Purpose - This paper to examine full knowledge sharing (KS) and partial KS in order to test the proposition that they are separate behaviors with different characteristics, risks, and motivations for ...the informer and subsequently different predictors.Design methodology approach - Employed knowledge workers completed two questionnaires over a two-week period regarding their attitudes, situational factors, individual differences, and KS behaviors with their close colleagues in their workplace.Findings - Results support the proposition that they are different albeit related behaviors. Full KS is enabled by intentions for full KS. Partial KS is enabled by the uniqueness of the knowledge, interpersonal distrust of close colleagues, and inhibited by perceived value of knowledge. Management support, interpersonal trust and distrust enable intentions for both full and partial KS, then propensity to share further enables full KS, and psychological ownership further enables intentions for partial KS.Research limitations implications - The findings from the study suggest that researchers should specify which sharing behavior they are examining (full or partial). Future research should also examine the outcomes of these two behaviors to see whether the assumed benefits of sharing knowledge apply to both of them.Practical implications - The findings of the study provide some insight for practitioners on what motivates full versus partial KS.Originality value - The study challenges the assumption that KS is a single behavior, and starts to parse out the complexities within the KS literature with respect to predictors of actual KS behaviors.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is using competing hypotheses (a spillover hypothesis, based on Engagement Theory, and a provisioning hypothesis, based on Adaptive Cost Theory) to help explain ...why employees become disengaged from knowledge sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
– Employed knowledge workers completed an online questionnaire regarding their job characteristics, their general health and wellness, perceived organizational support, job engagement and disengagement from knowledge sharing.
Findings
– The findings provide empirical support for Adaptive Cost Theory and illustrate the relationship between Engagement Theory and the Disengagement from Knowledge Sharing. In particular, this research illustrates the importance of health and wellness for preventing disengagement from knowledge sharing. In addition, the findings introduce a new finding of tensions between job engagement and knowledge sharing, which supports knowledge workers’ complaints of “being too busy” to share.
Research limitations/implications
– This study uses cross-sectional methodology; however, the participants are employed and in the field. Given the theoretical arguments that disengagement from knowledge sharing should be either short term or transient, future research should follow-up with diary methods to capture this to confirm the study’s conclusions.
Practical implications
– The findings of this study provide some insight for practitioners on how to prevent disengagement from knowledge sharing. New predictors and an interesting tension between job engagement and knowledge sharing are identified.
Originality/value
– This study examines an alternative explanation for the lack of knowledge sharing in organizations, and uses competing theories to identify the reasons for the disengagement from knowledge sharing.
Purpose - Using the stressor-strain model and media richness theory, this study seeks to investigate the relationship between receiving a harassing message via computer-mediated communication and ...psychological health.Design methodology approach - A sample of 492 individuals completed an online questionnaire. Three media characteristics are examined as potential moderators: media richness, anonymity of the harasser, and location where the victim received the harassing message.Findings - The results suggest that virtual harassment is associated with diminished psychological health (both directly and mediated by fear of future harassment), and each media characteristic plays a role in understanding the level of fear of future harassment. Anonymity and location moderate the mediator's (fear) role in the stressor-strain model.Research limitations implications - This research addresses the need for explicit testing of the differentiating factors of various forms of workplace aggression as moderators. Specifically, media characteristics are relevant in the psychological experience of virtual harassment.Practical implications - Virtual harassment appears to occur more frequently than face-to-face harassment, and often the two forms co-occur. Implications for EAP counselors, computer usage and harassment policies are discussed.Originality value - This study is the first to examine how media richness, anonymity and location of harassing message impacts the individual outcomes of workplace non-sexual virtual harassment. The results indicate that, while related to face-to-face harassment, virtual harassment appears to have more nuanced considerations for both practitioners and researchers.
Scope
Promoting the development of brown or beige adipose tissue may protect against obesity and related metabolic features, and potentially underlies protective effects of genistein in mice.
Methods ...and results
We observed that application of genistein to 3T3‐L1 adipocytes changed the lipid distribution from large droplets to a multilocular distribution, reduced mRNAs indicative of white adipocytes (ACC, Fasn, Fabp4, HSL, chemerin, and resistin) and increased mRNAs that are a characteristic feature of brown/beige adipocytes (CD‐137 and UCP1). Transcripts with a role in adipocyte differentiation (Cebpβ, Pgc1α, Sirt1) peaked at different times after application of genistein. These responses were not affected by the estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist fulvestrant, revealing that this action of genistein is not through the classical ER pathway. The Sirt1 inhibitor Ex‐527 curtailed the genistein‐mediated increase in UCP1 and Cebpβ mRNA, revealing a role for Sirt1 in mediating the effect. Baseline oxygen consumption and the proportional contribution of proton leak to maximal respiratory capacity was greater for cells exposed to genistein, demonstrating greater mitochondrial uncoupling.
Conclusions
We conclude that genistein acts directly on adipocytes or on adipocyte progenitor cells to programme the cells metabolically to adopt features of beige adipocytes. Thus, this natural dietary agent may protect against obesity and related metabolic disease.
Consumption of genistein, found in soya beans, may have health benefits. In cultured cells, genistein promotes characteristics of brown (or beige) adipose tissue (BAT), rather than white adipose tissue (WAT). Mitochondria in BAT ‘waste’ energy by generating heat, rather than ATP. Thus, consuming genistein may encourage the development of BAT and protect against obesity and features of metabolic disease.
This study considers the dilemma faced by employees every time a colleague requests knowledge: should they share their knowledge? We use adaptive cost theory and self-efficacy theory to examine how ...individual characteristics (i.e., self-efficacy and trait competitiveness) and situational perceptions (i.e., 'busyness' and perceived competition) affect knowledge sharing behaviours. A study was conducted with 403 students who completed a problem-solving exercise and who were permitted (but not required) to respond to requests for knowledge from people who were doing the same activity. Our results suggest that people who perceive significant time pressure are less likely to share knowledge. Trait competitiveness predicted perceived competition. This and low task self-efficacy created a sense of time pressure, which in turn led to people feeling 'too busy' to share their knowledge when it was requested. Perceived competition was not directly related to knowledge sharing. Implications for research and practitioners are discussed.
We previously identified the ZTRE (
z
inc
t
ranscriptional
r
egulatory
e
lement) in genes involved in zinc homeostasis and showed that it mediates transcriptional repression in response to zinc. We ...now report that ZNF658 acts at the ZTRE. ZNF658 was identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry of a band excised after electrophoretic mobility shift assay using a ZTRE probe. The protein contains a KRAB domain and 21 zinc fingers. It has similarity with ZAP1 from
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
, which regulates the response to zinc restriction, including a conserved DNA binding region we show to be functional also in ZNF658. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted to ZNF658 abrogated the zinc-induced, ZTRE-dependent reduction in SLC30A5 (ZnT5 gene), SLC30A10 (ZnT10 gene), and CBWD transcripts in human Caco-2 cells and the ability of zinc to repress reporter gene expression from corresponding promoter-reporter constructs. Microarray analysis of the effect of reducing ZNF658 expression by siRNA uncovered a large decrease in rRNA. We find that ZTREs are clustered within the 45S rRNA precursor. We also saw effects on expression of multiple ribosomal proteins. ZNF658 thus links zinc homeostasis with ribosome biogenesis, the most active transcriptional, and hence zinc-demanding, process in the cell. ZNF658 is thus a novel transcriptional regulator that plays a fundamental role in the orchestrated cellular response to zinc availability.
Endothelial cell senescence and Zn nutritional status influence cardiovascular disease. The influence of Zn appears dichotomous, hence it is imperative to understand the relationship with cellular ...senescence to improve knowledge about the molecular and cellular basis of the disease. Here we aimed to determine: 1) the impact of chronic exposure to a moderately high dose of Zn on senescence of endothelial cells; 2) the changes in Zn homeostasis during the lifespan of primary cultured endothelial cells; and 3) the susceptibility of proliferating and senescent endothelial cells to cell death after short term exposure to increasing doses of Zn and of the Zn chelator TPEN. Chronic exposure to Zn accelerated senescence and untreated cells at later passages, where doubling time had increased, displayed relocation of labile Zn and altered expression of genes involved in the response to Zn toxicity, including SLC30A1, SLC39A6, SLC30A5, SLC30A10 and metallothioneins, indicating that senescent cells have altered zinc homeostasis. Most Zn-dependent genes that were expressed differently between early and late passages were correlated with changes in the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. Short-term treatment with a high dose of Zn leads to cell death, but only in the population of cells at both earlier and later passages that had already entered senescence. In contrast, Zn depletion led to death of cells at earlier but not later passages, which suggests that there are sub-populations of senescent cells that are resistant to Zn depletion. This resistant senescent cell population may accumulate under conditions of Zn deficiency and contribute to vascular pathology.
•Chronic exposure to a moderately high dose of Zn accelerates senescence in human primary endothelial cells•Senescent cells display altered Zn homeostasis and increased expression of genes involved in protection against Zn toxicity•Part of senescent cell population undergo cell death in response to high dose of Zn•Senescent endothelial cells acquire resistance to Zn depletion, which may underline a pathological role in Zn deficiency
Gustatory receptors (Grs) expressed in insect taste neurons signal the presence of carbohydrates, sugar alcohols, CO2, bitter compounds and oviposition stimulants. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) has ...one of the smallest Gr gene sets (12 Gr genes) of any insect whose genome has been sequenced. Honeybees live in eusocial colonies with a division of labour and perform age-dependent behavioural tasks, primarily food collection. Here, we used RT-qPCR to quantify Gr mRNA in honeybees at two ages (newly-emerged and foraging-age adults) to examine the relationship between age-related physiology and expression of Gr genes. We measured the Gr mRNAs in the taste organs and also the brain and gut. The mRNA of all Gr genes was detected in all tissues analysed but showed plasticity in relative expression across tissues and in relation to age. Overall, Gr gene expression was higher in the taste organs than in the internal tissues but did not show an overall age-dependent difference. In contrast Gr gene expression in brain was generally higher in foragers, which may indicate greater reliance on internal nutrient sensing. Expression of the candidate sugar receptors AmGr1, AmGr2 and AmGr3 in forager brain was affected by the types of sugars bees fed on. The levels of expression in the brain were greater for AmGr1 but lower for AmGr2 and AmGr3 when bees were fed with glucose and fructose compared with sucrose. Additionally, AmGr3 mRNA was increased in starved bees compared to bees provided ad libitum sucrose. Thus, expression of these Grs in forager brain reflects both the satiety state of the bee (AmGr3) and the type of sugar on which the bee has fed.
Display omitted
The paradigm of ribosome usage in protein translation has shifted from a stance proposed as scientists began to unpick the genetic code that each mRNA was partnered by its own, unique ...ribosome to a rapid reversal of this view that ribosomes are completely interchangeable and simply recruited to mRNAs from a completely homogenous cellular pool. Evidence that the ribosomal proteome, ribosomal gene transcriptome and ribosome protein and RNA modifications differ between cells and tissues points to the fact that ribosomes are heterogeneous in their composition and have a degree of specialisation in their function. It has also been posited that the tissue-specificity of ribosome diseases provides an indication of functional ribosome heterogeneity, but there are substantial caveats to this interpretation. Only now have proteomic technologies developed to a level enabling accurate stoichiometric comparison of the abundance of specific ribosomal proteins in actively translating ribosomes and to measure protein in non-denatured ribosomes. This poises the field for the provocation that ribosome heterogeneity offers a novel and powerful inroad for the pharmacological targeting of disease. Such ribosome-targeted treatments may extend beyond specific ribosomopathies through strategies such as targeting features of ribosomes that are unique to diseased cells, particularly cancer cells, or to activated immune cells, as well as augmenting the action of other drugs through weakening the production of new proteins in target tissues. We may also be able to harness the potential power in ribosome diversity and specialism to better tune synthetic biology for the production of pharmaceutical proteins.
There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that metal homeostasis is dysregulated in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although expression levels of several transporters belonging ...the SLC30 family, which comprises predominantly zinc transporters, have been studied in the AD brain, SLC30A10 (ZnT10) has not been studied in this context. To determine if dysregulated expression of ZnT10, which may transport both Zn and Mn, could be a factor that contributes to AD, we investigated if there were differences in ZnT10 mRNA levels in specimens of frontal cortex from AD patients and controls and also if brain tissue from the APP/PS1 transgenic (Tg) mouse model showed abnormal levels of ZnT10 mRNA expression. Our results show that ZnT10 is significantly (P<0.01) decreased in the frontal cortex in AD. Furthermore, we observed a significant decrease in ZnT10 mRNA levels in the APP/PS1-Tg mice compared with wild-type controls (P<0.01). Our results suggest that this dysregulation in ZnT10 could further contribute to disease progression.
PDF
