Sources Of Efficiency And Productivity Growth In The Philippine State Universities And Colleges: A Non-Parametric Approach

This paper evaluates the efficiency and productivity growth of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines.  The SUCs performance is determined on the changes in total factor productivity (TFP), technological, and technical efficiency.  We use two Data envelopment analysis (DEA) models for the first time in estimating the relative performance of SUCs. Firstly, the output-orientated DEA-Malmquist index is calculated from panel data of 59 SUCS over the period 1999-2003 or a total of 295 observations, and secondly, the DEA multi-stage model (input reduction) is estimated. The two DEA models are calculated using three educational outputs and three inputs. Using Malmquist Index model, findings reveal that 49 SUCs or 83 percent are efficient.  The technological index shows that six (6) SUCs or 10.16 percent only shows a technological progress.  In terms of total factor productivity, SUCs obtained an index score of 1.002, which implies a productivity growth.  This means that 27 SUCs or 45.76 percent shows a remarkable productivity growth. The main source of productivity growth is due to technical efficiency than innovation. In general, SUCs shows a 5.2 percent technological regression over the study period. Lack of innovation in the Philippine higher institutions has a policy implication: the Philippine government should exert more efforts to provide modern teaching and learning facilities in every state school to improve its deteriorating technological performance. Furthermore, using multi-stage method, technical efficiency has an average of 95.4 percent (Constant-returns-to scale DEA) compared with 96.6 percent (Variable-returns-to scale DEA). Finally, the scale efficiency has a 98.7 percent rating. This implies that, in general, SUCs obtained a below frontier efficiency score. The new findings in this paper may give impetus to Commission on Higher Education, lawmakers or legislators, and the university administrators to adopt measures that would be beneficial to the improvement of State Universities and Colleges in terms of inefficiency and unproductive growth

Core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, transformational and servant leadership model in the Roman Catholic education system / Ginavee F. Dapula and Mary Caroline N. Castano

Core self-evaluations, effective leadership styles and employee job satisfaction are essential factors for organizational success. This paper aims to determine the relationship of the leader’s core self-evaluations, transformational leadership and servant leadership styles to their follower’s job satisfaction in selected Parochial Schools in Manila, Philippines under the Roman Catholic Education System. The respondents were selected according to certain criteria. Descriptive correlational design was used. In total, 308 individuals from the teaching and non-teaching personnel participated. The data were collected using survey questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Research findings revealed that a positive relationship exists between leader’s core self-evaluations and transformational leadership; core self-evaluations to servant leadership; transformational leadership to job satisfaction; and servant leadership to job satisfaction. These relationships are statistically significant. The relationship of the leader’s core self-evaluations to the follower’s job satisfaction indicated a direct effect but were statistically non-significant on the basis of its p-value. The major contribution of the current study is to extend the limited literature regarding the antecedents of the four (4) selected variables. The researcher recommends to the school leaders to create a motivating environment through a more transformational and servant leadership behavior that will enhance their follower’s work satisfaction

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS, JOB SATISFACTION, TRANSFORMATIONAL AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP MODEL IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

Core self-evaluations, effective leadership styles and employee job satisfaction are essential factors for organizational success. This paper aims to determine the relationship of the leader’s core self-evaluations, transformational leadership and servant leadership styles to their follower’s job satisfaction in selected Parochial Schools in Manila, Philippines under the Roman Catholic Education System. The respondents were selected according to certain criteria. Descriptive correlational design was used. In total, 308 individuals from the teaching and non-teaching personnel participated. The data were collected using survey questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Research findings revealed that a positive relationship exists between leader’s core self-evaluations and transformational leadership; core self-evaluations to servant leadership; transformational leadership to job satisfaction; and servant leadership to job satisfaction. These relationships are statistically significant. The relationship of the leader’s core self-evaluations to the follower’s job satisfaction indicated a direct effect but were statistically non-significant on the basis of its p-value. The major contribution of the current study is to extend the limited literature regarding the antecedents of the four (4) selected variables. The researcher recommends to the school leaders to create a motivating environment through a more transformational and servant leadership behavior that will enhance their follower’s work satisfaction

TikTok as a Platform for Marketing Campaigns: The effect of Brand Awareness and Brand Recall on the Purchase Intentions of Millennials

Modern individuals create social networks to connect. A digital social landscape now exists within the society that enables interactions while providing convenience and efficiency. A social media platform called TikTok consists of comprehensive and diverse videos that empower users to upload and watch content as they desire. The researchers highly considered this feature which led them to explore the deliverance of marketing campaigns created on TikTok. In a more profound sense, since countless brands are scrutinizing TikTok to gather their consumers, the purpose and objectives of this study determined the effect of brand awareness and brand recall on the purchase intention of millennials. This study incorporated the Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA) Model and Selective Exposure Theory (SET) to serve as the foundation of the analysis. The study employed descriptive causal analysis. The study surveyed a group of millennials, ranging from 25 to 40 years old, who currently reside in the Philippines' National Capital Region (NCR). The researchers distributed the survey through Google forms and then utilized frequency and percentage distribution, mean and standard deviation, and PLS-SEM to analyze the results. This study determined that marketing campaigns can largely input brand awareness among millennials compared to enhancing their brand recall. Furthermore, marketing campaigns trigger their purchase intention. This study is deemed a resource to business owners, marketing students and professionals, and academic institutions that hope to generate further information on the existence of TikTok and its marketing advantage

COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a major public health threat, especially in countries with low vaccination rates. To better understand the biological underpinnings of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity, we formed the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative1. Here we present a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of up to 125,584 cases and over 2.5 million control individuals across 60 studies from 25 countries, adding 11 genome-wide significant loci compared with those previously identified2. Genes at new loci, including SFTPD, MUC5B and ACE2, reveal compelling insights regarding disease susceptibility and severity.</p

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN