Employment outcomes and plant closure in a post-industrial city:an analysis of the labour market studies of MG Rover workers three years on

This paper examines how the loss of 6300 jobs from the closure of MG Rover (MGR) in the city of Birmingham (UK) in April 2005 affected the employment trajectories of ex-workers, in the context of wider structural change and efforts at urban renewal. The paper presents an analysis of a longitudinal survey of 300 ex-MGR workers, and examines to what extent the state of local labour markets and workers’ geographical mobility—as well as the effectiveness of the immediate policy response and longer-term local economic strategies—may have helped to balance the impacts of personal attributes associated with workers’ employability and their reabsorption into the labour markets. It is found that the relative buoyancy of the local economy, the success of longer-run efforts at diversification and a strong policy response and retraining initiative helped many disadvantaged workers to find new jobs in the medium term. However, the paper also highlights the unequal employment outcomes and trajectories that many lesser-skilled workers faced. It explores the policy issues arising from such closures and their aftermath, such as the need to co-ordinate responses, to retain institutional capacity, to offer high-quality training and education resources to workers and, where possible, to slow down such closure processes to enable skills to be retained and reused within the local economy.

Identification, mutagenesis, and transcriptional analysis of the methanesulfonate transport operon of methylosulfonomonas methylovora

Recently identified genes located downstream (3') of the msmEF (transport encoding) gene cluster, msmGH, and located 5' of the structural genes for methanesulfonate monooxygenase (MSAMO) are described from Methylosulfonomonas methylovora. Sequence analysis of the derived polypeptide sequences encoded by these genes revealed a high degree of identity to ABC-type transporters. MsmE showed similarity to a putative periplasmic substrate binding protein, MsmF resembled an integral membraneassociated protein, and MsmG was a putative ATP-binding enzyme. MsmH was thought to be the cognate permease component of the sulfonate transport system. The close association of these putative transport genes to the MSAMO structural genes msmABCD suggested a role for these genes in transport of methanesulfonic acid (MSA) into M. methylovora. msmEFGH and msmABCD constituted two operons for the coordinated expression of MSAMO and the MSA transporter systems. Reverse-transcription-PCR analysis of msmABCD and msmEFGH revealed differential expression of these genes during growth on MSA and methanol. The msmEFGH operon was constitutively expressed, whereas MSA induced expression of msmABCD. A mutant defective in msmE had considerably slower growth rates than the wild type, thus supporting the proposed role of MsmE in the transport of MSA into M. methylovora.

Determining the influence of strategic planning's elements in its success

This paper presents the results of a multinational large-scale survey, investigating the current trends in strategic planning. The survey was conducted online using the Warwick Business School alumni database. Considering the development and implementation of strategy within a multi-process framework, the 'Strategic Development Process' model by Dyson and O'Brien (1998), using factor analysis, four distinct factors of strategic planning have been produced and with regression analysis, their impact on the success of strategic planning from a process point of view has been assessed. The results indicate that significant variation in practices involved is created by complexity either of the organizational size or environmental turbulence.

The analysis of organic matter in oil-shales

The organic matter in five oil shales (three from the Kimmeridge Clay sequence, one from the Oxford Clay sequence and one from the Julia Creek deposits in Australia) has been isolated by acid demineralisation, separated into kerogens and bitumens by solvent extraction and then characterised in some detail by chromatographic, spectroscopic and degradative techniques. Kerogens cannot be characterised as easily as bitumens because of their insolubility, and hence before any detailed molecular information can be obtained from them they must be degraded into lower molecular weight, more soluble components. Unfortunately, the determination of kerogen structures has all too often involved degradations that were far too harsh and which lead to destruction of much of the structural information. For this reason a number of milder more selective degradative procedures have been tested and used to probe the structure of kerogens. These are: 1. Lithium aluminium hydride reduction. - This procedure is commonly used to remove pyrite from kerogens and it may also increase their solubility by reduction of labile functional groups. Although reduction of the kerogens was confirmed, increases in solubility were correlated with pyrite content and not kerogen reduction. 2. O-methylation in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. - By the removal of hydrogen bond interactions via O-methylation, it was possible to determine the contribution of such secondary interactions to the insolubility of the kerogens. Problems were encountered with the use of the phase transfer catalyst. 3. Stepwise alkaline potassium permanganate oxidation. - Significant kerogen dissolution was achieved using this procedure but uncontrolled oxidation of initial oxidation products proved to be a problem. A comparison with the peroxytrifluoroaceticacid oxidation of these kerogens was made. 4. Peroxytrifluoroacetic acid oxidation. - This was used because it preferentially degrades aromatic rings whilst leaving any benzylic positions intact. Considerable conversion of the kerogens into soluble products was achieved with this procedure. At all stages of degradation the products were fully characterised where possible using a variety of techniques including elemental analysis, solution state 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, gel-permeationchromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and some ultra violet-visible spectroscopy.

A spatial pattern analysis of beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposition in the temporal lobe in Alzheimer's disease

To determine the factors influencing the distribution of -amyloid (Abeta) deposits in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the spatial patterns of the diffuse, primitive, and classic A deposits were studied from the superior temporal gyrus (STG) to sector CA4 of the hippocampus in six sporadic cases of the disease. In cortical gyri and in the CA sectors of the hippocampus, the Abeta deposits were distributed either in clusters 200-6400 microm in diameter that were regularly distributed parallel to the tissue boundary or in larger clusters greater than 6400 microm in diameter. In some regions, smaller clusters of Abeta deposits were aggregated into larger 'superclusters'. In many cortical gyri, the density of Abeta deposits was positively correlated with distance below the gyral crest. In the majority of regions, clusters of the diffuse, primitive, and classic deposits were not spatially correlated with each other. In two cases, double immunolabelled to reveal the Abeta deposits and blood vessels, the classic Abeta deposits were clustered around the larger diameter vessels. These results suggest a complex pattern of Abeta deposition in the temporal lobe in sporadic AD. A regular distribution of Abeta deposit clusters may reflect the degeneration of specific cortico-cortical and cortico-hippocampal pathways and the influence of the cerebral blood vessels. Large-scale clustering may reflect the aggregation of deposits in the depths of the sulci and the coalescence of smaller clusters.

Evaluating small business performance : a matched pair analysis of African Caribbean owned businesses in the UK

African Caribbean Owned Businesses (ACOBs) have been postulated as having performance-related problems especially when compared with other ethnic minority groups in Britain. This research investigates if ACOBs may be performing less than similar firms in the population and why this maybe so. Therefore the aspiration behind this study is one of ratifying the existence of performance differentials between ACOBs and White Asian Owned Businesses (WAOBs), by using a triangulation of methods and matched pair analysis. Every ACOB was matched along firm specific characteristics of age, size, legal form and industry (sector), with similar WAOBs. Findings show support for the hypothesis that ACOBs are more likely to perform less than the WAOBs; WAOBs out-performed ACOBs in the objective and subjective assessments. Though we found some differentials between both groups in the entrepreneur’s characteristics and various emphases in strategic orientation in overall business strategy. The most likely drivers of performance differentials were found in firm activities and operations. ACOBs tended to have brands that were not as popular in the mainstream with most of their manufactured goods being seen as ‘exotic’ while those by WAOBs were perceived as ‘traditional’. Moreover, ACOBs had a higher proportion of clients constituting of individuals than business organisations while the WAOBs had a higher proportion consisting of business organisations.

Base modified peptidic nucleic acids: synthesis and crystallographic analysis of intermediates

Peptidic Nucleic Acids (PNAs) are achiral, uncharged nucleic add mimetics, with a novel backbone composed of N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine units attached to the DNA bases through carboxymethylene linkers. With the aim of extending and improving upon the molecular recognition properties of PNAs, the aim of this work was to synthesjse PNA building block intermediates containing a series of substituted purine bases for subsequent use in automated PNA synthesis. Four purine bases: 2,6~diaminopurine (D), isoGuanine (isoG), xanthine (X) and hypoxanthine (H) were identified for incorporation into PNAs targeted to DNA, with the promise of increased hybrid stability over extended pH ranges together with improvements over the use of adenine (A) in duplex formation, and cytosine (C) in triplex formation. A reliable, high-yielding synthesis of the PNA backbone component N -('2- butyloxycarbonyl-aminoethyl)glycinate ethyl ester was establishecl. The precursor N~(2-butyloxycarbonyl)amino acetonitrile was crystallised and analysed by X-ray crystallography for the first time. An excellent refinement (R = 0.0276) was attained for this structure, allowing comparisons with known analogues. Although chemical synthesis of pure, fully-characterised PNA monomers was not achieved, chemical synthesis of PNA building blocks composed of diaminopurine, xanthine and hypoxanthine was completely successful. In parallel, a second objective of this work was to characterise and evaluate novel crystalline intermediates, which formed a new series of substituted purine bases, generated by attaching alkyl substituents at the N9 or N7 sites of purine bases. Crystallographic analysis was undertaken to probe the regiochemistry of isomers, and to reveal interesting structural features of the new series of similarly-substituted purine bases. The attainment of the versatile synthetic intermediate 2,6-dichloro~9- (carboxymethyl)purine ethyl ester, and its homologous regioisomers 6-chloro~9- (carboxymethyl)purine ethyl ester and 6-chloro-7-(carboxymethyl)purine ethyl ester, necessitated the use of X-ray crystallographic analysis for unambiguous structural assignment. Successful refinement of the disordered 2,6-diamino-9-(carboxymethyl) purine ethyl ester allowed comparison with the reported structure of the adenine analogue, ethyl adenin-9-yl acetate. Replacement of the chloro moieties with amino, azido and methoxy groups expanded the internal angles at their point of attachment to the purine ring. Crystallographic analysis played a pivotal role towards confirming the identity of the peralkylated hypoxanthine derivative diethyl 6-oxo-6,7-dihydro-3H-purlne~3,7~djacetate, where two ethyl side chains were found to attach at N3 and N7,

Damage analysis of bridge structures using vibrational techniques

Much research is currently centred on the detection of damage in structures using vibrational data. The work presented here examined several areas of interest in support of a practical technique for identifying and locating damage within bridge structures using apparent changes in their vibrational response to known excitation. The proposed goals of such a technique included the need for the measurement system to be operated on site by a minimum number of staff and that the procedure should be as non-invasive to the bridge traffic-flow as possible. Initially the research investigated changes in the vibrational bending characteristics of two series of large-scale model bridge-beams in the laboratory and these included ordinary-reinforced and post-tensioned, prestressed designs. Each beam was progressively damaged at predetermined positions and its vibrational response to impact excitation was analysed. For the load-regime utilised the results suggested that the infuced damage manifested itself as a function of the span of a beam rather than a localised area. A power-law relating apparent damage with the applied loading and prestress levels was then proposed, together with a qualitative vibrational measure of structural damage. In parallel with the laboratory experiments a series of tests were undertaken at the sites of a number of highway bridges. The bridges selected had differing types of construction and geometric design including composite-concrete, concrete slab-and-beam, concrete-slab with supporting steel-troughing constructions together with regular-rectangular, skewed and heavily-skewed geometries. Initial investigations were made of the feasibility and reliability of various methods of structure excitation including traffic and impulse methods. It was found that localised impact using a sledge-hammer was ideal for the purposes of this work and that a cartridge `bolt-gun' could be used in some specific cases.

The process of strategic change:a management perspective

This thesis is concerned with the management processes concerned with complex strategic decision in organisations. The research has sought to explore these processes by taking as its focus the reconstruction of decision processes a) on the basis of an historical study of an industry and in particular a major company in that industry; and b) the perception and understanding of strategic decision processes and change by managers involved in companies in that industry. The main body of analysis and theoretical contributions arise from the detailed analysis of extended depth interviews with managers carried out in 1980 and 1983 which trace thirteen years of the strategic development of a firm. In so doing, extensive use is made of verbatim accounts by managers of events and their interpretation of events. This is then compared with data gathered from.similar interviews with managers of two other companies and examined in the light of existing research and theory in the field. The thesis both provides a detailed insight into the processes associated with the identification and resolution of complex strategic issues and also generates a body of theory concerning the mechanisms by which strategic decisions and the processes of strategic change are interwoven with the cultural and political fabric of organisations. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part deals with the background to the research, provid1ng a fuller summary of the purpose, structure and content of the thesis and a discussion of relevant previous research and the methodology employed herein. The second part mainly provides case studies of the industry and the main company studied. The third part is a detailed presentation and analysis of data. The fourth part is a synthesis of the findings and consolidation of the theoretical interpretation advanced in the thesis.

Elastic-plastic analysis of complete building structures

In this Thesis, details of a proposed method for the elastic-plastic failure load analysis of complete building structures are given. In order to handle the problem, a computer programme in Atlas Autocode is produced. The structures consist of a number of parallel shear walls and intermediate frames connected by floor slabs. The results of an experimental investigation are given to verify the theoretical results and to demonstrate various factors that may influence the behaviour of these structures. Large full scale practical structures are also analysed by the proposed method and suggestions are made for achieving design economy as well as for extending research in various aspects of this field. The existing programme for elastic-plastic analysis of large frames is modified to allow for the effect of composite action of structural members, i.e. reinforced concrete floor slabs and the supporting steel beams. This modified programme is used to analyse some framed type structures with composite action as well as those which incorporate plates and shear walls. The results obtained are studied to ascertain the influence of composite action and other factors on the load carrying capacity of both bare frames and complete building structures. The theoretical failure load presented in this thesis does not predict the overall failure load of the structure nor does it predict the partial failure load of the shear walls and slabs but it merely predicts the partial failure load of a single frame and assumes that the loss of stiffess of such a frame renders the overall structure unusable. For most structures the analysis proposed in this thesis is likely to break down prematurely due to the failure of the slab and shear wall system and this factor must be taken into account in any future work on such structures. The experimental work reported in this thesis is acknowledged to be unsatisfactory as a verification of the limited theory proposed. In particular perspex was not found to be a suitable material for testing at high loads, micro-concrete may be more suitable.

Increased diversity of libraries from libraries: chemoinformatic analysis of bis-diazacyclic libraries

Combinatorial libraries continue to play a key role in drug discovery. To increase structural diversity, several experimental methods have been developed. However, limited efforts have been performed so far to quantify the diversity of the broadly used diversity-oriented synthetic (DOS) libraries. Herein we report a comprehensive characterization of 15 bis-diazacyclic combinatorial libraries obtained through libraries from libraries, which is a DOS approach. Using MACCS keys, radial and different pharmacophoric fingerprints as well as six molecular properties, it was demonstrated the increased structural and property diversity of the libraries from libraries over the individual libraries. Comparison of the libraries to existing drugs, NCI Diversity and the Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository revealed the structural uniqueness of the combinatorial libraries (mean similarity < 0.5 for any fingerprint representation). In particular, bis-cyclic thiourea libraries were the most structurally dissimilar to drugs retaining drug-like character in property space. This study represents the first comprehensive quantification of the diversity of libraries from libraries providing a solid quantitative approach to compare and contrast the diversity of DOS libraries with existing drugs or any other compound collection.

Reactive processing of polymers: structural characterization of products by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy for glycidyl methacrylate grafting onto EPR in the absence and presence of a reactive comonomer

Grafted GMA on EPR samples were prepared in a Thermo-Haake internal mixer by free radical melt grafting reactions in the absence (conventional system; EPR-g-GMA(CONV)) and presence of the reactive comonomer divinyl benzene, DVB (EPR-g-GMA(DVB)). The GMA-homopolymer (poly-GMA), a major side reaction product in the conventional system, was almost completely absent in the DVB-containing system, the latter also resulted in a much higher level of GMA grafting. A comprehensive microstructure analysis of the formed poly-GMA was performed based on one-dimensional H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy and the complete spectral assignments were supported by two-dimensional NMR techniques based on long range two and three bond order carbon-proton couplings from HMBC (Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Coherence) and that of one bond carbon-proton couplings from HSQC (Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence), as well as the use of Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT) NMR spectroscopy. The unambiguous analysis of the stereochemical configuration of poly-GMA was further used to help understand the microstructures of the GMA-grafts obtained in the two different free radical melt grafting reactions, the conventional and comonomer-containing systems. In the grafted GMA, in the conventional system (EPR-g-GMA(CONV)), the methylene protons of the GMA were found to be sensitive to tetrad configurational sequences and the results showed that 56% of the GMA sequence in the graft is in atactic configuration and 42% is in syndiotactic configuration whereas the poly-GMA was predominantly syndiotactic. The differences in the microstructures of the graft in the conventional EPR-g-GMA(CONV) and the DVB-containing (EPR-g-GMA(DVB)) systems is also reported (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of oxidized and chlorinated lipids by mass spectrometry and relevance to signalling

Oxidized and chlorinated phospholipids are generated under inflammatory conditions and are increasingly understood to play important roles in diseases involving oxidative stress. MS is a sensitive and informative technique for monitoring phospholipid oxidation that can provide structural information and simultaneously detect a wide variety of oxidation products, including chain-shortened and -chlorinated phospholipids. MSn technologies involve fragmentation of the compounds to yield diagnostic fragment ions and thus assist in identification. Advanced methods such as neutral loss and precursor ion scanning can facilitate the analysis of specific oxidation products in complex biological samples. This is essential for determining the contributions of different phospholipid oxidation products in disease. While many pro-inflammatory signalling effects of oxPLs (oxidized phospholipids) have been reported, it has more recently become clear that they can also have anti-inflammatory effects in conditions such as infection and endotoxaemia. In contrast with free radical-generated oxPLs, the signalling effects of chlorinated lipids are much less well understood, but they appear to demonstrate mainly pro-inflammatory effects. Specific analysis of oxidized and chlorinated lipids and the determination of their molecular effects are crucial to understanding their role in disease pathology.

Identification and analysis of moderator variables:investigating the customer satisfaction-loyalty link

Purpose – Research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has advanced to a stage that requires a more thorough examination of moderator variables. Limited research shows how moderators influence the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in a service context; this article aims to present empirical evidence of the conditions in which the satisfaction-loyalty relationship becomes stronger or weaker. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of more than 700 customers of DIY retailers and multi-group structural equation modelling, the authors examine moderating effects of several firm-related variables, variables that result from firm/employee-customer interactions and individual-level variables (i.e. loyalty cards, critical incidents, customer age, gender, income, expertise). Findings – The empirical results suggest that not all of the moderators considered influence the satisfaction-loyalty link. Specifically, critical incidents and income are important moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Practical implications – Several of the moderator variables considered in this study are manageable variables. Originality/value – This study should prove valuable to academic researchers as well as service and retailing managers. It systematically analyses the moderating effect of firm-related and individual-level variables on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. It shows the differential effect of different types of moderator variables on the satisfaction-loyalty link.

Organizational change and development in India:a case of strategic organizational change and transformation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine developments in the field of organizational change (OC) with reference to the context of India. It highlights the need to analyze this topic in the present Indian economic environment and discusses the main developments reported in the Indian literature on the same. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence based on a qualitative analysis of a case study undertaken at a public-private partnership transformation at North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) in India is presented. Findings – The findings focus on trust building and belongingness for the employees, establishing a high-performance orientation, quality improvements, and the resultant transformations at NDPL. The analysis indicates a number of ways by which NDPL sought to improve its efficiency in order to better adapt to the rapidly changing Indian business environment. Practical implications – Based on the findings, the paper identifies key messages for policy makers and change agents regarding how to transform companies in the rapidly changing business contexts of emerging markets such as India. Originality/value – The paper offers an in-depth analysis of OC practices in a large organization in India.