5,569 research outputs found

    'White knuckle care work' : violence, gender and new public management in the voluntary sector

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    Drawing on comparative data from Canada and Scotland, this article explores reasons why violence is tolerated in non-profit care settings. This article will provide insights into how workers' orientations to work, the desire to care and the intrinsic rewards from working in a non-profit context interact with the organization of work and managerially constructed workplace norms and cultures (Burawoy, 1979) to offset the tensions in an environment characterized by scarce resources and poor working conditions. This article will also outline how the same environment of scarce resources causes strains in management's efforts to establish such cultures. Working with highly excluded service users with problems that do not respond to easy interventions, workers find themselves working at the edge of their endurance, hanging on by their fingernails, and beginning to participate in various forms of resistance; suggesting that even among the most highly committed, 'white knuckle care' may be unsustainable

    Nodeless superconductivity in the noncentrosymmetric Mo3_3Rh2_2N superconductor: a μ\muSR study

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    The noncentrosymmetric superconductor Mo3_3Rh2_2N, with Tc=4.6T_c = 4.6 K, adopts a β\beta-Mn-type structure (space group PP41_132), similar to that of Mo3_3Al2_2C. Its bulk superconductivity was characterized by magnetization and heat-capacity measurements, while its microscopic electronic properties were investigated by means of muon-spin rotation and relaxation (μ\muSR). The low-temperature superfluid density, measured via transverse-field (TF)-μ\muSR, evidences a fully-gapped superconducting state with Δ0=1.73kBTc\Delta_0 = 1.73 k_\mathrm{B}T_c, very close to 1.76 kBTck_\mathrm{B}T_c - the BCS gap value for the weak coupling case, and a magnetic penetration depth λ0=586\lambda_0 = 586 nm. The absence of spontaneous magnetic fields below the onset of superconductivity, as determined by zero-field (ZF)-μ\muSR measurements, hints at a preserved time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state. Both TF-and ZF-μ\muSR results evidence a spin-singlet pairing in Mo3_3Rh2_2N.Comment: 5 figures and 5 pages. Accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev.

    Sub-milliarcsecond precision spectro-astrometry of Be stars

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    The origin of the disks around Be stars is still not known. Further progress requires a proper parametrization of their structure, both spatially and kinematically. This is challenging as the disks are very small. Here we assess whether a novel method is capable of providing these data. We obtained spectro astrometry around the Pa beta line of two bright Be stars, alpha Col and zeta Tau, to search for disk signatures. The data, with a pixel to pixel precision of the centroid position of 0.3..0.4 milliarcsecond is the most accurate such data to date. Artefacts at the 0.85 mas level are present in the data, but these are readily identified as they were non-repeatable in our redundant datasets. This does illustrate the need of taking multiple data to avoid spurious detections. The data are compared with simple model simulations of the spectro astrometric signatures due to rotating disks around Be stars. The upper limits we find for the disk radii correspond to disk sizes of a few dozen stellar radii if they rotate Keplerian. This is very close to observationally measured and theoretically expected disk sizes, and this paper therefore demonstrates that spectro-astrometry, of which we present the first such attempt, has the potential to resolve the disks around Be stars.Comment: 6 pages, A&A accepte

    Cellular excitability and the regulation of functional neuronal identity: from gene expression to neuromodulation

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    The intrinsic properties of a neuron determine the translation of synaptic input to axonal output. It is this input– output relationship that is the heart of all nervous system activity. As such, the overall regulation of the intrinsic excitability of a neuron directly determines the output of that neuron at a given point in time, giving the cell a unique “functional identity.” To maintain this distinct functional output, neurons must adapt to changing patterns of synaptic excitation. These adaptations are essential to prevent neurons from either falling silent as synaptic excitation falls or becoming saturated as excitation increases. In the absence of stabilizing mechanisms, activity-dependent plasticity could drive neural activity to saturation or quiescence. Furthermore, as cells adapt to changing patterns of synaptic input, presumably the overall balance of intrinsic conductances of the cell must be maintained so that reliable output is achieved (Daoudal and Debanne, 2003; Turrigiano and Nelson, 2004; Frick and Johnston, 2005). Although these regulatory phenomena have been well documented, the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved are poorly understood

    Magnetic order in the quasi-one-dimensional spin 1/2 chain, copper pyrazine dinitrate

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    We present the first evidence of magnetic order in the quasi-one-dimensional spin 1/2 molecular chain compound, copper pyrazine dinitrate Cu(C4H4N2)(NO3)2}. Zero field muon-spin relaxation measurements made at dilution refrigerator temperatures show oscillations in the measured asymmetry, characteristic of a quasistatic magnetic field at the muon sites. Our measurements provide convincing evidence for long range magnetic order below a temperature T_N=107(1) mK. This leads to an estimate of the interchain coupling constant of |J'|/k_B=0.046 K and to a ratio |J'/J| = 4.4 x 10^-3.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

    Magnetic order and spin dynamics across a ferromagnetic quantum critical point: μ\muSR investigations of YbNi4_4(P1x_{1-x}Asx_x)2_2

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    In the quasi-1D heavy-fermion system YbNi4_4(P1x_{1-x}Asx_x)2_2 the presence of a ferromagnetic (FM) quantum critical point (QCP) at xcx_c 0.1\approx 0.1 with unconventional quantum critical exponents in the thermodynamic properties has been recently reported. Here, we present muon-spin relaxation (μ\muSR) experiments on polycrystals of this series to study the magnetic order and the low energy 4ff-electronic spin dynamics across the FM QCP. The zero field μ\muSR measurements on pure YbNi4_4(P2_{2} proved static long range magnetic order and suggested a strongly reduced ordered Yb moment of about 0.04μB\mu_B. With increasing As substitution the ordered moment is reduced by half at x=0.04x = 0.04 and to less than 0.005 μB\mu_B at x=0.08x=0.08. The dynamic behavior in the μ\muSR response show that magnetism remains homogeneous upon As substitution, without evidence for disorder effect. In the paramagnetic state across the FM QCP the dynamic muon-spin relaxation rate follows 1/T1TTnT_{1}T\propto T^{-n} with 1.01±0.04n1.13±0.061.01 \pm 0.04 \leq n \leq 1.13 \pm 0.06. The critical fluctuations are very slow and are even becoming slower when approaching the QCP.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

    Evidence for spin liquid ground state in SrDy2_2O4_4 frustrated magnet probed by muSR

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    Muon spin relaxation (μ\muSR) measurements were carried out on SrDy2_2O4_4, a frustrated magnet featuring short range magnetic correlations at low temperatures. Zero-field muon spin depolarization measurements demonstrate that fast magnetic fluctuations are present from T=300T=300 K down to 20 mK. The coexistence of short range magnetic correlations and fluctuations at T=20T=20 mK indicates that SrDy2_2O4_4 features a spin liquid ground state. Large longitudinal fields affect weakly the muon spin depolarization, also suggesting the presence of fast fluctuations. For a longitudinal field of μ0H=2\mu_0H=2 T, a non-relaxing asymmetry contribution appears below T=6T=6 K, indicating considerable slowing down of the magnetic fluctuations as field-induced magnetically-ordered phases are approached.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to be published as a proceeding of HFM2016 in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS
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