A finer grained approach to psychological capital and work performance

Purpose Psychological capital is a set of personal resources comprised by hope, efficacy, optimism, and resilience, which previous research has supported as being valuable for general work performance. However, in today’s organizations, a multidimensional approach is required to understanding work performance, thus, we aimed to determine whether psychological capital improves proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity, and also whether hope, efficiency, resilience, and optimism have a differential contribution to the same outcomes. Analyzing the temporal meaning of each psychological capital dimension, this paper theorizes the relative weights of psychological capital dimensions on proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity, proposing also that higher relative weight dimensions are helpful to cope with job demands and perform well. Methodology Two survey studies, the first based on cross-sectional data and the second on two waves of data, were conducted with employees from diverse organizations, who provided measures of their psychological capital, work performance, and job demands. Data was modeled with regression analysis together with relative weights analysis. Findings Relative weights for dimensions of psychological capital were supported as having remarkable unique contributions for proficient, adaptive, and proactive behavior, particularly when job demands were high. Originality/Value We concluded that organizations facing high job demands should implement actions to enhance psychological capital dimensions; however, those actions should focus on the specific criterion of performance of interest

Moderation in management research: What, why, when and how.

Many theories in management, psychology, and other disciplines rely on moderating variables: those which affect the strength or nature of the relationship between two other variables. Despite the near-ubiquitous nature of such effects, the methods for testing and interpreting them are not always well understood. This article introduces the concept of moderation and describes how moderator effects are tested and interpreted for a series of model types, beginning with straightforward two-way interactions with Normal outcomes, moving to three-way and curvilinear interactions, and then to models with non-Normal outcomes including binary logistic regression and Poisson regression. In particular, methods of interpreting and probing these latter model types, such as simple slope analysis and slope difference tests, are described. It then gives answers to twelve frequently asked questions about testing and interpreting moderator effects

Materials for Incorporating I/O into an Introductory Psychology Course

The following materials were created by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in an effort to produce some “shovel-ready” modules for incorporating I-O Psychology topics directly into Introductory Psychology courses. Although interest in I-O psychology has grown among students, very few introductory psychology textbooks cover the topic. Therefore, we have designed modules that correspond directly with the topics typically discussed in introductory psychology courses (e.g. Biopsychology in the workplace, Memory and Job Performance, etc.) that can be “cut-and-pasted” into already prepared lectures

Ottimizzazione dei protocolli di vinificazione per modulare l'espressione tiolica del Sauvignon blanc

La gestione biotecnologica di cantina è fattore rilevante nell’esaltazione dell’aroma tropicale dei vini. L’uso di enzimi di macerazione ha aumentato la concentrazione di precursori nel mosto e determinato un aumento delle molecole aromatiche nel vino. L’apporto di un attivante di fermentazione ha incrementato la capacità del lievito di produrre i tioli associati alla tipicità del Sauvignon Blanc, in particolare del 4-mercapto-4-metilpentan-2-one

Metagenomic changes in response to antibiotic treatment in severe orthopedic trauma patients

We investigated changes in microbiome composition and abundance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes post-antibiotic treatment in severe trauma patients. Shotgun sequencing revealed beta diversity (Bray-Curtis) differences between 16 hospitalized multiple rib fractures patients and 10 age- and sex-matched controls (p = 0.043), and between antibiotic-treated and untreated patients (p = 0.015). Antibiotic-treated patients had lower alpha diversity (Shannon) at discharge (p = 0.003) and 12-week post-discharge (p = 0.007). At 12 weeks, they also exhibited a 5.50-fold (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.86–8.15) increase in Escherichia coli (p = 0.0004) compared to controls. Differential analysis identified nine AMRs that increased in antibiotic-treated compared to untreated patients between hospital discharge and 6 and 12 weeks follow-up (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.20). Two aminoglycoside genes and a beta-lactamase gene were directly related to antibiotics administered, while five were unrelated. In trauma patients, lower alpha diversity, higher abundance of pathobionts, and increases in AMRs persisted for 12 weeks post-discharge, suggesting prolonged microbiome disruption. Probiotic or symbiotic therapies may offer future treatment avenues

Physician Practice Patterns and Variation in the Delivery of Preventive Services

BACKGROUND: Strategies to improve preventive services delivery (PSD) have yielded modest effects. A multidimensional approach that examines distinctive configurations of physician attributes, practice processes, and contextual factors may be informative in understanding delivery of this important form of care. OBJECTIVE: We identified naturally occurring configurations of physician practice characteristics (PPCs) and assessed their association with PSD, including variation within configurations. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred thirty-eight family physicians in 84 community practices and 4,046 outpatient visits. MEASUREMENTS: Physician knowledge, attitudes, use of tools and staff, and practice patterns were assessed by ethnographic and survey methods. PSD was assessed using direct observation of the visit and medical record review. Cluster analysis identified unique configurations of PPCs. A priori hypotheses of the configurations likely to perform the best on PSD were tested using a multilevel random effects model. RESULTS: Six distinct PPC configurations were identified. Although PSD significantly differed across configurations, mean differences between configurations with the lowest and highest PSD were small (i.e., 3.4, 7.7, and 10.8 points for health behavior counseling, screening, and immunizations, respectively, on a 100-point scale). Hypotheses were not confirmed. Considerable variation of PSD rates within configurations was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Similar rates of PSD can be attained through diverse physician practice configurations. Significant within-configuration variation may reflect dynamic interactions between PPCs as well as between these characteristics and the contexts in which physicians function. Striving for a single ideal configuration may be less valuable for improving PSD than understanding and leveraging existing characteristics within primary care practices

Speech disorders did not correlate with age at onset of Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACT Speech disorders are common manifestations of Parkinson´s disease. Objective To compare speech articulation in patients according to age at onset of the disease. Methods Fifty patients was divided into two groups: Group I consisted of 30 patients with age at onset between 40 and 55 years; Group II consisted of 20 patients with age at onset after 65 years. All patients were evaluated based on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores, Hoehn and Yahr scale and speech evaluation by perceptual and acoustical analysis. Results There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding neurological involvement and speech characteristics. Correlation analysis indicated differences in speech articulation in relation to staging and axial scores of rigidity and bradykinesia for middle and late-onset. Conclusions Impairment of speech articulation did not correlate with age at onset of disease, but was positively related with disease duration and higher scores in both groups

Mining Big Data for Tourist Hot Spots: Geographical Patterns of Online Footprints

Understanding the complex, and often unequal, spatiality of tourist demand in urban contexts requires other methodologies, among which the information base available online and in social networks has gained prominence. Innovation supported by Information and Communication Technologies in terms of data access and data exchange has emerged as a complementary supporting tool for the more traditional data collection techniques currently in use, particularly, in urban destinations where there is the need to more (near)real-time monitoring. The capacity to collect and analise massive amounts of data on individual and group behaviour is leading to new data-rich research approaches. This chapter addresses the potential for discovering geographical insights regarding tourists’ spatial patterns within a destination, based on the analysis of geotagged data available from two social networks. ·info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio