CO2 packing polymorphism under confinement in cylindrical nanopores

We investigate the effect of cylindrical nano-confinement on the phase behaviour of a rigid model of carbon dioxide using both molecular dynamics and well tempered metadynamics. To this aim we study a simplified pore model across a parameter space comprising pore diameter, CO2-pore wall potential and CO2 density. In order to systematically identify ordering events within the pore model we devise a generally applicable approach based on the analysis of the distribution of intermolecular orientations. Our simulations suggest that, while confinement in nano-pores inhibits the formation of known crystal structures, it induces a remarkable variety of ordered packings unrelated to their bulk counterparts, and favours the establishment of short range order in the fluid phase. We summarise our findings by proposing a qualitative phase diagram for this model

Molecular propensity as a driver for explorative reactivity studies

Quantum chemical studies of reactivity involve calculations on a large number of molecular structures and comparison of their energies. Already the set-up of these calculations limits the scope of the results that one will obtain, because several system-specific variables such as the charge and spin need to be set prior to the calculation. For a reliable exploration of reaction mechanisms, a considerable number of calculations with varying global parameters must be taken into account, or important facts about the reactivity of the system under consideration can go undetected. For example, one could miss crossings of potential energy surfaces for different spin states or might not note that a molecule is prone to oxidation. Here, we introduce the concept of molecular propensity to account for the predisposition of a molecular system to react across different electronic states in certain nuclear configurations. Within our real-time quantum chemistry framework, we developed an algorithm that allows us to be alerted to such a propensity of a system under consideration.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

The role of Intangible Assets in the Relationship between HRM and Innovation: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

This paper, as far as known, provides a first attempt to explore the role of intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management (KM) in an integrative way between the relationship of human resource (HR) practices and two types of innovation (radical and incremental). More specifically, the study investigates two sub-components of IC – human capital and organizational social capital. At the same time, four KM channels are discussed, such as knowledge creation, acquisition, transfer and responsiveness.\ud The research is a part of a bigger project financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. The project studies the ‘competencies for innovation’ and is conducted in collaboration with innovative companies in the Eastern part of the Netherlands. \ud An exploratory survey design with qualitative and quantitative data is used for\ud investigating the topic in six companies from industrial and service sector in the region of Twente, the Netherlands. Mostly, the respondents were HR directors. The findings showed that some parts of IC and KM configurations were related to different types of innovation. To make the picture even more complicated, HR practices were sometimes perceived interchangeably with IC and KM by HR directors. Overall, the whole picture about the relationships stays unclear and opens a floor for further research

A percolation model of the product lifecycle

The product lifecycle model can be understood as a three-stage model of technological development associated with a particular product technology. In the explorative stage many different designs are developed, in the development stage products become standardized into a dominant design, and in the mature stage only incremental changes occur within the dominant design. Although the product lifecycle model is widely accepted and often applied in empirical research, innovation scholars have failed to develop systematic theoretical models that explain the different stages of technological development along the lifecycle. In this study, an attempt is made to contribute to product lifecycle theory by developing a theoretical model based on percolation dynamics. The model combines the concept of increasing returns to adoption with information diffusion among consumers within social networks. The main contribution of the model is that it replicates the three stages of the product lifecycle as an outcome of a single elementary process. The model also replicates the S-shaped diffusion curve and the occurrence of an industry shakeout.mathematical models, percolation model, diffusion, social networks, product lifecycle, dominant design

Data-Warehouse as a Dynamic Capability: Utility/Cost Foundations and Implications for Economically-Driven Design

IS design today is driven primarily by technical and functional requirements, and the economic implications for design are not yet well understood. This study argues that system design and architecture must reflect assessments of economic trade-offs besides satisfying technical/functional requirements. Modeling the economic performance structure behind IS design can highlight these trade-offs and help economically assess design alternatives. This study examines economics-driven design in the context of the Data Warehouse (DW). The DW environment is treated as a dynamic capability, providing the capacity for managing data resources and turning them into useful information products. These products contribute value when used for exploitative and/or explorative business processes. Recognizing possible uncertainties in usage, DW capacities are evaluated as real-option investments toward the development of a framework for modeling cost-utility effects of DW design decisions. This framework is used to evaluate important design scenarios along the layers of a DW stack architecture and optimize design outcomes accordingly

Status of the ANTARES Project

The ANTARES collaboration is constructing a neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2400 metres, about 40 kilometres off the French coast near Toulon. The detector will consist of 12 vertical strings anchored at the sea bottom, each supporting 25 triplets of optical modules equipped with photomultipliers, yielding sensitivity to neutrinos with energies above some 10 GeV. The effective detector area is roughly 0.1 square kilometres for neutrino energies exceeding 10 TeV. The measurement of the Cherenkov light emitted by muons produced in muon-neutrino charged-current interactions in water and under-sea rock will permit the reconstruction of the neutrino direction with an accuracy of better than 0.3 degrees at high energies. ANTARES will complement the field of view of neutrino telescopes at the South Pole in the low-background searches for point-sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos and will also be sensitive to neutrinos produced by WIMP annihilation in the Sun or the Galactic centre.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Proc. HEP2003 Europhysics Conf., Aachen, Germany, 17-23 July 200

Towards a Characterisation of Assets and Knowledge Created in Technological Agreements Some Evidence from the Automobile-Robotics Sector

This paper tries to bring new insights on the dynamics of inter-firm by focusing on cognitive and organisational dimensions. We consider the knowledge bases created inside the agreement and the characteristics of such knowledge bases (such as tacitness, level of generality, degree of centralisation...). The nature of assets for supporting this creation is also essential for the redeployability of knowledge created. We began by a brief review of some problems encountered by transactions cost economics and present some case studies of agreements between firms in the automobile and robotics sector. After having presented a taxonomy of knowledge and assets involved in such agreements, we bring some new discussion on the exploration/exploitation's dilemma. We argue finally that our taxonomy may be fruitful for a better understanding of the dynamic of firm boudaries by trying to go deeper into the "black box" of agreements.Inter-firm relations, automobile industry, technological agreements

When the goal is to generate a series of activities: A self-organized simulated robot arm

Behavior is characterized by sequences of goal-oriented conducts, such as food uptake, socializing and resting. Classically, one would define for each task a corresponding satisfaction level, with the agent engaging, at a given time, in the activity having the lowest satisfaction level. Alternatively, one may consider that the agent follows the overarching objective to generate sequences of distinct activities. To achieve a balanced distribution of activities would then be the primary goal, and not to master a specific task. In this setting, the agent would show two types of behaviors, task-oriented, and task-searching phases, with the latter interseeding the former. We study the emergence of autonomous task switching for the case of a simulated robot arm. Grasping one of several moving objects corresponds in this setting to a specific activity. Overall, the arm should follow a given object temporarily and then move away, in order to search for a new target and reengage. We show that this behavior can be generated robustly when modeling the arm as an adaptive dynamical system. The dissipation function is in this approach time dependent. The arm is in a dissipative state when searching for a nearby object, dissipating energy on approach. Once close, the dissipation function starts to increase, with the eventual sign change implying that the arm will take up energy and wander off. The resulting explorative state ends when the dissipation function becomes again negative and the arm selects a new target. We believe that our approach may be generalized to generate self-organized sequences of activities in general.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure