At the contemporary workplace, employees are expecting non-tangible resources on top of economic benefits, which suggests the importance of psychological contract. However, studies to date are inclined to focus on outcomes of psychological contract. Given that psychological contract is a perception and involves fulfilment of obligations, employees’ grit and the ability of utilisation of emotion in facilitating cognitive processes might influence psychological contract. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between grit and psychological contract with emotional utilisation acting as the mediator in the relationship. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were collected from 194 university staff using three measures: Psychological Contract Inventory, Short Grit Scale, and Assessing Emotions Scale. Correlation was conducted to examine the relationships between the three constructs. Regression analysis was conducted using SPSS 23 to test for mediation effect of emotional utilisation. The results revealed that grit and utilisation of emotion had significant relationships with psychological contract respectively, and grit was also significantly related to utilisation of emotion. Moreover, utilisation of emotion mediated the relationship between grit and psychological contract. The findings provide implications for employers to take into account of grit and utilisation of emotion in addressing psychological contract of employees.
A high leaf vein density is both an essential feature of C4 photosynthesis and a foundation trait to C4 evolution, ensuring the optimal proportion and proximity of mesophyll and bundle sheath cells for permitting the rapid exchange of photosynthates. Two rice mutant populations, a deletion mutant library with a cv. IR64 background (12,470 lines) and a T-DNA insertion mutant library with a cv. Tainung 67 background (10,830 lines), were screened for increases in vein density. A high throughput method with handheld microscopes was developed and its accuracy was supported by more rigorous microscopy analysis. Eight lines with significantly increased leaf vein densities were identified to be used as genetic stock for the global C4 Rice Consortium. The candidate population was shown to include both shared and independent mutations and so more than one gene controlled the high vein density phenotype. The high vein density trait was found to be linked to a narrow leaf width trait but the linkage was incomplete. The more genetically robust narrow leaf width trait was proposed to be used as a reliable phenotypic marker for finding high vein density variants in rice in future screens.
In the study presented here, a novel chlorobenzylated bi-heterocyclic hybrid molecule (7) was synthesized and its structural confirmation was carried out by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and CHN analysis data. This compound 7 was subjected to biological study with B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. The anti-proliferative results showed that 7 showed no significant toxicity at concentrations ranging of 0-44 μM. The treatment of B16F10 cells with 7 at aforementioned concentration range indicated that migration of cells was significantly lower than that of the control cells in a dose dependent manner. The possible migration inhibitory effect of these melanoma cells was further evaluated through gelatinolytic activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 secreted from B16F10 cells. It was inferred from our results that 7 was not affecting the expression and activity of these enzymes. Some other zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were involved in the inhibitory progression. Taken together, compound 7 inhibited migrations of B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. Therefore, it may deserve consideration as a potential agent for the treatment of cancer.