Since Miceli and Near's seminal work, scholars and practitioners have sought to identify determinants of whistleblowing behaviors. For example, Miceli, Near, Rehg, and Van Scotter argued that proactive personality, less co-worker invalidation, and leverage in the specific situation lead to whistleblowing. Nevertheless, the decision to whistleblow is a complicated process, and relevant factors are still under exploration. This research seeks to answer the question "What factors influence whistleblowing intention within government agencies?" Investigating U.S. federal employees, this research tests the effects of several factors as determinants of whistleblowing, including perceived personal costs, public service motivation (PSM), education on whistleblowing, organizational support, and organizational protection. In examining the relationships among the variables, this research explores the mediating role of perceived personal costs. Using 2010 Merit Principles Survey data, this research conducts structural equation model analysis. The analysis result demonstrates that personal costs decrease whistleblowing intention, whereas PSM and education on whistleblowing increase the intention. Organizational support and protection contribute to enhancing whistleblowing intention by reducing perceived personal costs.

No abstract

ObjectivesAsthma exacerbation, associated with many risks factors, can reflect management failure. However, little is known about how risk factors are associated with exacerbation, according to asthma severity. We aimed to investigate differences in risk factors in patients with different asthma severity and evaluate whether risk factors differed between frequent exacerbators and patients with single exacerbation.DesignNationwide population-based observational study.SettingKorean National Sample Cohort database.ParticipantsWe included 22 130 adults with asthma diagnoses more than twice (ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth revision) codes J45 and J46) and one prescription for asthma medication from 2010 to 2011.Outcome measuresAsthma exacerbation was defined as having a corticosteroid (CS) burst characterised by a prescription of high-dose oral CS for ≥3 days or one systemic CS injection, hospitalisation or emergency department visit.ResultsAmong severities, history of CS bursts was significantly associated with exacerbation. In mild and moderate asthma, exacerbation was significantly associated with age ≥45 years, being female, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and chronic rhinitis. High medication possession ratio (MPR≥50%), compared with low MPR (<20%) showed adjusted ORs of 0.828 (95% CI 0.707 to 0.971) and 0.362 (0.185 to 0.708) in moderate and severe asthma, respectively. In severe asthma, compared with mild asthma, only allergic rhinitis and history of hospitalisation were strongly associated with exacerbation. When comparing frequent exacerbators to patients with single exacerbation, age ≥45 years, atopic dermatitis, anxiety and history of CS burst were significant risk factors in mild and moderate asthma, whereas no risk factors were significant in severe asthma.ConclusionsDifferent associations between risk factors and asthma exacerbations based on asthma severity suggest that patients with mild asthma require greater attention to their age and comorbidities, whereas those with severe asthma require greater attention to hospitalisation history and drug adherence.

IntroductionTemporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are common musculoskeletal conditions in the maxillofacial area. Although strong relationships between TMDs and other pain and diseases exist, few studies have comprehensively assessed the association between chronic diseases, ophthalmologic and otolaryngologic disorders and TMD.MethodsOf 25,534 individuals included in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010–2012), 17,575 aged ≥20 years who completed survey items on TMD symptoms were included for cross-sectional analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between chronic diseases, ophthalmologic and otolaryngologic disorders and examination findings, and TMD symptoms after adjusting for various confounding variables.ResultsOut of 17,575 participants, 2,059 (11.75%) reported experience of ≥1 TMD symptom(s). Compared to individuals without chronic disease, those with asthma (odds ratio (OR) 1.46; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.96), migraine (1.44; 1.26–1.65), osteoarthritis (1.51; 1.20–1.89), thyroid dysfunction (1.49; 1.13–1.96), and depressive symptoms (1.51; 1.29–1.77) had higher ORs for TMD prevalence. Participants with tinnitus (1.97; 1.70–2.27), hearing difficulties (1.55; 1.29–1.87), dizziness (1.52; 1.27–1.82), rhinitis (1.46; 1.28–1.65), and xerophthalmia (1.82; 1.57–2.12) also displayed higher ORs for TMD prevalence. Patients diagnosed with chronic rhinosinusitis upon otolaryngologic examination exhibited an OR of 1.44 (95% CI 1.11–1.87) for TMD prevalence, while that for individuals with abnormal laryngoscopic results was 0.57 (95% CI 0.36–0.90).ConclusionsThese findings imply that TMDs, chronic diseases, and ophthalmologic and otolaryngologic disorders hold various correlations, suggesting the need for multitarget approaches to effectively address this phenomenon.

Objective The study aimed determining whether assessment of COMP degradation products could serve as a serological disease course and therapeutic response predictor in arthritis. Methods We generated a panel of monoclonal antibodies against COMP fragments and developed a novel capture ELISA for detecting COMP fragments in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This test was also used to monitor COMP fragments in surgically induced OA, collagen induced arthritis (CIA), and TNF transgenic animal models. Results Compared with a commercial COMP ELISA kit that detected no significant difference in COMP levels between OA and control groups, a significant increase of the COMP fragments were noted in the serum of OA patients assayed by this newly established ELISA. In addition, serum COMP fragment levels were well correlated with severity in OA patients and the progression of surgically induced OA in murine models. Furthermore, the serum levels of COMP fragments in RA patients, mice with CIA, and TNF transgenic mice were significantly higher when compared with their controls. Interestingly, treatment with TNFα inhibitors and methotrexate led to a significant decrease of serum COMP fragments in RA patients. Additionally, administration of Atsttrin (Tang, et al, Science, 2011 332(6028):478) also resulted in a significant reduction in COMP fragments in arthritis mice models. Conclusion A novel sandwich ELISA is capable of reproducibly measuring serum COMP fragments in both arthritic patients and rodent arthritis models. This test also provides a valuable means to utilize serum COMP fragments for monitoring the effects of interventions in arthritis.