Exploring the Impact of Leader Bottom-Line Mentality on Subordinate Learning from Work Failures: A Social Information Processing Perspective.

Learning from work failures is not only beneficial for individual development but also crucial for improving organizational performance and achieving sustainable development. We hypothesize that leader bottom-line mentality, which is commonly used by leaders to prevent profit and performance losses, may reduce subordinates learning from work failures. Drawing on social information processing theory, this paper examines how and when leader bottom-line mentality negatively affects subordinates learning from work failures. We tested our hypotheses through a three-wave survey of 245 employees from several high-tech companies in China. For data analysis, we used SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.0 to test the theoretical model and research hypotheses. The results indicated that leader bottom-line mentality has a negative indirect effect on subordinates learning from work failures through the mediating role of subordinates' psychological availability. In addition, subordinate self-compassion can mitigate this negative mediating mechanism. The present study has several theoretical and practical implications for the current literature.

Structure Regulation of Bentonite-Alginate Nanocomposites for Controlled Release of Imidacloprid.

To reveal the structure and release properties of bentonite-alginate nanocomposites, bentonite of different amounts was incorporated into alginate by the sol-gel route. The structure of the composites was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis and related to the swelling property of the matrix and the release of imidacloprid. Bentonite was subject to exfoliation into nanoplatelets and combined into the polymeric network within alginate hydrogel, exhibiting profound effects on the structure features and release properties of the composites. Bentonite was of good compatibility with alginate due to the hydrogen bonding and the electrostatic attraction between them. The polymer chains were found to intercalate into the interlayer gallery of the clay. The high specific area of the nanoplatelets of bentonite benefited the intimate contact with alginate and reduced the permeability of the composites. However, in the composites with clay content of more than 10%, the polymer was insufficient to accommodate the silicate sheets completely. The aggregation of the platelets destroyed the structure integrity of the composites, facilitating the diffusion of the pesticide. The release of imidacloprid was greatly retarded by incorporating into bentonite-alginate composites and dominated by Fickian diffusion depending on the permeability of the matrix. The time taken for 50% of the active ingredient to be released, T 50, first increased and then decreased with increasing clay content in the composites, reaching a maximum around a weight percentage of 10%, at which the T 50 value for imidacloprid release was about 2.5 times that for the release from pure alginate formulation.

Tomato lncRNA23468 functions as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate NBS-LRR genes by decoying miR482b in the tomato-Phytophthora infestans interaction.

Our previous studies indicated that tomato miR482b could negatively regulate the resistance of tomato to Phytophthora infestans and the expression of miR482b was decreased after inoculation with P. infestans. However, the mechanism by which the accumulation of miR482b is suppressed remains unclear. In this study, we wrote a program to identify 89 long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-originated endogenous target mimics (eTMs) for 46 miRNAs from our RNA-Seq data. Three tomato lncRNAs, lncRNA23468, lncRNA01308 and lncRNA13262, contained conserved eTM sites for miR482b. When lncRNA23468 was overexpressed in tomato, miR482b expression was significantly decreased, and the expression of the target genes, NBS-LRRs, was significantly increased, resulting in enhanced resistance to P. infestans. Silencing lncRNA23468 in tomato led to the increased accumulation of miR482b and decreased accumulation of NBS-LRRs, as well as reduced resistance to P. infestans. In addition, the accumulation of both miR482b and NBS-LRRs was not significantly changed in tomato plants that overexpressed lncRNA23468 with a mutated eTM site. Based on the VIGS system, a target gene of miR482b, Solyc02g036270.2, was silenced. The disease symptoms of the VIGS-Solyc02g036270.2 tomato plants were in accordance with those of tomato plants in which lncRNA23468 was silenced after inoculation with P. infestans. More severe disease symptoms were found in the modified plants than in the control plants. Our results demonstrate that lncRNAs functioning as eTMs may modulate the effects of miRNAs in tomato and provide insight into how the lncRNA23468-miR482b-NBS-LRR module regulates tomato resistance to P. infestans.

Characterization of a superlubricity nanometer interface by Raman spectroscopy.

Despite being known for almost two decades, the use of micro-/nano-electromechanical systems in commercial applications remains a challenge because of stiction, friction, and the wear of the interface. Superlubricity may be the solution to these challenges. In this paper, we study factors affecting the realization of superlubricity. Raman spectroscopy and other methods were used to characterize a graphite interface which can realize superlubricity and another graphite interface which cannot realize superlubricity. Raman spectra of the interfaces were obtained with the mapping mode and then processed to obtain the Raman images of the characteristic peaks. The Raman spectra provided the distribution of the surface defects and probed defects. Combined with atomic force microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the Raman spectra show that the sp(3) carbons and carbon-oxygen bond stuck at the edge of the graphite mesa are some of the determinants of large-area superlubricity realization. The characterization results can also be used to understand the friction and wear of large-area superlubricity, which are important for development and application of superlubricity. Furthermore, the methods used in this study are useful techniques and tools for the mechanism analysis of other nanometer interfaces.