Based on the job demands-resources model, this study explored the relationships of work engagement, job performance and psychological capital in industry employees. A total of 399 IT programmers were recruited and completed the work engagement scale, knowledge employee job performance scale and psychological capital questionnaire. The results showed that: There is a relationship between work engagement and job performance, which may not be linear but inverted U-shaped, and psychological capital plays a moderating role in the inverted U-shaped relationship between work (...) engagement and job performance. (shrink)

BackgroundPublic health guidelines have recommended that elective medical procedures, including deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s disease, should not be scheduled during the coronavirus pandemic to prevent further virus spread and overload on health care systems. However, delaying DBS surgery for PD may not be in the best interest of individual patients and is not called for in regions where virus spread is under control and inpatient facilities are not overloaded.MethodsWe administered a newly developed phone questionnaire to 20 consecutive patients (...) with PD who received DBS surgery in Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire was designed to gather the patients’ experiences and perceptions on the impact of COVID-19 on their everyday activities and access to medical care.ResultsMost of the patients felt confident about the preventive measures taken by the government and hospitals, and they have changed their daily living activities accordingly. Moreover, a large majority of patients felt confident obtaining access to regular and COVID-19-related health care services if needed. Routine clinical referral, sense of security in the hospital during the outbreak, and poor control of PD symptoms were the three main reasons given by patients for seeking DBS surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted medical care and patients’ lives but elective procedures, such as DBS surgery for PD, do not need to be rescheduled when the health care system is not overloaded and adequate public health regulations are in place. (shrink)

Few previous studies have investigated the relationship between global perspective and willingness to communicate in English. Hence, more studies are needed to validate their correlation. Furthermore, hardly any pertaining studies have been conducted at English Medium Instruction universities. As such, the current study aimed to fill these gaps in the context of an EMI university in China, by investigating whether GP correlates with second language WTC and what factors impact the two variables. Data were collected from students via an online (...) questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The questionnaire findings confirmed a moderate positive correlation between GP and L2 WTC. The interview data unraveled that several factors influenced students’ L2 WTC, including needs and motivations driving L2 WTC, concerns constraining L2 WTC, and intercultural cognition facilitating L2 WTC. These findings suggest that: students could be more determined to practice their English if they realize the significance of the role of English in their life; teachers could foster students’ WTC by creating a non-threatening English-speaking environment and encouraging students to communicate in English in and outside the classroom; and teachers could educate students about GP and L2 WTC, which might help to expand students’ horizon and stimulate their interests in foreign cultures and global affairs, so as to facilitate the sustainable growth of their English learning. (shrink)