Research into the psychological contract: Two Australian perspectives

Despite their increasing relevance, employees’ psychological contracts have attracted little research attention in Australia. The present paper presents two studies, which examined the psychological contracts of specific cohorts of professional employees and those in a managerial career track. The first study was an in-depth qualitative investigation of research scientists in an Australian public sector research organisation. They were found to have a strong professional affiliation and had developed psychological contracts that were best understood by reference to the ‘ideological currency’ of the scientific community. The second study was a quantitative examination of 156 MBA students at an Australian university, and how their psychological contracts could be related to perceptions of the contextual variables of organisational justice, perceived organisational support and external employability. Organisational justice and perceived organisational support were found to be related to the nature of the psychological contracts measured, but perceptions of external employability were not

Fluidassoziierte Brekzien als Monitor dolomitisierender und dedolomitisierender Lösungsströme in der Kantabrischen Zone (Nordspanien)

Die zentrale Fragestellung dieser Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den tektonischen Brekzien der Barcaliente Formation und ihrer Dolomit- und Calcitzemente, die auf eine hohe Fluidbeteiligung hindeuten. Ob die Strukturen der Brekzien in den Störungszonen durch Fluidüberdruck erzeugt und die Prozesse vergleichbar sind, wurde an vier Lokalitäten (I. Ponga-Meré, II. Ponga-Priesca, III. Esla - Pico Jano, IV. Picos - La Hermida) im östlichen Teil der Kantabrischen Zone mittels Petrographie, Kathodolumineszenz, Crushing, Mikrothermometrie, Ramananalyse, kombinierte Raman-Mikrothermometrie und Ermittlung der stabilen Isotopenzusammensetzung von Karbonaten untersucht. Alle vier Brekzien zeigen Anzeichen einer Dolomitisierung unter Ausbildung von fünf Dolomittypen (a und e Replacementdolomite, b,c und d Satteldolomite). Danach erfolgte in den Brekzienzonen eine Dedolomitisierung mit Ausfällung der Calcitzemente 2, 3 und 4. Calcit 1 könnte die älteste Zementation sein und vor den Dolomiten ausgefallen sein. Die mikrothermometrischen Untersuchungen von homogen eingeschlossenen Fluiden ergeben für die Dolomite a und b der Lokalitäten I, II und III minimale Bildungstemperaturen von 100-130 °C. Bei Lokalität IV. Picos (La Hermida) liegen die minimalen Bildungstemperaturren bei 170 °C für Dolomit d. Bei den Calciten 2, 3 und 4 betragen die minimalen Bildungstemperaturen für alle vier Brekzienlokalitäten 95-145 °C. Die d18O-Werte der Barcaliente Formation zeigen einen großen Schwankungsbereich (-12,73 bis 1,51 d18O ? PDB). Die d13C-Werte (PDB) zeigen keine große Varianz (2,56 bis 5,43 d13C ? PDB). Die Dolomite der Brekzienlokalitäten weisen geringere d18O- (PDB) und d13C-Werte auf. Die geringsten d18O- und d13C-Werte befinden sich in den Calciten. Die in dieser Arbeit vorgelegten Daten belegen, daß an vier verschiedenen Brekzienlokalitäten mit komplexen Zementationen über ein Gebiet von über 900 km2 ähnliche Prozesse abliefen

Adolescent standing postural response to backpack loads: a randomised controlled experimental study

BACKGROUND: Backpack loads produce changes in standing posture when compared with unloaded posture. Although 'poor' unloaded standing posture has been related to spinal pain, there is little evidence of whether, and how much, exposure to posterior load produces injurious effects on spinal tissue. The objective of this study was to describe the effect on adolescent sagittal plane standing posture of different loads and positions of a common design of school backpack. The underlying study aim was to test the appropriateness of two adult 'rules-of-thumb'-that for postural efficiency, backpacks should be worn high on the spine, and loads should be limited to 10% of body weight. METHOD: A randomised controlled experimental study was conducted on 250 adolescents (12–18 years), randomly selected from five South Australian metropolitan high schools. Sagittal view anatomical points were marked on head, neck, shoulder, hip, thigh, knee and ankle. There were nine experimental conditions: combinations of backpack loads (3, 5 or 10% of body weight) and positions (backpack centred at T7, T12 or L3). Sagittal plane photographs were taken of unloaded standing posture (baseline), and standing posture under the experimental conditions. Posture was quantified from the x (horizontal) coordinate of each anatomical point under each experimental condition. Differences in postural response were described, and differences between conditions were determined using Analysis of Variance models. RESULTS: Neither age nor gender was a significant factor when comparing postural response to backpack loads or conditions. Backpacks positioned at T7 produced the largest forward (horizontal) displacement at all the anatomical points. The horizontal position of all anatomical points increased linearly with load. CONCLUSION: There is evidence refuting the 'rule-of-thumb' to carry the backpack high on the back. Typical school backpacks should be positioned with the centre at waist or hip level. There is no evidence for the 10% body weight limit

Multiple CSLs for the body centered cubic lattice

Ordinary Coincidence Site Lattices (CSLs) are defined as the intersection of a lattice $\Gamma$ with a rotated copy $R\Gamma$ of itself. They are useful for classifying grain boundaries and have been studied extensively since the mid sixties. Recently the interests turned to so-called multiple CSLs, i.e. intersections of $n$ rotated copies of a given lattice $\Gamma$, in particular in connection with lattice quantizers. Here we consider multiple CSLs for the 3-dimensional body centered cubic lattice. We discuss the spectrum of coincidence indices and their multiplicity, in particular we show that the latter is a multiplicative function and give an explicit expression of it for some special cases.Comment: 4 pages, SSPCM (31 August - 7 September 2005, Myczkowce, Poland

Two distinct age groups of melilitites, foidites, and basanites from the southern Central European Volcanic Province reflect lithospheric heterogeneity

Petrographic observations and in situ U–Pb ages of melilitites, foidites, basanites, phonolites, and trachytes from the southern part of the Central European Volcanic Province (CEVP) and related plutonic inclusions therein reveal two distinct age groups separated by a gap of ~ 20 Myr. A late Cretaceous to early Eocene group (~ 73–47 Ma; Taunus, Lower Main plain, Odenwald and Kraichgau area, Bonndorfer Graben and Freiburger Bucht area, Vosges and Pfälzerwald) is characterized by nephelinites and basanites mostly devoid of melilite and perovskite, and by rare haüynites, and trachytes. In contrast, a late Oligocene to late Miocene group (~ 27–9 Ma; Lorraine, southern Upper Rhine Graben, Urach, Hegau area) is dominated by melilitites, melilite-bearing nephelinites (both carrying perovskite), and phonolites. Both magmatic episodes are related to domal topographic uplift, erosion, and formation of major angular unconformities in the Upper Rhine Graben, suggesting an association with dynamic topography interrupted by phases of subsidence (or abatements of uplift). The investigated rocks in the southern CEVP (south of a line Eifel–Vogelsberg–Rhön–Heldburg), except for the Kaiserstuhl volcanic complex, mostly comprise small and isolated occurrences or monogenetic volcanic fields, whereas the northern CEVP is dominated by large volcanic complexes and dyke swarms, which are mostly SiO$_2$-saturated to weakly SiO$_2$-undersaturated. In the northern CEVP, evidence of spatially varying but recurrent volcanic activity exists since the Eocene, lacking the distinct 20 Myr gap as documented from the southern CEVP. While the temporal and spatial distribution of volcanism are a result of the Cretaceous to Miocene tectonic evolution in Central Europe, further studies are needed to explain the petrographic differences between the two age groups in the south

The postural effects of load carriage on young people – a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Spinal pain in young people is a significant source of morbidity in industrialised countries. The carriage of posterior loads by young people has been linked with spinal pain, and the amount of postural change produced by load carriage has been used as a measure of the potential to cause tissue damage. The purpose of this review was to identify, appraise and collate the research evidence regarding load-carriage related postural changes in young people. METHODS: A systematic literature review sought published literature on the postural effects of load carriage in young people. Sixteen databases were searched, which covered the domains of allied health, childcare, engineering, health, health-research, health-science, medicine and medical sciences. Two independent reviewers graded the papers according to Lloyd-Smith's hierarchy of evidence scale. Papers graded between 1a (meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials) and 2b (well-designed quasi-experimental study) were eligible for inclusion in this review. These papers were quality appraised using a modified Crombie tool. The results informed the collation of research evidence from the papers sourced. RESULTS: Seven papers were identified for inclusion in this review. Methodological differences limited our ability to collate evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence based recommendations for load carriage in young people could not be made based on the results of this systematic review, therefore constraining the use of published literature to inform good load carriage practice for young people

Intepirdine as Adjunctive Therapy to Donepezil for Mild-To-Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 3 Clinical Trial (Mindset)

Introduction: A previous phase 2b study supported the use of the 5-HT6 receptor antagonist intepirdine as adjunctive therapy to donepezil for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) dementia. A phase 3 study, MINDSET, was performed to test this hypothesis. Methods: MINDSET was a global, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 1315 mild-to-moderate AD dementia patients on stable donepezil. Patients received 35 mg/day intepirdine or placebo for 24 weeks. The co-primary endpoints were change from baseline to week 24 on the Alzheimer\u27s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) and Alzheimer\u27s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL). Results: There were no statistically significant differences between intepirdine and placebo groups (adjusted mean [95% confidence interval]) on the co-primary endpoints ADAS-Cog (−0.36 [−0.95, 0.22], P = 0.2249) and ADCS-ADL (−0.09 [−0.90, 0.72], P = 0.8260). Intepirdine demonstrated a favorable safety profile similar to placebo. Discussion: Intepirdine as adjunctive therapy to donepezil did not produce statistical improvement over placebo on cognition or activities of daily living in mild-to-moderate AD dementia patients