Economic liberalization and the antecedents of top management teams: evidence from Turkish 'big' business

There has been an increased interest in the last two decades in top management teams (TMTs) of business firms. Much of the research, however, has been US-based and concerned primarily with TMT effects on organizational outcomes. The present study aims to expand this literature by examining the antecedents of top team composition in the context of macro-level economic change in a late-industrializing country. The post-1980 trade and market reforms in Turkey provided the empirical setting. Drawing upon the literatures on TMT and chief executive characteristics together with punctuated equilibrium models of change and institutional theory, the article develops the argument that which firm-level factors affect which attributes of TMT formations varies across the early and late stages of economic liberalization. Results of the empirical investigation of 71 of the largest industrial firms in Turkey broadly supported the hypotheses derived from this premise. In the early stages of economic liberalization the average age and average organizational tenure of TMTs were related to the export orientation of firms, whereas in later stages, firm performance became a major predictor of these team attributes. Educational background characteristics of teams appeared to be under stronger institutional pressures, altering in different ways in the face of macro-level change

Drying-mediated patterns in colloid-polymer suspensions

Drying-mediated patterning of colloidal particles is a physical phenomenon that must be understood in inkjet printing technology to obtain crack-free uniform colloidal films. Here we experimentally study the drying-mediated patterns of a model colloid-polymer suspension and specifically observe how the deposit pattern appears after droplet evaporation by varying particle size and polymer concentration. We find that at a high polymer concentration, the ring-like pattern appears in suspensions with large colloids, contrary to suppression of ring formation in suspensions with small colloids thanks to colloidpolymer interactions. We attribute this unexpected reversal behavior to hydrodynamics and size dependence of colloid-polymer interactions. This finding would be very useful in developing control of drying-mediated self-assembly to produce crack-free uniform patterns from colloidal fluids.ope

Midazolam is a safe agent by comparison with thiopentone on arrhythmias in ischaemia and reperfusion conditions in isolated perfused rat hearts

Arrhythmia due to ischaemia and/or reperfusion is an important problem, especially in open heart surgery and for patients with ischaemic heart diseases undergoing non-cardiac surgery. This experimental study is planned to evaluate the effects of midazolam on ischaemia and/or reperfusion-induced arrhythmias by comparison with thiopentone in two sets of experiments (n = 20 for every group). In total ischaemia-reperfusion experiments, hearts were perfused in constant pressure conditions. In the control group, after a stabilisation period, perfusion was totally stopped for 30 min and the hearts were reperfused for 10 min. For the experimental groups, hearts were pretreated for 5 min with either 10(-6) mol l(-1) midazolam or 10(-5) mol l(-1) thiopentone before total ischaemia and reperfused for 10 min with the same concentrations of the drugs. In low-flow ischaemia-reperfusion experiments, hearts were perfused at a constant flow of 10 ml g(-1) heart per min initially. In the control group, after a stabilisation period, perfusion rate was decreased successively 1 ml g(-1) heart per min for 10 min (mild ischaemia) and to 0.2 ml g(-1) heart per min for another 10 min (severe ischaemia). The ischaemic hearts were then reperfused for an additional 10 min at a flow rate of 10 ml g(-1) heart per min. Electrogram recordings were evaluated before ischaemia and at the 5th and 10th min of mild ischaemia, severe ischaemia and reperfusion. Midazolam, 10(-6) mol l(-1), or thiopentone, 10(-5) mol l(-1), were added to the perfusion solution in the midazolam and thiopentone groups, respectively. In these two groups, hearts were perfused according to perfusion rates mentioned above in the control group. As a commonly used i.v. anaesthetic, thiopentone was arrhythmogenic for hearts exposed to ischaemia-reperfusion by increasing ventricular premature beat (% incidences for control, midazolam and thiopental groups in the 10th min of reperfusion were 25, 15 and 65 in total ischaemia-reperfusion experiments, P < 0.01) and ventricular tachycardia (respective % incidences were 0, 5, 25, P < 0.05) incidences, but in our experiments we found out that the new agent midazolam does not have more arrhythmia incidence than the respective control group in any criteria evaluated. None of the agents exerted atrioventricular conductance abnormalities. So we conclude that midazolam is a safe agent for ischaemic hearts and might also be antiarrhythmic and the mechanism of action of this effect remains to be further investigated. (C) 1998 The Italian Pharmacological Society

The effect of succinic acid monomethyl ester (SAM) on the responses of isolated thoracic aorta in STREPTOZOTOCIN-DIABETIC rats

Succinic acid monomethyl ester (SAM) was recently proposed as an insulinotropic tool in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The present study was designed to define whether SAM has the vascular effect in thoracic aorta of streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. (1) Body weights of diabetic rats were significantly increased after SAM treatment (P < 0.05). (2) Ten-day SAM treatment did not significantly affect blood glucose levels in SAM-treated control and SAM-treated STZ-diabetic rats. (3) Maximum tension responses to noradrenaline and KCI (80 mmol l(-1))were not significantly different among all the experimental groups. (4) pD(2), (-log EC50) values for noradrenaline of untreated diabetic rats were significantly less than those of controls, SAM-treated control and SAM-treated diabetic rats (P < 0.01, P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). SAM treatment normalized the decreased sensitivity of noradrenaline response in diabetic rats. (5) Fast, slow and total components of responses to noradrenaline (10(-5) mol l(-1) congruent to EC90) were not significantly different among all the experimental groups. (6) There were no significant differences between aorta precontracted with noradrenaline from controls and STZ-diabetic (untreated and SAM-treated) rats in pD(2), values and the potency of maximum relaxation to acetylcholine or in pD(2) values to sodium nitroprusside. In conclusion, 10-day SAM treatment increases the sensitivity of diabetic-aortic rings to noradrenaline compared to untreated diabetic control rats. (C) 1998 The Italian Pharmacological Society

Penetration of topically applied ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and ofloxacin into the aqueous humor of the uninflamed human eye

This study was undertaken to compare aqueous humor penetration of topical 0.3% ciprofloxacin, 0.3% norfloxacin and 0.3% ofloxacin in 63 patients undergoing cataract surgery. The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (long-term treatment) involved 30 patients undergoing cataract extraction who received either 0.3% ciprofloxacin, 0.3% norfloxacin or 0.3% ofloxacin topical drops. Each patient was preoperatively given a single drop per hour six times. At the time of surgery, 0.1 mi aqueous fluid was aspirated from the anterior chamber and immediately stored at -70 degrees C. Topically applied ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and norfloxacin achieved mean aqueous humor levels of 2.80+/-1.07, 2.95+/-1.19 and 1.50+/-0.48 mu g/ml respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in intraocular mean aqueous levels of ciprofloxacin versus ofloxacin. Topical ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin achieved mean aqueous humor levels significantly higher than norfloxacin (p<0.001 and p<0.0008 respectively)