The Influence of Personality Traits on Life Satisfaction Through Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction among Academic Faculty Members

The aim of this study was to examine both direct and indirect associations of the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness with life satisfaction through work engagement and job satisfaction. The study population consisted of 2229 academics (57.1% men) throughout Czech public universities, who completed a questionnaire comprising measures of employee personality traits (BFI-10), work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale short form), job satisfaction (job satisfaction short scale from the COPSOQ-II) and general life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships. The strongest predictor of life satisfaction was neuroticism, the effect of which manifested itself through both direct and indirect pathways. Extraversion and conscientiousness had positive indirect influences on job satisfaction through work engagement, but their direct influences on job satisfaction were negative. While extraversion also had a direct influence on life satisfaction, conscientiousness did not directly influence life satisfaction

Atmosférické prostředí Krkonoš z hlediska medicínské bioklimatologie =Atmospheric environment of the Krkonoše Mts. from the view of medical bioclimatology

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Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems: A changing role for universities?

Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the goals for strategies in regions with varying research and innovation capabilities – represent challenges to the notion that public research organisations should be drivers of smart specialisation in all regions. This paper articulates these conceptual tensions and then explores how they are unfolding in practice with particular reference to regions with less-developed research and innovation systems. The empirical material is drawn from a European-wide survey of institutional factors affecting the implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation and two regional case studies from Central and Eastern Europe. Overall the paper reveals a multifaceted picture of still emerging (and potentially conflicting) dynamics around the introduction of smart specialisation that have the potential to reconfigure the role of universities in regional innovation systems in Europe

Seasonal variation of delta O-18 and delta H-2 in leaf water of Fagus sylvatica L. and related water compartments

The study aims to assess variability in leaf water isotopic enrichment occurring in the field under natural conditions. We focused on seasonal variation and difference between sun-exposed and shaded leaves. Isotopic composition (delta O-18, delta H-2) of leaf water was monitored in a beech tree (Fagus sylvatica L.) growing in the forest-meadow ecotone together with delta O-18 (H-2) of water compartments which are in close relation to this signal, namely twig and soil water. The sampling was carried out in approximately two-week intervals during five consecutive vegetation seasons. The delta O-18 (H-2) data showed a distinct seasonal pattern and a consistency in relative differences between the seasons and sample categories. Leaf water was the most isotopically enriched water compartment. The leaf water enrichment decreased toward the autumn reflecting the change in delta O-18 (H-2) of source water and evaporative demands. The soil and twig water isotopic signal was depleted against current precipitation as it partly retained the isotopic signature from winter precipitation however the seasonal pattern of soil and twig water followed that of precipitation. No significant differences between sun-exposed and shaded samples were detected. Nevertheless, the observed strong seasonal pattern of isotope composition of leaf, twig and soil water should be taken into account when using leaf water enrichment for further calculations or modeling.Web of Science227655

Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems: A changing role for universities?

Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the goals for strategies in regions with varying research and innovation capabilities – represent challenges to the notion that public research organisations should be drivers of smart specialisation in all regions. This paper articulates these conceptual tensions and then explores how they are unfolding in practice with particular reference to regions with less-developed research and innovation systems. The empirical material is drawn from a European-wide survey of institutional factors affecting the implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation and two regional case studies from Central and Eastern Europe. Overall the paper reveals a multifaceted picture of still emerging (and potentially conflicting) dynamics around the introduction of smart specialisation that have the potential to reconfigure the role of universities in regional innovation systems in Europe.JRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Partitioning of mesophyll conductance for CO2 into intercellular and cellular components using carbon isotope composition of cuticles from opposite leaf sides

We suggest a new technique for estimating the relative drawdown of CO2 concentration (c) in the intercellular air space (IAS) across hypostomatous leaves (expressed as the ratio c(d)/c(b), where the indexes d and b denote the adaxial and abaxial edges, respectively, of IAS), based on the carbon isotope composition (delta C-13) of leaf cuticular membranes (CMs), cuticular waxes (WXs) or epicuticular waxes (EWXs) isolated from opposite leaf sides. The relative drawdown in the intracellular liquid phase (i.e., the ratio c(c)/c(bd), where c(c) and c(bd) stand for mean CO2 concentrations in chloroplasts and in the IAS), the fraction of intercellular resistance in the total mesophyll resistance (r(IAS)/r(m)), leaf thickness, and leaf mass per area (LMA) were also assessed. We show in a conceptual model that the upper (adaxial) side of a hypostomatous leaf should be enriched in C-13 compared to the lower (abaxial) side. CM, WX, and/or EWX isolated from 40 hypostomatous C-3 species were C-13 depleted relative to bulk leaf tissue by 2.01-2.85 parts per thousand. The difference in delta C-13 between the abaxial and adaxial leaf sides (delta C-13(AB)-C-13(AD), Delta(b-d)), ranged from -2.22 to +0.71 parts per thousand (-0.09 +/- 0.54 parts per thousand, mean +/- SD) in CM and from -7.95 to 0.89 parts per thousand (-1.17 +/- 1.40 parts per thousand) in WX. In contrast, two tested amphistomatous species showed no significant Delta(b-d) difference in WX. Delta(b-d) correlated negatively with LMA and leaf thickness of hypostomatous leaves, which indicates that the mesophyll air space imposes a non-negligible resistance to CO2 diffusion. delta C-13 of EWX and 30-C aldehyde in WX reveal a stronger CO2 drawdown than bulk WX or CM. Mean values of c(d)/c(b) and c(c)/c(bd) were 0.90 +/- 0.12 and 0.66 +/- 0.11, respectively, across 14 investigated species in which wax was isolated and analyzed. The diffusion resistance of IAS contributed 20 +/- 14% to total mesophyll resistance and reflects species-specific and environmentally-induced differences in leaf functional anatomy.Web of Science1411513

Work Environment and Well-being of Academic Faculty in Czech Universities: A Pilot Study

This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academic faculties in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty's work environment and to examine the impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all academic levels. The Faculty's organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure; Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty's psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen, Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty's work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and market governance may contribute to well-being in academia

Early postglacial recolonisation, refugial dynamics and the origin of a major biodiversity hotspot. A case study from the Malá Fatra mountains, Western Carpathians, Slovakia

While general trends in Central European postglacial recolonisation dynamics are relatively well known, we often lack studies on intermediate (meta-population, landscape) scales. Such studies are needed to increase our understanding of, for example, the location of refugia; emergence of endemism, rates and trajectories of postglacial migrations; and anthropogenic landscape changes. Here, we focused on the outer Western Carpathian mountain chain Malá Fatra, which is currently characterised by high biodiversity and endemism and is thus considered a likely refugium of the Last Glacial period for the temperate biota of Eastern–Central Europe. We used molluscs and vascular plants as reference taxonomic groups and supported palaeoenvironmental interpretations of their (sub)fossil assemblages using high-resolution geochemical data. Generally, postglacial biotic successions from the study region fit the standard developmental pattern well in Middle and Eastern European uplands. Nevertheless, we found important biogeographically based peculiarities. In total, more than 50 species per (sub)fossil community at the reference site Valča, including 30 woodland species and 11 Carpathian endemites, make site of the highest known Holocene mollusc species diversity in Europe. Our palaeoecological analysis of this long-term biodiversity hotspot suggests that the Western Carpathians were likely an important source of the postglacial recolonisation of Central Europe by forest biota and, at the same time, an area of refugium-based endemism

Abrupt vegetation and environmental change since the MIS 2: A unique paleorecord from Slovakia (Central Europe)

Research on past abrupt climate change and linked biotic response is essential for understanding of the future development of biota under changing climatic conditions, which, in turn, is necessary for adequate progress in ecosystem management and nature conservation. The present study presents the first comprehensive reconstruction of local and regional environment at the Western Carpathian/Pannonian Basin border, including a first chironomid-based paleoclimate reconstruction and d18O and d13C records from travertine, to investigate abrupt biota and climate shifts since the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. A range of biotic and abiotic proxy data in organic-calcareous sediment sequence were analysed using a multi-proxy approach to produce a detailed reconstruction of past ecosystem conditions. The results illustrate that the most prominent abrupt change in the local environment occurred directly at the MIS 2/ MIS 1 transition at 14,560 cal BP as a consequence of increased precipitation and an increase in reconstructed mean July temperature by ~2.2 C. Abrupt changes in local environment during the early Holocene were closely linked to travertine precipitation rate around thermal springs and thus indirectly to the climate until the arrival of the Late Neolithics around 6400 cal BP. Regional vegetation response (derived from pollen data) to the climatic fluctuations lagged, with the most prominent changes around 14,410 cal BP and 10,140 cal BP. Our data suggest the presence of a steppe-tundra ecosystem with evidence for low amounts of temperate broadleaf trees during the MIS 2, indicating close proximity to their northern glacial refugium. We demonstrate the ability of d18O and d13C stable isotope record from travertine to reflect abrupt climatic and environmental changes. The study provides evidence about benefits using travertine deposits coupled with high-resolution paleoecological data to investigate past biotic and abiotic responses to abrupt climate change