The Relationship Between HR Practices and Firm Performance: Examining Causal Order

Significant research attention has been devoted to examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance, and the research support has assumed HR as the causal variable. Using data from 45 business units (with 62 data points), this study examines how measures of HR practices correlate with past, concurrent, and future operational performance measures. The results indicate that correlations with performance measures at all three times are both high and invariant, and that controlling for past or concurrent performance virtually eliminates the correlation of HR with future performance. Implications are discussed

Making a Christian Private University Appealing to Prospective Students: The Case of Covenant University

Worldwide, universities are established to train highly skilled manpower that are expected to contribute to the development of their societies. Nigerian universities are expected to contribute to the achievement of the national goals using education as a tool. Before 1993, the provision of university education in Nigeria was a government monopoly. Many people could not be offered admissions into public universities because the existing facilities could not accommodate the deluge of requests. However, private universities have entered into the higher education service provision market. With many of them competing for prospective student enrolment, it is not surprising that some of them have deployed marketing strategies to attract students and make them stand out from the cluttered market. This paper examines how Covenant University, a Christian faith-based university and the acclaimed leader in the private university industry in the country has marketed itself. It found that it uses its product, people, work processes and serene physical location to attract new students. Importantly, it uses its relatively high tuition fees to position itself as the school for the children of the elites

Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Protect Oligodendrocytes from Acute Ischemia in the Mouse Optic Nerve.

Studies by Bruce Ransom and colleagues have made a major contribution to show that white matter is susceptible to ischemia/hypoxia. White matter contains axons and the glia that support them, notably myelinating oligodendrocytes, which are highly vulnerable to ischemic-hypoxic damage. Previous studies have shown that metabotropic GluRs (mGluRs) are cytoprotective for oligodendrocyte precursor cells and immature oligodendrocytes, but their potential role in adult white matter was unresolved. Here, we report that group 1 mGluR1/5 and group 2 mGluR3 subunits are expressed in optic nerves from mice aged postnatal day (P)8-12 and P30-35. We demonstrate that activation of group 1 mGluR protects oligodendrocytes against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in developing and young adult optic nerves. In contrast, group 2 mGluR are shown to be protective for oligodendrocytes against OGD in postnatal but not young adult optic nerves. The cytoprotective effect of group 1 mGluR requires activation of PKC, whilst group 2 mGluR are dependent on negatively regulating adenylyl cyclase and cAMP. Our results identify a role for mGluR in limiting injury of oligodendrocytes in developing and young adult white matter, which may be useful for protecting oligodendrocytes in neuropathologies involving excitoxicity and ischemia/hypoxia

A novel canine histiocytic sarcoma cell line:initial characterization and utilization for drug screening studies

In order to be responsible stewards of other people’s data, cloud providers must be accountable for their data handling practices. The potential long provider chains in cloud computing introduces additional accountability challenges, and this paper examines requirements which must be fulfilled to achieve an accountability-based approach.acceptedVersio

A novel canine histiocytic sarcoma cell line:initial characterization and utilization for drug screening studies

Abstract Background Histiocytic sarcoma is a rare disorder in humans, however it is seen with appreciable frequency in certain breeds of dogs, such as Bernese mountain dog. The purpose of this study was to fully characterize a novel canine histiocytic sarcoma cell line, and utilize it as a tool to screen for potential therapeutic drugs. Methods The histiocytic sarcoma cell line was characterized by expression of cellular markers as determined by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry techniques. The neoplastic cells were also evaluated for their capability of phagocytizing beads particles, and their potential to grow as xenograft in an immunodeficient mouse. We investigated the in vitro cytotoxic activity of a panel of thirteen compounds using the MTS proliferation assay. Inhibitory effects of different drugs were compared using one-way ANOVA, and multiple means were compared using Tukey’s test. Results Neoplastic cells expressed CD11c, CD14, CD18, CD45, CD172a, CD204, MHC I, and vimentin. Expression of MHC II was upregulated after exposure to LPS. Furthermore, the established cell line clearly demonstrated phagocytic activity similar to positive controls of macrophage cell line. The xenograft mouse developed a palpable subcutaneous soft tissue mass after 29 days of inoculation, which histologically resembled the primary neoplasm. Dasatinib, a tyrosine kinase pan-inhibitor, significantly inhibited the growth of the cells in vitro within a clinically achievable and tolerable plasma concentration. The inhibitory response to dasatinib was augmented when combined with doxorubicin. Conclusions In the present study we demonstrated that a novel canine histiocytic sarcoma cell line presents a valuable tool to evaluate novel treatment approaches. The neoplastic cell line favorably responded to dasatinib, which represents a promising anticancer strategy for the treatment of this malignancy in dogs and similar disorders in humans