Unions and the Adoption of High Performance Work Systems: Does Employment Security Play a Role?

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://ilr.sagepub.com.Previous research on the association between unionization and the adoption of high performance work systems (HPWSs) has yielded inconsistent results. Using data from a 2004 multi-industry survey of firms operating in the Republic of Ireland, the authors examine the relationship between employee union membership rates and relative use of HPWSs. They also test arguments that employment security may affect the receptiveness of unions to such HR practices. The results indicate that as union representation increased, there was a significant decrease in the use of high performance work systems. Evidence also suggests that providing employment security significantly ameliorated this negative impact

High performance work systems, workforce productivity, and innovation: a comparison of MNCs and indigenous firms

Previous research has reported conflicting results on whether or not foreign-owned firms diverge from indigenous firms with respect to their human resource policies and practices. Set in the dynamic, globalized economy of the Republic of Ireland, this study examines the relative use of high performance work systems (HPWS) by foreign-owned versus Irish-owned firms. We also investigate the implications of HPWS use for organizational effectiveness. Results suggest substantial differences associated with country of ownership. Relative to Irish-owned firms, foreign-owned firms report higher HPWS utilization and higher rates of workforce productivity and innovation. Results suggest that the relationship between country of ownership and organizational effectiveness is mediated by the use of HPWS

Microscopic Marangoni Flows Cannot Be Predicted on the Basis of Pressure Gradients.

A concentration gradient along a fluid-fluid interface can cause flow. On a microscopic level, this so-called Marangoni effect can be viewed as being caused by a gradient in the pressures acting on the fluid elements or as the chemical-potential gradients acting on the excess densities of different species at the interface. If the interface thickness can be ignored, all approaches should result in the same flow profile away from the interface. However, on a more microscopic scale, the different expressions result in different flow profiles, only one of which can be correct. Here we compare the results of direct nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with the flows that are generated by pressure and chemical-potential gradients. We find that the approach based on the chemical-potential gradients agrees with the direct simulations, whereas the calculations based on the pressure gradients do not

Recent dermatophyte divergence revealed by comparative and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dermatophytes are fungi that cause superficial infections of the skin, hair, and nails. They are the most common agents of fungal infections worldwide. Dermatophytic fungi constitute three genera, <it>Trichophyton</it>, <it>Epidermophyton</it>, and <it>Microsporum</it>, and the evolutionary relationships between these genera are epidemiologically important. Mitochondria are considered to be of monophyletic origin and mitochondrial sequences offer many advantages for phylogenetic studies. However, only one complete dermatophyte mitochondrial genome (<it>E. floccosum</it>) has previously been determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of five dermatophyte species, <it>T. rubrum </it>(26,985 bp), <it>T. mentagrophytes </it>(24,297 bp), <it>T. ajelloi </it>(28,530 bp), <it>M. canis </it>(23,943 bp) and <it>M. nanum </it>(24,105 bp) were determined. These were compared to the <it>E. floccosum </it>sequence. Mitochondrial genomes of all 6 species were found to harbor the same set of genes arranged identical order indicating that these dermatophytes are closely related. Genome size differences were largely due to variable lengths of non-coding intergenic regions and the presence/absence of introns. Phylogenetic analyses based on complete mitochondrial genomes reveals that the divergence of the dermatophyte clade was later than of other groups of pathogenic fungi.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first systematic comparative genomic study on dermatophytes, a highly conserved and recently-diverged lineage of ascomycota fungi. The data reported here provide a basis for further exploration of interrelationships between dermatophytes and will contribute to the study of mitochondrial evolution in higher fungi.</p

Hybrid-space reconstruction with add-on distortion correction for simultaneous multi-slab diffusion MRI

Purpose: This study aims to propose a model-based reconstruction algorithm for simultaneous multi-slab diffusion MRI acquired with blipped-CAIPI gradients (blipped-SMSlab), which can also incorporate distortion correction. Methods: We formulate blipped-SMSlab in a 4D k-space with kz gradients for the intra-slab slice encoding and km (blipped-CAIPI) gradients for the inter-slab encoding. Because kz and km gradients share the same physical axis, the blipped-CAIPI gradients introduce phase interference in the z-km domain while motion induces phase variations in the kz-m domain. Thus, our previous k-space-based reconstruction would need multiple steps to transform data back and forth between k-space and image space for phase correction. Here we propose a model-based hybrid-space reconstruction algorithm to correct the phase errors simultaneously. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is combined with distortion correction, and jointly reconstructs data acquired with the blip-up/down acquisition to reduce the g-factor penalty. Results: The blipped-CAIPI-induced phase interference is corrected by the hybrid-space reconstruction. Blipped-CAIPI can reduce the g-factor penalty compared to the non-blipped acquisition in the basic reconstruction. Additionally, the joint reconstruction simultaneously corrects the image distortions and improves the 1/g-factors by around 50%. Furthermore, through the joint reconstruction, SMSlab acquisitions without the blipped-CAIPI gradients also show comparable correction performance with blipped-SMSlab. Conclusion: The proposed model-based hybrid-space reconstruction can reconstruct blipped-SMSlab diffusion MRI successfully. Its extension to a joint reconstruction of the blip-up/down acquisition can correct EPI distortions and further reduce the g-factor penalty compared with the separate reconstruction.Comment: 10 figures+tables, 8 supplementary figure