686 research outputs found
Learning from the world? Horizontal knowledge flows and geopolitics in international consulting firms
This paper examines the nature of the contemporary multinational corporation (MNC) through a study of the use of knowledge management systems (KMS) in four major international consulting firms. In particular, we explore whether and how such systems facilitate horizontal (inter-subsidiary) flows of knowledge, as described in the network view of the MNC. Our analysis reveals the presence of horizontal flows within the four firms, but flows that are contextually constrained and partly shaped by geopolitical power relations. Thus, our study gives some support to the image of the MNC as a network whilst highlighting the contextual limits of horizontal knowledge transfer and, importantly, the geopolitical conditions under which such knowledge transfer takes place. At the same time, it challenges the claim that consulting firms are model organizations in the area of knowledge management as well as the more negative view that questions the ability of KMS to facilitate knowledge transfer
Two-terminal conductance fluctuations in the integer quantum Hall regime
Motivated by recent experiments on the conductance fluctuations in mesoscopic
integr quantum Hall systems, we consider a model in which the Coulomb
interactions are incorporated into the picture of edge-state transport through
a single saddle-point. The occupancies of `classical' localised states in the
two-dimensional electron system change due to the interactions between
electrons when the gate voltage on top of the device is varied. The
electrostatic potential between the localised states and the saddle-point
causes fluctuations of the saddle-point potential and thus fluctuations of the
transmission probability of edge states. This simple model is studied
numerically and compared with the observation.Comment: 6 pages with 3 figures. To be published in Physical Review
Superconducting Transition Temperature in Heterogeneous Ferromagnet-Superconductor Systems
We study the shift of the the superconducting transition temperature in
ferromagnetic-superconducting bi-layers and in a superconducting film supplied
a square array of ferromagnetic dots. We find that the transition temperature
in these two cases change presumably in opposite direction and that its change
is not too small. We extend these results to multilayer structures. We predict
that rather small external magnetic field Oe can change the
transition temperature of the bilayer by 10% .Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Identifying the quark content of the isoscalar scalar mesons f_0(980), f_0(1370), and f_0(1500) from weak and electromagnetic processes
The assignments of the isoscalar scalar mesons f0(980), f0(1370), and
f0(1500) in terms of their qqbar substructure is still a matter of heated
dispute. Here we employ the weak and electromagnetic decays D(s)(+) to f0+pi(+)
and f0 two-photon decays, respectively, to identify the f0(980) and f0(1500) as
mostly ssbar, and the f0(1370) as dominantly nonstrange, in agreement with
previous work. The two-photon decays can be satisfactorily described with quark
as well as with meson loops, though the latter ones provide a less
model-dependent and more quantitative description.Comment: v1, 15 pages, plain LaTeX, 1 eps figure. v2, 18 pages, plain LaTeX
(figure included). More discussion, especially on the f0(1370) and its
empirical two-photon widt
Monitoramento de bacias hidrogrĂĄficas para identificar fontes de sedimentos em suspensĂŁo
Motherboards, Microphones and Metaphors: Re-Examining New Literacies and Black Feminist Thought through Technologies of Self
On the Tomographic Reconstruction of the 3D Electron Density for the Solar Corona from STEREO COR1 Data
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
Detection of long repeat expansions from PCR-free whole-genome sequence data
Identifying large expansions of short tandem repeats (STRs) such as those that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fragile X syndrome is challenging for short-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data. A solution to this problem is an important step towards integrating WGS into precision medicine. We have developed a software tool called ExpansionHunter that, using PCR-free WGS short-read data, can genotype repeats at the locus of interest, even if the expanded repeat is larger than the read length. We applied our algorithm to WGS data from 3,001 ALS patients who have been tested for the presence of the C9orf72 repeat expansion with repeat-primed PCR (RP-PCR). Compared against this truth data, ExpansionHunter correctly classified all (212/212, 95% CI [0.98, 1.00]) of the expanded samples as either expansions (208) or potential expansions (4). Additionally, 99.9% (2,786/2,789, 95% CI [0.997, 1.00]) of the wild type samples were correctly classified as wild type by this method with the remaining three samples identified as possible expansions. We further applied our algorithm to a set of 152 samples where every sample had one of eight different pathogenic repeat expansions including those associated with fragile X syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia and Huntington's disease and correctly flagged all but one of the known repeat expansions. Thus, ExpansionHunter can be used to accurately detect known pathogenic repeat expansions and provides researchers with a tool that can be used to identify new pathogenic repeat expansions. The software is licensed under GPL v3.0 and the source code is freely available on GitHub
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