[Neurovascular coupling responses and cognitive function: The impact of aging and the interventional effect of exercise].

Aging is a natural process accompanied with a progressive deterioration of cognitive functions. With an aging population, more and more elderly people are suffering from cognitive impairment. Previous studies have paid more attention to the impact of inflammation and oxidative stress on cognitive function during aging. Recently, it has been discovered that neurovascular coupling (NVC), a mechanism regulating cerebral blood flow, may play a significant role in aging-related cognitive impairment. NVC responses regulate the supply of energy substances and oxygen during brain activity, which in turn enhances cognitive function. However, as people grow older, NVC responses gradually weaken, which may be one of the mechanisms underlying aging-induced cognitive impairment. Given the important role of NVC responses in the brain, it is necessary to search for intervention methods that can improve NVC responses and promote cognitive function. Exercise is an effective means to delay aging and improve cognitive function. It also has a certain promoting effect on NVC responses. This article reviews the regulatory mechanisms of NVC responses, the relationship between NVC responses and cognitive function, and explores the effects of aging and exercise intervention on NVC responses, hoping to provide new research ideas for exercise intervention to improve NVC responses and promote cognitive function in the elderly.

Microaggressions: Mega problems or micro issues? A meta-analysis.

While research on microaggressions has accumulated in recent decades, doubts have arisen over their impact on individuals. Hence, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relations between microaggressions and psychological well-being, physical health, job outcomes, and positive and negative coping. Potential moderators (i.e., microaggression target, publication year, publication status, sample occupation, and inclusion of nonstigmatized group members) were also examined. A meta-analytic approach was chosen to summarize the findings in the microaggression literature. Several search terms and databases were used to identify articles for inclusion. After review, a total of 141 articles with 154 samples contributed effect sizes to our analyses. The results showed that microaggressions were negatively related to psychological well-being and physical health and positively related to coping. The pattern of results was generally the same regardless of the microaggression target, the year the study was conducted, the publication status of the paper, the occupation of the sample, and whether the sample included nonstigmatized groups members or not. This meta-analysis demonstrates the stable, harmful effects associated with experiencing microaggressions. Specifically, microaggressions predicted negative outcomes across individuals and contexts. Thus, actions should be taken to decrease their prevalence within educational and occupational settings.

The role of employee perceptions of safety priorities on safety outcomes across organisational levels.

Research has shown that safety climate predicts safety outcomes in various occupational settings. One important component of safety climate is employees' perceived priorities of safety in an organisation relative to other operational demands (e.g. productivity or efficiency). The relationships between three dimensions of employee perceptions of safety priorities (company, supervisor, worker), employee safety behaviour and self-reported injury outcomes were examined in the current study. Survey data were collected from 858 field workers (a response rate of 89%) at a TV-cable installation company. Results showed that all three dimensions of employee perceptions of safety priorities had significant and unique positive relationships with employee safety behaviour. Furthermore, safety behaviour was a significant mediator of the relationship between the three types of perceived safety priorities and missed work days due to workplace injury. The results showed the value of addressing employee perceptions of safety priorities across organisational levels when trying to improve workplace safety and reduce costly injuries. Practitioner Summary: The study examined relationships between the three different organisational levels of employee perceptions of safety priorities and employee safety behaviour and injury outcomes. The results demonstrated the value of addressing employee perceptions of safety priorities held by different levels of management as well as the worker level to improve workplace safety and reduce costly injuries. Abbreviations: AIC: Akaike Information Criterion; BIC: Bayesian Information Criterion; CFA: confirmatory factor analysis; CFI: comparative fit index; CI: confidence interval; NAICS: the North American Industry Classification System; RMSEA: root mean square errors of approximation; SB: safety behavior; SD: standard deviation; SE: standard error; SIC: the standard industrial class; SP: safety priority.

Research progress of myosin heavy chain genes in human genetic diseases.

Myosins constitute a large superfamily proteins, which convert chemical energy, through ATP hydrolysis, to mechanical force for diverse cellular movements, such as cell migration and muscle contraction. The class Ⅱ myosin forms the filaments in muscle and non-muscle cells as a hexameric protein complex, consisting of two myosin heavy chain (MyHC) subunits and two pairs of non-identical light chain subunits. There are several MyHC isoforms encoded by different genes of the MYH family in humans. At present, distinct mutations in different genes of the MYH family are associated with various human genetic diseases. Mutations in MYH2 are associated with skeletal myopathies, characterized by ophthalmoplegia. Mutations in MYH3 and MYH8 are associated with distal arthrogryposis syndromes. Mutations in MYH7 are associated with not only skeletal muscle diseases, such as Laing distal myopathy and myosin storage myopathy, but also hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Mutations in MYH9 are associated with the so-called MYH9-related disease, characterized by giant platelets, thrombocytopenia and granulocyte inclusions. In this review, we briefly discuss the expression patterns of the MYH gene family and summarize the research progress in correlating the abnormalities of MYH gene family with various human genetic diseases.

Expression of USP15, TßR-I and Smad7 in psoriasis.

The deubiquitinating enzyme ubiquitin specific peptidase 15 (USP15) is regarded as a regulator of TGFß signaling pathway. This process depends on Smad7, the inhibitory factor of the TGFß signal, and type I TGFß receptor (TßR-I), one of the receptors of TGFß. The expression level of USP15 seems to play vital roles in the pathogenesis of many neoplasms, but so far there has been no report about USP15 in psoriasis. In this study, immunohistochemical staining of USP15, TßR-I and Smad7 was performed in 30 paraffin-embedded psoriasis specimens and 10 normal specimens to investigate the expression of USP15, TßR-I and Smad7 in psoriasis and to explore the relevance among them. And USP15 small interfering RNA (USP15 siRNA) was used to transfect Hacat cells to detect the mRNA expression of TßR-I and Smad7. Of 30 cases of psoriasis in active stage, 28, 24 and 26 cases were positive for USP15, TßR-I and Smad7 staining, respectively. The positive rates of USP15 and Smad7 were significantly higher in psoriasis specimens than in normal skin specimens (44.1%±26.0% vs. 6.1%±6.6%, 47.2%±27.1% vs. 6.6%±7.1%), and positive rate of TßR-I (20.3%±22.2%) in psoriasis was lower than that in normal skin specimens (46.7%±18.2%). There was a significant positive correlation between USP15 and Smad7 expression, and significant negative correlations between USP15 and TßR-expression, an I d between TßR- and Smad7 expression I in psoriasis. After transfection of USP15 siRNA in Hacat cells, the expression of TßR-mRNA was up I -regulated and that of Smad7 was down-regulated. It is concluded that USP15 may play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis through regulating the TßR-I/Smad7 pathway and there may be other cell signaling pathways interacting with USP15 to take part in the development of psoriasis.

Safety Climate in the Utility Industry: Perceptual Discrepancies Across Organizational Hierarchy.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to extend safety climate research by considering perceptions across the following three hierarchical levels within a workplace: (1) senior leaders/executives, (2) field leaders/supervisors, and (3) front-line employees. METHODS: We conducted a quantitative survey study at a US utility company where we collected data related to safety climate perceptions and employee-reported safety behaviors across the different levels of organizational hierarchy. RESULTS: The findings revealed the highest safety climate scores among senior leaders/executives, followed by field leaders/supervisors, and then employees, suggesting potential discrepancies between espoused and enacted safety values in the workplace. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that supervisors and top managers may have different mental models of workplace safety compared with employees. Consequently, assessing perceptions at different organizational levels provides a fuller picture of safety in the workplace.

An interpretable clustering approach to safety climate analysis: Examining driver group distinctions.

The transportation industry, particularly the trucking sector, is prone to workplace accidents and fatalities. Accidents involving large trucks accounted for a considerable percentage of overall traffic fatalities. Recognizing the crucial role of safety climate in accident prevention, researchers have sought to understand its factors and measure its impact within organizations. While existing data-driven safety climate studies have made remarkable progress, clustering employees based on their safety climate perception is innovative and has not been extensively utilized in research. Identifying clusters of drivers based on their safety climate perception allows the organization to profile its workforce and devise more impactful interventions. The lack of utilizing the clustering approach could be due to difficulties interpreting or explaining the factors influencing employees' cluster membership. Moreover, existing safety-related studies did not compare multiple clustering algorithms, resulting in potential bias. To address these problems, this study introduces an interpretable clustering approach for safety climate analysis. This study compares five algorithms for clustering truck drivers based on their safety climate perceptions. It also proposes a novel method for quantitatively evaluating partial dependence plots (QPDP). Then, to better interpret the clustering results, this study introduces different interpretable machine learning measures (Shapley additive explanations, permutation feature importance, and QPDP). The Python code used in this study is available at https://github.com/NUS-DBE/truck-driver-safety-climate. This study explains the clusters based on the importance of different safety climate factors. Drawing on data collected from more than 7,000 American truck drivers, this study significantly contributes to the scientific literature. It highlights the critical role of supervisory care promotion in distinguishing various driver groups. Moreover, it showcases the advantages of employing machine learning techniques, such as cluster analysis, to enrich the scientific knowledge in this field. Future studies could involve experimental methods to assess strategies for enhancing supervisory care promotion, as well as integrating deep learning clustering techniques with safety climate evaluation.

Successful treatment of refractory oral condyloma acuminatum through laser-photodynamic therapy combination.

Condyloma acuminatum (CA) is a sexually transmitted disease primarily caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, predominantly affecting the genital and anal regions. However, the occurrence of oral condyloma acuminatum (OCA) is relatively infrequent, although its incidence has been gradually rising in recent years. OCA presents unique challenges in terms of treatment efficacy and recurrence prevention due to its concealed location and distinctive anatomical characteristics. In this manuscript, we present a case study involving the use of laser combined with photodynamic therapy (PDT) for managing hard palate OCA. The occurrence of warts in the hard jaw near the soft palate posed challenges during PDT due to involuntary swallowing and nausea. By modifying the conventional PDT approach and replacing the dressing with a cotton swab, the patient experience is more comfortable and therapeutic outcomes is more effective. Remarkably, the procedure resulted in minimal scarring post-operation. The combined approach of laser and PDT demonstrates promising results as a rapid and well-tolerated treatment modality for OCA.

Effects of Exogenous Abscisic Acid on the Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Camellia oleifera Seedlings under Drought Stress.

This study comprehensively investigates the physiological and molecular regulatory mechanisms of Camellia oleifera seedlings under drought stress with a soil moisture content of about 30%, where exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) was applied via foliar spraying at concentrations of 50 µg/L, 100 µg/L, and 200 µg/L. The results demonstrated that appropriate concentrations of ABA treatment can regulate the physiological state of the seedlings through multiple pathways, including photosynthesis, oxidative stress response, and osmotic balance, thereby aiding in the restructuring of their drought response strategy. ABA treatment effectively activated the antioxidant system by reducing stomatal conductance and moderately inhibiting the photosynthetic rate, thus alleviating oxidative damage caused by drought stress. Additionally, ABA treatment promoted the synthesis of osmotic regulators such as proline, maintaining cellular turgor stability and enhancing the plant's drought adaptability. The real-time quantitative PCR results of related genes indicated that ABA treatment enhanced the plant's response to the ABA signaling pathway and improved disease resistance by regulating the expression of related genes, while also enhancing membrane lipid stability. A comprehensive evaluation using a membership function approach suggested that 50 µg/L ABA treatment may be the most-effective in mitigating drought effects in practical applications, followed by 100 µg/L ABA. The application of 50 µg/L ABA for 7 h induced significant changes in various biochemical parameters, compared to a foliar water spray. Notably, superoxide dismutase activity increased by 17.94%, peroxidase activity by 30.27%, glutathione content by 12.41%, and proline levels by 25.76%. The content of soluble sugars and soluble proteins rose by 14.79% and 87.95%, respectively. Additionally, there was a significant decrease of 31.15% in the malondialdehyde levels.

Cardiovascular disease risk: it is complicated, but race and ethnicity are key, a Bayesian network analysis.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Despite the complexity of cardiovascular disease etiology, we do not fully comprehend the interactions between non-modifiable factors (e.g., age, sex, and race) and modifiable risk factors (e.g., health behaviors and occupational exposures). Objective: We examined proximal and distal drivers of cardiovascular disease and elucidated the interactions between modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. Methods: We used a machine learning approach on four cohorts (2005-2012) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to examine the effects of risk factors on cardiovascular risk quantified by the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE). We estimated a network of risk factors, computed their strength centrality, closeness, and betweenness centrality, and computed a Bayesian network embodied in a directed acyclic graph. Results: In addition to traditional factors such as body mass index and physical activity, race and ethnicity and exposure to heavy metals are the most adjacent drivers of PCE. In addition to the factors directly affecting PCE, sleep complaints had an immediate adverse effect on FRS. Exposure to heavy metals is the link between race and ethnicity and FRS. Conclusion: Heavy metal exposures and race/ethnicity have similar proximal effects on cardiovascular disease risk as traditional clinical and lifestyle risk factors, such as physical activity and body mass. Our findings support the inclusion of diverse racial and ethnic groups in all cardiovascular research and the consideration of the social environment in clinical decision-making.

Spatial distribution and community composition of endophytic fungi within Mussaenda pubescens stems.

Endophytic fungi, pivotal in facilitating plant co-evolution, significantly enhance plant growth, stress resistance, and environmental adaptability. Despite their importance, the spatial distribution of stem endophytic fungi (SEF) within host plants remains poorly characterized. Here, we employed high-throughput sequencing to conduct a comparative analysis of SEF communities in Mussaenda pubescens on a regional scale. Our findings reveal that whole-SEF communities were overwhelmingly dominated by members of the phylum Ascomycota, accounting for 85.9 %, followed by Basidiomycota at 13.9 %, and that alpha diversity within the whole-SEF community of M. pubescens remains relatively consistent across sampling sites. However, significant variation was observed within conditionally abundant taxa (CAT), conditionally rare or abundant taxa (CRAT), and conditionally rare taxa (CRT). Climatic factors emerged as the primary influence on SEF community distribution, followed by spatial distance and stem chemical properties. Neutral community modeling results suggested that both stochastic and deterministic processes play a role in shaping whole-SEF communities, with deterministic processes having a stronger influence on CRT subcommunities. Furthermore, the CRT co-occurrence network exhibited a more complex structure, characterized by higher values of network betweenness and degree relative to CAT and CRAT subcommunities. These findings enhance our understanding of community assembly and ecological interactions between stem fungal endophytes, presenting opportunities for harnessing fungal resources for the benefit of humanity.

Adaptive changes of swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) associated bacteria helping host against dibutyl phthalate toxification.

The pollution of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in aquatic environments is becoming an extensive environmental problem and detrimental to aquatic animals. Here, we quantified the response pattern of the bacterial community and metabolites of swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) juveniles exposed to 0.2, 2, and 10 mg/L DBP using 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing coupled with metabolomic technique. The results showed that DBP changed the bacterial community compositions in a concentration-dependent pattern and decreased the Shannon index at the second developmental stage of the swimming crabs. The Rhodobacteraceae taxa were specifically enriched by crabs when challenged by 2 and 10 mg/L DBP, with an increased in Shannon index and enhanced drift in its assembly. Moreover, DBP changed the metabolic profiling of the swimming crab, highlighted by increased levels of lactate, valine, methionine, lysine, and phenylalanine in the 10 mg/L DBP-exposed crabs. Rhodobacteraceae presented the most considerable contribution to the metabolic potentials in phthalate and benzoate degradation, lactate production, and amino acid biosynthesis. Overall, our results indicated an adaptive change of crab-associated bacteria helped the host resist DBP stress. The findings extend our insights into the relationship between the microbiota and its host metabolism under DBP stress and reveal the potential microbiota modalities for DBP detoxification.

The role of IGF-1 in exercise to improve obesity-related cognitive dysfunction.

Obesity is an important factor that threatens human health. The occurrence of many chronic diseases is related to obesity, and cognitive function decline often occurs with the onset of obesity. With the further prevalence of obesity, it is bound to lead to a wider range of cognitive dysfunction (ORCD). Therefore, it is crucial to suppress ORCD through intervention. In this regard, exercise has been shown to be effective in preventing obesity and improving cognitive function as a non-drug treatment. There is sufficient evidence that exercise has a regulatory effect on a growth factor closely related to cognitive function-insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 may be an important mediator in improving ORCD through exercise. This article reviews the effects of obesity and IGF-1 on cognitive function and the regulation of exercise on IGF-1. It analyzes the mechanism by which exercise can improve ORCD by regulating IGF-1. Overall, this review provides evidence from relevant animal studies and human studies, showing that exercise plays a role in improving ORCD. It emphasizes the importance of IGF-1, which helps to understand the health effects of exercise and promotes research on the treatment of ORCD.

Intramolecular hydrogen bond-tuned thermal-responsive carbon dots and their application to abnormal body temperature imaging.

A steric hindrance strategy was used to prepare intramolecular hydrogen bond-controlled thermosensitive fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) via the solvothermal treatment of o-phenylenediamine respectively with three dihydroxybenzene isomers. The CDs obtained from different isomers have very similar morphology, surfaces, and photophysical properties but exhibited different thermal sensitivities. Meanwhile, the orange-emitting CDs (p-CDs) obtained from o-phenylenediamine and p-hydroquinone exhibited an optimal thermal sensitivity of 1.1%/°C. Comprehensive experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations revealed that even a small difference in substituent locations in the phenyl ring of the precursors can considerably affect the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds and that the CDs with strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds exhibited poor thermosensitivity. The p-CDs were incorporated with reference CDs (B-CDs) that exhibited heating-quenching blue emission through electrostatic self-assembly to construct a dual-emission probe (p-CDs/B-CDs), which exhibited a thermal sensitivity of 2.0%/°C. Test strips based on the p-CDs/B-CDs were prepared to measure temperature fluctuations based on sensitive and instant fluorescence color evolution. Further, this fluorescent colorimetry was successfully applied to a test strip-integrated wearable wristband to measure the body temperature. This study establishes an inherent relationship between precursors and the resulting intramolecular hydrogen bonds for precisely tuning the thermal sensitivity of CDs. It also offers a visual quantitative strategy for the early warning of abnormal body temperatures.

Organizational climate profiles: Identifying meaningful combinations of climate level and strength.

According to situation strength theory, organizational climate should have a stronger effect on group behavior when members' perceptions of the climate are both unambiguous (i.e., very high or very low) and shared than when they are more ambiguous and less shared. In the organizational climate literature, this proposition is typically examined by testing the interaction between climate level (i.e., mean) and strength (i.e., variability); surprisingly, the preponderance of empirical research testing this interaction does not support this theoretical expectation. This may be because the traditional variable-centered approach fails to consider the possibility of overlooked subpopulations consisting of unique combinations of climate level and strength, creating distinct climate profiles. To address this issue, we use a group-centered conceptualization and analyses (i.e., latent profile analysis) to examine the extent to which 302 workgroups (Sample 1) and 107 organizations (Sample 2) evidence statistically and practically meaningful climate profiles. Results revealed four to six distinct climate profiles across multiple climate types were differentially associated with theoretically relevant outcomes, including objective financial measures. Consistent with situation strength theory, groups with strong and favorable profiles tended to have more positive outcomes, whereas groups with weaker, less favorable profiles tended to have less positive outcomes. In contrast, the traditional variable-centered approach was generally unsupportive of an interaction between climate level and strength. Overall, these findings provide evidence that the group-centered approach is a more sensitive statistical modeling technique for testing a fundamental tenet of situation strength theory in the context of organizational climate research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Hepatic Runx1t1 improves body fat index after endurance exercise in obese mice.

Endurance exercise could attenuate obesity induced by high fat diet (HFD). Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the crucial targets that play key roles in the improvement of body fat index (BFI) in obese mice by endurance exercise. Firstly, we constructed murine obesity models: High fat diet control (HFD) group, HFD exercise (HFE) group, normal chow diet control (NC) group, and normal chow diet exercise (NE) group. Next, we identified the BFI improvement related genes using differential gene analysis, and investigated these genes' functional pathways using functional enrichment analysis. The qRT-PCR and western blot assays were used to determine the gene expression and protein expression, respectively. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to explore the potential pathways associated with endurance exercise in obese mice and Mitochondrial respiratory control ratio (RCR) assay was applied to determine the RCR in the liver tissues of mice. We discovered that endurance exercise remarkably reduced the body weights and BFI of HFD-induced obese mice. Runx1t1 was related to the improvement of BFI by endurance exercise in HFD-induced obese mice. Runx1t1 mRNA and protein levels in liver tissues were observably decreased in HFD mice compared to mice in HFE, NC and NE groups. Moreover, Glucagon signaling pathway that was associated with mitochondrial function was significantly activated in HFE mice. The Runx1t1 expression exhibited an observable negative correlation with Acaca in HFD mice. Moreover, the mitochondrial RCR level was significantly increased in HFE mice than that in HFD mice. In HFD-induced obese mice, Runx1t1 was implicated in the improvement of BFI via endurance exercise. Endurance exercise could improve mitochondrial dysfunction in obese mice by activating the Runx1t1.

Comparison of next-generation sequencing systems.

With fast development and wide applications of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, genomic sequence information is within reach to aid the achievement of goals to decode life mysteries, make better crops, detect pathogens, and improve life qualities. NGS systems are typically represented by SOLiD/Ion Torrent PGM from Life Sciences, Genome Analyzer/HiSeq 2000/MiSeq from Illumina, and GS FLX Titanium/GS Junior from Roche. Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which possesses the world's biggest sequencing capacity, has multiple NGS systems including 137 HiSeq 2000, 27 SOLiD, one Ion Torrent PGM, one MiSeq, and one 454 sequencer. We have accumulated extensive experience in sample handling, sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis. In this paper, technologies of these systems are reviewed, and first-hand data from extensive experience is summarized and analyzed to discuss the advantages and specifics associated with each sequencing system. At last, applications of NGS are summarized.

Genetic diversity analysis of the ORF5 gene in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus samples from South China.

To understand the genetic diversity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in South China, we collected 231 clinical samples from pigs with suspected PRRSV infection in Guangdong between 2007 and 2009. We found that 74 of 231 samples were positive by RT-PCR. The PCR products of the ORF5 gene of 35 isolates from different farms were sequenced and their DNA sequences were compared to 23 other PRRSV isolates in the GenBank. We found that the nucleotide similarity among all South China isolates ranged from 87.6% to 100%, and all belonged to the North American genotype. Most of them were classified into subgenotype I, but the rest mapped to subgenotypes III, V or VI. Those in subgenotypes I and III were found to be highly variable in the primary neutralising epitope (PNE) with a specific amino acid mutation (F39/L39→I39), and a few isolates in subgenotypes I and III isolates also had a mutation at L41 (L41→S41). PRRSV isolates in subgenotypes III, V and VI had less potential glycosylation sites than those in subgenotype I. Our data contribute to the understanding of molecular variation of PRRSV in South China.

Difficult Times, Difficult Decisions: Examining the Impact of Perceived Crisis Response Strategies During COVID-19.

Crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require rapid action to be taken by leaders, despite minimal understanding of the impact of implemented crisis management policies and procedures in organizations. This study's purpose was to establish a greater understanding of which perceived crisis response strategies were the most beneficial or detrimental to relevant perceptions and outcomes during the recent COVID-19 crisis. Using a time-lagged study design and a sample of 454 healthcare employees, latent profile analysis was used to identify strategy profiles used by organizations based on several policy/procedure categories (i.e., human-resource supportive, human-resource disadvantaging, behavioral/interactional human safety and protection-focused, and environmental and structural safety supports-focused policies and procedures). Results indicated that four perceived crisis response strategies were employed: (1) human resource-disadvantaging, (2) maximizing, (3) safety and human resource-supportive, and (4) inactive. Perceived crisis response strategy was linked to several employee well-being (e.g., work stress) and behavioral (e.g., safety behavior) outcomes via proximal perceptions (i.e., perceived organizational support, ethical leadership, and safety climate). Proximal perceptions were the most positive for employees within organizations that enacted safety and human resource-supportive policies and procedures or that utilized a maximizing approach by implementing a wide array of crisis response policies and procedures. This paper contributes to the literature by providing crucial information needed to reduce organizational decision-making time in the event of future crises.

When Does Safety Climate Help? A Multilevel Study of COVID-19 Risky Decision Making and Safety Performance in the Context of Business Reopening.

Businesses are gradually reopening as lockdown measures for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are being relieved in many places across the globe. It is challenging but imperative for businesses to manage the risk of infection in the workplace and reopen safely. Drawing on risky decision-making theory and the job demands-resource model of workplace safety, we examined the influences of employees' COVID-19 risk perception on their safety performance at work. On the one hand, COVID-19 risk perception motivates employees to perform safely; on the other hand, COVID-19 risk perception could also undermine safety performance through triggering anxiety. In an effort to find ways that alleviate the negative implications of risk perception, we also tested a cross-level interaction model where the risk perception-anxiety relation is weakened with a favorable team safety climate as well as low abusive supervision. Our data were collected from car dealership employees located in China in March 2020, when businesses just started to reopen in locations where these data were collected. Results showed that COVID-19 risk perception was positively related to anxiety, which in turn undermined safety performance. This negative effect canceled out the direct positive effects of COVID-19 risk perception on safety performance. In addition, cross-level interaction results showed that the buffering effect of team safety climate on the risk perception-anxiety relation was diminished with an abusive supervisor. Our findings provide valuable and timely implications on risk management and workplace safety during a public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.