Intrinsic Motivation, Job Autonomy and Turnover Intention in the Italian Healthcare: The mediating role of Affective Commitment

Drawing on Self-Determination and Work Characteristics theories, we hypothesized that job autonomy and intrinsic motivation were key exogenous variables positively related to affective commitment, which in turn is negatively related to turnover intention, by performing a mediating role. A sample of 442 nurses has been involved in this research. Through the cross-validation technique, the results showed that the hypotheses of this study were supported and affective commitment completely mediated the relationships between job autonomy, intrinsic work motivation and turnover intention. These findings have important implications for healthcare organizations by helping to promote effective work environments and major opportunities of responsibility to workers to develop their own activity. Conclusions were examined considering practical implications for organizations, employees and the need for further researches

Luenberger observers for switching discrete-time linear systems

State estimation is considered for a class of switching discrete-time linear systems. The switching is assumed to be unknown among the various system modes associated with different known matrices. The proposed scheme relies on the combination of the estimation of the system mode with the application of a Luenberger-like observer whose gain is a function of the estimated mode. In the absence of noises, the estimate of the mode can be chosen among the ones that are consistent with the measurements and the stability of the estimation error is ensured under suitable conditions on the observer gains. Such conditions can be expressed by means of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The presence of bounded disturbances is also taken explicitly into consideration. In this situation, a novel method based on a minimum-distance criterion is proposed in order to estimate the system mode. Also in this case the error of the resulting estimator is proved to be exponentially bounded

Do university students know how they perform?

The aim of the research is to study the capacity for self-evaluation of University studentsundergoing tests involving mathematics, linguistic and formal reasoning. Subjects wereasked to estimate the number of correct answers and subsequently to compare theirperformance with that of their peers. We divided the subjects into three groups on the basisof performance: poor, middle and top performers. The results demonstrate that all thesubjects in all tests showed good awareness of their level of actual performance. Analyzingcomparative assessments, the results reported in literature by Kruger and Dunning wereconfirmed: poor performers tend to significantly overestimate their own performance whilst top performers tend to underestimate it. This can be interpreted as a demonstration thatthe accuracy of comparative self-evaluations depends on a number of variables: cognitiveand metacognitive factors and aspects associated with self-representation. Our conclusion is that cognitive and metacognitive processes work as “submerged” in highly subjectiverepresentations, allowing dynamics related to safeguarding the image one has of oneself toplay a role

COSMOSOMAS Observations of the CMB and Galactic Foregrounds at 11 GHz: Evidence for anomalous microwave emission at high Galactic Latitude

We present observations with the new 11 GHz radiometer of the COSMOSOMAS experiment at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife). The sky region between 0 deg <= RA <= 360 deg and 26 deg <= DEC 49 deg (ca. 6500 square degrees) was observed with an angular resolution of 0.9 deg. Two orthogonal independent channels in the receiving system measured total power signals from linear polarizations with a 2 GHz bandwidth. Maps with an average sensitivity of 50 microK per beam have been obtained for each channel. At high Galactic latitude (|b|>30deg) the 11 GHz data are found to contain the expected cosmic microwave background as well as extragalactic radiosources, galactic synchrotron and free-free emission, and a dust-correlated component which is very likely of galactic origin. At the angular scales allowed by the window function of the experiment, the dust-correlated component presents an amplitude \Delta T aprox. 9-13 microK while the CMB signal is of order 27 microK. The spectral behaviour of the dust-correlated signal is examined in the light of previous COSMOSOMAS data at 13-17 GHz and WMAP data at 22-94 GHz in the same sky region. We detect a flattening in the spectral index of this signal below 20 GHz which rules out synchrotron radiation as being responsible for the emission. This anomalous dust emission can be described by a combination of free-free emission and spinning dust models with a flux density peaking around 20 GHz.Comment: 17 pages, 10 tables, 20 figures. Details on the COSMOSOMAS experiment can be found at http://www.iac.es/project/cmb/cosmosomas

La régulation du comportement d’exercice et les raisons de l’activité physique: la validation italienne des questionnaires BREQ et MPAM-R

Based on self-determination theory, the purpose of the present study was to provide the first Italian validation of two different instrument to assess the exercise behaviour: the Mullan et al.'s (1997) BREQ which measures external, introjected, identified and intrinsic forms of regulation and Ryan et al.'s (1997) MPAM-R, which assesses five distinct motives for physical activity (appearance, health and fitness, social, competence, and enjoyment). Confirmatory factor analysis conducted on data collected from 1995 students attending three different secondary schools empirically supported respectively the four-factor structure of behavioural regulation and the five-factor structure of motives for physical activity, supporting convergent and discriminant validity of both scales. Furthermore, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed the invariance of the factor structures, structural parameters and correlations of the two scales across gender. Criterion-related validity of the scales also received partial empirical support. Finally, the factor structure of behavioural regulation and motives for physical activity was empirically supported when both constructs were included in a single measurement model.Sur la base de la théorie de l’auto-détermination, le but de cette étude est de proposer la validation de deux instruments différents pour l’évaluation du comportement d’exercice : le BREQ de Mullan et a. (1997), qui mesure les formes externe, introjectée, identifiée, et intrinsèque de la régulation, et le MPAM-R de Ryan et al. (1997), qui évalue cinq raisons distingués de l’activité physique (apparence, santé et forme physique, sociale, compétence, et amusement). L’analyse factorielle confirmatoire, conduite auprès de 1995 étudiants inscrits à trois lycées différents, a soutenu empiriquement la structure à quatre facteurs de la régulation du comportement ainsi que la structure à cinq facteurs des raisons de l’activité physique. De plus, l’analyse confirmatoire multi-groupe a montré l’invariance des structures factorielles, des paramètres structuraux, et des corrélations des deux échelles en relation au genre sexuel. La validité critériée des échelles a aussi reçu un soutien empirique partiel. Enfin, la structure factorielle de la régulation du comportement et des raisons de l’activité physique a été soutenue empiriquement lorsque les deux construits ont été inclus dans le même modèle de mesure

Multi-mode TES bolometer optimization for the LSPE-SWIPE instrument

In this paper we explore the possibility of using transition edge sensor (TES) detectors in multi-mode configuration in the focal plane of the Short Wavelength Instrument for the Polarization Explorer (SWIPE) of the balloon-borne polarimeter Large Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE) for the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization. This study is motivated by the fact that maximizing the sensitivity of TES bolometers, under the augmented background due to the multi-mode design, requires a non trivial choice of detector parameters. We evaluate the best parameter combination taking into account scanning strategy, noise constraints, saturation power and operating temperature of the cryostat during the flight.Comment: in Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 05 January 201

Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature at Galaxy Clusters

We have deduced the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature in the Coma cluster (A1656, $z=0.0231$), and in A2163 ($z=0.203$) from spectral measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect over four passbands at radio and microwave frequencies. The resulting temperatures at these redshifts are $T_{Coma} = 2.789^{+0.080}_{-0.065}$ K and $T_{A2163} = 3.377^{+0.101}_{-0.102}$ K, respectively. These values confirm the expected relation $T(z)=T_{0}(1+z)$, where $T_{0}= 2.725 \pm 0.002$ K is the value measured by the COBE/FIRAS experiment. Alternative scaling relations that are conjectured in non-standard cosmologies can be constrained by the data; for example, if $T(z) = T_{0}(1+z)^{1-a}$ or $T(z)=T_{0}[1+(1+d)z]$, then $a=-0.16^{+0.34}_{-0.32}$ and $d = 0.17 \pm 0.36$ (at 95% confidence). We briefly discuss future prospects for more precise SZ measurements of $T(z)$ at higher redshifts.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, ApJL accepted for publicatio

Detailed study of the microwave emission of the supernova remnant 3C 396

We have observed the supernova remnant 3C~396 in the microwave region using the Parkes 64-m telescope. Observations have been made at 8.4 GHz, 13.5 GHz, and 18.6 GHz and in polarisation at 21.5 GHz. We have used data from several other observatories, including previously unpublished observations performed by the Green Bank Telescope at 31.2 GHz, to investigate the nature of the microwave emission of 3C 396. Results show a spectral energy distribution dominated by a single component power law emission with $\alpha=(-0.364 \pm 0.017)$. Data do not favour the presence of anomalous microwave emission coming from the source. Polarised emission at 21.5 GHz is consistent with synchrotron-dominated emission. We present microwave maps and correlate them with infrared (IR) maps in order to characterise the interplay between thermal dust and microwave emission. IR vs. microwave TT plots reveal poor correlation between mid-infrared and microwave emission from the core of the source. On the other hand, a correlation is detected in the tail emission of the outer shell of 3C 396, which could be ascribed to Galactic contamination.Comment: published in MNRA