5,100 research outputs found
Managing performance in quality management: A two level study of employee-perceptions and workplace-performance
Purpose: This paper addresses potential effects of the control element in Quality Management. First, behavioural theories on how elements of performance management can affect organisational performance are examined. Secondly, theoretical models on how perceptions of work conditions may impact wellbeing and performance are considered. Direct and indirect pathways from performance management to productivity/quality are inferred.
Methodology: Matched employee-workplace data from an economy-wide survey in Britain and two-level structural equation models are used to test the hypothesised associations.
Findings: The use of practices in workplaces is inconsistent with a unified performance management approach. Distinct outcomes are expected from separate components in performance management and some may be contingent on workplace size. For example, within Quality-planning, strategy dissemination is positively associated with workplace-productivity; targets are negatively associated with perceptions of job demands and positively correlated with job satisfaction, which in turn can increase workplace-productivity. With respect to Information & Analysis: keeping and analysing records, or monitoring employee-performance via appraisals that assess training needs, are positively associated with workplace-productivity and quality.
Originality: This paper illustrates how control in Quality Management can be effective. Although the merits of performance management are subject to ongoing debate, arguments in the literature have tended to focus on performance appraisal. Analyses of economy-wide data linking performance management practices, within Quality Management, to employee perceptions of work conditions, wellbeing and aggregate performance are rare
Low density expansion and isospin dependence of nuclear energy functional: comparison between relativistic and Skyrme models
In the present work we take the non relativistic limit of relativistic models
and compare the obtained functionals with the usual Skyrme parametrization.
Relativistic models with both constant couplings and with density dependent
couplings are considered. While some models present very good results already
at the lowest order in the density, models with non-linear terms only reproduce
the energy functional if higher order terms are taken into account in the
expansion.Comment: 16 pages,6 figures,5 table
Gravitational Wave Signatures of Highly Magnetized Neutron Stars
Motivated by the recent gravitational wave detection by the LIGO-VIRGO
observatories, we study the Love number and dimensionless tidal polarizability
of highly magnetized stars. We also investigate the fundamental quasi-normal
mode of neutron stars subject to high magnetic fields. To perform our
calculations we use the chaotic field approximation and consider both nucleonic
and hyperonic stars. As far as the fundamental mode is concerned, we conclude
that the role played by the constitution of the stars is far more relevant than
the intensity of the magnetic field and if massive stars are considered, the
ones constituted by nucleons only present frequencies somewhat lower than the
ones with hyperonic cores, a feature that can be used to point out the real
internal structure of neutron stars. Moreover, our studies clearly indicate
that strong magnetic fields play a crucial role in the deformability of low
mass neutron stars, with possible consequences on the interpretation of the
detected gravitational waves signatures.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 6 table
New Global Defect Structures
We investigate the presence of defects in systems described by real scalar
field in (D,1) spacetime dimensions. We show that when the potential assumes
specific form, there are models which support stable global defects for D
arbitrary. We also show how to find first-order differential equations that
solve the equations of motion, and how to solve models in D dimensions via
soluble problems in D=1. We illustrate the procedure examining specific models
and finding explicit solutions.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, 3 eps figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
Spatial patterns and biodiversity in off-lattice simulations of a cyclic three-species Lotka-Volterra model
Stochastic simulations of cyclic three-species spatial predator-prey models
are usually performed in square lattices with nearest neighbor interactions
starting from random initial conditions. In this Letter we describe the results
of off-lattice Lotka-Volterra stochastic simulations, showing that the
emergence of spiral patterns does occur for sufficiently high values of the
(conserved) total density of individuals. We also investigate the dynamics in
our simulations, finding an empirical relation characterizing the dependence of
the characteristic peak frequency and amplitude on the total density. Finally,
we study the impact of the total density on the extinction probability, showing
how a low population density may jeopardize biodiversity.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures; new version, with new title and figure
Proposal for a single-molecule field-effect transistor for phonons
We propose a practical realization of a field-effect transistor for phonons.
Our device is based on a single ionic polymeric molecule and it gives
modulations as large as -25% in the thermal conductance for feasible
temperatures and electric field magnitudes. Such effect can be achieved by
reversibly switching the acoustic torsion mode into an optical mode through the
coupling of an applied electric field to the dipole moments of the monomers.
This device can pave the way to the future development of phononics at the
nanoscale or molecular scale
Primary and secondary thickening in the stem of Cordyline fruticosa (Agavaceae)
The growth in thickness of monocotyledon stems can be either primary, or primary and secondary. Most of the authors consider this thickening as a result of the PTM (Primary Thickening Meristem) and the STM (Secondary Thickening Meristem) activity. There are differences in the interpretation of which meristem would be responsible for primary thickening. In Cordyline fruticosa the procambium forms two types of vascular bundles: collateral leaf traces (with proto and metaxylem and proto and metaphloem), and concentric cauline bundles (with metaxylem and metaphloem). The procambium also forms the pericycle, the outermost layer of the vascular cylinder consisting of smaller and less intensely colored cells that are divided irregularly to form new vascular bundles. The pericycle continues the procambial activity, but only produces concentric cauline bundles. It was possible to conclude that the pericycle is responsible for the primary thickening of this species. Further away from the apex, the pericyclic cells undergo periclinal divisions and produce a meristematic layer: the secondary thickening meristem. The analysis of serial sections shows that the pericycle and STM are continuous in this species, and it is clear that the STM originates in the pericycle.The endodermis is acknowledged only as the innermost layer of the cortex.O crescimento em espessura do caule de monocotiledônea pode ser primário, ou primário e secundário. A maioria dos autores consideram o espessamento resultante do MEP (Meristema de Espessamento Primário) e do MES (Meristema de Espessamento Secundário). Há divergências de qual seria o meristema responsável pelo espessamento primário. Em Cordyline fruticosa o procâmbio forma feixes vasculares de dois tipos: traços foliares colaterais (com proto e metaxilema e proto e metafloema), e feixes caulinares concêntricos (com metaxilema e metafloema). O procâmbio também forma o periciclo, a camada mais externa do cilindro vascular, constituída por células menores e menos coradas que se dividem irregularmente, formando novos feixes vasculares. O periciclo dá continuidade à atividade procambial, originando somente feixes concêntricos. Concluiu-se ser o periciclo responsável pelo espessamento primário desta espécie. Mais distante do ápice as células pericíclicas passam a sofrer divisões periclinais originando o Meristema de Espessamento Secundário. A análise dos cortes seriados mostra que o periciclo e o MES são contínuos nesta espécie, ficando claro que o periciclo origina oMES. A endoderme é reconhecida, apenas, como a camada mais interna do córtex.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq
Light clusters and the pasta phase
The effects of including light clusters in nuclear matter at low densities
are investigated within four different parametrizations of relativistic models
at finite temperature. Both homogeneous and inhomogeneous matter (pasta phase)
are described for neutral nuclear matter with fixed proton fractions. We
discuss the effect of the density dependence of the symmetry energy, the
temperature and the proton fraction on the non-homogeneous matter forming the
inner crust of proto-neutron stars. It is shown that the number of nucleons in
the clusters, the cluster proton fraction and the sizes of the Wigner Seitz
cell and of the cluster are very sensitive to the density dependence of the
symmetry energy.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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