Management and Organization in the work of Michel Houellebecq

Research in management and organization may only gain by being inspired from arts, culture and humanities in order to rethink practices but also to nourish its own perspectives. Life in organizations is artificially separate from ordinary life: all of mundane objects are thus conducive to astonishment, inspiration, and even problematization. The unplugged subsection “voices” gives the opportunity to academics and non-academics to deliver an interpretation about an object from the cultural or artistic world. Interpreted objects are or not directly related to organizational life, resonate or not with the moment, but share some intriguing features. These interpretations suggest a patchwork of variations on the same object

Velocity quantization approach of the one-dimensional dissipative harmonic oscillator

Given a constant of motion for the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator with linear dissipation in the velocity, the problem to get the Hamiltonian for this system is pointed out, and the quantization up to second order in the perturbation approach is used to determine the modification on the eigenvalues when dissipation is taken into consideration. This quantization is realized using the constant of motion instead of the Hamiltonian.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Completely Positive Quantum Dissipation

A completely positive master equation describing quantum dissipation for a Brownian particle is derived starting from microphysical collisions, exploiting a recently introduced approach to subdynamics of a macrosystem. The obtained equation can be cast into Lindblad form with a single generator for each Cartesian direction. Temperature dependent friction and diffusion coefficients for both position and momentum are expressed in terms of the collision cross-section.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, no figure

Spin-orbit coupling and electron spin resonance for interacting electrons in carbon nanotubes

We review the theoretical description of spin-orbit scattering and electron spin resonance in carbon nanotubes. Particular emphasis is laid on the effects of electron-electron interactions. The spin-orbit coupling is derived, and the resulting ESR spectrum is analyzed both using the effective low-energy field theory and numerical studies of finite-size Hubbard chains and two-leg Hubbard ladders. For single-wall tubes, the field theoretical description predicts a double peak spectrum linked to the existence of spin-charge separation. The numerical analysis basically confirms this picture, but also predicts additional features in finite-size samples.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, invited review article for special issue in J. Phys. Cond. Mat., published versio

Trajectories of anxiety and health related quality of life during pregnancy

Published: July 24, 2017Anxiety and health related Quality of Life (HRQoL) have emerged as important mental health measures in obstetric care. Few studies have systematically examined the longitudinal trajectories of anxiety and HRQoL in pregnancy. Using a linear growth modeling strategy, we analyzed the course of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)- and Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) scores between the 12th and the 36th week of gestation, in a sample of 355 women. We additionally analyzed the impact of depressive symptoms and a chronic medical condition (asthma), on STAI and SF-36 trajectory curves. STAI scores remained stable throughout pregnancy. A previous history of anxiety increased the overall STAI scores. Asthma and depressive symptoms scores had no impact on the STAI trajectory. Physical SF-36 scores decreased over the course of pregnancy, whereas mental SF-36 trended towards improvement. Asthma reduced physical SF-36 overall. While high depressive symptoms decreased the overall mental SF-36, they were also significantly associated with mental SF-36 improvements over time. Anxiety symptoms are stable during pregnancy and are not modulated by depressive symptoms or asthma. Physical HRQoL declines in pregnancy. In contrast, mental HRQoL appears to improve, particularly in women with high initial levels of depressive symptoms.K. Oliver Schubert, Tracy Air, Scott R. Clark, Luke E. Grzeskowiak, Edward Miller, Gustaaf A. Dekker, Bernhard T. Baune, Vicki L. Clifto

Dimensional crossover of a boson gas in multilayers

We obtain the thermodynamic properties for a non-interacting Bose gas constrained on multilayers modeled by a periodic Kronig-Penney delta potential in one direction and allowed to be free in the other two directions. We report Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) critical temperatures, chemical potential, internal energy, specific heat, and entropy for different values of a dimensionless impenetrability $P\geqslant 0$ between layers. The BEC critical temperature $T_{c}$ coincides with the ideal gas BEC critical temperature $T_{0}$ when $P=0$ and rapidly goes to zero as $P$ increases to infinity for any finite interlayer separation. The specific heat $C_{V}$ \textit{vs} $T$ for finite $P$ and plane separation $a$ exhibits one minimum and one or two maxima in addition to the BEC, for temperatures larger than $T_{c}$ which highlights the effects due to particle confinement. Then we discuss a distinctive dimensional crossover of the system through the specific heat behavior driven by the magnitude of $P$. For $T<T_{c}$ the crossover is revealed by the change in the slope of $\log C_{V}(T)$ and when $T>T_{c}$, it is evidenced by a broad minimum in $C_{V}(T)$.Comment: Ten pages, nine figure

Arrival Processes for Vessels in a Port Simulation

Ports provide jetty facilities for ships to load and unload their cargo. Jetty capacity is costly and therefore limited, causing delays for arriving ships. However, ship delays are also costly, so terminal operators attempt to min imize their number and duration. Here, simulation has proved to be a very suitable tool. However, in port simulation models, the impact of the arrival process of ships on the model outcomes tends to be underestimated. This report considers three arrival processes: stock-controlled, equidistant, and uncontrolled. We assess how their deployment in a port simulation model, based on data from a real case study, affects the efficiency of the loading and unloading process, making a case for careful modeling of arrival processes in port simulations. Uncontrolled, which is an assumed arrival process property in many client-oriented simulations, actually performs worst in terms of both ship delays and required storage capacity. Stock-controlled arrivals perform best with regard to large vessel delays and storage capacity. Additional control of the arrival process through the application of a priority scheme in processing ships further impacts efficiency in all three cases.Ports provide jetty facilities for ships to load and unload their cargo. Jetty capacity is costly and therefore limited, causing delays for arriving ships. However, ship delays are also costly, so terminal operators attempt to min imize their number and duration. Here, simulation has proved to be a very suitable tool. However, in port simulation models, the impact of the arrival process of ships on the model outcomes tends to be underestimated. This report considers three arrival processes: stock-controlled, equidistant, and uncontrolled. We assess how their deployment in a port simulation model, based on data from a real case study, affects the efficiency of the loading and unloading process, making a case for careful modeling of arrival processes in port simulations. Uncontrolled, which is an assumed arrival process property in many client-oriented simulations, actually performs worst in terms of both ship delays and required storage capacity. Stock-controlled arrivals perform best with regard to large vessel delays and storage capacity. Additional control of the arrival process through the application of a priority scheme in processing ships further impacts efficiency in all three cases