Factors Influencing Individual Performance in an Indonesian Government Office

Reformation in Indonesian government offices leads to many substantial changes, and demands improved job performances while arguably loading employees with more work. This research aims to understand factors that potentially influence job performance in Indonesian government offices that carries on such reformation. Using adapted scales from previous studies, this research investigates the role of workload, responsibility for others (level of responsibility to care for other people) and need for achievement on employee’s performance.  A survey to all full-time workers in an Indonesian government office is conducted. Contrary to expectation, workload does not influence employee’s performance. Instead, regression analysis demonstrates that, employee’s need for achievement and responsibility for others are significant factors affecting individual performance. These results are important because they highlight the significance of need for achievement for the success of reformation in this office, and by extension for reformation in Indonesia. The results are also interesting because this is the first study that points out to the role of responsibility for others in influencing individual performance in Indonesia which is characterized by collectivistic culture. This paper discusses the contributions of these results for theory and practice. &nbsp

The role of ras gene in the development of haemic neoplasia in Mytilus trossulus

Disseminated neoplasia has been reported in mussels (Mytilus spp) from numerous locations worldwide. This condition is progressive and fatal and the aetiology is unknown. In vertebrates, oncogenes such as ras, and tumour suppressor genes such as p53, play important roles in carcinogenesis. We have cloned a Mytilus trossulus homologue of the vertebrate ras gene, which shows conserved sequence in regions of functional importance. Neoplastic hemolymph samples derived from M. trossulus have been investigated for the presence of ras gene mutations and changes in expression

Therapeutic alternatives with CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), characterized by airflow cessation (apnea) or reduction (hypopnea) due to repeated pharyngeal obstructions during sleep, causes frequent disruption of sleep and hypoxic events. The condition is linked to many adverse health related consequences, such as neurocognitive and cardiovascular disorders, and metabolic syndrome. OSA is a chronic condition requiring long-term treatment, so treatment using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has become the gold standard in cases of moderate or severe OSA. However, its effectiveness is influenced by patients’ adherence. Surgery for OSA or treatment with oral appliances can be successful in selected patients, but for the majority, lifestyle changes such as exercise and dietary control may prove useful. However, exercise training remains under-utilized by many clinicians as an alternative treatment for OSA. Other interventions such as oral appliance (OA), upper way stimulation, and oropharyngeal exercises are used in OSA. Because the benefit of all these techniques is heterogeneous, the major challenge is to associate specific OSA therapies with the maximum efficacy and the best patient compliance

Zenker’s diverticulum and squamous esophageal cancer: a case report

Zenker’s diverticulum represents a rare esophageal lesion developed especially in the elderly population due to herniation of esophageal mucosa above the cricopharyngeus muscle. The condition leads to food retention, regurgitation, aspiration, and dysphagia in affected patients. Progressive dysphagia also characterizes malignant diseases of the esophagus like squamous esophageal carcinoma that typically appears in male patients in the seventh decade of life, with a history of cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse. We report a case of a male patient who presented with dysphagia for both solids and liquids along with significant weight loss, and who was diagnosed with medium esophageal cancer associated with Zenker’s diverticulum

Peran Employability dalam Hubungan Job Insecurity dan Kepuasan Kerja

Job insecurity is often thought to cause lower job satisfaction. However, research shows that the relationship between these two variables is more complicated than previously assumed. Previous studies fail to provide conclusive results, which indicate that the relationships between job insecurity and job satisfaction may be moderated by other variables. Two variables that can explainthis relationship are employability, defined as employees' perception of their abilities to find a new job, and work status differences (i.e., permanent and contract employees). Therefore, this study hypothesizes that employability will moderate the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction for, both, permanent and contract employees. Adapting scales from previous research, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 172 employees, comprised of permanent and contract employees, of a logistic services company in Indonesia. Results reveal that employability moderates the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction among permanent but not contract employees. This paper also discusses the implication of these results for the advancement of organizational behavior theory, especially for understanding the impact of job insecurity on job satisfaction. Keywords: employability, contracted employees, job Insecurity, job satisfaction, permanent employee

Modifications to the Aesop's Fable paradigm change New Caledonian crow performances

While humans are able to understand much about causality, it is unclear to what extent non-human animals can do the same. The Aesop's Fable paradigm requires an animal to drop stones into a water-filled tube to bring a floating food reward within reach. Rook, Eurasian jay, and New Caledonian crow performances are similar to those of children under seven years of age when solving this task. However, we know very little about the cognition underpinning these birds' performances. Here, we address several limitations of previous Aesop's Fable studies to gain insight into the causal cognition of New Caledonian crows. Our results provide the first evidence that any non-human animal can solve the U-tube task and can discriminate between water-filled tubes of different volumes. However, our results do not provide support for the hypothesis that these crows can infer the presence of a hidden causal mechanism. They also call into question previous object-discrimination performances. The methodologies outlined here should allow for more powerful comparisons between humans and other animal species and thus help us to determine which aspects of causal cognition are distinct to humans.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Exploring Bluetooth based Mobile Phone Interaction with the Hermes Photo Display

One of the most promising possibilities for supporting user interaction with public displays is the use of personal mobile phones. Furthermore, by utilising Bluetooth users should have the capability to interact with displays without incurring personal financial connectivity costs. However, despite the relative maturity of Bluetooth as a standard and its widespread adoption in today’s mobile phones, little exploration seems to have taken place in this area - despite its apparent significant potential. This paper describe the findings of an exploratory study nvolving our Hermes Photo Display which has been extended to enable users with a suitable phone to both send and receive pictures over Bluetooth. We present both the technical challenges of working with Bluetooth and, through our user study, we present initial insights into general user acceptability issues and the potential for such a display to facilitate notions of community

Features of Heart Rate Variability and Early Postinfarction Remodeling Process in Patients with Recurrent Myocardial Infarction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the heart rate variability (HRV) level and the features of early post-infarction left ventricular remodeling (PIR) in patients with recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), which developed within six months post the initial Q-wave MI (Q-MI). Material and Methods: The study surveyed 105 male patients between 29 and 69 years of age (mean age 52.08±8.5), who underwent a Q-MI and who, for various reasons, have not undergone coronary angiography. All patients underwent echocardiography and the LVM, EDV, ESV and their indexed values, as well as the ejection fraction were determined, including Holter ECG monitoring. In the interim, analysis included the indicators recommended by the standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use of heart rate variability, such as SDNN, SDANN and RMSSD. The reduction of the total reduction of HRV was taken as SDNN≤100ms, and the marked reduction in HRV - SDNN≤50ms. Results: All the patients were divided into two groups: Group I consisted of patients who, within six months after the initial Q-wave MI, developed fatal or nonfatal reinfarction; Group II included those patients with a favorable course of the disease. The patients in both groups belonged to a somewhat similar age category. By localization of MI, occurrence of AH, as well as the incidence of LV aneurysm, both groups were comparable. However, the Group I patients in acute Q-MI showed significantly more preserved signs of residual myocardial ischemia, which was manifested as early post-infarction angina. The average values of SDNN in patients in Group I were noted to be significantly lower than that in the Group II patients. The same ratio was observed in both groups and also the indicator of SDANN, whereas the mean RMSSD values of the patients of both groups were not significantly different. The percentage of patients with reduced HRV in Group I was 1.8 times higher than that in Group II, including those patients with a marked reduction in HRV, which were 25% and 5.1% in Groups I and II, respectively. The patients in Group I compared with Group II patients had significantly higher values for LVM, EDV, ESV, as well as their indexed values for LVMI, iEDV, and iESV. The average values of EF in Group I were significantly lower than those in Group II. Conclusion: In patients with recurrent MI, which had developed within six months from the time of the initial Q-infarction in the acute phase of the disease, significantly more preserved signs of residual ischemia were revealed. The average EF, SDNN and SDANN values in these patients were significantly lower than in patients having a favorable course of the disease. Patients with recurrent MI differed significantly by showing higher values of the left ventricular mass, left ventricular volume indices, as well as the indexed values determined during the 10-14 day period of the primary IM

Lightweight XML-based query, integration and visualization of distributed, multimodality brain imaging data

A need of many neuroimaging researchers is to integrate multimodality brain data that may be stored in separate databases. To address this need we have developed a framework that provides a uniform XML-based query interface across multiple online data sources. The development of this framework is driven by the need to integrate neurosurgical and neuroimaging data related to language. The data sources for the language studies are 1) a web-accessible relational database of neurosurgical cortical stimulation mapping data (CSM) that includes patient-specific 3-D coordinates of each stimulation site mapped to an MRI reconstruction of the patient brain surface; and 2) an XML database of fMRI and structural MRI data and analysis results, created automatically by a batch program we have embedded in SPM. To make these sources available for querying each is wrapped as an XML view embedded in a web service. A top level web application accepts distributed XQueries over the sources, which are dispatched to the underlying web services. Returned results can be displayed as XML, HTML, CSV (Excel format), a 2-D schematic of a parcellated brain, or a 3-D brain visualization. In the latter case the CSM patient-specific coordinates returned by the query are sent to a transformation web-service for conversion to normalized space, after which they are sent to our 3-D visualization program MindSeer, which is accessed via Java WebStart through a generated link. The anatomical distribution of pooled CSM sites can then be visualized using various surfaces derived from brain atlases. As this framework is further developed and generalized we believe it will have appeal for researchers who wish to query, integrate and visualize results across their own databases as well as those of collaborators

Peran Employability dalam Hubungan Job Insecurity dan Kepuasan Kerja

Job insecurity is often thought to cause lower job satisfaction. However, research shows that the relationship between these two variables is more complicated than previously assumed. Previous studies fail to provide conclusive results, which indicate that the relationships between job insecurity and job satisfaction may be moderated by other variables. Two variables that can explainthis relationship are employability, defined as employees’ perception of their abilities to find a new job, and work status differences (i.e., permanent and contract employees). Therefore, this study hypothesizes that employability will moderate the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction for, both, permanent and contract employees. Adapting scales from previous research, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey of 172 employees, comprised of permanent and contract employees, of a logistic services company in Indonesia. Results reveal that employability moderates the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction among permanent but not contract employees. This paper also discusses the implication of these results for the advancement of organizational behavior theory, especially for understanding the impact of job insecurity on job satisfaction