How to manage creativity time? Results from a social psychological time model lab experiment on individual creative and routine performance

Companies have long used various approaches for organizing their employees' time for creative and routine tasks in order to improve innovative performance. In this paper, we examine how work schedule autonomy affects individuals' creative and routine performance. We then evaluate non‐commissioned time models. Results of laboratory experiments with 233 participants reveal that while average routine performance is not affected by schedule autonomy, the effect of schedule autonomy on creative performance depends on the subject's impulsiveness. There is evidence of an inverse relationship between schedule autonomy and creative performance among subjects of low impulsiveness. Hence, our results indicate that the optimal management policy depends on the manager's focus on creative or routine performance and the types of employees the manager supervises. For routine performance, the creativity time model has no significant impact.     

Effects of the inhomogenous co doping on the magnetoresistance of Zn1-xCo(x)O epitaxial films

A series of Zn1-xCo(x)O epitaxial films around 100 nm with nominal Co concentration from 5% to 15% was prepared by ultra high vacuum (UHV) magnetron reactive sputtering. The optical, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of this series of Zn1-xCo(x)O epitaxial films were investigated, respectively. Resonant Raman spectra indicate the high structural and crystalline quality of these Zn1-xCo(x)O (5 < or = x < or = 15%) films, and confirm a consistent correlation between the substituting Co ions content with the Co doping concentration as well. Paramagnetism, superparamagnetism and ferromagnetism with altered Curie temperature from low temperatures to above room temperatures have been observed in these films by SQUID magnetometry. The broad blocking temperature range indicates the presence of inhomogenous distribution of the magnetic nano-clusters in the superparamagnetic films. However, the magneto-transport behaviors do not strongly respond to the change of the magnetic properties from paramagnetism to ferromagnetism of these Zn1-xCo(x)O films. The lack of efficient coupling between the inhomogenous magnetic nanoclusters and the carrier system in ferromagnetic Zn1-xCo(x)O films highlights the absence of the intrinsic magnetic origins in high structural quality Zn1-xCo(x)O (5 < or = x < or = 15%) epitaxial films. On the other hand, the competition between the spin alignments and the inhomogenous local disorder effect by magnetic ions is suggested to be responsible for the carrier properties and the oberseved magnetoresistance in these Co doping Zn1-xCo(x)O (5 < or = x < or = 15%) epitaxial films.     

New Structural Variants of Homoserine Lactones in Bacteria

N‐Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are used by a wide variety of bacteria for cell–cell communication in “quorum‐sensing”. These compounds are derived from L ‐homoserine lactone and a fatty acid, which varies in chain‐length, degree of saturation, and the presence or absence of an oxygen atom at C‐3. In this study we describe for the first time the occurrence of acyl chains carrying a methyl branch, and present a GC‐MS‐based method that can be used to distinguish these compounds from unbranched isomers. The bacterium Aeromonas culicicola produces several methyl branched AHLs. In Jannaschia helgolandensis—a marine bacterium of the Roseobacter clade—a doubly unsaturated AHL, (2E,9Z)‐N‐(2,9‐hexadecadienoyl)‐L ‐homoserine lactone, occurs. The location and configuration of the double bonds was proven by spectrometric investigation and synthesis. Finally, a method was developed to establish the absolute configuration of 3‐hydroxyalkanoyl‐HSLs by mild cleavage and chiral gas chromatography. The AHLs synthesized during this study were tested in sensor systems specific for certain AHL types. The results show that these compounds display varying responses to the respective sensors; this underlines the importance of determining the whole bouquet of AHLs and its function to fully understand their importance for regulatory functions in bacteria.     

Modulation of Aβ42 Aggregation Kinetics and Pathway by Low-Molecular-Weight Inhibitors

The aggregation of amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42) is directly related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have investigated the early stages of the aggregation process, during which most of the cytotoxic species are formed. Aβ42 aggregation kinetics, characterized by the quantification of Aβ42 monomer consumption, were tracked by real-time solution NMR spectroscopy (RT-NMR) allowing the impact that low-molecular-weight (LMW) inhibitors and modulators exert on the aggregation process to be analysed. Distinct differences in the Aβ42 kinetic profiles were apparent and were further investigated kinetically and structurally by using thioflavin T (ThT) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. LMW inhibitors were shown to have a differential impact on early-state aggregation. Insight provided here could direct future therapeutic design based on kinetic profiling of the process of fibril formation.     

Trans-Splicing Improvement by the Combined Application of Antisense Strategies

Spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing has become an emergent tool for the repair of mutated pre-mRNAs in the treatment of genetic diseases. RNA trans-splicing molecules (RTMs) are designed to induce a specific trans-splicing reaction via a binding domain for a respective target pre-mRNA region. A previously established reporter-based screening system allows us to analyze the impact of various factors on the RTM trans-splicing efficiency in vitro. Using this system, we are further able to investigate the potential of antisense RNAs (AS RNAs), presuming to improve the trans-splicing efficiency of a selected RTM, specific for intron 102 of COL7A1. Mutations in the COL7A1 gene underlie the dystrophic subtype of the skin blistering disease epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). We have shown that co-transfections of the RTM and a selected AS RNA, interfering with competitive splicing elements on a COL7A1-minigene (COL7A1-MG), lead to a significant increase of the RNA trans-splicing efficiency. Thereby, accurate trans-splicing between the RTM and the COL7A1-MG is represented by the restoration of full-length green fluorescent protein GFP on mRNA and protein level. This mechanism can be crucial for the improvement of an RTM-mediated correction, especially in cases where a high trans-splicing efficiency is required.     

Value creation through project risk management

Risk management is a common and widely adopted project practice. Practitioners use risk management based on a common assumption that risk management adds value to projects. Yet, in the complex and ambiguous environment of a project, value is often subjective. If this is the case, then how do stakeholders perceive project risk management to create value? This paper presents a literature review and an empirical study of project risk management as a means of creating value. The empirical study is based on interviews, analyzed through qualitative analysis, to unravel the subjective value of project risk management. Specifically, we addressed how practitioners perceived the connection between project risk management practices and value creation. We found that stakeholders' perceptions of value played an important role in how value was created through project risk management. What a stakeholder perceives to be important, such as the prospective outcomes of a project, influences the perceived value of a given project risk management practice. The empirical findings indicate the need for a contextualized understanding of the value of project risk management, and thereby provide a more nuanced view of the variety of forms through which project risk management can create value. The findings question the “universal ideal” of PRM value creation portrayed in the academic and practitioner literature.