Bestuursetiek

Business ethics describes and explains why management behaviour is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. In order to examine such an evaluation, more knowledge and insight is required about the set of values of the individual, or of the management which represents the corporate value system. The objective of training management in business ethics is to render analytical acumen regarding the complexities of business ethics, and to supply the necessary instruments in meeting the challenges. The important virtue of business ethics is the way it transcends the appeals made on man, by public (or even internal) rules and regulations. In an enterprise, business ethics includes the whole sphere of management responsibility as it is exercised in the miscellaneous functional elements. The disposition of management towards business ethics determines the basic principles which will be employed. The term managemait might refer to an individual, a board of directors, a management committee or something of similar stature. Management's demeanour determines the attitude towards truth, the law, equity and justice. In final instance, account will have to be given of stewardship which will earn either punishment or reward

Regstellende aksie: ’n etiese perspektief

Affirmative action: an ethical perspective. The scrapping of certain relevant laws of the apartheid era can not immediately undo the wrongs of apartheid. What is essentially needed is compensation of some kind for every individual or group who has been affected by it. The question is whether affirmative action can be ethically justified; is it inherently 'right or wrong’? In this paper different approaches to affirmative action and the normal phases of implementation of affirmative action are investigated. The best known ethical theories are then used to adjudicate the relevance ami ethical justification of affirmative action. In the final analysis six different levels of ethical decision-making are considered. The conclusion arrived at is that affirmative action is unavoidable but that there are a number o f pitfalls awaiting the unwary. To implement affirmative action successfully certain prerequisites must be met

Derdegolfbestuur: ’n prinsipiële besinning

Third Wave management: A deliberation on the principlesThe postmodern understanding of reality revolves around the idea that there are no absolute values - everything is in flux. Postmodernism is a revolutionary epoch in man's existence and implies a transitionary state from modernism to a new era of thinking. The science of management, being dynamic, is continually interpreting the status of presentday companies. Toffler proposed a managerial theory called Third Wave management. This theory embodies the current postmodern understanding of reality. While a superficial similarity exists between Third Wave management and the New Age Movement, it does not necessarily mean that Third Wave management shares the ideological and spiritual presuppositions of the New Age Movement. Third Wave management theory can be interpreted as part of a post-modernist paradigm which eventually precipitates in middle range management science (a mesoparadigm). Several managerial models and structures can thus be developed

Enantiomer specific pharmacokinetics of ibuprofen in preterm neonates with patent ductus arteriosus

Aims: Racemic ibuprofen is widely used for the treatment of preterm neonates with patent ductus arteriosus. Currently used bodyweight-based dosing guidelines are based on total ibuprofen, while only the S-enantiomer of ibuprofen is pharmacologically active. We aimed to optimize ibuprofen dosing for preterm neonates of different ages based on an enantiomer-specific population pharmacokinetic model. Methods: We prospectively collected 210 plasma samples of 67 preterm neonates treated with ibuprofen for patent ductus arteriosus (median gestational age [GA] 26 [range 24–30] weeks, median body weight 0.83 [0.45–1.59] kg, median postnatal age [PNA] 3 [1–12] days), and developed a population pharmacokinetic model for S- and R-ibuprofen. Results: We found that S-ibuprofen clearance (CLS, 3.98 mL/h [relative standard error {RSE} 8%]) increases with PNA and GA, with exponents of 2.25 (RSE 6%) and 5.81 (RSE 15%), respectively. Additionally, a 3.11-fold higher CLS was estimated for preterm neonates born small for GA (RSE 34%). Clearance of R-ibuprofen was found to be high compared to CLS (18 mL/h [RSE 24%]), resulting in a low contribution of R-ibuprofen to total ibuprofen exposure. Current body weight was identified as covariate on both volume of distribution of S-ibuprofen and R-ibuprofen. Conclusion: S-ibuprofen clearance shows important maturation, especially with PNA, resulting in an up to 3-fold increase in CLS during a 3-day treatment regimen. This rapid increase in clearance needs to be incorporated in dosing guidelines by adjusting the dose for every day after birth to achieve equal ibuprofen exposure

Measurement of the extent of somaclonal variation in begonia plants regenerated under various conditions. Comparison of three assays

Begonia plants were regenerated from leaf explants treated with increasing concentrations of the chemical mutagen nitrosomethylurea (NMU). In these plants, we evaluated three methods to assess the extent of variation: a qualitative, phenotypic assay (the percentage of aberrant plants), a molecular assay (changes in RAPD patterns) and a quantitative, phenotypic assay (variation in a quantitative trait). The qualitative, phenotypic assay required a large number of plants per treatment (approx. 100) and careful, skilled judgement. It was sensitive to physiological variation. The RAPD assay was not sufficiently sensitive: even at the highest NMU concentration there were no changes in RAPD patterns. The quantitative, phenotypic assay gave the best results: it was simple, objective and sensitive, and required few plants per treatment (approx. 30). Plants were also regenerated from different types of intermediate callus, and their variation was assessed. The performance of the three assays was essentially the same as with plants obtained after mutagenesis with NMU. An intermediate nodular- or non-nodular-callus phase resulted in slightly or strongly increased variation, respectively. In contrast to NMU-induced variation, callus-related variation, as determined in the quantitative, phenotypic assay, appeared to be to a large extent transient since it decreased strongly after a second direct-regeneration step. An intermediate callus phase resulted in 2.5% juvenile plants. This aberration, which might be related with changes in the methylation status of DNA, was not observed in NMU-treated plants

Effect of novel branching regulators on micropropagation of zantedeschia sprengeri (paco)

THE NOVEL branching regulators fluridone and imazalil (IMA) were examined for micropropagation of Paco (Zantedeschia sprengeri). IMA concentrations were 0, 4.5, 13.5 and 45µM in combination with 5µM benzylaminopurine (BAP). The shoots were transferred after 8 weeks to standard MS medium without IMA but with 5µM BAP. IMA resulted in a strong increase of new shoots from which the outgrowth was inhibited when IMA was present but that did grow out when IMA had been removed. Fluridone inhibits the biosynthesis of the endogenous regulator strigolactone. Increasing concentrations of fluridone were applied in combination with 13.5µM IMA for 8 weeks. Then the shoots were subcultured on standard medium without IMA and fluridone but with 5µM BAP for 8 weeks. Again a strong increase of new shoots occurred from which outgrowth was inhibited when IMA and fluridone were present but that did grow out when these regulators had been removed.</p

Anatomical and ultrastructural examination of adventitious root formation in stem slices of apple

Adventitious root formation in vitro in 1-mm stem slices cut from microshoots of apple cv. Jork 9 was studied using light and electron microscopy. When indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) had been added to the medium, starch grains accumulated during the first 24 h of culture in cells of the cambial region and in cells in the vicinity of vascular tissue and in the primary rays. This accumulation occurred only in the basal part of explants. After that, the nuclei in these cells were activated, and the density of the cytoplasm and the number of cell organelles increased, whereas starch was broken down. Cambium cells started to divide transversely and at 96 h, after several divisions, a continuous ring of isodiametric cytoplasmic cells had appeared around the xylem near the basal cutting surface. The cells in this ring were rich in cell structures, and did not contain large starch grains and a central vacuole. Root meristemoids regenerated from the portions of the ring that were localized in the primary rays. From the other cells in the ring, callus developed. The meristemoids did not grow into the direction of the epidermis as in shoots, but along the vascular bundles. After emergence from the cutting surface, the meristemoids were transformed into small, dome-like primordia. They developed a typical root apex with root cap, root ground meristem and tracheid connection with shoot vascular tissue.</p