Values and Diversity of Organisational Work Ethicality: Lessons Learnt from Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs

The aim of this paper is to examine values as a component of organisational work ethicality, uncovering the contextual realities of values and explore the diversity of work ethicality in the entrepreneurial context in Sri Lanka. Organisational work ethicality is explained through egoistic work ethicality, utilitarian work ethicality and deontological work ethicality. With a view to get a deeper understanding of the diversity of organisational work ethicality, a qualitative approach is adopted. Twelve entrepreneurs were selected for in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis was carried out for field notes with the support of NVivo 6 version. Findings of this study reveal that the entrepreneurial thinking and their interpretations derived different social meanings of organisational work ethicality. The final outcome shows that rather than single dominant work ethicality, a combination of work ethicalities was preferred by most of the entrepreneurs. Within this mix of ethicalities, deontological ethicality and egoistic work ethicality seem to be equally practised by the entrepreneurs. The utilitarian ethicality seems to be practised at a minimum level. As a result, the implicational value of this study lies on at the organisational level and policy making level to rethink and reestablish a mechanism to improve ethical aspects of the businesses in order to maximise social well-being while doing the right things for the society and strengthening shareholders’ protection. KeywordsBusiness Ethics, Business Practices, Deontological Work Ethicality,Egoistic Work Ethicality, Entrepreneur, Utilitarian Work Ethicality, Value

Lack of the Delta Subunit of RNA Polymerase Increases Virulence Related Traits of Streptococcus mutans

The delta subunit of the RNA polymerase, RpoE, maintains the transcriptional specificity in Gram-positive bacteria. Lack of RpoE results in massive changes in the transcriptome of the human dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans. In this study, we analyzed traits of the ΔrpoE mutant which are important for biofilm formation and interaction with oral microorganisms and human cells and performed a global phenotypic analysis of its physiological functions. The ΔrpoE mutant showed higher self-aggregation compared to the wild type and coaggregated with other oral bacteria and Candida albicans. It formed a biofilm with a different matrix structure and an altered surface attachment. The amount of the cell surface antigens I/II SpaP and the glucosyltransferase GtfB was reduced. The ΔrpoE mutant displayed significantly stronger adhesion to human extracellular matrix components, especially to fibronectin, than the wild type. Its adhesion to human epithelial cells HEp-2 was reduced, probably due to the highly aggregated cell mass. The analysis of 1248 physiological traits using phenotype microarrays showed that the ΔrpoE mutant metabolized a wider spectrum of carbon sources than the wild type and had acquired resistance to antibiotics and inhibitory compounds with various modes of action. The reduced antigenicity, increased aggregation, adherence to fibronection, broader substrate spectrum and increased resistance to antibiotics of the ΔrpoE mutant reveal the physiological potential of S. mutans and show that some of its virulence related traits are increased

Sequencing and Comparative Genome Analysis of Two Pathogenic Streptococcus gallolyticus Subspecies: Genome Plasticity, Adaptation and Virulence

Streptococcus gallolyticus infections in humans are often associated with bacteremia, infective endocarditis and colon cancers. The disease manifestations are different depending on the subspecies of S. gallolyticus causing the infection. Here, we present the complete genomes of S. gallolyticus ATCC 43143 (biotype I) and S. pasteurianus ATCC 43144 (biotype II.2). The genomic differences between the two biotypes were characterized with comparative genomic analyses. The chromosome of ATCC 43143 and ATCC 43144 are 2,36 and 2,10 Mb in length and encode 2246 and 1869 CDS respectively. The organization and genomic contents of both genomes were most similar to the recently published S. gallolyticus UCN34, where 2073 (92%) and 1607 (86%) of the ATCC 43143 and ATCC 43144 CDS were conserved in UCN34 respectively. There are around 600 CDS conserved in all Streptococcus genomes, indicating the Streptococcus genus has a small core-genome (constitute around 30% of total CDS) and substantial evolutionary plasticity. We identified eight and five regions of genome plasticity in ATCC 43143 and ATCC 43144 respectively. Within these regions, several proteins were recognized to contribute to the fitness and virulence of each of the two subspecies. We have also predicted putative cell-surface associated proteins that could play a role in adherence to host tissues, leading to persistent infections causing sub-acute and chronic diseases in humans. This study showed evidence that the S. gallolyticus still possesses genes making it suitable in a rumen environment, whereas the ability for S. pasteurianus to live in rumen is reduced. The genome heterogeneity and genetic diversity among the two biotypes, especially membrane and lipoproteins, most likely contribute to the differences in the pathogenesis of the two S. gallolyticus biotypes and the type of disease an infected patient eventually develops

Comprehensive NMR study of magnesium borohydride

1H and 11B NMR measurements were performed to study BH4 reorientations and diffusion in four samples of Mg(BH4)2. These include the low (R) and high (β) temperature bulk solid phases, R-phase material with TiF3 and ScCl3 additives, and R-phase material incorporated into a carbon aerogel. All four samples show 1H T1 minima within our temperature range from reorientational motion of the BH4 tetrahedra. The β-phase 1H T1 minimum occurs at a lower temperature than that for the R-phase, indicating a lower activation energy for reorientations. The R-phase 1H spectra display the onset of broadening at low temperatures because of the slowing of reorientations but show no indication of line narrowing at high temperatures from translational diffusion. The β-phase 1H spectra are similar, but here T1D measurements were performed to determine the BH4 hopping rate. Above 150 _C, a significant narrow component does appear in the 1H spectra of the aerogel sample, indicating substantially increased diffusive motions in this component