The association of distress and sleeping problems with physicians’ intentions to change profession: The moderating effect of job control.

The present study examined whether job control moderated the association between stress indicators (distress and sleeping problems) and intentions to change profession among 2,650 Finnish physicians. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was applied. The authors found that high levels of distress and sleeping problems were associated with higher levels of intentions to change profession, whereas high job control was associated with lower levels of intentions to change profession even after adjusting for the effects of gender, age, and employment sector. In addition, high job control was able to mitigate the positive association that distress and sleeping problems had with intentions to change profession. Our findings highlight the importance of offering more job control to physicians to prevent unnecessary physician turnover. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth effects of regional policy in Germany: results from a spatially augmented multiplicative interaction model

Private investment subsidies are a key instrument for regional policy making to foster the economic development in lagging regions. In this paper, we analyze their effect on labor productivity growth for German labor market regions for the period from 1994 to 2006. A spatially augmented multiplicative interaction model based on neoclassical growth theory is used, which allows us to assess the marginal effect of regional policy proxied by overall payments of the main German regional development program on the region’s convergence speed conditional on its initial income position as well as policy-related spillovers from its spatial neighborhood. Our results show a statistically significant positive effect of regional policy on labor productivity growth, which increases, the further away the supported region is from its steady-state income level, and the more grants are provided to its geographical neighborhood. The latter effect highlights the existence of positive spatial spillover effects from regional policy in Germany, which enhance the attractiveness of the whole macro region for private sector investments. The additional growth stimulus provided by a 1 % increase in the region’s funding volume is thereby related to an up to 0.3 % gain in terms of labor productivity growth. For regions with the highest initial gaps to steady-state income in the sample distribution, the regional policy stimulus accounts for almost 8 % of the regions’ productivity growth performance.     

Montmorillonite as support for peroxide in the melt grafting of maleic anhydride onto polypropylene

Grafting of maleic anhydride onto polypropylene was performed in a Haake torque rheometer, in the presence of organically modified montmorillonite, MMT (used as support for the peroxide), according to a 2³ factorial design, where the maleic anhydride concentration (C_MA), peroxide concentration (C_per) and reaction time (t_r) were varied. For comparison, the reaction in the absence of MMT was also conducted. Polypropylene degradation was assessed by parallel plate rheometry and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and percentage of reacted maleic anhydride (%MA_g) was obtained by titration and FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed differences in both systems, conventional and in the presence of MMT. The structure of polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride, PP‐g‐MA, indicates longer branches are formed in the presence of MMT compared to in its absence, demonstrated by FTIR analysis. As in conventional reaction systems, an increase in C_per caused an increase in %MA_g and a reduction in molar mass. The variable C_MA showed to be not significant in the grafting reaction in the presence of MMT, even at high DCP levels, at a 5% significance level. On the other hand, increase in C_MA resulted in significant increase in viscosity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44134.     

A look behind the curtain: Measuring the complex economic effects of regional structural funds in Germany

This paper investigates the mutual impact channels of Germany's major regional policy instrument (GRW) on regional economic development. Different from earlier studies which have predominately focused on a partial assessment of output effects, we explicitly endogenize the factor inputs of the underlying production function. This allows us to comprehensively assess the role of the GRW in driving per capita output, employment, human and physical capital intensities as well as the region's technological growth. The results from a spatial panel vector autoregressive model show that GRW funding has significant positive effects on regional output, the employment rate and human capital intensity.     

基于SR7265硬件的虚拟锁相放大器、频谱仪、阻抗计和半导体参数分析仪

锁相放大器是用来测量微弱信号的专用仪器.即使噪音上千倍于被测信号,通过锁相放大器,也能得到精确结果.随着数字信号处理技术在仪器中的应用,可编程仪器变得越来越灵活.结合虚拟仪器的技术,论文通过对SR7265的硬件重新编程,在同一个硬件上实现了虚拟锁相放大器、虚拟频谱仪、虚拟阻抗计和虚拟半导体参数分析仪等等功能.本虚拟仪器采用了4层的逻辑结构.同样的功能也在一个FPGA板上成功地部署.     

Effect of surface roughness and stainless steel finish on Listeria monocytogenes attachment and biofilm formation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of surface roughness (Ra) and finish of mechanically polished stainless steel (Ra = 0.26 +/- 0.05, 0.49 +/- 0.10, and 0.69 +/- 0.05 microm) and electropolished stainless steel (Ra = 0.16 +/- 0.06, 0.40 +/- 0.003, and 0.67 +/- 0.02 microm) on Listeria adhesion and biofilm formation. A four-strain cocktail of Listeria monocytogenes was used. Each strain (0.1%) was added to 200 ml of tryptic soy broth (TSB), and coupons were inserted to the mixture for 5 min. For biofilm formation, coupons with adhesive cells were incubated in 1:20 diluted TSB at 32 degrees C for 48 h. The experiment was performed by a randomized block design. Our results show that the level of Listeria present after 48 h of incubation (mean = 7 log CFU/cm2) was significantly higher than after 5 min (mean = 6.0 log CFU/cm2) (P < 0.01). No differences in initial adhesion were seen in mechanically finished (mean = 6.7 log CFU/cm2) when compared with electropolished stainless steel (mean = 6.7 log CFU/cm2) (P > 0.05). Listeria initial adhesion (values ranged from 5.9 to 6.1 log CFU/cm2) or biofilm formation (values ranged from 6.9 to 7.2 log CFU/cm2) was not significantly correlated with Ra values (P > 0.05). Image analysis with an atomic force microscope showed that bacteria did not colonize the complete surface after 48 h but were individual cells or grouped in microcolonies that ranged from 5 to 10 microm in diameter and one to three cell layers in thickness. Exopolymeric substances were observed to be associated with the colonies. According to our results, electropolishing stainless steel does not pose a significant advantage for food sanitation over mechanically finished stainless steel.     

Total hordatine content in different types of beers

Hordatines are phenolic secondary metabolites typical of barley. Hordatines withstand at least moderate processing, and thus they are also found in barley malts and beer. So far, no published data on the hordatine content has been available in beers or different styles of beer. The aim of this study was to produce information on the total hordatine content in beers and statistically compare the hordatine content of different beer types. In the current study, hordatines were analysed in 208 beers by high‐performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode array detector (HPLC‐DAD). The average total hordatine content of all beer samples was 5.6 ± 3.1 mg L^?1 as p‐coumaric acid equivalents (PCAE), with a minimum values 0 to a maximum value 18.7 mg L^?1 PCAE. The total hordatine content correlated positively to the alcohol content in lagers, ales, stouts and porters, but not in wheat beers. There was no statistically significant difference in hordatine content in different types of beer, excluding the non‐alcoholic group of beers. It is noteworthy that non‐alcoholic beers also contained hordatines. More research would be needed to understand how parameters, such as mashing, should be chosen in order to achieve maximum recovery of hordatines in wort and beer.     

Synthesis of Novel Phosphonic‐Type Activity‐Based Probes for Neutrophil Serine Proteases and Their Application in Spleen Lysates of Different Organisms

Neutrophils are a type of granulocyte important in the “first line of defense” of the innate immune system. Upon activation, they facilitate the destruction of invading microorganisms by the production of superoxide radicals, as well as the release of the enzymatic contents of their lysozymes. These enzymes include specific serine proteases: cathepsin G, neutrophil elastase, proteinase 3, as well as the recently discovered neutrophil serine protease 4 (NSP4). Under normal conditions, the proteolytic activity of neutrophil proteases is tightly regulated by endogenous serpins; however, this mechanism can be subverted during tissue stress, thereby resulting in the uncontrolled activity of serine proteases, which induce chronic inflammation and subsequent pathology. Herein, we describe the development of low‐molecular‐weight activity‐based probes that specifically target the active sites of neutrophil proteases.     

Model selection, identification and validation in anaerobic digestion: a review

Anaerobic digestion enables waste (water) treatment and energy production in the form of biogas. The successful implementation of this process has lead to an increasing interest worldwide. However, anaerobic digestion is a complex biological process, where hundreds of microbial populations are involved, and whose start-up and operation are delicate issues. In order to better understand the process dynamics and to optimize the operating conditions, the availability of dynamic models is of paramount importance. Such models have to be inferred from prior knowledge and experimental data collected from real plants. Modeling and parameter identification are vast subjects, offering a realm of approaches and methods, which can be difficult to fully understand by scientists and engineers dedicated to the plant operation and improvements. This review article discusses existing modeling frameworks and methodologies for parameter estimation and model validation in the field of anaerobic digestion processes. The point of view is pragmatic, intentionally focusing on simple but efficient methods.