Measuring the use of human resources practices and employee attitudes: the linked personnel panel

This paper introduces a new data source available for HRM researchers and personnel economists, the Linked Personnel Panel (LPP). The LPP is a longitudinal and representative employer-employee data set designed for quantitative empirical HR research. The LPP offers a unique structure. First, the data set combines employer and employee surveys that can be matched to each other. Second, it can also be linked to a number of additional administrative data sets. Third, the LPP covers a wide range of firms and workers from different backgrounds. Finally, because of its longitudinal dimension, the LPP should facilitate the study of causal effects of HR practices. The LPP employee survey uses a number of established scales to measure job characteristics, personal characteristics, and employee attitudes. This paper gives an overview of both the employer and employee survey and additionally outlines the definitions, origins and statistical properties of the items used in the individual questionnaire

Studies of renal autoregulation in pancreatectomized and streptozotocin diabetic rats

Studies of renal autoregulation in pancreatectomized and streptozotocin diabetic rats. We studied renal autoregulation in pancreatectomized Munich-Wistar diabetic rats and in their sham-operated controls. In a second experiment we studied renal autoregulation in untreated and insulin treated streptozotocin diabetic Munich-Wistar rats and their nondiabetic controls. In the first experiment the diabetic rats had higher baseline renal blood flows (RBF). There was a fall in renal vascular resistance (RVR) and sustained RBF in both diabetic and control rats as renal perfusion pressures (RPP) was reduced from 130 and 110mm Hg. As RPP was reduced from 110 and 80mm Hg, there was no significant change in RVR in control rats and RBF began to fall. Below RPP of 80mm Hg RVR rose and RBF fell sharply in these rats. In contrast, there was a progressive fall in RVR as RPP was lowered to 60mm Hg in the diabetic rats and, thus, RBF was much better sustained in these animals. In the second experiment the plasma glucose level was 502 ± 52 mg/dl (X ± SD) in the untreated diabetic rats and only modestly reduced to 411 ± 49 mg/dl in the insulin treated animals. Untreated streptozotocin diabetic rats had moderately reduced and insulin-treated diabetic rats had mildly reduced baseline RVR and RBF. However, in these animals as in the pancreatectomized rats the increases in RVR noted in control rats at subautoregulatory RPPs were not seen. Thus, regardless of whether baseline RBFs were increased or decreased, diabetic rats sustained RBF at markedly reduced RPPs far more efficiently than did nondiabetic rats. The pathogenesis of these abnormalities in diabetic rats was not learned in these studies. However, it is likely that further study of autoregulation in diabetic rats could uncover factors influencing renal vascular tone which would be helpful in understanding the renal hemodynamic perturbations which may attend this experimental model

Glomerular distribution of type IV collagen in diabetes by high resolution quantitative immunochemistry

Glomerular distribution of type IV collagen in diabetes by high resolution quantitative immunochemistry. We examined type IV collagen distribution and density in human diabetic kidneys by quantitative immunogold electron microscopy. We studied normal kidney transplant donors and “slow-track” and “fast-track” insulin dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients. The “slow-track” patients had IDDM for ≥ 20 years and mesangial volume fraction (VvMes/glom) of ≤ 0.32. The “fast-track” patients had IDDM for ≤ 20 years and VvMes/glom ≥ 0.37. Renal biopsies were embedded in Lowicryl, reacted with polyclonal anti-type IV collagen (in the distribution of the classical α1(IV) and α2(IV) collagen chains) and monoclonal anti-α4(IV) collagen chain antibody followed by gold conjugated secondary antibody. We found, by morphometric techniques, a decrease in the immunogold densities of anti-type IV collagen in the subendothelial zone of the GBM in the “fast-track” IDDM patients. There was a trend towards a decrease in mesangial matrix (MM) particle density in the “fast-track” (P = 0.07) but not in the “slow-track” patients. However, because of the marked increase in MM in the “fast-track” patients, the per glomerulus estimated quantity of these antigens in MM was increased. In contrast, the density of α4(IV) collagen chain was increased in the epithelial zone of the GBM in the “fast-track” IDDM patients. It is not known whether these changes in glomerular type IV collagen represent markers of advanced diabetic lesions or whether these changes might be detected earlier in diabetic patients destined for the later development of serious lesions

Disparity Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Pancreas Surgery at an Urban Tertiary Care Center

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown significant disparities in pancreas cancer outcomes in African American (AA) compared to non-AA patients. Pancreas surgery continues to be associated with significant morbidity, however, there is little reported data on pancreas surgical outcomes by race. We sought to evaluate how race would affect surgical outcomes in an urban tertiary care center for patients undergoing pancreas surgery. METHODS: A retrospective single-center analysis of patients undergoing pancreas surgery between January 2013 and September 2021 was performed. Patient demographics and post-surgical complications were collected and stratified by race. Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was used to determine patient socioeconomic status. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was calculated for comorbidities. Clavien-Dindo (CD) complications, as well as postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF), delayed gastric emptying (DGE) and postpancreatectomy hemorrhage (PPH) were evaluated. Patient reoperation, readmission, and mortality in the 30- and 90- day period were collected and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Among 461 patients, 82% (N = 378) were nonAA and 18% (N = 83) were AA. Age and sex were found to be significantly different between the two groups, while ADI and CCI were not. Length of stay (LOS), POPF, PPH, PPH grade C and intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) were found to be significant on univariate analysis in the AA cohort. On multivariate analysis, LOS (OR 4.0; 95% CI 2.0-5.7; p \u3c 0.001), POPF (OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-1.0; p = 0.043), PPH (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.2-0.9; p = 0.022), PPH grade C (OR 0.2; 95% CI 0.1-0.7; p = 0.017) and IAA (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2-0.9; p = 0.017) were still significantly higher in the AA cohort. CONCLUSIONS: AA patients undergoing pancreas surgery were noted to have a longer LOS, higher incidence of POPF, PPH and IAA compared to non-AA patients. However, no significant difference was seen in reoperation rates, major CD complications, or 30- and 90-day readmission. Elucidating patient selection, tumor biology, and preoperative treatment algorithms may shed additional insight on the differences in surgical outcomes in this particular patient cohort

Radio Occultation Measurements of Europa's Ionosphere From Juno's Close Flyby

On 29 September 2022 the Juno spacecraft flew within 354 km of Europa's surface while several instruments probed the moon's surroundings. During the close flyby, radio occultations were performed by collecting single-frequency Doppler measurements. These investigations are essential to the study of Europa's ionosphere and represent the first repeat sampling of any set of conditions since the Galileo era. Ingress measurements resulted in a marginal detection with a peak ionospheric density of 4,000 ± 3,700 cm−3 (3σ) at 22 km altitude. A more significant detection emerged on egress, with a peak density of 6,000 ± 3,000 cm−3 (3σ) at 320 km altitude. Comparison with Galileo measurements reveals a consistent picture of Europa's ionosphere, and confirms its dependence on illumination conditions and position within Jupiter's magnetosphere. However, the overall lower densities measured by Juno suggest a dependence on time of observation, with implications for the structure of the neutral atmosphere

miR-96 regulates the progression of differentiation in mammalian cochlear inner and outer hair cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs able to regulate a broad range of protein-coding genes involved in many biological processes. miR-96 is a sensory organ-specific miRNA expressed in the mammalian cochlea during development. Mutations in miR-96 cause nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss in humans and mice. The mouse mutant diminuendo has a single base change in the seed region of the Mir96 gene leading to widespread changes in the expression of many genes. We have used this mutant to explore the role of miR-96 in the maturation of the auditory organ. We found that the physiological development of mutant sensory hair cells is arrested at around the day of birth, before their biophysical differentiation into inner and outer hair cells. Moreover, maturation of the hair cell stereocilia bundle and remodelling of auditory nerve connections within the cochlea fail to occur in miR-96 mutants. We conclude that miR-96 regulates the progression of the physiological and morphological differentiation of cochlear hair cells and, as such, coordinates one of the most distinctive functional refinements of the mammalian auditory system