Studying the relationships between authentic leadership, structural empowerment, and civility in the palliative care sector in Portugal

Purpose This paper aims to propose a model studying the relationship of authentic leadership (AL), structural empowerment (SE) and civility in the palliative care sector. This model proposes SE as a mediator between AL and civility. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 213 employees working in five major public palliative care hospitals in central Portugal. The study sample was predominantly female (80.3%) and the response rate was 42.6%. Variables were measured using the Authentic Leadership Inventory, Workplace Civility Scale and Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II scales. Hayes’ PROCESS macro for mediation analysis in SPSS was used to test the hypothesized model. Findings Results suggest that AL has a significant positive direct relationship with both SE and civility. Furthermore, SE demonstrated to play a partial mediation effect between AL and civility. Practical implications This study may be of use for healthcare administration encouraging the development of AL, suggesting that the more leaders are seen as authentic, the more employees will perceive they have access to workplace empowerment structures and a civil environment. Originality/value Considering the mainstream literature in healthcare management, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to date to integrate the relation of AL, SE and civility in the palliative care sector. Further, the research model has not previously been introduced when considering the mediating role structural empowerment can play between AL and civility.

Case Report: Autoimmune Hemolysis Anemia After Dihydroartemisinin and Piperaquine for Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Malaria is still an endemic disease in Africa, with many imported cases in Europe. The standard treatment is intravenous artesunate for severe malaria and oral artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for uncomplicated malaria. Delayed hemolytic anemia (DHA) after intravenous artesunate has been extensively described, and guidelines recommend biological monitoring until 1 month after the end of the treatment. A link with an autoimmune process is still unsure. Nevertheless, cases with positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) have been reported. Conversely, DHA is not recognized as an adverse effect of oral ACT. Previously, only few cases of DHA occurring after oral ACT without intravenous artesunate administration have been reported. We report the case of a 42-year-old man returning from Togo. He was treated with dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine combination for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria, with low parasitemia. Nine days after the end of the treatment, the patient developed hemolytic anemia with positive DAT. Eventually, the patient recovered after corticotherapy. After excluding common causes of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, we considered that dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine treatment was involved in this side effect.

Path-coefficient and correlation analysis in Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea [L.] Verdc.) accessions over environments

In a breeding program, studies of genotypic and phenotypic relationships among agricultural crop traits are useful to design, evaluate, and develop selection criteria for desirable traits. Using path coefficient analysis, the present study was executed to estimate the phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental correlation coefficients between yield and yield-related traits and to determine the direct and indirect effects of yield-related traits on yield per plant. A total of 30 genotypes of Vigna subterranea were studied under tropical conditions at two sites over two planting seasons (considered as four environments). The experiment at each site used a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data were collected on vegetative and yield component attributes. Based on analysis of variance, pooled results showed that there were positive and highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) among the 30 genotypes for all attributes studied. Highly significant and positive strong correlation at phenotypic level was observed for dry seed weight (0.856), hundred seed weight (0.754), fresh pod weight (0.789), and total pod weight (0.626) with yield in kg per hectare, while moderate positive correlations were observed for harvest cut (0.360) and days to maturity (0.356). However, a perfect positive correlation was observed for the dry weight of pods with seed yield. In contrast, days to 50% flowering (− 0.350) showed a negative significant relationship with yield per hectare. The dried pod weight attribute (1.00) had a high positive direct effect on yield. Fresh pod weight had the greatest indirect effect on yield per hectare, followed by the number of total pods by dry pod weight. As a result, dry pod weight, hundred seed weight, number of total pods, and fresh pod weight could be used as selection criteria to improve the seed yield of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea).

Determinants of life satisfaction and self-rated health in Iranian children and adolescents: a structure equation model

Background Life satisfaction (LS) and self-rated health (SRH) are related with health outcomes. It is expected that these items are also related to healthy behaviors. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to find out the main determinants of LS and SRH in nationwide representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents. Methods This study was performed on 13,834 students aged 7–18 years who were selected by multistage, stratified cluster sampling method from 30 provinces of Iran. Life satisfaction and SRH were assessed through a questionnaire based on World Health Organization-Global School-based Student Health Survey protocols. Path analysis was applied to evaluate the relationships among the study variables using the structural modeling. Results Life satisfaction was directly affected by age (− 0.037 in boys & -0.028 in girls); sedentary time (0.055 in boys & 0.048 in girls); school satisfaction (0.249 in boys & 0.250 in girls); and well-being (0.186 in boys & 0.176 in girls). Self-rated health was directly affected by LS (0.28 in boys & girls) and school satisfaction (0.21 in boys & 0.22 in girls); and indirectly affected by age (− 0.046 in boys & -0.017 in girls); sedentary time (− 1.99 in boys & -0.145 in girls); family size (− 0.005 in boys & -0.014 in girls); and socio-economic status (0.015 in boys & 0.058 in girls). Conclusions This study indicated that school satisfaction had the greatest positive direct effect on both LS and SRH.

Expressive Flexibility and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Gender Differences

Recent research has emphasized the crucial role of expressive flexibility in mental health. This study extended prior studies by further exploring the mediating mechanism and possible gender differences underlying the association between expressive flexibility and mental health indexed by depression and life satisfaction based on the dual-factor model of mental health. Specifically, we explored whether social support mediated the association between expressive flexibility and depression as well as life satisfaction, and whether there were gender differences in these relationships. A total of 711 voluntary college students (mean age = 20.98 years, SD = 2.28; 55.70% women) completed a set of scales assessing expressive flexibility, perceived social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Results showed that expressive flexibility had a positive direct effect on life satisfaction and social support mediated this association. Social support also mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and depression. The mediation effect of social support was robust and consistent in men and women whereas expressive flexibility had a stronger direct effect on depression in women compared to men. The present study contributes to clarifying the relationship between expressive flexibility and mental health from a more comprehensive perspective. Last, the strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.

What drives millennials and zillennials continuously using instant messaging? Perspective from Indonesia

This study proposes to explore the relationship between perceived risk, subjective norm, perceived value, and continuous usage intention via trust as a mediating variable. This research applied a survey which involved 320 IM users (160 from millennials and 160 from Zillennial) in Indonesia. The literature’s existing scales were used to operationalize the constructs proposed in this study. The analyses were conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test hypotheses. The results of the study show that there are differences in the results of the influence of perceived risk on continuous usage intention in the Millennial and Zillennial generations. The results of the study found that continuous usage intention received negative direct impact from perceived risk, positive direct effect from subjective norm, perceived value, and trust on Millennial. In addition, continuous usage intention received negative and not significant direct impact from perceived risk, positive direct effect from subjective norm, perceived value, and trust on Zillennial. The results are useful for instant messaging management into formulating strategies to retain their users in Indonesia. These findings provided theoretical and managerial contributions as well as future research directions.

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation: From Gathering Information to Reporting Initiatives

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies have become an important research topic in recent years as they can generate numerous benefits for organizations, especially when an adequate market orientation (MO) has been defined. In this sense, several research questions arise: do companies have enough CSR information to implement appropriate strategies? Does the information that they have gathered allow them to define a complete set of CSR activities (response) based on the triple bottom line approach? And, once they have carried out their initiatives, do these companies ensure adequate dissemination of the results to stakeholders?. In order to answer the above questions, this study sought to examine companies’ CSR orientation from a MO perspective. Working with data on a sample of 165 firms in Spain, during January 15th and February 15th, 2017, structural equation modeling was used to test a set of research hypotheses. The results reveal an important link between information, response, and diffusion and help extend the MO strategy concept. CSR information has a positive, direct influence on the development of initiatives covering three dimensions (economic, social and environmental). In addition, a direct relationship exists between the development of social and environmental initiatives and CSR disclosure. This research’s findings contribute to the literature on interest groups and business sustainability. Also, they confirm that the development of social and environmental initiatives contributes positively to CSR dissemination and to the generation of competitive advantages. This way, collecting CSR information constitutes a valuable asset. With respect to the limitations of the study, the answers reflected each SME leader’s subjective opinion, the variables’ measurement was dealt with through reflective models using the PLS technique based on variance and only Spanish companies already oriented toward CSR participated in the study. Las estrategias de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) se han convertido en un tema de investigación importante en los últimos años, ya que pueden generar numerosos beneficios para las organizaciones, especialmente cuando se ha definido una orientación adecuada al mercado (OM). En este sentido, nos surgen varias preguntas de investigación: ¿disponen las empresas de suficiente información de RSC para implementar adecuadas estrategias? ¿la información que poseen les permite definir un conjunto de actividades de RSC (respuesta) basadas en el enfoque del triple bottom line? Y, una vez que han llevado a cabo sus iniciativas, ¿estas empresas aseguran una adecuada difusión de los resultados a los grupos de interés?. Con el fin de dar respuesta a las anteriores cuestiones, este estudio buscó examinar la orientación de la RSC de las empresas desde una perspectiva OM. Trabajando con datos de una muestra de 165 empresas en España, durante el período comprendido desde el 15 de enero al 15 de febrero de 2017, se utilizaron los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para probar un conjunto de hipótesis de investigación. Los resultados revelan un vínculo importante entre la información, la respuesta y la difusión y ayudan a extender el concepto de estrategia de OM. La información de RSC tiene una influencia positiva y directa en el desarrollo de iniciativas que cubren las tres dimensiones (económica, social y medioambiental). Además, existe una relación directa entre el desarrollo de iniciativas sociales y ambientales y la divulgación de la RSC. Los hallazgos de esta investigación contribuyen a la literatura sobre grupos de interés y sostenibilidad empresarial. Además, confirman que el desarrollo de iniciativas sociales y ambientales contribuye positivamente a la difusión de la RSE y a la generación de ventajas competitivas. De esta manera, la recogida de información de RSE constituye un activo valioso. Con respecto a las limitaciones del estudio, las respuestas reflejaron la opinión subjetiva de cada líder de las Pymes, la medición de las variables se trató a través de modelos reflectivos utilizando la técnica PLS basada en la varianza y solo las empresas españolas ya orientadas hacia la RSE participaron en el estudio.

Co-infection Paragonimiasis-pulmonary Tuberculosis Discovered from a Man in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: Case Report

Introduction: Paragonimiasis is a very uncommon zoonosis in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a trematodial disease contracted by eating fresh or undercooked crustaceans harboring a parasite of the genus Paragonimus. About fifteen species of Paragonimus are pathogenic to humans. In Africa, three species are frequently encountered: Paragonimus africanus, Paragonimus uterobilatéralis, and Paragonimus westermani. Clinically, it has similarities with pulmonary tuberculosis so that confusion is quickly made. Case Report: We report here a case of paragonimiasis discovered incidentally in a security guard man, 26 years old, originated from Côte d’Ivoire, who consulted in 2019 to the Medical Teaching Hospital of Cocody, for hemoptysis under a chronical mode. Results: After examination, the disease of paragonimiasis was diagnosed by positive direct smear. Otherwise, patient was positive to TB after a molecular test. An anti-tuberculosis cure was proposed, and a treatment with praziquantel 600 mg (2 tabs x3 / d for 4 days) allowed us to obtain biological cure without major side effects for paragonimiasis. Conclusion: The diagnostic issues of paragonimiasis constitute a great challenge for health systems already weakened by the instability due to covid-19 pandemic. The insufficient resources allocated to the health sector showing the lack of integration of the diagnostics of paragonimiasis to pulmonary tuberculosis program are crucial. The strengthening of human resources, as well as the improvement of the technical platform of reference laboratories in regions, are really needed.

Happy Cultures? A Multilevel Model of Well-Being with Individual and Contextual Human Values

Despite the abundant literature in Happiness Science, no paper to date has studied the joint effects of human values on subjective well-being at individual and contextual level. Using European Social Survey data for life satisfaction and Salomon H. Schwartz’s scale for human values with four and ten dimensions, this paper presents novel evidence on the direct effects of individual, regional, and national human values, utilizing two different ways of building cultural indicators of human values. We show that regional factors explain approximately 2% of the dispersion of individual life satisfaction, whereas national factors explain around 12%. The results on the effects of individual human values support Sortheix and Schwartz’s hypothesis, with a significant difference: Individual Conformity has a positive impact on well-being, not the negative sign Sortheix and Schwartz predict for Conservation values. We also find positive direct cultural effects for Benevolence and Conformity and negative effects for Tradition. Additionally, we propose a research agenda for human values and contextual effects on well-being studies.

Multiculturalism

Where multiculturalists have argued that shared multicultural values and multicultural policies may form the basis for national unity and secure the allegiance of minorities to the polity and its members, critics have suggested that multiculturalism fractures society and promotes commitments to ethnic in-groups rather than trust and solidarity at the societal level. Based on a review of existing studies, this chapter concludes that multicultural policies do not seem to make much of a difference for these aspects of social cohesion, but that insofar as they do have an impact, it seems to be positive. More importantly, multicultural values seem to have positive direct value effects, not only on out-group trust and solidarity, but also on trust and solidarity in the in-group. Thus, as argued in Chapter 4, multicultural policies are in some cases supported by concerns for equality, and there is furthermore no evidence that such policies are detrimental to the social basis for egalitarian redistribution. In fact, the evidence suggests that states can strengthen social cohesion by engaging in community-building based on liberal and multicultural values.