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It has become clear that firm performance has important implications for employees and organizations as confirmed by past researchers. This study examines human resource practices and the impact of incentives on manufacturing companies in the Malaysia context. Three types of human resource practices namely, performance appraisal, training, and information technology have been chosen as the focus of this research with the presence of incentives as moderator on organizational performance. This is imperative in order to ensure the successful management of employees and also to improve productivity and achievements of an organization. The research uses a sample of eighty-five firms in Sarawak, Malaysia, voluntarily participated in this study. The results have indicated that the two components of human resource (HR) practices namely, training and information technology have direct impact on organizational performance. It was found that incentive is positively related to organizational performance but did not moderate the relationship between both HR practices and organizational performance. Implications of the findings, potential limitations of the study, and directions for future research are suggested.

This study set out to investigate if access to an enriched environment during the rearing phase influences subsequent production and eggshell quality in broiler breeders. Broiler breeder pullets were reared under standard rearing conditions (control treatment) or under standard conditions with an environmental enrichment of bales of plastic-wrapped wood shavings (enriched treatment). At 19 weeks of age both groups were transported to a laying facility and housed in standard pens according to treatment type. Egg weight, shape, shell thickness, non-destructive deformation, breaking strength, stiffness and ultrastructural quality were compared at beginning of lay (25 weeks old), peak production (31 weeks old), mid-lay (45 weeks old) and end of lay (57 weeks old). Production and hatchery data were also collected throughout lay. Significant treatment-age interactions were detected for non-destructive deformation, breaking strength and stiffness, such that birds which had received prior enrichment went on to maintain a better shell quality with age. The measurements of total shell thickness, mammillary thickness and effective shell thickness all showed a trend for a treatment-age interaction. Significant age effects were found for weight, shape index, shell thickness, breaking strength and stiffness. All production and hatchery data also demonstrated significant changes with age. It is concluded that early enrichment with bales of wood shavings may provide a novel approach to the maintenance of eggshell quality at a time when calcium metabolism begins to reduce in efficiency.

Concerns over the safety of conventional viral vectors have limited the translation of gene transfer from an exciting experimental procedure to a successful clinical therapy in transplantation. Baculoviruses are insect viruses, but have the ability to enter mammalian cells and deliver potential therapeutic molecules with no evidence of viral replication. This study provides evidence of the ability of recombinant baculovirus to enter mammalian kidneys and livers during cold preservation. Six kidneys and six liver lobules retrieved from large pigs were perfused with University of Wisconsin (UW) solution containing a baculovirus tagged with green fluorescent protein and preserved for 8 h. In addition, six kidneys were perfused with UW containing a baculovirus expressing red fluorescent protein and preserved for 24 h. Green fluorescent virus particles were detected within transduced kidneys and livers after 8 h standard cold storage and red fluorescent protein mRNA was detected in kidneys after 24 h of cold preservation. There were no significant differences in tissue architecture, cell morphology or ATP content between experimental organs and their controls. Ex vivo transduction of organs with recombinant baculovirus during conventional cold preservation was demonstrated with no evidence of additional injury or reduction in cell viability. © 2011 European Society for Organ Transplantation.

Over a 42-month period, 210 patients had a lower midline incision, usually extending around the umbilicus, that was closed with a continuous, running number 2 polypropylene suture. Patients in this study had various predisposing factors for wound disruption. Over 60% were operated upon because of gynecologic cancer. Additional high-risk factors included obesity in 56%, diabetes in 28%, previous irradiation or chemotherapy in 17%, and ascites in 8%. The operative procedures performed ranged from hysterectomies with node sampling to bowel resections and exenterations; wound complications were noted in seven patients. One patient had an incisional hernia. No eviscerations occurred. The closure is safe, expedient, and cost-efficient, and distributes tension equally over a continuous line.

Facing industrial unrest in each of its Canadian petroleum refineries, the Imperial Oil Company embarked on a wide-ranging industrial-relations initiative in 1919. Patterned after Mackenzie King's "Rockefeller Plan," the logic was clear: joint worker-management councils would alleviate shop-floor discontent; a package of welfare benefits would reduce absenteeism and turnover; and a share-purchase plan would enhance worker loyalty to the Company. Where similar attempts at corporate welfarism in Canada generally failed, Imperial Oil enjoyed a union free status until 1946, and freedom from work stoppages until the early 1950s. What made it unique in this regard was its willingness and capacity to buy labour harmony; and in an era hostile to organized labour, its workers succeeded in extracting important monetary concessions as the price of their loyalty. Imperial Oil thus offers a cogent example of the conditions necessary for King's variant of welfare capitalism to flourish. Resume Faisant face a l'agitation industrielle dans chacune de ses raffineries de petrole canadiennes, la Compagnie Imperial Oil s'est engagee dans une initiative variee de relations industrielles en 1919. Modelee sur le «plan Rockefeller» de Mackenzie King, la logique etait claire: des conseils mixtes de patronat et de travailleurs diminueraient le mecontentement parmi les ouvriers; un contrat global d'avantages sociaux reduirait l'absenteisme et le renouvellement de personnel; et un plan pour acheter des actions ameliorerait la loyaute des ouvriers envers la compagnie. Alors que des essais similaires d'implanter politiques sociales de l'intreprise (corporate welfarism) ont echoues generalement au Canada, Imperial Oil a jouit d'une situation sans syndicat jusqu'a 1946 et sans arrets du travail jusqu'au debut des annees 50s. Ce qui l'a rendu unique a cet egard ce sont son empressement et son aptitude a acheter l'harmonie au travail; et a une epoque hostile a la main-d'oeuvre syndiquee, ses travailleurs ont reussi a arracher des concessions monetaires importantes comme prix de leur loyaute. De cette facon, Imperial Oil offre un exemple pertinent des conditions necessaires sous lesquelles la variante du «capitalisme de l'assistance social» (NdeT) de King a prospere.