A conceptual model of individuals’ decision to engage in global mobility: integrating self-determination theory and theory of planned behavior

Purpose – Companies target globally mobile workers and face the war for talent, while individuals are more reluctant to engage in global mobility. This scenario led us to propose a model to understand the individuals’ decision process to engage in global mobility. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the self-determination theory, the theory of planned behavior and the literature on decisions for global mobility, the authors propose mechanisms through which psychological variables and assignments’ factual and perceived contextual aspects (directly or indirectly) explain the decision to engage or not in global mobility. Findings – This study offers a conceptual model with the authors’ novel propositions to explain individuals’ decision to engage in global mobility. Originality - The model provides a more comprehensive explanation of the individuals’ decision-making process to engage in global mobility than previous models and potentially yields more effective organizational practices to attract both well-established and emerging phenomena of globally mobile workers

Conceptual and Measurement Issues in Assessing Democratic Backsliding

During the past decade, analyses drawing on several democracy measures have shown a global trend of democratic retrenchment. While these democracy measures use radically different methodologies, most partially or fully rely on subjective judgments to produce estimates of the level of democracy within states. Such projects continuously grapple with balancing conceptual coverage with the potential for bias (Munck and Verkuilen 2002; Przeworski et al. 2000). Little and Meng (L&M) (2023) reintroduce this debate, arguing that “objective” measures of democracy show little evidence of recent global democratic backsliding.1 By extension, they posit that time-varying expert bias drives the appearance of democratic retrenchment in measures that incorporate expert judgments. In this article, we engage with (1) broader debates on democracy measurement and democratic backsliding, and (2) L&M’s specific data and conclusions

Mitophagy in plants: Emerging regulators of mitochondrial targeting for selective autophagy

The degradation and turnover of mitochondria is fundamental to Eukaryotes and is a key homeostatic mechanism for maintaining functional mitochondrial populations. Autophagy is an important pathway by which mitochondria are degraded, involving their sequestration into membrane‐bound autophagosomes and targeting to lytic endosomal compartments (the lysosome in animals, the vacuole in plants and yeast). Selective targeting of mitochondria for autophagy, also known as mitophagy, distinguishes mitochondria from other cell components for degradation and is necessary for the regulation of mitochondria‐specific cell processes. In mammals and yeast, mitophagy has been well characterised and is regulated by numerous pathways with diverse and important functions in the regulation of cell homeostasis, metabolism and responses to specific stresses. In contrast, we are only just beginning to understand the importance and functions of mitophagy in plants, chiefly as the proteins that target mitochondria for autophagy in plants are only recently emerging. Here, we discuss the current progress of our understanding of mitophagy in plants, the importance of mitophagy for plant life and the regulatory autophagy proteins involved in mitochondrial degradation. In particular, we will discuss the recent emergence of mitophagy receptor proteins that selectively target mitochondria for autophagy, and discuss the missing links in our knowledge of mitophagy‐regulatory proteins in plants compared to animals and yeast

Problematizing Hongkonger Political Subjectivity: The Struggle for, and over, Democracy

In this chapter we explore changing and competing political subjectivities in Hong Kong from a critical feminist and decolonial perspective. We theorize political subjectivity as both collective and individual, as arising from particular historical and political junctures but also, importantly, through social relationships. We argue that political subjectivity must be understood in terms of the multiple processes through which it emerges and evolves in the interplay between history, politics, culture and interpersonal relationships. In so doing we advance an approach to political subjectivity as contextual and relational. While our discussion is based on the specific conditions facing Hong Kong activists, our mode of analysis may offer insights into other socio-political contexts

A Design Methodology for Sensing-Ready Concentric Rings-Based Chipless RFID Tags With Effective Spectrum Use and High Coding Capacity

This paper introduces an innovative strategy for the development of sensing-ready concentric rings-based chipless radio frequency identification (CRFID) tags. Our approach is marked by the novel use of exponentially increasing spacing, a significant departure from the conventional uniform spacing method. This innovative design results in an impressive 88.2% improvement in tag data encoding capacity compared to traditional designs. Importantly, our design framework not only advances the current state of CRFID tag technology but also methodically lays the foundation for future integration of high-resolution sensing capabilities. This is achieved by strategically utilizing the innermost ring as a prospective sensing site, complemented by the implementation of nulls for data encoding achieved through the addition of an extra ring at the tag’s outermost edge. Notably, all these features represent advancements that have not been demonstrated in previously published concentric rings-based CRFID tags. To empirically validate our methodology, we have developed and tested 18-bit example tags optimized for operation within the ultrawideband (UWB) spectrum, covering a range from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The radar cross-section (RCS) response of these tags exhibits well-distributed resonances, culminating in a high encoding capacity of 17.65 bits/λ2/GHz. Preliminary results using capacitors connected to the innermost ring underscore the future sensing potential of our tags, setting the stage for more advanced sensing implementations in subsequent research

People-Centric Organizational Change: Engaging Employees with Business Transformation

The only way to achieve successful business change is by engaging employees and making the transformation people-centric. This book explains how to achieve this.Written by a leading voice in the change management industry who has both academic and practitioner experience, People-Centric Organizational Change is a practical guide for change professionals and postgraduate students. It covers everything from what people-centric change is and why it's essential to engage people with the change through to the importance of the communication of change and how to do this effectively with a distributed workforce in a hybrid working environment. Using evidence-based research, this book fully explores the human dynamic of change, explains how to promote collaboration between colleagues and shows how to involve line managers in the change process. There is also advice on how to encourage staff to see change as an opportunity rather than a threat.People-Centric Organizational Change also includes discussion of the impact of change on employee wellbeing as well as the relationship between Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and change. There is also advice on how to build people-centric initiatives into an overall change strategy. It is full of country agnostic tools and tips that can be used across cultures as well as frameworks and skills that can be applied in public, private and third sector settings. Global case studies and examples throughout help to put the content into context and show how a people-first approach to change works in practice. Online resources include PowerPoint slides for each chapter

Can warning labels communicating the environmental impact of meat reduce meat consumption? Evidence from two multiple treatment reversal experiments in college dining halls

Meat consumption has an adverse impact on both human and planetary health. To date, very few studies have examined the effectiveness of interventions tackling the overconsumption of meat in field settings. The present research addresses this gap by examining the impact of gain-framed labelling interventions communicating the adverse environmental consequences of meat consumption, using a multiple treatment reversal design across two university college dining halls over a period of five weeks. In College A the intervention weeks consisted of text-only or text-and-image labels communicating the adverse environmental consequences of meat consumption, and in College B patrons were exposed to either environmental or health labels (gain-framed; combining images and text). In total 13,869 (6,577 in College A and 7,292 in College B) meals (dishes) were analysed over the period of interest. Beta-binomial regressions found no statistically significant impact of the intervention periods compared to baseline on meat consumption in both College A and College B. The number of meal type options emerged as the only consistent predictor of meat consumption across models and across both colleges: meat consumption decreased with an increase in non-meat meal options. A post-study survey (College A: n = 88; College B: n = 53) revealed that patrons in both dining halls perceived environmental labels bearing both text and images as more informative and influential at changing behaviour compared to the other labelling interventions, although this did not translate into a change in behaviour. We discuss the implications of these findings for research, policy, and practice

Is Nonprofit Entrepreneurship Unique?

While private entrepreneurial activity has been at the core of entrepreneurship, nonprofit ventures still need to be explored in the literature. Using norm-activation theory (NAT) and resource-based view (RBV) lenses, we explore the antecedents of undertaking nonprofit entrepreneurial activity. By examining 8544 entrepreneurs’ decisions about the type of entrepreneurship to engage in, we find that not all human capital has a similar influence on people’s decisions regarding the types of formation of their venture. The results suggest that entrepreneurs' job-related experiences and social orientation are significantly linked to nonprofit entrepreneurship. The results of our study contribute to the human capital theory by demonstrating that people’s value influences how they use their knowledge resources

Oceanic crust – seismic structure, lithology and the cause of the 2A Event at borehole 504B

This study focuses on the 3-D velocity structure and thickness of ~7 Myr-old oceanic crust surrounding borehole 504B, located ~235 km from the intermediate-spreading Costa Rica Rift (Panama Basin). It investigates how well seismic structure determined by 3-D tomography compares with actual lithology and, consequently, what the origin and cause might be of an amplitude anomaly, the 2A Event, that is observed in multichannel seismic data. Our P-wave model shows an ~0.3 km-thick sediment layer of velocity between ~1.6-1.9 km s-1 (gradient 1.0 s-1), bound at its base by a velocity step to 4.8 km s-1 at the top of oceanic crustal Layer 2. Layer 2 itself is subdivided into two main units (2A and 2B) by a vertical velocity gradient change at 4.5 km depth, with a gradient of 1.7 s-1 above (4.8-5.8 km s-1) and 0.7 s-1 below (5.8-6.5 km s-1). The base of Layer 2, in turn, is defined by a change in gradient at 5.6 km depth. Below this, Layer 3 has a velocity range of 6.5-7.5 km s-1 and a gradient of ~0.3 s-1. Corresponding S-wave igneous layer velocities and gradients are: Layer 2A, 2.4-3.1 km s-1 and 1.0 s-1; Layer 2B, 3.1-3.7 km s-1 and 0.5 s-1; Layer 3, 3.7-4.0 km s-1 and 0.1 s-1. The 3-D tomographic models, coupled with gravity modelling, indicate that the crust is ~6 km thick throughout the region, with a generally flat-lying Moho. Although the P- and S-wave models are smooth, their velocities and gradients are remarkably consistent with the main lithological layering subdivisions logged within 504B. Thus, using the change in velocity gradient as a proxy, Layer 2 is interpreted as ~1.8 km thick and Layer 3 as ~3.8 km thick, with little vertical variation throughout the 3-D volume. However, the strike of lateral gradient variation is not Costa Rica Rift-parallel, but instead follows the orientation of the present-day adjacent Ecuador Rift, suggesting a reorientation of the Costa Rica Rift spreading ridge axis. Having determined its consistency with lithological ground-truth, the resulting P-wave model is used as the basis of finite difference calculation of wave propagation to find the origin of the 2A Event. Our modelling shows that no distinct interface, or transition, is required to generate this event. Instead, it is caused by averaging of heterogeneous physical properties by the seismic wave as it propagates through Layer 2 and is scattered. Thus, we conclude that the 2A Event originates and propagates exclusively in the lower part of Layer 2A, above the mean depth to the top of the dykes of Layer 2B. From our synthetic data we conclude that using the 2A Event on seismic reflection profiles as a proxy to determine the Layer 2A/2B boundary’s depth will result in an overestimate of up to several hundred metres, the degree of which being dependent on the specific velocity chosen for normal moveout correction prior to stacking