132 research outputs found
PES studies of some short lived combustion intermediates
No full textA new multidetector photoelectron spectrometer has been used to study several short-lived molecules which are known to be important combustion intermediates. A detailed description of the instrument and in particular the problems associated with fluorine atom-molecule reactions are considered. Assignment of observed photoelectron spectra was achieved from experimental evidence and also with the aid of ab initio molecular orbital calculations performed on both the molecule and ion in each case. The first photoelectron bands of five alkyl radicals have been identified experimentally. The ethyl radical study suggested that the cation equilibrium geometry has a bridged structure whereas the cyclopropyl study indicated a cyclic cation structure with the α C-H lying in the carbon skeleton plane. Observation of both the n-propyl and isopropyl radicals led to estimates of the relative stabilities of the two cations. The neopentyl radical has also been studied. The first ionization energies of the isomeric hydroxymethly and methoxy radicals have been determined by photoelectron spectroscopy resulting in estimates of the relative energies of both neutral and cationic isomers in their ground electronic states. In addition, the first photoelectron band of two other oxygenated radicals, the methoxymethyl and oxiranyl radicals, have been observed experimentally. The gas phase reaction of fluorine atoms with benzene has been investigated. As a result the phenyl radical was observed via the abstraction reaction. The addition product, C_6H_6F, was also seen and this showed a kinetic isotope effect on deuteration. In addition, details of some mass spectrometric studies of methane combustion and calibration of the mass spectrometer for methyl radicals are presented. (D67262/86)</p
Bargaining power
No full textBargaining Power examines the balance of power between management and unions, showing why some managements and some trade unions are more powerful than others. Bargaining power has long been recognized as central to industrial relations, but no previous work has taken the issue as its central focus.Using both sociological and economic evidence, the author shows how managements and unions approach negotiations and how they use power to achieve their bargaining objectives. In turn he analyses different perspectives on power, negotiations, the industrial relations context, and human resources management.The book concludes with an examination of the changing position of trade unions in Britain in the 1980s, arguing that union bargaining power remains more significant than suggested by the decline in union membership.Contents Introduction: Definitions, measurement, and model
1. The development of bargaining theory , with Philip Beaumont
2. Environmental influences on bargaining power , with Andrew Thomson
3. Values, beliefs, objectives, and bargaining power
4. Bargaining power inaction
5. The influence of bargaining power on the outcomes of collective bargaining
6. Bargaining power in changing contexts: hotels and catering, motor vehicles, and local government
7. Trade Union power at the beginning of the 1990s: secular decline or terminal collapse
A multi-paradigm, whole system view of health and social care for age-related macular degeneration
No full textPatterns of behavior in biodiversity preservation
No full textConservation budgets are limited, so it is right to ask of biodiversity programs, What should be preserved? How much should be preserved? Where? Recent papers on optimal preservation policy have tried to integrate three considerations: the relative uniqueness of different species or habitats, the degree of risk to their continued survival, and the opportunity cost of the resources needed to enhance their prospects for survival. It is natural to ask, How are we doing? Have biodiversity conservation resources been optimally allocated? What determines government decisions about the preservation of endangered species? The authors submit the first report card, an empirical analysis of U.S. species preservation policy, the best-documented country experience currently available. The authors discuss the most common normative justifications for biodiversity preservation and identify measurable proxies for a subset of those justifications. Proxies include"scientific"species characteristics, such as"degree of endangerment"and"taxonomic uniqueness,"as well as"visceral"characteristics, such as physical size and to what extent a species is considered a"higher form of life."They find that both kindsof characteristics, but especially"visceral"characteristics, influence government decisions on whether to protect a species under the Endangered Species Act. The authors find that"visceral"characteristics- especially physical size and taxonomic class - are also important in explaining how much is spent on endangered species. Perhaps more surprising is their finding that more is spent on animals with lower risk of extinction than on animals with a higher risk of extinction. The author's results are sobering. Many millions have been spent on species preservation, but neither uniqueness nor risk has weighed heavily in resource allocation. Instead there has been a heavy bias toward"charismatic megafauna"- large, well-known birds and mammals ("higher forms of life,"in the human value system). Other classes of fauna - including, say, eels or wild toads - and all flora, have gotten extremely short shrift. Prominent examples of species with high charisma, high attention, and relatively low endangerment are the bald eagle, the Florida scrub jay, and the grizzly bear. Other species may have less charisma but could have more scientific value or species risk.Wildlife Resources,Wetlands,Environmental Economics&Policies,Information Technology,Biodiversity
Gait alignment in mobile phone conversations Roderick Murray-Smith, 1,2
No full textConversation partners on mobile phones can align their walking gait without physical proximity or visual feedback. We investigate gait synchronization, measured by accelerometers while users converse via mobile phones. Hilbert transforms are used to infer gait phase angle, and techniques from synchronization theory are used to infer level of alignment. Experimental conditions include the use of vibrotactile feedback to make one conversation partner aware of the other’s footsteps. Three modes of interaction are tested: reading a script, discussing a shared image and spontaneous conversation. The vibrotactile feedback loop on its own is sufficient to create synchronization, but there are complex interference effects when users converse spontaneously. Even without vibration crosstalk, synchronisation appeared for long periods in the spontaneous speech condition, indicating that users were aligning their walking behaviour from audible cues alone. Author Keywords Accelerometer, alignment, synchronization, mobile devices
Landscape-painter as landscape-gardener : the case of Alfred Parsons R.A.
No full textIn 2 vols.Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN016830 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
An integrated approach to high integrity software verification
No full textUsing automated reasoning techniques, we tackle the niche activity of proving that a program is free from run-time exceptions. Such a property is particularly valuable in high integrity software, for example, safety- or security-critical applications. The context for our work is the SPARK Approach for the development of high integrity software. The SPARK Approach provides a significant degree of automation in proving exception freedom. Where this automation fails, however, the programmer is burdened with the task of interactively constructing a proof and possibly also having to supply auxiliary program annotations. We minimize this burden by increasing the automation, through an integration of proof planning and a program analysis oracle. We advocate a 'cooperative' integration, where proof-failure analysis directly constrains the search for auxiliary program annotations. The approach has been successfully tested on industrial data. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007.</p
An Integrated Approach to Program Reasoning
No full textFinding tractable methods for program reasoning remains a major research challenge. Here we address this challenge using an integrated approach to tackle a niche program reasoning application. The applicatio
On the solar orientation of Ales Stenar site
No full textAles Stenar is an ancient stone structure in Sweden. Here we discuss its solar orientation using a freely available software working on the Google Map
Rooted in all its story, more is meant than meets the ear : a study of the relational and revelational nature of George MacDonald's mythopoeic art
No full textScholars and storytellers alike have deemed George MacDonald a great mythopoeic writer, an exemplar of the art. Examination of this accolade by those who first applied it to him proves it profoundly theological: for them a mythopoeic tale was a relational medium through which transformation might occur, transcending boundaries of time and space. The implications challenge much contemporary critical study of MacDonald, for they demand that his literary life and his theological life cannot be divorced if either is to be adequately assessed. Yet they prove consistent with the critical methodology MacDonald himself models and promotes. Utilizing MacDonald’s relational methodology evinces his intentional facilitating of Mythopoesis. It also reveals how oversights have impeded critical readings both of MacDonald’s writing and of his character. It evokes a redressing of MacDonald’s relationship with his Scottish cultural, theological, and familial environment – of how his writing is a response that rises out of these, rather than, as has so often been asserted, a mere reaction against them. Consequently it becomes evident that key relationships, both literary and personal, have been neglected in MacDonald scholarship – relationships that confirm MacDonald’s convictions and inform his writing, and the examination of which restores his identity as a literature scholar. Of particular relational import in this reassessment is A.J. Scott, a Scottish visionary intentionally chosen by MacDonald to mentor him in a holistic Weltanschauung. Little has been written on Scott, yet not only was he MacDonald’s prime influence in adulthood, but he forged the literary vocation that became MacDonald’s own. Previously unexamined personal and textual engagement with John Ruskin enables entirely new readings of standard MacDonald texts, as does the textual engagement with Matthew Arnold and F.D. Maurice. These close readings, informed by the established context, demonstrate MacDonald’s emergence, practice, and intent as a mythopoeic writer
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