Putting servant leadership to the test

As interest in the servant leadership model has grown among academics and managers alike, so too has curiosity about the complex mechanisms underpinning it and its applicability within real-life relational and organisational circumstances. These and other concerns are explored in a recently published research paper, which adds considerably to our understanding of this leadership approach

Energy barrier distributions for magnetic nanoparticles with competing cubic and uniaxial anisotropies

AbstractWe report in this study the effect of the competition between cubic and uniaxial anisotropies on the magnetic properties of magnetic nanoparticles. We have employed Monte Carlo simulations in our calculations and we have seen that the observed behavior is very different for the cases where easy uniaxial axes are completely random oriented or parallel to an external magnetic field. We have also calculated the effective energy barrier distribution probed during the isothermal magnetic relaxation and a two peak structure is observed only for a random orientation of uniaxial axes

Policy impacts on regulating ecosystem services: looking at the implications of 60 years of landscape change on soil erosion prevention in a Mediterranean silvo-pastoral system

Context: Policy decisions form a major driver of land use change, with important implications for socially and environmentally susceptible regions. It is well known that there can be major unintended consequences, especially where policies are not tailored to regionally specific contexts. Objectives: In this paper we assess the implications of 60 years of agricultural policies on soil erosion prevention (SEP) by vegetation, an essential regulating ecosystem service in Mediterranean Europe. Methods: To assess these implications we produced and analysed a time series of land cover/use and environmental conditions datasets (from 1951 to 2012) in relation to changing agricultural policies for a specific region in the southern Portugal. A set of indicators related to SEP allowed us to identify that land use intensification as increased soil erosion in the last 60 years. Results: Particularly in the last 35 years, as a consequence of headage payments for cattle, the agricultural policy had a significant effect in the density and renewal of the tree cover, resulting in drastic effects for the provision of the SEP service. These are more significant after 1986, coinciding with the implementation of several Common Agricultural Policy instruments focused on increasing the modernization and productivity capacity of farm systems. Conclusions: The results show some unintended effects of agricultural policy mechanisms on ecosystem service provision and highlight the need for context-based policies, tailored to the environmental constrains and potentials of each region

APLICAÇÃO DE UM PROGRAMA EDUCATIVO NA CAPACITAÇÃO DO DOENTE ONCOLÓGICO COM DOENÇA AVANÇADA/CUIDADOR PARA A GESTÃO DA DOR EM DOMICÍLIO

O desenvolvimento de um programa educativo para capacitação, exige uma avaliação do número de momentos de interação necessários para que o processo ocorra.

A dor no doente oncológico com doença avançada

Existem fatores que aumentam a dor e o sofrimento, como a solidão, o abandono, o sentir-se objeto de pena, a alteração da imagem, a incerteza quanto ao futuro e a perspetiva de morte. Fatores que ajudam na superação, como, o sentir-se amado, a esperança e a fé

The personal belief in a just world and domain-specific beliefs about justice at school and in the family: A longitudinal study with adolescents

This article investigates the relationship between the personal belief in a just world (BJW) and domain-specific beliefs about justice and examines how justice cognitions impact on adolescents' development, particularly on their achievement at school and their subjective well-being. A longitudinal questionnaire study with German adolescents aged 14-19 years was conducted over a period of five to eight months. The pattern of results revealed that evaluations of the school climate and of the family climate as being just were two distinct phenomena, both of which impacted on the personal BJW, which in turn affected the domain-specific beliefs about justice. However, the domain-specific beliefs about justice did not impact on each other directly. Moreover, an evaluation of the family climate (but not of the school climate) as being just reduced depressive symptoms, whereas depressive symptoms did not weaken the evaluation of one's family as being just. The evaluation of the school climate as being just improved the grades received in the next school report, whereas the grades received did not affect the justice evaluation of the school climate. Finally, all relationships persisted when controlling for age and gender. In sum, the pattern of findings supports the notion that justice cognitions impact on development during adolescence

School Canteen Design

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Servant Leadership to the Test: New Perspectives and Insights

__Abstract__ In support of the growing adoption of servant leadership and empirical evidence of its effectiveness, this dissertation expands on the applicability of servant leadership in different organizational and relational contexts. Two of a total of four empirical studies were focused on contrasting organizational perspectives. The first study allowed developing a new short measure of servant leadership which can be particularly suited for shared leadership assessments. Through this instrument it was possible to observe that shared servant leadership in small self-managed teams positively affected team behavioral integration and performance. A second study showed that servant leaders can be effective in ensuring workforce engagement during significant and uncertain large scale change processes through increased organizational identification and psychological empowerment. The two other studies of this dissertation emphasized relational factors. The third study allowed for a better understanding of the interaction between the virtuous and the action side of the servant leader. In particular, the virtuous side, which rests on an attitude of humility and standing-back, amplifies the impact of the action side on follower engagement, but this effect is only evident when the leader is in a high position of power. The fourth and last study focused on differences between self and other perceptions of leadership and had as main conclusion that servant leaders seem to under-estimate their own leadership behavior, confirming their humble nature. Finally, this dissertation provides also additional evidence on the potential validity of servant leadership across different national cultures

Portuguese study of familial dilated cardiomyopathy: the FATIMA study

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a myocardial disease, characterized by ventricular dilatation and impaired systolic function, that in more than 30% of cases has a familial or genetic origin. Given its age-dependent penetrance, DCM frequently manifests in adults by signs or symptoms of heart failure, arrhythmias or sudden death. The predominant mode of inheritance is autosomal dominant, and in these cases mutations are identified in genes coding for cytoskeletal, sarcomeric or nuclear envelope proteins. To date, most studies aimed at molecular diagnosis of DCM have been in selected families, or in larger groups of patients, but screening for mutations in a limited number of genes. Consequently, the epidemiology of mutations in familial DCM remains unknown. There is thus a need for multicenter studies, involving screening for a wide range of mutations in several families and in cases of idiopathic DCM. The present article describes the methodology of a multicenter study, aimed at clinical and molecular characterization of familial DCM patients in the Portuguese population.A miocardiopatia dilatada (MCD) é uma doença do músculo cardíaco caracterizada pela dilatação ventricular e compromisso da função sistólica, sendo possível identificar, numa percentagem superior a 30% dos casos, uma origem familiar ou genética. Dada a penetrância dependente da idade, manifesta-se muitas vezes em adultos por sinais ou sintomas de insuficiência cardíaca, arritmias ou morte súbita. O padrão autossómico dominante predomina, sendo possível identificar, nestes casos, mutações em genes de proteínas do citoesqueleto celular, sarcómero ou membrana nuclear. Até ao momento, a maioria dos trabalhos visando o diagnóstico molecular nos casos de MCD foi realizada em famílias seleccionadas, ou em grupos mais abrangentes de doentes, mas rastreando mutações num número restrito de genes. Consequentemente a epidemiologia das mutações nos casos familiares de MCD continua por esclarecer. É neste contexto que se coloca a necessidade de efectuar estudos multicêntricos, envolvendo uma pesquisa mutacional diversificada em várias familias e nos casos idiopáticos de MCD. O presente artigo descreve a metodologia de um estudo multicêntrico que tem como objectivo a caracterização clínica e molecular de casos familiares de MCD na população portuguesa

Preparation of hybrid organic-inorganic materials based on a di-ureasil matrix doped with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide

In this presentation we describe the preparation of solvent-free solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) by the sol-gel route with the incorporation of controlled quantities of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) into the host matrix. The host framework of these xerogels, designated as di-ureasils and represented by d-U(900), contains oxyethylene oligomers with about 15 repeat units bonded at each end to a siliceous backbone through urea bridging links. Electrolytes were characterized by ionic conductivity measurements, cyclic voltammetry at a gold microelectrode and thermal analysis. The results obtained reveal that these hybrid materials are completely amorphous and exhibit appropriate electrochemical characteristics for a variety of applications.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - POCI/QUI/59856/2004; POCTI/3/686; SFRH/BD/22707/2005