Firm boundaries and buyer-supplier match in market transaction: IT system procurement of U.S. credit unions

By examining IT system procurement between U.S. Credit Unions (CUs) and IT vendors, we present descriptive analyses showing that firms’ outsourcing decisions might be interrelated to each other through suppliers’ market entry decisions. The buyer-supplier match in the market might also play an important role in determining firms’ boundaries. We also argue that market thickness along the product space might determine the characteristics of input that is procured through the market.

Shot Noise Induced by Nonequilibrium Spin Accumulation

When an electric current passes across a potential barrier, the partition process of electrons at the barrier gives rise to the shot noise, reflecting the discrete nature of the electric charge. Here we report the observation of excess shot noise connected with a spin current which is induced by a nonequilibrium spin accumulation in an all-semiconductor lateral spin-valve device. We find that this excess shot noise is proportional to the spin current. Additionally, we determine quantitatively the spin-injection-induced electron temperature by measuring the current noise. Our experiments show that spin accumulation driven shot noise provides a novel means of investigating nonequilibrium spin transport.Comment: 5 pages and Supplemental Materia

Effect of mobile phase composition on retention factor in supercritical fluid chromatography

　In supercritical fluid chromatography with a mixture of carbon dioxide and a modifier as the mobile phase, the relationship between retention factor k and modifier mole fraction x was derived as 1/kmix=xCO2/k0CO2 + xmod/k0mod, where kmix, k0CO2, and k0mod are the retention factors for the mixture solvent, pure CO2 and pure modifier, respectively, and xCO2 and xmod are the mole fractions of CO2 and a modifier, respectively. Since k0CO2 and k0mod are often difficult to determine due to too large of a value for k0CO2 and an invalid value of k0mod for the liquid phase, both values were estimated experimentally from the two retention factors available at the lowest and highest modifier mole fractions at each temperature and pressure. The equation was effective for the retention factors of the R- and S-forms of racemic transstilbene oxide measured in the present study by supercritical fluid chromatography using a modifier such as methanol, ethanol or acetonitrile. Moreover, the equation was also valid for the retention data of various enantioselective separations as well as achiral separations reported in the literature

Touch at a distance: Simple perception aid device with user\u27s explorer action

Although we obtain a lot of information in our environment via the visual modality, we also obtain rich information via the non-visual modality. In the mechanism how we perceive our environment, we use not only the sensor information, but also "how it changes according to how we act." For example, we obtain the haptic information from the haptic sensor on our finger, and when we move our finger along to the surface of the touching object, the haptic information changes according to the finger motion, and we "perceive" the whole shape of the object by executing the action-and-sensing process. In other words, we have a high ability to "integrate" the relation of our body\u27s action and its related sensing data, so as to improve the accuracy of sensor in our body. Based on this idea, we developed a simple perception aid device with user\u27s explorer action, to perceive the object at a distance, which has a linked range sensor and haptic actuator, which we name "FutureBody-Finger." The distance sensor measures the distance to the object (20-80[cm]), and it is converted to the angle of lever attached at the servo motor (0-60[deg]). The user holds this device in his hand with attaching his index finger on the device\u27s lever. For the long distance to the object, the lever leans to the front, and the user feels nothing. On the other hand, for the short distance to the object, the lever stands vertically, and the user feels the existence of the object. Although the device simply measures the distance to the single point on the object, as the user "explorers" around him, the user can obtain more rich distance information of the surrounding object, and hence, finally perceive the shape of the whole object.SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 Emerging Technologies, SA 2014; Shenzhen; China; 3 December 2014 through 6 December 2014; Code 10945

High-performance Ge/Si electro-absorption optical modulator up to 85°C and its highly efficient photodetector operation

We studied a high-speed Ge/Si electro-absorption optical modulator (EAM) evanescently coupled with a Si waveguide of a lateral p–n junction for a high-bandwidth optical interconnect over a wide range of temperatures from 25 °C to 85 °C. We demonstrated 56 Gbps high-speed operation at temperatures up to 85 °C. From the photoluminescence spectra, we confirmed that the bandgap energy dependence on temperature is relatively small, which is consistent with the shift in the operation wavelengths with increasing temperature for a Ge/Si EAM. We also demonstrated that the same device operates as a high-speed and high-efficiency Ge photodetector with the Franz-Keldysh (F-K) and avalanche-multiplication effects. These results demonstrate that the Ge/Si stacked structure is promising for both high-performance optical modulators and photodetectors integrated on Si platforms

FutureBody: Design of perception using the human body

金沢大学理工研究域電子情報学系We created a new interactive design concept "FutureBody" that generates or augments new perceptions for users. The concept of FutureBody consists of two elements, "active searching" and "embodiment, " allowing users to search their environment actively and to emit indirect feedback to activate users\u27 embodiments. We believe this concept will form the basis for a new perception design methodology for people. Copyright 2011 ACM