Imaging Water Dissociation on TiO₂(110)

Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to identify the adsorption site of H₂O on TiO₂(110)-(1 x 1) at 150 K, and to monitor the site of the dissociation products at 290 K. Water adsorbs onto the rows of fivefold coordinated Ti atoms at 150 K, dissociating by 290 K to form bridging but not terminal hydroxyls. This points to the involvement of bridging O vacancies in the dissociation pathway

Similarity, isomorphism or duality? Recent survey evidence on the human resource management policies of multinational corporations

There is considerable debate as to the determinants of the human resource policies of human resource management: do they reflect national institutional or cultural realities, emerging common global practices, parent country effects or the dual effects of transnational and national realities? We use an extensive international database to explore these differences, assessing variations in a range of human resource practices. We find new evidence of national differences in the manner in which indigenous firms manage their people, but also evidence of a similarity in practice amongst multinational corporations. In other words, multinational corporations tend to manage their human resources in ways that are distinct from those of their host country; at the same time, country of origin effects seem relatively weak. Whilst there is some evidence of common global practices, sufficient diversity in practice persists to suggest that duality theories may provide the most appropriate explanation

Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: union organisational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU's Alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, while internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with — and contesting — neoliberal reforms, retaining and re-energizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work

Exchange Splitting and Charge Carrier Spin Polarization in EuO

High quality thin films of the ferromagnetic semiconductor EuO have been prepared and were studied using a new form of spin-resolved spectroscopy. We observed large changes in the electronic structure across the Curie and metal-insulator transition temperature. We found that these are caused by the exchange splitting of the conduction band in the ferromagnetic state, which is as large as 0.6 eV. We also present strong evidence that the bottom of the conduction band consists mainly of majority spins. This implies that doped charge carriers in EuO are practically fully spin polarized.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Bimagnon studies in cuprates with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the O K edge. II - The doping effect in La2-xSrxCuO4

We present RIXS data at O K edge from La2-xSrxCuO4 vs. doping between x=0.10 and x=0.22 with attention to the magnetic excitations in the Mid-Infrared region. The sampling done by RIXS is the same as in the undoped cuprates provided the excitation is at the first pre-peak induced by doping. Note that this excitation energy is about 1.5 eV lower than that needed to see bimagnons in the parent compound. This approach allows the study of the upper region of the bimagnon continuum around 450 meV within about one third of the Brilluoin Zone around \Gamma. The results show the presence of damped bimagnons and of higher even order spin excitations with almost constant spectral weight at all the dopings explored here. The implications on high Tc studies are briefly addressed

A methodology based on benchmarking to learn across megaprojects: the case of nuclear decommissioning

Purpose: The literature lacks a single and universally accepted definition of major and megaprojects: usually, these projects are described as projects with a budget above $1 billion and a high level of innovation, complexity & uniqueness both in terms of physical infrastructure and stakeholder network. Moreover, they often provide fewer benefits than what were originally expected and are affected by delays and cost overruns. Despite this techno-economic magnitude, it is still extremely hard to gather lessons learned from these projects in a systematic way. This paper presents an innovative methodology based on benchmarking to investigate good and bad practices and learn from a portfolio of unique megaprojects. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology combines quantitative & qualitative cross-comparison of case studies and statistical analysis into an iterative process. Findings: Indeed, benchmarking offers significant potential to identify good and bad practices and improve the performance of project selection, planning and delivery. Research limitations/implications: The methodology is exemplified in this paper using the case of Nuclear Decommissioning Projects and Programmes (NDPs). Originality/value: Indeed, due to their characteristics, NDPs can be addressed as megaprojects, and are a relevant example for the application of the methodology presented here that collects and investigates the characteristics that mostly impact the performance of (mega)projects, through a continuous learning process