How Dare to Demand This from Volunteers! The Impact of Illegitimate Tasks

The present study examined the effect of illegitimate tasks (Semmer et al. Appl Psychol Int Rev 59:70-96, 2010) within the volunteer context. A total of 191 Red Cross volunteers were surveyed to reveal the impact of unreasonable and unnecessary tasks on the volunteers' work engagement and intent to remain at the non-profit organization (NPO). To shed light on the process through which illegitimate tasks affect outcomes, the mediating role of self-determined motivation was explored. Furthermore, the volunteers' role orientation was assumed to moderate the relationship between illegitimate tasks and outcomes. The results showed that unreasonable tasks directly decreased the volunteers' intent to remain. Unnecessary tasks, in contrast, had a more subtle effect in that they reduced the self-determined motivation of volunteers. Also, evidence was found for the moderating influence of the volunteers' role orientation: Whereas unreasonable tasks were equally harmful for both groups, unnecessary tasks more strongly affected those volunteers who expressed more organizational ownership

MIBG scans in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma reveal two metastatic patterns, one is associated with MYCN amplification and in MYCN-amplified tumours correlates with a better prognosis

Methods: Diagnostic 123I-MIBG scans from 249 patients (123 from a European and 126 from the COG cohort) were assessed for metastatic spread in 14 body segments and the form of the lesions: “focal” (clear margins distinguishable from adjacent background) or “diffuse” (indistinct margins, dispersed throughout the body segment). The total numbers of diffuse and focal lesions were recorded. Patients were then categorized as having lesions exclusively focal, lesions more focal than diffuse, lesions more diffuse than focal, or lesions exclusively diffuse.Results: Diffuse lesions affected a median of seven body segments and focal lesions a median of two body segments (P < 0.001, both cohorts). Patients with a focal pattern had a median of 2 affected body segments and those with a diffuse pattern a median of 11 affected body segments (P < 0.001, both cohorts). Thus, two MIBG-avid metastatic patterns emerged: “limited-focal” and “extensive-diffuse”. The median numbers of affected body segments in MYCN-amplified (MNA) tumours were 5 (European cohort) and 4 (COG cohort) compared to 9 and 11, respectively, in single-copy MYCN (MYCNsc) tumours (P < 0.001). Patients with exclusively focal metastases were more likely to have a MNA tumour (60 % and 70 %, respectively) than patients with the other types of metastases (23 % and 28 %, respectively; P < 0.001). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis, focal metastases were associated with a better event-free and overall survival than the other types of metastases in patients with MNA tumours in the COG cohort (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Two metastatic patterns were found: a “limited and focal” pattern found mainly in patients with MNA neuroblastoma that correlated with prognosis, and an “extensive and diffuse” pattern found mainly in patients with MYCNsc neuroblastoma.Purpose: The aim of this study was to find clinically relevant MIBG-avid metastatic patterns in patients with newly diagnosed stage 4 neuroblastoma

How Dare to Demand This from Volunteers! The Impact of Illegitimate Tasks

The present study examined the effect of illegitimate tasks (Semmer et al. Appl Psychol Int Rev 59:70–96, 2010) within the volunteer context. A total of 191 Red Cross volunteers were surveyed to reveal the impact of unreasonable and unnecessary tasks on the volunteers’ work engagement and intent to remain at the non-profit organization (NPO). To shed light on the process through which illegitimate tasks affect outcomes, the mediating role of self-determined motivation was explored. Furthermore, the volunteers’ role orientation was assumed to moderate the relationship between illegitimate tasks and outcomes. The results showed that unreasonable tasks directly decreased the volunteers’ intent to remain. Unnecessary tasks, in contrast, had a more subtle effect in that they reduced the self-determined motivation of volunteers. Also, evidence was found for the moderating influence of the volunteers’ role orientation: Whereas unreasonable tasks were equally harmful for both groups, unnecessary tasks more strongly affected those volunteers who expressed more organizational ownership

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The Benefits of Ethical Behaviors of Leaders

Ethical scandals in business have led to calls for more ethical or moral leadership. Yet, we still know very little about what characterizes ethical leadership and what its positive consequences actually are. We argue that the major question is not about what leaders value, but rather whether their ethical values are regularly reflected in behavioral patterns across situations and situational challenges. To address this, we have begun to build the Ethical Leadership Behavior Scale, which is based on behaviors reflecting concrete manifestations of ethical values (e.g., fairness, respect) across occasions and situational barriers. A study with 592 employees of 110 work units in two departments provided a first test of this scale and demonstrated that the level of ethical leadership behavior predicts important work-related attitudes (job satisfaction, work engagement, affective organizational commitment) and outcomes (health complaints, emotional exhaustion, absenteeism)

How the Organizational Context Impacts Volunteers: A Differentiated Perspective on Self-determined Motivation

The aim of the present study was to examine how the organizational context of a non-profit organization (NPO) influences the motivation and work behaviors of volunteers. We hypothesized that the organizational context—operationalized by the motivational potential of the tasks, autonomy supportiveness of the supervisor, and value congruence between volunteer and NPO—can benefit or thwart self-determined motivation, which in turn predicts work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). In particular, the innovative aim of the study was to differentiate between general and organization-focused self-determined motivation (general and organization-focused SDM). Structural Equation Modeling revealed a distinction based on data from 2,222 volunteers: general SDM was related to the motivational potential of the task, whereas value congruence accounted for organization-focused SDM. Autonomy supportiveness of the supervisor similarly influenced both foci. Furthermore, general SDM enhanced work engagement, whereas OCB was solely linked to organization-focused SDM

MIBG scans in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma reveal two metastatic patterns, one is associated with MYCN amplification and in MYCN-amplified tumours correlates with a better prognosis

textabstractMethods: Diagnostic 123I-MIBG scans from 249 patients (123 from a European and 126 from the COG cohort) were assessed for metastatic spread in 14 body segments and the form of the lesions: “focal” (clear margins distinguishable from adjacent background) or “diffuse” (indistinct margins, dispersed throughout the body segment). The total numbers of diffuse and focal lesions were recorded. Patients were then categorized as having lesions exclusively focal, lesions more focal than diffuse, lesions more diffuse than focal, or lesions exclusively diffuse.Results: Diffuse lesions affected a median of seven body segments and focal lesions a median of two body segments (P < 0.001, both cohorts). Patients with a focal pattern had a median of 2 affected body segments and those with a diffuse pattern a median of 11 affected body segments (P < 0.001, both cohorts). Thus, two MIBG-avid metastatic patterns emerged: “limited-focal” and “extensive-diffuse”. The median numbers of affected body segments in MYCN-amplified (MNA) tumours were 5 (European cohort) and 4 (COG cohort) compared to 9 and 11, respectively, in single-copy MYCN (MYCNsc) tumours (P < 0.001). Patients with exclusively focal metastases were more likely to have a MNA tumour (60 % and 70 %, respectively) than patients with the other types of metastases (23 % and 28 %, respectively; P < 0.001). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis, focal metastases were associated with a better event-free and overall survival than the other types of metastases in patients with MNA tumours in the COG cohort (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Two metastatic patterns were found: a “limited and focal” pattern found mainly in patients with MNA neuroblastoma that correlated with prognosis, and an “extensive and diffuse” pattern found mainly in patients with MYCNsc neuroblastoma.Purpose: The aim of this study was to find clinically relevant MIBG-avid metastatic patterns in patients with newly diagnosed stage 4 neuroblastoma

Intrapartum-related neonatal encephalopathy incidence and impairment at regional and global levels for 2010 with trends from 1990.

BACKGROUND: Intrapartum hypoxic events ("birth asphyxia") may result in stillbirth, neonatal or postneonatal mortality, and impairment. Systematic morbidity estimates for the burden of impairment outcomes are currently limited. Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) following an intrapartum hypoxic event is a strong predictor of long-term impairment. METHODS: Linear regression modeling was conducted on data identified through systematic reviews to estimate NE incidence and time trends for 184 countries. Meta-analyses were undertaken to estimate the risk of NE by sex of the newborn, neonatal case fatality rate, and impairment risk. A compartmental model estimated postneonatal survivors of NE, depending on access to care, and then the proportion of survivors with impairment. Separate modeling for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 (GBD2010) study estimated disability adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life with disability (YLDs), and years of life lost (YLLs) attributed to intrapartum-related events. RESULTS: In 2010, 1.15 million babies (uncertainty range: 0.89-1.60 million; 8.5 cases per 1,000 live births) were estimated to have developed NE associated with intrapartum events, with 96% born in low- and middle-income countries, as compared with 1.60 million in 1990 (11.7 cases per 1,000 live births). An estimated 287,000 (181,000-440,000) neonates with NE died in 2010; 233,000 (163,000-342,000) survived with moderate or severe neurodevelopmental impairment; and 181,000 (82,000-319,000) had mild impairment. In GBD2010, intrapartum-related conditions comprised 50.2 million DALYs (2.4% of total) and 6.1 million YLDs. CONCLUSION: Intrapartum-related conditions are a large global burden, mostly due to high mortality in low-income countries. Universal coverage of obstetric care and neonatal resuscitation would prevent most of these deaths and disabilities. Rates of impairment are highest in middle-income countries where neonatal intensive care was more recently introduced, but quality may be poor. In settings without neonatal intensive care, the impairment rate is low due to high mortality, which is relevant for the scale-up of basic neonatal resuscitation

Attached and Unattached Bacterial Communities in a 120-Meter Corehole in an Acidic, Crystalline Rock Aquifer

The bacteria colonizing geologic core sections (attached) were contrasted with those found suspended in the groundwater (unattached) by examining the microbiology of 16 depth-paired core and groundwater samples using a suite of culture-independent and culture-dependent analyses. One hundred twenty-two meters was continuously cored from a buried chalcopyrite ore hosted in a biotite-quartz-monzonite porphyry at the Mineral Park Mine near Kingman, Ariz. Every fourth 1.5-m core was acquired using microbiologically defensible methods, and these core sections were aseptically processed for characterization of the attached bacteria. Groundwater samples containing unattached bacteria were collected from the uncased corehole at depth intervals corresponding to the individual cores using an inflatable straddle packer sampler. The groundwater was acidic (pH 2.8 to 5.0), with low levels of dissolved oxygen and high concentrations of sulfate and metals, including ferrous iron. Total numbers of attached cells were less than 10(5) cells g of core material(−1) while unattached cells numbered about 10(5) cells ml of groundwater(−1). Attached and unattached acidophilic heterotrophs were observed throughout the depth profile. In contrast, acidophilic chemolithotrophs were not found attached to the rock but were commonly observed in the groundwater. Attached communities were composed of low numbers (<40 CFU g(−1)) of neutrophilic heterotrophs that exhibited a high degree of morphologic diversity, while unattached communities contained higher numbers (ca. 10(3) CFU ml(−1)) of neutrophilic heterotrophs of limited diversity. Sulfate-reducing bacteria were restricted to the deepest samples of both core and groundwater. 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis of attached, acidophilic isolates indicated that organisms closely related to heterotrophic, acidophilic mesophiles such as Acidiphilium organovorum and, surprisingly, to the moderately thermophilic Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius were present. The results indicate that viable (but possibly inactive) microorganisms were present in the buried ore and that there was substantial distinction in biomass and physiological capabilities between attached and unattached populations