Non-Genomic AhR-Signaling Modulates the Immune Response in Endotoxin-Activated Macrophages After Activation by the Environmental Stressor BaP

Emerging studies revealed that the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a receptor sensing environmental contaminants, is executing an immunomodulatory function. However, it is an open question to which extent this is achieved by its role as a transcription factor or via non-genomic signaling. We utilized a multi-post-translational modification-omics approach to examine non-genomic AhR-signaling after activation with endogenous (FICZ) or exogenous (BaP) ligand in endotoxin-activated (LPS) monocyte-derived macrophages. While AhR activation affected abundances of few proteins, regulation of ubiquitination and phosphorylation were highly pronounced. Although the number and strength of effects depended on the applied AhR-ligand, both ligands increased ubiquitination of Rac1, which participates in PI3K/AKT-pathway-dependent macrophage activation, resulting in a pro-inflammatory phenotype. In contrast, co-treatment with ligand and LPS revealed a decreased AKT activity mediating an anti-inflammatory effect. Thus, our data show an immunomodulatory effect of AhR activation through a Rac1ubiquitination-dependent mechanism that attenuated AKT-signaling, resulting in a mitigated inflammatory response.

Stimulating Customer Citizenship Behavior With Service Climate: The Mediating Role of Customer Psychological Empowerment

This study expanded the research on service climate to the perspective of customers in the hospitality context and explicated the influence mechanism of service climate on customer citizenship behavior. Service climate traditionally perceived by employees has been well studied, but only limited studies focused on the customer perspective service climate. Based on the existing literature, customer perceived service climate in the hospitality industry was operationalized and its influence on customer citizenship behavior was proposed. After the measurement purification with exploratory factor analysis based on the pilot data using IBM SPSS 20, data collection was conducted in the hotels in Wuhan, China. A total of 432 valid questionnaires were collected and the data were analyzed for hypotheses testing, using Mplus 7.4. The research results indicate that each factor of customer service climate has a positive impact on customer citizenship behavior, with the strength of effects being different. Customer psychological empowerment plays a partial mediating role between some factors of service climate and customer citizenship behavior. The findings provide implications for service enterprises in terms of service climate design and customer citizenship behavior facilitation.

Identifying and modeling the antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior: a three-study analysis

Purpose This study aims to identify and classify the range of antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior (CKB) to provide a better understanding of their implications for addressing CKB. Design/methodology/approach The study includes three studies. Using meta-analysis (Study 1) and meta-synthesis (Study 2), the authors reviewed extant primary quantitative and qualitative studies to aggregate information on the antecedents of CKB identified to date. In Study 3, these antecedents were modeled schematically by using the matrix of cross-impact multiplications (MICMAC) analysis. Findings The meta-analysis and meta-synthesis (Studies 1 and 2) yielded 28 antecedents of CKB. These were categorized into five groups of characteristics, relating to the workplace, leadership, interpersonal, individual differences and knowledge. Then, in Study 3, the antecedents were categorized according to their interrelatedness and strength of effects (using four quadrants comprising autonomous, dependence, driving and linkage factors). Originality/value This study takes an integrative approach to the CKB literature, both by aggregating underlying constructs (knowledge hoarding, hiding, etc.) and in aggregating quantitative and qualitative literature. This prevents silos and integrates knowledge across a range of CKB studies. Besides, the authors reveal the relative role of antecedents by modeling them.

Settling on leaves or flowers: herbivore feeding site determines the outcome of indirect interactions between herbivores and pollinators

Herbivore attack can alter plant interactions with pollinators, ranging from reduced to enhanced pollinator visitation. The direction and strength of effects of herbivory on pollinator visitation could be contingent on the type of plant tissue or organ attacked by herbivores, but this has seldom been tested experimentally. We investigated the effect of variation in feeding site of herbivorous insects on the visitation by insect pollinators on flowering Brassica nigra plants. We placed herbivores on either leaves or flowers, and recorded the responses of two pollinator species when visiting flowers. Our results show that variation in herbivore feeding site has profound impact on the outcome of herbivore–pollinator interactions. Herbivores feeding on flowers had consistent positive effects on pollinator visitation, whereas herbivores feeding on leaves did not. Herbivores themselves preferred to feed on flowers, and mostly performed best on flowers. We conclude that herbivore feeding site choice can profoundly affect herbivore–pollinator interactions and feeding site thereby makes for an important herbivore trait that can determine the linkage between antagonistic and mutualistic networks.

Cultural Values Versus Cultural Norms as Predictors of Differences in Helping Behaviors and in Emotion Regulation: A Preliminary Nation-Level Test Related to the Leung-Morris Model

ABSTRACTLeung and Morris (2015) propose conditions under which values, norms, and schemata drive cultural differences in behavior. They build on past theories about dimensions of situational strength to propose that personal values drive behavior more in weak situations and perceived norms drive behavior more in strong situations. Drawing on this analysis as well as two recent models of cultural tightness-looseness, country-level effects are predicted on the assumption that tighter cultures more frequently create strong situations and looser cultures more frequently create weak situations. Using secondary data, I examine values as well as perceived descriptive norms and injunctive norms relevant to collectivism in relation to two key dependent measures: helping strangers and emotion regulation. The relation of embeddedness values to helping strangers is moderated negatively by tightness (in that high embeddedness reduces helping less in the context of tightness), and its relation to emotion regulation is moderated positively (in that embeddedness increases emotion regulation more in the context of tightness). Furthermore, descriptive norms show main effects for both dependent variables that are predominantly unmoderated by tightness. Finally, the link of injunctive norms with emotion regulation is moderated positively by tightness (in that injunctiveness heightens emotion regulation more in the context of tightness). Results support the relevance of nation-level tightness to reliance on values and norms, but the strength of effects depends on how it is operationalized.

Walking the tightrope. Combining family life, career and job mobility

The article examines the ways in which job mobility affects the relationship between dual careers and parenthood and the ability of couples to realise both. Based on survey data from the project Job Mobilities and Family Lives in Europe for six countries (Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium), bivariate analyses compare ratios of couples with children and/or one or two careers between couples confronted with job mobility in the husband’s or wife’s job and those who have no such mobility. Multivariate analyses test the influence of job mobility and other relevant circumstances on female employment as well as on having children. Indicators measuring respondents’ subjective evaluation of the influences are reviewed to confirm the results. The results suggest that couples tend to be childless rather than give up one partner’s job if the two goals are incompatible. Job mobility, as with other unfavourable circumstances, reduces the ability of couples to combine both, and this ability is much more reduced if the woman is job mobile than if the man is. In addition, national context matters for level of compatibility and for strength of effects. Zusammenfassung Der Artikel untersucht den Einfluss beruflich bedingter Mobilität auf das Verhältnis von Doppelverdienern und Elternschaft und auf die Fähigkeit von Paaren, beides zu realisieren. Anhand von Umfragedaten des Projektes Job Mobilities and Family Lives in Europe für sechs Länder (Deutschland, Frankreich, Spanien, Polen, Schweiz, Belgien) vergleichen bivariate Analysen Paare, die entweder durch den Beruf des Mannes oder den der Frau mit Mobilität konfrontiert sind, mit Paaren, die nicht davon betroffen sind, hinsichtlich der Anteile von Eltern, von Ein- und von Doppelverdiener-Paaren. Multivariate Analysen testen den Einfluss von beruflicher Mobilität und anderen relevanten Bedingungen auf die Erwerbstätigkeit von Frauen sowie auf Elternschaft. Indikatoren werden gesichtet, die die Beurteilung der Befragten erfassen, um die Befunde zu erhärten. Der Artikel kommt zu dem Schluss, dass Paare eher kinderlos bleiben als eine der beiden Erwerbstätigkeiten aufzugeben, wenn beides nicht miteinander vereinbar ist. Ähnlich wie andere nachteilige Umstände vermindert berufliche Mobilität die Fähigkeit von Paaren, beides zu vereinbaren. Wenn die Frau beruflich mobil ist, ist der Effekt weitaus stärker, als wenn der Mann mobil ist. Auch der nationale Kontext macht einen Unterschied: sowohl für den Grad der Vereinbarkeit im Allgemeinen wie auch für die Stärke der Effekte.