In May 2004, the Alexander Koenig Zoological Research Museum hosted the Fifth International Symposium on Tropical Biology. This series was established at the ZFMK in the early 1980s, and has variably focused on systematics and ecology of tropical organisms, with an emphasis on Africa. Previous volumes are those edited by Schuchmann (1985), Peters and Hutterer (1990), Ulrich (1997), and Rheinwald (2000). The symposium in 2004 was organized by the Entomology Department under the direction of Michael Schmitt. The intention was to focus on Africa rather than on a particular taxon, and to highlight biodiversity at all levels ranging from molecules to ecosystems. This focus was timely partly because of the currently running BIOTA Africa programmes (BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa). BIOTA is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa (http://www.biote-africa.de). Session titles were Biogeography and Speciation Processes, Phylogenetic Patterns and Systematics, Diversity Declines and Conservation, and Applied Biodiversity Informatics. Each session was opened by an invited speaker, and all together 77 lectures and 59 posters were presented. There were over 200 participants and it was gratifying to us to meet colleagues from 26 nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Japan, USA, and ten African countries. We thank all participants for their valuable contributions.

African Biodiversity: Molecules, Organisms, Ecosystems

Business & Money

Huber, Bernhard A.

Sinclair, Bradley J.

Lampe, Karl-Heinz

Economics

Springer

There is no doubt that quality has become a major feature in the survival plan of organisations. With diminishing markets resulting from improved competitive performance and the associated factor of single-sourcing arrangements by the major organisations, it is clear that unless there is a commitment to change, organisations will lose their competitive edge. This will unfortunately mean elim­ ination and the resultant harsh realities that come with it for the employees. It has been said on many platforms that unemployment is not inevitable. Those organisations which recognise the requirements for survival know that quality, and its association with customer satisfaction, is now a key issue. Survival programmes based on quality improvement require an unrelenting com­ mitment to include everyone, from the Managing Director down, in an ongoing, never-ending involvement based on monitoring, and improving, all our activities. These Total Quality Management (TOM) programmes, whatever their specific nature, have a common theme of measuring and then improving. This text describes the philosophy and techniques of one type of involvement programme-Statistical Process Control (SPC). The material to follow suggests that SPC is a major element of any programme and, if properly applied, could be a complete programme in itself. Measuring and improving means that data must be collected, used, understood, interpreted and analysed, and thereby lies the difficulty.

African Biodiversity

The Systematics of New World Clinocera Meigen: (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae)

Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

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