Mice lacking miR-146a exhibit exaggerated inflammatory responses, autoimmunity, and increased rate of tumorigenesis.

PurposeOrganizations aspire to have engaged employees, and spend considerable resources to measure and improve employee engagement. Theoretically, leadership is a key antecedent of engagement, yet there is no research directly linking leader behaviors and follower engagement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evidence for such a link.Design/methodology/approachResearch was conducted with a large New Zealand insurance organization, using data from direct reports. A pilot study was first conducted (n=236), in which the JRA 360‐degree feedback instrument was factor analyzed. Subsequently, a linkage analysis (n=178) was conducted to establish the relationship of the resultant leadership factors with JRA's employee engagement measure.FindingsThree factors emerged from the JRA 360: supports team, performs effectively, and displays integrity. Correlation and regression results showed that supports team was the strongest predictor of engagement; semi‐partial correlations showed that the three leadership factors overlapped in their relationships with engagement, with supports team predicting most unique variance.Research limitations/ implicationsAdditional research is needed to assess the generalizability of the findings, and to establish causality.Practical implicationsThe results demonstrate that there are multiple ways in which leadership behaviors are associated with employee engagement. The primacy of supports team suggests that leader behaviors in this domain should be a priority. Although our design does not establish causality, we suggest that leaders should capitalize on their strengths to improve engagement among their followers.Originality/valueThe design of this study is superior to previous research, in particular using a clear measure of employee engagement. The results suggest that team‐oriented behaviors are the most important for leaders in achieving high employee engagement. Importantly, the results also indicate that other leadership behaviors – relating to effective performance and displaying integrity – may also facilitate employee engagement.

Magneto-elasto-electric (ME) coupling heterostructures, consisting of piezoelectric layers bonded to magnetostrictive ones, provide for a new class of electromagnetic emitter materials on which a portable (area ~ 16 cm2) very low frequency (VLF) transmitter technology could be developed. The proposed ME transmitter functions as follows: (a) a piezoelectric layer is first driven by alternating current AC electric voltage at its electromechanical resonance (EMR) frequency, (b) subsequently, this EMR excites the magnetostrictive layers, giving rise to magnetization change, (c) in turn, the magnetization oscillations result in oscillating magnetic fields. By Maxwell’s equations, a corresponding electric field, is also generated, leading to electromagnetic field propagation. Our hybrid piezoelectric-magnetostrictive transformer can take an input electric voltage that may include modulation-signal over a carrier frequency and transmit via oscillating magnetic field or flux change. The prototype measurements reveal a magnetic dipole like near field, demonstrating its transmission capabilities. Furthermore, the developed prototype showed a 104 times higher efficiency over a small-circular loop of the same area, exhibiting its superiority over the class of traditional small antennas.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to apply and test a theory specifying which resources are most important for employee engagement. Specifically, this paper draws on resource theory to outline six resources (love, status, services, information, goods, money) provided by the organization that employees will exchange for engagement. Design/methodology/approach -The paper's main focus is theoretical, outlining how resource theory provides a more nuanced classification and understanding of the workplace antecedents of engagement. Specifically, engagement is proposed to represent love as a resource, since engagement represents the whole-hearted investment of oneself. Thus, employees will exchange engagement for employer resources that similarly denote individual warmth and caring. The resource classification is assessed using engagement data from IBM NZ (n ¼ 13,929). Findings -The theoretical analysis identifies eight workplace resources, five of which are proposed to be exchanged for engagement: mission, vision and values; opportunities for development; supportive leadership; job resources; and teamwork. Subsequent empirical analysis of IBM NZ data identified three similar constructs, with two being stronger predictors of employee engagement: learning and development; and vision and purpose. This provides some initial support for the application of resource theory to engagement. Practical implications -Resource theory enables the identification of specific resources that will more strongly facilitate engagement: those which demonstrate warmth and caring for the employee.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most frequent malignant primary brain tumor. A major reason for the overall median survival being only 14.6 months is migrating tumor cells left behind after surgery. Another major reason is tumor cells having a so-called cancer stem cell phenotype being therefore resistant towards traditional chemo- and radiotherapy. A group of novel molecular targets are microRNAs (miRNAs). MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs exerting post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in migrating GBM cells using serum-free stem cell conditions. We used patient-derived GBM spheroid cultures for a novel serum-free migration assay. MiRNA expression of migrating tumor cells isolated at maximum migration speed was compared with corresponding spheroids using an OpenArray Real-Time PCR System. The miRNA profiling revealed 30 miRNAs to be differentially expressed. In total 13 miRNAs were upregulated and 17 downregulated in migrating cells compared to corresponding spheroids. The three most deregulated miRNAs, miR-1227 (up-regulated), miR-32 (down-regulated) and miR-222 (down-regulated), were experimentally overexpressed. A non-significantly increased migration rate was observed after miR-1227 overexpression. A significantly reduced migration rate was observed after miR-32 and miR-222 overexpression. In conclusion a shift in microRNA profile upon glioma cell migration was identified using an assay avoiding serum-induced migration. Both the miRNA profiling and the functional validation suggested that miR-1227 may be associated with increased migration and miR-32 and miR-222 with decreased migration. These miRNAs may represent potential novel targets in migrating glioma cells.