Unlocking synergies between business units: internal value creation at Royal Vopak.

This paper examines the process of creating and exploiting synergies between business units of a multi-unit corporation and the creation of internal value by combining and exploiting knowledge. It offers a framework to create and manage such synergies and undertakes an empirical test through in-depth study across three business units of Royal Vopak, a Dutch-based global multi-unit corporation. Finally, it offers lessons for corporate managers trying to create and manage cross-unit synergies.

Contractile and vasorelaxant effects of hydrogen sulfide and its biosynthesis in the human internal mammary artery

This study aimed to test these hypotheses: cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE) is expressed in a human artery, it generates hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and H2S relaxes a human artery. H2S is produced endogenously in rat arteries from cysteine by CSE. Endogenously produced H2S dilates rat resistance arteries. Although CSE is expressed in rat arteries, its presence in human blood vessels has not been described. In this study, we showed that both CSE mRNA, determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and CSE protein, determined by Western blotting, apparently occur in the human internal mammary artery (internal thoracic artery). Artery homogenates converted cysteine to H2S, and the H2S production was inhibited by DL-propargylglycine, an inhibitor of CSE. We also showed that H2S relaxes phenylephrine-precontracted human internal mammary artery at higher concentrations but produces contraction at low concentrations. The latter contractions are stronger in acetylcholine-prerelaxed arteries, suggesting inhibition of nitric oxide action. The relaxation is partially blocked by glibenclamide, an inhibitor of K-ATP channels. The present results indicate that CSE protein is expressed in human arteries, that human arteries synthesize H2S, and that higher concentrations of H2S relax human arteries, in part by opening K-ATP channels. Low concentrations of H2S contract the human internal mammary artery, possibly by reacting with nitric oxide to form an inactive nitrosothiol. The possibility that CSE, and the H2S it generates, together play a physiological role in regulating the diameter of arteries in humans, as has been demonstrated in rats, should be considered.

On the function of the internal cavity of histone deacetylase protein 8: R37 is a crucial residue for catalysis

Biochemical studies reveal that a conserved arginine residue (R37) at the centre of the 14 angstrom internal cavity of histone deacetylase (HDAC) 8 is important for catalysis and acetate affinity. Computational studies indicate that R37 forms multiple hydrogen bonding interactions with the backbone carbonyl oxygen atoms of two conserved glycine residues, G303 and G305, resulting in a 'closed' form of the channel. One possible rationale for these data is that water or product (acetate) transit through the catalytically crucial internal channel of HDAC8 is regulated by a gating interaction between G139 and G303 tethered in position by the conserved R37. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factor structure and validity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in a sample of mentally disordered offenders

Investigations of the factor structure of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) have produced conflicting results. The current study assessed the factor structure of the AUDIT for a group of Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDOs) and examined the pattern of scoring in specific subgroups. The sample comprised 2005 MDOs who completed a battery of tests including the AUDIT. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a two-factor solution – alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences – provided the best data fit for AUDIT scores. A three-factor solution provided an equally good fit, but the second and third factors were highly correlated and a measure of parsimony also favoured the two-factor solution. This study provides useful information on the factor structure of the AUDIT amongst a large MDO population, while also highlighting the difficulties associated with the presence of people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system.