bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality costs in education
Authors: Green Trevor J.
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevance of Feigenbaum's quality costs model to managers in higher education and to put forward a possible way of implementing such a model in an educational area.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the author's Master's project into the relevance of TQM to a higher education institution, the need to increase student numbers without pro‐rata increase in costs is discussed along with the subsequent need to “measure”. Feigenbaum's model is described in detail with examples of industrial costs compared with higher education costs. A possible way of implementing the model is suggested with justification for the approach taken. The scope of the paper is limited to the model and its possible use.

Findings

The paper finds that taking the decision to implement the model requires a willingness to incur costs before realising savings. The examples show that planning the incurring of costs can result in the realised savings – but accurate measurement of the savings is difficult.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is a pilot study of the implementation of the model which would enable a clearer picture to emerge as to the willingness to view costs in a different way from that prevalent in the sector.

Practical implications

The paper shows that managers will need to be prepared to relinquish some control of financial resources to pay for the planned costs. Academic and non‐academic staff will need to be prepared to identify failings, be prepared to identify practical ways of preventing those failings and be prepared to involve themselves in making the new procedures work.

Originality/value

The model is old, but the costs it describes are being incurred in many institutions in a haphazard way today. This paper suggests a route to making expenditure on day‐to‐day activities planned.
The effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives in service operational context
Authors: Yasin Mahmoud M. , Alavi Jafar
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to study the environmental and competitive factors in the service organizations and second, to investigate the extent of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper factor analysis is used to determine the underlying factors associated with the changes in the competitive environment. Proportional measures are used to study the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.

Findings

The paper finds that quality improvement initiatives are not implemented uniformly by all the service industries. Organizations implementing quality improvement initiatives face varying degrees of effectiveness. Positive operational and strategic outcomes have been observed by organizations implementing the quality improvement initiatives.

Practical implications

The results of this paper show that implementation of different types of quality improvement initiatives has a positive impact on operational and strategic aspects of service organizations.

Originality/value

The empirical investigation in this paper shows the practical and theoretical value of issues related to the performance of service organizations.
Assessing customer focus using the EFQM Excellence Model: a local government case
Authors: Jacobs Brian , Suckling Steven
Published: June 2007

Purpose

A critical problem for managers in South Staffordshire Council's one‐stop‐shop customer contact centre, known as South Staffordshire Solutions, was how to assess the achievement of “customer focus” in local services. The purpose of the paper is to view how managers adopted a model of self‐assessment to address the problem.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper shows how the EFQM Excellence Model enabled managers to effectively self‐assess critical performance issues relating to customer focus. It also shows how the assessors used the fundamental concepts of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model to identify a range of service interrelationships affecting customers.

Findings

The paper finds that the assessors need to take account of the interrelationships between customer focus, results and learning to assess delivery of value to external customers. The EFQM Excellence Model provided South Staffordshire Council with an effective way of self‐assessing customer‐related issues.

Practical implications

The paper shows that self‐assessment enabled managers in the customer contact centre to assess customer focus within the broader context of the Council's Balanced Scorecard commitment to enhancing performance under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).

Originality/value

In this paper the assessors used the EFQM model to develop a narrative about sustained customer value creation by combining the fundamental concepts of the model with thinking about the unique value proposition offered to customers by the service.
Job design for learning in work groups
Authors: Lantz Annika , Brav Agneta
Published: June 2007

Purpose

What is required of job design and production planning, if they are to result in a work group taking a self‐starting approach and going beyond what is formally required of it? This paper aims to contribute to group research by testing a theoretical model of relations between job design on the one hand (captured as completeness, demand on responsibility, demand on cooperation, cognitive demand, and learning opportunities), and reflexivity and learning processes within natural work groups in industry on the other hand.

Design/methodology/approach

The results are based on detailed task analyses and questionnaires from 40 work groups at the shop‐floor level in manufacturing industry in Sweden.

Findings

Job design and work routines show strong effects on reflexivity and learning processes. Four dimensions of job design – completeness, demand on cooperation, cognitive demand and learning opportunities – impact on reflexivity and learning processes. Job design correlates with social routines, and social routines with work routines.

Practical implications

It is crucial to create a job design that puts challenging demands on the group if group processes are to be characterized by reflexivity and learning. Managers have a challenging task to provide both a space and a climate that supports reflexivity and learning. All functions affected by production planning need to be involved in job design to balance conflicts between productivity and innovation.

Originality/value

Detailed task analysis is worthwhile as it captures aspects that are prerequisites for innovative groups not previously accounted for.
Bureaucratic boundaries for collective learning in industrial work
Authors: Kira Mari , Frieling Ekkehart
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore individual and collective workplace learning and the connections between them in the contemporary industrial work.

Design/methodology/approach

Two case studies were carried out in the Finnish package‐supplier sector. The research methods applied were standardized observations and qualitative interviews.

Findings

The cases show that the socio‐technical influences have created learning‐conductive work at the individual level, but failed to create optimal possibilities for collective learning. The still‐prevailing bureaucratic power relations prevent employees from fully contributing to collective learning and organizational development.

Research limitations/implications

Workplace‐learning research should study more rigorously the connections between individual and collective learning and, especially, the ways in which the prevailing power relations influence them. Integrating concepts from chaordic systems thinking to the workplace‐learning theory seems fruitful and could be pursued further.

Practical implications

In order to become organizations in which internal and external development may take place at the individual and collective levels alike, the case companies should directly address their shared mental models regulating employees' participation opportunities rather than leave those models to develop in a non‐reflected way.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the field of workplace learning by presenting a conceptual model on sustainable development building on concurrent individual and collective learning. With the help of this model, founded on several theoretical traditions, strengths and weakness in an organization's approach to workplace learning can be detected.
Strategy planning for high‐growth firms: A complexity theoretic framework
Authors: Hillbrand Christian
Published: June 2007

Many entrepreneurial theories suggest that corporate growth is not taking place in a continuous manner but in a rather disruptive way. Since many strategy planning frameworks implicitly assume that their underlying assumptions are not changing overtime this stands in some contradictory relation to growth transitions in rapidly growing firms. Hence, this paper proposes an approach called “Growth Scorecards” which is based on the Balanced Scorecard methodology and enables decision makers of high‐growth enterprises to identify the necessity and approximate scope of strategic revisions associated with a growth transition. The described approach therefore employs complexity‐theoretic concepts in order to classify the management’s propensity for growth measures as the internal likelihood of a growth transition. As a prerequisite for this the paper starts with a disquisition of the theoretic framework underlying this approach.
The Greek food shopper: Segmentation on the basis of attitudes to store features
Authors: Bourlakis Michael A. , Ness Mitchell R. , ‐ Vasilios Priporas Constantinos
Published: June 2007

The paper reports the results of a study of food shopping behaviour in Greece. It is concerned with establishing the dimensions underlying
shoppers’ evaluations of their regular supermarket store attributes, exploring the existence of shopper segments and subsequently, identifying
the segments in terms of shopping behaviour and attitudes to store features. The main research instrument is a survey of adult Greek grocery shoppers in the metropolitan area of the city of Thessaloniki. The empirical results indicate that there are three dimensions that underlie the importance of store features. These are defined respectively as ‘Store design and variety’, ‘Personnel and service’, and ‘Convenient location’. The application of cluster analysis to the dimensions factor scores reveals four clusters. The characteristics of each cluster are described by average factor scores on the dimensions of store features, demographic characteristics, attitudes to store features, store loyalty, and motives for regular store choice.
Freight forwarding in Greece: Services provided and choice criteria
Authors: Kokkinis George , Mihiotis Athanassios , Pappis Costas P.
Published: June 2007

Freight forwarders are intermediary companies involved in Logistics. Their task is to manage all functions involved in transport after the buy process of merchandise is complete. The main objectives of the present work are to evaluate the criteria on which production companies choose particular freight forwarders, to point out the elements that affect quality and to differentiate services provided in various customer categories. In addition, this
work presents the characteristics of freight forwarding companies that are active in the Greek market, analyzing their field of specialisation regarding various services and the profile of their manpower, as well as measuring the level of information technology usage in their operations. For the aim of this work, a questionnaire was drawn up and sent to a sample of 98 companies of the sector, selected mainly for their size and their location. Twenty‐four questionnaires were returned, covering roughly 10% of the companies in the market. The companies were asked to evaluate the various choice criteria
regarding the carriers they chose to collaborate with and the criteria on which they are selected by their customers. The conclusion is that Greek freight forwarding companies consider that quality is more important for their customers than cost and that small companies seem to evaluate the price of services offered, the offering of special privileges, personal treatment and experience as relatively more important than big companies do.
Business values among the Imazighen
Authors: Paul Dana Leo
Published: June 2007

Morocco is a multicultural society, in which the Imazighen (Berbers) are the Indigenous people. They are Muslim but not Arab. They make
up the majority of the population in Morocco. This article examines their self‐employment activities, reflecting a pattern of occupational
clustering influenced by ethnic identity. The paper discusses the traditional bazaar, where segmentation refers to the clustering of producers, and prices are negotiated by buyers and sellers. A model is presented showing the spheres of influence of different ethnic groups in this country on the Mediterranean rim.
Integrated care pathways: pathways to change in health care?
Authors: Whittle Claire , Hewison Alistair
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, if teams in healthcare focus on the patient using the framework of a care pathway, change can occur without the overt need to “manage” it directly.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper the relevant literature is reviewed and it is demonstrated that if this approach is used it also provides a means for addressing difficult professional and organisational issues that are often unresolved in broader projects of organisational change. This is not presented as a panacea or the solution to all change projects, rather the contention here is that it is one means among many that can be used to bring about important changes in practice.

Findings

The paper finds that care pathways represent a useful tool, which teams can use to work through the contextual and practical issues involved in changing practice.

Originality/value

The paper describes the development of integrated care pathways, which can be regarded as a fortunate fusion of managerial and professional concerns.
Nurse retention strategies: advice from experienced registered nurses
Authors: Dietrich Leurer Marie , Donnelly Glenn , Domm Elizabeth
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore the insights of experienced nurses regarding initiatives they believe would effectively retain nurses like themselves in the nursing profession.

Design/methodology/approach

As part of a qualitative investigation into the perceptions of nurses regarding issues affecting their profession, experienced nurses were asked to describe what retention strategies they would recommend to policy‐makers. A total of 16 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with long‐term nurses in a health region in western Canada.

Findings

The paper found that seven retention strategies were commonly mentioned by the participants. The qualitative mode of inquiry allowed the nurses to convey the context, attitudes and feelings behind their recommendations.

Research limitations/implications

The work environments and accompanying retention policies experienced by nurses vary widely according to the specific employment context. As is typical with qualitative research, the findings of this study cannot be considered as generalizable to all nurses in all health care settings.

Practical implications

The results of this paper provide a deeper understanding of the attitudes, emotions and contextual issues behind the nurse retention strategies seen as most appropriate by the target audience of long‐term nurses.

Originality/value

While there is much literature advocating the implementation of nurse retention strategies, very little evidence has been presented from a qualitative lens. It is necessary to directly listen to the voices of those impacted by policies in order to better appreciate how such policies are perceived from a bottom‐up perspective.
Organisational justice and employee perceptions on hospital management
Authors: Wiili‐Peltola Erja , Kivimäki Mika , Elovainio Marko , Virtanen Marianna
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The purpose to clarify what kind of managerial challenges employees experience regarding organisational justice in hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory study of 8,971 employees working in 14 hospitals and examines the concept of organisational justice in management with qualitative and quantitative methods.

Findings

An inductive content analysis of the comments revealed five integrative frames describing challenges in hospital management at respondents' workplaces. These frames should be regarded as major managerial challenges in hospitals. These findings illustrate important antecedents of organisational justice and suggest that work units tend to share the same perceptions of justice. They also reveal that individually produced comments reflect collective experiences in organisational justice. Further, the results indicate that problems in management and policies are often experienced in a complex way, and people making justice judgements do not separate procedural and interactional factors.

Research limitations/implications

Although the commentators producing qualitative data represented many organisational hierarchy levels, the results should not be generalised to apply to horizontal, informal social relationships.

Practical implications

This paper gives useful information regarding challenges in human resources management in hospitals.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that people making fairness judgements do not make a distinction between procedural and interpersonal factors. Instead, they use any information available to judge the righteousness of the management events. This paper serves to guide hospital managers towards a better understanding of the importance of organisational justice and its collective nature.
Clarifying concerns about doctors' clinical performance
Authors: Berrow Diane , Humphrey Charlotte , Field Rosemary , Jobanputra Rena , Faw Leyla
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The UK National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) provides local NHS bodies with advice and support in relation to concerns about individual doctors and dentists and in some cases also conducts a detailed assessment of practitioner performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify the contribution of NCAS performance assessment to clarifying concerns about clinical performance through comparison of concerns suspected at initial referral with those identified at assessment.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper a sample of 50 NCAS medical cases, performance issues reported at the point of referral to NCAS and those identified at assessment were grouped into five broad domains (clinical care, behaviour, health, education and training, organisation). Concerns identified at assessment were compared with those reported at referral for each domain of concern. Conclusions and recommendations following assessment were also reviewed.

Findings

Within each domain, some concerns noted at referral were confirmed; others were challenged or redefined. In all areas, but particularly in respect of the work environment, new concerns were identified for the first time at assessment. In 20 percent of cases, the concerns identified at referral were not borne out at assessment. In 12 percent of cases the issues revealed at assessment were more serious than anticipated.

Practical implications

Findings indicate that the NCAS assessment process provides a more accurate and comprehensive “diagnosis” of performance issues, enabling more appropriate recommendations for “treatment” and helping to differentiate between potentially remediable and more fundamental problems.

Originality/value

There is currently little published evidence about the contribution of this type of performance assessment programme to clarifying performance issues.
The practice of project management office (PMO) concept within the German architect, engineer, contractor (AEC) sector
Authors: Desta Solomon , Root David , Diederichs C.J.
Published: June 2007

The PMO is seen as an organisational entity entrusted to instil Project Management (PM) practices and culture within an organisation and is portrayed as the focal point of PM practices and the locus where an organisation’s knowledge management and PM practices intersect. Companies within a range of economic sectors are accommodating this entity in their organisation structures. Whilst the PMO may not appear to be prevalent in the AEC sector, many of the capabilities ascribed to it do exist either separately or in aggregate within AEC organisations. This paper presents the results of a survey, explored the adoption of the PMO concept within main contractors, project management practices, and developers in the German AEC sector. It discusses the roles that this entity can play in the organisations that are aspiring to achieve a higher level of PM competency and maturity. It also investigates the success factors associated with the successful implementation of the PMO construct and reports on some of the challenges faced in implementing the entity together with potential ways of alleviating these challenges. The research identified that there was a high level of awareness of the PMO concept and that there was a high level prevalence of many of capabilities ascribed to PMOs in the organisations sampled. Many of these organisations recognised that the PMO concept as contributing considerably to knowledge management in their organisation.
Integration of project management skills to manage a fourth year research project
Authors: Haldenwang Rainer , Slatter Paul , Pearce Carol
Published: June 2007

Civil engineering students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology generally find the final year research project very daunting. In most cases it is the first time that they are not “learning” passively by sitting in lectures, receiving notes and worked out examples, memorising the material and then writing an examination to demonstrate their “competency”. Suddenly learning comes by doing, and they are faced with the challenge of executing a significant research project. For students who do not have good management skills, this becomes a very difficult task. To address this problem, staff have, over the past decade, integrated project management with the research project to the extent that it has now become one subject with two final year credits. This means that students learn how to use project management skills to manage the research project, which runs over one year. Project management skills integrated with a rigid structure, complemented by lecturer support in a web‐based e‐learning environment, has been developed to assist students in completing the research project. This has proved to be very successful and students have commented that without the newly acquired project management skills, they would not have been able to complete the projects on time. The results indicate that the integration of project management skills can relieve the role reversal entrapment problem. However, interventions to prepare the students more adequately must be considered over the first three years of study. The paper presents the historical background to the problem, an overview of how the revised methodology is being implemented, and it indicates how e‐learning is used to manage the course.
Dynamic relationships and technological innovation in hot and cold issue markets
Authors: Walker Thomas J. , Lin Michael Y.
Published: June 2007

Purpose

The puzzle of hot and cold issue markets has attracted substantial interest in the academic community. The behavior of IPO volume and initial returns over time is well documented. Few studies, however, investigate the dynamic interrelationship between these two variables. This paper aims to fill this gap. In addition, the technological innovations hypothesis of hot issue markets is tested. Welch and Hoffmann‐Burchardi suggest that the clustering of new issues is caused by IPO volume spikes in industries that have recently experienced technological innovations or favorable productivity shocks.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employs a sample of 8,160 initial public offerings filed in the USA between January 1972 and December 2001. A simultaneous equation approach is used to examine the endogenous relationship between IPO volume and initial returns. In addition, the paper analyzes the industry correlation matrix of new issue activity and estimates a fixed‐effects model based on industry‐level data to examine the impact of technological innovations on new issue activity.

Findings

It is found that higher IPO volume causes higher initial returns, but not vice versa. In addition, evidence is found against the technological innovations hypothesis. The findings suggest that economy‐wide rather than industry‐specific factors are responsible for the observed variations in IPO volume.

Research limitations/implications

As with any empirical study, the results may be sample‐specific.

Originality/value

The paper extends the prior literature on the relationship between IPO volume and initial returns by applying two‐stage and three‐stage least squares models that go beyond prior methodological approaches used in the extant literature. In addition, the paper provides some of the first empirical evidence on the effect of technological innovations and productivity shocks on IPO activity.
Random walk currency futures profits revisited
Authors: Pukthuanthong Kuntara , Lee R. Thomas Lee R. Thomas , Bazan Carlos
Published: June 2007

Purpose

Recent research indicates that the random walk hypothesis (RWH) approximately describes the behavior of major dollar exchange rates during the post‐1973 float. The present analysis seeks to examine the profitability of currency futures trading rules that assume that spot exchange rates can be adequately modeled as a driftless random walk.

Design/methodology/approach

Two random walk currency futures trading rules are simulated over all available data from the period 1984‐2003. In both cases, the investor buys currencies selling at a discount and sells those selling at a premium, as the RWH implies. The two rules differ only in the way they allocate the hypothetical investor's resources among long and short foreign currency positions.

Findings

Results show that an investor who used these trading strategies over the past decade would have enjoyed large cumulative gains, although periods of profit were interrupted by periods of substantial loss.

Research limitations/implications

The findings encourage the hope that profitable random‐walk‐based strategies for currency futures trading can be devised. The simulation results have important implications for those willing to hedge, borrowers, and speculators.

Originality/value

This paper provides evidence that purchasing futures contracts on currencies priced at a discount and selling futures contracts priced at a premium has generally been a profitable trading strategy during the last two decades of floating exchange rates.
Phenomenological approaches to work, life and responsibility
Authors: Faÿ Eric , Riot Philippe
Published: June 2007

Purpose

This paper serves two purposes. It is an introduction to the theme of this issue of Society and Business Review which is devoted to “Phenomenological approaches to work, life and responsibility” as well as a presentation of the authors' various contributions. The authors of this paper share the sentiment that management sciences and practices may drive us in a way such that the sense of life has been altered and people, contrary to Kant's definition of moral behavior, are treated as means instead of ends. Moreover, starting from a widely‐spread malaise in modern organizations, they argue how phenomenology can provide us with an approach that can be helpful in assessing our present situation as well as getting a renewed perception concerning work and life.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors demonstrate the relevance of Husserl's phenomenology in criticizing management techniques for they direct us to objectives that are abstract, calculable, not one's own, and distant. They single out Husserl's concept of epoche for its high relevance with the theme of this issue and its different papers.

Findings

The findings suggest Husserl's concept of epoche (suspension) can be considered as the starting point of a process allowing us to firstly take distance with our usual taken for granted assumptions regarding life and work (bracketing) and then to re‐establish a genuine connection with Husserl's “world of life”. In addition, they establish how epoche can be perceived as a hub linking and introducing the work of other researchers comprising this special issue and their various inspiring authors (Koselleck, Levinas, Henry).

Originality/value

By using a phenomenological perspective, this paper brings an original contribution to critical‐management approaches. It can contribute to a social responsibility renewal in the business arena by providing reflexive practitioners with clues that can trigger new and more human practices. Overall, this paper provides one as a human being an opportunity to analyze the causes of one's malaise and identify better ways to live one's life.
Seniors' perceptions of prescription drug information sources
Authors: DeLorme Denise E. , Huh Jisu , Reid Leonard N.
Published: June 2007

Purpose

To determine how seniors evaluate, compare, and use prescription drug information sources, provide insight on perceptions of the credibility, trustworthiness, and value of these sources, and capture verbatim comments for translation into scalar statements in future surveys.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 25 in‐depth interviews were conducted with US seniors age 65 or older. The transcripts were analyzed using an interpretative approach.

Findings

Informants distinguish between sources on the dimension of credibility; place the most trust in physicians but since they tend to experience a lack of time and attention from them, mass media seem to fill an information gap; and direct‐to‐physician promotions appear to have an indirect influence on patients' perceived credibility of and interaction with physicians.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that identification of key sources should consider two factors: frequency of access/utilization and trust in information provided by the source. The findings also provide empirically‐grounded statements for future scale development.

Practical implications

The results suggest that for multi‐media campaign effectiveness: advertising for a new drug may be most effective on TV but as a brand enters growth or maturity, print may be a better option; marketers should emphasize print in the direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising media mix; sampling strategies should be coordinated with product packaging literature and emphasized to promote trial; and marketers should attempt to increase internet usage among seniors and utilize the medium more actively but avoid online advertising.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to knowledge on the responsiveness of US seniors to DTC advertising and other prescription drug information sources.
Long‐range side‐chain–main‐chain interactions play crucial roles in stabilizing the (βα)8 barrel motif of the alpha subunit of tryptophan synthase
Authors: Yang Xiaoyan , Vadrevu Ramakrishna , Wu Ying , Matthews C. Robert
Published: June 2007

The role of hither‐to‐fore unrecognized long‐range hydrogen bonds between main‐chain amide hydrogens and polar side chains on the stability of a well‐studied (βα)8, TIM barrel protein, the alpha subunit of tryptophan synthase (αTS), was probed by mutational analysis. The F19–D46 and I97–D124 hydrogen bonds link the N terminus of a β‐strand with the C terminus of the succeeding antiparallel α‐helix, and the A103–D130 hydrogen bond links the N terminus of an α‐helix with the C terminus of the succeeding antiparallel β‐strand, forming clamps for the respective βα or αβ hairpins. The individual replacement of these aspartic acid side chains with alanine leads to what appear to be closely related partially folded structures with significantly reduced far‐UV CD ellipticity and thermodynamic stability. Comparisons with the effects of eliminating another main‐chain–side‐chain hydrogen bond, G26–S33, and two electrostatic side‐chain–side‐chain hydrogen bonds, D38–H92 and D112–H146, all in the same N‐terminal folding unit of αTS, demonstrated a unique role for the clamp interactions in stabilizing the native barrel conformation. Because neither the asparagine nor glutamic acid variant at position 46 can completely reproduce the spectroscopic, thermodynamic, or kinetic folding properties of aspartic acid, both size and charge are crucial to its unique role in the clamp hydrogen bond. Kinetic studies suggest that the three clamp hydrogen bonds act in concert to stabilize the transition state leading to the fully folded TIM barrel motif.
Influence of hPin1 WW N‐terminal domain boundaries on function, protein stability, and folding
Authors: Jäger Marcus , Nguyen Houbi , Dendle Maria , Gruebele Martin , Kelly Jeffery W.
Published: June 2007

An N‐terminally truncated and cooperatively folded version (residues 6–39) of the human Pin1 WW domain (hPin1 WW hereafter) has served as an excellent model system for understanding triple‐stranded β‐sheet folding energetics. Here we report that the negatively charged N‐terminal sequence (Met1‐Ala‐Asp‐Glu‐Glu5) previously deleted, and which is not conserved in highly homologous WW domain family members from yeast or certain fungi, significantly increases the stability of hPin1 WW (≈4 kJ mol−1 at 65°C), in the context of the 1–39 sequence based on equilibrium measurements. N‐terminal truncations and mutations in conjunction with a double mutant cycle analysis and a recently published high‐resolution X‐ray structure of the hPin1 cis/trans‐isomerase suggest that the increase in stability is due to an energetically favorable ionic interaction between the negatively charged side chains in the N terminus of full‐length hPin1 WW and the positively charged ε‐ammonium group of residue Lys13 in β‐strand 1. Our data therefore suggest that the ionic interaction between Lys13 and the charged N terminus is the optimal solution for enhanced stability without compromising function, as ascertained by ligand binding studies. Kinetic laser temperature‐jump relaxation studies reveal that this stabilizing interaction has not formed to a significant extent in the folding transition state at near physiological temperature, suggesting a differential contribution of the negatively charged N‐terminal sequence to protein stability and folding rate. As neither the N‐terminal sequence nor Lys13 are highly conserved among WW domains, our data further suggest that caution must be exercised when selecting domain boundaries for WW domains for structural, functional, or thermodynamic studies.
Crystal structures of TM0549 and NE1324—two orthologs of E. coli AHAS isozyme III small regulatory subunit
Authors: Petkowski Janusz J. , Chruszcz Maksymilian , Zimmerman Matthew D. , Zheng Heping , Skarina Tatiana , Onopriyenko Olena , Cymborowski Marcin T. , Koclega Katarzyna D. , Savchenko Alexei , Edwards Aled , Minor Wladek
Published: June 2007

Crystal structures of two orthologs of the regulatory subunit of acetohydroxyacid synthase III (AHAS, EC 2.2.1.6) from Thermotoga maritima (TM0549) and Nitrosomonas europea (NE1324) were determined by single‐wavelength anomalous diffraction methods with the use of selenomethionine derivatives at 2.3 Å and 2.5 Å, respectively. TM0549 and NE1324 share the same fold, and in both proteins the polypeptide chain contains two separate domains of a similar size. Each protein contains a C‐terminal domain with ferredoxin‐type fold and an N‐terminal ACT domain, of which the latter is characteristic for several proteins involved in amino acid metabolism. The ferredoxin domain is stabilized by a calcium ion in the crystal structure of NE1324 and by a Mg(H2O)62+ ion in TM0549. Both TM0549 and NE1324 form dimeric assemblies in the crystal lattice.
Enhanced biocontrol activity of Trichoderma virens transformants constitutively coexpressing β‐1,3‐ and β‐1,6‐glucanase genes
Authors: DJONOVIĆ SLAVICA , VITTONE GLORIA , MENDOZA‐HERRERA AZUCENA , KENERLEY CHARLES M.
Published: June 2007

Evidence for the role of chitinases, proteases and β‐1,3‐ and β‐1,6‐glucanases in mycoparasitism by Trichoderma species has been well documented. Moreover, constitutive over‐expression of genes encoding individual cell‐wall‐degrading enzymes (CWDEs) has been shown to improve the potential of biological agents. In this study, we generated transformants of T. virens in which β‐1,3‐ and β‐1,6‐glucanase genes, TvBgn2 and TvBgn3, respectively, were constitutively coexpressed in the same genetic T. virens Gv29.8 wild‐type background. The double over‐expression transformants (dOEs) grow and sporulate slower than the wild‐type (WT). However, the reduction in growth did not seem to affect their mycoparasitic and biocontrol capabilities, as dOEs displayed much higher levels of total β‐1,3‐ and β‐1,6‐glucanase activity than the WT. This higher enzymatic activity of dOEs positively correlated with observed in vitro inhibition of Pythium ultimum and Rhizoctonia solani mycelia, and with enhanced bioprotection of cotton seedlings against P. ultimum, R. solani and Rhizopus oryzae. Besides effective biocontrol of all pathogens at an original inoculum level, the performance of dOEs was highly enhanced (up to 312% of WT performance) when pathogen pressure was greater (i.e. concentration of inoculum was higher or pathogens applied in combination). These results demonstrate that the strategy of introducing multiple lytic enzyme‐encoding genes through transformation of a given biocontrol strain can be successfully used to achieve better biocontrol.
A LuxR homologue of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is required for optimal rice virulence
Authors: FERLUGA SARA , BIGIRIMANA JOSEPH , HÖFTE MONICA , VENTURI VITTORIO
Published: June 2007

In Gram‐negative bacteria a typical quorum sensing (QS) system usually involves the production and response to acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). An AHL QS system is most commonly mediated by a LuxI family AHL synthase and a LuxR family AHL response regulator. This study reports for the first time the presence of a LuxR family‐type regulator in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), which has been designated as OryR. The primary structure of OryR contains the typical signature domains of AHL QS LuxR family response regulators: an AHL‐binding and a HTH DNA binding motif. The oryR gene is conserved among 26 Xoo strains and is also present in the genomes of close relatives X. campestris pv. campestris and X. axonopodis pv. citri. Disrupting oryR in three Xoo strains resulted in a significant reduction of rice virulence. The wild‐type Xoo strains do not seem to produce AHLs and analysis of the Xoo sequenced genomes did not reveal the presence of a LuxI‐family AHL synthase. The OryR protein was shown to be induced by macerated rice and affected the production of two secreted proteins: a cell‐wall‐degrading cellobiosidase and a 20‐kDa protein of unknown function. By expressing and purifying OryR it was then observed that it was solubilized when grown in the presence of rice extract indicating that there could be a molecule(s) in rice which binds OryR. The role of OryR as a possible in planta induced LuxR family regulator is discussed.
Familial risks for asthma among twins and other siblings based on hospitalizations in Sweden
Authors: Hemminki K. , Li X. , Sundquist K. , Sundquist J.
Published: June 2007

Background
Asthma is a common disabling condition, with known environmental and familial risk factors and with their assumed interactions. We wanted to carry out a family study on asthma to address gene–environment interactions at a population level.

Methods
We conducted a nation‐wide study on familial risks for asthma. An asthma database was constructed by linking the Multigeneration Register on 0–72‐year‐old subjects to the Hospital Discharge Register for diagnosed asthma cases in Sweden from years 1987 to 2004. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for affected singleton siblings, twins and spouses by comparing with those whose siblings or spouses had no asthma.

Results
A total of 67 370 hospitalized cases and 5638 affected siblings were identified with a familial SIR of 3.70, which was independent of sex, diagnostic age and age differences between the siblings. The SIR for different‐sex twins was 5.17 and for same‐sex twins it was 13.38. There was a low correlation between spouses for asthma.

Conclusions
Asthma shows a higher familial risk than many common diseases. The higher difference in familial excess risk between singleton siblings and different‐sex twins provides strong genetic epidemiological evidence for gene–environment interactions in asthma. The concept of gene–environment interactions needs to be accommodated in future aetiological studies on asthma. Data on environmental factors and family history are important for clinical risk estimation.
Optimizing fat oxidation through exercise in severely obese Caucasian adolescents
Authors: Lazzer Stefano , Busti Carlo , Agosti Fiorenza , De Col Alessandra , Pozzo Renzo , Sartorio Alessandro
Published: June 2007

Objective  To measure the contribution of substrate oxidation to energy expenditure during cycling at different workloads and to identify the exercise intensity that elicits the maximum fat oxidation rate in groups of severely obese or nonobese Caucasian adolescents.

Design  A total of 30 severely obese subjects (mean body mass index, BMI = 34·7 kg/m2; fat‐mass = 39·9%) and 30 nonobese sedentary adolescents (mean BMI = 22·7 kg/m2; fat‐mass = 21·8%) aged 14–16 years, participated in this study. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance. Peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) and maximal fat oxidation rate were determined with indirect calorimetry by using a graded exercise test on an electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer.

Results  Predicted V̇O2max were expressed in absolute (l/min) and relative (ml/kg FFM/min) values, and maximal work rates were not significantly different between obese and nonobese adolescents, but were significantly higher in boys than in girls. No significant differences in fat oxidation rates were found in obese and nonobese sedentary adolescents during the graded exercise test. Maximal fat oxidation was observed at an exercise intensity corresponding to (mean ± SD) 41 ± 3%V̇O2max or 58 ± 3% HRmax. At this exercise intensity, fat oxidation rates were higher in boys than in girls (0·32 ± 0·02 g/min vs. 0·25 ± 0·02 g/min, P < 0·001).

Conclusions  Severely obese and sedentary nonobese adolescents reached maximal fat oxidation rates at 41%V̇O2max, which corresponds to 58% HRmax. At this exercise intensity, fat oxidation rates were higher in boys than in girls probably due to higher V̇O2max and absolute workload during the exercise steps for boys compared with those for girls.
Growth hormone (GH) secretion and response to GH therapy after total body irradiation and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation during childhood
Authors: Bakker B. , Oostdijk W. , Geskus R. B. , Stokvis‐Brantsma W. H. , Vossen J. M. , Wit J. M.
Published: June 2007

Objective  In January 1997 we introduced a protocol for the treatment with GH of children with impaired growth after unfractionated total body irradiation (TBI). This study is an evaluation of that protocol.

Patients and methods  Between January 1997 and July 2005, 66 patients (48 male) treated for haematological malignancies had at least two years of disease‐free survival after TBI‐based conditioning for stem cell transplantation (SCT). Stimulated and/or spontaneous GH secretion was decreased in 8 of the 29 patients tested because of impaired growth. Treatment with GH (daily dose 1·3 mg/m2 body surface area) was offered to all 29 patients and initiated in 23 of them (17 male). The main outcome measure was the effect of GH therapy on height standard deviation scores (SDS) after onset of GH therapy, estimated by random‐effect modelling with corrections for sex, age at time of SCT and puberty (data analysed on intention‐to‐treat basis).

Results  At time of analysis, median duration of therapy was 3·2 years; median follow‐up after start of GH therapy was 4·2 years. The estimated effect of GH therapy, modelled as nonlinear (logit) curve, was +1·1 SD after 5 years. Response to GH therapy did not correlate to GH secretion status.

Conclusion  GH therapy has a positive effect on height SDS after TBI, irrespective of GH secretion status.
Age‐related penetrance of endocrine tumours in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1): a multicentre study of 258 gene carriers
Authors: Machens Andreas , Schaaf Ludwig , Karges Wolfram , Frank‐Raue Karin , Bartsch Detlef K. , Rothmund Matthias , Schneyer Ulrich , Goretzki Peter , Raue Friedhelm , Dralle Henning
Published: June 2007

Objective  In multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), age‐related tumour penetrance according to the type of MEN1 germline mutation has not been investigated in‐depth. This study was conducted to examine whether carriers of out‐of‐frame/truncating and in‐frame MEN1 mutations differ in age‐related tumour penetrance.

Design  A multicentre study with biochemical, hormonal and radiological screening for MEN1‐associated tumours.

Patients  A total of 258 MEN1 carriers from six major German tertiary referral centres averaging 43 years of age at last follow‐up.

Measurements  Main outcome measure was time to first diagnosis of MEN1‐associated tumours.

Results  Independent of the year of birth and observation period, time to first tumour diagnosis did not vary much by the type of MEN1 germline mutation or endocrine organ system, and perhaps not even by the type of endocrine tumour when the amount of time was considered by which the diagnosis probably has been advanced through the manifestation of hormonal symptoms. Parathyroid hyperplasia and adenomas developed almost twice as often as enteropancreatic and pituitary tumours (77%vs. 49–32%), and more than five to sevenfold as often as adrenal cortical tumours and carcinoids (77%vs. 15–10%), reaching penetrance rates of up to 90%, 60%, 40%, 26% and 17%, respectively. The heterogeneity of tumour penetrance was marked, ranging from 9 years to 25 years for the earliest, and from 68 years to 77 years for the latest tumour manifestation.

Conclusions  Because of our inability of predicting tumour penetrance and malignant transformation individually, life‐long follow‐up of MEN1 carriers is warranted to prevent tumour morbidity.