Comparing two work-engagement scales: Relationships with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and workaholism

Although research on work engagement has made great progress over the past 10 years, how best to measure work engagement is still an open question. The aim of the present study was to compare two multidimensional scales measuring work engagement: the popular and widely used Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003) capturing vigor, dedication and absorption and the newly developed ISA Engagement Scale (ISAES; Soane, Truss, Alfes, Shantz, Rees, & Gatenby, 2012) capturing intellectual, affective, and social engagement. When examining the intercorrelations of the scales’ total and subscale scores and their relationships with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and workaholism in a sample of 130 employees, results showed that—even though UWES and ISAES total and subscale scores showed considerable overlap—they captured unique variance in the outcome variables, indicating that the two scales tap different aspects of engagement. Based on the present and previous findings (Soane et al., 2012), we recommend to use both scales when measuring work engagement to capture all aspects of the construct and gain a better understanding of how different aspects of work engagement contribute to outcomes that are of key interest to organizational and occupational psychology

Mitochondrial survivin reduces oxidative phosphorylation in cancer cells by inhibiting mitophagy.

Survivin is a cancer-associated protein that is pivotal for cellular life and death: it is an essential mitotic protein and an inhibitor of apoptosis. In cancer cells, a small pool of survivin localises to the mitochondria, the function of which remains to be elucidated. Here, we report that mitochondrial survivin inhibits the selective form of autophagy, called “mitophagy”, causing an accumulation of respiratory defective mitochondria. Mechanistically the data reveal that survivin prevents recruitment of the E3-ubiquitin ligase Parkin to mitochondria and their subsequent recognition by the autophagosome. The data also demonstrate that, as a consequence of this blockade, cells expressing high levels of survivin have an increased dependency on anaerobic glycolysis. As these effects were found exclusively in cancer cells they suggest that the primary act of mitochondrial survivin is to force cells to implement the “Warburg Effect” by inhibiting mitochondrial turnover

Midstream Challenges and Downstream Opportunities in the Tri-State Region

To date, much of the work evaluating economic development opportunity resulting from shale has focused primarily on the upstream (exploration and production) side of the oil gas business. However, it has been apparent for some time that regional industries that transmit, process and consume natural gas would benefit greatly from a local source of cheap and abundant natural gas. Moreover, it has also become apparent that certain locations within the Marcellus and Utica shale formations produce gas rich in natural gas liquids (“NGLs”). The result has been the rapid development of a midstream infrastructure in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Further, NGLs, especially ethane, have applications as a feedstock for petrochemical companies. This in turn has led economic development experts to consider the possibility of regional growth in the downstream petrochemical industry

Midstream Challenges and Downstream Opportunities in the Tri-State Region

To date, much of the work evaluating economic development opportunity resulting from shale has focused primarily on the upstream (exploration and production) side of the oil gas business. However, it has been apparent for some time that regional industries that transmit, process and consume natural gas would benefit greatly from a local source of cheap and abundant natural gas. Moreover, it has also become apparent that certain locations within the Marcellus and Utica shale formations produce gas rich in natural gas liquids (“NGLs”). The result has been the rapid development of a midstream infrastructure in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Further, NGLs, especially ethane, have applications as a feedstock for petrochemical companies. This in turn has led economic development experts to consider the possibility of regional growth in the downstream petrochemical industry

The social utility of art, 1870-1925: aestheticism and the reading public in the works of Amy Levy and Vernon Lee

Traditionally, our idea of late-19th-century British Aestheticism has been understood as a socially-disengaged cultural movement. However, as Paul Tucker noted, Walter Pater suggests that aesthetic consumption can be ethically-engaged when informed by a 'scholarly conscience.' The following study is concerned with writers Amy Levy (1861-1889) and Vernon Lee (1856-1935), whose dissatisfaction with the social elitism of the Paterian critic and interest in the public sphere, prompted a re-theorisation of the relationship between art's aesthetic value and its social utility. Surveying the breadth of each writer's critical and fictional works, I argue that whilst Levy and Lee extend Aestheticism to a broader reading public, the term 'public' is something of a misnomer. Their oeuvres are not, in principle, open to anyone. Both well-educated writers, Lee and Levy do not forfeit their intellectual integrity and creative esteem; instead, both mediate between aesthetic perfectionism and social utility. Recently, Nicholas Shrimpton has asserted that: 'Art for Art's Sake is not a mark of triviality,' but instead 'the guarantee of [...] professional and intellectual integrity.' As figures on the outskirts of accepted notions of readership, securing professional and intellectual integrity is an important authorial strategy for both Levy and Lee. Overall, this study sheds a fresh light on what the term 'New Aestheticism' means: whilst it extends our more traditional definition of Aestheticism-- by enabling us to consider a broader range of socially-marginalised figures as actively participating within it-- this revised definition still regards Aestheticism as a movement that selects and excludes

Fiscal and Economic Impact Analysis of Proposed Nexus Natural Gas Pipeline on the City of Green, Ohio

In 2014 Spectra Energy (“Spectra”) and DTE Energy announced plans to build a high-pressure natural gas transmission pipeline (called “Nexus”) that would run from the Utica-Marcellus region near eastern Ohio across northern Ohio, into Michigan, and ultimately into Chicago and Ontario, Canada. The stated purpose for building the proposed pipeline is to take anticipated “growing” gas supplies produced from the Appalachian Basin to the “high demand” markets in Ohio, Michigan, Chicago and Ontario. Nexus proposes 250 miles of high pressure, 36 inch diameter pipeline capable of carrying around 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. However the route proposed by Nexus takes the pipeline through some of Ohio’s fastest growing and most prosperous communities. In particular, the pipeline route promises to disrupt development plans in the City of Green (Summit County). Importantly, as will be shown in the discussion below, the proposed route will render useless large portions of prime industrial and commercially zoned land that Green has earmarked for near term development. Much of this land is next to the Akron-Canton airport, and is of considerable interest to the business community. Accordingly, the City of Green has proposed to Nexus an alternate route that accomplishes Nexus’s goals of moving natural gas from Appalachia to Michigan and Ontario. The alternate route, which could be built for about the same cost as Nexus’s plan, bypasses and spares the fast growing City of Green, instead taking the pipeline through a more rural area. With proper planning, potential negative impacts on future industrial or commercial development could be minimized by using an alternate route in a more rural setting. Although we expect that property value and tax losses, if any, would be minimal for the alternate route, these results are not set forth here. The route currently proposed through the City of Green would, however, lead to uneconomic remnant parcels, as well as devalued or stranded residential parcels. The proposed route is shown on Exhibit 1 (both panels). Over the life of the pipeline, this would in turn lead to very substantial losses in property taxes and income tax for the City of Green. In short, while there may be compelling reasons for the pipeline to be built, and while it may be beneficial for portions of Ohio in terms of taxes and construction jobs, the current route leaves the City of Green to suffer disproportionately the losses the pipeline will cause. The following discussion sets forth the basis for this determination

Examining the dimensions and correlates of workplace stress among Australian veterinarians

Background: Although stress is known to be a common occupational health issue in the veterinary profession, few studies have investigated its broad domains or the internal validity of the survey instrument used for assessment. Methods: We analysed data from over 500 veterinarians in Queensland, Australia, who were surveyed during 2006-07. Results: The most common causes of stress were reported to be long hours worked per day, not having enough holidays per year, not having enough rest breaks per day, the attitude of customers, lack of recognition from the public and not having enough time per patient. Age, gender and practice type were statistically associated with various aspects of work-related stress. Strong correlations were found between having too many patients per day and not having enough time per patient; between not having enough holidays and long working hours; and also between not enough rest breaks per day and long working hours. Factor analysis revealed four dimensions of stress comprising a mixture of career, professional and practice-related items. The internal validity of our stress questionnaire was shown to be high during statistical analysis. Conclusion: Overall, this study suggests that workplace stress is fairly common among Australian veterinarians and represents an issue that occupies several distinct areas within their professional life