The Influence Of Coaching On Employee Perceptions Of Supervisor Effectiveness And Organizational Policies

This study investigates the effects of the use of coaching as a management style on supervisor effectiveness and key employee-related organizational policies.  Specifically, we examine the direct effects of coaching on employee perceived supervisor effectiveness and organizational work-family balance support, as well as the impact of supervisory effectiveness on employee perceived effectiveness of organizational rewards programs.  Ordinal regression was used to test the hypotheses, and data from 134 undergraduate and graduate business students enrolled in a Northeast university who indicated that they were currently employed on a full-time basis support these relationships.  Results show that the degree to which employees view their supervisor as acting as a coach positively influences perceived supervisor effectiveness and organizational work-family balance support.  Additionally, results support the notion that organizational work-family balance support also leads to perceived supervisor effectiveness which, in turn, positively influences employee perception regarding the effectiveness of organizational rewards programs

Gender differences in coerced patients with schizophrenia

European Commission (Quality of life and Management of Living Resources Programme, contract number QLG4-CT- 2002-01036), Czech Ministry of Education research grant MSM002160849, and research grants PRVOUK–P26/LF1/4 and PRVOUK–P03/LF1/

Role of matrix metalloproteinases in the acquisition and reconsolidation of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference

Persistent drug seeking/taking behavior involves the consolidation of memory. With each drug use, the memory may be reactivated and reconsolidated to maintain the original memory. During reactivation, the memory may become labile and susceptible to disruption; thus, molecules involved in plasticity should influence acquisition and/or reconsolidation. Recently, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to influence neuronal plasticity, presumably by their regulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules involved in synaptic reorganization during learning. We hypothesized that inhibition of MMP activity would impair the acquisition and/or reconsolidation of cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats. Intracerebral ventricular (i.c.v.) microinjection of a broad spectrum MMP inhibitor, FN-439, prior to cocaine training suppressed acquisition of CPP and attenuated cocaine-primed reinstatement in extinguished animals. In a separate experiment, the cocaine memory was reactivated on two consecutive days with a cocaine priming injection. On these two days, artificial cerebral spinal fluid (aCSF) or FN-439 was administered either 30 min prior to or 1 min after cocaine-primed reinstatement sessions. Infusion of FN-439 partially impaired retrieval of the cocaine-associated context when given 30 min prior to cocaine. In both groups, however, FN-439 suppressed reinstatement compared with controls on the third consecutive test for cocaine-primed reinstatement, when no FN-439 was given. Control experiments demonstrated that two injections of FN-439 + cocaine given in the home cage, or of FN-439 + saline priming injections in the CPP chambers did not disrupt subsequent cocaine-primed reinstatement. These results show for the first time that (1) MMPs play a critical role in acquisition and reconsolidation of cocaine-induced CPP, and (2) rats demonstrate apparent disruption of reconsolidation by an MMP inhibitor after extinction and while they are under the influence of cocaine during reinstatement

Membrane Potential Greatly Enhances Superoxide Generation by the Cytochrome bc1 Complex Reconstituted into Phospholipid Vesicles*

The mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex (ubiquinol/cytochrome c oxidoreductase) is generally thought to generate superoxide anion that participates in cell signaling and contributes to cellular damage in aging and degenerative disease. However, the isolated, detergent-solubilized bc1 complex does not generate measurable amounts of superoxide except when inhibited by antimycin. In addition, indirect measurements of superoxide production by cells and isolated mitochondria have not clearly resolved the contribution of the bc1 complex to the generation of superoxide by mitochondria in vivo, nor did they establish the effect, if any, of membrane potential on superoxide formation by this enzyme complex. In this study we show that the yeast cytochrome bc1 complex does generate significant amounts of superoxide when reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles. The rate of superoxide generation by the reconstituted bc1 complex increased exponentially with increased magnitude of the membrane potential, a finding that is compatible with the suggestion that membrane potential inhibits electron transfer from the cytochrome bL to bH hemes, thereby promoting the formation of a ubisemiquinone radical that interacts with oxygen to generate superoxide. When the membrane potential was further increased, by the addition of nigericin or by the imposition of a diffusion potential, the rate of generation of superoxide was further accelerated and approached the rate obtained with antimycin. These findings suggest that the bc1 complex may contribute significantly to superoxide generation by mitochondria in vivo, and that the rate of superoxide generation can be controlled by modulation of the mitochondrial membrane potential