Assessing Nehemiah\u27s leadership

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1983/thumbnail.jp

Effective Empowerment in Organizations

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself

Effective Empowerment in Organizations

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself

Agribusiness Capstone Courses Design: Objectives and Strategies

This paper discusses the benefits of using strategic management principles as the cornerstone for building the agribusiness capstone experience. The necessity for agribusiness firms to create and implement strategies that build a sustainable competitive advantage in turn necessitates the development of strategic management skills in the leaders/managers of the future. As such, the objectives of a capstone course lean heavily toward the integrative development of strategic decision-making competence. This has a number of implications for the capstone professor in terms of course content, pedagogies, and subsequent measurement of student performance.Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Effects of pro-inflamatory cytokines on polarized rat parotid Par-C10 monolayers [abstract]

Abstract only availableSjögren's syndrome (SS), an autoimmune disorder, is distinguished by inflammation and salivary gland cell death, leading to xerostomia (dry mouth). The G protein-coupled P2Y2 receptor (P2Y2R) is up-regulated in response to damage or stress in salivary epithelium. Pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with SS can be produced by infiltrating lymphocytes or salivary epithelium. Correlations have been found between lymphocytic infiltration and increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-Éø (TNFα) and interferon-γ (IFNγ) and decreased function of exocrine glands in SS. Recent data has shown that P2Y2R activation enhances the activity of metalloproteases that release TNFα. OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of cytokines on polarized salivary epithelium. METHODS: Polarized rat parotid (Par-C10) monolayers were used to perform these studies. Cytokines released by UTP-induced P2Y2R activation were identified by ELISA. To evaluate the role of cytokines associated with SS on epithelial integrity, epithelial resistance was determined and correlated with the expression and distribution of tight junction (TJ) proteins by immunofluorescence and Western analysis, respectively. RESULTS: Activation of P2Y2Rs in Par-C10 monolayers induced the release of TNFα. The cytokines TNFα and IFNγ, but not IL-6 or IL1β, decreased the resistance of Par-C10 cells. However, the expression/distribution of the TJ protein ZO-1 was unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: The data support a hypothesis that P2Y2R expression and activation in salivary gland cells contribute to epithelial dysfunction in SS by generating pro-inflammatory cytokines that regulate ion transport and epithelial integrity in salivary glands. Future studies will determine the role of cytokines on the expression and distribution of other TJ molecules including occludin, claudins and junctional adhesion molecules. These studies may lead to better therapeutic strategies for minimizing autoimmune-associated dysfunction of salivary gland that contributes to xerostomia in SS patient.Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Opportunity Progra

Structure–property insights into nanostructured electrodes for Li-ion batteries from local structural and diffusional probes

Microwave heating presents a faster, lower energy synthetic methodology for the realization of functional materials. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that employing this method also leads to a decrease in the occurrence of defects in olivine structured LiFe1−xMnxPO4. For example, the presence of antisite defects in this structure precludes Li+ diffusion along the b-axis leading to a significant decrease in reversible capacities. Total scattering measurements, in combination with Li+ diffusion studies using muon spin relaxation (μ+SR) spectroscopy, reveal that this synthetic method generates fewer defects in the nanostructures compared to traditional solvothermal routes. Our interest in developing these routes to mixed-metal phosphate LiFe1−xMnxPO4 olivines is due to the higher Mn2+/3+ redox potential in comparison to the Fe2+/3+ pair. Here, single-phase LiFe1−xMnxPO4 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) olivines have been prepared following a microwave-assisted approach which allows for up to 4 times faster reaction times compared to traditional solvothermal methods. Interestingly, the resulting particle morphology is dependent on the Mn content. We also examine their electrochemical performance as active electrodes in Li-ion batteries. These results present microwave routes as highly attractive for reproducible, gram-scale syntheses of high quality nanostructured electrodes which display close to theoretical capacity for the full iron phase

Fly ash erodibility

In the northeastern United States, fly ash is removed from stack gases and commonly trucked to landfills for disposal. The cover soil and especially the underlying fly ash of these landfills are susceptible to erosion by water. Fly ash erodibility was estimated by collecting sediment eroded by natural rainfall in the field from standard erosion plots (1.8 m wide and 22.1 m long on a 9% slope of exposed fly ash). The universal soil loss equation (USLE) was used with direct measurements on-site to obtain estimates of the erodibility factor, K, for fly ash. These estimates were then compared to an estimate obtained using a soil erodibility nomograph. The K factors measured in the field ranged from 0.11 to 0.13 Mg ha h (ha MJ mm)-1 and averaged 0.122 Mg ha h (ha MJ mm)-1. A K factor of 0.122 Mg ha h (ha MJ mm)-1 was recommended for erosion control. With this K factor and the USLE, the surface topography of vegetated fly ash disposal areas was designed to limit soil loss to a tolerance level of 4.5 Mg (ha y). Using the design K factor, erosion from vegetated demonstration plots, 73 m long on a 15% slope, was controlled

P2Y2 nucleotide receptors mediate inflammatory responses in mouse salivary gland cells

Abstract only availableSjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of salivary and lacrimal glands leading to xerostomia (dry mouth) and xerophthalmia (dry eyes). Although the mechanisms involved have not been adequately elucidated, the diminished function of exocrine glands in SS is often associated with lymphocytic infiltration of the tissue. Aberrant expression of specific adhesion molecules such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is also observed in salivary gland with SS, which enable salivary epithelium to interact directly with infiltrating lymphocytes. P2Y2 nucleotide receptor (P2Y2R) is G protein-couple receptor that is activated by extracellular ATP and UTP. P2Y2R expression and activity is up-regulated in response to damage or stress in a variety of tissues, including submandibular glands (SMGs), where it mediates a complex set of cellular responses to injury of disease. Additionally, P2Y2R activation up-regulates VCAM-1 expression in dispersed rat SMG cell culture and human submandibular gland (HSG) cells. Our objective is to investigate weather P2Y2R up-regulation correlates with increased expression of adhesion molecules in SMGs from a mouse model for SS (C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2) as compared with normal mouse strain (C57BL/6). P2Y2R expression was measured by RT-PCR and adhesion molecules expression was determined by Western blot analysis. Salivary flow was preformed by cannulation of individual glands. We could see that P2Y2R expression and ICAM-1 expression were both up-regulated in the SMGs from a mouse model for SS as compared with normal mouse strain. And salivary flow was decreased in salivary glands from a mouse model for SS. These results suggest that P2Y2R mediate inflammatory responses related to secretory dysfunction in the mouse model for SS. Our ultimate goal would be to translate all this information to the human salivary gland in order to understand SS and to develop new therapies for salivary dysfunction in SS.Gyeongsang National Universit

TAKE-OFF FORCES AND IMPULSES IN THE LONG JUMP

A series of jumps by an experienced female athlete were recorded with a force platform and a high-speed video camera. We obtained a wide range of run-up velocities by using direct intervention to set the length of the athlete’s run-up. In all jumps the horizontal take-off force was predominantly a backwards braking force and so the athlete’s horizontal velocity was substantially reduced during the take-off. The athlete’s breaking impulse increased with increasing run-up velocity, but not so much as to negate the increase in run-up velocity. The optimum long jump take-off technique is a compromise between the conflicting desires of generating vertical impulse and minimising the horizontal braking impulse. We currently have no firm recommendation as to the usefulness of a force platform in improving an athlete’s take-off technique

Quiet Supersonic Flights 2018 (QSF18) Test: Galveston, Texas Risk Reduction for Future Community Testing with a Low-Boom Flight Demonstration Vehicle

The Quiet Supersonic Flights 2018 (QSF18) Program was designed to develop tools and methods for demonstration of overland supersonic flight with an acceptable sonic boom, and collect a large dataset of responses from a representative sample of the population. Phase 1 provided the basis for a low amplitude sonic boom testing in six different climate regions that will enable international regulatory agencies to draft a noise-based standard for certifying civilian supersonic overland flight. Phase 2 successfully executed a large scale test in Galveston, Texas, developed well documented data sets, calculated dose response relationships, yielded lessons, and identified future risk reduction activities