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

Eleven years of runoff and phosphorus losses from two fields with and without manure application, Iowa, USA

AbstractMonitoring runoff at field edges can show how cropping systems and conservation practices affect runoff hydrology and water quality. Multi-year records are needed to characterize these effects, because of the variable, ephemeral nature of rainfall-runoff events. This study compared runoff and phosphorus (P) losses from two fields in central Iowa from 2000 through 2010. Both fields were managed in the same three-year, corn (Zea mays L.)–corn–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation, but one field received applications of swine manure for each year of corn. Results comprised 116 events at the manured site and 94 events at the non-manured site, with 74 events common to both locations. Rainfall-runoff relationships for the two fields were similar; annual runoff averaged 54mm from the non-manured field and 47mm from the manured field. Large storms (>60mm rainfall) comprised about 10% of the runoff events in both watersheds, producing 12–16% of the total P loads. Moderate storms (30–60mm rainfall) generated most (65–70%) of the P load from both watersheds. Losses of P averaged 1.8kg Pha−1year−1 from the manured watershed and 1.05kgPha−1year−1 from the non-manured watershed. Relationships between runoff-volumes and P-loads differed between the two watersheds (p<0.05). Results highlight the challenge of maintaining adequate soil P levels while minimizing runoff P losses under a corn–soybean rotation, but indicate conservation practices that can limit runoff from storms of 30–60mm of rainfall can help producers meet that challenge

International cooperative study identifies treatment strategy in childhood ambiguous lineage leukemia

Despite attempts to improve the definitions of ambiguous lineage leukemia (ALAL) during the last 2 decades, general therapy recommendations are missing. Herein, we report a large cohort of children with ALAL and propose a treatment strategy. A retrospective multinational study (International Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster Study of Leukemias of Ambiguous Lineage [iBFM-AMBI2012]) of 233 cases of pediatric ALAL patients is presented. Survival statistics were used to compare the prognosis of subsets and types of treatment. Five-year event-free survival (EFS) of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-type primary therapy (80% 6 4%) was superior to that of children who received acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-type or combined-type treatment (36% 6 7.2% and 50% 6 12%, respectively). When ALL- or AML-specific gene fusions were excluded, 5-year EFS of CD191 leukemia was 83% 6 5.3% on ALL-type primary treatment compared with 0% 6 0% and 28% 6 14% on AML-type and combined-type primary treatment, respectively. Superiority , of ALL-type treatment was documented in single-population mixed phenotype ALAL (using World Health Organization . and/or European Group for Immunophenotyping of Leukemia definitions) and bilineal ALAL. Treatment with ALL-type protocols is recommended for the majority of pediatric patients with ALAL, including cases with CD191 ALAL. AML-type treatment is preferred in a minority of ALAL cases with CD192 and no other lymphoid features. No overall benefit of transplantation was documented, and it could be introduced in some patients with a poor response to treatment. As no clear indicator was found for a change in treatment type, this is to be considered only in cases with ‡5% blasts after remission induction. The results provide a basis for a prospective trial. (Blood. 2018;132(3):264-276) © American Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

The impact of internet use on interfirm relationships in Australian service industries

Sally Rao, Chad Perr