Testing Assumptions about Evaluating Strategic Alliance Performance

Researchers have used a variety of measures to evaluate strategic alliance performance. In this paper we use data collected on performance of R&D consortia in the U.S. and of Spain-based equity and non-equity dyadic alliances to investigate empirically five basic assumptions made by strategic alliance researchers. We find that while several assumptions are supported, others are not. Results are consistent across samples. We conclude with recommendations for how to evaluate performance in future research into strategic alliances.strategic alliances; performanca evaluation; equity alliances; consortia;

Accurate metasurface synthesis incorporating near-field coupling effects

One of the most promising metasurface architectures for the microwave and terahertz frequency ranges consists of three patterned metallic layers separated by dielectrics. Such metasurfaces are well suited to planar fabrication techniques and their synthesis is facilitated by modelling them as impedance sheets separated by transmission lines. We show that this model can be significantly inaccurate in some cases, due to near-field coupling between metallic layers. This problem is particularly severe for higher frequency designs, where fabrication tolerances prevent the patterns from being highly-subwavelength in size. Since the near-field coupling is difficult to describe analytically, correcting for it in a design typically requires numerical optimization. We propose an extension of the widely used equivalent-circuit model to incorporate near-field coupling and show that the extended model can predict the scattering parameters of a metasurface accurately. Based on our extended model, we introduce an improved metasurface synthesis algorithm that gives physical insight to the problem and efficiently compensates for the perturbations induced by near-field coupling. Using the proposed algorithm, a Huygens metasurface for beam refraction is synthesized showing a performance close to the theoretical efficiency limit despite the presence of strong near-field coupling

The perceived effects of September 11, 2001 on student career choices

Includes bibliographical references

Qualität und Qualitätsentwicklung in der Sozialpädagogik

Der Beitrag ist folgendermaßen aufgebaut: Zunächst werden die Auslösebedingungen und „treibenden Kräfte“ des Qualitätsbooms im Bereich der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe rekonstruiert (vgl. Abschnitt 2), sodann die veränderte Relationierung von gesellschaftlichen Erwartungen und Steuerungsinteressen gegenüber der sozialpädagogischen Praxis herausgearbeitet (vgl. Abschnitt 3), organisationale Strategien des Umgangs mit dem Qualitätsthema problematisiert (vgl. Abschnitt 4) sowie die Auswirkungen von Verfahren und Instrumenten der Qualitätsevaluation auf die Interaktion zwischen Fachkräften und Klienten analysiert (vgl. Abschnitt 5). Ein Fazit beschließt die Argumentation (vgl. Abschnitt 6). (DIPF/Orig.

Die Wohlfahrt von Kindern in europäischen Ländern. Einführung in den Themenschwerpunkt

Mit der COST2 Aktion 19 "Children\u27s Welfare" wurde 2001 ein europäisches Wissenschaftler-Netzwerk initiiert, das es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht hatte, das Wissen und das Verständnis in Bezug auf die intergenerationale Verteilung materieller, zeitlicher und räumlicher Ressourcen in den beteiligten europäischen Ländern zu verbessern. In den jährlich zwei Treffen ging es um die Wohlstandsbeteiligung von Kindern im europäischen Vergleich und um die theoretische und methodologische Konzeptualisierung der Erforschung von Wohlstand im Generationenverhältnis. Die COST Aktion 19 endete nach fünfjähriger Kooperation mit einer Abschlusskonferenz im Sommer 2006. (DIPF/Orig.

Sympatric Soil Microbe Interactions between Streptomyces and Fusarium Isolates

Interkingdom interactions between soil bacteria and fungi may play a critical role in occurrence of disease suppressive soils, yet our understanding of these interactions remains limited. Streptomyces are well-known producers of antimicrobial compounds important to medicine and agriculture. Production of these secondary metabolites is often mediated by quorum sensing. Most Streptomyces research occurs in single species experiments, yet new metabolites have been discovered in interspecies co-culture experiments. Interspecies, intergenic, and interkingdom co-culture research will likely reveal many valuable compounds, and strengthen our understanding of complex ecological interactions in soil microbiomes. Interactions between sympatric Streptomyces and Fusarium isolates from disease suppressive soils were investigated in this study. Dual layer agar inhibition assay revealed inhibition of Streptomyces by Fusarium in all pairwise combinations, while only 46% of pairwise combinations showed Fusarium inhibition by Streptomyces. Streptomyces isolate S2-2 was shown to produce antifungal compounds in a population density dependent manner, likely governed by quorum sensing. Exposure of S2-2 broth culture to conditioned media which likely contained autoinducers from mature S2-2 culture was shown to cause a significant increase in antifungal production earlier than control groups. Simultaneous inoculation of S2-2 and Fusarium isolate F10-8 was shown to cause a significant decrease in antifungal production. Exploring these interactions is of great importance for antimicrobial drug discovery, identifying useful microbial biological control agents, and improving our ability to promote disease suppression in soils