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Performance Consequences (performance + consequence)
Selected AbstractsEffects of Mixing Granular Iron with Sand on the Kinetics of Trichloroethylene ReductionGROUND WATER MONITORING & REMEDIATION, Issue 2 2009Erping Bi A substantial cost of granular iron permeable reactive barriers is that of the granular iron itself. Cutting the iron with sand can reduce costs, but several performance issues arise. In particular, reaction rates are expected to decline as the percentage of iron in the blend is diminished. This might occur simply as a function of iron content, or mass transfer effects may play a role in a much less predictable fashion. Column experiments were conducted to investigate the performance consequences of mixing Connelly granular iron with sand using the reduction kinetics of trichloroethylene (TCE) to quantify the changes. Five mixing ratios (i.e., 100%, 85%, 75%, 50%, and 25% of iron by weight) were studied. The experimental data showed that there is a noticeable decrease in the reaction rate when the content of sand is 25% by weight (iron mass to pore volume ratio, Fe/Vp = 3548 g/L) or greater. An analysis of the reaction kinetics, using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood rate equation, indicated that mass transfer became an apparent cause of rate loss when the iron content fell below 50% by weight (Fe/Vp = 2223 g/L). Paradoxically, there were tentative indications that TCE removal rates were higher in a 15% sand + 85% iron mixture (Fe/Vp = 4416 g/L) than they were in 100% iron (Fe/Vp = 4577 g/L). This subtle improvement in performance might be due to an increase of iron surface available for contact with TCE, due to grain packing in the sand-iron mixture. [source] Institutional antecedents and performance consequences of employment security and career advancement practices: Evidence from the people's republic of ChinaHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2008Yaping Gong In this study, we examine the provision of employment security and career advancement opportunities in firms of diverse institutional ownership and the impact of such practices on employee and firm outcomes. The sample included 478 state-owned and non-state-owned firms (i.e., domestic private firms, Sino-foreign joint ventures, and wholly-foreign-owned firms) in the People's Republic of China. We found that the provision of employment security was greater in state-owned than in non-state-owned firms. The provision of career advancement opportunities in domestic private firms and Sino-foreign joint ventures was similar to that in wholly foreign-owned firms, but greater than that in state-owned firms. The provision of career advancement opportunities was positively related to employee organizational commitment, citizenship behaviors, and firm performance. The provision of employment security was positively related to employee organizational commitment, but not to citizenship behaviors or firm performance. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Strategic stakeholder orientations and performance consequences,a case of private nonprofit performing arts in the USINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 1 2010Jasper Hsieh This paper borrows a market orientation perspective in considering how organizations behave toward stakeholders and the implications on performance in the institutional performing arts environment. To investigate the relationship between stakeholder orientations and organizational performance, both interviews and a survey instrument were used. Using nonprofit performing arts organizations in three metropolitan areas of Northwestern US as a sample frame, primary data was collected from leading directors of these organizations. The results generally indicate a positive relationship between stakeholder orientation and organizational performance. Complex relationships between dimensions of stakeholder orientation and performance consequences were also observed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Improving performance through vertical disintegration: evidence from UK manufacturing firmsMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2009Panos DesyllasArticle first published online: 24 NOV 200 Unlike previous work on the vertical integration,performance relationship, we investigate the performance consequences of vertical disintegration. We offer a theoretical justification for the disintegration decision and we condition the disintegration effect on performance on the initial degree of firm integration, the timing and the direction of disintegration. Using a sample of UK manufacturing firms and controlling for disintegration endogeneity, we find that disintegration eventually results in improved operating performance, particularly when disintegration occurs as a reaction to poor performance and in cases of forward between-sector disintegration. However, being highly integrated does not guarantee gains from disintegration. The implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Functional ecology of a blue light photoreceptor: effects of phototropin-1 on root growth enhance drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thalianaNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 1 2007Candace Galen Summary ,,The blue light photoreceptor phototropin-1 has been shown to enhance fitness in Arabidosis thaliana under field conditions. Here, we ask whether performance consequences of phototropin-1 reflect its impact on root growth and drought tolerance. ,,We used a PHOT1-GFP gene construct to test whether phototropin-1 abundance in roots is highest at shallow soil depths where light penetration is greatest. We then compared root growth efficiency and size at maturity between individuals with and without functional phototropin-1. Comparisons were made under wet and dry conditions to assess the impact of phototropin-1 on drought tolerance. ,,Phototropin-1 was most abundant in upper root regions and its impact on root growth efficiency decreased with soil depth. Roots of plants with functional phototropin-1 made fewer random turns and traveled further for a given length (higher efficiency) than roots of phot1 mutants. In dry (but not wet) soil, enhancement of root growth efficiency by phototropin-1 increased plant size at maturity. ,,Results indicate that phototropin-1 enhances performance under drought by mediating plastic increases in root growth efficiency near the soil surface. [source] The Relevance of Sexual Responsiveness to Sexual Function in Male Stroke PatientsTHE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 12 2009Annelien Duits PhD ABSTRACT Introduction., Stroke may have negative consequences for the patients' quality of life, including sexual function. Whereas physical impairment will influence sexual positions and movement during sex, depression and medication may reduce sexual desire. So far, data on sexual dysfunction after stroke are scant. Although some support for physical as well as psychological explanations has been shown, further research to find the remedies for those patients with sexual problems after stroke is needed. The focus of the present study is on the identification of relevant psychological factors. Aim., The aim of this study was to study the impact of anxiety, depression, and sexual responsiveness on sexual function in male stroke patients. Methods., Nineteen male stroke patients completed a number of self-report measures to assess psychological and sexual factors. Main Outcome Measures., Sexual function based on the International Index of Erectile Function, anxiety and depression based on the Symptom Checklist-90, and sexual responsiveness based on the Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scale, including propensities for sexual excitation and sexual inhibition as a result of both performance failure and performance consequences, were assessed. Results., Sexual excitation was positively related to sexual desire, whereas inhibition because of the threat of performance failure was negatively related to orgasmic function and sexual desire (P < 0.01). Patients with high levels of inhibition because of threat of performance failure were more likely to report low scores on overall sexual function than those with low levels. Conclusions., Although the statistical power is rather low, the results show the relevance of sexual responsiveness to sexual function in male stroke patients. The present study can be considered as a first step toward building a theoretical framework of relevant psychological and physical factors, which is needed to develop adequate interventions for those patients with sexual problems after stroke. Duits A, van Oirschot N, van Oostenbrugge RJ, and van Lankveld J. The relevance of sexual responsiveness to sexual function in male stroke patients. J Sex Med 2009;6:3320,3326. [source] Performance benefits of growth-form plasticity in a clonal red seaweedBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009KEYNE MONRO Phenotypic plasticity may be adaptive if the phenotype expressed in a focal environment performs better there relative to alternative phenotypes. Plasticity in morphology may particularly benefit modular organisms that must tolerate environmental change with limited mobility, yet this hypothesis has rarely been evaluated for the modular inhabitants of subtidal marine environments. We test the hypothesis for Asparagopsis armata, a clonal red seaweed whose growth-form plasticity across light environments is consistent with the concept of foraging behaviour in clonal plants. We manipulated the light intensity to obtain clonal replicates of compact, densely branched (,phalanx') phenotypes and elongate, sparsely branched (,guerrilla') phenotypes, which we reciprocally transplanted between inductive light environments to explore the performance consequences of a poor phenotype,environment match. Consistent with the hypothesis of adaptive plasticity, we found that performance (as relative growth rate) depended significantly on the interaction between growth form and environment. Each growth form performed better in its inductive environment than the alternative form, implying that this type of plasticity, thought to be adaptive for clonal plants, may also benefit photoautotrophs in marine environments. Given the prevalence and diversity of modular phyla in such systems, they offer a relatively unexplored opportunity to broaden our understanding of the evolutionary ecology of phenotypic plasticity. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 80,89. [source] | |||||||||||||