A silver ion water sterilization system

Small amounts of silver are incorporated in mixture of ion exchange resins, and water passing through this mixture is thus exposed to silver ion concentration. System is useful in self-contained water systems except city water systems where residual chlorine level is stipulated

Generational Categories: A Broken Basis for Human Resource Management Research and Practice

This provocation challenges the use of generational categories as a valid and useful basis for development of human resource management (HRM) research and practice. We present two provocations. First, that a focus solely on year of birth as a driver of attitudes, values and behaviours is wholly inadequate. Second, we go beyond existing empirical challenges to argue that any approach to the study of generations that focuses solely on generational categories should be abandoned. We consider the theoretical basis for generations, together with specific examples from empirical studies to show how the current reliance on largely unsubstantiated categories leaves even longitudinal studies unable to make an effective contribution to this field. We draw on cross-disciplinary insights to consider the implications for academic research and for HRM practice, showing how the current approach limits the usefulness of findings and suggesting a potential way forward

The influences on direct communication in British and Danish Firms: country, 'strategic HRM' or unionisation?

This article uses large-scale survey data to examine the influences on private-sector managers’ propensity to communicate directly to employees in Britain and Denmark. In both countries, this propensity is shaped by two factors: whether the senior HR manager is involved in strategy formation, and the degree of unionization. The findings are not consistent with Brewster’s argument that European HR managers are constrained in applying American versions of HRM, or with ‘varieties of capitalism’ theories which imply that companies in the two countries would have different systemic drivers of their communications practices

Droplet shapes on structured substrates and conformal invariance

We consider the finite-size scaling of equilibrium droplet shapes for fluid adsorption (at bulk two-phase co-existence) on heterogeneous substrates and also in wedge geometries in which only a finite domain $\Lambda_{A}$ of the substrate is completely wet. For three-dimensional systems with short-ranged forces we use renormalization group ideas to establish that both the shape of the droplet height and the height-height correlations can be understood from the conformal invariance of an appropriate operator. This allows us to predict the explicit scaling form of the droplet height for a number of different domain shapes. For systems with long-ranged forces, conformal invariance is not obeyed but the droplet shape is still shown to exhibit strong scaling behaviour. We argue that droplet formation in heterogeneous wedge geometries also shows a number of different scaling regimes depending on the range of the forces. The conformal invariance of the wedge droplet shape for short-ranged forces is shown explicitly.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. (Submitted to J.Phys.:Cond.Mat.

National and firm-level drivers of the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers

Multinational companies must understand the influences on responsibility for managing people so that they can manage talent consistently thus ensuring that it is transferable across locations. We examine the impact of firm and national level characteristics on the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers. Our analysis draws on data from 2335 indigenous organizations in 21 countries. At the firm level, we found that where the HR function has higher power, devolution is less likely. At the national level, devolution of decision making to line management is more likely in societies with more stringent employment laws and lower power distance

Coupled Fluctuations near Critical Wetting

Recent work on the complete wetting transition has emphasized the role played by the coupling of fluctuations of the order parameter at the wall and at the depinning fluid interface. Extending this approach to the wetting transition itself we predict a novel crossover effect associated with the decoupling of fluctuations as the temperature is lowered towards the transition temperature T_W. Using this we are able to reanalyse recent Monte-Carlo simulation studies and extract a value \omega(T_W)=0.8 at T_W=0.9T_C in very good agreement with long standing theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, LaTex, 1 postscript figur

Institutional duality and human resource management practice in foreign subsidiaries of multinationals

We examine how institutional context affects the decisions that subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) make in pursuing particular human resource management (HRM) practices in response to institutional duality. Drawing on Varieties of Capitalism, along with the concept of intermediate conformity, we argue that the use of particular HRM practices by MNC subsidiaries will differ depending on both the combination of home and host institutional contexts, and on the nature of the particular practice under consideration. Using data from a survey of HRM practices in 1196 firms across ten countries, we compare HRM practices in subsidiaries located and headquartered in different combinations of liberal and/or coordinated market economies. Our study suggests MNC subsidiaries conform only to the most persuasive norms, while exercising their agency to take advantage of the opportunities presented by institutional duality to adopt practices that distinguish them from indigenous competitors

Issues on the molecular-beam epitaxial growth of p-SiGe inverted-modulation-doped structures

The influence of boron segregation and silicon cap-layer thickness on two-dimensional hole gases (2-DHGs) has been investigated in Si/Si0.8Ge0.2/Si inverted-modulation-doped heterostructures grown by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy. Boron segregation, which is significant in structures with small spacer layers, can be suppressed by growth interruption after the boron doping. How growth interruption affected the electrical properties of the 2-DHG and the boron doping profile as measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy are reported. We report also on the role played by the unpassivated silicon cap, and compare carrier transport at the normal and inverted interfaces

Physical education as Olympic education

Introduction In a recent paper (Parry, 1998, p. 64), I argued that the justification of PE activities lies in their capacity to facilitate the development of certain human excellences of a valued kind. Of course, the problem now lies in specifying those ‘human excellences of a valued kind’, and (for anyone) this task leads us into the area of philosophical anthropology. I suggested that the way forward for Physical Education lies in the philosophical anthropology (and the ethical ideals) of Olympism, which provide a specification of a variety of human values and excellences which: •have been attractive to human groups over an impressive span of time and space •have contributed massively to our historically developed conceptions of ourselves •have helped to develop a range of artistic and cultural conceptions that have defined Western culture. •have produced a range of physical activities that have been found universally satisfying and challenging. Although physical activities are widely considered to be pleasurable, their likelihood of gaining wide acceptance lies rather in their intrinsic value, which transcends the simply hedonic or relative good. Their ability to furnish us with pleasurable experiences depends upon our prior recognition in them of opportunities for the development and expression of valued human excellences. They are widely considered to be such opportunities for the expression of valued human excellences because, even when as local instantiations, their object is to challenge our common human propensities and abilities. I claimed that Olympic ideals may be seen not merely as inert ‘ideals’, but living ideas which have the power to remake our notions of sport in education, seeing sport not as mere physical activity but as the cultural and developmental activity of an aspiring, achieving, well-balanced, educated and ethical individual. This paper seeks to make good that claim by trying to develop a case for Physical Education as Olympic Education. I begin by setting out various accounts and conceptions of the Olympic Idea; then I suggest a unifying and organising account of the philosophical anthropology of Olympism; and this is followed by the practical application of that account in two examples of current ethical issues. Finally, I seek to present an account of Physical Education as Olympic Education

The Business Case for Equality and Diversity: a survey of the academic literature

This report considers the evidence for the business case for equality and diversity in private sector organisations. The aim is not to make the business case, but to assess the current evidence from academic journals and some key practitioner sources