Negotiation,Management, and Systems Thinking

The mutual apartness of negotiation, management, and systems thinking and practice is highlighted, and a reflection on a systemic view of negotiation is presented. An overview of negotiation studies is given, as well as practical comments on the pursuit of win-win to achieve the general satisfaction of the parties and lasting relationships; the importance of everybody's participation; different views and facets of negotiation and of conflict; the basic variables of power, time, and information; and the basic points for a methodic negotiation process. Some aspects of negotiation have been selected from the management literature. Systems approaches that could contribute to negotiation and benefit from its findings are recalled, integrated into TSI/ LSI, which seems to offer a conceptual and procedural guide to a systemic view of negotiation as a wheel for management, as suggested in the final section.     

Intracellular gate opening in Shaker K+ channels defined by high-affinity metal bridges

Voltage-gated potassium channels such as Shaker help to control electrical signalling in neurons by regulating the passage of K+ across cell membranes. Ion flow is controlled by a voltage-dependent gate at the intracellular side of the pore, formed by the crossing of four alpha-helices--the inner-pore helices. The prevailing model of gating is based on a comparison of the crystal structures of two bacterial channels--KcsA in a closed state and MthK in an open state--and proposes a hinge motion at a conserved glycine that splays the inner-pore helices wide open. We show here that two types of intersubunit metal bridge, involving cysteines placed near the bundle crossing, can occur simultaneously in the open state. These bridges provide constraints on the open Shaker channel structure, and on the degree of movement upon opening. We conclude that, unlike predictions from the structure of MthK, the inner-pore helices of Shaker probably maintain the KcsA-like bundle-crossing motif in the open state, with a bend in this region at the conserved proline motif (Pro-X-Pro) not found in the bacterial channels. A narrower opening of the bundle crossing in Shaker K+ channels may help to explain why Shaker has an approximately tenfold lower conductance than its bacterial relatives.     

The synovial fluid hyaluronic acid in rheumatoid arthritis

Summary The intrinsic viscosity of hyaluronic acid in synovial fluid decreases significatively in mild and severe arthritis (24% and 37% respectively). Variation in hyaluronic acid concentration parallels the above results. Chondroitin-6-sulfate can be detected in about 30% of the arthritic fluids.This work was partially supported by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina.     

The influence of transparency on budget forecast deviations in municipal governments

This paper analyzes the impact of transparency on fiscal performance. Our sample considers the 100 largest Spanish municipalities for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The results show that the level of municipal transparency influences budget forecast deviations in tax revenues and current expenditures. On the one hand, less transparent municipalities overestimate their revenues, allowing them to provide more public services without an immediate increase in taxes. On the other, these local governments, which are aware of the overestimation of their revenues, may spend less than they budgeted. More transparent municipalities, meanwhile, seem to be more prudent in their revenue estimations, since they underestimate their revenues, meaning they can spend more than projected. Our results also show that the behavior of politicians is influenced by the phase of the electoral cycle in which they find themselves, with politicians overestimating expenditures in the year before election.     

Tegmina-size variation in a Neotropical cricket with implications on spectral song properties

This study evaluates the relationship between shape and size of tegmen, harp, mirror, and spectral range of calling song frequency of a Neotropical cricket subpopulation (Lerneca inalata beripocone. In addition, we compare intraspecific morphological divergence and calling song properties between individuals from different sites of the Pantanal of Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Regression analysis showed that the dominant and maximum calling song frequencies were negatively correlated with tegmen size, i.e. frequencies are either lower or higher depending on the corresponding size variation in resonance structures of the forewings. Canonical variable analysis demonstrated marked intraspecific differences in morphometric characters between localities of a L. inalata subpopulation c. 35 km apart (SESC-Pantanal Advanced Research Base and Pouso Alegre Farm, Mato Grosso, Brazil). Lerneca inalata beripocone at SESC had larger forewings than conspecifics from Pouso Alegre Farm. These morphological variations of wing properties related to reproductive behaviours were interpreted as fitness parameters, likely shaped by restricted gene flow during temporal habitat isolation episodes. Such isolation patterns occur in the Pantanal wetlands for several months during the annual hydrological cycle.