Organization development initiatives to advance the status of women in management : an analysis of influencing characteristics, factors, and antecedents of change in the best companies for women.

Women are conspicuously absent from the top tiers of Corporate America, representing less than five percent of executive level positions. Despite changing family roles and increases in education, workforce participation, and career commitment, women are not assuming organizational positions of leadership and power. Research suggests three theoretical perspectives for causal explanation, each with its own implications for organization development strategies: the person-centered, organization-centered, and gender-organization-centered views. Recent demographic, economic, and social change has altered the face of labor and consumer markets motivating corporate leaders to initiate responses to attract and retain women managers. This study provides a synopsis of the corporate responses of 110 of The Best Companies for Women (Zeitz and Dusky, 1988). The purpose of this research is to define the extensiveness and developmental level of programming to promote women manager\u27s upward mobility in these bellwether companies, and to determine organizational characteristics or antecedents that may be conducive to efforts supporting women managers. The research is a quantitative analysis based on responses to a mailed survey consisting of 36 questions addressed to corporate executives. Data analyses include descriptive statistics summarizing and reporting the findings, and correlational statistics testing the hypotheses. Results indicate that the sample organizations are addressing women\u27s underrepresentation in upper-level management through the development of extensive, fairly highly evolved programs. The trend is shifting from exclusively individual-centered approaches toward organization-centered and combination strategies representing integrated, multi-pronged solutions. These organizations recognize the need to alter structural barriers limiting access based on gender, and are accepting their responsibility to change. Findings suggest that programs promoting women\u27s upward mobility are supported by companies tending to: be large and non-unionized, have higher proportions of female workers/leaders, have high levels of EEO accountability and CEO support for women\u27s agendas, maintain a high degree of formalization including EEO tracking systems, and exercise innovative management practices within moderately hierarchical or flattened organization structures. Hypotheses testing indicates significant positive associations between company size, level of EEO accountability, CEO involvement, and formalization of EEO record-keeping systems, and the level of corporate policy development to advance women\u27s status

Metamaterial computation and fabrication of auxetic patterns for architecture

The paper investigates the potential of auxetics in architectural applications by means of computational design and additive manufacturing. This class of metamaterials expresses interesting behaviour related to the unusual characteristics of a negative Poisson’s ratio. Different patterns have been studied through a design workflow based on parametric software and the use of Particle Spring systems to support the form-finding process of bending-active auxetic structures. An advanced understanding of their bending capacity is explored with the use of variable infill patterns informed by structural analysis. Furthermore, principles for the design and fabrication of auxetic gridshells are discussed

GODDESS OF THE JEWELLED WEB: THE TRANSMISSION OF THE TRANSPERSONAL IN VISIONARY ART

Art striving for an existential veracity or ‘truth’ will be put upon a difficult and confusing road, forking and branching pathways; between on one hand positivist and nominalist systems tending toward rationality (as in ‘ratio’, to measure), and on the other extreme something akin to pure aesthetics, decor, and the enjoyment of a sensoric object. What we wish to seek here is a deeper meaning for the Arts which put Sacred Art upon a respectable and integral foundation.Via an inter-discourse between established concepts and liminal mythologies, tentative explorations are made on how visionary art transmits and perpetuates symbols of transpersonal experiences into culture. By using the concept of memes, cultural units that are transmitted through imitation and replication, we explore how visionary art facilitates and communicates liminal experiences with transformative impact upon established realities

A CoppeliaSim Dynamic Simulator for the Da Vinci Research Kit

The design of a physics-based dynamic simulator of a robot requires to properly integrate the robot kinematic and dynamic properties in a virtual environment. Naturally, the closer is the integrated information to the real robot properties, the more accurate the simulator predicts the real robot behaviour. A reliable robot simulator is a valuable asset for developing new research ideas; its use dramatically reduces the costs and it is available to all researchers. This letter presents a dynamic simulator of the da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK) patient-side manipulator (PSM). The kinematic and dynamic properties of the simulator rely on the parameters identified in Wang et al. With respect to the kinematic simulator previously developed by some of the authors, this work: (i) redefines the kinematic architecture and the actuation model by modeling the double parallelogram and the counterweight mechanism, to reflect the structure of the real robot; (ii) integrates the identified dynamic parameters in the simulation model. The obtained simulator enables the design and validation of control strategies relying on the robot dynamic model, including interaction force estimation and control, that are fundamental to guarantee safety in many surgical tasks

Metabolic factors in obesity

Obesity has a rising prevalence in children and adolescents, affecting 30% of the paediatric population in Portugal. Leptin is an important hormone involved in the pathogenesis of obesity and has been under investigation as a risk marker for future complications. AIMS: 1. To evaluate the relation between serum leptin levels and body mass index (BMI) and height. 2. To compare leptin levels in obese and non-obese children. 3. To evaluate the relation between leptin levels and insulin resistance index. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, using a sample of 70 obese children and a control group of 53 non-obese children. Obesity was defined as BMI standard deviation > 2 for age and sex. In the obese group we assessed sex, age, BMI SDS and height SDS for age and sex, and serum levels of glucose, insulin and leptin. In the control group were obtained BMI SDS and height SDS for age and sex and leptin levels. Data were analysed using SPSS 12. RESULTS: The mean age of obese and non-obese children was 10.3 +/- 2.9 versus 10.9 +/- 3.5 years. In the obese group, 32 (45.7%) were boys versus 18 (31.0%) in the non-obese group. BMI SDS in the obese group was 3.12 +/- 0.60 versus 0.20 +/- 0.99 in the non-obese group (p < 0.001). Leptin levels showed a positive correlation with BMI SDS (r = 0.69; p < 0.001) and height SDS (r = 0.31; p < 0.001). When comparing leptin levels between obese and non-obese groups, we found a significant difference in boys (50.7 +/- 27.3 versus 7.0 +/- 6.8 ng/ml; p < 0.001) and in girls (57.6 +/- 25.5 versus 16.5 +/- 10.3 ng/ml; p < 0.001). In the nonobese group, leptin levels were lower in boys. This difference was not seen in the obese group. Leptin showed a positive correlation with insulin resistance index in boys (r = 0.45, p = 0.05), but not in girls. CONCLUSIONS: This study has confirmed a positive correlation between leptin levels and BMI SDS. In obese children elevated leptin is associated with central resistance to its action. The positive correlation of leptin with insulin resistance index may suggest a major role of leptin in insulin resistance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of deworming on hemoglobin concentration in children from 2 to 15 years from the Bengo Province, Angola

The most common causes of anemia are micronutrient deficiencies, but other factors may influence namely inflammation, parasitic infections and inherited disorders. One strategy to combat micronutrient deficiencies is supplementation, yet, in zones with high prevalence of Schistosomiasis or Soil Transmitted Helminthes (STH), supplementation could be not sufficient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of deworming, on hemoglobin concentration, in children from 2 to 15 years, from Bengo

A rare cause of neonatal persistent jaundice

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diarreia em crianças menores de cinco anos no Hospital Geral do Bengo

A doença diarreica constitui uma das principais causas de morte em crianças menores de cinco anos em Angola. O presente estudo assume como principal objectivo identificar os agentes patogénicos causadores de diarreia, entre eles vírus, parasitas e bactérias, das crianças admitidas no Hospital Geral do Bengo. Material de estudo - O estudo iniciou-se em Setembro de 2012, tendo sido incluídas crianças menores de 5 anos admitidas no Hospital Geral do Bengo por diarreia (serviço de urgência e consulta externa) até Outubro de 2013, sem história de antibioterapia

Animais de rua

A falta de conhecimento que a sociedade nutre em relação aos bairros sociais é uma das principais razões que leva à discriminação dos seus moradores. Sendo verdade que estes bairros são geralmente problemáticos ao nível da criminalidade e que os seus moradores têm poucas posses, não é menos verdade que a falta de oportunidades e a exclusão social em nada ajudam a melhorar as condições de habitabilidade nestas urbanizações. Partindo do caso específico do bairro Sá Carneiro, em Leiria, e utilizando recursos e processos de baixo investimento, desenvolveu-se um conjunto de objetos que abordam a relação entre o indivíduo e os animais de rua, com o intuito de criar um sistema de micro-produção economicamente sustentável. Paralelamente, reflete-se sobre a forma como os produtos desenvolvidos por designers são comercializados e como estes podem ter grande relevância na forma de promover e sustentar micro-negócios