiation by UMP1 MAP kinase in Umbilicaria muhlenbergii

Abstract Lichens are of great ecological importance but mechanisms regulating lichen symbiosis are not clear. Umbilicaria muhlenbergii is a lichen-forming fungus amenable to molecular manipulations and dimorphic. Here, we established conditions conducive to symbiotic interactions and lichen differentiation and showed the importance of UMP1 MAP kinase in lichen development. In the initial biofilm-like symbiotic complexes, algal cells were interwoven with pseudohyphae covered with extracellular matrix. After longer incubation, fungal-algal complexes further differentiated into primitive lichen thalli with a melanized cortex-like and pseudoparenchyma-like tissues containing photoactive algal cells. Mutants deleted of UMP1 were blocked in pseudohyphal growth and development of biofilm-like complexes and primitive lichens. Invasion of dividing mother cells that contributes to algal layer organization in lichens was not observed in the ump1 mutant. Overall, these results showed regulatory roles of UMP1 in symbiotic interactions and lichen development and suitability of U. muhlenbergii as a model for studying lichen symbiosis

The Relationship between the Aqueous VEGF Level and the Severity of Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity

Purpose: To analyze the relationship between the severity of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and the level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in aqueous fluid. Methods: The aqueous VEGF levels of 49 patients (88 eyes) with type 1 ROP were retrospectively analyzed. These eyes were categorized into three groups according to the severity of disease: aggressive retinopathy of prematurity (A-ROP), threshold of ROP (T-ROP), and type 1 pre-threshold ROP (P-T-1). The differences in aqueous VEGF levels among these three groups were compared. The relationship between the aqueous VEGF level and the retinal changes of ROP, including the vessel tortuosity in zone I, and the location and stage of the ROP lesions, were also analyzed. Results: The aqueous VEGF level of the A-ROP group was the highest among the three groups, followed by those of the T-ROP and P-T-1 groups. The aqueous VEGF level was negatively correlated with the zone and the stage of the ROP diseases, while it was positively correlated with the venous tortuosity in zone I and had no relevance with the artery tortuosity in zone I. Conclusions: The aqueous VEGF level in A-ROP was the highest in type I ROP. The location of the ROP lesions and the venous tortuosity in zone I correlated with the aqueous VEGF level and could indicate the severity of ROP