Buffering Role Research Articles

Protecting well-being and performance after sickness presenteeism under demanding conditions: the dual effects of proactive personality and work reward as resources

ABSTRACT Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we tested a moderated mediation model of presenteeism. We hypothesized that heavy workload would precipitate sickness presenteeism, which would lead to elevated exhaustion and hampered job performance (mediation). We further hypothesized that proactive personality and work reward would mitigate the positive “presenteeism-exhaustion” and the negative “presenteeism-performance” relationships (moderation on the second-stage of the mediation). We conducted a two-wave panel study (with one year interval), collecting data from 218 employees working in diverse industries in Taiwan. We found significant moderating effects of proactive personality and work reward on the indirect effect of workload on job performance via presenteeism over the span of one year. Contrary to our hypotheses, workload related positively and indirectly (via presenteeism) to job performance, but only for those high in proactive personality and work reward. Although the moderating effects of proactive personality and work reward on the “workload-presenteeism-exhaustion” link were insignificant, results did support the buffering role of proactive personality on the positive relationship between presenteeism and exhaustion. Namely, this relationship was found to be positive only for employees with lower levels of proactive personality, whilst the relationship was not significant for employees higher in proactive personality. These results tentatively suggest that resources have different functions for the outcomes of presenteeism. The possibility to integrate the buffering role of resources against the deleterious effects of presenteeism with the enabling role of resources to support functional presenteeism is not only of theoretical interest, but also of important practical implications for better managing the presenteeism behaviour.

Seed predation-induced Allee effects, seed dispersal and masting jointly drive the diversity of seed sources during population expansion.

The environmental factors affecting plant reproduction and effective dispersal, in particular biotic interactions, have a strong influence on plant expansion dynamics, but their demographic and genetic consequences remain an understudied body of theory. Here, we use a mathematical model in a one-dimensional space and on a single reproductive period to describe the joint effects of predispersal seed insect predators foraging strategy and plant reproduction strategy (masting) on the spatio-temporal dynamics of seed sources diversity in the colonisation front of expanding plant populations. We show that certain foraging strategies can result in a higher seed predation rate at the colonisation front compared to the core of the population, leading to an Allee effect. This effect promotes the contribution of seed sources from the core to the colonisation front, with long-distance dispersal further increasing this contribution. As a consequence, our study reveals a novel impact of the predispersal seed predation-induced Allee effect, which mitigates the erosion of diversity in expanding populations. We use rearrangement inequalities to show that masting has a buffering role: it mitigates this seed predation-induced Allee effect. This study shows that predispersal seed predation, plant reproductive strategies and seed dispersal patterns can be intermingled drivers of the diversity of seed sources in expanding plant populations, and opens new perspectives concerning the analysis of more complex models such as integro-difference or reaction-diffusion equations.

Hukou-based Discrimination and Migrant Adolescents' Adaptation: Migrant Pattern Differences among the Buffering Role of School Engagement.

While the detrimental consequences of racial/ethnic discrimination for adolescent adaptation are well established, little is known about the long-term impact of hukou-based discrimination from the hukou (household registration) system and the potential protective benefits of adolescents' internal capabilities; furthermore, there have been even fewer studies examining potential migrant pattern differences in the association. The current study addressed these gaps by investigating the longitudinal associations between hukou-based discrimination and migrant adolescents' adaptation outcomes (cognitive ability, depressive symptoms, and behavioral problems), as well as whether school engagement moderated these pathways, and whether this function varied by adolescents' migrant patterns. The data were obtained from 1226 migrant adolescents (51.31% male; 51.47% urban migrants, 48.53% rural migrants) aged 12 to 16 years (Mage = 13.56, SD = 0.69 at Wave 1) from the China Education Panel Survey in two waves separated by twelve months. Multilevel modeling revealed that hukou-based discrimination from peers and teachers was negatively related to cognitive abilities, but positively related to depressive symptoms and behavioral problems. School engagement served not only as a facilitator of adaptation but also as a protective factor against hukou-based discrimination. The moderating effect of school engagement was more pronounced in urban migrants than in rural migrants. The current study's findings highlight the role of hukou-based discrimination in adaptation disparities and shed light on the importance of internal capabilities in protecting migrant adolescents with different migration patterns from the detrimental impacts of discrimination on the adaptation process.

Study on the blasting damage of prestressed rock-like specimens with different coupling mediums

The performance of rock blasting is significantly influenced by the coupling medium between the explosive and borehole wall. In this study, two shear-thickening fluids (corn starch suspension (CSS) and silica dioxide suspension (SDS)) and water, were used as coupling mediums. The blasting tests were conducted on cement mortar specimens under coupled blasting load and uniaxial static stresses ranging from 0 to 7.5 MPa at intervals of 2.5 MPa. Fractal theory was employed to analyze the extent of damage, crack extension and fractal characteristics of the 3D reconstructed specimens after blasting. The experimental findings revealed that specimens using SDS showed a decrease in damage followed by an increase with increasing static stress, presenting an opposite trend compared to specimens using CSS. The specimens using water exhibited intermediate results. Furthermore, numerical simulations were performed to understand the stress transmission from explosive transferring coupling medium to rock under blasting loads. The variable viscous characteristics of the coupling medium led to divergence in blast load propagation and decay, directly influencing the damage to the specimen. Under blasting load, CSS with a stronger shear-thickening effect played a beneficial buffering role, reducing the strength of the blasting load and minimizing specimen damage. On the other hand, SDS with a weaker shear-thickening effect demonstrated better stress wave propagation ability compared to water. This was reflected in the higher maximum pressure exerted by SDS, as well as the more uniform distribution of pressure, maximum shear stress, and resultant velocity along the borehole wall. The study also highlighted the potential for adjusting blast stress wave distribution by changing the detonation point's location and emphasized the advantages of CSS and SDS as stemming materials in boreholes.

Compulsory citizenship behaviour and job outcome among unpaid interns: the buffering role of perceived co-worker support

PurposeThe study aims to examine the moderating influence of perceived co-worker support in the nexus between compulsory citizenship behaviour, job involvement and social loafing amongst university interns.Design/methodology/approachFour hundred and sixty-two) respondents took part in the study by completing a self-reported questionnaire distributed via online WhatsApp platform. The respondents were selected using multistage sampling technique. The data were processed and analysed using IBM SPSS version 24 and PLS-SEM, respectively.FindingsResults reveal interns’ experience of compulsory citizenship behaviour positively influences their social loafing and negatively influences their job involvement. Furthermore, the support received from co-workers’ reduces the negative influence of compulsory citizenship behaviour on interns’ (1) social loafing and (2) job involvement. Research limitationsThe study’s main limitations have been identified as the type of organisation in which the internship was completed and the number of years of internship experience. Future research may seek to address this problem by obtaining data from a cohort that is categorised based on the nature of the organisation and duration of the internship. Practical implicationsPerceived co-worker support has been found to reduce the negative effects of interns’ compulsory citizenship behaviour on their job outcomes. It is recommended that organisations establish a supportive work environment to assist interns. This can be achieved through various means, such as engaging in team-building activities and assigning mentors, among other strategies.Originality/valueOne of the first to have examined a model linking compulsory citizenship behaviour, job involvement, social loafing and perceived co-worker support amongst interns in a higher education environment.

Plasmon-plasmon interaction and the role of buffer in epitaxial graphene microflakes

Plasmon-plasmon interaction and the role of buffer in epitaxial graphene microflakes

Metabolism and carbonate buffering drive seasonal dynamics of CO2 emissions from two German reservoirs

Biological metabolism drives much of the variation in CO2 in terrestrial ecosystems but does not explain CO2 oversaturation and emission in net autotrophic lakes and reservoirs. The unexplained CO2 could be attributed to the equilibria between CO2 and the carbonate buffering system, which is seldom integrated into CO2 budgets, let alone its interplay with metabolism on CO2 emissions. Here, we perform a process-based mass balance modeling analysis based on an 8-year dataset from two adjacent reservoirs with similar catchment sizes but contrasting trophic states and alkalinity. We find that in addition to the well-acknowledged driver of net metabolic CO2 production, carbonate buffering also determines the total amount and seasonal dynamics of CO2 emissions from the reservoirs. Carbonate buffering can contribute up to nearly 50% of whole-reservoir CO2 emissions, by converting the ionic forms of carbonate to CO2. This results in similar seasonal CO2 emissions from reservoirs with differing trophic state, even in low alkalinity system. We therefore suggest that catchment alkalinity, instead of trophic state, may be more relevant in predicting CO2 emissions from reservoirs. Our model approach highlights the important role of carbonate buffering and metabolism that generate and remove CO2 throughout the reservoirs on a seasonal scale. The inclusion of carbonate buffering could diminish a major uncertainty in the estimation of reservoir CO2 emissions and increase the robustness of aquatic CO2 emission estimates.

Challenging Sanctions: What Price Is Belarus Willing to Pay to Maintain the Autocratic Regime?

Abstract Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and state building process for Belarusian newly formed government till the elections held in August 2020, ensuring the continuity of one of the last autocracies in the world, circumstances have altered cases. It is the kind of challenge the European Union never expected to deal with, especially following the Minsk signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to create the OSCE-led Advisory Monitory Group in 1997. This paper will examine and explore the different stages in the rise of a repressive regime, the buffering role that Belarus plays in the stage of sanctions, as well as the economic implications that a partnership between the EU and Belarus might have had in the case of a successful OSCE mission and European External Action Services (EEAS) to six Eastern Europe States, including Belarus. The potential outcomes would indicate improved quality of life, more business opportunities, liberalization of economic activity and financial assistance.

Self‐compassion facilitates responsiveness to existential threat: A brief report

AbstractTerror management theory posits that validation of worldview and self‐esteem are primary defense mechanisms in keeping mortal concerns at bay, although potentially leading to the devaluation of others. Self‐compassion is considered a more inclusive defense mechanism. Drawing on preliminary research, we extended a previous investigation regarding the buffering role of self‐compassion within the Terror management theory paradigm. We embedded within a dot‐probe task a continuous death priming together with abstract and concrete threat images. We confirmed among 126 university students that following death priming, self‐compassion facilitated attentional attraction toward concrete threat and avoidance of abstract threat. These findings demonstrate the contribution of self‐compassion in coping simultaneously with different types of attentional threat and has potential to spawn future innovative research.

Reducing the chances of developing narcissistic rivalry: The buffering effects of integrity

The NARC model postulates that grandiose narcissism manifests in two trait-based forms: narcissistic admiration (i.e., agentic features) and narcissistic rivalry (i.e., antagonistic features). Theoretically, narcissistic admiration transitions into narcissistic rivalry to the extent the person is willing to pursue antagonistic (immoral) strategies in the face of ego threat. Given that integrity (i.e., the steadfast adherence to a strict moral code) should reduce this willingness, we proposed that integrity should moderate the narcissistic admiration-rivalry relationship. Participants (N = 309) completed questionnaires assessing narcissistic admiration and rivalry, integrity, and self-control (due to its confounding with integrity). As expected, we found that high integrity weakened the narcissistic admiration-rivalry relationship, and this effect of integrity was not attributable to self-control. Broadly, the data suggest how the structural dimensions of narcissism share conditional relations and how integrity can play a moderating (buffering) role on antagonistic processes in narcissism.

Endocannabinoid function and affective touch perception in trauma and non-trauma-exposed humans

Touch serves an important role in social interactions, as well as regulating our stress response. In particular, C-tactile CT afferent nerve fibres facilitate the pleasant characteristics of touch and are thus thought to serve an important function as a stress buffer. However, individuals with trauma may respond differently to touch. Emerging evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system is involved in both stress processing and social functioning. Thus, the eCB system may influence touch processing. In study one, we looked at preferences for affective touch in individuals with documented childhood trauma (N=52) or no trauma history (N=49). We also assessed variations of the endocannabinoid ligand anandamide (AEA). In a separate study with healthy participants (N=46), we examined whether pharmacological enhancement of AEA had an impact on affective touch processing. In study one, trauma exposure was associated with marginally higher AEA levels. However, we found no significant interactions between affective touch preference and the trauma group. We observed an interaction between affective touch and AEA such that decreased preference for CT-touch was associated with higher levels of AEA. In study two, we similarly found an interaction between preference for CT-optimal touch and AEA, where the high AEA group displayed less preference for affective touch. These findings suggest that both AEA and affective touch may play a role in stress buffering. Further studies using clinical populations or conducted during stress could be informative going forward.

Violent video game exposure and bullying perpetration among Chinese adolescents: The moderating role of belief in a just world.

Exposure to violent video games is associated with aggressive behaviors among adolescents. However, not all adolescents who play violent video games demonstrate bullying behaviors. Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), this cross-sectional study examined the interactive effect of individuals (i.e., belief in a just world [BJW]) and situational factors (i.e., violent video game exposure [VVGE]) on bullying perpetration. Using a representative sample of 4250 adolescents from five secondary schools in Southwest China (54.4% males, Mage = 15.14, SD = 1.5 years old), we examined the moderating role of BJW in the relationship between VVGE and bullying perpetration. The results suggest that VVGE is significantly and positively associated with bullying perpetration. Moreover, after controlling for covariates, general and personal BJW interact with the situational variable (i.e., VVGE) to predict bullying perpetration among Chinese adolescents. The positive effect of VVGE on bullying perpetration is lower among adolescents with high general and personal BJW than among adolescents with low BJW. The findings support the GAM theory and highlight the buffering role of BJW in the effect of VVGE on bullying perpetration.

Neuroticism and Stress in Older Adults: The Buffering Role of Self-Esteem.

Chronic stress is associated with accelerated aging and poor health outcomes in older adults. According to the Transactional Model of Stress (TMS), distress is experienced when one perceives the stressor, or threat, to outweigh the ability to cope. The experience of distress is correlated with trait neuroticism, which is associated with greater perceptions of stress and stress reactivity, as well as a tendency to engage in maladaptive coping strategies. However, as individual personality traits do not act in isolation, this study aimed to investigate the moderating role of self-esteem in the relationship between neuroticism and distress using a TMS framework. A total of 201 healthy older adults (Mage = 68.65 years) completed questionnaires measuring self-esteem, neuroticism, perceived stress, and positive coping. Greater neuroticism was significantly associated with less positive coping at low (b = -0.02, p < 0.001) and mean self-esteem levels (b = -0.01, p < 0.001), but not at high self-esteem levels (b = -0.01, p = 0.06). No moderating effect was found for perceived stress or overall distress. The results support the association between trait neuroticism and indices of stress and suggest a potential buffering effect of self-esteem in moderating the negative association between neuroticism and positive coping.

Organismal effects of heat in a fixed ecological niche: Implications on the role of behavioral buffering in our changing world

Increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves generate new challenges for many organisms. Our understanding of the ecological predictors of thermal vulnerability is improving, yet, at least in endotherms, we are still only beginning to understand one critical component of predicting resilience: exactly how do wild animals cope with sub-lethal heat? In wild endotherms, most prior work focuses on one or a few traits, leaving uncertainty about organismal consequences of heatwaves. Here, we experimentally generated a 2.8°C heatwave for free-living nestling tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Over a week-long period coinciding with the peak of post-natal growth, we quantified a suite of traits to test the hypotheses that (a) behavioral or (b) physiological responses may be sufficient for coping with inescapable heat. Heat-exposed nestlings increased panting and decreased huddling, but treatment effects on panting dissipated over time, even though heat-induced temperatures remained elevated. Physiologically, we found no effects of heat on: gene expression of three heat shock proteins in blood, muscle, and three brain regions; secretion of circulating corticosterone at baseline or in response to handling; and telomere length. Moreover, heat had a positive effect on growth and a marginal, but not significant, positive effect on subsequent recruitment. These results suggest that nestlings were generally buffered from deleterious effects of heat, with one exception: heat-exposed nestlings exhibited lower gene expression for superoxide dismutase, a key antioxidant defense. Despite this one apparent cost, our thorough organismal investigation indicates general resilience to a heatwave that may, in part, stem from behavioral buffering and acclimation. Our approach provides a mechanistic framework that we hope will improve understanding of species persistence in the face of climate change.

The Association Between Left-Behind Children Status and Peer Victimization: Self-Esteem and Perceived Social Support as Potential Moderators

ABSTRACT Left-behind children (LBC; being left behind by one parent or both parents who migrated to a different location over six months) suffered higher peer victimization than did non-left-behind children. However, it is unclear whether intrapersonal (i.e. self-esteem) and environmental factors (i.e. perceived social support) would moderate the effect of LBC status on peer victimization. A total of 1,064 primary school students from rural China participated in this study. They provided demographic information and completed self-report measures on self-esteem, perceived social support, and peer victimization. After controlling for age and gender, multiple regression analysis revealed that LBC experienced higher peer victimization than their non-left-behind counterparts. Self-esteem and perceived social support were negatively associated with peer victimization. Self-esteem moderated the negative impact of being left behind on peer victimization, but perceived social support did not. Furthermore, the moderated moderation model revealed that the buffering role of self-esteem in the relation between being left behind and peer victimization only emerged among children with low perceived social support. These findings suggested that being left behind would increase the risk of peer victimization, but self-esteem could be a protective factor, especially for children with low social support. Intervention programs should pay more attention to LBC in rural China, improve their self-esteem and social support, thus reducing the likelihood of suffering peer victimization.

An Adaptive Multisensor Fault Diagnosis Method for High-Speed Train Bogie

High-speed train bogies are the critical components of high-speed trains, which can play the role of traction, braking, and buffering. In long-term train service, bogies are prone to wear and aging. Currently, most studies on fault diagnosis methods are aimed at single equipment identification. It is challenging to accurately diagnose the faults of such coupled multi-equipment combination systems as bogies. Multiple devices on the bogie have implied correlations in space, and fully exploiting their spatial features enhances the fault diagnosis accuracy. This paper proposes a new bogie fault diagnosis method based on the directional graph of train bogie: RS-GAT model. The model uses the Residual-Squeeze Network (RS-Net) to construct the framework of the model and use the Graph Attention Network (GAT) for spatial information fusion and feature extraction to identify bogie faults. Using six datasets collected under the operation of high-speed trains, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach has better effectiveness than the RS-Net class model and single-layer graph class model, with diagnosis accuracy near 96%. Ablation experiments and comparisons between RS-GAT and RS-GCN verify the effectiveness of RS-Net framework and GAT model in fault classification. In addition, the RS-GAT model is found to have strong robustness when different models are analyzed using small-scale data sets.

Reactivity of Health-Related Quality of Life to Perceived Stress: The Buffering Role of Psychosocial Resources in a Longitudinal Study of Adults with and Without HIV

People with HIV now have increased longevity; however, their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) still lags significantly compared to people without HIV. Perceived stress negatively impacts HRQoL, whereas psychosocial resources are linked to better HRQoL. This longitudinal analysis aims to explore the buffering role of psychosocial resources on the relationship between HRQoL and perceived stress. Participants (N = 240) included 142 persons with HIV (PwH) and 98 without HIV, M(SD) = 50.9(8.1) years. Multilevel models over four study years examined longitudinal relationships between HRQoL (outcome) and perceived stress (predictor) and potential moderation by psychosocial resources (personal mastery, social support, and resilience) by HIV serostatus. Among PwH only, personal mastery (p = 0.001), social support (p = 0.015), and resilience (p = 0.029) were associated with an attenuated effect of perceived stress (less negative slopes) for physical HRQoL over time. Bolstering personal mastery, social support, and resilience may have relevance for improving physical well-being among PwH.

Periodically disturbing biofilms reduces expression of quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses quorum sensing to regulate the expression of virulence factors. In static environments, spatial structures, such as biofilms, can increase the expression of these virulence factors. However, in natural settings, biofilms are exposed to physical forces that disrupt spatial structure, which may affect the expression of virulence factors regulated by quorum sensing. We show that periodically disturbing biofilms composed of P.aeruginosa using a physical force reduces the expression of quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors. At an intermediate disturbance frequency, the expression of virulence factors in the las, rhl, and pqs regulons is reduced. Mathematical modeling suggests that perturbation of the pqsR receptor is critical for this reduction. Removing the lasR receptor enhances the reduction in the expression of virulence factors as a result of disturbance. Our results allow identification of environments where virulence is reduced and implicate the lasR receptor as having a buffering role against disturbance.

Heat-induced antigen retrieval utilizing modified Tris-EDTA buffer for reprobing of Western blots on nitrocellulose paper

The development of heat-induced antigen retrieval technologies with Tris-EDTA buffer has dramatically improved immunostaining of specific antigens for routine immunohistochemical detection (Krenacs et al., 2010) [1]. However, little evidence exists on whether heat-Induced antigen retrieval utilizing Tris-EDTA buffer can strip western blot (WB) membranes and allow sequential reprobing. Here, we serendipitously discover that ∼95 °C Tris-EDTA buffer with 0.01% Tween 20 could repeatedly strip the Nitrocellulose membranes (NC). After electroblotting, NC blots were soaked into Tris-EDTA stripping buffer (∼95 °C, 10–25min) and we could perform at least five rounds (the following antibodies used: Vinculin, Atg7, Caspase-3, UBA5, JNK and ERK1/2) stripping in sequential chemiluminescent detections. The NC membranes also show clear western signals and background without losing transferred proteins during the reprobing process of WB. Hence, this study report additional new roles of the heat-Induced antigen retrieval Tris-EDTA buffer with 0.01% Tween 20. The method is simpler, more affordable and harmless for the nitrocellulose paper, which will be helpful for effective reprobing in western blotting applications.

The connection of α- and β-domains in mammalian metallothionein-2 differentiates Zn(II) binding affinities, affects folding, and determines zinc buffering properties.

Mammalian metallothioneins (MTs) are small Cys-rich proteins involved in Zn(II) and Cu(I) homeostasis. They bind seven Zn(II) ions in two distinct β- and α-domains, forming Zn3Cys9 and Zn4Cys11 clusters, respectively. After six decades of research, their role in cellular buffering of Zn(II) ions has begun to be understood recently. This is because of different affinities of bound ions and the proteins' coexistence in variously Zn(II)-loaded Zn4-7MT species in the cell. To date, it has remained unclear how these mechanisms of action occur and how the affinities are differentiated despite the Zn(S-Cys)4 coordination environment being the same. Here, we dissect the molecular basis of these phenomena by using several MT2 mutants, hybrid protein, and isolated domains. Through a combination of spectroscopic and stability studies, thiol(ate) reactivity, and steered molecular dynamics, we demonstrate that both protein folding and thermodynamics of Zn(II) ion (un)binding significantly differ between isolated domains and the whole protein. Close proximity reduces the degrees of freedom of separated domains, making them less dynamic. It is caused by the formation of intra- and interdomain electrostatic interactions. The energetic consequence of domains connection has a critical impact on the role of MTs in the cellular environment, where they function not only as a zinc sponge but also as a zinc buffering system keeping free Zn(II) in the right concentrations. Any change of that subtle system affects the folding mechanism, zinc site stabilities, and cellular zinc buffer components.