bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
JNKK1 organizes a MAP kinase module through specific and sequential interactions with upstream and downstream components mediated by its amino-terminal extension
Authors: Xia Ying , Wu Zhenguo , Su Bing , Murray Brion , Karin Michael
Published: February 2008

MAP kinase (MAPK) cascades are composed of a MAPK, MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and a MAPKK kinase (MAPKKK). Despite the existence of numerous components and ample opportunities for crosstalk, most MAPKs are specifically and distinctly activated. We investigated the basis for specific activation of the JNK subgroup of MAPKs. The specificity of JNK activation is determined by the MAPKK JNKK1, which interacts with the MAPKKK MEKK1 and JNK through its amino-terminal extension. Inactive JNKK1 mutants can disrupt JNK activation by MEKK1 or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in intact cells only if they contain an intact amino-terminal extension. Mutations in this region interfere with the ability of JNKK1 to respond to TNF but do not affect its activation by physical stressors. As JNK and MEKK1 compete for binding to JNKK1 and activation of JNKK1 prevents its binding to MEKK1, activation of this module is likely to occur through sequential MEKK1:JNKK1 and JNKK1:JNK interactions. These results underscore a role for the amino-terminal extension of MAPKKs in determination of response specificity.
Faithful anaphase is ensured by Mis4, a sister chromatid cohesion molecule required in S phase and not destroyed in G1 phase
Authors: Furuya Kanji , Takahashi Kohta , Yanagida Mitsuhiro
Published: February 2008

The loss of sister chromatid cohesion triggers anaphase spindle movement. The budding yeast Mcd1/Scc1 protein, called cohesin, is required for associating chromatids, and proteins homologous to it exist in a variety of eukaryotes. Mcd1/Scc1 is removed from chromosomes in anaphase and degrades in G1. We show that the fission yeast protein, Mis4, which is required for equal sister chromatid separation in anaphase is a different chromatid cohesion molecule that behaves independent of cohesin and is conserved from yeast to human. Its inactivation in G1 results in cell lethality in S phase and subsequent premature sister chromatid separation. Inactivation in G2leads to cell death in subsequent metaphase–anaphase progression but missegregation occurs only in the next round of mitosis. Mis4 is not essential for condensation, nor does it degrade in G1. Rather, it associates with chromosomes in a punctate fashion throughout the cell cycle. mis4 mutants are hypersensitive to hydroxyurea (HU) and UV irradiation but retain the ability to restrain cell cycle progression when damaged or sustaining a block to replication. Themis4 mutation results in synthetic lethality with a DNA ligase mutant. Mis4 may form a stable link between chromatids in S phase that is split rather than removed in anaphase.
Glycogen synthase kinase-3β regulates cyclin D1 proteolysis and subcellular localization
Authors: Diehl J. Alan , Cheng Mangeng , Roussel Martine F. , Sherr Charles J.
Published: February 2008

The activities of cyclin D-dependent kinases serve to integrate extracellular signaling during G1 phase with the cell-cycle engine that regulates DNA replication and mitosis. Induction of D-type cyclins and their assembly into holoenzyme complexes depend on mitogen stimulation. Conversely, the fact that D-type cyclins are labile proteins guarantees that the subunit pool shrinks rapidly when cells are deprived of mitogens. Phosphorylation of cyclin D1 on a single threonine residue near the carboxyl terminus (Thr-286) positively regulates proteasomal degradation of D1. Now, we demonstrate that glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) phosphorylates cyclin D1 specifically on Thr-286, thereby triggering rapid cyclin D1 turnover. Because the activity of GSK-3β can be inhibited by signaling through a pathway that sequentially involves Ras, phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K), and protein kinase B (Akt), the turnover of cyclin D1, like its assembly, is also Ras dependent and, hence, mitogen regulated. In contrast, Ras mutants defective in PI3K signaling, or constitutively active mitogen-activated protein kinase-kinase (MEK1) mutants that act downstream of Ras to activate extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs), cannot stabilize cyclin D1. In direct contrast to cyclin D1, which accumulates in the nucleus during G1 phase and exits into the cytoplasm during S phase, GSK-3β is predominantly cytoplasmic during G1 phase, but a significant fraction enters the nucleus during S phase. A highly stable D1 mutant in which an alanine is substituted for the threonine at position 286 and that is refractory to phosphorylation by GSK-3β remained in the nucleus throughout the cell cycle. Overexpression of an active, but not a kinase-defective, form of GSK-3β in mouse fibroblasts caused a redistribution of cyclin D1 from the cell nucleus to the cytoplasm. Therefore, phosphorylation and proteolytic turnover of cyclin D1 and its subcellular localization during the cell division cycle are linked through the action of GSK-3β.
Nuclear events in ethylene signaling: a transcriptional cascade mediated by ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 and ETHYLENE-RESPONSE-FACTOR1
Authors: Solano Roberto , Stepanova Anna , Chao Qimin , Ecker Joseph R.
Published: February 2008

Response to the gaseous plant hormone ethylene inArabidopsis requires the EIN3/EIL family of nuclear proteins. The biochemical function(s) of EIN3/EIL proteins, however, has remained unknown. In this study, we show that EIN3 and EILs comprise a family of novel sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins that regulate gene expression by binding directly to a primary ethylene response element (PERE) related to the tomato E4-element. Moreover, we identified an immediate target of EIN3,ETHYLENE-RESPONSE-FACTOR1 (ERF1), which contains this element in its promoter. EIN3 is necessary and sufficient forERF1 expression, and, like EIN3-overexpression in transgenic plants, constitutive expression of ERF1 results in the activation of a variety of ethylene response genes and phenotypes. Evidence is also provided that ERF1 acts downstream of EIN3 and all other components of the ethylene signaling pathway. The results demonstrate that the nuclear proteins EIN3 and ERF1 act sequentially in a cascade of transcriptional regulation initiated by ethylene gas.
c-myc null cells misregulate cad and gadd45 but not other proposed c-Myc targets
Authors: Bush Andrew , Mateyak Maria , Dugan Kerri , Obaya Alvaro , Adachi Susumu , Sedivy John , Cole Michael
Published: February 2008

We report here that the expression of virtually all proposed c-Myc target genes is unchanged in cells containing a homozygous null deletion of c-myc. Two noteworthy exceptions are the genecad, which has reduced log phase expression and serum induction in c-myc null cells, and the growth arrest gene gadd45, which is derepressed by c-myc knockout. Thus, cad andgadd45 are the only proposed targets of c-Myc that may contribute to the dramatic slow growth phenotype of c-myc null cells. Our results demonstrate that a loss-of-function approach is critical for the evaluation of potential c-Myc target genes.
Molecular interactions between Vestigial and Scalloped promote wing formation in Drosophila
Authors: Simmonds Andrew J. , Liu Xiaofeng , Soanes Kelly H. , Krause Henry M. , Irvine Kenneth D. , Bell John B.
Published: February 2008

Scalloped (Sd) and Vestigial (Vg) are each needed forDrosophila wing development. We show that Sd is required for Vg function and that altering their relative cellular levels inhibits wing formation. In vitro, Vg binds directly to both Sd and its human homolog, Transcription Enhancer Factor-1. The interaction domains map to a small region of Vg that is essential for Vg-mediated gene activation and to the carboxy-terminal half of Sd. Our observations indicate that Vg and Sd function coordinately to control the expression of genes required for wing development, which implies that Vg is a tissue-specific transcriptional intermediary factor of Sd.
Expansion and contraction of ribosomal DNA repeats in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: requirement of replication fork blocking (Fob1) protein and the role of RNA polymerase I
Authors: Kobayashi Takehiko , Heck Denis J. , Nomura Masayasu , Horiuchi Takashi
Published: February 2008

Saccharomyces cerevisiae carries ∼150 copies of rDNA in tandem repeats. It was found that the absence of an essential subunit of RNA polymerase I (Pol I) in rpa135 deletion mutants triggers a gradual decrease in rDNA repeat number to about one-half the normal level. Reintroduction of the missing RPA135 gene induced a gradual increase in repeat number back to the normal level. GeneFOB1 was shown to be essential for both the decrease and increase of rDNA repeats. FOB1 was shown previously to be required for replication fork blocking (RFB) activity at RFBsite in rDNA and for recombination hot-spot (HOT1) activity. Thus, DNA replication fork blockage appears to stimulate recombination and play an essential role in rDNA expansion/contraction and sequence homogenization, and possibly, in the instability of repeated sequences in general. RNA Pol I, on the other hand, appears to control repeat numbers, perhaps by stabilizing rDNA with the normal repeat numbers as a stable nucleolar structure.
Complete inhibition of Cdk/cyclin by one molecule of p21Cip1
Authors: Hengst Ludger , Göpfert Ulrich , Lashuel Hilal A. , Reed Steven I.
Published: February 2008

Cell-cycle phase transitions are controlled by cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). Key to the regulation of these kinase activities are Cdk inhibitors, proteins that are induced in response to various antiproliferative signals but that can also oscillate during cell-cycle progression, leading to Cdk inactivation. A current dogma is that kinase complexes containing the prototype Cdk inhibitor p21 transit between active and inactive states, in that Cdk complexes associated with one p21 molecule remain active until they associate with additional p21 molecules. However, using a number of different techniques including analytical ultracentrifugation of purified p21/cyclin A/Cdk2 complexes we demonstrate unambiguously that a single p21 molecule is sufficient for kinase inhibition and that p21-saturated complexes contain only one stably bound inhibitor molecule. Even phosphorylated forms of p21 remain efficient inhibitors of Cdk activities. Therefore the level of Cdk inactivation by p21 is determined by the fraction of kinase complexed with the inhibitor and not by the stoichiometry of inhibitor bound to the kinase or the phosphorylation state of the Cdk inhibitor.
Lon-mediated proteolysis of the Escherichia coli UmuD mutagenesis protein: in vitro degradation and identification of residues required for proteolysis
Authors: Gonzalez Martín , Frank Ekaterina G. , Levine Arthur S. , Woodgate Roger
Published: February 2008

Most SOS mutagenesis in Escherichia coli is dependent on the UmuD and UmuC proteins. Perhaps as a consequence, the activity of these proteins is exquisitely regulated. The intracellular level of UmuD and UmuC is normally quite low but increases dramatically inlon− strains, suggesting that both proteins are substrates of the Lon protease. We report here that the highly purified UmuD protein is specifically degraded in vitro by Lon in an ATP-dependent manner. To identify the regions of UmuD necessary for Lon-mediated proteolysis, we performed ‘alanine-stretch’ mutagenesis onumuD and followed the stability of the mutant protein in vivo. Such an approach allowed us to localize the site(s) within UmuD responsible for Lon-mediated proteolysis. The primary signal is located between residues 15 and 18 (FPLF), with an auxiliary site between residues 26 and 29 (FPSP), of the amino terminus of UmuD. Transfer of the amino terminus of UmuD (residues 1–40) to an otherwise stable protein imparts Lon-mediated proteolysis, thereby indicating that the amino terminus of UmuD is sufficient for Lon recognition and the ensuing degradation of the protein.
Intermediates in formation and activity of the RNA polymerase II preinitiation complex: holoenzyme recruitment and a postrecruitment role for the TATA box and TFIIB
Authors: Ranish Jeffrey A. , Yudkovsky Natalya , Hahn Steven
Published: February 2008

Assembly and activity of yeast RNA polymerase II (Pol II) preinitiation complexes (PIC) was investigated with an immobilized promoter assay and extracts made from wild-type cells and from cells containing conditional mutations in components of the Pol II machinery. We describe the following findings: (1) In one step, TFIID and TFIIA assemble at the promoter independently of holoenzyme. In another step, holoenzyme is recruited to the promoter. Mutations in the CTD of Pol II, Srb2, Srb4, and Srb5, and two mutations in TFIIB disrupt recruitment of all holoenzyme components tested without affecting TFIID and TFIIA recruitment. These results indicate that the stepwise assembly pathway is blocked after TFIID/TFIIA binding. (2) Both the Gal4–AH and Gal4–VP16 activators stimulate formation of active PICs by increasing the extent of PIC formation. The Gal4–AH activator stimulated PIC formation by enhancing the binding of TFIID and TFIIA, whereas Gal4–VP16 could enhance the recruitment of TFIID, TFIIA, and holoenzyme. (3) Extracts deficient in TFIIA activity showed reduced assembly of all PIC components. These and other results suggest that TFIIA acts at an early step by enhancing the stable recruitment of TFIID. (4) An extract containing the TFIIB mutant E62G, had no defect in PIC formation, but had a severe defect in transcription. Similarly, mutation of the TATA box reduced PIC formation only two- to fourfold, but severely compromised transcription. These results demonstate an involvement of TFIIB and the TATA box in one or more steps after recruitment of factors to the promoter.
Application of massively parallel sequencing to microRNA profiling and discovery in human embryonic stem cells
Authors: Morin Ryan D. , O’Connor Michael D. , Griffith Malachi , Kuchenbauer Florian , Delaney Allen , Prabhu Anna-Liisa , Zhao Yongjun , McDonald Helen , Zeng Thomas , Hirst Martin , Eaves Connie J. , Marra Marco A.
Published: February 2008

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as important, albeit poorly characterized, regulators of biological processes. Key to further elucidation of their roles is the generation of more complete lists of their numbers and expression changes in different cell states. Here, we report a new method for surveying the expression of small RNAs, including microRNAs, using Illumina sequencing technology. We also present a set of methods for annotating sequences deriving from known miRNAs, identifying variability in mature miRNA sequences, and identifying sequences belonging to previously unidentified miRNA genes. Application of this approach to RNA from human embryonic stem cells obtained before and after their differentiation into embryoid bodies revealed the sequences and expression levels of 334 known plus 104 novel miRNA genes. One hundred seventy-one known and 23 novel microRNA sequences exhibited significant expression differences between these two developmental states. Owing to the increased number of sequence reads, these libraries represent the deepest miRNA sampling to date, spanning nearly six orders of magnitude of expression. The predicted targets of those miRNAs enriched in either sample shared common features. Included among the high-ranked predicted gene targets are those implicated in differentiation, cell cycle control, programmed cell death, and transcriptional regulation.
GABAA receptors determine the temporal dynamics of memory retention
Authors: McNally Gavan P. , Augustyn Katarzyna A. , Richardson Rick
Published: February 2008

Four experiments studied the role of GABAA receptors in the temporal dynamics of memory retention. Memory for an active avoidance response was a nonmonotonic function of the retention interval. When rats were tested shortly (2 min) or some time (24 h) after training, retention was excellent, but when they were tested at intermediate intervals (1–4 h), retention was poor. Activity at GABAA receptors was critical for impairing memory retention at the intermediate intervals because injection of the GABAA receptor partial inverse agonist FG7142 prior to test significantly improved performance. These retention enhancing effects of FG7142 were dose-dependent and not due to any nonspecific effects of FG7142 on activity. Our results suggest that the temporal dynamics of memory retention may be caused by variations in neurotransmission through the GABAA receptor in the post-training period.
TheArabidopsisPhosphatidylinositol Phosphate 5-Kinase PIP5K3 Is a Key Regulator of Root Hair Tip Growth
Authors: Kusano Hiroaki , Testerink Christa , Vermeer Joop E.M. , Tsuge Tomohiko , Shimada Hiroaki , Oka Atsuhiro , Munnik Teun , Aoyama Takashi
Published: February 2008

Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] functions as a site-specific signal on membranes to promote cytoskeletal reorganization and membrane trafficking. Localization of PtdIns(4,5)P2 to apices of growing root hairs and pollen tubes suggests that it plays an important role in tip growth. However, its regulation and mode of action remain unclear. We found that Arabidopsis thaliana PIP5K3 (for Phosphatidylinositol Phosphate 5-Kinase 3) encodes a phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase, a key enzyme producing PtdIns(4,5)P2, that is preferentially expressed in growing root hairs. T-DNA insertion mutations that substantially reduced the expression of PIP5K3 caused significantly shorter root hairs than in the wild type. By contrast, overexpression caused longer root hairs and multiple protruding sites on a single trichoblast. A yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) fusion of PIP5K3, driven by the PIP5K3 promoter, complemented the short-root-hair phenotype. PIP5K3-YFP localized to the plasma membrane and cytoplasmic space of elongating root hair apices, to growing root hair bulges, and, notably, to sites about to form root hair bulges. The signal was greatest in rapidly growing root hairs and quickly disappeared when elongation ceased. These results provide evidence that PIP5K3 is involved in localizing PtdIns(4,5)P2 to the elongating root hair apex and is a key regulator of the machinery that initiates and promotes root hair tip growth.
Nigerian library staff and their perceptions of health risks posed by using computer‐based systems in university libraries
Authors: Osahon Uwaifo Stephen
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The paper seeks to examine the health risks faced when using computer‐based systems by library staff in Nigerian libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a survey research approach to carry out this investigation.

Findings

The investigation reveals that the perceived health risk does not predict perceived ease of use of computer‐based libraries. Even though a wide range of health hazards were identified in the libraries, the level of availability of ergonomic programmes to tackle them was low.

Practical implications

In general, librarians, university authorities, IT policy formulators and systems administrators should find this paper useful, as it educates them about the fact that perceived health risk does not significantly deter people from using information systems. This is due to the enormous benefits arising from the use of IT when compared with the manual systems.

Originality/value

The study offers new insights in the area of IT use by librarians in Nigerian universities. That the study found that prevailing health risks do not significantly deter people from using information systems means that it differs from other studies.
Lessons from the academy: actuating active mass‐class information literacy instruction
Authors: Chalmers Mardi
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to mitigate the dearth in the library literature of large‐class, active learning pedagogies, by providing examples of these instructional approaches used in mega‐classes within the science, humanities, and education fields, for application within the library environment, specifically in large information literacy instruction sessions.

Design/methodology/approach

The author surveys both the library and science and education literatures, comparing coverage of active learning approaches in the professional literatures of each.

Findings

Although the library literature enthusiastically supports active learning approaches to teaching information literacy in theory, there are statistically few librarians who employ these learning modalities in their teaching. There are hardly any examples in the library literature of librarians using large‐class, active‐learning pedagogies. This article discusses some of the reasons behind librarians' reluctance to use active learning techniques and offers pragmatic suggestions from the literature of the sciences and education to alleviate this reticence.

Originality/value

This paper helps fill in the gap in the library literature discussing large‐class, active pedagogies for information literacy instruction. It offers some practical solutions from within the non‐library literature to some of the pedagogical obstacles inherent in mass classes, making explicit applications to information literacy instruction.
Disasters: lessons from the past 105 years
Authors: Eshghi Kourosh , Larson Richard C.
Published: February 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study and review some major impacts of the disasters during the past 105 years and develop a new theoretical classification of disasters.

Design/methodology/approach

A detailed study of disasters in the world during the period (1900‐2005) has been obtained from the recent published sources. In that period more than 40 lessons have been reported based on statistical data analysis of disasters. Furthermore, a two‐dimensional probability density function is developed to categorize the different types of disasters. This paper studies and reviews some major impacts of disasters during the past 105 years and summarizes some major lessons for the future. Furthermore, a new scaling system is presented to determine the actual damage of disasters to human life.

Findings

There is no doubt that the impacts of future disasters will not be the same as previous ones but lessons from the past can be very helpful for improving one's knowledge about disasters and providing better response programs for local and international organizations. A new scaling system will also be a useful guide for the development and evaluation of national and international disaster planning, mitigation, and hazard reduction efforts.

Originality/value

Important lessons have been reported based on statistical data analysis of disasters. Moreover, a new classification of disasters is presented to relate the vulnerability factors of a society to the magnitude of the natural disasters.
O.R. in finance and investment
Authors: HIGGINS CHRISTOPHER
Published: February 2008

This review of O.R. work in the fields of finance and investment indicates the considerable scope both for the standard tools of the trade, such as mathematical programming, and for the more general scientific approach which the author believes is characteristic of the best O.R. work. The use of scientific models of the system under study enables the investigator to compare alternative policies, to try out possible systems without the need to experiment in the real life situation—a particular merit of simulation techniques—and to search for optimum solutions.
Answering the computer back
Authors: ROWAN JOHN
Published: February 2008

One of the most difficult things in business is knowing what to do about the decisions which have already been made by other people. It is made even more difficult when the decisions have been made, not by a person, but by a computer. There is something so crushingly impersonal about such a decision that it paralyses action.
MARKETING COSTS
Authors: KJAER‐HANSEN MAX
Published: February 2008

Whilst the ultimate objective of every business firm is to sell its products, the volume and profitability of its sales depend on the balance between supply and demand. Clearly sales cannot exceed production on the one hand nor demand on the other, and of these two factors demand must be the most important since, under normal conditions, production is planned with the object of meeting the existing demand. The function of the marketing activity is to influence the demand in a direction favourable to the producer. Marketing costs will depend on what action is taken with regard to prices, quality and selling effort. These three are the business firm's parameters of action. From the beginning of the industrialization of sales in the early part of the present century until the 1930s, price was the predominant parameter of action. Then, selling effort started growing in importance, and in the consumer market it has dominated until recent years. Right now, however, we seem to be facing a new trend with product development seeking to bring quality into the foreground among the parameters of action.
MANAGEMENT JARGON EXPLAINED
Authors: Ward Tom
Published: February 2008

NETWORK ANALYSIS The group techniques known collectively under the title of network analysis and comprising Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), Critical Path Analysis (CPA), Programme Evaluation Procedure (PEP), Least Cost Estimating and Scheduling (LCES), were developed mainly for the complex and time critical projects carried out by the U.S. Armed Forces. The technique produces a sort of dynamic optimising of a current situation and recognises the basic interdependence of the component parts of any complex job.
The problems of an investment analyst—
Authors: PATTEN CHARLES
Published: February 2008

Investment analysis is still a young and imperfect science, but the opinions of the analyst are often crucial in deciding what new issues the capital market is prepared to accept. Is the analyst using the correct criteria to assess a share or company loan stock? If not, there is some doubt whether companies who can use capital most efficiently are those most likely to be able to obtain it from the market.
Making the most out of publicity
Authors: PATERSON WILLIAM
Published: February 2008

• Publicity is a vital arm of marketing. In the wider sense it covers all marketing communications — advertising, public relations, direct‐mail, brochures, display, films, exhibitions. • Before deciding which publicity technique to use, identify and analyse your problem in communication terms. • Establish the desired relationship between editorial publicity, advertising and direct‐mail, and plan your campaign accordingly. • Technical arrogance and poor interdepartmental communication can prevent industrial companies from developing their full potential. • The presentation of facts about your company and the offer of sound career opportunities, is the key to the recruitment of the best brains. • What image does your company present to the financial and investment worlds?
TECHNIQUES IN ACTION
Authors: TAYLOR A.M.
Published: February 2008

The principal objective of corporate planning is to try to direct corporate or national destiny in a logical and formalized manner. In this article A. M. Taylor, Managing Director of L. A. Mitchell (Holdings) Ltd., answers question on why the LAM Group is introducing this technique and what it has achieved so far
Management development by objectives
Authors: LOCKWOOD JOHN
Published: February 2008

BUSINESS planning is undertaken to assist companies grow, while management development concerns planning an individual's growth in a company. Obviously these two kinds of growth are interdependent. As management development becomes more scientific, it must do more than keep up with change; it must lead change. Company organization directly influences a company's environment for management development. The job, education, training and the involvement of management are instruments for manpower growth and every company requires an action programme to achieve the objectives of organized manpower planning and development.
CHOOSING A COMPUTER
Authors: WARD TOM
Published: February 2008

“The outstanding fact about the application of computers in the UK is that in general management has little or no knowledge of the real nature of the information explosion which the computer has generated”
Performance management, organization and practice for results
Authors: SMITH VICTOR
Published: February 2008

“One of the main causes of company ineffiency is the absence of clearly defined objectives. A great many companies operate on the assumption that their objectives are self‐evident and need not be defined.”
FINANCIAL CONTROL: as an aid to management
Authors: MEIMZIES P.T.
Published: February 2008

This article is based on a paper which Mr. Menzies gave to a symposium on Management in the Science‐Based Industries during the Joint Annual Meetings of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Chemical Society and the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland in Dublin, April 1–6, 1968. The symposium is to be published in full by the Royal Institute of Chemistry, 30 Russell Square, London WC1 and copies should be available by the end of June.
The job of filling jobs
Authors: CLIVE ROBERT
Published: February 2008

“Executive search in one form or another does meet a special demand. The question is whether it is just a fringe activity or, as is sometimes claimed, a superior technique which will supplant or at least revolutionize selection consultancy.”
False remedies in labour relations
Authors: NEAL L.F. , ROBERTSON ANDREW
Published: February 2008

This article is based on a chapter in a recently published book, “The Manager's Guide to Industrial Relations”, by L. F. Neal and Andrew Robertson (George Allen & Unwin, 25s.).
MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS: Management by objectives
Authors: WARD TOM
Published: February 2008

CURRENT trends in management techniques give considerable scope for the application of the buzzword generator. Value engineering, cost/benefit analysis and variable cost control are all stages on the way to the currently fashionable corporate planning, and management information systems. A modern manager may come to feel that if he misses a television programme he may be unaware of the latest “in” tecnnique, despite the repeated warnings by management philosophers that a business cannot solve its problems merely by acquiring a technique, whether new or established.
Corporate planning and organizational development
Authors: MARGERISON CHARLES
Published: February 2008

THE central characteristic of all businesses is that they are organized: only some are better organized than others. This in itself is hardly a finding of originality, but bears repetition to the extent that many companies tend to overlook it. The task of establishing and maintaining the appropriate organization structures to deal with the company's problems tends to receive comparatively little attention in relation to their consequences.
Computer aid in the design office
Authors: HEATH F.G.
Published: February 2008

Design is the seed of marketing success. Companies in which the introduction of new products depends upon the ability of the designer will realize that the increasing pace of technology demands more and more of the designer's productive “ideas” time.
The management training profession
Authors: ASHTON DAVID
Published: February 2008

The management training activity is one which has developed rapidly in terms of the numbers involved and resources allocated to it. Equally rapid has been the growth of the specialist “professional” cloak for this activity. What, then, are the special features, current problems and future possibilities for management training, and how does it fit into the wide context of the development of the human resources in business?
Ethics of city take‐overs
Authors: LATHAM JOSEPH
Published: February 2008

IN the autumn of 1967 I was actively concerned in the defence of AEI against the GEC bid. GEC made an offer to the AEI stockholders; the offer was increased twice; within six weeks from the first announcement a bare majority of the AEI stockholders accepted the offer. In this way, the whole future of AEI was transformed; the future of its directors and many of its officials and employees was changed; all its ordinary stockholders eventually became interested in another company; the structure of the electrical manufacturing industry underwent critical changes and the formation of the merged company precipitated other changes.
TAXATION and FINANCE
Authors: GOCH DESMOND
Published: February 2008

VALUATION OF TRADING STOCKS The basis of valuation used by a company for valuing its trading stocks when it is preparing its annual accounts is a matter of concern not only to its auditors, who are responsible for reporting to the shareholders on the state of its financial affairs, but also to the Inland Revenue authorities, who rely on the accuracy of these accounts when they are assessing its liability to taxation.
Bridging the Management/Technology Gap
Authors: HAWTHORNE E.P.
Published: February 2008

THE ability to bring inventions and innovations into use more quickly poses two problems. The first is the effect which the new product or service will have on the consumer. The second is the effect which the need to cope with the new technology has on the system and those within it who are concerned in its introduction and production.
Exploration in Management—Glacier Project Re‐considered
Authors: Ward Tom
Published: February 2008

The Glacier Metal Company is one of the largest manufacturers of plain bearings in Europe. Their products are used largely in the motor car industry, but extend to all areas of engineering application. The considerable interest shown by the company in industrial relations problems had caught the attention of researchers at the end of the Second World War. When the Human Factors Panel of the Committee of Industrial Productivity financed a research project into the sources of group stress in industry, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations was asked to conduct this research. The Institute chose the Glacier Metal Company as one of the very few which could provide the collaborative basis for such a creative research, which became known as the Glacier Project. The author of this article was a member of the original research team which commenced its study in 1948.
Planning Government Action
Authors: GARRETT JOHN
Published: February 2008

Sub‐heads and sub‐subheads, minor clauses, finance, bureaucracy and the political pendulum are to‐day's worries for tomorrow's successes in the quiet corridors of Government buildings. John Garrett asks if it is possible for the Civil Service to plan ahead and if so can definite objectives be set?
Glacier Project—An analysis of Tom Ward's assessments
Authors: LOVE P.P.
Published: February 2008

“What was Glacier trying to do?” WE have tried to develop an understanding of the properties of sociological institutions. A chemist has an understanding of the known properties of elements and he uses this knowledge in order to do effective work. Without an understanding of these properties he would be ineffective and, in the worst case, might create an explosion inadvertently. Our assumption then is that if it is possible to identify the properties of sociological institutions and, hence, of industrial organizations in particular, managers can develop such an explicit understanding of their environment that they can use these properties to be more effective in their work on the one hand, and to prevent the equivalent of an explosion on the other.
EFFECTIVE MBO
Authors: Reddin Bill
Published: February 2008

I EFFECTIVENESS AREAS AND STANDARDS It is impossible to appraise a manager without knowing the output requirements of his position. The concept of effectiveness is the only sound basis of MBO
FINANCIAL AND LEGAL NOTES
Authors: Goch Desmond
Published: February 2008

Stock Valuation Methods of stock valuation used in the preparation of commercial profit and loss accounts have proved to be a frequent cause of dispute between taxpayers and the Inland Revenue. Indeed, the difficulty of applying standard valuation methods to every type of commercial undertaking is highlighted by the recent House of Lords decision in B.S.C. Footwear Ltd. v. Ridgway (Inspector of Taxes)—a decision which produced a dissenting opinion from two of the five law lords who heard the appeal.
CHANGE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MANAGEMENT PROFESSION
Authors: Catherwood Frederick
Published: February 2008

The industrial scene is of vital concern to everyone, never more so than at present. Sir Frederick Catherwood, formerly Director‐General of NEDO, gives his analysis of its problems. He examines the pressures put on the industrial system by students, workers, and the middle‐class; and the shift of power from the owner to the director, who in turn is deprived of the authority given by back‐up support. He argues that Government guidance is uncertain and unwelcome in a highly competitive society and that the successful regulation for a company is self‐regulation. In the latter half of this timely article, he suggests that management should follow the lead of older professions and lay down its own professional code.
SOCIAL VALUES AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
Authors: Teire John , Varney David
Published: February 2008

In this article the authors discuss how technological advances may be frustrated by the changing values of different organisational groups, and examine the impact of changing social values on an attempt to increase shift working. In particular, they consider the viewpoint of managers and manual shift workers. They conclude that any increase in shift working might, in the long run, be constrained by these changing social values.
THE SMALL FIRM—ASSET OR LIABILITY?
Authors: Deeks John
Published: February 2008

The structure and management of small firms are examined here in the light of the findings of recent research. This article analyses the contribution of small companies to the United Kingdom economy and the patterns of growth and decline of small firms in this country and in the United States of America, and describes some of the findings of research into the management of small companies. It considers some of the implications of research findings for the training and development of small firm managers and for the formulation of policies that contribute to the more effective use of managerial manpower in the small firm.
FINANCIAL AND LEGAL NOTES
Authors: Goch Desmond
Published: February 2008

New Takeover Code The success of the City Takeover Code as a voluntary code of good practice has been assured by the universal support of the City's major financial institutions and their readiness to impose appropriate sanctions on any of their member firms who transgress its rules.
THE CONSERVATIVE CONSUMER
Authors: O'Reilly A.J.F.
Published: February 2008

This paper examines the proposition that in marketing advanced technology and new products, the food manufacturing industry has to face the very substantial hurdles of a rapidly changing distribution system and an essentially conservative consuming population—a population in which there is a high degree of automatic behaviour in eating habits, and a universe in which the cost of innovation and communication is extremely high and the success rate, in terms of profit, extremely low. In addition, the food manufacturer has to face the hazard that advanced technology and organoleptic delight do not often go together.
MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
Authors: Margerison Charles
Published: February 2008

Management education has grown at a rapid pace in this country during the last decade. This has brought with it many problems. This paper concentrates on two of the crucial problems—the educational content and mode of presentation of that content. It is hoped that this will enable both tutors of management and industrial advisors on management education to consider more clearly the appropriate content and form of management development programmes.
SCIENCE FOR SOCIAL WELFARE
Authors: Algie Jimmy
Published: February 2008

U.S. Social Services How different are American personal social services from merged services in Britain. Dispersed, freelance agencies fight over clients in communities atomised by ethnic discord. Neither Seebohm‐style welfare legislation currently blocked in Congress, nor experiments in Connecticut, Michigan, or Washington, will achieve unified accountability structures as has happened here. In the United States, integration demands co‐ordinated inter‐agency information and decisions at operating level.
MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN THE BOARD ROOM
Authors: Mills Brian
Published: February 2008

Management Services has become a familiar term over the past 10 to 15 years. But the term seems to mean all things to all men, and in many companies the undeniable existence of the activity is still regarded at senior levels as a necessary evil to contain (hopefully) the considerable costs and energies of the computer men. It has been left to academics and consultants to act as proponents of Management Services.
FINANCIAL AND LEGAL NOTES
Authors: Goch Desmond
Published: February 2008

Price/Earnings Ratios When the United Kingdom changed from a two‐tier system of company taxation (Income Tax and Profits Tax) to a single‐tier Corporation Tax in 1965, the investment community simultaneously adopted the American‐style price/earnings ratio as the standard yardstick for measuring the relative values of share prices.
EXECUTIVE DIAGNOSIS THROUGH COMPONENT ANALYSIS
Authors: Slatter Stuart St.P.
Published: February 2008

Component analysis is a simple technique which can be readily used by all those in general management to determine which are the most profit sensitive variables over which they have control. Using basic financial data, the analysis has five steps starting with the now familiar return‐on‐investment tree and ending with a ranking of the firm's performance sensitive components according to feasibility for improvement. Using this analytical approach, general managers are able to concentrate their scarce time on a small number of activities that will produce the greatest amount of profit and the maximum return‐on‐investment. A modified form of component analysis has been successfully used over the past eighteen months in all the subsidiary companies of a recently formed conglomerate.
Information Needs in Management Development
Authors: Ashton David , Gibbon Brian
Published: February 2008

Decisions on management development need to be taken by a wide range of people in different parts and at different levels of the organisation. This article looks at the information needs of the main decision makers in management development, i.e. senior, line, specialist and trainee managers. It is illustrated with examples from the authors' current work in British organisations.
FINANCIAL & LEGAL NOTES
Authors: Goch Desmond
Published: February 2008

Panel on Take‐Overs and Mergers There have been occasions during the chequered career of the Panel on Take‐overs and Mergers when it has appeared to be inhibited by its voluntary status from acting as toughly as it would like to have done. The fact that when the chips were down it depended on the support of the City institutions meant that transgressors of the City Code on Take‐overs could, if they were prepared to risk incurring the wrath of the City Establishment, ignore its rulings and carry on in their own way.
Innovation Management
Authors: Robertson Andrew
Published: February 2008

The innovation process is not homogeneous, but highly variable according to industrial sector and the level of abstraction of the innovation itself. This level of abstraction from existing products while not precisely measurable, can be graded, thus giving some guidance as to the probability of success according to the size of investment and the risk involved. The complexity of the new product and its technological level (the monograph confines the argument to product innovation) will also determine how the innovating organisation handles the innovation. Much research has now been done into the innovation process, and some of the leading projects and their findings are analysed. Supporting the basic argument there are two case histories, one of a successful scientific instrument, together with reference to an unsuccessful attempt to launch it, and one of a failure with a new material, in spite of highly successful technology.
Streamlining the Industrial Logistics System
Authors: Slater A.G.
Published: February 2008

The economy has recently gone through a period of industrial expansion coupled with high inflation where industry has tended to grow out of its problems by a combination of increases in output and higher prices. These policies, however, at a certain stage in the development will approach the limits to economic growth, and industry will find that a number of severe problems appear simultaneously. This leads to a period of concentration and economic decline where traditionally industry looks to the Government for relief and assistance; but it could be argued that instead they should consider a critical look at their own patterns of operation. If industry could eliminate the inefficient and ineffective elements in the structure, and concentrate upon improving the quality of their operation, then it is possible that policies adopted for economic survival will lead to growth and expansion. One way in which improvements could be made in the industrial structure is by streamlining the logistics system.
Cost Effectiveness and the House Journal
Authors: Henderson Malcolm
Published: February 2008

The “Company” magazines, or house journals, have been in existence for a long period—with very varied fortunes and effects. This article discusses the problems of this important communications medium, and suggests what needs to be done in order to improve their effectiveness.
The Handling of Goals in Marketing Problems
Authors: Wilson John M.
Published: February 2008

A market share problem is considered which has only a limited amount of data available, often only assigned attributes, and no quantifiable objective—only a number of goals which may possibly be achieved. The technique of goal programming is employed which builds the situation into a model with an objective and permits solution of this model. The approach is then generalised to show that it is applicable to a variety of problems which arise in marketing and related areas.
Application of the Concept of Working in Groups
Authors: Bowey Angela , Connolly Roy
Published: February 2008

The concept of working in groups has typically been applied to different industries and different levels within firms in distinct ways, and for distinct reasons. Table I shows the major types of group working which have been employed most commonly with particular technologies and organisational levels.
Growth, Performance and Strategy in 400 UK Holding Companies
Authors: Hood N. , Young S.
Published: February 2008

This paper sets out to examine some of the performance characteristics of holding companies in the UK in the years 1964–1973. It is difficult to define precisely the unique characteristics of a holding company, but our concern in this article is with controlling British holding companies who own at least 51% of the equity of their principal subsidiaries and whose activities are primarily in manufacturing industry. All the companies in this study are registered as holding companies and as such attract particular tax advantages in such areas as group relief; asset transfer between parent or subsidiaries; and “rollover relief” for capital gains tax purposes.
Test Marketing: Go National or Go Broke?
Authors: Buttle Francis
Published: February 2008

Many consumer and industrial goods manufacturers practise test marketing before launching innovative products on a national or wider scale. The commercial value of such testing is a direct function of both the accuracy with which the test results are interpreted, and the nature of the research design which is used to conduct the test, yet many companies fail at this most vital stage.