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Culture and leadership research in the last decade witnessed a general upsurge. Empirical studies that determined the scores of the subgroup cultures and examined leadership styles and preferences in Nigeria, have not been exhaustively carried out. This study therefore examined subgroup cultures and leadership styles in Nigerian organizations. Due to the structure of most Nigerian public organizations which are characterized by multi-ethnic groups with heterogeneous cultural beliefs, this study examined the differences in the Hofstede’s culture dimensions’ scores, leadership styles and preferences among Yoruba subgroup in Nigeria with focus on Power Distance and Individualism/Collectivism. Survey research design was adopted, making use of questionnaire for data collection. The study made use of 345 members of staff purposively selected from among the Yoruba subgroups in the Central Bank of Nigeria Headquarters in Abuja. The data generated from the structured questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for descriptive statistics. Hofstede’s culture dimensions of power distance and individualism/collectivism were computed using the Value Survey Module (VSM) developed by Hofstede. This study found that there is a high power distance among the Yoruba subgroup, and the leadership style preferred by the Yoruba’s is the democratic style of leadership and that the Yoruba subgroup is a collectivistic society.

The article presents a study on the Toxoplasma gondii infection that affected the dolphins stranded on the Tuscan coast in Italy from 2006 to 2008. The researchers observed a total of 14 stranded dolphins, six of which were striped dolphins or Stenella coeruloalba while eight were bottlenose dolphins or Tursiops truncates. They extracted DNA from tissue samples and tachyzoites in guanidine lysis buffer that was dissolved in deionised water and precipitated with isopropanol. They found that T. gondii continue its active circulation in the marine area of Tuscany.

Excellent spatial resolution and the ability to provide tissue characterization make cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging an ideal tool in the evaluation of cardiac tumors and pericardial disease. Cine MR imaging (MRI) as well as delayed enhancement following the administration of gadolinium are the most common CMR techniques in clinical practice. The present article will discuss the CMR findings in pericardial disease and cardiac tumors using these and other common techniques for tissue characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isocyanates, known to cause respiratory sensitization and asthma, are widely used in automotive refinishing where exposures to aliphatic polyisocyanates occur by both inhalation and skin contact. The work reported here, the characterization of isocyanate exposure in the autobody industry, was part of an epidemiologic study of workers in 37 autobody shops in Connecticut. This article describes workplaces, tasks, and controls, and outlines the frequency, duration, and intensity of isocyanate exposures. Personal air samples taken outside of respirators had median concentrations of 66.5 microg NCO/m3 for primer, 134.4 microg (NCO)/m3 for sealer, and 358.5 microg NCO/m3 for clearcoat. Forty-eight percent of primer, 66% of sealer, and 92% of clearcoat samples exceeded the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive guideline for isocyanate, though none exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit for monomer. Nonisocyanate-containing primers and sealers are used in more than half the shops, but nonisocyanate clearcoats are rare. Eighty-two percent of personal samples taken within a spray booth exceeded the U.K. guideline: 81% of those in downdraft spray booths, 74% in semidowndraft booths, and 92% in crossdraft booths. Only 8% of shops reported that spraying is done exclusively in spray booths. All painters wore some type of respirator. In 30% of shops, painters used supplied air respirators; the rest relied on half face organic vapor cartridge respirators with N95 overspray pads. All shops provided some type of gloves, usually latex, not recommended for isocyanate protection. Despite improvements in autobody shop materials, practices, and controls, there are still opportunities for substantial exposures to isocyanates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To expand community service opportunities in health promotion and disease prevention for approximately 20% of the female students at Boston High School, who are pregnant or parenting. Methods. Students at Tufts University School of Medicine created, organized, and taught an interactive curriculum encompassing pre- and postnatal health at Boston High School. Evaluation of program effectiveness is provided by questionnaires completed by participating high school students, medical students, and the high school Health Services Advisor. Results. Short-term outcomes will examine self-esteem, prenatal care knowledge and decision making behavior. Long-term followup will assess outcomes such as birth weight complications, educational status of parents, additional pregnancies, and child health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive prostatic carcinomas and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) are characterized by a loss of normal cell organization, cell polarity, and cell:cell and cell:basement membrane adhesion. The objective of this study was to establish in vitro three-dimensional (3-D) cell models which can be used to investigate mechanisms involved in acinar morphogenesis and differentiation in normal prostatic epithelium and their abnormalities in cancer cells. The process of acinar morphogenesis, including structural and functional differentiation, was investigated by culture on basement membrane gels (Matrigel). The human papillomavirus 18 immortalized, non-tumorigenic cell line RWPE-1, the v-Ki-ras transformed, tumorigenic RWPE-2 cell line derived from RWPE-1 cells (see previous paper pp. 1221-1229) and the human prostatic carcinoma cell line DU-145 were used. When cultured on Matrigel, RWPE-2 cells remain as single cells or form small aggregates and DU-145 cells form large amorphous cell aggregates without any organization or lumen. In contrast, RWPE-1 cells form acini of polarized epithelium with a distinct lumen, show a distinct laminin basement membrane, and express alpha6beta1 integrins at their basal end. Exposure to conditioned medium from NIH 3T3 cultures accelerates glandular morphogenesis. Parallel cultures maintained as monolayers on plastic remain as monolayers. In the presence of the synthetic androgen mibolerone, acinar cells express prostate specific antigen (PSA) as determined by immunostaining. We conclude that normal prostate cells can undergo acinar morphogenesis while tumorigenic cells have lost this ability. The 3-D cultures provide physiologically relevant in vitro models for elucidating regulation of growth, morphogenesis and differentiation in the normal human prostate, for defining heterotypic interactions in benign prostatic hyperplasia and for establishing the basis for the loss of normal cell organization in early neoplastic lesions such as PIN as well as during tumor progression in prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]