A robust pipeline for high-content, high-throughput immunophenotyping reveals age- and genetics-dependent changes in blood leukocytes.

High-dimensional flow cytometry is the gold standard to study the human immune system in large cohorts. However, large sample sizes increase inter-experimental variation because of technical and experimental inaccuracies introduced by batch variability. Our high-throughput sample processing pipeline in combination with 28-color flow cytometry focuses on increased throughput (192 samples/experiment) and high reproducibility. We implemented quality control checkpoints to reduce technical and experimental variation. Finally, we integrated FlowSOM clustering to facilitate automated data analysis and demonstrate the reproducibility of our pipeline in a study with 3,357 samples. We reveal age-associated immune dynamics in 2,300 individuals, signified by decreasing T and B cell subsets with age. In addition, by combining genetic analyses, our approach revealed unique immune signatures associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that abrogates CD45 isoform splicing. In summary, we provide a versatile and reliable high-throughput, flow cytometry-based pipeline for immune discovery and exploration in large cohorts.

The Nexus Between High-Involvement Work Practices and Employees' Proactive Behavior in Public Service Organizations: A Time-Lagged Moderated-Mediation Model.

Purpose: Public service organizations may improve the quality of services they offer citizens by instilling proactive behavior in their employees. This study aimed to provide insights on how high-involvement work practices may indirectly facilitate proactive behavior in frontline government employees via employee commitment. Methods: A time-lagged approach was used to collect data from 542 frontline employees in three waves at 3-week intervals. We tested the hypothesized moderated mediation model using a PROCESS macro bootstrap approach. Results: A moderated-meditation model was applied in which public service motivation was theorized to increase the mediating effect of employee commitment on the relationship between high-involvement work practices and employee proactive behavior. As predicted, the findings show that supervisor' deviant behavior attenuated the mediating effect of employee commitment on the relationship between high-involvement work practices and employee proactive behavior. Conclusion: The findings of this research contribute to the emerging literature on public management and have implications for public sector organizations seeking to improve the quality of services they offer citizens.

Immune phenotypes that are associated with subsequent COVID-19 severity inferred from post-recovery samples.

Severe COVID-19 causes profound immune perturbations, but pre-infection immune signatures contributing to severe COVID-19 remain unknown. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified strong associations between severe disease and several chemokine receptors and molecules from the type I interferon pathway. Here, we define immune signatures associated with severe COVID-19 using high-dimensional flow cytometry. We measure the cells of the peripheral immune system from individuals who recovered from mild, moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 and focused only on those immune signatures returning to steady-state. Individuals that suffered from severe COVID-19 show reduced frequencies of T cell, mucosal-associated invariant T cell (MAIT) and dendritic cell (DC) subsets and altered chemokine receptor expression on several subsets, such as reduced levels of CCR1 and CCR2 on monocyte subsets. Furthermore, we find reduced frequencies of type I interferon-producing plasmacytoid DCs and altered IFNAR2 expression on several myeloid cells in individuals recovered from severe COVID-19. Thus, these data identify potential immune mechanisms contributing to severe COVID-19.

The Nexuses Between Social Media Marketing Activities and Consumers' Engagement Behaviour: A Two-Wave Time-Lagged Study.

This study examined how social media marketing activities (SMMA) influence consumers' engagement behaviour in developing countries. Based on the stimulus-organism-response theory, we examined the effect of SMMA on consumers' engagement intention and further investigated the moderating effect of social media sales intensity. The study employed a time-lagged design with two waves to confirm the hypothesised framework. The study findings showed that SMMA positively influence consumers' engagement intention and engagement behaviour. In addition, social media sales intensity strengthens the link between engagement intention and engagement behaviour. This study adds to the literature on social media and discusses its practical implications.

Immune phenotypes that predict COVID-19 severity.

Severe COVID-19 causes profound immune perturbations, but pre-infection immune signatures contributing to severe COVID-19 remain unknown. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified strong associations between severe disease and several chemokine receptors and molecules from the type I interferon pathway. Here, we define immune signatures associated with severe COVID-19 using high-dimensional flow cytometry. We measured the peripheral immune system from individuals who recovered from mild, moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 and focused only on those immune signatures returning to steady-state. Individuals that suffered from severe COVID-19 showed reduced frequencies of T cell, MAIT cell and dendritic cell (DCs) subsets and altered chemokine receptor expression on several subsets, such as reduced levels of CCR1 and CCR2 on monocyte subsets. Furthermore, we found reduced frequencies of type I interferon-producing plasmacytoid DCs and altered IFNAR2 expression on several myeloid cells in individuals recovered from severe COVID-19. Thus, these data identify potential immune mechanisms contributing to severe COVID-19.

Elucidating the effects of organisational practices on innovative work behavior in UAE public sector organisations: The mediating role of employees' wellbeing.

In the context of the transitioning economy of the United Arab Emirates, which demands inculcating innovative behavior in public employees, this study investigates the relationship between high-involvement work practices and leaders' collaborative nature with employees' innovative behavior. Drawing on the social exchange and ability-motivation-opportunity theories, this research expounds the mediating effect of employees' wellbeing to examine the mechanisms through which high-involvement work practices and public leaders' collaborative nature affect employees' innovative behavior in public organisations. Using three-wave data from 207 individuals in public service organisations, this study tests the effects of employees' perceptions of high-involvement work practices and leaders' collaborative nature on their wellbeing and innovative work behaviors. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for research on innovative work behavior in the milieu of public organisations.

Energizing Intention to Visit Rural Destinations: How Social Media Disposition and Social Media Use Boost Tourism Through Information Publicity.

This study aimed to examine the impact of information publicity on the intention of tourists to visit rural destinations in developing countries. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we examined the indirect effect of information publicity on intention to visit via subjective norms and further investigated the moderating effect of social media disposition and social media use. The study used data from a time-lagged design with three waves which supported the hypothesized model. The findings revealed that information publicity has an influence on the intention of tourists to visit through the mediating effect of subjective norms. Moreover, the social media disposition strengthened the relationship between information publicity and subjective norms. Furthermore, social media use positively moderated the relationship between subjective norms and intention to visit. Besides the core TPB constructs, the added variables indeed exerted a substantial impact on the visit intention of tourists. The study contributed to the tourism-related literature on social media and the practical implications were discussed.