bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of strategic transformation on employee productivity
Authors: Oliver John J. 
Published: December 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a strategic commentary on the interconnected areas of corporate strategy and employee performance by illustrating how two organizations adapted and transformed their businesses to the demands of digitalization and new media.

Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal analysis (1995-2015) of employee productivity was calculated as operating income per employee for each firm and benchmarked against industry data.

Findings
Both firm’s corporate objectives and strategies were focused on ambitious levels of growth and the opportunities provided by an increasingly digital environment. However, the firms had transformed their businesses in different ways with distinct employee productivity performance outcomes.

Practical implications
This paper provides case studies of strategic transformation and argues that HR management strategies and practices need to be continually evaluated to assess their employee productivity in an uncertain digital operating environment.

Originality/value
This paper provides a longitudinal analysis of how media firms, Sky Plc and Pearson Plc, adapted, reconfigured and transformed their businesses to meet the demands of an operating environment characterized by inexorable changes in digital technologies. It presents data and conclusions on how the management of “human resources” had delivered different employee productivity outcomes over the long term.
So you’ve just hired a killer chief digital officer – now what?
Authors: Doonan Michael 
Published: December 2017

Purpose
In 2017, companies woke up to realize that they were in the process of being disintermediated by West Coast technology players, from Google, Uber and Amazon to Facebook and Apple. Boardroom conversations were all about the need to make a play in technology, and CEOs, CHROs and heads of Talent all began recruiting Chief Digital Officers. However, newly minted Chief Digital Officers have found themselves in new, often strange, and overly ornamental and nonfunctional environments. This paper aims to discuss how to set a Chief Digital Officer up for success.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents interviews with over 100 senior Digital and Workforce Technology executives.

Findings
The emergence of the Chief Digital Officer is fast tracking the evolution of old industries as they compete in a tech-first world. However, without creating a proper support function, many CEOs, CHROs and Heads of Talent will find themselves cleaning up a mess rather than basking in the sun of a digital transformation. Being able to spot what type of workplace IT executive fits your company, along with having the right expectations and support in place for them to be successful, will allow you to have happy, more engaged and more productive employees for years to come.

Originality/value
If you plan to operate in a world of digital innovation and in the process hire a Chief Digital Officer, here are the things you need to know to ensure this executive’s success.
The future of HR and information capability
Authors: Brockbank Wayne , Ulrich Dave , Kryscynski David G. , Ulrich Michael 
Published: December 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that HR departments have on alternative stakeholders when they focus on improving the organization’s information capability instead of focusing their information agenda on human resource (HR) departmental activities.

Design/methodology/approach
The findings are based on the 2016 offering of the HR Competency study that is sponsored by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the RBL Group. The data set consists of over 36,000 respondents from around the world. Data were gathered through a 360 methodology that includes self-ratings and HR and non-HR associate ratings.

Findings
The findings show that HR’s involvement in leveraging business information has more impact than any other HR department activity on creating value for key external stakeholders. When controlling for other HR activities, the analysis shows that 77.4 per cent of HR total impact on customer value and 55.6 per cent of shareholder value occurs through HR’s involvement in information management. This impact occurs as HR departments contribute to identifying important external information (including customer and competitive information), importing important external information into the firm, analyzing information through both quantitative and qualitative algorithms, disseminating key facts and findings throughout the firm and ensuring the full utilization of information in decision making. The authors provide examples of how HR departments in leading companies are contributing to each of these phases of organization information management.

Originality/value
These findings have potentially important implications for how HR professionals add value to their key stakeholders. It suggests that HR departments will add greater value to their firms as they shift the focus of their information agenda from application to internal HR processes and practices to creating competitive advantage through organization-wide information management capability.
How HR execs can use technology to connect a divided workforce
Authors: Hicks Mike 
Published: December 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer HR leaders ideas and solutions for connecting their increasingly divided workforces through technology and automation.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines major changes occurring in the workplace and how a digital workplace can solve those challenges, divided into several points.

Findings
The dynamics of work are changing, but the way we connect our workers has not kept pace. As a result, various factors of the changing workplace, from widening generational employee gaps to lower retention rates, present serious challenges to employee productivity and engagement. The digital workplace is the antidote. It improves productivity by unifying employees’ favorite tools in a single, user-friendly space. Digital workplace platforms have emerged as a mission-critical tool to band people, technologies, processes and information together. And when everyone’s in it together, everyone.

Originality/value
HR leaders are flooded with technology solutions. This paper offers insight into the benefits of a digital workplace so they can make an informed decision.
How the employee benefits market is going digital
Authors: Dunderdale Nicky 
Published: December 2017

Purpose
Nicky Dunderdale, Director of Digital at Psyon, says there is a growing industry demand for intuitive, digital solutions to drive change and transformation in employee benefits to improve the management and communication of employee benefits – a demand that is set to accelerate.

Design/methodology/approach
In her paper, Nicky examines the following: Why is technology required for employee benefits? What can be done to improve engagement with employees? How can companies use data to deliver more tailored benefit packages to their employees and make the most of their benefit spend? How are companies measuring ROI on their technology investment?

Findings
In the words of David D’Souza, Head of Engagement at the CIPD, “The credibility of HR in the future will depend upon its ability to utilise traditional skills in combination with tech capability to deliver enhanced performance. There is no longer an opt out of the technology conversation”.

Originality/value
This paper is an essential reading for HR professionals and employers looking to use their reward and employee benefits strategies to recruit and retain the best talent.
Application of alternative digital rock physics methods in a real case study: a challenge between clean and cemented samples
Authors: Karimpouli Sadegh , Khoshlesan Sadegh , Saenger Erik H. , Koochi Hamed Hooshmand 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTHigh‐resolution three‐dimensional images are used in digital rock physics to numerically compute rock physical properties such as permeability and elastic moduli. These images are not widely available, and their preparation is both expensive and time consuming. All of these issues highlight the importance of alternative digital rock physics methods that are based on two‐dimensional images and use different approaches to compute effective properties of three‐dimensional samples. In addition, the scale of study in both standard and alternative digital rock physics is very small, which applications of its results are questionable at wells or reservoir scale. The aim of this study is to use two‐dimensional images and alternative digital rock physics techniques for computing seismic wave velocity and permeability, which are compared with well and laboratory data. For this purpose, data from one well in a reservoir located in the southwestern part of Iran are used. First, two clean (carbonate) and two cemented (limy sandstone) samples were collected from well cores at different depths. Then, two‐dimensional images by scanning electron microscope and conventional microscope were captured. In the next step, two alternative digital rock physics methods, namely, empirical relations and conditional reconstruction, have been employed to compute P‐wave velocity and permeability of a three‐dimensional medium. Results showed that, in clean (mono‐mineral) samples, velocity values were reasonably close to well data. However, permeability values are underestimated compared with laboratory data because laboratory data were obtained at ambient pressure, whereas alternative digital rock physics results are more representative of reservoir pressure conditions. Nevertheless, permeability–porosity trends are valid for both samples. In the case of cemented samples, a two‐scale procedure, along with a method for two‐scale computation and grain‐cement segmentation, is presented and developed. Results showed that P‐wave velocity is overestimated probably due to random sampling in this method. However, velocity–porosity trends are in agreement with well data. Moreover, permeability results obtained for cemented samples were also similar to those obtained for the clean samples.
MiR‐96 regulates bone metabolism by targeting osterix
Authors: Liu Hua , Liu Qing , Wu Xian‐Ping , He Hong‐Bo , Fu Lei 
Published: December 2017

SummaryMicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in bone metabolism and aging. Here we show that miR‐96 was markedly up‐regulated in serum of elderly patients with osteoporosis by miRNA microarray analysis and qRT‐PCR. Moreover miR‐96 was also up‐regulated in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) of aged humans and mice. Our results show that the over‐expression of miR‐96 reduced osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, whereas the inhibition of miR‐96 increased osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. At the molecular level, miR‐96 regulated osteogenesis by targeting osterix. Interestingly, over‐expression of miR‐96 in young mice by intravenous injection of agomiR‐96 developed a low bone mass due to impaired osteogenesis. However, inhibition of miR‐96 in aged mice attenuated the age‐related bone loss. Thus, our data suggest that miR‐96 regulates osteogenesis and may represent a potential diagnostic marker or therapeutic target for age‐related bone loss.
Multi‐allelic exact tests for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium that account for gender
Authors: Graffelman Jan , Weir Bruce S. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractStatistical tests for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium are important elementary tools in genetic data analysis. X‐chromosomal variants have long been tested by applying autosomal test procedures to females only, and gender is usually not considered when testing autosomal variants for equilibrium. Recently, we proposed specific X‐chromosomal exact test procedures for bi‐allelic variants that include the hemizygous males, as well as autosomal tests that consider gender. In this study, we present the extension of the previous work for variants with multiple alleles. A full enumeration algorithm is used for the exact calculations of tri‐allelic variants. For variants with many alternate alleles, we use a permutation test. Some empirical examples with data from the 1,000 genomes project are discussed.
Metabarcoding for the parallel identification of several hundred predators and their prey: Application to bat species diet analysis
Authors: Galan Maxime , Pons Jean‐Baptiste , Tournayre Orianne , Pierre Éric , Leuchtmann Maxime , Pontier Dominique , Charbonnel Nathalie 
Published: December 2017

AbstractAssessing diet variability is of main importance to better understand the biology of bats and design conservation strategies. Although the advent of metabarcoding has facilitated such analyses, this approach does not come without challenges. Biases may occur throughout the whole experiment, from fieldwork to biostatistics, resulting in the detection of false negatives, false positives or low taxonomic resolution. We detail a rigorous metabarcoding approach based on a short COI minibarcode and two‐step PCR protocol enabling the “all at once” taxonomic identification of bats and their arthropod prey for several hundreds of samples. Our study includes faecal pellets collected in France from 357 bats representing 16 species, as well as insect mock communities that mimic bat meals of known composition, negative and positive controls. All samples were analysed using three replicates. We compare the efficiency of DNA extraction methods, and we evaluate the effectiveness of our protocol using identification success, taxonomic resolution, sensitivity and amplification biases. Our parallel identification strategy of predators and prey reduces the risk of mis‐assigning prey to wrong predators and decreases the number of molecular steps. Controls and replicates enable to filter the data and limit the risk of false positives, hence guaranteeing high confidence results for both prey occurrence and bat species identification. We validate 551 COI variants from arthropod including 18 orders, 117 family, 282 genus and 290 species. Our method therefore provides a rapid, resolutive and cost‐effective screening tool for addressing evolutionary ecological issues or developing “chirosurveillance” and conservation strategies.
Overexpression of miR‐22 attenuates oxidative stress injury in diabetic cardiomyopathy via Sirt 1
Authors: Tang Qinghui , Len Qiang , Liu Zheng , Wang WeiDong 
Published: December 2017

SummaryBackground/AimsOxidative stress injury is believed to be important in diabetic cardiomyopathy. Recent evidence indicates that miR‐22 plays an important role in various cardiovascular diseases, but the protective role of miR‐22 in diabetic cardiomyopathy remains undetermined.MethodsDiabetes was induced in male C57BL/6 mice by intraperitoneal injection with streptozotocin combined with a high‐fat diet, and miR‐22 was overexpressed following transfection with adeno‐associated virus. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography and a cardiac catheter system. In vitro study, H9c2 cells were treated with normal or high glucose (HG), and cell viability or apoptosis was detected using the Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK‐8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and superoxide dismutase were also detected in diabetic mice and H9c2 cells. The expression level of miR‐22 was detected by real‐time PCR. The protein expression of Sirt 1, oxidative stress injury‐related proteins (GRP78, CHOP, ATF 3), and apoptosis‐related proteins Bax/Bcl‐2, cl‐casp‐9/casp‐9, and cl‐casp‐3/casp‐3 were determined by Western blotting analysis.ResultsHG‐induced oxidative stress injury and apoptosis were observed in H9c2 cells, which were ameliorated by miR‐22. Cardiac dysfunction and severely altered heart structure were also observed in diabetic mice and were dramatically reversed by overexpression of miR‐22. The expression of Sirt 1 decreased significantly in diabetic mice and HG‐treated H9c2 cells. Overexpression of miR‐22 restored the level of Sirt 1. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that Sirt 1 was a potential target gene of miR‐22. Luciferase reporter assay verified that miR‐22 promoted Sirt 1 expression by direct binding to the Sirt 1 3′untranslated repeats. Upregulation of Sirt 1 could improve cell viability and attenuate oxidative stress injury and apoptosis in the HG‐treated H9c2 cells, similar to the effect of miR‐22. However, the protective effects of miR‐22 against HG‐induced oxidative stress injury and apoptosis were abrogated by knockdown of Sirt 1.ConclusionsOverexpression of miR‐22 can attenuate oxidative stress injury in diabetic cardiomyopathy by upregulation of Sirt 1 in vivo and in vitro.
The Effects of Multitasking on Auditors’ Judgment Quality
Authors: Mullis Curtis E. , Hatfield Richard C. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractAuditors must frequently multitask in order to complete their work efficiently. However, the potential impact of multitasking on auditors’ judgment quality is poorly understood. Using Ego Depletion Theory and a laboratory experiment, we predict and find that auditors become less able to identify seeded errors after multitasking, and that this effect is most prominent in the identification of conceptual, rather than mechanical, errors. These negative consequences of multitasking are mitigated when auditors are exposed to an intervention based on a theoretical countermeasure of replenishing depleted self‐control resources, in that multitasking auditors identify more seeded errors with the intervention than without. Given that multitasking is a pervasive feature of the current audit environment, these findings have direct implications for audit practice. Beyond identifying multitasking as a cause of impaired performance in auditing, this study's results provide initial evidence that such negative effects can be mitigated, resulting in improved audit quality and, by extension, improved financial statement quality.
Risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders: an umbrella review of meta‐analyses
Authors: Belbasis L. , Köhler C. A. , Stefanis N. , Stubbs B. , van Os J. , Vieta E. , Seeman M. V. , Arango C. , Carvalho A. F. , Evangelou E. 
Published: December 2017

ObjectiveThis study aimed to systematically appraise the meta‐analyses of observational studies on risk factors and peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.MethodsWe conducted an umbrella review to capture all meta‐analyses and Mendelian randomization studies that examined associations between non‐genetic risk factors and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. For each eligible meta‐analysis, we estimated the summary effect size estimate, its 95% confidence and prediction intervals and the I2 metric. Additionally, evidence for small‐study effects and excess significance bias was assessed.ResultsOverall, we found 41 eligible papers including 98 associations. Sixty‐two associations had a nominally significant (P‐value <0.05) effect. Seventy‐two of the associations exhibited large or very large between‐study heterogeneity, while 13 associations had evidence for small‐study effects. Excess significance bias was found in 18 associations. Only five factors (childhood adversities, cannabis use, history of obstetric complications, stressful events during adulthood, and serum folate level) showed robust evidence.ConclusionDespite identifying 98 associations, there is only robust evidence to suggest that cannabis use, exposure to stressful events during childhood and adulthood, history of obstetric complications, and low serum folate level confer a higher risk for developing schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The evidence on peripheral biomarkers for schizophrenia spectrum disorders remains limited.
Effects of intrauterine perfusion of human chorionic gonadotropin in women with different implantation failure numbers
Authors: Huang Pinxiu , Wei Lihong , Li Xinlin , Qin Aiping 
Published: December 2017

ProblemThe aim of this research was to investigate the effects of the intrauterine perfusion of hCG before a frozen‐thawed embryo transfer (FET) in women with different implantation failure numbers.Method of StudyThis was a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing FET who received an intrauterine injection hCG 1000 IU before embryo transfer. The groups included women with their first implantation failure (A group, n = 26), second implantation failure (B group, n = 122), and three or more failures (C group, n = 77). Corresponding control groups (no infusion) were also included. The pregnancy rates were compared among these groups.ResultsAfter intrauterine injection hCG, the biochemical pregnancy rates were 92.30%, 63.11%, 49.02%, and the clinical pregnancy rates were 76.92%, 54.91%, 48.05%, in the A, B, and C groups, respectively. The biochemical and clinical pregnancy rates were significantly higher in the A group than in the other groups (P < .05). The clinical pregnancy rates of the A and C groups were significantly higher than in the corresponding (no infusion) control groups (76.92% vs 56.81% and 48.05% vs 33.33%, P < .05).ConclusionPregnancy rates decreased with the number of transplant failures. The intrauterine administration of hCG before FET significantly improved the pregnancy rates, especially after one and three or more implantation failures.
Waterbirth in Sweden – a comparative study
Authors: Ulfsdottir Hanna , Saltvedt Sissel , Georgsson Susanne 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIntroductionThe literature describes advantages for mothers giving birth in water, but waterbirth is controversial in Sweden and has not been offered at hospitals until recently. This study aimed to describe and compare the characteristics and outcome of waterbirths with those of spontaneous vaginal births at the same clinics.Material and methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted on all waterbirths at two maternity units in Sweden from March 2014 to November 2015 (n = 306), and a consecutively selected comparison group of 306 women having conventional spontaneous vaginal births. Logistic regression was used to analyze the primary outcome; second‐degree perineal tears.ResultsWomen giving birth in water had a lower risk of second‐degree perineal tears [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4–0.9]). Their labor was shorter (6 h 3 min vs. 7 h 52 min) and there were significantly fewer interventions than in the comparison group; amniotomy (13.7 vs. 35.3%), internal cardiotocography (11.1 vs. 56.8%), and augmentation with oxytocin (5.2 vs. 31.3%). There were no differences in Apgar scores or admissions to neonatal intensive care unit. The experience of childbirth, measured with a numeric rating scale, was higher in the waterbirth group indicating a more positive birth experience. Three newborns born in water had an umbilical cord avulsion.ConclusionsIn this low‐risk population, waterbirth is associated with positive effects on perineal tears, the frequency of interventions, the duration of labor and women's birth experience. Midwives handling waterbirth should be aware of the risk of umbilical cord avulsion.