The HR Function in 2021: Models & Competencies

[Excerpt] The findings of this research project are based on interviews with 57 Human Resources (HR) leaders across 44 national and international companies within 10 industries ranging from manufacturing to financial services. Interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes and strove to answer the following question: “what are the key future competencies for the HR Business Partner (HRBP) role? How should these competencies be developed?” The interviews included questions addressing the topics of future of work trends, HR operating models, the HRBP role, and HRBP career development

Evaluation of the ACT Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP)

In 2005 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) produced a report, Responding to sexual assault: The challenge of change (DPP & AFP 2005), which made 105 recommendations for reforming the way sexual offence cases are handled by the ACT’s criminal justice system. The Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP) is one key initiative developed in response to these recommendations. Managed by the ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS), SARP’s main objective is to improve aspects of the criminal justice system relating to: processes and support for victims of sexual offences as they progress through the system; attrition in sexual offence matters in the criminal justice system; and coordination and collaboration among the agencies involved. In November 2007 the ACT Attorney-General announced $4 million of funding for several SARP reforms. This funding provided for additional victim support staff; a dedicated additional police officer, prosecutor and legal policy officer; and an upgrade of equipment for the Supreme Court and Magistrates Court, including improvements in technology to assist witnesses in giving evidence, and the establishment of an off-site facility to allow witnesses to give evidence from a location outside of the court. In addition, the reform agenda included a number of legislative amendments that changed how evidence can be given by victims of sexual and family violence offences, children and other vulnerable witnesses. The primary objectives of these legislative changes are to provide an unintimidating, safe environment for vulnerable witnesses (including sexual offence complainants) to give evidence and to obtain prompt statements from witnesses to improve the quality of evidence captured (DPP 2009: 13)

Investigating the role of schizophrenia-associated gene expression in the developing human brain using Machine Learning

Schizophrenia is a debilitating condition that affects 1% of the population, causes significant hardship and though there are treatments available they are characterised by several limitations. It is a complex mental disorder where some individuals show mild subclinical cognitive symptoms before psychosis onset in adolescence. The treatments available only target a portion of the symptoms and although extensive research has been conducted, a comprehensive understanding of the nature of schizophrenia remains elusive. Unlike other neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia symptoms do not typically present themselves until adolescence. This study aimed to discover gene co-expression networks at multiple developmental stages to identify candidate therapeutic targets to better treat and manage schizophrenia. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified 145 genetic loci associated with schizophrenia. Allen Brain Atlas’s BrainSpan resource provides brain development data from neurotypical brains. Using this resource, it was possible to study the gene expression of 316 schizophrenia-associated genes, identified previously in a large-scale GWAS, across each of the developmental stages available in the Allen Brain Atlas. K means Clustering and a systems biology approach (WGCNA) was applied to these schizophrenia-associated genes at each developmental stage where modules within networks were created by grouping co-expressed genes. To facilitate biological interpretation of these modules co-expressed genes were visualised using Cytoscape and gene ontology pathway enrichment analysis was applied. We identified 21 hub genes using WGCNA. Of the 316 schizophrenia-associated genes, 27 modules were identified and 3 hub genes GPR52, INA, SATB2 were common in multiple developmental stages. Our results suggest that GPR52, INA, SATB2 represent candidate genes for future evaluation of their potential as therapeutic targets of schizophrenia. Additional hub genes included TRANK1 and ALMS1, genes which were previously identified as expression quantitative trait loci. Taken together our results add further evidence that these genes could be good candidates for further research as they may regulate several schizophrenia-related genes in their respective modules. Finally, our enrichment analysis implicated a role for positive regulation of macrophage proliferation and cellular response to catecholamine stimulus, and cellular response to diacyl bacterial lipopeptide at each developmental stage. The immune system and catecholamines, including dopamine, have long been associated with schizophrenia and our results provide further support for these hypotheses

Investigating the role of Schizophrenia-associated gene expression in the developing human brain using Machine Learning

Schizophrenia is a debilitating condition that affects 1% of the population, causes significant hardship and though there are treatments available they are characterised by several limitations. It is a complex mental disorder where some individuals show mild subclinical cognitive symptoms before psychosis onset in adolescence. The treatments available only target a portion of the symptoms and although extensive research has been conducted, a comprehensive understanding of the nature of schizophrenia remains elusive. Unlike other neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia symptoms do not typically present themselves until adolescence. This study aimed to discover gene co-expression networks at multiple developmental stages to identify candidate therapeutic targets to better treat and manage schizophrenia. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified 145 genetic loci associated with schizophrenia. Allen Brain Atlas’s BrainSpan resource provides brain development data from neurotypical brains. Using this resource it was possible to study the gene expression of 316 schizophrenia-associated genes, identified previously in a large-scale GWAS, across each of the developmental stages available in the Allen Brain Atlas. K means Clustering and a systems biology approach (WGCNA) was applied to these schizophrenia-associated genes at each developmental stage where modules within networks were created by grouping coexpressed genes. To facilitate biological interpretation of these modules co-expressed genes were visualised using Cytoscape and gene ontology pathway enrichment analysis was applied. We identified 21 hub genes using WGCNA. Of the 316 schizophrenia-associated genes, 27 modules were identified and 3 hub genes GPR52, INA, SATB2 were common in multiple developmental stages. Our results suggest that GPR52, INA, SATB2 represent candidate genes for future evaluation of their potential as therapeutic targets of schizophrenia. Additional hub genes included TRANK1 and ALMS1, genes which were previously identified as expression quantitative trait loci. Taken together our results add further evidence that these genes could be good candidates for further research as they may regulate several schizophrenia-related genes in their respective modules. Finally, our enrichment analysis implicated a role for positive regulation of macrophage proliferation and cellular response to catecholamine stimulus, and cellular response to diacyl bacterial lipopeptide at each developmental stage. The immune system and catecholamines, including dopamine, have long been associated with schizophrenia and our results provide further support for these hypotheses

Public Health SoTL: From Anecdote to Data

Challenges related to teaching and learning are often discussed among faculty. Student input is often sparse and subject to volunteer bias, resulting in feedback that is likely not representative. Furthermore, there is also anecdotal evidence that public health faculty have strong views regarding teaching and learning topics, particularly when it comes to online instruction for courses with rigorous methodologic or analytic content, and there are concerns student performance may differ based on course modality. In an effort to draw evidence-based conclusions based on non-anecdotal data, a public health student and faculty dataset creation and analysis model is explored

Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing for Salt Lake County

This fact sheet describes how to perform a site inspection and a sprinkler test so you can irrigate your landscape more efficiently, and provides an irrigation schedule for Salt Lake County

Burnout Syndrome in Critical Care Nurses

Burnout syndrome among nurses, especially within the critical care setting, has been a persistent and increasingly prevalent problem in the healthcare field. This systematic review aims to explore the common causes of burnout among nurses associated with working in a critical care setting. Twenty-five peer-reviewed articles, published between the years of 2000 and 2018, were selected for analysis and synthesis using the databases PubMed and CINAHL. The group included research studies conducted in the United States, Spain, France, China and Iran with sample sizes ranging from 42 to 2,392 intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. The articles included in this review were from systematic reviews and individual experimental studies that used Maslach Burnout Inventory, General Health Questionnaire, Integrative Literature Reviews, Depression Screenings, Cross-Sectional studies, and the Connor-David Resilience Scale. Findings demonstrate a high incidence of burnout among critical care nurses, with common causes related to environmental, situational and personal factors

Pioneers across war zones: The lived acculturation experiences of US female military expatriates

This exploratory study focuses on the lived acculturation experiences of United States (US) female career military expatriates who worked and lived in combat settings across five war zones. Based on an analysis of oral histories that spanned over 60 years, the research revealed that these pioneering women had a strong commitment to their profession, and that this, along with camaraderie, facilitated their adaptation to living conditions characterized by extreme danger, nominal domestic comforts, and unrelenting work requirements in culturally unfamiliar contexts. The research identified the multiple physical and psychological stressors of living and working as a female in a war zone and the variety of coping strategies employed for acculturation, particularly the prominent role of relational support from family and friends, and a combination of personal coping mechanisms (such as crying or compartmentalization) and religious faith. As extant expatriate research has overwhelmingly focused on male executives in multinational corporations, this research is significant in extending the literature to an analysis of the public sector, specifically women deployed overseas in highly dangerous settings and who were pioneering in both their roles in the military and as non-traditional expatriates at a time when few women worked internationally

Guidelines for Ecotourism Operations in the Great Plains

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature defines ecotourism as: Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socioeconomic involvement of local peoples. Ecotourism has the potential to support communities and conservation efforts from revenue streams to parks and reserves in the Great Plains, while also contributing to a culture shift towards a conservation ethic. Recent surges in ecotourism have contributed to growth in the tourism sectors in Great Plains states, because these approaches to tourism can leverage the open spaces, natural landscapes, and culture and heritage of the region. Facilities, Food, Activities, Guest Care, and Environment Awareness-- This resource is designed to support the planning, growth, and development of ecotourism facilities that offer beds, activities, and food to guests. We selected five components of ecotourism for use in guidelines and evaluations for ecotourism operations: facilities, activities, food, guest care, and environmental awareness. Tourists vary in their expectations and needs, and ecotourism operations vary in their goals and investment potential. One path to business success is to meet expectations of guests. This publication provides rubrics that describe expectations for the five ecotourism components at each level (1-star to 5-star). Achievement of higher levels of guest expectations may require more design, planning, and investment, and clients may pay more for facilities that achieve higher levels. Each facilities’ goals should dictate the level at which they wish to operate. These evaluation guidelines were developed after considerable experience at domestic and international facilities

Pierced, looped and framed: the (re)use of gold coins in jewellery in sixth‐ and seventh‐century England

The early medieval coin‐using economy is traditionally conceptualized as a masculine sphere with minimal female involvement. This article examines a corpus of 135 gold and pale gold coins of the later sixth and seventh centuries that underwent modification as coin‐pendants, a form of jewellery that belongs almost exclusively to feminine contexts. Analysis of this corpus reveals that these coins were valued as coins, with their attendant symbolic and economic significance, and that this transformation into jewellery did not irreversibly remove them from circulation, offering important evidence for female engagement in the seventh‐century coin‐based economy