Study of the Correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Project Success in Nonprofits

Project managers use both hard and soft skills to manage projects and people. When a project manager lacks the necessary competencies, there is a risk of project failure. The purpose of projects in nonprofit organizations is to increase the efficiencies of the organization or gain additional funding through fundraising, friendraising, and image enhancement efforts. The soft skill of emotional intelligence is linked to enhanced leadership in project management. This quantitative correlation study examined the relationship between the project managers’ emotional intelligence and their nonprofit project success. The analysis determined there is not a significant correlation between project managers’ emotional intelligence and their project success in the nonprofit sector. Additional research is needed to explore the perceived higher level of emotional intelligence of the nonprofit project managers when compared to others utilizing the same instrument. Additional research is also needed to explore the perceived higher nonprofit project success when compared to other projects utilizing the same instrument

Development of indicators for assessment of green infrastructure for a territorial network of ecological stability

Landscape structure and biotic indicators have a significant role in assessing the green infrastructure of a landscape and design of a territorial ecological network. In this contribution, a methodological approach has been developed for assessing and defining indicators of current land use and biota that can be used for designing a territorial network of ecological stability. We used the assessment of ecological stability of the elements of the current landscape structure, an index of the ecological stability of a representative geo-ecosystem, the cumulative effect of high ecological stability landscape elements, and the Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI) to measure the degree of entropy, or landscape diversity. The assessment of biota was based on qualitative habitat field data and an evaluation of their overall nature conservation importance based on the type of land cover and habitats, the importance of habitats, their current conservation status, how many rare habitats are in a region, and how many vulnerable species are present in habitats. The assessment was applied on a local level, using the example of the Dolný Lopašov study area. The spatial distribution of green infrastructure is not balanced within the study area. The most significant elements of the ecological network consist of natural and semi-natural habitats that have a favourable conservation status. The Malé Karpaty Mountains, situated in the northern region, are forest-covered and have the highest ecological stability. Intensively cultivated fields are dominant in the central and southern parts of the study areas and are characterised by a low proportion of green infrastructure and low ecological stability. The results of the modelling of the cumulative impact of landscape elements on ecological stability by distance show that the cumulative impact of woodland elements positively affects the ecological stability of the area, especially in the area of intensively cultivated fields, an element with a low degree of ecological stability. Using selected indicators of current landscape structure and biota helps to assess the overall ecological stability of the area, identify the most stable areas, as well as areas with the lowest ecological stability, where it is necessary to complete and design new elements of green infrastructure to increase the function of the ecological network

A Serratia marcescens OxyR Homolog Mediates Surface Attachment and Biofilm Formation

OxyR is a conserved bacterial transcription factor with a regulatory role in oxidative stress response. From a genetic screen for genes that modulate biofilm formation in the opportunistic pathogen Serratia marcescens, mutations in an oxyR homolog and predicted fimbria structural genes were identified. S. marcescens oxyR mutants were severely impaired in biofilm formation, in contrast to the hyperbiofilm phenotype exhibited by oxyR mutants of Escherichia coli and Burkholderia pseudomallei. Further analysis revealed that OxyR plays a role in the primary attachment of cells to a surface. Similar to what is observed in other bacterial species, S. marcescens OxyR is required for oxidative stress resistance. Mutations in oxyR and type I fimbrial genes resulted in severe defects in fimbria-associated phenotypes, revealing roles in cell-cell and cell-biotic surface interactions. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the absence of fimbria-like surface structures on an OxyR-deficient strain and an enhanced fimbrial phenotype in strains bearing oxyR on a multicopy plasmid. The hyperfimbriated phenotype conferred by the multicopy oxyR plasmid was absent in a type I fimbrial mutant background. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR indicated an absence of transcripts from a fimbrial operon in an oxyR mutant that were present in the wild type and a complemented oxyR mutant strain. Lastly, chromosomal Plac-mediated expression of fimABCD was sufficient to restore wild-type levels of yeast agglutination and biofilm formation to an oxyR mutant. Together, these data support a model in which OxyR contributes to early stages of S. marcescens biofilm formation by influencing fimbrial gene expression

Serratamolide is a hemolytic factor produced by Serratia marcescens

Serratia marcescens is a common contaminant of contact lens cases and lenses. Hemolytic factors of S. marcescens contribute to the virulence of this opportunistic bacterial pathogen. We took advantage of an observed hyper-hemolytic phenotype of crp mutants to investigate mechanisms of hemolysis. A genetic screen revealed that swrW is necessary for the hyper-hemolysis phenotype of crp mutants. The swrW gene is required for biosynthesis of the biosurfactant serratamolide, previously shown to be a broad-spectrum antibiotic and to contribute to swarming motility. Multicopy expression of swrW or mutation of the hexS transcription factor gene, a known inhibitor of swrW expression, led to an increase in hemolysis. Surfactant zones and expression from an swrW-transcriptional reporter were elevated in a crp mutant compared to the wild type. Purified serratamolide was hemolytic to sheep and murine red blood cells and cytotoxic to human airway and corneal limbal epithelial cells in vitro. The swrW gene was found in the majority of contact lens isolates tested. Genetic and biochemical analysis implicate the biosurfactant serratamolide as a hemolysin. This novel hemolysin may contribute to irritation and infections associated with contact lens use. © 2012 Shanks et al

Meta-analysis of multidecadal biodiversity trends in Europe

Local biodiversity trends over time are likely to be decoupled from global trends, as local processes may compensate or counteract global change. We analyze 161 long-term biological time series (15-91 years) collected across Europe, using a comprehensive dataset comprising similar to 6,200 marine, freshwater and terrestrial taxa. We test whether (i) local long-term biodiversity trends are consistent among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, and (ii) changes in biodiversity correlate with regional climate and local conditions. Our results reveal that local trends of abundance, richness and diversity differ among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, demonstrating that biodiversity changes at local scale are often complex and cannot be easily generalized. However, we find increases in richness and abundance with increasing temperature and naturalness as well as a clear spatial pattern in changes in community composition (i.e. temporal taxonomic turnover) in most biogeoregions of Northern and Eastern Europe. The global biodiversity decline might conceal complex local and group-specific trends. Here the authors report a quantitative synthesis of longterm biodiversity trends across Europe, showing how, despite overall increase in biodiversity metric and stability in abundance, trends differ between regions, ecosystem types, and taxa.peerReviewe

Finite-element analysis of strengthening the subgrade on the basis of boring and mixing technology

One of the effective techniques to strengthen the subgrade is boring and mixing technology, which is based on the immersion of vertical elements – piles into the subgrade. This method of strengthening significantly affects the stress state of the track superstructure. Two options of the placement of strengthening elements are examined in this paper. To determine the influence of position of strengthening elements on the stress state of the track superstructure, appropriate finite-element models were created. The models fully reflect the geometric and deformation characteristics of a real subgrade, which is strengthened by piles. The calculated stress state of the track superstructure is shown and analyzed in this paper. The main contribution of the paper lies in optimization of the geometric parameters of the technology to reduce the stress state of the "track superstructure–subgrade–soil basement" system. The results show that the location of piles near the rails is more effective than the location of piles near the ballast section