In recent years the situation of production enterprises has been aggravated by the change from a vendors' market to a buyers' market, the globaHsation of competition, a severe market segmentation and rapid progress in product and process technologies. Beside cost and quality, time has taken on an increasingly important role, forcing enterprises to become ever more dynamic and versatile. Therefore, in all areas of production management, novel, effective concepts, procedures and tools have been developed in order to meet these new requirements. But beyond these more technical, organisational and information technology related aspects there is certainly another one which has to be considered more closely than ever before, namely that of human resources. Is not group technology also related to group work? Do partners in a global network only operate according to predefined process schemes with no personal contact? Are the mental process models of the programmers of ERP-systems the same as those of the users? What is the impact of human behaviour and what consequences are to be expected if organisational and individual objectives are separated? And finally, how do necessary technological changes affect the workforce and the individual needs and wishes of the employees.

The business environment throughout the world is currently going through rapid and far reaching change. They are analysing their business processes and scrutinising ways to make their systems more streamlined and competitive in order to meet the challenges posed by the Global Economy. Forming close alliances and integrating the operational processes with the key suppliers and customers is the mantra every one is embodying. In parallel and to support this shift in strategic focus developers are putting forward new concepts in the emerging Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to make the integration of processes among collaborating enterprises as seamless and secure as possible. Together these developments have yielded a tremendous amount of new knowledge and will continue to offer us new challenges and opportunities well into the future. This book brings together the opinions of a number of leading experts, analysts, academics, researchers, vendors and industrial practitioners from around the world who have worked extensively in the area of collaborative manufacturing. Through individual chapters in this book, authors put forward their views, approaches and new tools. Still, other authors present a glimpse of the nature of solutions that may be developed in the near future. This book is loosely structured to allow chapters which address common themes to be grouped together. In these chapters, the reader will learn aU the key issues currently being addressed in production management research and practice throughout the world.

TheBlymphocytelineagerepresentsaleadingsystemforexploring- lecularmechanismsthatunderliecellfatespecification,differentiationand cellular activation. In the past five years major advances have been achievedintheanalysisofearlyBcelldevelopment,AIDdependentclass switchrecombinationaswellassomatichypermutationandBlimp-1re- latedplasmacelldifferentiation. Manyofthesefindingsandtheirimpli- tionsarecoveredinthisvolume. Twoemergentareasofresearchthatare includedinthecontributionsfocusonthepre-BCRandIkaros-familyp- teins. Thepre-BCRisanunusualmoleculardevicethatisusedtoexecute acriticaldevelopmentalcheckpointintheBlineage. Itsmechanismof- tion in relationto the pre-TCR and the mature antigen receptors (BCR, TCR)isofconsiderableinterest. Ikaros-familyproteinsappeartofunction viarecruitingtargetgenestodomainsofcentromericheterochromatinin the nucleus. Initially discovered in lymphocytes, they represent a novel system of gene regulationvia nuclearcompartmentalization. Finally, the volumeincludesachapteronWntsignalinginlymphopoiesis. Analysisof thisevolutionallyconservedpathwaywhichregulatescellularproliferation anddifferentiationindiversedevelopmentalcontextsbenefitedenormo- lyfromthediscoveryoftheLEF/TCFfamilyoffactorsinlymphocyticl- eages. ThisvolumeisdedicatedtothememoryofEugeniaSpanopoulou,ac- leagueandahighlyvaluedmemberofourscientificcommunity. Itc- tainsachapteronthebiochemistryofV(D)JrecombinationthatEugenia co-authoredwithDavidSchatz. Obituary Eugenia Spanopoulou was an extraordinary person and scientist. Her enormousintelligenceandenergysparkedimportantscientificdiscoveries, andvaultedhertoapointofbreathtakingpotential-apotentialabruptly erasedattheageof37withthecrashofSwissairflight111onSeptember 3,1998. Lostwithherwereherhusband,AndrewHodtsev,andyoungson, Platon. Eugeniawaspassionatelyinterestedinunderstandingthemolecular- sisofdevelopmentandchoseashermodelsystemthedevelopmentofB andTlymphocytes. Shebeganbystudyingthetranscriptionalregulation oftheTcell-specificgene,Thy-1,asagraduatestudentinFrankGrosveld s labatMillHill,London. Thereafter,sheturnedherattentiontothetopicof V(D)Jrecombination,firstasapostdoctoralfellowwithDavidBaltimore attheWhiteheadInstituteinCambridge,Massachusettsandsubsequently inherownlaboratoryatMountSinaiSchoolofMedicineinNewYorkCity. Eugeniamadefundamentaldiscoveriesconcerningthebiochemicalme- anismofthisreaction,andhowdefectsinitscentralenzymaticcom- nents,RAG1andRAG2,canleadtoahumanseverecombinedimmuno- ficiencydisorder,knownasOmennsyndrome. Atthetimeof herdeath, shehadbeenaHowardHughesMedicalInstituteinvestigatorforlessthan ayear,buthadalreadyassembledalaboratoryof15peopleworkingonan extensivearrayoftopicsinearlylymphocytedevelopmentandV(D)J- combination. Eugenialivedeachmomentofherlifewithanintensityfittingforthe cityinwhichshelived. LikeManhattan,shesleptlittle. Sheexpectedagreat dealofherself,andonlyalittlelessfromthosewithwhomsheworked. - geniaalsohadhighexpectationsforthescientificprocessandwasouts- keninherpraiseorcondemnationofthosewhometorfellshortofthose expectations. Shewasquicktoformanopinionanddevotedherselffe- ciouslytofriendshipsandhypotheses. PerhapsthegreatesttestimonytoEugeniaistheaffectionandreverence feltforherby themembersof herlab. Whilethisstemmedinnosmall partfrompredictablesources-herkeenmindandbroadknowledge-it founditsdeepestsourceinEugenia sabilitytotransmit,byexampleand word,her love of a life of learning and exploration. SandroSantigata,a graduatestudentinEugenia slab,capturedthiseloquentlyatthememorial serviceforEugeniaandAndrew,whenhesaid: VIII Obituary "Ifyouhaveeverbeenspellboundbyagreatstatue,enrapturedbyits strengthandvitality,enthralledbyitspurity,purposeandgraceandupli- edbythesenseofhopethatitsparkswithinyoursoul,thenyouhave- readyunderstoodwhyIadoredEugenia. Shesimplyembodiedtheideal- ticprinciplesthatformthecoreofadedicatedgraduatestudent sheart. Andtoseethesevaluesmaterializedintheformofone smentorcanbe nothingshortofinspirational. " ListofContents GeneRegulatoryNetworksOrchestratingBCellFateSpecification, Commitment,andDifferentiation K. L. Medina*H. Singh...1 Helix-Loop-HelixProteinsinLymphocyteLineageDetermination B. L. Kee...15 Ikaros-FamilyProteins:InSearchofMolecularFunctions DuringLymphocyteDevelopment B. S. Cobb*S. T. Smale...29 BiochemistryofV(D)JRecombination y D. G. Schatz*E. Spanopoulou...4 9 Thepre-BcellReceptorinBCellDevelopment: RecentAdvances,PersistentQuestionsandConservedMechanisms M. R. Clark*A. B. Cooper*L. D. Wang*I. Aifantis...87 TranscriptionalControlofBCellActivation L. M. Corcoran ...105 ExpressionofMHCIIGenes G. Drozina*J. Kohoutek*N. Jabrane-Ferrat*B. M. Peterlin...147 ClassSwitchRecombination:AnEmergingMechanism A. L. Kenter...171 Blimp-1;ImmunoglobulinSecretion andtheSwitchtoPlasmaCells R. Sciammas*M. M. Davis...201 WntSignalinginLymphopoiesis A. Timm*TheBlymphocytelineagerepresentsaleadingsystemforexploring- lecularmechanismsthatunderliecellfatespecification,differentiationand cellular activation. In the past five years major advances have been achievedintheanalysisofearlyBcelldevelopment,AIDdependentclass switchrecombinationaswellassomatichypermutationandBlimp-1re- latedplasmacelldifferentiation. Manyofthesefindingsandtheirimpli- tionsarecoveredinthisvolume. Twoemergentareasofresearchthatare includedinthecontributionsfocusonthepre-BCRandIkaros-familyp- teins. Thepre-BCRisanunusualmoleculardevicethatisusedtoexecute acriticaldevelopmentalcheckpointintheBlineage. Itsmechanismof- tion in relationto the pre-TCR and the mature antigen receptors (BCR, TCR)isofconsiderableinterest. Ikaros-familyproteinsappeartofunction viarecruitingtargetgenestodomainsofcentromericheterochromatinin the nucleus. Initially discovered in lymphocytes, they represent a novel system of gene regulationvia nuclearcompartmentalization. Finally, the volumeincludesachapteronWntsignalinginlymphopoiesis. Analysisof thisevolutionallyconservedpathwaywhichregulatescellularproliferation anddifferentiationindiversedevelopmentalcontextsbenefitedenormo- lyfromthediscoveryoftheLEF/TCFfamilyoffactorsinlymphocyticl- eages. ThisvolumeisdedicatedtothememoryofEugeniaSpanopoulou,ac- leagueandahighlyvaluedmemberofourscientificcommunity. Itc- tainsachapteronthebiochemistryofV(D)JrecombinationthatEugenia co-authoredwithDavidSchatz. Obituary Eugenia Spanopoulou was an extraordinary person and scientist. Her enormousintelligenceandenergysparkedimportantscientificdiscoveries, andvaultedhertoapointofbreathtakingpotential-apotentialabruptly erasedattheageof37withthecrashofSwissairflight111onSeptember 3,1998. Lostwithherwereherhusband,AndrewHodtsev,andyoungson, Platon. Eugeniawaspassionatelyinterestedinunderstandingthemolecular- sisofdevelopmentandchoseashermodelsystemthedevelopmentofB andTlymphocytes. Shebeganbystudyingthetranscriptionalregulation oftheTcell-specificgene,Thy-1,asagraduatestudentinFrankGrosveld s labatMillHill,London. Thereafter,sheturnedherattentiontothetopicof V(D)Jrecombination,firstasapostdoctoralfellowwithDavidBaltimore attheWhiteheadInstituteinCambridge,Massachusettsandsubsequently inherownlaboratoryatMountSinaiSchoolofMedicineinNewYorkCity. Eugeniamadefundamentaldiscoveriesconcerningthebiochemicalme- anismofthisreaction,andhowdefectsinitscentralenzymaticcom- nents,RAG1andRAG2,canleadtoahumanseverecombinedimmuno- ficiencydisorder,knownasOmennsyndrome. Atthetimeof herdeath, shehadbeenaHowardHughesMedicalInstituteinvestigatorforlessthan ayear,buthadalreadyassembledalaboratoryof15peopleworkingonan extensivearrayoftopicsinearlylymphocytedevelopmentandV(D)J- combination. Eugenialivedeachmomentofherlifewithanintensityfittingforthe cityinwhichshelived. LikeManhattan,shesleptlittle. Sheexpectedagreat dealofherself,andonlyalittlelessfromthosewithwhomsheworked. - geniaalsohadhighexpectationsforthescientificprocessandwasouts- keninherpraiseorcondemnationofthosewhometorfellshortofthose expectations. Shewasquicktoformanopinionanddevotedherselffe- ciouslytofriendshipsandhypotheses. PerhapsthegreatesttestimonytoEugeniaistheaffectionandreverence feltforherby themembersof herlab. Whilethisstemmedinnosmall partfrompredictablesources-herkeenmindandbroadknowledge-it founditsdeepestsourceinEugenia sabilitytotransmit,byexampleand word,her love of a life of learning and exploration. SandroSantigata,a graduatestudentinEugenia slab,capturedthiseloquentlyatthememorial serviceforEugeniaandAndrew,whenhesaid: VIII Obituary "Ifyouhaveeverbeenspellboundbyagreatstatue,enrapturedbyits strengthandvitality,enthralledbyitspurity,purposeandgraceandupli- edbythesenseofhopethatitsparkswithinyoursoul,thenyouhave- readyunderstoodwhyIadoredEugenia. Shesimplyembodiedtheideal- ticprinciplesthatformthecoreofadedicatedgraduatestudent sheart. Andtoseethesevaluesmaterializedintheformofone smentorcanbe nothingshortofinspirational. " ListofContents GeneRegulatoryNetworksOrchestratingBCellFateSpecification, Commitment,andDifferentiation K. L. Medina*H. Singh...1 Helix-Loop-HelixProteinsinLymphocyteLineageDetermination B. L. Kee...15 Ikaros-FamilyProteins:InSearchofMolecularFunctions DuringLymphocyteDevelopment B. S. Cobb*S. T. Smale...29 BiochemistryofV(D)JRecombination y D. G. Schatz*E. Spanopoulou...49 Thepre-BcellReceptorinBCellDevelopment: RecentAdvances,PersistentQuestionsandConservedMechanisms M. R. Clark*A. B. Cooper*L. D. Wang*I. Aifantis...87 TranscriptionalControlofBCellActivation L. M. Corcoran ...105 ExpressionofMHCIIGenes G. Drozina*J. Kohoutek*N. Jabrane-Ferrat*B. M. Peterlin...147 ClassSwitchRecombination:AnEmergingMechanism A. L. Kenter...171 Blimp-1;ImmunoglobulinSecretion andtheSwitchtoPlasmaCells R. Sciammas*M. M. Davis...201 WntSignalinginLymphopoiesis A. Timm*R. Grosschedl...225 SubjectIndex ...253 ListofContributors (Theiraddressescanbefoundatthebeginningoftheirrespectivechapters. ) Aifantis,I. 87 Kohoutek,J. 147 Clark,M. R. 87 Medina,K. L. 1 Cobb,B. S. 29 Peterlin,B. M. 147 Cooper,A. B. 87 Schatz,D. G.

In recent years the situation of production enterprises has been aggravated by the change from a vendors' market to a buyers' market, the globaHsation of competition, a severe market segmentation and rapid progress in product and process technologies. Beside cost and quality, time has taken on an increasingly important role, forcing enterprises to become ever more dynamic and versatile. Therefore, in all areas of production management, novel, effective concepts, procedures and tools have been developed in order to meet these new requirements. But beyond these more technical, organisational and information technology related aspects there is certainly another one which has to be considered more closely than ever before, namely that of human resources. Is not group technology also related to group work? Do partners in a global network only operate according to predefined process schemes with no personal contact? Are the mental process models of the programmers of ERP-systems the same as those of the users? What is the impact of human behaviour and what consequences are to be expected if organisational and individual objectives are separated? And finally, how do necessary technological changes affect the workforce and the individual needs and wishes of the employees.

Strategic Decision Making in Modern Manufacturing introduces and explains the AMBIT (Advanced Manufacturing Business ImplemenTation) approach, which has been developed to bridge the gap between strategic management considerations and the operational effects of technology investment decisions on the manufacturing organisation, so that the likely impact of new manufacturing technology and/or programme implementations can be evaluated, anticipated and accurately predicted. The AMBIT approach focuses specifically on the non-financial aspects of such investment decisions and offers an approach that allows a manager, or more frequently a management team, to understand the impacts of a new technology or a new programme on the manufacturing organisation in terms of manufacturing performance.

Just as no man is an island, so no business can operate without being part of a network of businesses proactively collaborating and sharing information for mutual success. This book presents some of the latest thinking on collaborative systems by leading experts in the field.

Fuzzy set theory has capability to describe the uncertain situations, containing ambiguity and vagueness. Fuzziness is found in our decision, in our thinking, in the way we process information, and particularly in our language.The objective of the book is to study fuzzy mathematics with applications and to characterize new measures of fuzzy information with their various generalizations. The fuzzy information measure deals with vague and ambiguous uncertainties. Large number of measures of entropy, directed divergence and symmetric divergence for probability distributions are known. Analogously, there is a set of variety of measures for fuzzy sets available. Cross-entropy measure is also known as the information discrepancy between two probability distributions. Derived from cross-entropy, fuzzy directed divergence measures the dissimilarity between two fuzzy sets. Various generalized measures of fuzzy information have been introduced. The concept of useful' fuzzy information by attaching utility to the uncertainties of fuzziness and probabilities of randomness has been introduced.