Walking the Talk: The Impact of High Commitment Values and Practices on Technology Start-ups

We examine the impact of high commitment work systems (HCWS) on high-technology start-ups. We differentiate two components of a HCWS: the human resource practices and the espoused values of the firm\u27s leadership and demonstrate that both are associated with an increased likelihood of IPO and a decreased likelihood of firm failure. Importantly, there are interactions between practices and values such that the benefit of one tends to amplify the other. Implications of these interactions for future research on high commitment work systems are discussed

Agricultural Health and Safety: A Research Agenda for Agricultural Economists

Replaced with revised version of paper 01/26/06.Health Economics and Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

The inexorable resistance of inertia determines the initial regime of drop coalescence

Drop coalescence is central to diverse processes involving dispersions of drops in industrial, engineering and scientific realms. During coalescence, two drops first touch and then merge as the liquid neck connecting them grows from initially microscopic scales to a size comparable to the drop diameters. The curvature of the interface is infinite at the point where the drops first make contact, and the flows that ensue as the two drops coalesce are intimately coupled to this singularity in the dynamics. Conventionally, this process has been thought to have just two dynamical regimes: a viscous and an inertial regime with a crossover region between them. We use experiments and simulations to reveal that a third regime, one that describes the initial dynamics of coalescence for all drop viscosities, has been missed. An argument based on force balance allows the construction of a new coalescence phase diagram

Use of a Crop Simulation Model to Provide Long-Term Data for Economic Analysis: the Case of Early Maturing Soybeans

A target MOTAD model is used to investigate incorporation of early maturing soybeans by a crop farm in southeastern Kansas. Weather (WGEN) and crop simulation (SOYGRO) models are used to generate a long-term series of soybean yields. Results indicate that early maturing soybeans offer a risk-reducing diversification strategy.Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

Master agreement task order 2 - Analyses and limited evaluations of payload and landing system structures for the survivable soft landing of instrument payloads

Computer programs for analysis and evaluation of payload and landing system structures for soft landing of instrument package

Farm Land Ownership as a Source of Retirement Income

Land Economics/Use,

Difficulties quitting for smokers with and without a respiratory disease and use of a tailored intervention for smoking cessation – a qualitative study

Introduction: Smokers with respiratory diseases are less likely to quit than those without impaired lung function, yet few studies have investigated the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions with this population, and none have used a computer-tailored approach. Aims: This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring smokers’ experiences when trying to quit and their perceptions of a computer-tailored intervention. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 smokers recruited from six GP practices in North London. Thematic analysis was conducted to examine participants’ previous experiences of quitting and their perceptions of receiving personal tailored feedback reports to aid smoking cessation. Results: Participants discussed how their positive smoking experiences coupled with their negative cessation experiences led to conflicts with quitting smoking. Although the computer-tailored intervention was key in prompting quit attempts and participants valued its personal approach; it was not sufficient as a stand-alone intervention. Conclusion: The results highlight the difficulties that smokers experience when quitting and the need for a more personalised stop smoking service in smokers with respiratory diseases. The study also demonstrates the application and potential for computer tailored intervention as part of a wider programme of long-term smoking cessation

Atomic step motion during the dewetting of ultra-thin films

We report on three key processes involving atomic step motion during the dewetting of thin solid films: (i) the growth of an isolated island nucleated far from a hole, (ii) the spreading of a monolayer rim, and (iii) the zipping of a monolayer island along a straight dewetting front. Kinetic Monte Carlo results are in good agreement with simple analytical models assuming diffusion-limited dynamics.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure