Detecting homogeneous segments in DNA sequences by using hidden Markov models

In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the amount of DNA being sequenced and in its availability through genetic databases. Statistical techniques which identify structure within these sequences can be of considerable assistance to molecular biologists particularly when they incorporate the discrete nature of changes caused by evolutionary processes. This paper focuses on the detection of homogeneous segments within heterogeneous DNA sequences. In particular, we study an intron from the chimpanzee α-fetoprotein gene; this protein plays an important role in the embryonic development of mammals. We present a Bayesian solution to this segmentation problem using a hidden Markov model implemented by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We consider the important practical problem of specifying informative prior knowledge about sequences of this type. Two Gibbs sampling algorithms are contrasted and the sensitivity of the analysis to the prior specification is investigated. Model selection and possible ways to overcome the label switching problem are also addressed. Our analysis of intron 7 identifies three distinct homogeneous segment types, two of which occur in more than one region, and one of which is reversible.     

The meaning of empowerment: the interdisciplinary etymology of a new management concept

Empowerment has become a widely used management term in the last decade or so, though, in practical terms, it shares the ambiguity of its predecessors in the HRM tradition. This paper sets out to unravel the web of meaning surrounding empowerment to show what a contested concept it is, and hence why its application in organizational settings is fraught with misunderstanding and tension. It does so by taking an approach that contributes to the examination of HRM discourse and management rhetoric. To demonstrate the ambiguity of empowerment as a concept, the paper reviews the various ways in which the term has been used across non-management disciplines (women, minority groups, education, community care, politics), culminating with a review of the use of empowerment in contemporary management theory. The paper concludes that organizations and managers have chosen to coin a phrase which is open to different, sometimes contradictory, meanings and which, when applied, evokes both subjective attitudes and objective behaviour, means different things in varying contexts, and is affected fundamentally by individual differences in perception and experience. Unless organizations offer clear operational definitions when using empowerment, instead of purely acquiescing to a vague and seductive version of the concept, they are abdicating responsibility for the unpredictable consequences that result.     

Policy assignment in the European union

EMU will see a re‐allocation of responsibility between different tiers of government for different elements of economic policy, yet policy assignment in the EU often reflects political compromises rather than dispassionate analysis or principles. This article explores the arguments for assigning responsibility for economic policy to different tiers of government in the EU. In the light of these arguments, the case for re‐assigning policy for prudential supervision of credit institutions, regulation of utilities and industrial policy is examined. This leads to the conclusion that closer economic integration will require potentially substantial changes in the assignment of policy.     

Psychiatric Disorder Dramaturgically Considered*

This paper reports the results of an investigation into the empirical applicability of conceptualizing mental illness as dramaturgic incompetence and a corresponding attempt to operationalize dramaturgical thought. It was found that dramaturgic incompetence and subsidiary components were strongly associated with degree of psychiatric disturbance and general diagnosis as determined by psychiatric staff. It also was found that attainment of psychiatric identities proceeded through a series of stages consisting of performative incompetence, empathic incompetence, motive incompetence, meaning loss, and identity loss. This sequence was particularly evident in cases of psychosis.     

Solo-living and childless professional women: Navigating the ‘balanced mother ideal’ over the fertile years

One in five women are childless at midlife, and for an estimated 90 percent of these women, childlessness is not actively chosen. In this article, we explore how solo-living and childless professional women navigate the ‘balanced mother ideal’ over their fertile years and what this means for organizations and organization studies. Drawing on biographical narrative interview data from solo-living professional women in the UK, we argue that identifications with the balanced mother ideal change over the life course as a result of futurity, ambivalence, and suppression of negative emotions—part of the logic of both postfeminism and neoliberal feminism—and the ‘disenfranchized grief’ of contingent childlessness. At the point of late fertility, the absence of alternative social narratives to the balanced mother ideal appears to create a crisis point for childless women, including in the workplace. We conclude our article with recommendations for how organizations can better cater to the needs of this significant, yet largely silenced, demographic group.     

In vino silentium? Individual, situational, and alcohol-related factors in reporting violence to the police

This study identifies the individual, situational, and alcohol-related factors associated with reporting violent victimization to the police. Factors positively associated with reporting included older age and incident severity (the assailant's use of a weapon, incurring injury that required attendance at an emergency department). Factors negatively associated with reporting included higher educational qualifications, assault in the nighttime economy (NTE), and drinking more than two alcoholic drinks immediately prior to victimization. It is possible that drinkers engage in "moratorium" on reporting violence in the NTE. Recognizing and reducing the acceptability of violence in the NTE may help reduce incidence of alcohol-related violence. Organizations that use police records of violence to inform practice and policy should account for uneven distributions in reporting behavior when analyzing trends in violence.     

An examination of the ISO 9001:2000 standard and its influence on the integration of management systems

Abstract

Analysis of the literature and examination of the various models of integration and testing in the field, have revealed five key issues relating to management system integration. This paper examines the recently published ISO 9001 : 2000 quality management system standard to see how it addresses these issues, under the headings of compatibility, scope and organizational culture. The examination reveals that while compatibility with the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards has been improved in some areas, a different approach and model of a management system has been used. The paper suggests that differences in the scope of the standards are also likely to give rise to different sub-cultures which will hinder integration, and scope and culture are more important than compatibility. This leads the authors to conclude that new models of integration should be based on an approach and definitions which can be used in any management system, as well as an integrated one. Models of an integrated management system should also emphasize the need for no significant differences in the scope of the integrated systems, and a strong culture which supports the main requirements of TQM.