Navigating Talent Mobility for Career Growth: The Role of Career Conversations in Covid-19

The human desire for growth can be clearly seen in the realm of career prospects in organizations. People want to be given greater opportunities with the potential to advance within a firm which is much appreciated by both prospective and the current workforce. The top talent may be found internally, but if the organization lacks cross-functional visibility, these talents may go unrecognized. Shifting from vertical to an aspiration-based growth mindset becomes critical for creating aspiration-based talent mobility. Sometimes people may be more concerned about titles and designations as compared to the roles and job descriptions. This study examines the role of career conversations in creating cross-functional mobility of talent based on their aspirations in Covid-19. The objective of such conversations is to carve a path beyond just hiring or promotion. It becomes important in the light of lack of career growth, attrition and engagement in the organizations, while aligning organizational goals with employee career goals. This study will be valuable to the managers, coaches and mentors, as well as policymakers in the organizations.

In vitro bactericidal activity of enrofloxacin against gyrA mutant and qnr-containing Escherichia coli isolates from animals

The objective of this work was to investigate the bactericidal activity of enrofloxacin against gyrA mutant and qnr-containing Escherichia coli isolates from animals. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of gyrA mutant and qnr-containing E coli isolates ranged from 1 µg/ml to 32 µg/ml for enrofloxacin. Time-kill experiments were performed using selected E coli isolates. For the time-kill experiments, the colony counts were determined by plating each diluted sample onto plate count agar and an integrated pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics area measure (log ratio area) was applied to the colony-forming units (cfu) data. In general, enrofloxacin exhibited bactericidal activity against all the gyrA mutant E coli isolates at all concentrations greater than four times the MIC. However, the bactericidal activity of enrofloxacin for all the qnr-containing E coli isolates was less dependent on concentration. The results of the present study indicated that the genetic mechanism of resistance might account for the different bactericidal activities of enrofloxacin observed for the gyrA mutant and the qnr-containing E coli isolates. Therefore, in addition to MIC assays, genetic mechanism-based pharmacodynamic models should be used to provide accurate predictions of the effects of drugs on resistant bacteria.

Molecular characterisation of quinolone resistance in Escherichia coli from animals in Turkey

The aim of this study were to detect the gyrA, parC and marR mutations and qnr genes (qnrA, qnrB and qnrS) in 120 strains of Escherichia coli isolated from animals. European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests, respectively, were used to determine fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance, and molecular methods were used to detect the mutations and the genes. E coli isolates with an MIC of ≥8 mg/l had mutation at Ser-80 in parC in addition to mutations at Ser-83, Asp-87 or both in gyrA. The nucleotide change was detected in marR (Ser-3 → Asn, Ala-53 → Glu, Gly-103 → Ser, Tyr-137 → His). Only four E coli isolates (3.3 per cent) contained qnrA and qnrS, and qnrB was not detected. Two E coli isolates from healthy calves also contained qnrA and qnrS. The MICs of enrofloxacin and danofloxacin for qnr-containing E coli isolates ranged from 32 mg/l to 256 mg/l. The results of this study indicated that the FQ-resistant E coli isolates presented an alteration in gyrA (Ser-83 → Leu, Asp-87 → Asn) and parC (Ser-80 → Ile) with high MICs (8-256 mg/l), and there was a low prevalence of qnr genes among E coli isolated from animals.

Determination of aflatoxin M1 levels in cheese and milk consumed in Bursa, Turkey

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) was determined by ELISA in 57 cheese and 10 milk samples collected from supermarkets and street milkmen during August in Bursa Province, Turkey. The highest AFM1 concentration was 810.00 ng/kg in full fatty white cheese. The incidence of AFM1 in the cheese was higher (89.47%) than that of milk (10%). The AFM1 in 7/57 (12.28%) cheese samples exceeded the Turkish AFM1 tolerance limits of 250 ng/kg, but none of the milk samples exceeded the FAO/WHO, European Union and Turkish tolerance limit of 50 ng/L.