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

African-specific improvement of a polygenic hazard score for age at diagnosis of prostate cancer

Polygenic hazard score (PHS) models are associated with age at diagnosis of prostate cancer. Our model developed in Europeans (PHS46) showed reduced performance in men with African genetic ancestry. We used a cross-validated search to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that might improve performance in this population. Anonymized genotypic data were obtained from the PRACTICAL consortium for 6253 men with African genetic ancestry. Ten iterations of a 10-fold cross-validation search were conducted to select SNPs that would be included in the final PHS46+African model. The coefficients of PHS46+African were estimated in a Cox proportional hazards framework using age at diagnosis as the dependent variable and PHS46, and selected SNPs as predictors. The performance of PHS46 and PHS46+African was compared using the same cross-validated approach. Three SNPs (rs76229939, rs74421890 and rs5013678) were selected for inclusion in PHS46+African. All three SNPs are located on chromosome 8q24. PHS46+African showed substantial improvements in all performance metrics measured, including a 75% increase in the relative hazard of those in the upper 20% compared to the bottom 20% (2.47-4.34) and a 20% reduction in the relative hazard of those in the bottom 20% compared to the middle 40% (0.65-0.53). In conclusion, we identified three SNPs that substantially improved the association of PHS46 with age at diagnosis of prostate cancer in men with African genetic ancestry to levels comparable to Europeans

Measurement of the νe and total 8B solar neutrino fluxes with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory phase-III data set

This paper details the solar neutrino analysis of the 385.17-day phase-III data set acquired by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). An array of 3He proportional counters was installed in the heavy-water target to measure precisely the rate of neutrino-deuteron neutral-current interactions. This technique to determine the total active 8B solar neutrino flux was largely independent of the methods employed in previous phases. The total flux of active neutrinos was measured to be 5.54-0.31+0.33(stat.)-0.34+0.36(syst.)×106 cm-2 s-1, consistent with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino mixing parameters yielded the best-fit values of Δm2=7.59-0.21+0.19×10 -5eV2 and θ=34.4-1.2+1.3degrees

Heat Stress: What's the Gut Got To Do With It?

This information was presented the 2015 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference, organized by the PRO-DAIRY Program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Softcover copies of the entire conference proceedings may be purchased at http:// ansci.cornell.edu/dm/ or by calling (607) 255-4478.Heat stress (HS) is a global problem which jeopardizes animal welfare, profitability, and global food security. Indirect effects of HS such as reduced feed intake contribute to, but do not fully explain, decreased productivity. Heat stressed animals initiate metabolic changes that do not reflect their plane of nutrition. This indicates that HS directly effects metabolism and productivity independent of reduced feed intake. In a variety of species, environmental hyperthermia compromises the intestinal barrier function resulting in increased permeability to luminal content including bacteria and bacterial components. Presumably, heat stress causes leaky gut in ruminants as well. The leakage of luminal content into the portal and ultimately the systemic circulation elicits an inflammatory response that may facilitate the detrimental effects of HS on animal agriculture. Identifying flexible management strategies (i.e. nutritional supplementation) to immediately decrease HS susceptibility without negatively influencing production traits would be of great value to global animal agriculture

Heat Stress: What's the Gut Got To Do With It?

This information was presented the 2015 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference, organized by the PRO-DAIRY Program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Softcover copies of the entire conference proceedings may be purchased at http:// ansci.cornell.edu/dm/ or by calling (607) 255-4478.Heat stress (HS) is a global problem which jeopardizes animal welfare, profitability, and global food security. Indirect effects of HS such as reduced feed intake contribute to, but do not fully explain, decreased productivity. Heat stressed animals initiate metabolic changes that do not reflect their plane of nutrition. This indicates that HS directly effects metabolism and productivity independent of reduced feed intake. In a variety of species, environmental hyperthermia compromises the intestinal barrier function resulting in increased permeability to luminal content including bacteria and bacterial components. Presumably, heat stress causes leaky gut in ruminants as well. The leakage of luminal content into the portal and ultimately the systemic circulation elicits an inflammatory response that may facilitate the detrimental effects of HS on animal agriculture. Identifying flexible management strategies (i.e. nutritional supplementation) to immediately decrease HS susceptibility without negatively influencing production traits would be of great value to global animal agriculture