The Impact of Positive Psychological Capital on Organizational Cynicism

The concept of Positive Psychological Capital has started to possess an important role in the literature by the beginning of the 1990s, and many researches regarding this field have been conducted heavily throughout the 2000s. Positive psychological capital focuses on identifying people's strengths and their results personally and on an organizational level, and how it contributes to achieving the desired organizational success. As Individuals and organizations determine success/high performance or revenues as goals to be achieved, a lot of intense effort must be made to prepare a suitable environment in order to overcome challenges and problems. Since the 1980s, an approach called "cynicism" developed among an organization’s employees has started to attract attention in the business world.  Therefore, the concept of positive psychological capital is thought to be the best alternative to reduce the negative outcomes of cynicism in organizations in order to have a healthier work environment for better positive outcomes. In this respect, the aim of this article is to understand how Positive Psychological Capital impacts organizational cynicism throughout reviewing the literature since the 2000s

β-NMF AND SPARSITY PROMOTING REGULARIZATIONS FOR COMPLEX MIXTURE UNMIXING. APPLICATION TO 2D HSQC NMR

International audienceIn Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, an efficient analysis and a relevant extraction of different molecule properties from a given chemical mixture are important tasks, especially when processing bidimensional NMR data. To that end, using a blind source separation approach based on a vari-ational formulation seems to be a good strategy. However, the poor resolution of NMR spectra and their large dimension require a new and modern blind source separation method. In this work, we propose a new variational formulation for blind source separation (BSS) based on a β-divergence data fidelity term combined with sparsity promoting regularization functions. An application to 2D HSQC NMR experiments illustrates the interest and the effectiveness of the proposed method whether in simulated or real cases

Mesure de la perception par les clients de la compétence et de la crédibilité des directeurs de comptes bancaires selon leur profil de leadership expérientiel

Cette recherche a pour principal objectif de mieux révéler l'expérience d'interaction entre le directeur de comptes et les clients de la banque. Pour mener bien cette recherche, une étude quantitative a été réalisée, au moyen d'une enquête avec un questionnaire administré auprès de 200 clients. La collecte de données a été effectuée dans plusieurs succursales de différentes institutions financières situées à Montréal. La population des clients est composée de toutes les personnes qui visitent les bureaux ou les guichets automatiques des succursales de la banque afin de répondre à leurs besoins. Une série d'hypothèses ont été mesurées auprès de la clientèle. Selon ces hypothèses, les clients percevraient la rencontre personnelle de service selon cinq pouvoirs de leadership de services performants : trois pouvoirs de contrôle à savoir l'expérience de séduction, l'expérience d'action et l'expérience d'ancrage, ainsi que deux facteurs de conditionnement émotionnel à savoir l'expérience de plaisir et l'expérience d'anxiété. Les hypothèses principales de la recherche sont : H1 – Il existe une relation positive entre la perception de la compétence des directeurs de comptes et leur profil de leadership expérientiel; H2 - Il existe une relation positive entre la perception de la crédibilité des directeurs de comptes et leur profil de leadership expérientiel; H3 - Il existe une relation positive entre la perception par les clients de la crédibilité et la perception de la compétence des directeurs de comptes. Les résultats démontrent que la perception de la compétence et la perception de la crédibilité des directeurs de comptes sont liées positivement et significativement à leurs capacité à générer un climat de plaisir dans la relation d'affaires, leur capacité à persuader le client et leur capacité à ancrer ou fidéliser le client dans la relation d'affaires. Cette étude démontre également qu'il existe un lien positif entre la perception de la crédibilité et la perception de la compétence des directeurs de comptes. \ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Profil de leadership expérientiel, compétence perçue, crédibilité perçue, pouvoir de séduction, pouvoir de persuasion, pouvoir d'ancrage, expérience de plaisir, expérience d'anxiété

Intra- and inter-tester reliability of spasticity assessment in standing position in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy using a paediatric exoskeleton

Background The L-STIFF tool of the Lokomat evaluates the hip and knee flexors and extensors spasticity in a standing position. It moves the lower limb at a controlled velocity, measuring joint resistance to passive movements. Since its reliability in children with cerebral palsy remains unknown, our goal was to evaluate the relative and absolute reliability of L-STIFF in children with cerebral palsy. Methods Reliability was determined in 16 children with cerebral palsy by two experienced therapists. The changes in resistive torque in hip and knee in both flexion and extension were measured. Relative and absolute reliability were estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficient, standard error of measurement, and minimal detectable change. Reliability was assessed on three levels: (1) intra- and (2) inter-tester within session, and (3) intra-tester between sessions. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients were moderate to excellent for intra-tester reliability (all p ≤ 0.01). The standard error of measurement ranged from 0.005 to 0.021 Nm/° (i.e., 7–16%) and minimal detectable change from 0.014 to 0.059 Nm/°. Inter-tester intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.32 to 0.70 (all p ≤ 0.01), standard error of measurement ranged from 0.012 to 0.029 Nm/° (i.e., 6–39%), and minimal detectable change ranged from 0.033 to 0.082 Nm/°. L-STIFF reliability was better during fast and medium movement speeds compared to slow speeds. Conclusions The assessment tool L-STIFF is a promising tool for quantifying lower limb spasticity in children with cerebral palsy in a standing position. However, the results should be interpreted carefully

The contradictions of economic growth: Environmental pollution, ill-health and economic development in Houston, Texas.

The core theme of this thesis is the potential contradiction between the objective of economic growth in terms of the sustenance of the natural environment and human health. The basic research theme is the identification of the underlying political and economic processes that relate to rising air pollution and corresponding ill-health in cities. It explores the relationship between air pollution and child ill-health in Houston, a highly developed US city. The analysis points out that since the early 1900s, there has been rampant unregulated economic growth in Houston and that weak environmental protection has contributed to both past and current concentrations of industrial pollution, the net result of which is that the environment is severely damaged and human health is deleteriously affected. The thesis indicates theoretical and epistemological limitations in emerging interpretations and highlights that air pollution and ill-health are not simply physical or social problems but they reflect the integration of biological mechanisms and political and economic priorities. This thesis reconceptualizes the connection between the economy and the environment, integrates abstract and empirical investigation, defines the structural character of spatial relations, combines global economic processes with local patterns of environmental degradation, and links historical growth to ecological and health changes. The field-work consisted of a large comparative household survey to examine local air pollution and child ill-health. It was informed by investigations of institutions and documents and complemented by semi-structured interviews. Clusters of child ill-health were found in low-and high-income households in areas near petrochemicals. While it is clear that the socio-economic circumstances of each household influenced the state of child health, this study demonstrates that spatial relations also played a significant role in the relationship. The procedures and analyses are conceptualized through a critical realist methodology, contextualized in a political-economy approach and framed within a theoretical perspective of historical social relations

Reliability of maximum isometric hip and knee torque measurements in children with cerebral palsy using a paediatric exoskeleton – Lokomat

Background The Lokomat (by L-Force tool) allows the measurement of the maximum voluntary isometric torque (MVIT) at the knee and hip joints in a standing position, as close as possible to the posture adopted during walking. However, the reliability of this measurement in children with cerebral palsy (CP) remains unknown. The main goal of this study was to evaluate inter and intra-tester reliability of a novel tool (L-Force) in CP population. Procedure L-Force reliability was determined in 17 children with CP by two experienced therapists. We collected MVITs in hip and knee flexors and extensors. Relative and absolute reliability of maximum joint torques were estimated using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM), respectively. The correlation between L-Force and hand-held dynamometer (HHD) was also reported. Findings ICCs were good to excellent for intra and inter-tester reliability (all P ≤ 0.001). The SEM ranged from 2.0 to 4.1 Nm (12.1 to 21.7%) within-tester and from 2.1 to 3.5 Nm (11.9 to 22.5%) between testers. The correlation was fair to good between L-Force and HHD measures (r = [0.50–0.75]; all P ˂ 0.01) with higher values for flexors than extensors. Conclusion The L-Force is a reliable tool for quantifying the hip and knee flexors and extensors torques in children with cerebral palsy with an important timesaving and in a more functional posture than traditional HHD