Academic literature on the topic 'Beckner type systems'

Objective: To Analyze the relationship between human resources management and organizational behavior, in light of the analysis of high-performance work practices and workers' organizational commitment. Theoretical Framework: This study focuses on the “high performance work practices” (Pfeffer, 1998; Becker, et al. 2001) which refer to a set of practices that aim to select, develop, and retain workers, especially the most innovative ones, to maximize the organization's performance. Method: A case study was carried out in an innovation and technology consultancy organization, based on the application of a questionnaire survey on the components of organizational commitment (Nascimento et al., 2008) and the perception of workers regarding high performance work practices (Esteves, 2008). The sample is mainly composed of male professionals, between 26 and 34 years old and with a undergraduate or bachelor’s degree. Results and Discussion: The results show some consistency with previous empirical studies: high performance work practices are present in this type of organization; professionals are affectively committed to the organization; there are significant correlations between high performance work practices and organizational commitment, especially at the level of affective commitment. Research Implications: Assists in the design and implementation of practical human resources management strategies for managers, which contribute to the formulation of management systems focused on organizational commitment behaviors of professionals in the context of the consultancy sector. Originality/Value: It is a pioneering study developed in a national context on the two constructs in the consulting sector, contributing to the literature by highlighting the importance of a relational and reflective approach to the importance of organizational behavior. Its relevance and value is evidenced by the support it gives to the design of management systems and practices based on organizational behavior.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is recognized as an important health risk for health workers, however, the absence of occupational health surveillance has created knowledge gaps regarding occupational infection rates and contributing factors. This study aimed to determine the rates and contributing factors of active TB cases in laboratory healthcare employees at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in South Africa, as identified from an occupational surveillance system. Methods: TB cases were reported on the Occupational Health and Safety Information System (OHASIS), which recorded data on occupation type and activities and factors leading to confirmed TB. Data collected from 2012 to 2019 were used to calculate and compare TB risks within NHLS occupational groups. Results: During the study period, there were 92 cases of TB identified in the OHASIS database. General workers, rather than skilled and unskilled laboratory workers and medical staff, had the highest incidence rate (422 per 100,000 person-years). OHASIS data revealed subgroups that seemed to be well protected, while pointing to exposure situations that beckoned policy development, as well as identified subgroups of workers for whom better training is warranted. Conclusions: Functional occupational health surveillance systems can identify subgroups most at risk as well as areas of programme success and areas where increased support is needed, helping to target and monitor policy and procedure modification and training needs.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous underground symbiotic associations between most plants and fungi from the phylum Glomeromycota. From this symbiosis plants generally improve their capacity to obtain less mobile soil nutrients (like phosphorus) and increase resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. Concomitantly the fungus has access to host carbon photosynthates. As obligate symbionts these fungi require always a host to survive, hence dual cultures is an obligatory laboratory requisite to maintain and multiply live Glomeromycota fungi. These cultures are mainly of three sorts: 1) Open pot cultures, 2) in vitro cultures with Ti DNA transformed root systems, 3) and in vitro cultures with L. cruciata, presented here. The internal mycelium of AMF usually assumes one or both of the morph-types named Arum (first described on Arum maculatum) and Paris (observed in Paris quadrifolia). The Paris-type morphology is characterized by hyphae with an intra-cellular growth, from cell-to-cell, forming coils and arbusculate coils. The Arum-type shows mainly intercellular hyphae growth, longitudinally between cells, with the arbuscules mounting upright on short intra-cellular branches.This study presents the first comparative morphologic characterization of 4 species of AMF grown in vitro with Lunularia cruciata (L.) Dumortier ex. Lindberg. Glomus clarum Nicol. & Schenck (CNPAB 005), G. intraradices Schenck & Smith (MUCL 43204), G. proliferum Dalpé & Declerck (MUCL 41827); and Gigaspora margarita Becker & Hall (CNPAB 001) internal hyphae share the same morph-type of L. cruciata colonization: the Paris-type. Stable and viable monoxenic cultures of AMF with L. cruciata were first presented by Fonseca and co-workers in 2006 for G. intraradices and G. proliferum on Petri dish (Fig. 1.1). In this work we bring two more species (G. clarum and Gi. margarita) cultured in vitro with L. cruciata, on bi-layer medium in flask containers (Fig. 1.2). The production of spores occurred mainly, among the rhizoids, between overlapping thallus and over the thallus (Fig. 1.3). Only the Glomus species produced spores within the medium.L. cruciata belongs to a group of complex thalloid liverworts with an internally differentiated anatomy: an upper epidermis forming air chambers where the chlorophyllous cells are located, a conspicuous vacuolated parenchyma, and the lower epidermis with its scales and rhizoids (Fig. 1.4). All four species show highly similar architecture of colonization with most fungi distributed in the thallus’ midrib parenchyma, and with internal mycelium architecture compatible with the Paris-type colonization (Figures 1.5 to 1.8). Although consistent the occurrence of Paris-type colonization among these four species, more species needed to be examined before a generalization can be given. The availability of AMF isolates for research at international fungi collections and laboratories is limited, and from these axenic isolates for in vitro culture are very few, which hinders the prove of the hypotheses that Paris-type colonization is the main pattern of hyphae colonization in L. cruciata mycothallus.

Aqueous electrolytes offer significant advantages over their organic counterparts, particularly for large-scale applications that prioritize non-flammability, scalability, and sustainability. However, the narrow electrochemical stability window of water imposes voltage limitations, resulting in low energy densities of aqueous batteries. Highly concentrated electrolytes have enabled high-voltage, mostly intercalation-type, aqueous battery chemistries, and over the past decade many additives, coatings, and highly soluble salts have been developed to manipulate the solution structure of the electrolyte and the interphasial chemistry at the electrode surfaces. However, the large amounts of specialized salts required in this approach, put into question whether GWh-scale storage is really the best application of this technology. Storage at such very large scale, however, is required for further integration of renewables and complete decarbonization of power grids. Flow batteries that decouple energy storage from power generation were developed to simplify scaling of very large batteries while maintaining cost and safety benefits of aqueous electrolytes. Here, the solubility of active materials governs the achievable energy density, which is typically an order of magnitude lower for aqueous flow batteries compared to state-of-the-art lithium-ion cells. Capitalizing on our experience with highly concentrated electrolytes and the impact of molecular symmetry and ion-pairing on electrolyte properties,1–5 we manipulate the solution structure of flow battery electrolytes to maximize active material concentration. We manipulate the hydrogen-bonding environment in the electrolyte and mediate anion-cation interactions via cation-engineering and additives, enabling more than four-fold higher concentrations for a series of metal-organic chelates and ferrocyanides than previously reported.6–8 We further developed a simple flame emission spectroscopy setup to track cation ratios in solution and study cation-dependent instabilities of presumably highly stable ferrocyanide anions.8,9 Achieving very high concentrations, however, presents a series of challenges for flow batteries. A two-molar lithium ferrocyanide electrolyte, for example, has an ionic strength comparable to a twenty-molar lithium chloride solution.8 Managing osmotic balance across the membrane thus becomes very challenging in a flow cell. Additionally, the high viscosity of concentrated electrolytes results in significant efficiency and power losses, suggesting that the “dissolve-as-much-as-possible” approach may not necessarily lead to better flow batteries. We thus studied the importance of energy density for real-world MWh-scale batteries by using satellite images to estimate the footprint of such large-scale deployments. We find that installations using lithium-ion batteries often have a comparable footprint to sodium-sulfur batteries and even demonstrator-stage flow batteries.10 This implies that low cell level energy density of flow batteries is not the key limitation of the technology, challenging the common narrative. For applications such as residential use, on the other hand, energy density certainly plays a critical role, and we discuss approaches that could enable much more compact systems. References: (1) Reber, D.; Kühnel, R. S.; Battaglia, C. Suppressing Crystallization of Water-in-Salt Electrolytes by Asymmetric Anions Enables Low-Temperature Operation of High-Voltage Aqueous Batteries. ACS Mater. Lett. 2019, 1 (1), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialslett.9b00043. (2) Kühnel, R.-S.; Reber, D.; Battaglia, C. Perspective—Electrochemical Stability of Water-in-Salt Electrolytes. J. Electrochem. Soc. 167 (7), 70544. (3) Reber, D.; Takenaka, N.; Kuhnel, R.-S.; Yamada, A.; Battaglia, C. Impact of Anion Asymmetry on Local Structure and Supercooling Behavior of Water-in-Salt Electrolytes. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11 (12), 4720–4725. (4) Reber, D.; Grissa, R.; Becker, M.; Kühnel, R.-S.; Battaglia, C. Anion Selection Criteria for Water-in-Salt Electrolytes. Adv. Energy Mater. 2021, 11 (5), 2002913. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202002913. (5) Reber, D.; Borodin, O.; Becker, M.; Rentsch, D.; Thienenkamp, J. H.; Grissa, R.; Zhao, W.; Aribia, A.; Brunklaus, G.; Battaglia, C. Water/Ionic Liquid/Succinonitrile Hybrid Electrolytes for Aqueous Batteries. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32 (20), 2112138. (6) Reber, D.; Thurston, J. R.; Becker, M.; Pach, G. F.; Wagoner, M. E.; Robb, B. H.; Waters, S. E.; Marshak, M. P. Mediating Anion-Cation Interactions to Improve Aqueous Flow Battery Electrolytes. Appl. Mater. Today 2022, 28, 101512. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2022.101512. (7) Waters, S. E.; Thurston, J. R.; Armstrong, R. W.; Robb, B. H.; Marshak, M. P.; Reber, D. Holistic Design Principles for Flow Batteries: Cation Dependent Membrane Resistance and Active Species Solubility. J. Power Sources 2022, 520, 230877. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2021.230877. (8) Reber, D.; Thurston, J. R.; Becker, M.; Marshak, M. P. Stability of Highly Soluble Ferrocyanides at Neutral PH for Energy-Dense Flow Batteries. Cell Reports Phys. Sci. 2023, 4, 101215. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.101215. (9) Thurston, J. R.; Marshak, M. P.; Reber, D. Monitoring Ion Exchange Chromatography with Affordable Flame Emission Spectroscopy. J. Chem. Educ. 2022. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00455. (10) Reber, D.; Jarvis, S.; Marshak, M. The Role of Energy Density for Grid-Scale Batteries. ChemRxiv 2022. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-5ddhs.