73 research outputs found
Economizing in a Context of Strategizing: Governance Mode Choice in Cournot Competition
Abstract This paper builds on JEL classification: D21; D23; L22 Keywords: Transaction cost economics; Organization; Strategy Economizing and strategizing in Cournot competition Williamson has categorized economic approaches to strategy as either strategizing, which appeals to a market power perspective, or economizing, which is principally concerned with organizational efficiency. Of the two, Williamson (1991, p.75) "aver[s] that . . . economizing is much the more fundamental." Teece et al. (1997, p.513) echo this view by arguing that the game-theoretic strategic conflict approach "ignores competition as a process involving the development, accumulation, combination, and protection of unique skills and capabilities," which they believe is central to building a long-run competitive advantage. Collectively, * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1314-935-6046; fax: +1-314-935-6359 E-mail address: [email protected] (J.A. Nickerson) 0167-2681/99/$ -see front matter ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 -2 6 8 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 3 9 -
Noncommutative resolutions of ADE fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds
In this paper we construct noncommutative resolutions of a certain class of Calabi-Yau threefolds studied by F. Cachazo, S. Katz and C. Vafa. The threefolds under consideration are fibered over a complex plane with the fibers being deformed Kleinian singularities. The construction is in terms of a noncommutative algebra introduced by V. Ginzburg, which we call the "N=1 ADE quiver algebra"
Stars of extragalactic origin in the solar neighborhood
We computed the spatial velocities and the galactic orbital elements using
Hipparcos data for 77 nearest main-sequence F-G-stars with published the iron,
magnesium, and europium abundances determined from high dispersion spectra and
with the ages estimated from theoretical isochrones. A comparison with the
orbital elements of the globular clusters that are known was accreted by our
Galaxy in the past reveals stars of extragalactic origin. We show that the
relative elemental abundance ratios of r- and \alpha- elements in all the
accreted stars differ sharply from those in the stars that are genetically
associated with the Galaxy. According to current theoretical models, europium
is produced mainly in low mass Type II supernovae (SNe II), while magnesium is
synthesized in larger amounts in high mass SN II progenitors. Since all the old
accreted stars of our sample exhibit a significant Eu overabundance relative to
Mg, we conclude that the maximum masses of the SNII progenitors outside the
Galaxy were much lower than those inside it are. On the other hand, only a
small number of young accreted stars exhibit low negative ratios .
The delay of primordial star formation burst and the explosions of high mass
SNe II in a relatively small part of extragalactic space can explain this
situation. We provide evidence that the interstellar medium was weakly mixed at
the early evolutionary stages of the Galaxy formed from a single proto-galactic
cloud and that the maximum mass of the SN II progenitors increased in it with
time simultaneously with the increase in mean metallicity.Comment: Accepted for 2004, Astronomy Letters, Vol. 30, No. 3, P.148-158 15
pages, 3 figure
Optical Spectroscopy of Active Galactic Nuclei in SA57
The cosmological evolution of X-ray-selected and optically selected Active
Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) show different behaviours interpreted in terms of two
different populations. The difference is evident mainly for low luminosity AGNs
(LLAGNs), many of which are lost by optical photometric surveys. We are
conducting a spectroscopical study of a composite sample of AGN candidates
selected in SA57 following different searching techniques, to identify low
luminosity AGNs and break down the sample into different classes of objects.
AGN candidates were obtained through optical variability and/or X-ray emission.
Of special interest are the extended variable objects, which are expected to be
galaxies hosting LLAGNs. Among the 26 classified objects a fair number (9) show
typical AGN spectra. 10 objects show Narrow Emission Line Galaxy spectra, and
in most of them (8/10) optical variability suggests the presence of LLAGNs.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, to appear in A&
Generation of single-mode SU(1,1) intelligent states and an analytic approach to their quantum statistical properties
We discuss a scheme for generation of single-mode photon states associated
with the two-photon realization of the SU(1,1) algebra. This scheme is based on
the process of non-degenerate down-conversion with the signal prepared
initially in the squeezed vacuum state and with a measurement of the photon
number in one of the output modes. We focus on the generation and properties of
single-mode SU(1,1) intelligent states which minimize the uncertainty relations
for Hermitian generators of the group. Properties of the intelligent states are
studied by using a ``weak'' extension of the analytic representation in the
unit disk. Then we are able to obtain exact analytical expressions for
expectation values describing quantum statistical properties of the SU(1,1)
intelligent states. Attention is mainly devoted to the study of photon
statistics and linear and quadratic squeezing.Comment: to appear in Quantum Semiclass. Opt., LaTeX, epsf style, 21 pages
including 5 Postscript figures. More information on
http://www.technion.ac.il/~brif/science.htm
SU(2) and SU(1,1) algebra eigenstates: A unified analytic approach to coherent and intelligent states
We introduce the concept of algebra eigenstates which are defined for an
arbitrary Lie group as eigenstates of elements of the corresponding complex Lie
algebra. We show that this concept unifies different definitions of coherent
states associated with a dynamical symmetry group. On the one hand, algebra
eigenstates include different sets of Perelomov's generalized coherent states.
On the other hand, intelligent states (which are squeezed states for a system
of general symmetry) also form a subset of algebra eigenstates. We develop the
general formalism and apply it to the SU(2) and SU(1,1) simple Lie groups.
Complete solutions to the general eigenvalue problem are found in the both
cases, by a method that employs analytic representations of the algebra
eigenstates. This analytic method also enables us to obtain exact closed
expressions for quantum statistical properties of an arbitrary algebra
eigenstate. Important special cases such as standard coherent states and
intelligent states are examined and relations between them are studied by using
their analytic representations.Comment: LaTeX, 24 pages, 1 figure (compressed PostScript, available at
http://www.technion.ac.il/~brif/abstracts/AES.html ). More information on
http://www.technion.ac.il/~brif/science.htm
Dark Energy from structure: a status report
The effective evolution of an inhomogeneous universe model in any theory of
gravitation may be described in terms of spatially averaged variables. In
Einstein's theory, restricting attention to scalar variables, this evolution
can be modeled by solutions of a set of Friedmann equations for an effective
volume scale factor, with matter and backreaction source terms. The latter can
be represented by an effective scalar field (`morphon field') modeling Dark
Energy.
The present work provides an overview over the Dark Energy debate in
connection with the impact of inhomogeneities, and formulates strategies for a
comprehensive quantitative evaluation of backreaction effects both in
theoretical and observational cosmology. We recall the basic steps of a
description of backreaction effects in relativistic cosmology that lead to
refurnishing the standard cosmological equations, but also lay down a number of
challenges and unresolved issues in connection with their observational
interpretation.
The present status of this subject is intermediate: we have a good
qualitative understanding of backreaction effects pointing to a global
instability of the standard model of cosmology; exact solutions and
perturbative results modeling this instability lie in the right sector to
explain Dark Energy from inhomogeneities. It is fair to say that, even if
backreaction effects turn out to be less important than anticipated by some
researchers, the concordance high-precision cosmology, the architecture of
current N-body simulations, as well as standard perturbative approaches may all
fall short in correctly describing the Late Universe.Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen. Rel. Grav. issue on Dark Energy, 59
pages, 2 figures; matches published versio
Expression proteomics of UPF1 knockdown in HeLa cells reveals autoregulation of hnRNP A2/B1 mediated by alternative splicing resulting in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay
BACKGROUND: In addition to acting as an RNA quality control pathway, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) plays roles in regulating normal gene expression. In particular, the extent to which alternative splicing is coupled to NMD and the roles of NMD in regulating uORF containing transcripts have been a matter of debate. RESULTS: In order to achieve a greater understanding of NMD regulated gene expression we used 2D-DiGE proteomics technology to examine the changes in protein expression induced in HeLa cells by UPF1 knockdown. QPCR based validation of the corresponding mRNAs, in response to both UPF1 knockdown and cycloheximide treatment, identified 17 bona fide NMD targets. Most of these were associated with bioinformatically predicted NMD activating features, predominantly upstream open reading frames (uORFs). Strikingly, however, the majority of transcripts up-regulated by UPF1 knockdown were either insensitive to, or even down-regulated by, cycloheximide treatment. Furthermore, the mRNA abundance of several down-regulated proteins failed to change upon UPF1 knockdown, indicating that UPF1`s role in regulating mRNA and protein abundance is more complex than previously appreciated. Among the bona fide NMD targets, we identified a highly conserved AS-NMD event within the 3` UTR of the HNRNPA2B1 gene. Overexpression of GFP tagged hnRNP A2 resulted in a decrease in endogenous hnRNP A2 and B1 mRNA with a concurrent increase in the NMD sensitive isoforms. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the large number of changes in protein expression upon UPF1 knockdown, a relatively small fraction of them can be directly attributed to the action of NMD on the corresponding mRNA. From amongst these we have identified a conserved AS-NMD event within HNRNPA2B1 that appears to mediate autoregulation of HNRNPA2B1 expression levels
Swift UV/Optical Telescope Imaging of Star Forming Regions in M81 and Holmberg IX
We present Swift UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) imaging of the galaxies M81 and Holmberg IX. We combine UVOT imaging in three near-ultraviolet (NUV) filters (uvw2: 1928 Å; uvm2: 2246 Å; uvw1: 2600 Å) with ground-based optical imaging from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to constrain the stellar populations of both galaxies. Our analysis consists of three different methods. First, we use the NUV imaging to identify UV star-forming knots and then perform spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling on the UV/optical photometry of these sources. Second, we measure surface brightness profiles of the disk of M81 in the NUV and optical. Lastly, we use SED fitting of individual pixels to map the properties of the two galaxies. In agreement with earlier studies, we find evidence for a burst in star formation in both galaxies starting ~200 Myr ago coincident with the suggested time of an M81-M82 interaction. In line with theories of its origin as a tidal dwarf, we find that the luminosity-weighted age of Holmberg IX is a few hundred million years. Both galaxies are best fit by a Milky Way dust extinction law with a prominent 2175 Å bump. In addition, we describe a stacked median filter technique for modeling the diffuse background light within a galaxy and a Markov chain method for cleaning segment maps generated by SExtractor
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