Teacher burnout and turnover intention in higher education: The mediating role of job satisfaction and the moderating role of proactive personality

IntroductionTeacher burnout and frequent turnover negatively affect stability and productivity in the context of higher education. Despite the fact that the relationship between burnout and turnover intention has been thoroughly studied, the role of other factors in this relationship should be evaluated in order to better clarify underlying mechanisms, particularly in the context of higher education.MethodsIn this study, we first aim to bridge a research gap by utilizing job satisfaction as a mediating variable for the relationship between burnout and turnover intention. Moreover, we uniquely evaluate the role of proactive personality as a moderating variable, first in terms of the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction, and then for the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. Based on 296 valid questionnaires collected from university faculty members in China, proposed hypotheses were evaluated empirically.ResultsThe results demonstrate that, as expected, burnout has a significant and positive impact on turnover intention, and job satisfaction has significantly negative impact on turnover intention, with job satisfaction partially mediating the relationship between burnout and turnover intention. Moreover, proactive personality moderated the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention, with this relationship being stronger for individuals with high proactive personality as compared to low proactive personality.DiscussionThese findings provide a better understanding of the relationship between burnout and turnover intention of university instructors. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for further research are provided

A transcriptome-based association study of growth, wood quality, and oleoresin traits in a slash pine breeding population

Slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) is an important timber and resin species in the United States, China, Brazil and other countries. Understanding the genetic basis of these traits will accelerate its breeding progress. We carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS), transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) for growth, wood quality, and oleoresin traits using 240 unrelated individuals from a Chinese slash pine breeding population. We developed high quality 53,229 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our analysis reveals three main results: (1) the Chinese breeding population can be divided into three genetic groups with a mean inbreeding coefficient of 0.137; (2) 32 SNPs significantly were associated with growth and oleoresin traits, accounting for the phenotypic variance ranging from 12.3% to 21.8% and from 10.6% to 16.7%, respectively; and (3) six genes encoding PeTLP, PeAP2/ERF, PePUP9, PeSLP, PeHSP, and PeOCT1 proteins were identified and validated by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction for their association with growth and oleoresin traits. These results could be useful for tree breeding and functional studies in advanced slash pine breeding program

DISC-FinLLM: A Chinese Financial Large Language Model based on Multiple Experts Fine-tuning

We propose Multiple Experts Fine-tuning Framework to build a financial large language model (LLM), DISC-FinLLM. Our methodology improves general LLMs by endowing them with multi-turn question answering abilities, domain text processing capabilities, mathematical computation skills, and retrieval-enhanced generation capabilities. We build a financial instruction-tuning dataset named DISC-FIN-SFT, including instruction samples of four categories (consulting, NLP tasks, computing and retrieval-augmented generation). Evaluations conducted on multiple benchmarks demonstrate that our model performs better than baseline models in various financial scenarios. Further resources can be found at https://github.com/FudanDISC/DISC-FinLLM.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 7 table

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Static property and current-driven precession of 2π-vortex in nano-disk with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

An interesting type of skyrmion-like spin texture, 2π-vortex, is obtained in a thin nano-disk with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. We have simulated the existence of 2π-vortex by micromagnetic method. Furthermore, the spin polarized current is introduced in order to drive the motion of 2π-vortex in a nano-disk with diameter 2 R = 140 nm. When the current density matches with the current injection area, 2π-vortex soon reaches a stable precession (3∼4 ns). The relationship between the precession frequency of 2π-vortex and the current density is almost linear. It may have potential use in spin torque nano-oscillators

Inhibitory Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8724 towards Streptococcus mutans- and Candida albicans-Induced Caries in Rats

Streptococcus mutans is a recognized cariogenic bacterium and a major producer of biofilm matrix. The presence of Candida albicans in dental plaque with S. mutans enhances the virulence leading to the onset of rampant caries which is similar to early childhood caries (ECC). The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8724 (CCFM8724) on the treatment and prevention of dental caries induced by S. mutans and C. albicans in vivo. Rats were divided into 6 groups: the control group and model group, 2 treatment groups, and 2 prevention groups (0.02% chlorhexidine or CCFM8724). The fluctuation of microbial colonization and the change of bacteria flora in rat oral cavity after sowing of L. plantarum CCFM8724 were investigated by colony-forming units (CFU) and microflora analysis. The caries of rats were assessed by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and Keyes scoring method. The results showed that L. plantarum CCFM8724 in both the treatment and prevention groups could significantly decrease the population of S. mutans and C. albicans in the rats’ oral cavity (p<0.001), the mineral loss of enamel (p<0.05), and the scores of caries (p<0.05). Besides, L. plantarum CCFM8724 exhibited better effects than chlorhexidine. Hence, L. plantarum CCFM8724 was proved to be a potential oral probiotic on caries treatment and prevention in vivo and it may have the prospect of application in dental caries (especially ECC) prevention products

Phase locking of vortex cores in two coupled magnetic nanopillars

Phase locking dynamics of the coupled vortex cores in two identical magnetic spin valves induced by spin-polarized current are studied by means of micromagnetic simulations. Our results show that the available current range of phase locking can be expanded significantly by the use of constrained polarizer, and the vortices undergo large orbit motions outside the polarization areas. The effects of polarization areas and dipolar interaction on the phase locking dynamics are studied systematically. Phase locking parameters extracted from simulations are discussed by theoreticians. The dynamics of vortices influenced by spin valve geometry and vortex chirality are discussed at last. This work provides deeper insights into the dynamics of phase locking and the results are important for the design of spin-torque nano-oscillators