No abstract

The high turnover of nurses has become a global problem. Several studies have proposed that nursesÕ perceptions of the ethical climate of their organization are related to higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and thus lead to lower turnover. However, there is limited empirical evidence supporting a relationship between different types of ethical climate within organizations and facets of job satisfaction. Furthermore, no published studies have investigated the impact of different types of ethical climate on the three components of organizational commitment. This study attempts to explore the different types of ethical climate that exist in hospitals, and the degree of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of nurses in Taiwan. It uses path analysis to understand which types of ethical climate influence different facets of job satisfaction. The study also examines the impact of different types of ethical climate and facets of job satisfaction on the three components of organizational commitment. Questionnaires were distributed to 352 nurses. The relationships among variables were assessed by factor analysis, reliability, descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression. The important conclusion is that hospitals can increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment by influencing an organizationÕs ethical climate. Hospital administrators can foster within organizations the climate types of caring, independent, and rules climate that increase satisfaction, while preventing organizations from developing the type of instrumental climate that decreases it.

The high turnover of nurses has become a global problem. Several studies have proposed that nurses' perceptions of the ethical climate of their organization are related to higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment and thus lead to higher organizational citizenship behaviors. This study uses hierarchical regression to understand which types of ethical climate, facets of job satisfaction, and the three components of organizational commitment influence different dimensions of organizational citizenship behaviors. Questionnaires were distributed to 450 nurses, and 352 usable questionnaires were returned. The findings of the article suggest that hospitals can increase organizational citizenship behaviors by influencing an organization's ethical climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Hospital administrators can foster within organizations, the climate types of caring, law and code and rules climate, satisfaction with coworkers, and affective commitment and normative commitment that increase organizational citizenship behavior, while preventing organizations from developing the type of instrumental climate and continuance commitment that decreases it.

No abstract

Communication between cancer cells and their microenvironment plays an important role in cancer development, but the precise mechanisms by which cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) impact anti-cancer immunity and cancer progression in lung cancer are poorly understood. Here, we report that lung fibroblasts when activated by lung cancer cells produce tryptophan metabolite kynurenine (Kyn) that inhibits dendritic cells' differentiation and induces cancer growth as well as migration. We identified TDO2 (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase) as the main enzyme expressed in fibroblasts capable of tryptophan metabolism. Mechanistically, condition medium of CAF or exogenous kynurenine stimulated AKT, with no lysine 1 (WNK1) and cAMP response element-bindingprotein (CREB) phosphorylation in lung cancer cells. Inhibition of the AKT/CREB pathway prevents cancer proliferation, while inhibition of the AKT/ WNK1 reverted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cancer migration induced by kynurenine. Moreover, we also demonstrate that lung cancer-derived galectin-1 contributes to the upregulation of TDO2 in CAF through an AKT-dependent pathway. Immunohistochemical analysis of lung cancer surgical specimens revealed increased TDO2 expression in the fibroblasts adjacent to the cancer. Furthermore, in vivo studies showed that administration of TDO2 inhibitor significantly improves DCs function and T cell response, and decreases tumor metastasis in mice. Taken together, our data identify the feedback loop, consisting of cancer-derived galectin-1 and CAF-producing kynurenine, that sustains lung cancer progression. These findings suggest that targeting this pathway may be a promising therapeutic strategy.

No abstract

Hypermarkets play an increasingly important role in the retail industry in Taiwan. In this study hypermarket customers in Taiwan were surveyed, using switching costs as a variable, to explore the relationship between customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. The results indicate that a customer with a more positive perception of the value of products/services has a more positive evaluation of the hypermarket, greater satisfaction, and loyalty. Greater satisfaction combined with greater concern over nonmonetary switching costs also increases customer loyalty to the hypermarket. These findings may help hypermarket operators to develop their businesses further in Taiwan's competitive retail sector.

Technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) has been one of the steering theoretical concepts widely employed by researchers in order to examine and develop teachers' knowledge of integrating technology into teaching. Existing research on TPACK shows little about in-service secondary school science teachers' TPACK through a quantitative approach. The purposes of this study were to explore TPACK of secondary school science teachers using a new contextualized TPACK model. Associations between in-service teachers' TPACK and other factors were also examined. The TPACK questionnaire was mailed to secondary schools randomly selected across different parts of Taiwan, and return envelopes were provided for completed questionnaires. There were 1292 science teachers from secondary schools for factor analysis. An independent samples t-test was conducted when there were two groups (i.e., gender) to be compared for TPACK. ANOVA was conducted when there were more than two groups (i.e., science teaching experience) compared for TPACK. The results indicated that secondary science teachers' TPACK was statistically significant according to gender and teaching experience. With the consideration of other TPACK sub-components, male science teachers rated their technology knowledge significantly higher than did female teachers. Experienced science teachers tended to rate their content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in context (PCKCx) significantly higher than did novice science teachers. However, science teachers with less teaching experience tended to rate their technology knowledge and technological content knowledge in context (TPCKCx) significantly higher than did teachers with more teaching experience. The study shows how gender and teaching experience were influential factors for secondary school science teachers' TPACK. The research implications of this study are provided along with suggestions.