International business relationships triads: Classical-type and relational-type interactions between Chinese and western firms

China’s expanding position within the global business arena has placed focus on its role in assisting to stimulate the global economy during the current ‘global financial crisis’. This raises the importance of better understanding how the Chinese conduct their inter-firm interactions, in their exchanges between Chinese and Western firms. We report an expository study that identifies both classical-type exchange and interactions that are relational-type in the one context and how these conflate to form triadic structures within business networks. From case study evidence, we propose a typology of triadic interorganisational forms. To understand better exchange in this complex international marketing context, and the additional demands this places on relationships management, it is important that we understand the causes and nature of the fuzziness of these opaque inter-firm network structures

Individual Retinal Progenitor Cells Display Extensive Heterogeneity of Gene Expression

The development of complex tissues requires that mitotic progenitor cells integrate information from the environment. The highly varied outcomes of such integration processes undoubtedly depend at least in part upon variations among the gene expression programs of individual progenitor cells. To date, there has not been a comprehensive examination of these differences among progenitor cells of a particular tissue. Here, we used comprehensive gene expression profiling to define these differences among individual progenitor cells of the vertebrate retina. Retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) have been shown by lineage analysis to be multipotent throughout development and to produce distinct types of daughter cells in a temporal, conserved order. A total of 42 single RPCs were profiled on Affymetrix arrays. In situ hybridizations performed on both retinal sections and dissociated retinal cells were used to validate the results of the microarrays. An extensive amount of heterogeneity in gene expression among RPCs, even among cells isolated from the same developmental time point, was observed. While many classes of genes displayed heterogeneity of gene expression, the expression of transcription factors constituted a significant amount of the observed heterogeneity. In contrast to previous findings, individual RPCs were found to express multiple bHLH transcription factors, suggesting alternative models to those previously developed concerning how these factors may be coordinated. Additionally, the expression of cell cycle related transcripts showed differences among those associated with G2 and M, versus G1 and S phase, suggesting different levels of regulation for these genes. These data provide insights into the types of processes and genes that are fundamental to cell fate choices, proliferation decisions, and, for cells of the central nervous system, the underpinnings of the formation of complex circuitry

Sudakov expansions at one loop and beyond for charged scalar and fermion pair production in SUSY models at future Linear Colliders

We consider the high energy behaviour of the amplitudes for pair production of charged leptons, quarks, Higgs bosons, sleptons, squarks and charginos at lepton colliders. We give the general expressions of the leading quadratic and subleading linear logarithms that appear at the one loop level, and derive the corresponding resummed expansions to \underline{subleading} logarithmic order accuracy. Under the assumption of a relatively light SUSY scenario and choosing the MSSM as a specific model, we compare the predictions of the one-loop and of the resummed expansions at variable energy. We show that the two predictions are very close in the one TeV regime, but drastically differ in the few ($2,3$) TeV range.Comment: 43 pages, 13 Encapsulated PostScript figure

Charged Higgs Production in the 1 TeV Domain as a Probe of Supersymmetric Models

We consider the production, at future lepton colliders, of charged Higgs pairs in supersymmetric models. Assuming a relatively light SUSY scenario, and working in the MSSM, we show that, for c.m. energies in the one TeV range, a one-loop logarithmic Sudakov expansion that includes an "effective" next-to subleading order term is adequate to the expected level of experimental accuracy. We consider then the coefficient of the linear (subleading) SUSY Sudakov logarithm and the SUSY next to subleading term of the expansion and show that their dependence on the supersymmetric parameters of the model is drastically different. In particular the coefficient of the SUSY logarithm is only dependent on $\tan\beta$ while the next to subleading term depends on a larger set of SUSY parameters. This would allow to extract from the data separate informations and tests of the model.Comment: 18 pages and 13 figures e-mail: [email protected]

Correlations between isospin dynamics and Intermediate Mass Fragments emission time scales: a probe for the symmetry energy in asymmetric nuclear matter

We show new data from the $^{64}$Ni+$^{124}$Sn and $^{58}$Ni+$^{112}$Sn reactions studied in direct kinematics with the CHIMERA detector at INFN-LNS and compared with the reverse kinematics reactions at the same incident beam energy (35 A MeV). Analyzing the data with the method of relative velocity correlations, fragments coming from statistical decay of an excited projectile-like (PLF) or target-like (TLF) fragments are discriminated from the ones coming from dynamical emission in the early stages of the reaction. By comparing data of the reverse kinematics experiment with a stochastic mean field (SMF) + GEMINI calculations our results show that observables from neck fragmentation mechanism add valuable constraints on the density dependence of symmetry energy. An indication is found for a moderately stiff symmetry energy potential term of EOS.Comment: Talk given by E. De Filippo at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Evidence for a Novel Reaction Mechanism of a Prompt Shock-Induced Fission Following the Fusion of 78Kr and 40Ca Nuclei at E/A =10 MeV

An analysis of experimental data from the inverse-kinematics ISODEC experiment on 78Kr+40Ca reaction at a bombarding energy of 10 AMeV has revealed signatures of a hitherto unknown reaction mechanism, intermediate between the classical damped binary collisions and fusion-fission, but also substantially different from what is being termed in the literature as fast fission or quasi fission. These signatures point to a scenario where the system fuses transiently while virtually equilibrating mass asymmetry and energy and, yet, keeping part of the energy stored in a collective shock-imparted and, possibly, angular momentum bearing form of excitation. Subsequently the system fissions dynamically along the collision or shock axis with the emerging fragments featuring a broad mass spectrum centered around symmetric fission, relative velocities somewhat higher along the fission axis than in transverse direction, and virtually no intrinsic spin. The class of massasymmetric fission events shows a distinct preference for the more massive fragments to proceed along the beam direction, a characteristic reminiscent of that reported earlier for dynamic fragmentation of projectile-like fragments alone and pointing to the memory of the initial mass and velocity distribution.Comment: 5 PAGES, 6 FIGURE

Multi-component Transparent Conducting Oxides: Progress in Materials Modelling

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) play an essential role in modern optoelectronic devices through their combination of electrical conductivity and optical transparency. We review recent progress in our understanding of multi-component TCOs formed from solid-solutions of ZnO, In2O3, Ga2O3 and Al2O3, with a particular emphasis on the contributions of materials modelling, primarily based on Density Functional Theory. In particular, we highlight three major results from our work: (i) the fundamental principles governing the crystal structures of multi-component oxide structures including (In2O3)(ZnO)n, named IZO, and (In2O3)m(Ga2O3)l(ZnO)n, named IGZO; (ii) the relationship between elemental composition and optical and electrical behaviour, including valence band alignments; (iii) the high-performance of amorphous oxide semiconductors. From these advances, the challenge of the rational design of novel electroceramic materials is discussed.Comment: Part of a themed issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter on "Semiconducting Oxides". In Press (2011

Mass and charge identification of fragments detected with the Chimera Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes

Mass and charge identification of charged products detected with Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes of the Chimera apparatus is presented. An identification function, based on the Bethe-Bloch formula, is used to fit empirical correlation between Delta E and E ADC readings, in order to determine, event by event, the atomic and mass numbers of the detected charged reaction products prior to energy calibration.Comment: 24 pages, 7 .jpg figures, submitted to Nucl.Instr.

Integration of first-principles methods and crystallographic database searches for new ferroelectrics: Strategies and explorations

In this concept paper, the development of strategies for the integration of first-principles methods with crystallographic database mining for the discovery and design of novel ferroelectric materials is discussed, drawing on the results and experience derived from exploratory investigations on three different systems: (1) the double perovskite Sr(Sb$_{1/2}$Mn$_{1/2}$)O$_3$ as a candidate semiconducting ferroelectric; (2) polar derivatives of schafarzikite $M$Sb$_2$O$_4$; and (3) ferroelectric semiconductors with formula $M_2$P$_2$(S,Se)$_6$. A variety of avenues for further research and investigation are suggested, including automated structure type classification, low-symmetry improper ferroelectrics, and high-throughput first-principles searches for additional representatives of structural families with desirable functional properties.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 4 table