Employee empowerment and HR flexibility in Information Technology SMEs

CAUL read and publish agreement 2023HR systems in IT organizations need to be flexible to enable them to adjust to the fast rate of technological change. Employee empowerment, often practiced at IT organizations under the banner of agile practices, has been highlighted as likely to enable HR flexibility. Based on a research panel based survey of top managers at 163 IT organizations in New Zealand and Australia, we confirmed positive effects of employee empowerment on four dimensions of HR flexibility: resource flexibility in employee skills and behaviors, coordination flexibility in employee skills and behaviors, resource flexibility in HR practices, and coordination flexibility in HR practices. The results are consistent with the view that, at IT organizations, employee empowerment both promotes employee ability and willingness to be flexible and facilitates the organizational structures and practices that enable flexible use of HR resources.fals

Local multipunctual corticosteroid injections for medial tibial stress syndrome: a novel approach.

El síndrome de estrés medial de la tibia (SEMT) constituye una de las afecciones más comunes del miembro inferior. Los resultados obtenidos con terapias convencionales en esta patología son dispares. La infiltración local de corticoides ha mostrado producir efectos favorables en el tratamiento de diversos problemas musculoesqueléticos. Elefecto de la infiltración local multipuntual de un corticoide encombinación con un anestésico se estudió en 47 pacientes (29 hombres y 18 mujeres, con una edad media de 23.8) afectos de SEMT. La consulta directa y el examen físico se emplearon para valorar los resultados. Los pacientes fueron valorados una vez a la semana tras la primera aplicación durante las primeras cuatro semanas y 3 meses después del tratamiento. El nivel de actividad en ausencia de síntomas fue registrado en cada caso. Los resultados de la infiltración multipuntual se determinaron comparando los niveles de actividad en ausencia de síntomas preintervención y posintervención y la capacidad de los deportistas para volver a los niveles de actividad presintomáticos. Los resultados sugieren que este tratamiento reduce el tiempo de recuperación y mejora los resultados funcionales

Mitochondrial membrane lipid remodeling in pathophysiology: A new target for diet and therapeutic interventions

Mitochondria are arbiters in the fragile balance between cell life and death. These organelles present an intricate membrane system, with a peculiar lipid composition and displaying transverse as well as lateral asymmetry. Some lipids are synthesized inside mitochondria, while others have to be imported or acquired in the form of precursors. Here, we review different processes, including external interventions (e.g., diet) and a range of biological events (apoptosis, disease and aging), which may result in alterations of mitochondrial membrane lipid content. Cardiolipin, the mitochondria lipid trademark, whose biosynthetic pathway is highly regulated, will deserve special attention in this review. The modulation of mitochondrial membrane lipid composition, especially by diet, as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of some pathologies will be also addressed.Work at the authors laboratory is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER/COMPETE (research Grants PTDC-QUI-QUI-101409-2008; PTDC/QUI-BIQ/ 103001/2008 and Pest-C/SAU/LA0001/2013-2014). J.P.M. acknowledges FCT for Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/37626/2007

Estudio de la Curva de Crecimiento en la Gallina Utrerana

Utilizando el modelo de Gompertz se compararon las curvas de crecimiento de pollos de las tres variedades de la raza Utrerana: La Utreana Negra, la Perdiz y la Franciscana. El estudio se realizó alojando los animales en cautividad en el Centro Agropecuario Provincial de la Diputación de Córdoba. Se observó que la variedad Franciscana alcanzó un mayor peso a la madurez con 2870.3 g, seguida de la varidad Negra y, finalmente, de la variedad Perdiz con 2504.7 y 2181.8 g., respectivamente. En lo que respecta a la velocidad de crecimiento de la raza, la variedad Franciscana mostró las mayores tasas de crecimiento hasta el punto de inflexión, en tanto que los menores índices de crecimiento a partir de dicho punto lo obtuvo la variedad Perdiz. El punto de inflexión se alcanzó a los 62.16, 59.31 y 60.82 días por este orden, para la variedad Franciscana, Negra y Pediz. Los pesos en ese punto fueron de 1056.03g para la variedad Franciscana, 921.52 g para la Negra y 802.72 g para la Perdiz

Estudio comparativo de las características físicas del semen de ovino en el laboratorio de reproducción asistida de la Diputación de Córdoba

En el presente trabajo se ha realizado un estudio comparativo de las caracteristicas físicas (volumen y concentración) de semen procedente de las extracciones realizadas en el laboratorio de Reproducción Asistida de Pequeños Rumiantes (código comunitario ES-04-02-0C), ubicado en el Centro Agropecuario Provincial de la Diputación de Córdoba, durante los años 2003, 2004 y 2005. Estos trabajos se vienen desarrollando en el seno de los convenios de colaboración suscritos entre la institución cordobesa y las Asociaciones de Criadores de Ovinos Precoces, Merino y Lacaune, para la mejora genética de los rebaños de la provincia mediante el empleo de técnicas de inseminación artificial como medida de apoyo al desarrollo de los esquemas de selección de estas razas. Se realizó un análisis de varianza para la evaluación de la influencia de los efectos del año de extracción, la raza, la época de extracción y la interacción entre la raza y la época de extracción sobre el volumen y la concentración seminal

Toxicity of methoprene as assessed by the use of a model microorganism

Methoprene is an insect juvenile growth hormone mimic, commonly used as a pesticide. Although widely used for the control of several pests, toxic effects on organisms of different phyla have been reported. These events triggered studies to clarify the mechanisms of toxicity of this insecticide putatively involved in ecological issues. Here we show the effect of methoprene on the normal cell growth and viability of a strain of the thermophilic eubacterium Bacillus stearothermophilus, previously used as a model for toxicological evaluation of other environment pollutants. Respiration studies were also carried out attempting to identify a putative target for the cytotoxic action of methoprene. Cell growth was affected and a decrease of the number of viable cells was observed as a result of the addition of methoprene to the growth medium, an effect reverted by the presence of Ca2+. Methoprene also inhibited the redox flow of B. stearothermophilus protoplasts before the cytochrome oxidase segment, an effect further studied by individually assessing the enzymatic activities of the respiratory complexes. This study suggests that methoprene membrane interaction and perturbation of cell bioenergetics may underlie the mechanism of toxicity of this compound in non-target organisms.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TCP-4GSJXGW-4/1/788f9fd7d4f3a4f1ae5d498a5674dcc

Comparative study of tributyltin toxicity on two bacteria of the genus Bacillus

Tributyltin is a potent biocide mainly used in marine antifouling paints. Owing to its widespread distribution in coast areas and its high toxicity to aquatic organisms, the use of this compound is generally restricted and under government regulation. Despite of that, it persists in the aquatic environment. Organotins used in industry have also been detected in terrestrial environments. The persistence and high lipophilicity explain bioaccumulation. The role of bacteria in recycling organic matter prompted us to study the interaction of tributyltin with two ubiquitous bacilli, B. stearothermophilus and B. subtilis, proposed as biological indicators of pollutants with ecological impact. These bacteria have been used as suitable models for the study of toxicity mechanisms of unselective lipophilic compounds (e.g., DDT and endosulfan). Drug effects on growth parameters, oxygen consumption and membrane organization were assessed. Bacteria growth in a liquid complex medium was disturbed by concentrations of TBT as low as 25 nM (8 [mu]g L-1), close to the concentration in polluted environments. The respiratory activity is affected by TBT in both microorganisms. Membrane organization, assessed by fluorescence polarization of two fluidity probes, 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and a propionic acid derivative (DPH-PA), was also perturbed by the xenobiotic. Alterations on growth, oxygen consumption and physical properties of membrane lipids are stronger in B. stearothermophilus as compared to B. subtilis. A putative relationship between growth inhibition and respiratory activity impairment induced by TBT and its effects on the physical behaviour of bacterial membrane lipids is suggested.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TCP-4GSJR3R-9/1/18e0ee5c8ce4e887466d84b850ad8ec

Transient effects in fission evidenced from new experimental signatures

A new experimental approach is introduced to investigate the relaxation of the nuclear deformation degrees of freedom. Highly excited fissioning systems with compact shapes and low angular momenta are produced in peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Both fission fragments are identified in atomic number. Fission cross sections and fission-fragment element distributions are determined as a function of the fissioning element. From the comparison of these new observables with a nuclear-reaction code a value for the transient time is deduced.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, background information at http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt