Maternal,prenatal and traditional practice factors associated with perinatal mortality in Yemen

Background

Perinatal mortality remains a major international problem responsible for nearly six million stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

Using the Diffusion of Innovation Concept to Explain the Factors That Contribute to the Adoption Rate of E-journal Publishing

This paper reports on the factors that contribute to the adoption rate of e-journal publishing based upon responses from 82 Malaysian journal publishers. Drawing upon the theory of innovation diffusion, the study examines the role of awareness, three organization variables (publication size, age of the journal, and experience of editors), and attributes of e-journals (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) as influences to the rate of e-journal publishing adoption. Findings show that only two attributes—complexity and trialability—emerge as significant contributors to e-journal adoption rates, and all three organization variables—journal's age, publication size, and editorial experience—are significant. Collectively, these five significant variables explained 57.8% of the variance in adoption rate. We discuss the results and implication of the findings with respect to the wider context of e-journal publishing.     

Supervisory coaching and performance feedback as mediators of the relationships between leadership styles,work engagement,and turnover intention

Human resource development (HRD) is key to organizational success. With some HRD roles devolving to leaders in recent years, a gap in understanding is now evident in how leaders’ leadership styles shape development-oriented behaviours that may effectively assist them in fulfilling their HRD roles, and the corresponding effects that this has on employee work engagement and turnover intention. This study compared the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles on employee attitudes (i.e. work engagement and turnover intention) through leaders’ behaviours (i.e. supervisory coaching and performance feedback). This study used a multilevel approach (i.e. matching leaders to multiple subordinates) with 500 employees, nested in 65 workgroups from private organizations in Malaysia. As hypothesized, we found a link between transformational (but not transactional) leadership and higher levels of supervisory coaching and performance feedback, and that these job resources mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement. Furthermore, we found that work engagement mediates the relationships of both supervisory coaching and performance feedback to turnover intention. Overall, the study results reveal one way in which Asian leaders can effectively facilitate some aspects of HRD through development-focused behaviours which serve as job resources to boost work engagement and reduce turnover intention.     

Sidedness in Carrying Objects Other than Infants Resembles Sidedness in Infant Cradling: A Two Nation Study of Gender Differences

Studies have repeatedly documented that 60 to 80 % of adults cradle (or carry) infants on the left side of their bodies. However, very little is known about sidedness tendencies when carrying objects in general. The present naturalistic study examines sidedness among college students as they carried books and other “academic” objects on campus. Special attention was given to sidedness biases in the use of a cradling-like carrying style. Over 2,500 observations were made of non-infant object carrying by college students in Malaysia and the United States. In both countries, females used a cradling-like carrying style much more than did males, while males predominantly carried books beside the hip. Regarding sidedness, there were significant left sided biases in the use of a cradling-like style by females in both countries and by males in Malaysia. Other sidedness differences in object carrying were also found. The left sided bias in infant carrying documented in other studies roughly resembles what this study found regarding the carrying of objects bearing no resemblance to infants, especially by females. Theories for left sided biases in infant cradling need to account for why similar biases exist particularly among females when they are carrying inanimate objects.