Quasi-Local Formulation of Non-Abelian Finite-Element Gauge Theory

Recently it was shown how to formulate the finite-element equations of motion of a non-Abelian gauge theory, by gauging the free lattice difference equations, and simultaneously determining the form of the gauge transformations. In particular, the gauge-covariant field strength was explicitly constructed, locally, in terms of a path ordered product of exponentials (link operators). On the other hand, the Dirac and Yang-Mills equations were nonlocal, involving sums over the entire prior lattice. Earlier, Matsuyama had proposed a local Dirac equation constructed from just the above-mentioned link operators. Here, we show how his scheme, which is closely related to our earlier one, can be implemented for a non-Abelian gauge theory. Although both Dirac and Yang-Mills equations are now local, the field strength is not. The technique is illustrated with a direct calculation of the current anomalies in two and four space-time dimensions. Unfortunately, unlike the original finite-element proposal, this scheme is in general nonunitary.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX, no figure

Supply Chains and Porous Boundaries: The Disaggregation of Legal Services

The economic downturn has had significant effects on law firms, and is causing many of them to rethink some basic assumptions about how they operate. In important respects, however, the downturn has simply intensified the effects of some deeper trends that preceded it, which are likely to continue after any recovery that may occur. This paper explores one of these trends, which is corporate client insistence that law firms “disaggregate” their services into discrete tasks that can be delegated to the least costly providers who can perform them. With advances in communications technology, there is increasing likelihood that some of these persons may be located outside the formal boundaries of the firm. This means that law firms may need increasingly to confront the make or buy decision that their corporate clients have regularly confronted for some time. The potential for vertical disintegration is a relatively recent development for legal services, but is well-established in other sectors of the global economy. Empirical work in several disciplines has identified a number of issues that arise for organizations as the make or buy decision becomes a potentially more salient feature of their operations. Much of this work has focused in particular on the implications of relying on outsourcing as an integral part of the production process. This paper discusses research on: (1) the challenges of ensuring that work performed outside the firm is fully integrated into the production process; (2) coordinating projects for which networks of organizations are responsible; (3) managing the transfer of knowledge inside and outside of firms that are participants in a supply chain; and (4) addressing the impact of using contingent workers on an organization’s workforce, structure, and culture. A review of this research suggests considerations that law firms will need to assess if they begin significantly to extend the process of providing services beyond their formal boundaries. Discussing the research also is intended to introduce concepts that may become increasingly relevant to law firms, but which currently are not commonly used to analyze their operations. Considering how these concepts are applicable to law firms may prompt us to rethink how to conceptualize these firms and what they do. This paper therefore is a preliminary attempt to explore: (1) the extent to which law firms may come to resemble the vertically disintegrated organizations that populate many other economic sectors and (2) the potential implications of this trend for the provision of legal services,the trajectory of legal careers, and lawyers’ sense of themselves as members of a distinct profession

The Other Debt Crisis

[Excerpt] Much public attention has focused on higher education for the growing debt burdens that students are amassing, the steadily increasing tuition levels, and their impact that these debt burdens, on students’ access to higher education and postgraduate educational, employment and lifestyle options. While students who have amassed six figure debt levels during college are publicized in the press, most graduating students’ debt levels are much smaller

University Endowment Growth: Assessing Policy Proposals

The growth of college and university endowments, particularly those of elite schools, have drawn the attention of policymakers and pundits. Using a decomposition of the growth of endowments between 1991 and 2010 we simulate the effects of three prominent proposed policies had they been implemented in 1991 on endowment payouts through 2010: (1) a minimum spending rule, (2) removing full income tax deductibility of donations, and (3) taxing total endowment sizes beyond a given size. We find that a minimum spending rule increases the average size of endowment payouts for all quartiles of the endowment distribution in nearly all years of the sample period and has a modestly larger relative impact on richer schools. Removing tax deductibility decreases endowment payouts with its effect increasing over time. It has a larger relative impact on schools with smaller endowments than on richer schools

Capitalizing On Diversity: Interpersonal Congruence In Small Work Groups

We examine interpersonal congruence, the degree to which group members see others in the group as others see themselves, as a moderator of the relationship between diversity and group effectiveness. A longitudinal study of 83 work groups revealed that diversity tended to improve creative task performance in groups with high interpersonal congruence, whereas diversity undermined the performance of groups with low interpersonal congruence. This interaction effect also emerged on measures of social integration, group identification, and relationship conflict. By eliciting self-verifying appraisals, members of some groups achieved enough interpersonal congruence during their first ten minutes of interaction to benefit their group outcomes four months later. In contrast to theories of social categorization, the interpersonal congruence approach suggests that group members can achieve harmonious and effective work processes by expressing rather than suppressing the characteristics that make them unique.Managemen

The effect of pre-exposure on family resemblance categorization for stimuli of varying levels of perceptual difficulty

This study investigated the effect that pre-exposure to a set of stimuli has on the prevalence of family resemblance categorization. 64 participants were tested to examine the effect that pre-exposure type (same-stimuli vs unrelated-stimuli) and the perceptual difficulty of the stimuli (perceptually similar vs perceptually different) has on categorization strategy. There was a significant effect of perceptual difficulty, indicating that perceptually different stimuli evoked a higher level of family resemblance sorting than perceptually similar stimuli. There was no significant main effect of pre-exposure type; however, there was a significant interaction between pre-exposure type and level of perceptual difficulty. Post-hoc tests revealed that this interaction was the result of an increase in family resemblance sorting for the perceptually different stimuli under relevant preexposure but no such effect for perceptually similar stimuli. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed

Graysville: Battle Creek of the South

Graysville -- 1888-1988 Battle Creek of the South Pioneering in Church, Educational and Medical Leadership in the South Graysville Academy 1936 Southern Junior College 1938https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/booksandpamphlets/1000/thumbnail.jp