The Relationship of Educational Experience to Job Performance and Job Satisfaction of Salesmen

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between four measures of educational experience, a measure of job performance, and six dimensions of job satisfaction for a population engaged in outside sales

Citizens’ opinions on (non-)essential uses of persistent chemicals: A survey in seven European countries

In accordance with the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability towards a Toxic-free Environment, the European Commission plans to phase out persistent chemicals, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), except for uses classified essential for society. Until now, empirical research on what is considered an essential or non-essential chemical use has been lacking. Furthermore, as such criteria are bound to be subjective, different parties can have different views. In this study we explored which uses of persistent chemicals citizens from seven EU countries consider (non-)essential for society. As EU citizens are directly impacted by policy decisions based on (non-)essentiality criteria, we also investigated the influence of emphasis on the consequences of banning vs. allowing persistent chemicals, the association with demographics, and of having heard of persistent chemicals or PFAS prior to the study. We found substantial variation in essentiality ratings within and between use categories and between countries. Uses related to safety were frequently considered essential, whereas uses related to recreation, household, and personal care were frequently considered non-essential. Emphasis on different consequences did not influence essentiality ratings. Gender, age, education, and political orientation were to some extent associated with essentiality ratings. People who had not heard of persistent chemicals or PFAS prior to the study rated uses of persistent chemicals less frequently as non-essential or essential. Our findings offer insight into EU citizens’ opinions on (non-)essential uses of persistent chemicals, and provide empirical input to the scientific and public debate on framing the concept of essential use.</p

Dynamic-explicit finite element simulation of complex problems in civil engineering by parallel computing

The paper deals with the simulation of the non-linear and time dependent behaviour of complex structures in engineering. Such simulations have to provide high accuracy in the prediction of deformations and stability, by taking into account the long term influences of the non-linear behaviour of the material as well as the large deformation and contact conditions. The limiting factors of the computer simulation are the computer run time and the memory requirement during solving large scale problems. To overcome these problems we use a dynamic-explicit time integration procedure for the solution of the semi-discrete equations of motion, which is very suited for parallel processing. In the paper at first we give a brief review of the theoretical background of the mechanical modelling and the dynamic-explicit technique for the solution of the semi-discrete equations of motion. Then the concept of parallel processing will be discussed . A test example concludes the paper

Growth inhibition in clonal subpopulations of a human epithelioid sarcoma cell line by retinoic acid and tumour necrosis factor alpha.

Epithelioid sarcoma is a highly malignant soft tissue tumour that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy and irradiation. Since permanent cell lines of this tumour are extremely rare, in vitro data on compounds with significant antiproliferative effects are still lacking. Therefore, we investigated the effects of retinoic acid (RA) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) on tumour cell proliferation of three different clonal subpopulations (GRU-1A, GRU-1B, GRU-1C) derived from the same human epithelioid sarcoma cell line, GRU-1. In GRU-1A both RA (P=0.01) and TNF-alpha (P=0.002) exhibited highly significant and dose-dependent growth inhibitory effects, which could further be increased by a combined application of both compounds (P<0.006). GRU-1B proved to be sensitive to RA (P=0.006), whereas no response to TNF-alpha was observed. GRU-1C was resistant to both RA and TNF-alpha. The antiproliferative effect of TNF-alpha was mediated by TNF receptor 1(TNF-R1) and correlated positively with both the number of TNF-R1 per cell and receptor affinity. No correlation was detected between RA-induced growth inhibition and the expression pattern of the RA receptors (RARs) RAR-alpha, RAR-beta, and RAR-gamma. Plating efficiency, however, could exclusively be reduced by RA in GRU-1B, the only cell line expressing RAR-alpha. Taken together, these data are the first showing significant antiproliferative effects in human epithelioid sarcoma by RA and TNF-alpha. Whereas the TNF-alpha response seems to depend on the expression of TNF-R1, no simple correlation could be found between RA sensitivity and the expression pattern of RARs

Protecting eyewitness evidence: Examining the efficacy of a self-administered interview tool

Given the crucial role of eyewitness evidence, statements should be obtained as soon as possible after an incident. This is not always achieved due to demands on police resources. Two studies trace the development of a new tool, the Self-Administered Interview (SAI), designed to elicit a comprehensive initial statement. In Study 1, SAI participants reported more correct details than participants who provided a free recall account, and performed at the same level as participants given a Cognitive Interview. In Study 2, participants viewed a simulated crime and half recorded their statement using the SAI. After a delay of 1 week, all participants completed a free recall test. SAI participants recalled more correct details in the delayed recall task than control participants