Electrodynamics of quasi-two-dimensional BEDT-TTF charge transfer salts

We consider the millimeter-wave electrodynamics specific to quasi-two-dimensional conductors and superconductors based on the organic donor molecule BEDT-TTF. Using realistic physical parameters, we examine the current polarizations that result for different oscillating (GHz) electric and magnetic field polarizations. We show that, in general, it is possible to discriminate between effects (dissipation and dispersion) due to in-plane and interlayer ac currents. However, we also show that it is not possible to selectively probe any single component of the in-plane conductivity tensor, and that excitation of interlayer currents is strongly influenced by the sample geometry and the electromagnetic field polarization.Comment: 5 pages including 3 figures Minor correction to figure

Cytogenetic studies in Pentatomidae (Heteroptera): A review

The suborder Heteroptera constitutes one of the most important insect groups because most species are plants feeders and cause damage on many plants of economic importance. One of the most important cytogenetic characteristics of Heteroptera is the holokinetic nature of the chromosomes. One particular feature of some species of Pentatomidae is the regular presence of an abnormal meiosis in one testicular lobe (harlequin lobe). From the 28 species cytogenetically analysed from Argentine material, 21 present the diploid number 2n ¼ 14, four species present a reduced number (2n ¼ 12) and another three species possess an increased diploid number (2n ¼ 16); among all these only three present an harlequin lobe. In the present work, a bibliographic review of the chromosome number and sex determining system of 294 species and subspecies belonging to 121 genera within the subfamilies Asopinae, Discocephalinae, Edessinae, Pentatominae, Phyllocephalinae and Podopinae is presented. The male diploid numbers range from six to 27 with a mode in 14 chromosomes; this last diploid number is present in 85% of the species. The sex chromosome determining system is XY/XX except in three species: Macropygium reticulare (Fabricius, 1803), Rhytidolomia senilis (Say, 1832) and Thyanta calceata (Say, 1832) which present derived sex chromosome systems. Furthermore, the cytogenetic relationships with the other families of Pentatomoidea are discussed

E-commerce and e-procurement: an outsourcing perspective

The make or buy dilemma has been largely analyzed in the field of Information Systems. The main reason for this type of literature thriving so much is that the Information Systems function was one of the first enterprise areas to be externalized. If traditionally only few activities, distant from the core business of the enterprises, have been externalized with the sole objective of gaining efficiency, in the late Nineties externalization of real company functions has started to be considered again, in some instances concerning activities that have always been considered core business. The role played by the management of organizational interdependencies was stressed and the fact that outsourcing was perceived according to solutions of organizational engineering was highlighted, steering enterprises towards new organizational design criteria. In fact, make or buy decisions require more and more that organizational variables be structured by processes and not by functions, precisely to ease the management of organizational interdependencies and make externalization decisions more transparent and objectively measurable. The research question of this paper aims at understanding how much can a particular form of electronic commerce, such as e-procurement, be categorized as a special form of outsourcing, intending this phenomenon as a hybrid organizational form, halfway between hierarchy and market. In order to categorize the outsourcing phenomenon from a theoretical standpoint, the Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) has been used, while the research method consists of a case study. In this paper the attention will be focused on a particular process only, i.e., procurement, in relation to the activities involved in the externalization process. The paper will analyze an outsourcing case applied to the entire macro-process of procurement. The conclusions will highlight the evolving trends in this research field, which appears to be affected by substantial changes and to be increasingly more volatile and influenced by multiple factors that are not always easily recognizable and measurable. The purpose of this paper in fact is to give a contribution to the formalization of an application subject, namely, externalization of procurement, largely diffused in practice although scarcely developed from a theoretical standpoint