Low Retention Rates Research Articles

Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Behavioral Competence of Public Elementary School Teachers in Relation to School Performance

The study analyzed the socio-demographic characteristics and behavioral competence of public elementary school teachers in the City Schools Division of La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, and their impact on school performance. A total of 300 public school teachers from three cluster schools participated in the study. The majority of teachers were female, married, aged 31-40, with a Master’s degree or higher, and had a small family size. The study found high behavioral competence on core values, but low drop-out, failure, and retention rates. No significant differences in behavioral competence among core values or relationship between teacher competence and school performance were found. he study also found no significant differences in the behavioral competence of teachers among core values and no significant relationship between the behavioral competence of teachers and school performance.

Alterations in clinical parameters in cicatrising conjunctivitis secondary to GvHD

Cicatricial conjunctivitis is part of a well‐known complication of graft versus host disease (GVHD) resulting from the tissue fibrosis that affects different body organs. It results from inflammatory reactions determined by recognition of recipient antigens as foreign by donor cells. The main target tissues in ocular GVHD are the conjunctiva and the lacrimal gland, and conjunctival involvement is usually associated with more severe systemic disease. Clinical manifestations of cicatricial conjunctivitis includes conjunctival fibrosis, conjunctival shortening, conjunctival scarring and keratinization, and symblepharon and/or ankyloblepharon. Such scarring may even lead to cicatricial lagophthalmos, ectropion, entropion, and stenosis or closure of the lacrimal puncta. In fact, the degree of palpebral conjunctival changes has been used as a criterion to classify conjunctival involvement in chronic GVHD.Conjunctival epithelial cells and myofibroblasts may have donor origin, though with a very small proportion. These donor‐derived fibroblasts may play a role in the pathogenesis of conjunctival fibrosis. In addition, it has been shown that the ocular surface of patients with chronic GVHD may show epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, in which the epithelium may gain the mesenchymal phenotype and the ability to migrate into the subepithelial stroma, resulting in conjunctival fibrosis.Our group showed that a significant proportion of patients with ocular GHVD had subtarsal fibrosis, that was non evident in non‐GHVD dry eye disease (DED) patients, even with the same degree of clinical severity. Extent of involvement varied from one eye to another; on average, more than a quarter of the visible tarsal area was affected by the fibrosis. Such fibrosis was significantly associated with ocular surface epitheliopathy and conjunctival staining. In contrast, densities of epithelial and stromal immune cells in the conjunctiva were comparable between GVHD and non GVHD DED patients after adjustment for severity of DED. We also showed that spontaneous extrusion of punctal plugs occurs in a majority of ocular GVHD‐associated DED patients within 90 days of plug placement, and this lower retention rate of punctal plugs has been attributed to punctal subepithelial fibrosis.In all patients with ocular GVHD, the eye care provider should evaluate the presence of conjunctival fibrosis and associated ocular surface complications. If present, the therapeutic strategy should attempt to address this scarring process.

A Pre-requisite for Better Students’ Academic Outcomes: Physical Facilities’ Conditions and Teachers’ Commitment in Cape Coast Senior High Schools

As time passed, the focus of nations’ economic and social development in this current dispensation has been centered on students’ academic outcomes. Hence, proper planning and systematic and holistic approaches should be implemented in the education field. This goal cannot be achieved without the efforts and involvement of committed teachers and physical facilities conditions. However, an attempt made by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to improve and maintain teachers’ commitment to ensuring a low retention rate has paid little or no attention to physical facilities’ conditions that undermine quality education. Given this, the study aimed to determine the relationship between physical facilities’ conditions and teachers’ commitment to senior high schools. The study utilized a descriptive survey design.Top of Form A sample size of 297 teachers completed a questionnaire to determine their commitments whilst an observational checklist was employed to evaluate the conditions of the facilities. Version 23.0 of the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) was employed to conduct a statistical analysis of the data. The study indicated a positive strong correlation between good physical facilities and teachers’ commitment. The study suggests that the Cape Coast Metro Office should allot a portion of its annual budget to the Cape Coast Education Directorate to provide good physical facilities and also maintain the existing ones for senior high schools in the Metropolis to positively influence teachers’ commitment to work to ensure better students’ academic outcome because physical facilities’ conditions improves teachers’ commitment which in turn commensurate better students’ academic outcome.

Exploring the role of learning goal orientation, instructor reputation, parasocial interaction, and tutor intervention in university students' MOOC retention: A TAM-TRA based examination.

While MOOC platforms allow universities to implement various strategies such as brand promotion and student recruitment, the alarmingly low retention rate suggests a need to explore the critical factors that influence students' course retention. So far, studies on MOOC platforms focus either on the students' individual factors (i.e., students' personal factors such as perceived value) or situational factors (i.e., external influences shaping students' behavior, such as system quality) for students' learning, thus lacking a complete view of those determinant factors. This study integrates the TAM model with the TRA model to analyze the roles of three important antecedents (learning goal orientation; LGO, instructor reputation; IR, & parasocial interaction; PI) on university students' perceived value (PU) and learning attitude (LA), two critical predictors of MOOC retention (CR). Using data from an online survey of 449 Chinese university students, the hypothesis model was tested using PLS. We found that LGO, IR, and PI each positively affect PU; LGO, IR, and PI each positively affect LA; PU and LA each positively influence course retention (CR), with each impact enhanced by tutor intervention (TI). The theoretical and practical implications of such findings are presented.

Childhood adversity severity modulates the associations between adaptive psychological changes and amygdala volumetric changes in response to behavioral interventions

BackgroundAdverse Childhood Experience (ACE) has been shown to have detrimental impact on amygdala structure. Prior research found that adaptive psychological changes after Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) were associated with amygdala volumetric changes. The present study aims to further investigate whether such effects also occur among ACE survivors and whether the effects are unique to MBI. MethodsA total of 64 young adult childhood adversity survivors were randomized to an eight-week MBI or Stress Management Education (SME) as an active control condition. Anatomical MRI and questionnaires on mindfulness, stress and psychological health were collected at baseline and post-intervention. Due to subject dropout, the final sample included 39 subjects (MBI:20, SME:19). ResultsBoth groups showed increased mindfulness levels, reduced stress, and improved psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and somatization), with no significant group by time interaction effect. There was no significant group difference on amygdala volumetric changes. Within the MBI group, childhood maltreatment severity was a significant mediator between changes of mindfulness levels and right amygdala volumetric changes. Across pooled sample of both groups, childhood maltreatment was a significant moderator for the effect of trait anxiety level changes on left amygdala volumetric changes. LimitationsModest sample size, relatively low retention rates, suboptimal monitoring of home practice. ConclusionsMBI did not demonstrate overall better clinical effects than SME. Psychological-change-dependent amygdala volumetric change was not specific to MBI. Childhood maltreatment severity modulated the relationships between adaptive psychological changes and amygdala volumetric changes.

Application of High Molecular Hydrogel in The Treatment of Myocardial Infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the world's leading disabling and fatal disease. Currently, clinical treatment methods mainly include drug therapy, angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass grafting. These traditional treatment methods are difficult to repair damaged myocardial tissue and cannot restore normal necrotic and fibrotic myocardium. Therefore, it is imperative to improve the efficacy of traditional treatment methods and find new treatment strategies. More and more studies have found that stem cell transplantation can repair damaged myocardium, but stem cells transplanted to the affected site undergo oxidative damage, compression loss, and low cell survival and retention rates. At present, there is an urgent need to seek new methods that can effectively repair damaged myocardium and restore cardiac function. In recent years, with the development of regenerative medicine engineering and the continuous optimization of polymer technology and the development of new biomaterials, it has become a reality to create lost or functionally damaged tissues and organs through theoretical methods of biology and engineering, enabling them to have the structure and function of normal tissues and organs. This article will focus on the latest progress in methods for repairing damaged myocardium in myocardial infarction through polymer hydrogel materials.

Sequential transplantation of exosomes and BMSCs pretreated with hypoxia efficiently facilitates perforator skin flap survival area in rats

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) are promising candidates for the treatment of trans-territory perforator flap necrosis. However, the low retention and survival rate of engrafted BMSCs limit their therapeutic efficacy. Strategies either modifying BMSCs or alleviating the inflammatory environment may solve this problem. Thus, we aimed to explore the therapeutic efficacy of sequential transplantation of exosomes and hypoxia pretreated BMSCs on flap necrosis. After the perforator flap model was created, the exosomes derived from BMSCs were injected immediately into choke zone II followed by transplantation of hypoxia pretreated BMSCs on Day 2. Gross view was performed to assess the flap survival, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to evaluate the inflammatory factor level, microvessel number was assessed and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to assess angiogenesis. We found that exosome delivery significantly reduced inflammatory cytokines levels on Day 1 and Day 3 and promoted the engrafted BMSCs’ survival on Day 7. After combining with transplantation of hypoxia pretreated BMSCs, the flap survival rate and the angiogenesis-related gene expression were significantly higher than in the other three groups; the von Willebrand factor (vWF) vascular diameter and vWF vascular count were significantly higher than in the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) group. Thus, we concluded that sequential transplantation of exosomes and BMSCs combinatorially pretreated with hypoxia further facilitated flap survival. This sequential transplantation approach provides novel insights into the clinical treatment of flap necrosis.

Nanofiltration membrane performance of layer-by-layer membranes with different polyelectrolyte concentrations

Nanofiltration membranes produced with polyelectrolytes via the layer-by-layer technique are frequently researched, but misunderstood parameter is the polyelectrolyte concentration. Higher polyelectrolyte (PE) concentrations are known to produce thicker PE layers, but its effect on the membrane performance has only been studied in a limited fashion, leading to premature conclusions. In this work, two well-known strong polyelectrolytes, PDADMAC and PSS were used to prepare membranes using coating solutions with polyelectrolyte concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 wt% and two different salt concentrations in the coating solution of 0.05 and 1 M, as higher salt concentrations lead to thicker PE layers. The membrane performance of the prepared membranes is researched in terms of pure water permeability (PWP), molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) and the retention of different salts. In the first bilayer, membranes coated with a 0.05 M salt solution showed lower PWPs and MWCOs and higher salt retentions by increasing the PE concentration. After a certain number of coated bilayers, the MWCO and salt retentions reach a plateau for all PE concentrations; but the plateau value was obtained earlier by coating with a higher PE concentration. The membranes coated with the 1 M salt concentration had lower or comparable retention rates, except for MgCl2, than those coated with 0.05 M salt. The higher salt concentration resulted in more abundant PDADMAC in the membrane, which promotes the MgCl2 retentions for all bilayers. In conclusion, we found that the polyelectrolyte concentration significantly alters the membrane performance, but after coating 7 bilayers, the same size exclusion plateaus are reached.

STRATEGIES USED BY OHIO’S NURSING HOMES TO RETAIN CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS: DO THEY WORK?

Abstract A low retention rate of certified nursing assistants (CNA) in nursing homes (NHs) is a known problem; it drives up facilities’ operating costs and negatively impacts the quality of care provided. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem and left facilities scrambling to retain workers. Using data from the 2021 Ohio Biennial Survey of Long-Term Care Facilities, this study examines strategies implemented by facilities to improve retention of their CNAs. Facilities have tried to implement a variety of workplace environment changes such as allowing staff teams to manage schedule and financial benefit strategies such as longevity wage increase to improve their CNA retention. The statewide average NH retention rate was 64% for CNAs ranging between 0 and 100%. Three groups were constructed from the retention data: high or rate of 75% or higher (N = 220), medium or between 50% and 75% (N = 254), and low or under 50% (N = 145). We found that a higher proportion of low-retention facilities implemented most of these strategies compared to facilities with high and medium CNA retention rates. At the same time, we found that a higher proportion of administrators in the high retention group knew all their CNAs by name compared to the low-retention group (50.0% vs 41.7%). These findings suggest that environmental and financial strategies may not have much of an impact on retention rates, but making people feel respected and appreciated could.

Robotic-Assisted Proctosigmoidectomy vs. Laparoscopic-Assisted Soave Pull-Through for Hirschsprung’s Disease: Medium-Term Outcomes From a Prospective Multicenter Study

Objective: To compare the surgical outcomes of robotic-assisted proctosigmoidectomy (RAP) and laparoscopic-assisted Soave pull-through (LAP) for children with Hirschsprung’s disease (HD). Summary Background Data: LAP and RAP have been developed for minimally invasive pull-through of HD, but the clinical benefits of robotic-assisted versus laparoscopic-assisted approaches have yet to be proven in a multicenter prospective study. Methods: This study was a prospective multicenter clinical trial conducted on children with rectosigmoid/descending HD from July 2015 to June 2022, with registration in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2000035220). The primary outcome was the medium-term functional outcomes in children aged ≥4 years based on bowel functional scores, which were assessed and compared between LAP and RAP. Results: A total of 328 consecutive patients (RAP=165, LAP=163) were approached who were considered eligible for elective minimally invasive endorectal pull-through, and 219 patients aged ≥4 years of age completed follow-up (RAP=109, LAP=110). The transanal dissection length and anal traction time were significantly shorter in RAP than those in LAP (0.30 cm vs. 3.70 cm, P <0.001; 45 min vs. 62 min, P <0.001). The RAP group had significantly lower urinary retention rate (0% vs. 5.52%, P=0.006), while other short-term results between two groups were not significantly different. The medium-term overall BFS scores were comparable between two groups; however, among the subgroup of children aged ≤ 3 months at surgery, the RAP group had better anal canal resting pressure at one year postoperatively and amounted to better annual POFC scores at 4-7 years old postoperatively (all P <0.05). Conclusions: RAP and LAP should have similar medium-term bowel functional outcomes in HD children, but RAP may be associated with a slight functional benefit in infants operated on below age 3 months, requiring further investigation in larger case cohorts.

Mechanistic Insights into a Novel Controllable Phase-Transition Polymer for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Mature Waterflooding Reservoirs.

Expanding swept volume technology via continuous-phase polymer solution and dispersed-phase particle gel is an important technique to increase oil production and control water production in mature waterflooding reservoirs. However, problems such as the low viscosity retention rate, deep migration, and weak mobility control of conventional polymers, and the contradiction between migration distance of particle gel and plugging strength, restrict the long-term effectiveness of oil displacement agents and the in-depth sweep efficiency expanding capability in reservoirs. Combined with the technical advantages of polymer and particle gel, a novel controllable phase-transition polymer was developed and systematically studied to gain mechanistic insights into enhanced oil recovery for mature waterflooding reservoirs. To reveal the phase-transition mechanism, the molecular structure, morphology, and rheological properties of the controllable phase-transition polymer were characterized before and after phase transition. The propagation behavior of the controllable phase-transition polymer in porous media was studied by conducting long core flow experiments. Two-dimensional micro visualization and parallel core flooding experiments were performed to investigate the EOR mechanism from porous media to pore level. Results show that the controllable phase-transition polymer could change phase from dispersed-phase particle gel to continuous-phase solution with the prolongation of ageing time. The controllable phase-transition polymer exhibited phase-transition behavior and good propagation capability in porous media. The results of micro visualization flooding experiments showed that the incremental oil recovery of the controllable phase-transition polymer was highest when a particle gel and polymer solution coexisted, followed by a pure continuous-phase polymer solution and pure dispersed-phase particle gel suspension. The recovery rate of the novel controllable phase-transition polymer was 27.2% after waterflooding, which was 8.9% higher than that of conventional polymer, providing a promising candidate for oilfield application.

Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cell Kinetics in Peripheral Blood Correlate with Efficacy and Toxicity of CAR T Cell Therapy in Relapsed or Refractory B Cell Lymphoma

Introduction. CAR T-cell therapy is potentially curative for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma (BCL). However, about 60% of patients fail CAR T-cell therapy. Immune-related adverse events (irAE) like cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) occur in an inflammatory state. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) expand during acute inflammation as steady-state hematopoiesis switches to emergency myelopoiesis. We hypothesized that the acute inflammatory conditions created by CAR T-cell therapy may alter MDSC kinetics and investigated MDSC expansion in the context of CAR T-cell efficacy and toxicity in BCL. Methods. Patients with BCL receiving standard-of-care CAR T-cell therapy were enrolled in a prospective sample collection study. Blood samples were collected before lymphodepletion (baseline), prior to and at early intervals after CAR T-cell infusion. Viable white blood cell (WBC) and MDSC counts were evaluated by multicolor flow cytometry. Phenotypically, MDSCs were defined as immature myeloid cells (CD11b + CD33 + HLA-DR -/low IL-4R +) and divided into monocytic (M-MDSC, CD14 +) and polymorphonuclear (PMN-MDSC, CD15 +) subsets. Clinical response was assessed by Lugano criteria at 1, 3 and 6 months. Incidence and severity of CRS and ICANS were recorded. Cell counts were analyzed by descriptive statistics and reported as mean ± standard error or fold-change from baseline. Kinetics of MDSCs in blood and correlation with clinical outcomes were evaluated by Wilcoxon matched pair signed rank t-test and Mann Whitney U-test. Results. Forty-three BCL patients (41 large BCL, 2 mantle cell lymphoma) were enrolled in the study. Median age was 64 (range 27-83), 32.6% were female. Racial and ethnic minority groups represented 14% of enrolled subjects. One patient developed grade 5 ICANS and was not evaluable for response. Thirty-seven (86%) developed leukopenia and all received granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) starting on day 5 post-CAR T infusion. WBC count fell sharply from baseline following lymphodepletion (7.7E +05±8.6E +04 baseline vs 2.9E +05±9.2E +04/mL, p<0.0001) and continued to decline 2-3 days post-CAR T infusion (baseline vs 1.4E +05±2.1E +04/mL, p<0.0001) before returning to baseline within 1 week post-CAR T (i.e. within 3 days of G-CSF). MDSCs followed similar kinetics early on but significantly increased from baseline levels by 1-week post-CAR T (3.4E +03±5.8E +02 baseline vs 8.5E +03±1.7E +02 /mL, p<0.0001). This effect was mainly driven by an exuberant expansion of M-MDSC observed in 33/43 patients (median 6.1-fold increase from baseline at 1 week, range 0.5-4301). Seven patients (16.3%) had progressive disease (PD) at 1 month, 6 (13.9%) additional patients progressed at 3 months and 4 (9.3%) more progressed at 6 months after CAR T-cell infusion. M-MDSC expansion 1-week post-CAR T was only observed in 3/7 refractory patients compared with 28/35 responding patients (Fisher's exact test, p=0.0635). Patients who progressed at 3 months had poorer M-MDSC retention compared to patients with sustained response (1.7E +02±6.1E +01 PD vs 1.4E +03±2.4E +01/mL at 2-week post-infusion, p<0.1). Similarly, patients who progressed at 6 months had lower M-MDSC compared with sustained responders (2.0E +02±8.1E +01 PD vs 4.5E +02±1.4E +02 ml at 1-month post-infusion, p<0.05). Thirteen patients (30.2%) developed > grade 2 CRS and had lower PMN-MDSC retention rate 2-3 days post-CAR-T compared with those with no/low-grade CRS (4.4E +02±2.6E +02 vs 1.4E +03±3.9E +02/mL, p<0.05). Similarly, patients who had ICANS > grade 2 (n=14, 32.5%) had lower PMN-MDSC early retention compared to those with no or low-grade ICANS (5.0E +02±2.5E +02 vs 1.5E +03±4.1E +02/mL, p<0.05). Further analyses are currently underway to bridge these findings with the kinetics of CAR T-cells and T-cell repertoire post-CAR T. Conclusions. The proinflammatory milieu after CAR-T and the use of G-CSF can lead to significant expansion of M-MDSCs. Rather than an impediment to CAR T therapy, M-MDSC expansion and retention are associated with favorable clinical response and PMN-MDSC with a lower risk of developing high grades CRS or ICANS. Whether MDSCs play a mechanistic role remains to be elucidated, but they may have a role as a biomarker in predicting outcomes after CAR T-cell therapy in BCL.

Does Financial Stress Influence Students’ Campus Climate Perceptions and Sense of Belonging?

Studies of financial stress, college debt, campus climate, and sense of belonging have each been conducted to better understand student retention and persistence, but few studies have explored the relationship between these variables and student outcomes. Researchers have found that financial need has a negative effect on student's psychological experiences, while other studies have explored the impact of general stress in college on psychological constructs, such as campus climate. However, little evidence exists of a relationship between financial stress, student's climate and belonging perceptions, and retention. This study investigates financial-related stressors that may impact two psychological dispositions, feelings of belonging to the institution and how they perceive the campus climate. Findings demonstrate a negative relationship between financial stress and campus climate perceptions among Students of Color, possibly explaining lower retention rates among these students.

A Mentoring Initiative for Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: One Strategy to Increase Nursing Workforce Diversity and Advance Health Equity.

This article addresses low retention and graduation rates among historically marginalized students in nursing programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Mentoring is a proven success strategy to support systems for historically marginalized students, helping them navigate challenges, improving academic outcomes, and increasing the diversity of the nursing workforce. The article highlights the mentoring initiative of AARP's Center for Health Equity through Nursing and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the outcomes of this collaboration. The paper details the implementation of a mentoring initiative to enhance graduation rates and National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) success among historically marginalized students and emphasizes collaboration among institutions and organizations, as well as strategies for funding, mentor recruitment, and NCLEX preparation. Recommendations include promoting robust mentoring programs, preparing mentors, and conducting further research on the effects of mentoring on student outcomes in HBCUs.

Analysis of Strategic Response on Employee Performance Among NSE Listed Commercial Banks

Globally, the banking business has seen growing rivalry, necessitating the application of important consistent and skilful decisions to boost the survival rate of numerous institutions. The recent failure of some commercial banks demonstrates that strategic responses for boosting employee performance have yet to be implemented. Employee productivity in Kenya's banking sector has also declined significantly over the years. Employees are also stressed, which leads to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, low levels of engagement, and low retention rates. The main objective of the study was to determine the influence of strategic response on employee performance among NSE listed Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to establish the effects of market expansion, cost-cutting strategies and strategic leadership on employee performance among NSE listed Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study also investigated the moderating effect of technology adoption on the relationship between strategic response and employee performance among NSE listed Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study followed a descriptive research design approach focusing on commercial banks based in Nairobi. The target population was all the 10 NSE listed commercial banks and the study data was collected using questionnaires for a period of one month. Due to the population being small, the study used a census sampling approach to cover all 10 commercial banks in Kenya. The study used both primary data. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires containing both open ended and close ended questions. The content analysis method was used to analyse qualitative data. Quantitative data, on the other hand, was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS in accordance with the research objectives. Correlation and regression analysis were used in inferential statistics to determine the relationship between the research variables. The findings were presented using tables and figures. From the analysis, it was evident that human resource practices such as recruitment of agencies to help in marketing and selling was mostly adopted. The regression analysis confirmed that strategic leadership and cost-cutting strategies are important factors affecting employee performance in the firms and that market expansion strategies may not have a significant impact on employee performance. The study found that technological strategies may not have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between strategic response and employee performance among NSE listed Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study concluded that there is a positive correlation between strategic response and employees’ performance among NSE-listed Kenyan commercial banks. The study also concludes that strategic leadership and cost-cutting strategies are significant factors affecting employee performance in among the firms. Market expansion strategies and technological strategies may not have a significant impact on employee performance in NSE-listed Kenyan commercial banks. The study further recommended that NSE-listed commercial banks in Kenya should focus on fostering a positive work environment and effective leadership to enhance employee performance. The recommended the NSE listed Kenyan Commercial Banks to continue emphasizing and investing in expansion and cost cutting practices. The study suggested that providing leadership training and support to managers and executives can help them become more strategic in their decision-making. Banks should also carefully evaluate their cost-cutting initiatives to ensure that they do not compromise employee morale, job satisfaction, or overall performance Regular evaluation of technological strategies can help identify areas for improvement and potential opportunities to leverage technology for better employee performance.

Towards an Adaptive Learning Model using Optimal Learning Paths to Prevent MOOC Dropout

Currently, massive open online courses (MOOCs) are experiencing major developments and arebecoming increasingly popular in distance learning programs. The goal is to break down inequalitiesand disseminate knowledge to everyone by creating a space for exchange and interaction.Despite the improvements to this educational model, MOOCs still have low retention rates, whichcan be attributed to a variety of factors, including learners’ heterogeneity. The paper aims toaddress the issue of low retention rates in MOOCs by introducing an innovative prediction modelthat provides the best (optimal) learning path for at-risk learners. For this purpose, learners at riskof dropping out are identified, and their courses are adapted to meet their needs and skills. A casestudy is presented to validate the effectiveness of our approach using classification algorithms forprediction and the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to optimize learners’ paths.

Injectable collagen hydrogel combines human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to promote endometrial regeneration in rats with thin endometrium

The regeneration of thin endometrium still remains as a great challenge in the field of reproductive medicine. Stem cells-based therapy has been considered as a promising strategy for the restoration of thin endometrium. However, the low transplantation and retention rate of stem cells and loss of stemness due to in vitro expansion limits the therapeutic efficacy. In our study, we combined collagen hydrogel and human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (uMSCs) for improving the regeneration of thin endometrium, by using the potent pluripotency and low immunogenicity of uMSCs and collagen hydrogel that promotes the anchorage and proliferation of stem cells. Results showed that collagen hydrogel has favorable biocompatibility and the capacity to enhance the cell viability and expression of stemness-associated genes (including organic cation/carnitine transporter4 (Oct-4), Nanog homeobox (Nanog) and SRY-box transcription factor 2 (SOX2)) of uMSCs. The combination of collagen hydrogel and uMSCs prolonged the retention time of the constructs in the uterine cavity and improved endometrial thickness compared with uMSCs alone, leading to increase the fertility of the rats with thin endometrium. These highlighted therapeutic prospects of collagen hydrogel combined with uMSCs for the minimally invasive therapy of thin endometrium in the clinic.

A review of reported effects of pelagic longline fishing gear configurations on target, bycatch and vulnerable species

Abstract A meta‐analysis of 40 publications totalling 59 experiments was undertaken to review and assess the effects of changing the hook (circle vs. J‐hooks or tuna hooks), bait (fish vs. squid) and leader (wire vs. nylon) type on retention and at‐haulback mortality rates of teleosts (tunas and billfishes), elasmobranchs and sea turtles caught on shallow‐set and deep‐set pelagic longline fisheries. Circle hooks are a promising approach to mitigate the impact of pelagic longline fisheries on sea turtles, as they reduced sea turtle retention rates. The adoption of circle hooks would, however, also lead to a decrease in swordfish retention, the main target species of shallow‐set pelagic longlines. Using fish as bait resulted in lower retention rates of sea turtles, highlighting that option as an additional measure to further mitigate sea turtle bycatch. The bait type had non‐significant effects on sharks, except for blue shark and shortfin mako, for which at‐haulback mortality rates were significantly higher with fish bait. The use of nylon leaders instead of wire leaders could serve as a conservation measure for sharks, as they reduced the retention of blue shark without adversely impacting the catches of swordfish. The results on the effect of the leader material types should, however, be interpreted with caution owing to the limited information available reporting on leader material effects. When considering future research directions, priority should be given to experimental field work on the effects of leader material and on deep‐set longlines. Evaluating the post‐release survival of species should also be a priority.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

So, a [National Institute on Drug Abuse] NIDA‐funded study has found that telehealth buprenorphine initiations result in marginally longer retention rates than non‐telehealth (see page 5). The low retention rate overall — less than half of the patients in Kentucky and less than one third in Ohio — will be discussed in future issues, as will possible indications for who will do better in telehealth, and possible confounders in that study. The differences — 48% vs. 44%, and 32% vs. 28% — are not that large. The support by the federal government for telehealth is echoed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and almost all physicians, who support it for prescribing of all controlled substances. Somehow, the idea of physicians prescribing controlled substances without ever examining the patient — something that some 40,000 commenters, plus all the major medical associations, to a proposed rule by the Drug Enforcement Administration have said that they want (see https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.33912) — seems odd as the nation is still reeling from overdose deaths caused, many believe, by the overprescribing of opioids more than 10 years ago. Entire opioid settlement funds, now being scooped up by anyone who can get them, are based on that premise.

Removal of rhodamine blue dye from wastewaters by using perovskite@2D-layered nanostructured LaCoO3@g-C3N4 as super-nanosorbent material

To address water polluting hazardous and toxic dyes menace, we developed a novel LaCoO3@g-C3N4 composite, characterized it, and then employed it to adsorb rhodamine blue (RhB) from aqueous solutions. The synthesized nanomaterials consisted of LaCoO3 and Co3O4 phases of crystallite sizes 43.29 and 42.63 nm beside the nitride, with a surface area of 66.67 m2.g−1, and C, N, La, O, and Co as elemental composition, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction, BET and EDX analysis respectively. Batch sorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of LaCoO3@g-C3N4 nanopowder on RhB dye removal where the experimental data well fitted the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetics models, thus validating monolayer chemisorption via hydrogen bonding and π- π electrostatic interaction. The findings indicated a high adsorption capacity of 1226 mg.g−1 and that the nanosorbent possessed good stability since it can be regenerated and reused efficiently with a very low retention rate of 90.8 %.