University of Minho

About: University of Minho is a education organization based out in Braga, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 10585 authors who have published 34736 publications receiving 732436 citations. The organization is also known as: Universidade do Minho & UMinho.

The role of corporate culture, market orientation and organisational commitment in organisational performance

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that explores the relationships among the following constructs: corporate/organisational culture, market orientation, organisational commitment and organisational performance in non-profit organisations. Design/methodology/approach – In line with previous studies in the field, a quantitative research design was adopted. The data collection was performed through a mail survey of a sample of Portuguese non-profit organisations operating in the area of health. Structural equation modelling was used as a means to analyse the hypothesised relationships. Findings – Results have shown that organisational culture impacts on organisational performance. Concerning the market orientation consequences, the study results suggest that higher levels of market orientation result in both high levels of organisational commitment and organisational performance. Results also suggest that organisational commitment does not affect performance in a very si...

A circuit from hippocampal CA2 to lateral septum disinhibits social aggression.

Abstract: Although the hippocampus is known to be important for declarative memory, it is less clear how hippocampal output regulates motivated behaviours, such as social aggression. Here we report that pyramidal neurons in the CA2 region of the hippocampus, which are important for social memory, promote social aggression in mice. This action depends on output from CA2 to the lateral septum, which is selectively enhanced immediately before an attack. Activation of the lateral septum by CA2 recruits a circuit that disinhibits a subnucleus of the ventromedial hypothalamus that is known to trigger attack. The social hormone arginine vasopressin enhances social aggression by acting on arginine vasopressin 1b receptors on CA2 presynaptic terminals in the lateral septum to facilitate excitatory synaptic transmission. In this manner, release of arginine vasopressin in the lateral septum, driven by an animal's internal state, may serve as a modulatory control that determines whether CA2 activity leads to declarative memory of a social encounter and/or promotes motivated social aggression.