Building Community at Work

Employees and managers alike seek ways to be happy and effective in the workplace--an arena in which we all spend many hours of our week. Community is an essential ingredient in a healthy and productive work environment: when asked what people like about their jobs, it\u27s not uncommon to hear We\u27re like a family, or Here, I\u27m part of a community. Considering the numerous models conceptualized to support creation of emotionally satisfying and behaviorally productive work settings, it is perhaps surprising that the topic of community at work has been underexplored.Based on sound theoretical foundations and empirical findings from the science of management and community research and action, Building Community at Work guides scholars, employees, and leaders of organizations toward creating communities at work in any institutional sector. To make abstract theory concrete, Neil Boyd weaves scientific models and concepts together with the story of a young business owner\u27s journey to becoming an industry leader in building communities. The book also provides practical considerations for professionals to analyze and conceive ways to create communities at work. In Boyd\u27s accessible and grounded analysis, find the building blocks for transforming the workplace into a flourishing community.https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/books/1314/thumbnail.jp

Distracted But Still Listening: How Cognitive and Perceptual Load Affect Multisensory Integration

There is an ongoing debate about whether multisensory integration (MSI) occurs automatically and before attention is allocated or if multisensory integration occurs after attention is allocated and is subject to top-down attentional control. A recent study investigated this by manipulating the availability of attentional resources in a dual-task paradigm, finding that when the demands of the secondary task increased, susceptibility to the Sound-Induced-Flash-Illusion, a non-speech audiovisual illusion, also increased (Michail & Keil, 2018). This was taken as evidence for the role of post-attentive, top-down control during MSI. In the present study, we extend this logic to explore the role of attentional processes in audiovisual speech integration. Participants completed an audio and audiovisual speech-in-noise task at a fixed signal-to-noise ratio interleaved with an n-back task (0, 1, or 2) to apply cognitive load. We found that as cognitive load increased, speech recognition accuracy decreased in audio and audiovisual stimuli; however, there was no effect of cognitive load on audiovisual enhancement. One limitation of this first experiment was that it did not investigate whether an effect of cognitive load would only be observed under low perceptual load conditions. To address this question, we conducted a follow-up experiment with our dual-task paradigm that manipulated cognitive load via an n-back task and perceptual load via the signal-to-noise ratio of our speech stimuli. We found that there was no interaction between cognitive load, perceptual load, and speech modality, suggesting that cognitive load has no effect on integration regardless of perceptual load. Contrasting prior findings, our results suggest that audiovisual integration of speech occurs in an automatic, pre-attentive manner. Our results underscore the importance of using ecologically valid stimuli in assessing how integration occurs

The Effect of Sequence on Structure and Microbial Properties of Insect Antimicrobial Peptides

Antibiotic resistance is a growing crisis worldwide, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics. AMPs, short chains of 10-60 amino acids, are produced by a wide variety of organisms, including insects. This work is focused on the cecropin family, a group of insect AMPs known for their α-helical structure and low toxicity to mammalian cells. Cecropin sequences were sourced from protein databases, with mature peptide forms isolated by removing signal sequences and duplicates. We examine how small variations in amino acid sequences, particularly in regions predicted to serve as hinges between two α-helices, impact both the biophysical properties and antimicrobial behavior of these peptides. The peptides were first categorized by biochemical properties, including hydrophobicity, amphiphilicity, and net charge, to predict their antimicrobial activity. Structural modeling for one category of peptides predicted three primary α-helical conformations, linear, bent, and hinged, suggesting that similarly sequenced peptides can have differing abilities to form multiple conformations and potential membrane insertion mechanisms or capabilities. However, differences in amino acid properties at positions 22 and 23 were suggestive of their predicted structure. Selected peptides were synthesized and their structure was analyzed, which confirmed that they adopt α-helical structures in membrane-mimetic environments, though observed differences in α-helicity between peptides were not correlated with predicted structures. Then, the antimicrobial activity of each peptide was determined against bacterial species including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and two strains of Providencia burhodogranariea. Differences in antibacterial activity were observed, revealing that even small sequence and structural differences can significantly impact peptide efficacy. While increased predicted linearity generally corresponded with greater activity, supporting expectations based on hinge flexibility, this trend was not consistent across all bacterial species. This work aims to improve the rational design of AMPs with improved specificity and potency, addressing the urgent need for new antimicrobial agents in the face of rising antibiotic resistance

Integral But Forgotten: Metics in Ancient Athens

Every civilization has contained foreign residents, and Ancient Athens was no exception. In Classical Athens (489-323 BCE), these foreign residents and freed slaves were known as metics. The “metic” label came from the tax they had to pay: the metoikion, or metic tax. While foreign resident status most likely existed throughout city-states across Greece, Athens is the location best documented. Many of these documents come from wills and court cases, giving glimpses of the daily life of Athens’ non-citizen residents. Metics commonly worked as craftsmen, bankers, and people of commerce. Those working class metics helped supplement the Athenian labor force, as many Athenian citizens became soldiers during war. A large number of philosophers also lived as metics, including Aristotle. Yet, although Athenians allowed metics to live and work in their city-state, metics faced numerous legal restrictions, limiting their rights and reinforcing their status as outsiders. However, while the Athenians treated metics differently from their citizen counterparts, some metics were able to grow great wealth. Although these wealthy banking metics lived more luxurious lives than many Athenian citizens, they always knew that anything they did could lead them to slavery due to the rules against metics. The restrictions all metics faced led to an othering process in the city-state. Metics became excluded from political processes which in-turn separated them from a large social sphere of Athenian Society. Furthermore, all metics continued to be faced with doubt and exploitation by the citizen class, which remains mirrored in today’s society

Mujeres Juntas, Women Together : Combating Data Driven Distortions of Mexican Femicide Through Narrative

This digital humanities project combines literature and data analysis to depict the severity of femicide in Mexico. The project includes an interactive map tour that overlays book suggestions onto a map depicting the severity of femicides per Mexican state. The project also includes advocacy materials and learning guides. This website reiterates the importance of bringing together data and storytelling to tell this story of brutality humanely and accurately

How the Town Views the Gown: A Case Study of a Campus-Community Relationship

This research uses Bucknell and Lewisburg as a case study to understand the relationship between universities and their surrounding communities. While prior research has focused on urban, large, and/or research-oriented universities, the rural, small, and predominantly liberal arts nature of Bucknell provides an opportunity to explore how campus-community relationships vary by environment. Forty-eight qualitative semi-structured interviews and 12 months of observation of Lewisburg Borough Council meetings are used to explore three main areas of the town-gown relationship: economics, space, and social capital. These three themes emerged from interviews and observations as the most important determinants of residents’ perceptions of the University. Regarding economics, local respondents recognized employment, attracting students and parents with spending power, business assistance, and community revitalization as mechanisms through which Bucknell contributes to the local economy. In the scope of space, Lewisburg respondents varied in their comfort using Bucknell’s campus. Further, government officials, merchants, and other residents differed both in their reactions to student behavior in off-campus housing as well as in how they felt it should be handled. Socially, all Lewisburg respondents interviewed for this project felt they had at least one strong personal connection to the University, but many respondents wanted a wider network of relationships at Bucknell, and more opportunities to connect with Bucknell constituents with decision-making authority. The results of this research point to the continued significance of sociological theory including in-group/out-group theory, social contact theory, Weber’s ideal-types of authority, cultural capital, social exchange theory, and the norm of reciprocity

The Impact of Drying Additives on Selective Polymorph Crystallization of Acetaminophen

Pharmaceutical drug delivery strongly depends on the solid-state packing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) within a pill or tablet. However, many drugs can form multiple different packing crystal structures, or polymorphs, that are difficult to predict and control. These polymorphs may have different properties such as compressibility, bioavailability, and solubility, which may significantly impact drug pharmacokinetics. Thus, polymorph selectivity has become a vital part of the pharmaceutical development and formulation process. Several factors impact selective polymorph crystallization, including environmental conditions and the use of additives in the polymorph mixture. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is an example of a polymorphic compound, with nine polymorphic forms, three of which are well characterized and form at standard temperatures and pressures. Among these three, Form III is of particular interest as it is labeled “elusive” in the literature and has not been prepared as a single crystal to date. Several variables have been proposed to control Form III crystallization, with one recent report highlighting the effectiveness of lactose in promoting Form III. This thesis explores how the model drug acetaminophen crystallizes when different sugar-based additives are present during crystallization. The success of the selective crystallization using heating-cooling cycles was determined via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). We find that the use of multiple sugar excipients facilitate the crystallization of Form III acetaminophen, although to different extents depending on the sugar used. Fructose and sucrose are observed to have some of the best performance. Additionally, there is a shift in the onset temperature of initial crystallization when sugar additives are used; this effect is most prominent in samples containing monosaccharides. Finally, Form III crystallization with non-sugar additives was demonstrated using silica powder