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The implications of HRM practices for employee commitment continue to be of interest to researchers and practitioners around the globe. Although much of the research focuses on affective commitment (AC), attention has also been paid to normative (NC) and continuance (CC) commitment in accord with the three-component model (TCM; Meyer & Allen, 1991). These components are typically considered individually in traditional variable-centered studies and are often found to relate differently with other variables, including HRM practices. In the present investigation we adopted an increasingly popular person-centered approach to identify commitment profiles (i.e., distinct configurations of AC, NC, and CC) using data from samples of retail (N = 564) and university (N = 480) employees in Brazil. We then examined relations between the profiles and perceptions of HRM practices (both samples) as well as job satisfaction and turnover intention (university sample only). Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified weak, exchange-based, and value-based commitment profiles in both samples similar to those observed in previous research in other countries. Perceptions of HRM practices, particularly stability-oriented practices (e.g., involvement), predicted membership in value-based, and to a lesser extend exchange-based, profiles. Value-based profiles were associated with greater job satisfaction and lower turnover intention. Although value-based profiles reflect strong AC, they can also include strong CC and/or NC. Consequently, our findings serve to qualify conclusions regarding CC and NC in variable-centered research. Implications for future research and HRM practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Radiotherapy is an important component of soft tissue sarcoma management. Radiation osteitis is a common radiographic finding identified in the setting of radiotherapy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to identify the incidence of radiation osteitis in patients who received radiotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma and if a further workup, including a biopsy, was performed for concerning MRI findings. Materials and Methods: Medical records of patients with soft tissue sarcoma who received radiotherapy from 2008 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with at least one MRI of the sarcoma site following radiotherapy and information regarding radiotherapy treatments were included. MRIs of these patients were reviewed for the presence of radiation osteitis by two musculoskeletal radiologists. The clinical course of these patients including biopsy for concerning MRI findings, local recurrence, and metastasis was recorded. Results: Thirty soft tissue sarcoma patients who received radiation for soft tissue sarcoma were included. Radiation osteitis was present in 18 patients. The time to osteitis present on MRI following radiotherapy completion was a median of 4.5 months. Biopsy for concerning MRI findings was performed in eight patients, five for local recurrence, and three for regional osseous metastasis. Three patients had confirmed osseous metastases. Conclusion: Although radiation osteitis is often a benign imaging finding, it can be difficult to discern these lesions from potentially malignant sites of disease. We recommend multidisciplinary management of soft tissue sarcoma at sarcoma centers to appropriately identify benign from malignant lesions and decide the necessity of a biopsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education has expanded at astonishing rates around the world. We seek to understand the oppositions that periodically arise, which may produce enrollment declines and/or imposition of political controls. The post-1945 growth of higher education was – to a greater extent than is often recognized – propelled by the liberal, and later neoliberal, international order. Oppositions arise from illiberal alternatives, which also may organize globally. The recent weakening of the global liberal order, associated with growing populism and nationalism, creates conditions for a new wave of oppositions. We hypothesize that attacks on higher education emerge in countries less integrated into world society and in countries linked to international structures that support illiberal alternatives. We examine cross-national data on higher education over the period 1960–2017. Enrollments and funding are higher in societies more tightly linked to world society and lower in countries tied to illiberal international organizations. Analyses of enrollments in various fields, constraints on academic freedom, and terrorist attacks on education institutions show similar pattern. Finally, we observe heterogeneity in the forms of illiberal opposition: countries that suppress academic freedom generally are less likely to restrict enrollments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within self-determination theory, motivation has been treated as a unidimensional (autonomy continuum) and multidimensional (types of motivation) construct. We propose that this dual nature can be reconciled by distinguishing reasons for exerting effort from the psychological state, or 'mindset', experienced while engaging in task-relevant activities. Using the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (Gagné et al., European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 24:178–196, 2015) for employees (n = 444), and an adapted version for students (n = 656), we confirm that there are distinguishable reasons for exerting effort. Moreover, using measures of three motivational mindsets (experienced autonomy, external control, and motivation strength), we demonstrate that reasons vary along an autonomy continuum. However, latent profile analyses revealed that reasons combine in different ways, and that external reasons (e.g., social or material outcomes) are only associated with a mindset of external control when not accompanied by internal reasons. Outcomes were more favorable for autonomous versus externally controlled mindsets, and when motivation profiles were characterized by internal sources of regulation, even if accompanied by external reasons. Implications for the dimensionality and measurement of motivation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note we consider boundary point principles for partial differential inequalities of elliptic type. First, we highlight the difference between the conditions required to establish classical strong maximum principles and classical boundary point lemmas for second-order linear elliptic partial differential inequalities. We highlight this difference by introducing a singular set in the domain where the coefficients of the partial differential inequality need not be defined and, in a neighborhood of which, can blow-up. Secondly, as a consequence, we establish a comparison-type boundary point lemma for classical elliptic solutions to quasilinear partial differential inequalities. Thirdly, we consider tangency principles, for C 1 elliptic weak solutions to quasilinear divergence structure partial differential inequalities. We highlight the necessity of certain hypotheses in the aforementioned results via simple examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop and significantly extend the thermal phase change model, introduced in Needham et al. (QJMAM 67:93–125, 2014), describing the process of paraffinic wax layer formation on the interior wall of a circular pipe transporting heated oil, when subject to external cooling. In particular, we allow for the natural dependence of the solidifying paraffinic wax conductivity on local temperature. We are able to develop a complete theory, and provide efficient numerical computations, for this extended model. Comparison with recent experimental observations is made, and this, together with recent reviews of the physical mechanisms associated with wax layer formation provide significant support for the thermal model considered here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porosity is one of the most significant obstacles to widescale adoption of additive manufacturing since it acts as a stress concentrator that negatively impacts mechanical properties. Suboptimal process parameters and entrapped gas content in powder feedstock are two factors that can induce porosity in additively manufactured parts. This study utilizes laser diffraction, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and micro-x-ray computed tomography to study how four powders with varied entrapped gas concentrations and gas atomization environments create parts with different densities. Process maps of the four 17-4 PH stainless steel powders used in the EOS M 290 laser powder bed fusion machine, were developed. Furthermore, this paper also discusses how process parameters interact with the powder-entrapped gas porosity to influence the in-part porosity and the Charpy toughness of the as-built components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powder-entrapped gas, which can occur naturally in gas-atomized powder, can induce porosity in parts fabricated with powder-based metal additive manufacturing processes. This study utilized synchrotron-based x-ray computed tomography and an in situ high-speed imaging technique, dynamic x-ray radiography (DXR), to investigate the formation of powder-induced porosity using 17-4 PH stainless steel powders with a controlled size distribution and intentionally varied entrapped gas contents. While powder with a low entrapped gas content showed no net part porosity increase, the results showed a strong correlation between the porosity in the powder and the porosity in the builds made from powder with a high entrapped gas content relative to typical gas-atomized powder. A threshold value was developed to classify porosity induced by powder-entrapped gas based on pore morphology measured using computed tomography. Transfer and coalescence of pores during laser melting was observed directly with DXR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistent with the trend toward viewing psychological well-being as more than the absence of illness, we developed an instrument—the personal growth and development scale (PGDS)—that can be used to assess positive change in well-being attributable to context-specific experiences. As part of the validation process, we examined relations between the PGDS and measures of need satisfaction and autonomous motivation in students (N = 241) and employees (N = 468). In the student sample, we also examined relations with engagement and burnout. The findings supported our hypothesis that need satisfaction, autonomous motivation and engagement would relate positively with the PGDS, and that burnout would relate negatively. In a second student sample (N = 377), we collected longitudinal data to investigate how global psychological well-being relates to personal growth and development over the course of an academic term. We found that initial levels of global well-being predicted positive changes in growth and development and replicated earlier findings regarding relations between the PGDS, need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. Future applications of the PGDS for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunism is an intentional behavior that takes advantage of knowledge asymmetry and results in promoting agents' own value and demoting others' value. It is important to eliminate such selfish behavior in multi-agent systems, as it has undesirable results for the participating agents. In order for monitoring and eliminating mechanisms to be put in the right place, it is needed to know in which context agents are likely to perform opportunistic behavior. In this paper, we develop a formal framework to reason about agents' opportunistic propensity. Opportunistic propensity refers to the potential for an agent to perform opportunistic behavior. Agents in the system are assumed to have their own value systems and knowledge. With value systems, we define agents' state preferences. Based on their value systems and incomplete knowledge about the state, they choose one of their rational alternatives to perform, which might be opportunistic behavior. We then characterize the situation where agents are likely to perform opportunistic behavior and the contexts where opportunism is impossible to occur, and prove the computational complexity of predicting opportunism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many philosophers are convinced that rationality dictates that one's overall set of intentions be consistent. The starting point and inspiration for our study is Bratman's planning theory of intentions. According to this theory, one needs to appeal to the fulfilment of characteristic planning roles to justify norms that apply to our intentions. Our main objective is to demonstrate that one can be rational despite having mutually inconsistent intentions. Conversely, it is also shown that one can be irrational despite having a consistent overall set of intentions. To overcome this paradox, we argue that it is essential for a successful planning system that one's intentions are practically consistent rather than being consistent or applying an aggregation procedure. Our arguments suggest that a new type of norm is needed: whereas the consistency requirement focuses on rendering the contents of one's intentions consistent, our new practical consistency requirement demands that one's intentions be able to simultaneously and unconditionally guide one's action. We observe that for intentions that conform to the 'own-action condition', the practical consistency requirement is equivalent to the traditional consistency requirement. This implies that the consistency requirement only needs to be amended in scenarios of choice under uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observers have noted that organizations in all sectors, whether business, nonprofit, or government, have been moving toward rationalized structures that presuppose and express empowered organizational actorhood. We draw upon neo-institutional theory in this paper to extend the argument: The arrival of organizational actorhood has precipitated a concomitant, cross-sectoral movement toward organizational social responsibility. Whereas existing research has tended to theorize the social responsibilities of businesses, we develop a pyramid conceptual schema to array the social responsibilities of nonprofits. We then document the coevolution of organizational actorhood and responsibility across both sectors with a metastudy of nearly 200 extant surveys. We chart the institutionalization of a slate of formal structures that express organizational actorhood (i.e., mission statements, vision statements, and strategic plans) and that profess and define organizational social responsibilities (i.e., core values, ethics codes, and responsibility communications). We close with implications and future directions for organizational studies and research on corporate social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social interactions, it is common for individuals to possess different amounts of knowledge about a specific transaction, and those who are more knowledgeable might perform opportunistic behavior to others in their interest, which promotes their value but demotes others' value. Such a typical social behavior is called opportunistic behavior (opportunism). In this paper, we propose a formal account of opportunism based on the situation calculus. We first propose a model of opportunism that only considers a single action between two agents, and then extend it to multiple actions and incorporate social context in the model. A simple example of selling a broken cup is used to illustrate our models. Through our models, we can have a thorough understanding of opportunism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess longitudinal changes in occupational effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and demand-control (DC) scores across pregnancy and examine associations with blood pressure (BP) during pregnancy. Methods: A pilot repeated-measures survey was administered four times to a sample of working women across pregnancy using the ERI and DC instruments. Demographic data and blood pressure measurements were collected at each interval. Growth mixture modeling was used to examine trajectories of change in occupational characteristics. Associations with BP were examined using repeated-measures linear regression models. Results: ERI model components (effort, reward, and overcommitment) all declined across pregnancy while job control remained stable. Increasing ERI trajectory was associated with higher systolic BP (b = 8.8; p < 0.001) as was high overcommitment; declining ERI also showed a lesser association with higher BP. Associations between DC trajectories and BP were much smaller, and non-significant once controlled for overcommitment. Conclusions: Self-assessed efforts, rewards, and overcommitment at work decline across pregnancy in our participants, while job control remains stable. Replication in a more diverse pregnant working population is warranted to confirm these results. These preliminary data suggest that further investigation into the factors that may be linked with improved work psychosocial climate during pregnancy may be useful in order to improve pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-relevant commitments have important implications for employee behavior and well-being, but the connections are complicated by the fact that commitments can be characterized by different mindsets and be directed at different targets. Recent developments in person-centered analytic strategies (e.g., latent profile analysis) have helped to address these complexities, particularly as they pertain to the interactions among the mindset of affective, normative, and continuance commitment to the organization. In the present study we extend application of the person-centered approach to identify profiles of commitment to two interrelated targets-the organization and the occupation-in a sample of 1,096 Hong Kong teachers. We identified seven distinct profiles reflecting both similarities and differences in the nature of the dual commitments across targets, and demonstrated differing patterns of turnover intentions and well-being across the profiles. Implications for commitment theory, future research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note, we highlight a difference in the conditions of the classical weak maximum principle and the classical strong maximum principle for linear parabolic partial differential inequalities. We demonstrate, by the careful construction of a specific function, that the condition in the classical strong maximum principle on the coefficient of the zeroth-order term in the linear parabolic partial differential inequality cannot be relaxed to the corresponding condition in the classical weak maximum principle. In addition, we demonstrate that results (often referred to as boundary point lemmas) which conclude positivity of the outward directional derivatives of nontrivial solutions to linear parabolic partial differential inequalities at certain points on the boundary where a maxima is obtained cannot be obtained under the same zeroth-order coefficient conditions as in the classical strong maximum principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]