13,514 research outputs found
Power in the Multinational Corporation in Industry Equilibrium
Recent theories of the multinational corporation introduce the property rights model of the firm and examine whether to integrate our outsource firm activities locally or to a foreign country. This paper focus instead on the internal organization of the multinational corporation by examining the power allocation between headquarters and subsidiaries. We provide a framework to analyse the interaction between the decision to serve the local market by exporting or FDI, market acces and the optimal mode of organization of the multinational corporation. We find that subsidiary managers are given most autonomy in their decision how to run the firm at intermediate levels of local competition. We then provide comparative statics for changes in fixed FDI entry costs and trade costs, information technology, the number of local competitors, and in the size of the local market
3D discrete element modeling of concrete: study of the rolling resistance effects on the macroscopic constitutive behavior
The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is appropriate for modeling granular materials [14] but also cohesive materials as concrete when submitted to a severe loading such an impact leading to fractures or fragmentation in the continuum [1, 5, 6, 8]. Contrarily to granular materials, the macroscopic constitutive behavior of a cohesive material is not directly linked to contact interactions between the rigid Discrete Elements (DE) and interaction laws are then defined between DE surrounding each DE. Spherical DE are used because the contact detection is easy to implement and the computation time is reduced in comparison with the use of 3D DE with a more complex shape. The element size is variable and the assembly is disordered to prevent preferential cleavage planes. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the influence of DE rotations on the macroscopic non-linear quasi-static behavior of concrete. Classically, the interactions between DE are modeled by spring-like interactions based on displacements and rotation velocities of DE are only controlled by tangential forces perpendicular to the line linking the two sphere centroids. The disadvantage of this modeling with only spring-like interactions based on displacements is that excessive rolling occurs under shear, therefore the macroscopic behavior of concrete is too brittle. To overcome this problem a non linear Moment Transfer Law (MTL) is introduced to add a rolling resistance to elements. This solution has no influence on the calculation cost and allows a more accurate macroscopic representation of concrete behavior. The identification process of material parameters is given and simulations of tests performed on concrete samples are shown
Surface Impedance Determination via Numerical Resolution of the Inverse Helmholtz Problem
Assigning boundary conditions, such as acoustic impedance, to the frequency
domain thermoviscous wave equations (TWE), derived from the linearized
Navier-Stokes equations (LNSE) poses a Helmholtz problem, solution to which
yields a discrete set of complex eigenfunctions and eigenvalue pairs. The
proposed method -- the inverse Helmholtz solver (iHS) -- reverses such
procedure by returning the value of acoustic impedance at one or more unknown
impedance boundaries (IBs) of a given domain, via spatial integration of the
TWE for a given real-valued frequency with assigned conditions on other
boundaries. The iHS procedure is applied to a second-order spatial
discretization of the TWEs on an unstructured staggered grid arrangement. Only
the momentum equation is extended to the center of each IB face where pressure
and velocity components are co-located and treated as unknowns. The iHS is
finally closed via assignment of the surface gradient of pressure phase over
the IBs, corresponding to assigning the shape of the acoustic waveform at the
IB. The iHS procedure can be carried out independently for different
frequencies, making it embarrassingly parallel, and able to return the complete
broadband complex impedance distribution at the IBs in any desired frequency
range to arbitrary numerical precision. The iHS approach is first validated
against Rott's theory for viscous rectangular and circular ducts. The impedance
of a toy porous cavity with a complex geometry is then reconstructed and
validated with companion fully compressible unstructured Navier-Stokes
simulations resolving the cavity geometry. Verification against one-dimensional
impedance test tube calculations based on time-domain impedance boundary
conditions (TDIBC) is also carried out. Finally, results from a preliminary
analysis of a thermoacoustically unstable cavity are presented.Comment: As submitted to AIAA Aviation 201
Surmounting collectively oscillating bottlenecks
We study the collective escape dynamics of a chain of coupled, weakly damped
nonlinear oscillators from a metastable state over a barrier when driven by a
thermal heat bath in combination with a weak, globally acting periodic
perturbation. Optimal parameter choices are identified that lead to a drastic
enhancement of escape rates as compared to a pure noise-assisted situation. We
elucidate the speed-up of escape in the driven Langevin dynamics by showing
that the time-periodic external field in combination with the thermal
fluctuations triggers an instability mechanism of the stationary homogeneous
lattice state of the system. Perturbations of the latter provided by incoherent
thermal fluctuations grow because of a parametric resonance, leading to the
formation of spatially localized modes (LMs). Remarkably, the LMs persist in
spite of continuously impacting thermal noise. The average escape time assumes
a distinct minimum by either tuning the coupling strength and/or the driving
frequency. This weak ac-driven assisted escape in turn implies a giant speed of
the activation rate of such thermally driven coupled nonlinear oscillator
chains
Infrared Observations of AGN
We present results from an imaging and spectroscopic study of the dust
properties of Seyfert galaxies in the 1-10um range. The data are compared to
state of the art models of torus emission to constrain geometrical and physical
properties of the obscuring medium.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in the IAU Symp.No.222 proceedings:"The Interplay
among Black Holes, Stars and ISM in Galactic Nuclei", Gramado, Brazil, March
1-5, 200
Fine Structure of the 1s3p ^3P_J Level in Atomic ^4He: Theory and Experiment
We report on a theoretical calculation and a new experimental determination
of the 1s3p ^3P_J fine structure intervals in atomic ^4He. The values from the
theoretical calculation of 8113.730(6) MHz and 658.801(6) MHz for the nu_{01}
and nu_{12} intervals, respectively, disagree significantly with previous
experimental results. However, the new laser spectroscopic measurement reported
here yields values of 8113.714(28) MHz and 658.810(18) MHz for these intervals.
These results show an excellent agreement with the theoretical values and
resolve the apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Modelling, design and evaluation of a continuous Poiseuille flow struvite seed crystallizer
Poiseuille flow combined with rapid mixing provides a low pressure drop method of continuous seed production. Magnitude and variance of distribution width and volume median diameter (D[50]) measured in line (IL) increase with initial saturation index (SI), whereas filtered and re-suspended samples show little change. These effects are greater for the impinging jet (IJ) mixer than the Roughton (R) mixer. This illustrates that incomplete mixing before nucleation promotes formation of unstable aggregates, creating a more variable product. The IJ mixer also produced a lower phosphorus recovery, which may be attributed to SI gradients caused by incomplete mixing. Differences in mass recovery measurements indicate that scaling is an issue and needs to be further investigated
The Index Offence Representation Scales; a predictive clinical tool in the management of dangerous, violent patients with personality disorder?
Forensic mental health professionals attach considerable importance to their patient's description of his or her index offence. Despite this, there is no systematic approach to examining and formulating the patient's offence narrative
Hydrogen atom in a spherical well: linear approximation
We discuss the boundary effects on a quantum system by examining the problem
of a hydrogen atom in a spherical well. By using an approximation method which
is linear in energy we calculate the boundary corrections to the ground-state
energy and wave function. We obtain the asymptotic dependence of the
ground-state energy on the radius of the well.Comment: Revised version to appear in European Journal of Physic
Ecological design of a crayfishing program to control population density of the invasive species Procambarus Clarkii in Doñana National Park freshwater marsh (Spain)
The exploitation of Procambarus clarkii in Doñana National Park’s freshwater marsh (DNP) has been economically important to the local human population since the 1970s. The high density of this crayfish species has been causing a major environmental impact in the Park by the substantial reduction of submerging aquatic macrophytes prairies due to its broad trophic spectrum and feeding habits, which turned the environmental frame (consisting in clear water equilibrium) into a turbid water balance. Differences in population dynamics of three population groups of P. clarkii in the DNP freshwater marsh were compared and analyzed from a fishery perspective. The objective is to reduce their ecological impact using optimal crayfishing management. Maximum growth curves showed that crayfish have different growth optimums. Recruitment of young crayfish varies between different populations; when there is an excessive increase in the density of juveniles in a population and conditions are stressful, their growth is deficient. If these conditions persist, the population could become stunted. Fishery for commercial gain is banned in DNP; however, a model of fisheries program aimed at controlling the excess population of crayfish can be effective in halting the ecological impact of this invasive species while providing an opportunity for poachers to have viable productive options. The model proposed can help to solve the problem of crayfish “poaching” through the legalization and strict control of harvesting practicesPedro J. Gutiérrez-Yurrita also thanks the ICI (Spain) for a subvention grant and CONACyT (México) for a financial complement of the former grant that enabled him to complete this researc
- …