Work Motivation: The Roles of Individual Needs and Social Conditions.

Work motivation plays a vital role in the development of organizations, as it increases employee productivity and effectiveness. To expand insights into individuals' work motivation, the authors investigated the influence of individuals' competence, autonomy, and social relatedness on their work motivation. Additionally, the country-level moderating factors of those individual-level associations were examined. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze data from 32,614 individuals from 25 countries, obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS). Findings showed that autonomy and social relatedness positively impacted work motivation, while competence negatively influenced work motivation. Moreover, the individual-level associations were moderated by the country-level religious affiliation, political participation, humane orientation, and in-group collectivism. Contributions, practical implications, and directions for further research were then discussed.

Employees' perceived institutional importance, organizational norms, and organizational citizenship behavior: Insights from a multilevel assessment of the institutional anomie theory.

This study contributes to the understanding of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and extending the application of institutional anomie theory (IAT). Employing a multilevel moderation framework, this paper explored the influence of employees' perceived institutional importance to their demonstration of OCB and the moderating impacts of organizational norms on this relationship. Utilizing data of 243 employees from 34 banks in the Philippines, results of the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis revealed the positive influence of the importance of the economy, family, polity, and religion on employees' citizenship acts. Furthermore, goal emphasis and socio-emotional support have significant interacting effects on the association between perceived institutional importance and OCB.

Highly Efficient Transfer of 7TM Membrane Protein from Native Membrane to Covalently Circularized Nanodisc.

Incorporating membrane proteins into membrane mimicking systems is an essential process for biophysical studies and structure determination. Monodisperse lipid nanodiscs have been found to be a suitable tool, as they provide a near-native lipid bilayer environment. Recently, a covalently circularized nanodisc (cND) assembled with a membrane scaffold protein (MSP) in circular form, instead of conventional linear form, has emerged. Covalently circularized nanodiscs have been shown to have improved stability, however the optimal strategies for the incorporation of membrane proteins, as well as the physicochemical properties of the membrane protein embedded in the cND, have not been studied. Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is a seven-transmembrane helix (7TM) membrane protein, and it forms a two dimensional crystal consisting of trimeric bR on the purple membrane of halophilic archea. Here it is reported that the bR trimer in its active form can be directly incorporated into a cND from its native purple membrane. Furthermore, the assembly conditions of the native purple membrane nanodisc (PMND) were optimized to achieve homogeneity and high yield using a high sodium chloride concentration. Additionally, the native PMND was demonstrated to have the ability to assemble over a range of different pHs, suggesting flexibility in the preparation conditions. The native PMND was then found to not only preserve the trimeric structure of bR and most of the native lipids in the PM, but also maintained the photocycle function of bR. This suggests a promising potential for assembling a cND with a 7TM membrane protein, extracted directly from its native membrane environment, while preserving the protein conformation and lipid composition.

Changes in left atrial functional indexes in ischemic stroke patients.

BACKGROUND: Increased left atrial (LA) size has been proposed as a predictor of multiple adverse cardiovascular events including stroke. LA dysfunction can occur in the absence of increased LA size. However, the relationship between stroke and changes in LA function is not well known. METHODS: Patients with acute ischemic stroke and healthy controls were enrolled prospectively. Stroke patients received standard work-ups to determine the etiology of their strokes. Those patients with significant cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure were excluded. All participants received echocardiography examination. Conventional echocardiographic parameters were calculated and cardiac contractile characteristics of the left atrium and left ventricle were analyzed using vector velocity imaging (VVI) technique. RESULTS: In total, 87 patients with acute ischemic stroke and 20 controls were recruited. The mitral inflow E-wave velocities were lower and A-wave velocities were higher in stroke patients (0.76 ± 0.19 vs. 0.84 ± 0.16, p = 0.048; and 0.97 ± 0.20 vs. 0.76 ± 0.11, p < 0.001 respectively). Stroke patients had a higher active emptying percent of total LA emptying (60.5 ± 19.0%) compared with that in controls (33.5 ± 11.7%, p < 0.001). The minimal LA volume was larger in stroke patients (15.0 ± 10.5 mL) than that in controls (9.9 ± 4.2 mL, p = 0.021), whereas there was no difference in maximal LA volume between stroke patients (37.3 ± 16.5 mL) and controls (33.3 ± 9.9 ml, p = 0.366). The diastolic emptying index of the LA was significantly lower in stroke patients compared with that in controls (61.4 ± 14.6% vs. 70.2 ± 11.0%, p = 0.016). The mitral A-wave velocity and active emptying percent of total LA emptying were significantly higher in all stroke subtypes than those in controls. CONCLUSION: Acute ischemic stroke patients had altered mitral inflow velocities and emptying function of the left atrium. VVI is convenient for quantitative assessment of left atrial volumes and contractile characteristics. Functional changes of LA may occur without significant structural changes. Therefore, the clinical implications of LA functional indexes require further study.

Spiro-configured bipolar host materials for highly efficient electrophosphorescent devices.

In this study, we synthesized and characterized a series of spirobifluorene-based bipolar compounds (D2 ACN, DNPACN, DNTACN, and DCzACN) in which a dicyano-substituted biphenyl branch, linked orthogonally to a donor biphenyl branch bearing various diarylamines, acted as an acceptor unit allowing fine-tuning of the morphological stability, triplet energy, bipolar transport behavior, and the HOMO and LUMO energy levels. The promising physical properties of these new compounds, together with their ability to transport electrons and holes with balanced mobilities, made them suitable for use as host materials in highly efficient phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) with green iridium-based- or red osmium-based phosphors as the emitting layer (EML). We adopted a multilayer structure to efficiently confine holes and electrons within the EML, thus preventing exciton diffusion and improving device efficiency. The device incorporating D2 ACN doped with the red emitter [Os(bpftz)(2)(PPhMe(2))(2)] (bpftz=3-(trifluoromethyl)-5-(4-tert-butylpyridyl)-1,2,4-triazolate) gave a saturated red electrophosphorescence with CIE coordinates of (0.65, 0.35) and remarkably high efficiencies of 20.3 % (21 cd A(-1)) and 13.5 Lm W(-1) at a practical brightness of 1000 cd m(-2).

Post-irradiation myokymia and neuromyotonia in unilateral tongue and mentalis muscles: report of a case.

We report a 52-year-old man with slowly progressive dysarthria and dysphagia for about 11 years after radiation therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Neurological examination revealed atrophy and myokymia on the left side of the tongue and in the left mentalis muscles. Electrical discharges of myokymia and neuromyotonia were also observed in the aforementioned muscles, suggesting increased motor axonal membrane excitability involving the left hypoglossal nerve and the marginal mendibular branch of the left facial nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain did not show any evidence of tumor recurrence, indicating that irradiation probably plays an important role in pathogenesis. Focal myokymia with concomitant neuromyotonia in unilateral tongue and mentalis muscles could be an unusual delayed manifestation after radiation therapy.

Rhabdomyolysis induced by fenoverine: a case report and literature review.

Fenoverine is a derivative of phenothiazine. It is commonly used in the treatment of gastrointestinal and gynecological spasmodic disorders. Myalgia is a common side effect, but rhabdomyolysis has only been scarcely reported before. A 77-year-old patient without previous history of liver diseases received fenoverine therapy for four days due to abdominal pain. Acute onset of myalgia, proximal muscle weakness and high creatinine phosphokinase (CK) occurred. The foregoing symptoms and signs and abnormal biochemistry improved gradually after discontinuation of fenoverine use. The pathophysiology of fenoverine-induced rhabdomyolysis is unclear. Some predisposing factors, especially liver cirrhosis, had been reported. However, our patient had none of the well-known precipitating factors. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of rhabdomyolysis in patients receiving fenoverine, whether they are healthy or have musculoskeletal or liver dysfunction.

Functional analysis of polymorphisms in the organic anion transporter, SLC22A6 (OAT1).

OBJECTIVES: The organic anion transporter, OAT1 (SLC22A6), plays a role in the renal elimination of many drugs and environmental toxins. The goal of this study was to identify and functionally characterize OAT1 variants as a first step towards understanding whether genetic variation in OAT1 may contribute to interindividual differences in renal elimination of xenobiotics. METHODS: As part of a larger study, 276 DNA samples from an ethnically diverse population were screened and 12 coding region variants of OAT1 were identified. The non-synonymous variants were then constructed and characterized in Xenopus laevis oocytes. A small family-based clinical study was conducted to determine the renal elimination of a model OAT1 substrate, adefovir (an antiviral agent) in human subjects who possessed a non-functional variant, OAT1-R454Q. RESULTS: Six non-synonymous variants were identified; two (OAT1-R50 H and OAT1-R293W) were present at > or = 1% in at least one ethnic population. These two variants exhibited normal uptake of p-aminohippurate, ochratoxin A and methotrexate assayed in X. laevis oocytes. One variant, OAT1-R454Q, was non-functional with respect to the above substrates. In the clinical study, there was no significant decrease in the renal secretory clearance of adefovir in family members heterozygous for OAT1-454Q in comparison to those with the reference transporter, OAT1-454R. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the coding region of OAT1 has low genetic and functional diversity and suggest that coding region variants of OAT1 may not contribute substantially to interindividual differences in renal elimination of xenobiotics.

General paresis with reversible mesial temporal T2-weighted hyperintensity on magnetic resonance image: a case report.

We report a patient with general paresis, whose magnetic resonance image (MRI) showed a T2 high-intensity lesion in bilateral mesial temporal regions. Serum rapid plasma reagin test showed reactive at 64 dilutions and serum Treponema pallidum haemagglutination test was 1:20480. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed: RBC 111/mm3, WBC 8/mm3, Venereal Disease Research Laboratory reactive at 1 dilution and protein 60 mg/dl. His neuropsychiatric symptoms recovered gradually after penicillin treatment two months later. Repeated MRI revealed resolution of the bilateral mesial temporal lesions. We demonstrated the first Taiwanese patient with general paresis whose clinical improvement was associated with the disappearance of the temporal lobe MRI abnormality. The diagnosis of neurosyphilis must be considered when MRI shows mesial temporal lesions. MRI may be used to predict prognosis in patients with general paresis.