Responding to COVID-19: Community volunteerism and coproduction in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a critical need for citizen volunteers working with government to protect public health and to augment overwhelmed public services. Our research examines the crucial role of community volunteers and their effective deployment during a crisis. We analyze individual and collaborative service activities based on usage data from 85,699 COVID-19 volunteers gathered through China's leading digital volunteering platform, as well as a survey conducted among a sample of 2,270 of these COVID-19 volunteers using the platform and interviews with 14 civil society leaders in charge of coordinating service activities. Several results emerge: the value of collaboration among local citizens, civil society including community-based groups, and regional government to fill gaps in public services; the key role of experienced local volunteers, who rapidly shifted to COVID-19 from other causes as the pandemic peaked; and an example of state-led coproduction based on long-term relationships. Our analysis provides insight into the role of volunteerism and coproduction in China's response to the pandemic, laying groundwork for future research. The findings can help support the response to COVID-19 and future crises by more effectively leveraging human capital and technology in community service delivery.

Social Comparisons, Self-Conceptions, and Attributions: Assessing the Self-Related Contingencies in Leader-Member Exchange Relationships.

Research on leader-member exchange (LMX) has demonstrated that, in addition to the value of LMX as an indicator of quality relationships with leaders, employees also evaluate how their relationship with the leader compares to other employees' relationship with the leader. This finding led to the emergence of LMX social comparison (LMXSC). This study examines how LMX vs. LMXSC relates to work outcomes and considers the employee and perceived supervisor self-concept levels as moderators. We posit that LMX predicts work performance through increased organizational commitment. We further suggest that the relational and collective levels of the self-concept act as contingencies of the relationships among LMX, LMXSC, commitment, and performance. A sample of 250 employee-supervisor dyads was used to test the hypotheses. LMX predicted commitment and, indirectly, performance. The employee and perceived supervisor relational self-concepts acted as moderators of LMXSC, and the perceived supervisor collective self-concept acted as a moderator of LMX and LMXSC. However, not all moderation hypotheses were supported. Unexpected moderating effects involving the employee and perceived supervisor individual self-concepts, as well as main effects, were also uncovered. This study helps differentiate LMX from LMXSC and understand the role of self-conceptions, including self-conceptions attributed by employees to the leader, in leader-member relationships.

Laser-assisted treatment of peri-implantitis: a retrospective cohort study.

The intent of this study was to provide a retrospective analysis of the clinical outcomes of 222 consecutive patients with 437 implants diagnosed with peri-implantitis and treated with the LAPIP protocol. All patients treated with LAPIP therapy at this practice were included. The primary outcome variable studied was probing depth (PD), and secondary variables were erythema, bleeding on probing, and suppuration. The significance of reductions in PD and clinical signs was assessed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Complete data for both baseline and follow-up visits were available for 116 patients with a total of 224 treated implants. The rate of successful treatments-defined as follow-up PD ≤ 4.0 mm and elimination of clinical signs-was 90%. The reduction in PD from 5.4 mm at baseline to 3.4 mm at a median of 7.6 months was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001). The reduction in the frequency of clinical signs was also statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001). Among 138 patients who had follow-up visits but not necessarily complete PD data, 15 implants were recorded as failed and 249 were recorded as intact at the median longest follow-up time of 13.1 months, resulting in a survival rate of 94%. In this single clinical practice, use of the minimally invasive LAPIP protocol for the treatment of peri-implantitis provided effective and predictable clinical outcomes. Future randomized controlled trials are indicated.

From self-defeating to other defeating: Examining the effects of leader procrastination on follower work outcomes.

This research examines the influence of leader procrastination on employee attitudes and behaviours. While previous studies have typically viewed procrastination as a form of self-defeating behaviour, this research explores its effects on others in the workplace. In Study 1, using data collected from 290 employees, we demonstrate the discriminant and relative predictive validity of leader procrastination on leadership effectiveness compared with laissez-faire leadership and directive leadership. In Study 2, based on dyadic data collected in three phases from 250 employees and their 23 supervisors, we found that leader procrastination was associated with follower discretionary behaviour (organizational citizenship behaviour and deviant behaviour). Additionally, job frustration was found to mediate the relationship between leader procrastination and follower outcomes. The quality of the leader-follower relationship, as a boundary condition, was shown to mitigate the detrimental effects of leader procrastination. Together, the findings suggest that leader procrastination is a distinct form of negative leadership behaviour that represents an important source of follower job frustration. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Leader procrastination is different from laissez-faire and directive leadership and can be detrimental to followers.Job frustration mediates the relationship between leader procrastination and follower discretionary behaviour.Organizations should facilitate high-quality LMX relationships as a method for mitigating the negative effects of leader procrastination.

The prototypical ranitidine analog JWS-USC-75-IX improves information processing and cognitive function in animal models.

This study was designed to evaluate further a prototypical ranitidine analog, JWS-USC-75-IX, [(3-[[[2-[[(5-dimethylaminomethyl)-2-furanyl]methyl]thio]ethyl]amino]-4-nitropyridazine, JWS], for neuropharmacologic properties that would theoretically be useful for treating cognitive and noncognitive behavioral symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders. JWS was previously found to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, serve as a potent ligand at muscarinic M2 acetylcholine receptors, and elicit positive effects on spatial learning, passive avoidance, and working memory in rodents. In the current study, JWS was evaluated for binding activity at more than 60 neurotransmitter receptors, transporters, and ion channels, as well as for inhibitory activity at AChE and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). The results indicate that JWS inhibits AChE and BChE at low (micromolar) concentrations and that it is a functional antagonist at M2 receptors (K(B) = 320 nM). JWS was subsequently evaluated orally across additional behavioral assays in rodents (dose range, 0.03-10.0 mg/kg) as well as nonhuman primates (dose range, 0.05-2.0 mg/kg). In rats, JWS improved prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response in nonimpaired rats and attenuated PPI deficits in three pharmacologic impairment models. JWS also attenuated scopolamine and (-)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801)-related impairments in a spontaneous novel object recognition task and a five-choice serial reaction time task, respectively. In monkeys, JWS elicited dose-dependent improvements of a delayed match-to-sample task as well as an attention-related version of the task where randomly presented (task-relevant) distractors were presented. Thus, JWS (potentially via effects at several drug targets) improves information processing, attention, and memory in animal models and could potentially treat the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of some neuropsychiatric illnesses.