Giacobini-Zinner comet: Polarimetric and physical observations

The results of observations of the Giacobini-Zinner comet on 25 and 31 October 1959 are presented. The magnitude of the comet was measured photoelectrically in two spectral regions. The radius is on the order of one kilometer. The photoelectric measurements of comets 1959b and 1957c were used to measure the abundances of the CN and C2 radicals and of solid particles in the heads

Middle-Level Thinking: The Cultural Mission of Business Schools

Purpose – Business education should be seen as a form of professional education which assists the student to acquire the virtue of practical wisdom. This article seeks to discuss the issues. Design/methodology/approach – A middle level thinking (MLT) approach is taken to engage business education and practice that seeks to fashion explicit and vibrant ties between broad ethical principles and the concrete decisions, policies, and processes which shape how an organization operates. Findings – The financial crisis of 2008 and past business scandals are symptoms of a broader cultural crisis. Universities and their business schools have contributed to this cultural crisis by providing students with an overly compartmentalized and specialized form of education. Business education must be re-envisioned as professional education which prepares students to engage in a form of middle level thinking (MLT). For this kind of thinking to become sustainable within a university context, it must draw upon the university\u27s own cultural mission; otherwise, it will be susceptible to the economic and specialized pressures which bear upon these institutions

Middle-Level Thinking: The Cultural Mission of Business Schools

Purpose – Business education should be seen as a form of professional education which assists the student to acquire the virtue of practical wisdom. This article seeks to discuss the issues. Design/methodology/approach – A middle level thinking (MLT) approach is taken to engage business education and practice that seeks to fashion explicit and vibrant ties between broad ethical principles and the concrete decisions, policies, and processes which shape how an organization operates. Findings – The financial crisis of 2008 and past business scandals are symptoms of a broader cultural crisis. Universities and their business schools have contributed to this cultural crisis by providing students with an overly compartmentalized and specialized form of education. Business education must be re-envisioned as professional education which prepares students to engage in a form of middle level thinking (MLT). For this kind of thinking to become sustainable within a university context, it must draw upon the university\u27s own cultural mission; otherwise, it will be susceptible to the economic and specialized pressures which bear upon these institutions

A Baldrige Process for Ethics?

In this paper we describe and explore a management tool called the Self-Assessment and Improvement Process (SAIP). Based upon the Caux Round Table Principles for Business – a stakeholder-based, transcultural statement of business values – the SAIP assists executives with the task of shaping their firm’s conscience through anorganizational self-appraisal process. This process is modeled after the self-assessment methodology pioneered by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program. After briefly describing the SAIP, we address three topics. First, we examine similarities and differences between the Baldrige approach to corporate self-assessment and the self-assessment process utilized within the SAIP. Second, we report initial findings from two beta tests of the tool. These illustrate both the SAIP’s ability to help organizations strengthen their commitment to ethically responsible conduct, and some of the tool’s limitations. Third, we briefly analyze various dimensions of the business scandals of 2001-2002 (Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, etc.) in light of the ethical requirements articulated with the SAIP. This analysis suggests that the SAIP can help link the current concerns of stakeholders – for example, investors and the general public – to organizational practice, by providing companies with a practical way to incorporate critical lessons from these unfortunate events

Modern Risk Management: Managing risk through the ethical business culture model

What does it mean to state that risk management is an expression of an organisation’s values? This article discusses the basis for identifying the connection between organisational values through the lens of ethical business culture and attempts to draw out linkages with current risk management thinking. The approach described allows an analytic approach to risk management to be inserted into an ethical assessment method

Modern risk management through the lens of the ethical organizational culture

Most recent efforts to create guidance for modern risk management practices emphasize the importance of connecting risk management policy and practice with an organization’s culture and values. However, identifying or establishing that connection is not widely discussed or understood. What does it mean to state that risk management is an expression of an organization’s values? This article discusses the basis for identifying the connection between organizational values through the lens of the Ethical Organizational Culture and attempts to draw out linkages with current risk management thinking on the subject. The stablishment of a basis of identifying organizational values and their link to risk management policy and practice is illustrated through a case analysis of the Veritas Institute’s Self-Assessment and Improvement methodology

Effect of high pressure on the vibrational modes and the energy gap of ZnP₂

The pressure dependence of the vibrational modes in ZnP2 has been investigated by Raman Spectroscopy using a diamond anvil cell, up to 150 kbar pressure. The intrachain phosphorus modes exhibit a strong pressure dependence whereas the low frequency Zn-P modes soften very slightly under pressure. For a crystal which is treated as a molecular crystal this is an unexpected result. It is suggested that the behaviour may be due to a buckling of the phosphorus chain, or due to a double bond promotion between P atoms, or a charge transfer under pressure. The shift in the energy gap has also been measured to 100 kbar hydrostatic pressure. There is a small initial blue shift which gradually changes over to a red shift. However the whole shift in 100 kbar is quite small. Combining the (dEg/dP) T with the published (dEg/dT) P the thermal expansion contribution and the electron-phonon interaction contribution were evaluated. The latter dominates the total (dEg/dT) P of ZnP2

Heme Oxygenase Isoforms Differ in Their Subcellular Trafficking during Hypoxia and Are Differentially Modulated by Cytochrome P450 Reductase

Heme oxygenase (HO) degrades heme in concert with NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) which donates electrons to the reaction. Earlier studies reveal the importance of the hydrophobic carboxy-terminus of HO-1 for anchorage to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) which facilitates the interaction with CPR. In addition, HO-1 has been shown to undergo regulated intramembrane proteolysis of the carboxy-terminus during hypoxia and subsequent translocation to the nucleus. Translocated nuclear HO-1 was demonstrated to alter binding of transcription factors and to alter gene expression. Little is known about the homologous membrane anchor of the HO-2 isoform. The current work is the first systematic analysis in a eukaryotic system that demonstrates the crucial role of the membrane anchor of HO-2 for localization at the endoplasmic reticulum, oligomerization and interaction with CPR. We show that although the carboxy-terminal deletion mutant of HO-2 is found in the nucleus, translocation of HO-2 to the nucleus does not occur under conditions of hypoxia. Thus, we demonstrate that proteolytic regulation and nuclear translocation under hypoxic conditions is specific for HO-1. In addition we show for the first time that CPR prevents this translocation and promotes oligomerization of HO-1. Based on these findings, CPR may modulate gene expression via the amount of nuclear HO-1. This is of particular relevance as CPR is a highly polymorphic gene and deficiency syndromes of CPR have been described in humans