257 research outputs found
Détermination de la structure cristalline de SmAu₆
No full textSmAu₆ appartient au groupe d'espace P 4₂/ncm (D¹₄⁶h) avec a = 10,39 Å, c = 9,79 Å et Z = 8. Après correction d'absorption, la structure a été déterminée par la méthode d'addition symbolique et affinée tridimensionnellement conduisant à R = 0,15. Elle est constituée par des polyèdres de 15 atomes d'or, centrés par un atome de samarium. Cette structure est géométriquement reliée avec la structure du α-Mn
Ruolo sociale dell'ict per l'innovazione tecnologica
No full textIndagine sociologica sulle fiere ict del 2007-2008. Fiere Smau a Milano, ComPa a Bologna, Innovaction a Udin
The learning-decoding approach as a means of overcoming the barriers to growth in small & medium size enterprises
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis explores how small business owners learn to learn' to overcome barriers to
growth or commercial success. This learning takes place within a process which has
been termed the Learning-Decoding Approach. This Approach consists of three main
factors -
(1) how small business owners Scan their environment for signals and cues;
(2) how they Decode any signals and cues; and
(3) how they Test their Mental models and Assumptions - this factor incorporates an analysis of the inclination to be Open to changing or affirming the Mental Models and Assumptions held.
Further, it examines what the small business owner does with the final result from this
process: that is, is it used to influence the design of some strategic plan or does it become part of an emerging one?
Generally, it was found that Strategic Planning is not a function of the Learning-
Decoding Approach. It is not considered a core tool for overcoming barriers to
growth. Its major role is at the task or operational level rather than the business level.
Further, any attempt at Strategy Planning is only used as a guide.
Fifty small firms were investigated within two `knowledge-worker' sectors: the
Management Consulting Sector and the Marketing Consulting Sector. Within these
sectors three sizes of firms were reviewed. Thirty-eight male and twelve female
owner-managers were involved in the interviews.
The research identified a number of similarities and some differences between the sectors; and provided a cultural explanation for them. The daily work practices used by owner-managers showed that the sectors were different but closely aligned.
A tentative Learning-Decoding Approach model was developed and comprised three
spectrums. Firms can be positioned on them according to their predisposition to, and
skills in, Scanning the environment for signals, and Decoding the signals and then
Testing them against their Mental Models and Assumptions. Further, if learning is to
occur the owner-manager must be prepared to be open to changing any Mental Models and Assumptions held. By learning the skills implicit in this process, the owner-manager can move on to learning how to overcome the barriers to growth. This suggests that the Learning- Decoding Approach can provide a helpful model for advisers to enable them to mentor, coach, counsel or facilitate small business owners in a review of their business style and practice.
The main conclusion drawn from the thesis is that Scanning, Decoding and Testing are perceived as valuable activities which influence commercial success. However, a gap is evident between attitude and behaviour. Due to this, it is felt that the aims of the research are only partly met
An L (polymerase) deficient rabies virus defective interfering particle RNA is replicated and transcribed by heterologous helper virus proteins
No full textThe impact of labor market regulations
No full textThe authors investigate the impact of labor market regulations in settings where compliance is incomplete. They review some stylized facts about labor market behavior, present an analytical model that may explain such behavior, and provide a checklist for assessing the distortionary impact of a regulation such as the minimum wage. They take as their starting point the limited evidence about the distortionary effects of such regulations and argue that there may be natural limits on the efficiency losses engendered by labor market regulations. First, the regulations may not be binding at market equilibrium. For example, minimum wages may be set so low that they are ineffective. Second, even if they are binding, the relevant elasticities of supply and demand may be so low that the regulations have little impact on efficiency. Third, even if the regulations are binding and elasticities are sizable, compliance may be low. The authors argue that the likelihood of compliance will be greatest when the regulations are binding and the relevant elasticities are sizable. That is, if the distortionary costs of regulations are not rendered insignificant by the first two reasons, then the returns to noncompliance will be high and, other things being equal, employers will evade or avoid the regulations, thereby minimizing the imact on efficiency. The argument rests on profit maximization subject to a hard budget constraint. Public enterprises, which are not concerned only with profit maximization and often have softer budget constraints than the private sector, may be more willing to conform to profit-reducing regulations, but in this case the authors argue that compliance may reduce already-existing efficiency losses.Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Policies,Public Health Promotion,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Poverty Assessment,Environmental Economics&Policies
Why open source software can succeed
No full textThe paper discusses three key economic problems raised by the emergence and diffusion of Open source software: motivation, coordination, and diffusion under a dominant standard. First, the movement took off through the activity of a software development community that deliberately did not follow profit motivations. Second, a hierarchical coordination emerged without the support of an organization with proprietary rights. Third, Linux and other open source systems diffused in an environment dominated by established proprietary standards, which benefited from significant increasing returns. The paper shows that recent developments in the theory of critical mass in the diffusion of technologies with network externality may help to explain these phenomena.Open Source, Diffusion, Network Externality.
A cytogenetic analysis of a pericentric inversion in Hapolopappus Graclis
No full textHaplopappus gracilis is a smaU, annual member of the family Compositae with three chromosomal races. The standard race (n=2) is distributed in the southwestern United States from southern Colorado to New Mexico and Arizona (Jackson 1973). The standard karyotype consists of a long pair of median centric chromosomes designated A and two chromosomes with submedian centromeres, secondary constrictions and satellites designated as chromosome B (Jackson 1957). A Mexican n=2 race, confined to the Big Bend area of Texas and Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico, is distinguished by a change in centromere position caused by a centric transposition on chromosome A (Jackson 1973). The third race (n=3) normally occurs in three smaU contiguous towns in Arizona. It was derived from hybrids between the n=2 standard and Mexican transposition races by chromosome breakage (Jackson 1992).
In Wickenberg, Arizona, a standard chromosome population was found to include a pericentric inversion on chromosome B. This caused a change in chromosome morphology from a normal acrocentric to a median centromere position, which was used as a marker for the inversion. The inversion includes the centromere and excludes the NOR region and satellite. Breaks caused by the inversion appear to be in nonfunctional regions because a maximum poUen fertihty of 89.45% occurs in the inversion homozygotes. Artificial crosses were performed by R. C. Jackson to obtain a homozygote inversion stock for this smdy. Photographs of the standard, inversion heterozygote, and inversion homozygote karyotypes are shown in Figures 1-3
Benchmarking Methods and Tools in Medium Sized Manufacturing Enterprises
No full textThe method of benchmarking for closing the gap between best in class and the company's performance has proven its efficiency for well structured processes in large or multi-national enterprises. Nevertheless, even today the method of benchmarking in medium sized enterprises is still a rarity. This is mainly based on the different constraints caused by the market- and technically based product specification, by customers and the internal organisation of medium-sized companies with a low level-specification. Therefore classical process benchmarking in medium sized companies, defined as the comparison of individual processes with a best in class benchmark, is much more time-consuming and, due to the financial possibilities of the enterprises in most cases not feasible. The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), with its main activity of contract research for medium sized enterprises (>> 2000 employees and >> 500 million turnover), developed a special meth od dedicated to this problems and named the IPA Company Analysis. This method starts at the company level and compares the company's performance with a market standard and, if feasible, with a best in class competitor. This helps to take process interlinks into consideration. The IPA Company Analysis is done in three steps, starting with the data collection at the firm, followed by an expert and database routed analysis, and ending with a presentation at the company. The results of the contract research, based on the IPA Company Analysis, show a tremendous improvement, starting with this approach in medium sized companies
The ichthyoplankton assemblage of the Algoa Bay nearshore region in relation to coastal zone utilization by juvenile fish
No full textThe nearshore ichthyoplankton of Algoa Bay was sampled at six stations over a two-year period between 1980 and 1982. Larvae of 26 families of teleosts were identified with Gobiidae constituting 48.0%, Engraulidae 26.7% and Clupeidae 12.1% of all larvae sampled. Caffrogobius spp., Engraulis capensis and Etrumeus teres were the dominant species. Representatives of families such as Sparidae and Mugilidae which numerically dominate juvenile nursery areas in Algoa Bay were not abundant in the nearshore ichthyoplankton. The various taxa occurring in the ichthyoplankton are discussed in terms of distribution of adults and juveniles, breeding biology and available information on early life history. The paucity of larvae of coastal species with pelagic eggs is highlighted and, with reference to the findings of other workers and local oceanographic conditions, a possible spawning strategy is suggested
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