Proactive and politically skilled professionals: What is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?

The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment

The developmental dynamics of terrorist organizations

We identify robust statistical patterns in the frequency and severity of violent attacks by terrorist organizations as they grow and age. Using group-level static and dynamic analyses of terrorist events worldwide from 1968-2008 and a simulation model of organizational dynamics, we show that the production of violent events tends to accelerate with increasing size and experience. This coupling of frequency, experience and size arises from a fundamental positive feedback loop in which attacks lead to growth which leads to increased production of new attacks. In contrast, event severity is independent of both size and experience. Thus larger, more experienced organizations are more deadly because they attack more frequently, not because their attacks are more deadly, and large events are equally likely to come from large and small organizations. These results hold across political ideologies and time, suggesting that the frequency and severity of terrorism may be constrained by fundamental processes.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, supplementary materia

Refined clothespin relocation test and assessment of motion

Background: Advancements in upper limb prosthesis design have focused on providing increased degrees of freedom for the end effector through multiple articulations of a prosthetic hand, wrist and elbow. Measuring improvement in patient function with these devices requires development of appropriate assessment tools. Objectives: This study presents a refined clothespin relocation test for measuring performance and assessing compensatory motion between able-bodied subjects and subjects with upper limb impairments. Study Design: Comparative analysis Methods: Trunk and head motions of 13 able-bodied subjects who performed the refined clothespin relocation test were compared to the motion of a transradial prosthesis user with a single degree of freedom hand. Results: There were observable differences between the prosthesis user and the able-bodied group. The assessment used provided a clear indication of the differences in motion through analysis of compensatory motion. Conclusion: The refined clothespin relocation test provides additional benefits over the standard clothespin assessment and makes identification of compensatory motions easily identifiable to the researcher. While this paper establishes the method for the new assessment, further validation will need to be performed with more users

Observation of an Exotic Baryon with S=+1 in Photoproduction from the Proton

The reaction $\gamma p \to \pi^+K^-K^+n$ was studied at Jefferson Lab using a tagged photon beam with an energy range of 3-5.47 GeV. A narrow baryon state with strangeness S=+1 and mass $M=1555\pm 10$ MeV/c$^2$ was observed in the $nK^+$ invariant mass spectrum. The peak's width is consistent with the CLAS resolution (FWHM=26 MeV/c$^2$), and its statistical significance is 7.8 $\pm$ 1.0 ~$\sigma$. A baryon with positive strangeness has exotic structure and cannot be described in the framework of the naive constituent quark model. The mass of the observed state is consistent with the mass predicted by a chiral soliton model for the $\Theta^+$ baryon. In addition, the $pK^+$ invariant mass distribution was analyzed in the reaction $\gamma p\to K^-K^+p$ with high statistics in search of doubly-charged exotic baryon states. No resonance structures were found in this spectrum.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, add reference

The continuum of spreading depolarizations in acute cortical lesion development: Examining Leão's legacy.

A modern understanding of how cerebral cortical lesions develop after acute brain injury is based on Aristides Leão's historic discoveries of spreading depression and asphyxial/anoxic depolarization. Treated as separate entities for decades, we now appreciate that these events define a continuum of spreading mass depolarizations, a concept that is central to understanding their pathologic effects. Within minutes of acute severe ischemia, the onset of persistent depolarization triggers the breakdown of ion homeostasis and development of cytotoxic edema. These persistent changes are diagnosed as diffusion restriction in magnetic resonance imaging and define the ischemic core. In delayed lesion growth, transient spreading depolarizations arise spontaneously in the ischemic penumbra and induce further persistent depolarization and excitotoxic damage, progressively expanding the ischemic core. The causal role of these waves in lesion development has been proven by real-time monitoring of electrophysiology, blood flow, and cytotoxic edema. The spreading depolarization continuum further applies to other models of acute cortical lesions, suggesting that it is a universal principle of cortical lesion development. These pathophysiologic concepts establish a working hypothesis for translation to human disease, where complex patterns of depolarizations are observed in acute brain injury and appear to mediate and signal ongoing secondary damage

Exclusive Photoproduction of the Cascade (Xi) Hyperons

We report on the first measurement of exclusive Xi-(1321) hyperon photoproduction in gamma p --> K+ K+ Xi- for 3.2 < E(gamma) < 3.9 GeV. The final state is identified by the missing mass in p(gamma,K+ K+)X measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory. We have detected a significant number of the ground-state Xi-(1321)1/2+, and have estimated the total cross section for its production. We have also observed the first excited state Xi-(1530)3/2+. Photoproduction provides a copious source of Xi's. We discuss the possibilities of a search for the recently proposed Xi5-- and Xi5+ pentaquarks.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Area-level deprivation and overall and cause-specific mortality: 12 years' observation on British women and systematic review of prospective studies.

BACKGROUND: Prospective studies have suggested a negative impact of area deprivation on overall mortality, but its effect on cause-specific mortality and the mechanisms that account for this association remain unclear. We investigate the association of area deprivation, using Index of Multiple deprivation (IMD), with overall and cause-specific mortality, contextualising findings within a systematic review. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used data from 4,286 women from the British Women's Heart Health Study (BWHHS) recruited at 1999-2001 to examine the association of IMD with overall and cause-specific mortality using Cox regression models. One standard deviation (SD) increase in the IMD score had a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.13-1.30) for overall mortality after adjustment for age and lifecourse individual deprivation, which was attenuated to 1.15 (95% CI: 1.04-1.26) after further inclusion of mediators (health behaviours, biological factors and use of statins and blood pressure-lowering medications). A more pronounced association was observed for respiratory disease and vascular deaths. The meta-analysis, based on 20 published studies plus the BWHHS (n=21), yielded a summary relative risk (RR) of 1.15 (95% CI: 1.11-1.19) for area deprivation (top [least deprived; reference] vs. bottom tertile) with overall mortality in an age and sex adjusted model, which reduced to 1.06 (95% CI: 1.04-1.08) in a fully adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: Health behaviours mediate the association between area deprivation and cause-specific mortality. Efforts to modify health behaviours may be more successful if they are combined with measures that tackle area deprivation

Can we improve outcome of congenital diaphragmatic hernia?

This review gives an overview of the disease spectrum of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Etiological factors, prenatal predictors of survival, new treatment strategies and long-term morbidity are described. Early recognition of problems and improvement of treatment strategies in CDH patients may increase survival and prevent secondary morbidity. Multidisciplinary healthcare is necessary to improve healthcare for CDH patients. Absence of international therapy guidelines, lack of evidence of many therapeutic modalities and the relative low number of CDH patients calls for cooperation between centers with an expertise in the treatment of CDH patients. The international CDH Euro-Consortium is an example of such a collaborative network, which enhances exchange of knowledge, future research and development of treatment protocols

How Servant Leadership Influences Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Roles of LMX, Empowerment and Proactive Personality

While the link between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been established, the individual-level mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the salience of the mediating mechanisms of leader-member exchange (LMX) and psychological empowerment in explaining the process by which servant leaders elicit discretionary OCB among followers. We also examine the role of followers’ proactive personality in moderating the indirect effects of servant leadership on OCB through LMX and psychological empowerment. Analysis of survey data collected from 446 supervisor-subordinate dyads in a large Chinese multinational firm suggests that while servant leadership is positively related to subordinate OCB through LMX, psychological empowerment does not explain any additional variance in OCB above that accounted for by LMX. Moderated mediation tests confirm the moderating effect of proactive personality through LMX. By providing a nuanced understanding of how and when servant leadership leads followers to go above and beyond their job role, our study assists organizations in deciding how to develop and utilize servant leaders in their organizations

Biochar: pyrogenic carbon for agricultural use: a critical review.

O biocarvão (biomassa carbonizada para uso agrícola) tem sido usado como condicionador do solo em todo o mundo, e essa tecnologia é de especial interesse para o Brasil, uma vez que tanto a ?inspiração?, que veio das Terras Pretas de Índios da Amazônia, como o fato de o Brasil ser o maior produtor mundial de carvão vegetal, com a geração de importante quantidade de resíduos na forma de finos de carvão e diversas biomassas residuais, principalmente da agroindústria, como bagaço de cana, resíduos das indústrias de madeira, papel e celulose, biocombustíveis, lodo de esgoto etc. Na última década, diversos estudos com biocarvão têm sido realizados e atualmente uma vasta literatura e excelentes revisões estão disponíveis. Objetivou-se aqui não fazer uma revisão bibliográfica exaustiva, mas sim uma revisão crítica para apontar alguns destaques na pesquisa sobre biochar. Para isso, foram selecionados alguns temaschave considerados críticos e relevantes e fez-se um ?condensado? da literatura pertinente, mais para orientar as pesquisas e tendências do que um mero olhar para o passad