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The present study investigated the effect of verbal working memory capacity (VWMC) on the processing of semantic information during on-line lexical ambiguity resolution of bilinguals. Seventeen Persian-English subordinate bilinguals of similar proficiency level were recruited to perform two experimental tasks: (1) a multi-load-level reading span task designed to measure their VWMC and (2) a cross-modal semantic priming task (CMPT), 24 h subsequent to the last encoding session, to assess their performance on semantic processing of L2 homographs whose subordinate readings were deemed "novel" for them. An overall 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference in the processing of the encoded semantic information between high and low WMC participants. The findings of the experiments lend support to the veracity of the assumptions made by Reordered Access Model in that biasing semantic context facilitates the ambiguity resolution of lexical items. Lastly, the pedagogical implications of the findings were expounded on.

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Due of the potential of species to determine ecosystem properties, it is important to understand how species abundance influences community assembly. Using vegetation surveys on 35 dry grasslands in north-east Slovenia, we defined dominant (8) and subordinate (61) plant species. They were compared on 14 traits to test for differences in community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional diversity (FD). We found that dominants and subordinates differed strongly in their functional traits. Dominants showed higher leaf dry matter content and a more pronounced stress tolerance strategy and were all clonal with a large proportion of species with rhizomes and a rich bud bank, while other species showed a higher specific leaf area, a longer flowering period and more ruderals. For most traits, FD was higher in subordinates. Our results suggest that dominants drive community structure by limited susceptibility to non-competitive processes. Dominants may have positive effects on subordinates by mitigating environmental stressors. Subordinates are able to assemble together by being dissimilar and use different fine-scale niches that are engineered and homogenised by dominants. Our results show that there are fundamental differences in the relative importance of ecological processes between dominant and subordinate plants in species-rich grasslands, which is also important for their conservational management.

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Introduction: Ethical voice is a valuable ethical behavior that enables organizations to promptly recognize and rectify unethical issues and practices, thus preventing severe dilemmas and crises. Despite its importance, the extant literature has yet to fully explore the impact of a leader's ethical voice on subordinate outcomes. This study bridges this gap by integrating social identity theory and social exchange theory to scrutinize the process by which a leader's ethical voice affects subordinate task performance. Methods: We employ a serial mediation model to explore the mechanisms by which a leader's ethical voice enhances subordinates' task performance. Our theoretical framework is empirically validated using a dataset that includes 449 subordinate-leader pairings from Chinese enterprises. Results: The survey results demonstrate that a leader's ethical voice has a significant positive impact on subordinate task performance. Subordinate identification with leader and leader-member exchange not only individually mediate the effects of a leader's ethical voice on subordinate task behavior but also jointly serve as a chain-mediated mechanism in the influence of a leader's ethical voice on subordinate task behavior. Discussion: These findings illuminate the substantial effects that ethical leadership behaviors exert on employee performance and offer fresh perspectives on the intricate dynamics that govern this influence.

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Pigs are a social species, and they establish hierarchies for better use of resources and to reduce conflicts. However, in pig production, the opportunities for growth can differ between dominant and subordinate animals. In the present study, a system was tested to perform a dominant versus subordinate test in growing pigs to investigate how the hierarchy affects feeding behaviour, growth, and gut microbiota assessed in faeces. Sixty-four animals housed in eight different pens were used, with four castrated males and four females in each one, weighing 18 kg at arrival and maintained during the whole growing period, until 140 kg. Three stool samples were obtained from the animals directly from the anus to avoid contamination of the faeces 58, 100, and 133 days after the start of the study to investigate the microbiota composition. The dominant animals had higher gains during the growing period than the subordinates. In addition, they were performing more visits to the feeder throughout the day. Differential abundance patterns were observed in five bacterial genera, with Oliverpabstia, Peptococcus, and Faecalbacterium being more abundant in dominant animals and Holdemanella and Acetitomaculum being overrepresented in subordinate ones. This microbial biomarker accurately classified dominant versus subordinate groups of samples with an AUC of 0.92.

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The current study examined the moderating effects of subordinate-supervisor similarities on abusive supervision and employee silence relationships. We addressed the question of whether employees' silence reactions are alleviated or aggravated when the abuse comes from a supervisor who shares a similar gender and other sociodemographic attributes with the employee. The results indicated that abusive supervision led to more silence behavior and supported the moderating effect of perceived sociodemographic similarity on this relationship. However, regardless of gender similarities with their supervisors, the findings postulated that employees experiencing abusive supervision were more likely to remain silent at work. When there is a perceived sociodemographic similarity between the employee and the supervisor, abusive supervision has been found to have a harsher influence on employee's silence behavior. These findings help us better understand the antecedents of employee silence behavior and provide important implications for subordinate-supervisor similarity dynamics in exposure to abusive supervision.

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Flavonoids are crucial secondary metabolites that possess the ability to mitigate UV damage and withstand both biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, it is of immense significance to investigate the flavonoid content as a pivotal indicator for a comprehensive assessment of chestnut's drought tolerance. This study aimed to determine the flavonoid content and drought tolerance-related physiological and biochemical indices of six chestnut varieties (clones) grafted trees-Qianxi 42 (QX42), Qinglong 45 (QL45), Yanshanzaofeng (YSZF), Yanzi (YZ), Yanqiu (YQ), and Yanlong (YL)-under natural drought stress. The results were used to comprehensively analyze the drought tolerance ability of these varieties. The study revealed that the ranking of drought tolerance indices in terms of their ability to reflect drought tolerance was as follows: superoxide (oxide) dismutase (SOD) activity, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, flavone content, catalase (CAT) activity, proline (PRO) content, soluble sugar content, peroxidase (POD) activity, betaine content, flavonol content, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, soluble protein content, superoxide ion (OFR) content, superoxide (ion OFR) production rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, chlorophyll content. Through principal component analysis, the contents of flavonoids and flavonols can be used as indicators for comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance of chestnut. The comprehensive evaluation order of drought tolerance of grafted trees of 6 chestnut varieties (Clones) was: QL45 > QX42 > YQ > YZ > YSZF > YL.

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Previous research has provided evidence supporting a positive correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and flow. However, intriguing findings in the liquor manufacturing industry prompt me to consider the necessity of examining the effects of leader-subordinate EI congruence on flow. Therefore, this article begins with two questions: First, what is the impact of leader-subordinate EI congruence on flow? Second, do two distinct congruent scenarios (i.e., high-high and low-low) exhibit significant nuances that differentially influence flow? To answer these questions, this study utilizes polynomial regression and three-dimensional response surface analysis methods. A multi-source and three-phase investigation method was used to collect data from 279 subordinates and 56 leaders in the liquor manufacturing industry. Based on the person-environment (PE) fit theory, this study investigates the influence of leader-subordinate EI congruence on flow while considering leader-member exchange (LMX) as a mediator in these processes. The current study not only demonstrates a positive relationship between leader-subordinate EI congruence and LMX, but also reveals that a high-high EI matching pattern can enhance the favorable dynamics of congruence and yield higher LMX compared to a low-low matching pattern. Furthermore, this study identifies LMX as a mediator in the positive relationship between leader-subordinate EI congruence and flow. Additionally, although the incongruent scenarios are beyond the scope of this study, the findings demonstrate that a high EI subordinate paired with a low EI leader has a more detrimental impact on the LMX than a low EI subordinate paired with a high EI leader. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Chronic psychosocial stress induced by the chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC, 19 Days) paradigm promotes functional splenic in vitro glucocorticoid (GC) resistance, but only if associated with significant bite wounding or prior abdominal transmitter implantation. Moreover, sensory contact to social defeat of conspecifics represents a social stressor for the observer individual. As the occurence and severity of bite wounding is not adequately controllable, the present study aimed to develop an animal model, allowing a bite wound-independent, more reliable generation of chronically-stressed mice characterized by functional splenic in vitro GC resistance. Therefore, male C57BL/6N mice received a standardized sterile intraperitoneal (i.p.) incision surgery or SHAM treatment one week prior to 19-days of (i) CSC, (ii) witnessing social defeat during CSC exposure in sensory contact (SENS) or (iii) single-housing for control (SHC), before assessing basal and LPS-induced splenic in vitro cell viability and GC resistance. Our results indicate that individually-housed SENS but not CSC mice develop mild signs of splenic in vitro GC resistance, when undergoing prior i.p.-wounding. Taken together and considering that future studies are warranted, our findings support the hypothesis that the combination of repeated standardized i.p.-wounding with chronic sensory stress exposure represents an adequate tool to induce functional splenic in vitro GC resistance independent of the occurrence of uncontrollable bite wounds required in social stress paradigms to induce a comparable phenotype.

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Although sustainability has been a priority for organizations, there is still a lack of research on how leaders with a stakeholder perspective can motivate employees to adopt green behavior for sustainability in a complex and changing environment. This paper introduced social cognitive theory to describe two mechanisms by which responsible leadership predicts employee green behavior. Our research considers felt obligation for constructive change and stakeholder value as mediations with cognitive perspective in this process. Additionally, we consider the moderating effects of positive emotion and the superior-subordinate relationship. Our model received support from the investigation and research. By emphasizing the significance of perceived responsible leadership and proposing a new way of perceiving employee green behavior that ensures guidance from responsible leadership along the cognition perspective, the present research contributes to our understanding of the incentive effect of responsible leadership on employee green behavior.

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Purpose: Despite growing evidence of significant role of leader perfectionism in the workplace, few theoretical accounts have delved into intricate dynamics of interpersonal relationships impacted by leader perfectionism, nor have they explored the extent to which these interactions might stimulate employee unethical behavior. From an interpersonal relationship perspective, based on interpersonal complementarity theory, this study proposes a link between leader perfectionism and employee deviant behavior while assessing the mediating impact of supervisor-subordinate relationship conflict, and the moderating influence of employee narcissism. Methods: This study employed three-wave surveys, with 335 employees (female 55.8%, 26-35 years old 67.4%, bachelor's degree 61.5%, worked 3-10 years 67.4%, worked with their current leader 1-5 years 66.3%) across 11 enterprises in Chinato reduce the risk of common method bias. On this basis, MPLUS 7.4 was used to test the confirmatory factor analysis of data, and SPSS 24.0 was used to test the hypotheses. Results: (1) Leader perfectionism has a positive effect on supervisor-subordinate relationship conflict. (2) Leader perfectionism has a significantly positive effect on employee deviant behavior via supervisor-subordinate relationship conflict. (3) Employee narcissism positively moderates the relationship between leader perfectionism and supervisor-subordinate relationship conflict, and further positively moderates the indirect effect of leader perfectionism on employee deviant behavior via supervisor-subordinate relationship conflict. Conclusion: This study reveals the mechanism of how employee through deviant behavior as a opposition to leader perfectionism from an interpersonal relationship perspective, which provides theoretical and practical implications for reducing the negative impact of leader perfectionism and employee deviant behavior.

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Work sample tests gather information about behavior that is consistent with the behavior being predicted. This criterion-related validity study examines whether a work sample test can predict behaviors more than 6 months later among managers (N = 127) in a large municipal organization. Ratings from both the subordinates (SOR) and supervisors (SVR) of the managers were used as criteria for the leadership dimensions of Influencing others, Consideration, and Planning. In total, six hypotheses were tested. The results were corrected for range restriction in the predictors and for unreliability in the criteria. The hypothesis that the work sample test score of Consideration predicted subordinates' ratings of Consideration received full support ( ρ ¯ = 0.33; CI [0.06-0.56]). The Consideration work sample test score also showed a positive relationship with supervisor ratings of Consideration ( ρ ¯ = 0.22; CI [-0.01 to 0.43]), although the confidence interval includes zero. No significant criterion-related validity was found for Influencing others or Planning. Given the results, the work sample test can primarily be used to predict Consideration. The results are discussed, and suggestions for further research are provided.

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The South American weakly electric fish, Gymnotus omarorum, displays territorial aggression year-round in both sexes. To examine the role of rapid androgen modulation in non-breeding aggression, we administered acetate cyproterone (CPA), a potent inhibitor of androgen receptors, to both male and females, just before staged agonistic interactions. Wild-caught fish were injected with CPA and, 30 min later, paired in intrasexual dyads. We then recorded the agonistic behavior which encompasses both locomotor displays and emission of social electric signals. We found that CPA had no discernible impact on the levels of aggression or the motivation to engage in aggressive behavior for either sex. However, CPA specifically decreased the expression of social electric signals in both males and female dyads. The effect was status-dependent as it only affected subordinate electrocommunication behavior, the emission of brief interruptions in their electric signaling ("offs"). This study is the first demonstration of a direct and rapid androgen effect mediated via androgen receptors on non-breeding aggression. Elucidating the mechanisms involved in non-breeding aggression in this teleost model allows us to better understand potentially conserved or convergent neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying aggression in vertebrates.

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Individuals with high autistic traits have difficulty in regulating their negative emotions. However, few studies clarify the relationship between autistic traits and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. This study examined the association between adaptive and maladaptive strategies in cognitive emotion regulation and autistic traits using a non-clinical sample. Two hundred and thirty-four participants completed the Japanese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (Adult Self-Report version) and the Japanese version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The results showed that autistic traits were negatively associated with the use of adaptive subordinate strategies for cognitive emotion regulation. By contrast, autistic traits were positively associated with the use of maladaptive subordinate strategies of cognitive emotion regulation. The cognitive and emotional characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, such as perspective taking and executive function, contextualize these results. These findings can help guide not only our understanding of the relationship between autistic traits and cognitive emotion regulation but also develop interventions aimed at facilitating the use of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and preventing the use of maladapted strategies in individuals with high autistic traits.

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Following the recent emphasis on supervisory interactions in abusive supervision, this study explains why and how supervisors' job insecurity and authoritarianism are related to abusive supervision and how subordinates' characteristics, agreeableness and negotiating resistance interact with the effects of supervisors' characteristics. We conducted a field study with 261 supervisor and subordinate dyads in South Korea, and the study findings confirmed that supervisors' authoritarianism is positively related to abusive supervision and that the effect is enhanced when subordinates are highly agreeable and display resistant behaviors. The study contributes to the leadership literature, particularly on abusive supervision and personality. Moreover, our findings have practical implications for employees to manage their work relationships with their supervisors or subordinates.

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Chronic psychosocial stress is a burden of modern society and poses a clear risk factor for a plethora of somatic and affective disorders, of which most are associated with an activated immune status and chronic low-grade inflammation. Preclinical and clinical studies further suggest that a failure in immunoregulation promotes an over-reaction of the inflammatory stress response and, thus, predisposes an individual to the development of stress-related disorders. Therefore, all genetic (i.e., sex) and environmental (i.e., early life adversity; ELA) factors facilitating an adult's inflammatory stress response are likely to increase their stress vulnerability. In the present study we investigated whether repeated subcutaneous (s.c.) administrations with a heat-killed preparation of Mycobacterium vaccae (M. vaccae; National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) 11659), an abundant soil saprophyte with immunoregulatory properties, are protective against negative behavioral, immunological and physiological consequences of ELA alone or of ELA followed by chronic psychosocial stress during adulthood (CAS) in male and female mice. ELA was induced by the maternal separation (MS) paradigm, CAS was induced by 19 days of chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC) in males and by a 7-week exposure to the social instability paradigm (SIP) in females. Our data indicate that ELA effects in both sexes, although relatively mild, were to a great extent prevented by subsequent s.c. M. vaccae administrations. Moreover, although the use of different paradigms for males and females impedes a direct comparison, male mice seemed to be more susceptible to CAS than females, with only females benefitting slightly from the stress protective effects of s.c. M. vaccae administrations when given prior to CAS alone. Finally, our data support the hypothesis that female mice are more vulnerable to the additive effects of ELA and CAS than male mice and that s.c. M. vaccae administrations subsequent to ELA but prior to CAS are protective in both sexes. Taken together and considering the limitation that CAS in males and females was induced by different paradigms, our findings are consistent with the hypotheses that murine stress vulnerability during different phases of life is strongly sex dependent and that developing immunoregulatory approaches, such as repeated s.c. administrations with immunoregulatory microorganisms, have potential for prevention/treatment of stress-related disorders.

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Few studies on the effects of human activities and global climate change on temporal stability have considered either grazing or precipitation addition (PA). How community stability responds to the interaction between PA and grazing in a single experiment remains unknown. We studied the impact of grazing and PA on the temporal stability of communities in four years field experiment conducted in a typical steppe, adopting a randomized complete block design with grazing was the main block factor and PA was the split block factor. Grazing and PA had negative impacts on the temporal stability of communities. PA reduced the community stability through decreasing the stability of subordinate and community species richness (SR), whereas grazing reduced the community stability through decreasing the stability of the SR and dominant species. In contrast, grazing and PA maintained community stability through increasing species asynchronism and promoting the decoupling of asynchronism and stability. Our results revealed the different mechanisms of grazing and PA on community stability. Exploring the response characteristics of population dynamics to global climate change and pasture management is key to understanding future climate scenarios and changes in community stability under grazing.

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In the face of an increasingly complex competitive environment, a company's ability to innovate is the key to a gaining sustainable competitive advantage. As the cornerstone of an organization's survival and development, employee innovative behavior is key to enhancing an organization's innovative capability. Based on a conservation of resources, this study investigates the mechanism of the role of superior-subordinate guanxi on employees' innovative behavior from both emotional and cognitive perspectives. Through the analysis of 305 full-time employees' research data, the results show that superior-subordinate guanxi can promote employees' innovative behavior by stimulating their work passion and reducing their dependence on superiors. Our research provides certain theoretical guidance and policy recommendations for enterprises to improve the innovation ability of employees by revealing the internal mechanism of superior-subordinate guanxi affecting the innovation behavior of employees.

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Victoria is the first Australian jurisdiction to enact legislation establishing a regulatory framework specifically to guide government management of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics. The Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Act 2021 (Vic) inserts Pt 8A into the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic). The worthwhile stated objective of Pt 8A is to ensure that decision-making in response to an existing or emergent pandemic is "proactive and responsive", "informed by public health advice and other relevant information", and transparent and accountable. This column analyses sections of Pt 8A related to this aim, which grant decision-making powers, require various matters to inform this decision-making, and provide measures for oversight of decision-making. The column argues that Pt 8A constitutes a useful model on which Victoria and other jurisdictions could build and recommends further legislative amendments to help achieve its objective.

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Male C57BL/6N mice exposed to the chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC; 19 days) paradigm, a preclinically validated model of chronic psychosocial stress, are characterized by unaffected basal morning plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentrations despite adrenal and pituitary hyperplasia and increased adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) plasma concentrations, compared with single-housed control (SHC) mice. However, as CSC mice are still able to show an increased CORT secretion towards novel heterotypic stressors, these effects might reflect an adaptation rather than a functional breakdown of general hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functionality. In the present study we used male mice of a genetically modified mouse line, to investigate whether genetically-driven ACTH overexpression compromises adaptational processes occurring at the level of the adrenals during CSC exposure. Experimental mice carried a point mutation in the DNA binding domain of the glucocorticoid (GC) receptor (GR), attenuating dimerization of GR (GRdim), resulting in a congenially compromised negative feedback inhibition at the level of the pituitary. In line with previous studies, CSC mice in both the wild type (WT; GR+/+) and GRdim group developed adrenal enlargement. Moreover, compared with respective SHC and WT mice, CSC GRdim mice show increased basal morning plasma ACTH and CORT concentrations. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis revealed neither a genotype effect, nor a CSC effect on pituitary mRNA expression of the ACTH precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC). Finally, CSC increased anxiety-related behavior, active coping and splenocyte in vitro (re)activity in both WT and GRdim mice, while a CSC-induced increase in adrenal lipid vesicles and splenic GC resistance was detectable only in WT mice. Of note, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated splenocytes of GRdim mice were resistant to the inhibitory effects of CORT. Together our findings support the hypothesis that pituitary ACTH protein concentration is negatively controlled by GR dimerization under conditions of chronic psychosocial stress, while POMC gene transcription is not dependent on intact GR dimerization under both basal and chronic stress conditions. Finally, our data suggest that adrenal adaptations during chronic psychosocial stress (i.e., ACTH desensitization), aiming at the prevention of prolonged hypercorticism, are protective only to a certain threshold of plasma ACTH levels.

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Introduction: Gaslighting is a form of abuse that has transgressed the realms of romantic relationships to the relationships at work. Despite the growing literature on abuse at work, the conceptualization and measurement of gaslighting at work have received scarce attention. The study aimed to address this existing lacuna in the literature by conceptualizing and developing a measure of gaslighting at work. Methods: By drawing upon and integrating existing works of literature on harmful leader behaviors, workplace abuse, and workplace mistreatment, the authors have conceptualized the concept of gaslighting in a new context, i.e., work settings, and delineated its dimensions and conceptual boundaries. Among three different samples (total N = 679) of employees, the study developed a new 12-item measure of gaslighting in work relationships, the Gaslighting at Work Questionnaire (GWQ). The study further tested the psychometric properties of GWQ, namely, internal consistency, face, and construct validity of GWQ. Additionally, a time-lagged study was used to validate the scale within a nomological net of conceptual relationships. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-dimensional structure of gaslighting at work (trivialization and affliction). The psychometric properties of GWQ were established. Finally, using a time-lagged study, the scale was validated within a nomological net of conceptual relationships by showing the relationship of gaslighting at work with role conflict and job satisfaction. Discussion: The GWQ scale offers new opportunities to understand and measure gaslighting behaviors of a supervisor toward their subordinates in the work context. It adds to the existing literature on harmful leader behaviors, workplace abuse, and mistreatment by highlighting the importance of identifying and measuring gaslighting at work.