ABSTRACT
Orientation: Stress in the workplace is a common phenomenon that is classified in different ways and which also impacts academics. Previous research highlighted that job stressors in the workplace have been considered an important contributor towards low levels of job satisfaction (JS) for academics. This perspective aids the study of the influence of job stress on JS. Research purpose: The aim of this research was to establish the influence of role conflict (RC), role ambiguity (RA), role overload (RO) and time pressure (TP) on work tension (WT) and the influence of WT on JS among academics at a university of technology. Motivation for the study: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the reduction of government and associated agency funding changed the scenario of academic life from being considered idyllic, autonomous and well protected. Congruent to these constraints, changes in the diversity of students and advances in technology, blended learning and the introduction of learning platforms created further challenges in the way students learn and how modules were offered. Research approach/design and method: The researchers used a postpositivist quantitative paradigm with a convenience sample (n = 250) of academics in a university of technology in Gauteng. A structured questionnaire encompassing the study constructs was used. Main findings: Results showed positive associations between RC, RA, RO and TP on WT. Further, WT and JS showed negative yet significant predictive relationships with JS. Practical/managerial implication: It is pivotal for universities to understand the effects of job stressors on job satisfaction to improve the working conditions for academics. Contribution/value-add: This research provides findings to the present body of knowledge among academics on the influence of job stressors on WT and WT on JS at HEIs. Research on job stress and JS has been of interest in many HEIs. The research makes a valuable contribution to the university management, especially the human resource division, on the effect of levels of job stressors (RC, RA, RO and TP) on WT among academics. © 2023. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS.
ABSTRACT
RATIONALE: The genes that influence the pathophysiology of COVID-19 have yet to be identified. Association analysis has found genetic loci for COVID-191. We used integrative genomics (IG) to combine gene expression and proteomic information with COVID-19 susceptibility loci in order to identify candidate genes for this disease. METHODS: For these analyses we used the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis version 4 (COVID-19 positive versus COVID-19 negative), the Lung eQTL study2 (n=1,038), eQTLGen3 study (n=31,784) and the INTERVAL4 study (n=3,301). We conducted two IG methods (Bayesian Colocalization [coloc] and Summary Based Mendelian Randomization) to link gene and protein expression in lung and blood tissues with COVID-19 susceptibility loci. We identified the most consistently colocalized gene and conducted a Mendelian Randomization (MR) to assess the causal association of its protein ('exposure') with COVID-19 susceptibility ('outcomes'). Significant MR was set as P<0.05. RESULTS: The expression of 6 genes in lung and 12 in blood colocalized with COVID-19 susceptibility loci. SMR results demonstrated that the expression levels of 6 genes in lung tissue and 5 in blood were associated with COVID-19. Out of the candidate genes identified, two (ABO and SLC6A20) were within previously identified loci (Figure 1). Based on the SMR we found that the expression of SLC6A20 in lung was associated with a higher risk of COVID-19. Novel discovered associations included ERMP1, FCER1G, and CA11, genes which have been previously linked with respiratory diseases (i.e.: asthma) and host immune responses (i.e.: neutrophil and eosinophil counts). COVID-19 susceptibility also colocalized with plasma protein levels of ABO. Based on MR, ABO demonstrated a significant causal association (P = 2.10 × 10-5) with the risk of COVID-19 with increased levels of this protein in plasma associated with an increased risk of COVID-19. The top variant in the MR test (rs505922) was in complete linkage disequilibrium with the variant responsible for the blood O genotype, conferring reduced risk. CONCLUSIONS: This multi-omics approach led to the discovery of novel genes associated with COVID-19. We found that the ABO protein is a causal risk factor for COVID-19, with blood group O being protective against COVID-19. REFERENCES: 1. Ellinghaus, D. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. (2020). 2. Hao, K. et al. PLoS Genet. (2012). 3. Ṽsa, U. et al. bioRxiv. (2018). 4. Sun, B. B. et al. Nature. (2018) .