The Effect of ICT Usage on Employees\u2019 Satisfaction: a Job Characteristics Perspective

The paper investigates employees\u2019 job satisfaction, examining the relationship with 33 some job related variables and considering the impact of the use of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) at work. One job demand that is workload and one job resource that is work-life balance are included. On the basis of our analysis, carried out on a sample of 33,265 employees in Europe (data source: European Working Conditions Survey 2010, last at disposal), we conclude that ICT usage plays a controversial role. Indeed, on the one hand, we prove that ICT usage might weaken the negative relationship between workload and individual job satisfaction. On the other hand, while we hypothesize that ICT might increase the strength of the positive relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction, the results demonstrate the opposite. Managerial implications are finally considered to underline how important a \u2018good\u2019 management of the ITCs is to improve of job satisfaction

Androgen-targeted therapy in men with prostate cancer: evolving practice and future considerations

Background Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is foundational in the management of advanced prostate cancer (PCa) and has benefitted from a recent explosion in scientific advances. These include approval of new therapies that suppress testosterone (T) levels or inactivate its function, improvements in diagnostic and assay technologies, identification of lower therapeutic targets for T, discovery of the relevance of germline genetic mutations and identification of the benefits of sequential and combination therapies. Methods This review discusses the clinical profiles of the most up-to-date options for ADT, best practices for managing patients with advanced PCa and future directions in therapy. Results and conclusions Modern assay technologies reveal that bilateral orchiectomy results in a serum T level of approximately 15 ng/dL as compared to the historical definition of castration of T <50 ng/dL. Evidence shows that lowering T levels to <20 ng/dL improves patient survival and delays disease progression. Routine monitoring of T in addition to prostate-specific antigen throughout treatment is important to ensure continuing efficacy of T suppression. New drugs that inhibit androgen signaling in combination with traditional ADT suppress T activity to near zero and have significantly improved patient survival. When personalizing ADT regimens physicians should consider a number of factors including initiation and duration of ADT, monitoring of T levels and PSA, the possibility of switching monotherapies if a patient does not achieve adequate T suppression, and consideration of intermittent vs. continuous ADT according to patients' lifestyles, comorbidities, risk factors and tolerance to treatment