Thin Rechargeable Batteries for CMOS SRAM Memory Protection

New rechargeable battery technology is described and compared with classical primary battery back-up of SRAM PC cards. Thin solid polymer electrolyte cells with the thickness of TSOP memory components (1 mm nominal, 1.1 mm max) and capacities of 14 mAh/sq cm can replace coin cells. The SRAM PC cards with permanently installed rechargeable cells and optional electrochromic low battery voltage indicators will free the periodic PC card user from having to 'feed' their PC cards with coin cells and will allow a quick visual check of stored cards for their battery voltage status

Long Term Traffic Forecasts and Operating Pattern for a Regional Airport

A common problem facing airport planners is to estimate the detail of the flight schedule that will be operated at an airport in future years. This is important to assess issues such as capacity requirements, noise and emission outputs and connectivity. For airline commercial analysts it is necessary to understand the competitive pressures and opportunities that will develop in different markets. This paper uses an approach adopted for the VANTAGE project, conducted for the UK Department of Trade and Industry to forecast the detail of airline operations at UK regional airports on a 10-20 year horizon. The paper considers a generalised forecast at the route level and how this can then be disaggregated into detail such as aircraft size, airline and flight schedule. The existing routes and frequencies are used as a basis. The detailed history of service to each international destination from the UK is used to model the future service. The extra frequencies created by the traffic model are then allocated to airlines and time windows using the D’Hondt method of highest averages. An example peak week schedule is presented for Aberdeen airport accompanied by a commentary on the key strategic and policy implications for the industry

The nature and trends of agricultural research development in Africa : an informetric study

The study recognizes Agriculture as the mainstay activity of most economies in Africa and analyses research nature and trends in the discipline by using descriptive informetrics and focusing on seven indicators, by using the AGRICOLA and ISI-E databases from 1991 to 2005. We observed that research output in the discipline is much higher in South Africa and Kenya, and research collaboration is greater than non-collaborative research output and collaboration is less among African countries. The most popular research domains were found to exist in environmental science, soil science, plant/crop production and [agricultural] economics. Helpful conclusions and recommendations for an Agricultural policy, capacity and research orientation have been made

Determinants of banks' engagement in loan securitization

This paper provides new insights into the nature of loan securitization. We analyze the use of collateralized loan obligation (CLO) transactions by European banks from 1997 to 2004 andtry to identify the influence that various firm-specific and macroeconomic factors may have on an institution's securitization decision. We find that not only regulatory capital arbitrage under Basel I has been driving the market. Rather, our results suggest that loan securitization is an appropriate funding tool for banks with high risk and low liquidity. It may also have been used by commercial banks to indirectly access investment-bank activities and the associated gains

Breaking down the silos: tales from a jazz musician and management educator

This thesis is a critical reflection on a number of my public works in the academic arena, from my musical background and in my role as a strategic leader in two business schools. Using a combination of evocative and analytical autoethnography, I critically reflect on my roles as jazz musician and management educator and discuss how two bodies of knowledge have informed each other over the course of my career. At the core of my works as a management educator, is the application of the jazz metaphor – largely in the strategic marketing management discipline (see my published works in this space – Dennis and Macaulay (2003), Dennis and Macaulay (2007) and Dennis (2015). Over the course of my career, though, my application of the jazz metaphor has pervaded other aspects of leadership and management discourse, including entrepreneurship, general leadership and strategic management in the broadest sense. The expansion of my application of the jazz metaphor has, in part, been informed by the workshops I have delivered to organisations over the years and, of course, my students (particularly MBAs) who have brought their experience and thoughts and allowed me to broaden my thinking beyond strategic marketing discourse. Throughout this piece, I will switch lenses from my experience on the band stand, to my work in the classroom, through to my work as a senior leader. Over the course of the last twelve months, I have learned a great deal about myself and, of course my professional practice, as both a jazz musician and management educator, thanks to this Professional Doctorate. First, I have realised that I have always had a deep inherent dissonance about the nature of management education that stems back to my days as an undergraduate marketing student. It was at this point – particularly at the time of researching for my dissertation, I began to see the limitations of marketing discourse when applied to the arts, specifically jazz music. Arguably, I started experimenting with the jazz and marketing theme as an undergraduate, albeit in a superficial manner. Subsequently, then, as I developed my skills as an improviser under the guidance of jazz trumpeter - Gerard Presencer – and began playing some high-profile gigs, I began thinking about how jazz can inform (initially) marketing discourse, but as my career developed, I have broadened my outlook and indeed the application of jazz to the wider field of management. I no longer think of myself as a marketer, instead, I am a management educator – in part informed by six years in strategic leadership positions in two business schools. Throughout this thesis, I will discuss how iconic trumpeter and thought-leader – Miles Davis – has and continues to be a major influence on my professional practice. This context statement examines how his musicianship and creativity has inspired a body of my public works – from metaphor, to leadership, to challenging the art vs. commerce debate. Additionally, I will critically reflect on my work to bring the ‘art’ back into marketing through the creation of Art and the Market (formally Arts Marketing: An International Journal), which has assisted in bringing together a global community of practice for the arts marketing community. The creation of the journal is an important piece in my career to date, and although I feel I did this perhaps too early in my career, it has none the less been an important contribution to arts marketing discourse. There are a number of conclusions that I have drawn from this reflective exercise. First, I have come to learn that I have only scratched the surface of the application of the jazz metaphor in a business context and I have identified directions for future academic research that will inform my pedagogical practice and my jazz workshops. Second, and largely from my work as Associate Dean, I have broken out of the marketing silo and I now see myself as a management educator. I discuss some of the criticisms and limitations of management education in this thesis and I also reflect on the challenges in my role as Associate Dean and how these have enhanced my practice – academically and pedagogically. I better understand the interdisciplinary, the multidisciplinary and even the transdisciplinary nature of management education and I continue to champion this with my work in curriculum design – most recently developing a new MBA that is very much interdisciplinary in nature. This deep critical reflection has also enhanced my understanding of improvisation and I feel I have a deeper understanding of how I play the trumpet and my approach to improvisation. My playing, I feel, has also positively benefitted as a result. The public works connected to this context statement are eclectic and a mixture of academic publications, musical performances/recordings, video footage of my jazz workshops, examples of curriculum design I have developed, with the occasional email to Miles Davis asking for his advice on matters connected to my professional practice. His inspirational reply is the perfect conclusion to the thesis