A New Lens: Psychological Ownership as an Element to Promoting Organizational Change

Much of the change management literature has focused on change from the perspective of the organization as a whole. However, researchers have begun to explore the impact change has on employees, as well as employee perceptions of organizational change. The current study explored the role psychological ownership has in the context of organizational change, by using it is as a moderator between employee openness to organizational change (EOOC), and organizational commitment, job stress, and turnover intentions. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between EOOC and organizational commitment, a significant negative correlation between EOOC and job stress, as well as turnover intentions. Results further revealed that psychological ownership moderated the relationship between EOOC and job stress, such that when psychological ownership is high, the relationship with job stress was weakened. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Value of clearfield rice: an agronomic and economic approach

Field studies were conducted in Crowley, Louisiana and Stoneville, Mississippi in drill seeded rice to evaluate weed control, yield, and economical returns with imazethapyr programs. Red rice (Oryza sativa) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) was evaluated with imazethapyr applied alone at various rates and application timings. Imazethapyr, averaged across rate, controlled red rice 89% and barnyardgrass 90% when the initial application of imazethapyr was applied at emergence followed by (fb) a second application of imazethapyr two weeks after the initial application. While imazethapyr, averaged across timing, showed no differences for red rice and barnyardgrass control. Yield and economical returns were maximized when the initial application of imazethapyr was applied at rice emergence fb a second application of imazethapyr two weeks later. Research was conducted in Crowley, Louisiana in 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the addition of different propanil formulations in mixture with a standard imazethapyr program of 70 g/ha early postemergence fb 70 g/ha late postemergence. Weeds evaluated included red rice, barnyardgrass, Texasweed (Caperonia palustris), and alligatorweed (Althernanthera philoxeroides). Weed control of all weeds evaluated with treatments consisting of a propanil formulation in mixture with imazethapyr was equivalent to, or higher, than the standard imazethapyr program. Yield and economical returns were maximized when the propanil formulation of RiceShot® or Stam M4® was in mixture with imazethapyr in the initial application. The addition of propanil in mixture with imazethapyr increased rough rice yield and economical returns due to the increased weed control Research was conducted in Crowley, Louisiana in 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the addition of a herbicide with soil residual activity in mixture with imazethapyr applied very-early postemergence fb an application of imazethapyr or imazamox two weeks after the initial application. Weeds evaluated included red rice, barnyardgrass, Texasweed, and alligatorweed. Weed control with treatments including a herbicide with soil residual activity was equivalent to or higher than imazethapyr applied alone fb imazethapyr or imazamox. Yield and economical returns were maximized with quinclorac or penoxsulam mixed with imazethapyr fb imazethapyr or imazamox. The addition of quinclorac or penoxsulam proved to be beneficial in a total weed management program

How party polarization makes the legislative process even slower when government is divided

Since 2010, the U.S. has experienced divided government, with the Democrats holding the White House, and The Republican Party controlling the House of Representatives, and since January, the Senate. In new research which analyses the passage of 2,200 bills from 1949 to 2010, Tyler Hughes and Deven Carlson find that divided government slows down the legislative process by 60 days, on average. This delay is made even worse when the level of party polarization is higher, which makes partisan compromises even more difficult

MEMS 411: DialySqueeze

Design a device to reduce occupational fatigue injuries suffered by nurses who must manually clamp and unclamp tubing for dialysis machines. This device was designed for MEMS 411 Senior Design

The Effects of a Progressive Exercise Program on Functional Activity and Quality of Life for Older Overweight Women with Knee Osteoarthritis

Background and Purpose Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common symptomatic condition experienced by older adults, especially in the overweight population, that affects the knees in particular. This study compares the effectiveness of two progressive exercise protocols (walking and stepping) on function and quality of life in older, overweight women with OA. This study includes self-management training and assesses participant selfperceived efficacy in managing OA. Subjects This is a quasi-experimental design utilizing 16 women ≥ 50 years of age (60.44 ± 6.04) with a BMI \u3e 25 (34.21 ± 7.28) and radiographic diagnosis of OA in at least one knee. Methods and Measures Subjects were randomly assigned to a protocol group and followed exercises twice per week with supervision and once per week independently during the 10-week study. Pre and post-tests were performed using NeuroCom Smart Equitest, Dualenergy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, pain visual analog scale, isometric strength, and self-reported outcome measures including; Knee Osteoarthritis Outcomes Score (KOOS), CDC HRQOL-14 “Healthy Days Measure” - Quality of Life (QOL), and the Patient Activity Measure (PAM). Results The walking group showed significant improvement in the KOOS -QOL (p=0.026) and function (p=0.027) subscales as well as the NeuroCom Sensory Organization Test (SOT) (p=0.022). No significant results were found within the stepping group. Groups were combined and significant results were found in the KOOS- QOL (p=0.022), NeuroCom SOT (0.001), and NeuroCom Limits of Stability (LOS) (p=0.024). Conclusion A simple 10 week walking exercise incorporating self-management is shown to improve function, quality of life, and balance. The stepping exercise did not show any significant improvement. However, when the 2 groups are combined, we observed similar improvement in the 3 aforementioned domains. The results from this research provide important insights into exercise intervention in older overweight women with knee OA

Effects of Environmental Factors on Sensitivity of Cryptococcus Neoformans to Fluconazole and Amphotericin B

Cryptococcus neoformans is a leading cause of fungal meningitis in immunocompromized populations. Amphotericin B (AMB) and fluconazole (FLC) are common anticryptococcal agents. AMB treatment leads to severe side-effects. In contrast, FLC-based therapy is relatively safe, although C. neoformans often develops resistance to this drug. C. neoformans must adapt to the challenging environment of the human host. Environmental effects on potency of AMB and FLC and development of drug resistance remain poorly characterized. Here, the effects of nutrients, temperature and antioxidants on susceptibility of C. neoformans towards FLC and AMB were investigated. Limited nutrients led to a decrease and an increase of sensitivity towards FLC and AMB, respectively. Co-treatment with various antioxidants also demonstrated reciprocal effects on susceptibility towards FLC and AMB. In contrast, elevated temperature increased the efficacy of both drugs, although the effect on FLC was more drastic as compared to that of AMB. In addition, temperatures of 37◦C and above prevented development of FLC resistance. Our study pointed to a critical role of the environment on susceptibility towards AMB and FLC and revealed reciprocal effects towards these antifungal drugs, reflecting contrasting modes of action of AMB and FLC

Undergraduate Studies to Design and Build DNA Structure to be Used by Optical Tweezer

Our research team, ISLAND CURE, is the team to design and build a biological instrument, optical tweezer (OT), with a limited budget. The optical tweezer is an apparatus that moves micro-objects by using laser light. It allows the user to create and control the pico-newton, which is an essential force to move micro-objects. Our research is to design a target DNA sequence (Fig 4.), which our optical tweezer will control. To apply optical tweezer technology to living organisms, DNA is the essential first step. In this research, our team focus is to calculate the necessary forces to unzip DNA with optical tweezers. Thus, we researched and developed a simple DNA sequence that would not interfere with the force relationship between DNA and laser light. Our DNA sequence is structured by four types of the oligonucleotide, lambda DNA, biotin, and digoxigenin

LesionAir: An Automated, Low-Cost Vision-Based Skin Cancer Diagnostic Tool

Current techniques for diagnosing skin cancer lack specificity and sensitivity, resulting in unnecessary biopsies and missed diagnoses. Automating tissue palpation and morphology quantification will result in a repeatable, objective process. LesionAir is a low-cost skin cancer diagnostic tool that measures the full-field compliance of tissue by applying a vacuum force and measuring the precise deflection using structured light three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. The technology was tested in a benchtop setting on phantom skin and in a small clinical study. LesionAir has been shown to measure deflection with a 0.085mm root-mean-square (RMS) error and measured the stiffness of phantom tissue to within 20% of finite element analysis (FEA) predictions. After biopsy and analysis, a dermatopathologist confirmed the diagnosis of skin cancer in tissue that LesionAir identified as noticeably stiffer and the regions of this stiffer tissue aligned with the bounds of the lesion. A longitudinal, full-scale study is required to determine the clinical efficacy of the device. This technology shows initial promise as a low-cost tool that could rapidly identify and diagnose skin cancer.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1122374

Form and function:Optional complementizers reduce causal inferences

Many factors are known to influence the inference of the discourse coherence relationship between two sentences. Here, we examine the relationship between two conjoined embedded clauses in sentences like 'The professor noted that the student teacher did not look confident and (that) the students were poorly behaved'. In two studies, we find that the presence of 'that 'before the second embedded clause in such sentences reduces the possibility of a forward causal relationship between the clauses, i.e., the inference that the student teacher’s confidence was what affected student behavior. Three further studies tested the possibility of a backward causal relationship between clauses in the same structure, and found that the complementizer’s presence aids that relationship, especially in a forced-choice paradigm. The empirical finding that a complementizer, a linguistic element associated primarily with structure rather than event-level semantics, can affect discourse coherence is novel and illustrates an interdependence between syntactic parsing and discourse parsing