Transitioning from Transaction-Based Markets to Alliance-Based Supply Chains: Implications for Firms

Industrial Organization,

Isolation And Characterization Of A Genetic Locus Involved In Growth And Pathogenicity On Tomato Plants By Pseudomonas Syringae Pv Tomato

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato is the causal agent of bacterial speck on tomato. An essential feature of this organism, in the pathogenic process, is its ability to enter the intercellular spaces of its host and use the available plant substrates for growth. Tomato leaves contain quantities of carbon energy in the form of carboxylates. A Tn5 mutant, DC3481, cannot utilize carboxylates as a source of carbon energy for growth (CA{dollar}\sp-{dollar}) and is nonpathogenic (Path{dollar}\sp-{dollar}) on tomato. The focus of this thesis was to utilize DC3481 to isolate and characterize P. syringae pv. tomato DNA sequences involved with growth and pathogenicity on tomato.;Initial studies produced a specific DNA probe, pGB25, to screen a wild-type (DC3000) gene library. The probe contained P. syringae pv. tomato DNA sequences, from DC3481, which flank the transposon Tn5. Four members of the DC3000 library hybridized to pG825. Two members, pDJ208 and pDJ400, both complemented DC3481 and restored the Path{dollar}\sp+{dollar} CA{dollar}\sp+{dollar} phenotype. Southern blot analysis of pDJ208 showed that two EcoR1 fragments, 3.8- and 2.5-kb in size, hybridized to pGB25. Further analysis revealed that the transposon had inserted into the 3.8-kb EcoR1 fragment. Complementation studies, with DC3481, showed that only the 3.8-kb EcoR1 fragment restored the CA{dollar}\sp+{dollar} Path{dollar}\sp+{dollar} phenotype.;Sequencing studies, on the 3.8-kb EcoR1 fragment, identified three potential open reading frames (ORFs) which could be directly affected by transposon Tn5 insertion. It appears that these sequences are not involved with dicarboxylic acid transport. Instead, these sequences appear to be associated with utilization of Entner-Doudoroff and Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA) substrates. Computer analysis revealed that one ORF, ORF1, shared amino acid residue homology to both phosphoglycerate mutase and enzymes forming part of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate operon.;Results of this study support the involvement of carboxylate assimilation for growth of P. syringae pv. tomato and subsequent disease expression. The mutation in DC3481 may provide further insight into nutrient assimilation beyond transport of these substrates

Olympus Imaging Fraud Scandal: A Case Study

This case examines the two decade long tobashi scheme by Olympus Imaging Executives to hide $1.7 billion in losses. In the 1980s, a soaring yen and falling dollar caused bottom line income problems for many Japanese companies. Some companies sought to offset the declining revenue with zaiteku, a form of speculative investment. While early activities generated profits in 1987, by 1991 Olympus recorded 2.1 billion losses in yen. Rumors circulated that by the late 1990s, losses had grown larger. Rather than come clean and admit the losses, management continued to ‘double down’ with riskier investments.  Olympus created a tobashi scheme to shift losses off the Olympus balance sheet. Olympus created a tobashi scheme to shift losses off the Olympus balance sheet. Companies located in the Cayman Islands were purchased via exorbitant Management and Acquisition Fees.  When the first Western President, Michael Woodford, questioned these practices, he was fired after two weeks on the job. Woodford became perhaps the first CEO ever to blow the whistle on his own firm.  The subsequent scandal brought arrests of the executive team, an 80% decline in share price, the threat of de-listing on the Tokyo Exchange, and an international look at Japanese Corporate Governance. A detailed list of questions along with extensive teaching notes, bibliography, and references are provided. The case should be of interest in an accounting audit, ethics, governance, or international accounting class

Analysis of the Nature and Level of Social Capital in Smallholder Grain Farmers Marketing Groups in Kenya

Bridging and bonding social capital has been known to widen the benefits of collective action. Data drawn from 100 smallholder grain farmers groups in Mt. Kenya region was used to measure three dimensions of bonding social capital namely: relational, cognitive and structure. Social capital results indicated that the groups’ bonding social capital was relatively high and equal as indicated by strong close connections, trust among members and sharing a common vision. However, the groups varied significantly (p≤0.1) in their level of bridging social capital where high performing groups in collective grain marketing had the highest average score (0.88), followed by average groups (0.44) and then low groups had the least (0.35). This indicates that bridging social capital could have had a positive and significant influence on group grain marketing performance. This shows that strong bridging social capital embedded within a group with strong bonding social capital fosters more successful collective action. Keywords: Bridging social capital, bonding social capital, farmer groups, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-24-04 Publication date: December 31st 202

Evidence for abundant isolated magnetic nanoparticles at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary

New rock magnetic results (thermal fluctuation tomography, high-resolution first-order reversal curves and low temperature measurements) for samples from the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion in cored sections at Ancora and Wilson Lake on the Atlantic Coastal Plain of New Jersey indicate the presence of predominantly isolated, near-equidimensional single-domain magnetic particles rather than the chain patterns observed in a cultured magnetotactic bacteria sample or magnetofossils in extracts. The various published results can be reconciled with the recognition that chain magnetosomes tend to be preferentially extracted in the magnetic separation process but, as we show, may represent only a small fraction of the overall magnetic assemblage that accounts for the greatly enhanced magnetization of the carbon isotope excursion sediment but whose origin is thus unclear

Models of Aviation Technical Communication with Augmented Reality

A fundamental characteristic of augmented reality (AR) is the overlay of computer graphics (e.g., installation instructions) on views of world objects (e.g., a section of an aircraft wing) and registration of those graphics to features in the world scene. In AR, the mechanisms of information retrieval rely on detection of features of real-world objects, and communication is by way of virtual content in a real world scene; causing information to become a function of the composite scene, where real and virtual elements are interdependent. Various models of technical media communication are made possible by these characteristics and are discussed in this paper, including authoring, where a world object reveals what a planner intends it to reveal; image-based dialog, where substrate video is merged with annotations to communicate about world objects; and seamless collaboration, where attributes of in-person communication are replicated in AR. Familiar communication and information processing models are therefore expanded by AR. Communication and cognition aspects of human information processing are discussed in this paper in light of AR capabilities

Olympus Imaging Fraud Scandal: A Case Study

This case examines the two decade long tobashi scheme by Olympus Imaging Executives to hide $1.7 billion in losses. In the 1980s, a soaring yen and falling dollar caused bottom line income problems for many Japanese companies. Some companies sought to offset the declining revenue with zaiteku, a form of speculative investment. While early activities generated profits in 1987, by 1991 Olympus recorded 2.1 billion losses in yen. Rumors circulated that by the late 1990s, losses had grown larger. Rather than come clean and admit the losses, management continued to ‘double down’ with riskier investments.  Olympus created a tobashi scheme to shift losses off the Olympus balance sheet.Olympus created a tobashi scheme to shift losses off the Olympus balance sheet. Companies located in the Cayman Islands were purchased via exorbitant Management and Acquisition Fees.  When the first Western President, Michael Woodford, questioned these practices, he was fired after two weeks on the job. Woodford became perhaps the first CEO ever to blow the whistle on his own firm.  The subsequent scandal brought arrests of the executive team, an 80% decline in share price, the threat of de-listing on the Tokyo Exchange, and an international look at Japanese Corporate Governance. A detailed list of questions along with extensive teaching notes, bibliography, and references are provided. The case should be of interest in an accounting audit, ethics, governance, or international accounting class.