The code of silence: Revisiting South African police integrity

In exploring the contours of the code of silence among South African police officers, our 2005 survey of 379 police officers from seven provinces found that a substantial proportion of respondents were keen to protect various forms of police corruption. Between July 2010 and August 2011 we engaged in the second sweep of the survey, encompassing 771 police officers (commissioned and non-commissioned) from nine South African provinces. Our results provide further evidence of the presence of the code of silence covering various forms of police misconduct. At least one quarter of the respondents would protect a fellow officer who verbally abused citizens, covered up police driving under the influence (DUI) accident, accepted gratuities, or failed to react to graffiti. At least one out of eight police officers showed willingness to cover up internal corruption, striking a prisoner, a kickback, a false report on drug possession, and protection of a hate crime. The results further indicate that the respondents’ willingness to adhere to the code of silence is directly related to their estimates of whether other police officers in their agency would protect such behaviour with silence, as well as to their estimates of the seriousness of misconduct and expected discipline

Research on universities and commercialization: Contributions to management research. Professional Development Workshop at Academy of Management Meeting, San Antonio, USA

Universities have long been an interesting setting to study some relevant management issues. A large body of research has shed light on processes including technology commercialization, academic entrepreneurship and university-industry collaboration. While much of the existing work has focused on documenting empirical relationships and phenomena, this workshop centers on different theoretical lenses that may be useful in examining such phenomena and addresses how research on universities may yield more general theoretical contributions to the management literature. We provide an opportunity for participants to learn about recent work that draws on and extends theories in areas such as entrepreneurship, teamwork, creativity, decision making, institutional change and strategy. The workshop also aims to continue the discussions from previous AOM Annual Meetings, centering on universities as settings that are in themselves of high interest to management scholars, but also as settings to generate and test more general management theories publishable in top journals. This PDW will be useful to both early career and more experienced faculty to learn about recent theoretical developments and future challenges in this area

Saprophytic and pathogenic fungi in the Ceratocystidaceae differ in their ability to metabolize plant-derived sucrose Speciation and evolutionary genetics

Background: Proteins in the Glycoside Hydrolase family 32 (GH32) are carbohydrate-active enzymes known as invertases that hydrolyse the glycosidic bonds of complex saccharides. Fungi rely on these enzymes to gain access to and utilize plant-derived sucrose. In fungi, GH32 invertase genes are found in higher copy numbers in the genomes of pathogens when compared to closely related saprophytes, suggesting an association between invertases and ecological strategy. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution and evolution of GH32 invertases in the Ceratocystidaceae using a comparative genomics approach. This fungal family provides an interesting model to study the evolution of these genes, because it includes economically important pathogenic species such as Ceratocystis fimbriata, C. manginecans and C. albifundus, as well as saprophytic species such as Huntiella moniliformis, H. omanensis and H. savannae. Results: The publicly available Ceratocystidaceae genome sequences, as well as the H. savannae genome sequenced here, allowed for the identification of novel GH32-like sequences. The de novo assembly of the H. savannae draft genome consisted of 28.54 megabases that coded for 7 687 putative genes of which one represented a GH32 family member. The number of GH32 gene family members appeared to be related to the ecological adaptations of these fungi. The pathogenic Ceratocystis species all contained two GH32 family genes (a putative cell wall and a putative vacuolar invertase), while the saprophytic Huntiella species had only one of these genes (a putative cell wall invertase). Further analysis showed that the evolution of the GH32 gene family in the Ceratocystidaceae involved transposable element-based retro-transposition and translocation. As an example, the activity of a Fot5-like element likely facilitated the assembly of the genomic regions harbouring the GH32 family genes in Ceratocystis. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the evolutionary history of the GH32 gene family in Ceratocystidaceae. Our findings suggest that transposable elements shaped the evolution of the GH32 gene family, which in turn determines the sucrolytic activities and related ecological strategies of the Ceratocystidaceae species that harbour them. The study also provides insights into the role of carbohydrate-active enzymes in plant-fungal interactions and adds to our understanding of the evolution of these enzymes and their role in the life style of these fungi

Boletín de Segovia: Número 56 - 1836 mayo 10

Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Cultura. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 200