Linking Merger and Acquisition Strategies to Postmerger Integration: A Configurational Perspective of Human Resource Management

The extant literature tends to frame mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and postmerger integration (PMI) as strategies and outcomes, but this framing often leaves their underlying processes underexplored. We address this gap by redirecting attention to the view that M&As are largely embedded in social and human practices. Our conceptual study identifies three generic M&A strategies—annex & assimilate, harvest & protect, and link & promote—and matches them with three well-known PMI outcomes (i.e., absorption, preservation, and symbiosis, respectively). Using a configurational perspective and drawing upon the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) model, we develop a conceptual framework that reveals why and how AMO-enhancing human resource management (HRM) practices can link M&A strategies and PMI outcomes. Finally, we elaborate on the theoretical and practical contributions and chart a course for future inquiry and research applications for the M&A-HRM-PMI triad and its processes

Further development of the 12-item EDEQS: identifying a cut-off for screening purposes

Background: The Eating Disorder Examination – Questionnaire Short (EDE-QS) was developed as a 12-item versionof the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) with a 4-point response scale that assesses eatingdisorder (ED) symptoms over the preceding 7 days. It has demonstrated good psychometric properties at initialtesting. The purpose of this brief report is to determine a threshold score that could be used in screening forprobable ED cases in community settings.Methods: Data collected from Gideon et al. (2016) were re-analyzed. In their study, 559 participants (80.86% female;9.66% self-reported ED diagnosis) completed the EDE-Q, EDE-QS, SCOFF, and Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA).Discriminatory power was compared between ED instruments using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curveanalyses.Results: A score of 15 emerged as the threshold that ensured the best trade-off between sensitivity (.83) andspecificity (.85), and good positive predictive value (.37) for the EDE-QS, with discriminatory power comparable toother ED instruments.Conclusion: The EDE-QS appears to be an instrument with good discriminatory power that could be used for EDscreening purposes

Impact of Reliable Built Structures in Driving the Sustainable Development Goals: A look at Nigerian Building Structures

The bearing of lasting built structures in driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be overemphasized. The SDGs agenda is a plan of action for eradicating poverty among the people of the world, strengthening universal peace and laying the foundation for sustainable development and prosperity for all. The quality of built structures in an environment defines the level of advancement attained by the society, for which the quality of structures that will lay the base for sustainable development must be reliable. No meaningful development can be achieved without reliable built structures. In fact, all the 17 SDGs need consistent built structures to be achieved. This paper researches on the reliability of built structures as a base for sustainable development with particular emphasis on Nigerian building structures. Statistical method is used to analyze data on failed building structures. Results obtained point to the fact that the failure rate and the casualty rate of Nigerian building structures are very high. As safety of human lives is implicitly embedded in the SDGs, much have to be done to raise the standard of building that will contribute to the achievement of the SDGs

The Study of Periwinkle Shells as Fine and Coarse Aggregate in Concrete Works

For a country like Nigeria and indeed the third world countries at large, to be able to achieve a sustainable infrastructural development particularly in the area of housing in the nearest future, low cost building materials especially those readily available within each geo political areas must be exploited and used to make housing affordable for all and sundry. The inflationary trend in the Nigeria economy escalated the cost of building materials to the extent that many of the conventional building materials are no longer affordable for the construction of low cost housing. This research presents the study of the suitability of periwinkle shells as fine and coarse aggregate in construction works. Experimental and statistical approach was adopted in this project. Physical and mechanical properties of periwinkle shells and crushed granite were determined and compared. A total of sixty (60) concrete cubes of size 150 x 150 x 150 mm with different percentages by weight of crushed granite to periwinkle shells as fine and coarse aggregate in order of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50% and 100% inclusion of periwinkle shells were cast, tested and their physical and mechanical properties were determined. Compressive strength test showed that 30% replacement of granite by periwinkle shells and 30% replacement of sharp sand by periwinkle fine aggregate were satisfactory without compromise in compressive strength requirement for a mix ratio 1:2:4. Also, the cost analysis shows a 24% savings in cost when periwinkle shells are used holistically (100%) as coarse aggregate and 6.8% savings in cost when 30% are used to replace granite as coarse aggregate

Behavioral Economic Measurement of Cigarette Demand: A Descriptive Review of Published Approaches to the Cigarette Purchase Task

The cigarette purchase task (CPT) is a behavioral economic method for assessing demand for cigarettes. Growing interest in behavioral correlates of tobacco use in clinical and general populations as well as empirical efforts to inform policy has seen an increase in published articles employing the CPT. Accordingly, an examination of the published methods and procedures for obtaining these behavioral economic metrics is timely. The purpose of this investigation was to provide a review of published approaches to using the CPT. We searched specific Boolean operators ([“behavioral economic” AND “purchase task”] OR [“demand” AND “cigarette”]) and identified 49 empirical articles published through the year 2018 that reported administering a CPT. Articles were coded for participant characteristics (e.g., sample size, population type, age), CPT task structure (e.g., price framing, number and sequence of prices; vignettes, contextual factors), and data analytic approach (e.g., method of generating indices of cigarette demand). Results of this review indicate no standard approach to administering the CPT and underscore the need for replicability of these behavioral economic measures for the purpose of guiding clinical and policy decisions

Review of the use of E-waste in concrete production: challenges and prospects

Due to the obvious negative environmental effect of electronic waste because of its limited biodegradability, experts worldwide are interested in developing sustainable construction materials utilizing e-waste and its recovered extractions. The current review attempts to reassess E-waste use in the production of concrete. To assess problems and opportunities in the use of these waste materials, their physical, structural, and durability qualities will be investigated. The study shows the efficiency of E-waste in the improvement of fresh properties and a decrease in the hardened properties of concrete with varying effects on durability properties. The study shows the addition of waste materials such as fly ash, waste glass, and steel slag helps improve some of these properties. However, further research is recommended to develop other means of improving E-waste concrete strength properties for wider acceptance and utilization in the construction industry. This appraisal will help to promote sustainable and cheap E-waste development in the building sector. It will also help to alleviate strain on naturally existing concrete aggregates, as well as reduce pollution of landfill sites, groundwater, and, of course, protect the health of organisms and ecosystems

Epidemiological Studies on Schistosoma haematobium Infection in Coastal Area, Kenya : Cercarial Density at Water Contact Points and Identification of Species of Cercariae

ビルハルツ住血吸虫症の流行地であるケニア国クワレ地区ムワチンガ村において,住民によく利用されている水系から,特に利用頻度の高い2ケ所(Site 6,Site 19)を選び,水中のセルカリア密度を,Prentice(1984)の方法を用いて測定した。さらにセルカリアの種を同定するために,4匹ずつの未感染ハムスターを調査地の水に暴露し,約3カ月後剖検して住血吸虫の感染の有無について調べた.Site 6では,401の水からわずかに1隻のセルカリアが回収されただけで,4匹のハムスターには,いずれも住血吸虫の感染は見られなかった.これに対して,Site 19では81の水から231隻のセルカリアが検出され,また4匹のハムスターからも,合計31個体の住血吸虫成虫(雄20,雌11)が回収された.これらのハムスターの肝臓には多数の住血吸虫卵が見い出され,形態学的特徴からビルハルツ住血吸虫のものと同定された.住血吸虫症流行地のいろいろな水系の水の危険度を測定する際のセルカリオメトリーの有用性について考察した.The cercarial density in natural water was measured at two major water contact points in Mwachinga, Kwale, an endemic area of Schistosoma haematobium infection, by using the filtration technique of Prentice (1984). In addition, the sentinel animals, male golden hamsters, were immersed in water for the identification of species of schistosomes. Only one cercaria was recovered from 40 litters of water sample at one site. Neither adult worm nor egg was recovered from 4 sentinel animals which were immersed there. At the other site, 231 cercariae were detected in 8 liters of water sample. A total of 31 adult worms, 20 males and 11 females, were recovered from 4 sentinel hamsters. The eggs from the livers of hamsters were identified to be S. haematobium based on their morphological features. The practicability of cereariometry in detecting relative risk of infection in different water contact points was discussed

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS FOR HEPATITIS C AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS CO-INFECTION AMONG CHILDREN IN ENUGU, NIGERIA

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), are major public health challenges in the developing world especially sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Hepatitis C virus infection among children infected with HIV. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Paediatric HIV Clinic, UNTH, Enugu between July and December 2009. Antibodies to HCV were analyzed by newer generation rapid chromatographic immunoassay method using the Chromatest one step HCV test kit. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15 statistical software. The chi squared test was used to test for significant association of categorical variables. A p-value o

Regulation of immune responses in primary biliary cholangitis: a transcriptomic analysis of peripheral immune cells

BACKGROUND AIMS: In patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), the serum liver biochemistry measured during treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid-the UDCA response-accurately predicts long-term outcome. Molecular characterization of patients stratified by UDCA response can improve biological understanding of the high-risk disease, thereby helping to identify alternative approaches to disease-modifying therapy. In this study, we sought to characterize the immunobiology of the UDCA response using transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets. METHODS: We performed bulk RNA-sequencing of monocytes and TH1, TH17, TREG, and B cells isolated from the peripheral blood of 15 PBC patients with adequate UDCA response ("responders"), 16 PBC patients with inadequate UDCA response ("nonresponders"), and 15 matched controls. We used the Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis to identify networks of co-expressed genes ("modules") associated with response status and the most highly connected genes ("hub genes") within them. Finally, we performed a Multi-Omics Factor Analysis of the Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis modules to identify the principal axes of biological variation ("latent factors") across all peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets. RESULTS: Using the Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis, we identified modules associated with response and/or disease status (q<0.05) in each peripheral blood mononuclear cell subset. Hub genes and functional annotations suggested that monocytes are proinflammatory in nonresponders, but antiinflammatory in responders; TH1 and TH17 cells are activated in all PBC cases but better regulated in responders; and TREG cells are activated-but also kept in check-in responders. Using the Multi-Omics Factor Analysis, we found that antiinflammatory activity in monocytes, regulation of TH1 cells, and activation of TREG cells are interrelated and more prominent in responders. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that adaptive immune responses are better regulated in patients with PBC with adequate UDCA response