Transforming the architect: Ownership form and archetype change

The adoption of the incorporated form of ownership in preference to partnership is linked to the shift to a more modem organizational archetype in professional firms. Yet existing empirical research offers insufficient insight into the organizational processes of this transformation in different professional arenas. Where ownership and control become separated, there is a clearer theoretical explanation of the implications for the way the firm is run. Where ownership and control remain inside, the firm, however, the consequences are not so clear and have not been well explored. Using survey and interview materials derived from a study of architecture practices, we examine the processes by which differences based on ownership emerge. Then, by drawing on Weberian theories, where they are concerned with professionalization as a project with material and social rewards, we specify more clearly the context for change in professional firms' archetypes. This, we conclude, provides a stronger basis for understanding the change trajectories of firms within professions and comparative organizational analysis between professions.

Cytochrome P450(cin) (CYP176A), isolation, expression, and characterization

Cytochromes P450 are members of a superfamily of hemoproteins involved in the oxidative metabolism of various physiologic and xenobiotic compounds in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Studies on bacterial P450s, particularly those involved in monoterpene oxidation, have provided an integral contribution to our understanding of these proteins, away from the problems encountered with eukaryotic forms. We report here a novel cytochrome P450 (P450(cin), CYP176A1) purified from a strain of Citrobacter braakii that is capable of using cineole 1 as its sole source of carbon and energy. This enzyme has been purified to homogeneity and the amino acid sequences of three tryptic peptides determined. By using this information, a PCR-based cloning strategy was developed that allowed the isolation of a 4-kb DNA fragment containing the cytochrome P450(cin) gene (cinA). Sequencing revealed three open reading frames that were identified on the basis of sequence homology as a cytochrome P450, an NADPH-dependent flavodoxin/ferrodoxin reductase, and a flavodoxin. This arrangement suggests that P450(cin) may be the first isolated P450 to use a flavodoxin as its natural redox partner. Sequencing also identified the unprecedented substitution of a highly conserved, catalytically, important active site threonine with an asparagine residue. The P450 gene was subcloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli at similar to2000 nmol/liter of original culture, and purification was achieved by standard protocols. Postulating the native E. coli flavodoxin/flavodoxin reductase system might mimic the natural redox partners of P450,in, it was expressed in E. coli in the presence of cineole 1. A product was formed in vivo that was tentatively identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as 2-hydroxycineole 2. Examination of P450(cin) by UV-visible spectroscopy revealed typical spectra characteristic of P450s, a high affinity for cineole 1 (K-D = 0.7 mum), and a large spin state change of the heme iron associated with binding of cineole 1. These facts support the hypothesis that cineole 1 is the natural substrate for this enzyme and that P450(cin) catalyzes the initial monooxygenation of cineole 1 biodegradation. This constitutes the first characterization of an enzyme involved in this pathway.

The Building Partnerships Program: An Approach to Community-based Learning for Medical Students in Australia

The Building Partnerships Program at the University of Queensland, Australia seeks to address the dual challenge of preparing doctors who are responsive to the community while providing a meaningful context for social sciences learning. Through partnerships with a diverse range of community agencies, the program offers students opportunities to gain non-clinical perspectives on health and illness through structured learning activities including: family visits; community agency visits and attachments; and interview training. Students learn first-hand about psychosocial influences on health and how people manage health problems on a day-to-day basis. They also gain insights into the work of community agencies and how they as future doctors might work in partnership with them to enhance patient care. We outline the main components of the program, identify challenges and successes from student and community agency perspectives, and consider areas that invite further development.

Extra-pair paternity and mate-guarding behaviour in the brown thornbill

We used multilocus DNA fingerprinting to assess parentage in the brown thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, a socially monogamous Australian passerine. Extra-pair paternity was uncommon (6.2% of 178 offspring; 11.9% of 67 broods) and there was no evidence of intra-specific brood parasitism. Extra-pair paternity was limited because pairs spent more time together when females were fertile and males were able to evict intruding males before they could approach the female. Males were responsible for the close proximity of partners during the fertile period. Mate guarding therefore appears to be a male tactic aimed at preventing female infidelity rather than a cooperative behaviour of the pair aimed at preventing extra-pair copulations and/or female harassment. Females did not attempt to escape male guarding and were rarely observed to solicit copulations from intruding males. Nevertheless, females paired to smaller and younger males were more likely to cuckold their mates than females paired to larger and older males. This suggests that females may be more likely to seek or accept extra-pair matings when paired to small, young males or that old, large males are better at preventing their mates from engaging in extra-pair copulations. We found that male age but not male size influences mate-guarding behaviour. Older males tended to respond more aggressively to intruders. We therefore speculate that the relationship between male size/age and extra-pair paternity in brown thornbills may arise because female thornbills prefer large males as mates but are unable to express this preference as easily when paired to older males.

The efficacy of a psychosocial intervention for HIV/AIDS caregiving dyads and individual caregivers: a controlled treatment outcome study

The present study examined the comparative efficacy of intervening at the caregiver/care-recipient dyadic level, versus the individual caregiver level, for caregivers and their care-recipients with HIV/AIDS. Participants were randomly assigned to a Dyad Intervention (DI), a Caregiver Intervention (CI) or Wait List Control group (WLC), and assessed by interview and self-administered scales immediately before treatment and eight weeks later. Participants in the intervention groups also completed a four-month follow-up assessment. Dependent variables included global distress, social adjustment, dyadic adjustment, subjective health status, HIV/AIDS knowledge and target problem ratings. Results showed that caregivers in the DI group showed greater improvement from pre- to post-treatment on global distress, dyadic adjustment and target problems than the CI and WLC caregivers. The CI and DI caregivers showed greater improvement than the WLC group on all dependent variables except social adjustment. Care-recipients in the DI group improved significantly from pre- to post-treatment on dyadic adjustment, social adjustment, knowledge, subjective health status and Target Problem 1, whereas the CI and WLC care-recipients failed to improve on any of these measures. The treatment gains made by the DI caregivers and care-recipients on most dependent variables were maintained at a four-month follow-up. Findings support a reciprocal determinism approach to the process of dyadic adjustment and suggest that intervening at the caregiver/care-recipient level may produce better outcomes for both the caregiver and care-recipient than intervening at the individual caregiver level.

Communicating vegetation management science to land managers and other stakeholders

Science communication. including extension services. plays a key role in achieving sustainable native vegetation management. One of the pivotal aspects of the debate on sustainable vegetation management is the scientific information underpinning policy-making. In recent years. extension services have Shifted their focus from top-down technology transfer to bottom-up participation and empowerment. I here has also been a broadening of communication strategies to recognise the range of stakeholders involved in native vegetation management and to encompass environmental concerns. This paper examines the differences between government approaches to extension services to deliver policy and the need for effective communication to address broader science issues that underpin native vegetation management. The importance of knowing the learning styles of the stakeholders involved in native vegetation management is discussed at a time of increasing reliance on mass communication for information exchange and the importance of personal communication to achieve on-ground sustainable management. Critical factors for effective science-management communication are identified Such as: (i) undertaking scientific studies (research) with community involvement, acceptance and agreed understanding of project objectives (ii) realistic community consultation periods: (iii) matching communication channels with stakeholder needs; (iv) combining scientific with local knowledge in in holistic (biophysical and social) approach to understanding in issued and (v) regional partnerships. These communication factors are considered to be essential to implementing on-ground natural resource management strategics and actions, including those concerned with native vegetation management.

Couple communication and female problem drinking: A behavioral observation study

Couples with alcohol and relationship problems often report poor communication, yet little is known about the communication of maritally distressed couples in which the woman abuses alcohol (MDWA couples). Compared with maritally distressed couples without alcohol problems (MDNA) and couples with neither problem (NDNA), MDWA couples showed a distinctive pattern of negative communication. Similar to MDNA men, MDWA men spoke negatively to their partners but listened positively to their partners much like NDNA men. MDWA women listened negatively, much as MDNA women did, but spoke positively, like NDNA women did. The interactions of MDWA couples can be characterized as a male-demand-female-withdraw pattern, which is a gender reversal of the female-demand-male-withdraw pattern often observed in MDNA couples.

Telehealth responses to bio-terrorism and emerging infections

Emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), are of huge economic importance. They are difficult to predict. The World Health Organization has a Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, which was involved at an early stage in the SARS outbreak in 2003. Three major lessons were learned as a result of the SARS epidemic in 2003, involving communication, evidence-based action and global partnerships. It is proposed that a series of broadband global response networks should be developed. At a technical level the networks are essentially in place, such as the Internet2 global network. Suitable peripheral devices also exist. What has not yet been created is the appropriate software to allow the use of these networks, although a number of commercial products are in the process of development.