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Employees' belief in the traditional work ethics of hard work and diligence as virtues in their own right has significantly declined in recent times in Taiwan. Job involvement as a mediator of the influence of work values on organizational commitment remains unclear, and needs to be explored in a non-western work context. In addition, the degree of organizational commitment has not been shown to be related to the actual amount of nursing work or labor intensity required in any nursing care environment. This study investigates the relationship between work values, job involvement and organizational commitment in a sample of 1047 Taiwanese nurses from Taiwan. The study utilizes a cross-sectional survey design. The sample consisted of Registered Nurses (RNs) (N=1,047) recruited from a convenience sample in nine regional and teaching hospitals in Taiwan. Results showed that work values were positively related to job involvement and organizational commitment, and job involvement is positively related to organizational commitment. Subsequent analyses revealed that job involvement could play an important role in mediation, and that establishing a higher level of job involvement may be more important than focusing only on organizational commitment. This study has implications for organizations attempting to enhance organizational commitment through increased job involvement. It is anticipated that by improving these various factors, the turnover and absenteeism will be reduced and the organizations become more effective and productive.

Our study suggests that fasting serum adiponectin is negatively associated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, hence arterial stiffness, in kidney transplant patients.

Plectin is a versatile cytoplasmic cross-linking protein that connects intermediate filaments to microfilaments, microtubules, and membrane adhesion sites. The cross-linking functions of plectin help organize the cytoskeleton into a stable meshwork important for maintaining uniformity in cell size and shape. As cells of hepatocellular carcinoma are morphologically different from normal human hepatocytes, we hypothesized that altered plectin expression and cytoskeletal organization underlies this pleomorphic transformation. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed expression levels and organization of all cytoskeletal elements, including intermediate filaments, microfilaments, and microtubules, after plectin knockdown in human Chang liver cells. We found that expression of cytokeratin 18, but not actin or tubulin, was downregulated by suppression of plectin protein. Furthermore, cytokeratin networks were partially collapsed and actin-rich stress fibers were increased. The organization of microtubule networks, by contrast, was unaltered. These findings support our hypothesis that, via effects on cytoskeletal organization, plectin deficiency might play an important role in the transformation of human liver cells.

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