Managing M&A-From Strategic Intent to Integration: IOCs Acquisition of IBP and After

<div align=justify>This paper, in the nature of a case study, discusses the entire range of managerial issues addressed by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) in the acquisition, subsequent merger and post-merger integration of IBP Co. Limited (IBP) following IBP's disinvestment by the Government of India. The three stages of IBP transactions spanned a 5-6 year period from 2002 to 2007. The paper discusses from IOC's perspective, the strategic case for the IBP acquisition, rationale for what turned out to be an extremely aggressive bid price for IBP, the raison for subsequent merger, and the critical choices made by IOC management in post-merger integration of IBP. The paper also examines the controversies the IBP transactions generated in their wake and the corporate governance issues involved. We conclude that IOC appears to have handled the entire value chain of activities in the IBP transactions from acquisition planning and strategic evaluation through deal execution, post-acquisition merger, and to post-merger integration with a high level of professionalism, a balanced sense of priorities and a high degree of sensitivity, rarely seen in the Indian public sector milieu. We also believe that as Indian companies, particularly the larger state-owned enterprises, find themselves in the inevitable need to pursue M&A-based growth strategies, IOC's IBP experience should provide useful guidance in their endeavours. </div>

Towards a global interpretation of dual nitrate isotopes in surface waters

Modern anthropogenic activities have significantly increased nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in surface waters. Stable isotopes (delta N-15 and delta O-18) in NO3- offer a tool to deconvolute some of the human-made changes in the nitrogen cycle. They are often graphically illustrated on a template designed to identify different sources of NO3- and denitrification. In the two decades since this template was developed, delta N-1(5)- and delta O-1(8)-NO3- have been measured in a variety of ecosystems and through the nitrogen cycle. However, its interpretation is often fuzzy or complex. This default is no longer helpful because it does not describe surface water ecosystems well and biases researchers towards denitrification as the NO3- removal pathway, even in well oxygenated systems where denitrification is likely to have little to no influence on the nitrogen cycle. We propose a different scheme to encourage a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle and interpretation of NO3- isotopes. We use a mechanistic understanding of NO3- formation to place bounds on the oxygen isotope axis and provide a means to adjust for different environmental water isotope values, so data from multiple sites and times of year can be appropriately compared. We demonstrate that any interpretation of our example datasets (Canada, Kenya, United Kingdom) show clear evidence of denitrification or a mixture of NO3- sources simply because many data points fall outside of arbitrary boxes which cannot be supported once the range of potential delta O-1(8)-NO(3)(- )values has been considered.Modern anthropogenic activities have significantly increased nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in surface waters. Stable isotopes (delta N-15 and delta O-18) in NO3- offer a tool to deconvolute some of the human-made changes in the nitrogen cycle. They are often graphically illustrated on a template designed to identify different sources of NO3- and denitrification. In the two decades since this template was developed, delta N-1(5)- and delta O-1(8)-NO3- have been measured in a variety of ecosystems and through the nitrogen cycle. However, its interpretation is often fuzzy or complex. This default is no longer helpful because it does not describe surface water ecosystems well and biases researchers towards denitrification as the NO3- removal pathway, even in well oxygenated systems where denitrification is likely to have little to no influence on the nitrogen cycle. We propose a different scheme to encourage a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle and interpretation of NO3- isotopes. We use a mechanistic understanding of NO3- formation to place bounds on the oxygen isotope axis and provide a means to adjust for different environmental water isotope values, so data from multiple sites and times of year can be appropriately compared. We demonstrate that any interpretation of our example datasets (Canada, Kenya, United Kingdom) show clear evidence of denitrification or a mixture of NO3- sources simply because many data points fall outside of arbitrary boxes which cannot be supported once the range of potential delta O-1(8)-NO(3)(- )values has been considered.A

Journal Staff

Half of the world's forest is in boreal and sub-boreal ecozones, containing large carbon stores and fluxes. Carbon lost from headwater streams in these forests is underestimated. We apply a simple stable carbon isotope idea for quantifying the CO2 loss from these small streams; it is based only on in-stream samples and integrates over a significant distance upstream. We demonstrate that conventional methods of determining CO2 loss from streams necessarily underestimate the CO2 loss with results from two catchments. Dissolved carbon export from headwater catchments is similar to CO2 loss from stream surfaces. Most of the CO2 originating in high CO2 groundwaters has been lost before typical in-stream sampling occurs. In the Harp Lake catchment in Canada, headwater streams account for 10% of catchment net CO2 uptake. In the Krycklan catchment in Sweden, this more than doubles the CO2 loss from the catchment. Thus, even when corrected for aquatic CO2 loss measured by conventional methods, boreal and sub-boreal forest carbon budgets currently overestimate carbon sequestration on the landscape

STUDY OF HYDRODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF SWIRLING FLUIDIZED BED

The Swirling Fluidized Bed (SFB) being a newer version of the well-known bubbling fluidized bed, a physical insight into its working, operating regimes and relationship with various aspects need to be investigated. Although some studies have been conducted on SFB in the past, a thorough understanding of the science of the process is yet to be arrived at. Since previous studies on SFB show promise of a highly effective alternative for contemporary techniques and immense potential for commercialization, a comprehensive study on the various aspects controlling the hydrodynamics of the swirling fluidized bed has been carried out

The Enigma of Store-Operated Ca2+-Entry in Neurons: Answers from the Drosophila Flight Circuit

In neurons a well-defined source of signaling Ca2+ is the extracellular medium. However, as in all metazoan cells, Ca2+ is also stored in endoplasmic reticular compartments inside neurons. The relevance of these stores in neuronal function has been debatable. The Orai gene encodes a channel that helps refill these stores from the extracellular medium in non-excitable cells through a process called store-operated Ca2+ entry or SOCE. Recent findings have shown that raising the level of Orai or its activator STIM, and consequently SOCE in neurons, can restore flight to varying extents to Drosophila mutants for an intracellular Ca2+-release channel – the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (InsP3R). Both intracellular Ca2+-release and SOCE appear to function in neuro-modulatory domains of the flight circuit during development and acute flight. These findings raise exciting new possibilities for the role of SOCE in vertebrate motor circuit function and the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders where intracellular Ca2+ signaling has been implicated as causative

Multi-Point Orientation Control of Discretely-Magnetized Continuum Manipulators

In the past decade, remote actuation through magnetic fields has been used for position and orientation control of continuum manipulators (CMs) with a single magnet at the distal tip. By leveraging multiple points of actuation along the length of the CM it is possible to achieve increasingly complex shapes, which could be of interest in complex navigation tasks, for example, in minimally invasive surgery. In this study we present an approach for multi-point orientation control of discretely magnetized CMs. The approach is demonstrated with a manipulator that contains two permanent magnets, which are each actuated inside a non-homogeneous magnetic field. We formulate an accurate field model that conforms to Maxwell's equations and apply this to the available actuation system. Furthermore, Cosserat rod theory is used to model the manipulator deformation under external wrenches, and is utilized to numerically compute a Jacobian necessary to calculate the actuation inputs. During experiments, a stereo vision setup is used for manipulator shape feedback. Target orientations are manually provided as input to show independent orientation control of the two permanent magnets. Additionally, simulations with an extended virtual clone of the electromagnetic system are performed to show the capability of achieving more complex manipulator shapes. In both scenarios, it is observed that the algorithm is able to independently control the orientation of two interconnected magnets in a non-uniform magnetic field