Tube-shaping unit — A way of improving the quality of shaped tubes

Lenin Dnepropetrovsk Pipe Plant. Translated from Metallurg, No. 8, p. 39, August, 1989.     

Intercomparison of scanning probe microscopes

Comparison measurements on reference standards are reported in which 13 partners with different instruments took part. A set of prototype standards which had been produced and calibrated within a European project were used for the measurements. Here, results of measurements on a 240 nm step height standard and a two-dimensional lateral standard with a nominal pitch of 1 μm are reported.     

Effects ofSolanum glycoalkaloids on chemosensilla in the Colorado potato beetle

Steroidal glycoalkaloids, found in species of the Solanaceae, elicit bursting activity in galeal and tarsal chemosensilla of adult Colorado potato beetles. The effect has an average latency of 6–12 sec, depending on the sensillum/alkaloid combination. A 20-sec alkaloid treatment is often suffficient to render galeal sensilla unresponsive to gamma-aminobutyric acid, normally an effective stimulant. The alkaloids have similar effects on galeal sensilla of larval Colorado potato beetles and on labellar chemosensilla of the blowfly. It is concluded that these compounds act independently of any specialized chemoreceptor in the Colorado potato beetle, and that association of the Colorado potato beetle with solanaceous plants has not led to evolution of a specific receptor forSolanum glycoalkaloids.     

Information systems and uncertainty: a conspiracy of misplaced confidence

Abstract. Information technology is becoming an increasingly important factor in contemporary management. Information systems are being set up in business explicitly to accommodate the new opportunities of this technology, and these are having a lasting effect on managerial practice. The full implications of this technology-driven development have not been appreciated by organizations, which in absorbing technological systems, are tolerating a great drain on their resources.
The efficacy of computers is predicated on the acceptance of some very specific perspectives. A growing discontent and disappointment with their limited achievements is our reason for advocating a different point of view. We will discuss how a shift in perspective, particularly in respect to the perception of uncertainty, will affect thinking and practice in the field of management support systems. We will render our view of the application of computerized decision support systems (DSS), and especially, we will focus on the beliefs and assumptions that have shaped this technology thus far. To this end we will discuss the concept of uncertainty, by juxtaposing current thinking and practice with our understanding of the context of its application. Finally, we will place our understanding of uncertainty in a managerial context and explain the implications this would have for strategists.