Changes in the organizational context and the communication between actors following the implementation of intranet

Dans cette étude exploratoire et comparative de deux compagnies provenant des industries du logiciel et manufacturière des composantes électroniques nous examinons, à l'aide de plusieurs modèles théoriques de la technologie, les diverses relations qui s'établissent entre intranet et les acteurs sociaux. Trois groupes de résultats se dégagent de nos analyses de cas. D'abord, tel que prédit par le modèle de « l'impératif technologique », nous observons qu'intranet exerce un impact sur plusieurs aspects structurels des contextes organisationnels étudiés. Ensuite, nous corroborons le modèle du « choix stratégique », en démontrant qu'intranet est un construit social qui est créé, utilisé et modifié par les actions de signification des acteurs humains. Enfin, en nous appuyant sur le modèle structurationniste d'intranet, nous remarquons que plusieurs dimensions de la communication entre les acteurs sociaux subissent des changements significatifs comme résultat de l'interaction de nature dialectique, structurante et continuelle qui s'établit entre intranet et ses usagers. Cependant, même si les changements observés se produisent dans les deux compagnies de l'échantillon, la quantité, le degré et l'intensité des modifications survenues varient dépendamment du contexte organisationnel spécifique à l'entreprise analysée et du type d'industrie dans laquelle elle opère.This exploratory and comparative study of two companies examines, based on multiple theoretical models of technology, the diverse relationships that develop between the Intranet and social actors. One of the analyzed companies operates in the software industry, while the other manufactures electronic components. Our research findings are threefold. Firstly, as suggested by the "technological imperative" model, we notice that the Intranet impacts several structural aspects in the organizational contexts under investigation. Secondly, we support the "strategic choice" model, which shows that the Intranet is a social construct that is created, used and changed by the human actors' meaningful actions. Finally, based on the structurationalmodel of Intranet, we observe that several dimensions of communication between the social actors are significantly modified as a result of the dialectical, structurational and continuous interaction that is established between the Intranet and its users. However, although the observed changes take place within the two sample companies, the quantity, the level and intensity of the changes vary according to the organizational context, which is typical of the analyzed company, and the type of industry in which the company operates

Deforestation detection using deep learning-based semantic segmentation techniques: a systematic review

Deforestation poses a critical global threat to Earth’s ecosystem and biodiversity, necessitating effective monitoring and mitigation strategies. The integration of deep learning with remote sensing offers a promising solution for precise deforestation segmentation and detection. This paper provides a comprehensive review of deep learning methodologies applied to deforestation analysis through satellite imagery. In the face of deforestation’s ecological repercussions, the need for advanced monitoring and surveillance tools becomes evident. Remote sensing, with its capacity to capture extensive spatial data, combined with deep learning’s prowess in recognizing complex patterns to enable precise deforestation assessment. Integration of these technologies through state-of-the-art models, including U-Net, DeepLab V3, ResNet, SegNet, and FCN, has enhanced the accuracy and efficiency in detecting deforestation patterns. The review underscores the pivotal role of satellite imagery in capturing spatial information and highlights the strengths of various deep learning architectures in deforestation analysis. Multiscale feature learning and fusion emerge as critical strategies enabling deep networks to comprehend contextual nuances across various scales. Additionally, attention mechanisms combat overfitting, while group and shuffle convolutions further enhance accuracy by reducing dominant filters’ contribution. These strategies collectively fortify the robustness of deep learning models in deforestation analysis. The integration of deep learning techniques into remote sensing applications serves as an excellent tool for deforestation identification and monitoring. The synergy between these fields, exemplified by the reviewed models, presents hope for preserving invaluable forests. As technology advances, insights from this review will drive the development of more accurate, efficient, and accessible deforestation detection methods, contributing to the sustainable management of the planet’s vital resources

A slow-forming isopeptide bond in the structure of the major pilin SpaD from Corynebacterium diphtheriae has implications for pilus assembly

The Gram-positive organism Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the cause of diphtheria in humans, expresses pili on its surface which it uses for adhesion and colonization of its host. These pili are covalent protein polymers composed of three types of pilin subunit that are assembled by specific sortase enzymes. A structural analysis of the major pilin SpaD, which forms the polymeric backbone of one of the three types of pilus expressed by C. diphtheriae, is reported. Mass-spectral and crystallographic analysis shows that SpaD contains three internal Lys-Asn isopeptide bonds. One of these, shown by mass spectrometry to be located in the N-terminal D1 domain of the protein, only forms slowly, implying an energy barrier to bond formation. Two crystal structures, of the full-length three-domain protein at 2.5Å resolution and of a two-domain (D2-D3) construct at 1.87Å resolution, show that each of the three Ig-like domains contains a single Lys-Asn isopeptide-bond cross-link, assumed to give mechanical stability as in other such pili. Additional stabilizing features include a disulfide bond in the D3 domain and a calcium-binding loop in D2. The N-terminal D1 domain is more flexible than the others and, by analogy with other major pilins of this type, the slow formation of its isopeptide bond can be attributed to its location adjacent to the lysine used in sortase-mediated polymerization during pilus assembly.open0

The Multifunctional LigB Adhesin Binds Homeostatic Proteins with Potential Roles in Cutaneous Infection by Pathogenic Leptospira interrogans

Leptospirosis is a potentially fatal zoonotic disease in humans and animals caused by pathogenic spirochetes, such as Leptospira interrogans. The mode of transmission is commonly limited to the exposure of mucous membrane or damaged skin to water contaminated by leptospires shed in the urine of carriers, such as rats. Infection occurs during seasonal flooding of impoverished tropical urban habitats with large rat populations, but also during recreational activity in open water, suggesting it is very efficient. LigA and LigB are surface localized proteins in pathogenic Leptospira strains with properties that could facilitate the infection of damaged skin. Their expression is rapidly induced by the increase in osmolarity encountered by leptospires upon transition from water to host. In addition, the immunoglobulin-like repeats of the Lig proteins bind proteins that mediate attachment to host tissue, such as fibronectin, fibrinogen, collagens, laminin, and elastin, some of which are important in cutaneous wound healing and repair. Hemostasis is critical in a fresh injury, where fibrinogen from damaged vasculature mediates coagulation. We show that fibrinogen binding by recombinant LigB inhibits fibrin formation, which could aid leptospiral entry into the circulation, dissemination, and further infection by impairing healing. LigB also binds fibroblast fibronectin and type III collagen, two proteins prevalent in wound repair, thus potentially enhancing leptospiral adhesion to skin openings. LigA or LigB expression by transformation of a nonpathogenic saprophyte, L. biflexa, enhances bacterial adhesion to fibrinogen. Our results suggest that by binding homeostatic proteins found in cutaneous wounds, LigB could facilitate leptospirosis transmission. Both fibronectin and fibrinogen binding have been mapped to an overlapping domain in LigB comprising repeats 9–11, with repeat 11 possibly enhancing binding by a conformational effect. Leptospirosis patient antibodies react with the LigB domain, suggesting applications in diagnosis and vaccines that are currently limited by the strain-specific leptospiral lipopolysaccharide coats

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Vers la construction d’une mesure composite d’indépendance des conseils d’administration

Le but principal de cet article théorique est d’approfondir notre compréhension des relations entre les actionnaires et les administrateurs des sociétés. Plus particulièrement, nous nous proposons de bâtir une mesure composite d’indépendance des conseils d’administration qui devrait leur permettre de remplir plus adéquatement leurs responsabilités de surveillance des activités des dirigeants et de répondre aux attentes des actionnaires, notamment en matière d’amélioration de la performance organisationnelle. Le dédoublement des rôles assumés par les administrateurs, qui peuvent agir à la fois comme des principaux et des agents, nous amène à prendre en considération plusieurs caractéristiques des conseils permettant d’assurer leur indépendance par rapport à la direction. Nous croyons ainsi que la mesure composite d’indépendance des conseils est multidimensionnelle et doit être construite à partir de plusieurs variables différentes incluant non seulement des attributs structurels des conseils d’administration (ex. ratio d’administrateurs non reliés, séparation des postes, taille du conseil, distance démographique en termes d’âge et de niveau de scolarité et proportion d’administrateurs en poste avant la nomination de l’actuel PDG) mais aussi des mécanismes de rémunération des administrateurs (ex. valeur monétaire de la rémunération fixe, valeur des actions détenues par les membres du conseil et proportion de la rémunération versée en actions sur la rémunération fixe). La construction de cette mesure composite nous permettra de contribuer à l’avancement des connaissances dans le domaine de gouvernance d’entreprise de plusieurs façons. D’abord, nous pourrons comprendre quel amalgame d’attributs structurels des conseils et de mécanismes de rémunération des administrateurs permet d’optimiser la performance organisationnelle. Puis, en nous appuyant sur un cadre conceptuel élargi, nous pourrons démontrer la complémentarité de quatre théories (ex. de l’agence, institutionnelle, politique et de dépendance des ressources) pour l’exploration des questions de gouvernance sous plusieurs angles différents. Enfin, lors d’une étude empirique ultérieure, nous pourrons produire des résultats spécifiques au contexte canadien, alors que les recherches précédentes ont été menées aux États-Unis et en Angleterre, des milieux ayant des législations, des institutions et des normes de rémunération des administrateurs différentes.In this article we build a composite measure of board independence, allowing directors to better fulfill their monitoring responsibilities and satisfy owners’ expectations for improved corporate performance. The double role of directors, who can act as both principals and agents, indicates that several board characteristics should be taken into consideration to assure their independence from corporate management. We believe this multidimensional measure of board independence should include several variables related to both structural attributes of the board (i.e., ratio of unrelated directors, CEO/COB duality, board size, demographic distance in terms of age and level of education, and ratio of directors nominated prior to the CEO) and compensation mechanisms of directors (i.e., value of cash compensation, value of stock-based compensation, ratio of stock-based compensation to cash compensation)

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE AND FORMALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROCESSES

Abstract: In spite of the fact that the ability to transfer knowledge is critical for securing a firm's competitive advantage through leveraging scarce internal resources, few investigations have been conducted to date to systematically explore intra-firm knowledge transfer processes put in place by small firms operating in turbulent environments. Drawing upon an exhaustive cross-case analysis of a set of knowledge transfer processes within five small software firms, we found that these processes exhibit striking differences in their degree of formalization in two firms of equal size. Contrary to the conventional belief held by many scholars in the literature that assumes that the degree of process formalization increases in direct proportion with firm size, our results demonstrate that the major factors explaining the variance in the degree of formalization of intra-firm knowledge transfer processes are the CEO personality, firm age, and availability of venture capital