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Why
Are Our Fingers Different Lengths?
Anatomically, our fingers (and toes) are
digits. People, like all four-legged
vertebrate animals, have digits that are
characteristic of the class (amphibians,
reptiles, mammals) and order (rodents,
carnivores, primates) to which they belong.
Thus, people have five fingers of a length
characteristic for the hands of primate
mammals. Of course, there is variation among
different species and even variation among
individual members of the same species. Some
people have ring fingers noticeably longer
than their index finger and some people have
second toes longer than their "big"
toe. Is there any reason for this? It is
thought that length is an adaption to swinging
in trees initially, and then a further
adaption to picking things up. An "even
hand" would be less versatile. For
example, a long little finger would get
smashed more often. Furthermore, there is
evidence that we can move around more
effectively with smaller outer toes. Over
time, higher vertebrates have a tendency to
lose some structures altogether. Horses for
example have lost all but one toe. Humans
might lose a digit or two over the next few
hundred million years. Unfortunately, none of
us will be here to find out.
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Akzo Nobel's pharmaceutical intermediates
business Diosynth will be combined with
Organon, its human health care business, in an
effort to improve the performance of both
units. The new business unit will retain the
Organon name and will begin operations in
January, 2005. The pharma intermediates
business will continue to use the Diosynth
name, but will be a subsidiary of Organon.
About 60 jobs will be cut in the process, with
most coming from the Netherlands. Akzo is also
building a $74 million (Euro 60 million)
state-of-the-art injectable medicines plant at
Oss and a biotechnology R&D facility at
Cambridge, MA, which are expected to come on
stream in 2007.
Avecia has hired Goldman Sachs to find buyers
for its NeoResins and Covion Organic
Semiconductors business units. Neoresins,
which manufactures waterborne resins for use
as binders and additives in paints, coatings,
adhesives and inks, had sales of $315 million
(Euro 257 million) in 2003 and is the largest
unit within Avecia. Analysts predict it could
bring in as much as $645 million for the
company from possible buyers including Atofina,
DSM, BASF, Apollo Management and Rohm and Haas.
Covion Organic Semiconductors manufactures
organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for
various electronic applications. Avecia has
already divested its biocides business to Arch
Chemicals, its coatings and inks additives
business to Lubrizol and its metal extractant
products and intermediate and stabilizers
businesses to Cytec Industries.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) charged
the U.S. unit of Bayer with participating in a
conspiracy to fix prices of aliphatic
polyester polyols. The company has agreed to
pay a $33 million (Euro 26.6 million) fine.
The DoJ indicated that the investigation was
ongoing.
Degussa agreed to plead guilty to a criminal
charge relating to the price fixing of organic
peroxides between August 1997 and March 1998.
As part of its agreement with the U.S.
Department of Justice (DoJ), the company will
pay a $1.5 million (Euro 1.2 million) fine for
the actions of its predecessor LaPorte PLC.
The agreement remains subject to court
approval.
Over the next twelve months, Mexican
petrochemicals company Petroleos Mexicanos
will transform itself into Pemex Petroquimica
by merging its seven petrochemical companies
together. The reorganization is designed to
improve efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance
the decision making process. The restructuring
was approved by the Mexican Ministry of
Finance. The seven companies were originally
spun off in the early 1990's as part of a
failed attempt to privatize them. Pemex is
also in the process of selecting partners for
its $1.8 billion Phoenix petrochemicals
project which includes an ethylene cracker and
an aromatics plant.
Troubled oil company Yukos will not be
nationalized according to Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Yukos has lost all court
appeals relating to tax evasion charges, for
which the government is seeking over $7
billion (Euro 5.65 billion). The company's
bank accounts have been frozen and it is
unable to pay for services. However, Chairman
Viktor Gerashchenko says Yukos will try hard
to avoid bankruptcy. Russia's state-owned
pipeline monopoly Transneft has agreed to
accept crude oil as payment for export
shipping fees, and China has offered to pay
rail freight costs in order to secure normal
delivery.
Roch Doliveux, UCB group deputy chairman and
CEO of UCB Pharma has been appointed CEO and
chairman of the company effective January 1,
2005. Doliveux will be replacing Georges
Jacobs, who will become chairman of the board,
filling the spot left by the retiring Mark
Eyskens.
In early November 2004, Clariant International
Ltd. (CIL) will re-launch its bid to acquire a
20 percent stake in India's Colour-Chem Ltd (CCL),
which was originally planned for May 2003. The
public offer was delayed while the courts
decided what level of interest should be paid
as compensation to shareholders for an
original delay in making a public offer back
in 1998. With the additional 20 percent,
Clariant AG will hold a 70.1 percent stake in
CCL through CIL and its subsidiary EBITO
Chemiebetelligungen AG, which currently holds
a 50.1 percent stake.
CVC Capital Partners expanded its holdings in
printing inks with the purchase of BASF's
printing inks and plates operations and
Swedish printing ink producer ANI. The BASF
operations include BASF Drucksysteme GmbH, a
BASF Colorants & Chemicals pigment plant
in Shanghai, China and an alkali blue plant at
Huntington, West Virginia. BASF sold the
business because it has become "largely
stand-alone" and requires a "more
strongly global thrust" in order to be
successful. CVC indicated that the ANI and
BASF businesses, which it views as "very
complementary," will be merged, with the
new company based in Germany.
