Modelling employee motivation and performance

This research reviewed the history of motivation and performance modelling, with particular regards to the performance of employees in a work environment. The evolution of motivational theories was discussed before the motivational models arising from these theories were examined and critiqued. The wide range of, often conflicting, studies and theories in this area has led to a situation where no single model has been able to capture all the complexities of the internal and external influences on human motivation and performance. Models have broadly fallen into one of two categories: cognitive, focusing on the individual’s thought processes and social-cognitive, focusing on the influences from social and contextual variables. Bong [1996] suggested that a broader model of motivation may be developed by adopting either an integrative approach, whereby a general model is built that incorporates the wide range of potential motivational variables, or by building several models that focus on each dimension separately. Needs based and process based motivational theories, which will provide the foundation of any model of motivation, were reviewed in Chapter Three. Chapter Four then introduced the two existing models of motivation models that are the main focus of this study, Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics model and Porter and Lawler’s Expectancy model. Each model was reviewed and critiqued before being amended and expanded to more fully explain the social and cognitive motivational processes and satisfy the criticisms identified. Although there are no obvious areas of overlap between the largely social-cognitive Job Characteristics model and the largely cognitive Expectancy model, Chapter Five explains that by changing the terms used to describe the variables in each model the similarities between them may be identified. Identifying the areas of overlap allows the two models to be integrated into one. This new model of motivation expands upon the original models in that it combines both the social-cognitive and cognitive approaches and also incorporates more of the motivational theories discussed in Chapter Three than either of the two original models. The new model of motivation was tested via a data survey in four organisations. In each case, the level of correlation between the levels of the recorded variables, such as satisfaction and motivation, and those predicted by the model were generally high. The results of the data survey and the performance of the model were discussed in Chapter Six. One of the main aims of this thesis was to produce a model of motivation that was of practical use to the management of an organisation. Such a model should go beyond the existing theoretical models and allow those responsible for motivating a workforce to experiment with alternative job design strategies and evaluate their likely effects upon motivation and performance. Chapter Seven describes the spreadsheet-based model that was built in this study

Chemistry in Action - Chemical Challenges to Preserve the 380 Year Old Warship Vasa

A review of recent research activities on the degradation processes in ancient water-logged wood

Dissecting the genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) can be classified into two main subtypes: Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The aim of this study is to identify the genetic contribution to the susceptibility to IBD. In the first part of the study, I focused on Crohn’s Disease, the subtype that shows the greatest heritability. Using both pooled and sub-phenotype data, followed by replication, the results reveal substantial genetic heterogeneity and the total number of confirmed CD susceptibility loci was increased from 71 published by others to 200. This was achieved by analyzing the data using a multimarker approach and high-resolution genetic maps in Linkage Disequilibrium Units. In the second part of the study, I focused on Ulcerative Colitis. The results show that although UC has a lower reported heritability, many loci were also found for Ulcerative Colitis. Some of these overlap with those found for Crohn’s Disease

Controversy in statistical analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data

To test the validity of statistical methods for fMRI data analysis, Eklund et al. (1) used, for the first time, large-scale experimental data rather than simulated data. Using resting-state fMRI measurements to represent a null hypothesis of no task-induced activation, the authors compare familywise error rates for voxel-based and cluster-based inferences for both parametric and nonparametric methods. Eklund et al.’s study used three fMRI statistical analysis packages. They found that, for a target familywise error rate of 5%, the parametric methods gave invalid cluster-based inferences and conservative voxel-based inferences

Cord blood insulinoma-associated protein 2 autoantibodies are associated with increased risk of type 1 diabetes in the population-based Diabetes Prediction in Skane study

Aims/hypothesis The aim of this study was to examine the effect of cord blood autoantibodies on the risk for type 1 diabetes in children followed prospectively from birth. Methods The Diabetes Prediction in Skane (DiPiS) study consists of 35,853 children from the general population born during 2000-2004. Samples were collected at birth and analysed for HLA genotypes and autoantibodies to glutamate decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), insulin and insulinoma-associated protein 2 (IA-2). After adjusting for HLA, sex, maternal age and parental type 1 diabetes, independent associations with risk of diabetes were assessed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Results In total, 151 children (0.4%) had developed type 1 diabetes by the end of 2013 at a median age of 5.8 years (0.8-12.2 years). In the multivariate analysis, the presence of IA-2 autoantibodies (IA-2A) in cord blood (HR 6.88, 95% CI 1.46,32.4; p = 0.003), but not maternal diabetes (HR 1.38, 95% CI 0.24,7.84; p = 0.71), was associated with risk of developing type 1 diabetes. No increased risk could be seen for the presence of autoantibodies to GAD65 or insulin. Conclusions/interpretation Our study indicates that the presence of cord blood IA-2A superimposes maternal diabetes and other cord blood islet autoantibodies as a predictor of type 1 diabetes development in the child. These findings may be of significance for future screening and study protocols on type 1 diabetes prediction

Crystal structure of Cu-Sn-In alloys around the {\eta} phase field studied by neutron diffraction

The study of the Cu-Sn-In ternary system has become of great importance in recent years, due to new environmental regulations forcing to eliminate the use of Pb in bonding technologies for electronic devices. A key relevant issue concerns the intermetallic phases which grow in the bonding zone and are determining in their quality and performance. In this work, we focus in the {\eta}-phase (Cu2In or Cu6Sn5) that exists in both end binaries and as a ternary phase. We present a neutron diffraction study of the constitution and crystallography of a series of alloys around the 60 at.% Cu composition, and with In contents ranging from 0 to 25 at.%, quenched from 300\degreeC. The alloys were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, probe microanalysis and high-resolution neutron diffraction. The Rietveld refinement of neutron diffraction data allowed to improve the currently available model for site occupancies in the hexagonal {\eta}-phase in the binary Cu-Sn as well as in ternary alloys. For the first time, structural data is reported in the ternary Cu-Sn-In {\eta}-phase as a function of composition, information that is of fundamental technological importance as well as valuable input data for ongoing modelisations of the ternary phase diagram.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure