Michigan State University

About: Michigan State University is a education organization based out in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 60109 authors who have published 137074 publications receiving 5633022 citations. The organization is also known as: MSU & Michigan State.

How information management capability influences firm performance

Abstract: How do information technology capabilities contribute to firm performance? This study develops a conceptual model linking IT-enabled information management capability with three important organizational capabilities (customer management capability, process management capability, and performance management capability). We argue that these three capabilities mediate the relationship between information management capability and firm performance. We use a rare archival data set from a conglomerate business group that had adopted a model of performance excellence for organizational transformation based on the Baldrige criteria. This data set contains actual scores from high quality assessments of firms and intraorganizational units of the conglomerate, and hence provides unobtrusive measures of the key constructs to validate our conceptual model. We find that information management capability plays an important role in developing other firm capabilities for customer management, process management, and performance management. In turn, these capabilities favorably influence customer, financial, human resources, and organizational effectiveness measures of firm performance. Among key managerial implications, senior leaders must focus on creating necessary conditions for developing IT infrastructure and information management capability because they play a foundational role in building other capabilities for improved firm performance. The Baldrige model also needs some changes to more explicitly acknowledge the role and importance of information management capability so that senior leaders know where to begin in their journey toward business excellence.

Vaginal progesterone reduces the rate of preterm birth in women with a sonographic short cervix: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract: Objectives Women with a sonographic short cervix in the mid-trimester are at increased risk for preterm delivery. This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy and safety of using micronized vaginal progesterone gel to reduce the risk of preterm birth and associated neonatal complications in women with a sonographic short cervix. Methods This was a multicenter, randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled asymptomatic

Relationships of goal orientation, metacognitive activity, and practice strategies with learning outcomes and transfer

Abstract: A model of learning transfer that focused on the active role of the learner was developed and tested within a complex decision-making task. The study examined how individual differences, learning strategies, and training outcomes influenced transfer of learning to a more complex task. A sample of 93 undergraduate students participated in a 2-day radar operations study. Hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that mastery orientation was positively related to metacognitive activity of the learner. Metacognitive activity was significantly related to knowledge acquisition, skilled performance at the end of training, and self-efficacy. All 3 of these training outcomes were related to performance on the transfer task. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Revealing the Bacterial Butyrate Synthesis Pathways by Analyzing (Meta)genomic Data

Abstract: Butyrate-producing bacteria have recently gained attention, since they are important for a healthy colon and when altered contribute to emerging diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and type II diabetes. This guild is polyphyletic and cannot be accurately detected by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Consequently, approaches targeting the terminal genes of the main butyrate- producing pathway have been developed. However, since additional pathways exist and alternative, newly recognized enzymes catalyzing the terminal reaction have been described, previous investigations are often incomplete. We undertook a broad analy- sis of butyrate-producing pathways and individual genes by screening 3,184 sequenced bacterial genomes from the Integrated Microbial Genome database. Genomes of 225 bacteria with a potential to produce butyrate were identified, including many pre- viously unknown candidates. The majority of candidates belong to distinct families within the Firmicutes, but members of nine other phyla, especially from Actinobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Fusobacteria,Proteobacteria,Spirochaetes, andThermotogae, were also identified as potential butyrate producers. The established gene catalogue (3,055 entries) was used to screen for butyrate synthesis pathways in 15 metagenomes derived from stool samples of healthy individuals provided by the HMP (Human Micro- biome Project) consortium. A high percentage of total genomes exhibited a butyrate-producing pathway (mean, 19.1%; range, 3.2% to 39.4%), where the acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) pathway was the most prevalent (mean, 79.7% of all pathways), followed by the lysine pathway (mean, 11.2%). Diversity analysis for the acetyl-CoA pathway showed that the same fewfirmicute groups as- sociated with several Lachnospiraceae andRuminococcaceae were dominating in most individuals, whereas the other pathways were associated primarily with Bacteroidetes. IMPORTANCE Microbiome research has revealed new, important roles of our gut microbiota for maintaining health, but an un- derstanding of effects of specific microbial functions on the host is in its infancy, partly because in-depth functional microbial analyses are rare and publicly available databases are often incomplete/misannotated. In this study, we focused on production of butyrate, the main energy source for colonocytes, which plays a critical role in health and disease. We have provided a complete database of genes from major known butyrate-producing pathways, using in-depth genomic analysis of publicly available ge- nomes,filling an important gap to accurately assess the butyrate-producing potential of complex microbial communities from "-omics"-derived data. Furthermore, a reference data set containing the abundance and diversity of butyrate synthesis pathways from the healthy gut microbiota was established through a metagenomics-based assessment. This study will help in understand- ing the role of butyrate producers in health and disease and may assist the development of treatments for functional dysbiosis.