Making things happen : a model of proactive motivation

Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seizing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striving). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motivation. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences (e.g., personality, values, knowledge and ability) as well as contextual variations in leadership, work design, and interpersonal climate, that influence the proactive motivational states and thereby boost or inhibit proactive goal processes. Finally, the authors summarize priorities for future researc

M2K. II. A triple-planet system orbiting HIP 57274

Doppler observations from Keck Observatory have revealed a triple-planet system orbiting the nearby K4V star, HIP 57274. The inner planet, HIP 57274b, is a super-Earth with Msin i = 11.6 M ⊕ (0.036M Jup), an orbital period of 8.135 0.004 days, and slightly eccentric orbit e = 0.19 0.1. We calculate a transit probability of 6.5% for the inner planet. The second planet has Msin i = 0.4M Jup with an orbital period of 32.0 0.02 days in a nearly circular orbit (e = 0.05 0.03). The third planet has Msin i = 0.53M Jup with an orbital period of 432 8 days (1.18 years) and an eccentricity e = 0.23 0.03. This discovery adds to the number of super-Earth mass planets with M sin i < 12 M ⊕ that have been detected with Doppler surveys. We find that 56% 18% of super-Earths are members of multi-planet systems. This is certainly a lower limit because of observational detectability limits, yet significantly higher than the fraction of Jupiter mass exoplanets, 20% 8%, that are members of Doppler-detected, multi-planet systems

Relationship between chronic pain and cognition in cognitively intact older persons and patients with Alzheimer's disease; the need to control for mood

Background: Brain areas that are involved in cognition and mood also play a role in pain processing. Objective: The goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between chronic pain and cognition [executive functions (EF) and memory], while controlling for mood, in cognitively intact older persons and in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Two groups of subjects participated: 20 older persons without dementia and 19 patients in an early stage of probable AD who suffered from arthrosis/arthritis. Pain intensity and pain affect were assessed by the Colored Analogue Scale for Pain Intensity and for Pain Affect, the Faces Pain Scale (FPS) and the Number of Words Chosen-Affective (NWC-A). Level of depression and anxiety were evaluated by questionnaires. EF and memory were assessed by neuropsychological tests. Results: The results show that significant correlations between specific cognitive functions, pain intensity and pain affect were lacking in the cognitively intact older persons. Cognition, in particular memory, appeared to be related to depressive symptoms. In contrast, a significant positive correlation was observed between EF, pain intensity and pain affect measured by the FPS in the AD group. Conclusions: Although older persons with depression were excluded, in studies on pain and cognition one should control for the presence of depressive symptoms in older persons with and without dementia. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG

Spectral density analysis of noisy repetitive pulses. Models for continuously operating modelocked lasers

International audienc

Study of the continuum in heavy ion inelastic spectra by light particle coincidence measurements

Spectromètre SPE

Decay of the giant quadrupole resonance and higher excitation states in 40^{40}Ca

The Web and its tools of orientation: how better to understand the information available on the Internet by the analysis of references? In the incessant and chaotic frenzy of the Internet, suitable tools and techniques are urgently required for use by information professionals. The Internet has become a leading venue for communication among researchers, both scientists and other scholars. The role of mediation for these professionals has never been so important, owing to the actual deficiencies of the search systems on the Internet. This article expounds the tools that are now available for the identification and evaluation of Internet sources. After a discussion of the techniques of discrimination and cartography, a method of constructing a navigation map of the Web by the analysis of citations is explained