Examining a Moderated Serial Mediation Model of the Relationship between Phoenix Leadership Characteristics and Organizational Change

Drawing on the social exchange approach and an accompanying sub-theory pertaining to upper echelons theory, which are the most influential theories for describing the behavior of workers in the workplace, this study empirically investigates some corresponding moderated serial mediation variables, such as affective commitment, work meaningfulness, and perceived organizational support, which impact the relationship between Phoenix leadership and organizational change. A total of 150 employees working in the Sudanese Electricity Company participated in the questionnaire survey. The response rate was 88%. The results revealed that Phoenix leadership significantly influences organizational change and affective commitment. Affective commitment significantly influences work meaningfulness. Affective commitment and work meaningfulness mediate the relationship between Phoenix leadership and organizational change. Affective commitment mediates the relationship between Phoenix leadership and work meaningfulness. Work meaningfulness mediates the relationship between affective commitment and organizational change, but perceived organizational support does not moderate the relationship between work meaningfulness and organizational change. By testing the mediated moderation effects on the relationship between Phoenix leadership and organizational change, this research proposes a new framework for assessing the impact of mediators and moderators on teams of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.(c) CIKD Publishing

Counselling and training of nutritional snacks making for immunity increasing during COVID 19 pandemic

Increasing body immunity is very necessary after the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the efforts that can be made to increase the body's immunity is to consume functional foods with immunostimulant activity, such as processed snakehead fish products in the form of nuggets, and "parkusel" juice made from a mixture of bitter melon, dates and celery. The purpose of community service is to provide knowledge and skills to housewives and the community at the Veteran ABRI Housing Complex in Medan Estate, Deli Serdang Regency, in making functional food products in the form of snakehead fish nuggets and Perkusel juice. The community service method used is the counseling method with leafet aids and training in making snakehead fish nuggets and perkusel juice. The results of the activity showed that there was an increase in the knowledge of the community participants in community service activities about nutritious snack products that can increase body immunity by 71% in the good value category.

The assessment and improvement of the value chains and added value of agricultural commodities in the south of Libya: with a special emphasis on women's livelihoods

This report first describes the context of the agriculture sector in Libya and in the south of the country, the impact of the ongoing conflict in the country since 2011 and of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the specific configuration of the sectors in the south of the country. Secondly, it describes the main challenges in the value chains and added value of selected major crops cultivated in the south of Libya, providing an analysis and assessment of the cooperatives and associations in the region with significant involvement and participation of women. The value chains and added value have been evaluated and characterized for four crops (tomatoes, watermelons, mangos and dates). The study found the value chains of the assessed crops to be highly deficient, with almost no proper postharvest handling practices, and there is an almost total lack of added value. Surveys, interviews and studies in the region have identified three types of involvement of women in food and/or agriculture: (1) very few women are members of classical agricultural cooperatives;(2) some women are members of civil society organizations (CSOs) involved in agricultural and/or food activities;and (3) many individual women not associated with groups, associations and cooperatives perform some agricultural and/or food activities.

Clinical safety and pharmacokinetic evaluation of aqueous extract of Cocculus hirsutus, an anti-viral phytopharmacetical drug as a potential for the treatment of dengue and COVID-19.

Background and aim: Dengue a worldwide concern for public health has no effective vaccine or drug available for its prevention or treatment. There are billions of people who are at risk of contracting the dengue virus (DENV) infections with only anti-mosquito strategies to combat this disease. Based on the reports, particularly in vitro studies and small animal studies showing anti-viral activity of aqueous extract of Cocculus hirsutus (AQCH), studies were conducted on AQCH tablets as a potential for the treatment of dengue and COVID-19 infections. The current study was part of the research on AQCH tablet formulation and was aimed to evaluate safety and pharmacokinetics in healthy human subjects. Materials and methods: Sixty healthy adult human subjects were divided into 5 groups (cohorts: I to V; n = 12 per cohort) and randomized in the ratio of 3:1 to receive active treatment or placebo in a blinded manner. Five doses 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg, 600 mg and 800 mg tablets were administered three times daily at an interval of 8 h for days 01-09 under fasting conditions and a single dose in morning on day 10. Safety assessment was based on monitoring the occurrence, pattern, intensity, and severity of adverse events during study period. Blood samples were collected for measurement of the bio-active marker Sinococuline concentrations by a validated LC-MS/MS method followed by pharmacokinetic evaluation. Results and conclusion: The test formulation was well tolerated in all cohorts. Sinococuline peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and total exposure of plasma concentration (AUC) demonstrated linearity up to 600 mg and saturation kinetics at 800 mg dose. There was no difference observed in elimination half-life for all the cohorts, suggesting absence of saturation in rate of elimination. Dose accumulation was observed and steady state was achieved within 3 days. The information on human pharmacokinetics of AQCH tablets would assist in further dose optimization with defined pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship.

Effect of Alcoholic Extract from Three Plants that is Rich of Flavonoids on two Virulence Factors in E. coli

In this study, the flavonoid content was estimated by HPLC for Vitis vinifera, zingiber officinale and date palm phoenix dactylifera after alcoholic extracts (Ethanolic extracts) and exposure of Escherichia coli that were isolated in 30 Covid-19 patients. From the medical isolation unit in Salah al-Din Hospital, Tikrit city, Republic of Iraq, bacteria were exposed to plant extracts containing flavonoids at different concentrations and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were estimated. Inhibition zones were observed at all concentrations, and then the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed. On two of the most important genes that encode two of the virulence factors in E.coli bacteria, the fimA gene and the PgaD gene, and this procedure showed clear effects on the level of the mentioned genes through PCR technology, which opens the door to the possibility of wider utilization and the development of effective compounds And its exploitation from various plants with a medical reputation known historically "in light of the health difficulties we are going through due to a pandemic Corona virus. © 2022, HIV Nursing. All rights reserved.

Leading and managing radical change

From late 2019, the world has been thrown into a distressing, destabilizing condition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been exacerbated by localized civil disruptions of various kinds. These conditions are affecting governments, large and small businesses, infrastructure, and nonprofit organizations. Organizational leaders are confronted with the need to plan and implement internal systemic changes in response to these changing external events and circumstances. This chapter extends the earlier Lewinian strategies to situations requiring radical change. It describes -the Phoenix and Swamp models, complex systems change strategies, and phases of change-that can be usefully applied to understand radical organizational change. The chapter also provides a phenomenological view of the process of change-what it feels like to lead or be the object of change as well as key stages in organizational reaction and evolution. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Bioactivity and Pharmacological Potential of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Against Pandemic COVID-19: a Comprehensive Review.

A novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), transmitted from person to person, has quickly emerged as the pandemic responsible for the current global health crisis. This infection has been declared a global pandemic, resulting in a concerning number of deaths as well as complications post-infection, primarily among vulnerable groups particularly older people and those with multiple comorbidities. In this article, we review the most recent research on the role of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruits (DPFs) to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection. The mechanisms underlying this preventive or therapeutic effect are also discussed in terms of bioactivity potentials in date palm, e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and hemolytic potential, as well as prospect against COVID-19 disease and the potential product development. Therefore, it can be concluded that regular consumption of DPFs may be associated with a lower risk of some chronic diseases. Indeed, DPFs have been widely used in folk medicine since ancient times to treat a variety of health conditions, demonstrating the importance of DPFs as a nutraceutical and source of functional nourishment. This comprehensive review aims to summarize the majority of the research on DPFs in terms of nutrient content and biologically active components such as phenolic compounds, with an emphasis on their roles in improving overall health as well as the potential product development to ensure consumers' satisfaction in a current pandemic situation. In conclusion, DPFs can be given to COVID-19 patients as a safe and effective add-on medication or supplement in addition to routine treatments.

Dynamic Panel Data Modeling and Surveillance of COVID-19 in Metropolitan Areas in the United States: Longitudinal Trend Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound and differential impacts on metropolitan areas across the United States and around the world. Within the United States, metropolitan areas that were hit earliest with the pandemic and reacted with scientifically based health policy were able to contain the virus by late spring. For other areas that kept businesses open, the first wave in the United States hit in mid-summer. As the weather turns colder, universities resume classes, and people tire of lockdowns, a second wave is ascending in both metropolitan and rural areas. It becomes more obvious that additional SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is needed at the local level to track recent shifts in the pandemic, rates of increase, and persistence. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to provide advanced surveillance metrics for COVID-19 transmission that account for speed, acceleration, jerk and persistence, and weekly shifts, to better understand and manage risk in metropolitan areas. Existing surveillance measures coupled with our dynamic metrics of transmission will inform health policy to control the COVID-19 pandemic until, and after, an effective vaccine is developed. Here, we provide values for novel indicators to measure COVID-19 transmission at the metropolitan area level. METHODS: Using a longitudinal trend analysis study design, we extracted 260 days of COVID-19 data from public health registries. We used an empirical difference equation to measure the daily number of cases in the 25 largest US metropolitan areas as a function of the prior number of cases and weekly shift variables based on a dynamic panel data model that was estimated using the generalized method of moments approach by implementing the Arellano-Bond estimator in R. RESULTS: Minneapolis and Chicago have the greatest average number of daily new positive results per standardized 100,000 population (which we refer to as speed). Extreme behavior in Minneapolis showed an increase in speed from 17 to 30 (67%) in 1 week. The jerk and acceleration calculated for these areas also showed extreme behavior. The dynamic panel data model shows that Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit have the largest persistence effects, meaning that new cases pertaining to a specific week are statistically attributable to new cases from the prior week. CONCLUSIONS: Three of the metropolitan areas with historically early and harsh winters have the highest persistence effects out of the top 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States at the beginning of their cold weather season. With these persistence effects, and with indoor activities becoming more popular as the weather gets colder, stringent COVID-19 regulations will be more important than ever to flatten the second wave of the pandemic. As colder weather grips more of the nation, southern metropolitan areas may also see large spikes in the number of cases.

Trends in COVID-19 Testing and Positivity Rates from a Mobile Testing Program in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to be a global concern, with over 150 million cases worldwide. Arizona, which was recently a hotspot for COVID-19, has over 860 thousand cases. Reviewing the COVID-19 trends over time is crucial in understanding the pandemic and evaluating the impact of mitigation techniques. This current study analyzes the trends in COVID-19 testing and positivity rates from a mobile testing program in the Phoenix metropolitan area between December 2020 and April 2021. Of the 32,234 tests performed there was a total of 3654 COVID positive cases, yielding an overall positivity rate of 11.3%. COVID-19 positivity rates were significantly higher in December (12.9%) and January (12.7%), compared to February (7.5%), March (4.9%), and April (6.7%), p < 0.05. The peak of COVID-19 cases is likely attributable to the holiday season and family gatherings, followed by a steady decline, likely due to fewer gatherings and an increase in individuals receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. Continued public health measures, including vaccinations, are critical in reducing COVID-19 transmission.

COVID-19 Trends in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area from a Mobile Testing Program: Last Quarter of 2020.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to be a public health concern, and Arizona has once again been a COVID-19 hotspot, peaking at 118.3 cases per 100,000. Understanding the trends in COVID-19 positivity rates over time is crucial in planning and mitigation of the virus. This current study analyzes the trends in COVID-19 testing, and COVID-19 antigen and antibody positivity rates over a 3-month time-span from October to December 2020. A retrospective study was conducted collecting data from a mobile testing program during October to December 2020 in the Phoenix metropolitan area. COVID-19 antigen and antibody positivity rates were analyzed. A total of 6710 patients were included in the study. As the months progressed, more patients were tested (October: 1635; November: 2037; December: 3038). The COVID-19 antigen positivity rate was significantly higher in December, compared to October and November (13.43% vs. 11.43 and 10.86%, p = 0.021). COVID-19 IgG rates were also significantly higher in November and December, compared to October (16.65 and 16.50% vs. 8.74%, p < 0.001). There was a progressive increase in COVID-19 positivity cases towards the end of 2020, likely attributed to factors including social gatherings during the holidays and the relaxing of the closure restrictions. Continued public health measures is crucial in preventing the spread of COVID-19.