Perception is Reality: Change Leadership and Work Engagement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employee perceptions of change and leadership might impact work engagement following major organizational change. Design/methodology/approach Social media invited US workers recently experiencing major organizational change to anonymously complete a web-based survey requesting qualitative and quantitative responses. Values-based coding and thematic analysis were used to explore qualitative data. Hierarchical and linear regression, and bootstrapped mediation were used to analyze quantitative data. Findings Analysis of qualitative data identified employees’ perceptions of ideal change and ideal leadership were well supported in the change leadership literature. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that employee perceptions of leadership fully mediated the relationship between employee perceptions of change and work engagement. Practical implications Study findings imply that how employees perceive change is explained by how they perceive leadership during change, and that these perceptions impact work engagement. Although these findings appear commonsensical, the less than stellar statistics on major organizational change may encourage leaders to become more follower-focused throughout the change process. Originality/value The study makes a contribution to an understudied area of organizational research, specifically applied information processing theory. This is the first study that identifies employee perceptions of leadership as a mediator for perceptions of change and work engagement. From a value perspective, leaders as successful change agents recognize significant cost savings in dollars and human welfare by maintaining healthy workplaces with highly engaged workers

Bob Barth : Mizzou's Jesuit professor

"Dividing his efforts between the church and the classroom poses few major problems for this English department chairman."--Table of contents for issue

Studies of CD36 interacting with fatty acids, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and the cellular plasma membrane

The glycoprotein CD36 is expressed in the plasma membrane (PM) of many cell types that surround or contact arteries, including macrophages, myocytes, and endothelial cells. CD36 binds oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL), which promotes atherosclerosis, and fatty acids (FA), which promotes their cellular uptake. To gain insights into the molecular mechanisms of uptake, HEK293 cells expressing CD36 were studied by cell biological and fluorescence methods. To test our hypothesis that the PM is not an impermeable barrier to FA and that FA move into cells by diffusion via their uncharged form, we first applied biophysical fluorescence spectroscopy to directly measure transmembrane FA movement and membrane fluidity. Expression of CD36 in HEK293 cells did not increase either transport across the PM or the fluidity of the PM compared to HEK293 cells without CD36; however, CD36 enhanced intracellular FA esterification. Furthermore, the widely used “inhibitors” of FA transport did not alter either the rapid FA transmembrane diffusion in HEK293 cells or diffusion in control experiments with protein-free phospholipid bilayers. To gain new insights into the physiological relevance of FA binding to CD36, we applied surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to quantify FA and oxLDL binding to the ectodomain of CD36. Structurally distinct FA [saturated, monounsaturated (cis and trans), polyunsaturated, ω-3, ω-6, and oxidized FA] were pulsed in a solubilized form (bound to methyl-β-cyclodextrin) across SPR channels, generating real-time association and dissociation binding curves. With the exception of the oxidized FA hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (HODE), all FA tested bound to CD36 with rapid association and dissociation kinetics similar to human serum albumin. In addition, FA increased oxLDL binding to CD36. To investigate whether FA affect CD36-mediated oxLDL uptake in live cells, we monitored fluorescent oxLDL (Dii-oxLDL) uptake using confocal microscopy. Addition of exogenous FA to serum-free media enhanced dose-dependent oxLDL uptake. Exceptions were ω-3 FA, which bound to CD36, and HODE, which did not bind to CD36, demonstrating FA structure-specific effects on a major function of CD36 and a new mechanistic link between atherosclerosis and high levels of FA in obese and Type-II diabetic individuals

Dual Diagnosis in Persons With Severe or Profound Mental Retardation: A Reliability Study of the DASH.

The present study was designed to extend the literature on assessing psychopathology in persons with mental retardation. The primary goal of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped (DASH), focusing on reliability issues. A secondary goal was to examine the prevalence of psychopathology and behavior problems in the severely handicapped. Subjects included 658 institutionalized adults with severe or profound mental retardation. Adequate reliability of DASH items and subscales, with a few notable exceptions, was obtained. Prevalence rates of various behavior disorders and symptoms of mental illness are presented. Practical implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed

Planning Methods for a Sustainable Future

Today, climate change, pollution, poor health, and economic crisis pose a threat to Earth and its inhabitants. If these global threats are left unmitigated, serious economic, environmental, and social consequences will occur. Earth’s future currently rests in the hands of urban planners and policy makers. It is their responsibility to develop and implement methods that ensure a sustainable future. Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The current effort to achieve global sustainability needs to be improved as conditions continue to decline. Urban planners and policy makers, at all levels of government, from jurisdictions around the globe, need to share their innovative, sustainable planning methods with one another. Their combined effort will help humans and the environment better cope with existing threats and protect the planet from irreversible damage

Justice James D. Hopkins: Jurist, Dean, Scholar and Expert on New York Law

It is an appropriate tribute to our late Dean James D. Hopkins that this edition of Pace Law Review be dedicated to a man who many leaders of the bench, bar, and academia believe is one of the twentieth century’s greatest common law appellate jurists. Dean Hopkins, better known as Judge Hopkins, was Pace Law School’s second Dean from 1982 to 1983, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of New York, and a justice of the Appellate Division for the Second Department from 1962 to 1981. He authored hundreds of significant majority, dissenting, and concurring judicial opinions on New York law, many of which continue to be relevant to the development of substantive and procedural law in the Empire State. Hopkins’s opinions have been cited and relied on by courts throughout the nation. He is recognized and praised as a “compleat jurist,” a leading law reformer, and an outstanding scholar

Up-date the existing assessment of potential socio-economic impacts of the South Powder River Basin

Issued as Reports no. [1-2], Project no. G-34-A0

Models and heuristics for robust resource allocation in parallel and distributed computing systems

Includes bibliographical references.This is an overview of the robust resource allocation research efforts that have been and continue to be conducted by the CSU Robustness in Computer Systems Group. Parallel and distributed computing systems, consisting of a (usually heterogeneous) set of machines and networks, frequently operate in environments where delivered performance degrades due to unpredictable circumstances. Such unpredictability can be the result of sudden machine failures, increases in system load, or errors caused by inaccurate initial estimation. The research into developing models and heuristics for parallel and distributed computing systems that create robust resource allocations is presented.This research was supported by NSF under grant No. CNS-0615170 and by the Colorado State University George T. Abell Endowment