High Performance Human Resource Practices And Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Mediating Effect Of Middle Managers Knowledge Collecting And Donating Behaviour

This study develops a mediation model in which high-performance human resource practices affect corporate entrepreneurship through two dimensions of knowledge sharing: knowledge collecting and knowledge donating. In a sample of 292 middle managers from Malaysia, we find that high-performance human resource practices relate positively to corporate entrepreneurship, and this relation is mediated by knowledge sharing. The results suggest that the willingness of middle managers to engage in knowledge sharing serves as a partial mediator to attenuate this positive relationship. However, an interesting outcome from this study is that although high-performance human resource practices are positively related to the willingness of middle managers to collect and donate knowledge, only middle managers' willingness to donate knowledge was found to partially mediate the relationship between high-performance human resource practices and corporate entrepreneurship. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications for human resource management research and practice

The National Wildlife Research Center Research Update

Invasive Species Aviary Construction at NWRC Sandusky, Ohio, Field Station Grasses May Help Reduce Wildlife Strike Threats to Aviation Kirtland’s Warbler Conservation Efforts Thesis on Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots Defended Dissertation on Coyote Space Use Defended Chemical Repellents and Barriers Genetic Markers for Mountain Beaver Studies Coyote Lure Operative Devices Tracked NWRC Supports VS Program at Plum Island Animal Disease Center Wildlife Services Scientists Travel to Asia to Assist with Avian Influenza Population Studies Rodent Management International Meetings and Conference

A Carto-Bibliography of the Maps in Eighteenth-Century British and American Geography Books

This cartobibliography contains descriptions of approximately 6700 maps found in 470 books. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author/title, and each entry lists every map included in the book with the full title, dimensions, name(s) of any publisher, engraver or cartographer appearing on the map, and the page location within the work cited. There are three indexes: cartographer/engraver (page 329 of the PDF file), geographic (page 332), and publisher (page 392). The ESTC [English Short Title Catalogue] number is also given with each entry, enabling a researcher to locate copies and even call-numbers at participating libraries. The ESTC catalogue is freely accessible on-line at the British Library website at URL: http://www.bl.uk/.This electronic edition created by Digital Publishing Services, an initiative of the University of Kansas Libraries <http://kudiglib.ku.edu/epublishing.shtml

Human chorionic gonadotropin increases β-cleavage of amyloid precursor protein in SH-SY5Y cells

Elevated levels of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, the main component of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease, are the result of excessive β- and γ-cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and/or impaired Aβ clearance in the brain. It has been suggested that high concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) in women contribute to increased Aβ generation after menopause, but the mechanism for this is incompletely understood. We investigated the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an LH receptor agonist, on APP β-cleavage in the SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. Treatment of these cells with hCG-induced elevated β-cleavage in a dose-dependent manner: administration of 30 mIU but not 10 mIU/ml of hCG significantly increased sAPPβ levels in the cell medium 1.7-fold as measured by ELISA. These results support the notion that LH contributes to elevated Aβ levels at least in part by increasing β-cleavage of APP by β-site APP cleaving enzyme.NHMRC grant: 104596

Pengaruh Gender, Commitment, Communication, Dan Conflict Handling Terhadap Customer Loyalty Pada Salah Satu Bank Swasta Di Indonesia

The background of this research is how to winning the competitions in banking industry sector, build a relationship and make customers to be loyal, to makes banking managers must strive to develop their strategy to achieve customer loyalty. The objectives of this research is to investigate the effect of gender, commitment, communication and conflict handling on customer loyalty in Indonesian private banking. A theoritical framework was developed to test the effect among the study construct. The design of this research applies to one of the biggest local bank in Indonesia and the questionares were spreaded away to 150 respondents / customers from 4 branches in Jakarta and by using purposive sampling. The results of this research show that gender does not significantly effect on customer loyalty but commitment, communication and conflict handling are significantly effect on customer loyalty

Are Hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) endowed with mechanisms for non-shivering thermogenesis within the skeletal muscle?

Hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) are marine mammals and are characterised as an “Arctic seal” species due to their close association to the pack ice. Their relationship with the ice and water creates challenges in maintaining an internal body temperature of ~37°C. In homeothermic animals, like the hooded seal, shivering is used for thermogenesis, however this can rapidly fatigue skeletal muscle. Other mechanisms of thermogenesis have been found which do not employ the use of shivering thermogenesis and are termed non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) mechanisms. A common area of NST study is the thermogenic mechanism found in brown adipose tissue (BAT). The presence of BAT in mammals is common, particularly in the neonatal life stages where surface area to volume ratio is high and is noticeably present in other seal species e.g. harp seals, which share the same distribution and environmental hardships as hooded seals. However, the presence of BAT has not been reported in hooded seals. Studies in other species have shown that in the absence of BAT, skeletal muscle tissue can be utilised in a non-shivering mechanism using an interaction between Sarcolipin (Sln) and Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) transport protein that produces futile cycling of Ca2+, as well as through a decreased efficiency in mitochondrial processes known as mitochondrial proton LEAK. Within this study I set out to find whether hooded seals utilise these skeletal muscle based, non-shivering thermogenesis mechanisms and whether those mechanisms are most likely to be found in the neonatal life stages compared to later life stages. In silico DNA sequence comparisons of Sln, and the SERCA isoforms, SERCA1a and SERCA2a across 10 mammals including marine mammals from the suborder Pinnipedia revealed that these proteins were highly conserved providing proof of principle that a Sln-SERCA NST mechanism could exist. To identify these proteins in hooded seals, western blotting of skeletal muscle samples taken from M. longissimus dorsi (M. long) and Psoas major (P. major) from adult (n=5) and neonatal (n=4) hooded seals was attempted. SERCA2a was found to be present at high levels in both muscle groups with a significantly higher expression in the neonatal life stage but only in the muscle M. long (p=0.042). It was not possible to determine the amount of Sln and SERCA1a by western blotting, therefore there is not enough evidence to determine whether there is a Sln-SERCA NST mechanism and further work is required. However, the significantly high expression of SERCA2a within the neonatal life stage of hooded seals may relate to an increased shivering capacity rather than an NST mechanism. The detection of mitochondrial LEAK was carried out by tissue respirometry using skeletal muscle samples from juvenile hooded seals (n=6). A high mitochondrial LEAK was found in M. long and P. major but was shown not to be linked to a non-shivering thermogenesis mechanism. This high mitochondrial LEAK may be associated to an inherent mechanism used to decrease the production of harmful reactive oxygen species in this deep-diving marine mammal. In conclusion, the thick blubber layer, shivering and heat conservation mechanisms already present in hooded seals may be sufficient to maintain body temperature without the addition of a NST mechanism

Exercise training reveals inflexibility of the diaphragm in an animal model of patients with obesity-driven heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction

Background: Respiratory muscle weakness contributes to exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)—a condition characterized by multiple comorbidities with few proven treatments. We aimed, therefore, to provide novel insight into the underlying diaphragmatic alterations that occur in HFpEF by using an obese cardiometabolic rat model and further assessed whether exercise training performed only after the development of overt HFpEF could reverse impairments. Methods and Results: Obese ZSF1 rats (n=12) were compared with their lean controls (n=8) at 20 weeks, with 3 additional groups of obese ZSF1 rats compared at 28 weeks following 8 weeks of either sedentary behavior (n=13), high‐intensity interval training (n=11), or moderate‐continuous training (n=11). Obese rats developed an obvious HFpEF phenotype at 20 and 28 weeks. In the diaphragm at 20 weeks, HFpEF induced a shift towards an oxidative phenotype and a fiber hypertrophy paralleled by a lower protein expression in MuRF1 and MuRF2, yet mitochondrial and contractile functional impairments were observed. At 28 weeks, neither the exercise training regimen of high‐intensity interval training or moderate‐continuous training reversed any of the diaphragm alterations induced by HFpEF. Conclusions: This study, using a well‐characterized rat model of HFpEF underpinned by multiple comorbidities and exercise intolerance (ie, one that closely resembles the patient phenotype), provides evidence that diaphragm alterations and dysfunction induced in overt HFpEF are not reversed following 8 weeks of aerobic exercise training. As such, whether alternative therapeutic interventions are required to treat respiratory muscle weakness in HFpEF warrants further investigation