Constraints and characteristics of flexible work arrangements in small not-for-profit firms

There is a great deal of research that examines flexible working arrangements, but this work tends to be concentrated in large organisations. This research examines the approach taken to flexible working arrangements in five small community based, not for profit organisations. We present three propositions that aim to understand the constraints and the characteristics of flexible work in this rarely studied sector.

Prevalence and characteristics of road traffic injuries among young drivers in Oman, 2009-2011

Objectives Studies from different parts of the world have indicated that the impact of road traffic incidents disproportionally affects young adults. Few known studies have been forthcoming from Arabian Gulf countries. Within Oman, a high proportion of the population is under the age of 20. Coupled with the drastic increase of motorization in recent years there is a need to understand the state of road safety among young people in Oman. The current research aimed to explore the prevalence and characteristics of road traffic injuries among young drivers aged 17-25 years. Methods Crash data from 2009-2011 was extracted from the Directorate General of Traffic, Royal Oman Police (ROP) database in Oman. The data was analyzed to explore the impact of road crashes on young people (17-25 years), the characteristics of young driver crashes and how these differ from older drivers and to identify key predictors of fatalities in young driver crashes. Results Overall, young people were over-represented in injuries and fatalities within the sample time period. While it is true that many young people in crashes were driving at the time, it was also evident that young people were often a victim in a crash caused by someone else. Thus, to reduce the impact of road crashes on young people, there is a need to generally address road safety within Oman. When young drivers were involved in crashes they were predominantly male. The types of crashes these drivers have can be broadly attributed to risk taking and inexperience. Speeding and night time driving were the key risk factors for fatalities. Conclusion The results highlight the need to address young driver safety in Oman. From these findings, the introduction of a graduated driver licensing system with night time driving restrictions could significantly improve young driver safety.

Was wollen jüngere und ältere Erwerbstätige erreichen? Altersbezogene Unterschiede in den Inhalten und Merkmalen beruflicher Ziele [What do younger and older workers want to accomplish? Age-related differences in content and characteristics of occupational goals ]

Demographic changes necessitate that companies commit younger workers and motivate older workers through work design. Age-related differences in occupational goals should be taken into account when accomplishing these challenges. In this study, we investigated goal contents and goal characteristics of employees from different age groups. We surveyed 150 employees working in the service sector (average age = 44 years, age range 19 to 60 years) on their most important occupational goals. Employees who stated goals from the area of organizational citizenship were significantly older than employees with other goals. Employees who stated goals from the areas of training and pay/career were significantly younger than employees with other goals. After controlling for gender, education, and work characteristics, no age-related differences were found in the goal areas teamwork, job security, working time, well-being, and new challenges. In addition, no relationships were found between age and the goal characteristics specificity, planning intensity, as well as positive and negative goal emotions. We recommend that companies provide older workers with more opportunities for organizational citizenship and commit younger workers by providing development opportunities and adequate pay

Growth and characteristics of amorphous Sb2Se3 thin films of various thicknesses for memory switching applications

Thin films of different thicknesses in the range of 200-720 nm have been deposited on glass substrates at room temperature using thermal evaporation technique. The structural investigations revealed that the as-deposited films are amorphous in nature. The surface roughness of the films shows an increasing trend at higher thickness of the films. The surface roughness of the films shows an increasing trend at higher thickness of the films. Interference fringes in the transmission spectra of these films suggest that the films are fairly smooth and uniform. The optical absorption in Sb2Se3 film is described using indirect transition and the variation in band gaps is explained on the basis of defects and disorders in the chalcogenide systems. Raman spectrum confirms the increase of orderliness with film thickness. From the I-V characteristics, a memory type switching is observed whose threshold voltage increases with film thickness. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental Study on the Generation and Characteristics of Plasma Jets

报道热等离子体射流产生及射流特性的实验研究结果。。采用同一个直流等离子体发生器，工作气体流量小时产生出层流等离子体长射流，射流长度随气体流量或弧电流的增加而明显增加；工作气体流量大时则产生出湍流等离子体短射流，此时射流长度几乎与工作气体流量或弧电流无关；在层流与湍流等离子体射流工况之间，存在一个流动状况不稳定的过渡区，此时等离子体射流的平均长度随气流量的加大而减小，但随弧电流的加大而明显加大。层流等离子体长射流有相当好的刚性。

Microstructure and characteristics in the organic matrix layers of nacre

The direct observation of a type of microstructure in the organic matrix layers of nacre was obtained with a transmission electron microscope. The microstructure, which is referred to as mineral bridge in the biomineralization, is nanoscale and randomly distributed in the layers. Statistical analysis gives the distribution laws and characteristics of mineral bridges in the organic matrix layers. The existence of mineral bridges in nacre was confirmed, and it was shown that the microarchitecture of nacre should be described as a "brick-bridge-mortar" arrangement rather than traditional "brick and mortar" one.

An evaluation of geographic and annual variation in morphometric characters and gill-raker counts of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, from the Pacific Ocean

ENGLISH: Samples of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, collected from five areas of the Pacific Ocean (Mexico, Ecuador, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii) between January and May of 1988 and 1990 were examined for spatiotemporal variation in morphometric characters and gill-raker counts. 'Iwo-factor analysis of variance, with area and year treated as grouping factors, indicated a significant difference in the means of the total gill-raker counts among fish from different areas, but no significant difference between fish caught in different years. The morphometric data were adjusted by allometric formulae to remove size effects. The correct classification rates for the five groups, using discriminant function analysis, based on adjusted morphometric characters, were 77.60/0 for the samples from 1988 and 74.40/0 for those from 1990. These are 72.00/0 and 68.00/0 (Cohen's kappa statistic) better than would have occurred chance. The pattern of geographic variability, however, is unstable for these two years, thus requiring separate discriminant functions for each year. Although there is annual variability in the morphometric characters, these results demonstrate that the stocks examined are morphometrically distinguishable and that their phenetic relationships reflect their geographic origin. SPANISH: Se examinaron muestras de atún aleta amarilla, Thunnus albacares, tomadas de cinco áreas del Océano Pacífico (México, Ecuador, Australia, Japón, y Hawaii) entre enero y mayo de 1988 y 1990, para descubrir variaciones espaciotemporales en las características morfométricas y los conteos de branquiespinas. Un análisis de varianza de dos factores, con área y año como factores de agrupación, indicó una diferencia significativa en los promedios de los conteos de branquiespinas totales entre peces de distintas áreas, pero ninguna entre peces capturados en distintos años. Se ajustaron los datos morfométricos con fórmulas alométricas para eliminar los efectos de la talla del pez. En un análisis de función discriminante, las tasas de clasificación correcta de los cinco grupos, basadas en características morfométricas ajustadas, fueron 77.60/0 para las muestras de 1988 y 74.40/0 para aquellas de 1990. Estas cifras son 72.00/0 y 68.00/0 (estadístico de kappa de Cohen) mejores de lo que se hubiera obtenido al azar. Sin embargo, la variabilidad geográfica es inestable en estos dos años, requiriendo por lo tanto funciones discriminantes separadas para cada año. Aunque existe variabilidad anual en las características morfométricas, estos resultados demuestran que los stocks examinados son morfamétricamente distinguibles, y que su relación fenética refleja su origen geográfico. (PDF contains 31 pages.)

Isolation and characteristics of a bacteriophage for bacillus stearothermophilus

A bacteriophage (TØ3) which infects the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus stearothermophilus ATCC 8005 was isolated and characterized. Infection of the bacterium by the bacteriophage was carried out at 60°C, the optimum growth temperature of the host. At 60°C the phage has a latent period of 18 minutes and a burst size of about 200. The phage is comparatively thermostable in broth. The half life of the phage is 400 minutes at 60°C, 120 minutes at 65°C, 40 minutes at 70°C and 12 minutes at 75°C. The activation energy for the heat inactivation of TØ3 is 56,000 cal. The buoyant density of TØ3 in a cesium chloride density gradient is 1.526.

Electron micrographs of TØ3 indicate that the phage has a regular hexagonal shaped head 57 mμ long. The morphology of the head is compatible with icosahedral symmetry. Each edge of the head is 29 mμ long, and there are 6 or 7 subunits along each edge. The tail of TØ3 is 125 mμ long and 10 mμ wide. There are about 30 cross striations that are spaced at 3.9 mμ intervals along the tail.

The DNA of phage TØ3 has a melting temperature of 88.5°C. Heat denatured TØ3 DNA can be extensively annealed in a high ionic strength environment. The buoyant density of TØ3 DNA in a cesium chloride density gradient is 1.695. TØ3 DNA contains: 42.7% guanine plus cytosine, as determined from the melting temperature; 43% guanine plus cytosine, as determined from the buoyant density; and 40.2% guanine plus cytosine, as determined by chromatographic separation and spectrophotometric estimation of the bases. The molecular weight of TØ3 DNA is 16.7 X 10⁶ as determined from the band width of the TØ3 DNA concentration distribution in a cesium chloride density gradient. Electron microscopy of TØ3 DNA revealed a single linear molecule that is 11.7 μ long. This corresponds to a molecular weight of 22.5 X 10⁶.

Heat denatured TØ3 DNA forms two bands in a cesium chloride density gradient, one at a density of 1.707 and the other at a density of 1.715. After the separated bands are mixed and annealed in the centrifuge cell, the renatured TØ3 DNA forms a single band at a density of 1.699. These results indicate that the two complementary strands of TØ3 DNA have different buoyant densities in cesium chloride, presumably because they have different base compositions.

The characteristics of TØ3 are compared with those of other phages. A hypothesis is presented for a relationship between the base composition of one strand of TØ3 DNA and the amino acid composition of the proteins of TØ3.

Design guidelines and characteristics of beam-shaping microstructure optical fibers

Microstructure optical fibers with flat-top fundamental mode are first proposed by introducing a low-index inner core into the core of index-guiding microstructure optical fibers. The design guidelines and characteristics of beam-shaping microstructure optical fibers are demonstrated. The interrelationships of inner-core index with laser wavelength, air hole diameter and size of inner core are investigated. The influence of the relative size of inner core on the spatial profile of the fundamental mode is demonstrated. Moreover, sensitivity of the flat-top fundamental mode profile from the slight change of the optimum inner-core index value is studied. Starting from these results we deduce that it is possible to fabricate beam-shaping microstructure fibers with nowadays technique. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design guidelines and characteristics for a kind of four-layer large flattened mode fibers

A theoretical method to analyze a kind of four-layer large flattened mode (LFM) fibers is presented. The properties of the fiber, including the fundamental and higher-order modal fields, effective area and bending loss are discussed by comparison. At the same time, the reasons for the different characteristics are considered. The obtained results indicate that the effective area of the four-layer LFM fiber is about 1.3 times larger than that of the conventional standard step-index fiber and the fiber can suppress the higher-order modes via bending effectively. The four-layer LFM fiber has less efficient bend-induced filtering ability than the conventional step-index fiber; however, it has more efficient filtering ability than the three-layer LFM fiber. (C) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Design and characteristics of quantum cascade laser-based CO detection system

National High Technology Research and Development Program of China 2007AA03Z112；Program of Ministry of Education of China 20060183030；Program of Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department of China 20070709；Program of Bureau of Science and Technology of Changchun City 2007107