1,211 research outputs found
Farm Family Household Production and Rural Development
Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management,
Scenario Thinking Approach for Leveraging ICT to Support SMEs in the Indian Construction Industry
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a number of significant strategic and operational roles in the construction sector. However, studies have highlighted a series of challenges within this sector, from value-proposition aversion (regarding ICT expenditure), through to lack of aptitude (capability), and inability to âmeasureâ tangible outcomes (benefits) associated with ICT deployment. Given these issues, and also acknowledging the levels of nested fragmentation that exists in sectoral disciplines â especially within small to medium enterprises (SMEs); this paper presents a chronology of interrelated factors peculiar to the sector which has directly/indirectly engendered this slow (low) technology adopter positioning of these organisations. This paper argues that there is a need to break the status quo use of ICT by SMEs in the Indian construction industry, and a need to realise the benefits garnered in other sectors as a means of not only enhancing the existing business, but also creating new innovation opportunities (especially in the early adopter S curve). Using a scenario thinking approach, this research presents a framework which highlights the causal âdeficitsâ associated with low ICT penetration in the sector. This framework also identifies the key forces that influence and impact upon ICT usage in the construction sector, especially the interplay of key pivotal forces (through the competing push-pull continuum). A series of different scenarios for ICT uptake, adoption and diffusion are envisioned. These were developed with the help of industry experts in order to embed relevance and establish priorities against tangible indicators. This framework presents a future state ICT vision for SME's, one which places direct emphasis on SMEsâ perspectives (operational and strategic) and their future business aspirations
Synaptic targeting and localization of Discs-large is a stepwise process controlled by different domains of the protein
AbstractBackground: Membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) assemble ion channels, cell-adhesion molecules and components of second messenger cascades into synapses, and are therefore potentially important for co-ordinating synaptic strength and structure. Here, we have examined the targeting of the Drosophila MAGUK Discs-large (DLG) to larval neuromuscular junctions.Results: During development, DLG was first found associated with the muscle subcortical compartment and plasma membrane, and later was recruited to the postsynaptic membrane. Using a transgenic approach, we studied how mutations in various domains of the DLGprotein affect DLG targeting. Deletion of the HOOKregionâthe region between the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain and the guanylate-kinase-like (GUK) domainâprevented association of DLG with the subcortical network and rendered the protein largely diffuse. Loss of the first two PDZ domains led to the formation of large clusters throughout the plasma membrane, with scant targeting to the neuromuscular junction. Proper trafficking of DLG missing the GUK domain depended on the presence of endogenous DLG.Conclusions: Postsynaptic targeting of DLG requires a HOOK-dependent association with extrasynaptic compartments, and interactions mediated by the first two PDZ domains. The GUK domain routes DLG between compartments, possibly by interacting with recently identified cytoskeletal-binding partners
Synaptic targeting and localization of Discs-large is a stepwise process controlled by different domains of the protein
AbstractBackground: Membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) assemble ion channels, cell-adhesion molecules and components of second messenger cascades into synapses, and are therefore potentially important for co-ordinating synaptic strength and structure. Here, we have examined the targeting of the Drosophila MAGUK Discs-large (DLG) to larval neuromuscular junctions.Results: During development, DLG was first found associated with the muscle subcortical compartment and plasma membrane, and later was recruited to the postsynaptic membrane. Using a transgenic approach, we studied how mutations in various domains of the DLGprotein affect DLG targeting. Deletion of the HOOKregionâthe region between the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain and the guanylate-kinase-like (GUK) domainâprevented association of DLG with the subcortical network and rendered the protein largely diffuse. Loss of the first two PDZ domains led to the formation of large clusters throughout the plasma membrane, with scant targeting to the neuromuscular junction. Proper trafficking of DLG missing the GUK domain depended on the presence of endogenous DLG.Conclusions: Postsynaptic targeting of DLG requires a HOOK-dependent association with extrasynaptic compartments, and interactions mediated by the first two PDZ domains. The GUK domain routes DLG between compartments, possibly by interacting with recently identified cytoskeletal-binding partners
Noncommutative geometry, Quantum effects and DBI-scaling in the collapse of D0-D2 bound states
We study fluctuations of time-dependent fuzzy two-sphere solutions of the
non-abelian DBI action of D0-branes, describing a bound state of a spherical
D2-brane with N D0-branes. The quadratic action for small fluctuations is shown
to be identical to that obtained from the dual abelian D2-brane DBI action,
using the non-commutative geometry of the fuzzy two-sphere. For some of the
fields, the linearized equations take the form of solvable Lam\'e equations. We
define a large-N DBI-scaling limit, with vanishing string coupling and string
length, and where the gauge theory coupling remains finite. In this limit, the
non-linearities of the DBI action survive in both the classical and the quantum
context, while massive open string modes and closed strings decouple. We
describe a critical radius where strong gauge coupling effects become
important. The size of the bound quantum ground state of multiple D0-branes
makes an intriguing appearance as the radius of the fuzzy sphere, where the
maximal angular momentum quanta become strongly coupled.Comment: 34 pages, Latex; v2: Minor correction in conformal transformation of
couplings, references adde
Nonexotic Neutral Gauge Bosons
We study theoretical and experimental constraints on electroweak theories
including a new color-singlet and electrically-neutral gauge boson. We first
note that the electric charges of the observed fermions imply that any such Z'
boson may be described by a gauge theory in which the Abelian gauge groups are
the usual hypercharge along with another U(1) component in a kinetic-diagonal
basis. Assuming that the observed quarks and leptons have
generation-independent U(1) charges, and that no new fermions couple to the
standard model gauge bosons, we find that their U(1) charges form a
two-parameter family consistent with anomaly cancellation and viable fermion
masses, provided there are at least three right-handed neutrinos. We then
derive bounds on the Z' mass and couplings imposed by direct production and
Z-pole measurements. For generic charge assignments and a gauge coupling of
electromagnetic strength, the strongest lower bound on the Z' mass comes from
Z-pole measurements, and is of order 1 TeV. If the new U(1) charges are
proportional to B-L, however, there is no tree-level mixing between the Z and
Z', and the best bounds come from the absence of direct production at LEPII and
the Tevatron. If the U(1) gauge coupling is one or two orders of magnitude
below the electromagnetic one, these bounds are satisfied for most values of
the Z' mass.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures. A comparison with the LEP bounds on sneutrino
resonances is include
Recommended from our members
Normal State O 17 NMR Studies of Sr2RuO4 under Uniaxial Stress
The effects of uniaxial compressive stress on the normal state O17 nuclear-magnetic-resonance properties of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 are reported. The paramagnetic shifts of both planar and apical oxygen sites show pronounced anomalies near the nominal a-axis strain ÎŒaaÎŒv that maximizes the superconducting transition temperature Tc. The spin susceptibility weakly increases on lowering the temperature below Tâ10 K, consistent with an enhanced density of states associated with passing the Fermi energy through a van Hove singularity. Although such a Lifshitz transition occurs in the Îł band formed by the Ru dxy states hybridized with in-plane O pÏ orbitals, the large Hund's coupling renormalizes the uniform spin susceptibility, which, in turn, affects the hyperfine fields of all nuclei. We estimate this "Stoner" renormalization S by combining the data with first-principles calculations and conclude that this is an important part of the strain effect, with implications for superconductivity. © 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the »https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/» Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI
- âŠ