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This two-part study examined if the buffering effect of transformational leadership on the association between work-related ambiguity and job satisfaction is contingent upon whether a follower holds a formal leadership position him/herself. Data from two separate surveys were employed: Study 1: A sample of 845 respondents from Belgium. Study 2: A national probability sample of 1,608 Norwegian employees. Study 1 showed that task ambiguity had a significant negative relation with job satisfaction, but that transformational leadership did only buffer the association between task ambiguity and job satisfaction among employees holding a formal position as a supervisor or manager. Study 2 extended Study 1 by adjusting for age and job tenure of subordinates as a confounding variable. Study 2 confirmed that transformational leadership had a significantly stronger impact on the observed association between role ambiguity and job satisfaction among respondents holding a supervisor or manager position. In conclusion, when considering job satisfaction as an outcome of work-related ambiguity, transformational leadership is mainly beneficial for followers holding a formal supervisor or manager position themselves. Our findings thereby question assumptions about the general effectiveness of transformational leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correct ambiguity resolution of real-time kinematic precise point positioning (PPP-RTK) plays an essential role in achieving fast, reliable, and high-precision positioning. However, the ambiguity of incorrect fixing will cause poor PPP-RTK positioning performance. Hence, it is essential to optimize the selected strategy of the ambiguity subset to obtain a more reliable ambiguity resolution performance for PPP-RTK. For this reason, a partial ambiguity resolution (PAR) method combining quality control and Schmidt orthogonalization (Gram–Schmidt) is proposed in this study. To investigate the performance of global positioning system (GPS) dual- and three-frequency PPP-RTK comprehensively, the PAR method based on the Gram–Schmidt method was analyzed and compared with the highest elevation angle method, which considered the satellite with the highest elevation angle as the reference satellite. The performance of ambiguity fixing, atmospheric corrections, and positioning were evaluated using five stations in Belgium and its surrounding area. The results showed average epoch fixing rates of 81.01%, 95.92%, 82.05%, and 97.93% in the dual-frequency highest elevation angle (F2-MAX), dual-frequency Gram–Schmidt (F2-ALT), three-frequency highest elevation angle (F3-MAX), and three–frequency Gram–Schmidt (F3-ALT), respectively. In terms of the time to first fix (TTFF), 89.02%, 94.25%, 90.24%, and 95.69% of the single-differenced (SD) narrow lane (NL) ambiguity fell within 3 min in F2-MAX, F2-ALT, F3-MAX, and F3-ALT, respectively. As far as the ionospheric corrections are concerned, the proportion of SD ionospheric residuals within ±0.25 total electron content units (TECU) were 95.08%, 95.93%, 95.68%, and 96.98% for the F2-MAX, F2-ALT, F3-MAX, and F3-ALT, respectively. The centimeter-level accuracy of both the horizontal and vertical positioning errors can be achieved almost instantaneously in F3-ALT. This is attributed to the accurate and reliable SD NL ambiguity fixing based on the Gram–Schmidt approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is a real problem with serious consequences for the health. Employees who work in stressful professions are more likely to suffer from burnout. The school principalship is one of these high-stress professions. It is characterised by overwhelming responsibilities, information confusion, and emotional anxiety. The purpose of this study is to examine common work-related stressors encountered by principals in Flemish schools of Belgium and assess their relative weight in terms of predicting school principal burnout. Using the survey method, 545 responses were collected from school principals of both primary and secondary schools. A structural equation modelling (SEM) was constructed to test both the reliability and validity of the measurement as well as the structural model. The study findings showed that role conflict, role ambiguity, and workload, along with some personal factors such as age and gender have significant and positive influences on burnout of principals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Alcohol dependence is associated with poor decision-making under ambiguity, that is, when decisions are to be made in the absence of known probabilities of reward and loss. However, little is known regarding decisions made by individuals with alcohol dependence in the context of known probabilities (decision under risk). In this study, we investigated the relative contribution of these distinct aspects of decision-making to alcohol dependence. Methods Thirty recently detoxified and sober asymptomatic alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 healthy control participants were tested for decision-making under ambiguity (using the Iowa Gambling Task[IGT]) and decision-making under risk (using the Cups Task and Coin Flipping Task). We also tested their capacities for working memory storage (digit span forward) and dual tasking (operation span task). Results Compared to healthy control participants, alcohol-dependent individuals made disadvantageous decisions on the IGT, reflecting poor decisions under ambiguity. They also made more risky choices on the Cups and Coin Flipping Tasks reflecting poor decision-making under risk. In addition, alcohol-dependent participants showed some working memory impairments, as measured by the dual tasking, and the degree of this impairment correlated with high-risk decision-making, thus suggesting a relationship between processes subserving working memory and risky decisions. Conclusions These results suggest that alcohol-dependent individuals are impaired in their ability to decide optimally in multiple facets of uncertainty (i.e., both risk and ambiguity) and that at least some aspects of these deficits are linked to poor working memory processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]