Organization of the Board of Trustees

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Correspondence with Mr. Joseph regarding organization of board

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Spatiotemporal Organization of AT- and GC-rich DNA and Their Association With Transition Proteins TP1 and TP2 in Rat Condensing Spermatids

Transition protein 1 (TP1) and TP2 replace histones during midspermiogenesis (stages 12-15) and are finally replaced by protamines. TPs play a predominant role in DNA condensation and chromatin remodeling during mammalian spermiogenesis. TP2 is a zinc metalloprotein with two novel zinc finger modules that condenses DNA in vitro in a GC-preference manner. TP2 also localizes to the nucleolus in transfected HeLa and Cos-7 cells, suggesting a GC-rich preference, even in vivo. We have now studied the localization pattern of TP2 in the rat spermatid nucleus. Colocalization studies using GC-selective DNA-binding dyes chromomycin A3 and 7-amino actinomycin D and an AT-selective dye, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, indicate that TP2 is preferentially localized to GC-rich sequences. Interestingly, as spermatids mature, TP2 and GC-rich DNA moves toward the nuclear periphery, and in the late stages of spermatid maturation, TP2 is predominantly localized at the nuclear periphery. Another interesting observation is the mutually exclusive localization of GC- and AT-rich DNA in the elongating and elongated spermatids. A combined immunofluorescence experiment with anti-TP2 and anti-TP1 antibodies revealed several foci of overlapping localization, indicating that TP1 and TP2 may have concerted functional roles during chromatin remodeling in mammalian spermiogenesis.

Social organization of household finance: Understanding artful financial systems in the home

In this paper we discuss results of a field study focused on understanding the ways money and financial issues are handled within family settings. Families develop ‘systems’ or methods through which they coordinate and manage their everyday financial activities. Through an analysis of our fieldwork data collected from fifteen families, we provide several examples of such systems, highlighting their qualities and illustrating how such systems come to support the handling of financial activities in the home. Our results show that these systems are developed with a careful consideration of familial values, relationships and routines; and incorporate the use of physical and digital tools. Consequently, we suggest that design should consider the use and non-use of technology when supporting household financial management, taking into account the richness of families’ existing organically formed practices surrounding financial systems. Finally, our findings point to the fact that financial management in the domestic setting is socially organized and is closely connected to supporting everyday household activities.

Three-dimensional organization of fenestrae labyrinths in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells

- Background/Aims Liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) fenestrae are membrane-bound pores that are grouped in sieve plates and act as a bidirectional guardian in regulating transendothelial liver transport. The high permeability of the endothelial lining is explained by the presence of fenestrae and by various membrane-bound transport vesicles. The question as to whether fenestrae relate to other transport compartments remains unclear and has been debated since their discovery almost 40 years ago. - Methods In this study, novel insights concerning the three-dimensional (3D) organization of the fenestrated cytoplasm were built on transmission electron tomographical observations on isolated and cultured whole-mount LSECs. Classical transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy imaging was performed to accumulate cross-correlative structural evidence. - Results and Conclusions The data presented here indicate that different arrangements of fenestrae have to be considered: i.e. open fenestrae that lack any structural obstruction mainly located in the thin peripheral cytoplasm and complexes of multifolded fenestrae organized as labyrinth-like structures that are found in the proximity of the perinuclear area. Fenestrae in labyrinths constitute about one-third of the total LSEC porosity. The 3D reconstructions also revealed that coated pits and small membrane-bound vesicles are exclusively interspersed in the non-fenestrated cytoplasmic arms.

Supramolecular Organization in Tetra Aqua (mu-8-Hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonate) Barium (II) and Ag center dot center dot center dot I Interactions in a Pseudopolymorphic Form of (7-Iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonate) Silver (I) Monohydrate

The complexes, Ba (HQS) (H2O)(4) (HQS = 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid) (1) and Ag (HIQS) (H2O) (Ferron = 7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid) (2) have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and spectroscopic studies. In compound 1, Ba2+ ion has a nine-coordinate monocapped antiprismatic geometry. In compound 2, Ag+ has distorted tetrahedral coordination and Ag center dot center dot center dot I interactions generate the supramolecular architectures. The complexes have been characterized by FT-IR and UV-Visible measurements. In both the structures, the inversion-related organic ligands are stacked over one another leading to three-dimensional networks.

Toiminta, valta ja kokemus organisaation muutoksessa : Tutkimus kolmesta suuryrityksestä

Action, Power and Experience in Organizational Change - A Study of Three Major Corporations This study explores change management and resistance to change as social activities and power displays through worker experiences in three major Finnish corporations. Two important sensitizing concepts were applied. Firstly, Richard Sennett's perspective on work in the new form of capitalism, and its shortcomings - the lack of commitment and freedom accompanied by the disruption to lifelong career planning and the feeling of job insecurity - offered a fruitful starting point for a critical study. Secondly, Michel Foucault's classical concept of power, treated as anecdotal, interactive and nonmeasurable, provided tools for analyzing change-enabling and resisting acts. The study bridges the gap between management and social sciences. The former have usually concentrated on leadership issues, best practices and goal attainment, while the latter have covered worker experiences, power relations and political conflicts. The study was motivated by three research questions. Firstly, why people resist or support changes in their work, work environment or organization, and the kind of analyses these behavioural choices are based on. Secondly, the kind of practical forms which support for, and resistance to change take, and how people choose the different ways of acting. Thirdly, how the people involved experience and describe their own subject position and actions in changing environments. The examination focuses on practical interpretations and action descriptions given by the members of three major Finnish business organizations. The empirical data was collected during a two-year period in the Finnish Post Corporation, the Finnish branch of Vattenfal Group, one of the leading European energy companies, and the Mehiläinen Group, the leading private medical service provider in Finland. It includes 154 non-structured thematic interviews and 309 biographies concentrating on personal experiences of change. All positions and organizational levels were represented. The analysis was conducted using the grounded theory method introduced by Straus and Corbin in three sequential phases, including open, axial and selective coding processes. As a result, there is a hierarchical structure of categories, which is summarized in the process model of change behaviour patterns. Key ingredients are past experiences and future expectations which lead to different change relations and behavioural roles. Ultimately, they contribute to strategic and tactical choices realized as both public and hidden forms of action. The same forms of action can be used in both supporting and resisting change, and there are no specific dividing lines either between employer and employee roles or between different hierarchical positions. In general, however, it is possible to conclude that strategic choices lead more often to public forms of action, whereas tactical choices result in hidden forms. The primary goal of the study was to provide knowledge which has practical applications in everyday business life, HR and change management. The results, therefore, are highly applicable to other organizations as well as to less change-dominated situations, whenever power relations and conflicting interests are present. A sociological thesis on classical business management issues can be of considerable value in revealing the crucial social processes behind behavioural patterns. Keywords: change management, organizational development, organizational resistance, resistance to change, change management, labor relations, organization, leadership

Insights from stimulating creative behaviours in a project-based organization team

Novel and useful ideas and creative behaviours originate in varied work environments, yet the characteristics of work environments that stimulate and foster such creative behaviours are not well defined. The aim of this study was to identify the influences that contribute to creative behaviours in the work environment of a global project-based professional service organization. This article is based on an investigation of the work environment of one project team undertaking interdisciplinary work in the construction of a processing plant in a remote location. This multi-disciplinary team encouraged creative behaviours through regular team meetings, ensuring the presentation of diverse views and commitments to regular interaction and collaboration in co-located environments. In addition, a technology manager dedicated to identifying potential opportunities for patenting and commercialization further extended the creative behaviours of the team by focusing on the best solution for each situation. The study contributes new knowledge to research regarding work environments that facilitate creative behaviours.

Glycosphingolipids in microdomain formation and their spatial organization

Plasma membranes regulate the influx and efflux of molecules across themselves and are also responsible for primary signal transduction between cells or within the same cell. Presence of lateral heterogeneity and the ability of reorganization are essential requirements for effective functioning of biomembranes. Lipid rafts are small, heterogeneous, dynamic domains enriched in glycosphingolipids, sphingomyelin and cholesterol, and profoundly influence membrane organization. Glycosphingolipids are inclined towards formation of liquid-ordered phases in membranes, both with and without cholesterol; they are therefore prime players in domain formation. Here, we discuss the role of glycosphingolipids in microdomain formation and their spatial organization within these rafts.

Supistamista, rationalisointia vai kehittämistä? : Valtiovarainministeriön järjestelyosaston järjestämän henkilöstökoulutus- ja tutkimustoiminnan rakentuminen osaksi valtionhallintoa vuosina 1943-1971

The study examines the personnel training and research activities carried out by the Organization and Methods Division of the Ministry of Finance and their becoming a part and parcel of the state administration in 1943-1971. The study is a combination of institutional and ideological historical research in recent history on adult education, using a constructionist approach. Material salient to the study comes from the files of the Organization and Methods Division in the National Archives, parliamentary documents, committee reports, and the magazines. The concentrated training and research activities arranged by the Organization and Methods Division, became a part and parcel of the state administration in the midst of controversial challenges and opportunities. They served to solve social problems which beset the state administration as well as contextual challenges besetting rationalization measures, and organizational challenges. The activities were also affected by a dependence on decision-makers, administrative units, and civil servants organizations, by different views on rationalization and the holistic nature of reforms, as well as by the formal theories that served as resources. It chose long-term projects which extended to the political decision-makers and administrative units turf, and which were intended to reform the structures of the state administration and to rationalize the practices of the administrative units. The crucial questions emerged in opposite pairs (a constitutional state vs. the ideology of an administratively governed state, a system of national boards vs. a system of government through ministries, efficiency of work vs. pleasantness of work, centralized vs. decentralized rationalization activities) which were not solvable problems but impossible questions with no ultimate answers. The aim and intent of the rationalization of the state administration (the reform of the central, provincial, and local governments) was to facilitate integrated management and to render a greater amount of work by approaching management procedures scientifically and by clarifying administrative instances and their respon-sibilities in regards to each other. The means resorted to were organizational studies and committee work. In the rationalization of office work and finance control, the idea was to effect savings in administrative costs and to pare down those costs as well as to rationalize and heighten those functions by developing the institution of work study practitioners in order to coordinate employer and employee relationships and benefits (the training of work study practitioners, work study, and a two-tier work study practitioner organization). A major part of the training meant teaching and implementing leadership skills in practice, which, in turn, meant that the learning environment was the genuine work community and efforts to change it. In office rationalization, the solution to regulate the relations between the employer and the employees was the co-existence of the technical and biological rationalization and the human resource administration and the accounting and planning systems at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. The former were based on the school of scientific management and human relations, the latter on system thinking, which was a combination of the former two. In the rationalization of the state administration, efforts were made to find solutions to stabilize management ideologies and to arrange the relationships of administrative systems in administrative science - among other things, in the Hoover Committee and the Simon decision making theory, and, in the 1960s, in system thinking. Despite the development-related vocabulary, the practical work was advanced rationalization. It was said that the practical activities of both the state administration and the administrative units depended on professional managers who saw to production results and human relations. The pedagogic experts hired to develop training came up with a training system, based on the training-technological model where the training was made a function of its own. The State Training Center was established and the training office of the Organization and Methods Division became the leader and coordinator of personnel training.

The Electronic Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon): An Open Access Journal Using an Un-paid, Volunteer-Based Organization

Introduction This case study is based on the experiences with the Electronic Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon), founded in 1995. Development This journal is an example of a particular category of open access journals, which use neither author charges nor subscriptions to finance their operations, but rely largely on unpaid voluntary work in the spirit of the open source movement. The journal has, after some initial struggle, survived its first decade and is now established as one of half-a-dozen peer reviewed journals in its field. Operations The journal publishes articles as they become ready, but creates virtual issues through alerting messages to “subscribers”. It has also started to publish special issues, since this helps in attracting submissions, and also helps in sharing the work-load of review management. From the start the journal adopted a rather traditional layout of the articles. After the first few years the HTML version was dropped and papers are only published in PDF format. Performance The journal has recently been benchmarked against the competing journals in its field. Its acceptance rate of 53% is slightly higher and its average turnaround time of seven months almost a year faster compared to those journals in the sample for which data could be obtained. The server log files for the past three years have also been studied. Conclusions Our overall experience demonstrates that it is possible to publish this type of OA journal, with a yearly publishing volume equal to a quarterly journal and involving the processing of some fifty submissions a year, using a networked volunteer-based organization.