Perceived group cohesion versus actual social structure: A study using social network analysis of egocentric Facebook networks.

Research on group cohesion often relies on individual perceptions, which may not reflect the actual social structure of groups. This study draws on social network theory to examine the relationship between observable structural group characteristics and individual perceptions of group cohesion. Leveraging Facebook data, we extracted and partitioned the social networks of 109 participants into groups using a modularity algorithm. We then surveyed perceptions of cohesion, and computed group density and size using social network analysis. Out of six linear mixed effects models specified, a random intercept and fixed slope model with group size as a predictor of perceived group cohesion emerged as best fitting. Whereas group density was not linked to perceived cohesion, size had a small negative effect on perceived cohesion, suggesting that people perceive smaller groups as more cohesive. We discuss the potential of social network analysis, visualization tools, and Facebook data for advancing research on groups.

Team Learning: New Insights Through a Temporal Lens.

Team learning is a complex social phenomenon that develops and changes over time. Hence, to promote understanding of the fine-grained dynamics of team learning, research should account for the temporal patterns of team learning behavior. Taking important steps in this direction, this special issue offers novel insights into the dynamics of team learning by advocating a temporal perspective. Based on a symposium presented at the 2016 Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup) Conference in Helsinki, the four empirical articles in this special issue showcase four different and innovative approaches to implementing a temporal perspective in team learning research. Specifically, the contributions highlight team learning dynamics in student teams, self-managing teams, teacher teams, and command and control teams. The articles cover a broad range of methods and designs, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and longitudinal as well as micro-temporal approaches. The contributors represent four countries and five different disciplines in group research.

New Frontiers in Analyzing Dynamic Group Interactions: Bridging Social and Computer Science.

This special issue on advancing interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and social scientists documents the joint results of the international Lorentz workshop, "Interdisciplinary Insights into Group and Team Dynamics," which took place in Leiden, The Netherlands, July 2016. An equal number of scholars from social and computer science participated in the workshop and contributed to the papers included in this special issue. In this introduction, we first identify interaction dynamics as the core of group and team models and review how scholars in social and computer science have typically approached behavioral interactions in groups and teams. Next, we identify key challenges for interdisciplinary collaboration between social and computer scientists, and we provide an overview of the different articles in this special issue aimed at addressing these challenges.

Killer Apps: Developing Novel Applications That Enhance Team Coordination, Communication, and Effectiveness.

As part of the Lorentz workshop, "Interdisciplinary Insights into Group and Team Dynamics," held in Leiden, Netherlands, this article describes how Geeks and Groupies (computer and social scientists) may benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration toward the development of killer apps in team contexts that are meaningful and challenging for both. First, we discuss interaction processes during team meetings as a research topic for both Groupies and Geeks. Second, we highlight teamwork in health care settings as an interdisciplinary research challenge. Third, we discuss how an automated solution for optimal team design could benefit team effectiveness and feed into team-based interventions. Fourth, we discuss team collaboration in massive open online courses as a challenge for both Geeks and Groupies. We argue for the necessary integration of social and computational research insights and approaches. In the hope of inspiring future interdisciplinary collaborations, we develop criteria for evaluating killer apps-including the four proposed here-and discuss future research challenges and opportunities that potentially derive from these developments.

Helping healthcare teams to debrief effectively: associations of debriefers' actions and participants' reflections during team debriefings.

BACKGROUND: Debriefings help teams learn quickly and treat patients safely. However, many clinicians and educators report to struggle with leading debriefings. Little empirical knowledge on optimal debriefing processes is available. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential of specific types of debriefer communication to trigger participants' reflection in debriefings. METHODS: In this prospective observational, microanalytic interaction analysis study, we observed clinicians while they participated in healthcare team debriefings following three high-risk anaesthetic scenarios during simulation-based team training. Using the video-recorded debriefings and INTERACT coding software, we applied timed, event-based coding with DE-CODE, a coding scheme for assessing debriefing interactions. We used lag sequential analysis to explore the relationship between what debriefers and participants said. We hypothesised that combining advocacy (ie, stating an observation followed by an opinion) with an open-ended question would be associated with participants' verbalisation of a mental model as a particular form of reflection. RESULTS: The 50 debriefings with overall 114 participants had a mean duration of 49.35 min (SD=8.89 min) and included 18 486 behavioural transitions. We detected significant behavioural linkages from debriefers' observation to debriefers' opinion (z=9.85, p<0.001), from opinion to debriefers' open-ended question (z=9.52, p<0.001) and from open-ended question to participants' mental model (z=7.41, p<0.001), supporting our hypothesis. Furthermore, participants shared mental models after debriefers paraphrased their statements and asked specific questions but not after debriefers appreciated their actions without asking any follow-up questions. Participants also triggered reflection among themselves, particularly by sharing personal anecdotes. CONCLUSION: When debriefers pair their observations and opinions with open-ended questions, paraphrase participants' statements and ask specific questions, they help participants reflect during debriefings.

Appreciating age diversity and German nurse well-being and commitment: co-worker trust as the mediator.

Nursing practice faces the challenges of succeeding with a great diversity of customers and managing a diverse workforce with a wide range of age differences. While age diversity can lead to increased creativity and a greater richness of values and skills, it can also lead to value clashes, disrespect of each other's viewpoints, and increased conflict. As a result, nurses frequently experience stress, work-life imbalance, and a withdrawal from commitment. We propose the injection of positive diversity mindsets (age diversity appreciation) as one remedy. Specifically, we suggest that age diversity appreciation is positively related to nurses' well-being (stress and work-life balance), and also positively related to their team commitment. We further hypothesize that nurses' trust in co-workers mediates the hypothesized relationships. Our survey data of 138 nurses in a large hospital in Germany supported our hypotheses. We discuss both theoretical and managerial implications of our findings in the context of age diversity and nursing work outcomes in hospitals.

Capturing Workplace Gossip as Dynamic Conversational Events: First Insights From Care Team Meetings.

Even though gossip is a ubiquitous organizational behavior that fulfils important social functions (e.g., social bonding or emotion venting), little is known about how workplace gossip and its functions unfold in situ. To explore the dynamic nature and social embeddedness of workplace gossip, we develop a behavioral annotation system that captures the manifold characteristics of verbal gossip behavior, including its valence and underlying functions. We apply this system to eight elderly care team meetings audio- and videotaped in the field, yielding a sample of N = 4,804 annotated behaviors. On this empirical basis, we provide first insights into the different facets and functions of workplace gossip in real-life team interactions. By means of lag sequential analysis, we quantify gossip patterns that point to the temporal and structural embeddedness of different types of workplace gossip expressions. Though exploratory, these findings help establish workplace gossip as a dynamic conversational event. We discuss future interdisciplinary research collaborations that behavioral observation approaches offer.

Using State Space Grids for Modeling Temporal Team Dynamics.

We outline the potential of dynamics systems theory for researching team processes and highlight how state space grids, as a methodological application rooted in the dynamic systems perspective, can help build new knowledge about temporal team dynamics. Specifically, state space grids visualize the relationship between two categorical variables that are synchronized in time, allowing the (team) researcher to track and capture the emerging structure of social processes. In addition to being a visualization tool, state space grids offer various quantifications of the dynamic properties of the team system. These measures tap into both the content and the structure of the dynamic team system. We highlight the implications of the state space grid technique for team science and discuss research areas that could benefit most from the method. To illustrate the various opportunities of state space grids, we provide an application example based on coded team interaction data. Moreover, we provide a step-by-step tutorial for researchers interested in using the state space grid technique and provide an overview of current software options. We close with a discussion of how researchers and practitioners can use state space grids for team training and team development.

Modeling Temporal Interaction Dynamics in Organizational Settings.

Most workplace phenomena take place in dynamic social settings and emerge over time, and scholars have repeatedly called for more research into the temporal dynamics of organizational behavior. One reason for this persistent research gap could be that organizational scholars are not aware of the methodological advances that are available today for modeling temporal interactions and detecting behavioral patterns that emerge over time. To facilitate such awareness, this Methods Corner contribution provides a hands-on tutorial for capturing and quantifying temporal behavioral patterns and for leveraging rich interaction data in organizational settings. We provide an overview of different approaches and methodologies for examining temporal interaction patterns, along with detailed information about the type of data that needs to be gathered in order to apply each method as well as the analytical steps (and available software options) involved in each method. Specifically, we discuss and illustrate lag sequential analysis, pattern analysis, statistical discourse analysis, and visualization methods for identifying temporal patterns in interaction data. We also provide key takeaways for integrating these methods more firmly in the field of organizational research and for moving interaction analytical research forward.

What happens during annual appraisal interviews? How leader-follower interactions unfold and impact interview outcomes.

Despite a wealth of research on antecedents and outcomes of annual appraisal interviews, the ingredients that make for a successful communication process within the interview itself remain unclear. This study takes a communication approach to highlight leader-follower dynamics in annual appraisal interviews. We integrate relational leadership theory and recent findings on leader-follower interactions to argue (a) how supervisors' task- and relation-oriented statements can elicit employee involvement during the interview process and (b) how these communication patterns affect both supervisors' and employees' perceptions of the interview. Moreover, we explore (c) how supervisor behavior is contingent upon employee contributions to the appraisal interview. We audiotaped 48 actual annual appraisal interviews between supervisors and their employees. Adopting a multimethod approach, we used quantitative interaction coding (N = 32,791 behavioral events) as well as qualitative open-axial coding to explore communication patterns among supervisors and their employees. Lag sequential analysis revealed that supervisors' relation-oriented statements triggered active employee contributions and vice versa. These relation-activation patterns were linked to higher interview success ratings by both supervisors and employees. Moreover, our qualitative findings highlight employee disagreement as a crucial form of active employee contributions during appraisal interviews. We distinguish what employees disagreed about, how the disagreement was enacted, and how supervisors responded to it. Overall employee disagreement was negatively related to ratings of supervisor support. We discuss theoretical implications for performance appraisal and leadership theory and derive practical recommendations for promoting employee involvement during appraisal interviews. (PsycINFO Database Record

Using Motivational Interviewing to reduce threats in conversations about environmental behavior.

Human behavior contributes to a waste of environmental resources and our society is looking for ways to reduce this problem. However, humans may perceive feedback about their environmental behavior as threatening. According to self-determination theory (SDT), threats decrease intrinsic motivation for behavior change. According to self-affirmation theory (SAT), threats can harm individuals' self-integrity. Therefore, individuals should show self-defensive biases, e.g., in terms of presenting counter-arguments when presented with environmental behavior change. The current study examines how change recipients respond to threats from change agents in interactions about environmental behavior change. Moreover, we investigate how Motivational Interviewing (MI) - an intervention aimed at increasing intrinsic motivation - can reduce threats at both the social and cognitive level. We videotaped 68 dyadic interactions with change agents who either did or did not use MI (control group). We coded agents verbal threats and recipients' verbal expressions of motivation. Recipients also rated agents' level of confrontation and empathy (i.e., cognitive reactions). As hypothesized, threats were significantly lower when change agents used MI. Perceived confrontations converged with observable social behavior of change agents in both groups. Moreover, behavioral threats showed a negative association with change recipients' expressed motivation (i.e., reasons to change). Contrary to our expectations, we found no relation between change agents' verbal threats and change recipients' verbally expressed self-defenses (i.e., sustain talk). Our results imply that MI reduces the adverse impact of threats in conversations about environmental behavior change on both the social and cognitive level. We discuss theoretical implications of our study in the context of SAT and SDT and suggest practical implications for environmental change agents in organizations.

Termination patterns of identified group II and III afferent fibres from deep tissues in the spinal cord of the cat.

In chloralose-anaesthetized cats, the impulse activity of single afferent fibres supplying receptors in the deep tissues of the hindlimb (fasciae, muscles, ligaments, joint capsules) was recorded using micropipettes filled with a solution of horseradish peroxidase. Only myelinated fibres with conduction velocities up to 40 m/s (Group III and Group II units) were studied, i.e. fast conducting afferent fibres from muscle spindles and tendon organs were excluded. The fibres were functionally characterized with the use of mechanical stimuli such as local pressure and joint movements. The results show that a relationship exists between the functional properties of a given afferent unit and the location of its terminals in the spinal cord. Since the conduction velocity and hence the diameter of the fibres was similar in all the units studied, these factors appear not to be of importance for determining the pattern of spinal termination. Out of 84 units, 42 were classified as high-threshold mechanosensitive, 26 as low-threshold mechanosensitive, and 16 as secondary endings from muscle spindles. Following physiological identification the fibres were ionophoretically injected with horseradish peroxidase and their trajectory in the white and gray matter of the spinal cord visualized histologically with diaminobenzidine. High-threshold mechanosensitive units took a lateral course in the posterior funiculus and usually did not bifurcate. They exhibited two different patterns of spinal termination, one being characterized by terminal arborizations in both lamina I and deeper laminae (mostly IV/V), the other one by an exclusive projection to lamina I. Low-threshold mechanosensitive units often showed a bifurcation in the posterior funiculus and did not have a uniform termination pattern. The main areas of termination were lamina II and laminae IV-VI. The slowly conducting secondary endings from muscle spindles projected mainly to laminae VI and VII with additional collaterals entering the ventral horn. They thus had a termination pattern similar to that reported for fast conducting afferent fibres (above 50 m/s) from muscle spindle secondary endings. With the exception of one high-threshold mechanosensitive unit none of the stained fibres possessed terminal arborization and boutons in lamina III. It is concluded that different types of Group II and III primary afferent fibres from deep tissues exhibit different patterns of spinal termination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A randomized, prospective, controlled, multicenter clinical trial of a sprayable, site-specific adhesion barrier system in patients undergoing myomectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and effectiveness of a sprayable, site-specific adhesion barrier system (SprayGel; Confluent Surgical, Waltham, MA) for reduction of adhesion formation. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled phase III trial. SETTING: University clinic (Kiel, Germany) and private clinic (Bordeaux, France). PATIENT(S): Sixty-six women aged 34.9 years (range, 23-52 years) undergoing laparoscopic or open uterine myomectomy, enrolled over a 15-month period. INTERVENTION(S): Patients were randomized to receive either optimal surgical treatment plus adhesion barrier or optimal surgical treatment alone, followed by second-look laparoscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Initial and second-look laparoscopy procedures were assessed for incidence, extent, and severity of adhesions; all patients were followed for safety analysis. RESULT(S): When compared with initial surgery, the mean adhesion tenacity score of adhesions seen at second-look laparoscopy was significantly reduced in treatment patients compared with control patients (0.6 vs. 1.7, a 64.7% reduction). Mean adhesion extent score at second-look laparoscopy compared with initial surgery was 4.5 cm(2) vs. 7.2 cm(2), mean adhesion incidence score was 0.64 vs. 1.22. Of 64 patients, 40 (62.5%) returned for second-look laparoscopy. CONCLUSION(S): This adhesion barrier was safe, well tolerated, and demonstrated efficacy in a population of patients known to be at risk for adhesion formation. There were no adverse effects attributable to the product and no patients in whom it could not be applied.

White sponge nevus of the vulva.

The white sponge nevus is a hereditary leukokerotosis localized preferably in the oral mucosa, but may simultaneously manifest itself in other regions, e.g. perianally. We report the case of a 18-year-old patient with a primarily and exclusively extraorally located white sponge nevus of the vulva. The differential diagnosis and clinical as well as therapeutical problems of this extremely rare disease are discussed.

Management of patients with persistent beta-hCG values following laparoscopic surgical and local drug treatment for ectopic pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: To show that the beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) decline following tubal-preserving techniques for ectopic pregnancy (EP) can take a longer course than currently believed, indicating expectant management; and to define the indications for a second-look laparoscopy if beta-hCG persists. METHODS: Three hundred thirty-seven patients treated for EP were retrospectively reviewed. In order to define the 'normal' beta-hCG decline following tubal-preserving techniques we acquired a Kaplan-Meier curve for 98 patients treated by laparoscopic linear salpingotomy, the main method performed for EP (253 patients). The Mann-Whitney U-test served as a statistical test. The patient population requiring a second-look laparoscopy for proliferating trophoblastic remnants is described. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (8.3%) required a second-look laparoscopy (acute abdominal pain and sonographically suspect findings combined with increasing beta-hCG values). The majority (15 patients) underwent a preceding laparoscopic linear salpingotomy (6.5% unresolved cases). The relative beta-hCG values differed significantly from the unresolved group compared to the group with resolved EP starting at postoperative day 2 (P < 0.01). A maximal beta-hCG decline period of 77 days postoperatively was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with slowly declining beta-hCG levels following tubal-preserving techniques for EP can be managed expectantly. Increasing beta-hCG values combined with abdominal pain and sonographically suspect observations indicate a second-look laparoscopy.

Effect of monoclonal antisperm antibodies on the penetration rates of human spermatozoa in zona-pellucida-free hamster oocytes.

The penetration rate of human spermatozoa in zona pellucida-free hamster oocytes was reduced by four monoclonal antisperm antibodies (A-24, B-20, III3 and VII-5) of six tested. The other two (VI-1 and VI-16) left the penetration rates virtually unchanged. The extent of the penetration rate reduction depended on the concentrations of antibodies A-24, B-20, III-3 and VII-5; if undiluted, they produced a significant reduction in the penetration rates; the largest average reduction was almost 50% with undiluted antibody A-24. Decreasing concentrations of the monoclonal antisperm antibodies resulted in significantly smaller reductions in the sperm penetration rates. The reason for the reduced penetration rates observed might have been a blockage of receptors on the sperm surface by the antibodies. That can inhibit enzyme reactions of the spermatozoa or interfere with the interaction between oocyte and spermatozoon membranes. Only antibody III-3 caused agglutination of human spermatozoa in the micro sperm agglutination and immobilization tests. Therefore, the agglutination or immobilization of spermatozoa might not be responsible for the reduced penetration rates after the addition of monoclonal antibodies, in contrast to findings with polyclonal antibodies.

Ovarian failure phenomena after hysterectomy.

Previous studies have shown that simple hysterectomy with both ovaries left intact may cause ovarian failure. Questionnaires on climacteric symptoms were mailed to 243 patients between 27 and 42 years old who had been hysterectomized during the past ten years in the Kiel University obstetrics and gynecology clinic. From the 164 replies we found typical signs of ovarian failure in 39%. Some of the patients were asked to undergo endocrinologic investigation, which showed biphasic cycles in most cases. However, the average progesterone and estrogen concentrations in the suspected luteal phases were lower than in healthy women in the same age group.

Pelviscopy/laparoscopy and its complications in Germany, 1949-1988.

The fourth German pelviscopy/laparoscopy statistical report includes survey data on a total of 219,314 laparoscopies from 354 clinics and 40,892 laparoscopies from 161 private practices. Clinics' response rate was 44.7%; 98.9% of them reported performing laparoscopies; and the number of serious complications requiring laparotomy or control laparoscopy was 492 (2.2/1,000). For private practices, the comparable figures were 66%, 90.8% and 123 (3/1,000), respectively. Compared with data from the third laparoscopy statistical survey, the data show a slight increase in serious complications, most of which were mechanical lesions of blood vessels in the abdominal wall or in the mesosalpinx, followed by mechanical lesions of the intestine. As shown by the previous survey, 16.5% of the complications were burns. For tubal sterilization, bipolar techniques were still predominant; approximately equal numbers of departments used this method, with or without subsequent transsection of the tubes. Endocoagulation by the method of Semm was the second most popular procedure; the use of clips and rings was of little significance. Monopolar high-frequency (HF) current was still used with transsection by 4.1% of clinics (4.7% of private practices) and without transsection by 2.5% (5.3%). Sterilization failure rates remained the same as those previously reported (4.6/1,000 in clinics, 5.3/1,000 in private practices); the highest rates were observed after the use of monopolar HF techniques. Sixty-six percent of the clinics and 41% of the private practices reported their intention to increase the use of endoscopic operational methods.

Experience of laparoscopic tubal surgery at the department of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Kiel, from 1999 through 2000.

OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the results of laparoscopic tubal surgery performed at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Kiel, between 1999 and 2000. A retrospective review of 236 tubal surgical procedures was conducted: (1) patients with ectopic pregnancies, unilateral or bilateral tubal occlusions or alterations and (2) medically indicated sterilizations and salpingectomies. METHODS: Two specialists and 10 gynecologists in residency training performed the following 236 procedures: 64 salpingotomies, 74 salpingectomies, 25 salpingostomies, 8 tubal end-to-end anastomoses, 24 fimbrioplasties, and 41 tubal sterilizations. In June 2001, questionnaires were sent to all 236 patients who underwent laparoscopic tubal surgery to evaluate subsequent pregnancies. From the 195 answers received, 155 patients wished to have children and of these 79 (51%) became pregnant. In 8 tubal reversals, 6 pregnancies occurred, resulting in a 75% success rate. In the group of sterilizations and salpingectomies, no pregnancies occurred. RESULTS: A pregnancy rate of 51% resulted after tubal reconstructive surgery. After tubal sterilization, no pregnancies were observed in the following 3 years. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic tubal surgery has surpassed laparotomic tubal surgery with comparable success rates. Laparoscopic tubal surgery is also a less traumatic procedure.

New adhesion prevention concept in gynecological surgery.

Postsurgical adhesion formation is a common but significant problem. This is the first clinical evaluation of a new barrier material designed to reduce or eliminate postsurgical adhesions. SprayGel can be delivered laparoscopically or via laparotomy to form a strongly adherent hydrogel film. In this multicenter study, we evaluated the safety and effectiveness of SprayGel absorbable adhesion barrier system in patients undergoing open or laparoscopic myomectomy procedures. Here, we discuss the results of our evaluation conducted at the University of Kiel and Polyclinic of Bordeaux, and assess some of the features of this novel adjunct to prevent formation of postsurgical adhesions.