Emotional Capital in Family Businesses: Decisions from Human Resource Management Perspective

Nowadays, family businesses (FBs) have become a distinctive organizational model, not only for preserving the values of their founders in times of technological, political and economical changes but also for fostering a different kind of organization surrounded by emotional ties. This is particularly interesting to the human resource management (HRM) area, because managers must take decisions aimed at achieving economic and financial goals, which often affect the emotional stability of family members. Regarding this issue, the term emotional capital (EC) appears as a set of assets based on the emotions that the organization has developed over time with their employees. This chapter examines, from the HRM perspective, how human resource choices can be affected in order to preserve a positive EC for organizations. Due to the social implications emotions have in HRM, the chapter also links corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an important management strategy, focused on meeting employees and social concerns, as a way to strengthen the emotional bonds in companies. The literature review and institutional reports pointed the characteristics of FB in Spain, describing how companies could design human resource policies and practices aimed at keeping EC. Finally, the configurational approach of HRM is used to explain the design of the best possible human resource practices adapted to a particular context like FB

Metabolic risk score indexes validation in overweight healthy people

The constellation of adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic risk factors, including elevated abdominal obesity, blood pressure (BP), glucose, and triglycerides (TG) and lowered high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), has been termed the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) [1]. A number of different definitions have been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) [2], the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) [3], the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR) [4] and, most recently, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) [5]. Since there is no universal definition of the Metabolic Syndrome, several authors have derived different risk scores to represent the clustering of its components [6-11]

EFECTO DE DECOLORACIÓN POR PLASMA NO TÉRMICO EN COLORANTES TEXTILES DISUELTOS: NEGRO ÁCIDO 194

Artículo de investigaciónIn this work, we show that cold plasma (electrical discharge) acting on the liquidatmosphere interface can change some macroscopic and microscopic parameters of wastewater with dissolved dyes, a process characterized by the study of physical and chemical variables, such as the voltage and current of the electrical discharge, temperature, volume, absorbance, electrical conductivity, pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC). The dye used is Acid Black 194 (AB194) in a water solution (250 mL) with a concentration of 0.1 mM and the addition of FeSO4 at 1.0 mM. The initial values of pH and electrical conductivity were 2.54 and 1.55 S/cm, respectively, at a temperature of 21.5 ºC. Nonthermal plasma was generated with a DC power supply at a potential of 700 V and 133 mA, which was maintained throughout the process, until an exposure time of 45 min. This physicochemical method is environmentally friendly because it does not generate polluting waste.UAEM 4307/2017/CI

Bonneville Project: CFD of the Spillway Tailrace

US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (CENWP) operates the Bonneville Lock and Dam Project on the Columbia River. High spill flows that occurred during 2011 moved a large volume of rock from downstream of the spillway apron to the stilling basin and apron. Although 400 cubic yards of rocks were removed from the stilling basin, there are still large volumes of rock downstream of the apron that could, under certain flow conditions, move upstream into the stilling basin. CENWP is investigating operational changes that could be implemented to minimize future movement of rock into the stilling basin. A key analysis tool to develop these operational changes is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the spillway. A free-surface CFD model of the Bonneville spillway tailrace was developed and applied for four flow scenarios. These scenarios looked at the impact of flow volume and flow distribution on tailrace hydraulics. The simulation results showed that areas of upstream flow existed near the river bed downstream of the apron, on the apron, and within the stilling basin for all flows. For spill flows of 300 kcfs, the cross-stream and downstream extent of the recirculation zones along Cascade and Bradford Island was very dependent on the spill pattern. The center-loaded pattern had much larger recirculation zones than the flat or bi-modal pattern. The lower flow (200 kcfs) with a flat pattern had a very large recirculation zone that extended half way across the channel near the river bed. A single flow scenario (300 kcfs of flow in a relatively flat spill pattern) was further interrogated using Lagrangian particle tracking. The tracked particles (with size and mass) showed the upstream movement of sediments onto the concrete apron and against the vertical wall between the apron and the stilling basin from seed locations downstream of the apron and on the apron

Peripheral Innate Lymphoid Cells Are Increased in First Line Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma Patients: A Negative Correlation With Th1 Immune Responses

Several distinct innate lymphoid cell (ILC) populations have been recently identified and shown to play a critical role in the immediate immune defense. In the context of tumors, there is evidence to support a dual role for ILCs with pro-or antitumor effects, depending on the ILC subset and the type of cancer. This ambivalent role has been particularly well-described in colorectal cancer models (CRC), but the presence and the evolution of ILCs in the peripheral blood of metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients have not yet been explored. Here, we investigated the distribution of ILC subsets in 96 mCRC patients who were prospectively included in the "Epitopes-CRCO2" trial. Peripheral bloodmononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed by flow cytometry at metastatic diagnosis and after 3-months of treatment. The treatments consisted of Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapies for 76% of the patients or Folfiri (5FU, Irinotecan) chemotherapies for 14% of patients. Compared to healthy donors, the frequency of total ILCs was dramatically increased at metastatic diagnosis. CD56(+) ILC1-like cells were expanded, whereas ILC2, NCR- ILCP and NCR+ ILCP subsets were decreased. Combined analysis with the systemic anti-telomerase hTERT Th1 CD4 response revealed that patients with low anti-TERT Th1 CD4 responses had the highest frequencies of total ILCs at diagnosis. Of those, 91% had synchronous metastases, and their median progression-free survival was 7.43 months (vs. 9.17 months for the other patients). In these patients, ILC1 and ILC2 were significantly decreased, whereas CD56(+) ILC1-like cells were significantly increased compared to patients with low frequency of total ILCs and high anti-TERT responses. After treatment, the NCR+ ILCP were further decreased irrespective of the chemotherapy regimen, whereas the balance between ILC1 and CD56(+) ILC1-like cells was modulated mainly by the Folfiri regimen in favor of ILC1. Altogether our results describe the effects of different chemotherapies on ILCs in mCRC patients. We also establish for the first time a link between frequency of ILCs and anti-tumor CD4 T cell responses in cancer patients. Thus, our study supports an interest in monitoring ILCs during cancer therapy to possibly identify predictive biomarkers in mCRC

Combined exercise effects on metabolic syndrome

Few randomized trials have examined the optimal mode of exercise or combination of modalities for specific cardiometabolic health benefits [1-3] . Therefore, questions remain unaddressed whether strength training or endurance training alone improves cardiometabolic health in overweight adults; whether a combination of both provides additional improvements [4, 5]

Prophylactic vs. Therapeutic Treatment With P2Et Polyphenol-Rich Extract Has Opposite Effects on Tumor Growth.

Polyphenols have tumoricidal effects via anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic and cytotoxic mechanisms and have recently been demonstrated to modulate the immune response through their anti- or pro- oxidant activity. Nevertheless, it remains controversial whether antioxidant-rich supplements have real beneficial effects on health, especially in complex diseases such as cancer. We previously identified a polyphenol-rich extract obtained from <i>Caesalpinia spinosa</i> (P2Et) with anti-tumor activity in both breast carcinoma and melanoma. The present work evaluated the ability of P2Et extract to modulate the immune system in either the steady state or following tumor challenge. We found that the prophylactic treatment of healthy mice increased the number of CD4 <sup>+</sup> and CD8 <sup>+</sup> activated T, NK, regulatory T, dendritic and myeloid-derived suppressor cells in lymphoid organs together with a significant increase in plasma IL-6. Interestingly, this pre-conditioning of the host immune system with P2Et did not involve a protective effect against the control of tumor growth and metastasis in transplantable models of melanoma (B16) and breast cancer (4T1), but in contrast, a detrimental effect was observed in both models. We further demonstrated that this effect was at least partly due to an increase in regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and proinflammatory cytokines, with a concomitant decrease in CD4 <sup>+</sup> and CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the anti-tumor and immunomodulation properties of the P2Et extract critically depend on the presence of the tumor and might be mediated by the complex interactions between the tumor cells and the other components of the tumor microenvironment

Lipidomic analysis of patients with microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity reveals upâ regulation of leukotriene B4

Bioactive lipids derived from the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids are important mediators of the inflammatory response. Labor per se is considered a sterile inflammatory process. Intraâ amniotic inflammation (IAI) due to microorganisms (i.e., intraâ amniotic infection) or danger signals (i.e., sterile IAI) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of preterm labor and clinical chorioamnionitis at term. Early and accurate diagnosis of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) requires analysis of amniotic fluid (AF). It is possible that IAI caused by microorganisms is associated with a stereotypic lipidomic profile, and that analysis of AF may help in the identification of patients with this condition. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the fatty acyl lipidome of AF by liquid chromatographyâ mass spectrometry from patients in spontaneous labor at term and preterm gestations. We report that the AF concentrations of proinflammatory lipid mediators of the 5â lipoxygenase pathway are significantly higher in MIAC than in cases of sterile IAI. These results suggest that the concentrations of 5â lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid, 5â hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, and leukotriene B4 in particular could serve as potential biomarkers of MIAC. This finding could have important implications for the rapid identification of patients who may benefit from antimicrobial treatment.â Maddipati, K. R., Romero, R., Chaiworapongsa, T., Chaemsaithong, P., Zhou, S.â L., Xu, Z., Tarca, A. L., Kusanovic, J. P., Gomez, R., Chaiyasit, N., Honn, K. V. Lipidomic analysis of patients with microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity reveals upâ regulation of leukotriene B4. FASEBJ. 30, 3296â 3307 (2016). www.fasebj.orgPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154488/1/fsb2fasebj30100583.pd

EFECTO DEL TIPO DE GRANO Y NIVEL DE IONÓFORO SOBRE LA PRODUCCIÓN DE GAS in vitro Y PERFIL FERMENTATIVO

Memorias in extenso de la Reunión Anual de la Asociación Mexicana de Producción Animal A.C.El uso de ionóforos en la producción animal y su uso en sistemas de producción intensivos es ampliamente conocido, ya que estos han mostrado mejorar los patrones de fermentación ruminal incrementando el porcentaje de propionato, reduciendo la producción de metano y mejorando el rendimiento productivo, sin embargo, estos efectos han mostrado ser inconsistentes entre especies, sobre todo en la producción ovina. Por lo que mediante la técnica de producción de gas in vitro, se evaluó el efecto del tipo de grano y nivel de ionóforo sobre variables de cinética de producción de gas y parámetros de fermentación ruminal in vitro, para lo cual se utilizaron como sustrato tres granos con diferente tasa de digestión: maíz, trigo y sorgo y se evaluaron tres niveles de ionóforo 0, 30 y 60 mg kg-1. Los resultados se analizaron mediante un análisis factorial tres por tres (3 tipos de grano X 3 niveles de ionóforo) las medias se compararon con una prueba de Tukey con un nivel de significancia p 0.05). Finalmente podemos concluir que el tipo de grano modifico las variables de cinética de la producción de gas y perfil fermentativo in vitro , por lo que es importante evaluar el tipo de grano a utilizar en las raciones así como el uso de ionóforos para obtener las mejores repuestas productivas y lograr una producción animal más eficiente