The Adoption of Information Technology by U.S. National Unions

Les syndicats aussi ont été enveloppés par la vague de la révolution de l'information. Ils ont utilisés la technologie de l'information et des communications (TIC) pour effectuer des campagnes d'organisation syndicale sur l'internet, pour tenir informés leurs membres des développements spécifiques reliés tant aux négociations qu'aux grèves et, plus généralement, pour améliorer les communications avec les membres, pour épauler certains efforts d'ordre politique ou d'ordre des négociations et pour des campagnes d'organisation. Un journal en ligne, publié pas des conseillers syndicaux provenant de plusieurs syndicats, fait état d'une foule d'exemples d'innovation et de créativité dans l'emploi des TIC et, plus particulièrement, dans l'internet (Ad Hoc Committee on Labor and the Web 1999). Un article récent en première page de l'AFL-CIO's America® Work intitulé : « Campagne d'organisation virtuelle » décrit comment les organisateurs syndicaux à travers le pays s'emparent du pouvoir de l'internet pour atteindre et mobiliser les membres (Lazarovici 1999 : 9). Pourquoi s'en préoccuper ? Au delà du fait que l'information est critique pour les syndicats, il existe des notions théoriques bien établies qui laissent croire à une influence des TIC sur les résultats que peut obtenir un syndicat. Le concept de Barney (1997) d'organisation comme source d'un avantage concurrentiel durable, notion sensiblement identique à celle de Leibenstein (1966) connue antérieurement sous l'idée d'une X-efficacité conserve toute sa pertinence ici. Quoique les syndicats ne sont pas habituellement en concurrence les uns avec les autres, l'emploi efficace des TIC leurs offre une possibilité d'améliorer les services aux membres, de bonifier leurs efforts au plan des relations politiques et publiques, d'améliorer leur performance au plan des négociations et leur habileté à organiser les nouveaux membres. Ainsi, les TIC offrent une source potentielle d'avantage concurrentiel, lorsque des syndicats se retrouvent effectivement en compétition. D'une manière plus importante, elles présentent un levier potentiel lorsque les syndicats sont en compétition avec les employeurs sur la forme de gouvernement d'un lieu de travail (i.e. l'unilatéralisme de l'employeur versus la détermination conjointe syndicat-employeur des conditions de travail). Un modèle dont le syndicat se sert. On doit généralement s'attendre à ce que des modèles d'innovation s'appliquent à un cas particulier de l'emploi des TIC. L'usage des TIC par un syndicat constitue un phénomène relativement nouveau et, partant, se qualifie comme une innovation (Daft 1982). De plus, la méta-analyse de Damanpour (1991) porte à croire que l'innovation est un phénomène organisationnel général, en ce sens que les organisations qui innovent dans un secteur ou sous une forme en particulier ont tendance à le faire dans d'autres secteurs et sous d'autres formes. Ainsi, les effets anticipés sous forme d'hypothèses par Delaney, Jarley et Fiorito (1996) devraient s'avérer les mêmes dans le cas de l'usage des TIC. Ceci nous amène à croire que certaines variables organisationnelles et environnementales affecteront l'usage des TIC au fur et à mesure que les rapports coûts-bénéfices seront connus. Dans les termes de la théorie des organisations, cette situation reflète essentiellement l'approche de la contingence structurelle. Les données. Notre source principale de données provient du Survey of Union Information Technology (Suit), une enquête par la poste effectuée au cours de l'été et de l'automne 1997. Une lettre d'introduction personnalisée expliquait la nature de l'étude, en garantissait le caractère confidentiel, offrait de fournir les résultats et demandait la participation. Un échantillon de 120 syndicats nationaux menant des activités aux États-Unis a été constitué à l'aide de l'annuaire de Gifford des organisations syndicales (1997). (Plusieurs incluent le membership de grands syndicats canadiens, tels les Machinistes, les Routiers et les Travailleurs de l'acier.) Soixante-quinze syndicats retournèrent des questionnaires utilisables. Les résultats. La rationalisation s'avère un effet positif et significatif sur une échelle multi-énoncés comprenant diverses formes et usages des TIC. La décentralisation ne montre aucun effet si l'on s'en tient au modèle de base ; cependant, la présence de covariances pour l'usage des TIC dans l'industrie, d'une part, et pour l'usage des TIC associé à une innovation antérieure, d'autre part, fait apparaître un effet positif, à la hauteur des attentes. Une mesure d'envergure stratégique échoue constamment à fournir une conclusion significative au plan statistique. La taille présente un impact positif consistant et fort, sauf dans la situation d'innovation antérieure. Au départ, la mesure de l'emploi des TIC en industrie présente un impact positif très impressionnant, sauf que, comme la taille, l'effet s'évanouit devant la présence d'une mesure d'innovation antérieure. On ne décèle pas non plus d'appui à la prévision d'un effet négatif sur le changement au plan de l'effectif syndical. Enfin, l'innovation antérieure est suivie d'un effet positif fort sur l'emploi des TIC par un syndicat. Conclusion. Le changement et l'innovation constituent sans aucun doute des enjeux vitaux pour les syndicats, au moment où ils doivent faire face au déclin de leur status. Un leadership nouveau à la FAT-COI et dans les syndicats nationaux considère sérieusement l'innovation et se demande comment cette dernière peut conduire à un renouvellement du syndicalisme. Les TIC, en particulier, deviendront probablement un facteur clef au moment où les syndicats tentent de formuler des stratégies de renouvellement dans la tourmente de la révolution de l'information. Il ne faudrait pas non plus considérer les TIC comme un élixir magique. Le déclin du syndicalisme est plutôt attribuable à une combinaison de facteurs et il faudrait être naïf pour penser qu'un changement quelconque pourrait contrer de tels effets. De toute manière, les TIC contiennent la promesse d'un outil puissant pour bonifier l'effort d'organisation, les services aux membres, l'efficacité au plan politique, à la table des négociations, au plan d'une plus grande solidarité entre les membres et d'une meilleure communication entre les membres et leurs leaders. Elles peuvent également prendre une valeur symbolique importante en aidant les syndicats à laisser croire qu'ils sont dans le coup (Shostak 1997) ou bien en les aidant à surmonter leur image de « dinosaure » (Hurd 1998). Si le fait d'utiliser les TIC en association avec d'autres innovations constitue une transformation, cela ne permettrait pas pour autant de conclure à une nouvelle forme de syndicalisme (e.g. un Cybersyndicat). Au minimum, il serait plus sûr d'affirmer que l'adoption des TIC aura probablement des effets remarquables sur la manière dont les syndicats assument leurs rôles conventionnels et il se peut que les TIC deviennent un catalyseur en les incitant à jouer de nouveaux rôles.This paper offers and tests a model for national union adoption of information technology (IT). Data come from a mail survey of national unions that were active in the U.S. in 1997. Consistent with the model's predictions and prior research on union innovation, results indicate that rationalization and size are key predictors of IT adoption. Results also suggest a role for decentralization, employer use of information technology, and prior innovation. IT adoption may be one of the most important areas of union innovation in decades, and may have substantial impacts on union outcomes and possibly on the nature of unions. Understanding the nature and causes of IT adoption by unions may provide insight on the changing nature of unions and their roles in the future.Este texto propone y évalua un modelo para la adoption de tecnologias de informaciòn en los sindicatos. Los datos provienen de una encuesta efectuada por correo en los sindicatos de nivel nacional que estaban en actividad en 1997 en los EEUU. Conforme con la prédiction del modelo y los resultados de investigaciones précédentes respecto a la renovaciòn sindical, nuestros resultados indican que la racionalizaciòn y la talla son los predictores primordiales de la adopcion de tecnologias de informaciòn. Los resultados sugieren tambien un roi de la decentralizaciòn, el uso de tecnologias de informaciòn por parte del empleador y la innovation précédente. La adopcion de tecnologias de informaciòn puede ser una de las mas importantes àreas de la innovacion sindical de las ultimas décadas y puede tener impactos substanciales sobre los resultados del sindicato y posiblemente también sobre la naturaleza misma del sindicato. Comprender la naturaleza y las causas de la adopcion de tecnologias de informaciòn por parte de los sindicatos nos puede esclarecer sobre la naturaleza de los cambios en los sindicatos y el roi de estos en el futuro

Omnivorousness in sport: The importance of social capital and networks

There has been for some time a significant and growing body of research around the relationship between sport and social capital. Similarly, within sociology there has been a corpus of work that has acknowledged the emergence of the omnivore–univore relationship. Surprisingly, relatively few studies examining sport and social capital have taken the omnivore–univore framework as a basis for understanding the relationship between sport and social capital. This gap in the sociology of sport literature and knowledge is rectified by this study that takes not Putnam, Coleman or Bourdieu, but Lin’s social network approach to social capital. The implications of this article are that researchers investigating sport and social capital need to understand more about how social networks and places for sport work to create social capital and, in particular, influence participating in sporting activities. The results indicate that social networks both facilitate and constrain sports participation; whilst family and friendship networks are central in active lifestyles, those who are less active have limited networks

Greenway pedestrian and cycle bridges from repurposed wind turbine blades

Greenways are long-distance walking and cycling routes, often developed along the routes of disused railways. Greenways therefore are a means of repurposing underused infrastructure to provide sustainable transport. They also offer benefits for leisure activities, rural development and tourism. The network of greenways in the Republic of Ireland is projected to grow to 240 km by 2022, and a further 800 km of long-distance pathways has been proposed. The Irish government announced â ¬64m in funding for greenway projects in 2020, with further commitments to sustainable transport spending in the 2020 Programme for Government. In Northern Ireland there is 1,000 km of abandoned former transport routes with the potential for development as greenways. Many of the proposed greenway routes will need extensive works. In many cases, bridges and overpasses are in poor condition and will require complete reconstruction. Alongside the repurposing of disused railways as sustainable transport routes, there is an opportunity to reuse another type of repurposed infrastructure to create functional and attractive new bridges on greenways: end-of-life decommissioned wind turbine blades. Wind turbine blades are made of durable, lightweight and strong fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. They are difficult to recycle by conventional methods, but are ideally suited to repurposing. A US-Ireland-Northern Ireland initiative, the Re-Wind network, has created designs for several new artefacts from repurposed wind turbine blades, including a pedestrian bridge. In this paper we will show the advantages of the blade bridge design for deployment on greenways, show details of the testing and design of the worldâ s first repurposed greenway blade bridge, scheduled for installation on the Midleton-Youghal Greenway in Co. Cork in 2021, and outline the environmental and social advantages of using repurposed FRP blades in new infrastructure such as bridges. The paper also discusses the future expected flow of end-of-life blades from decommissioned wind turbines in Ireland and how this can be aligned with repurposing opportunities

Making 'chemical cocktails' - evolution of urban geochemical processes across the periodic table of elements.

Urbanization contributes to the formation of novel elemental combinations and signatures in terrestrial and aquatic watersheds, also known as 'chemical cocktails.' The composition of chemical cocktails evolves across space and time due to: (1) elevated concentrations from anthropogenic sources, (2) accelerated weathering and corrosion of the built environment, (3) increased drainage density and intensification of urban water conveyance systems, and (4) enhanced rates of geochemical transformations due to changes in temperature, ionic strength, pH, and redox potentials. Characterizing chemical cocktails and underlying geochemical processes is necessary for: (1) tracking pollution sources using complex chemical mixtures instead of individual elements or compounds; (2) developing new strategies for co-managing groups of contaminants; (3) identifying proxies for predicting transport of chemical mixtures using continuous sensor data; and (4) determining whether interactive effects of chemical cocktails produce ecosystem-scale impacts greater than the sum of individual chemical stressors. First, we discuss some unique urban geochemical processes which form chemical cocktails, such as urban soil formation, human-accelerated weathering, urban acidification-alkalinization, and freshwater salinization syndrome. Second, we review and synthesize global patterns in concentrations of major ions, carbon and nutrients, and trace elements in urban streams across different world regions and make comparisons with reference conditions. In addition to our global analysis, we highlight examples from some watersheds in the Baltimore-Washington DC region, which show increased transport of major ions, trace metals, and nutrients across streams draining a well-defined land-use gradient. Urbanization increased the concentrations of multiple major and trace elements in streams draining human-dominated watersheds compared to reference conditions. Chemical cocktails of major and trace elements were formed over diurnal cycles coinciding with changes in streamflow, dissolved oxygen, pH, and other variables measured by high-frequency sensors. Some chemical cocktails of major and trace elements were also significantly related to specific conductance (p<0.05), which can be measured by sensors. Concentrations of major and trace elements increased, peaked, or decreased longitudinally along streams as watershed urbanization increased, which is consistent with distinct shifts in chemical mixtures upstream and downstream of other major cities in the world. Our global analysis of urban streams shows that concentrations of multiple elements along the Periodic Table significantly increase when compared with reference conditions. Furthermore, similar biogeochemical patterns and processes can be grouped among distinct mixtures of elements of major ions, dissolved organic matter, nutrients, and trace elements as chemical cocktails. Chemical cocktails form in urban waters over diurnal cycles, decades, and throughout drainage basins. We conclude our global review and synthesis by proposing strategies for monitoring and managing chemical cocktails using source control, ecosystem restoration, and green infrastructure. We discuss future research directions applying the watershed chemical cocktail approach to diagnose and manage environmental problems. Ultimately, a chemical cocktail approach targeting sources, transport, and transformations of different and distinct elemental combinations is necessary to more holistically monitor and manage the emerging impacts of chemical mixtures in the world's fresh waters

The relationship between computed tomography-derived sarcopenia, cardiopulmonary exercise testing performance, systemic inflammation, and survival in good performance status patients with oesophago-gastric cancer undergoing neoadjuvant treatment

Background: Thought to capture the nutritional and functional reserve of the cancer patient, whether the computed tomography (CT)-derived sarcopenia score (CT-SS) has complimentary prognostic value to commonly utilized pre-treatment host assessments in patients with oesophago-gastric (OG) cancer is unknown. The aim of the present study was to examine if the CT-SS can stratify survival in OG cancer patients with good performance status [Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) 0/1]. Furthermore, if the CT-SS had complimentary prognostic value to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) performance and systemic inflammation. Methods: Consecutive patients with confirmed OG cancer and good performance status, who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with a view to surgical resection with curative intent, between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015, within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and NHS Forth Valley (NHSFV), were identified from a prospectively maintained database. CT-SSs were grouped as 0/1/2. CPET variables recorded included VO2 anaerobic threshold (AT) and peak. Systemic inflammatory response was determined by modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Associations between categorical variables were examined using χ2 test and binary logistics regression analysis. Results: A total of 232 patients met the inclusion criteria. 75% (n = 174) of patients were male, 54% (n = 126) were 65 years or older, and 60% (n = 139) were overweight [body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2]; 33% (n = 77) of patients had CT-SS ≥ 1, 36% (n = 83) had a low VO2 AT (≤11 ml/kg/min), and 57% (n = 132) had a low VO2 peak (≤19 ml/kg/min). Of the 200 patients who had pre-NAC bloods facilitating calculation of the mGPS, 28% (n = 55) had mGPS ≥ 1. Of the 211 patients who had pre-NAC bloods facilitating calculation of NLR, 38% (n = 80) had an NLR ≥ 3; 82% (n = 190) and 53% (n = 122) were alive at 1 and 3 years post-NAC, respectively. On univariate analysis, CT-SS was significantly associated with sex (P &lt; 0.05), histological cell type (P &lt; 0.05), low VO2 AT (P &lt; 0.05), low VO2 peak (P &lt; 0.05), BMI (P &lt; 0.05), mGPS (P &lt; 0.05), and 3-year survival (P &lt; 0.05). On multivariate analysis, tumour, node, and metastasis (TNM) stage (P &lt; 0.05) and CT-SS (P &lt; 0.05) remained significantly associated with 3-year survival. CT-SS was significantly associated with 3-year survival in patients who had mGPS 0 (P &lt; 0.05), but not low VO2 AT (P = 0.066) or peak (P = 0.065). Conclusion: The CT-SS would appear to capture the nutritional and functional reserve of the patient and is a useful objective measure for stratifying long-term survival in patients with good performance status undergoing potentially curative treatment for OG cancer

Mortality after infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) diagnosed in the community

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Outbreak reports suggest that community-acquired methicillin-resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(MRSA) infections can be life-threatening. We conducted a population based cohort study to assess the magnitude of mortality associated with MRSA infections diagnosed in the community.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used the United Kingdom's General Practice Research Database (GPRD) to form a cohort of all patients with MRSA diagnosed in the community from 2001 through 2004 and up to ten patients without an MRSA diagnosis. The latter were frequency-matched with the MRSA patients on age, GPRD practice and diagnosis date. All patients were older than 18 years, had no hospitalization in the 2 years prior to cohort entry and medical history information of at least 2 years prior to cohort entry. The cohort was followed up for 1 year and all deaths and hospitalizations were identified. Hazard ratios of all-cause mortality were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for patient characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cohort included 1439 patients diagnosed with MRSA and 14,090 patients with no MRSA diagnosis. Mean age at cohort entry was 70 years in both groups, while co-morbid conditions were more prevalent in the patients with MRSA. Within 1 year, 21.8% of MRSA patients died as compared with 5.0% of non-MRSA patients. The risk of death was increased in patients diagnosed with MRSA in the community (adjusted hazard ratio 4.1; 95% confidence interval: 3.5–4.7).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MRSA infections diagnosed in the community are associated with significant mortality in the year after diagnosis.</p

Enhanced Botrytis cinerea resistance of Arabidopsis plants grown in compost may be explained by increased expression of defense-related genes, as revealed by microarray analysis

Composts are the products obtained after the aerobic degradation of different types of organic matter waste and can be used as substrates or substrate/soil amendments for plant cultivation. There is a small but increasing number of reports that suggest that foliar diseases may be reduced when using compost, rather than standard substrates, as growing medium. The purpose of this study was to examine the gene expression alteration produced by the compost to gain knowledge of the mechanisms involved in compost-induced systemic resistance. A compost from olive marc and olive tree leaves was able to induce resistance against Botrytis cinerea in Arabidopsis, unlike the standard substrate, perlite. Microarray analyses revealed that 178 genes were differently expressed, with a fold change cut-off of 1, of which 155 were up-regulated and 23 were down-regulated in compost-grown, as against perlite-grown plants. A functional enrichment study of up-regulated genes revealed that 38 Gene Ontology terms were significantly enriched. Response to stress, biotic stimulus, other organism, bacterium, fungus, chemical and abiotic stimulus, SA and ABA stimulus, oxidative stress, water, temperature and cold were significantly enriched, as were immune and defense responses, systemic acquired resistance, secondary metabolic process and oxireductase activity. Interestingly, PR1 expression, which was equally enhanced by growing the plants in compost and by B. cinerea inoculation, was further boosted in compost-grown pathogen-inoculated plants. Compost triggered a plant response that shares similarities with both systemic acquired resistance and ABA-dependent/independent abiotic stress responses

Human Resource Flexibility as a Mediating Variable Between High Performance Work Systems and Performance

Much of the human resource management literature has demonstrated the impact of high performance work systems (HPWS) on organizational performance. A new generation of studies is emerging in this literature that recommends the inclusion of mediating variables between HPWS and organizational performance. The increasing rate of dynamism in competitive environments suggests that measures of employee adaptability should be included as a mechanism that may explain the relevance of HPWS to firm competitiveness. On a sample of 226 Spanish firms, the study’s results confirm that HPWS influences performance through its impact on the firm’s human resource (HR) flexibility

Impact of primary kidney disease on the effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease: secondary analyses of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial

Background: The EMPA KIDNEY trial showed that empagliflozin reduced the risk of the primary composite outcome of kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease mainly through slowing progression. We aimed to assess how effects of empagliflozin might differ by primary kidney disease across its broad population. Methods: EMPA-KIDNEY, a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial, was conducted at 241 centres in eight countries (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and the USA). Patients were eligible if their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 20 to less than 45 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or 45 to less than 90 mL/min per 1·73 m2 with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) of 200 mg/g or higher at screening. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to 10 mg oral empagliflozin once daily or matching placebo. Effects on kidney disease progression (defined as a sustained ≥40% eGFR decline from randomisation, end-stage kidney disease, a sustained eGFR below 10 mL/min per 1·73 m2, or death from kidney failure) were assessed using prespecified Cox models, and eGFR slope analyses used shared parameter models. Subgroup comparisons were performed by including relevant interaction terms in models. EMPA-KIDNEY is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03594110. Findings: Between May 15, 2019, and April 16, 2021, 6609 participants were randomly assigned and followed up for a median of 2·0 years (IQR 1·5–2·4). Prespecified subgroupings by primary kidney disease included 2057 (31·1%) participants with diabetic kidney disease, 1669 (25·3%) with glomerular disease, 1445 (21·9%) with hypertensive or renovascular disease, and 1438 (21·8%) with other or unknown causes. Kidney disease progression occurred in 384 (11·6%) of 3304 patients in the empagliflozin group and 504 (15·2%) of 3305 patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·71 [95% CI 0·62–0·81]), with no evidence that the relative effect size varied significantly by primary kidney disease (pheterogeneity=0·62). The between-group difference in chronic eGFR slopes (ie, from 2 months to final follow-up) was 1·37 mL/min per 1·73 m2 per year (95% CI 1·16–1·59), representing a 50% (42–58) reduction in the rate of chronic eGFR decline. This relative effect of empagliflozin on chronic eGFR slope was similar in analyses by different primary kidney diseases, including in explorations by type of glomerular disease and diabetes (p values for heterogeneity all &gt;0·1). Interpretation: In a broad range of patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of progression, including a wide range of non-diabetic causes of chronic kidney disease, empagliflozin reduced risk of kidney disease progression. Relative effect sizes were broadly similar irrespective of the cause of primary kidney disease, suggesting that SGLT2 inhibitors should be part of a standard of care to minimise risk of kidney failure in chronic kidney disease. Funding: Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and UK Medical Research Council