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Successful Performance (successful + performance)
Selected AbstractsSelective prefrontal serotonin depletion impairs acquisition of a detour-reaching taskEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2006S.C. Walker Abstract We have recently shown that serotonin in the primate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) contributes to the flexible control of behaviour. 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine-induced 5-HT depletions of OFC impair performance on a serial reversal discrimination task [Clarke et al. (2004)Science, 304, 878,880]. The deficit is characterized by perseverative responding to the previously rewarded stimulus, a deficit similar to that seen following lesions of the intrinsic neurones of the OFC [Dias et al. (1996)Nature, 380, 69,72]. The effect is neurochemically selective as dopaminergic lesions of the OFC, induced by 6-hydroxydopamine, have no effect [Clarke et al. (2006)Cerebral Cortex]. In order to test for the generality of the effect of serotonin on orbitofrontal processing and, in particular, its effects on flexible behaviour, the present study investigated the effects of serotonin depletions of OFC on performance of another task dependent upon an intact OFC, the detour-reaching task [Wallis et al. (2001)European Journal of Neuroscience, 13, 1797,1808]. Successful performance of this task requires inhibition of the animal's prepotent response tendency to reach directly along its line of sight to the reward. Compared with sham-operated controls, we found that lesioned monkeys made significantly more barrier reaches directly along their line of sight to the visible reward during task acquisition. This finding provides further support for the role of prefrontal serotonin in inhibitory control processes specifically in tasks sensitive to OFC dysfunction. [source] Motivating Creativity and Enhancing Innovation through Employee Suggestion System TechnologyCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2001James F. Fairbank Research has found that employee suggestion systems are a useful way to obtain and utilize employees' creative ideas. To be effective, employees must be motivated to think creatively and to participate in the suggestion system. Unfortunately, motivating employees to participate is a common weakness of suggestion systems. Motivating employees involves more than simply offering rewards to submitters if their suggestions are put to use. According to expectancy theory, rewards will only motivate behaviour if the rewards are valued, if they are closely linked to successful performance, and if employees believe that they can perform successfully. This paper applies expectancy theory to the problem of motivating employees to participate in a suggestion system. We describe suggestion system technology that will increase employees' motivation to think creatively and participate in the system. [source] Germ Line Transformation of Mammals by Pronuclear MicroinjectionEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 6 2000T. Rülicke The most popular approach for generating transgenic mammals is the direct injection of transgenes into one pronucleus of a fertilized oocyte. In the past 15 years microinjection has been successfully applied in laboratory as well as in farm animals. The frequency of transgenic founders, although highly different between the species, is efficient enough to render this technique applicable to a wide range of mammals. The expression levels and patterns of a transgene are initially influenced by the construction of the transgene. However, the overall phenotype of a transgenic organism is influenced by several genetic and environmental factors. Due to the features of this technique not all of the genetic factors can be experimentally controlled by the scientist. In this article we will emphasize some peculiarities which have to be taken into account for the successful performance of transgenesis by pronuclear microinjection [source] The Impact of New Zealand's Public Sector Accounting Reforms on Performance Control in MuseumsFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001George D. Thompson Accounting by most New Zealand museums was subject to public sector reforms requiring private sector -style financial reporting, and service performance reporting. This study into the impact of the reforms on how museum managements pursue successful performance found museums adopting a more accounting-oriented approach to planning and evaluation. Service performance reporting has facilitated the periodic evaluation of non-financial targets by managements, but as currently constituted the reporting model is flawed, particularly in its implications for essential long-term resource capacity of museums. This threatens its effectiveness for promoting good performance. Non-accounting based professional practices also have a role in museum success. [source] A study to identify the training needs of life insurance sales representatives in Taiwan using the Delphi approachINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2006Chiang Ku Fan This article reports a study conducted to identify the needs for continuing professional development for life insurance sales representatives and to examine the competencies needed by those sales representatives. A modified Delphi technique was used. Most life insurance companies in the USA implement an education and training plan advocated by the Life Office Management Association. Insurance companies in Taiwan implement similar education and training plans, but they do not seem to result in the successful performance of their sales representatives. Besides augmenting knowledge of various financial products and marketing approaches, this study also suggests that life insurance companies need to train their sales representatives to an adequate standard in competencies of problem solving, communication, information technology utilization, culture compatibility, emotional intelligence, collective competence and ethics. [source] Extracellular matrix,polymer hybrid materials produced in a pulsed-flow bioreactor systemJOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, Issue 3 2009Cecilia Aulin Abstract Cell adhesion, interaction with material, cell proliferation and the production of an extracellular matrix (ECM) are all important factors determining the successful performance of an engineered scaffold. Scaffold design should aim at creating structures which can guide cells into forming new, functional tissue. In this study, the concept of in situ deposition of ECM by human dermal fibroblasts onto a compliant, knitted poly (ethyleneterephtalate) support is demonstrated, creating in vitro produced ECM polymer hybrid materials for tissue engineering. Comparison of cells cultured under static and dynamic conditions were examined, and the structure and morphology of the materials so formed were evaluated, along with the amount collagen deposited by the seeded cells. In vitro produced ECM polymer hybrid scaffolds could be created in this way, with the dynamic culture conditions increasing ECM deposition. Histological analysis indicated a homogenous distribution of cells in the 1 mm thick scaffold, surrounded by a matrix-like structure. ECM deposition was observed throughout the materials wigh 81.6 µg/cm2 of collagen deposited after 6 weeks. Cell produced bundles of ECM fibres bridged the polymer filaments and anchored cells to the support. These findings open hereto unknown possibilities of producing materials with structure designed by engineering together with biochemical composition given by cells. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Site characterization to support permeable reactive barrier designREMEDIATION, Issue 4 2005Lynn A. Morgan Careful design studies and selection of an effective technique for the installation of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are important contributors to the overall success of zero-valent iron PRBs. This article provides a case study summarizing the successful design and construction of a PRB installed at the former Carswell Air Force Base located in Fort Worth, Texas. Expedited site characterization using a cone penetrometer rig equipped with a mass spectrometer was employed to provide real-time characterization and lithologic data. These data proved to be invaluable for the design of the PRB and allowed for the development of an accurate preconstruction cost estimate. Field data gained from the expedited water quality and geologic characterization along with aquifer testing and a bench-scale treatability study provided a comprehensive basis for the design. The biopolymer slurry construction technique provided additional unanticipated benefits to the designed zero- valent iron treatment by promoting the development of anaerobic conditions favorable for microbial degradation of trichloroethene. Postconstruction monitoring data are discussed to illustrate the successful performance of the PRB. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Clothes Make the Man: Cross-Dressing, Gender Performance, and Female Desire in Johann Elias Schlegel's Der Triumph der guten FrauenTHE GERMAN QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2008Edward T. Potter Schlegel's 1748 comedy takes the potentially liberating historical practice of female cross-dressing and restructures it by using it to promote a sentimental conception of marriage based on love, mutual compatibility, and free partner choice and by emptying this contemporary cultural phenomenon of any potentially liberating features, thereby defusing non-normative gender performance. Schlegel's text highlights culturally constructed aspects of gender by placing gender performance at the play's core. By staging a successful performance of male gender, the female character Hilaria reintegrates two wayward husbands into the sentimental marriage. Via Hilaria's disguise, the text explores: how the control of information establishes power relationships; how cross-dressing is used to reinscribe traditional gender roles; how mutual respect and friendship are promoted as a strong basis for marriage; and finally, how sexual desire is construed as a purely male phenomenon, thereby ironizing the possibility of female desire in general and female same-sex desire in particular [source] Phase-dependent and task-dependent modulation of stretch reflexes during rhythmical hand tasks in humansTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Ruiping Xia Phase-dependent and task-dependent modulation of reflexes has been extensively demonstrated in leg muscles during locomotory activity. In contrast, the modulation of reflex responses of hand muscles during rhythmic movement is poorly documented. The objective of this study was to determine whether comparable reflex modulation occurs in muscles controlling finger motions during rhythmic, fine-motor tasks akin to handwriting. Twelve healthy subjects performed two rhythmic tasks while reflexes were evoked by mechanical perturbations applied at various phases of each task. Electromyograms (EMGs) were recorded from four hand muscles, and reflexes were averaged during each task relative to the movement phase. Stretch reflexes in all four muscles were found to be modulated in amplitude with respect to the phase of the rhythmic tasks, and also to vary distinctly with the tasks being conducted. The extent and pattern of reflex modulation differed between muscles in the same task, and between tasks for the same muscle. Muscles with a primary role in each task showed a higher correlation between reflex response and background EMG than other muscles. The results suggest that the modulation patterns observed may reflect optimal strategies of central,peripheral interactions in controlling the performance of fine-motor tasks. As with comparable studies on locomotion, the phase-dependency of the stretch reflexes implies a dynamically fluctuating role of proprioceptive feedback in the control of the hand muscles. The clear task-dependency is also consistent with a dynamic interaction of sensory feedback and central programming, presumably adapted to facilitate the successful performance of the different fine-motor tasks. [source] AL03 ADVERSE EVENTS: OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR REPORTING, REVIEWING AND RESPONDINGANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 2009J. Collins The sustained production of competent surgeons in sufficient numbers to meet the increasing needs of society commences with recruitment and selection of the most able medical graduates. As the process begins through self-selection, accurate information must be readily available to enable these graduates make an informed judgement on their career choice. Each surgical discipline aspires to use best practice selection in order to identify those who have the potential to acquire the necessary standard of technical and non technical skills and attributes required to practice as a surgeon. A selection system must rank applicants effectively and be reliable, valid, fair, defensible, cost effective and feasible. Best practice selection commences with an analysis of the relevant knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes associated with successful performance in the particular target job. This information is used to construct a person specification in order to identify selection criteria at a level appropriate for entry to training. Selection methods are then chosen which will best elicit measurable applicant behaviour related to these selection criteria. A number of selection methods are used which include structured references, curriculum vitae and interviews. Other methods available although rarely used include tests of mental ability, aptitude tests and personality inventories. More recently selection or assessment centres (a selection method, not a place) involving a combination of selection techniques such as written exercises, interviews and work simulations have been shown to be highly effective. Eligibility criteria for application (long listing), shortlising for interview, scoring of items within each selection method and overall % weighting for each method are important variables in the selection process. [source] What Makes an Aboriginal Council Successful?AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2009Case Studies of Aboriginal Community Government Performance in Far North Queensland Indigenous community governments are at the frontline of current efforts to ,close the gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous living standards. Yet there is little empirical evidence about successful performance by these organisations and considerable scepticism about whether introduced Western governance models can ever be viable in Indigenous communities. To identify the governance attributes that contribute to successful performance, case studies were conducted at three Aboriginal councils in far north Queensland. The untested assumptions in current notions of ,good governance' were examined. Currently accepted good governance principles and practices were investigated to ascertain their actual causal relationship with council performance. The research further identified key contextual, historical and cultural factors that are important in shaping successful or unsuccessful governance. Practical strategies are suggested for policy-makers and Indigenous leaders to build the performance of Indigenous community governments. [source] An integrated microdevice for high-performance short tandem repeat genotypingBIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 11 2009Jong Young Choi Abstract Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis provides genetic fingerprinting of individuals, and is considered as a powerful and indispensable technique for forensic human identification. However, the current state-of-the-art STR genotyping processes and instruments are labor intensive, expensive, time consuming, and lack portability. Micro-total-analysis systems or lab-on-a-chip platforms based on microfabrication technologies have the capability to miniaturize and integrate bioanalysis steps in a single format. Recent progress in microsystems has demonstrated their successful performance for the forensic STR typing with a reduced cost, high speed, and improved high throughput. The purpose of this review article is to highlight up-to-date work on advanced microdevices for high-throughput STR genotyping, and a portable integrated microsystem for on-site forensic DNA analysis. [source] The use of three-dimensional computed tomography for assessing patients before laparoscopic adrenal-sparing surgeryBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 5 2006Michael Mitterberger OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) in delineating the relationship of the adrenal mass to adjacent normal structures in preparation for laparoscopic partial adrenalectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Multislice CT (1 mm slices, 0.5 s rotation time) was used to evaluate 12 patients before adrenal-sparing surgery for aldosterone-producing adenoma or phaeochromocytoma. The CT data were reconstructed using two rendering techniques; (i) volume rendering with the modified VOLREN software (Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA) which allowed interactive 3D examination of the whole data volume within a few minutes; (ii) surface representations only of the interesting structures (kidney, adrenal tumour, vessels) represented in different colours and depicted together in a 3D scene using the software package 3DVIEWNIX. RESULTS In all, 14 adrenal masses in 12 patients were evaluated with 3D-CT; the number and location of lesions was accurate in all cases with both rendering techniques. The coloured surface-rendered images showed a consistently better delineation of the adrenal tumour from the normal tissue than did the volume-rendering technique. From this information all laparoscopic partial adrenalectomies could be completed as planned. CONCLUSIONS Interactive visualization of volume-rendered CT images was helpful for the planning and successful performance of the procedure, but coloured surface-rendered CT provided more convenient, immediate and accurate intraoperative information. [source] | ||||||||||||||||