Individual human resource management and development: career management

Framed on a wider project on Individual Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD), this project aims to explore Individual Career Management and Development (CMD) as an emergent professional field of HRMD.

Host cellular regulatory networks in dengue virus-human interactions

Dengue fever is one of the most important mosquito-borne diseases worldwide and is caused by infection with dengue virus (DENV). The disease is endemic in tropical and sub-tropical regions and has increased remarkably in the last few decades. At present, there is no antiviral or approved vaccine against the virus. Treatment of dengue patients is usually supportive, through oral or intravenous rehydration, or by blood transfusion for more severe dengue cases. Infection of DENV in humans and mosquitoes involves a complex interplay between the virus and host factors. This results in regulation of numerous intracellular processes, such as signal transduction and gene transcription which leads to progression of disease. To understand the mechanisms underlying the disease, the study of virus and host factors is therefore essential and could lead to the identification of human proteins modulating an essential step in the virus life cycle. Knowledge of these human proteins could lead to the discovery of potential new drug targets and disease control strategies in the future. Recent advances of high throughput screening technologies have provided researchers with molecular tools to carry out investigations on a large scale. Several studies have focused on determination of the host factors during DENV infection in human and mosquito cells. For instance, a genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen has identified host factors that potentially play an important role in both DENV and West Nile virus replication (Krishnan et al. 2008). In the present study, a high-throughput yeast two-hybrid screen has been utilised in order to identify human factors interacting with DENV non-structural proteins. From the screen, 94 potential human interactors were identified. These include proteins involved in immune signalling regulation, potassium voltage-gated channels, transcriptional regulators, protein transporters and endoplasmic reticulum-associated proteins. Validation of fifteen of these human interactions revealed twelve of them strongly interacted with DENV proteins. Two proteins of particular interest were selected for further investigations of functional biological systems at the molecular level. These proteins, including a nuclear-associated protein BANP and a voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3, both have been identified through interaction with the DENV NS2A. BANP is known to be involved in NF-kB immune signalling pathway, whereas, Kv1.3 is known to play an important role in regulating passive flow of potassium ions upon changes in the cell transmembrane potential. This study also initiated a construction of an Aedes aegypti cDNA library for use with DENV proteins in Y2H screen. However, several issues were encountered during the study which made the library unsuitable for protein interaction analysis. In parallel, innate immune signalling was also optimised for downstream analysis. Overall, the work presented in this thesis, in particular the Y2H screen provides a number of human factors potentially targeted by DENV during infection. Nonetheless, more work is required to be done in order to validate these proteins and determine their functional properties, as well as testing them with infectious DENV to establish a biological significance. In the long term, data from this study will be useful for investigating potential human factors for development of antiviral strategies against dengue.

The psychometric properties of the brief Other as Shamer Scale for Children (OAS‐C) : preliminary validation studies in a sample of Portuguese children

Shame is a social emotion with adaptive functions involved in human be-havior and social interactions. This emotion is regarded as an involuntary response associated with increased self-awareness, loss of status and self-devaluation (Gilbert, 1998), that may render individuals more prone to psychopathology (Gilbert, 1998; Pinto-Gouveia & Matos, 2011). Thus, identifying and assessing feelings of shame in childhood is essential in addressing the actual impact of shame on individual’s developmental trajectory. The Other As Shamer Scale (OAS; Goss, Gilbert & Allan, 1994) is a widely used measure of external shame, adapted and translated to several languages — including Portuguese (Matos, Pinto-Gouveia, Gilbert, Duarte & Figueiredo, 2015) — to adult and to adolescent populations (OASB-A - Other As Shamer Brief for adolescents; translated and adapted by Cunha, Xavier, Cherpe & Pinto-Gouveia, 2014). The current study aims to adapt and to explore the psychometric proper-ties of the brief OAS in a sample of Portuguese children attending to elementary schools.

Problems of Tourism Development on a Regional Scale

In the first part of the study the types of barriers to tourism development that may occur during the planning phase of this development, and in the phase of implementation of these plans, including the endogenous and exogenous barriers, were presented. The second part presents the results of research on the factors hindering the development of tourism identified in the selected region of Wielkopolska Province (Poland). The article presents detailed description of tourism barriers categories, which include: political and legal, economic, infrastructure, social, geographical and organizational problems. In the final part article presents a difference in the understanding of problems depending on the stakeholder groups, which leads to the conclusion that in order to be able to specifically identify problematic issues opinion of different stakeholders categories should be recognized. Only such action can lead to the construction of the development strategy, which will not have any areas of uncertainty (i.e. «gaps» in the identifying problem areas).

The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale

Background There is increasing international interest in the concept of mental well-being and its contribution to all aspects of human life. Demand for instruments to monitor mental well-being at a population level and evaluate mental health promotion initiatives is growing. This article describes the development and validation of a new scale, comprised only of positively worded items relating to different aspects of positive mental health: the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). Methods WEMWBS was developed by an expert panel drawing on current academic literature, qualitative research with focus groups, and psychometric testing of an existing scale. It was validated on a student and representative population sample. Content validity was assessed by reviewing the frequency of complete responses and the distribution of responses to each item. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis that the scale measured a single construct. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. Criterion validity was explored in terms of correlations between WEMWBS and other scales and by testing whether the scale discriminated between population groups in line with pre-specified hypotheses. Test-retest reliability was assessed at one week using intra-class correlation coefficients. Susceptibility to bias was measured using the Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding. Results WEMWBS showed good content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the single factor hypothesis. A Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.89 (student sample) and 0.91 (population sample) suggests some item redundancy in the scale. WEMWBS showed high correlations with other mental health and well-being scales and lower correlations with scales measuring overall health. Its distribution was near normal and the scale did not show ceiling effects in a population sample. It discriminated between population groups in a way that is largely consistent with the results of other population surveys. Test–retest reliability at one week was high (0.83). Social desirability bias was lower or similar to that of other comparable scales. Conclusions WEMWBS is a measure of mental well-being focusing entirely on positive aspects of mental health. As a short and psychometrically robust scale, with no ceiling effects in a population sample, it offers promise as a tool for monitoring mental well-being at a population level. Whilst WEMWBS should appeal to those evaluating mental health promotion initiatives, it is important that the scale’s sensitivity to change is established before it is recommended in this context.

Development of Imaging Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Lipids in Biological and Clinically Relevant Applications

La spectrométrie de masse mesure la masse des ions selon leur rapport masse sur charge. Cette technique est employée dans plusieurs domaines et peut analyser des mélanges complexes. L’imagerie par spectrométrie de masse (Imaging Mass Spectrometry en anglais, IMS), une branche de la spectrométrie de masse, permet l’analyse des ions sur une surface, tout en conservant l’organisation spatiale des ions détectés. Jusqu’à présent, les échantillons les plus étudiés en IMS sont des sections tissulaires végétales ou animales. Parmi les molécules couramment analysées par l’IMS, les lipides ont suscité beaucoup d'intérêt. Les lipides sont impliqués dans les maladies et le fonctionnement normal des cellules; ils forment la membrane cellulaire et ont plusieurs rôles, comme celui de réguler des événements cellulaires. Considérant l’implication des lipides dans la biologie et la capacité du MALDI IMS à les analyser, nous avons développé des stratégies analytiques pour la manipulation des échantillons et l’analyse de larges ensembles de données lipidiques. La dégradation des lipides est très importante dans l’industrie alimentaire. De la même façon, les lipides des sections tissulaires risquent de se dégrader. Leurs produits de dégradation peuvent donc introduire des artefacts dans l’analyse IMS ainsi que la perte d’espèces lipidiques pouvant nuire à la précision des mesures d’abondance. Puisque les lipides oxydés sont aussi des médiateurs importants dans le développement de plusieurs maladies, leur réelle préservation devient donc critique. Dans les études multi-institutionnelles où les échantillons sont souvent transportés d’un emplacement à l’autre, des protocoles adaptés et validés, et des mesures de dégradation sont nécessaires. Nos principaux résultats sont les suivants : un accroissement en fonction du temps des phospholipides oxydés et des lysophospholipides dans des conditions ambiantes, une diminution de la présence des lipides ayant des acides gras insaturés et un effet inhibitoire sur ses phénomènes de la conservation des sections au froid sous N2. A température et atmosphère ambiantes, les phospholipides sont oxydés sur une échelle de temps typique d’une préparation IMS normale (~30 minutes). Les phospholipides sont aussi décomposés en lysophospholipides sur une échelle de temps de plusieurs jours. La validation d’une méthode de manipulation d’échantillon est d’autant plus importante lorsqu’il s’agit d’analyser un plus grand nombre d’échantillons. L’athérosclérose est une maladie cardiovasculaire induite par l’accumulation de matériel cellulaire sur la paroi artérielle. Puisque l’athérosclérose est un phénomène en trois dimension (3D), l'IMS 3D en série devient donc utile, d'une part, car elle a la capacité à localiser les molécules sur la longueur totale d’une plaque athéromateuse et, d'autre part, car elle peut identifier des mécanismes moléculaires du développement ou de la rupture des plaques. l'IMS 3D en série fait face à certains défis spécifiques, dont beaucoup se rapportent simplement à la reconstruction en 3D et à l’interprétation de la reconstruction moléculaire en temps réel. En tenant compte de ces objectifs et en utilisant l’IMS des lipides pour l’étude des plaques d’athérosclérose d’une carotide humaine et d’un modèle murin d’athérosclérose, nous avons élaboré des méthodes «open-source» pour la reconstruction des données de l’IMS en 3D. Notre méthodologie fournit un moyen d’obtenir des visualisations de haute qualité et démontre une stratégie pour l’interprétation rapide des données de l’IMS 3D par la segmentation multivariée. L’analyse d’aortes d’un modèle murin a été le point de départ pour le développement des méthodes car ce sont des échantillons mieux contrôlés. En corrélant les données acquises en mode d’ionisation positive et négative, l’IMS en 3D a permis de démontrer une accumulation des phospholipides dans les sinus aortiques. De plus, l’IMS par AgLDI a mis en évidence une localisation différentielle des acides gras libres, du cholestérol, des esters du cholestérol et des triglycérides. La segmentation multivariée des signaux lipidiques suite à l’analyse par IMS d’une carotide humaine démontre une histologie moléculaire corrélée avec le degré de sténose de l’artère. Ces recherches aident à mieux comprendre la complexité biologique de l’athérosclérose et peuvent possiblement prédire le développement de certains cas cliniques. La métastase au foie du cancer colorectal (Colorectal cancer liver metastasis en anglais, CRCLM) est la maladie métastatique du cancer colorectal primaire, un des cancers le plus fréquent au monde. L’évaluation et le pronostic des tumeurs CRCLM sont effectués avec l’histopathologie avec une marge d’erreur. Nous avons utilisé l’IMS des lipides pour identifier les compartiments histologiques du CRCLM et extraire leurs signatures lipidiques. En exploitant ces signatures moléculaires, nous avons pu déterminer un score histopathologique quantitatif et objectif et qui corrèle avec le pronostic. De plus, par la dissection des signatures lipidiques, nous avons identifié des espèces lipidiques individuelles qui sont discriminants des différentes histologies du CRCLM et qui peuvent potentiellement être utilisées comme des biomarqueurs pour la détermination de la réponse à la thérapie. Plus spécifiquement, nous avons trouvé une série de plasmalogènes et sphingolipides qui permettent de distinguer deux différents types de nécrose (infarct-like necrosis et usual necrosis en anglais, ILN et UN, respectivement). L’ILN est associé avec la réponse aux traitements chimiothérapiques, alors que l’UN est associé au fonctionnement normal de la tumeur.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the basic electrocardiogram interpretation self-efficacy scale

Purpose: Research suggests that nurses and nursing students lack competence in basic electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. Self-efficacy is considered to be paramount in the development of one's competence. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a scale to assess self-efficacy of nursing students in basic ECG interpretation. Materials and methods: Observational cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 293 nursing students. The basic ECG interpretation self-efficacy scale (ECG-SES) was developed and psychometrically tested in terms of reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) and validity (content, criterion and construct). The ECG-SES’ internal consistency was explored by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α); its temporal stability was investigated by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the participants’ results on a test–retest separated by a 4-week interval. The content validity index of the items (I-CVI) and the scale (S-CVI) was calculated based on the reviews of a panel of 16 experts. Criterion validity was explored by correlating the participants’ results on the ECG-SES with their results on the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE). 1 Construct validity was investigated by performing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and known-group analysis. Results: The excellent reliability of the ECG-SES was evidenced by its internal consistency (α = 0.98) and its temporal stability at the 4-week re-test (r = 0.81; p < 0.01). The ECG-SES’ content validity was also excellent (all items’ I-CVI = 0.94–1; S-CVI = 0.99). A strong, significant correlation between the NGSE and the ECG-SES (r = 0.70; p < 0.01) showed its criterion validity. Corroborating the ECG-SES’ construct validity, PCA revealed that all its items loaded on a single factor that explained 74.6% of the total variance found. Furthermore, known-groups analysis showed the ECG-SES’ ability to detect expected differences in self-efficacy between groups with different training experiences (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The ECG-SES showed excellent psychometric properties for measuring the self-efficacy of nursing students in basic ECG interpretation.

RACISM IN DIGITAL ERA: DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF THE PERCEIVED ONLINE RACISM SCALE (PORS V1.0)

Racism continues to thrive on the Internet. Yet, little is known about racism in online settings and the potential consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS), the first measure to assess people’s perceived online racism experiences as they interact with others and consume information on the Internet. Items were developed through a multi-stage process based on literature review, focus-groups, and qualitative data collection. Based on a racially diverse large-scale sample (N = 1023), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a 30-item bifactor model with the following three factors: (a) 14-item PORS-IP (personal experiences of racism in online interactions), (b) 5-item PORS-V (observations of other racial/ethnic minorities being offended), and (c) 11-item PORS-I (consumption of online contents and information denigrating racial/ethnic minorities and highlighting racial injustice in society). Initial construct validity examinations suggest that PORS is significantly linked to psychological distress.

Development of the Platysma Muscle and the Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System (Human Specimens at 8–17 Weeks of Development)

There is controversy regarding the description of the different regions of the face of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) and its relationship with the superficial mimetic muscles. The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of the platysma muscle and the SMAS in human specimens at 8–17 weeks of development using an optical microscope. Furthermore, we propose to study the relationship of the anlage of the SMAS and the neighbouring superficial mimetic muscles. The facial musculature derives from the mesenchyme of the second arch and migrates towards the different regions of the face while forming premuscular laminae. During the 8th week of development, the cervical, infraorbital, mandibular, and temporal laminae are observed to be on the same plane. The platysma muscle derives from the cervical lamina and its mandibular extension enclosing the lower part of the parotid region and the cheek, while the SMAS derives from the upper region. During the period of development analyzed in this study, we have observed no continuity between the anlage of the SMAS and that of the superficial layer of the temporal fascia and the zygomaticus major muscle. Nor have we observed any structure similar to the SMAS in the labial region.

Multi-Scale Governance of Sustainable Natural Resource Use—Challenges and Opportunities for Monitoring and Institutional Development at the National and Global Level

In a globalized economy, the use of natural resources is determined by the demand of modern production and consumption systems, and by infrastructure development. Sustainable natural resource use will require good governance and management based on sound scientific information, data and indicators. There is a rich literature on natural resource management, yet the national and global scale and macro-economic policy making has been underrepresented. We provide an overview of the scholarly literature on multi-scale governance of natural resources, focusing on the information required by relevant actors from local to global scale. Global natural resource use is largely determined by national, regional, and local policies. We observe that in recent decades, the development of public policies of natural resource use has been fostered by an “inspiration cycle” between the research, policy and statistics community, fostering social learning. Effective natural resource policies require adequate monitoring tools, in particular indicators for the use of materials, energy, land, and water as well as waste and GHG emissions of national economies. We summarize the state-of-the-art of the application of accounting methods and data sources for national material flow accounts and indicators, including territorial and product-life-cycle based approaches. We show how accounts on natural resource use can inform the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and argue that information on natural resource use, and in particular footprint indicators, will be indispensable for a consistent implementation of the SDGs. We recognize that improving the knowledge base for global natural resource use will require further institutional development including at national and international levels, for which we outline options.

Is the human population a large-scale indicator of the species richness of ground beetles?

Aim Positive regional correlations between biodiversity and human population have been detected for several taxonomic groups and geographical regions. Such correlations could have important conservation implications and have been mainly attributed to ecological factors, with little testing for an artefactual explanation: more populated regions may show higher biodiversity because they are more thoroughly surveyed. We tested the hypothesis that the correlation between people and herptile diversity in Europe is influenced by survey effort

Positive regional species-people correlations: A sampling artefact or a key issue for sustainable development?

Many studies are documenting positive large-scale species– people correlations (Luck, 2007; Schuldt & Assmann, 2010). The issue is scale dependent: the local association of species richness and people is in many cases a negative one (Pautasso, 2007; Pecher et al., 2010). This biogeographical pattern is thus important for conservation. If species-rich regions are also densely populated, preserving biodiversity becomes more difficult, ceteris paribus, than if species-rich regions were sparsely populated. At the same time, positive, regional species–people correlations are an opportunity for the biodiversity education of the majority of the human population and underline the importance of conservation in human-modified landscapes (e.g. Sheil & Meijaard, 2010; Ward, 2010).

The Decent Work Questionnaire (DWQ): Development and validation in two samples of knowledge workers

This research aimed to develop a questionnaire measure of workers’ perceptions of decent work. The initial pool of 72 items covered the substantive elements used by the International Labour Organization to characterize decent work. It was administered to workers from Portugal (N = 636) and Brazil (N = 1039) and submitted to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The final 31-item version yields seven factor scores in addition to the global decent work score. With good reliability, convergent and discriminant validity indices, the DWQ could open new avenues for empirical studies of the decent work concept.

Social competence and career development: validation of a scale with secondary students

This paper presents a validation study of the Perceived Social Competence in Career Scale (SCCarS). The sample included 571 adolescents, 283 girls (49.6%) and 287 boys (50.3%), aged 14 to 25 years old (ì=16.33±1.41), 10th and 11th grade students attending secondary schools in the northern, central and southern Portugal. Exploratory factor analysis indicates the presence of eight factors, with eigenvalues superior to 1.00, explaining 79.16% of the total variance of the items. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support to the factorial structure of eight factors, with adequate fit indices (X2/df=4.229, CFI= 0.909, GFI= 0.869, RMSEA= 0.079, p= 0.000). These results are consistent with the factorial structure found in previous studies carried out with Portuguese samples from 8th grade. Implications are drawn related to the need for further study of the psychometric characteristics of the SCCarS with young people from different age groups

Keys on the Formation and Human Development in Pedagogy

This paper is based on the experiences of the author, who has worked in the various levels of the Venezuelan educational system. This has been a very important platform to understand the ideas of education and human development within the Venezuelan institutionality in the educational field. The idea of education that we have, as teachers, should be rethought in order to consider the personal stories of those who share with us their time, interests and willingness: children, young people or adults, all with particular identities, differences and coincidences. The teachers, the schools and the State cannot consider an education for someone they do not know. In this sense, we provide some reflections resulting from our ethnographic work, based on the school life, interviews, class analysis, observations, and stories, among others. Our thoughts are classified as formation, hope, dialogue, attitude, and school life.