Employee evaluation of leader-initiated crisis preparation

Crisis prevention plans are usually evaluated based on their effects in terms of preventing or limiting organizational crisis. In this survey-based study, the focus was instead on how such plans influence employees’ reactions in terms of risk perception and well-being. Five different organizations were addressed in the study. Hypothesis 1 tested the assumption that leadership crisis preparation would lead to lower perceived risk among the employees. Hypothesis 2 tested the conjecture that it would also lead to a higher degree of well-being. Both hypotheses were supported. The results and their implications are discussed

Understanding the role of value-focused thinking in idea management

In a couple of classical studies, Keeney proposed two sets of variables labelled as value focused thinking (VFT) and alternative-focused thinking (AFT). Value-focused thinking (VFT), he argued, is a creative method that centres on the different decision objectives and how as many alternatives as possible may be generated from them. Alternative-focused thinking (AFT), on the other hand, is a method in which the decision maker takes notice of all the available alternatives and then makes a choice that seems to fit the problem best. The impact of these two methods on idea generation was measured using a sample of employees. The results revealed that employees in the value-focused thinking condition (VFT) produced fewer ideas. Thus, value-focused thinking (VFT) is not only able to facilitate ideation fluency but also to constrain it. Factors such as cognitive effort and motivation may play a part here. However, the quality of the ideas was judged to be higher in terms of creativity and innovativeness. Hence, value-focused thinking (VFT) seems to have a positive impact on the quality of ideas in terms of creativity and innovativeness regardless of ideation fluency. Implications for the design of idea management systems are discussed

Exceptional groups from open strings

We consider type IIB theory compactified on a two-sphere in the presence of mutually nonlocal 7-branes. The BPS states associated with the gauge vectors of exceptional groups are seen to arise from open strings connecting the 7-branes, and multi-pronged open strings capable of ending on more than two 7-branes. These multi-pronged strings are built from open string junctions that arise naturally when strings cross 7-branes. The different string configurations can be multiplied as traditional open strings, and are shown to generate the structure of exceptional groups.Comment: 25 pages, LATEX, 9 figures; minor changes, two references adde

Planet formation bursts at the borders of the dead zone in 2D numerical simulations of circumstellar disks

As accretion in protoplanetary disks is enabled by turbulent viscosity, the border between active and inactive (dead) zones constitutes a location where there is an abrupt change in the accretion flow. The gas accumulation that ensues triggers the Rossby wave instability, that in turn saturates into anticyclonic vortices. It was suggested that the trapping of solids within them leads to a burst of planet formation on very short timescales. We perform two-dimensional global simulations of the dynamics of gas and solids in a non-magnetized thin protoplanetary disk with the Pencil Code. We use multiple particle species of radius 1, 10, 30, and 100 cm, solving for the particles' gravitational interaction by a particle-mesh method. The dead zone is modeled as a region of low viscosity. Adiabatic and locally isothermal equations of state are used. We find that the Rossby wave instability is triggered under a variety of conditions, thus making vortex formation a robust process. Inside the vortices, fast accumulation of solids occurs and the particles collapse into objects of planetary mass in timescales as short as five orbits. Because the drag force is size-dependent, aerodynamical sorting ensues within the vortical motion, and the first bound structures formed are composed primarily of similarly-sized particles. In addition to erosion due to ram pressure, we identify gas tides from the massive vortices as a disrupting agent of formed protoplanetary embryos. We also estimate the collisional velocity history of the particles that compose the most massive embryo by the end of the simulation, finding that the vast majority of them never experienced a collision with another particle at speeds faster than 1 m/s.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures + Appendices. Accepted by A&A. Nature of replacement: included a missing referenc

Planetesimal and Protoplanet Dynamics in a Turbulent Protoplanetary Disk: Ideal Stratified Disks

Due to the gravitational influence of density fluctuations driven by magneto-rotational instability in the gas disk, planetesimals and protoplanets undergo diffusive radial migration as well as changes in other orbital properties. The magnitude of the effect on particle orbits can have important consequences for planet formation scenarios. We use the local-shearing-box approximation to simulate an ideal, isothermal, magnetized gas disk with vertical density stratification and simultaneously evolve numerous massless particles moving under the gravitational field of the gas and the host star. We measure the evolution of the particle orbital properties, including mean radius, eccentricity, inclination, and velocity dispersion, and its dependence on the disk properties and the particle initial conditions. Although the results converge with resolution for fixed box dimensions, we find the response of the particles to the gravity of the turbulent gas correlates with the horizontal box size, up to 16 disk scale heights. This correlation indicates that caution should be exercised when interpreting local-shearing-box models involving gravitational physics of magneto-rotational turbulence. Based on heuristic arguments, nevertheless, the criterion L_h / R ~ O(1), where L_h is the horizontal box size and R is the distance to the host star, is proposed to possibly circumvent this conundrum. If this criterion holds, we can still conclude that magneto-rotational turbulence seems likely to be ineffective at driving either diffusive migration or collisional erosion under most circumstances.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Major expansion in Secs. 2.1 & 2.2 and new Sec. 4.

Atoms in Lithiated Carbon Fibres

Carbon fibres are key constituents of structural batteries, in which electrochemical energy storage and mechanical load bearing are merged in one multifunctional device. Here carbon fibres simultaneously act as structural reinforcement by carrying load and as battery electrode by hosting lithium (Li)-ions in its microstructure. However, conventional carbon fibres are not designed to be multifunctional. To enable carbon fibres with optimised multifunctional capabilities, a fundamental understanding of their microstructure, chemical information and interaction with Li is required.In this thesis, mass spectrometry and electron spectroscopy techniques are developed and used to elucidate the atomic distribution, configuration, and interaction in commercial carbon fibres used in structural batteries. Here the methodology of analysing Li in carbon fibres with atom probe tomography (APT) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) is demonstrated. Synchrotron-based hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) reveals that certain chemical states of N heteroatoms, pyridinic and pyrrolic, are connected to enhanced electrochemical performance of carbon fibres. AES shows that: Li distributes throughout the entire carbon fibre; the amount of trapped Li is higher and concentrated towards the centre of the fibre at increased discharge rates; Li is initially inserted in amorphous domains and with increased states of lithiation in crystalline domains; and Li plating can occur on individual fibres without spreading to adjacent fibres. APT on lithiated carbon fibres shows that: the distribution of Li is independent of the distribution of N heteroatoms; trapped Li is distributed uniformly in all domains; and Li agglomerates at elevated states of lithiation.The work presented in this thesis paves the way for analysis of carbon-based battery materials with APT and AES. Furthermore, the work unveils much of the interplay between carbon fibre and Li and deepens the understanding of the design parameters for tailoring multifunctional carbon fibres used in improved structural batteries

Microstructure of Carbon Fibres for Multifunctional Composites: 3D Distribution and Configuration of Atoms

Lightweight energy storage is a must for increased driving range of electric vehicles. “Mass-less” energy storage can be achieved by directly storing energy in structural components. In such multifunctional devices called structural composite batteries, carbon fibres carry mechanical load and simultaneously act as negative battery electrode by hosting lithium ions in its microstructure. Little is known of how the microstructure of carbon fibres is optimised for multifunctionality, and deeper understanding of the configuration and the distribution of atoms in carbon fibres is needed.Here synchrotron hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atom probe tomography are used to reveal the chemical states and three-dimensional distribution of atoms in commercial carbon fibres. This thesis presents the first ever guide for how to perform atom probe tomography on carbon fibres, and the first ever three-dimensional atomic reconstruction of a carbon fibre.The results show that the chemical states and distribution of nitrogen heteroatoms in carbon fibres affect the electrochemical performance of the fibres. Carbon fibres performed electrochemically better with higher amount of nitrogen with pyridinic and pyrrolic configurations. Additionally, the nitrogen concentration varies throughout the carbon fibre, which may suggest that the electrochemical properties also vary throughout the carbon fibre. The knowledge provided by this thesis can lead to future carbon fibre designs with enhanced electrochemical performance for multifunctional applications

Best Practices for Analysis of Carbon Fibers by Atom Probe Tomography

Carbon fiber technology drives significant development in lightweight and multifunctional applications. However, the microstructure of carbon fibers is not completely understood. A big challenge is to obtain the distribution of heteroatoms, for instance nitrogen, with high spatial resolution in three dimensions. Atom probe tomography (APT) has the potential to meet this challenge, but APT of carbon fibers is still relatively unexplored. We performed APT on three types of carbon fibers, including one high modulus type and two intermediate modulus types. Here, we present the methods to interpret the complex mass spectra of carbon fibers, enhance the mass resolution, and increase the obtained analysis volume. Finally, the origin of multiple hit events and possible methods to mitigate multiple hit events are also discussed. This paper provides guidance for future APT studies on carbon fibers, and thus leads the way to a deeper understanding of the microstructure, and consequently advancements in wide applications of carbon fibers

Automatic yield-line analysis of practical slab configurations via discontinuity layout optimization

The yield-line method provides a powerful means of rapidly estimating the ultimate load that can be carried by a reinforced concrete slab. The method can reveal hidden reserves of strength in existing slabs and can lead to highly economic slabs when used in design. Originally conceived before the widespread availability of computers, the yield-line method subsequently proved difficult to computerize, limiting its appeal in recent years. However, it was recently demonstrated that the discontinuity layout optimization (DLO) procedure could be used to systematically automate the method, and various isotropically reinforced, uniformly loaded slab examples were used to demonstrate this. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the DLO procedure can also be applied to a wide range of more practical slab problems, for example involving orthotropic reinforcement, internal columns, and point, line, and patch loads. The efficacy of the procedure is demonstrated via application to a variety of example problems from the literature; for all problems considered solutions are presented that improve upon existing numerical solutions. Furthermore, in a number of cases, solutions derived using previously proposed automated yield-line analysis procedures are shown to be highly nonconservative

Superlocalization formulas and supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories

By using supermanifold techniques we prove a generalization of the localization formula in equivariant cohomology which is suitable for studying supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in terms of ADHM data. With these techniques one can compute the reduced partition functions of topological super Yang-Mills theory with 4, 8 or 16 supercharges. More generally, the superlocalization formula can be applied to any topological field theory in any number of dimensions.Comment: 22 pages, Latex2