Scaling theory of DNA confined in nanochannels and nanoslits

A scaling analysis is presented of the statistics of long DNA confined in nanochannels and nanoslits. It is argued that there are several regimes in between the de Gennes and Odijk limits introduced long ago. The DNA chain folds back on itself giving rise to a global persistence length which may be very large owing to entropic deflection. Moreover, there is an orientational excluded-volume effect between the DNA segments imposed solely by the nanoconfinement. These two effects cause the chain statistics to be intricate leading to nontrivial power laws for the chain extension in the intermediate regimes. It is stressed that DNA confinement within nanochannels differs from that in nanoslits because the respective orientational excluded-volume effects are not the same.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure Several corrections, some minor changes in the text and replacement of one referenc

A daily diary investigation on the job-related affective experiences fueled by work addiction

Background and aims: We studied the quality of the job-related emotional experiences associated with work addiction. We hypothesized that work addiction would fuel both a higher level of daily job-related negative affect and a lower level of daily job-related positive affect and that such affective experiences would mediate the relationship between work addiction and emotional exhaustion reported at the end of the working day. Additionally, in light of typical behaviors and cognitions associated with work addiction, we also hypothesized that work addiction would modify the relationships between day workload and same day emotional strain reactions (i.e., job-related negative affect and job-related positive affect). Methods: Participants were 213 workers (42.5% female), most of whom holding a high-profile job position, who were followed for 10 consecutive working days in the context of a daily diary study. Results: Multilevel analyses controlling for neuroticism revealed that work addiction was uniquely and positively related to daily job-related negative affect and that the latter mediated the relationship between work addiction and daily emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, work addiction was not negatively related to daily job-related positive affect; this relationship emerged only when removing neuroticism from the model. Additionally, work addiction strengthened the relationship between day workload and day job-related negative affect. Discussion: Results indicate that work addicted are characterized by the experience of a negatively connotated affect during work, and that this kind of affect may be a mechanism explaining the work addiction-burnout relationship

Workplace Bullying and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomology: The Influence of Role Conflict and the Moderating Effects of Neuroticism and Managerial Competencies

Research has explored numerous consequences of workplace bullying, including a recent link to the exhibition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology. Role conflict as a workplace stressor may contribute to instances of bullying from a passive perspective, which may lead to PTSD symptomology in victims. What remains less explored is if role conflict has a direct relationship to PTSD symptomology and how personality traits such as neuroticism and workplace factors such as managerial competencies may moderate the stress brought on by role conflict. Hence the present study seeks to examine this gap in the literature. This study utilizes a between-subjects, cross-sectional design with 159 participants, 39.6% male and 60.4% female. Most participants (60%) were Italian workers of a large social cooperative organization. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the measurement model was valid and had an adequate model fit. Results from two separate moderated mediation analyses found a positive, full mediation between the independent variable of role conflict, the mediator of exposure to bullying, and the dependent variable of PTSD symptomology. Furthermore, in this study, neuroticism strengthened the indirect effect while managerial competencies weakened it. The results highlight the importance of training competent managers and providing resources for more vulnerable employees to moderate employee work stress and its negative outcomes

A Review of Some Aspects of L-Forms and Gonococci

Systemic manifestations of gonococcal disease, such as arthritis, are often sterile on the usual culture methods used to grow gonococci. Allergic mechanisms have been invoked to explain this but with little evidence to support the concept. With the report by Holmes et al., that L-forms of gonococci were isolated from joint fluid of a patient with gonococcal arthritis, we decided to investigate the possible role of L-forms in gonococcal disease

Workaholism, intensive smartphone use, and the sleep-wake cycle: A multiple mediation analysis

Recent contributions have reported sleep disorders as one of the health impairment outcomes of workaholism. A possible factor affecting the sleep-wake cycle might be the intensive use of smartphones. The current study aimed to explore the role of intensive smartphone use in the relationship between workaholism and the sleep-wake cycle. Two serial multiple mediation models were tested on a sample of 418 employees, who filled self-report questionnaires measuring workaholism, use of smartphones, sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, using conditional process analysis for testing direct and indirect effects. Results supported our hypotheses regarding two serial multiple mediation models-that intensive smartphone use and poor sleep quality mediated the relationship between workaholism and daytime sleepiness, and that smartphone use and daytime sleepiness mediated the relationship between workaholism and poor quality of sleep. Although the use of a cross-sectional design and the snowball technique for collecting data can be considered as possible limitations, the current study is one of the first to document the potential detrimental role of the intensive smartphone use on the workaholism-sleep disorders relationship

Quantum Neural Networks for Power Flow Analysis

This paper explores the potential application of quantum and hybrid quantum-classical neural networks in power flow analysis. Experiments are conducted using two small-size datasets based on the IEEE 4-bus and 33-bus test systems. A systematic performance comparison is also conducted among quantum, hybrid quantum-classical, and classical neural networks. The comparison is based on (i) generalization ability, (ii) robustness, (iii) training dataset size needed, (iv) training error. (v) training computational time, and (vi) training process stability. The results show that the developed quantum-classical neural network outperforms both quantum and classical neural networks, and hence can improve deep learning-based power flow analysis in the noisy-intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era.Comment: 7 pages, 15 figure

Strategic planning as the intentional production of a “Trading Zone”

For a long period of time there has been a kind of mirroring between the development of decision making models in Political science and the concepts and paradigms used in Planning theory. The dialogue has been interrupted when the "Garbage Can" model was proposed by Choen, March and Olsen in 1972: a model that emphasized the irreducible complexity of the policy processes. The article reconstructs this relationship and its evolution showing the influence of decision-making models on planning theory, and showing the difficulties of managing complexity for planners. The paper holds that interpreting planning processes through the lens of the "Trading zone" concept proposed by Peter Galison in the field of history of science could be an interesting way of dealing with the extreme complexity of contemporary planning problems. The conclusion is that the use of the Trading Zone concept is very promising to solve some dilemmas of planning theory and that it is particularly useful if we employ it in the growing area of strategic spatial planning

A Comparative Review of Electrolytes for Organic-Material-Based Energy-Storage Devices Employing Solid Electrodes and Redox Fluids

Electrolyte chemistry is critical for any energy‐storage device. Low‐cost and sustainable rechargeable batteries based on organic redox‐active materials are of great interest to tackle resource and performance limitations of current batteries with metal‐based active materials. Organic active materials can be used not only as solid electrodes in the classic lithium‐ion battery (LIB) setup, but also as redox fluids in redox‐flow batteries (RFBs). Accordingly, they have suitability for mobile and stationary applications, respectively. Herein, different types of electrolytes, recent advances for designing better performing electrolytes, and remaining scientific challenges are discussed and summarized. Due to different configurations and requirements between LIBs and RFBs, the similarities and differences for choosing suitable electrolytes are discussed. Both general and specific strategies for promoting the utilization of organic active materials are covered.So solid storage : The use of organic redox‐active materials is a new tendency for rechargeable batteries, either as traditional solid‐state electrode materials in lithium‐ion batteries or as dissolved redox fluidic species in liquid electrolytes for redox flow batteries. The performance‐limiting scenarios and some illuminating improvements by formulating electrolytes are reviewed