Exploring working conditions as determinants of job satisfaction: an empirical test among Catalonia service workers

Job satisfaction is particularly important in the service industry since it involves direct contact with customers and thus has a direct influence on company performance. We analyzed the impact of ten working conditions on job satisfaction by means of structural equation modelling in a representative stratified random sample of 1553 service sector employees in Catalonia (Spain). We found significant effects in social aspects (recognition of a job well done and social support), followed by psychological loads (emotional demands and job insecurity) and by task contents (development & meaning and predictability). These variables explained 50% of the variance in job satisfaction

Small angle neutron scattering study of the structural modifications induced by the entrapped glucose oxidase in polyacrylamide microgels

We have investigated, using small angle neutron scattering (SANS), polyacrylamide microgels with 0.25% and 1.5% (w/w) cross-linking percentages. The SANS patterns consist of solution-like concentration fluctuations given by two Lorentz functions and a contribution at low q of the type I(q) similar to q(-beta) (q being the scattering vector). Glucose Oxidase was entrapped into microgels with 1.5% cross-linking with the aim to prepare a glucose biosensor. The structural changes induced in the polymer network by the entrapped enzyme are reported. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Recrystallization studies in isotropic cold crystallized PET: influence of heating rate

9 pags. 9 figs.The nanostructural changes associated to the multiple melting behaviour of isotropic cold-crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) have been investigated by means of simultaneous wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering, using a synchrotron radiation source. Variations in the degree of crystallinity, coherent lateral crystal size and long period values, as a function of temperature, for two different heating rates are reported for cold-crystallized samples in the 100-190 °C range. The Interface Distribution Function analysis is also employed to provide the crystalline and amorphous layer thickness values at various temperatures of interest. Results suggest that samples crystallized at both low (Ta = 100-120 °C) and high (Ta = 160-190 °C) temperatures are subjected to a nearly continuous nanostructural reorganization process upon heating, starting immediately above Tg (≈80 °C) and giving rise to complete melting at ≈260 °C. For all the Ta investigated, a melting-recrystallization mechanism seems to take place once Ta is exceeded, concurrently to the low-temperature endotherm observed in the DSC scans. For low-Ta and slow heating rates (2 °C/min), a conspicuous recrystallization process is predominant within Ta + 30 °C ≤ T ≤ 200 °C. In contrast, for high-Ta, an increasingly strong melting process is observed. For both, high- and low-Ta, an extensive structural reorganization takes place above 200 °C, involving the appearance of new lamellar stacks simultaneously to the final melting process. The two mechanisms should contribute to the high-temperature endotherm in the DSC scan. Finally, the use of a high heating rate is found to hinder the material's overall recrystallization process during the heating run and suggests that the high-temperature endotherm is ascribed to the melting of lamellae generated or thickened during the heating run. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved