Spinodal instability growth in new stochastic approaches

Are spinodal instabilities the leading mechanism in the fragmentation of a fermionic system? Numerous experimental indications suggest such a scenario and stimulated much effort in giving a suitable description, without being finalised in a dedicated transport model. On the one hand, the bulk character of spinodal behaviour requires an accurate treatment of the one-body dynamics, in presence of mechanical instabilities. On the other hand, pure mean-field implementations do not apply to situations where instabilities, bifurcations and chaos are present. The evolution of instabilities should be treated in a large-amplitude framework requiring fluctuations of Langevin type. We present new stochastic approaches constructed by requiring a thorough description of the mean-field response in presence of instabilities. Their particular relevance is an improved description of the spinodal fragmentation mechanism at the threshold, where the instability growth is frustrated by the mean-field resilience.Comment: Conf. proc. IWM2014-EC, Catania, 6-9 May 201

Relationships as mechanisms for the co-ordination of capabilities in the portuguese industry of moulds

New perspectives arose of recently about the division of work in industry and the coordinating mechanisms thereof (Langlois and Robertson, 1995). This paper looks at the coordination of activities and division of work in industry from the industrial networks perspective. Both the notion of relationships between firms, seen as co-ordinating mechanisms (Axelsson and Easton, 1992) and joint learning devices (Håkansson, 1993) , and the notion of firms as sets of direct and indirect capabilities (Loasby, 1998a, 1998b) are used in order to characterise and contrast the trajectories (development paths) of four firms from the Portuguese industry of moulds for plastic injectioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A capabilities perspective on the evolution of firm boundaries: a comparative case example from the portuguese moulds industry

The issue of vertical firm boundaries continues to attract interest both for economics and management research. The transaction cost economics approach, emphasizing transaction-specific assets and opportunism in order to explain discrete ‘make-or-buy’ decisions, dominates the literature. Nevertheless, alternative perspectives, developed under the guise of the capabilities, competence or knowledge-based theories of the firm, have gained attention recently. They focus on the evolutionary dynamics of boundaries in the context of the division of labour among firms in an industry and on what is to be divided and co-ordinated – i.e. productive knowledge. The conceptual links between this line of research, which some refer to as neo-Marshallian, and the Industrial Networks approach are explored in this paper. The paper emphasizes both a vision of firms as sets of direct and indirect capabilities, developed and combined in different ways over time, and the connectedness between inter-firm relationships. The discussion is illustrated with the cases of two firms, which are contrasted in terms of the dynamic evolution of their boundaries. The analysis made supports the argument that firms’ vertical boundaries reflect their relationships with specific counterparts and the way they address through time the division and integration of knowledge through the configuration of direct and indirect, counterpart specific, capabilitieinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Industrial agglomerations as localised networks : the case of the portuguese injection mould industry

A resurgence of interest in industrial agglomerations can be found among many different academic disciplines. This trend has been accompanied by a focus on how spatial proximity and the emergence of links between colocated actors may generate benefits for firms, namely, in the generation and diffusion of knowledge. By conceiving industrial agglomerations as territorially based networks, we argue that the dynamics in connections internal to those networks affect and are affected by local institutions as well as connections external to the territory. Our study of the injection mould industry cluster at Marinha Grande in Portugal suggests that firms profit from the emergence of relationships between colocated actors and other agglomeration benefits. However, we suggest that the potential of the industry to generate new knowledge appears to be founded on the patterns of interfirm connections, which selectively connect diverse capabilities both within and outside the agglomerationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Connecting capabilities through technological centres

Recent perspectives on a capabilities view of the firm often recognize the need for firms to develop an external organization. Within the IMP tradition, it is recognized that the external organization may include economic and non-economic exchange relationships. However, greater emphasis is given to the former. The relevance of relationships for firms and for industries can be linked to their role in the generation and diffusion of knowledge. In this paper we will discuss the potential role of technological centres (TC’s) as part of firms’ external organizations and emphasize TC’s role in connecting economic and non-economic exchange relationships. It is further suggested that the motives and the benefits perceived by firms and, in general, the relevance of sharing experiences within these contexts should be seen in the wider context of firms’ specific and idiosyncratic trajectoriesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Embedding of a new business as a cumulative process of combining different but complementary types of projects: The case of a project-based firm

Within the industrial network approach, new business formation is a cumulative process of relating the new business to the existing business network over time. This paper combines the literatures on industrial networks and projects (management) to explore the roles of two different types of (temporary) inter-organizational projects in the embedding process. The paper examines the embedding in a network of a new project-based firm that went from being a new entity to becoming capable of taking a stronger network position by using different types of projects as embedding tools. Embedding of the new firm in the business network required the combining of different but complementary types of projects to build a stronger network position. We find that (temporary) inter-organizational projects are tools for embedding the firm in a network of relationships. The inter-organizational projects can provide the firm with opportunities to both discover and develop not only its own resources but also the resources of others, leading it to change perceptions and principles on what resources are useful to access and who possesses those resources.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New records of bryophytes for Pernambuco State, Brazil

The known geographical distribution of 12 bryophyte species is extended by confirmation of their presence in the state of Pernambuco. Leptoscyphus porphyrius (Nees) Grolle, Harpalejeunea uncinata Steph., Chryso-hypnum diminutivum (Hampe) Buck and Porotrichum korthalsianum (Dozy & Molk.) Mitt. are new to northeastern Brazil. The material studied was collected in remnants of Atlantic Forest situated at altitudes of 100-1.100m. The principal taxonomic characteristics are cited, with ecological and distributional commentary provided.A distribuição geográfica conhecida de 12 espécies de briófitas é ampliada, com o registro de sua ocorrência no estado de Pernambuco. Leptoscyphus porphyrius (Nees) Grolle, Harpalejeunea uncinata Steph., Chryso-hypnum diminutivum (Hampe) Buck e Porotrichum korthalsianum (Dozy & Molk.) Mitt. constituem-se novas referências para a região Nordeste. O material estudado foi coletado em remanescentes da Floresta Atlântica, situados de 100 a 1.100m de altitude. Faz-se referência às principais características taxonômicas do material, bem como, breves comentários ecológicos e de distribuição geográfica

Temporal verification in secure group communication system design

The paper discusses an experience in using a real-time UML/SysML profile and a formal verification toolkit to check a secure group communication system against temporal requirements. A generic framework is proposed and specialized for hierarchical groups