The effect of a mindfulness-based intervention on executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies in very preterm young adolescents

Very preterm (VPT) children and adolescents show executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties that persists into adulthood. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in improving these competencies in VPT young adolescents using a randomised controlled trial design. 56 young adolescents aged 10–14 years, born before 32 gestational weeks, were randomly assigned to an “intervention” or a “waiting” group and completed an 8-week MBI in a cross-over design. Executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies were assessed at three different time points via parent and self-reported questionnaires, neuropsychological testing and computerised tasks. The data were analysed using an intention-to-treat approach with linear regression modelling. Our findings show a beneficial effect of MBI on executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies in VPT young adolescents measured by parent questionnaires. Increased executive competencies were also observed on computerised task with enhanced speed of processing after MBI. Two subgroups of participants were created based on measures of prematurity, which revealed increased long-term benefits in the moderate-risk that were not observed in the high-risk subgroups of VPT young adolescents. MBI seems a valuable tool for reducing detrimental consequences of prematurity in young adolescents, especially regarding executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties.Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials, NCT04638101. Registered 20 November 2020—Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04638101.

«New» Executive Competencies in the Context of Digital Business Transformation

Improving the competitiveness of domestic enterprises is based on the introduction of advanced business and management information technologies. The current business environment is increasingly causing an urgent need for managers to expand the horizon of digital vision not only for current, but also for future management of the company. Today, it is not enough for a Manager to simply have proper professional knowledge in certain functional areas of activity and have a broad managerial Outlook. A modern Manager should be able to initiate the introduction and use of advanced information systems and technologies in almost all implemented business processes of his company. When preparing the article, the materials of research conducted at a number of domestic industrial enterprises were used. Conclusions and main provisions are based on the results of analysis of real practice of implementation and operation of corporate information systems. The results obtained in the course of the research, including the opinions of experts, which were made by employees of industrial enterprises, were used in conducting targeted work to establish a priority list of the most relevant and significant professional areas of knowledge and professional qualities that can help a modern Manager achieve success in the implementation and practical use of corporate information systems. The main result of the research should be considered the formation of such a priority list.

Validity and Reliability of American College of Healthcare Executive Competencies Assessment Tool for the Managers of Healthcare Networks in Zanjan Province

Introduction: The importance of using the competent managers in the healthcare system, shows the need to recognize their competencies and having standards to measure competencies. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to determine the validity and reliability of the competency assessment tool of the American College of Health Care Executives for the managers of healthcare networks in Zanjan province. Methods: This study is a descriptive-analytical study in which data collection was performed using the American College of Health Care Executives Competencies Assessment tool. This tool was provided to 30 healthcare management professors and experts, in Zanjan province. To investigate the validity, internal consistency and repeatability Content Validation methods, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and Retesting were used respectively. Data were analyzed using Excel 2010 and SPSS 18 software. Results: The results showed that 235 out of 302 questions related to the American College of Health Care Executives Competencies Assessment tool had low content validity and should be rejected. The content validity index of the final questionnaire was calculated to be 0.84, which is acceptable. The results also showed that the final questionnaire was reliable with α=0.98 and repeatable. Conclusion: Utilizing a framework to assess the competencies of healthcare network managers can be of benefit in choosing qualified managers. According to the results of this study, the provided tool shows a desirable reliability and a fairly convenient validity to be used in healthcare networks of Zanjan province.

Strukturprobleme des Glücksspielrechts

Comprised of a plurality of legal actors and powered by a highly polarised social and legal discourse, German gambling law provides a framework for the ever booming gambling market. It is challenged by digitalization and by the internationalization of gambling. In addition, it faces adverse regulatory impulses, ranging from liberalization to a firm regulatory grasp within a couple of years. On the one hand, it purports to offer a sufficiently attractive supply of gambling products in order to draw the public into legal forms and away from illegal forms of gambling. On the other hand, its regulatory objective seeks to fence in and suppress the gambling urges of the population. On the whole, German gambling law is characterized by three, legally and factually interdependent problems. First, it needs to come up with a practical, inclusive and dynamic legal definition of its subject-matter, i. e.: what counts as legally relevant gambling? Second, it needs to define, maintain and implement larger objectives in regard to a target audience that do not overburden the executive und judicial branch with the need to reconcile contradicting regulatory impulses. Finally, it needs to guarantee a sufficient degree of implementation, which is achieved by combination of rational and high-quality legislation, adequate resources, and the necessary political will. Gambling law in Germany lacks these features to varying degrees. It, therefore, increasingly falls prey to mere legal symbolism that pretends to govern the gambling market much more than it actually does. The constitutional distribution of legislative and executive competencies in favor of the German Länder (“states”) is largely insufficient. Governing gambling in an international and highly digitalized market requires federal legislation and execution. The German federal authorities should consider federalizing gambling law by means of Art. 72 II GG and creating a federal gambling agency on the basis of Art. 87 III GG.

Will Artificial Intelligence Change Strategic Top Management Competencies?

<p>The probability is high that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will provide the answer to future product and market innovations. It has the ability to induce a fundamental change in products, markets, models, and paradigms. Manufacturing and a wide spectrum of services are undergoing a near-revolutionary change driven by AI delivered innovations. Computing equipment capable of what one may term partial and quasi-intelligent behavior is the trigger. Ways and means of converting this new phenomenon into the strategic behavior of firms is a murky process today. Yet this process will create new premises for strategic thinking and, in the process, new demands on executive competencies.</p>

Public trust in policing: A global search for the genetic code to inform policy and practice in Canada

The Executive Global Studies Program is an experiential and research-driven learning model for succession-ready police leaders and related executives across Canada, operating since 2003. Its research themes for each cohort are assigned by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP). Nominees are each named and funded by their respective agencies with a view to informing domestic public policy and practice, while also providing a developmental framework for building global networks, shared geo-political awareness, and advanced executive competencies among the police leadership community. The program’s tenth cohort completed a 15-country study on the subject of public trust in policing, and they recently presented their summarized research results to the CACP for consideration and action. In this paper, these results are summarized and discussed for their potential implications for policy, practice, and continuing study. The primary focus of these authors, all of whom are Global 2017 team members, is to trace and explain the qualitative research process applied by their full cohort as they uncovered and conceived what the team ultimately characterized as ‘the genetic code of public trust’, a new grounded theory meant to inform and guide those continuing policy and practice considerations in Canada and beyond.