Human capital and entrepreneurial success : a meta-analytical review

The study meta-analytically integrates results from three decades of human capital research in entrepreneurship. Based on 70 independent samples (N = 24,733), we found a significant but small relationship between human capital and success (r(c) = .098). We examined theoretically derived moderators of this relationship referring to conceptualizations of human capital, to context, and to measurement of success. The relationship was higher for outcomes of human capital investments (knowledge/skills) than for human capital investments (education/experience), for human capital with high task-relatedness compared to low task-relatedness, for young businesses compared to old businesses, and for the dependent variable size compared to growth or profitability. Findings are relevant for practitioners (lenders, policy makers, educators) and for future research. Our findings show that future research should pursue moderator approaches to study the effects of human capital on success. Further, human capital is most important if it is task-related and if it consists of outcomes of human capital investments rather than human capital investments; this suggests that research should overcome a static view of human capital and should rather investigate the processes of learning, knowledge acquisition, and the transfer of knowledge to entrepreneurial tasks

Strategies, Uncertainty and Performance of Small Business Startups

Personal strategies of owners/founders of small business startups are related to performance and to environmental uncertainty. This is done using a longitudinal data set of some 50 Dutch startups. The results suggest a dynamic process between strategy and performance.A discrimination is made between four strategies (reactive, critical point, complete planning and opportunistic). The role of uncertainty is discussed. The dynamic process is embedded in the PERSUADE model.entrepreneurship;strategy;uncertainty;performance;small business startups

Integrating the Ecosystem Services Framework to Define Dysbiosis of the Breastfed Infant Gut: The Role of B. infantis and Human Milk Oligosaccharides

Mounting evidence supports a connection between the composition of the infant gut microbiome and long-term health. In fact, aberrant microbiome compositions during key developmental windows in early life are associated with increased disease risk; therefore, making pertinent modifications to the microbiome during infancy offers significant promise to improve human health. There is growing support for integrating the concept of ecosystem services (the provision of benefits from ecosystems to humans) in linking specific microbiome functions to human well-being. This framework is widely applied in conservation efforts of macro-ecosystems and offers a systematic approach to guide restoration actions aimed to recover critical ecological functions. The aim of this work is to apply the ecosystem services framework to integrate recent studies demonstrating stable alteration of the gut microbiome of breastfed infants when Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis EVC001, a gut symbiont capable of efficiently utilizing human milk oligosaccharides into organic acids that are beneficial for the infant and lower intestinal pH, is reintroduced. Additionally, using examples from the literature we illustrate how the absence of B. infantis results in diminished ecosystem services, which may be associated with health consequences related to immune and metabolic disorders. Finally, we propose a model by which infant gut dysbiosis can be defined as a reduction in ecosystem services supplied to the host by the gut microbiome rather than merely changes in diversity or taxonomic composition. Given the increased interest in targeted microbiome modification therapies to decrease acute and chronic disease risk, the model presented here provides a framework to assess the effectiveness of such strategies from a host-centered perspective

Role of Physical Therapists in the Management of Individuals at Risk for or Diagnosed With Venous Thromboembolism: Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), in conjunction with the Cardiovascular & Pulmonary and Acute Care sections of APTA, have developed this clinical practice guideline to assist physical therapists in their decision-making process when treating patients at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) or diagnosed with a lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (LE DVT). No matter the practice setting, physical therapists work with patients who are at risk for or have a history of VTE. This document will guide physical therapist practice in the prevention of, screening for, and treatment of patients at risk for or diagnosed with LE DVT. Through a systematic review of published studies and a structured appraisal process, key action statements were written to guide the physical therapist. The evidence supporting each action was rated, and the strength of statement was determined. Clinical practice algorithms, based on the key action statements, were developed that can assist with clinical decision making. Physical therapists, along with other members of the health care team, should work to implement these key action statements to decrease the incidence of VTE, improve the diagnosis and acute management of LE DVT, and reduce the long-term complications of LE DVT

SLAVERY UNDER THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE JUS COGENS PROHIBITION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human trafficking for purposes of sexual and other forms of slavery continues to pose a major threat to the human rights and human dignity of many persons. This is particularly the case for young women from Eastern European nations. Not to be confused with human smuggling and undocumented immigration, human trafficking usually aims at exploitation, often through slavery in the form of un-oder underpaid domestic work or forced prostitution. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as jus cogens outlaw slavery. In this article it is shown by the authors that human trafficking - although not explicitly dealt with in the ECHR - is also prohibited if it aims at creating or maintaining a situation of slavery. Indeed, it is then prohibited by jus cogens and states have a positive obligation to combat human trafficking effectively. Many states fail to do so, showing that this problem is one of law enforcement rather than of creating effective legal norms since those already exist

Psychological training for entrepreneurs to take action

Entrepreneurship is one of the most effective means to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Effective entrepreneurship requires psychological approaches—in particular, active (i.e., agentic) approaches. We introduce an action-regulation training approach, focusing on self-regulation and active behavior in entrepreneurship as a bottom-up solution for poverty reduction. We present two different training interventions. The first focuses on enhancing personal initiative in entrepreneurs from developing countries. The second aims at boosting startup rates in these countries by enhancing participants’ entrepreneurial skills and motivation. We describe underlying theoretical assumptions, structures, and effects of both training interventions and discuss evaluation studies with randomized pretest-posttest control-group designs showing that action-regulation training is a successful means to promote entrepreneurship in developing countries

Padronização de uma bateria para a avaliação de fatores de risco psicossociais trabalhistas em trabalhadores colombianos

A battery of questionnaires to assess psychosocial risk factors at work was developed in 2010 in response to Resolution 2646 created by the Colombian Ministry of Social Protection. However, this battery presents some theoretical and practical limitations. A new battery of instruments has been designed and validated that includes instruments and risk indicators of the demand-control-social support and the effort-reward imbalance models. Other factors, not included in these models, but that Resolution 2646 suggests should be assessed, have also been added, and with this additional information, the new battery allows us to also calculate a “global indicator” of demand, control, and social support; family and social risk conditions, coping and personality; and health and wellbeing. The new battery was administered to a sample of 16,095 workers from different occupations and representative Colombian regions. An analysis of the various domains indicates that internal consistency of the various scales is high. The new battery has the following properties: it is simple to use in paper format or when administered by computer, it enables comparison between occupations, it offers unified scores for each variable, and provides information to assess the risk factors suggested by Resolution 2646. In addition, it will make it possible to compare the results obtained when analyzing Colombian workers with those obtained from studies of workers from other countries.Em 2010, desenvolveu-se uma bateria de instrumentos para avaliar fatores psicossociais trabalhistas de risco para a saúde, em resposta à Resolução 2 646 do Ministério da Proteção Social da Colômbia. Contudo, esta conta com algumas limitações que, a partir da construção e da validação de uma nova bateria, neste estudo se pretendem superar. Além disso, a nova bateria oferece recursos adicionais para a avaliação desses fatores: a presente bateria incorpora os instrumentos e os indicadores centrais dos modelos demanda-controle-apoio social e desiquilíbrio esforço-recompensa e os fatores internos do trabalho não considerados nesses modelos, mas que a Resolução considera necessários, mediram-se com testes preexistentes ou desenvolvidos pelos autores. Com os dados coletados, é possível calcular indicadores globais de demanda, controle e apoio social; além de condições familiares e sociais de risco, enfrentamento, personalidade e indicadores de saúde e bem-estar. Para a validação, a bateria foi aplicada a uma amostra de 16 095 trabalhadores de diferentes cargos e municípios colombianos. As anál i ses de consistência interna e validade permitem afirmar que a bateria é simples de aplicar em papel ou digital, permitirá comparar cargos, obter pontuações unificadas por variável, oferecer um diagnóstico de um número importante das variáveis sugeridas na Resolução bem como permitirá comparar os resultados dos trabalhadores colombianos com os de outros países. Palavras-chave: fatores trabalhistas de risco psicossocial, Resolução 2 646 de 2008, modelo demanda-controle-apoio social, modelo desiquilíbrio esforço-recompensa, estresse profissional, avaliação.En 2010 se desarrolló una batería de instrumentos para evaluar factores psicosociales laborales de riesgo para la salud, en respuesta a la Resolución 2646 de 2008 del Ministerio de la Protección Social de Colombia. Sin embargo, esta cuenta con algunas limitaciones que, a partir de la construcción y validación de una nueva batería, en el presente estudio se buscan superar. La nueva batería ofrece recursos adicionales para la evaluación de estos factores: incorpora los instrumentos e indicadores centrales de los modelos demanda-control-apoyo social y desequilibrio esfuerzo-recompensa, y los factores intralaborales no contemplados en dichos modelos, pero que la Resolución considera necesarios, se midieron con pruebas preexistentes o desarrolladas por los autores. Con los datos recolectados es posible calcular indicadores globales de demanda, control y apoyo social; además de condiciones familiares y sociales de riesgo, afrontamiento, personalidad e indicadores de salud y bienestar. Para la validación, la batería se aplicó a una muestra de 16.095 trabajadores de diferentes ocupaciones y municipios colombianos. Los análisis de consistencia interna y validez permiten afirmar que la batería es sencilla de aplicar en papel o por computador, permitirá comparar ocupaciones, obtener puntuaciones unificadas por variable, ofrecer un diagnóstico de un número importante de las variables sugeridas en la Resolución y comparar los resultados de los trabajadores colombianos con los de otros países

Organizational error management culture and its impact on performance: a two study replication

The authors argue that a high-organizational error management culture, conceptualized to include norms and common practices in organizations (e.g., communicating about errors, detecting, analyzing, and correcting errors quickly), is pivotal to the reduction of negative and the promotion of positive error consequences. Organizational error management culture was positively related to firm performance across 2 studies conducted in 2 different European countries. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional data from 65 Dutch organizations, Study 1 revealed that organizational error management culture was significantly correlated with both organizational goal achievement and an objective indicator of economic performance. This finding was confirmed in Study 2, using change-of-profitability data from 47 German organizations. The results suggest that organizations may want to introduce organizational error management as a way to boost firm performance

Körperliches Training bei mitochondrialen Erkrankungen

Zusammenfassung: Körperliches Training gilt bei mitochondrialen Myopathien als einer der vielversprechendsten therapeutischen Ansätze. Effektivität und Sicherheit sind bewiesen. Ausdauer- und Krafttraining haben unterschiedliche Wirkungen auf die Muskulatur von Patienten mit mitochondrialer Myopathie: Als therapeutischer Mechanismus des Krafttrainings gilt das so genannte "gene shifting", die trainingsinduzierte Verschiebung des Anteils mutierter mitochondrialer DNS (mtDNS) zugunsten von Wildtyp-mtDNS durch Induktion muskulärer Satellitenzellen. Ausdauertraining regt die mitochondriale Biogenese an und hilft somit, den Circulus vitiosus aus verringertem Mitochondriengehalt, verringerter Kapazität der oxidativen Phosphorylierung, Belastungsintoleranz und daraus resultierender fortschreitender muskulärer Dekonditionierung zu durchbrechen. Die Effektivität und die Sicherheit medikamentöser Induktoren der mitochondrialen Biogenese - möglicherweise in Kombination mit Training - könnten Gegenstand künftiger Untersuchungen sei