Based on inductive reasoning—case evidence from Indian family business groups and the authors’ experience with family businesses in India—this article explores the impact on succession performance of succession to a nonfamily professional manager as compared to a family member, commonly referred to as professionalization of management. An important distinction is drawn between family‐owned and family managed businesses and family‐owned and professionally managed businesses. Then, drawing from case studies on succession process in three Indian family business groups, the article puts forth five propositions pertaining to the impact of professionalization of management on succession performance. Several directions for further research are indicated.

Single mutations of three amino acid residues in the vicinity of the primary electron donor, P, in the reaction center (RC) from Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides were constructed and characterized in order to study the effects of hydrogen-bonding on the physical properties of P. The mutations, Phe M197-->Tyr, Met L248-->Thr, and Ser L244-->Gly, represent single amino acid changes near P designed to introduce residues found in Rhodopseudomonas (Rps.) viridis and to, thus, probe the effects of nonconserved residues. The mutations were designed to change the nonconserved H-bonding interactions of P in Rb. sphaeroides, at the level of a C2 acetyl, a C9 keto, and a C10 ester carbonyl of P, respectively, to those present in Rps. viridis. The Fourier transform (pre)resonance Raman (FTRR) spectra of P, in its reduced and oxidized states, from reaction centers of these mutants were studied to determine modifications of H-bond interactions of the pi-conjugated C2 acetyl and C9 keto carbonyl groups and the C10 carbomethoxy ester carbonyl groups of P. The vibrational spectra of reduced P in the Met L248-->Thr and Ser L244-->Gly mutants reveal no evidence for changes in the H-bonding pattern of P; this suggests that for Rb. sphaeroides wild type, Ser L244 is not H-bonded to the C10 ester carbonyl of PL. The vibrational spectrum of reduced P from the Phe M197-->Tyr mutant compared to that of wild type can unambiguously be interpreted in terms of the formation of a new H-bond with an acetyl carbonyl of P, specifically PM. Correlating with the new H-bond, the Phe M197-->Tyr mutant exhibits an electronic absorption spectrum where the P absorption band is significantly perturbed. Intact cell and chromatophore photobleaching spectra of the same mutant indicate that the P absorption band has red-shifted by ca. 10 nm; no such behavior is observed for the other mutants. As well, the P-->BPheL electron transfer rate does not seem to strongly depend on the H-bonding of the C2 acetyl carbonyl of PM to a tyrosine residue. The EPR zero-field splitting parameters, E and D, of the primary donor triplet are only slightly modified in the mutant reaction centers, on the order of 1%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

A compact naphthalenediimide (NDI)–2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyloxy (TEMPO) dyad has been prepared with the aim of studying radical‐enhanced intersystem crossing (EISC) and the formation of high spin states as well as electron spin polarization (ESP) dynamics. Compared with the previously reported radical–chromophore dyads, the present system shows a very high triplet state quantum yield (ΦT=74 %), a long‐lived triplet state (τT=8.7 μs), fast EISC (1/kEISC=338 ps), and absorption in the red spectral region. Time‐resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy showed that, upon photoexcitation in fluid solution at room temperature, the D0 state of the TEMPO moiety produces strong emissive (E) polarization owing to the quenching of the excited singlet state of NDI by the radical moiety (electron exchange J>0). The emissive polarization then inverts into absorptive (A) polarization within about 3 μs, and then relaxes to a thermal equilibrium while quenching the triplet state of NDI. The formation and decay of the quartet state were also observed. The dyad was used as a three‐spin triplet photosensitizer for triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (quantum yield ΦUC=2.6 %). Remarkably, when encapsulated into liposomes, the red‐light‐absorbing dyad–liposomes show good biocompatibility and excellent photodynamic therapy efficiency (phototoxicity EC50=3.22 μm), and therefore is a promising candidate for future less toxic and multifunctional photodynamic therapeutic reagents.

Ethyl p-(dimethylamino)cinnamate (EDAC) has been used as a fluorescence probe for monitoring the interaction between a model water-soluble protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The probe EDAC undergoes intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) in the excited state in water and other polar solvents. The emission from the ICT state becomes more intense and blue-shifted due to reduced polarity in the hydrophobic environments of BSA and SDS micelles relative to that in pure water. The intensity of the ICT emission from EDAC increases with surfactant concentration and reaches a maximum at the critical micelle concentration of SDS, which can be employed as a simple technique for following micellization. Analysis of the fluorescence spectra of the probe provide evidences in favor of surfactant-induced protein uncoiling due to massive binding of the SDS molecules to BSA in the cooperative binding region of the binding curve, describing protein (BSA)−surfactant (SDS) interaction. The polarity of the BSA−SDS aggregate formed is intermediate between that of hydrophobic regions of BSA and SDS micelles as sensed by the intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) probe, EDAC.

The archetypical fluorescent nucleoside analog, 2-aminopurine (2Ap) has been used in countless assays, though it suffers from very low quantum yield, especially when included in double strands, and from the fact that its residual emission frequently does not represent biologically relevant conformations. To conquer 2Ap’s deficiencies, deoxythienoguanosine (dthG) was recently developed. Here, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy was used to compare the ability of 2Ap and dthG, to substitute and provide relevant structural and dynamical information on a key G residue in the (−) DNA copy of the HIV-1 primer binding site, (−)PBS, both in its stem loop conformation and in the corresponding (+)/(−)PBS duplex. In contrast to 2Ap, this fluorescent nucleoside when included in (−)PBS or (−)/(+)PBS duplex fully preserves their stability and exhibits a respectable quantum yield and a simple fluorescence decay, with marginal amounts of dark species. In further contrast to 2Ap, the fluorescently detected dthG species reflect the predominantly populated G conformers, which allows exploring their relevant dynamics. Being able to perfectly substitute G residues, dthG will transform nucleic acid biophysics by allowing, for the first time, to selectively and faithfully monitor the conformations and dynamics of a given G residue in a DNA sequence.