Organizational development : a supplement for the effective organization

Much can be said about the pros and cons of organizational development (OD) in today’s ever-expanding and constantly evolving world of dynamic organizations. It may be argued that OD has even more of a place in today’s technologically advanced world of change and economic competitiveness. This article will discuss how OD may enhance the effectiveness of an organization within an evolving world. It is intended to contextualize OD and the process thereof, different phases in the action research model, and the necessity of training and development in OD. It will conclude with the similarities between OD and Employee Assistance Programs.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjwb20hb201

Microtubule dynamics depart from wormlike chain model

Thermal shape fluctuations of grafted microtubules were studied using high resolution particle tracking of attached fluorescent beads. First mode relaxation times were extracted from the mean square displacement in the transverse coordinate. For microtubules shorter than 10 um, the relaxation times were found to follow an L^2 dependence instead of L^4 as expected from the standard wormlike chain model. This length dependence is shown to result from a complex length dependence of the bending stiffness which can be understood as a result of the molecular architecture of microtubules. For microtubules shorter than 5 um, high drag coefficients indicate contributions from internal friction to the fluctuation dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Updated content, added reference, corrected typo

The effect of garnishee orders on the personnel of the Department of Health, South Africa

Employees are confronted with garnishee orders on a daily basis. This article presents the findings of a qualitative study designed to explore the effect of garnishee orders on personnel. The results indicated that employees viewed internal and external factors as the reason for their financial difficulties and felt trapped by overindebtedness. This resulted in psychosocial and occupational maladjustments. The study also revealed that the participants’ thought they would benefit from regular guidance and training in personal financial management.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjwb202017-12-31hb2016Social Work and Criminolog

A Riemann hypothesis analogue for invariant rings

AbstractA Riemann hypothesis analogue for coding theory was introduced by I.M. Duursma [A Riemann hypothesis analogue for self-dual codes, in: A. Barg, S. Litsyn (Eds.), Codes and Association Schemes (Piscataway, NJ, 1999), American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2001, pp. 115–124]. In this paper, we extend zeta polynomials for linear codes to ones for invariant rings, and we investigate whether a Riemann hypothesis analogue holds for some concrete invariant rings. Also we shall show that there is some subring of an invariant ring such that the subring is not an invariant ring but extremal polynomials all satisfy the Riemann hypothesis analogue

Non-motorised transport facility guidelines : what is new and why?

During 2013, the Department of Transport realised that one of the issues contributing to the lack of appropriate Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) infrastructure, is the fact that the 2003 Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Guidelines were outdated. Although the Pedestrian and Cycling Facility Guidelines (DOT, 2003) included some very good information, there were gaps that needed to be addressed. One of these gaps was the lack of design examples. Furthermore, the DOT realised that Universal Access principles need to be adopted, and that implementation will only follow if guidelines are all inclusive. The new guidelines provide guidance on the accommodation of NMT under all conditions. This includes NMT only routes (which follow the NMT desire lines), completely separated NMT (for example along freeways), adjacent NMT facility on arterials and collectors and party mixed motorised and NMT traffic (specifically for cyclists and the likes) at local streets. Other aspects included in the guidelines are the integration with public transport (PT) and the need for facilities (for example bicycle parking) at the trip ends. Furthermore, surface design, maintenance and operations of NMT facilities are now included in the NMT Facility Guidelines (DoT, 2014). This paper provides a summary of the content of the new NMT Facility Guidelines (DOT, 2014) and the reasoning behind choices that were made regarding the various design aspects.Paper presented at the 34th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 6-9 July 2015 "Working Together to Deliver - Sakha Sonke", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The Minister of Transport, South AfricaTransportation Research Board of the US

Structure–property relation and relevance of beam theories for microtubules: a coupled molecular and continuum mechanics study

Quasi-one-dimensional microtubules (MTs) in cells enjoy high axial rigidity but large transverse flexibility due to the inter-protofilament (PF) sliding. This study aims to explore the structure–property relation for MTs and examine the relevance of the beam theories to their unique features. A molecular structural mechanics (MSM) model was used to identify the origin of the inter-PF sliding and its role in bending and vibration of MTs. The beam models were then fitted to the MSM to reveal how they cope with the distinct mechanical responses induced by the inter-PF sliding. Clear evidence showed that the inter-PF sliding is due to the soft inter-PF bonds and leads to the length-dependent bending stiffness. The Euler beam theory is found to adequately describe MT deformation when the inter-PF sliding is largely prohibited. Nevertheless, neither shear deformation nor the nonlocal effect considered in the ‘more accurate’ beam theories can fully capture the effect of the inter-PF sliding. This reflects the distinct deformation mechanisms between an MT and its equivalent continuous body

Cell morphology governs directional control in swimming bacteria

The ability to rapidly detect and track nutrient gradients is key to the ecological success of motile bacteria in aquatic systems. Consequently, bacteria have evolved a number of chemotactic strategies that consist of sequences of straight runs and reorientations. Theoretically, both phases are affected by fluid drag and Brownian motion, which are themselves governed by cell geometry. Here, we experimentally explore the effect of cell length on control of swimming direction. We subjected Escherichia coli to an antibiotic to obtain motile cells of different lengths, and characterized their swimming patterns in a homogeneous medium. As cells elongated, angles between runs became smaller, forcing a change from a run-and-tumble to a run-and-stop/reverse pattern. Our results show that changes in the motility pattern of microorganisms can be induced by simple morphological variation, and raise the possibility that changes in swimming pattern may be triggered by both morphological plasticity and selection on morphology