This paper reports the findings of a study into the factors influencing psychological wellbeing of academic staff working in a UK Higher Education Institution. The study utilised the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model as a framework to examine the balance between the effort academic staff commit to their work and the reward they receive in relation to the model's 3 reward systems: remuneration, career progression and self-esteem. This study utilised qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of academic staff engaged in predominantly teaching activities (n=39). In particular the focus groups considered the factors affecting the effort they commit to their work and the characteristics of work that help them feel rewarded. This allowed consideration of the ERI model's reward systems and exploration of a wider range of reward systems within an academic context.The findings reinforce the use of the ERI model for evaluating factors that influence the wellbeing of academic staff, providing insight into the extrinsic effort that academic staff commit to work as well as recently evolved demands from student expectations and learning capability. Informal reward mechanisms, relating to student interaction and pedagogical impact were found to have a prominent effect in helping academic staff feel rewarded for their work.This provides a possible explanation for academic staff overcommitment to their work in order to maintain informal sources of reward, in the absence of more formal institutional mechanisms. The limitations and implications for future research and practice, including possible interventions to restore effort-reward imbalance for academic staff, are discussed. Effort-Reward Imbalance in Academic Employees -2 -
The GPR119 receptor is a class A G protein-coupled receptor expressed mainly in pancreatic beta cells. Since GPR119 receptor activation ameliorates Type 2 Diabetes through an increase in glucose-dependent insulin release, the development of new GPR119 receptor agonists would be worthwhile. A better understanding of the way agonists interact with the receptor would help to design better ligands for the receptor. It also would help to better understand the agonist mechanism of action. An understanding of how agonists interact with the receptor can be acquired using molecular dynamics simulations, which cannot be performed without having force field parameters for the ligand molecule. This study presents the development of CHARMM force field parameters for AR231453, the prototypical first potent and orally available GPR119 agonist, using the Force Field Tool Kit. The parameters are validated through Normal Mode Analysis calculations and molecular dynamics simulations in combination with infrared spectroscopy. V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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