Great successes and great failures: The impact of project leader status on project performance and performance extremeness

Research supporting the Matthew Effect demonstrates that high-status actors experience performance benefits due to increased recognition of their work and greater opportunities and resources, but recent research also indicates that high-status actors face a greater risk of negative performance evaluations. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the status literature by reconciling these findings and ask: To what extent does status influence heterogeneity in performance evaluations? We explore how project leader status affects the performance of innovation projects in the video game industry. We hypothesize that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between project leader status and project performance, and a positive relationship between project leader status and performance extremeness (i.e., performance variation). In order to test our hypotheses, we analyzed the performance of video game projects and computed the status of project leaders by applying a project affiliation social network analysis. We find that an intermediate level of status—neither too much nor too little—is positively associated with average project performance. We also reveal more extreme performance effects for high-status leaders: While some achieve superior project performance, others experience significant project failures. We therefore provide important theoretical and practical insights regarding how status affects the implementation of innovations. We also discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on middle-status conformity

Irrational Resistance or Irrational Support? Performance Effects of Project Leader Status

In this study, we explore the effects of project leader status in new product development projects. We predict and find that that project leader status increases project performance up to a certain point after which it decreases performance. Further, status increases the variability of project performance, that is, it leads to more extreme performance in both directions

Perceptions Of School By Two Teenage Boys With Asperger Syndrome And Their Mothers: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study aimed to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by teenage boys with Asperger syndrome and their mothers. A case study approach was used to collect data from two 13-year-old boys who have Asperger syndrome and their mothers in Queensland, Australia. Data were collected through the use of semi¬structured interviews. The words of the boys and their mothers provide a valuable insight into the personal experiences and feelings of the par¬ticipants. An inductive approach to data analysis identified four themes: (1) developmental differences; (2) problems associated with the general characteristics of Asperger syndrome (i.e. communication and social difficulties, restricted range of interests, a need for routine); (3) stress; and (4) 'masquerading'. The first three themes relate strongly to the current literature, but the emergence of masquerading is of particular interest in developing a fuller understanding of the experiences of individuals with Asperger syndrome at school

Photophysical characterizations of 2-(4-Biphenylyl)-5 phenyl-1,3,4- oxadiazole in restricted geometry

Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of nonamphiphilic 2-(4-Biphenylyl)-5 phenyl-1,3,4- oxadiazole (abbreviated as PBD) mixed with stearic acid (SA) as well as also with the inert polymer matrix poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) have been studied. Surface pressure versus area per molecule (-A) isotherms studies suggest that PBD molecules very likely stand vertically on the air-water interface and this arrangement allows the PBD molecules to form stacks and remain sandwiched between SA/PMMA molecules. At lower surface pressure phase separation between PBD and matrix molecules occur resulting due to repulsive interaction. However at higher surface pressure PBD molecules form aggregates. The UV-Vis absorption and Steady state fluorescence spectroscopic studies of the mixed LB films of PBD reveal the nature of the aggregates. H-type aggregates predominates in the mixed LB films whereas I-type aggregates predominates in the PBD-PMMA spin coated films. The degree of deformation produced in the electronic levels are largely affected by the film thickness and the surface pressure of lifting.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Structural neuroimaging correlates of social deficits are similar in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: analysis from the POND Network

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been associated with difficulties recognizing and responding to social cues. Neuroimaging studies have begun to map the social brain; however, the specific neural substrates contributing to social deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders remain unclear. Three hundred and twelve children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging of the brain (controls = 32, OCD = 44, ADHD = 77, ASD = 159; mean age = 11). Their social deficits were quantified on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). Multivariable regression models were used to examine the structural neuroimaging correlates of social deficits, with both a region of interest and a whole-brain vertex-wise approach. For the region of interest analysis, social brain regions were grouped into three networks: (1) lateral mentalization (e.g., temporal–parietal junction), (2) frontal cognitive (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex), and (3) subcortical affective (e.g., limbic system) regions. Overall, social communication deficits on the SCQ were associated with thinner cortices in the left lateral regions and the right insula, and decreased volume in the ventral striatum, across diagnostic groups (p = 0.006 to \u3c0.0001). Smaller subcortical volumes were associated with more severe social deficits on the SCQ in ASD and ADHD, and less severe deficits in OCD. On the RMET, larger amygdala/hippocampal volumes were associated with fewer deficits across groups. Overall, patterns of associations were similar in ASD and ADHD, supporting a common underlying biology and the blurring of the diagnostic boundaries between these disorders

Muscle thixotropy: more than just cross-bridges?

AbstractAlthough Campbell and Lakie in a Comment to the Editor in this issue of Biophysical Journal suggested that exclusive cross-bridge action is behind muscle thixotropy, recent findings and our preliminary observations suggest that additional mechanisms could also be involved

Toward precision therapeutics: general and specific factors differentiate symptom change in depressed adolescents.

BACKGROUND: The longitudinal course of multiple symptom domains in adolescents treated for major depression is not known. Revealing the temporal course of general and specific psychopathology factors, including potential differences between psychotherapies, may aid therapeutic decision-making. METHODS: Participants were adolescents with major depressive disorder (aged 11-17; 75% female; N = 465) who were part of the IMPACT trial, a randomized controlled trial comparing cognitive behavioral therapy, short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and brief psychosocial intervention. Self-reported symptoms at baseline and 6, 12, 36, 52, and 86 weeks postrandomization were analyzed with bifactor modeling. RESULTS: General psychopathology factor scores decreased across treatment and one-year follow-up. Specific melancholic features and depressive cognitions factors decreased from baseline to 6 weeks. Conduct problems decreased across treatment and follow-up. Anxiety increased by 6 weeks and then reverted to baseline levels. Obsessions-compulsions did not change. Changes in general and specific factors were not significantly different between the three psychotherapies during treatment. During follow-up, however, conduct problems decreased more in brief psychosocial intervention versus cognitive behavioral therapy (1.02, 95% Bayes credible interval 0.25, 1.96), but not versus short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical response signature in this trial is best revealed by rapid reductions in depression symptoms and general psychopathology. Protracted improvements in general psychopathology and conduct problems subsequently occur. Psychosocial treatments for adolescent depression have comparable effects on general and specific psychopathology, although a psychoeducational, goal-focused approach may be indicated for youth with comorbid conduct problems

Behavioral and Transcriptome Profiling of Heterozygous Rab10 Knock-Out Mice

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.A central question in the field of aging research is to identify the cellular and molecular basis of neuroresilience. One potential candidate is the small GTPase, Rab10. Here, we used Rab101/ mice to investigate the molecular mecha-nisms underlying Rab10-mediated neuroresilience. Brain expression analysis of 880 genes involved in neurodegener-ation showed that Rab101/ mice have increased activation of pathways associated with neuronal metabolism, structural integrity, neurotransmission, and neuroplasticity compared with their Rab101/1 littermates. Lower activation was observed for pathways involved in neuroinflammation and aging. We identified and validated several differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including Stx2, Stx1b, Vegfa, and Lrrc25 (downregulated) and Prkaa2, Syt4, and Grin2d (upregulated). Behavioral testing showed that Rab101/ mice perform better in a hippocampal-dependent spatial task (object in place test), while their performance in a classical conditioning task (trace eyeblink classical condition-ing, TECC) was significantly impaired. Therefore, our findings indicate that Rab10 differentially controls the brain cir-cuitry of hippocampal-dependent spatial memory and higher-order behavior that requires intact cortex-hippocampal circuitry. Transcriptome and biochemical characterization of these mice suggest that glutamate ionotropic receptor NMDA type subunit 2D (GRIN2D or GluN2D) is affected by Rab10 signaling. Further work is needed to evaluate whether GRIN2D mediates the behavioral phenotypes of the Rab101/ mice. We conclude that Rab101/ mice de-scribed here can be a valuable tool to study the mechanisms of resilience in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model mice and to identify novel therapeutical targets to prevent cognitive decline associated with normal and pathologic aging.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphisms are Differentially Associated with Social Abilities across Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Oxytocin is a pituitary neuropeptide that affects social behaviour. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) have been shown to explain some variability in social abilities in control populations. Whether these variants similarly contribute to the severity of social deficits experienced by children with neurodevelopmental disorders is unclear. Social abilities were assessed in a group of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 341) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, n = 276) using two established social measures. Scores were compared by OXTR genotype (rs53576, rs237887, rs13316193, rs2254298). Unexpectedly, the two most frequently studied OXTR SNPs in the general population (rs53576 and rs2254298) were associated with an increased severity of social deficits in ASD (p \u3c 0.0001 and p = 0.0005), yet fewer social deficits in ADHD (p = 0.007 and p \u3c 0.0001). We conclude that these genetic modifier alleles are not inherently risk-conferring with respect to their impact on social abilities; molecular investigations are greatly needed