دراسة التوازن الاستراتيجي في الشركة السورية للحبوب دراسة ميدانية على فرع اللاذقية

هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على مفهوم التوازن الاستراتيجي وأبعاده، وأهميته في المنظمات، إذ أن المنظمات التي تحافظ على توازنها الاستراتيجي تضمن لنفسها الاستدامة والنمو المستمر لا سيما في ظروف بلد كسورية تسوده ظروف اقتصادية غير مستقرة. تم إجراء الدراسة في الشركة السورية للحبوب- فرع اللاذقية على عينة قصدية من المديرين في جميع المستويات والأقسام الإدارية حيث تم توزيع 60 استبانة استرد منها 53 استبانة صالحة للتحليل الاحصائي، للحصول من خلالها على إجابات عن الموضوع المدروس، تم اتباع المنهج الوصفي التحليلي واستخدام الإحصاء الاستدلالي من خلال البرنامج الاحصائي 23 SPSS للوصول إلى النتائج. توصلت الدراسة إلى أن الشركة تحقق التوازن الاستراتيجي إذ تقوم بتنفيذ استراتيجياتها وبممارسة عملياتها الاستراتيجية المطلوبة، إلا أن خطتها الاستراتيجية غير معلنة لجميع أفرادها. وقد أوصت الدراسة بضرورة نشر الخطة الاستراتيجية للشركة ووضعها في متناول موظفيها، والحرص على إيجاد تكامل ثقافي بين الشركات المندمجة يساعد على تحقيق التوازن الاستراتيجي للشركة. ضرورة تمكين العاملين وإشراكهم في العمل واتخاذ القرارات ما يساعد على تنفيذ تدفق العمليات الاستراتيجية بكل مرونة، ضرورة وجود خطط طوارئ لمواجهة حالة التغير البيئي المستمر من أجل تحقيق التوازن الاستراتيجي الديناميكي

On the survivability and detectability of terrestrial meteorites on the moon

Materials blasted into space from the surface of early Earth may preserve a unique record of our planet's early surface environment. Armstrong et al. (2002) pointed out that such materials, in the form of terrestrial meteorites, may exist on the Moon and be of considerable astrobiological interest if biomarkers from early Earth are preserved within them. Here, we report results obtained via the AUTODYN hydrocode to calculate the peak pressures within terrestrial meteorites on the lunar surface to assess their likelihood of surviving the impact. Our results confirm the order-of-magnitude estimates of Armstrong et al. (2002) that substantial survivability is to be expected, especially in the case of relatively low velocity (ca. 2.5 km/s) or oblique (≤45°) impacts, or both. We outline possible mechanisms for locating such materials on the Moon and conclude that searching for them would be a scientifically valuable activity for future lunar exploration

15N tracing to elucidate links between biodiversity and nitrogen cycling in a grassland experiment

Nitrogen (N) cycling is a fundamental ecosystem function of high complexity because N undergoes many transformations in soil and vegetation. The effect of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functions in general, and on N cycling in particular, was studied in several manipulative field experiments. To generate a comprehensive view of the influence of species richness on all major N transformations, we conducted laboratory incubations, in which we added 15N-labeled ammonium and nitrate to soil samples of the “Jena Experiment”, a manipulative large scale, long-term biodiversity experiment in grassland. The experimental site is located in Jena, Germany. The design consists of 4 blocks and 82 plots with 1-60 species and 1-4 functional groups (grasses, legumes, small herbs, tall herbs). Approx. 400 g of field-fresh soil was sampled from each plot of one of the 4 blocks and divided into three aliquots of 100 g each. In order to trace N turnover, we amended the incubations (in triplicate) either with 15N-labelled (98 at%) ammonium, nitrate, or with a mixture of both. The samples were incubated for two months at 20°C. Soil solution was extracted 1, 2, 4, 9 and 16 days after 15N application by percolating 100 mL of nutrient solution through each vessel. Concentrations of NH4-N, NO3-N and total N in the extracts were determined with colorimetric methods. The N-isotopic composition in nitrate was analyzed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) using the denitrifier method. Ammonium N isotope ratios were determined using the “hypobromite oxidation” method, in which ammonium-N is converted to nitrite followed by azide reaction to nitrous oxide and IRMS analysis. The results will be comprehensively evaluated in a quantitative context using the modelling approach of Müller et al. (2007) to determine the size of six N pools and the rates of nine N transformations. Links between N transformation rates, N-pool size and plant species richness will be verified with the help of ANOVA

Petrography and metamorphism of the metasedimentary country-rocks of the Jacurici Valley Chromitite-Hosting mafic-ultramafic complexes, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil

This paper deal with on the metasedimentary country-rocks of the chromite-bearing ultramafic rocks that occur in the"Jacurici River Valley Chromium District" northeastern Bahia, Brazil. This region presents a complex geologic-petrologic framework of rocks that were intensely deformed, metamorphosed and transformed by metasomatic processes, making it difficult to interpret their evolutionary/metamorphic record. Although the metasedimentary country rocks have also been affected by such processes, it is possible to distinguish evidence of a previous high-grade metamorphism that affected them. Thermobarometric data for the observed mineralogical associations indicate P-T conditions around 750-800ºC and 7-8 kb for the metamorphic peak, based mainly on the presence of olivine in marbles and the cordierite-garnet-sillimanite-spinel association in aluminous gneisses.Este trabalho enfoca as encaixantes metassedimentares das rochas ultramáficas, portadoras de mineralização de cromita, que ocorrem no nordeste do estado da Bahia. Esta região, conhecida como"Distrito Cromitífero do Vale do Rio Jacurici", apresenta grande complexidade geológica-petrológica com rochas intensamente deformadas, metamorfizadas e transformadas por processos metassomáticos, o que dificulta a interpretação do registro metamórfico/evolutivo dessas rochas. Apesar dos metassedimentos também terem sido afetados pelos processos acima, é possível recuperar registros do metamorfismo de alto grau. Dados termobarométricos indicam condições P-T de 750-800ºC e 7-8 kb, baseados na presença de olivina nos mármores e na associação cordierita-granada-sillimanita-hercinita nos gnaisses aluminosos

Phase transition in the Sznajd model with independence

We propose a model of opinion dynamics which describes two major types of social influence -- conformity and independence. Conformity in our model is described by the so called outflow dynamics (known as Sznajd model). According to sociologists' suggestions, we introduce also a second type of social influence, known in social psychology as independence. Various social experiments have shown that the level of conformity depends on the society. We introduce this level as a parameter of the model and show that there is a continuous phase transition between conformity and independence

Optimal Uncertainty Quantification

We propose a rigorous framework for Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) in which the UQ objectives and the assumptions/information set are brought to the forefront. This framework, which we call \emph{Optimal Uncertainty Quantification} (OUQ), is based on the observation that, given a set of assumptions and information about the problem, there exist optimal bounds on uncertainties: these are obtained as values of well-defined optimization problems corresponding to extremizing probabilities of failure, or of deviations, subject to the constraints imposed by the scenarios compatible with the assumptions and information. In particular, this framework does not implicitly impose inappropriate assumptions, nor does it repudiate relevant information. Although OUQ optimization problems are extremely large, we show that under general conditions they have finite-dimensional reductions. As an application, we develop \emph{Optimal Concentration Inequalities} (OCI) of Hoeffding and McDiarmid type. Surprisingly, these results show that uncertainties in input parameters, which propagate to output uncertainties in the classical sensitivity analysis paradigm, may fail to do so if the transfer functions (or probability distributions) are imperfectly known. We show how, for hierarchical structures, this phenomenon may lead to the non-propagation of uncertainties or information across scales. In addition, a general algorithmic framework is developed for OUQ and is tested on the Caltech surrogate model for hypervelocity impact and on the seismic safety assessment of truss structures, suggesting the feasibility of the framework for important complex systems. The introduction of this paper provides both an overview of the paper and a self-contained mini-tutorial about basic concepts and issues of UQ.Comment: 90 pages. Accepted for publication in SIAM Review (Expository Research Papers). See SIAM Review for higher quality figure

Nesting Substrate Characteristics of Partamona seridoensis Pedro & Camargo (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Areas of Dry Forest in Brazil

For the first time the association between Partamona seridoensis and Constrictotermes cyphergaster is described. Partamona seridoensis occurs in xeric areas of Northeastern Brazil, and it is a termitophile species as its nests are built in active and inactive arboreal termite nests of the species C. cyphergaster. This study aimed to verify the characteristics of the nesting substrate used by P. seridoensis in two areas of dry forest (caatinga) in Cariri region, Paraíba state. It has been found that the vertical distribution of termites that contained colonies of P. seridoensis varied from 10 cm to 3.60 m, while the height of the nest entrance varied from 20 cm to 3.70 m. Commiphora leptophloeos, popularly known as imburana, was the support tree of 22 (43.1%) from 51 observed termite nests that harbored bee colonies. Most (44; 86.2%) of the host termites colonies were active. Most of the colonies showed the nest entrances not directed to the east/southeast. All colonies located were housed in large termite nests, whose volumes exceed 30 liters. In the two areas surveyed, frequently the entrances of the nests were directed to other nearby colonies, suggesting a parental relationship that should be further investigated

From 2000 Bush-Gore to 2006 Italian elections: Voting at fifty-fifty and the Contrarian Effect

A sociophysical model for opinion dynamics is shown to embody a series of recent western hung national votes all set at the unexpected and very improbable edge of a fifty-fifty score. It started with the Bush-Gore 2000 American presidential election, followed by the 2002 Stoiber-Schr\H{o}der, then the 2005 Schr\H{o}der-Merkel German elections, and finally the 2006 Prodi-Berlusconi Italian elections. In each case, the country was facing drastic choices, the running competing parties were advocating very different programs and millions of voters were involved. Moreover, polls were given a substantial margin for the predicted winner. While all these events were perceived as accidental and isolated, our model suggests that indeed they are deterministic and obey to one single universal phenomena associated to the effect of contrarian behavior on the dynamics of opinion forming. The not hung Bush-Kerry 2005 presidential election is shown to belong to the same universal frame. To conclude, the existence of contrarians hints at the repetition of hung elections in the near future.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure

Consequences of long-distance transport on the behavior and health of young-bulls that may affect their fitness to adapt to feedlots

Some studies have shown that long distance journeys and the type of trailer compartment have consequences on farm animal welfare. However, there is little evidence to indicate how these consequences affect the fitness of young bulls to adapt to a novel and challenging environment such as an intensive industrial feedlot. Therefore, the objective of our study was to evaluate the consequences of long-distance transport and trailer compartment on the behavior and health of young bulls during the first 60 days after arrival to the feedlot. An evaluation protocol was conducted to record individual behavior (scan sampling) and health indicators of young bulls from days 1-10 and 51-60 after arrival. In addition, three ocular thermal images were taken per animal in a chute during weighing, one each on day 0, day 2 (48 h) and day 50. From our results, the thermophysiological profile, maintenance behaviors and health indicators suggest that there are two distinct groups of consequences affecting animal fitness during the first two months in the feedlot. The first was linked to post-transport fatigue (PTF) that seemed to disappear after the 10 days post-arrival at feedlot. The second was related to signs of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) that began 6 days post-transport and persisted until day 60. In addition, the trailer compartments known as the belly and the deck were shown to be problematic for animal welfare, where the transport in the belly was linked to fatigue after transport, while transport in the deck was associated with respiratory problems. Our study underscores the importance of applying preconditioning practices in cow-calf rearing systems at least a couple of months prior to the long-distance journey, in addition to implementing good loading practices to select which animals are best suited for a given compartment. Our results may be useful to minimize the impacts of PTF and BRD, to propose best practices for livestock transport in countries with similar production systems and agroecosystems