Collective narratives and politics in the contemporary study of work : the new management practices debate

In this article we explore the question of how as sociologists of work we might research those who constitute the substance of our labour process. We approach this question through an examination of the New Management Practices debate, principally in the labour movement where a distinctive and critical view of NMP developed in the late 1980s. Second, we argue that there is a link between this debate and the wider politics of labour process discussion both within and beyond the labour movement which has witnessed a shift away from an earlier engagement with worker interventions. In response we suggest the need to re-evaluate the nature of academic engagement with labour thus reanimating a closer engagement with labour-in-work and collective worker narratives

Pion Scattering Revisited

Chiral Ward identities lead to consistent accounting for the sigma's width in the linear sigma model's Feynman rules. Reanalysis of pion scattering data at threshold imply a mass for the sigma of 600+ 200 - 100 MeV.Comment: latex; VIII EMPC (Oaxaca, Nov 98) Proceeding

Masses and widths of the rho(770)

Isospin violation in the $\rho(770)$ mass and width is considered within the $S$ matrix approach using combined fits to the $e^+e^- \to\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\tau^- \to \nu_{\tau}\pi^-\pi^0$ data performed by the ALEPH collaboration. We show that the pole position following from the parameters obtained from the ALEPH fits are not sensitive to the details of the parametrization. In this context, we have found that the pole mass difference and the pole width difference between the charged and neutral $\rho$ are consistent with zero. We show that a one loop calculation including vector, axial vector and pseudo-scalar mesons can satisfactorily describe the observed isospin breaking. We also give an estimate for the mass difference between the neutral and charged states of the $a_1(1260)$.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

ABIOTIC DEGRADATION OF IODOSULFURON-METHYL-ESTER IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

The abiotic degradation of iodosulfuron-methyl-ester was investigated under both alkaline and acidic pH conditions in the dark, and results showed it to be a rather stable molecule in neutral or slightly alkaline environments. Photochemical reactions were studied using a high-pressure mercury arc lamp, and results showed that direct phototransformation is possible under normal environmental conditions (ì > 290 nm). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS) analyses were used to identify the degradates and to study the kinetics of photodecomposition and hydrolysis. Five main products of iodosulfuron-methyl-ester degradation were tentatively identified, and one of them (4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-amine) was confirmed using an authentic standard. Among the phototransformation mechanisms, photosubstitution of the iodide atom by a hydroxyl group, photodissociation of the N-S bond, and photoassisted hydrolysis were observed. The quantum efficiencies (multiwavelength quantum yield) of the photodegradation under different conditions were determined, and values of 0.054 ( 0.02 (pH 9.6), 0.08 ( 0.02 (pH 7), and 0.044 ( 0.008 (pH 5.3) were obtained

The Quest for the Dominant Stellar Population in the Giant Elliptical NGC 5018

Newly obtained HST/WFPC2 images of the disturbed elliptical galaxy NGC 5018 show that the average amount of internal reddening due to the its complex ``dust web'' is as low as E(B-V)~0.02 within the IUE aperture, thus implying that its observed and intrinsic energy distributions do not differ significantly down to UV wavelengths. This, in turn, is quite relevant to the current debate on the age of its dominant stellar population.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings of the conference "Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies", ASP Conference Series, eds. J.G. Funes, S.J. and E.M. Corsin

Tests of flavor symmetry in J/psi decays

We use SU(3) flavor symmetry to analyze the $PP', VP$ and baryon-antibaryon decays of $J/\psi$. Both, the SU(3)-invariant and -violating contributions are considered. Particular attention is paid to the interference of the electromagnetic and strong amplitudes.Comment: 8 pages, latex. Talk given at CAM-94 Physics Meetin