Digital Transformation of HR Technologies

This article involves a study of the personnel management technologies digitalization degree based on the results of the SAP, Deloitte and Hays report, published in 2019. The analysis demonstrated HR automatization dependence on the size and specialization of organizations. The larger the company, the more complex personnel management processes are. The article defines four digitalization levels from the paper approach to the active use of artificial intelligence systems. Industries with the highest automatization percentage are identified. The article takes a closer look at personnel recruitment, selection, adaptation and training practices performed with the use of appropriate tools and programs. Among the most laborious recruitment functions stand communication with potential candidates, testing and interviewing, especially in cases of mass recruitment. Specialized programs that process CVs, build ratings, conduct video interviews and online testing to optimize recruiter’s work. The advantages of chatbots and messengers for adaptation digitalization are pointed out. Most executives have a positive attitude to the transition to new automated HR methods. The role of e-learning and software training is outlined, and the advantages of webinars, test constructors, and distance learning implementation are analyzed. It is noted that one third of Russian companies are actively automatizing employee training and development technologies. The article also highlights the most important personnel management processes that demand digital transformation in the first place. The automatization necessity of management accounting, effectiveness analysis of the current HR system, and benefits calculation is justified. Gamification advantages are outlined, as they are used in adaptation, training and personnel assessment processes. Senior management, HR executives and information services role in moving to a new level of personnel management is emphasized. VTB, VTB 24 and Sberbank spendings on automated HR systems are reasoned. Conclusions on the need to invest in digital transformation of HR processes are drawn. Keywords: personnel management, technologies, digitalization, process

Influence of the amount of food resources in the foraging behavior of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)

Food scarcity or abundance are factors regulating termites’ foraging behavior in general. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the influence of four amounts of Eucalyptus grandis on foraging behavior events shown by worker and soldier of Nasutitermes corniger during laboratory tests. The tests were carried out with adult and active N. corniger colonies found in nests collected in the field, which were stored in glass cubes connected to the test arenas. Four different amounts of wood blocks were used in the tests and each amount concerned a treatment and defined a different experimental group: 1, 2, 3 and 4 blocks/arenas, with 5 repetitions. Each test lasted 60 minutes and consisted in observing, or not, the occurrence of behavioral events shown by foragers when they had contact with the treatment. The duration of each event was recorded, whenever it was observed. The number of recruited foragers and the number of workers consuming the blocks were recorded at the end of each test applied to each treatment. Nasutitermes corniger presented the three behavioral events in all treatments; however, there was not significant difference between treatments in the occurrence of the two first events, in the time taken from test start to the occurrence of a new event, in the number of recruited termites and in the number of gnawing workers. Only workers’ mass recruiting was influenced by the amount of wood available. The occurrence of this event was significantly higher in treatments with greater amounts of wood. Thus, N. corniger adjusts its mass recruitment behavior in response to available food amount, which should be considered when developing baiting system for its control.

Cytotoxic T cells swarm by homotypic chemokine signalling

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are thought to arrive at target sites either via random search or following signals by other leukocytes. Here, we reveal independent emergent behaviour in CTL populations attacking tumour masses. Primary murine CTLs coordinate their migration in a process reminiscent of the swarming observed in neutrophils. CTLs engaging cognate targets accelerate the recruitment of distant T cells through long-range homotypic signalling, in part mediated via the diffusion of chemokines CCL3 and CCL4. Newly arriving CTLs augment the chemotactic signal, further accelerating mass recruitment in a positive feedback loop. Activated effector human T cells and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells similarly employ intra-population signalling to drive rapid convergence. Thus, CTLs recognising a cognate target can induce a localised mass response by amplifying the direct recruitment of additional T cells independently of other leukocytes.

The Effect of Brood Quantity on Nest Site Choice in the Temnothorax rugatulus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Ant colonies are self-organized systems, meaning that complex collective behavior emerges from local interactions among colony members without any central control. Self-organized systems are sensitive to initial conditions, whereby small random effects are amplified through positive feedback and have a large influence on collective outcomes. This sensitivity has been well demonstrated in collective decision-making by ants that use mass recruitment via trail pheromones, where it is attributed to the highly nonlinear relationship between the amount of pheromone on a trail and its effectiveness at attracting recruits. This feature is absent in many species, such as the rock ant Temnothorax rugatulus (Emery) whose tandem run recruitment shows a linear relationship between effort and effectiveness. Thus, these ants may have other behavioral responses that amplify initial differences during collective choices. We investigated this by testing whether nest site selection is influenced by small differences in the amount of brood at competing sites. Our results show that T. rugatulus colonies prefer a nest containing brood items to an empty nest, even when the brood-containing nest has only one brood item. When both nests have brood, colonies prefer the nest that contains more. However, as the numbers of brood items becomes more similar, this preference becomes weaker. Moreover, the smaller the difference in brood number, the more likely are colonies to split between sites. We discuss potential behavioral mechanisms for the observed effect, as well as its implications for number sense in ants.

Recruited lysosomal enzymes as major digestive enzymes in insects

The mass recruitment to the midgut contents of lysosomal proteolytic enzymes occurred in insects under three major selective pressures. Hemipteran (true bugs, aphids, and cicadas) ancestors lost their serine peptidases (SP) on adapting to feed on protein-free plant sap. When they returned to protein diets, their cathepsins L and B were recruited to replace their lost SP. Among beetles of the series Cucujiformia, cathepsins L were recruited to hydrolyze ingested plant inhibitors that affect their major SP and/or to deal with special seed proteins, such as prolamins. Larval flies have a very acid middle midgut and use cathepsin D to digest bacteria from their infected food. All the recruited enzymes originated from duplicated genes. The recruited digestive enzymes differ from their lysosomal counterparts in critical regions of their amino acid sequences that resulted in changes in substrate specificities and other kinetic properties. The discharge of digestive cathepsins in the midgut contents, instead of lysosomes, seems to be a consequence of their overexpression or the existence of new targeting signals. Their activation at the midgut contents occurs by an autoactivation mechanism or with the help of other enzymes or by a combination of both. The targeting to lysosomes of the insect lysosomal enzymes does not follow the mammalian mannose 6-phosphate route, but an incompletely known mechanism.

Perspective Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Domestic and Foreign Recruitment Companies

The introduction of artificial intelligence in any sphere of human activity today occurs at an accelerated pace. Recruiting is no exception. Is artificial intelligence able to force out selection specialists and self-interview a candidate? How do job seekers react to being interviewed by a robot, not a person? Is it possible to completely exclude a person from the personnel selection process and shift all functions to artificial intelligence? Let’s try to answer the questions posed in this article. The study analyzes the results of introducing a startup from the St. Petersburg company Stafory, which developed and introduced Vera, a robot recruiter, into the Russian and foreign HR market. The characteristic of modern software for recruiting and programs for recruitment agencies is given. The main advantages of using artificial intelligence in the system of mass recruitment of large trading companies are described.

Influence of Food Resource Size on the Foraging Behavior of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)

In general, termite foraging can be affected by physical and chemical factors linked to food. This study investigated if the wood length of Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden, as a food resource, influences the behavior of foraging events of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky). Nests with mature and active colonies were collected in the field and transferred to glass cubes connected to a test arena under laboratory conditions. Wooden blocks of E. grandis, with a 2.5 x 2.0 cm rectangular cross section, were offered to termites in three different lengths: 5, 10 and 15 cm. Each test was repeated with 20 nests and lasted 60 minutes, when the following behavioral events and their duration were observed: initial exploration, initial recruitment and mass recruitment. At the end of each test, the quantities of termites (total, workers and soldiers) and gnawing workers were determined. The results show that longer blocks favored a higher occurrence of exploration and initial recruitment. However, the highest mass recruitment occurred with the 10 cm blocks. The length of the wood influenced the total number of termites recruited and gnawing workers; both were highest for the 10 cm blocks. There was no significant difference in relation to exploration time of the blocks and number of workers and soldiers recruited. Therefore, we conclude that wood length is a factor that can affect N. corniger foraging.