Processing of hierarchical syntactic structure in music.

Science.gov (United States)

Koelsch, Stefan; Rohrmeier, Martin; Torrecuso, Renzo; Jentschke, Sebastian

2013-09-17

Hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is a key feature of human language and can be identified theoretically in most pieces of tonal music. However, previous studies have argued against the perception of such structures in music. Here, we show processing of nonlocal dependencies in music. We presented chorales by J. S. Bach and modified versions in which the hierarchical structure was rendered irregular whereas the local structure was kept intact. Brain electric responses differed between regular and irregular hierarchical structures, in both musicians and nonmusicians. This finding indicates that, when listening to music, humans apply cognitive processes that are capable of dealing with long-distance dependencies resulting from hierarchically organized syntactic structures. Our results reveal that a brain mechanism fundamental for syntactic processing is engaged during the perception of music, indicating that processing of hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is not just a key component of human language, but a multidomain capacity of human cognition.

The Organizational Climate and Organizational Structure of Elementary Schools. A Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranyard, Redge W.

This report examines the relationship between the organizational climate (as measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire of Halpin and Croft--1966) and the organizational structure (in the context of the bureaucratic construct of Weber--1947) of elementary schools. The study postulated that the organizational structure of a…

The associations between organizational culture, organizational structure and quality management in European hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, C; Mannion, R; Hammer, A; Groene, O; Arah, O A; Dersarkissian, M; Suñol, R

2014-04-01

To better understand associations between organizational culture (OC), organizational management structure (OS) and quality management in hospitals. A multi-method, multi-level, cross-sectional observational study. As part of the DUQuE project (Deepening our Understanding of Quality improvement in Europe), a random sample of 188 hospitals in 7 countries (France, Poland, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Czech Republic) participated in a comprehensive questionnaire survey and a one-day on-site surveyor audit. Respondents for this study (n = 158) included professional quality managers and hospital trustees. Extent of implementation of quality management systems, extent of compliance with existing management procedures and implementation of clinical quality activities. Among participating hospitals, 33% had a clan culture as their dominant culture type, 26% an open and developmental culture type, 16% a hierarchical culture type and 25% a rational culture type. The culture type had no statistically significant association with the outcome measures. Some structural characteristics were associated with the development of quality management systems. The type of OC was not associated with the development of quality management in hospitals. Other factors (not culture type) are associated with the development of quality management. An OS that uses fewer protocols is associated with a less developed quality management system, whereas an OS which supports innovation in care is associated with a more developed quality management system.

Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

KAUST Repository

Wang, Hong

2017-08-03

The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced on a large-scale approach. The unique HNDCM holds great promise as components in separation and advanced carbon devices because they could offer unconventional fluidic transport phenomena on the nanoscale. Overall, the invention set forth herein covers a hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes and methods of making and using such a membranes.

Zeolitic materials with hierarchical porous structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Orozco, Sofia; Inayat, Amer; Schwab, Andreas; Selvam, Thangaraj; Schwieger, Wilhelm

2011-06-17

During the past several years, different kinds of hierarchical structured zeolitic materials have been synthesized due to their highly attractive properties, such as superior mass/heat transfer characteristics, lower restriction of the diffusion of reactants in the mesopores, and low pressure drop. Our contribution provides general information regarding types and preparation methods of hierarchical zeolitic materials and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Thereafter, recent advances in the preparation and characterization of hierarchical zeolitic structures within the crystallites by post-synthetic treatment methods, such as dealumination or desilication; and structured devices by in situ and ex situ zeolite coatings on open-cellular ceramic foams as (non-reactive as well as reactive) supports are highlighted. Specific advantages of using hierarchical zeolitic catalysts/structures in selected catalytic reactions, such as benzene to phenol (BTOP) and methanol to olefins (MTO) are presented. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Work structure, organizational communication, and organizational effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Cott, H.P.; Bauman, M.B.

1986-01-01

This paper describes the assessment of the work structure and organizational communication in nuclear power plants. Questionnaires were given to a cross-section of plant personnel, and structured ''critical incident'' interviews were conducted to verify the questionnaire results. The data showed that a variety of work structure factor problem areas do exist in nuclear power plants. This paper highlights many aspects of organizational communication found to be problematic, and identifies weak links in the chain of coordination and information processing required to effectively perform corrective and preventive maintenance in the plants

Hierarchically Structured Electrospun Fibers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole E. Zander

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional electrospun nanofibers have a myriad of applications ranging from scaffolds for tissue engineering to components of biosensors and energy harvesting devices. The generally smooth one-dimensional structure of the fibers has stood as a limitation to several interesting novel applications. Control of fiber diameter, porosity and collector geometry will be briefly discussed, as will more traditional methods for controlling fiber morphology and fiber mat architecture. The remainder of the review will focus on new techniques to prepare hierarchically structured fibers. Fibers with hierarchical primary structures—including helical, buckled, and beads-on-a-string fibers, as well as fibers with secondary structures, such as nanopores, nanopillars, nanorods, and internally structured fibers and their applications—will be discussed. These new materials with helical/buckled morphology are expected to possess unique optical and mechanical properties with possible applications for negative refractive index materials, highly stretchable/high-tensile-strength materials, and components in microelectromechanical devices. Core-shell type fibers enable a much wider variety of materials to be electrospun and are expected to be widely applied in the sensing, drug delivery/controlled release fields, and in the encapsulation of live cells for biological applications. Materials with a hierarchical secondary structure are expected to provide new superhydrophobic and self-cleaning materials.

BUSINESS STRATEGY, STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

OpenAIRE

CORINA GAVREA; ROXANA STEGEREAN; LIVIU ILIES

2012-01-01

Organizational structure and competitive strategy play an important role in gaining competitive advantage and improving organizational performance. The objective of this paper is to examine how organizational structure and strategy affects firm performance within a sample of 92 Romanian firms. The data used in this study was collected through a questionnaire used to quantify the three variables of interest: organizational performance, strategy and structure.

Hierarchical Porous Structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grote, Christopher John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-06-07

Materials Design is often at the forefront of technological innovation. While there has always been a push to generate increasingly low density materials, such as aero or hydrogels, more recently the idea of bicontinuous structures has gone more into play. This review will cover some of the methods and applications for generating both porous, and hierarchically porous structures.

The effects of organizational commitment and structural empowerment on patient safety culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Horwitz, Sujin K; Horwitz, Irwin B

2017-03-20

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between patient safety culture and two attitudinal constructs: affective organizational commitment and structural empowerment. In doing so, the main and interaction effects of the two constructs on the perception of patient safety culture were assessed using a cohort of physicians. Design/methodology/approach Affective commitment was measured with the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, whereas structural empowerment was assessed with the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II. The abbreviated versions of these surveys were administered to a cohort of 71 post-doctoral medical residents. For the data analysis, hierarchical regression analyses were performed for the main and interaction effects of affective commitment and structural empowerment on the perception of patient safety culture. Findings A total of 63 surveys were analyzed. The results revealed that both affective commitment and structural empowerment were positively related to patient safety culture. A potential interaction effect of the two attitudinal constructs on patient safety culture was tested but no such effect was detected. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that there are potential benefits of promoting affective commitment and structural empowerment for patient safety culture in health care organizations. By identifying the positive associations between the two constructs and patient safety culture, this study provides additional empirical support for Kanter's theoretical tenet that structural and organizational support together helps to shape the perceptions of patient safety culture. Originality/value Despite the wide recognition of employee empowerment and commitment in organizational research, there has still been a paucity of empirical studies specifically assessing their effects on patient safety culture in health care organizations. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first

The mutual impact of organizational culture and structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janićijević Nebojša

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the relationship between the structure and culture of an organization. The starting assumption is that organizational structure and organizational culture impact each other, and that there is a causal relationship due to which the agreement of the two components of organization leads to better performance. First, the mechanism through which organizational culture impacts the design of organizational structures and the manner in which organizational structure affects the maintenance, strengthening, or changing of organizational culture is explained at the conceptual level. Then, based on the known classifications of organizational structure and culture, they are put into a relationship of direct mutual interdependence. This is done by generating hypotheses about the agreement of particular types of organizational culture and particular types of organizational structure.

Organizational Structures

OpenAIRE

2006-01-01

drag Drag-and-Drop Exercise Interactive Media Element This interactive exercise gets the learner to identify various strengths and weaknesses of the functional, divisional, matrix, horizontal, modular, and hybrid organizational structures. 

Organizational Structure and Product Market Competition

OpenAIRE

Jung Hur; Yohanes E. Riyanto

2007-01-01

We analyze an interaction between a firm’s choice of organizational structure and competition in the product-market. Two organizational structures are considered, namely a centralized-organization, whereby formal authority is retained by a principal, and a decentralized-organization, whereby formal authority is delegated to an agent. We show that the choice of organizational structure hinges on a trade-off between operating-profit and managerial effort. The principal may prefer to choose an o...

New organizational forms, controls, and institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Annosi, Maria Carmela; Brunetta, Federica

2017-01-01

This book highlights the growing number of 'post-bureaucratic' firms that are abandoning hierarchical organizational forms in favor of self-managing teams. Addressing the need to outperform, these new organization types foresee the benefits of an organic structure with new and more indirect forms of

Hierarchical and Matrix Structures in a Large Organizational Email Network: Visualization and Modeling Approaches

OpenAIRE

Sims, Benjamin H.; Sinitsyn, Nikolai; Eidenbenz, Stephan J.

2014-01-01

This paper presents findings from a study of the email network of a large scientific research organization, focusing on methods for visualizing and modeling organizational hierarchies within large, complex network datasets. In the first part of the paper, we find that visualization and interpretation of complex organizational network data is facilitated by integration of network data with information on formal organizational divisions and levels. By aggregating and visualizing email traffic b...

15 CFR 923.46 - Organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Organizational structure. 923.46... structure. The State must be organized to implement the management program. The management program must describe the organizational structure that will be used to implement and administer the management program...

The Role of Teams as Organizational Structures in a Global Organizational Context

OpenAIRE

Zoltan Raluca

2012-01-01

The flexibility that modern companies must show in regard to global market entails the recourse to work teams which are multicultural adapted and aware of their role and place in the overall structure of the organization. The technological changes along with the customer needs diversification require the awareness of the influence of organizational structure on team members as well as the influence of teams on organizational structures and organizational context. The present paper aims to poi...

Road Network Selection Based on Road Hierarchical Structure Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HE Haiwei

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A new road network selection method based on hierarchical structure is studied. Firstly, road network is built as strokes which are then classified into hierarchical collections according to the criteria of betweenness centrality value (BC value. Secondly, the hierarchical structure of the strokes is enhanced using structural characteristic identification technique. Thirdly, the importance calculation model was established according to the relationships among the hierarchical structure of the strokes. Finally, the importance values of strokes are got supported with the model's hierarchical calculation, and with which the road network is selected. Tests are done to verify the advantage of this method by comparing it with other common stroke-oriented methods using three kinds of typical road network data. Comparision of the results show that this method had few need to semantic data, and could eliminate the negative influence of edge strokes caused by the criteria of BC value well. So, it is better to maintain the global hierarchical structure of road network, and suitable to meet with the selection of various kinds of road network at the same time.

The mutual impact of organizational culture and structure

OpenAIRE

Janićijević Nebojša

2013-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between the structure and culture of an organization. The starting assumption is that organizational structure and organizational culture impact each other, and that there is a causal relationship due to which the agreement of the two components of organization leads to better performance. First, the mechanism through which organizational culture impacts the design of organizational structures and the manner in which org...

42 CFR 491.7 - Organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Organizational structure. 491.7 Section 491.7 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...: Conditions for Certification; and FQHCs Conditions for Coverage § 491.7 Organizational structure. (a) Basic...

Investigation of organizational structures of nuclear power plants and their cooperation with superordinate organizational structures. Phase 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

Management structure and methods applied in nuclear power plants were examined regarding the control of tasks, competences and responsibilities. Two German nuclear power plants were selected as representative plants. Their organizational structure is called PUME (=production, supervision, mechanical engineering/electrotechnics) and PUTI (=production, supervision, engineering, maintenance). On the second executive level the two organizational structures do not differ from each other any more. There is a uniform structure: production, supervision, mechanical engineering, maintenance, electro-techics/maintenance. Within bounds of the organizational freedom of the companies the applicable rules were converted into routine definitions. Furthermore the most important procedures were examined according to the operational manual, e.g. those concerning maintenance, the regulations for health physics and the reflow of informations in the field of the quality-assurance-system according to the KTA-Regulation 1401. The external requirements derived of the set of regulations are taken into account within the procedures. The examined organizational structure and the study of the procedures are free of weak points. This goes for the requirements derived of the set of regulations as well as for those based on management/organizational theory. More ways for improvement are seen on systemizing and integrating further the internal regulations. (orig.) [de

A taxonomy of state public health preparedness units: an empirical examination of organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Menachemi, Nir; Yeager, Valerie A; Duncan, W Jack; Katholi, Charles R; Ginter, Peter M

2012-01-01

State public health preparedness units (SPHPUs) were developed in response to federal funding to improve response to disasters: a responsibility that had not traditionally been within the purview of public health. The SPHPUs were created within the existing public health organizational structure, and their placement may have implications for how the unit functions, how communication takes place, and ultimately how well the key responsibilities are performed. This study empirically identifies a taxonomy of similarly structured SPHPUs and examines whether this structure is associated with state geographic, demographic, and threat-vulnerability characteristics. Data representing each SPHPU were extracted from publically available sources, including organizational charts and emergency preparedness plans for 2009. A cross-sectional segmentation analysis was conducted of variables representing structural attributes. Fifty state public health departments. Variables representing "span of control" and "hierarchal levels" were extracted from organizational charts. Structural "complexity" and "centralization" were extracted from state emergency preparedness documents and other secondary sources. On average, 6.6 people report to the same manager as the SPHPU director; 2.1 levels separate the SPHPU director from the state health officer; and a mean of 13.5 agencies collaborate with SPHPU during a disaster. Despite considerable variability in how SPHPUs had been structured, results of the cluster and principal component analysis identified 7 similarly structured groups. Neither the taxonomic groups nor the individual variables representing structure were found to be associated with state characteristics, including threat vulnerabilities. Our finding supports the hypothesis that SPHPUs are seemingly inadvertently (eg, not strategically) organized. This taxonomy provides the basis for which future research can examine how SPHPU structure relates to performance measures and

Organizational structures of companies versus project management effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Haffer

2012-12-01

Full Text Available An organizational structure, indicated as one out of the four main organizational conditions supporting project management, has an essential meaning for project execution. This article, based on the research results, describes different organizational structures of project-orientated enterprises, enumerating their advantages and disadvantages, and reveals the influence of inter-organizational relations on project management effectiveness in enterprises operating in Poland. The results indicate that the more a character of inter-organizational relations is heading towards project structure, the higher project management effectiveness is. In the next sequence the project management processes are supported by strong matrix structures, whereas the worst outcomes are provided by functional structures. Simultaneously, it was concluded that project structures are conducive to high advancement of project management processes, and among them, especially project risk management processes as well as communication, time and cost management processes.

THE ANTECEDENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND CUSTOMER ORIENTATION

OpenAIRE

Kanten, Pelin; Kanten, Selahattin; Keceli, Munevver; Zaimoglu, Zuhal

2017-01-01

This study aims to investigate someantecedents of organizational agility. In the literature, it is seen thatstudies suggest that some organizational factors provide to maintainorganizational agility. Therefore, organizational structure, dynamic capabilitiesand customer orientation are considered as predictors of organizational agilitywithin the scope of the study. For this purpose, the data which were collectedfrom 176 employees in the retailing industry by the survey method were analyzedusin...

Computerized management information systems and organizational structures

Science.gov (United States)

Zannetos, Z. S.; Sertel, M. R.

1970-01-01

The computerized management of information systems and organizational structures is discussed. The subjects presented are: (1) critical factors favoring centralization and decentralization of organizations, (2) classification of organizations by relative structure, (3) attempts to measure change in organization structure, and (4) impact of information technology developments on organizational structure changes.

Organizational structures of companies versus project management effectiveness

OpenAIRE

Joanna Haffer

2012-01-01

An organizational structure, indicated as one out of the four main organizational conditions supporting project management, has an essential meaning for project execution. This article, based on the research results, describes different organizational structures of project-orientated enterprises, enumerating their advantages and disadvantages, and reveals the influence of inter-organizational relations on project management effectiveness in enterprises operating in Poland. The results indicat...

Discovering hierarchical structure in normal relational data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard; Herlau, Tue; Mørup, Morten

2014-01-01

-parametric generative model for hierarchical clustering of similarity based on multifurcating Gibbs fragmentation trees. This allows us to infer and display the posterior distribution of hierarchical structures that comply with the data. We demonstrate the utility of our method on synthetic data and data of functional...

Socio-phenomenological perspective of the bureaucratic organizational structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jairo E. Cuenú Cabezas

2011-12-01

Full Text Available To accomplish their purposes in carrying out their activities, organizations need a structure. The word structure is used by different disciplines, which - in general terms - conceive it as an order-relation. In organizational theory, the word structure essentially defines the relationships amongst individuals to reach a given end. The organizational structure is a product of the interaction of human beings and it is they, from their experiences, rationalities, and expectations, who determine how the purposes should be accomplished. Different forms exist, in terms of structure, to accomplish organizational purposes; one of the most representative forms is the bureaucratic approach. Bureaucracy is a method to use special abilities. This cannot be denied, but it is also a form, from Alfred Schütz’ phenomenological sociology, of establishing settings of intimacy and anonymity in organizational relations. The objective of this article is to show how the bureaucratic structure generates intimacy or anonymity in the organization. In the first place, the article presents the concept of structure from which the organizational structure is explained, especially the bureaucratic structure. The second part presents Alfred Schütz’ phenomenological sociology, emphasizing on the concept he raised of the world of everyday life and the relations of otherness. With the aforementioned, intimacy and anonymity in the organization is developed or explained. In conclusion, among other aspects, we address the need for the organizational theory or for organizational theorists to approach everyday life in organizations

Organizational identification moderates the impact of organizational justice on job satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Guo; Jia, Libin; Zhao, Jian

2016-03-09

Few studies concern the moderator effect of organizational identification between organizational justice and job satisfaction. This study aimed to examine the trilateral relationship among organizational identification, organizational justice and job satisfaction, especially focus on the moderator effect of organizational identification. 354 staffs completed the measures of organizational justice, organizational identification and job satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that organizational identification moderated the association between organizational justice and job satisfaction. When staffs reported a low level of organizational identification, those with high organizational justice reported higher scores in job satisfaction than those with low organizational justice. However, the impact of organizational justice on job satisfaction was not significant in high organizational identification group. Organizational identification can significantly moderate the impact of organizational justice on job satisfaction. The significance and limitations of the results are discussed.

Hierarchical drivers of reef-fish metacommunity structure.

Science.gov (United States)

MacNeil, M Aaron; Graham, Nicholas A J; Polunin, Nicholas V C; Kulbicki, Michel; Galzin, René; Harmelin-Vivien, Mireille; Rushton, Steven P

2009-01-01

Coral reefs are highly complex ecological systems, where multiple processes interact across scales in space and time to create assemblages of exceptionally high biodiversity. Despite the increasing frequency of hierarchically structured sampling programs used in coral-reef science, little progress has been made in quantifying the relative importance of processes operating across multiple scales. The vast majority of reef studies are conducted, or at least analyzed, at a single spatial scale, ignoring the implicitly hierarchical structure of the overall system in favor of small-scale experiments or large-scale observations. Here we demonstrate how alpha (mean local number of species), beta diversity (degree of species dissimilarity among local sites), and gamma diversity (overall species richness) vary with spatial scale, and using a hierarchical, information-theoretic approach, we evaluate the relative importance of site-, reef-, and atoll-level processes driving the fish metacommunity structure among 10 atolls in French Polynesia. Process-based models, representing well-established hypotheses about drivers of reef-fish community structure, were assembled into a candidate set of 12 hierarchical linear models. Variation in fish abundance, biomass, and species richness were unevenly distributed among transect, reef, and atoll levels, establishing the relative contribution of variation at these spatial scales to the structure of the metacommunity. Reef-fish biomass, species richness, and the abundance of most functional-groups corresponded primarily with transect-level habitat diversity and atoll-lagoon size, whereas detritivore and grazer abundances were largely correlated with potential covariates of larval dispersal. Our findings show that (1) within-transect and among-atoll factors primarily drive the relationship between alpha and gamma diversity in this reef-fish metacommunity; (2) habitat is the primary correlate with reef-fish metacommunity structure at

[Hospital organizational structure].

Science.gov (United States)

Bittar, O J

1994-01-01

The basic point for an Institution to work is the existence of a definite organizational structure that puts together similar areas allowing decisions and the operationalization of different tasks. Knowledge and analysis of structures of private and public hospitals and a bibliography review about the issue is the purpose of this paper. Suggestions are given about the elaboration of small structures and the utilization of matrix management in order to accomplish the hospitals objectives.

Hierarchically structured materials for lithium batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Jie; Zheng, Jianming; Li, Xiaolin; Shao, Yuyan; Zhang, Ji-Guang

2013-01-01

The lithium-ion battery (LIB) is one of the most promising power sources to be deployed in electric vehicles, including solely battery powered vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles. With the increasing demand for devices of high-energy densities (>500 Wh kg −1 ), new energy storage systems, such as lithium–oxygen (Li–O 2 ) batteries and other emerging systems beyond the conventional LIB, have attracted worldwide interest for both transportation and grid energy storage applications in recent years. It is well known that the electrochemical performance of these energy storage systems depends not only on the composition of the materials, but also on the structure of the electrode materials used in the batteries. Although the desired performance characteristics of batteries often have conflicting requirements with the micro/nano-structure of electrodes, hierarchically designed electrodes can be tailored to satisfy these conflicting requirements. This work will review hierarchically structured materials that have been successfully used in LIB and Li–O 2 batteries. Our goal is to elucidate (1) how to realize the full potential of energy materials through the manipulation of morphologies, and (2) how the hierarchical structure benefits the charge transport, promotes the interfacial properties and prolongs the electrode stability and battery lifetime. (paper)

Technology Driven Organizational Structure of the Firm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brink, J.R.; Ruys, P.H.M.

2008-01-01

We model a corporate firm with a variable internal organizational structure that adapts to various degrees of technological cooperation. The entrepreneur determines the organizational structure that maximizes profits under participation constraints. Wages are determined by an internal cooperative

Reforming Organizational Structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.G.J. Van de Walle (Steven)

2016-01-01

textabstractPublic sectors have undergone major transformations. Public sector reform touches upon the core building blocks of the public sector: organizational structures, people and finances. These are objects of reform. This chapter presents and discusses a set of major transformations with

Hierarchical modeling and its numerical implementation for layered thin elastic structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Jin-Rae [Hongik University, Sejong (Korea, Republic of)

2017-05-15

Thin elastic structures such as beam- and plate-like structures and laminates are characterized by the small thickness, which lead to classical plate and laminate theories in which the displacement fields through the thickness are assumed linear or higher-order polynomials. These classical theories are either insufficient to represent the complex stress variation through the thickness or may encounter the accuracy-computational cost dilemma. In order to overcome the inherent problem of classical theories, the concept of hierarchical modeling has been emerged. In the hierarchical modeling, the hierarchical models with different model levels are selected and combined within a structure domain, in order to make the modeling error be distributed as uniformly as possible throughout the problem domain. The purpose of current study is to explore the potential of hierarchical modeling for the effective numerical analysis of layered structures such as laminated composite. For this goal, the hierarchical models are constructed and the hierarchical modeling is implemented by selectively adjusting the level of hierarchical models. As well, the major characteristics of hierarchical models are investigated through the numerical experiments.

BiOCl nanowire with hierarchical structure and its Raman features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Ye; Guo Chuanfei; Guo Yanjun; Wang Qi; Liu Qian

2012-01-01

BiOCl is a promising V-VI-VII-compound semiconductor with excellent optical and electrical properties, and has great potential applications in photo-catalysis, photoelectric, etc. We successfully synthesize BiOCl nanowire with a hierarchical structure by combining wet etch (top-down) with liquid phase crystal growth (bottom-up) process, opening a novel method to construct ordered bismuth-based nanostructures. The morphology and lattice structures of Bi nanowires, β-Bi 2 O 3 nanowires and BiOCl nanowires with the hierarchical structure are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transition electron microscope (TEM). The formation mechanism of such ordered BiOCl hierarchical structure is considered to mainly originate from the highly preferred growth, which is governed by the lattice match between (1 1 0) facet of BiOCl and (2 2 0) or (0 0 2) facet of β-Bi 2 O 3 . A schematic model is also illustrated to depict the formation process of the ordered BiOCl hierarchical structure. In addition, Raman properties of the BiOCl nanowire with the hierarchical structure are investigated deeply.

Hierarchical Fiber Structures Made by Electrospinning Polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Reneker, Darrell H.

2009-03-01

A filter for water purification that is very thin, with small interstices and high surface area per unit mass, can be made with nanofibers. The mechanical strength of a very thin sheet of nanofibers is not great enough to withstand the pressure drop of the fluid flowing through. If the sheet of nanofibers is made thicker, the strength will increase, but the flow will be reduced to an impractical level. An optimized filter can be made with nanometer scale structures supported on micron scale structures, which are in turn supported on millimeter scale structures. This leads to a durable hierarchical structure to optimize the filtration efficiency with a minimum amount of material. Buckling coils,ootnotetextTao Han, Darrell H Reneker, Alexander L. Yarin, Polymer, Volume 48, issue 20 (September 21, 2007), p. 6064-6076. electrical bending coilsootnotetextDarrell H. Reneker and Alexander L. Yarin, Polymer, Volume 49, Issue 10 (2008) Pages 2387-2425, DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2008.02.002. Feature Article. and pendulum coilsootnotetextT. Han, D.H. Reneker, A.L. Yarin, Polymer, Volume 49, (2008) Pages 2160-2169, doi:10.1016/jpolymer.2008.01.0487878. spanning dimensions from a few microns to a few centimeters can be collected from a single jet by controlling the position and motion of a collector. Attractive routes to the design and construction of hierarchical structures for filtration are based on nanofibers supported on small coils that are in turn supported on larger coils, which are supported on even larger overlapping coils. ``Such top-down'' hierarchical structures are easy to make by electrospinning. In one example, a thin hierarchical structure was made, with a high surface area and small interstices, having an open area of over 50%, with the thinnest fibers supported at least every 15 microns.

Leadership styles across hierarchical levels in nursing departments.

Science.gov (United States)

Stordeur, S; Vandenberghe, C; D'hoore, W

2000-01-01

Some researchers have reported on the cascading effect of transformational leadership across hierarchical levels. One study examined this effect in nursing, but it was limited to a single hospital. To examine the cascading effect of leadership styles across hierarchical levels in a sample of nursing departments and to investigate the effect of hierarchical level on the relationships between leadership styles and various work outcomes. Based on a sample of eight hospitals, the cascading effect was tested using correlation analysis. The main sources of variation among leadership scores were determined with analyses of variance (ANOVA), and the interaction effect of hierarchical level and leadership styles on criterion variables was tested with moderated regression analysis. No support was found for a cascading effect of leadership across hierarchical levels. Rather, the variation of leadership scores was explained primarily by the organizational context. Transformational leadership had a stronger impact on criterion variables than transactional leadership. Interaction effects between leadership styles and hierarchical level were observed only for perceived unit effectiveness. The hospital's structure and culture are major determinants of leadership styles.

Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eunyoung; Lee, Kun-Hong

2018-03-06

Hierarchical structures were fabricated on the surfaces of SUS304 plates using a one-step process of direct microwave irradiation under a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The surface nanostructures were composed of chrome-doped hematite single crystals. Superhydrophobic surfaces with a water contact angle up to 169° were obtained by chemical modification of the hierarchical structures. The samples maintained superhydrophobicity under NaCl solution up to 2 weeks.

Issues of organizational cybernetics and viability beyond Beer's viable systems model

Science.gov (United States)

Nechansky, Helmut

2013-11-01

The paper starts summarizing the claims of Beer's viable systems model to identify five issues any viable organizations has to deal with in an unequivocal hierarchical structure of five interrelated systems. Then the evidence is introduced for additional issues and related viable structures of organizations, which deviate from Beer's model. These issues are: (1) the establishment and (2) evolution of an organization; (3) systems for independent top-down control (like "Six Sigma"); (4) systems for independent bottom-up correction of performance problems (like "Kaizen"), both working outside a hierarchical structure; (5) pull production systems ("Just in Time") and (6) systems for checks and balances of top-level power (like boards and shareholder meetings). Based on that an evolutionary approach to organizational cybernetics is outlined, addressing the establishment of organizations and possible courses of developments, including recent developments in quality and production engineering, as well as problems of setting and changing goal values determining organizational policies.

42 CFR 460.60 - PACE organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false PACE organizational structure. 460.60 Section 460... ELDERLY (PACE) PACE Administrative Requirements § 460.60 PACE organizational structure. (a) A PACE organization must be, or be a distinct part of, one of the following: (1) An entity of city, county, State, or...

The Organizational Structure and Organizational Culture Interdependence Analysis with a Special Reference to Bosnian and Herzegovinian Enterprises

OpenAIRE

Alisa Delic; Senija Nuhanovic

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to point to the very nature of the relationship between the organizational structure and organizational culture as very important mechanisms by means of which enterprises set their employees' behavior on the target course, or direct their efforts at accomplishing organizational goals, respectively. Besides the examination of the phenomenon of the organizational structure and organizational culture at the general level, the paper also includes the analysis of empirical...

Organizational structure of HC Sparta Praha

OpenAIRE

Pázlerová, Veronika

2015-01-01

Title: Organizational structure of HC Sparta Praha Objectives: The aim of this bachelor thesis is based on an analysis of the organizational structure of czech ice hockey team HC Sparta Praha and to evaluate its individual parts and afterwards introduce suggestions to change it. Methods: To create the bachelors thesis was used qualitative research, from which it was used descriptive case study. Furthermore basic methods were used data acquisition as an observation, analysis of texts and docum...

Hierarchically Structured Electrospun Fibers

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-07

in the natural lotus and silver ragwort leaves. Figure 4. Examples of electrospun bio-mimics of natural hierarchical structures. (A) Lotus leaf...B) pillared poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) electrospun fiber mimic; (C) silver ragwort leaf; (D) electrospun fiber mimic made from nylon 6 and...domains containing the protein in the surrounding EVA fibers [115]. A wide variety of core-shell fibers have been generated, including PCL/ gelatin

Resolution of Singularities Introduced by Hierarchical Structure in Deep Neural Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Nitta, Tohru

2017-10-01

We present a theoretical analysis of singular points of artificial deep neural networks, resulting in providing deep neural network models having no critical points introduced by a hierarchical structure. It is considered that such deep neural network models have good nature for gradient-based optimization. First, we show that there exist a large number of critical points introduced by a hierarchical structure in deep neural networks as straight lines, depending on the number of hidden layers and the number of hidden neurons. Second, we derive a sufficient condition for deep neural networks having no critical points introduced by a hierarchical structure, which can be applied to general deep neural networks. It is also shown that the existence of critical points introduced by a hierarchical structure is determined by the rank and the regularity of weight matrices for a specific class of deep neural networks. Finally, two kinds of implementation methods of the sufficient conditions to have no critical points are provided. One is a learning algorithm that can avoid critical points introduced by the hierarchical structure during learning (called avoidant learning algorithm). The other is a neural network that does not have some critical points introduced by the hierarchical structure as an inherent property (called avoidant neural network).

Hierarchical structure of moral stages assessed by a sorting task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boom, J.; Brugman, D.; Van der Heijden, P.G.M.

2001-01-01

Following criticism of Kohlberg’s theory of moral judgment, an empirical re-examination of hierarchical stage structure was desirable. Utilizing Piaget’s concept of reflective abstraction as a basis, the hierarchical stage structure was investigated using a new method. Study participants (553 Dutch

An Organizational Structure Game (and BINGO! Is Its Name-O)

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Joan M.

2018-01-01

This article describes an in-class, noncomputerized, bingo game to accompany coverage of the topic of organizational structure. The game allows students to be actively involved in learning, solidify recognition and understanding of organizational structure terminology, apply understanding of organizational structure to an analysis of…

The relationship between organizational structure and organizational ambidexterity: a comparison between manufacturing ans service firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kortmann, S.

2012-01-01

In strategic management and organizational theory, organizational effectiveness denotes the broadest domain of business performance. What is the optimal structural configuration for organizational ambidexterity and to what extent is it contingent upon firm type? To answer this research question,

The associations between organizational culture, organizational structure and quality management in European hospitals.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, C.; Mannion, R.; Hammer, A.; Groene, O.; Arah, O.A.; DerSarkissian, M.; Suñol, R.

2014-01-01

Objective: To better understand associations between organizational culture (OC), organizational management structure (OS) and quality management in hospitals. Design: A multi-method, multi-level, cross-sectional observational study. Setting and participants: As part of the DUQuE project (Deepening

Doing the Organizational Tango: Symbiotic Relationship between Formal and Informal Organizational Structures for an Agile Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Malgorzata Ali

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on research with a broad objective to examine the relationship between two organizational entities, the formally structured organization and informal organizational structures, in a changing operational environment, more specifically during military deployments. The paper draws on organizational and complexity paradigms; based on empirical evidence obtained through qualitative techniques, it describes mechanisms that enable a symbiotic relationship between these two organizational structures in a complex operational landscape. Substantive findings provide insights into the dynamics of the interactions between these structures and illuminate the relationship between three enabling factors – accountability, responsible autonomy, and command and control arrangements – that need to be considered to fully exploit the strengths inherent in both formal and informal structures. Based on these findings, a model for enhancement of organizational agility in response to changes in a complex operational environment is described. The model is predicated on feedback and mutual adjustment of the organization, institution and individual through sensemaking; it illustrates the dynamic nature of interactions that are required for such a response.

Foundations of organizational structure in multi-agent systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grossi, D.; Royakkers, L.M.M.; Dignum, F.P.M.; Dastani, M.

2005-01-01

We analyze the notion of organizational structure in multiagent systems and explain the precise added value and the effects of such organizational structure on the involved agents. To pursue this aim, contributions from social and organization theory are considered which provide a solid theoretical

Changing organizational structure and organizational memory in primary care practices: a qualitative interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alyahya, Mohammad

2012-02-01

Organizational structure is built through dynamic processes which blend historical force and management decisions, as a part of a broader process of constructing organizational memory (OM). OM is considered to be one of the main competences leading to the organization's success. This study focuses on the impact of the Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF), which is a Pay-for-Performance scheme, on general practitioner (GP) practices in the UK. The study is based on semistructured interviews with four GP practices in the north of England involving 39 informants. The findings show that the way practices assigned different functions into specialized units, divisions or departments shows the degree of specialization in their organizational structures. More specialized unit arrangements, such as an IT division, particular chronic disease clinics or competence-based job distributions enhanced procedural memory development through enabling regular use of knowledge in specific context, which led to competence building. In turn, such competence at particular functions or jobs made it possible for the practices to achieve their goals more efficiently. This study concludes that organizational structure contributed strongly to the enhancement of OM, which in turn led to better organizational competence.

On Hierarchical Extensions of Large-Scale 4-regular Grid Network Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Patel, A.; Knudsen, Thomas Phillip

2004-01-01

dependencies between the number of nodes and the distances in the structures. The perfect square mesh is introduced for hierarchies, and it is shown that applying ordered hierarchies in this way results in logarithmic dependencies between the number of nodes and the distances, resulting in better scaling...... structures. For example, in a mesh of 391876 nodes the average distance is reduced from 417.33 to 17.32 by adding hierarchical lines. This is gained by increasing the number of lines by 4.20% compared to the non-hierarchical structure. A similar hierarchical extension of the torus structure also results...

How Knowledge Management Is Affected by Organizational Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoudsalehi, Mehdi; Moradkhannejad, Roya; Safari, Khalil

2012-01-01

Purpose: Identifying the impact of organizational structure on knowledge management (KM) is the aim of this study, as well as recognizing the importance of each variable indicator in creating, sharing and utility of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: For understanding relationships between the main variables (organizational structure-KM), the…

Organizational strategy, structure, and process.

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, R E; Snow, C C; Meyer, A D; Coleman, H J

1978-07-01

Organizational adaptation is a topic that has received only limited and fragmented theoretical treatment. Any attempt to examine organizational adaptation is difficult, since the process is highly complex and changeable. The proposed theoretical framework deals with alternative ways in which organizations define their product-market domains (strategy) and construct mechanisms (structures and processes) to pursue these strategies. The framework is based on interpretation of existing literature and continuing studies in four industries (college textbook publishing, electronics, food processing, and health care).

Socio-phenomenological perspective of the bureaucratic organizational structure

OpenAIRE

Jairo E. Cuenú Cabezas

2011-01-01

To accomplish their purposes in carrying out their activities, organizations need a structure. The word structure is used by different disciplines, which - in general terms - conceive it as an order-relation. In organizational theory, the word structure essentially defines the relationships amongst individuals to reach a given end. The organizational structure is a product of the interaction of human beings and it is they, from their experiences, rationalities, and expectations, who determine...

Growth Mechanism of Pumpkin-Shaped Vaterite Hierarchical Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Guobin; Xu, Yifei; Wang, Mu

2015-03-01

CaCO3-based biominerals possess sophisticated hierarchical structures and promising mechanical properties. Recent researches imply that vaterite may play an important role in formation of CaCO3-based biominerals. However, as a less common polymorph of CaCO3, the growth mechanism of vaterite remains not very clear. Here we report the growth of a pumpkin-shaped vaterite hierarchical structure with a six-fold symmetrical axis and lamellar microstructure. We demonstrate that the growth is controlled by supersaturation and the intrinsic crystallographic anisotropy of vaterite. For the scenario of high supersaturation, the nucleation rate is higher than the lateral extension rate, favoring the ``double-leaf'' spherulitic growth. Meanwhile, nucleation occurs preferentially in as determined by the crystalline structure of vaterite, modulating the grown products with a hexagonal symmetry. The results are beneficial for an in-depth understanding of the biomineralization of CaCO3. The growth mechanism may also be applicable to interpret the formation of similar hierarchical structures of other materials. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51172104 and 50972057) and National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2010CB630705).

Phenomenological Study: How Organizational Structures and Change Processes Influence Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Charlotte Clay

2013-01-01

Educational institutions create organizational structures for younger students with limited work experience. New generations of adult students require different organizational structures to improve success. The current phenomenological qualitative study addressed the lack of consensus of what types of organizational structures in higher education…

Structure and functions of organizational trust in employees’ notions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina M. Zavartseva

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the structure and functions of organizational trust, examining the content of employees’ subjective notions about organizational trust and it’s role in organization’s functioning. The combination of direct (R.B.Shaw’s trust assessment survey and indirect (the semantic differential scale; the contentanalysis of the checklist of trust structural components methods was used. Using data on 378 employees of different organizations (commercial, medical, educational we distinguished subjective images of organization in groups with opposite estimation of organizational trust’s level. The study indicated that organizational trust’s structure is not linear, and exposed two main functions of high level of organizational trust – idealization and positive emotional estimation both of actual organization (that is currently place of employment. Obtained data provide basis for express-diagnostic of trust in organization and might be used for design of psychological training aiming high organization’s efficacy.

Organizational Fields and the Structuration Perspective: Analytical Possibilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clóvis L. Machado-da-Silva

2006-07-01

Full Text Available The concept of the organizational field has been greatly dealt with in the literature on institutional theory in recent years. As the concept of field involves a relational and symbolic dimension, we propose that the theory of structuration, based on the logic of recursiveness between agency and structure should be adapted to theunderstanding of the field dynamically. In this way, the objective of this theoretical essay is to deal with the dynamic of the organizational field using structurationist logic, allowing that from this logic we recall both the importance of the practice in the structuration process of the organizational field and the historical and recursive character which may constrain or enable the actions of social actors. To this end, we revise the concept of field in different perspectives of analysis, reflecting on the implication of the theoretical presuppositions of each approach and then discuss in a critical manner the theoretical foundation of the structuration process of organizational fields based on the structurationist approach. We conclude the paper with propositions pertaining to the revision of the concept of field from a multiparadigmatic viewpoint in which structure and agency are recursively implied.

A Hierarchical Dispatch Structure for Distribution Network Pricing

OpenAIRE

Yuan, Zhao; Hesamzadeh, Mohammad Reza

2015-01-01

This paper presents a hierarchical dispatch structure for efficient distribution network pricing. The dispatch coordination problem in the context of hierarchical network operators are addressed. We formulate decentralized generation dispatch into a bilevel optimization problem in which main network operator and the connected distribution network operator optimize their costs in two levels. By using Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions and Fortuny-Amat McCarl linearization, the bilevel optimization ...

Hierarchical structure of stock price fluctuations in financial markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Ya-Chun; Cai, Shi-Min; Wang, Bing-Hong

2012-01-01

The financial market and turbulence have been broadly compared on account of the same quantitative methods and several common stylized facts they share. In this paper, the She–Leveque (SL) hierarchy, proposed to explain the anomalous scaling exponents deviating from Kolmogorov monofractal scaling of the velocity fluctuation in fluid turbulence, is applied to study and quantify the hierarchical structure of stock price fluctuations in financial markets. We therefore observed certain interesting results: (i) the hierarchical structure related to multifractal scaling generally presents in all the stock price fluctuations we investigated. (ii) The quantitatively statistical parameters that describe SL hierarchy are different between developed financial markets and emerging ones, distinctively. (iii) For the high-frequency stock price fluctuation, the hierarchical structure varies with different time periods. All these results provide a novel analogy in turbulence and financial market dynamics and an insight to deeply understand multifractality in financial markets. (paper)

CURRENT TRENDS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES IN MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angel Doraliyski

2017-03-01

Full Text Available One of the key components of the management system is the organizational structure of management. This report presents the current trends of development and improvement of organizational structures of management. The semantics of the term "organizational structure" used in the report is clarified. Key aspects of structural policy of organizations are discussed, as well as the introduction of flexible organizational forms. The main directions for analysis of organizational policy of organizations are also mentioned. It is stressed that the analysis of current trends for the future development of organizational structures of management should be an integral component of the management policy of every organization. The trends are flexibility and adaptability of the organizational structure, rational proportion between centralization and decentralization, an appropriate balance between the rights, duties and responsibilities, reducing regulations, rules and other normative documents. A recommendetaion is made that organizational governance structures must be adapted constantly in accordance with changes in the overall management system, as they are one of its main components.

Hierarchical structure in the distribution of galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulman, L.S.; Seiden, P.E.; Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa; IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY)

1986-01-01

The distribution of galaxies has a hierarchical structure with power-law correlations. This is usually thought to arise from gravity alone acting on an originally uniform distributioon. If, however, the original process of galaxy formation occurs through the stimulated birth of one galaxy due to a nearby recently formed galaxy, and if this process occurs near its percolation threshold, then a hierarchical structure with power-law correlations arises at the time of galaxy formation. If subsequent gravitational evolution within an expanding cosmology is such as to retain power-law correlations, the initial r exp -1 dropoff can steepen to the observed r exp -1.8. The distribution of galaxies obtained by this process produces clustering and voids, as observed. 23 references

Wetting and Dewetting Transitions on Submerged Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Hierarchical Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Huaping; Yang, Zhe; Cao, Binbin; Zhang, Zheng; Zhu, Kai; Wu, Bingbing; Jiang, Shaofei; Chai, Guozhong

2017-01-10

The wetting transition on submersed superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures and the influence of trapped air on superhydrophobic stability are predicted based on the thermodynamics and mechanical analyses. The dewetting transition on the hierarchically structured surfaces is investigated, and two necessary thermodynamic conditions and a mechanical balance condition for dewetting transition are proposed. The corresponding thermodynamic phase diagram of reversible transition and the critical reversed pressure well explain the experimental results reported previously. Our theory provides a useful guideline for precise controlling of breaking down and recovering of superhydrophobicity by designing superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures under water.

Organizational structure for chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Rinne, Seppo T; Liu, Chuan-Fen; Wong, Edwin S; Hebert, Paul L; Heidenreich, Paul; Bastian, Lori A; Au, David H

2016-03-01

In contrast to chronic heart failure (CHF), measures of quality of care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are poor. Our objective was to examine differences in organizational structure available to support quality of care for patients with CHF and COPD. We performed 2 nationwide surveys exploring organizational structure for the management of CHF and COPD. We surveyed the chief of medicine and the chief of cardiology and pulmonary medicine at 120 Veterans Affairs facilities in the United States. Analogous questions about organizational structure that enhanced adherence to guideline-based care were compared between CHF and COPD surveys. We found large and notable differences in the organizational structure for disease management, with systematically less attention given to COPD than CHF. These differences were evident in multiple processes of care. Key differences included fewer facilities: having COPD clinics than CHF clinics (12.7% vs 50.8%; P organizational structure existed for COPD than CHF. Lack of organizational structure for COPD likely impedes an organization's abilities to encourage high-quality care and avoid recently implemented hospital readmission penalties. Our results suggest the need to develop a systematic approach for healthcare systems to provide essential organizational structure based on the burden of disease in the population.

Approach to Organizational Structure Modelling in Construction Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilin Igor V.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Effective management system is one of the key factors of business success nowadays. Construction companies usually have a portfolio of independent projects running at the same time. Thus it is reasonable to take into account project orientation of such kind of business while designing the construction companies’ management system, which main components are business process system and organizational structure. The paper describes the management structure designing approach, based on the project-oriented nature of the construction projects, and propose a model of the organizational structure for the construction company. Application of the proposed approach will enable to assign responsibilities within the organizational structure in construction projects effectively and thus to shorten the time for projects allocation and to provide its smoother running. The practical case of using the approach also provided in the paper.

Changing organizational structures of jihadist networks in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bie, Jasper L.; de Poot, Christianne J.; Freilich, Joshua D.; Chermak, Steven M.

2017-01-01

This paper uses Social Network Analysis to study and compare the organizational structures and division of roles of three jihadist networks in the Netherlands. It uses unique longitudinal Dutch police data covering the 2000–2013 period. This study demonstrates how the organizational structures

42 CFR 485.627 - Condition of participation: Organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... participation: Organizational structure. (a) Standard: Governing body or responsible individual. The CAH has a... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Condition of participation: Organizational structure. 485.627 Section 485.627 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF...

Detecting the overlapping and hierarchical community structure in complex networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lancichinetti, Andrea; Fortunato, Santo; Kertesz, Janos

2009-01-01

Many networks in nature, society and technology are characterized by a mesoscopic level of organization, with groups of nodes forming tightly connected units, called communities or modules, that are only weakly linked to each other. Uncovering this community structure is one of the most important problems in the field of complex networks. Networks often show a hierarchical organization, with communities embedded within other communities; moreover, nodes can be shared between different communities. Here, we present the first algorithm that finds both overlapping communities and the hierarchical structure. The method is based on the local optimization of a fitness function. Community structure is revealed by peaks in the fitness histogram. The resolution can be tuned by a parameter enabling different hierarchical levels of organization to be investigated. Tests on real and artificial networks give excellent results.

New insight in magnetic saturation behavior of nickel hierarchical structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ji; Zhang, Jianxing; Liu, Chunting; Chen, Kezheng

2017-09-01

It is unanimously accepted that non-ferromagnetic inclusions in a ferromagnetic system will lower down total saturation magnetization in unit of emu/g. In this study, ;lattice strain; was found to be another key factor to have critical impact on magnetic saturation behavior of the system. The lattice strain determined assembling patterns of primary nanoparticles in hierarchical structures and was intimately related with the formation process of these architectures. Therefore, flower-necklace-like and cauliflower-like nickel hierarchical structures were used as prototype systems to evidence the relationship between assembling patterns of primary nanoparticles and magnetic saturation behaviors of these architectures. It was found that the influence of lattice strain on saturation magnetization outperformed that of non-ferromagnetic inclusions in these hierarchical structures. This will enable new insights into fundamental understanding of related magnetic effects.

The effect of organizational structure on innovation capacity in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of organizational structure on innovation capacity in Moroccan ... in management sciences shows that the construct of innovation constitutes a major ... work on entrepreneurial orientation, the ability to launch new products or services. ... organizational structure plays a central role in the development of a dynamic ...

A study on the relationship between organizational structure and organizational agility: A case study of insurance firm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javad Sadeghi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The primary aim of this survey is to study the relationship between organizational structure and organizational agility in an insurance company in Iran. The statistical population includes 300 employees and managers of the proposed insurance company across in Tehran province, Iran and a sample of 73 people are selected, randomly for the survey. Questionnaire is used as a major tool of data collection. Validity of the questionnaire is confirmed through content validity by professors and experts. Reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach alpha. SPSS software is used for data analysis. Research findings illustrate there is a significant relationship between organizational agility and two dimensions of organizational structure, i.e. formalization and centralization. No significant relationship was observed between complexity and organizational agility.

Masking effects of speech and music: does the masker's hierarchical structure matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lu-Feng; Law, Yvonne

2010-04-01

Speech and music are time-varying signals organized by parallel hierarchical rules. Through a series of four experiments, this study compared the masking effects of single-talker speech and instrumental music on speech perception while manipulating the complexity of hierarchical and temporal structures of the maskers. Listeners' word recognition was found to be similar between hierarchically intact and disrupted speech or classical music maskers (Experiment 1). When sentences served as the signal, significantly greater masking effects were observed with disrupted than intact speech or classical music maskers (Experiment 2), although not with jazz or serial music maskers, which differed from the classical music masker in their hierarchical structures (Experiment 3). Removing the classical music masker's temporal dynamics or partially restoring it affected listeners' sentence recognition; yet, differences in performance between intact and disrupted maskers remained robust (Experiment 4). Hence, the effect of structural expectancy was largely present across maskers when comparing them before and after their hierarchical structure was purposefully disrupted. This effect seemed to lend support to the auditory stream segregation theory.

Faculty research productivity and organizational structure in schools of nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohlenberg, E M

1992-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between faculty research productivity and organizational structure in schools of nursing. The need for nursing research has been widely recognized by members of the nursing profession, yet comparatively few engage in conducting research. Although contextual variables have been investigated that facilitate or inhibit nursing research, the relationship between organizational structure and nursing research productivity has not been examined. This problem was examined within the context of the Entrepreneurial Theory of Formal Organizations. A survey methodology was used for data collection. Data on individual faculty research productivity and organizational structure in the school of nursing were obtained through the use of a questionnaire. A random sample of 300 faculty teaching in 60 master's and doctoral nursing schools in the United States was used. The instruments for data collection were Wakefield-Fisher's Adapted Scholarly Productivity Index and Hall's Organizational Inventory. The data were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients and multiple correlation/regression techniques. The overall relationship between faculty research productivity and organizational structure in schools of nursing was not significant at the .002 level of confidence. Although statistically significant relationships were not identified, scholarly research productivity and its subscale prepublication and research activities tended to vary positively with procedural specifications in a highly bureaucratic organizational structure. Further research may focus on identification of structural variables that support highly productive nurse researchers.

Matrix Organizational Structure and Its Effects Upon Education Organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yates, James R.

Applying matrix organizational structure to the organization of special education services is the focus of this paper. Beginning with a list of ways in which educational organizations differ from business or military organizations, the author warns that educators must be cautious when transferring organizational structures from other disciplines…

Fabrication and properties of dual-level hierarchical structures mimicking gecko foot hairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng; Liu, Shiyuan; Lv, Hao

2013-02-01

In nature, geckos have extraordinary adhesive capabilities. The multi-scale hierarchical structure of the gecko foot hairs, especially the high-aspect-ratio structure of its micro-scale seta and nano-scale spatulae is the critical factor of the gecko's ability to adopt and stick to any different surface with powerful adhesion force. In this paper, we present a simple and effective approach to fabricate dual-level hierarchical structures mimicking gecko foot hairs. Polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) hierarchical arrays were fabricated by demolding from a double stack mold that was composed of an SU-8 mold by thick film photolithography and a silicon mold by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. Top pillars of the fabricated structures have 3 micom diameter and 18 microm in height, while base pillars have 25 microm diameter and 40 microm in height. The water droplet contact angle tests indicate that the hierarchical structures increase the hydrophobic property significantly compared with the single-level arrays and the unstructured polymers, exhibiting superhydrophobicity (154.2 degrees) like the Tokay gecko's (160.9 degrees). The shear force tests show that the top pillars make attachment through side contact with a value of about 0.25 N/cm2, and moreover, the hierarchical structures are demonstrated to be more suitable for contacting with rough surfaces.

Designing organizational structures: Key thoughts for development.

Science.gov (United States)

Killingsworth, Patricia; Eschenbacher, Lynn

2018-04-01

Current strategies and concepts to consider in developing a system-level organizational structure for the pharmacy enterprise are discussed. There are many different ways to design an organizational structure for the pharmacy enterprise within a health system. The size of the organization, the number of states in which it operates, and the geographic spread and complexity of the pharmacy business lines should be among the key considerations in determining the optimal organizational and decision-making structures for the pharmacy enterprise. The structure needs to support incorporation of the pharmacy leadership (both system-level executives and local leaders) into all strategic planning and discussions at the hospital and health-system levels so that they can directly represent the pharmacy enterprise instead of relying on others to develop strategy on their behalf. It is important that leaders of all aspects of the pharmacy enterprise report through the system's top pharmacy executive, who should be a pharmacist and have a title consistent with those of other leaders reporting at the same organizational level (e.g., chief pharmacy officer). Pharmacy leaders need to be well positioned within an organization to advocate for the pharmacy enterprise and use all resources to the best of their ability. As the scope and complexity of pharmacy services grow, it is critical to ensure that leadership of the pharmacy enterprise is unified under a single pharmacy executive team. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

PROBLEMS OF MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF THE ENTERPRISES ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Andrianov

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the mathematical models which can be used at optimization of the control system of the enterprise organizational structure is presented. The new approach to the mathematical modeling of the enterprise organizational structure, based on using of temporary characteristics of the control blocks working, is formulated

Today's DOT and the quest for more accountable organizational structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2005-12-01

This study investigates the impact of DOT organizational structures on effective transportation planning and performance. A review of the 50 state DOT authorizing statutes and DOT organizational charts found minimal differences in organizational stru...

Identifying organizational cultures that promote patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Sara J; Falwell, Alyson; Gaba, David M; Meterko, Mark; Rosen, Amy; Hartmann, Christine W; Baker, Laurence

2009-01-01

Safety climate refers to shared perceptions of what an organization is like with regard to safety, whereas safety culture refers to employees' fundamental ideology and orientation and explains why safety is pursued in the manner exhibited within a particular organization. Although research has sought to identify opportunities for improving safety outcomes by studying patterns of variation in safety climate, few empirical studies have examined the impact of organizational characteristics such as culture on hospital safety climate. This study explored how aspects of general organizational culture relate to hospital patient safety climate. In a stratified sample of 92 U.S. hospitals, we sampled 100% of senior managers and physicians and 10% of other hospital workers. The Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations and the Zammuto and Krakower organizational culture surveys measured safety climate and group, entrepreneurial, hierarchical, and production orientation of hospitals' culture, respectively. We administered safety climate surveys to 18,361 personnel and organizational culture surveys to a 5,894 random subsample between March 2004 and May 2005. Secondary data came from the 2004 American Hospital Association Annual Hospital Survey and Dun & Bradstreet. Hierarchical linear regressions assessed relationships between organizational culture and safety climate measures. Aspects of general organizational culture were strongly related to safety climate. A higher level of group culture correlated with a higher level of safety climate, but more hierarchical culture was associated with lower safety climate. Aspects of organizational culture accounted for more than threefold improvement in measures of model fit compared with models with controls alone. A mix of culture types, emphasizing group culture, seemed optimal for safety climate. Safety climate and organizational culture are positively related. Results support strategies that promote group orientation and

Organizational structure in process-based organizations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M.; Torremans, H.P.M.

1999-01-01

This paper investigates the role of the organization structure in process-based organizations. We argue that companies cannot be designed upon organizational processes only or that process management can be simply imposed as an additional structural dimension on top of the existing functional or

Preparation of disk-like particles with micro/nano hierarchical structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Zhen; Yang, Wenbo; Chen, Pengpeng; Wang, Weina; Jia, Xudong; Xi, Kai

2013-10-15

A facile, reproductive method has been successfully developed to produce disk-like microparticles self-assembled from monodispersed hybrid silica nanoparticles under certain circumstance. The disk-like microparticles with micro/nano hierarchical structures could be obtained in large amount under a mild condition and further used to biomimetic design of the superhydrophobic surface of lotus leaf. After traditional surface modification with dodecyltrichlorosiliane, the static contact angle of water on the surface with micro/nano hierarchical structure could reach 168.8°. The method of surface modification could be further simplified by click reaction with the introduction of thiol groups under mild condition. The present strategy for constructing the surface with micro/nano hierarchical structures offers the advantage of simple and large area fabrication, which enables a variety of superhydrophobic applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel method for a multi-level hierarchical composite with brick-and-mortar structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Kristina; Wolff, Michael F H; Salikov, Vitalij; Heinrich, Stefan; Schneider, Gerold A

2013-01-01

The fascination for hierarchically structured hard tissues such as enamel or nacre arises from their unique structure-properties-relationship. During the last decades this numerously motivated the synthesis of composites, mimicking the brick-and-mortar structure of nacre. However, there is still a lack in synthetic engineering materials displaying a true hierarchical structure. Here, we present a novel multi-step processing route for anisotropic 2-level hierarchical composites by combining different coating techniques on different length scales. It comprises polymer-encapsulated ceramic particles as building blocks for the first level, followed by spouted bed spray granulation for a second level, and finally directional hot pressing to anisotropically consolidate the composite. The microstructure achieved reveals a brick-and-mortar hierarchical structure with distinct, however not yet optimized mechanical properties on each level. It opens up a completely new processing route for the synthesis of multi-level hierarchically structured composites, giving prospects to multi-functional structure-properties relationships.

A novel method for a multi-level hierarchical composite with brick-and-mortar structure

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Kristina; Wolff, Michael F. H.; Salikov, Vitalij; Heinrich, Stefan; Schneider, Gerold A.

2013-07-01

The fascination for hierarchically structured hard tissues such as enamel or nacre arises from their unique structure-properties-relationship. During the last decades this numerously motivated the synthesis of composites, mimicking the brick-and-mortar structure of nacre. However, there is still a lack in synthetic engineering materials displaying a true hierarchical structure. Here, we present a novel multi-step processing route for anisotropic 2-level hierarchical composites by combining different coating techniques on different length scales. It comprises polymer-encapsulated ceramic particles as building blocks for the first level, followed by spouted bed spray granulation for a second level, and finally directional hot pressing to anisotropically consolidate the composite. The microstructure achieved reveals a brick-and-mortar hierarchical structure with distinct, however not yet optimized mechanical properties on each level. It opens up a completely new processing route for the synthesis of multi-level hierarchically structured composites, giving prospects to multi-functional structure-properties relationships.

7 CFR 3560.405 - Borrower organizational structure or ownership interest changes.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Servicing § 3560.405 Borrower organizational structure or ownership interest changes. (a) General. The requirements of this section apply to changes in a borrower entity's organizational structure or to a change in... organizational change. The request must document that the proposed changes will not adversely affect the program...

A Software Environment for the Design of Organizational Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shlapak, Yuriy; Luo, Jie; Levchuk, Georgiy M; Tu, Fang; Pattipati, Krishna R

2000-01-01

...) building an organizational hierarchy. In addition, basic modules for dynamic adaptation of organizational strategies and structures in the face of changing mission environment and/or resources are being added...

The Relationship between Organizational Culture Types and Innovation in Aerospace Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Adaora N.

Innovation in the aerospace industry has proven to be an effective strategy for competitiveness and sustainability. The organizational culture of the firm must be conducive to innovation. The problem was that although innovation is needed for aerospace companies to be competitive and sustainable, certain organizational culture issues might hinder leaders from successfully innovating (Emery, 2010; Ramanigopal, 2012). The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of hierarchical, clan, adhocracy and market organizational types and innovation in aerospace companies within the U.S while controlling for company size and length of time in business. The non-experimental quantitative study included a random sample of 136 aerospace leaders in the U.S. There was a significant relationship between market organizational culture and innovation, F(1,132) = 4.559, p = .035. No significant relationships were found between hierarchical organizational culture and innovation and between clan culture and innovation. The relationship between adhocracy culture and innovation was not significant, possible due to inadequate sample size. Company size was shown to be a justifiable covariate in the study, due to a significant relationship with innovative (F(1, 130) = 4.66, p business had no relationship with innovation. The findings imply that market organizational cultures are more likely to result in innovative outcomes in the aerospace industry. Organizational leaders are encouraged to adopt a market culture and adopt smaller organizational structures. Recommendations for further research include investigating the relationship between adhocracy culture and innovation using an adequate sample size. Research is needed to determine other variables that predict innovation. This study should be repeated at periodic intervals and across other industrial sectors and countries.

NCI designated cancer center funding not influenced by organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Margaret E; Yagoda, Daniel; Thurman, Paul W; Luna, Jorge M; Figg, William Douglas

2009-05-01

National Cancer Institutes (NCI) designated cancer centers use one of three organizational structures. The hypothesis of this study is that there are differences in the amount of annual NCI funding per faculty member based on a cancer center's organizational structure. The study also considers the impact of secondary factors (i.e., the existence of a clinical program, the region and the size of the city in which the cancer center is located) on funding and the number of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators at each cancer center. Of the 63 cancer centers, 44 use a matrix structure, 16 have a freestanding structure, and three have a Department of Oncology structure. Kruskal-Wallis tests reveal no statistically significant differences in the amount of funding per faculty member or the number of HHMI investigators between centers with a matrix, freestanding or Department of Oncology structure. Online research and telephone interviews with each cancer center were used to gather information, including: organizational structure, the presence of a clinical program, the number of faculty members, and the number of Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. Statistical tests were used to assess the impact which organizational structure has on the amount of funding per faculty member and number of HHMI investigators. While the results seem to suggest that the organizational structure of a given cancer center does not impact the amount of NCI funding or number of HHMI investigators which it attracts, the existence of this relationship is likely masked by the small sample size in this study. Further studies may be appropriate to examine the effect organizational structure has on other measurements which are relevant to cancer centers, such as quality and quantity of research produced.

The Deep Structure of Organizational Online Networking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trier, Matthias; Richter, Alexander

2015-01-01

While research on organizational online networking recently increased significantly, most studies adopt quantitative research designs with a focus on the consequences of social network configurations. Very limited attention is paid to comprehensive theoretical conceptions of the complex phenomenon...... of organizational online networking. We address this gap by adopting a theoretical framework of the deep structure of organizational online networking with a focus on their emerging meaning for the employees. We apply and assess the framework in a qualitative case study of a large-scale implementation...... of a corporate social network site (SNS) in a global organization. We reveal organizational online networking as a multi-dimensional phenomenon with multiplex relationships that are unbalanced, primarily consist of weak ties and are subject to temporal change. Further, we identify discourse drivers...

Hierarchical structure observation and nanoindentation size effect characterization for a limnetic shell

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jingru; Fan, Cuncai; Ma, Hansong; Wei, Yueguang

2015-06-01

In the present research, hierarchical structure observation and mechanical property characterization for a type of biomaterial are carried out. The investigated biomaterial is Hyriopsis cumingii, a typical limnetic shell, which consists of two different structural layers, a prismatic "pillar" structure and a nacreous "brick and mortar" structure. The prismatic layer looks like a "pillar forest" with variation-section pillars sized on the order of several tens of microns. The nacreous material looks like a "brick wall" with bricks sized on the order of several microns. Both pillars and bricks are composed of nanoparticles. The mechanical properties of the hierarchical biomaterial are measured by using the nanoindentation test. Hardness and modulus are measured for both the nacre layer and the prismatic layer, respectively. The nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are investigated experimentally. The results show that the prismatic nanostructured material has a higher stiffness and hardness than the nacre nanostructured material. In addition, the nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are described theoretically, by using the trans-scale mechanics theory considering both strain gradient effect and the surface/interface effect. The modeling results are consistent with experimental ones.

Additive Manufacturing of Hierarchical Porous Structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grote, Christopher John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division. Polymers and Coatings

2016-08-30

Additive manufacturing has become a tool of choice for the development of customizable components. Developments in this technology have led to a powerful array of printers that t serve a variety of needs. However, resin development plays a crucial role in leading the technology forward. This paper addresses the development and application of printing hierarchical porous structures. Beginning with the development of a porous scaffold, which can be functionalized with a variety of materials, and concluding with customized resins for metal, ceramic, and carbon structures.

Band structures of two dimensional solid/air hierarchical phononic crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Y.L.; Tian, X.G. [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Structure Strength and Vibration, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Chen, C.Q., E-mail: chencq@tsinghua.edu.cn [Department of Engineering Mechanics, AML and CNMM, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2012-06-15

The hierarchical phononic crystals to be considered show a two-order 'hierarchical' feature, which consists of square array arranged macroscopic periodic unit cells with each unit cell itself including four sub-units. Propagation of acoustic wave in such two dimensional solid/air phononic crystals is investigated by the finite element method (FEM) with the Bloch theory. Their band structure, wave filtering property, and the physical mechanism responsible for the broadened band gap are explored. The corresponding ordinary phononic crystal without hierarchical feature is used for comparison. Obtained results show that the solid/air hierarchical phononic crystals possess tunable outstanding band gap features, which are favorable for applications such as sound insulation and vibration attenuation.

Hierarchical structure graphitic-like/MoS2 film as superlubricity material

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Zhenbin; Jia, Xiaolong; Ma, Wei; Zhang, Bin; Zhang, Junyan

2017-08-01

Friction and wear result in a great amount of energy loss and the invalidation of mechanical parts, thus it is necessary to minimize friction in practical application. In this study, the graphitic-like/MoS2 films with hierarchical structure were synthesized by the combination of pulse current plasma chemical-vapor deposition and medium frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering in preheated environment. This hierarchical structure composite with multilayer nano sheets endows the films excellent tribological performance, which easily achieves macro superlubricity (friction coefficient ∼0.004) under humid air. Furthermore, it is expected that hierarchical structure of graphitic-like/MoS2 films could match the requirements of large scale, high bear-capacity and wear-resistance of actual working conditions, which could be widely used in the industrial production as a promising superlubricity material.

Strategic Planning Process and Organizational Structure: Impacts, Confluence and Similarities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dyogo Felype Neis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article aims to analyze the relationship between the strategic planning process and organizational structure in the reality of a complex organization: the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Catarina (MPSC. The research is set by the single case study research strategy and data were collected through the following instruments: bibliographical research, documentary research, semi-structured interviews and systematic observation. The conclusion indicates that the phases of the strategic planning process influence and are influenced by the elements of the organizational structure and highlights the confluences, the impacts and similarities between the stages of formulation and implementation of the strategic process with the various constituent elements of the organizational structure.

The Study of Three Organizational Enigmas; Organizational Economy, Organizational Business and Organizational Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José G. Vargas Hernández

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Organizational economics makes important contributions to management theory. The focus of structural contingency theory is on the phenomena of the economy significant in organizational management theory and other new paradigms of organizational theories. However, the theory of organizational economics has hardly taken the multiple disciplines of organizational behaviour, strategy and theory, but is aligned with the management theories of psychology, sociology and policy dealing with human motivation, induction and enforcement as distinct from the theories of structures, strategies and planning to deal with designs appropriate for a computer on which the will of member compliance is not problematic (Donaldson, 1990. This paper aims at reviewing the organizational economics in detail, its definitions, implications and feature and Elements of organizational economics and also the prescriptive and descriptive organizational economics.

Action detection by double hierarchical multi-structure space-time statistical matching model

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jing; Zhu, Junwei; Cui, Yiyin; Bai, Lianfa; Yue, Jiang

2018-03-01

Aimed at the complex information in videos and low detection efficiency, an actions detection model based on neighboring Gaussian structure and 3D LARK features is put forward. We exploit a double hierarchical multi-structure space-time statistical matching model (DMSM) in temporal action localization. First, a neighboring Gaussian structure is presented to describe the multi-scale structural relationship. Then, a space-time statistical matching method is proposed to achieve two similarity matrices on both large and small scales, which combines double hierarchical structural constraints in model by both the neighboring Gaussian structure and the 3D LARK local structure. Finally, the double hierarchical similarity is fused and analyzed to detect actions. Besides, the multi-scale composite template extends the model application into multi-view. Experimental results of DMSM on the complex visual tracker benchmark data sets and THUMOS 2014 data sets show the promising performance. Compared with other state-of-the-art algorithm, DMSM achieves superior performances.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRUCTURAL MATRIX APPROACH IN ORGANIZATIONAL DIAGNOSTICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mishlanova Marina Yur'evna

2012-07-01

The proposed approach discloses private constituents of elements, communications, organizational layers, generalized characteristics of layers, and partial effects. This approach may be used to simulate a system of forces, items of pressure, and organizational problems. The most advanced state of stability and sustainable development is now provided with the structure within which the elements remain in certain natural interdependence (symmetry, or balance. Formation of this model is based on thorough diagnostics of an organization through the employment of the structural matrix approach and the audit of the following characteristics: labour efficiency, reliability and flexibility of communications, uniformity of distribution of communications and their coordination, connectivity of elements and layers with account for their impact, degree of freedom of elements, layers and the system as a whole, reliability, rigidity, adaptability, stability of the organizational structure.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES IN SOME EU COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana Raluca Goldbach

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The comparative analysis of organizational structures highlights similarities and differences between different factors influencing a company in its way of operation with the internal and/or external environment. The paper analyzes the organizational structures of some top companies from England, France and Romania that influence/determine the cultural organizational values and the norms elaborated and implemented, which, in time, become moral values and norms that acquire a social meaning, which means that they have been accepted by all the members of the organization.

Transfer printing of 3D hierarchical gold structures using a sequentially imprinted polymer stamp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Fengxiang; Low, Hong Yee

2008-01-01

Complex three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical structures on polymeric materials are fabricated through a process referred to as sequential imprinting. In this work, the sequentially imprinted polystyrene film is used as a soft stamp to replicate hierarchical structures onto gold (Au) films, and the Au structures are then transferred to a substrate by transfer printing at an elevated temperature and pressure. Continuous and isolated 3D structures can be selectively fabricated with the assistance of thermo-mechanical deformation of the polymer stamp. Hierarchical Au structures are achieved without the need for a corresponding three-dimensionally patterned mold

An Analysis of the Organizational Structures Supporting PPBE within the Military Departments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hill, Tiffany F

2008-01-01

... differently. Using Mintzberg's theory on organizational structures and Nadler and Tushman's congruence model, an analysis of each department's financial management organizational structure was conducted...

Corporate strategy and the organizational structure of companies in international business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksić Ana

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to illuminate the importance of corporate strategy and organizational structure as crucial variables for successful international business. We wanted to point out that companies, in order to exploit opportunities in international environment, must develop a high level of consent between the applied strategy and the model of organizational structure. Today all organizations, no matter how big they are, are affected by the international environment and its management must consider very carefully the benefits and costs of alternative strategies and the corresponding models of organizational structure.

Fabrication of semi-transparent super-hydrophobic surface based on silica hierarchical structures

KAUST Repository

Chen, Ping-Hei

2011-01-01

This study successfully develops a versatile method of producing superhydrophobic surfaces with micro/nano-silica hierarchical structures on glass surfaces. Optically transparent super hydrophobic silica thin films were prepared by spin-coating silica particles suspended in a precursor solution of silane, ethanol, and H2O with molar ratio of 1:4:4. The resulting super hydrophobic films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical transmission, and contact angle measurements. The glass substrates in this study were modified with different particles: micro-silica particles, nano-silica particles, and hierarchical structures. This study includes SEM micrographs of the modified glass surfaces with hierarchical structures at different magnifications. © 2011 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Hierarchical self-organization of non-cooperating individuals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamás Nepusz

Full Text Available Hierarchy is one of the most conspicuous features of numerous natural, technological and social systems. The underlying structures are typically complex and their most relevant organizational principle is the ordering of the ties among the units they are made of according to a network displaying hierarchical features. In spite of the abundant presence of hierarchy no quantitative theoretical interpretation of the origins of a multi-level, knowledge-based social network exists. Here we introduce an approach which is capable of reproducing the emergence of a multi-levelled network structure based on the plausible assumption that the individuals (representing the nodes of the network can make the right estimate about the state of their changing environment to a varying degree. Our model accounts for a fundamental feature of knowledge-based organizations: the less capable individuals tend to follow those who are better at solving the problems they all face. We find that relatively simple rules lead to hierarchical self-organization and the specific structures we obtain possess the two, perhaps most important features of complex systems: a simultaneous presence of adaptability and stability. In addition, the performance (success score of the emerging networks is significantly higher than the average expected score of the individuals without letting them copy the decisions of the others. The results of our calculations are in agreement with a related experiment and can be useful from the point of designing the optimal conditions for constructing a given complex social structure as well as understanding the hierarchical organization of such biological structures of major importance as the regulatory pathways or the dynamics of neural networks.

A multidimensional analysis of ethical climate, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chun-Chen; You, Ching-Sing; Tsai, Ming-Tien

2012-07-01

The high turnover of nurses has become a global problem. Several studies have proposed that nurses' perceptions of the ethical climate of their organization are related to higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment and thus lead to higher organizational citizenship behaviors. This study uses hierarchical regression to understand which types of ethical climate, facets of job satisfaction, and the three components of organizational commitment influence different dimensions of organizational citizenship behaviors. Questionnaires were distributed to 450 nurses, and 352 usable questionnaires were returned. The findings of the article suggest that hospitals can increase organizational citizenship behaviors by influencing an organization's ethical climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Hospital administrators can foster within organizations, the climate types of caring, law and code and rules climate, satisfaction with coworkers, and affective commitment and normative commitment that increase organizational citizenship behavior, while preventing organizations from developing the type of instrumental climate and continuance commitment that decreases it.

Fabrication and condensation characteristics of metallic superhydrophobic surface with hierarchical micro-nano structures

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Fuqiang; Wu, Xiaomin

2016-05-01

Metallic superhydrophobic surfaces have various applications in aerospace, refrigeration and other engineering fields due to their excellent water repellent characteristics. This study considers a simple but widely applicable fabrication method using a two simultaneous chemical reactions method to prepare the acid-salt mixed solutions to process the metal surfaces with surface deposition and surface etching to construct hierarchical micro-nano structures on the surface and then modify the surface with low surface-energy materials. Al-based and Cu-based superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated using this method. The Al-based superhydrophobic surface had a water contact angle of 164° with hierarchical micro-nano structures similar to the lotus leaves. The Cu-based surface had a water contact angle of 157° with moss-like hierarchical micro-nano structures. Droplet condensation experiments were also performed on these two superhydrophobic surfaces to investigate their condensation characteristics. The results show that the Al-based superhydrophobic surface has lower droplet density, higher droplet jumping probability, slower droplet growth rate and lower surface coverage due to the more structured hierarchical structures.

Mindset of employees working in a matrix organizational structure

OpenAIRE

Lukinaitė, Eglė; Sondaitė, Jolanta

2017-01-01

Organizations wishing to be successful and control their complexity will probably have to develop matrix mindset. The main goal of this research is to reveal the mindset of employees working in a matrix organizational structure. The data were collected through focus groups. A thematic analysis was employed to achieve the goal. The results revealed that employees working in a matrix organizational structure perceive their influence through cooperation, discussion and personal efficiency. Emplo...

Relationship between organizational structure and creativity in teaching hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezaee, Rita; Marhamati, Saadat; Nabeiei, Parisa; Marhamati, Raheleh

2014-07-01

Organization structure and manpower constitute two basic components of anorganization and both are necessary for stablishing an organization. The aim of this survey was to investigate the type of the organization structure (mechanic and organic) from viewpoint of senior and junior managers in Shiraz teaching hospitals and creativity in each of these two structures. In this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study, organization structure and organizational creation questionnaires were filled out by hospital managers. According to the statistical consultation and due to limited target population, the entire study population was considered as sample. Thus, the sample size in this study was 84 (12 hospitals and every hospital, n = 7). For data analysis, SPSS 14 was used and Spearman correlation coefficient and t-test were used. RESULTS showed that there is a negative association between centralization and complexity with organizational creation and its dimensions. Also there was a negative association between formalization and 4 organizational creation dimensions: reception change, accepting ambiguity, abet new view and less control outside (p=0.001). The results of this study showed that the creation in hospitals with organic structure is more than that in hospitals with mechanic structure.

Top management team composition and organizational ecology : A nested hierarchical selection theory of team reproduction and organizational diversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boone, Christophe; Wezel, Filippo C.; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Baum, JAC; Dobrev, SD; VanWitteloostuijn, A

2006-01-01

The "upper echelon" literature has mainly produced static empirical studies on the impact of top management team composition on organizational outcomes, ignoring the dynamics of industrial demography. Organizational ecology explicitly studied the dynamics of organizational diversity at the

Organizational Structures that Support Internal Program Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Lambur, Michael T.

2008-01-01

This chapter explores how the structure of large complex organizations such as Cooperative Extension affects their ability to support internal evaluation of their programs and activities. Following a literature review of organizational structure and its relation to internal evaluation capacity, the chapter presents the results of interviews with…

Organizational Structure as a Determinant of Job Burnout.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilal, Atif; Ahmed, Hafiz Mushtaq

2017-03-01

This exploratory study determined the impact of organizational structure, particularly participation in decision making, instrumental communication, formalization, integration, and promotional opportunity, on burnout among Pakistani pediatric nurses. Data were collected from pediatric nurses working for Punjab's largest state-run hospital. The findings revealed that participation in decision making, instrumental communication, and promotional opportunity prevented burnout. Formalization contributed to burnout but integration was not related to burnout. Quite interestingly, except for supervisory status, most control variables for this study were not significantly related to emotional burnout. Hence, the hypothesis that organizational structure is a determinant of job burnout was accepted.

Mitotic chromosome structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heermann, Dieter W.

2012-01-01

Mounting evidence is compiling linking the physical organizational structure of chromosomes and the nuclear structure to biological function. At the base of the physical organizational structure of both is the concept of loop formation. This implies that physical proximity within chromosomes is provided for otherwise distal genomic regions and thus hierarchically organizing the chromosomes. Together with entropy many experimental observations can be explained with these two concepts. Among the observations that can be explained are the measured physical extent of the chromosomes, their shape, mechanical behavior, the segregation into territories (chromosomal and territories within chromosomes), the results from chromosome conformation capture experiments, as well as linking gene expression to structural organization.

Mitotic chromosome structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heermann, Dieter W., E-mail: heermann@tphys.uni-heidelberg.de

2012-07-15

Mounting evidence is compiling linking the physical organizational structure of chromosomes and the nuclear structure to biological function. At the base of the physical organizational structure of both is the concept of loop formation. This implies that physical proximity within chromosomes is provided for otherwise distal genomic regions and thus hierarchically organizing the chromosomes. Together with entropy many experimental observations can be explained with these two concepts. Among the observations that can be explained are the measured physical extent of the chromosomes, their shape, mechanical behavior, the segregation into territories (chromosomal and territories within chromosomes), the results from chromosome conformation capture experiments, as well as linking gene expression to structural organization.

Distance, Bank Organizational Structure and Credit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Degryse, H.A.; Cerqueiro, G.M.; Ongena, S.

2007-01-01

We survey the extant literature on the effects of both a bank’s organizational structure and the physical distance separating it from the lender on lending decisions. Banks do engage in spatial pricing, where the underlying mechanism can be both transportation costs and information asymmetries.

Dielectric study on hierarchical water structures restricted in cement and wood materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abe, Fumiya; Nishi, Akihiro; Saito, Hironobu; Asano, Megumi; Watanabe, Seiei; Kita, Rio; Shinyashiki, Naoki; Yagihara, Shin; Fukuzaki, Minoru; Sudo, Seiichi; Suzuki, Youki

2017-01-01

Dielectric relaxation processes for mortar observed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy were analyzed in the drying and hydration processes for an aging sample in the frequency region from 1 MHz up to 2 MHz. At least two processes for structured water in the kHz frequency region and another mHz relaxation process affected by ionic behaviors were observed. Comparison of the relaxation parameters obtained for the drying and hydration processes suggests an existence of hierarchical water structures in the exchange of water molecules, which are originally exchanged from free water observed at around 20 GHz. The water molecules reflected in the lower frequency process of the two kHz relaxation processes are more restricted and take more homogeneous structures than the higher kHz relaxation process. These structured water usually hidden in large ionic behaviors for wood samples was observed by electrodes covered by a thin Teflon film, and hierarchical water structures were also suggested for wood samples. Dielectric spectroscopy technique is an effective tool to analyze the new concept of hierarchical water structures in complex materials. (paper)

Agent Based Modeling on Organizational Dynamics of Terrorist Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Modeling organizational dynamics of terrorist network is a critical issue in computational analysis of terrorism research. The first step for effective counterterrorism and strategic intervention is to investigate how the terrorists operate with the relational network and what affects the performance. In this paper, we investigate the organizational dynamics by employing a computational experimentation methodology. The hierarchical cellular network model and the organizational dynamics model are developed for modeling the hybrid relational structure and complex operational processes, respectively. To intuitively elucidate this method, the agent based modeling is used to simulate the terrorist network and test the performance in diverse scenarios. Based on the experimental results, we show how the changes of operational environments affect the development of terrorist organization in terms of its recovery and capacity to perform future tasks. The potential strategies are also discussed, which can be used to restrain the activities of terrorists.

Organizational Size: A Key Element In The Development Of Private Enterprises In The Less Developed Countries: The Case Of Ecuador

OpenAIRE

John Demetrios Theodore

2011-01-01

The purpose of this article was to examine and evaluate the prerequisites needed in private enterprises in Ecuador that are conducive to economic development and determine if economic development via this choice is feasible. The prerequisites are ample organizational size, a situation that allows the formation of a well-constructed and viable organizational structure with three hierarchal levels and sufficient departmentalization. All of the above permits the formation, sustenance, and develo...

Hierarchical modular structure enhances the robustness of self-organized criticality in neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Shengjun; Zhou Changsong

2012-01-01

One of the most prominent architecture properties of neural networks in the brain is the hierarchical modular structure. How does the structure property constrain or improve brain function? It is thought that operating near criticality can be beneficial for brain function. Here, we find that networks with modular structure can extend the parameter region of coupling strength over which critical states are reached compared to non-modular networks. Moreover, we find that one aspect of network function—dynamical range—is highest for the same parameter region. Thus, hierarchical modularity enhances robustness of criticality as well as function. However, too much modularity constrains function by preventing the neural networks from reaching critical states, because the modular structure limits the spreading of avalanches. Our results suggest that the brain may take advantage of the hierarchical modular structure to attain criticality and enhanced function. (paper)

The Study of Three Organizational Enigmas; Organizational Economy, Organizational Business and Organizational Skills

OpenAIRE

José G. Vargas Hernández; Mohammad Reza Noruzi

2010-01-01

Organizational economics makes important contributions to management theory. The focus of structural contingency theory is on the phenomena of the economy significant in organizational management theory and other new paradigms of organizational theories. However, the theory of organizational economics has hardly taken the multiple disciplines of organizational behaviour, strategy and theory, but is aligned with the management theories of psychology, sociology and policy dealing with human mot...

Distance Learning Plan Development: Initiating Organizational Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Poole, Clifton

1998-01-01

.... Army distance learning plan managers to examine the DLPs they were directing. The analysis showed that neither army nor civilian distance learning plan managers used formalized requirements for organizational structure development (OSD...

Multiphase static droplet simulations in hierarchically structured super-hydrophobic surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jung Shin; Lee, Joon Sang [School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-08-15

The surface of first part of study is textured with microscopic pillars of prototypical top geometries as a rectangle. The second one is textured with a hierarchical structure, composed of secondary pillar structures added on the primary texture. The length ratio between two scales of texture is 1:16. We evaluated the non-wetting characteristics of two types of surfaces by measuring CAs as well as the transition from the Wenzel's to Cassie's regimes. We measure the Contact angles (CAs), using the Lattice Boltzmann model (LBM), for two different surface configurations. We evaluated the effect of the hierarchical structure; the robustness of the Cassie regime is enhanced and the apparent contact angle is increased by the secondary structures. This is achieved by increasing the energy barrier against the transition between wetting and non-wetting regimes.

Organizational models as configurations of structure, culture, leadership, control, and change strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janićijević Nebojša

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Starting from the axioms of consistency, stability, contingency, and configuration, research on organizational structure, culture, control, leadership, and change management strategy has shown that their typical configurations, or models, can be differentiated according to the same two criteria: distribution of power and dominant organizational dimension. On the one hand there are models of structure, culture, control, leadership, and change management strategy that are based on an unequal, or authoritarian, distribution of power within organizations, while on the other hand there are models that are based on democratic, or equal, distribution of power. Also, on the one hand there are models of structure, culture, control, leadership, and change strategy that are based on work structure and tasks, while on the other hand there are models of these organizational components that are based on social structure, people, and their relationships. Harmonization of typical configurations of organizational structure, culture, control, leadership, and change strategy occurs due to the harmonization of the differentiation criteria. Based on this harmonization, four organizational models have been identified as typical configurations of structure, culture, control, leadership, and change strategy: the autocratic, bureaucratic, innovative, and task models. Each of these models is effective in a different environmental contingency.

Agent Based Modeling on Organizational Dynamics of Terrorist Network

OpenAIRE

Bo Li; Duoyong Sun; Renqi Zhu; Ze Li

2015-01-01

Modeling organizational dynamics of terrorist network is a critical issue in computational analysis of terrorism research. The first step for effective counterterrorism and strategic intervention is to investigate how the terrorists operate with the relational network and what affects the performance. In this paper, we investigate the organizational dynamics by employing a computational experimentation methodology. The hierarchical cellular network model and the organizational dynamics model ...

16 CFR 1000.12 - Organizational structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... FUNCTIONS § 1000.12 Organizational structure. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is composed of the... Commission: (1) Office of the General Counsel; (2) Office of Congressional Relations; (3) Office of the... Reduction; (3) Office of Information and Public Affairs; (4) Office of Compliance and Field Operations; (5...

An approach to separating the levels of hierarchical structure building in language and mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Makuuchi, Michiru; Bahlmann, Jörg; Friederici, Angela D

2012-07-19

We aimed to dissociate two levels of hierarchical structure building in language and mathematics, namely 'first-level' (the build-up of hierarchical structure with externally given elements) and 'second-level' (the build-up of hierarchical structure with internally represented elements produced by first-level processes). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated these processes in three domains: sentence comprehension, arithmetic calculation (using Reverse Polish notation, which gives two operands followed by an operator) and a working memory control task. All tasks required the build-up of hierarchical structures at the first- and second-level, resulting in a similar computational hierarchy across language and mathematics, as well as in a working memory control task. Using a novel method that estimates the difference in the integration cost for conditions of different trial durations, we found an anterior-to-posterior functional organization in the prefrontal cortex, according to the level of hierarchy. Common to all domains, the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) supports first-level hierarchy building, while the dorsal pars opercularis (POd) subserves second-level hierarchy building, with lower activation for language compared with the other two tasks. These results suggest that the POd and the PMv support domain-general mechanisms for hierarchical structure building, with the POd being uniquely efficient for language.

A PORTRAIT OF CHINESE ENTERPRISE THROUGH THE LENS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siew-Huat Kong

2003-01-01

Full Text Available By adopting a cultural perspective of organizations, and more specifically, using the structural model of culture as a framework, this investigation attempts to discover the underlying structure of reality in mainland Chinese organizations.This study proposes that at the heart of Chinese organizational culture lie three dominant assumptions, namely "the ever hostile environment", "social reality in hierarchical order", and the "self-seeking human being", which relate to the environment, group, and individual respectively. This triad of assumptions not only animates Chinese organizational culture but also constitutes a unifying thread connecting the different components of this culture. The outward manifestations of this mix of organizational assumptions can best be depicted as a clash of two cultural elitist forces – power and role culture. While power culture is characterized by bonds of personal patronage, personal connections, and displays of personal authority and subservience, role culture emphasizes institutional authority, the rule of law, and meritocracy. The former is presently in command of organizational leadership while the latter has emerged principally as a response to the excesses of the former. Interestingly, although the two cultures are supported by two different sets of values, they rest on a common set of organizational assumptions.

Theory X and Theory Y in the Organizational Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Thomas J.

This document defines contrasting assumptions about the labor force--theory X and theory Y--and shows how they apply to the pyramid organizational structure, examines the assumptions of the two theories, and finally, based on a survey and individual interviews, proposes a merger of theories X and Y to produce theory Z. Organizational structures…

Band structures of two dimensional solid/air hierarchical phononic crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Y.L.; Tian, X.G.; Chen, C.Q.

2012-01-01

The hierarchical phononic crystals to be considered show a two-order “hierarchical” feature, which consists of square array arranged macroscopic periodic unit cells with each unit cell itself including four sub-units. Propagation of acoustic wave in such two dimensional solid/air phononic crystals is investigated by the finite element method (FEM) with the Bloch theory. Their band structure, wave filtering property, and the physical mechanism responsible for the broadened band gap are explored. The corresponding ordinary phononic crystal without hierarchical feature is used for comparison. Obtained results show that the solid/air hierarchical phononic crystals possess tunable outstanding band gap features, which are favorable for applications such as sound insulation and vibration attenuation.

Hierarchical structure of the otolith of adult wild carp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhuo; Gao Yonghua; Feng Qingling

2009-01-01

The otolith of adult wild carp contains a pair of asterisci, a pair of lappilli and a pair of sagittae. Current research works are mainly restricted to the field of the daily ring structure. The purpose of this work is to explore the structural characteristics of carp's otolith in terms of hierarchy from nanometer to millimeter scale by transmission election microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the observation, carp's lapillus is composed of ordered aragonite crystals. Seven hierarchical levels of the microstructure were proposed and described with the scheme representing a complete organization in detail. SEM studies show not only the clear daily growth increment, but also the morphology within the single daily increment. The domain structure of crystal orientation in otolith was observed for the first time. Furthermore, TEM investigation displays that the lapillus is composed of aragonite crystals with nanometer scale. Four hierarchical levels of the microstructure of the sagitta are also proposed. The asteriscus which is composed of nanometer scale vaterite crystals is considered to have a uniform structure.

Hierarchical structure of the otolith of adult wild carp

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Zhuo; Gao Yonghua [State key laboratory of new ceramics and fine processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Feng Qingling, E-mail: biomater@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [State key laboratory of new ceramics and fine processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2009-04-30

The otolith of adult wild carp contains a pair of asterisci, a pair of lappilli and a pair of sagittae. Current research works are mainly restricted to the field of the daily ring structure. The purpose of this work is to explore the structural characteristics of carp's otolith in terms of hierarchy from nanometer to millimeter scale by transmission election microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the observation, carp's lapillus is composed of ordered aragonite crystals. Seven hierarchical levels of the microstructure were proposed and described with the scheme representing a complete organization in detail. SEM studies show not only the clear daily growth increment, but also the morphology within the single daily increment. The domain structure of crystal orientation in otolith was observed for the first time. Furthermore, TEM investigation displays that the lapillus is composed of aragonite crystals with nanometer scale. Four hierarchical levels of the microstructure of the sagitta are also proposed. The asteriscus which is composed of nanometer scale vaterite crystals is considered to have a uniform structure.

Hierarchical structure of biological systems: a bioengineering approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcocer-Cuarón, Carlos; Rivera, Ana L; Castaño, Victor M

2014-01-01

A general theory of biological systems, based on few fundamental propositions, allows a generalization of both Wierner and Berthalanffy approaches to theoretical biology. Here, a biological system is defined as a set of self-organized, differentiated elements that interact pair-wise through various networks and media, isolated from other sets by boundaries. Their relation to other systems can be described as a closed loop in a steady-state, which leads to a hierarchical structure and functioning of the biological system. Our thermodynamical approach of hierarchical character can be applied to biological systems of varying sizes through some general principles, based on the exchange of energy information and/or mass from and within the systems.

VA Health Care: Processes to Evaluate, Implement, and Monitor Organizational Structure Changes Needed

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

their families , such as medallions and markers for headstones that signify veterans’ service. Page 3 GAO-16-803 VHA Organizational ... Research Oversight, and Chief Nursing Page 8 GAO-16-803 VHA Organizational Structure Officer. Also, the Chief Financial Officer and...VA HEALTH CARE Processes to Evaluate, Implement, and Monitor Organizational Structure Changes Needed Report to

Faculty Research Productivity and Organizational Structure in Schools of Nursing.

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Kohlenberg, Eileen Mieras

1992-01-01

A sample of 128 of 221 nursing faculty completed a scholarly productivity index and organizational inventory, which did not yield significant relationships between productivity and organizational structure. Productivity and prepublication research activities varied positively with procedural specifications in a highly bureaucratic organizational…

A thick hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanomaterial with multilayered structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Shengli; Xie, Guoqiang; Yang, Xianjin; Cui, Zhenduo

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We synthesized a new rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial with a hierarchical nanostructure. ► The nano architecture structure consist of nanorods and nanoflower arrays. ► The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial is thick in size (several 10 μm). ► The TiO 2 nanomaterials present a multilayer structure. - Abstract: In the present paper, we synthesized a new type of rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial with a hierarchical nanostructure using a novel method, which combined dealloying process with chemical synthesis. The structure characters were examined using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial is thick in size (several 10 μm). The hierarchical structure of the rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial consists of large quantities nanorods and nanoflower arrays. The nanoflowers consist of serveral nanopetals with diameter of 100–200 nm. The cross section of TiO 2 nanomaterials presents a multilayer structure with the layer thickness of about 3–5 μm. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial has high specific surface area. The formation mechanism of the rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial was discussed according to the experimental results. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial has potential applications in catalysis, photocatalysis and solar cells

Micro-nanofibers with hierarchical structure by bubbfil-spinning

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Liu Peng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Bubbfil spinning is used to fabricate micro/nanofibers with hierarchical structure. The wall of a polymer film is attenuated unevenly by a blowing air. The burst of the bubble results in film fragments with different thickness, as a result, different sizes of fibers are obtained.

The well-designed hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Kaiwen; Fan, Xiaorong; Mao, Yingzhu; Lin, Jingkai; Dai, Wenxuan; Zhang, Junying; Cheng, Jue

2016-01-01

Application of biological structure is one of the hottest topics in the field of science and technology. The unimaginable and excellent architectures of living beings supporting their vital activities have attracted the interests of worldwide researchers. An intriguing example is Musa basjoo which belongs to the herb, while appears like a tree. The profound mystery of structure and potential application of Musa basjoo have not been probed. Here we show the finding of the hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo and the outstanding electrochemical performance of the super-capacitors fabricated through the simple carbonization of Musa basjoo followed by KOH activation. Musa basjoo has three layers of structure: nanometer-level, micrometer-level and millimeter-level. The nanometer-level structure constructs the micrometer-level structure, while the micrometer-level structure constructs the millimeter-level structure. Based on this hierarchical structure, Musa basjoo reduces the unnecessary weight and therefore supports its huge body. The super-capacitors derived from Musa basjoo display a high specific capacitance and a good cycling stability. This enlightening work opens a window for the applications of the natural structure and we hope that more and more people could pay attention to the bio-inspired materials. PMID:26842714

The well-designed hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Kaiwen; Fan, Xiaorong; Mao, Yingzhu; Lin, Jingkai; Dai, Wenxuan; Zhang, Junying; Cheng, Jue

2016-02-01

Application of biological structure is one of the hottest topics in the field of science and technology. The unimaginable and excellent architectures of living beings supporting their vital activities have attracted the interests of worldwide researchers. An intriguing example is Musa basjoo which belongs to the herb, while appears like a tree. The profound mystery of structure and potential application of Musa basjoo have not been probed. Here we show the finding of the hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo and the outstanding electrochemical performance of the super-capacitors fabricated through the simple carbonization of Musa basjoo followed by KOH activation. Musa basjoo has three layers of structure: nanometer-level, micrometer-level and millimeter-level. The nanometer-level structure constructs the micrometer-level structure, while the micrometer-level structure constructs the millimeter-level structure. Based on this hierarchical structure, Musa basjoo reduces the unnecessary weight and therefore supports its huge body. The super-capacitors derived from Musa basjoo display a high specific capacitance and a good cycling stability. This enlightening work opens a window for the applications of the natural structure and we hope that more and more people could pay attention to the bio-inspired materials.

Hierarchical structure for audio-video based semantic classification of sports video sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Kolekar, M. H.; Sengupta, S.

2005-07-01

A hierarchical structure for sports event classification based on audio and video content analysis is proposed in this paper. Compared to the event classifications in other games, those of cricket are very challenging and yet unexplored. We have successfully solved cricket video classification problem using a six level hierarchical structure. The first level performs event detection based on audio energy and Zero Crossing Rate (ZCR) of short-time audio signal. In the subsequent levels, we classify the events based on video features using a Hidden Markov Model implemented through Dynamic Programming (HMM-DP) using color or motion as a likelihood function. For some of the game-specific decisions, a rule-based classification is also performed. Our proposed hierarchical structure can easily be applied to any other sports. Our results are very promising and we have moved a step forward towards addressing semantic classification problems in general.

Delineating the structure of normal and abnormal personality: an integrative hierarchical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Markon, Kristian E; Krueger, Robert F; Watson, David

2005-01-01

Increasing evidence indicates that normal and abnormal personality can be treated within a single structural framework. However, identification of a single integrated structure of normal and abnormal personality has remained elusive. Here, a constructive replication approach was used to delineate an integrative hierarchical account of the structure of normal and abnormal personality. This hierarchical structure, which integrates many Big Trait models proposed in the literature, replicated across a meta-analysis as well as an empirical study, and across samples of participants as well as measures. The proposed structure resembles previously suggested accounts of personality hierarchy and provides insight into the nature of personality hierarchy more generally. Potential directions for future research on personality and psychopathology are discussed.

Delineating the Structure of Normal and Abnormal Personality: An Integrative Hierarchical Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Markon, Kristian E.; Krueger, Robert F.; Watson, David

2008-01-01

Increasing evidence indicates that normal and abnormal personality can be treated within a single structural framework. However, identification of a single integrated structure of normal and abnormal personality has remained elusive. Here, a constructive replication approach was used to delineate an integrative hierarchical account of the structure of normal and abnormal personality. This hierarchical structure, which integrates many Big Trait models proposed in the literature, replicated across a meta-analysis as well as an empirical study, and across samples of participants as well as measures. The proposed structure resembles previously suggested accounts of personality hierarchy and provides insight into the nature of personality hierarchy more generally. Potential directions for future research on personality and psychopathology are discussed. PMID:15631580

Examining Relationships among Enabling School Structures, Academic Optimism and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Messick, Penelope Pope

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationships among enabling school structures, academic optimism, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Additionally, it sought to determine if academic optimism served as a mediator between enabling school structures and organizational citizenship behaviors. Three existing survey instruments, previously tested for…

CTAB-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of WO3 Hierarchical Porous Structures and Investigation of Their Sensing Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Meng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available WO3 hierarchical porous structures were successfully synthesized via cetyltrimethylammonium bromide- (CTAB- assisted hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology were investigated using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis. The result demonstrated that WO3 hierarchical porous structures with an orthorhombic structure were constructed by a number of nanoparticles about 50–100 nm in diameters. The H2 gas sensing measurements showed that well-defined WO3 hierarchical porous structures with a large specific surface area exhibited the higher sensitivity compared with products without CTAB at all operating temperatures. Moreover, the reversible and fast response to H2 gas and good selectivity were obtained. The results indicated that the WO3 hierarchical porous structures are promising materials for gas sensors.

Hierarchical structures of ZnO spherical particles synthesized solvothermally

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Noriko; Haneda, Hajime

2011-12-01

We review the solvothermal synthesis, using a mixture of ethylene glycol (EG) and water as the solvent, of zinc oxide (ZnO) particles having spherical and flower-like shapes and hierarchical nanostructures. The preparation conditions of the ZnO particles and the microscopic characterization of the morphology are summarized. We found the following three effects of the ratio of EG to water on the formation of hierarchical structures: (i) EG restricts the growth of ZnO microcrystals, (ii) EG promotes the self-assembly of small crystallites into spheroidal particles and (iii) the high water content of EG results in hollow spheres.

Hierarchical ZnO with twinned structure: Morphology evolution, formation mechanism and properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Ruixia; Song, Xueling; Li, Jia; Yang, Ping

2015-01-01

Various hierarchical ZnO architectures constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized via a trisodium citrate assisted hydrothermal method on a large scale. The probable formation mechanisms of hierarchical ZnO structures with twinned structure were proposed and discussed. The hierarchical ZnO with twinned structures are composed of two hemispheres with a center concave junction to join them together at their waists. The ZnO microspheres with rough surfaces were obtained when the concentration of trisodium citrate is 0.1 M. However, the football-like microspheres consisted of hexagonal nanosheets were formed when adding glycerol into the water, which should be attributed to the slower nucleation and growth rate of nanocrystals. The hamburger-like ZnO with different aspect ratio and nonuniform ZnO microspheres were generated due to the different quantity of initial nuclei and growth units when simply modulating the concentration of trisodium citrate. The surface area of football-like ZnO is about 3.51 times of microspheres composed of irregular particles. However their photocatalytic performances are similar under UV light irradiation, which indicates that pore sizes of the sample have more important influences on the photocatalytic activity. - Highlights: • Hierarchical ZnO constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized. • The formation mechanisms of ZnO with twinned structure were discussed. • Football-like microspheres were obtained due to the slower nucleation and growth. • Hamburger-like ZnO was formed due to the amount of initial nuclei and growth units. • Pore sizes have important effects on the photocatalytic activity of sample

Hierarchical ZnO with twinned structure: Morphology evolution, formation mechanism and properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shi, Ruixia; Song, Xueling; Li, Jia; Yang, Ping, E-mail: mse_yangp@ujn.edu.cn

2015-04-15

Various hierarchical ZnO architectures constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized via a trisodium citrate assisted hydrothermal method on a large scale. The probable formation mechanisms of hierarchical ZnO structures with twinned structure were proposed and discussed. The hierarchical ZnO with twinned structures are composed of two hemispheres with a center concave junction to join them together at their waists. The ZnO microspheres with rough surfaces were obtained when the concentration of trisodium citrate is 0.1 M. However, the football-like microspheres consisted of hexagonal nanosheets were formed when adding glycerol into the water, which should be attributed to the slower nucleation and growth rate of nanocrystals. The hamburger-like ZnO with different aspect ratio and nonuniform ZnO microspheres were generated due to the different quantity of initial nuclei and growth units when simply modulating the concentration of trisodium citrate. The surface area of football-like ZnO is about 3.51 times of microspheres composed of irregular particles. However their photocatalytic performances are similar under UV light irradiation, which indicates that pore sizes of the sample have more important influences on the photocatalytic activity. - Highlights: • Hierarchical ZnO constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized. • The formation mechanisms of ZnO with twinned structure were discussed. • Football-like microspheres were obtained due to the slower nucleation and growth. • Hamburger-like ZnO was formed due to the amount of initial nuclei and growth units. • Pore sizes have important effects on the photocatalytic activity of sample.

A new hierarchical method to find community structure in networks

Science.gov (United States)

Saoud, Bilal; Moussaoui, Abdelouahab

2018-04-01

Community structure is very important to understand a network which represents a context. Many community detection methods have been proposed like hierarchical methods. In our study, we propose a new hierarchical method for community detection in networks based on genetic algorithm. In this method we use genetic algorithm to split a network into two networks which maximize the modularity. Each new network represents a cluster (community). Then we repeat the splitting process until we get one node at each cluster. We use the modularity function to measure the strength of the community structure found by our method, which gives us an objective metric for choosing the number of communities into which a network should be divided. We demonstrate that our method are highly effective at discovering community structure in both computer-generated and real-world network data.

PREVAILING ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY STRENGTH: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IDENTITY, JUSTICE PERCEPTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Özge Mehtap

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Studies on the organizational identity concept hasgained a considerableacceleration in the recent years while, organizational identity strength has beenexamined as a comparatively less studied aspect oforganizational identity. On theother side there are various studies which put forth the positive relation betweenorganizational justice perceptions(OJP and organizational citizenship behavior(OCB. The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of organizational identitystrength(OIS and OJP on the OCB. The sub-goal of the study is to present theimportance of OIS on the informal organizational behaviors. In this study, surveymethod has been conducted with 294 white-collar workers who work in Turkishpharmaceutical industry. Data taken by the questionnaires were analyzed usingSPSS 18.0 program. Hierarchical regression analysishas been implemented to putforward the independent variables’ effects on the dependent variable. Some of thehypothesis of the study has been accepted. The results also show that OIS has aconsiderable effect on the dimensions of OCB when compared to OJP.

The role of organizational trust in safety climate's influence on organizational outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kath, Lisa M; Magley, Vicki J; Marmet, Matthew

2010-09-01

Based on elements of social exchange theory and other conceptualizations of trust, a model was developed situating organizational trust as a central component to the relationship that safety climate has with organizational outcomes. Specifically, the model specified that two facets of safety climate--upward safety communication and management attitudes toward safety--would be positively related to organizational trust. Increased levels of trust would then predict increased motivation to engage in safe job-related behaviors, increased job satisfaction, and decreased turnover intentions. Another hypothesis investigated whether job safety relevance would moderate the relationship between safety climate and trust. Online survey research was conducted with 599 employees from 97 work groups across a New England grocery store chain. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated support for trust mediating the relationship between safety climate and organizational outcomes; further, the relationship between safety climate and trust was stronger within work groups where safety was more relevant. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Liability and Organizational Structure

OpenAIRE

Laurent Franckx; F.P. de Vries

2004-01-01

This paper presents a multitask principal-agent model to examine how environmental liability rules for individual managers within a corporate hierarchy affect, on the one hand, the incentive schemes the organization provides and, on the other hand, the choice between a functional or a product-based organizational structure. If managers are risk neutral, a product-based organization dominates a functional organization and allows to obtain first-best effort level. If, moreover, there are no dis...

Redesigning a Ministry of Health's organizational structure: exploring implementation challenges through Botswana's experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Seitio-Kgokgwe, Onalenna; Gauld, Robin D C; Hill, Philip C; Barnett, Pauline

2016-04-01

The Botswana's Ministry of Health redesigned and adopted a new organizational structure in 2005, which was poorly implemented. This article explores factors that influenced the implementation of this organizational structure. This article draws from data collected through in-depth interviews with 54 purposively selected key informants comprising policy makers, senior managers and staff of the Ministry of Health (N = 40) and senior officers from various stakeholder organizations (N = 14). Participants generally felt that the review of the Ministry of Health organizational structure was important. The previous structure was considered obsolete with fragmented functions that limited the overall performance of the health system. The new organizational structure was viewed to be aligned to current national priorities with potential to positively influence performance. Some key weaknesses identified included lack of consultation and information sharing with workers during the restructuring process, which affected the understanding of their new roles, failure to mobilize key resources to support implementation of the new structure and inadequate monitoring of the implementation process. Redesigning an organizational structure is a major change. There is a need for effective and sustained leadership to plan, direct, coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementation phase of the reform. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hierarchical fiber-optic-based sensing system: impact damage monitoring of large-scale CFRP structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minakuchi, Shu; Banshoya, Hidehiko; Takeda, Nobuo; Tsukamoto, Haruka

2011-01-01

This study proposes a novel fiber-optic-based hierarchical sensing concept for monitoring randomly induced damage in large-scale composite structures. In a hierarchical system, several kinds of specialized devices are hierarchically combined to form a sensing network. Specifically, numerous three-dimensionally structured sensor devices are distributed throughout the whole structural area and connected with an optical fiber network through transducing mechanisms. The distributed devices detect damage, and the fiber-optic network gathers the damage signals and transmits the information to a measuring instrument. This study began by discussing the basic concept of a hierarchical sensing system through comparison with existing fiber-optic-based systems, and an impact damage detection system was then proposed to validate the new concept. The sensor devices were developed based on comparative vacuum monitoring (CVM), and Brillouin-based distributed strain measurement was utilized to identify damaged areas. Verification tests were conducted step-by-step, beginning with a basic test using a single sensor unit, and, finally, the proposed monitoring system was successfully verified using a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) fuselage demonstrator. It was clearly confirmed that the hierarchical system has better repairability, higher robustness, and a wider monitorable area compared to existing systems

Organizational Structure, Collegial Trust, and College Faculty Teaching Efficacy: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Okpogba, Desmond

2011-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the relationship between faculty self-efficacy, organizational structure, and collegial trust. The concepts of teacher self-efficacy, organizational structure, and collegial trust were used to investigate any possible empirical relationships existing between these variables in a private,…

Substrate dependent hierarchical structures of RF sputtered ZnS films

Science.gov (United States)

Chalana, S. R.; Mahadevan Pillai, V. P.

2018-05-01

RF magnetron sputtering technique was employed to fabricate ZnS nanostructures with special emphasis given to study the effect of substrates (quartz, glass and quartz substrate pre-coated with Au, Ag, Cu and Pt) on the structure, surface evolution and optical properties. Type of substrate has a significant influence on the crystalline phase, film morphology, thickness and surface roughness. The present study elucidates the suitability of quartz substrate for the deposition of stable and highly crystalline ZnS films. We found that the role of metal layer on quartz substrate is substantial in the preparation of hierarchical ZnS structures and these structures are of great importance due to its high specific area and potential applications in various fields. A mechanism for morphological evolution of ZnS structures is also presented based on the roughness of substrates and primary nonlocal effects in sputtering. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a controlled growth of hierarchical ZnS structures may be achieved with an ordinary RF sputtering technique by changing the substrate type.

Thermodynamic analysis on an anisotropically superhydrophobic surface with a hierarchical structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Jieliang [Division of Intelligent and Biomechanical Systems, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Room 3407, Building 9003, 100084 Beijing (China); Su, Zhengliang [Division of Intelligent and Biomechanical Systems, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Room 3407, Building 9003, 100084 Beijing (China); Department of Automotive Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Yan, Shaoze, E-mail: yansz@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [Division of Intelligent and Biomechanical Systems, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Room 3407, Building 9003, 100084 Beijing (China)

2015-12-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • We model the superhydrophobic surface with anisotropic and hierarchical structure. • Anisotropic wetting only shows in noncomposite state (not in composite state). • Transition from noncomposite to composite state on dual-scale structure is hard. • Droplets tend to roll in the particular direction. • Droplets tend to stably remain in one preferred thermodynamic state. - Abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces, which refer to the surfaces with contact angle higher than 150° and hysteresis less than 10°, have been reported in various studies. However, studies on the superhydrophobicity of anisotropic, hierarchical surfaces are limited and the corresponding thermodynamic mechanisms could not be explained thoroughly. Here we propose a simplified surface model of anisotropic patterned surface with dual scale roughness. Based on the thermodynamic method, we calculate the equilibrium contact angle (ECA) and the contact angle hysteresis (CAH) on the given surface. We show here that the hierarchical structure has much better anisotropic wetting properties than the single-scale one, and the results shed light on the potential application in controllable micro-/nano-fluidic systems. Our studies can be potentially applied for the fabrication of anisotropically superhydrophobic surfaces.

Thermodynamic analysis on an anisotropically superhydrophobic surface with a hierarchical structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Jieliang; Su, Zhengliang; Yan, Shaoze

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • We model the superhydrophobic surface with anisotropic and hierarchical structure. • Anisotropic wetting only shows in noncomposite state (not in composite state). • Transition from noncomposite to composite state on dual-scale structure is hard. • Droplets tend to roll in the particular direction. • Droplets tend to stably remain in one preferred thermodynamic state. - Abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces, which refer to the surfaces with contact angle higher than 150° and hysteresis less than 10°, have been reported in various studies. However, studies on the superhydrophobicity of anisotropic, hierarchical surfaces are limited and the corresponding thermodynamic mechanisms could not be explained thoroughly. Here we propose a simplified surface model of anisotropic patterned surface with dual scale roughness. Based on the thermodynamic method, we calculate the equilibrium contact angle (ECA) and the contact angle hysteresis (CAH) on the given surface. We show here that the hierarchical structure has much better anisotropic wetting properties than the single-scale one, and the results shed light on the potential application in controllable micro-/nano-fluidic systems. Our studies can be potentially applied for the fabrication of anisotropically superhydrophobic surfaces.

Synthesis of hierarchical porous materials with ZSM-5 structures via template-free sol–gel method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Han et al

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Interests are focused on preparation of hierarchical porous materials with zeolite structures by using soft or rigid templates in order to solve diffusion and mass transfer limitations resulting from the small pore sizes of zeolites. Here we develop a convenient template-free sol–gel method to synthesize hierarchical porous materials with ZSM-5 structures. This method involves hydrothermal recrystallization of the xerogel converted from uniform ZSM-5 sol by a vacuum drying process. By utilizing this method we can manipulate the size of zeolite nanocrystals as building units of porous structures based on controlling temperature of recrystallization, consequently obtain hierarchical porous materials with different intercrystalline pore sizes and ZSM-5 structures.

Synthesis and Visible-Light Photocatalytic Property of Bi2WO6Hierarchical Octahedron-Like Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yuanyuan

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract A novel octahedron-like hierarchical structure of Bi2WO6has been fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method in high quantity. XRD, SEM, TEM, and HRTEM were used to characterize the product. The results indicated that this kind of Bi2WO6crystals had an average size of ~4 μm, constructed by quasi-square single-crystal nanosheets assembled in a special fashion. The formation of octahedron-like hierarchical structure of Bi2WO6depended crucially on the pH value of the precursor suspensions. The photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical Bi2WO6structures toward RhB degradation under visible light was investigated, and it was found to be significantly better than that of the sample fabricated by SSR. The better photocatalytic property should be strongly associated with the high specific surface area and the abundant pore structure of the hierarchical octahedron-like Bi2WO6.

Organizational structuring and strategic business units in function of an effective management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kovač Aleksandar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In modern business conditions, in the conditions of extremely fast market changes which affect the way and the organization of a company's business, it is necessary to set up such an organizational structure which will provide the necessary flexibility and the base for further growth and development of the company. Each wrong business decision results in a waste of time, money and energy. In order to minimize mistakes as much as possible it is necessary to have a quality system of accounting information which is essential for making business decisions. In that sense, in order to provide quality accounting information and to enable the monitoring of the performances of particular parts of the company by the central management, forming and organizational structuring of the strategic business units is an effective way to answer the challenges of the business environment. Recently, a certain tendency of changes in the field of organizational structuring is noticeable, or, more precisely, of organizational restructuring of the business systems in closer and wider environment with a goal of delegating authorities and responsibilities to the organizational divisions. Profit centre, as an organizational part of a company which does not have a legal status, is of an exceptional importance.

Analyzing the nursing organizational structure and process from a scheduling perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Maenhout, Broos; Vanhoucke, Mario

2013-09-01

The efficient and effective management of nursing personnel is of critical importance in a hospital's environment comprising approximately 25 % of the hospital's operational costs. The nurse organizational structure and the organizational processes highly affect the nurses' working conditions and the provided quality of care. In this paper, we investigate the impact of different nurse organization structures and different organizational processes for a real-life situation in a Belgian university hospital. In order to make accurate nurse staffing decisions, the employed solution methodology incorporates shift scheduling characteristics in order to overcome the deficiencies of the many phase-specific methodologies that are proposed in the academic literature.

Hierarchical structure of correlation functions for single jets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupia, S.; Giovannini, A.; Ugoccioni, R.

1993-01-01

Theoretical basis of void scaling function properties of hierarchical structure in rapidity and p T intervals are explored. Their phenomenological consequences are analyzed at single jet level by using Monte Carlo methods in e + e - annihilation. It is found that void scaling function study provides an interesting alternative approach for characterizing single jets of different origin. (orig.)

Enhanced water desalination performance through hierarchically-structured ceramic membranes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, Tong; Lei, Libin; Gu, Jianqiang; Wang, Yao; Winnubst, Louis; Chen, Chusheng; Ye, Chunsong; Chen, Fanglin

2017-01-01

Developments of membrane water desalination are impeded by low water vapor flux across the membrane. We present an innovative membrane design to significantly enhance the water vapor flux. A bilayer zirconia-based membrane with a thick hierarchically-structured support and a thin functional layer is

The Domains of Organizational Learning Practices: An Agency-Structure Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nancy Beauregard

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Organizational learning theory has retained considerable attention in the past decades from a wide array of academic disciplines in social sciences. Yet few integrative efforts have satisfactorily offered a comprehensive and systematic articulation of the concept of organizational learning with regards to: (a its core constitutive dimensions and associated mechanisms; (b the analytical levels from such mechanisms operate (e.g., workers, teams, organizations; as well as (c their interplay. Methods: This article builds on a critical synthesis of predominant approaches in organizational learning theory (i.e., structural functionalist, social constructivist and middle range approaches, highlighting the contributions of each approach on the key analytical elements guiding our inquiry (i.e., core dimensions and associated mechanisms, analytical levels, interplay. Drawing from the work of sociologists Anthony Giddens and Margaret Archer on agency-structure theory, we develop a series of theoretical propositions supporting the Organizational Learning Practices (OLP concept as a unifying heuristic tool. Results: OLP are defined as a set of collectively shared practices held by members of a given organization embedded in normative, political, and semantic dynamics. At the heart of such dynamics lies organizational knowledge as a power resource pivotal to the sustainable development of organizations, as well as that of their members. Conclusion: OLP offer promising answers to on-going debates in organizational learning theory, and we conclude by discussing concrete guidelines to advance research and practice on OLP.

Soft edges--organizational structure in dental education.

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, D W

1995-03-01

There is no one best organizational structure for dental schools or for their major subunits. The classical alternatives of functional and divisional organization are discussed in light of the rule that follows function, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are presented. Newer models--decentralization, matrix, and heterarchy--show how features of functional and divisional structure can be blended. Virtual organizations, systems theory, and networks are also considered as new expressions of classical structures. The principle of suboptimization (soft edges) is presented.

Historical Context, Institutional Change, Organizational Structure, and the Mental Illness Career

OpenAIRE

Walter, Charles Thomas

2013-01-01

This dissertation demonstrates how patients' mental illness treatment careers depend on the change and/or stability among differing levels of social structure. Theorists of the mental illness career tend to ignore the role that higher levels of social structural change have on individuals' mental illness career. Researchers using an organizational perspective tend to focus on the organizational environment but ignore the treatment process from the individual's point of view. Both perspectives...

Applications of hierarchically structured porous materials from energy storage and conversion, catalysis, photocatalysis, adsorption, separation, and sensing to biomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ming-Hui; Huang, Shao-Zhuan; Chen, Li-Hua; Li, Yu; Yang, Xiao-Yu; Yuan, Zhong-Yong; Su, Bao-Lian

2016-06-13

Over the last decade, significant effort has been devoted to the applications of hierarchically structured porous materials owing to their outstanding properties such as high surface area, excellent accessibility to active sites, and enhanced mass transport and diffusion. The hierarchy of porosity, structural, morphological and component levels in these materials is key for their high performance in all kinds of applications. The introduction of hierarchical porosity into materials has led to a significant improvement in the performance of materials. Herein, recent progress in the applications of hierarchically structured porous materials from energy conversion and storage, catalysis, photocatalysis, adsorption, separation, and sensing to biomedicine is reviewed. Their potential future applications are also highlighted. We particularly dwell on the relationship between hierarchically porous structures and properties, with examples of each type of hierarchically structured porous material according to its chemical composition and physical characteristics. The present review aims to open up a new avenue to guide the readers to quickly obtain in-depth knowledge of applications of hierarchically porous materials and to have a good idea about selecting and designing suitable hierarchically porous materials for a specific application. In addition to focusing on the applications of hierarchically porous materials, this comprehensive review could stimulate researchers to synthesize new advanced hierarchically porous solids.

Micro-nano hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surfaces with unique wettability.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Dai, Zhen; Wu, Junjie; Zhao, Ning; Xu, Jian

2010-05-01

A micro-nano hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surface was easily fabricated by phase separation. Nylon 6,6 plate was swelled by formic acid and then immersed in a coagulate bath to precipitate. Micro particles with nano protrusions were generated and linked together covering over the surface. After dried up, the as-formed surface showed superhydrophilic ability. Inspired by lotus only employing 2-tier structure and ordinary plant wax to maintain superhydrophobicity, paraffin wax, a low surface energy material, was used to modify the hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surface. The resultant surface had water contact angle (CA) of 155.2+/-1.3 degrees and a low sliding angle. The whole process was carried on under ambient condition and only need a few minutes. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical sets: analyzing pangenome structure through scalable set visualizations

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Abstract Motivation: The increase in available microbial genome sequences has resulted in an increase in the size of the pangenomes being analyzed. Current pangenome visualizations are not intended for the pangenome sizes possible today and new approaches are necessary in order to convert the increase in available information to increase in knowledge. As the pangenome data structure is essentially a collection of sets we explore the potential for scalable set visualization as a tool for pangenome analysis. Results: We present a new hierarchical clustering algorithm based on set arithmetics that optimizes the intersection sizes along the branches. The intersection and union sizes along the hierarchy are visualized using a composite dendrogram and icicle plot, which, in pangenome context, shows the evolution of pangenome and core size along the evolutionary hierarchy. Outlying elements, i.e. elements whose presence pattern do not correspond with the hierarchy, can be visualized using hierarchical edge bundles. When applied to pangenome data this plot shows putative horizontal gene transfers between the genomes and can highlight relationships between genomes that is not represented by the hierarchy. We illustrate the utility of hierarchical sets by applying it to a pangenome based on 113 Escherichia and Shigella genomes and find it provides a powerful addition to pangenome analysis. Availability and Implementation: The described clustering algorithm and visualizations are implemented in the hierarchicalSets R package available from CRAN (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/hierarchicalSets) Contact: thomasp85@gmail.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28130242

Facile method for preparing superoleophobic surfaces with hierarchical microcubic/nanowire structures

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Wonshik; Hwang, Woonbong

2016-02-01

To facilitate the fabrication of superoleophobic surfaces having hierarchical microcubic/nanowire structures (HMNS), even for low surface tension liquids including octane (surface tension = 21.1 mN m-1), and to understand the influences of surface structures on the oleophobicity, we developed a convenient method to achieve superoleophobic surfaces on aluminum substrates using chemical acid etching, anodization and fluorination treatment. The liquid repellency of the structured surface was validated through observable experimental results the contact and sliding angle measurements. The etching condition required to ensure high surface roughness was established, and an optimal anodizing condition was determined, as a critical parameter in building the superoleophobicity. The microcubic structures formed by acid etching are essential for achieving the formation of the hierarchical structure, and therefore, the nanowire structures formed by anodization lead to an enhancement of the superoleophobicity for low surface tension liquids. Under optimized morphology by microcubic/nanowire structures with fluorination treatment, the contact angle over 150° and the sliding angle less than 10° are achieved even for octane.

From hierarchies to levels : new solutions for games with hierarchical structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Álvarez-Mozos, M.; van den Brink, R.; van der Laan, G.; Tejada, O.

2017-01-01

Recently, applications of cooperative game theory to economic allocation problems have gained popularity. In many of these problems, players are organized according to either a hierarchical structure or a levels structure that restrict the players’ possibilities to cooperate. In this paper, we

[Job satisfaction and organizational culture as predictors of absenteeism].

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza Llanos, Rodolfo

2015-08-01

Absenteeism caused by sick leaves generates an important economic burden. To determine if job satisfaction, psychological climate, hierarchic level and age are predictors of absenteeism caused by sick leaves. FOCUS-93 survey that measures organizational culture and the satisfaction scale of Warr, Cook and Wall were distributed to 1387 workers of a hospital and answered by 874. Absenteeism data was obtained from the justified absenteeism registry of the Chilean Health Services. Absenteeism is influenced by job satisfaction and organizational culture. Age has no influence. Hierarchic level has a negative influence on absenteeism among men and a negligible effect among women. Those workers that are not satisfied with their work have higher rates of absenteeism.

Biomedical application of hierarchically built structures based on metal oxides

Science.gov (United States)

Korovin, M. S.; Fomenko, A. N.

2017-12-01

Nowadays, the use of hierarchically built structures in biology and medicine arouses much interest. The aim of this work is to review and summarize the available literature data about hierarchically organized structures in biomedical application. Nanoparticles can serve as an example of such structures. Medicine holds a special place among various application methods of similar systems. Special attention is paid to inorganic nanoparticles based on different metal oxides and hydroxides, such as iron, zinc, copper, and aluminum. Our investigations show that low-dimensional nanostructures based on aluminum oxides and hydroxides have an inhibitory effect on tumor cells and possess an antimicrobial activity. At the same time, it is obvious that the large-scale use of nanoparticles by humans needs to thoroughly study their properties. Special attention should be paid to the study of nanoparticle interaction with living biological objects. The numerous data show that there is no clear understanding of interaction mechanisms between nanoparticles and various cell types.

Hierarchical structure of correlation functions for single jets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lupia, S. (Dipt. di Fisica Teorica, Univ. di Torino, and INFN, Sezione di Torino (Italy)); Giovannini, A. (Dipt. di Fisica Teorica, Univ. di Torino, and INFN, Sezione di Torino (Italy)); Ugoccioni, R. (Dipt. di Fisica Teorica, Univ. di Torino, and INFN, Sezione di Torino (Italy))

1993-08-01

Theoretical basis of void scaling function properties of hierarchical structure in rapidity and p[sub T] intervals are explored. Their phenomenological consequences are analyzed at single jet level by using Monte Carlo methods in e[sup +]e[sup -] annihilation. It is found that void scaling function study provides an interesting alternative approach for characterizing single jets of different origin. (orig.)

Relation of organizational citizenship behavior and locus of control.

Science.gov (United States)

Turnipseed, David L; Bacon, Calvin M

2009-12-01

The relation of organizational citizenship behavior and locus of control was assessed in a sample of 286 college students (52% men; M age = 24 yr.) who worked an average of 26 hr. per week. Measures were Spector's Work Locus of Control Scale and Podsakoff, et al.'s Organization Citizenship Behavior scale. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated positive association of scores on work locus of control with scores on each of the four tested dimensions of organizational citizenship, as well as total organizational citizenship behavior.

The construction of hierarchical structure on Ti substrate with superior osteogenic activity and intrinsic antibacterial capability

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ying; Zha, Guangyu; Luo, Qiaojie; Zhang, Jianxiang; Zhang, Feng; Li, Xiaohui; Zhao, Shifang; Zhu, Weipu; Li, Xiaodong

2014-01-01

The deficient osseointegration and implant-associated infections are pivotal issues for the long-term clinical success of endosteal Ti implants, while development of functional surfaces that can simultaneously overcome these problems remains highly challenging. This study aimed to fabricate sophisticated Ti implant surface with both osteogenic inducing activity and inherent antibacterial ability simply via tailoring surface topographical features. Micro/submciro/nano-scale structure was constructed on Ti by three cumulative subtractive methods, including sequentially conducted sandblasting as well as primary and secondary acid etching treatment. Topographical features of this hierarchical structure can be well tuned by the time of the secondary acid treatment. Ti substrate with mere micro/submicro-scale structure (MS0-Ti) served as a control to examine the influence of hierarchical structures on surface properties and biological activities. Surface analysis indicated that all hierarchically structured surfaces possessed exactly the same surface chemistry as that of MS0-Ti, and all of them showed super-amphiphilicity, high surface free energy, and high protein adsorption capability. Biological evaluations revealed surprisingly antibacterial ability and excellent osteogenic activity for samples with optimized hierarchical structure (MS30-Ti) when compared with MS0-Ti. Consequently, for the first time, a hierarchically structured Ti surface with topography-induced inherent antibacterial capability and excellent osteogenic activity was constructed. PMID:25146099

On the Nature of GSE Organizational Social Structures: an Empirical Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tamburri, D.A.; van Vliet, H.; Lago, P.; Di Nitto, E.

2012-01-01

In Global Software Engineering (GSE), people are organized in teams, distanced in space, time and cul- ture. Organizational research calls this interplay of people an Organizational Social Structure (OSS). Previous literature in GSE shows that its OSS is highly dynamic and unpre- dictable. This

Combining Theoretical Perspectives on the Organizational Structure-Performance Relationship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Starling David Hunter

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Much of the literature linking organization structure to performance falls into two broad research streams. One stream concerns formal structure – the hierarchy of authority or reporting relationships as well as the degree of standardization, formalization, specialization, etc. The impact of formal structure and other elements of organization design on performance is typically contingent on factors such as strategic orientation, task characteristics, and environmental conditions. The other research stream focuses on informal structure – a network of interpersonal and intra-organizational relationships. Properties of informal structure are typically shown to have a more direct (less contingent impact on organizational performance. Despite these pronounced differences in the conceptualization of organization structure, considerable overlap and complementarity exist between the two research streams. In this article, I compare and contrast a pair of exemplars from each stream – the information processing perspective and the social network perspective – with respect to their conceptualizations of organization structure and its relationship to performance. Several recommendations for future research that combines the two approaches are offered.

The influence of organizational characteristics on employee solidarity in the long-term care sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Cramm, Jane M; Strating, Mathilde M H; Nieboer, Anna P

2013-03-01

This article is a report of a study that identifies organizational characteristics explaining employee solidarity in the long-term care sector. Employee solidarity reportedly improves organizations' effectiveness and efficiency. Although general research on solidarity in organizations is available, the impact of the organizational context on solidarity in long-term care settings is lacking. Cross-sectional survey. The study was carried out in Dutch long-term care. A total of 313 nurses, managers and other care professionals in 23 organizations were involved. Organizational characteristics studied were centralization, hierarchical culture, formal and informal exchange of information and leadership style. The study was carried out in 2009. Findings.  All organizational characteristics significantly correlated with employee solidarity in the univariate analyses. In the multivariate analyses hierarchical culture, centralization, exchange of formal and informal information and transformational leadership appears to be important for solidarity among nurses, managers and other professionals in long-term care organizations, but not transactional and passive leadership styles. The study increased our knowledge of solidarity among nurses, managers and other professionals in the long-term care settings. Organizational characteristics that enhance solidarity are high levels of formal and informal information exchange, less hierarchical authority, decentralization and transformational leadership styles. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

On Hierarchical Extensions of Large-Scale 4-regular Grid Network Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Patel, A.; Knudsen, Thomas Phillip

It is studied how the introduction of ordered hierarchies in 4-regular grid network structures decreses distances remarkably, while at the same time allowing for simple topological routing schemes. Both meshes and tori are considered; in both cases non-hierarchical structures have power law depen...

Interface methods for using intranet portal organizational memory information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Yong Gu; Salvendy, Gavriel

2004-12-01

In this paper, an intranet portal is considered as an information infrastructure (organizational memory information system, OMIS) supporting organizational learning. The properties and the hierarchical structure of information and knowledge in an intranet portal OMIS was identified as a problem for navigation tools of an intranet portal interface. The problem relates to navigation and retrieval functions of intranet portal OMIS and is expected to adversely affect user performance, satisfaction, and usefulness. To solve the problem, a conceptual model for navigation tools of an intranet portal interface was proposed and an experiment using a crossover design was conducted with 10 participants. In the experiment, a separate access method (tabbed tree tool) was compared to an unified access method (single tree tool). The results indicate that each information/knowledge repository for which a user has a different structural knowledge should be handled separately with a separate access to increase user satisfaction and the usefulness of the OMIS and to improve user performance in navigation.

A Comparison of Organizational Structure and Pedagogical Approach: Online versus Face-to-face

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donovan A. McFarlane

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines online versus face-to-face organizational structure and pedagogy in terms of education and the teaching and learning process. The author distinguishes several important terms related to distance/online/e-learning, virtual learning and brick-and-mortar learning interactions and concepts such as asynchronous and synchronous interactions, etc, before deliberating on perceived differences in organizational structure and pedagogical approaches of virtual and brick-and-mortar schools by examining organizational structure, knowledge and pedagogical theories, ideas, and constructs. The roles of mission, vision, and other considerations that contribute to differences between virtual and brick-and-mortar schools are examined. The appropriateness of structure and pedagogy as related to variables such as class size, span of control, and several other factors is discussed. The benefits and drawbacks of both virtual and brick-and-mortar schools are assessed in terms of perceived effectiveness and relation to perceived organizational structural and pedagogical differences before the author presents an informed response to the major thesis of this paper based on pertinent literature and the foregone discussion. After recognizing prevailing practices with regard to organizational structure and pedagogy, and given the pertinent role of technology and several influencing factors such as leadership, and curriculum, among other factors in virtual and brick-and-mortar schools, several recommendations are presented for improving the teaching-learning process.

The structural relationships between organizational commitment, global job satisfaction, developmental experiences, work values, organizational support, and person-organization fit among nursing faculty.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutierrez, Antonio P; Candela, Lori L; Carver, Lara

2012-07-01

GUTIERAIM: The aim of this correlational study was to examine the relations between organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, work values, person-organization fit, developmental experiences, and global job satisfaction among nursing faculty. The global nursing shortage is well documented. At least 57 countries have reported critical shortages. The lack of faculty is finally being recognized as a major issue directly influencing the ability to admit and graduate adequate numbers of nurses. As efforts increase to both recruit and retain faculty, the concept of organizational commitment and what it means to them is important to consider. A cross-sectional correlational design was used. The present study investigated the underlying structure of various organizational factors using structural equation modelling. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of nurse faculty during the academic year 2006-2007. The final model demonstrated that perceived organizational support, developmental experiences, person-organization fit, and global job satisfaction positively predicted nurse faculty's organizational commitment to the academic organization. Cross-validation results indicated that the final full SEM is valid and reliable. Nursing faculty administrators able to use mentoring skills are well equipped to build positive relationships with nursing faculty, which in turn, can lead to increased organizational commitment, productivity, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support, among others. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Colloidal quantum dot solar cells exploiting hierarchical structuring

KAUST Repository

Labelle, André J.

2015-02-11

Extremely thin-absorber solar cells offer low materials utilization and simplified manufacture but require improved means to enhance photon absorption in the active layer. Here, we report enhanced-absorption colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells that feature transfer-stamped solution-processed pyramid-shaped electrodes employed in a hierarchically structured device. The pyramids increase, by up to a factor of 2, the external quantum efficiency of the device at absorption-limited wavelengths near the absorber band edge. We show that absorption enhancement can be optimized with increased pyramid angle with an appreciable net improvement in power conversion efficiency, that is, with the gain in current associated with improved absorption and extraction overcoming the smaller fractional decrease in open-circuit voltage associated with increased junction area. We show that the hierarchical combination of micron-scale structured electrodes with nanoscale films provides for an optimized enhancement at absorption-limited wavelengths. We fabricate 54.7° pyramid-patterned electrodes, conformally apply the quantum dot films, and report pyramid CQD solar cells that exhibit a 24% improvement in overall short-circuit current density with champion devices providing a power conversion efficiency of 9.2%.

Hierarchical structures in cold-drawn pearlitic steel wire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xiaodan; Godfrey, Andrew; Hansen, Niels

2013-01-01

The microstructure and crystallography of drawn pearlitic steel wires have been quantified by a number of electron microscopy techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and nanobeam diffraction, with focus on the change...... in the structure and crystallography when a randomly oriented cementite structure in a patented wire during wire drawing is transformed into a lamellar structure parallel to the drawing axis. Changes in the interlamellar spacing and in the misorientation angle along and across the ferrite lamellae show significant...... through-diameter variations in wires drawn to large strains P 1.5. The structural evolution is hierarchical as the structural variations have their cause in a different macroscopic orientation of the cementite in the initial (patented) structure with respect to the wire axis. The through...

Hierarchical structures in cold-drawn pearlitic steel wire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xiaodan; Godfrey, Andrew; Hansen, Niels

2013-01-01

The microstructure and crystallography of drawn pearlitic steel wires have been quantified by a number of electron microscopy techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and nanobeam diffraction, with focus on the change...... in the structure and crystallography when a randomly oriented cementite structure in a patented wire during wire drawing is transformed into a lamellar structure parallel to the drawing axis. Changes in the interlamellar spacing and in the misorientation angle along and across the ferrite lamellae show significant...... through-diameter variations in wires drawn to large strains ⩾ 1.5. The structural evolution is hierarchical as the structural variations have their cause in a different macroscopic orientation of the cementite in the initial (patented) structure with respect to the wire axis. The through...

THE MODELS OF THE MANAGEMENT OPTIMIZATION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES OF RUP “BELORUSSIAN METALLURGICAL WORKS”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Chichko

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The new approach to the mathematic modeling and optimization of interrelation of the control units of the metallurgical enterprise organizational structures is offered. The mathematical model of the organizational structure based on temporary characteristics of control units loading is offered at the example of one of the organizational structures BMZ.

AUTOMATION OF OPERATIONAL CONTROL OF DATA FLOWS OF THE METALLURGICAL ENTERPRISE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Chichko

2006-01-01

Full Text Available New method for creation of models of operative control of enterprise is offered. The computer variant of the organizational structure, based on analysis of the charging dynamics of control units, is offered and illustrated at the example of one of organizational structures of Belorussian metallurgical works.

Topology of the correlation networks among major currencies using hierarchical structure methods

Science.gov (United States)

Keskin, Mustafa; Deviren, Bayram; Kocakaplan, Yusuf

2011-02-01

We studied the topology of correlation networks among 34 major currencies using the concept of a minimal spanning tree and hierarchical tree for the full years of 2007-2008 when major economic turbulence occurred. We used the USD (US Dollar) and the TL (Turkish Lira) as numeraires in which the USD was the major currency and the TL was the minor currency. We derived a hierarchical organization and constructed minimal spanning trees (MSTs) and hierarchical trees (HTs) for the full years of 2007, 2008 and for the 2007-2008 period. We performed a technique to associate a value of reliability to the links of MSTs and HTs by using bootstrap replicas of data. We also used the average linkage cluster analysis for obtaining the hierarchical trees in the case of the TL as the numeraire. These trees are useful tools for understanding and detecting the global structure, taxonomy and hierarchy in financial data. We illustrated how the minimal spanning trees and their related hierarchical trees developed over a period of time. From these trees we identified different clusters of currencies according to their proximity and economic ties. The clustered structure of the currencies and the key currency in each cluster were obtained and we found that the clusters matched nicely with the geographical regions of corresponding countries in the world such as Asia or Europe. As expected the key currencies were generally those showing major economic activity.

Hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures on nitinol and their influence on oriented endothelialization and anti-thrombosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nozaki, Kosuke; Shinonaga, Togo; Ebe, Noriko; Horiuchi, Naohiro; Nakamura, Miho; Tsutsumi, Yusuke; Hanawa, Takao; Tsukamoto, Masahiro; Yamashita, Kimihiro; Nagai, Akiko

2015-01-01

The applications of hierarchical micro/nano-structures, which possess properties of two-scale roughness, have been studied in various fields. In this study, hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures were fabricated on nitinol, an equiatomic Ni–Ti alloy, using a femtosecond laser for the surface modification of intravascular stents. By controlling the laser fluence, two types of surfaces were developed: periodic nano- and micro/nano-structures. Evaluation of water contact angles indicated that the nano-surface was hydrophilic and the micro/nano-surface was hydrophobic. Endothelial cells aligned along the nano-structures on both surfaces, whereas platelets failed to adhere to the micro/nano-surface. Decorrelation between the responses of the two cell types and the results of water contact angle analysis were a result of the pinning effect. This is the first study to show the applicability of hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures for surface modification of nitinol. - Highlights: • Hierarchical micro/nano-structures were created on nitinol using a femtosecond laser. • The nano-surface was hydrophilic and the micro/nano-surface was hydrophobic. • Endothelial cells aligned along the nano-structures • Platelets failed to adhere to the micro/nano-surface

Hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures on nitinol and their influence on oriented endothelialization and anti-thrombosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nozaki, Kosuke [Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 (Japan); Shinonaga, Togo [Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University, 11-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); Ebe, Noriko; Horiuchi, Naohiro; Nakamura, Miho; Tsutsumi, Yusuke; Hanawa, Takao [Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 (Japan); Tsukamoto, Masahiro [Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University, 11-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); Yamashita, Kimihiro [Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 (Japan); Nagai, Akiko, E-mail: nag-bcr@tmd.ac.jp [Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 (Japan)

2015-12-01

The applications of hierarchical micro/nano-structures, which possess properties of two-scale roughness, have been studied in various fields. In this study, hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures were fabricated on nitinol, an equiatomic Ni–Ti alloy, using a femtosecond laser for the surface modification of intravascular stents. By controlling the laser fluence, two types of surfaces were developed: periodic nano- and micro/nano-structures. Evaluation of water contact angles indicated that the nano-surface was hydrophilic and the micro/nano-surface was hydrophobic. Endothelial cells aligned along the nano-structures on both surfaces, whereas platelets failed to adhere to the micro/nano-surface. Decorrelation between the responses of the two cell types and the results of water contact angle analysis were a result of the pinning effect. This is the first study to show the applicability of hierarchical periodic micro/nano-structures for surface modification of nitinol. - Highlights: • Hierarchical micro/nano-structures were created on nitinol using a femtosecond laser. • The nano-surface was hydrophilic and the micro/nano-surface was hydrophobic. • Endothelial cells aligned along the nano-structures • Platelets failed to adhere to the micro/nano-surface.

Organizational Structure Analysis: Space and Missile Defense Command - Sensors Directorate

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Blake, Stephen

1999-01-01

.... Why make things difficult and change? Through the responses from a survey instrument, this capstone project assesses an Army organization and defines the current organizational structure, the advantages and disadvantages of the structure...

Hierarchical ordering with partial pairwise hierarchical relationships on the macaque brain data sets.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woosang Lim

Full Text Available Hierarchical organizations of information processing in the brain networks have been known to exist and widely studied. To find proper hierarchical structures in the macaque brain, the traditional methods need the entire pairwise hierarchical relationships between cortical areas. In this paper, we present a new method that discovers hierarchical structures of macaque brain networks by using partial information of pairwise hierarchical relationships. Our method uses a graph-based manifold learning to exploit inherent relationship, and computes pseudo distances of hierarchical levels for every pair of cortical areas. Then, we compute hierarchy levels of all cortical areas by minimizing the sum of squared hierarchical distance errors with the hierarchical information of few cortical areas. We evaluate our method on the macaque brain data sets whose true hierarchical levels are known as the FV91 model. The experimental results show that hierarchy levels computed by our method are similar to the FV91 model, and its errors are much smaller than the errors of hierarchical clustering approaches.

Development of ultralight, super-elastic, hierarchical metallic meta-structures with i3DP technology

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dongxing; Xiao, Junfeng; Moorlag, Carolyn; Guo, Qiuquan; Yang, Jun

2017-11-01

Lightweight and mechanically robust materials show promising applications in thermal insulation, energy absorption, and battery catalyst supports. This study demonstrates an effective method for creation of ultralight metallic structures based on initiator-integrated 3D printing technology (i3DP), which provides a possible platform to design the materials with the best geometric parameters and desired mechanical performance. In this study, ultralight Ni foams with 3D interconnected hollow tubes were fabricated, consisting of hierarchical features spanning three scale orders ranging from submicron to centimeter. The resultant materials can achieve an ultralight density of as low as 5.1 mg cm-3 and nearly recover after significant compression up to 50%. Due to a high compression ratio, the hierarchical structure exhibits superior properties in terms of energy absorption and mechanical efficiency. The relationship of structural parameters and mechanical response was established. The ability of achieving ultralight density printing approach provides metallic structures with substantial benefits from the hierarchical design and fabrication flexibility to ultralight applications.

A hierarchical structure through imprinting of a polyimide precursor without residual layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pai, I-Ting; Hon, Min-Hsiung; Leu, Ing-Chi

2008-01-01

A patterned polyimide without a residual layer is obtained by imprinting with the assistance of a residual solvent. The effects of the wetting behaviors of the poly-amic acid (PAA) solution coated on various surfaces are examined and the formation of hierarchical patterns without residual layers is demonstrated. polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and PEI/PDMS are used as imprinting molds with Si and 300 nm SiO 2 /Si as substrates. The results indicate that the various ambits of patterns without a residual layer are formed due to the dewetting phenomena caused by surface tension (Suh 2006 Small 2 832). During imprinting, PDMS with a low surface energy makes the PAA solution flow away from its surface exposing the contact area due to dewetting. Self-organized hierarchical structures are also obtained from this process due to effective dewetting. The present study provides a new approach for fabricating patterns without residual layers and the consequent preparation of hierarchical structures, which is considered to be impossible using the lithographic technique

The Effects of Organizational Culture on Mental Health Service Engagement of Transition Age Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, HyunSoo; Tracy, Elizabeth M; Biegel, David E; Min, Meeyoung O; Munson, Michelle R

2015-10-01

Nationwide, there is a growing concern in understanding mental health service engagement among transition age youth. The ecological perspective suggests that there are multiple barriers to service engagement which exist on varying levels of the ecosystem. Based on the socio-technical theory and organizational culture theory, this study examined the impact of organization-level characteristics on perceived service engagement and the moderating role of organizational culture on practitioner-level characteristics affecting youth service engagement. A cross-sectional survey research design was used to address the research questions. The data were collected from 279 practitioners from 27 mental health service organizations representing three major metropolitan areas in Ohio. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to address a nested structure. Findings revealed that location of organization, service setting, and organizational culture had significant effects on the continuation of services. In addition, the relationship between service coordination and resource knowledge and service engagement was moderated by organizational culture.

Organizational culture of a private hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Vegro, Thamiris Cavazzani; Rocha, Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi; Camelo, Silvia Helena Henriques; Garcia, Alessandra Bassalobre

2016-06-01

Objective To assess the values and practices that characterize the organizational culture of a private hospital in the state of São Paulo in the perspective of nursing professionals. Methods Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Data collection was conducted between January and March 2013 using the Brazilian Instrument for Assessing Organizational Culture. Twenty-one nurses and sixty-two nursing aides and technicians participated in the study. The responses of the participants were coded into numerical categories, generating an electronic database to be analyzed by means of the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results Scores of cooperative professionalism values (3.24); hierarchical strictness values (2.83); individual professionalism values (2.69); well-being values (2.71); external integration practices (3.73); reward and training practices (2.56); and relationship promotion practices (2.83). Conclusion In the perception of workers, despite the existence of hierarchical strictness there is cooperation at work and the institution pursues customer satisfaction and good interpersonal relationships.

Content Consumption and Hierarchical Structures of Web-Supported Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Hershkovitz, Arnon; Hardof-Jaffe, Sharon; Nachmias, Rafi

2014-01-01

This study presents an empirical investigation of the relationship between the hierarchical structure of content delivered to students within a Learning Management System (LMS) and its actual consumption. To this end, campus-wide data relating to 1,203 courses were collected from the LMS' servers and were subsequently analyzed using data mining…

Inferring hierarchical clustering structures by deterministic annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, T.; Buhmann, J.M.

1996-01-01

The unsupervised detection of hierarchical structures is a major topic in unsupervised learning and one of the key questions in data analysis and representation. We propose a novel algorithm for the problem of learning decision trees for data clustering and related problems. In contrast to many other methods based on successive tree growing and pruning, we propose an objective function for tree evaluation and we derive a non-greedy technique for tree growing. Applying the principles of maximum entropy and minimum cross entropy, a deterministic annealing algorithm is derived in a meanfield approximation. This technique allows us to canonically superimpose tree structures and to fit parameters to averaged or open-quote fuzzified close-quote trees

Dynamic control of quadruped robot with hierarchical control structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yu-Zhang; Furusho, Junji; Okajima, Yosuke.

1988-01-01

For moving on irregular terrain, such as the inside of a nuclear power plant and outer space, it is generally recognized that the multilegged walking robot is suitable. This paper proposes a hierarchical control structure for the dynamic control of quadruped walking robots. For this purpose, we present a reduced order model which can approximate the original higher order model very well. Since this reduced order model does not require much computational time, it can be used in the real-time control of a quadruped walking robot. A hierarchical control experiment is shown in which the optimal control algorithm using a reduced order model is calculated by one microprocessor, and the other control algorithm is calculated by another microprocessor. (author)

The effect of management and organizational structure on nuclear power plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurber, J.A.

1986-01-01

Many informed observers have proposed that utility management is a key element underlying the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPP). One way that management likely influences plant safety performance is through the organizational structures it consciously creates or allows to exist. This paper describes an empirical analysis of the relationships between some important dimensions of plant organizational structure and measures of plant safety performance

Controlled self-assembly of PbS nanoparticles into macrostar-like hierarchical structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Guowei; Li, Changsheng; Tang, Hua; Cao, Kesheng; Chen, Juan

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: The aggregation and rotation of nanoparticles to adopt parallel orientations in three dimensions was indirectly illustrated by TEM and HRTEM images. Highlights: → Macrostar-like PbS hierarchical structures was successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and mesostars were assembled from the PbS nanocube building blocks with edge lengths of about 100 nm. → Ostwald-ripening-assisted oriented attachment is believed to play a key role in the growth behavior of novel 3D structures. → Optical properties indicating few defects on the surface of the PbS structure and exhibit large blue-shifts compared to bulk PbS. -- Abstract: The synthesis of macrostar-like PbS hierarchical structures by a simple hydrothermal method at 180 o C for 24 h is proven successful with the assistance of a new surfactant called tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB). The as-obtained product is characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and selected area electron diffraction. The presence of TBAB and NaF plays an important role in the formation of PbS macrostructures. Ostwald-ripening-assisted oriented attachment is believed to play a key role in the growth behavior of novel 3D structures. As such, a possible self-assembly mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the said structures. The present study aims to introduce new insights into understanding the formation process of such unique hierarchical superstructures.

Photoelectrochemical properties of the TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure prepared by hydrothermal process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bao SUN

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In order to increase the transport channels of the photogenerated electrons and enhance the photosensitizer loading ability of the electrode, a new TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure is prepared through two-step hydrothermal process. First, TiO2 nanorod array is grown on the FTO conductive glass substrate by hydrothermal proess. Then, ZnO sol is coated onto the TiO2 nanorods through dip-coating method and inverted to ZnO seed layer by sintering. Finally, the secondary ZnO nanorods are grown onto the TiO2 nanorods by the sencond hydrothermal method to form the designed TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure. A spin-coating assisted successive ionic layer reaction method (SC-SILR is used to deposit the CdS nanocrystals into the TiO2 nanorod array and the TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure is used to form the CdS/TiO2 and CdS/TiO2-ZnO nanocomposite films. Different methods, such as SEM, TEM, XRD, UV-Vis and transient photocurrent, are employed to characterize and measure the morphologies, structures, light absorption and photoelectric conversion performance of all the samples, respectively. The results indicate that, compared with the pure TiO2 nanorod array, the TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure can load more CdS photosensitizer. The light absorption properties and transient photocurrent performance of the CdS/TiO2-ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure composite film are evidently superior to that of the CdS/TiO2 nanocomposite films. The excellent photoelctrochemical performance of theTiO2-ZnO hierarchical structure reveales its application prospect in photoanode material of the solar cells.

How hierarchical is language use?

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Stefan L.; Bod, Rens; Christiansen, Morten H.

2012-01-01

It is generally assumed that hierarchical phrase structure plays a central role in human language. However, considerations of simplicity and evolutionary continuity suggest that hierarchical structure should not be invoked too hastily. Indeed, recent neurophysiological, behavioural and computational studies show that sequential sentence structure has considerable explanatory power and that hierarchical processing is often not involved. In this paper, we review evidence from the recent literature supporting the hypothesis that sequential structure may be fundamental to the comprehension, production and acquisition of human language. Moreover, we provide a preliminary sketch outlining a non-hierarchical model of language use and discuss its implications and testable predictions. If linguistic phenomena can be explained by sequential rather than hierarchical structure, this will have considerable impact in a wide range of fields, such as linguistics, ethology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology and computer science. PMID:22977157

Designing Optimal Organizational Structures for Combat Information Centers in the Next Generation of Navy Ships

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Paley, Michael J; Levchuk, Yuri N; Serfaty, Daniel; MacMillan, Jean

1999-01-01

... organizational structure and its decision strategy. What is needed is an application of a scientific model of organizational design, used to optimize organizational performance within specific mission parameters and constraints...

Organizational structure and performance in dutch small firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijaard, J; Brand, MJ; Mosselman, M

The relationship between organizational structure and performance in small. firms has received relatively limited attention over the last few decades. In understanding small. firm performance this seems to be a serious omission. In this paper, we first present the rationale for including

Analysis of the relationships among trust antecedents, organizational structures, and performance outcomes

OpenAIRE

Seykora, Joseph T.

2009-01-01

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited MBA Professional Report The project explores and seeks to identify relationships among four trust antecedents, two organizational structures, and two performance outcomes. The results will help to further explain associations between trust level (high or low) and organizational structure. Past research found that the edge organization operating in a high trust environment produces the most accurate results in the least amount of time. ...

Decision support in hierarchical planning systems: The case of procurement planning in oil refining industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kallestrup, Kasper Bislev; Lynge, Lasse Hadberg; Akkerman, Renzo

2014-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the development of decision support systems for hierarchically structured planning approaches, such as commercially available advanced planning systems. We develop a framework to show how such a decision support system can be designed with the existing organization in mind...... and from the perspective of the organizational aspects involved. To exemplify and develop our framework, we use a case study of crude oil procurement planning in the refining industry. The results of the case study indicate an improved organizational embedding of the DSS, leading to significant savings...... in terms of planning efforts and procurement costs. In general, our framework aims to support the continuous improvement of advanced planning systems, increasing planning quality in complex supply chain settings....

Investigation of the relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment of nurses in Zanjan hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskandari, Fereidoun; Siahkali, Soheila Rabie; Shoghli, Alireza; Pazargadi, Mehrnoosh; Tafreshi, Mansoreh Zaghari

2017-03-01

The demanding nature of nursing work environments signals longstanding and growing concerns about nurses' health and job satisfaction and the provision of quality care. Specifically in health care settings, nurse leaders play an essential role in creating supportive work environments to avert these negative trends and increase nurse job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment of nurses. 491 nurses working in Zanjan hospitals participated in this descriptive-correlational study in 2010. Tools for data collection were Meyer and Allen's organizational commitment questionnaire and "Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II" (CWEQ-II). Data was analyzed by SPSS16. The statistical tests such as variance analysis, t-test, pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression were used for data analysis. According to the findings, the perception of nurses working in hospitals on "Structural Empowerment" was moderate (15.98±3.29). Nurses believed "opportunity" as the most important element in structural empowerment with the score of 3.18 ±0.79. Nurses working in non-academic hospitals and in non-teaching hospitals had higher organizational commitment than others. There was a significant relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment. Generally, structural empowerment (relatively strong) correlates with nurses' organizational commitment. We concluded that a high structural empowerment increases the organizational commitment of nurses.

Organizational Structures for International Universities: Implications for Campus Autonomy, Academic Freedom, Collegiality, and Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Ron; Crosling, Glenda; Lim, Ngat-Chin

2014-01-01

One significant form of transnational higher education is the International Branch Campus (IBC), in effect an "outpost" of the parent institution located in another country. Its organizational structure is alignable with offshore subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs). The implications of organizational structure for academic…

Hierarchical level oF managers’ abilities: A Moderator between Quality Management Practices and Company Financial Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wakhid Slamet Ciptono

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the moderating impacts of hierarchical level of managers’ abilities on the form and strength of all structural relationships between quality management practices and company financial performance. This study describes the structural relationships among the research constructs —six critical factors of quality management practices (quality improvement program, supervisory leadership, supplier involvement, management commitment, training to improve products/services, cross-functional relationships; the contextual factors of oil and gas companies—world-class performance in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance; and company financial performance. It uses a sample of 1,332 managers in 140 strategic business units (SBUs within 49 oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia. The empirical results indicate that the goodness-of-fit of the unconstrained model is much better than that of the constrained model, and this is an indicator that hierarchical level of managers’ abilities moderates all structural relationships among the research constructs. Hence, the hierarchical level of managers’ abilities acts as a moderating variable of the whole model (i.e., among critical factors of quality management practices, world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance, and company financial performance. It means that the major contribution of the hierarchical level of managers’ abilities is how to make changes in the organizational system. Top level managers’ abilities are deemed the most capable of making significant changes because of their broad sources of power and influence. Conversely, lower level managers’ abilities find it more difficult making significant changes in the system because of bureaucratic control processes that limit their actions —powerlessness or a chronic lack of autonomy

Organizational Structure in the Delivery of Complex Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Checkland, Beth Young

1984-01-01

Essential features of the absolute bureaucracy and the organic structure are outlined and related to intrinsic requirements for the provision of complex services such as teaching and counselling. The two organizational patterns are examined in terms of influence relationships, plasticity, and administrators' assumptions. (TE)

Organizational structure and leadership styles in Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Pichincha

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Patricia Galarza Torres

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Leadership studies are of great interest to organizations and management scientists, because of the diversity of theories and models that have been perfected over time. The objective of this research is to qualitatively determine the leadership styles used by the managers of the Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Pichincha province, and to relate them to the organizational structures through which these institutions operate. The methodology was based on the application of surveys to managers of 60 cooperatives, taking as reference the variables raised by Bass and Avolio in their "Multifactorial Questionnaire on MLQ Leadership" and the organizational structure was obtained by another methodologies. It is concluded that in the cooperatives studied the styles used by managers are: transactional, transformational and Laissez Faire, the latter being the predominant in the organizational structures of cooperatives.

Structural Empowerment and Organizational Commitment of Lecturers in Private International Educational Institutions at Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Puncreobutr, Vichian

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research was to measure the level of structural empowerment and organizational commitment of lecturers at private international educational institutions at Thailand. Further to measure the relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment of lecturers. The target respondents of the study were lecturers…

Near-Infrared Trigged Stimulus-Responsive Photonic Crystals with Hierarchical Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Tao; Pan, Hui; Ma, Jun; Li, Yao; Zhu, Shenmin; Zhang, Di

2017-10-04

Stimuli-responsive photonic crystals (PCs) trigged by light would provide a novel intuitive and quantitative method for noninvasive detection. Inspired by the flame-detecting aptitude of fire beetles and the hierarchical photonic structures of butterfly wings, we herein developed near-infrared stimuli-responsive PCs through coupling photothermal Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), with hierarchical photonic structured butterfly wing scales as the template. The nanoparticles within 10 s transferred near-infrared radiation into heat that triggered the phase transition of PNIPAM; this almost immediately posed an anticipated effect on the PNIPAM refractive index and resulted in a composite spectrum change of ∼26 nm, leading to the direct visual readout. It is noteworthy that the whole process is durable and stable mainly owing to the chemical bonding formed between PNIPAM and the biotemplate. We envision that this biologically inspired approach could be utilized in a broad range of applications and would have a great impact on various monitoring processes and medical sensing.

Organizational structures and communications on the SH 130 project.

Science.gov (United States)

2006-03-01

This product summarizes the findings from research analyzing SH 130 organizational structures and communication flows. A set of guidelines pertaining to team organization and communication improvement and the design-build environment is also included...

Synthesis and properties of ZnFe2O4 replica with biological hierarchical structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Hongyan; Guo, Yiping; Zhang, Yangyang; Wu, Fen; Liu, Yun; Zhang, Di

2013-01-01

Highlights: • ZFO replica with hierarchical structure was synthesized from butterfly wings. • Biotemplate has a significant impact on the properties of ZFO material. • Our method opens up new avenues for the synthesis of spinel ferrites. -- Abstract: ZnFe 2 O 4 replica with biological hierarchical structure was synthesized from Papilio paris by a sol–gel method followed by calcination. The crystallographic structure and morphology of the obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscope, and transmittance electron microscope. The results showed that the hierarchical structures were retained in the ZFO replica of spinel structure. The magnetic behavior of such novel products was measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer. A superparamagnetism-like behavior was observed due to nanostructuration size effects. In addition, the ZFO replica with “quasi-honeycomb-like structure” showed a much higher specific capacitance of 279.4 F g −1 at 10 mV s −1 in comparison with ZFO powder of 137.3 F g −1 , attributing to the significantly increased surface area. These results demonstrated that ZFO replica is a promising candidate for novel magnetic devices and supercapacitors

Performance Measure Analysis of Command and Control Organizational and Task Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Smith, Neil

1996-01-01

.... The purpose of the initial A2C2 experiment was to examine the relationships between organizational structures and task structures involving competition for scarce assets, to serve as an integration...

A Dynamic Construction Algorithm for the Compact Patricia Trie Using the Hierarchical Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Minsoo; Shishibori, Masami; Tanaka, Yasuhiro; Aoe, Jun-ichi

2002-01-01

Discussion of information retrieval focuses on the use of binary trees and how to compact it to use less memory and take less time. Explains retrieval algorithms and describes data structure and hierarchical structure. (LRW)

Three-dimensional hierarchical structures for fog harvesting.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, H G; Eccles, E A; Schofield, W C E; Badyal, J P S

2011-04-05

Conventional fog-harvesting mechanisms are effectively pseudo-2D surface phenomena in terms of water droplet-plant interactions. In the case of the Cotula fallax plant, a unique hierarchical 3D arrangement formed by its leaves and the fine hairs covering them has been found to underpin the collection and retention of water droplets on the foliage for extended periods of time. The mechanisms of water capture and release as a function of the surface 3D structure and chemistry have been identified. Of particular note is that water is retained throughout the entirety of the plant and held within the foliage itself (rather than in localized regions). Individual plant hairs form matlike structures capable of supporting water droplets; these hairs wrap around water droplets in a 3D fashion to secure them via a fine nanoscale groove structure that prevents them from easily falling to the ground.

Evaluation the relation between organizational structure and entrepreneurship in physical education of Islamic Azad University

OpenAIRE

Gargari, Amineh Sahranavard; Asadollahi, Abedin

2014-01-01

In the knowledge based economy, the most successful organizations will be those who use their organizational structure in most effective ways to improve performance. On the other hand, achieving high levels of organizational performance requires the creation and development of entrepreneurialt. This study aims to investigate the relation between organizational structure and entrepreneurship which is of discretional – correlational type , done by the field method among all the physical educati...

Au functionalized ZnO rose-like hierarchical structures and their enhanced NO2 sensing performance

Science.gov (United States)

Shingange, K.; Swart, H. C.; Mhlongo, G. H.

2018-04-01

Herein, we present ZnO rose-like hierarchical nanostructures employed as support to Au nanoparticles to produce Au functionalized three dimensional (3D) ZnO hierarchical nanostructures (Au/ZnO) for NO2 detection using a microwave-assisted method. Comparative analysis of NO2 sensing performance between the pristine ZnO and Au/ZnO rose-like structures at 300 °C revealed improved NO2 response and rapid response-recovery times with Au incorporation owing to a combination of high surface accessibility induced by hierarchical nanostructure design and catalytic activity of the small Au nanoparticles. Structural and optical analyses acquired from X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and photoluminescence spectroscopy were also performed.

How does organizational culture influence organizational learning in a shipping company?

OpenAIRE

Jimenez, Jorge Mario Garzon

2016-01-01

This project targets on organizational culture and organizational learning, aiming to reveal how organizational culture influences on organizational learning within the shipping industry. The main research question is: How does organizational culture influence organizational learning within a shipping company? The two research sub-questions are: 1) Which components of organizational culture are especially important for organizational learning? 2) How is organizational structure...

Enhanced photocatalytic properties of hierarchical three-dimensional TiO{sub 2} grown on femtosecond laser structured titanium substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Ting, E-mail: huangting@bjut.edu.cn; Lu, Jinlong; Xiao, Rongshi; Wu, Qiang; Yang, Wuxiong

2017-05-01

Highlights: • The hierarchical 3D-TiO{sub 2} is fabricated on femtosecond laser structured Ti substrate. • The formation mechanism of hierarchical 3D-TiO{sub 2} is proposed. • The structure-induced improvement of photocatalytic activity is reported. - Abstract: Three-dimensional micro-/nanostructured TiO{sub 2} (3D-TiO{sub 2}) fabricated on titanium substrate effectively improves its performance in photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cell and lithium-ion battery applications. In this study, the hierarchical 3D-TiO{sub 2} with anatase phase directly grown on femtosecond laser structured titanium substrate is reported. First, the primary columnar arrays were fabricated on the surface of titanium substrate by femtosecond laser structuring. Next, the secondary nano-sheet substructures were grown on the primary columnar arrays by NaOH hydrothermal treatment. Followed by ion-exchange process in HCl and annealing in the air, the hierarchical anatase 3D-TiO{sub 2} was achieved. The hierarchical anatase 3D-TiO{sub 2} exhibited enhanced performances in light harvesting and absorption ability compared to that of nano-sheet TiO{sub 2} grown on flat titanium surface without femtosecond laser structuring. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange reveals that photocatalytic efficiency of the hierarchical anatase 3D-TiO{sub 2} was improved by a maximum of 57% compared to that of nano-sheet TiO{sub 2} (55% vs 35%). Meanwhile, the hierarchical anatase 3D-TiO{sub 2} remained mechanically stable and constant in consecutive degradation cycles, which promises significance in practical application.

Organizational Structure and Design in Higher Education: A Literature Review of Organizational Structures in Higher Education with a Focus on the Co-Existence of Academic and Non-Academic Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Auston E.

Two structures of authority coexist in colleges and universities: one that manages the supporting functional services and one that deals with the production areas of scholarship, teaching, and learning. This literature review defines organizational structure, discusses traditional organization models such as bureaucratic models, and outlines the…

Study of relationship between the organizational structure and market orientation from the viewpoint of nurse managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Yaghoubi, Maryam; Javadi, Marzieh; Rahimi, Zahreh Agha

2015-01-01

Considering globalization of health care and quality improvement trend to respond to competition and customer orientation, attention to organizational structure and its relationship with market orientation is essential. Therefore, this study reviews the relationship between organizational structure and market orientation in selected hospitals of Isfahan (Iran). This study was a descriptive survey. The study population comprised nurse managers from selected hospitals (n = 80). Data collection tools were two questionnaires (market orientation questionnaire and organizational structure) that the validity and reliability were confirmed (r = 0.83 for market orientation questionnaire and r = 0.87 for organizational structure). SPSS (Ver. 16) software was used for the analyses. The mean score of organizational structure was 65.4 (11.2) and total mean of market orientation was 51.14 (17.6). All aspects of the organizational structure (Organization Centralization, Formalization in Organization, and Organization Complication) and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization)-except by responding to clients with Formalization in Organization-as well as all aspects of the Systemic attitude (the system of internal coordination and communication systems_ and market orientation (responding to competition, accountability, customer satisfaction, intelligent organization), there was a meaningful relationship (P organizational structure and can lead managers' view to the analysis and recognizing elements of success and achievement to goals. With increasing competition in markets, globalization of health services, and presence in international markets and more attention to patients' satisfaction, hospitals need to understand and use of market orientation in order to promote quality and services in the health care system.

A Facile Method to Fabricate Anisotropic Hydrogels with Perfectly Aligned Hierarchical Fibrous Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Mredha, Md Tariful Islam; Guo, Yun Zhou; Nonoyama, Takayuki; Nakajima, Tasuku; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Gong, Jian Ping

2018-03-01

Natural structural materials (such as tendons and ligaments) are comprised of multiscale hierarchical architectures, with dimensions ranging from nano- to macroscale, which are difficult to mimic synthetically. Here a bioinspired, facile method to fabricate anisotropic hydrogels with perfectly aligned multiscale hierarchical fibrous structures similar to those of tendons and ligaments is reported. The method includes drying a diluted physical hydrogel in air by confining its length direction. During this process, sufficiently high tensile stress is built along the length direction to align the polymer chains and multiscale fibrous structures (from nano- to submicro- to microscale) are spontaneously formed in the bulk material, which are well-retained in the reswollen gel. The method is useful for relatively rigid polymers (such as alginate and cellulose), which are susceptible to mechanical signal. By controlling the drying with or without prestretching, the degree of alignment, size of superstructures, and the strength of supramolecular interactions can be tuned, which sensitively influence the strength and toughness of the hydrogels. The mechanical properties are comparable with those of natural ligaments. This study provides a general strategy for designing hydrogels with highly ordered hierarchical structures, which opens routes for the development of many functional biomimetic materials for biomedical applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Factor analysis and Mokken scaling of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire in nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Yami, M; Galdas, P; Watson, R

2018-03-22

To generate an Arabic version of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire that would be easily understood by Arabic speakers and would be sensitive to Arabic culture. The nursing workforce in Saudi Arabia is undergoing a process of Saudization but there is a need to understand the factors that will help to retain this workforce. No organizational commitment tools exist in Arabic that are specifically designed for health organizations. An Arabic version of the organizational commitment tool could aid Arabic speaking employers to understand their employees' perceptions of their organizations. Translation and back-translation followed by factor analysis (principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis) to test the factorial validity and item response theory (Mokken scaling). A two-factor structure was obtained for the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire comprising Factor 1: Value commitment; and Factor 2: Commitment to stay with acceptable reliability measured by internal consistency. A Mokken scale was obtained including items from both factors showing a hierarchy of items running from commitment to the organization and commitment to self. This study shows that the Arabic version of the OCQ retained the established two-factor structure of the original English-language version. Although the two factors - 'value commitment' and 'commitment to stay' - repudiate the original developers' single factor claim. A useful insight into the structure of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire has been obtained with the novel addition of a hierarchical scale. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire is now ready to be used with nurses in the Arab speaking world and could be used a tool to measure the contemporary commitment of nursing employees and in future interventions aimed at increasing commitment and retention of valuable nursing staff. © 2018 International Council of Nurses.

Hierarchically structured photonic crystals for integrated chemical separation and colorimetric detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Qianqian; Zhu, Biting; Ge, Jianping

2017-02-16

A SiO 2 colloidal photonic crystal film with a hierarchical porous structure is fabricated to demonstrate an integrated separation and colorimetric detection of chemical species for the first time. This new photonic crystal based thin layer chromatography process requires no dyeing, developing and UV irradiation compared to the traditional TLC. The assembling of mesoporous SiO 2 particles via a supersaturation-induced-precipitation process forms uniform and hierarchical photonic crystals with micron-scale cracks and mesopores, which accelerate the diffusion of developers and intensify the adsorption/desorption between the analytes and silica for efficient separation. Meanwhile, the chemical substances infiltrated to the voids of photonic crystals cause an increase of the refractive index and a large contrast of structural colors towards the unloaded part, so that the sample spots can be directly recognized with the naked eye before and after separation.

Hierarchical structure for risk criteria applicable to nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.E.; Mitra, S.P.

1985-01-01

This paper discusses the development of a hierarchical structure for risk criteria applicable to nuclear power plants. The structure provides a unified framework to systematically analyze the implications of different types of criteria, each focusing on a particular aspect of nuclear power plant risks. The framework allows investigation of the specific coverage of a particular criterion and comparison of different criteria with regard to areas to which they apply. 5 refs., 2 figs

The nature and impact of personal values and organizational values on customer satisfaction

OpenAIRE

BLOEMER, Johanna; Breugelmans, E.; Lievens, Annouk

2004-01-01

This exploratory study reports on the nature and impact of personal values, organizational values and value congruence on customer service satisfaction. Customers from a cleaning service organizaton rated 24 values with respect to how important these values were to the organization. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that organizational values have a predominant impact on customer service satisfaction. The congruence between personal and organizational values and th...

Microfabrication of hierarchical structures for engineered mechanical materials

Science.gov (United States)

Vera Canudas, Marc

Materials found in nature present, in some cases, unique properties from their constituents that are of great interest in engineered materials for applications ranging from structural materials for the construction of bridges, canals and buildings to the fabrication of new lightweight composites for airplane and automotive bodies, to protective thin film coatings, amongst other fields. Research in the growing field of biomimetic materials indicates that the micro-architectures present in natural materials are critical to their macroscopic mechanical properties. A better understanding of the effect that structure and hierarchy across scales have on the material properties will enable engineered materials with enhanced properties. At the moment, very few theoretical models predict mechanical properties of simple materials based on their microstructures. Moreover these models are based on observations from complex biological systems. One way to overcome this challenge is through the use of microfabrication techniques to design and fabricate simple materials, more appropriate for the study of hierarchical organizations and microstructured materials. Arrays of structures with controlled geometry and dimension can be designed and fabricated at different length scales, ranging from a few hundred nanometers to centimeters, in order to mimic similar systems found in nature. In this thesis, materials have been fabricated in order to gain fundamental insight into the complex hierarchical materials found in nature and to engineer novel materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The materials fabricated here were mechanically characterized and compared to simple mechanics models to describe their behavior with the goal of applying the knowledge acquired to the design and synthesis of future engineered materials with novel properties.

Organizational interventions to implement improvements in patient care: a structured review of reviews.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wensing, M.J.P.; Wollersheim, H.C.H.; Grol, R.P.T.M.

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND: Changing the organization of patient care should contribute to improved patient outcomes as functioning of clinical teams and organizational structures are important enablers for improvement. OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of the research evidence on effects of organizational

Superhydrophobic surface based on a coral-like hierarchical structure of ZnO.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Wu

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces has attracted much interest in the past decade. The fabrication methods that have been studied are chemical vapour deposition, the sol-gel method, etching technique, electrochemical deposition, the layer-by-layer deposition, and so on. Simple and inexpensive methods for manufacturing environmentally stable superhydrophobic surfaces have also been proposed lately. However, work referring to the influence of special structures on the wettability, such as hierarchical ZnO nanostructures, is rare.This study presents a simple and reproducible method to fabricate a superhydrophobic surface with micro-scale roughness based on zinc oxide (ZnO hierarchical structure, which is grown by the hydrothermal method with an alkaline aqueous solution. Coral-like structures of ZnO were fabricated on a glass substrate with a micro-scale roughness, while the antennas of the coral formed the nano-scale roughness. The fresh ZnO films exhibited excellent superhydrophilicity (the apparent contact angle for water droplet was about 0°, while the ability to be wet could be changed to superhydrophobicity after spin-coating Teflon (the apparent contact angle greater than 168°. The procedure reported here can be applied to substrates consisting of other materials and having various shapes.The new process is convenient and environmentally friendly compared to conventional methods. Furthermore, the hierarchical structure generates the extraordinary solid/gas/liquid three-phase contact interface, which is the essential characteristic for a superhydrophobic surface.

AFM study of excimer laser patterning of block-copolymer: Creation of ordered hierarchical, hybrid, or recessed structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Švanda, Jan; Siegel, Jakub; Švorčík, Vaclav; Lyutakov, Oleksiy

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Combination of bottom-up (BCP separation) and top-down (laser patterning) technologies allows obtaining hierarchical structures. • Surface morphologies were determined by the order of patterning steps (laser modification, annealing, surface reconstruction). • Tuning the order of steps enables the reorientation of BCP domain at large scale, fabrication of hierarchical, hybrid or recessed structures. • The obtained structures can find potential applications in nanotechnology, plasmonics, information storage, sensors and smart surfaces. - Abstract: We report fabrication of the varied range of hierarchical structures by combining bottom-up self-assembly of block copolymer poly(styrene-block-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) with top-down excimer laser patterning method. Different procedures were tested, where laser treatment was applied before phase separation and after phase separation or phase separation and surface reconstruction. Laser treatment was performed using either polarized laser light with the aim to create periodical pattern on polymer surface or non-polarized light for preferential removing of polystyrene (PS) part from PS-b-P4VP. Additionally, dye was introduced into one part of block copolymer (P4VP) with the aim to modify its response to laser light. Resulting structures were analyzed by XPS, UV–vis and AFM techniques. Application of polarized laser light leads to creation of structures with hierarchical, recessed or hybrid geometries. Non-polarized laser beam allows pronouncing the block copolymer phase separated structure. Tuning the order of steps or individual step conditions enables the efficient reorientation of block-copolymer domain at large scale, fabrication of hierarchical, hybrid or recessed structures. The obtained structures can find potential applications in nanotechnology, photonics, plasmonics, information storage, optical devices, sensors and smart surfaces.

A Comparison of Organizational Structure and Pedagogical Approach: Online versus Face-to-face

OpenAIRE

Donovan A. McFarlane

2011-01-01

This paper examines online versus face-to-face organizational structure and pedagogy in terms of education and the teaching and learning process. The author distinguishes several important terms related to distance/online/e-learning, virtual learning and brick-and-mortar learning interactions and concepts such as asynchronous and synchronous interactions, etc, before deliberating on perceived differences in organizational structure and pedagogical approaches of virtual and brick-and-mortar sc...

UV-assisted capillary force lithography for engineering biomimetic multiscale hierarchical structures: From lotus leaf to gecko foot hairs

KAUST Repository

Jeong, Hoon Eui; Kwak, Rhokyun; Khademhosseini, Ali; Suh, Kahp Y.

2009-01-01

This feature article provides an overview of the recently developed two-step UV-assisted capillary force lithography and its application to fabricating well-defined micro/nanoscale hierarchical structures. This method utilizes an oxygen inhibition effect in the course of UV irradiation curing and a two-step moulding process, to form multiscale hierarchical or suspended nanobridge structures in a rapid and reproducible manner. After a brief description of the fabrication principles, several examples of the two-step UV-assisted moulding technique are presented. In addition, emerging applications of the multiscale hierarchical structures are briefly described. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009.

76 FR 72493 - ITS Joint Program Office Webinar on Alternative Organizational Structures for a Certificate...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-23

... organizational structures for a certificate management entity (CME) to support a trusted and secure connected... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ITS Joint Program Office Webinar on Alternative Organizational... Adam Hopps at (202) 680-0091. The ITS JPO will present results from an early analysis of organizational...

Hierarchical architecture of active knits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abel, Julianna; Luntz, Jonathan; Brei, Diann

2013-01-01

Nature eloquently utilizes hierarchical structures to form the world around us. Applying the hierarchical architecture paradigm to smart materials can provide a basis for a new genre of actuators which produce complex actuation motions. One promising example of cellular architecture—active knits—provides complex three-dimensional distributed actuation motions with expanded operational performance through a hierarchically organized structure. The hierarchical structure arranges a single fiber of active material, such as shape memory alloys (SMAs), into a cellular network of interlacing adjacent loops according to a knitting grid. This paper defines a four-level hierarchical classification of knit structures: the basic knit loop, knit patterns, grid patterns, and restructured grids. Each level of the hierarchy provides increased architectural complexity, resulting in expanded kinematic actuation motions of active knits. The range of kinematic actuation motions are displayed through experimental examples of different SMA active knits. The results from this paper illustrate and classify the ways in which each level of the hierarchical knit architecture leverages the performance of the base smart material to generate unique actuation motions, providing necessary insight to best exploit this new actuation paradigm. (paper)

Effective Organizational Structures and Processes: Addressing Issues of Change

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Maureen Snow

2016-01-01

This chapter describes organizational structures and processes at the institutional and project levels for the development and support of distance learning initiatives. It addresses environmental and stakeholder issues and explores principles and strategies of effective leadership for change creation and management.

Assessing archetypes of organizational culture based on the Competing Values Framework: the experimental use of the framework in Japanese neonatal intensive care units.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Hatoko; Yonemoto, Naohiro; Mori, Rintaro; Nishida, Toshihiko; Kusuda, Satoshi; Nakayama, Takeo

2017-06-01

To assess organizational culture in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Japan. Cross-sectional survey of organizational culture. Forty NICUs across Japan. Physicians and nurses who worked in NICUs (n = 2006). The Competing Values Framework (CVF) was used to assess the organizational culture of the study population. The 20-item CVF was divided into four culture archetypes: Group, Developmental, Hierarchical and Rational. We calculated geometric means (gmean) and 95% bootstrap confidence intervals of the individual dimensions by unit and occupation. The median number of staff, beds, physicians' work hours and work engagement were also calculated to examine the differences by culture archetypes. Group (gmean = 34.6) and Hierarchical (gmean = 31.7) culture archetypes were higher than Developmental (gmean = 16.3) and Rational (gmean = 17.4) among physicians as a whole. Hierarchical (gmean = 36.3) was the highest followed by Group (gmean = 25.8), Developmental (gmean = 16.3) and Rational (gmean = 21.7) among nurses as a whole. Units with dominant Hierarchical culture had a slightly higher number of physicians (median = 7) than dominant Group culture (median = 6). Units with dominant Group culture had a higher number of beds (median = 12) than dominant Hierarchical culture (median = 9) among physicians. Nurses from units with a dominant Group culture (median = 2.8) had slightly higher work engagement compared with those in units with a dominant Hierarchical culture (median = 2.6). Our findings revealed that organizational culture in NICUs varies depending on occupation and group size. Group and Hierarchical cultures predominated in Japanese NICUs. Assessing organizational culture will provide insights into the perceptions of unit values to improve quality of care. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care

On Structure, Family and Parameter Estimation of Hierarchical Archimedean Copulas

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Górecki, J.; Hofert, M.; Holeňa, Martin

2017-01-01

Roč. 87, č. 17 (2017), s. 3261-3324 ISSN 0094-9655 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA17-01251S Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : copula estimation * goodness-of-fit * Hierarchical Archimedean copula * structure determination Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science OBOR OECD: Statistics and probability Impact factor: 0.757, year: 2016

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND THE PROCESS TO ADOPT GLOBAL SOURCING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moema Pereira Nunes

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This study analyze the adoption of GS by Brazilian companies in terms of organizational structure and process of GS in order to identify what is differencing the experience of these companies and the previously knowledge related with GS. A case-based qualitative research was developed. Four Brazilian companies were investigated. Data were collect interviews and a content analysis was made. Regarding the organizational structure, it was identified that the firm’s industry sector influence in the adoption of GS. It confirms the assumption that the environment plays an important role in emerging countries. The need of innovation and the geographic concentration in an industry sector were identified as influences in the organizational structure to adopt GS. The need of scale in the purchasing process was perceived as an influence in the process of GS. The investigated companies presented a non-structure process of GS, what reduce the opportunity to learn with GS as part of the process may not be monitored.

Facile synthesis of Zn doped CuO hierarchical nanostructures: Structural, optical and antibacterial properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javed Iqbal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ZnxCu1−xO (where x= 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.1 mol% hierarchical nanostructures have been prepared via soft chemical route. X-ray diffraction (XRD results of the synthesized samples reveal the monoclinic structure of CuO without any impurity related phases. The micro-structural parameters such as crystallite size and microstrain have been strongly influenced by Zn doping. Scanning electron microscope (SEM analyses depict the formation of hierarchical nanostructures having average particle size in the range of 26-43 nm. The surface area of CuO nanostructures has been reduced systematically with the increase in Zn content which is linked with the variations in particle size. An obvious decrease in the optical band gap energy of the synthesized CuO hierarchical nanostructures has been observed with Zn doping which is assigned to the formation of shallow levels in the band gap of CuO and combined transition from oxygen 2p states to d sates of Cu and Zn ions. The bactericidal potency of the CuO hierarchical nanostructures have been found to be enhanced remarkably with Zn doping.

Facile synthesis of Zn doped CuO hierarchical nanostructures: Structural, optical and antibacterial properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iqbal, Javed, E-mail: tariqjan84@gmail.com, E-mail: javed.suggau@iiu.edu.pk; Jan, Tariq, E-mail: tariqjan84@gmail.com, E-mail: javed.suggau@iiu.edu.pk; Ul-Hassan, Sibt; Umair Ali, M.; Abbas, Fazal [Laboratory of Nanoscience and Technology, Department of Physics, International Islamic University, H-10, Islamabad (Pakistan); Ahmed, Ishaq [Experimental Physics Labs, National Center for Physics, Islamabad (Pakistan); Mansoor, Qaisar; Ismail, Muhammad [Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Islamabad (Pakistan)

2015-12-15

Zn{sub x}Cu{sub 1−x}O (where x= 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.1 mol%) hierarchical nanostructures have been prepared via soft chemical route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of the synthesized samples reveal the monoclinic structure of CuO without any impurity related phases. The micro-structural parameters such as crystallite size and microstrain have been strongly influenced by Zn doping. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses depict the formation of hierarchical nanostructures having average particle size in the range of 26-43 nm. The surface area of CuO nanostructures has been reduced systematically with the increase in Zn content which is linked with the variations in particle size. An obvious decrease in the optical band gap energy of the synthesized CuO hierarchical nanostructures has been observed with Zn doping which is assigned to the formation of shallow levels in the band gap of CuO and combined transition from oxygen 2p states to d sates of Cu and Zn ions. The bactericidal potency of the CuO hierarchical nanostructures have been found to be enhanced remarkably with Zn doping.

Self-cleaning poly(dimethylsiloxane) film with functional micro/nano hierarchical structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Sheng; Zhu, Fu-Yun; Han, Meng-Di; Sun, Xu-Ming; Peng, Xu-Hua; Zhang, Hai-Xia

2013-08-27

This paper reports a novel single-step wafer-level fabrication of superhydrophobic micro/nano dual-scale (MNDS) poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) films. The MNDS PDMS films were replicated directly from an ultralow-surface-energy silicon substrate at high temperature without any surfactant coating, achieving high precision. An improved deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process with enhanced passivation steps was proposed to easily realize the ultralow-surface-energy MNDS silicon substrate and also utilized as a post-treatment process to strengthen the hydrophobicity of the MNDS PDMS film. The chemical modification of this enhanced passivation step to the surface energy has been studied by density functional theory, which is also the first investigation of C4F8 plasma treatment at molecular level by using first-principle calculations. From the results of a systematic study on the effect of key process parameters (i.e., baking temperature and time) on PDMS replication, insight into the interaction of hierarchical multiscale structures of polymeric materials during the micro/nano integrated fabrication process is experimentally obtained for the first time. Finite element simulation has been employed to illustrate this new phenomenon. Additionally, hierarchical PDMS pyramid arrays and V-shaped grooves have been developed and are intended for applications as functional structures for a light-absorption coating layer and directional transport of liquid droplets, respectively. This stable, self-cleaning PDMS film with functional micro/nano hierarchical structures, which is fabricated through a wafer-level single-step fabrication process using a reusable silicon mold, shows attractive potential for future applications in micro/nanodevices, especially in micro/nanofluidics.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hierarchical Structured TiO2 Nanotubes and Their Photocatalytic Performance on Methyl Orange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Hierarchical structured TiO2 nanotubes were prepared by mechanical ball milling of highly ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays grown by electrochemical anodization of titanium foil. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, specific surface area analysis, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, photocurrent measurement, photoluminescence spectra, electrochemical impedance spectra, and photocatalytic degradation test were applied to characterize the nanocomposites. Surface area increased as the milling time extended. After 5 h ball milling, TiO2 hierarchical nanotubes exhibited a corn-like shape and exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical activity in comparison to commercial P25. The superior photocatalytic activity is suggested to be due to the combined advantages of high surface area of nanoparticles and rapid electron transfer as well as collection of the nanotubes in the hierarchical structure. The hierarchical structured TiO2 nanotubes could be applied into flexible applications on solar cells, sensors, and other photoelectrochemical devices.

Genomic analysis of the hierarchical structure of regulatory networks

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Haiyuan; Gerstein, Mark

2006-01-01

A fundamental question in biology is how the cell uses transcription factors (TFs) to coordinate the expression of thousands of genes in response to various stimuli. The relationships between TFs and their target genes can be modeled in terms of directed regulatory networks. These relationships, in turn, can be readily compared with commonplace “chain-of-command” structures in social networks, which have characteristic hierarchical layouts. Here, we develop algorithms for identifying generalized hierarchies (allowing for various loop structures) and use these approaches to illuminate extensive pyramid-shaped hierarchical structures existing in the regulatory networks of representative prokaryotes (Escherichia coli) and eukaryotes (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), with most TFs at the bottom levels and only a few master TFs on top. These masters are situated near the center of the protein–protein interaction network, a different type of network from the regulatory one, and they receive most of the input for the whole regulatory hierarchy through protein interactions. Moreover, they have maximal influence over other genes, in terms of affecting expression-level changes. Surprisingly, however, TFs at the bottom of the regulatory hierarchy are more essential to the viability of the cell. Finally, one might think master TFs achieve their wide influence through directly regulating many targets, but TFs with most direct targets are in the middle of the hierarchy. We find, in fact, that these midlevel TFs are “control bottlenecks” in the hierarchy, and this great degree of control for “middle managers” has parallels in efficient social structures in various corporate and governmental settings. PMID:17003135

The relationships between perceived organizational support, affective commitment, psychological contract breach, organizational citizenship behaviour and work engagement.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Vishal; Agarwal, Upasna A; Khatri, Naresh

2016-11-01

This study examines the factors that mediate and moderate the relationships of perceived organizational support with work engagement and organization citizenship behaviour. Specifically, affective commitment is posited to mediate and psychological contract breach to moderate the above relationships. Nurses play a critical role in delivering exemplary health care. For nurses to perform at their best, they need to experience high engagement, which can be achieved by providing them necessary organizational support and proper working environment. Data were collected via a self-reported survey instrument. A questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 750 nurses in nine large hospitals in India during 2013-2014. Four hundred and seventy-five nurses (63%) responded to the survey. Hierarchical multiple regression was used for statistical analysis of the moderated-mediation model. Affective commitment was found to mediate the positive relationships between perceived organizational support and work outcomes (work engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour). The perception of unfulfilled expectations (psychological contract breach) was found to moderate the perceived organizational support-work outcome relationships adversely. The results of this study indicate that perceived organizational support exerts its influence on work-related outcomes and highlight the importance of taking organizational context, such as perceptions of psychological contract breach, into consideration when making sense of the influence of perceived organizational support on affective commitment, work engagement and citizenship behaviours of nurses. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bureaucratic Structure, Organizational Processes, and Three Dimensions of School Effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Miskel, Cecil; And Others

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that schools with more participative processes and less structure have higher levels of perceived organizational effectiveness, teacher job satisfaction, and student achievement than schools with less participative climates and more structure. A sample of 114 school units and 1,632 teachers…

Localizing age-related individual differences in a hierarchical structure

OpenAIRE

Salthouse, Timothy A.

2004-01-01

Data from 33 separate studies were combined to create an aggregate data set consisting of 16 cognitive variables and 6832 different individuals who ranged between 18 and 95 years of age. Analyses were conducted to determine where in a hierarchical structure of cognitive abilities individual differences associated with age, gender, education, and self-reported health could be localized. The results indicated that each type of individual difference characteristic exhibited a d...

Organizational culture associated with provider satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Scammon, Debra L; Tabler, Jennifer; Brunisholz, Kimberly; Gren, Lisa H; Kim, Jaewhan; Tomoaia-Cotisel, Andrada; Day, Julie; Farrell, Timothy W; Waitzman, Norman J; Magill, Michael K

2014-01-01

Organizational culture is key to the successful implementation of major improvement strategies. Transformation to a patient-centered medical home (PCHM) is such an improvement strategy, requiring a shift from provider-centric care to team-based care. Because this shift may impact provider satisfaction, it is important to understand the relationship between provider satisfaction and organizational culture, specifically in the context of practices that have transformed to a PCMH model. This was a cross-sectional study of surveys conducted in 2011 among providers and staff in 10 primary care clinics implementing their version of a PCMH: Care by Design. Measures included the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument and the American Medical Group Association provider satisfaction survey. Providers were most satisfied with quality of care (mean, 4.14; scale of 1-5) and interactions with patients (mean, 4.12) and were least satisfied with time spent working (mean, 3.47), paperwork (mean, 3.45), and compensation (mean, 3.35). Culture profiles differed across clinics, with family/clan and hierarchical cultures the most common. Significant correlations (P ≤ .05) between provider satisfaction and clinic culture archetypes included family/clan culture negatively correlated with administrative work; entrepreneurial culture positively correlated with the Time Spent Working dimension; market/rational culture positively correlated with how practices were facing economic and strategic challenges; and hierarchical culture negatively correlated with the Relationships with Staff and Resource dimensions. Provider satisfaction is an important metric for assessing experiences with features of a PCMH model. Identification of clinic-specific culture archetypes and archetype associations with provider satisfaction can help inform practice redesign. Attention to effective methods for changing organizational culture is recommended.

MEASURING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: A QUANTITATIVE-COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS [doi: 10.5329/RECADM.20100902007

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valderí de Castro Alcântara

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This article aims at the analysis of the organizational culture at enterprises located in two towns with distinct quantitative traits, Rio Paranaíba and Araxá. While the surveyed enterprises in Rio Paranaíba are mostly micro and small enterprises (86%, in Araxá there are mostly medium and large companies (53%. The overall objective is to verify if there are significant differences in organizational culture among these enterprises and if they can be explained by the organization size. The research was quantitative and instruments for data collection were a questionnaire and a scale for measuring organizational culture containing four dimensions: Hierarchical Distance Index (IDH, Individualism Index (INDI, Masculinity Index (MASC and the Uncertainty Control Index (CINC. Tabulation and analysis of data were performed using the PASW Statistics 18, doing descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. Using a Reduction Factor (-21 the achieved indexes were classified into 5 intensity categories (from "very low" to "very high". The Student t test for two means was performed, revealing significant differences in Hierarchical Distance and Individualism between Araxá and Rio Paranaíba enterprises (p <0.05.   Keywords Organizational Culture; Dimensions of Organizational Culture; Araxá; Rio Paranaíba.

Autonomous Agents with Application to the Evaluation of Organizational Structures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Curry, Michael L

1999-01-01

Experimental investigation of adaptive command and control (C2) organizations is limited in scope by the availability of qualified subjects and the complexity of experimental design and analysis for large organizational structures...

Structural and photovoltaic characteristics of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures electrodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saleem, Muhammad, E-mail: saleem.malikape@gmail.com [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000 (Pakistan); Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems of the Education Ministry of China, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Fang, L. [Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems of the Education Ministry of China, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Shaukat, Saleem F.; Ahmad, M. Ashfaq [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000 (Pakistan); Raza, Rizwan, E-mail: razahussaini786@gmail.com [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000 (Pakistan); Akhtar, Majid Niaz; Jamil, Ayesha; Aslam, Samia [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000 (Pakistan); Abbas, Ghazanfar [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan)

2015-04-15

Highlights: • Hierarchically ZnO nanostructures electrodes were grown using hot plate magnetic stirring at different growth reaction temperature. • We have investigated the effect of working temperature of 160°, 170°, 180°, and 190° on the growth mechanism of nanospheres and on the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs. • ZnO nanospheres with perfect aggregation show superior power conversion efficiency of 1.24% which is about 83% higher than nanoparticles DSSC. • An obvious vogue is that the overall power conversion efficiency decreases as the degree of the spherical aggregation is gradually destroyed. - Abstract: Structural and photovoltaic characteristics of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures solar cell have been studied in relation to growth reaction temperature. It is found that the hierarchical ZnO nanostructures network to act not only as large surface area substrates but also as a transport medium for electrons injected from the dye molecules. The incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency is decreased by increasing the growth reaction temperature of ZnO electrodes. The best conversion efficiency of a 0.25 cm{sup 2} cell is measured to be 1.24% under 100 mW cm{sup −2} irradiation.

Structural and photovoltaic characteristics of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleem, Muhammad; Fang, L.; Shaukat, Saleem F.; Ahmad, M. Ashfaq; Raza, Rizwan; Akhtar, Majid Niaz; Jamil, Ayesha; Aslam, Samia; Abbas, Ghazanfar

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Hierarchically ZnO nanostructures electrodes were grown using hot plate magnetic stirring at different growth reaction temperature. • We have investigated the effect of working temperature of 160°, 170°, 180°, and 190° on the growth mechanism of nanospheres and on the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs. • ZnO nanospheres with perfect aggregation show superior power conversion efficiency of 1.24% which is about 83% higher than nanoparticles DSSC. • An obvious vogue is that the overall power conversion efficiency decreases as the degree of the spherical aggregation is gradually destroyed. - Abstract: Structural and photovoltaic characteristics of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures solar cell have been studied in relation to growth reaction temperature. It is found that the hierarchical ZnO nanostructures network to act not only as large surface area substrates but also as a transport medium for electrons injected from the dye molecules. The incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency is decreased by increasing the growth reaction temperature of ZnO electrodes. The best conversion efficiency of a 0.25 cm 2 cell is measured to be 1.24% under 100 mW cm −2 irradiation

Organizational Structure and Management in Romanian Health System

OpenAIRE

Boldureanu Daniel; Boldureanu Gabriela

2010-01-01

The health system in Romania in a continuous transformation from a centralized system (type Semashko) exists before 1989 year to one based on social health insurance (type Bismark). This paper examines the management and the organizational structure of the health system in Romania, and the relations between them in the context of the Health Reform Law.

Hierarchically organized layout for visualization of biochemical pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Jyh-Jong; Wu, Bo-Liang; Jeng, Yu-Sen

2010-01-01

Many complex pathways are described as hierarchical structures in which a pathway is recursively partitioned into several sub-pathways, and organized hierarchically as a tree. The hierarchical structure provides a natural way to visualize the global structure of a complex pathway. However, none of the previous research on pathway visualization explores the hierarchical structures provided by many complex pathways. In this paper, we aim to develop algorithms that can take advantages of hierarchical structures, and give layouts that explore the global structures as well as local structures of pathways. We present a new hierarchically organized layout algorithm to produce layouts for hierarchically organized pathways. Our algorithm first decomposes a complex pathway into sub-pathway groups along the hierarchical organization, and then partition each sub-pathway group into basic components. It then applies conventional layout algorithms, such as hierarchical layout and force-directed layout, to compute the layout of each basic component. Finally, component layouts are joined to form a final layout of the pathway. Our main contribution is the development of algorithms for decomposing pathways and joining layouts. Experiment shows that our algorithm is able to give comprehensible visualization for pathways with hierarchies, cycles as well as complex structures. It clearly renders the global component structures as well as the local structure in each component. In addition, it runs very fast, and gives better visualization for many examples from previous related research. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organizational form, local market structure and corporate social performance in retail

OpenAIRE

Utgård, Jakob

2015-01-01

I study how organizational form and local market structure influence retail firms' corporate social performance (CSP). The theoretical model is based on agency theory, which in its origin focuses on the dyad between the principal and the agent. I extend this perspective and examine how characteristics of the environment outside the dyad influence the outcomes. Retail stores vary in their organizational form and thereby in their incentives to maximize profits. I hypothesize that the different ...

The Association of Organizational Culture and Quality Improvement Implementation With Neonatal Outcomes in the NICU.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahl, Sukhy; Lee, Shoo K; Baker, G Ross; Cronin, Catherine M G; Stevens, Bonnie; Ye, Xiang Y

2015-01-01

Studies of adult patient populations suggest that organizational culture is associated with quality improvement (QI) implementation, as well as patient outcomes. However, very little research on organizational culture has been performed in neonatal patient populations. This combined cross-sectional survey and retrospective cohort study assessed employee perceptions of organizational culture and QI implementation within 18 Canadian neonatal intensive care units. The associations between these data and neonatal outcomes in extremely preterm infants (born at culture and QI implementation varied according to occupation and age. Higher hierarchical culture was associated with increased survival without major morbidities (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.06), as were higher QI implementation scores (odds ratio range, 1.20-1.36 by culture type). Our data suggest that organizational culture, particularly hierarchical culture, and level of QI implementation may play a role in neonatal outcomes. Copyright © 2015 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigating the relationship between psychosocial work stressors, organizational structure and job satisfaction among bank tellers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Chahardoli

2015-12-01

  Conclusion: Considering the effect of organizational structure and work-related psychosocial stressors on job satisfaction, it can be stated that organizational restructuring to achieve organic structures and paying more attention to psychosocial stressors in the workplace, can play an effective role in the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

A hierarchical structure for risk criteria applicable to nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.E.; Mitra, S.P.

1982-01-01

This paper discusses the development of a hierarchical structure for risk criteria applicable to nuclear power plants. The structure provides a unified framework to systematically analyze the implications of different types of criteria, each focusing on a particular aspect of nuclear power plant risks. The framework allows investigation of the specific coverage of a particular criterion and comparison of different criteria with regard to areas to which they apply

Gender inequalities in the workplace: The effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cailin Susan Stamarski

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Gender inequality in organizations is a complex phenomenon that can be seen in organizational structures, processes, and practices. For women, some of the most harmful gender inequalities are enacted within Human Resources (HR practices. This is because HR practices (i.e., policies, decision-making, and their enactment affect the hiring, training, pay, and promotion of women. We propose a model of gender discrimination in HR that emphasizes the reciprocal nature of gender inequalities within organizations. We suggest that gender discrimination in HR-related decision-making and in the enactment of HR practices stems from gender inequalities in broader organizational structures, processes, and practices. This includes leadership, structure, strategy, culture, organizational climate, as well as HR policies. In addition, organizational decision makers’ levels of sexism can affect their likelihood of making gender biased HR-related decisions and/or behaving in a sexist manner while enacting HR practices. Importantly, institutional discrimination in organizational structures, processes, and practices play a pre-eminent role because not only do they affect HR practices, they also provide a socializing context for organizational decision makers’ levels of hostile and benevolent sexism. Although we portray gender inequality as a self-reinforcing system that can perpetuate discrimination, important levers for reducing discrimination are identified.

Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism

Science.gov (United States)

Stamarski, Cailin S.; Son Hing, Leanne S.

2015-01-01

Gender inequality in organizations is a complex phenomenon that can be seen in organizational structures, processes, and practices. For women, some of the most harmful gender inequalities are enacted within human resources (HRs) practices. This is because HR practices (i.e., policies, decision-making, and their enactment) affect the hiring, training, pay, and promotion of women. We propose a model of gender discrimination in HR that emphasizes the reciprocal nature of gender inequalities within organizations. We suggest that gender discrimination in HR-related decision-making and in the enactment of HR practices stems from gender inequalities in broader organizational structures, processes, and practices. This includes leadership, structure, strategy, culture, organizational climate, as well as HR policies. In addition, organizational decision makers’ levels of sexism can affect their likelihood of making gender biased HR-related decisions and/or behaving in a sexist manner while enacting HR practices. Importantly, institutional discrimination in organizational structures, processes, and practices play a pre-eminent role because not only do they affect HR practices, they also provide a socializing context for organizational decision makers’ levels of hostile and benevolent sexism. Although we portray gender inequality as a self-reinforcing system that can perpetuate discrimination, important levers for reducing discrimination are identified. PMID:26441775

Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers' sexism.

Science.gov (United States)

Stamarski, Cailin S; Son Hing, Leanne S

2015-01-01

Gender inequality in organizations is a complex phenomenon that can be seen in organizational structures, processes, and practices. For women, some of the most harmful gender inequalities are enacted within human resources (HRs) practices. This is because HR practices (i.e., policies, decision-making, and their enactment) affect the hiring, training, pay, and promotion of women. We propose a model of gender discrimination in HR that emphasizes the reciprocal nature of gender inequalities within organizations. We suggest that gender discrimination in HR-related decision-making and in the enactment of HR practices stems from gender inequalities in broader organizational structures, processes, and practices. This includes leadership, structure, strategy, culture, organizational climate, as well as HR policies. In addition, organizational decision makers' levels of sexism can affect their likelihood of making gender biased HR-related decisions and/or behaving in a sexist manner while enacting HR practices. Importantly, institutional discrimination in organizational structures, processes, and practices play a pre-eminent role because not only do they affect HR practices, they also provide a socializing context for organizational decision makers' levels of hostile and benevolent sexism. Although we portray gender inequality as a self-reinforcing system that can perpetuate discrimination, important levers for reducing discrimination are identified.

Confirmation of the Dimensional Adjustment Model of Organizational Structure in Municipal Sports Organizations

OpenAIRE

Sofia Nikolaidou; Vasilis Gialamas; Georgia Yfantidou; George Costa; George Mavrommatis

2015-01-01

The presence of municipal sport organizations indicates the priority, which is given from the local authority in the well-being of citizens. On the other hand, it constitutes the basis upon which sports are built in national level. The whole body of the organizations has an organizational structure. The organizational structure is a system of registration of employment and the relations that govern them. The basic dimensions are: concentration, complexity and formalization. The purpose of thi...

Quantitative analysis of organizational culture in occupational health research: a theory-based validation in 30 workplaces of the organizational culture profile instrument

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background This study advances a measurement approach for the study of organizational culture in population-based occupational health research, and tests how different organizational culture types are associated with psychological distress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and well-being. Methods Data were collected over a sample of 1,164 employees nested in 30 workplaces. Employees completed the 26-item OCP instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire (12-item); depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (21-item); and emotional exhaustion with five items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory general survey. Exploratory factor analysis evaluated the dimensionality of the OCP scale. Multilevel regression models estimated workplace-level variations, and the contribution of organizational culture factors to mental health and well-being after controlling for gender, age, and living with a partner. Results Exploratory factor analysis of OCP items revealed four factors explaining about 75% of the variance, and supported the structure of the Competing Values Framework. Factors were labeled Group, Hierarchical, Rational and Developmental. Cronbach’s alphas were high (0.82-0.89). Multilevel regression analysis suggested that the four culture types varied significantly between workplaces, and correlated with mental health and well-being outcomes. The Group culture type best distinguished between workplaces and had the strongest associations with the outcomes. Conclusions This study provides strong support for the use of the OCP scale for measuring organizational culture in population-based occupational health research in a way that is consistent with the Competing Values Framework. The Group organizational culture needs to be considered as a relevant factor in occupational health studies. PMID:23642223

Quantitative analysis of organizational culture in occupational health research: a theory-based validation in 30 workplaces of the organizational culture profile instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchand, Alain; Haines, Victor Y; Dextras-Gauthier, Julie

2013-05-04

This study advances a measurement approach for the study of organizational culture in population-based occupational health research, and tests how different organizational culture types are associated with psychological distress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and well-being. Data were collected over a sample of 1,164 employees nested in 30 workplaces. Employees completed the 26-item OCP instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire (12-item); depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (21-item); and emotional exhaustion with five items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory general survey. Exploratory factor analysis evaluated the dimensionality of the OCP scale. Multilevel regression models estimated workplace-level variations, and the contribution of organizational culture factors to mental health and well-being after controlling for gender, age, and living with a partner. Exploratory factor analysis of OCP items revealed four factors explaining about 75% of the variance, and supported the structure of the Competing Values Framework. Factors were labeled Group, Hierarchical, Rational and Developmental. Cronbach's alphas were high (0.82-0.89). Multilevel regression analysis suggested that the four culture types varied significantly between workplaces, and correlated with mental health and well-being outcomes. The Group culture type best distinguished between workplaces and had the strongest associations with the outcomes. This study provides strong support for the use of the OCP scale for measuring organizational culture in population-based occupational health research in a way that is consistent with the Competing Values Framework. The Group organizational culture needs to be considered as a relevant factor in occupational health studies.

A practical scale for Multi-Faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zweber, Zandra M; Henning, Robert A; Magley, Vicki J

2016-04-01

The current study sought to develop a practical scale to measure 3 facets of workplace health climate from the employee perspective as an important component of a healthy organization. The goal was to create a short, usable yet comprehensive scale that organizations and occupational health professionals could use to determine if workplace health interventions were needed. The proposed Multi-faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment (MOHCA) scale assesses facets that correspond to 3 organizational levels: (a) workgroup, (b) supervisor, and (c) organization. Ten items were developed and tested on 2 distinct samples, 1 cross-organization and 1 within-organization. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a 9-item, hierarchical 3-factor structure. Tests confirmed MOHCA has convergent validity with related constructs, such as perceived organizational support and supervisor support, as well as discriminant validity with safety climate. Lastly, criterion-related validity was found between MOHCA and health-related outcomes. The multi-faceted nature of MOHCA provides a scale that has face validity and can be easily translated into practice, offering a means for diagnosing the shortcomings of an organization or workgroup's health climate to better plan health and well-being interventions. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Bio-inspired fabrication of stimuli-responsive photonic crystals with hierarchical structures and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Tao; Peng, Wenhong; Zhu, Shenmin; Zhang, Di

2016-01-01

When the constitutive materials of photonic crystals (PCs) are stimuli-responsive, the resultant PCs exhibit optical properties that can be tuned by the stimuli. This can be exploited for promising applications in colour displays, biological and chemical sensors, inks and paints, and many optically active components. However, the preparation of the required photonic structures is the first issue to be solved. In the past two decades, approaches such as microfabrication and self-assembly have been developed to incorporate stimuli-responsive materials into existing periodic structures for the fabrication of PCs, either as the initial building blocks or as the surrounding matrix. Generally, the materials that respond to thermal, pH, chemical, optical, electrical, or magnetic stimuli are either soft or aggregate, which is why the manufacture of three-dimensional hierarchical photonic structures with responsive properties is a great challenge. Recently, inspired by biological PCs in nature which exhibit both flexible and responsive properties, researchers have developed various methods to synthesize metals and metal oxides with hierarchical structures by using a biological PC as the template. This review will focus on the recent developments in this field. In particular, PCs with biological hierarchical structures that can be tuned by external stimuli have recently been successfully fabricated. These findings offer innovative insights into the design of responsive PCs and should be of great importance for future applications of these materials. (topical review)

The Ideal Worker or the Ideal Father: Organizational Structures and Culture in the Gendered University

Science.gov (United States)

Sallee, Margaret W.

2012-01-01

While literature has focused on the ways in which organizational structures exclude women from the workplace, this article suggests that the inverse is also true: organizational structures and culture prevent men from being involved in the home. Using theories of gendered organizations as a guide, this article draws on interviews with 70 faculty…

Modelling the Impact of Organization Structure and Whistle Blowers on Intra-Organizational Corruption Contagion

OpenAIRE

Nekovee, Maziar; Pinto, Jonathan

2017-01-01

We complement the rich conceptual work on organizational corruption by quantitatively modelling the spread of corruption within organizations. We systematically vary four organizational culture-related parameters, i.e., organization structure, location of bad apple, employees propensity to become corrupted (corruption probability), and number of whistle-blowers. Our simulation studies find that in organizations with flatter structures, corruption permeates the organization at a lower threshol...

Networking for conservation: social capital and perceptions of organizational success among land trust boards

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Tatyana B. Ruseva

2016-06-01

Full Text Available As an important component in collaborative natural resource management and nonprofit governance, social capital is expected to be related to variations in the performance of land trusts. Land trusts are charitable organizations that work to conserve private land locally, regionally, or nationally. The purpose of this paper is to identify the level of structural and cognitive social capital among local land trusts, and how these two types of social capital relate to the perceived success of land trusts. The analysis integrates data for land trusts operating in the U.S. south-central Appalachian region, which includes western North Carolina, southwest Virginia, and east Tennessee. We use factor analysis to elicit different dimensions of cognitive social capital, including cooperation among board members, shared values, common norms, and communication effectiveness. Measures of structural social capital include the size and diversity of organizational networks of both land trusts and their board members. Finally, a hierarchical linear regression model is employed to estimate how cognitive and structural social capital measures, along with other organizational and individual-level attributes, relate to perceptions of land trust success, defined here as achievement of the land trusts' mission, conservation, and financial goals. Results show that the diversity of organizational partnerships, cooperation, and shared values among land trust board members are associated with higher levels of perceived success. Organizational capacity, land trust accreditation, volunteerism, and financial support are also important factors influencing perceptions of success among local, nonprofit land trusts.

Bank Organizational Structure Choice Dilemma. Case of PKO BP

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Adam Szafarczyk

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Organizational structures are differing for different banks. They depend on individual bank economic situation, its technology, strategy and form of competition struggle. Usually the biggest EU banks are consists from formally or really independent divisions. The most common divisions are Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Treasury and Investment, sometimes Insurance. PKO BP, the biggest Polish Bank, ought to change its structure due to implementation new IT system.

Durable Lotus-effect surfaces with hierarchical structure using micro- and nanosized hydrophobic silica particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebert, Daniel; Bhushan, Bharat

2012-02-15

Surfaces with a very high apparent water contact angle (CA) and low water contact angle hysteresis (CAH) exhibit many useful characteristics, among them extreme water repellency, low drag for fluid flow, and a self-cleaning effect. The leaf of the Lotus plant (Nelumbo nucifera) achieves these properties using a hierarchical structure with roughness on both the micro- and nanoscale. It is of great interest to create durable surfaces with the so-called "Lotus effect" for many important applications. In this study, hierarchically structured surfaces with Lotus-effect properties were fabricated using micro- and nanosized hydrophobic silica particles and a simple spray method. In addition, hierarchically structured surfaces were prepared by spraying a nanoparticulate coating over a micropatterned surface. To examine the similarities between surfaces using microparticles versus a uniform micropattern as the microstructure, CA and CAH were compared across a range of pitch values for the two types of microstructures. Wear experiments were performed using an atomic force microscope (AFM), a ball-on-flat tribometer, and a water jet apparatus to verify multiscale wear resistance. These surfaces have potential uses in engineering applications requiring Lotus-effect properties and high durability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A study on the relationship between emotional intelligence, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior

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Saman Chehrazi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a casual structure model between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior by using organizational commitment as mediator variable. The study is accomplished among 324 employees of united bus company in city of Tehran, Iran. Using structural equation modeling, the study has confirmed that emotional intelligence influenced on organizational citizenship behavior and commitment. The study also confirms that organizational commitment influenced on organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, the study has confirmed that there were significant relationships between emotional intelligence and its dimensions with organizational citizenship behavior and organizational commitment of employees.

An optimum organizational structure for a large earth-orbiting multidisciplinary Space Base

Science.gov (United States)

Ragusa, J. M.

1973-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify an optimum hypothetical organizational structure for a large earth-orbiting multidisciplinary research and applications (R&A) Space Base manned by a mixed crew of technologists. Since such a facility does not presently exist, in situ empirical testing was not possible. Study activity was, therefore, concerned with the identification of a desired organizational structural model rather than the empirical testing of it. The essential finding of this research was that a four-level project type 'total matrix' model will optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of Space Base technologists.

Electroactive nanoparticle directed assembly of functionalized graphene nanosheets into hierarchical structures with hybrid compositions for flexible supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Bong Gill; Huh, Yun Suk; Hong, Won Hi; Erickson, David; Park, Ho Seok

2013-04-01

Hierarchical structures of hybrid materials with the controlled compositions have been shown to offer a breakthrough for energy storage and conversion. Here, we report the integrative assembly of chemically modified graphene (CMG) building blocks into hierarchical complex structures with the hybrid composition for high performance flexible pseudocapacitors. The formation mechanism of hierarchical CMG/Nafion/RuO2 (CMGNR) microspheres, which is triggered by the cooperative interplay during the in situ synthesis of RuO2 nanoparticles (NPs), was extensively investigated. In particular, the hierarchical CMGNR microspheres consisting of the aggregates of CMG/Nafion (CMGN) nanosheets and RuO2 NPs provided large surface area and facile ion accessibility to storage sites, while the interconnected nanosheets offered continuous electron pathways and mechanical integrity. The synergistic effect of CMGNR hybrids on the supercapacitor (SC) performance was derived from the hybrid composition of pseudocapacitive RuO2 NPs with the conductive CMGNs as well as from structural features. Consequently, the CMGNR-SCs showed a specific capacitance as high as 160 F g-1, three-fold higher than that of conventional graphene SCs, and a capacitance retention of >95% of the maximum value even after severe bending and 1000 charge-discharge tests due to the structural and compositional features.Hierarchical structures of hybrid materials with the controlled compositions have been shown to offer a breakthrough for energy storage and conversion. Here, we report the integrative assembly of chemically modified graphene (CMG) building blocks into hierarchical complex structures with the hybrid composition for high performance flexible pseudocapacitors. The formation mechanism of hierarchical CMG/Nafion/RuO2 (CMGNR) microspheres, which is triggered by the cooperative interplay during the in situ synthesis of RuO2 nanoparticles (NPs), was extensively investigated. In particular, the hierarchical CMGNR

Organizational structure features supporting knowledge management processes

OpenAIRE

Claver-Cortés, Enrique; Zaragoza Sáez, Patrocinio del Carmen; Pertusa-Ortega, Eva

2007-01-01

Purpose – The idea that knowledge management can be a potential source of competitive advantage has gained strength in the last few years. However, a number of business actions are needed to generate an appropriate environment and infrastructure for knowledge creation, transfer and application. Among these actions there stands out the design of an organizational structure, the link of which with knowledge management is the main concern here. More specifically, the present paper has as its aim...

The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Spencer; Smith, Cynthia; Simpson, Tammy; Minke, Sharlene Wolbeck

2006-10-31

Knowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes. Organizational surveys were conducted with representatives from AHLN organizations as of February 2004 (n = 54). Organizational attribute and inter-organizational data on various network dimensions were collected. Organizations were classified into traditional and non-traditional categories. We examined the partnership network dimension. In- and out-degree centrality scores on partnership ties were calculated for each organization and tested against organizational perceptions of available financial support. Non-traditional organizations are more likely to view financial support as more readily available for their HEALTR programs and activities than traditional organizations (1.57, 95% CI: .34, 2.79). After controlling for organizational characteristics, organizations that have been frequently identified by other organizations as valuable partners in the AHLN network were found significantly more likely to perceive a higher sense of funding availability (In-degree partnership value) (.03, 95% CI: .01, .05). Organizational perceptions of a supportive environment are framed not only by organizational characteristics but also by an organization's position in an inter-organizational network. Network contexts can influence the way that organizations perceive their environment and potentially the actions that organizations may take in light of such perceptions. By

Hierarchically structured catalysts for cascade and selective steam reforming/hydrodeoxygenation reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Junming; Karim, Ayman M; Li, Xiaohong Shari; Rainbolt, James; Kovarik, Libor; Shin, Yongsoon; Wang, Yong

2015-12-04

We report a hierarchically structured catalyst with steam reforming and hydrodeoxygenation functionalities being deposited in the micropores and macropores, respectively. The catalyst is highly efficient to upgrade the pyrolysis vapors of pine forest product residual, resulting in a dramatically decreased acid content and increased hydrocarbon yield without external H2 supply.

Construction of 3D Arrays of Cylindrically Hierarchical Structures with ZnO Nanorods Hydrothermally Synthesized on Optical Fiber Cores

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Weixuan Jing

2014-01-01

Full Text Available With ZnO nanorods hydrothermally synthesized on manually assembled arrays of optical fiber cores, 3D arrays of ZnO nanorod-based cylindrically hierarchical structures with nominal pitch 250 μm or 375 μm were constructed. Based on micrographs of scanning electron microscopy and image processing operators of MATLAB software, the 3D arrays of cylindrically hierarchical structures were quantitatively characterized. The values of the actual diameters, the actual pitches, and the parallelism errors suggest that the process capability of the manual assembling is sufficient and the quality of the 3D arrays of cylindrically hierarchical structures is acceptable. The values of the characteristic parameters such as roughness, skewness, kurtosis, correlation length, and power spectrum density show that the surface morphologies of the cylindrically hierarchical structures not only were affected significantly by Zn2+ concentration of the growth solution but also were anisotropic due to different curvature radii of the optical fiber core at side and front view.

INFOGRAPHIC MODELING OF THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EXPOSED TO AN INNOVATIVE CONFLICT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chulkov Vitaliy Olegovich

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the infographic modeling of hierarchical management systems exposed to innovative conflicts. The authors analyze the facts that serve as conflict drivers in the construction management environment. The reasons for innovative conflicts include changes in hierarchical structures of management systems, adjustment of workers to new management conditions, changes in the ideology, etc. Conflicts under consideration may involve contradictions between requests placed by customers and the legislation, any risks that may originate from the above contradiction, conflicts arising from any failure to comply with any accepted standards of conduct, etc. One of the main objectives of the theory of hierarchical structures is to develop a model capable of projecting potential innovative conflicts. Models described in the paper reflect dynamic changes in patterns of external impacts within the conflict area. The simplest model element is a monad, or an indivisible set of characteristics of participants at the pre-set level. Interaction between two monads forms a diad. Modeling of situations that involve a different number of monads, diads, resources and impacts can improve methods used to control and manage hierarchical structures in the construction industry. However, in the absence of any mathematical models employed to simulate conflict-related events, processes and situations, any research into, projection and management of interpersonal and group-to-group conflicts are to be performed in the legal environment

Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets and their gas sensing properties to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng, Fanli, E-mail: flmeng@iim.ac.cn [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Hou, Nannan [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China); Ge, Sheng [Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000 (China); Sun, Bai [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Jin, Zhen, E-mail: zjin@iim.ac.cn [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Shen, Wei; Kong, Lingtao; Guo, Zheng [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Sun, Yufeng, E-mail: sunyufeng118@126.com [Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000 (China); Wu, Hao; Wang, Chen [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Li, Minqiang [Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Materials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China)

2015-03-25

Highlights: • Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets were synthesized. • The flower-like hierarchical structured ZnO exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. • The sensing mechanism of the flower-like hierarchical has been systematically analyzed. - Abstract: Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (FHPSCZNs) were synthesized by a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment, which combined the advantages between flower-like hierarchical structure and porous single-crystalline structure. XRD, SEM and HRTEM were used to characterize the synthesized FHPSCZN samples. The sensing properties of the FHPSCZN sensor were also investigated by comparing with ZnO powder sensor, which exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. The sensing mechanism of the FHPSCZN sensor has been further analyzed from the aspects of electronic transport and gas diffusion.

Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets and their gas sensing properties to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Fanli; Hou, Nannan; Ge, Sheng; Sun, Bai; Jin, Zhen; Shen, Wei; Kong, Lingtao; Guo, Zheng; Sun, Yufeng; Wu, Hao; Wang, Chen; Li, Minqiang

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets were synthesized. • The flower-like hierarchical structured ZnO exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. • The sensing mechanism of the flower-like hierarchical has been systematically analyzed. - Abstract: Flower-like hierarchical structures consisting of porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (FHPSCZNs) were synthesized by a one-pot wet-chemical method followed by an annealing treatment, which combined the advantages between flower-like hierarchical structure and porous single-crystalline structure. XRD, SEM and HRTEM were used to characterize the synthesized FHPSCZN samples. The sensing properties of the FHPSCZN sensor were also investigated by comparing with ZnO powder sensor, which exhibited higher response and shorter response and recovery times. The sensing mechanism of the FHPSCZN sensor has been further analyzed from the aspects of electronic transport and gas diffusion

Experiencing the Impact of Organizational Structure on Planning and Visioning Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Pennisi, Lisa

2012-01-01

The various ways natural resource agencies and programs are structured and how that impacts leadership style and products is an important concept for students to understand. Leadership style and organizational structure determine visions, missions, goals and objectives that set the tone for organizations. This exercise demonstrates organizational…

Fabrication of three-dimensional poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds with hierarchical pore structures for tissue engineering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Qingchun [Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Luo, Houyong [State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, School of Bioengineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Zhang, Yan [Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Zhou, Yan [State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, School of Bioengineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Ye, Zhaoyang, E-mail: zhaoyangye@ecust.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, School of Bioengineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Tan, Wensong [State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, School of Bioengineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Lang, Meidong, E-mail: mdlang@ecust.edu.cn [Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China)

2013-05-01

The physical properties of tissue engineering scaffolds such as microstructures play important roles in controlling cellular behaviors and neotissue formation. Among them, the pore size stands out as a key determinant factor. In the present study, we aimed to fabricate porous scaffolds with pre-defined hierarchical pore sizes, followed by examining cell growth in these scaffolds. This hierarchical porous microstructure was implemented via integrating different pore-generating methodologies, including salt leaching and thermal induced phase separation (TIPS). Specifically, large (L, 200–300 μm), medium (M, 40–50 μm) and small (S, < 10 μm) pores were able to be generated. As such, three kinds of porous scaffolds with a similar porosity of ∼ 90% creating pores of either two (LS or MS) or three (LMS) different sizes were successfully prepared. The number fractions of different pores in these scaffolds were determined to confirm the hierarchical organization of pores. It was found that the interconnectivity varied due to the different pore structures. Besides, these scaffolds demonstrated similar compressive moduli under dry and hydrated states. The adhesion, proliferation, and spatial distribution of human fibroblasts within the scaffolds during a 14-day culture were evaluated with MTT assay and fluorescence microscopy. While all three scaffolds well supported the cell attachment and proliferation, the best cell spatial distribution inside scaffolds was achieved with LMS, implicating that such a controlled hierarchical microstructure would be advantageous in tissue engineering applications. Highlights: ► The scaffolds with dual-pore and triple-pore structures were fabricated. ► Triple-pore structure had better interconnectivity than dual-pore structures. ► Better cell migration and distribution were found on the triple-pore structures. ► The medium pore size (45–50 μm) was appropriate for cell migration. ► Scaffolds with triple-pore structure

Organizational factors associated with readiness for change in residential aged care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

von Treuer, Kathryn; Karantzas, Gery; McCabe, Marita; Mellor, David; Konis, Anastasia; Davison, Tanya E; O'Connor, Daniel

2018-02-01

Organizational change is inevitable in any workplace. Previous research has shown that leadership and a number of organizational climate and contextual variables can affect the adoption of change initiatives. The effect of these workplace variables is particularly important in stressful work sectors such as aged care where employees work with challenging older clients who frequently exhibit dementia and depression. This study sought to examine the effect of organizational climate and leadership variables on organizational readiness for change across 21 residential aged care facilities. Staff from each facility (N = 255) completed a self-report measure assessing organizational factors including organizational climate, leadership and readiness for change. A hierarchical regression model revealed that the organizational climate variables of work pressure, innovation, and transformational leadership were predictive of employee perceptions of organizational readiness for change. These findings suggest that within aged care facilities an organization's capacity to change their organizational climate and leadership practices may enhance an organization's readiness for change.

The Effect of Perceiving a Calling on Pakistani Nurses' Organizational Commitment, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Job Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Afsar, Bilal; Shahjehan, Asad; Cheema, Sadia; Javed, Farheen

2018-03-01

People differ considerably in the way in which they express and experience their nursing careers. The positive effects associated with having a calling may differ substantially based on individuals' abilities to live out their callings. In a working world where many individuals have little to no choice in their type of employment and thus are unable to live out a calling even if they have one, the current study examined how perceiving a calling and living a calling interacted to predict organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and job stress with career commitment mediating the effect of the interactions on the three outcome variables. The purpose of the study is to investigate the mediating effect of career commitment between the relationships of calling and (a) nurses' attitudes (organizational commitment), (b) behaviors (organizational citizenship behavior), and (c) subjective experiences regarding work (job stress). Using a descriptive exploratory design, data were collected from 332 registered nurses working in Pakistani hospitals. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used for data analysis. Living a calling moderated the effect of calling on career commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and job stress, and career commitment fully mediated the effect of calling on organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and job stress. Increasing the understanding of calling, living a calling, and career commitment may increase nurses' organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior and decrease job stress. The study provided evidence to help nursing managers and health policy makers integrate knowledge and skills related to calling into career interventions and help nurses discover their calling.

Hierarchical organization in the temporal structure of infant-direct speech and song.

Science.gov (United States)

Falk, Simone; Kello, Christopher T

2017-06-01

Caregivers alter the temporal structure of their utterances when talking and singing to infants compared with adult communication. The present study tested whether temporal variability in infant-directed registers serves to emphasize the hierarchical temporal structure of speech. Fifteen German-speaking mothers sang a play song and told a story to their 6-months-old infants, or to an adult. Recordings were analyzed using a recently developed method that determines the degree of nested clustering of temporal events in speech. Events were defined as peaks in the amplitude envelope, and clusters of various sizes related to periods of acoustic speech energy at varying timescales. Infant-directed speech and song clearly showed greater event clustering compared with adult-directed registers, at multiple timescales of hundreds of milliseconds to tens of seconds. We discuss the relation of this newly discovered acoustic property to temporal variability in linguistic units and its potential implications for parent-infant communication and infants learning the hierarchical structures of speech and language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Staff survey of organizational structure and process for a Public Health Department.

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer, J J

1995-01-01

A survey of 227 North York Public Health Department (NYPHD) staff provided their perspective on the organizational structure. They perceived that (a) the departmental and divisional organizational structures are effective for program delivery, (b) the Central Resources structure and divisional and departmental reporting structures are moderately effective for program delivery, (c) the decentralized office structure is an advantage for service delivery but less so for administration and intra-division and inter-division communication, (d) the mandatory program structure involves low to moderate interdisciplinary teamwork and moderately impacts service delivery, (e) intra-division and management-staff communication are fair but inter-division and office communication are between poor and fair, (f) education, research, and service are moderately integrated, and (g) the divisional and departmental work atmospheres are a little positive. Management perceived greater participation in program planning, more frequent communication with other divisions, a number of education and research opportunities from various divisions/units, and more management recognition than front line staff did.

Rapid fabrication of hierarchically structured supramolecular nanocomposite thin films in one minute

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Ting; Kao, Joseph

2016-11-08

Functional nanocomposites containing nanoparticles of different chemical compositions may exhibit new properties to meet demands for advanced technology. It is imperative to simultaneously achieve hierarchical structural control and to develop rapid, scalable fabrication to minimize degradation of nanoparticle properties and for compatibility with nanomanufacturing. The assembly kinetics of supramolecular nanocomposite in thin films is governed by the energetic cost arising from defects, the chain mobility, and the activation energy for inter-domain diffusion. By optimizing only one parameter, the solvent fraction in the film, the assembly kinetics can be precisely tailored to produce hierarchically structured thin films of supramolecular nanocomposites in approximately one minute. Moreover, the strong wavelength dependent optical anisotropy in the nanocomposite highlights their potential applications for light manipulation and information transmission. The present invention opens a new avenue in designing manufacture-friendly continuous processing for the fabrication of functional nanocomposite thin films.

Synthesis and properties of ZnFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} replica with biological hierarchical structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Hongyan; Guo, Yiping, E-mail: ypguo@sjtu.edu.cn; Zhang, Yangyang; Wu, Fen; Liu, Yun; Zhang, Di, E-mail: zhangdi@sjtu.edu.cn

2013-09-20

Highlights: • ZFO replica with hierarchical structure was synthesized from butterfly wings. • Biotemplate has a significant impact on the properties of ZFO material. • Our method opens up new avenues for the synthesis of spinel ferrites. -- Abstract: ZnFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} replica with biological hierarchical structure was synthesized from Papilio paris by a sol–gel method followed by calcination. The crystallographic structure and morphology of the obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscope, and transmittance electron microscope. The results showed that the hierarchical structures were retained in the ZFO replica of spinel structure. The magnetic behavior of such novel products was measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer. A superparamagnetism-like behavior was observed due to nanostructuration size effects. In addition, the ZFO replica with “quasi-honeycomb-like structure” showed a much higher specific capacitance of 279.4 F g{sup −1} at 10 mV s{sup −1} in comparison with ZFO powder of 137.3 F g{sup −1}, attributing to the significantly increased surface area. These results demonstrated that ZFO replica is a promising candidate for novel magnetic devices and supercapacitors.

Star Cluster Structure from Hierarchical Star Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Grudic, Michael; Hopkins, Philip; Murray, Norman; Lamberts, Astrid; Guszejnov, David; Schmitz, Denise; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

2018-01-01

Young massive star clusters (YMCs) spanning 104-108 M⊙ in mass generally have similar radial surface density profiles, with an outer power-law index typically between -2 and -3. This similarity suggests that they are shaped by scale-free physics at formation. Recent multi-physics MHD simulations of YMC formation have also produced populations of YMCs with this type of surface density profile, allowing us to narrow down the physics necessary to form a YMC with properties as observed. We show that the shallow density profiles of YMCs are a natural result of phase-space mixing that occurs as they assemble from the clumpy, hierarchically-clustered configuration imprinted by the star formation process. We develop physical intuition for this process via analytic arguments and collisionless N-body experiments, elucidating the connection between star formation physics and star cluster structure. This has implications for the early-time structure and evolution of proto-globular clusters, and prospects for simulating their formation in the FIRE cosmological zoom-in simulations.

Reliability and Hierarchical Structure of DSM-5 Pathological Traits in a Danish Mixed Sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bo, Sune; Bach, Bo; Mortensen, Erik Lykke

2016-01-01

In this study we assessed the DSM-5 trait model in a large Danish sample (n = 1,119) with respect to reliability of the applied Danish version of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) self-report form by means of internal consistency and item discrimination. In addition, we tested whether...... the five-factor structure of the DSM-5 trait model can be replicated in a Danish independent sample using the PID-5 self-report form. Finally, we examined the hierarchical structure of DSM-5 traits. In terms of internal consistency and item discrimination, the applied PID-5 scales were generally found...... reliable and functional; our data resembled the five-factor structure of previous findings, and we identified a hierarchical structure from one to five factors that was conceptually reasonable and corresponded with existing findings. These results support the new DSM-5 trait model and suggest that it can...

How Are Researching and Reading Interwieved during Retrieval from Hierarchically Structured Documents?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hertzum, Morten; Lalmas, M.; Frøkjær, Erik

2001-01-01

Effective use of information retrieval systems requires that users know when to – temporarily – cease searching to do some reading and where to start reading. In hierarchically structured documents, users can to some extent interchange searching and reading by entering the text at different levels...... information retrieval systems could exploit document structure to return the best points to support reading, rather than merely hits...

Eigenspaces of networks reveal the overlapping and hierarchical community structure more precisely

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Xiaoke; Gao, Lin; Yong, Xuerong

2010-01-01

Identifying community structure is fundamental for revealing the structure–functionality relationship in complex networks, and spectral algorithms have been shown to be powerful for this purpose. In a traditional spectral algorithm, each vertex of a network is embedded into a spectral space by making use of the eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix or Laplacian matrix of the graph. In this paper, a novel spectral approach for revealing the overlapping and hierarchical community structure of complex networks is proposed by not only using the eigenvalues and eigenvectors but also the properties of eigenspaces of the networks involved. This gives us a better characterization of community. We first show that the communicability between a pair of vertices can be rewritten in term of eigenspaces of a network. An agglomerative clustering algorithm is then presented to discover the hierarchical communities using the communicability matrix. Finally, these overlapping vertices are discovered with the corresponding eigenspaces, based on the fact that the vertices more densely connected amongst one another are more likely to be linked through short cycles. Compared with the traditional spectral algorithms, our algorithm can identify both the overlapping and hierarchical community without increasing the time complexity O(n 3 ), where n is the size of the network. Furthermore, our algorithm can also distinguish the overlapping vertices from bridges. The method is tested by applying it to some computer-generated and real-world networks. The experimental results indicate that our algorithm can reveal community structure more precisely than the traditional spectral approaches

Does organizational culture mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nor Hazana Abdullah

2015-02-01

Full Text Available To date, the relationships among organizational culture, transformational leadership and organizational commitment have been empirically investigated. However, majority of these studies have been focusing on direct effects of either transformational leadership or organizational culture on organizational commitment in large organizations. This approach might not only hinder our understanding on real predictors of organizational commitment but also obscure the presence of spurious relationships. Therefore, this study aims to determine the mediating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment among small business employees. An explanatory research design was used with cross-sectional survey as data collection technique. Once the composite reliability, construct, and convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement constructs were established, a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM was run to analyze the structural model and the mediating effect of organizational culture. The results showed that organizational culture mediates the effect of transformational leadership on organizational commitment among small business. This study cautions the generalization of findings obtained from large organizations to be extended to small organizations.

Hierarchically porous Ni monolith@branch-structured NiCo2O4 for high energy density supercapacitors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengjie Xu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A variety of NiCo2O4 nanostrucutures ranging from nanowire to nanoplate and branched structures were successfully prepared via a simple hydrothermal process. The experimental results show that NiCo2O4 with branched structures possesses the best overall electrochemical performance. The improvement of energy density was explored in terms of hierarchically three-dimensional (3D metal substrates and a high specific area capacitance, and area energy density is obtained with hierarchically porous Ni monolith synthesized through a controlled combustion procedure.

The role of organizational structure in readiness for change: A conceptual integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Benzer, Justin K; Charns, Martin P; Hamdan, Sami; Afable, Melissa

2017-02-01

The purpose of this review is to extend extant conceptualizations of readiness for change as an individual-level phenomenon. This review-of-reviews focuses on existing conceptual frameworks from the dissemination, implementation, quality improvement, and organizational transformation literatures in order to integrate theoretical rationales for how organization structure, a key dimension of the organizational context, may impact readiness for change. We propose that the organization structure dimensions of differentiation and integration impact readiness for change at the individual level of analysis by influencing four key concepts of relevance, legitimacy, perceived need for change, and resource allocation. We identify future research directions that focus on these four key concepts.

Axiomatizations of Banzhaf Permisson Values for Games with a Hierarchical Permission Structure.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brink, J.R.

2010-01-01

In games with a permission structure it is assumed that players in a cooperative transferable utility game are hierarchically ordered in the sense that there are players that need permission from other players before they are allowed to cooperate. We provide axiomatic characterizations of Banzhaf

Hierarchically structured lithium titanate for ultrafast charging in long-life high capacity batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Odziomek, Mateusz; Chaput, Frédéric; Rutkowska, Anna; Świerczek, Konrad; Olszewska, Danuta; Sitarz, Maciej; Lerouge, Frédéric; Parola, Stephane

2017-05-01

High-performance Li-ion batteries require materials with well-designed and controlled structures on nanometre and micrometre scales. Electrochemical properties can be enhanced by reducing crystallite size and by manipulating structure and morphology. Here we show a method for preparing hierarchically structured Li4Ti5O12 yielding nano- and microstructure well-suited for use in lithium-ion batteries. Scalable glycothermal synthesis yields well-crystallized primary 4-8 nm nanoparticles, assembled into porous secondary particles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals presence of Ti+4 only; combined with chemical analysis showing lithium deficiency, this suggests oxygen non-stoichiometry. Electron microscopy confirms hierarchical morphology of the obtained material. Extended cycling tests in half cells demonstrates capacity of 170 mAh g-1 and no sign of capacity fading after 1,000 cycles at 50C rate (charging completed in 72 s). The particular combination of nanostructure, microstructure and non-stoichiometry for the prepared lithium titanate is believed to underlie the observed electrochemical performance of material.

Hierarchical structures of correlations networks among Turkey’s exports and imports by currencies

Science.gov (United States)

Kocakaplan, Yusuf; Deviren, Bayram; Keskin, Mustafa

2012-12-01

We have examined the hierarchical structures of correlations networks among Turkey’s exports and imports by currencies for the 1996-2010 periods, using the concept of a minimal spanning tree (MST) and hierarchical tree (HT) which depend on the concept of ultrametricity. These trees are useful tools for understanding and detecting the global structure, taxonomy and hierarchy in financial markets. We derived a hierarchical organization and build the MSTs and HTs during the 1996-2001 and 2002-2010 periods. The reason for studying two different sub-periods, namely 1996-2001 and 2002-2010, is that the Euro (EUR) came into use in 2001, and some countries have made their exports and imports with Turkey via the EUR since 2002, and in order to test various time-windows and observe temporal evolution. We have carried out bootstrap analysis to associate a value of the statistical reliability to the links of the MSTs and HTs. We have also used the average linkage cluster analysis (ALCA) to observe the cluster structure more clearly. Moreover, we have obtained the bidimensional minimal spanning tree (BMST) due to economic trade being a bidimensional problem. From the structural topologies of these trees, we have identified different clusters of currencies according to their proximity and economic ties. Our results show that some currencies are more important within the network, due to a tighter connection with other currencies. We have also found that the obtained currencies play a key role for Turkey’s exports and imports and have important implications for the design of portfolio and investment strategies.

Predicting implementation from organizational readiness for change: a study protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly P Adam

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is widespread interest in measuring organizational readiness to implement evidence-based practices in clinical care. However, there are a number of challenges to validating organizational measures, including inferential bias arising from the halo effect and method bias - two threats to validity that, while well-documented by organizational scholars, are often ignored in health services research. We describe a protocol to comprehensively assess the psychometric properties of a previously developed survey, the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment. Objectives Our objective is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the psychometric properties of the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment incorporating methods specifically to address threats from halo effect and method bias. Methods and Design We will conduct three sets of analyses using longitudinal, secondary data from four partner projects, each testing interventions to improve the implementation of an evidence-based clinical practice. Partner projects field the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment at baseline (n = 208 respondents; 53 facilities, and prospectively assesses the degree to which the evidence-based practice is implemented. We will conduct predictive and concurrent validities using hierarchical linear modeling and multivariate regression, respectively. For predictive validity, the outcome is the change from baseline to follow-up in the use of the evidence-based practice. We will use intra-class correlations derived from hierarchical linear models to assess inter-rater reliability. Two partner projects will also field measures of job satisfaction for convergent and discriminant validity analyses, and will field Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment measures at follow-up for concurrent validity (n = 158 respondents; 33 facilities. Convergent and discriminant validities will test associations between organizational readiness and

Organizational uncertainty and stress among teachers in Hong Kong: work characteristics and organizational justice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassard, Juliet; Teoh, Kevin; Cox, Tom

2017-10-01

A growing literature now exists examining the relationship between organizational justice and employees' experience of stress. Despite the growth in this field of enquiry, there remain continued gaps in knowledge. In particular, the contribution of perceptions of justice to employees' stress within an organizational context of uncertainty and change, and in relation to the new and emerging concept of procedural-voice justice. The aim of the current study was to examine the main, interaction and additive effects of work characteristics and organizational justice perceptions to employees' experience of stress (as measured by their feelings of helplessness and perceived coping) during an acknowledged period of organizational uncertainty. Questionnaires were distributed among teachers in seven public primary schools in Hong Kong that were under threat of closure (n = 212). Work characteristics were measured using the demand-control-support model. Hierarchical regression analyses observed perceptions of job demands and procedural-voice justice to predict both teachers' feelings of helplessness and perceived coping ability. Furthermore, teacher's perceived coping was predicted by job control and a significant interaction between procedural-voice justice and distributive justice. The addition of organizational justice variables did account for unique variance, but only in relation to the measure of perceived coping. The study concludes that in addition to 'traditional' work characteristics, health promotion strategies should also address perceptions of organizational justice during times of organizational uncertainty; and, in particular, the value and importance of enhancing employee's perceived 'voice' in influencing and shaping justice-related decisions. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A resource-based theory of market structure and organizational form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Witteloostuijn, A.; Boone, C.A.J.J.

We argue that combining the insights from both the industrial organization and organizational ecology perspectives is likely to produce value added. We develop a resource-based theory of market structure, where resources pertain to the environmental assets (together forming the resource space)

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST IN THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT ON ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozan BÜYÜKYILMAZ

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigates direct and indirect relationships between perceived organizational support, organizational trust and organizational citizenship behavior. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of employee perceptions of organizational support on the tendency to exhibit organizational citizenship behavior and to determine the mediating role of perceived trust in perceived organizational support and organizational citizenship behavior relationship. The data used in the study were gathered by questionnaire from 228 graduate students studying at the Karabuk University Institute of Social Sciences and at the same time working in state and private institutions. In the process of testing the hypotheses, path analysis was used in the context of structural equation modeling. As a result of the study, it was determined that organizational trust fully mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and the dimensions of altruism, conscientiousness and sportsmanship of organizational citizenship behavior and partially mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and the dimensions of courtesy and civic virtue of organizational citizenship behavior.

Self-assembled biomimetic superhydrophobic hierarchical arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hongta; Dou, Xuan; Fang, Yin; Jiang, Peng

2013-09-01

Here, we report a simple and inexpensive bottom-up technology for fabricating superhydrophobic coatings with hierarchical micro-/nano-structures, which are inspired by the binary periodic structure found on the superhydrophobic compound eyes of some insects (e.g., mosquitoes and moths). Binary colloidal arrays consisting of exemplary large (4 and 30 μm) and small (300 nm) silica spheres are first assembled by a scalable Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technology in a layer-by-layer manner. After surface modification with fluorosilanes, the self-assembled hierarchical particle arrays become superhydrophobic with an apparent water contact angle (CA) larger than 150°. The throughput of the resulting superhydrophobic coatings with hierarchical structures can be significantly improved by templating the binary periodic structures of the LB-assembled colloidal arrays into UV-curable fluoropolymers by a soft lithography approach. Superhydrophobic perfluoroether acrylate hierarchical arrays with large CAs and small CA hysteresis can be faithfully replicated onto various substrates. Both experiments and theoretical calculations based on the Cassie's dewetting model demonstrate the importance of the hierarchical structure in achieving the final superhydrophobic surface states. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

INTERDEPENDENCIES OF THE INTERNAL / MANAGERIAL CONTROL STANDARD NO. 6 - ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionut-Cosmin BĂLOI

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Our initiative of analyzing the internal control standard which deals with the organizational structure comes from the observations on the significance of these essential aspects of modern management and on the sensitivity with which this standard is treated in most of the public institutions considered representative for the Oltenia region. Although the administrators of public institutions strive to optimize the systems of internal/managerial control, they frequently face many issues concerning the misunderstanding of these standards, vaguely explained, for example throughout some guidelines or other documents. The hypothesis of our study is that most of public institutions face gaps in understanding, interpreting, adapting and implementing an effective model of organizational structure, and the causes are due to the lack of an interdependent, correlated approach of the pillars that support the internal/managerial control system: the 25 standards required by the Romanian legislation. Our study critically describes the superficial approach founded in the self-evaluation reports of the public institutions, if we refer only to the conformity of the organizational structure and the four standards that we consider inextricably related with this internal/managerial control standard. From the methodological point of view, our study tests the correlation between the level of compliance of these standards and the functionality of the system composed by them in the public organizations that we have investigated.

Hierarchically structured identification and classification method for vibrational monitoring of reactor components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saedtler, E.

1981-01-01

The dissertation discusses: 1. Approximative filter algorithms for identification of systems and hierarchical structures. 2. Adaptive statistical pattern recognition and classification. 3. Parameter selection, extraction, and modelling for an automatic control system. 4. Design of a decision tree and an adaptive diagnostic system. (orig./RW) [de

Does Organizational Forgetting Matter? Organizational Survival for Life Coaching Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Erhan; Gormus, Alparslan Sahin

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to determine the role of organizational forgetting in different type of coaching companies and to determine organizational survival based on both knowledge structure of coaching companies and organizational forgetting with core features of organizations. Design/methodology/approach: Within the context of…

A study on the relationship between emotional intelligence, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior

OpenAIRE

Saman Chehrazi; Mehrdad Hoseini Shakib; Mohammad Hosein Askari Azad

2014-01-01

This paper presents a casual structure model between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior by using organizational commitment as mediator variable. The study is accomplished among 324 employees of united bus company in city of Tehran, Iran. Using structural equation modeling, the study has confirmed that emotional intelligence influenced on organizational citizenship behavior and commitment. The study also confirms that organizational commitment influenced on organiza...

The Structural Model of Psychological Contract Violation, Organizational Commitment, Turnover, Job Satisfaction and Deviant Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Golparvar

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research was conducted with the purpose of studying the structural model of the relationships of psychological contract violation with organizational commitment, turnover, job satisfaction and deviant behaviors. Research method was correlation and the statistical population were male employees of an industrial company in Shiraz city, from among which 300 employees were selected using convenience sampling. Assessment instruments consisted of Psychological Contract Violation Questionnaire (Tekleab etal, 2005, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Speier & Vankatesh, 2002, Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Spector, 1985, Turnover Questionnaire (Tekleab etal, 2005 and Deviant Behavior Questionnaire (Bennett & Robinson, 2000. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, structure equation modeling (SEM and mediation analysis. Findings showed that psychological contract violation explained 7.1 percent of organizational commitment variance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction explained 16.7 percent of turnover variance, organizational commitment explained 20.3 percent of job satisfaction variance and turnover explained 4.3 percent of deviant behavior variance. Mediation analysis showed that organizational commitment played the complete mediator variable in the relation of psychological contract violation with job satisfaction and job satisfaction was the partial mediator variable in the relation of organizational commitment with turnover. Finally with regard to the limitation of generalization of current research results it is suggested to industrial organizations that they should not violate their obligations to employees in anyway.

Analysis of the Organizational Structure of Enterprises of Technological Basis With Projects Without Incubators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Gimenes Bera Oshita

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The contingency theory assumes that the structure of the organization involves environment, people, technologies and administrative techniques for achieving the objectives of the company, which must comply with the contingent factors and the environment in which it is inserted. Being that, by the evolution of technology companies must be innovative from an organic structure. Thus, the incubated companies have innovative feature, this way: how is the organizational structure of enterprises of technological basis with projects in incubators? This research aims to asses and classify the organizational structure of enterprises of technological basis with projects in incubators in the State of Paraná. To achieve this goal it carried out a literature review on the contingency theory. Afterwards it was applied the questionnaire with companies incubated in that sought to identify their organizational structure Trough the applied methodology was found that, in General, incubated companies presented some mechanistic designs features with command-based rules and procedures in that only one person takes the decision, which way be the reflection of a technological breakthrough in which companies migrate to a mechanistic designs structure for organic , as well as in the results of Joan Woodward (1958, in which the occurrence of technological advancement, companies use the mechanistic designs structure, changing later to organic.

Facile and tunable synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous silica materials ranging from flower structure with wrinkled edges to hollow structure with coarse surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, Nanjing, E-mail: nanjing.hao@dartmouth.edu [Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering (United States); Li, Laifeng; Tang, Fangqiong, E-mail: tangfq@mail.ipc.ac.cn [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (China)

2016-11-15

Mesoporous silica materials have attracted great attention in many fields. However, facile and tunable synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous silica structures is still a big challenge, and thus the development of them still lags behind. Herein, well-defined mesoporous silica flower structure with wrinkled edges and mesoporous silica hollow structure with coarse surface were synthesized simply by using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and hexadecylamine as cotemplates in different water/ethanol solvent systems. The shape evolution from flower to hollow can be easily realized by tuning the volume ratio of water to ethanol, and the yields of both materials can reach gram scale. The formation mechanisms of mesoporous silica flower and hollow structures were also experimentally investigated and discussed. These novel hierarchical structures having unique physicochemical properties may bring many interesting insights into scientific research and technological application.

Staff Nurses' Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Bogaert, Peter; Peremans, Lieve; Diltour, Nadine; Van heusden, Danny; Dilles, Tinne; Van Rompaey, Bart; Havens, Donna Sullivan

2016-01-01

The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses' perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses' involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment.

Organosilane with gemini-type structure as the mesoporogen for synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Haibo

2016-02-08

A new kind of organosilane (1,6-bis (diethyl(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)ammonium) hexane bromide) with a gemini-type structure was prepared and used as a mesoporogen for the synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite. There are two quaternary ammonium centers along with double hydrolysable -RSi(OMe)3 fragments in the organosilane, which results in a strong interaction between this mesoporogen and silica-alumina gel. The organosilane can be easily incorporated into ZSM-5 zeolite structure during the crystallization process, and it was finally removed by calcination leading to secondary pores in ZSM-5. The synthesized ZSM-5 has been systematically studied by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, SEM, TEM, TG and solid-state one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR, which reveals information on its detailed structure. It has a hierarchical porosity system, which combines the intrinsic micropores coming from the crystalline structure and irregular mesopores created by the organosilane template. Moreover, the mesoposity including pore size and volume within ZSM-5 can be systematically tuned by changing the organosilane/TEOS ratios, which confirms this organosilane has high flexibility of using as template for the synthesis of hierarchical porous zeolite.

Organosilane with gemini-type structure as the mesoporogen for synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Haibo; Abou-Hamad, Edy; Chen, Yin; Saih, Youssef; Liu, Weibing; Basset, Jean-Marie; Samal, Akshaya Kumar

2016-01-01

A new kind of organosilane (1,6-bis (diethyl(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)ammonium) hexane bromide) with a gemini-type structure was prepared and used as a mesoporogen for the synthesis of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 zeolite. There are two quaternary ammonium centers along with double hydrolysable -RSi(OMe)3 fragments in the organosilane, which results in a strong interaction between this mesoporogen and silica-alumina gel. The organosilane can be easily incorporated into ZSM-5 zeolite structure during the crystallization process, and it was finally removed by calcination leading to secondary pores in ZSM-5. The synthesized ZSM-5 has been systematically studied by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, SEM, TEM, TG and solid-state one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR, which reveals information on its detailed structure. It has a hierarchical porosity system, which combines the intrinsic micropores coming from the crystalline structure and irregular mesopores created by the organosilane template. Moreover, the mesoposity including pore size and volume within ZSM-5 can be systematically tuned by changing the organosilane/TEOS ratios, which confirms this organosilane has high flexibility of using as template for the synthesis of hierarchical porous zeolite.

USING THE DESIGN APPROACH TO THE CHOICE OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AT CREATION OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Анастасия Юрьевна КОРЕНЕВА

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article presents a general description of the organizational structures of management. Existing forms of associations of enterprises and organizations are analyzed. The variants of the organizational structures, the relevant specific characteristics of voluntary associations, the necessity of change throughout the life cycle of the project to create associations of enterprises and organizations are proposed. The tasks of further research in this direction are determined.

An interference cancellation strategy for broadcast in hierarchical cell structure

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli; Aï ssa, Sonia; Eltawil, Ahmed M.; Salama, Khaled N.

2014-01-01

In this paper, a hierarchical cell structure is considered, where public safety broadcasting is fulfilled in a femtocell located within a macrocell. In the femtocell, also known as local cell, an access point broadcasts to each local node (LN) over an orthogonal frequency sub-band independently. Since the local cell shares the spectrum licensed to the macrocell, a given LN is interfered by transmissions of the macrocell user (MU) in the same sub-band. To improve the broadcast performance in the local cell, a novel scheme is proposed to mitigate the interference from the MU to the LN while achieving diversity gain. For the sake of performance evaluation, ergodic capacity of the proposed scheme is quantified and a corresponding closed-form expression is obtained. By comparing with the traditional scheme that suffers from the MU's interference, numerical results substantiate the advantage of the proposed scheme and provide a useful tool for the broadcast design in hierarchical cell systems.

An interference cancellation strategy for broadcast in hierarchical cell structure

KAUST Repository

Yang, Yuli

2014-12-01

In this paper, a hierarchical cell structure is considered, where public safety broadcasting is fulfilled in a femtocell located within a macrocell. In the femtocell, also known as local cell, an access point broadcasts to each local node (LN) over an orthogonal frequency sub-band independently. Since the local cell shares the spectrum licensed to the macrocell, a given LN is interfered by transmissions of the macrocell user (MU) in the same sub-band. To improve the broadcast performance in the local cell, a novel scheme is proposed to mitigate the interference from the MU to the LN while achieving diversity gain. For the sake of performance evaluation, ergodic capacity of the proposed scheme is quantified and a corresponding closed-form expression is obtained. By comparing with the traditional scheme that suffers from the MU\\'s interference, numerical results substantiate the advantage of the proposed scheme and provide a useful tool for the broadcast design in hierarchical cell systems.

Paradigms and nursing management, analysis of the current organizational structure in a large hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, D

1992-01-01

Hospitals developed over the period of time when positivism become a predominant world view. Positivism was founded by four Western trends: preponderance of hierarchy and autocracy, popularization of bureaucracy, extensive application of a machine orientation to work and predominance of "scientific" inquiry. Organizational theory developed largely from quantitative research findings arising from a positivistic world view. A case study, analyzing a current nursing organizational structure at one large hospital, is presented. Nursing management was found to be based upon the positivistic paradigm. The predominance of a machine orientation, and an autocratic and bureaucratic structure are evidence of this. A change to shared governance had been attempted, indicating a shift to a more modern organizational structure based on a different paradigm. The article concludes by emphasizing that managers are largely responsible for facilitating change; change that will meet internal human resource needs and the cost-effectiveness crises of hospitals today through more effective use of human resources.

THE RELATIONS WITH DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AND SUBDIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS: A STUDY IN BANKING SECTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KUBİLAY ÖZYER

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This study has been made to make clear what are the effects of demographic characteristics on workers’ organizational citizenship behaviors in service business. In this study organizational citizenship behavior was analysed with its subdimenisonals. There are 5 subdimensions as they are, alturism, conscientiousness, courtesy, civic virtue and sportsmanship. To the results of analyses, there are relations between gender, marital status, kids, hierarchical situation in organization, working organization and total organizational citizenship behavior. And also there are relations between these demographic variables and subdimensionals of organizational citizenship behaviors.

A top-down approach for fabricating free-standing bio-carbon supercapacitor electrodes with a hierarchical structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yingzhi; Zhang, Qinghua; Zhang, Junxian; Jin, Lei; Zhao, Xin; Xu, Ting

2015-09-23

Biomass has delicate hierarchical structures, which inspired us to develop a cost-effective route to prepare electrode materials with rational nanostructures for use in high-performance storage devices. Here, we demonstrate a novel top-down approach for fabricating bio-carbon materials with stable structures and excellent diffusion pathways; this approach is based on carbonization with controlled chemical activation. The developed free-standing bio-carbon electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 204 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1); good rate capability, as indicated by the residual initial capacitance of 85.5% at 10 A g(-1); and a long cycle life. These performance characteristics are attributed to the outstanding hierarchical structures of the electrode material. Appropriate carbonization conditions enable the bio-carbon materials to inherit the inherent hierarchical texture of the original biomass, thereby facilitating effective channels for fast ion transfer. The macropores and mesopores that result from chemical activation significantly increase the specific surface area and also play the role of temporary ion-buffering reservoirs, further shortening the ionic diffusion distance.

Hybrid competitive strategies, organizational structure, and firm performance

OpenAIRE

Pertusa Ortega, Eva María

2008-01-01

Comunicación presentada en SMS 28th Annual International Conference, Cologne, Germany, October 12-15, 2008. This paper analyzes the internal characteristics of organizational structure which have an influence on the development of hybrid competitive strategies and their link to firm performance. The study examines a sample of large Spanish firms belonging to different sectors by means of the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique, using formative dimensions for competitive strategy and orga...

Biomimetic "Cactus Spine" with Hierarchical Groove Structure for Efficient Fog Collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Fan; Wu, Juntao; Gong, Guangming; Guo, Lin

2015-07-01

A biomimetic "cactus spine" with hierarchical groove structure is designed and fabricated using simple electrospinning. This novel artificial cactus spine possesses excellent fog collection and water transportation ability. A model cactus equipped with artificial spines also shows a great water storage capacity. The results can be helpful in the development of water collectors and may make a contribution to the world water crisis.

Hierarchical Structure in Semicrystalline Polymers Tethered to Nanospheres

KAUST Repository

Kim, Sung A

2014-01-28

We report on structural and dynamic transitions of polymers tethered to nanoparticles. In particular, we use X-ray diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy, and thermal measurements to investigate multiscale structure and dynamic transitions of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains densely grafted to SiO2 nanoparticles. The approach used for synthesizing these hybrid particles leads to homogeneous SiO2-PEG composites with polymer grafting densities as high as 1.5 chains/nm2, which allows the hybrid materials to exist as self-suspended suspensions with distinct hierarchical structure and thermal properties. On angstrom and nanometer length scales, the tethered PEG chains exhibit more dominant TTG conformations and helix unit cell structure, in comparison to the untethered polymer. The nanoparticle tethered PEG chains are also reported to form extended crystallites on tens of nanometers length scales and to exhibit more stable crystalline structure on small dimensions. On length scales comparable to the size of each hybrid SiO 2-PEG unit, the materials are amorphous presumably as a result of the difficulty fitting the nanoparticle anchors into the PEG crystal lattice. This structural change produces large effects on the thermal transitions of PEG molecules tethered to nanoparticles. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Factors Affecting Organizational Commitment in Navy Corpsmen.

Science.gov (United States)

Booth-Kewley, Stephanie; Dell'Acqua, Renée G; Thomsen, Cynthia J

2017-07-01

Organizational commitment is a psychological state that has a strong impact on the likelihood that employees will remain with an organization. Among military personnel, organizational commitment is predictive of a number of important outcomes, including reenlistment intentions, job performance, morale, and perceived readiness. Because of the unique challenges and experiences associated with military service, it may be that organizational commitment is even more critical in the military than in civilian populations. Despite the essential role that they play in protecting the health of other service members, little is known about the factors that influence Navy Corpsmen's organizational commitment. This study investigated demographic and psychosocial factors that may be associated with organizational commitment among Corpsmen. Surveys of organizational commitment and possible demographic and psychosocial correlates of organizational commitment were completed by 1,597 male, active duty Navy Corpsmen attending Field Medical Training Battalion-West, Camp Pendleton, California. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine significant predictors of organizational commitment. Of the 12 demographic and psychosocial factors examined, 6 factors emerged as significant predictors of organizational commitment in the final model: preservice motivation to be a Corpsman, positive perceptions of Corpsman training, confidence regarding promotions, occupational self-efficacy, social support for a Corpsman career, and lower depression. Importantly, a number of the factors that emerged as significant correlates of organizational commitment in this study are potentially modifiable. These factors include confidence regarding promotions, positive perceptions of Corpsman training, and occupational self-efficacy. It is recommended that military leaders and policy-makers take concrete steps to address these factors, thereby strengthening

Electrochemical design of ZnO hierarchical structures for dye-sensitized solar cells

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Guerin, V. M.; Rathouský, Jiří; Pauporté, T.

2012-01-01

Roč. 102, JUL 2012 (2012), s. 8-14 ISSN 0927-0248 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KAN100400702 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : ZnO hierarchical structures * epitaxy * dye-sensitized solar cell Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.630, year: 2012

Hierarchical structure and modules in the Escherichia coli transcriptional regulatory network revealed by a new top-down approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buer Jan

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cellular functions are coordinately carried out by groups of genes forming functional modules. Identifying such modules in the transcriptional regulatory network (TRN of organisms is important for understanding the structure and function of these fundamental cellular networks and essential for the emerging modular biology. So far, the global connectivity structure of TRN has not been well studied and consequently not applied for the identification of functional modules. Moreover, network motifs such as feed forward loop are recently proposed to be basic building blocks of TRN. However, their relationship to functional modules is not clear. Results In this work we proposed a top-down approach to identify modules in the TRN of E. coli. By studying the global connectivity structure of the regulatory network, we first revealed a five-layer hierarchical structure in which all the regulatory relationships are downward. Based on this regulatory hierarchy, we developed a new method to decompose the regulatory network into functional modules and to identify global regulators governing multiple modules. As a result, 10 global regulators and 39 modules were identified and shown to have well defined functions. We then investigated the distribution and composition of the two basic network motifs (feed forward loop and bi-fan motif in the hierarchical structure of TRN. We found that most of these network motifs include global regulators, indicating that these motifs are not basic building blocks of modules since modules should not contain global regulators. Conclusion The transcriptional regulatory network of E. coli possesses a multi-layer hierarchical modular structure without feedback regulation at transcription level. This hierarchical structure builds the basis for a new and simple decomposition method which is suitable for the identification of functional modules and global regulators in the transcriptional regulatory network of E

Hierarchical system for autonomous sensing-healing of delamination in large-scale composite structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minakuchi, Shu; Sun, Denghao; Takeda, Nobuo

2014-01-01

This study combines our hierarchical fiber-optic-based delamination detection system with a microvascular self-healing material to develop the first autonomous sensing-healing system applicable to large-scale composite structures. In this combined system, embedded vascular modules are connected through check valves to a surface-mounted supply tube of a pressurized healing agent while fiber-optic-based sensors monitor the internal pressure of these vascular modules. When delamination occurs, the healing agent flows into the vascular modules breached by the delamination and infiltrates the damage for healing. At the same time, the pressure sensors identify the damaged modules by detecting internal pressure changes. This paper begins by describing the basic concept of the combined system and by discussing the advantages that arise from its hierarchical nature. The feasibility of the system is then confirmed through delamination infiltration tests. Finally, the hierarchical system is validated in a plate specimen by focusing on the detection and infiltration of the damage. Its self-diagnostic function is also demonstrated. (paper)

Hierarchical core-shell structure of ZnO nanorod@NiO/MoO₂ composite nanosheet arrays for high-performance supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Sucheng; Zhang, Guanhua; Zeng, Wei; Zhu, Jian; Gong, Feilong; Li, Feng; Duan, Huigao

2014-08-27

A hierarchical core-shell structure of ZnO nanorod@NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheet arrays on nickel foam substrate for high-performance supercapacitors was constructed by a two-step solution-based method involving two hydrothermal processes followed by a calcination treatment. Compared to one composed of pure NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheets, the hierarchical core-shell structure electrode displays better pseudocapacitive behaviors in 2 M KOH, including high areal specific capacitance values of 1.18 F cm(-2) at 5 mA cm(-2) and 0.6 F cm(-2) at 30 mA cm(-2) as well as relatively good rate capability at high current densities. Furthermore, it also shows remarkable cycle stability, remaining at 91.7% of the initial value even after 4000 cycles at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2). The enhanced pseudocapacitive behaviors are mainly due to the unique hierarchical core-shell structure and the synergistic effect of combining ZnO nanorod arrays and NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheets. This novel hierarchical core-shell structure shows promise for use in next-generation supercapacitors.

Hierarchical structure of the European countries based on debts as a percentage of GDP during the 2000-2011 period

Science.gov (United States)

Kantar, Ersin; Deviren, Bayram; Keskin, Mustafa

2014-11-01

We investigate hierarchical structures of the European countries by using debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the countries as they change over a certain period of time. We obtain the topological properties among the countries based on debt as a percentage of GDP of European countries over the period 2000-2011 by using the concept of hierarchical structure methods (minimal spanning tree, (MST) and hierarchical tree, (HT)). This period is also divided into two sub-periods related to 2004 enlargement of the European Union, namely 2000-2004 and 2005-2011, in order to test various time-window and observe the temporal evolution. The bootstrap techniques is applied to see a value of statistical reliability of the links of the MSTs and HTs. The clustering linkage procedure is also used to observe the cluster structure more clearly. From the structural topologies of these trees, we identify different clusters of countries according to their level of debts. Our results show that by the debt crisis, the less and most affected Eurozone’s economies are formed as a cluster with each other in the MSTs and hierarchical trees.

Hydrothermal synthesis of copper sulfide with novel hierarchical structures and its application in lithium-ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Guang-Yi; Wei, Zhi-Yong; Jin, Bo; Zhong, Xiao-Bin; Wang, Heng; Zhang, Wan-Xi; Liang, Ji-Cai; Jiang, Qing

2013-01-01

Novel stick-like CuS hierarchical structures have been fabricated by a hydrothermal approach use β-cyclodextrin as ligand and structure-directing agent. SEM and TEM characterizations show that the CuS stick-like structures are composed of tens to hundreds of well-arranged and self-assembled nanoplates with a thickness of about 25 nm. The mechanism for the formation of the final stick-like hierarchical structures is proposed and discussed. β-cyclodextrin is found to be the key factor in controlling the morphologies. Meanwhile, the possibility of using CuS as the electrode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is studied. Electrochemical measurements reveal that the as-prepared CuS exhibits outstanding cycle stability, indicating that it might find possible application as a cathode material for LIBs in the long term.

Mapping the Hierarchical Layout of the Structural Network of the Macaque Prefrontal Cortex

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goulas, A.; Uylings, H.B.M.; Stiers, P.

2014-01-01

A consensus on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) holds that it is pivotal for flexible behavior and the integration of the cognitive, affective, and motivational domains. Certain models have been put forth and a dominant model postulates a hierarchical anterior-posterior gradient. The structural

Effect of pre-tension on the peeling behavior of a bio-inspired nano-film and a hierarchical adhesive structure

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Zhilong; Chen, Shaohua

2012-10-01

Inspired by the reversible adhesion behaviors of geckos, the effects of pre-tension in a bio-inspired nano-film and a hierarchical structure on adhesion are studied theoretically. In the case with a uniformly distributing pre-tension in a spatula-like nano-film under peeling, a closed-form solution to a critical peeling angle is derived, below or above which the peel-off force is enhanced or reduced, respectively, compared with the case without pre-tension. The effects of a non-uniformly distributing pre-tension on adhesion are further investigated for both a spatula-like nano-film and a hierarchical structure-like gecko's seta. Compared with the case without pre-tension, the pre-tension, no matter uniform or non-uniform, can increase the adhesion force not only for the spatula-like nano-film but also for the hierarchical structure at a small peeling angle, while decrease it at a relatively large peeling angle. Furthermore, if the pre-tension is large enough, the effective adhesion energy of a hierarchical structure tends to vanish at a critical peeling angle, which results in spontaneous detachment of the hierarchical structure from the substrate. The present theoretical predictions can not only give some explanations on the existing experimental observation that gecko's seta always detaches at a specific angle and no apparent adhesion force can be detected above the critical angle but also provide a deep understanding for the reversible adhesion mechanism of geckos and be helpful to the design of biomimetic reversible adhesives.

Self-assembled 3D-hierarchical structure Cu2ZnSnS4 photocathodes by tuning anion ratios in precursor solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Xin; Shao, Hansen; Fu, Gao; Zhou, Yong; Zou, Zhigang; Luo, Wenjun; Guan, Zhongjie

2016-01-01

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) is one of the most promising light capture materials for solar cells or solar fuels. Construction of 3D hierarchical structure is very important for efficient optoelectronic devices. It is challenging to directly fabricate 3D hierarchical structure CZTS film by a facile solution method. Herein, we present a one-step sol–gel method for fabrication of CZTS thin films with 3D hierarchical structures. For the first time, it is found that the morphologies of thin films can be adjusted between dense, porous and 3D hierarchical structures by tuning anion ratios of Cl − /Ac − in precursor solution. Further analysis suggests the formation of intermediate phases of SnO 2 nanoparticles and SnS 2 nanosheets by tuning ratios of Cl − /Ac − in precursor solution, which has important effects on the formation of different nanostructures of CZTS. This study can deepen understanding of anion’ effect on morphologies of samples using a solution method and forms a reference to prepare novel nanostructures of other materials. (paper)

The Relationship between Organizational Trust and Organizational Silence with Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment of the Employees of University

Science.gov (United States)

Fard, Parastoo Gashtasebi; Karimi, Fariba

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the structural model between organizational trust and organizational silence with job satisfaction and organizational commitment of the employees of Islamic Azad University of Isfahan, (Khorasgan) branch. The study method is descriptive-correlation. The study population is the employees of Islamic Azad University of…

The Mediating Effect of Organizational Justice Between Power Sources and Organizational Commitment

OpenAIRE

Pahrudin; Noor; Kasmir

2017-01-01

This study examines the role of organizational justice in the relationship between energy sources and organizational commitment. This study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesis on a sample of 160 Indonesian workers in a state enterprise. The results show that energy sources are positively associated with organizational commitment and that organizational fairness is positively related to organizational commitment. The power source, in turn, has a positive effect on or...

Do the Modern Neurosciences Call for a New Model of Organizational Cognition?

Science.gov (United States)

Seni, Dan Alexander

2012-10-01

Our purpose in this paper is to try to make a significant contribution to the analysis of cognitive capabilities of the organization of active social systems such as the business enterprise by re-examining the concepts of organizational intelligence, organizational memory and organizational learning in light of the findings of modern neuroscience. In fact, in this paper we propose that neuroscience shows that sociocognitivity is for real. In other words, cognition, in the broad sense, is not exclusive to living organisms: Certain kinds of social organizations (e.g. the enterprise) possess elementary cognitive capabilities by virtue of their structure and their functions. The classical theory of organizational cognition is the theory of Artificial Intelligence. We submit that this approach has proven to be false and barren, and that a materialist emergentist neuroscientific approach, in the tradition of Mario Bunge (2003, 2006), leads to a far more fruitful viewpoint, both for theory development and for eventual factual verification. Our proposals for sociocognitivity are based on findings in three areas of modern neuroscience and biopsychology: (1) The theory of intelligence and of intelligent systems; (2) The neurological theory of memory as distributed, hierarchical neuronal systems; (3) The theory of cognitive action in general and of learning in particular. We submit that findings in every one of these areas are applicable to the social organization.

The Effect of Formal Organizational Structures on Inter-organizational Networks : A study on OEMs in the forest technology industry of Northern Sweden

OpenAIRE

Maitha, Olive; Wang'oe, Robert

2013-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects that Formal Organizational Structures have on the formation of Inter-organizational Networks Background/ Problem When organizations are formed, they tend to lack access to resources that they need for their growth and development. The owners are forced to form interactions with relatives and close friends so as to acquire the resources they need. This results in having strong network ties. However to develop they require acces...

Assembly of CdS Quantum Dots onto Hierarchical TiO2 Structure for Quantum Dots Sensitized Solar Cell Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed Mansoor Ali

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Quantum dot (QD sensitized solar cells based on Hierarchical TiO2 structure (HTS consisting of spherical nano-urchins on transparent conductive fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrate is fabricated. The hierarchical TiO2 structure consisting of spherical nano-urchins on transparent conductive fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrate synthesized by hydrothermal route. The CdS quantum dots were grown by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction deposition method. The quantum dot sensitized solar cell based on the hierarchical TiO2 structure shows a current density JSC = 1.44 mA, VOC = 0.46 V, FF = 0.42 and η = 0.27%. The QD provide a high surface area and nano-urchins offer a highway for fast charge collection and multiple scattering centers within the photoelectrode.

Improved Adhesion and Compliancy of Hierarchical Fibrillar Adhesives.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yasong; Gates, Byron D; Menon, Carlo

2015-08-05

The gecko relies on van der Waals forces to cling onto surfaces with a variety of topography and composition. The hierarchical fibrillar structures on their climbing feet, ranging from mesoscale to nanoscale, are hypothesized to be key elements for the animal to conquer both smooth and rough surfaces. An epoxy-based artificial hierarchical fibrillar adhesive was prepared to study the influence of the hierarchical structures on the properties of a dry adhesive. The presented experiments highlight the advantages of a hierarchical structure despite a reduction of overall density and aspect ratio of nanofibrils. In contrast to an adhesive containing only nanometer-size fibrils, the hierarchical fibrillar adhesives exhibited a higher adhesion force and better compliancy when tested on an identical substrate.

Health workers' perceptions of private-not-for-profit health facilities' organizational culture and its influence on retention in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Shumba, Constance Sibongile; Kielmann, Karina; Witter, Sophie

2017-12-06

An in-depth understanding of how organizational culture is experienced by health workers (HWs), and influences their decisions to leave their jobs is a fundamental, yet under-examined, basis for forming effective retention strategies. This research examined HWs' working experiences and perceptions of organisational culture within private-not-for-profit, largely mission-based hospitals, and how this influenced retention. Thirty-two HWs, including managers, in 19 health facilities in Uganda were interviewed using a semi-structured topic guide. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic content analysis. Interviews showed that the organizational culture was predominantly hierarchical, with non-participative management styles which emphasized control and efficiency. HWs and managers held different perceptions of the organizational culture. While the managers valued results and performance, HWs valued team work, recognition and participative management. The findings of this study indicate that organizational culture influences retention of HWs in health facilities and provide a useful context to inform health care managers in the PNFP sub-sector in Uganda and similar contexts. To improve retention of HWs, a gradual shift in organizational culture will be necessary, focussing on the values, beliefs and perceptions which have the greatest influence on observable behaviour.

Imbalance between Goals and Organizational Structure in Primary Health Care in Iran- a Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanganeh Baygi, Mehdi; Seyedin, Hesam

2013-07-01

In recent years, the main focus of health sector reforms in Iran is the family physician and referral system plan. Fundamental changes in the goals and strategies, has increased the necessity of the need to reform the organizational structure. This study tries to review and summarize all cases about the organizational structure of Iran and its challenges in primary health care system. This study was a systematic review of published and grey literature. We searched the relevant databases, bibliography of related papers, and laws, using appropriate search strategies and key words. The CASP tool was used by two experts to evaluate the quality of retrieved papers and inconsistencies were resolved by discussion. After removal of duplicate citations, a total of 52 titles were identified through database searching, among which 30 met the inclusion criteria. Considering the research quality criteria, 14 papers were recognized qualified, which were categorized into two groups of: articles and policies. The results showed ineffectiveness of the current organizational structure at different level. The majority of the papers recommend performing reforms in the system because of changes in goals and strategies. Also, some suggest an appropriate information system to be designed in the current structures. Centralization and delegation process are the main discussions for the studies. Because of fundamental changes in goals and strategies, reforms in the organizational structure of primary health system in Iran especially in peripheral levels are highly recommended.

When goals diverge: Staff consensus and the organizational climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Melnick, Gerald; Ulaszek, Wendy R; Lin, Hsiu-Ju; Wexler, Harry K

2009-08-01

A sample of correctional officers and prison substance abuse treatment staff collected by the National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices Survey is used to provide an exploratory study of an aspect of organizational culture consisting of consensus (agreement) among prison personnel regarding their beliefs about rehabilitation in the presence of conflicting organizational goals and aspects of the organizational climate important to change. Findings show that among those staff members responding to the survey, the belief in rehabilitation scale mean score was associated with higher levels of organizational commitment, and interdepartmental coordination. However, an hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis that used an index score derived from the standard deviation for staff consensus regarding these same beliefs about rehabilitation produced a different pattern of results, showing that high levels of consensus were associated with job frustration, cynicism towards the ability of the institution to change, and lower levels of organizational commitment. The authors conclude that, although the sample may not express the beliefs of corrections officers or prison-based treatment staff at large, within the sample, consensus appeared to play a unique role in evaluating the effect of divergent goals on organizational climate as it relates to change, and warrants consideration when considering the effects of organizational climate.

Analysis of social relations among organizational units derived from process models and redesign of organization structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Choi, I.; Song, M.S.; Kim, K.M.; Lee, Y-H.

2007-01-01

Despite surging interests in analyzing business processes, there are few scientific approaches to analysis and redesign of organizational structures which can greatly affect the performance of business processes. This paper presents a method for deriving and analyzing organizational relations from

Organizational culture in an academic health center: an exploratory study using a competing values framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Ovseiko, Pavel V; Buchan, Alastair M

2012-06-01

Implementing cultural change and aligning organizational cultures could enhance innovation, quality, safety, and job satisfaction. The authors conducted this mixed-methods study to assess academic physician-scientists' perceptions of the current and preferred future organizational culture at a university medical school and its partner health system. In October 2010, the authors surveyed academic physicians and scientists jointly employed by the University of Oxford and its local, major partner health system. The survey included the U.S. Veterans Affairs Administration's 14-item Competing Values Framework instrument and two extra items prompting respondents to identify their substantive employer and to provide any additional open-ended comments. Of 436 academic physicians and scientists, 170 (39%) responded. Of these, 69 (41%) provided open-ended comments. Dominant hierarchical culture, moderate rational and team cultures, and underdeveloped entrepreneurial culture characterized the health system culture profile. The university profile was more balanced, with strong rational and entrepreneurial cultures, and moderate-to-strong hierarchical and team cultures. The preferred future culture (within five years) would emphasize team and entrepreneurial cultures and-to a lesser degree-rational culture, and would deemphasize hierarchical culture. Whereas the university and the health system currently have distinct organizational cultures, academic physicians and scientists would prefer the same type of culture across the two organizations so that both could more successfully pursue the shared mission of academic medicine. Further research should explore strengthening the validity and reliability of the organizational culture instrument for academic medicine and building an evidence base of effective culture change strategies and interventions.

Hierarchical organization versus self-organization

OpenAIRE

Busseniers, Evo

2014-01-01

In this paper we try to define the difference between hierarchical organization and self-organization. Organization is defined as a structure with a function. So we can define the difference between hierarchical organization and self-organization both on the structure as on the function. In the next two chapters these two definitions are given. For the structure we will use some existing definitions in graph theory, for the function we will use existing theory on (self-)organization. In the t...

Gender Differences in the Effects of Perception of Organizational Injustice on Workplace Reactivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bolanle Ogungbamila

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have not adequately examined, in a single model, how gender and perception of organizational injustice are related with revenge-motivated behaviors, especially in male-dominated societies. This study investigated the extent to which gender and perception of organizational injustice predicted employees’ tendencies to engage in workplace reactivity, which comprises organizational revenge, interpersonal revenge, interpersonal violence, and corruption in a sample of 703 (460 females; 243 males employees. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression indicated that gender predicted employees’ tendencies to engage in organizational revenge and interpersonal violence; with males showing higher tendencies than females. There were no gender differences in employees’ tendencies to engage in corruption and interpersonal revenge. Employees’ tendencies to engage in organizational revenge, interpersonal revenge, interpersonal violence, and corruption significantly increased with perception of organizational injustice. Females who felt unjustly treated exhibited as much organizational revenge, interpersonal revenge, interpersonal violence, and corrupt tendencies as males who felt unjustly treated. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Hierarchical rank and women's organizational mobility: glass ceilings in corporate law firms.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorman, Elizabeth H; Kmec, Julie A

2009-03-01

This article revives the debate over whether women's upward mobility prospects decline as they climb organizational hierarchies. Although this proposition is a core element of the "glass ceiling" metaphor, it has failed to gain strong support in previous research. The article establishes a firm theoretical foundation for expecting an increasing female disadvantage, with an eye toward defining the scope conditions and extending the model to upper-level external hires. The approach is illustrated in an empirical setting that meets the proposed scope conditions: corporate law firms in the United States. Results confirm that in this setting, the female mobility disadvantage is greater at higher organizational levels in the case of internal promotions, but not in the case of external hires.

Organizational Structure and Firms' Demand for HRM Practices

OpenAIRE

Eriksson, Tor; Ortega, Jaime

2014-01-01

A question largely left unanswered in previous studies of firms’ use of HRM practices, and the consequences thereof, is why some firms adopt these practices while others do not. We examine empirically the determinants of firms’ demand for HRM pay, work and training practices with a special focus on the role of differences in the organizational structure of firms. For this purpose we merge data from a detailed questionnaire study of Danish private sector firms’ use of HRM practices with workfo...

Multilevel Analysis of Employee Satisfaction on Commitment to Organizational Culture: Case Study of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises

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Fangtao Liu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the effects of employee satisfaction and demographic indicators on employee commitment to organizational culture at the enterprise level. With data from a survey of 3029 employees from 27 state-owned enterprises (SOEs, a hierarchical linear model (HLM is used to identify the influencing factors of employee commitment to organizational culture at the enterprise level. An empirical study indicates that apart from the factors of employee satisfaction and demographic background, four contextual variables of enterprises, namely, comprehensive management, energy intensity, cost-income ratio, and capacity-load ratio, also influence commitment to organizational culture levels. Results show that applying HLM can substantially improve the explanatory power of employee satisfaction factors on commitment to organizational culture using nested enterprise contextual variables. Although measurement scales and satisfaction models have been proposed over the years, only a few studies have addressed the particular nature inherent in Chinese SOEs. HLM, which accounts for the nested data structure and determines the effects of employee satisfaction factors on commitment to organizational culture without bias, is developed in this study. Through an insider view based on empirical work, this research can improve the ability of senior managers to understand the culture and dynamics of organizations, to deliver strong leadership, and to enhance corporate internal management.

Forming the organizational structure for activities

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U. S. Barash

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Development of theoretical and methodological foundations of efficiency of freight cars operating companies in railway reform through improved management structure them. Methodology. A theoretical and methodological approach for building effective management structure of freight wagons operating companies of different ownership forms is proposed, its introduction will significantly reduce detention of cars on technical stations under loading operations and maintenance, and thereby to improve the quality parameters of rolling stock usage in reform conditions of Ukraine railway transport. Findings. An improved control mechanism of cargo transportation is developed, it is different from the existing by its adaptation to the conditions of the reformed sector and the organization of management companies which together with the Ukrainian Transport and Logistics Center (UTLC centralize management of all freight cars of domestic and foreign operating companies. Originality. It is proposed for management of cargo transportation in wagons operating companies of different ownership to organize a series of management companies that would have the right to dispose of universal cars of other domestic operating companies, being on leasehold basis, and to direct them to current and scheduled repairs by themselves; to organize the cargo transportation in wagons of domestic and foreign operating companies on a contractual terms, depending on the type and content of the contract, on the basis of additional contracts for a separate fee to perform current and scheduled repair of freight cars; the management company organizational structure is developed, it includes simultaneously two directions of activity: commercial and repair, it will reduce the stay time of rolling stock on the engineering stations during loading and in a non-operating park as far as this company will manage a significant part of the production cycle of the transportation process

HD-RNAS: An automated hierarchical database of RNA structures

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Shubhra Sankar eRay

2012-04-01

Full Text Available One of the important goals of most biological investigations is to classify and organize the experimental findings so that they are readily useful for deriving generalized rules. Although there is a huge amount of information on RNA structures in PDB, there are redundant files, ambiguous synthetic sequences etc. Moreover, a systematic hierarchical organization, reflecting RNA classification, is missing in PDB. In this investigation, we have classified all the available RNA crystal structures from PDB through a programmatic approach. Hence, it would be now a simple assignment to regularly update the classification as and when new structures are released. The classification can further determine (i a non-redundant set of RNA structures and (ii if available, a set of structures of identical sequence and function, which can highlight structural polymorphism, ligand-induced conformational alterations etc. Presently, we have classified the available structures (2095 PDB entries having RNA chain longer than 9 nucleotides solved by X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy into nine functional classes. The structures of same function and same source are mostly seen to be similar with subtle differences depending on their functional complexation. The web-server is available online at http://www.saha.ac.in/biop/www/HD-RNAS.html and is updated regularly.

Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO3 thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

2012-01-01

Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO 3 films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO 3 films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: ► Ordered WO 3 nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. ► Two hierarchical WO 3 structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. ► Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO 3 films is proposed.

Staff Nurses’ Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

Science.gov (United States)

Van Bogaert, Peter; Peremans, Lieve; Diltour, Nadine; Van heusden, Danny; Dilles, Tinne; Van Rompaey, Bart; Havens, Donna Sullivan

2016-01-01

The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses’ perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses’ involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment. PMID:27035457

Staff Nurses' Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Van Bogaert

Full Text Available The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses' perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses' involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment.

Hierarchical Sets: Analyzing Pangenome Structure through Scalable Set Visualizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Thomas Lin

2017-01-01

of hierarchical sets by applying it to a pangenome based on 113 Escherichia and Shigella genomes and find it provides a powerful addition to pangenome analysis. The described clustering algorithm and visualizations are implemented in the hierarchicalSets R package available from CRAN (https...

Relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Turnipseed, David L; Vandewaa, Elizabeth A

2012-06-01

This study evaluated hypothesized positive linkages between organizational citizenship behavior and the emotional intelligence dimensions of perception, using emotion, understanding emotion, and management of emotion, involving two samples. Sample 1 comprised 334 employed college students, 52% male, with a mean age of 23.4 yr., who worked an average of 29.6 hr. per week. Sample 2 comprised 72 professors, 81% female, with a mean age of 47 yr. Measures were the Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions indicated a positive link between organizational citizenship behavior and emotional intelligence. There were differences between the samples. In Sample 1, each of the emotional intelligence dimensions were positively linked to citizenship behavior: using and managing emotion were the greatest contributors. In Sample 2, managing emotion was the only contributor. Emotional intelligence had the strongest relationship with citizenship behavior directed at individuals.

Self-assembly of NiO/graphene with three-dimension hierarchical structure as high performance electrode material for supercapacitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Bing; Zhuang, Hua; Fang, Tao; Jiao, Zheng; Liu, Ruizhe; Ling, Xuetao [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Lu, Bo [Instrumental Analysis and Research Center, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Jiang, Yong, E-mail: jiangyong@shu.edu.cn [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China)

2014-06-01

Highlights: • 3D hierarchical NiO/graphene is prepared by a refluxing method with aqua-based solvent. • Time-dependent experiments are carried out to investigate formation mechanism. • Hierarchical sphere is formed through self-assembly of NiO grown on disc-shaped CTAB micelles. • It delivers a capacitance of 555 F g{sup −1} at 1 A g{sup −1} with 90.8% retention after 2000 cycles. - Abstract: This article reports a facile preparation of NiO/graphene composite by the combination of a controlled refluxing method with water based solvent in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and subsequent annealing. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy reveal that the graphene nanosheets are uniformly wrapped by hierarchical porous NiO spheres with three-dimension hierarchical structure in the product. The composite shows highly improved electrochemical performance as electrode material for supercapacitor. The three-dimension hierarchical structure NiO/graphene composite delivers a first discharge capacitance of 555 F g{sup −1} and remains a reversible capacitance up to 504 F g{sup −1} after 2000 cycles at a current of 1 A g{sup −1} in three-electrode system. Contrarily, the pure NiO shows only a first discharge capacitance of 166 F g{sup −1} and remains only a reversible capacitance of 107 F g{sup −1} after 2000 cycles. The NiO/graphene composite also exhibits ameliorative rate capacitance of 402.9 F g{sup −1} at the current density of 5 A g{sup −1}. The enhanced electrochemical performances are ascribed to the higher surface area, the stable three-dimension hierarchical structure and the synergistic effects between the conductive graphene and porous NiO spheres.

Organizational Culture and Climate and Mental Health Provider Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Aarons, Gregory A; Sawitzky, Angelina C

2006-02-01

Mental health provider attitudes toward adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) are associated with organizational context and provider individual differences. Organizational culture and climate are contextual factors that can affect staff acceptance of innovation. This study examined the association of organizational culture and climate with attitudes toward adopting EBP. Participants were 301 public sector mental health service providers from 49 programs providing mental health services for youths and families. Correlation analyses and multilevel hierarchical regressions, controlling for effects of provider characteristics, showed that constructive culture was associated with more positive attitudes toward adoption of EBP and poor organizational climates with perceived divergence of usual practice and EBP. Behavioral health organizations may benefit from consideration of how culture and climate affect staff attitudes toward change in practice.

Working Definitions of the Roles and an Organizational Structure in Health Professions Education Scholarship: Initiating an International Conversation.

Science.gov (United States)

Varpio, Lara; Gruppen, Larry; Hu, Wendy; O'Brien, Bridget; Ten Cate, Olle; Humphrey-Murto, Susan; Irby, David M; van der Vleuten, Cees; Hamstra, Stanley J; Durning, Steven J

2017-02-01

Health professions education scholarship (HPES) is an important and growing field of inquiry. Problematically, consistent use of terminology regarding the individual roles and organizational structures that are active in this field are lacking. This inconsistency impedes the transferability of current and future findings related to the roles and organizational structures of HPES. Based on data collected during interviews with HPES leaders in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Netherlands, the authors constructed working definitions for some of the professional roles and an organizational structure that support HPES. All authors reviewed the definitions to ensure relevance across multiple countries. The authors define and offer illustrative examples of three professional roles in HPES (clinician educator, HPES research scientist, and HPES administrative leader) and an organizational structure that can support HPES participation (HPES unit). These working definitions are foundational and not all-encompassing and, thus, are offered as stimulus for international dialogue and understanding. With these working definitions, scholars and administrative leaders can examine HPES roles and organizational structures across and between national contexts to decide how lessons learned in other contexts can be applied to their local contexts. Although rigorously constructed, these definitions need to be vetted by the international HPES community. The authors argue that these definitions are sufficiently transferable to support such scholarly investigation and debate.

Revisiting Organizations as Information Processors: Organizational Structure as a Predictor of Noise Filtering

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fournier, Kevin L

2008-01-01

.... The results of the exploration, though mostly inconclusive, call into question both intuition and literature regarding organizational structure as well as literature in information and knowledge sharing...

Correlation between hierarchical structure of crystal networks and macroscopic performance of mesoscopic soft materials and engineering principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Naibo; Liu, Xiang Yang

2015-11-07

This review examines how the concepts and ideas of crystallization can be extended further and applied to the field of mesoscopic soft materials. It concerns the structural characteristics vs. the macroscopic performance, and the formation mechanism of crystal networks. Although this subject can be discussed in a broad sense across the area of mesoscopic soft materials, our main focus is on supramolecular materials, spider and silkworm silks, and biominerals. First, the occurrence of a hierarchical structure, i.e. crystal network and domain network structures, will facilitate the formation kinetics of mesoscopic phases and boost up the macroscopic performance of materials in some cases (i.e. spider silk fibres). Second, the structure and performance of materials can be correlated in some way by the four factors: topology, correlation length, symmetry/ordering, and strength of association of crystal networks. Moreover, four different kinetic paths of crystal network formation are identified, namely, one-step process of assembly, two-step process of assembly, mixed mode of assembly and foreign molecule mediated assembly. Based on the basic mechanisms of crystal nucleation and growth, the formation of crystal networks, such as crystallographic mismatch (or noncrystallographic) branching (tip branching and fibre side branching) and fibre/polymeric side merging, are reviewed. This facilitates the rational design and construction of crystal networks in supramolecular materials. In this context, the (re-)construction of a hierarchical crystal network structure can be implemented by thermal, precipitate, chemical, and sonication stimuli. As another important class of soft materials, the unusual mechanical performance of spider and silkworm silk fibres are reviewed in comparison with the regenerated silk protein derivatives. It follows that the considerably larger breaking stress and unusual breaking strain of spider silk fibres vs. silkworm silk fibres can be interpreted

Tensegrity I. Cell structure and hierarchical systems biology

Science.gov (United States)

Ingber, Donald E.

2003-01-01

In 1993, a Commentary in this journal described how a simple mechanical model of cell structure based on tensegrity architecture can help to explain how cell shape, movement and cytoskeletal mechanics are controlled, as well as how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces (J. Cell Sci. 104, 613-627). The cellular tensegrity model can now be revisited and placed in context of new advances in our understanding of cell structure, biological networks and mechanoregulation that have been made over the past decade. Recent work provides strong evidence to support the use of tensegrity by cells, and mathematical formulations of the model predict many aspects of cell behavior. In addition, development of the tensegrity theory and its translation into mathematical terms are beginning to allow us to define the relationship between mechanics and biochemistry at the molecular level and to attack the larger problem of biological complexity. Part I of this two-part article covers the evidence for cellular tensegrity at the molecular level and describes how this building system may provide a structural basis for the hierarchical organization of living systems--from molecule to organism. Part II, which focuses on how these structural networks influence information processing networks, appears in the next issue.

The role of supramolecular chemistry in stimuli responsive and hierarchically structured functional organic materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schenning, A.P.H.J.; Bastiaansen, C.W.M.; Broer, D.J.; Debije, M.G.

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT: In this review, we show the important role of supramolecular chemistry in the fabrication of stimuli responsive and hierarchically structured liquid crystalline polymer networks. Supramolecular interactions can be used to create three dimensional order or as molecular triggers in materials

The Contingent Value of Organizational Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virpi Turkulainen

2013-08-01

Full Text Available We elaborate the link between organizational design and effectiveness by examining organizational integration and performance in the context of modern manufacturing. Through careful contextualization and empirical analysis of 266 manufacturing organizations in three industries and nine countries, we uncover a joint effect of integration and complexity on organizational effectiveness. The results extend structural contingency theory, in particular the mechanisms that link organizational integration to organizational effectiveness. We conclude by discussing the continuing relevance of structural contingency theory.

Personality in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes: exploring the hierarchical structure and associations with the vasopressin V1A receptor gene.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert D Latzman

Full Text Available One of the major contributions of recent personality psychology is the finding that traits are related to each other in an organized hierarchy. To date, however, researchers have yet to investigate this hierarchy in nonhuman primates. Such investigations are critical in confirming the cross-species nature of trait personality helping to illuminate personality as neurobiologically-based and evolutionarily-derived dimensions of primate disposition. Investigations of potential genetic polymorphisms associated with hierarchical models of personality among nonhuman primates represent a critical first step. The current study examined the hierarchical structure of chimpanzee personality as well as sex-specific associations with a polymorphism in the promoter region of the vasopressin V1a receptor gene (AVPR1A, a gene associated with dispositional traits, among 174 chimpanzees. Results confirmed a hierarchical structure of personality across species and, despite differences in early rearing experiences, suggest a sexually dimorphic role of AVPR1A polymorphisms on hierarchical personality profiles at a higher-order level.

Personality in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Exploring the Hierarchical Structure and Associations with the Vasopressin V1A Receptor Gene

Science.gov (United States)

Latzman, Robert D.; Hopkins, William D.; Keebaugh, Alaine C.; Young, Larry J.

2014-01-01

One of the major contributions of recent personality psychology is the finding that traits are related to each other in an organized hierarchy. To date, however, researchers have yet to investigate this hierarchy in nonhuman primates. Such investigations are critical in confirming the cross-species nature of trait personality helping to illuminate personality as neurobiologically-based and evolutionarily-derived dimensions of primate disposition. Investigations of potential genetic polymorphisms associated with hierarchical models of personality among nonhuman primates represent a critical first step. The current study examined the hierarchical structure of chimpanzee personality as well as sex-specific associations with a polymorphism in the promoter region of the vasopressin V1a receptor gene (AVPR1A), a gene associated with dispositional traits, among 174 chimpanzees. Results confirmed a hierarchical structure of personality across species and, despite differences in early rearing experiences, suggest a sexually dimorphic role of AVPR1A polymorphisms on hierarchical personality profiles at a higher-order level. PMID:24752497

Kendall’s tau and agglomerative clustering for structure determination of hierarchical Archimedean copulas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Górecki J.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Several successful approaches to structure determination of hierarchical Archimedean copulas (HACs proposed in the literature rely on agglomerative clustering and Kendall’s correlation coefficient. However, there has not been presented any theoretical proof justifying such approaches. This work fills this gap and introduces a theorem showing that, given the matrix of the pairwise Kendall correlation coefficients corresponding to a HAC, its structure can be recovered by an agglomerative clustering technique.

Review: how do hospital organizational structure and processes affect quality of care?: a critical review of research methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Hearld, Larry R; Alexander, Jeffrey A; Fraser, Irene; Jiang, H Joanna

2008-06-01

Interest in organizational contributions to the delivery of care has risen significantly in recent years. A challenge facing researchers, practitioners, and policy makers is identifying ways to improve care by improving the organizations that provide this care, given the complexity of health care organizations and the role organizations play in influencing systems of care. This article reviews the literature on the relationship between the structural characteristics and organizational processes of hospitals and quality of care. The review uses Donabedian's structure-process-outcome and level of analysis frameworks to organize the literature. The results of this review indicate that a preponderance of studies are conducted at the hospital level of analysis and are predominantly focused on the organizational structure-quality outcome relationship. The article concludes with recommendations of how health services researchers can expand their research to enhance one's understanding of the relationship between organizational characteristics and quality of care.

Classification of Hyperspectral Images by SVM Using a Composite Kernel by Employing Spectral, Spatial and Hierarchical Structure Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a novel classification framework for hyperspectral images (HSIs by jointly employing spectral, spatial, and hierarchical structure information. In this framework, the three types of information are integrated into the SVM classifier in a way of multiple kernels. Specifically, the spectral kernel is constructed through each pixel’s vector value in the original HSI, and the spatial kernel is modeled by using the extended morphological profile method due to its simplicity and effectiveness. To accurately characterize hierarchical structure features, the techniques of Fish-Markov selector (FMS, marker-based hierarchical segmentation (MHSEG and algebraic multigrid (AMG are combined. First, the FMS algorithm is used on the original HSI for feature selection to produce its spectral subset. Then, the multigrid structure of this subset is constructed using the AMG method. Subsequently, the MHSEG algorithm is exploited to obtain a hierarchy consist of a series of segmentation maps. Finally, the hierarchical structure information is represented by using these segmentation maps. The main contributions of this work is to present an effective composite kernel for HSI classification by utilizing spatial structure information in multiple scales. Experiments were conducted on two hyperspectral remote sensing images to validate that the proposed framework can achieve better classification results than several popular kernel-based classification methods in terms of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Specifically, the proposed classification framework can achieve 13.46–15.61% in average higher than the standard SVM classifier under different training sets in the terms of overall accuracy.

Organizational Context and Female Faculty's Perception of the Climate for Women in Academic Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Carapinha, René; McCracken, Caitlin M; Warner, Erica T; Hill, Emorcia V; Reede, Joan Y

2017-05-01

Gender inequalities in the careers of faculty in academic medicine could partially be attributed to an organizational climate that can exclude or be nonsupportive of women faculty. This study explores the climate for women faculty from a systems perspective at the organizational and individual levels based on the perceptions of women faculty. Race differences were also investigated. Cross-sectional survey data from women faculty (N = 3127) at 13 purposively sampled medical schools and an institutional assessment of organizational characteristics were used. Organizational factors related to the climate for women were identified using bivariate statistics. The association between perceived climate for women and organizational characteristics, individual perceptions of the work environment and individual career, and personal characteristics with control variables were investigated using hierarchical linear regression models. Organizational effects by race/ethnicity were estimated using interaction terms. The climate for women faculty varied across institutions and by classification as minority-serving institutions (MSIs). Respondent's report of existence of an office for women's affairs, trust in leadership, and satisfaction with mentoring were positively associated with the climate for women. Perceived workplace discrimination and work-family conflict were inversely associated with a positive climate. No race/ethnicity differences were observed in the multivariable analysis. The climate for women faculty in academic medicine should not be regarded constant across organizations, specifically between MSIs and non-MSIs. Efforts to advance a positive climate for women could focus on improving trust in leadership, increasing support for structures/offices for women, and mitigating perceived discrimination and work-family conflict.

Asymmetric block copolymer membranes with ultrahigh porosity and hierarchical pore structure by plain solvent evaporation

KAUST Repository

Yu, H.

2016-09-14

Membranes with a hierarchical porous structure could be manufactured from a block copolymer blend by pure solvent evaporation. Uniform pores in a 30 nm thin skin layer supported by a macroporous structure were formed. This new process is attractive for membrane production because of its simplicity and the lack of liquid waste.

Asymmetric block copolymer membranes with ultrahigh porosity and hierarchical pore structure by plain solvent evaporation

KAUST Repository

Yu, H.; Qiu, Xiaoyan; Behzad, Ali Reza; Musteata, Valentina-Elena; Smilgies, D.-M.; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor

2016-01-01

Membranes with a hierarchical porous structure could be manufactured from a block copolymer blend by pure solvent evaporation. Uniform pores in a 30 nm thin skin layer supported by a macroporous structure were formed. This new process is attractive for membrane production because of its simplicity and the lack of liquid waste.

THE RELATIONS WITH DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AND SUBDIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS: A STUDY IN BANKING SECTORS

OpenAIRE

KUBİLAY ÖZYER; UFUK ORHAN; DEMET DÖNMEZ ORHAN

2013-01-01

This study has been made to make clear what are the effects of demographic characteristics on workers’ organizational citizenship behaviors in service business. In this study organizational citizenship behavior was analysed with its subdimenisonals. There are 5 subdimensions as they are, alturism, conscientiousness, courtesy, civic virtue and sportsmanship. To the results of analyses, there are relations between gender, marital status, kids, hierarchical situation in organization, working org...

A study of hierarchical structure on South China industrial electricity-consumption correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Can-Zhong; Lin, Ji-Nan; Liu, Xiao-Feng

2016-02-01

Based on industrial electricity-consumption data of five southern provinces of China from 2005 to 2013, we study the industrial correlation mechanism with MST (minimal spanning tree) and HT (hierarchical tree) models. First, we comparatively analyze the industrial electricity-consumption correlation structure in pre-crisis and after-crisis period using MST model and Bootstrap technique of statistical reliability test of links. Results exhibit that all industrial electricity-consumption trees of five southern provinces of China in pre-crisis and after-crisis time are in formation of chain, and the "center-periphery structure" of those chain-like trees is consistent with industrial specialization in classical industrial chain theory. Additionally, the industrial structure of some provinces is reorganized and transferred in pre-crisis and after-crisis time. Further, the comparative analysis with hierarchical tree and Bootstrap technique demonstrates that as for both observations of GD and overall NF, the industrial electricity-consumption correlation is non-significant clustered in pre-crisis period, whereas it turns significant clustered in after-crisis time. Therefore we propose that in perspective of electricity-consumption, their industrial structures are directed to optimized organization and global correlation. Finally, the analysis of distance of HTs verifies that industrial reorganization and development may strengthen market integration, coordination and correlation of industrial production. Except GZ, other four provinces have a shorter distance of industrial electricity-consumption correlation in after-crisis period, revealing a better performance of regional specialization and integration.

Analysis of the relation between emotional intelligence of leaders of different sectors of a big multinational organization and the organizational climate: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Ramos Deschauer

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The business community has been marked, in the last decades, by an incessant quest for competitiveness in order to survive and grow in a globalized world. Companies have had to revamp their structures, find new paths and make economic changes. Managers have been forced to undertake increased responsibilities and commitment to their organizations, they also had to adjust their profiles and review their individual abilities and competences, mostly because of their impact on the organizational climate perceived by employees. In this sense, the object of this study is to identify relations between emotional quotient of managers at different hierarchical levels within the organization and the organizational climate as perceived by each manager’s team of collaborators. In addition to new surveys on the leader’s emotional intelligence and organizational climate, this study points to the need for programs focusing on the development of managers’ emotional abilities, as a way of improving organizational climate and, as a result, keeping up the company’s intellectual capital as a strategy for organizational success.

Organizational architecture of multinational company

OpenAIRE

Vrbová, Tereza

2012-01-01

The Bachelor's Thesis ,,Organizational architecture of multinational company" sets the target to analyse organizational structures used in multinational companies at present. In the teoretical section is briefly described development of this subject, basic concepts associated with organizational architecture such as globalization, multinational companies and organizational architecture. I also generalized main characteristics of organizational forms and describe their pros and cons. The pract...

Organization structure as a moderator of the relationship between procedural justice, interactional justice, perceived organizational support, and supervisory trust.

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Ambrose, Maureen L; Schminke, Marshall

2003-04-01

Organizational justice researchers recognize the important role organization context plays in justice perceptions, yet few studies systematically examine contextual variables. This article examines how 1 aspect of context--organizational structure--affects the relationship between justice perceptions and 2 types of social exchange relationships, organizational and supervisory. The authors suggest that under different structural conditions, procedural and interactional justice will play differentially important roles in determining the quality of organizational social exchange (as evidenced by perceived organizational support [POS]) and supervisory social exchange (as evidenced by supervisory trust). In particular, the authors hypothesized that the relationship between procedural justice and POS would be stronger in mechanistic organizations and that the relationship between interactional justice and supervisory trust would be stronger in organic organizations. The authors' results support these hypotheses.

The Relationship between Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Nurses (Examining the Mediating Role of Organizational Commitment, Organizational Trust, and Job Satisfaction

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shadi Mahmoudi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Justice has been recognized as the pivot of different organizational research, that the designation of the causal pattern involving the most important variables associated with it was the main objective of the present study. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-survey study. The statistical population consisted of all nurses of Imam Khomeini hospital in Urmia (n= 420, of which 201 nurses were selected by using Morgan’s table and by random sampling method. The instruments included questionnaires of organizational justice, organizational commitment, organizational trust, job satisfaction, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior whose reliability and validity were confirmed. The structural equations model method was used to analyze the data.  Results:The results showed there was a positive and significant relationship between justice perception with organizational commitment, organizational trust, and job satisfaction. In addition, the mediating role of organizational commitment and trust was acknowledged in the relationship between justice and citizenship behavior in the model; however, the mediating role of satisfaction was not fitted in the relationship between justice and citizenship.  Conclusion: According the research results that there was a positive and significant relationship between perception of justice with organizational commitment, organizational trust, and job satisfaction, paying attention to organizational justice for improving the staff’s organizational citizenship behavior is critical and indicates the distinct position of this variable in improving all attitudinal and behavioral variables and consequently in the hospital employees’ performance.

A Review of Organizational Structures of Personal Information Management

OpenAIRE

Indratmo, J; Vassileva, Julita

2008-01-01

Personal information management (PIM) covers a large area of research fragmented into separate sub-areas such as file management, web bookmark organization, and email management. Consequently, it is hard to obtain a unified view of the various approaches to PIM developed in these different sub-areas. In this article, we synthesize and classify existing research on PIM based on the approach used to organize information items. We classify the organizational structures into five categories: hier...

Relation of Organizational Structure to Job Satisfaction, Anxiety-Stress, and Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancevich, John M.; Donnelly, James H., Jr.

1975-01-01

Reports on the relationship between organizational shape or structure (tall, medium, and flat) and job satisfaction, anxiety-stress, and performance. Indicates that salesmen in flat organizations perceive more autonomy and more satisfaction with respect to self-actualization, perceive lower amounts of anxiety-stress, and perform more efficiently.…

Microscale and nanoscale hierarchical structured mesh films with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties induced by long-chain fatty acids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Shutao; Song Yanlin; Jiang Lei

2007-01-01

Inspired by the lotus effect, we fabricate new microscale and nanoscale hierarchical structured copper mesh films by a simple electrochemical deposition. After modification of the long-chain fatty acid monolayer, these films show superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties, which could be used for the effective separation of oil and water. The length of the fatty acid chain strongly influences the surface wettability of as-prepared films. It is confirmed that the cooperative effect of the hierarchical structure of the copper film and the nature of the long-chain fatty acid contribute to this unique surface wettability

From proactive personality to organizational citizenship behavior: mediating role of harmony.

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Gan, Yiqun; Cheung, Fanny M

2010-06-01

The objective of the present study was to examine the moderating role of interpersonal harmony in the relation of proactive personality with organizational citizenship behavior. 158 employees in Chinese state-owned companies completed the Proactive Personality Scale (Bateman & Crant, 1993), Harmony scale, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire. Proactive personality had insignificant correlation with job dedication. The correlation between interpersonal facilitation and proactive personality was significant but quite low. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that when demographic variables were controlled, Harmony had significant moderating effects on the relations of proactive behavior and job dedication/interpersonal facilitation. In the high Harmony group, the correlation between proactive personality and organizational citizenship behavior was significant; whereas in the low Harmony group, this correlation was not significant.

Relations between OCBs, organizational justice, work motivation and self-efficacy

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Lior Oren

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The importance of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs in organizations is well documented, and studies that originate from the interactionist perspective and combine personal and situational factors in predicting OCBs are needed. Toward this end, and based on a recent theoretical model, the current study attempted to predict OCB by organizational justice, work motivation, and self-efficacy. A research questionnaire measuring the three predictors was administered to 151 employees, and a measure of their OCB was provided by their supervisors. Whereas OCBs were found to be positively correlated with the three predictors, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that only organizational justice and work motivation were significant predictors of OCBs. The study emphasizes the importance of using an interactionist perspective integrating endogenous and exogenous forces in studying the antecedents of OCBs. OCBs may be closely related to task performance and may be predicted by motivation related variables. Organizations may facilitate OCBs by improving organizational justice and raising work motivation among employees.

The impact of social and organizational factors on workers' use of personal protective equipment: a multilevel approach.

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Torp, Steffen; Grøgaard, Jens B; Moen, Bente E; Bråtveit, Magne

2005-08-01

On the basis of the job demands-control-support model by Karasek and Theorell, we investigated how social and organizational factors influence workers' use of personal protective equipment (PPE). A cross-sectional study was performed among 1420 workers in 203 motor vehicle-repair garages. Multilevel modeling was performed to account for the hierarchical structure of the data. Social and management support correlated positively with PPE use at the worker level. Low demands measured at the garage level and having a health and safety management system at the garage also correlated with active use of PPE. An interaction effect between social support and garage-level demands was observed. In addition to health information and provision of PPE, focusing on social and organizational factors seems necessary to get more workers to comply with the instructions on PPE use.

Morphologies and wetting properties of copper film with 3D porous micro-nano hierarchical structure prepared by electrochemical deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Hongbin; Wang, Ning; Hang, Tao; Li, Ming

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A 3D porous micro-nano hierarchical structure Cu films were prepared. • The evolution of morphology and wettability with deposition time was reported. • The effects of EDA on the microscopic morphology were revealed. • A high contact angle of 162.1° was measured when deposition time is 5 s. • The mechanism of super-hydrophobicity was illustrated by two classical models. - Abstract: Three-dimensional porous micro-nano hierarchical structure Cu films were prepared by electrochemical deposition with the Hydrogen bubble dynamic template. The morphologies of the deposited films characterized by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) exhibit a porous micro-nano hierarchical structure, which consists of three levels in different size scales, namely the honeycomb-like microstructure, the dendritic substructure and the nano particles. Besides, the factors which influenced the microscopic morphology were studied, including the deposition time and the additive Ethylene diamine. By measuring the water contact angle, the porous copper films were found to be super-hydrophobic. The maximum of the contact angles could reach as high as 162.1°. An empirical correlation between morphologies and wetting properties was revealed for the first time. The pore diameter increased simultaneously with the deposition time while the contact angle decreased. The mechanism was illustrated by two classical models. Such super-hydrophobic three-dimensional hierarchical micro-nano structure is expected to have practical application in industry.

Exploring hierarchical and overlapping modular structure in the yeast protein interaction network

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Zhao Yi

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Developing effective strategies to reveal modular structures in protein interaction networks is crucial for better understanding of molecular mechanisms of underlying biological processes. In this paper, we propose a new density-based algorithm (ADHOC for clustering vertices of a protein interaction network using a novel subgraph density measurement. Results By statistically evaluating several independent criteria, we found that ADHOC could significantly improve the outcome as compared with five previously reported density-dependent methods. We further applied ADHOC to investigate the hierarchical and overlapping modular structure in the yeast PPI network. Our method could effectively detect both protein modules and the overlaps between them, and thus greatly promote the precise prediction of protein functions. Moreover, by further assaying the intermodule layer of the yeast PPI network, we classified hubs into two types, module hubs and inter-module hubs. Each type presents distinct characteristics both in network topology and biological functions, which could conduce to the better understanding of relationship between network architecture and biological implications. Conclusions Our proposed algorithm based on the novel subgraph density measurement makes it possible to more precisely detect hierarchical and overlapping modular structures in protein interaction networks. In addition, our method also shows a strong robustness against the noise in network, which is quite critical for analyzing such a high noise network.

Does organizational agility affect organizational learning capability? Evidence from commercial banking

OpenAIRE

Zaina Mustafa Mahmoud Hamad; Uğur Yozgat

2017-01-01

Both organizational agility and learning capability are prerequisites for organizational survival and success. This study explores the contribution of agility practices to organizational learning capabilities at the commercial banks in Jordan. To examine the proposed model, a sample of 158 employees within top and middle managements was used. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted for assessing validity and reliability of measurement instrument, evaluating model fit, and testing hypothese...

Quantum Ising model on hierarchical structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Zhifang; Tao Ruibao.

1989-11-01

A quantum Ising chain with both the exchange couplings and the transverse fields arranged in a hierarchical way is considered. Exact analytical results for the critical line and energy gap are obtained. It is shown that when R 1 not= R 2 , where R 1 and R 2 are the hierarchical parameters for the exchange couplings and the transverse fields, respectively, the system undergoes a phase transition in a different universality class from the pure quantum Ising chain with R 1 =R 2 =1. On the other hand, when R 1 =R 2 =R, there exists a critical value R c dependent on the furcating number of the hierarchy. In case of R > R c , the system is shown to exhibit as Ising-like critical point with the critical behaviour the same as in the pure case, while for R c the system belongs to another universality class. (author). 19 refs, 2 figs

The effect of structural empowerment and organizational commitment on Chinese nurses' job satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jinhua; Liu, Yanhui; Chen, Yan; Pan, Xiaoyan

2014-08-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to examine the level of structural empowerment, organizational commitment and job satisfaction in Chinese nurses; and (2) to investigate the relationships among the three variables. A high turnover rate was identified in Chinese staff nurses, and it was highly correlated with lower job satisfaction. Structural empowerment and organizational commitment have been positively related to job satisfaction in western countries. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and multiple step-wise regression to test the hypothesized model. Moderate levels of the three variables were found in this study. Both empowerment and commitment were found to be significantly associated with job satisfaction (r=0.722, r=0.693, pcommitment were significant predictors of job satisfaction. Support for an expanded model of Kanter's structural empowerment was achieved in this study. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical ZnO microspheres built by sheet-like network: Large-scale synthesis and structurally enhanced catalytic performances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Guoxing; Liu Yuanjun; Ji Zhenyuan; Bai Song; Shen Xiaoping; Xu Zheng

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Hierarchical ZnO microspheres were prepared through a facile precursor procedure in the absence of self-assembled templates, organic additives, or matrices. ► The building blocks of microspheres, sheet-like ZnO networks, are porous mesocrystal terminated with (0 1 −1 0) crystal planes. ► The hierarchical ZnO microsphere catalyst exhibits structure-induced enhancement of catalytic performance and a strong durability. - Abstract: Large-scale novel hierarchical ZnO microspheres were fabricated by a facile precursor procedure in the absence of self-assembled templates, organic additives, or matrices. A field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) image reveals that the ZnO microspheres with diameter of 5–18 μm are built by sheet-like ZnO networks with average thickness of 40 nm and length of several microns. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image indicates that the building blocks, sheet-like ZnO networks, are porous mesocrystal terminated with {0 1 −1 0} crystal planes. A potential application of the ZnO microspheres as a catalyst in the synthesis of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles was investigated. It was found that the hierarchical ZnO microsphere catalyst exhibits structure-induced enhancement of catalytic performance and a strong durability.

Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO{sub 3} thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi, E-mail: sysy7373@163.com; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

2012-10-01

Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO{sub 3}) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO{sub 3} films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO{sub 3} films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ordered WO{sub 3} nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Two hierarchical WO{sub 3} structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO{sub 3} films is proposed.

Complexity of major UK companies between 2006 and 2010: Hierarchical structure method approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ulusoy, Tolga; Keskin, Mustafa; Shirvani, Ayoub; Deviren, Bayram; Kantar, Ersin; Çaǧrı Dönmez, Cem

2012-11-01

This study reports on topology of the top 40 UK companies that have been analysed for predictive verification of markets for the period 2006-2010, applying the concept of minimal spanning tree and hierarchical tree (HT) analysis. Construction of the minimal spanning tree (MST) and the hierarchical tree (HT) is confined to a brief description of the methodology and a definition of the correlation function between a pair of companies based on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) index in order to quantify synchronization between the companies. A derivation of hierarchical organization and the construction of minimal-spanning and hierarchical trees for the 2006-2008 and 2008-2010 periods have been used and the results validate the predictive verification of applied semantics. The trees are known as useful tools to perceive and detect the global structure, taxonomy and hierarchy in financial data. From these trees, two different clusters of companies in 2006 were detected. They also show three clusters in 2008 and two between 2008 and 2010, according to their proximity. The clusters match each other as regards their common production activities or their strong interrelationship. The key companies are generally given by major economic activities as expected. This work gives a comparative approach between MST and HT methods from statistical physics and information theory with analysis of financial markets that may give new valuable and useful information of the financial market dynamics.

METHODOLOGICAL BASES OF THE OPTIMIZATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AT IMPLEMENTING THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISE STRATEGY

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Rodionova Svetlana Vladimirovna

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Planning and implementation of innovations on the microlevel of management and on the higher levels is a process of innovative projects portfolio implementation. Project management is aimed at some goal; therefore, defining the mission and aims of implementation is of primary importance. These are the part of the notion of development strategy of an enterprise. Creating a strategy for big construction holding companies is complicated by the necessity to account for different factors effecting each business-block and subsidiary companies. The authors specify an algorithm of development and implementation of the activity strategy of a big construction enterprise. A special importance of the correspondence of organizational management structure to the implemented strategy is shown. The innovative character of organizational structure change is justified. The authors offer methods to optimize the organizational management structure based on communication approach with the use of the elements graph theory. The offered methodological provisions are tested on the example of the Russian JSC “RZhDstroy”.

Organizational factors in Korean NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, D. J.; Kim, Y. I.; Jeong, C. H.; Kim, J. W.

2003-01-01

Organizational factors are referred to as the factors that influence the achievement of a goal of an organization. Latent problems of an organization could contribute to causing human errors in such stages as design, operation and maintenance, and furthermore, leading to an severe accident. In order to evaluate an organization from the safety viewpoint, it is necessary to identify the organizational factors in a systematic fashion. In this paper, some efforts to identify the organizational factors in Korean NPPs are presented. The study was performed in the following steps: 1) Reviewing the definitions and range of the organizational factors used by the previous 13 researches, 2) Structuring the organizational factors by screening and collating factors, 3) Analysing the organizational factors that is considered to have contributed to the trip events based on the trip report of Korean NPPs, 4) Suggesting a more reliable taxonomy of organizational factors for event analysis by applying the Onion Structure Model to the selected factors

Hierarchically structured MnO2 nanowires supported on hollow Ni dendrites for high-performance supercapacitors