Understanding Business Travel Time and Its Place in the Working Day

This article argues that there is a need to understand business travel time in the context of the wider organization of work time. It considers why travel time use is potentially changing with the use of mobile technologies by the increasing number of individuals engaged in ‘knowledge work’, and examines existing evidence that indicates that travel time use is part of a wider work-related ‘taskscape’. However, it not only considers material productive output, but suggests that travel time as ‘time out’ from work-related activities also plays a vital role for employees. It also suggests that business travel time use that is not of benefit to the employer may not be at the employer's expense. This is contrasted with the assumptions used in UK transport appraisal. Data gathered from the autumn 2004 wave of the National Rail Passenger Survey (GB) is used to illustrate some key issues concerning productivity and ‘anti-activity’. A case study of an individual business traveller then points towards the need for a new approach to exploring the role played by travel time in the organization of work practices to be considered. © 2008, Sage Publications. All rights reserved

Shared Care, Elder and Family Member Skills Used to Manage Burden

Aim. The aim of this paper is to further develop the construct of Shared Care by comparing and contrasting it to related research, and to show how the construct can be used to guide research and practice. Background. While researchers have identified negative outcomes for family caregivers caused by providing care, less is known about positive aspects of family care for both members of a family dyad. Understanding family care relationships is important to nurses because family participation in the care of chronically ill elders is necessary to achieve optimal outcomes from nursing interventions. A previous naturalistic inquiry identified a new construct, Shared Care, which was used to describe a family care interaction that contributed to positive care outcomes. Methods. A literature review was carried out using the databases Medline, CINAHL, and Psych-info and the keywords home care, care receiver, disability, family, communication, decision-making and reciprocity. The results of the review were integrated to suggest how Shared Care could be used to study care difficulties and guide interventions. Results. The literature confirmed the importance of dyad relationships in family care. Shared Care extended previous conceptualizations of family care by capturing three critical components: communication, decision-making, and reciprocity. Shared Care provides a structure to expand the conceptualization of family care to include both members of a care dyad and account for positive and negative aspects of care. Conclusions. The extended view provided by the construct of Shared Care offers practitioners and scholars tools to use in the context of our ageing population to improve the effectiveness of family care relationships

Carrier relaxation, pseudogap, and superconducting gap in high-Tc cuprates: A Raman scattering study

We describe results of electronic Raman-scattering experiments in differently doped single crystals of Y-123 and Bi-2212. The comparison of AF insulating and metallic samples suggests that at least the low-energy part of the spectra originates predominantly from excitations of free carriers. We therefore propose an analysis of the data in terms of a memory function approach. Dynamical scattering rates and mass-enhancement factors for the carriers are obtained. In B2g symmetry the Raman data compare well to the results obtained from ordinary and optical transport. For underdoped materials the dc scattering rates in B1g symmetry become temperature independent and considerably larger than in B2g symmetry. This increasing anisotropy is accompanied by a loss of spectral weight in B2g symmetry in the range between the superconducting transition at Tc and a characteristic temperature T* of order room temperature which compares well with the pseudogap temperature found in other experiments. The energy range affected by the pseudogap is doping and temperature independent. The integrated spectral loss is approximately 25% in underdoped samples and becomes much weaker towards higher carrier concentration. In underdoped samples, superconductivity related features in the spectra can be observed only in B2g symmetry. The peak frequencies scale with Tc. We do not find a direct relation between the pseudogap and the superconducting gap.Comment: RevTeX, 21 pages, 24 gif figures. For PostScript with embedded eps figures, see http://www.wmi.badw-muenchen.de/~opel/k2.htm

Molybdenum Geochemistry in Salt Marsh Pond Sediments

The concentration and isotopic composition of sedimentary molybdenum (Mo) has been used to distinguish different redox environments in modern marine settings and in the geological record. We report Mo concentrations and δ98Mo from porewaters and sediments in three anoxic East Anglian salt marsh pond environments: (1) ‘iron-rich’ sediments containing high concentrations of dissolved ferrous iron (up to 2 mM), (2) ‘sulfide-rich’ sediments containing very high concentrations of aqueous sulfide (up to 10 mM) and, (3) sediments that we consider to be intermediate between ‘iron-rich’ and ‘sulfide-rich’ conditions. In iron-rich sediments, we suggest that iron speciation and mineralogy controls the concentration and isotopic composition of Mo. Despite similar aqueous sulfide profiles, the intermediate and sulfide-rich pond sediment have different porewater Mo concentrations and δ98Mo. In the sulfide-rich pond sediment, we suggest that the concentration and isotopic composition of Mo is controlled by solubility equilibrium with an Fe-Mo-S mineral species (e.g. FeMoS4) due to similarities in sediment and porewater δ98Mo throughout the sediment column. In the intermediate pond sediment, we conclude that active breakdown of iron oxides redistributes porewater Mo, observable as a peak of dissolved Mo (>100ppb), which diffuses within the sedimentary porewaters. The sedimentary δ98Mo is higher in sulfide-rich and intermediate pond sediment (mean = 1.66‰, range = 0.98–1.92‰) than in iron-rich pond sediment (mean = 1.10‰, range = 0.28–1.65‰) with all ponds having sedimentary δ98Mo that is lower than seawater. The maximum sedimentary δ98Mo observed in these anoxic sediments, which is 0.5-0.7‰ lower than seawater, appears to be set by Fe-Mo-S equilibration with ambient thiomolybdate species. We suggest diagenetic overprinting can cause more efficient capture of pond water Mo and causes sediment δ98Mo of originally iron-rich pond sediment to evolve to higher values at progressively higher aqueous sulfide concentrations

Acoustic and optical variations during rapid downward motion episodes in the deep north-western Mediterranean Sea

An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) was moored at the deep-sea site of the ANTARES neutrino telescope near Toulon, France, thus providing a unique opportunity to compare high-resolution acoustic and optical observations between 70 and 170 m above the sea bed at 2475 m. The ADCP measured downward vertical currents of magnitudes up to 0.03 m s-1 in late winter and early spring 2006. In the same period, observations were made of enhanced levels of acoustic reflection, interpreted as suspended particles including zooplankton, by a factor of about 10 and of horizontal currents reaching 0.35 m s-1. These observations coincided with high light levels detected by the telescope, interpreted as increased bioluminescence. During winter 2006 deep dense-water formation occurred in the Ligurian subbasin, thus providing a possible explanation for these observations. However, the 10-20 days quasi-periodic episodes of high levels of acoustic reflection, light and large vertical currents continuing into the summer are not direct evidence of this process. It is hypothesized that the main process allowing for suspended material to be moved vertically later in the year is local advection, linked with topographic boundary current instabilities along the rim of the 'Northern Current'.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure

Reflection and the art of coaching: fostering high-performance in olympic ski cross

In preparation for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, the lead author engaged in systematic reflection in an attempt to implement coaching behaviours and create practice environments that promoted athlete development (psycho-social and physical performance). The research was carried out in relation to his work as head Ski Cross coach working with (primarily) three athletes in their quest for Olympic qualification and subsequent performance success in the Olympic Games. This project sought to examine coach-athlete interactions. Of particular interest were coach and athlete responses regarding the implementation of autonomy supportive coaching behaviours in a high context. Autonomy supportive coaching behaviours have previously been strongly associated with positive athlete psycho-social and performance outcomes, however, a paucity of research has examined its implementation in high-performance contexts. Through the use of participant ethnography, it was possible to gain considerable insights regarding athletes' perceptions of choice, implications of perceived athletic hierarchies, as well as cultural and experience-related influences on training and performance expectations

Study of Tau-pair Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP and Limits on the Anomalous Electromagnetic Moments of the Tau Lepton

Tau-pair production in the process e+e- -> e+e-tau+tau- was studied using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP2 during the years 1997 - 2000. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 650 pb^{-1}. The values of the cross-section obtained are found to be in agreement with QED predictions. Limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are deduced.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Evidence for an Excess of Soft Photons in Hadronic Decays of Z^0

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qqbar disintegrations of the Z^0 were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E_gamma < 1 GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction p_T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected for the photon detection efficiency) is (1.17 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.27) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet in the specified kinematic region, while the expected level of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung (which is not included in the Monte Carlo) is (0.340 +/- 0.001 +/- 0.038) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet. The ratio of the excess to the predicted bremsstrahlung rate is then (3.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8), which is similar in strength to the anomalous soft photon signal observed in fixed target experiments with hadronic beams.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Study of Inclusive J/psi Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP II with the DELPHI Detector

Inclusive J/psi production in photon-photon collisions has been observed at LEP II beam energies. A clear signal from the reaction gamma gamma -> J/psi+X is seen. The number of observed N(J/psi -> mu+mu-) events is 36 +/- 7 for an integrated luminosity of 617 pb^{-1}, yielding a cross-section of sigma(J/psi+X) = 45 +/- 9 (stat) +/- 17 (syst) pb. Based on a study of the event shapes of different types of gamma gamma processes in the PYTHIA program, we conclude that (74 +/- 22)% of the observed J/psi events are due to `resolved' photons, the dominant contribution of which is most probably due to the gluon content of the photon.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Accepted by Phys. Lett.

CP asymmetry in B→ϕKSB \to \phi K_S in a general two-Higgs-doublet model with fourth-generation quarks

We discuss the time-dependent CP asymmetry of decay $B \to \phi K_S$ in an extension of the Standard Model with both two Higgs doublets and additional fourth-generation quarks. We show that although the Standard Model with two-Higgs-doublet and the Standard model with fourth generation quarks alone are not likely to largely change the effective $\sin 2 \beta$ from the decay of $B \to \phi K_S$, the model with both additional Higgs doublet and fourth-generation quarks can easily account for the possible large negative value of $\sin 2 \beta$ without conflicting with other experimental constraints. In this model, additional large CP violating effects may arise from the flavor changing Yukawa interactions between neutral Higgs bosons and the heavy fourth generation down type quark, which can modify the QCD penguin contributions. With the constraints obtained from $b \to s \bar{s} s$ processes such as $B \to X_s \gamma$ and $\Delta m_{B_s^0}$, this model can lead to the effective $\sin 2 \beta$ to be as large as $- 0.4$ in the CP asymmetry of $B \to \phi K_S$.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, references added, to appear in Eur.Phys.J.