scholarly journals Modern Ways of Working: Comparing Results of Two Pilot Studies

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
Ieva Kalve ◽  
Sebastian Capotescu
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Office Layouts ◽  
Open Office

This article provides a concise look into the theoretical basis and two small pilot studies which serve as the beginning of a further research collaboration, and have been done in 2018-2019 in service industry companies in Riga (Latvia) and Timisoara (Romania). The objective of these studies was to find the respondents’ knowledge about new ways of working (full or partial remote work, co-working spaces, etc.), as well as their personal fit with these types of work, among other questions. Results of these studies show that there is a significant difference between the theory, the respondent answers, and the actions of their organizations. Main recommendations: there is no single correct approach, it has to be aligned with the business strategy and the actual work specifics of various departments or positions in the company. Problems faced by the workforce must also be taken into account, instead of aiming to decrease office costs as much as possible by creating hot-desking or other similar open office layouts. 

scholarly journals Policy Forum: Future Workforce Models—Enabling the Shift

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 559-574
Author(s):  
Guy Jason ◽  
Shivani Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Formal Policy ◽  
Policy Forum

Embracing remote work, either fully or partially, allows employers to offer the flexibility that many employees are seeking and also to benefit from various cost savings. As organizations embark on this journey, there are many tax and payroll considerations that should be reviewed up front so that risks relating to non-compliance can be mitigated. What are these corporate tax and payroll considerations? Can a formal policy help to mitigate compliance risks? What are other considerations besides tax and payroll? Should government policy support this workforce shift? This article summarizes the various considerations in developing an organizational remote work policy and concludes that, as is the case for any other business strategy, remote work arrangements have their benefits provided that the associated complexity and costs can be effectively managed.

scholarly journals Gut bacterial microbiota in patients with myasthenia gravis: results from the MYBIOM study

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 175628642110356
Author(s):  
Andreas Totzeck ◽  
Elakiya Ramakrishnan ◽  
Melina Schlag ◽  
Benjamin Stolte ◽  
Kathrin Kizina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Myasthenia Gravis ◽  
Healthy Volunteers ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Variable Regions ◽  
Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽  
Significant Difference

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease, with gut microbiota considered to be a pathogenetic factor. Previous pilot studies have found differences in the gut microbiota of patients with MG and healthy individuals. To determine whether gut microbiota has a pathogenetic role in MG, we compared the gut microbiota of patients with MG with that of patients with non-inflammatory and inflammatory neurological disorders of the peripheral nervous system (primary endpoint) and healthy volunteers (secondary endpoint). Methods: Faecal samples were collected from patients with MG ( n = 41), non-inflammatory neurological disorder (NIND, n = 18), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP, n = 6) and healthy volunteers ( n = 12). DNA was isolated from these samples, and the variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced and statistically analysed. Results: No differences were found in alpha- and beta-diversity indices computed between the MG, NIND and CIDP groups, indicating an unaltered bacterial diversity and structure of the microbial community. However, the alpha-diversity indices, namely Shannon, Chao 1 and abundance-based coverage estimators, were significantly reduced between the MG group and healthy volunteers. Deltaproteobacteria and Faecalibacterium were abundant within the faecal microbiota of patients with MG compared with controls with non-inflammatory diseases. Conclusion: Although the overall diversity and structure of the gut microbiota did not differ between the MG, NIND and CIDP groups, the significant difference in the abundance of Deltaproteobacteria and Faecalibacterium supports the possible role of gut microbiota as a contributor to pathogenesis of MG. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to develop possible treatment strategies.

Enhanced surveillance for covid-19 response in Lagos State, Nigeria: lessons learnt, 2020 (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Chukwuemeka Umeh ◽  
Khalid Abubakar ◽  
Peter Akinmusire ◽  
Adamu M. Isa ◽  
Aminu Zauro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Industry ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Acute Respiratory Infections ◽  
Surveillance Strategy ◽  
Active Case ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Lagos State ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The SARS-CoV-2, the novel virus which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has changed the world. No aspect of humanity is untouched from health, aviation, service industry, politics, economy, education, and entertainment to social and personal lives, since the outbreak of influenza-like illness in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The Lagos State COVID-19 response team deployed enhanced surveillance through Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) at health facilities and communities in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos State. Lagos State was the first state in Nigeria to deploy this specific surveillance strategy for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response. OBJECTIVE We documented the methods, findings, and review of the active case search for acute respiratory infections, part of COVID-19 response in 20 LGAs of Lagos State, between 1st April and 15th May 2020. METHODS We utilized descriptive and quantitative approaches to describe and assess the impact of the Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in health facilities and communities in 20 LGAs of Lagos State between 1st April and 15th May 2020. RESULTS We found a significant difference in mean scores of suspected COVID-19 cases (M=60, SD=109, before ACS for ARI compared to M=568, SD=732, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0039), confirmed cases (M=10, SD=19, before ACS for ARI compared to M=144, SD=187, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0028) and contacts (M=56, SD=116, before ACS for ARI compared to M=152, SD=177, after ACS for ARI, P=0.044) before and after ACS for ARI in 20 LGAs of Lagos State, between 1st April and 15th May 2020. CONCLUSIONS The deployment of the Lagos State government’s polio-eradication structure for the COVID-19 response is both innovative and effective. The response to COVID-19 requires robust surveillance, credible and timely communication, collaboration, coordination among government, inter-governmental organizations (e.g., WHO), non-governmental organizations, and citizens to succeed and limit the medical, economic, social, and personal losses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telework and Remote Work

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Vartiainen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Remote Workers ◽  
Personal Devices ◽  
People Today

“Telework” and “remote work” have both increased sharply in recent years during and after the pandemic. The basic difference between telework and remote work is that a teleworker uses personal electronic devices in addition to working physically remotely from a place other than an office or company premises, whereas remote work does not require visits to the main workplace or the use of electronic personal devices. “Mobile tele- and remote workers” use several other places in addition to home for working. “Digital online telework” is a global form of employment that uses online platforms to enable individuals, teams, and organizations to access other individuals or organizations to solve problems or to provide services in exchange for payment. Often tele- and remote workers cowork in virtual teams and projects. The prevalence of various types of tele- and remote working vary. Although there are conceptual challenges to operationalizing the concept, it is estimated that hundreds of millions—and possibly more—people today earn their living working at and from their home or other places using digital tools and platforms. In the future, it is expected that new hybrid modes of working will emerge enabled by digital technologies. These changes in working increase the complexity of job demands because of the increased variety of contextual job characteristics. The main benefits of these new ways of working are organizational flexibility and individual autonomy; at the same time, unclear social relations may increase feelings of isolation and challenge the work-life balance.

Case Study II

2009 ◽  
pp. 243-268
Author(s):  
Matthew Guah
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Direct Relationship ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Service Level ◽  
Commercial Airline ◽  
Selection Factors

VLITP can shift the direction of organizations by introducing new systems and emerging technologies that can serve as a trigger for change to the entire business strategy of an organization. Using VLITP simply for creating new possibilities, new markets, or enabling existing alternatives to be reachable can also trigger much needed change. The implementation of a new technology like RFID implies a direct relationship between business and IT—something that has become of increased importance in the last decade. Airlines are a vital part of the service industry, focusing on the transportation of people, their luggage, and goods from one point to another. RFID brought into the airline industry a system that tracks the location of passengers’ luggage, directly impacting the level of service an airline can provide its customer. RFID introduced new possibilities in luggage handling that are beginning to impact the entire airline industry. In the commercial airline industry, where fiercely competition has been well established, customer satisfaction and service level are important selection factors for passengers. Like its predecessor—the barcode system—RFID tracks luggage and is used to identify which baggage belongs to which customer but using a different technique to do so. RFID, being a lot more accurate then the barcode system, makes the decision by an airline to implement it a move to establish its critical performance indicator.

scholarly journals Working together to co-produce better health: The experience of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
Cicely A Marston ◽  
Rachel Matthews ◽  
Alicia Renedo ◽  
Julie E Reed
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Care Practice ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Applied Health Research

Objectives To improve the provision of health care, academics can be asked to collaborate with clinicians, and clinicians with patients. Generating good evidence on health care practice depends on these collaborations working well. Yet such relationships are not the norm. We examine how social science research and health care improvement practice were linked through a programme designed to broker collaborations between clinicians, academics, and patients to improve health care – the UK National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London. We discuss the successes and challenges of the collaboration and make suggestions on how to develop synergistic relationships that facilitate co-production of social science knowledge and its translation into practice. Methods A qualitative approach was used, including ethnographic elements and critical, reflexive dialogue between members of the two collaborating teams. Results Key challenges and remedies were connected with the risks associated with new ways of working. These risks included differing ideas between collaborators about the purpose, value, and expectations of research, and institutional opposition. Dialogue between collaborators did not mean absence of tensions or clashes. Risk-taking was unpopular – institutions, funders, and partners did not always support it, despite simultaneously demanding ‘innovation’ in producing research that influenced practice. Conclusions Our path was made smoother because we had funding to support the creation of a ‘potential space’ to experiment with different ways of working. Other factors that can enhance collaboration include a shared commitment to dialogical practice, a recognition of the legitimacy of different partners’ knowledge, a long timeframe to identify and resolve problems, the maintenance of an enabling environment for collaboration, a willingness to work iteratively and reflexively, and a shared end goal.

Study on Changes of Total Flavonoid Content in Suaeda salsa in Different Months of Growing Season

2014 ◽  
Vol 926-930 ◽  
pp. 1028-1031
Author(s):  
Wei Fang Zhong ◽  
Yue Hong Wang ◽  
Hong Ying Liu ◽  
Jin Hua Feng
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Total Flavonoid ◽  
Suaeda Salsa ◽  
Uv Spectrophotometry ◽  
Total Flavonoid Content ◽  
Flavonoid Content ◽  
Significant Difference

Objective To investigate the changes of total flavonoid content of Suaeda salsa in different months of growing season, from May to November. Methods UV spectrophotometry was used for determination of the total flavonoid. Results The content of total flavonoid in Suaeda salsa was highest in September (67.75 mg·g-1) and was lowest in May (11.4 mg·g-1).The content was found to increase from May to September, and to decrease from September to November. Conclusion There is significant difference between total flavonoid content in Suaeda salsa from different months, which can be used to provide theoretical basis for harvesting and processing of Suaeda salsa.

scholarly journals The slang of young Russians and French: reinventing scientific linguistic collaboration in the age of coronavirus and containment

XLinguae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-253
Author(s):  
Larisa G. Vikulova ◽  
Larisa V. Ukhova ◽  
Zhanna K. Gaponova ◽  
Lina V. Razumova ◽  
Polina S. Ukhova
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Scientific Project ◽  
Youth Language ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
Linguistic Units

From the beginning, remote work was considered in connection with social and environmental problems. The pandemic and coronavirus have left many teachers and researchers unable to experiment with online work. This new way of organizing work is at the heart of exciting research in various fields: remote collaborative science, imaging, training, and distance learning are an opportunity to demonstrate relevance and find new ways of working and interacting. This article is in the framework of a scientific project carried out over a year at a distance. He deals with the problem of learning the youth language (youth slang, the term is used in Russian linguistics) and aims to present the results of a comparative study of the structural and semantic features of shale of Russian and French youth. Language experiments are based on data from students of Yaroslavl State University and the University of Poitiers. The first part deals with the description of the procedure for collecting, verifying, and processing language data, as well as the methodology for collecting; it is based on psycholinguistic experiments, field studies, and sociological studies conducted in the student environment of the two countries. The second part of the article presents the results of the semantic and structural analysis of lexical units, morphological and semantic families representing argotisms (slanguismes, in Russian) of young people recorded during the survey. The derivational mechanisms used in French and Russian youth slang are studied and interpreted. This allowed the authors to discover language universals common to young Russian and French speakers, as well as to identify culturally relevant linguistic units capable of modelling and presenting the collective identity of Russian and French students, their language image of the world, and their language personality.

scholarly journals A home-based pulmonary rehabilitation mHealth system to enhance the exercise capacity of patients with COPD: development and evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Deng ◽  
Leiyi Sheng ◽  
Wangshu Jiang ◽  
Yongfa Hao ◽  
Shuoshuo Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Change ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Exercise Capacity ◽  
Pulmonary Rehabilitation ◽  
Exercise Prescription ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Copd Patients ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Background Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience deficits in exercise capacity and physical activity as their disease progresses. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) can enhance exercise capacity of patients and it is crucial for patients to maintain a lifestyle which is long-term physically active. This study aimed to develop a home-based rehabilitation mHealth system incorporating behavior change techniques (BCTs) for COPD patients, and evaluate its technology acceptance and feasibility. Methods Guided by the medical research council (MRC) framework the process of this study was divided into four steps. In the first step, the prescription was constructed. The second step was to formulate specific intervention functions based on the behavior change wheel theory. Subsequently, in the third step we conducted iterative system development. And in the last step two pilot studies were performed, the first was for the improvement of system functions and the second was to explore potential clinical benefits and validate the acceptance and usability of the system. Results A total of 17 participants were enrolled, among them 12 COPD participants completed the 12-week study. For the clinical outcomes, Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) showed significant difference (P = .023) over time with an improvement exceeded the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Change in respiratory symptom (CAT score) was statistically different (P = .031) with a greater decrease of − 3. The mMRC levels reduced overall and showed significant difference. The overall compliance of this study reached 82.20% (± 1.68%). The results of questionnaire and interviews indicated good technology acceptance and functional usability. The participants were satisfied with the mHealth-based intervention. Conclusions This study developed a home-based PR mHealth system for COPD patients. We showed that the home-based PR mHealth system incorporating BCTs is a feasible and acceptable intervention for COPD patients, and COPD patients can benefit from the intervention delivered by the system. The proposed system played an important auxiliary role in offering exercise prescription according to the characteristics of patients. It provided means and tools for further individuation of exercise prescription in the future.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document