Showing papers by "University of Manchester published in 1985"

Rapid preparation of DNA from filamentous fungi

Abstract: We describe a general, simple and inexpensive method for the isolation of DNA from filamentous fungi. Starting from freeze-dried mycelium 01–015% by weight can be isolated as high molecular weight DNA suitable for restriction and ligation in 2 h. The preparation can be done in Eppendorf tubes and allows the processing of many samples in parallel. We have used the method with the basidiomycetes Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Coprinus cinereus and the ascomycete Aspergillus nidulans and others have used it with Trichoderma reesei, Aspergillus niger and for the isolation of DNA from tomato plants.

Accounting systems and systems of accountability — understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts

Abstract: In this paper we argue that understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts requires more than a technical description of accounting information systems as they are conceived and designed in abstract. What is required are studies of the way in which accounting systems become embodied, through use, in organisational systems of accountability. We present a framework for analysing the operation of systems of accountability in organisations, and illustrate this by contrasting, in an ideal-typical manner, forms of accountability in relationships characterised by regular face-to-face contacts, with forms of accountability in relationships which span physical distance.

Making sense of research into the organizational and social aspects of management accounting: a review of its underlying assumptions [1]

Abstract: A central notion behind this paper is that certain fundamental theoretical and philosophical assumptions underlie any piece of research there is no such thing as a totally objective or value free investigation. Given this initial claim it is thought that the underlying assumptions behind any piece of work should be recognized and assessed by researchers to ensure that they are consistent with their personal beliefs. In other words, researchers into the management sciences should consider their own values and beliefs concerning the nature of society and the social sciences. In order to assist people in this task previous research into the organizational and social aspects of accounting is reviewed and grouped into various schools of thought within a basic sociological framework devised by Burrell and Morgan (1979). This classification of previous accounting literature according to its principal theoretical and philosophical assumptions serves a number of important purposes. First, the framework forms a map that can be used to find one's way through the wealth of research, the aims of which are sometimes confusing and the results conflicting. It will be seen that the multi-disciplinary nature of management accounting, and the consequent variety of theories subsumed under its heading, masks the fact that they tend to stem from similar perspectives towards society and the social sciences. Secondly, a practically oriented subject such as management accounting has often embraced theories from other areas with little concern for their philosophical underpinnings. By making explicit the basic assumptions behind different pieces of work, it is hoped that a greater tolerance and awareness of research from alternative disciplines and perspectives may br

The Manchester prototype dataflow computer

Abstract: The Manchester project has developed a powerful dataflow processor based on dynamic tagging. This processor is large enough to tackle realistic applications and exhibits impressive speedup for programs with sufficient parallelism.

Cellulose chemistry and its applications

Abstract: Twenty-one chapters cover various aspects of cellulose chemistry, including: chemistry fundamentals and structure; intercrystalline swelling; cellulose in solution; decomposition by chemical, physical, mechanical and biochemical means; photochemistry and radiation chemistry of cellulose; cellulose esters and ethers; cross-linking of cellulose; cellulose fibers and their properties. The chapter on photochemistry and radiation chemistry is indexed separately.

The galactic population of pulsars

Abstract: Afin d'etablir des conclusions statistiques sur la population globale des pulsars dans la Galaxie, on analyse un echantillon de 316 pulsars detectes

Management control in an area of the ncb: rationales of accounting practices in a public enterprise.

Abstract: This paper explores the rationales offered by participants for the accounting and management control practices in which they are involved. An analysis of these rationales emphasis four characteristics of current practices. Firstly, financial planning and control systems do not appear to be a dominant mode of organisational control for the organisation investigated, physical production planning appearing to be more important. Secondly, the parts of the whole organisation appear to be only loosely coupled, thereby insulating the various parts from each other, and from pressures for change. Thirdly, in such a context, accounting and information generally may be managed either (or both) to enhance ambiguity or to provide legitimacy in (and about) the organisation. The paper concludes, fourthly, by noting the pressures for change which appear to operate through the finance function, thereby enhancing that function's organisational role. The observations and analysis of the paper are based on an in-depth observational study of an Area (i.e. geographical division) of the National Coal Board, in the U.K., and on a detailed study of that organisation's history and environment.

Phase diagrams for dilute spin glasses

Abstract: A generalised, dilute, infinite-ranged Ising spin-glass model is introduced and studied as a function of the concentration p and temperature T. The phase diagram is investigated and paramagnetic (P), ferromagnetic (F), spin glass (SG) and mixed (M) phases, meeting at a multicritical point (p*,T*), are identified. The P/F and P/SG phase boundaries are derived, and the F/M and M/SG boundaries are calculated close to (p*,T*). The condition for having a re-entrant spin-glass transition is derived. In non-zero magnetic field a p-dependent A-T instability line is obtained. The authors apply their results to the insulator EuxSr1-xS, it is predicted to exhibit re-entrant behaviour.

Philosophy of Science, Science and Science Education.

Abstract: (1985). Philosophy of Science, Science and Science Education. Studies in Science Education: Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 25-57.

Novel Role for Phycoerythrin in a Marine Cyanobacterium, Synechococcus Strain DC2.

Abstract: Cyanobacterial picoplankton contribute substantially to oceanic primary productivity. The colored protein phycoerythrin is the major component of their light-harvesting apparatus. It was found that in Synechococcus strain DC2 a variable proportion of the light energy absorbed by phycoerythrin is lost as autofluorescence and therefore is not passed to a photoreaction center. Phycoerythrin may serve two functionally distinct roles in this organism: as a nitrogen reserve and as a collector of quanta for photosynthesis.

The Construction of Masculine Science

Abstract: The masculinity of science can be studied as a topic in the cultural reproduction of gender. In this paper four distinct, but not necessarily contradictory, accounts of the way in which science comes to be seen as a masculine subject are examined. It is argued that schools could play a transformative, rather than a reproductive, role in the formation of gender identities.

Quantitative stress analysis by means of the thermoelastic effect

Abstract: A new non-contact, full-field, stress analysis technique based on the measurement of the intensity of infra-red radiation emitted from the surface of a cyclically loaded body is applied to series of metallic specimens (including beams in bending, the ‘Brazilian’ disc, and a simple pure-shear testpiece) and critically appraised.

‘Small’-proteoglycan: collagen interactions: Keratan sulphate proteoglycan associates with rabbit corneal collagen fibrils at the ‘a’ and ‘c’ bands

Abstract: l. Proteoglycans (PGs) in rabbit corneal stroma and mouse sclera have been stained for electron microscopy with Cupromeronic blue in a critical electrolyte concentration (CEC) mode, with and without prior digestion of the tissue by keratanase or chondroitinase ABC to remove the keratan sulphate (KS) or chondroitin-dermatan sulphates (CS or DS) respectively.2. Two classes of PGs, located orthogonally to the corneal collagen fibrils at either the ‘step’ (band ‘a’ or ‘c’) or gap zone (band ‘d’ or ‘e’) are shown to be KS-PGs or DS-PGs respectively. Four separate and specific PG binding sites on Type I collagen fibrils have thus been identified.3. Rabbit corneal KS and DS PGs each contain two kinds of PG (Gregory JD, Coster L & Damle SP (1982) J. Biol. Chem.257, 6965–6970). We propose that each ‘small” protein-rich PG is associated with a specific binding site on the collagen fibril.

Proteoglycan Histochemistry — A Valuable Tool for Connective Tissue Biochemists

Abstract: The histochemistry of connective tissue proteoglycans (PGs) poses two major requirements, 1. for the specific demonstration of a given PG and, 2. at the ultrastructural level, for the examination of the shape of the PG, and its interactions with other molecules and tissue elements. Techniques for the localisation and identification of PGs are discussed, according to the principles behind their application. The strengths and weaknesses of antibody stains are compared with those of mini-molecular reagents, based on resolution, sensitivity, stoichiometry and tissue penetration. The concept of specificity is analysed in this context. The polyanionic characteristics of PGs are exploited to allow very sensitive detection and localisation by cationic probes, both macro- and mini-molecular. Complex formation by heavy metal cations, basic dyestuffs and polycations with PGs is a simple ion-exchange process (basophilia), which can be manipulated to give considerable specificity, e.g. using the critical electrolyte concentration (CEC) concept. The fundamental physical chemical unity of the phenomena of basophilia, CEC and biochemical fractionations of tissue polyanions by anion-exchange is discussed. This unity allows direct quantitative and qualitative comparisons to be made between histochemical and biochemical results at all levels from the tissue sample to the single molecule of PG in situ. The great value of the partnership between microscopy and analytical biochemistry is emphasised. The expanded solution domain of PGs collapses during formation and processing of the 'stained' complex, obscuring molecular detail and possibly resulting in translocation of the PG. Approaches aimed at restoring the initial situation, and their application to electron microscopy of PGs in tissues are outlined. Complexes of PG with ambient polycations may form, either as artefacts during processing or as an integral part of in vivo ultrastructure. Uptake of stain may be partly or totally blocked, in consequence. Ways of investigating, avoiding, or making use of this phenomenon are described. Application of integrated approaches to the study of PG--collagen and PG--elastin interactions in tissues are discussed. Specific interactions and stoichiometric relationship, particularly of dermatan sulphate proteoglycans with type I collagen have been observed, in skin, tendon, and other non-calcifying tissue, but not in bone.

Evolution of resistance in the presence of two insecticides.

Abstract: A two-locus model is used to analyze the effectiveness of a mixture of insecticides in delaying resistance, compared to the use of the insecticides singly. The effects of factors such as recombination, effective dominance, initial value of allele frequencies and initial value of linkage disequilibrium are considered. It is shown that the use of mixtures is always more effective in delaying the onset of resistance, often by many orders of magnitude. It is shown that there exists a threshold value of recombination fraction, above which the evolution of resistance is extremely slow. Resistance evolves very rapidly for values of recombination fraction below the threshold. Finally, the relevance of these results on resistance management is discussed.

Proteoglycan-type I collagen fibril interactions in bone and non-calcifying connective tissues.

Abstract: The association of proteoglycans with type I collagen fibrils in skin, tendon, cornea and bone has been determined by electron microscopy using an electron-dense dye, Cupromeronic blue, in the critical electrolyte concentration mode, backed up by biochemical analysis and digestion by hyaluronidase or keratanase. A major proteoglycan of the soft tissues, containing dermatan sulphate, is shown to be regularly and orthogonally arranged at the surface of the fibrils. Uranyl acetate counterstaining revealed that the main specific binding site is the 'd' band, which previous work indicated is very close to the initial site of calcification of type I collagen fibrils. Bone, demineralized by a 'non-aqueous' technique which preserves the proteoglycan in the tissue, does not contain orthogonal arrays; the interfibrillar proteoglycan filaments are oriented parallel to the fibril axis. The main proteoglycan in bone is chondroitin sulphate-rich. It is suggested that dermatan sulphate proteoglycan plays a role in preventing soft connective tissues from calcifying.

Morphological and morphometric studies of the human obstructed, trabeculated urinary bladder.

Abstract: As part of an ongoing study on trabeculation of the human urinary bladder, morphological and morphometric techniques have been employed on biopsy samples of detrusor muscle removed from control and urodynamically obstructed patients. In control material the mean profile area, profile diameter and nucleated profile percentage of bladder smooth muscle cells were determined. The values of the same parameters were obtained for smooth muscle cells in samples from urodynamically obstructed and endoscopically trabeculated patients. Comparison of the results obtained from the two groups showed that smooth muscle cells undergo compensatory hypertrophy in response to outflow obstruction. Furthermore, connective tissue infiltration of detrusor muscle bundles is a characteristic of those bladders which possess cells showing the largest increase in cell size.

Incidence and Correlates of Incontinence in Stroke Patients

Abstract: The incidence of incontinence in a series of 135 consecutive stroke patients was 51% (urine) and 23% (feces) within one year. In 75% the urinary incontinence started within the first two weeks, and in 41% it had cleared during that time. Incontinence at onset is associated with measures of severity of stroke (and of immobility for fecal incontinence). Among 92 survivors at one year, 15% were incontinent of urine, a proportion that rose in two- and three-year survivors to 23 to 24%, but by four years was again 14%, a level similar to that of the general elderly population. It is concluded that incontinence is more commonly a by-product of immobility and dependency than of involvement of the neurologic pathways, and most of it is transient.