The Crystal Structure of the Transcriptional Regulator HucR from Deinococcus radiodurans Reveals a Repressor Preconfigured for DNA Binding

We report here the 2.3 Å resolution structure of the hypothetical uricase regulator (HucR) from Deinococcus radiodurans R1. HucR, a member of the MarR family of DNA-binding proteins, was previously shown to repress its own expression as well as that of a uricase, a repression that is alleviated both in vivo and in vitro upon binding uric acid, the substrate for uricase. As uric acid is a potent scavenger of reactive oxygen species, and as D. radiodurans is known for its remarkable resistance to DNA-damaging agents, these observations indicate a novel oxidative stress response mechanism. The crystal structure of HucR in the absence of ligand or DNA reveals a dimer in which the DNA recognition helices are preconfigured for DNA binding. This configuration of DNA-binding domains is achieved through an apparently stable dimer interface that, in contrast to what is observed in other MarR homologs for which structures have been determined, shows little conformational heterogeneity in the absence of ligand. An additional amino-terminal segment, absent from other MarR homologs, appears to brace the principal helix of the dimerization interface. However, although HucR is preconfigured for DNA binding, the presence of a stacked pair of symmetry-related histidine residues at a central pivot point in the dimer interface suggests a mechanism for a conformational change to attenuate DNA binding. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Aviation Managers’ Perspective on the Importance of Education

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that working adults with at least a four-year college degree earned an annual average salary of $63,400 compared to the$24,300 salary of high school graduates with no college. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was to survey managers in the U.S. aviation industry to describe their perspective on how education has impacted them. Following a robust review of the literature, we analyzed the responses from 103 managers’ and discovered that there is a significant association between degree importance and level of education among aviation managers that has application to professional practice. The resulting recommendations including the need for aspiring aviation managers to obtain degrees and the top three most preferred degrees for new hires to obtain. We also provide several recommended areas of future study for aviation, management, or education scholars to explore

An Inquiry into the Aviation Management Education Paradigm Shift

Working adults with four-year degrees from accredited colleges or universities earn, on average, almost three times more than individuals without a degree. This pay gap led Newcomer and his colleagues to study attitudes of aviation and aerospace managers towards education. That study found that managers valued education in new hires, even though they did not deem it critical to their own positions. That finding indicated a potential paradigm shift towards the perceived value of education in the industry. In the current qualitative, phenomenological research, we interviewed 14 managers from various capacities within the aviation and aerospace industries to determine the relative importance of education, certification, and experience when hiring or selecting new team members. The results indicated that managers value experience most when making staffing decisions. Next, they value certification or education, depending on the technical or managerial role. A majority of the managers did express that their attitudes towards the value of education had become stronger over their careers. The study has hiring implications for aviation and aerospace managers, as well as employees, in terms of what to focus on in interviews and in reviewing candidate credentials

Molecular approach to mesoporous metal sulfides

We have synthesized metal-sulfide/surfactant nanocomposite materials by cooperative assembly of molecular precursors in a aqueous medium. The template-mediated synthetic approach is applicable to metals sulfides that exhibit aqueous thiometallate chemistry. The products are lamellar and have a bilayers or interdigitated layers of surfactant molecules sandwiched between metal sulfide layers. The layers of anionic metal sulfide molecules are not completely condensed in the nanocomposites, which results in a negative charge on the metal sulfide layers. The materials are stable at room temperature in water, methanol, 1 M HCl, 30 wt% NH{sub 3}, and 1 M NaOH. The materials do not dissolve at 80{degrees}C in water and are stable to at least 180{degrees}C in air. The nanocomposites exhibit ion exchange of smaller surfactants, alkali-metal ions, and divalent metal ions

Crisis Leadership During the Great Recession of 2008

Understanding leadership characteristics, frameworks, components, and contexts that are beneficial to the guidance of organizational policy is useful for understanding the way in which leaders should act during a crisis. Recessions are common throughout economies; yet, many see recessions as crises. Due to the chaotic nature of economic recessions, leaders must work in conditions of uncertainty, complexity, and volatility. Therefore, using a qualitative phenomenological approach, an examination was conducted on leaders’ lived experiences of the Great Recession of 2008 to further understand the concept of crisis leadership. A discussion is included on the way in which leaders internalize and analyze the crisis and the characteristics and behaviors needed to sustain through the crisis. This research was conducted in 2013

Noise Spectral Density Measurements of a Radiation Hardened CMOS Process in the Weak and Moderate Inversion

We have measured the noise of MOS transistors of the United Technology Microelectronics Center (UTMC) 1.2 µm radiation hardened CMOS P-well process from the weak to moderate inversion region. The noise power spectral densities of both NMOS and PMOS devices were measured from 1 KHz to 50 MHz. The bandwidth was chosen such that the important components of the spectral densities such as the white thermal noise and the l/f noise could be easily resolved and analyzed in detail. The effects of different device terminal DC biases and channel geometries on the noise are described

A cross-sectional investigation of the relationships education, certification, and experience have with knowledge, skills, and abilities among aviation professionals

The aviation industry is a complex system with many different segments and as such, makes hiring the right person a complicated endeavor. Previous research suggested that knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are composed of elements that include education, certification, and experience (ECE). The relative importance of ECE is dependent on the type of job within the aviation sector. The objective of this mixed-methods concurrent triangulation study was to examine aviation industry professionals’ perceived relationship between their ECE and the development of their KSAs. The convenience sample consisted of 404 professionals in the aviation industry who completed the KSA Composite Measure (KCM). The study clarified relationships between ECEs and KSAs that managers in the aviation industry can apply when developing job openings, conducting interviews, reviewing applicant credentials, and building high-performance teams

Validating the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Composite Measure: An Aviation Industry Pilot Study

Recent research into the aviation management education paradigm shift indicated that education, certification, and experience (ECE) were all important in the aviation industry; however, the relative importance varied between managers depending on their field. Overall, the results identified experience as the most important factor, followed by certification, then education. Furthermore, the authors made a logical connection between the that study and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), which would ultimately lead managers to a hiring decision. The purpose of this mixed-methods sequential exploratory pilot study was to develop, validate, and test the reliability of the KSA composite measure (KCM), a data collection device to measure the connection between ECE and KSAs. The three phased approach consisted of (a) an expert panel review by eight research, aviation, and human resource professionals, (b) an institutional review board (IRB) review, and (c) a live pilot using 45 professionals from the aviation industry. The pilot proved to validate and confirm the reliability of the KCM for future use