A systems theory perspective on the front-line manager role

The role of agency and the dynamics of systems are critical to understanding how people are managed. Ironically, while this is well understood in practice (e.g. Buckingham & Coffman, 1999) such understanding has not made a sufficient impact in HRM research. This chapter explores the critical role and agency of front-line managers through a systems lens. In so doing we note the limitations of existing understanding which tends to treat gaps between intended and experienced HRM as something to be avoided and mitigated versus acknowledged and embraced. By contrast, the classic lens of systems theory provides a rich intellectual heritage which captures the dynamics of front-line manager agency as grounded by contextually oriented concepts including emergence, informality, self-organizing and entropy. The latter half of the chapter animates these principles in action using the example of the front-line manager role in performance management. The chapter concludes by highlighting how the dynamics of system theory can help advance understanding of front-line manager roles, including that which treats informal practice and deviance from established rules as a practical reality versus a detrimental fault-line in HRM implementation

Discovery of a close substellar companion to the hot subdwarf star HD 149382 - The decisive influence of substellar objects on late stellar evolution

Substellar objects, like planets and brown dwarfs orbiting stars, are by-products of the star formation process. The evolution of their host stars may have an enourmous impact on these small companions. Vice versa a planet might also influence stellar evolution as has recently been argued. Here we report the discovery of a 8-23 Jupiter-mass substellar object orbiting the hot subdwarf HD 149382 in 2.391 days at a distance of only about five solar radii. Obviously the companion must have survived engulfment in the red-giant envelope. Moreover, the substellar companion has triggered envelope ejection and enabled the sdB star to form. Hot subdwarf stars have been identified as the sources of the unexpected ultravoilet emission in elliptical galaxies, but the formation of these stars is not fully understood. Being the brightest star of its class, HD 149382 offers the best conditions to detect the substellar companion. Hence, undisclosed substellar companions offer a natural solution for the long-standing formation problem of apparently single hot subdwarf stars. Planets and brown dwarfs may therefore alter the evolution of old stellar populations and may also significantly affect the UV-emission of elliptical galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, ApJL accepte

Step by Step to Fairness: Attributing Societal Bias in Task-oriented Dialogue Systems

Recent works have shown considerable improvements in task-oriented dialogue (TOD) systems by utilizing pretrained large language models (LLMs) in an end-to-end manner. However, the biased behavior of each component in a TOD system and the error propagation issue in the end-to-end framework can lead to seriously biased TOD responses. Existing works of fairness only focus on the total bias of a system. In this paper, we propose a diagnosis method to attribute bias to each component of a TOD system. With the proposed attribution method, we can gain a deeper understanding of the sources of bias. Additionally, researchers can mitigate biased model behavior at a more granular level. We conduct experiments to attribute the TOD system's bias toward three demographic axes: gender, age, and race. Experimental results show that the bias of a TOD system usually comes from the response generation model

Spin Precession and Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Quantum Transport of Electrons Through Mesoscopic Rings

We consider the motion of electrons through a mesoscopic ring in the presence of spin-orbit interaction, Zeeman coupling, and magnetic flux. The coupling between the spin and the orbital degrees of freedom results in the geometric and the dynamical phases associated with a cyclic evolution of spin state. Using a non-adiabatic Aharonov-Anandan phase approach, we obtain the exact solution of the system and identify the geometric and the dynamical phases for the energy eigenstates. Spin precession of electrons encircling the ring can lead to various interference phenomena such as oscillating persistent current and conductance. We investigate the transport properties of the ring connected to current leads to explore the roles of the time-reversal symmetry and its breaking therein with the spin degree of freedom being fully taken into account. We derive an exact expression for the transmission probability through the ring. We point out that the time-reversal symmetry breaking due to Zeeman coupling can totally invalidate the picture that spin precession results in effective, spin-dependent Aharonov-Bohm flux for interfering electrons. Actually, such a picture is only valid in the Aharonov-Casher effect induced by spin-orbit interaction only. Unfortunately, this point has not been realized in prior works on the transmission probability in the presence of both SO interaction and Zeeman coupling. We carry out numerical computation to illustrate the joint effects of spin-orbit interaction, Zeeman coupling and magnetic flux. By examining the resonant tunneling of electrons in the weak coupling limit, we establish a connection between the observable time-reversal symmetry breaking effects manifested by the persistent current and by the transmission probability. For a ring formed by two-dimensional electron gas, weComment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Mitochondrial GTP metabolism controls reproductive aging in C. elegans

Healthy mitochondria are critical for reproduction. During aging, both reproductive fitness and mitochondrial homeostasis decline. Mitochondrial metabolism and dynamics are key factors in supporting mitochondrial homeostasis. However, how they are coupled to control reproductive health remains unclear. We report that mitochondrial GTP (mtGTP) metabolism acts through mitochondrial dynamics factors to regulate reproductive aging. We discovered that germline-only inactivation of GTP-but not ATP-specific succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS) promotes reproductive longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. We further identified an age-associated increase in mitochondrial clustering surrounding oocyte nuclei, which is attenuated by GTP-specific SCS inactivation. Germline-only induction of mitochondrial fission factors sufficiently promotes mitochondrial dispersion and reproductive longevity. Moreover, we discovered that bacterial inputs affect mtGTP levels and dynamics factors to modulate reproductive aging. These results demonstrate the significance of mtGTP metabolism in regulating oocyte mitochondrial homeostasis and reproductive longevity and identify mitochondrial fission induction as an effective strategy to improve reproductive health

Antitumor Agents. 266. Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel 2-(Furan-2-yl)naphthalen-1-ol Derivatives as Potent and Selective Antibreast Cancer Agents

In a continuing study, we explored how the individual rings in neo-tanshinlactone (1) influence its potent and selective in vitro anti-breast cancer activity. Accordingly, we discovered a novel class of anti-breast cancer agents, 2-(furan-2-yl) naphthalen-1-ol derivatives, based on an active C-ring opened model compound 5. Further optimization led to 18 and 21, which showed decreased cytotoxic potency, but better selectivity than neo-tanshinlactone analog 2. Interestingly, compound 20 showed broad cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines

New betulinic acid derivatives as potent proteasome inhibitors

In this study, 22 new betulinic acid (BA) derivatives were synthesized and tested for their inhibition of the chymotrypsin-like activity of 20S proteasome. From the SAR study, we concluded that the C-3 and C-30 positions are the pharmacophores for increasing the proteasome inhibition effects, and larger lipophilic or aromatic side chains are favored at these positions. Among the BA derivatives tested, compounds 13, 20, and 21 showed the best proteasome inhibition activity with IC50 values of 1.42, 1.56, and 1.80 µM, respectively, which are three- to four-fold more potent than the proteasome inhibition controls LLM-F and lactacystin

Novel curcumin analogs to overcome EGFR–TKI lung adenocarcinoma drug resistance and reduce EGFR–TKI-induced GI adverse effects

Curcumin () down-regulates the expression as well as phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in lung adenocarcinoma cells expressing gefitinib-resistant EGFR. Thirty-seven newly synthesized curcumin analogues including dimethoxycurcumin (, DMC) were evaluated for their effects on EGFR expression as well as phosphorylation in two gefitinib-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, CL1-5 (EGFR) and H1975 (EGFR). Based on the identified structure–activity relationships, methoxy substitution at C-3′, C-4′, or both positions favored inhibitory activity (compounds , , , –, , ), while compounds with more polar substituents were generally less active in both cell lines. Compound with a fluorine substituent at C-6′ and its protonated counterpart did not lose activity, suggesting halogen tolerance. In addition, a conjugated linker was essential for activity. Among all evaluated curcumin derivatives, compound showed the best inhibitory effects on both wild-type and mutant EGFR by efficiently inducing gefitinib-insensitive EGFR degradation. Compound also reduced gefitinib-induced gastrointestinal damage in the non-transformed intestinal epithelial cell line IEC-18

Investigation of altered retinal microvasculature in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis: optical coherence tomography angiography detection

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disorder that primarily causes symmetrical polyarthritis and bone deformity. In RA patients, sight-threatening inflammatory eye complications would be expected. Objective: The objective of the study is to ascertain the macular retinal vessel density changes in RA patients and controls using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and to investigate the association between disease and microvascular density alterations. Methods: A total of 12 RA patients (24 eyes) and 12 age- and gender-matched control participants (24 eyes) were recruited to the study. We used the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study partitioning, hemispheric quadrants and annular partitioning to segment each image into different subregions. The vascular density of superficial retina layer, deep retina layer and conjunctival capillary plexus was quantitatively measured by OCTA and compared with the control group. Correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship between STMI and conjunctival capillaries densities. Results: In the superficial retinal layer, the vascular density of S, I, L, SL, SR, IL and C1-C5 were significantly decreased in the RA group compared with the control group (P<0.05). For the deep retinal layer, the vascular density of S, SL, SR, IL, C1, C2 and C4 also decreased in RA group. A significant positive correlation was indicated between conjunctival vascular and STMI densities (r = 0.713, P<0.05). Conclusion: OCTA results suggest that RA patients present with a reduced macular retinal vascular density. These subtle alterations of ocular microcirculation may precede severe eye involvements and may be a potential biomarker for early distinguishing abnormal eyes from healthy eyes

Estimating Mass of Sigma-Meson and Study on Application of the Linear Sigma-Model

Whether the $\sigma-meson$ ($f_0(600)$) exists as a real particle is a long-standing problem in both particle physics and nuclear physics. In this work, we analyze the deuteron binding energy in the linear $\sigma$ model and by fitting the data, we are able to determine the range of $m_{\sigma}$ and also investigate applicability of the linear $\sigma$ model for the interaction between hadrons in the energy region of MeV's. Our result shows that the best fit to the data of the deuteron binding energy and other experimental data about deuteron advocates a narrow range for the $\sigma-$meson mass as $520\leq m_{\sigma}\leq 580$ MeV and the concrete values depend on the input parameters such as the couplings. Inversely fitting the experimental data, our results set constraints on the couplings. The other relevant phenomenological parameters in the model are simultaneously obtained.Comment: 12 page