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This article reconciles mixed findings about the performance impact of middle managers' strategy involvement. We propose that the relationship between middle managers' adaptive strategy implementation—through upward and downward influence—and objective business performance can be curvilinear and contingent on formal and informal structures. Applying a multilevel perspective to social networks, we empirically show that reputational social capital enhances the performance impact of middle managers' upward influence while informational social capital elevates the performance impact of their downward influence. The size of a business unit or region has differntial moderating effects. The curvilinear effects of middle managers' upward influence and reputational and informational social capital on business unit performance reflect paradoxes. We discuss the implications of these findings for strategy implementation research and practice.

The United Nations have identified climate change as the greatest threat to human life. As current research shows, urban areas are more vulnerable to climate change than rural areas. Numerous people are affected by climate change in their daily life, health and well-being. The need to react is undisputed and has led to numerous guidelines and directives for urban climate adaptation. Plants are commonly mentioned and recommended as one key to urban climate adaptation. Due to shading of open space and building surfaces, as well as evapotranspiration, plants reduce the energy load on the urban fabric and increase thermal comfort and climate resilience amongst many other ecosystem services. Plants, therefore, are described as green infrastructure (GI), because of the beneficial effects they provide. Extensive green roofs are often discussed regarding their impact on thermal comfort for pedestrians and physical properties of buildings. By means of Stadslab2050 project Elief Playhouse in Antwerp, Belgium, a single-story building in the courtyard of a perimeter block, the effects of different extensive green roof designs (A and B) on the microclimate, human comfort at ground and roof level, as well as building physics are analyzed and compared to the actual roofing (bitumen membrane) as the Status Quo variant. For the analyses and evaluation of the different designs the innovative Green Performance Assessment System (GREENPASS®) method has been chosen. The planning tool combines spatial and volumetric analyses with complex 3D microclimate simulations to calculate key performance indicators such as thermal comfort score, thermal storage score, thermal load score, run-off and carbon sequestration. Complementary maps and graphs are compiled. Overall, the chosen method allows to understand, compare and optimize project designs and performance. The results for the Elief Playhouse show that the implementation of green roofs serves a slight contribution to the urban energy balance but a huge impact on the building and humans. Variant B with entire greening performs better in all considered indicators, than the less greened design Variant A and the actual Status Quo. Variant B will probably bring a greater cost/benefit than Variant A and is thus recommended.

Motility is a central feature of many microorganisms and provides an efficient strategy to respond to environmental changes. Bacteria and archaea have developed fundamentally different rotary motors enabling their motility, termed flagellum and archaellum, respectively. Bacterial motility along chemical gradients, called chemotaxis, critically relies on the response regulator CheY, which, when phosphorylated, inverses the rotational direction of the flagellum via a switch complex at the base of the motor. The structural difference between archaellum and flagellum and the presence of functional CheY in archaea raises the question of how the CheY protein changed to allow communication with the archaeal motility machinery. Here we show that archaeal CheY shares the overall structure and mechanism of magnesium-dependent phosphorylation with its bacterial counterpart. However, bacterial and archaeal CheY differ in the electrostatic potential of the helix α4. The helix α4 is important in bacteria for interaction with the flagellar switch complex, a structure that is absent in archaea. We demonstrated that phosphorylation-dependent activation, and conserved residues in the archaeal CheY helix α4, are important for interaction with the archaeal-specific adaptor protein CheF. This forms a bridge between the chemotaxis system and the archaeal motility machinery. Conclusively, archaeal CheY proteins conserved the central mechanistic features between bacteria and archaea, but differ in the helix α4 to allow binding to an archaellum-specific interaction partner.

Fluoride ion batteries (FIBs) are a recent alternative all-solid-state battery technology. However, the FIB systems proposed so far suffer from poor cycling performance. In this work, we report La2NiO4.13 with a Ruddlesden-Popper type structure as an intercalation-based active cathode material in all solid-state FIB with excellent cycling performance. The critical charging conditions to maintain the conductivity of the cell were determined, which seems to be a major obstacle towards improving the cycling stability of FIBs. For optimized operating conditions, a cycle life of about 60 cycles and over 220 cycles for critical cut-off capacities of 50 mAh/g and 30 mAh/g, respectively, could be achieved, with average Coulombic efficiencies between 95 – 99%. Cycling of the cell is a result of fluorination/de-fluorination into and from the La2NiO4+d cathode, and it is revealed that La2NiO4.13 is a multivalent electrode material. Our findings suggest that La2NiO4.13 is a promising high energy cathode for FIBs.Fluoride ion batteries receive substantial interest, but are limited by their cyclic performance. Here, an La2NiO4.13 cathode in an all-solid-state fluoride ion battery achieves up to 220 cycles for a 30 mAh/g cut-off capacity.

The redox reactions of various lanthanide metals with 3-(4-pyridyl)pyrazole (4-PyPzH) or 3-(3-pyridyl)pyrazole (3-PyPzH) ligands yield the 2D network ∞2[Eu(4-PyPz)2(Py)2] containing divalent europium, the 3D frameworks ∞3[Ln(4-PyPz)3] and ∞3[Ln(3-PyPz)3] for trivalent cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, holmium, erbium, and thulium as well as ∞3[La(4-PyPz)3], and the 2D networks ∞2[Ln(4-PyPz)3(Py)] for trivalent cerium and thulium and ∞2[Ln2(4-PyPz)6]·Py for trivalent ytterbium and lutetium. The 18 lanthanide coordination polymers were synthesized under solvothermal conditions in pyridine (Py), partly acting as a co-ligand for some networks. The compounds exhibit a variety of luminescence properties, including metal-centered 4f–4f/5d–4f emission in the visible and near-infrared spectral range, metal-to-ligand energy transfer, and ligand-centered fluorescence and phosphorescence. The anionic ligands 3-PyPz− and 4-PyPz− serve as suitable antennas for lanthanide-based luminescence in the visible and near-infrared range through effective sensitization followed by emission through intra–4f transitions of the trivalent thulium, holmium, praseodymium, erbium, and neodymium. ∞2[Ce(4-PyPz)3(Py)], ∞3[Ce(4-PyPz)3], and ∞3[Ce(3-PyPz)3] exhibit strong degrees of reduction in the 5d excited states that differ in intensity compared to the ligand-based emission, resulting in a distinct emission ranging from pink to orange. The direct current magnetic studies show magnetic isolation of the lanthanide centers in the crystal lattice of ∞3[Ln(3-PyPz)3], Ln = Dy, Ho, and Er.

Quasi-linear anionic 3d-metal(I) silylamides are a new and promising class of molecules. Due to their highly negative reduction potential we wanted to test their capability to reduce substrates under coordination of their monoanionic radicaloid form. In a proof of principle study, we present the results of the reaction of metal(I) silylamides of chromium to cobalt with 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy), the redox non-innocence and reducibility of which was already established. In the course of these studies complexes of the type K{18-crown-6}[M(hmds)2(bipy)] (hmds = –N(SiMe3)2) were obtained. These compounds were isolated and thoroughly characterized to confirm the electron transfer onto the bipyridine ligand, which now acts as a radical monoanion. For comparison of the structural changes of the bipyridine ligand, the analogous zinc complexes were also synthesized. Overall our results indicate that anionic metal(I) silylamides are capable of reducing and ligate substrates, even when the electrochemical reduction potential of the latter is by up to 1 V higher.

Sulfur hexafluoride is a highly chemically inert gas with several important industrial applications. It is stable against fused alkali, oxygen and ammonia, even at several hundred degrees Celsius. In this work, the reactions between metals (Li–Cs, Sr, Ba, Eu, Yb) dissolved in liquid ammonia and SF6 are reported, leading to mono- or bivalent fluorides and sulfides. To this end, SF6 was passed into a cooled solution of the respective metal in liquid ammonia. The identity of the products was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy. The reactions could lead to a cheap and effective disposal method of the present amounts of stored SF6, for possible generation of H2S and HF.

Two barium hexafluoridoosmates, Ba(OsF6)2 and BaOsF6, were synthesized and were characterized for the first time using X-ray powder and single crystal diffraction, IR spectroscopy, as well as NMR spectroscopy in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. Ba(OsF6)2 crystallizes in the space group type P21/c with the cell parameters a = 6.4599(4), b = 10.7931(8), c = 14.7476(10) Å, β = 115.195(5)°, V = 930.42(12) Å3, Z = 4 at 293 K. BaOsF6 crystallizes in the space group type R 3 ¯ with the cell parameters a = 7.3286(10), c = 7.2658(15) Å, V = 337.95(12) Å3, Z = 3 at 100 K. Additionally, we have obtained the compounds Ba(OsF6)2∙3BrF3, Ba(OsF6)2∙HF, Ba(OsF6)2∙6H2O from the respective solvents, and Ba(OsF6)2.

This study examines the diffusion of market orientation (MO) as a social learning process to acquire and transfer individual-level MO. Central to the diffusion are important work-group members, or envoys. Through their marketoriented action, top managers serve as market-oriented role models to two important types of observers in work groups—formal middle managers and work-group expert peers. In turn, these observers become top managers' envoys and role models of market-oriented behavior to frontline employees. Empirical results from a three-level data set from a Fortune 500 company support this perspective. While envoys who are neither market oriented nor identified with the firm are the least effective, envoys who are not market oriented but are strongly identified with the firm are also detrimental. Network size hinders the informal route of learning through expert peers but not the formal route through middle managers. By identifying who the important work-group envoys are and under what conditions certain envoys are likely to be most effective, this study helps managers select the best envoys to implement MO.