423 research outputs found
Proactive and politically skilled professionals: What is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?
The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment
Quantum Imaging with Incoherently Scattered Light from a Free-Electron Laser
The advent of accelerator-driven free-electron lasers (FEL) has opened new
avenues for high-resolution structure determination via diffraction methods
that go far beyond conventional x-ray crystallography methods. These techniques
rely on coherent scattering processes that require the maintenance of
first-order coherence of the radiation field throughout the imaging procedure.
Here we show that higher-order degrees of coherence, displayed in the intensity
correlations of incoherently scattered x-rays from an FEL, can be used to image
two-dimensional objects with a spatial resolution close to or even below the
Abbe limit. This constitutes a new approach towards structure determination
based on incoherent processes, including Compton scattering, fluorescence
emission or wavefront distortions, generally considered detrimental for imaging
applications. Our method is an extension of the landmark intensity correlation
measurements of Hanbury Brown and Twiss to higher than second-order paving the
way towards determination of structure and dynamics of matter in regimes where
coherent imaging methods have intrinsic limitations
Brokering Trust to Enhance Leadership: A Self-Monitoring Approach to Leadership Emergence
What kind of person is likely to emerge as an informal leader in the workplace? Experimental research shows that high self-monitorsâwho tend to adjust their attitudes and behaviors to the demands of different situationsâemerge as informal leaders in temporary groups. By contrast, low self-monitorsâwho tend to be true to themselves in terms of consistency in attitudes and behaviors across different situationsâare less likely to emerge as leaders. But this prior research does not address the criticism that the emergence of high self-monitors as leaders represents ephemeral impression management in the context of laboratory experiments. To address this issue, we collected and analyzed data from a 116-member high-technology firm. Our results show that self-monitoring is related not only to leadership emergence, but also to the provision of advice to co-workers. Further, people who occupied brokerage positions (being trusted by those who did not trust each other) tended to be seen as leaders if they were high rather than low self-monitors. From these results, we build a picture of the high self-monitoring emergent leader as someone who notices problems and ameliorates them through the provision of advice and the brokerage of relationships across social divides. The occupation of a structurally advantageous position may well be more advantageous for some (i.e., high self-monitors) relative to others (i.e., low self-monitors)
How Servant Leadership Influences Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Roles of LMX, Empowerment and Proactive Personality
While the link between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been established, the individual-level mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the salience of the mediating mechanisms of leader-member exchange (LMX) and psychological empowerment in explaining the process by which servant leaders elicit discretionary OCB among followers. We also examine the role of followersâ proactive personality in moderating the indirect effects of servant leadership on OCB through LMX and psychological empowerment. Analysis of survey data collected from 446 supervisor-subordinate dyads in a large Chinese multinational firm suggests that while servant leadership is positively related to subordinate OCB through LMX, psychological empowerment does not explain any additional variance in OCB above that accounted for by LMX. Moderated mediation tests confirm the moderating effect of proactive personality through LMX. By providing a nuanced understanding of how and when servant leadership leads followers to go above and beyond their job role, our study assists organizations in deciding how to develop and utilize servant leaders in their organizations
Search for supersymmetric particles in scenarios with a gravitino LSP and stau NLSP
Sleptons, neutralinos and charginos were searched for in the context of
scenarios where the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino. It was
assumed that the stau is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. Data
collected with the DELPHI detector at a centre-of-mass energy near 189 GeV were
analysed combining the methods developed in previous searches at lower
energies. No evidence for the production of these supersymmetric particles was
found. Hence, limits were derived at 95% confidence level.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure
Optimized Expression and Purification for High-Activity Preparations of Algal [FeFe]-Hydrogenase
Background:
Recombinant expression and purification of metallo-enzymes, including hydrogenases, at high-yields is challenging due to complex, and enzyme specific, post-translational maturation processes. Low fidelities of maturation result in preparations containing a significant fraction of inactive, apo-protein that are not suitable for biophysical or crystallographic studies.
Principal Findings:
We describe the construction, overexpression and high-yield purification of a fusion protein consisting of the algal [2Fe2S]-ferredoxin PetF (Fd) and [FeFe]-hydrogenase HydA1. The maturation of Fd-HydA1 was optimized through improvements in culture conditions and media components used for expression. We also demonstrated that fusion of Fd to the N-terminus of HydA1, in comparison to the C-terminus, led to increased expression levels that were 4-fold higher. Together, these improvements led to enhanced HydA1 activity and improved yield after purification. The strong binding-affinity of Fd for DEAE allowed for two-step purification by ion exchange and StrepTactin affinity chromatography. In addition, the incorporation of a TEV protease site in the Fd-HydA1 linker allowed for the proteolytic removal of Fd after DEAE step, and purification of HydA1 alone by StrepTactin. In combination, this process resulted in HydA1 purification yields of 5 mg Lâ1 of culture from E. coli with specific activities of 1000 U (U = 1 ”mol hydrogen evolved mgâ1 minâ1).
Significance:
The [FeFe]-hydrogenases are highly efficient enzymes and their catalytic sites provide model structures for synthetic efforts to develop robust hydrogen activation catalysts. In order to characterize their structure-function properties in greater detail, and to use hydrogenases for biotechnological applications, reliable methods for rapid, high-yield expression and purification are required.United States. Dept. of Energy. (contract DE-AC36-08-GO28308
Feasibility and acceptance of electronic quality of life assessment in general practice: an implementation study
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
Influence of alternating temperature preculture on cryopreservation results for potato shoot tips
Cryopreservation is the most suitable long-term storage method for genetic resources of vegetatively maintained crops like potato. In the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) the DMSO droplet method is applied, and so far more than 1000 accessions are cryopreserved with an average regeneration rate of 58%. New experiments with four potato accessions using alternating temperatures (22/8°C day/night temperature, 8 h photoperiod, 7 d) prior to cryopreservation showed improved regeneration. The influence of this preculture on the shoot tips was studied for two wild, frost resistant species Solanum acaule and S. demissum and for two cultivated, frost sensitive potatoes S. tuberosum âDĂ©sirĂ©eâ and âKing Edwardâ. Comparison of liquid and solid media after cryopreservation showed improved regeneration on solid media with higher regeneration percentages, less callus formation and better plantlet structure. In comparative analyses biochemical factors like soluble sugars, starch, and amino acid concentrations were measured. Shoot tips after constant and after alternating temperature preculture were analyzed. Total concentrations of soluble sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) were higher for all accessions after the alternating temperature preculture, which could be the reason for improved cryopreservation results
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