Cost Accounting and Pricing Improvement at Helmond Print: Using Xeikon Digital Colour Printing Equipment: A Case study

Helmond Print B.V., a (fictional) Dutch print provider, is facing competitive problems. The student is expected to step into the role of an independent expert advising Helmond Print''s owner and manager. The first objective is to let the student find out, from a piece of qualitative and quantitative information about Xeikon N.V. machines, that the cost structure is much different than currently assumed. The student should try to improve the cost calculations, which will require linear and both non-linear regression analysis. A second objective is to make the student realize that the incorrect cost calculations affected Helmond Print''s pricing policy and may have lead to the competitive problems faced now. The student should therefore link their investigations to pricing, search for the weak spots in the current pricing policy and make suggestions for improvement. (Note: a solution to the case can be obtained by simple request)management and organization theory ;

Calculations and Competitive Benchmarking: A Case study: Xeikon N.V.

Xeikon N.V. is a young NASDAQ-listed company in the digital colour printing market. First of all, the student is expected to step into the role of an independent expert advising Xeikon''s CEO. Although it is already clear that digital colour printing is competitive mainly at relatively small order quantities, the student is expected to give more specific information about the quantities for which Xeikon equipment is competitive. This will require different kinds of break-even analysis. Furthermore, students should analyse cost data using a learning curve model. In doing so, they should address the limitations of the model, test the usefulness in this situation and recognize that learning is not the right term in this context. The investigations require the use of regression analysis. (Note: a case solution can be obtained by simple request)management and organization theory ;

Wheat genotypic variation in dynamic fluxes of WSC components in different stem segments under drought during grain filling

In wheat, stem water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), composed mainly of fructans, are the major carbon sources for grain filling during periods of decreasing photosynthesis or under drought stress after anthesis. Here, in a field drought experiment, WSC levels and associated enzyme activities were followed in different stem segments (peduncle, penultimate internode, lower parts of stem, and sheath) during grain filling. The focus was on two double haploid (DH) lines, DH 307 and DH 338, derived from a Westonia/Kauz cross, two drought-tolerant wheat varieties that follow different drought adaptation strategies during grain filling. The results showed that in irrigated plants, in the period between 20 and 30 days after anthesis (DAA), 70–80% of WSC were fructans. Before and after this period, the fructan proportion varied from 10 to 60%, depending on the location along the stem. Under drought, the fructan proportion changed, depending on genotype, and developmental stages. After anthesis, stem fructans accumulation occurred mainly in the peduncle and penultimate internode until 14 DAA in both DH lines, with clear genotypic variation in subsequent fructan degradation under drought. In DH 307 a significant reduction of fructans with a concomitant increase in fructose levels occurred earlier in the lower parts of the stem and the sheath, as compared to DH 338 or other stem segments in both lines. This was associated with an earlier increase of grain weight and thousand grain weight in DH 307. Spatiotemporal analysis of fructan dynamics and enzymatic activities in fructan metabolism revealed that several types of FEHs are involved in fructan remobilization to the grain under drought

Diarylquinolines are bactericidal for dormant mycobacteria as a result of disturbed ATP homeostasis.

An estimated one-third of the world population is latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These nonreplicating, dormant bacilli are tolerant to conventional anti-tuberculosis drugs, such as isoniazid. We recently identified diarylquinoline R207910 (also called TMC207) as an inhibitor of ATP synthase with a remarkable activity against replicating mycobacteria. In the present study, we show that R207910 kills dormant bacilli as effectively as aerobically grown bacilli with the same target specificity. Despite a transcriptional down-regulation of the ATP synthase operon and significantly lower cellular ATP levels, we show that dormant mycobacteria do possess residual ATP synthase enzymatic activity. This activity is blocked by nanomolar concentrations of R207910, thereby further reducing ATP levels and causing a pronounced bactericidal effect. We conclude that this residual ATP synthase activity is indispensable for the survival of dormant mycobacteria, making it a promising drug target to tackle dormant infections. The unique dual bactericidal activity of diarylquinolines on dormant as well as replicating bacterial subpopulations distinguishes them entirely from the current anti-tuberculosis drugs and underlines the potential of R207910 to shorten tuberculosis treatment. © 2008 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc