2,156 research outputs found
Dynamics of organizational culture: Individual beliefs vs. social conformity
The complex nature of organizational culture challenges our ability to infers
its underlying dynamics from observational studies. Recent computational
studies have adopted a distinct different view, where plausible mechanisms are
proposed to describe a wide range of social phenomena, including the onset and
evolution of organizational culture. In this spirit, this work introduces an
empirically-grounded, agent-based model which relaxes a set of assumptions that
describes past work - (a) omittance of an individual's strive for achieving
cognitive coherence, (b) limited integration of important contextual factors -
by utilizing networks of beliefs and incorporating social rank into the
dynamics. As a result, we illustrate that: (i) an organization may appear to be
increasingly coherent in terms of organizational culture, yet be composed of
individuals with reduced levels of coherence, (ii) the components of social
conformity - peer-pressure and social rank - are influential at different
aggregation levels.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Gas inflows towards the nucleus of the active galaxy NGC7213
We present two-dimensional stellar and gaseous kinematics of the inner
0.8x1.1kpc^2 of the LINER/Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC7213, from optical spectra
obtained with the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini South
telescope at a spatial resolution of 60pc. The stellar kinematics shows an
average velocity dispersion of 177km/s, circular rotation with a projected
velocity amplitude of 50km/s and a kinematic major axis at a position angle of
-4degrees (west of north). From the average velocity dispersion we estimate a
black hole mass of M_BH=8_{-6}^{+16}x10^7 M_sun. The gas kinematics is
dominated by non-circular motions, mainly along two spiral arms extending from
the nucleus out to 4arcsec (280pc) to the NW and SE, that are cospatial with a
nuclear dusty spiral seen in a structure map of the nuclear region of the
galaxy. The projected gas velocities along the spiral arms show blueshifts in
the far side and redshifts in the near side, with values of up to 200km/s. This
kinematics can be interpreted as gas inflows towards the nucleus along the
spiral arms if the gas is in the plane of the galaxy. We estimate the mass
inflow rate using two different methods. The first is based of the observed
velocities and geometry of the flow, and gives a mass inflow rate in the
ionised gas of 7x10^-2 M_sun/yr. In the second method, we calculate the net
ionised gas mass flow rate through concentric circles of decreasing radii
around the nucleus resulting in mass inflow rates ranging from 0.4 M_sun/yr at
300pc down to 0.2 M_sun/yr at 100pc from the nucleus. These rates are larger
than necessary to power the active nucleus.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Kafka : phenomenology and post-structuralism
This study seeks to identify a coalition of philosophy and literature in the work of
Franz Kafka, and begins with a grounding of his output in the philosophical context
from which it emerged. This relatively under-researched philosophical backdrop
consists in Kafka's study, at university and in a discussion group, of philosophical
positions derived from the "descriptive psychology" of Franz Brentano. Kafka was
hence conversant with several philosophical agendas, notably those of logic, Gestalt
psychology, and a nascent form of phenomenology, which all derived their impetus
from Brentano's work.
The initial issue, therefore, is that of assessing the extent of a purported influence of
such theories on Kafka's texts. What emerges as a "strategy" of Kafka's work is the
aesthetic exploitation of such positions; a tactic which constitutes an almost
parodistic subversion of these early forms of phenomenological thought. Thus on the
one hand it is implied that the narrative technique of Kafka's work, and in particular
the representation of consciousness and its "world", is derived from Brentanian
thought, and on the other that this influence is modulated in a specific direction,
which renders these texts so singularly amenable to post-structuralist thought.
My project consequently proceeds to examine the post-structuralist response to
Kafka while juxtaposing this analysis with the grounding of his work in proto-phenomenology.
Central to this stage of the study are Blanchot, Derrida, Foucault,
and Deleuze and Guattari, and the scrutiny of their perspectives will be organized by
the themes of authorship, interpretation, power, and desire.
The exploration of the "deconstructive" standpoint, represented primarily through
Blanchot and Derrida, will be guided by an account of why such a stance seems to be
accommodated so readily by Kafka's work, and also of the extent to which his texts
could be said, on the basis of the influence of Brentanian thought, to resist such
appropriation
Gas inflows towards the nucleus of NGC1358
We use optical spectra from the inner 1.8 2.5kpc of the Seyfert
2 galaxy NGC1358, obtained with the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the
Gemini South telescope at a spatial resolution of 165pc, to assess
the feeding and feedback processes in this nearby active galaxy. Five gaseous
kinematical components are observed in the emission line profiles. One of the
components is present in the entire field-of-view and we interpret it as due to
gas rotating in the disk of the galaxy. Three of the remaining components we
interpret as associated to active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback: a compact
unresolved outflow in the inner 1 arcsec and two gas clouds observed at
opposite sides of the nucleus, which we propose have been ejected in a previous
AGN burst. The disk component velocity field is strongly disturbed by a large
scale bar. The subtraction of a velocity model combining both rotation and bar
flows reveals three kinematic nuclear spiral arms: two in inflow and one in
outflow. We estimate the mass inflow rate in the inner 180pc obtaining
1.5 Myr, about 160
times larger than the accretion rate necessary to power this AGN.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1701.0086
Evaluating the role of risk networks on risk identification, classification and emergence
Modern society heavily relies on strongly connected, socio-technical systems.
As a result, distinct risks threatening the operation of individual systems can
no longer be treated in isolation. Consequently, risk experts are actively
seeking for ways to relax the risk independence assumption that undermines
typical risk management models. Prominent work has advocated the use of risk
networks as a way forward. Yet, the inevitable biases introduced during the
generation of these survey-based risk networks limit our ability to examine
their topology, and in turn challenge the utility of the very notion of a risk
network. To alleviate these concerns, we proposed an alternative methodology
for generating weighted risk networks. We subsequently applied this methodology
to an empirical dataset of financial data. This paper reports our findings on
the study of the topology of the resulting risk network. We observed a modular
topology, and reasoned on its use as a robust risk classification framework.
Using these modules, we highlight a tendency of specialization during the risk
identification process, with some firms being solely focused on a subset of the
available risk classes. Finally, we considered the independent and systemic
impact of some risks and attributed possible mismatches to their emerging
nature.Comment: 21 pages, 7 Figures, 4 tables, To appear in Journal of Network Theory
in Financ
Making Positive Family Memories Together and Improving Quality-of-Life Through Thick Sociality and Bonding at Local Community Festivals and Events
Our study contributes to the current research on tourism and quality-of-life (QOL) by investigating Memorable Event Experiences (MEE), as a primary resource for familial bonding and memory creation. A mixed methods approach (focus groups and questionnaires) is used to explore the QOL indicators of: physical well-being, psychological/emotional well-being and relationships with family within the context of localised event experiences. Findings from this study are transferable across all aspects of the tourism system, they demonstrate that experiencing an event together as a family can facilitate collective memory creation, familial bonding, and create thick sociality or ‘we-relationships’ and can therefore enhance a family’s QOL in the long term.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
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