407 research outputs found
The Effects of Expert and Referent Power on Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Hiding
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this research study is to determine the ways in which employees’ personal power-expert and referent power influences their knowledge sharing and hiding behaviour. There are hardly any studies that have investigated the effects of employee power and expectations regarding the consequences of divulging knowledge. In this study, the authors investigate whether expected gains and losses in employee personal power influence employees’ willingness to participate in knowledge transfer.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted a two-wave survey design and collected critical data from 288 employees of knowledge-intensive industries identified through online technogroups, such as Stack Exchange. In the first wave, out of the total, 192 knowledge workers attended the follow-up survey. The authors apply polynomial regression followed by surface response analysis to establish the effects of any discrepancy between the current levels of employees’ personal power and their expected levels if they divulge their unique critical knowledge.
Findings – The authors find out that employees having relatively strong personal power are more likely to share knowledge, and the expected losses in power are categorically associated with a reduced intention to share knowledge. The authors also observed an increased knowledge hiding with expected losses in power. Surprisingly, the authors find that these established negative outcomes are also specifically associated with the expected gains in personal power.
Research limitations/implications – The most significant contribution of this study is to establish that power plays an important but complex role in determining the employees’ participation in knowledge transfer activities. The authors specifically conclude that the optimal scenario for knowledge sharing is one in which the employees’ contributions are fairly valued and their reputation is not expected to change because of knowledge sharing.
Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first comprehensive studies that link power to both sharing and hiding of knowledge. This study is also unique in terms of its investigation of the effects of any discrepancy between current levels of employees’ personal power and their expected levels if they share or hide their unique critical knowledge. Thus, this research study is a unique contribution in terms of what and why of an untouched area in the entire knowledge management literature with a special focus on knowledge sharing and hiding
Personal Papers (MS 80-0002)
No full textLetter from R. C. Wilkerson to I. H. Kempner discussing reservations made for Issac Herbert Kempner, Jr. and discussing how Harry Thompson assisted with making the reservations
Connected k-Partition of k-Connected Graphs and c-Claw-Free Graphs
No full textA connected partition is a partition of the vertices of a graph into sets that induce connected subgraphs. Such partitions naturally occur in many application areas such as road networks, and image processing. In these settings, it is often desirable to partition into a fixed number of parts of roughly of the same size or weight. The resulting computational problem is called Balanced Connected Partition (BCP). The two classical objectives for BCP are to maximize the weight of the smallest, or minimize the weight of the largest component. We study BCP on c-claw-free graphs, the class of graphs that do not have K_{1,c} as an induced subgraph, and present efficient (c-1)-approximation algorithms for both objectives. In particular, for 3-claw-free graphs, also simply known as claw-free graphs, we obtain a 2-approximation. Due to the claw-freeness of line graphs, this also implies a 2-approximation for the edge-partition version of BCP in general graphs.
A harder connected partition problem arises from demanding a connected partition into k parts that have (possibly) heterogeneous target weights w₁,…,w_k. In the 1970s Győri and Lovász showed that if G is k-connected and the target weights sum to the total size of G, such a partition exists. However, to this day no polynomial algorithm to compute such partitions exists for k > 4. Towards finding such a partition T₁,…, T_k in k-connected graphs for general k, we show how to efficiently compute connected partitions that at least approximately meet the target weights, subject to the mild assumption that each w_i is greater than the weight of the heaviest vertex. In particular, we give a 3-approximation for both the lower and the upper bounded version i.e. we guarantee that each T_i has weight at least (w_i)/3 or that each T_i has weight most 3w_i, respectively. Also, we present a both-side bounded version that produces a connected partition where each T_i has size at least (w_i)/3 and at most max({r,3}) w_i, where r ≥ 1 is the ratio between the largest and smallest value in w₁, … , w_k. In particular for the balanced version, i.e. w₁ = w₂ = , … , = w_k, this gives a partition with 1/3w_i ≤ w(T_i) ≤ 3w_i
Transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with early cortical dementia: A pilot study
No full textContext: The diagnostic accuracy of the currently available tools carries poor sensitivity resulting in significant delay in specific diagnosis of cortical dementias. Considering the properties of default mode networking of the brain it is highly probable that specific changes may be seen in frontotemporal dementias (FTDs) and Alzheimer′s disease sufficiently early. Aim: The aim of this study is to look for changes in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in cortical dementia. Materials and Methods: Evaluated with a single pulse TMS with the figure of eight coil and recorded from right first dorsal interossei (FDI). Resting Motor Threshold (RMT) was estimated on the opposite motor cortex (T1). Second site of stimulation was cervical spine at C7-T2. Central motor conduction time (CMCT) is equal toT1-T2.Silent Period (SP) identified by applying TMS pulse to contracting FDI. Conclusions: RMT was reduced in seven out of eight Alzheimer′s dementias. CMCT was in the upper limit of normal in both patients with FTD. The most consistent observation was that SP was reduced and there were escape discharges noticed during the SP suggesting increased cortical excitability and decreased cortical inhibition. This suggests probable early asymptomatic changes in the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) nergic and cholinergic system is taking place. This if confirmed may give some insight into early diagnosis and therapeutic role of GABA agonists in these disorders
Complexity analysis of root clustering for a complex polynomial
No full textLet F(z) be an arbitrary complex polynomial. We introduce the local root clustering problem, to compute a set of natural 7epsi;-clusters of roots of F(z) in some box region B0 in the complex plane. This may be viewed as an extension of the classical root isolation problem. Our contribution is twofold: we provide an efficient certified subdivision algorithm for this problem, and we provide a bit-complexity analysis based on the local geometry of the root clusters. Our computational model assumes that arbitrarily good approximations of the coefficients of F are provided by means of an oracle at the cost of reading the coefficients. Our algorithmic techniques come from a companion paper [3] and are based on the Pellet test, Graeffe and Newton iterations, and are independent of Schonhage's splitting circle method. Our algorithm is relatively simple and promises to be efficient in practice
The poetical works of Issac Watts : with the life of the author.
No full textMode of access: Internet
Pepper-pot emittance measurement of laser-plasma wakefield accelerated electrons
No full textThe transverse emittance is an important parameter governing the brightness of an electron beam. Here we present the first pepper-pot measurement of the transverse emittance for a mono-energetic electron beam from a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator, carried out on the Advanced Laser-Plasma High Energy Accelerators towards X-Rays (ALPHA-X) beam line. Mono-energetic electrons are passed through an array of 52 mu m diameter holes in a tungsten mask. The pepper-pot results set an upper limit for the normalised emittance at 5.5 +/- 1 pi mm mrad for an 82 MeV beam
Urbanisation is associated with prevalence of childhood asthma in diverse, small rural communities in Ecuador.
No full textBACKGROUND: Studies conducted in transitional communities from Africa and Asia have pointed to the process of urbanisation as being responsible for the increase in asthma prevalence in developing regions. In Latin America, there are few published data available on the potential impact of urbanisation on asthma prevalence. The aim of the present study was to explore how the process of urbanisation may explain differences in asthma prevalence in transitional communities in north-eastern Ecuador. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An ecological study was conducted in 59 communities in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. Indicators of urbanisation were grouped into three indices representing the processes associated with urbanisation: socioeconomic, lifestyle and urban infrastructure. Categorical principal components analysis was used to generate scores for each index and a fourth index--a summary urbanisation index--was derived from the most representative variables in each of the three indices. The authors analysed the associations between community asthma prevalence and the indices, as well as with each indicator variable of every group. The overall prevalence of asthma was 10.1% (range 0-31.4% between communities). Three of the four indices presented significant associations with community asthma prevalence: socioeconomic (r = 0.295, p = 0.023), lifestyle (r = 0.342, p = 0.008) and summary urbanisation index (r = 0.355, p = 0.006). Variables reflecting better socioeconomic status and a more urban lifestyle were associated with greater asthma prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide evidence that the prevalence of asthma increases with increasing levels of urbanisation in transitional communities, and factors associated with greater socioeconomic level and changes towards a more urban lifestyle may be particularly important
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