The goal of the current study was to examine longitudinal relations among predictors of decent work within Psychology of Working Theory (PWT). Data were collected from a large group of employed ...adults (N = 1540) at three-time points over six months. Multilevel modeling was used to test for the between and within-person effects of four predictor variables (economic constraints, marginalization experiences, work volition, career adaptability) on decent work. Significant between and within-person effects on decent work existed for all four predictor variables. However, within-person effects of economic constraints and marginalization on work volition and career adaptability were nonsignificant. These findings indicate that when considering sample level averages (between-person effects), theory consistent effects were found in connecting these variables across time. Work volition, in particular, was the most robust predictor of decent work and was the most robust mediator connecting economic constraints and marginalization experiences to decent work. When considering individual participant variability across time (within-person effects), it appears that changes from mean scores in structural and psychological factors both predict fluctuations in decent work. However, psychological factors do not mediate the effects of structural factors. Implications for research, practice, and theory are discussed.
This is the first known study to examine how specific variables may relate to the securement of decent work over time. Findings suggest that feeling a sense of choice in one's career is most predictive of viewing one's job as decent. However, changes in an individual's perception of economic constraints and marginalization may also affect perceptions of decent work.
•Examined longitudinal relations among predictors of decent work within Psychology of Working Theory (PWT)•Collected data from a large sample of working adults at three time points over a six-month period•Examined between and within effects on decent work using multilevel modeling•Theory consistent between person effects was confirmed, supporting the PWT model.•Within person effects were also significant, as change in predictor variables predicted change in decent work over time.
The current study examined the links between decent work and three components of physical health (general health, health symptoms, health behaviors) with a sample of 569 employed adults. Data were ...gathered at three time points over a two-month period. Drawing from Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), survival need fulfillment and workplace fatigue (Wave 2) were positioned as mediating variables between decent work (Wave 1) and physical health outcomes (Wave 3). Hypotheses were partially supported. Decent work directly, and indirectly via workplace fatigue, predicted overall physical health; decent work predicted health symptoms indirectly via workplace fatigue; and decent work predicted heath behaviors indirectly via survival need fulfillment. Findings offer a more nuanced picture of how decent work connects to physical health. Specifically, for overall health and health symptoms, workplace fatigue appears to be the main connecting variable. Individuals working in jobs considered decent may be less likely to suffer workplace fatigue, and in turn, more generally healthy with less negative health symptoms. For healthy habits, such as diet and exercise, survival need satisfaction appears more salient. Meeting one's survival needs via work may help an individual have the time, and live in the type of environment, that more allows for access to a healthy lifestyle. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
•Three wave study examining the relation of decent work and physical health with a sample of 569 employed adults.•Decent work directly, and indirectly via workplace fatigue, predicted overall physical health.•Decent work predicted health symptoms indirectly via workplace fatigue.•Decent work predicted heath behaviors indirectly via survival need fulfillment.•For overall health and health symptoms, workplace fatigue appears to be the main connecting variable.
In the present study, we surveyed a sample of working adults (N = 495) in the United States to understand experiences with underemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from psychology of ...working theory, we examined a structural model linking economic constraints and experiences of marginalization to underemployment, as mediated by work volition and moderated by perceptions of economic conditions. Economic constraints, experiences of marginalization, and work volition all significantly predicted underemployment, accounting for 52% of the variance. Additionally, work volition served as a significant, but minor, mediator variable and economic conditions were a significant moderator linking economic constraints and experiences of marginalization to work volition. The negative effect of these constructs on work volition was mitigated when participants had more favorable perceptions of the economy at large. Findings may have implications for both research and practice, highlighting the importance of assessing structural and psychological factors to understand individuals’ work experiences.
In the current paper, we introduce the concept of decent education and highlight this new construct as a critical predictor of decent work. We first review three broad areas where indicators of ...quality education have been studied and utilized: Subjective student experiences, school-to-work programs, and macro-level recommendations (e.g., assessing quality in schools, counties, states, countries, etc.). Second, we draw from these areas to identify six core components that comprise decent education. Specifically, these components pertain to individuals' subjective experiences with their high school education and include: physical safety, psychological safety, quality instruction, equitable learning environments, opportunities to foster social connection, and adequate educational/vocational programming for post-high school. Third, we discuss the construct's place within Psychology of Working Theory and provide a series of recommendations for scholars wishing to study decent education. It is hoped that this new construct will be useful to scholars as they work to further understand the important connection between educational experiences and access to decent work.
•Introduce the concept of decent education and highlight this new construct as a critical predictor of decent work.•Review three broad areas where indicators of quality education have been studied and utilized.•Draw from these areas to identify six core components that encompass decent education.•Discuss the construct's place within the larger Psychology of Working Theory model.•Provide a series of recommendation for scholars wishing to study decent education.
An ultrasound rapid and low-cost procedure for anthocyanin-based colorants from
L. fruit epicarp was developed, and the advantages were compared with conventional heat-based extraction. To obtain the ...conditions that maximize anthocyanins' extraction, a response surface methodology was applied using the variables of time, temperature, and ethanol content, in the case of heat extraction, whereas for ultrasound assisted extraction, temperature was replaced by ultrasound power. Two anthocyanin compounds were identified by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS-namely, cyanidin 3-rutinoside and peonidin 3-rutinoside. The responses used were the extraction yield and the content of the identified anthocyanins. Ultrasound extraction was the most effective method at 5.00 ± 0.15 min, 400.00 ± 32.00 W, and 47.98% ± 2.88% of ethanol obtaining 68.60% ± 2.06% of extracted residue, with an anthocyanin content of 18.17 mg/g (extract-basis) and 11.76 mg/g (epicarp-basis). Overall, a viable green process was achieved that could be used to support pilot-scale studies for industrial production of anthocyanin-based colorants from
fruit epicarp.
Color in food has multiple effects on consumers, since this parameter is related to the quality of a product, its freshness, and even its nutrient content. Each food has a characteristic color; ...however, this can be affected by the technological treatments that are applied during its manufacturing process, as well as its storage. Therefore, the development of new food products should take into account consumer preferences, the physical properties of a product, food safety standards, the economy, and applications of technology. With all of this, the use of food additives, such as dyes, is increasingly important due to the interest in the natural coloring of foods, strict regulatory pressure, problems with the toxicity of synthetic food colors, and the need for globally approved colors, in addition to current food market trends that focus on the consumption of healthy, organic, and natural products. It is for this reason that there is a growing demand for natural pigments that drives the food industry to seek or improve extraction techniques, as well as to study different stability processes, considering their interactions with the food matrix, in order to meet the needs and expectations of consumers.
NRAS and BRAF mutations are common in cutaneous melanomas, although rarely detected mutually in the same tumor. Distinct clinical correlates of these mutations have not been described, despite in ...vitro data suggesting enhanced oncogenic effects. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that primary human cutaneous melanomas harboring mutations in NRAS or BRAF display a more aggressive clinical phenotype than tumors wild type at both loci.
Microdissection of 223 primary melanomas was carried out, followed by determination of the NRAS and BRAF mutational status. Genotypic findings were correlated with features known to influence tumor behavior including age, gender, Breslow depth, Clark level, mitotic rate, the presence of ulceration, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging.
Breslow depth and Clark level varied significantly among the genotypes, with NRAS mutants showing the deepest levels and wild-type tumors the least depth. Ulceration also differed significantly among the genotypes, with BRAF mutants demonstrating the highest rate. In addition, tumors with mutated NRAS were more likely to be located on the extremities. Patients whose tumors carried either mutation presented with more advanced AJCC stages compared with patients with wild-type tumors, and specifically, were more likely to have stage III disease at diagnosis. Overall survival did not differ among the 3 groups.
Distinct clinical phenotypes exist for melanomas bearing NRAS and BRAF mutations, whether considered together or separately, and are associated with features known to predict aggressive tumor behavior. The impact of these mutations is most evident at earlier stages of disease progression.
Plasma soluble prorenin receptor (sPRR) displays sexual dimorphism and is higher in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the contribution of plasma sPRR to the development of vascular ...complications in T2DM remains unclear. We investigated if plasma sPRR contributes to sex differences in the activation of the systemic renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and vascular damage in a model of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced T2DM. Male and female C57BL/6J mice were fed either a normal fat diet (NFD) or an HFD for 28 wk to assess changes in blood pressure, cardiometabolic phenotype, plasma prorenin/renin, sPRR, and ANG II. After completing dietary protocols, tissues were collected from males to assess vascular reactivity and aortic reactive oxygen species (ROS). A cohort of male mice was used to determine the direct contribution of increased systemic sPRR by infusion. To investigate the role of ovarian hormones, ovariectomy (OVX) was performed at 32 wk in females fed either an NFD or HFD. Significant sex differences were found after 28 wk of HFD, where only males developed T2DM and increased plasma prorenin/renin, sPRR, and ANG II. T2DM in males was accompanied by nondipping hypertension, carotid artery stiffening, and aortic ROS. sPRR infusion in males induced vascular thickening instead of material stiffening caused by HFD-induced T2DM. While intact females were less prone to T2DM, OVX increased plasma prorenin/renin, sPRR, and systolic blood pressure. These data suggest that sPRR is a novel indicator of systemic RAAS activation and reflects the onset of vascular complications during T2DM regulated by sex.
High-fat diet (HFD) for 28 wk leads to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) phenotype, concomitant with increased plasma soluble prorenin receptor (sPRR), nondipping blood pressure, and vascular stiffness in male mice. HFD-fed female mice exhibiting a preserved cardiometabolic phenotype until ovariectomy revealed increased plasma sPRR and blood pressure. Plasma sPRR may indicate the status of systemic renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation and the onset of vascular complications during T2DM in a sex-dependent manner.
During type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension there is stimulation of renal proximal tubule angiotensinogen (AGT), but whether urinary excretion of AGT (uAGT) is an indicator of glomerular damage or ...intrarenal RAS activation is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that elevations in uAGT can be detected in the absence of albuminuria in a mouse model of T2D.
Male C57BL/6 mice (N = 10) were fed a high fat (HFD; 45% Kcal from fat) for 28 weeks, and the metabolic phenotype including body weight, blood pressures, glucose, insulin, ippGTT, HOMA-IR, and cholesterol was examined. In addition, kidney Ang II content and reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured along with urinary albumin, creatinine, Ang II, and AGT.
All parameters consistent with T2D were present in mice after 12–14 weeks on the HFD. Systolic BP increased after 18 weeks in HFD but not NFD mice. Intrarenal ROS and Ang II concentrations were also increased in HFD mice. Remarkably, these changes paralleled the augmentation uAGT excretion (3.66 ± 0.50 vs. 0.92 ± 0.13 ng/mg by week 29; P < 0.01), which occurred in the absence of overt albuminuria.
In HFD-induced T2D mice, increases in uAGT occur in the absence of overt renal injury, indicating that this biomarker accurately detects early intrarenal RAS activation.
•Whether uAGT is an indicator of glomerular damage or intrarenal RAS activation, remains unclear.•In mice with T2D-induced by HFD, uAGT occurred in the absence of overt albuminuria.•Augmentation of uAGT is accompanied by intrarenal increased ROS and Ang II concentrations.•The fact that uAGT augmentation precedes glomerular damage and kidney injury indicates intrarenal RAS activation.
We used a nonintrusive field experiment carried out at six sites - Wales (UK), Denmark (DK), the Netherlands (NL), Hungary (HU), Sardinia (Italy - IT), and Catalonia (Spain - SP) - along a climatic ...and latitudinal gradient to examine the response of plant species richness and primary productivity to warming and drought in shrubland ecosystems. The warming treatment raised the plot daily temperature by ca. 1 °C, while the drought treatment led to a reduction in soil moisture at the peak of the growing season that ranged from 26% at the SP site to 82% in the NL site. During the 7 years the experiment lasted (1999-2005), we used the pin-point method to measure the species composition of plant communities and plant biomass, litterfall, and shoot growth of the dominant plant species at each site. A significantly lower increase in the number of species pin-pointed per transect was found in the drought plots at the SP site, where the plant community was still in a process of recovering from a forest fire in 1994. No changes in species richness were found at the other sites, which were at a more mature and stable state of succession and, thus less liable to recruitment of new species. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and temperature of the growing season was positive at the coldest site and negative at the warmest site. The warming treatment tended to increase the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) at the northern sites. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and soil moisture during the growing season was not significant at the wettest sites, but was positive at the driest sites. The drought treatment tended to reduce the ANPP in the NL, HU, IT, and SP sites. The responses to warming were very strongly related to the Gaussen aridity index (stronger responses the lower the aridity), whereas the responses to drought were not. Changes in the annual aboveground biomass accumulation, litterfall, and, thus, the ANPP, mirrored the interannual variation in climate conditions: the most outstanding change was a decrease in biomass accumulation and an increase in litterfall at most sites during the abnormally hot year of 2003. Species richness also tended to decrease in 2003 at all sites except the cold and wet UK site. Species-specific responses to warming were found in shoot growth: at the SP site, Globularia alypum was not affected, while the other dominant species, Erica multiflora, grew 30% more; at the UK site, Calluna vulgaris tended to grow more in the warming plots, while Empetrum nigrum tended to grow less. Drought treatment decreased plant growth in several studied species, although there were some species such as Pinus halepensis at the SP site or C. vulgaris at the UK site that were not affected. The magnitude of responses to warming and drought thus depended greatly on the differences between sites, years, and species and these multiple plant responses may be expected to have consequences at ecosystem and community level. Decreases in biodiversity and the increase in E. multiflora growth at the SP site as a response to warming challenge the assumption that sensitivity to warming may be less well developed at more southerly latitudes; likewise, the fact that one of the studied shrublands presented negative ANPP as a response to the 2003 heat wave also challenges the hypothesis that future climate warming will lead to an enhancement of plant growth and carbon sequestration in temperate ecosystems. Extreme events may thus change the general trend of increased productivity in response to warming in the colder sites.
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