Characteristics of the nuclear (18S, 5.8S, 28S and 5S) and mitochondrial (12S and 16S) rRNA genes of Apis mellifera (Insecta: Hymenoptera): structure, organization, and retrotransposable elements

As an accompanying manuscript to the release of the honey bee genome, we report the entire sequence of the nuclear (18S, 5.8S, 28S and 5S) and mitochondrial (12S and 16S) ribosomal RNA (rRNA)-encoding gene sequences (rDNA) and related internally and externally transcribed spacer regions of Apis mellifera (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apocrita). Additionally, we predict secondary structures for the mature rRNA molecules based on comparative sequence analyses with other arthropod taxa and reference to recently published crystal structures of the ribosome. In general, the structures of honey bee rRNAs are in agreement with previously predicted rRNA models from other arthropods in core regions of the rRNA, with little additional expansion in non-conserved regions. Our multiple sequence alignments are made available on several public databases and provide a preliminary establishment of a global structural model of all rRNAs from the insects. Additionally, we provide conserved stretches of sequences flanking the rDNA cistrons that comprise the externally transcribed spacer regions (ETS) and part of the intergenic spacer region (IGS), including several repetitive motifs. Finally, we report the occurrence of retrotransposition in the nuclear large subunit rDNA, as R2 elements are present in the usual insertion points found in other arthropods. Interestingly, functional R1 elements usually present in the genomes of insects were not detected in the honey bee rRNA genes. The reverse transcriptase products of the R2 elements are deduced from their putative open reading frames and structurally aligned with those from another hymenopteran insect, the jewel wasp Nasonia (Pteromalidae). Stretches of conserved amino acids shared between Apis and Nasonia are illustrated and serve as potential sites for primer design, as target amplicons within these R2 elements may serve as novel phylogenetic markers for Hymenoptera. Given the impending completion of the sequencing of the Nasonia genome, we expect our report eventually to shed light on the evolution of the hymenopteran genome within higher insects, particularly regarding the relative maintenance of conserved rDNA genes, related variable spacer regions and retrotransposable elements

From strategy to action: involvement and influence in top level decisions.

Who are the key people involved in making and implementing the big decisions that set the strategic direction for a firm? Do those who decide also see things through to implementation - and who amongst them wields the most influence? Drawing on data from a study of the making and implementing of 55 decisions in 14 UK public and private sector organizations, this research aims to discover who is involved in creating and who in maintaining organisations' strategic initiatives, and who has most - and least - influence. The findings are that who is most often in, and who is most often out, is remarkably constant across every kind of organization. There is a core and periphery of strategic actors: in most organisations production/service delivery and marketing, together with the CEO, are the heavyweights, but finance and suppliers also help set the direction. This article therefore identifies the group that bears much of the responsibility for the success, or otherwise, of strategic decisions in organisations

Success in decision making Different organizations, differing reasons for success

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:3597.747(9305) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Dairy product production and lactose demand in New Zealand and Ireland under different simulated milk product-processing portfolios

Maximising dairy industry profitability involves maximising product returns for a specific set of costs or minimising costs for a certain level of output. A strategy currently utilised by the New Zealand dairy industry to optimise the value of exports is to incorporate imported lactose along with local milk to maximise the production of whole milk powder (WMP) while complying with the Codex Alimentarius (Codex) standards, in addition to increasing the exported product for every litre of milk. This study investigated the impact of different product portfolio strategies on lactose requirements for the Irish and New Zealand dairy industries for current and predicted 2020 milk output projections. A mass balance processing sector model that accounts for all inputs, outputs and losses involved in dairy processing was used to simulate the processing of milk into WMP, skim milk powder (SMP), cheese, butter and fluid milk of different proportions. All scenarios investigated projected an increase in production and revenue from 2012 to 2020. Higher cheese production reduced industry lactose demand through whey processing, while scenarios reliant on an increase in the proportion of WMP were associated with increased lactose deficits