49 research outputs found
The impact of team dialogue sessions on employee engagement in an information and communication technology company
Orientation: Engaged employees are regarded as extremely valuable in today’s unstable economic environment. However, despite spending large amounts of money on the improvement of employee engagement, the effect thereof is seldom determined. This study was about determining the impact of team dialogue sessions on the enhancement of employee engagement in a large information and communication technology company over a 2-year period.
Research purpose: This study focused on determining the improvement of employee engagement through an organisation development intervention. The intervention was based on a social constructionist perspective, namely, team dialoguing, and was facilitated over a period of two years.
Motivation for the study: Although the matter regarding the improvement of employee engagement seems to be extensively discussed in the literature, research on the use of interventions to enhance employee engagement is to a large extent still lacking. Based on a theoretical integration, it was argued that team dialoguing could improve employee engagement.
Research design, approach and method: This was a quantitative study, employing a quasi-experimental design. An experimental group was exposed to an organisation development intervention of team dialogues over a 2-year period and then compared to a control group that had not been exposed to the intervention.
Main findings: Although with a small effect size, it was discovered that facilitating team dialogue sessions had a positive impact on employee engagement, more specifically on the exercise of discretionary effort, intention to remain, rational commitment, communication and supervisory support as dimensions.
Practical and managerial implications: The practical implication of this study is that the engagement of employees can be enhanced by involving the direct supervisor and his or her team in dialoguing sessions.
Contribution or value-add: The study contributed to the literature on employee engagement by reporting on the implementation of an intervention over a period of two years to enhance employee engagement
Quantum Interference between Impurities: Creating Novel Many-Body States in s-wave Superconductors
We demonstrate that quantum interference of electronic waves that are
scattered by multiple magnetic impurities in an s-wave superconductor gives
rise to novel bound states. We predict that by varying the inter-impurity
distance or the relative angle between the impurity spins, the states' quantum
numbers, as well as their distinct frequency and spatial dependencies, can be
altered. Finally, we show that the superconductor can be driven through
multiple local crossovers in which its spin polarization, , changes
between and 1.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Value of urinary N-methylhistamine measurements m childhood mastocytosis
Background: Histamine is an indicator of mast cell activation. N- methylhistamine (NMH) is a metabolite of histamine that can be measured in urine. Objective: Our purpose was to assess the usefulness of determining urinary NMH levels for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with mastocytosis. Methods: Urinary NMH levels were determined in 44 patients and were correlated with disease activity and extension. The control group consisted of 24 children without mastocytosis or any other skin disease. Results: A significant negative correlation was found between NMH and age in patients with active mastocytosis and in the control group. Adjusted for age, NMH values were significantly higher in patients with active mastocytosis. There was a significant difference in NMH values between patients with diffuse cutaneous mastocytosis, patients with active urticaria pigmentosa, and patients with active mastocytomas. However, there was a substantial overlap of NMH values in the different subgroups. Conclusion: Urinary NMH values tend to decrease with age. Urinary NMH values correlated with the extent and the activity of the disease. High NMH values suggest more extensive involvement
Friedel oscillations in a two-band Hubbard model for CuO chains
Friedel oscillations induced by open boundary conditions in a two-band
Hubbard model for CuO chains are numerically studied. We find that for
physically realistic parameters and close to quarter filling, these
oscillations have a 2k_F modulation according with experimental results on
YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-delta}. In addition, we predict that, for the same parameters, as
hole doping is reduced from quarter filling to half filling, Friedel
oscillations would acquire a 4k_F modulation, typical of a strongly correlated
electrons regime. The 4k_F modulation dominates also in the electron doped
region. The range of parameters varied is very broad, and hence the results
reported could apply to other cuprates and other strongly correlated compounds
with quasi-one dimensional structures. On a more theoretical side, we stress
the fact that the copper and oxygen subsystems should be described by two
different Luttinger liquid exponents.Comment: 7 pages, 7 eps figure
Supramolecular interactions in clusters of polar and polarizable molecules
We present a model for molecular materials made up of polar and polarizable
molecular units. A simple two state model is adopted for each molecular site
and only classical intermolecular interactions are accounted for, neglecting
any intermolecular overlap. The complex and interesting physics driven by
interactions among polar and polarizable molecules becomes fairly transparent
in the adopted model. Collective effects are recognized in the large variation
of the molecular polarity with supramolecular interactions, and cooperative
behavior shows up with the appearance, in attractive lattices, of discontinuous
charge crossovers. The mean-field approximation proves fairly accurate in the
description of the gs properties of MM, including static linear and non-linear
optical susceptibilities, apart from the region in the close proximity of the
discontinuous charge crossover. Sizeable deviations from the excitonic
description are recognized both in the excitation spectrum and in linear and
non-linear optical responses. New and interesting phenomena are recognized near
the discontinuous charge crossover for non-centrosymmetric clusters, where the
primary photoexcitation event corresponds to a multielectron transfer.Comment: 14 pages, including 11 figure
Vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (VAD) administered as rapid intravenous infusion for first-line treatment in untreated multiple myeloma
We examined the feasibility of achieving a rapid response in patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma by administering vincristine 0.4 mR and doxorubicin 9 mg/m2 as a rapid intravenous infusion for 4 d together with intermittent high-dose dexamethasone 40 mg (VAD) for remission induction treatment in patients who were scheduled to receive high-dose therapy. 139 patients (86 male, 53 female; median age 53 years, range 32-65 years; Durie and Salmon stage IIA: 42, IIB: one, IIIA: 89, IIIB: seven) were included in a prospective multicentre study in which VAD was administered as remission induction treatment and was followed by intensified treatment. The response was evaluated according to the criteria of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). The results of treatment were evaluable in 134 patients. Five patients died before evaluation. 86 patients (62%) achieved a partial response (PR) and seven patients (5%) achieved a complete response (CR), which equates to a response rate of 67%. The main side-effect was mild neurotoxicity, which was observed in 18% of the patients. Fever or infections were reported in 27% of the patients. VAD administered as an outpatient regimen, based on rapid intravenous infusion, is an effective induction regimen for untreated myeloma with a 67% response rate and acceptable toxicity
Effect of color superconductivity on the mass and radius of a quark star
We compare quark stars made of color-superconducting quark matter to
normal-conducting quark stars. We focus on the most simple
color-superconducting system, a two-flavor color superconductor, and employ the
Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model to compute the gap parameter and the equation of
state. By varying the strength of the four-fermion coupling of the NJL model,
we study the mass and the radius of the quark star as a function of the value
of the gap parameter. If the coupling constant exceeds a critical value, the
gap parameter does not vanish even at zero density. For coupling constants
below this critical value, mass and radius of a color-superconducting quark
star change at most by ca. 20% compared to a star consisting of
normal-conducting quark matter. For coupling constants above the critical value
mass and radius may change by factors of two or more.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure