From Value Protection to Value Creation: Rethinking Corporate Governance Standards for Firm Innovation

A company’s pro-innovation needs are often met by the exploitation of its resources, widely defined. The resource-based theory of the firm provides immense empirical insights into how a firm’s corporate governance factors can contribute to promoting innovation. However, these implications may conflict with the prevailing standards of corporate governance imposed on many securities markets for listed companies, which have developed based on theoretical models supporting a shareholder-centered and agency-based theory of the firm. Although prevailing corporate governance standards can to an extent support firm innovation, tensions are created in some circumstances where companies pit their corporate governance compliance against resource-based needs that promote innovation. In the present context of steady internationalization and convergence in corporate governance standards in global securities markets towards a shareholder-centered agency-based model, we argue that there is a need to provide some room for accommodating the resource-based needs for companies in relation to promoting innovation. We explore a number of options and suggest that the most practicable option would be the development of recognized exceptions that deviate from prevailing corporate governance standards. We further suggest as to how an exceptions-based regime can be implemented in the U.K. and U.S., comparing the rules-based regime in the U.S. with the principles-based regime in the U.K

Spatial analysis of IRAS observations of nearby spirals

The unbiased survey of the infrared sky carried out by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) satellite has greatly accelerated advances in understanding the dust component of our own and external galaxies. However, most extragalactic studies to date have been based on the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), which has two serious limitations. First, in sources where a significant fraction of the flux is extended, significant errors may result from using PSC fluxes in comparative studies, and these errors could be systematic if the tendency to be non-pointlike depends on physical properties of the galaxy. Additionally, use of PSC fluxes rules out any direct investigation of the spatial distribution of the IRAS emission from disks in external galaxies. Since work on the Galactic IRAS results has shown that very different physical processes can make varying contributions to the observed flux, it is important to look at a wide sample of galaxies with some spatial resolution to study the relative dominance of these processes under a variety of conditions. Here, researchers report on work they are doing to carry out this program for many nearby spirals, using an analysis package that was developed for this purpose. Researchers carried out analysis for a sample of 121 nearby spirals. The fraction of the flux contained in a point source varies from 0 to 1 across the sample, all of which are well resolved at their nominal optical diameters. There is no evidence that the galaxies of smaller angular size are less likely to be resolved by IRAS at this level. The program gives results which are quite repeatable from scan to scan; the fraction f (point source flux over total flux) at 60 microns has typical errors of 0.03 when different scans are combined. Approximately two-thirds of the sample have more flux in the extended than in the nuclear component. There is a tendency for earlier-type spirals to be less centrally concentrated, but this effect is slight and the degree of variation is large for all types. Barred spirals are also found across the spectrum of f, but are much more likely to have little or no nuclear emission

Fitting Pulsar Wind Tori. II. Error Analysis and Applications

We have applied the torus fitting procedure described in Ng & Romani (2004) to PWNe observations in the Chandra data archive. This study provides quantitative measurement of the PWN geometry and we characterize the uncertainties in the fits, with statistical errors coming from the fit uncertainties and systematic errors estimated by varying the assumed fitting model. The symmetry axis $\Psi$ of the PWN are generally well determined, and highly model-independent. We often derive a robust value for the spin inclination $\zeta$. We briefly discuss the utility of these results in comparison with new radio and high energy pulse measurementsComment: 15 pages, 3 figures, ApJ in pres

Comparison of Archean and Phanerozoic granulites: Southern India and North American Appalachians

Archean granulites at the southern end of the Dharwar craton of India and Phanerozoic granulites in the southern Appalachians of North America share an important characteristic: both show continuous transitions from amphibolite facies rocks to higher grade. This property is highly unusual for granulite terranes, which commonly are bounded by major shears or thrusts. These two terranes thus offer an ideal opportunity to compare petrogenetic models for deep crustal rocks formed in different time periods, which conventional wisdom suggests may have had different thermal profiles. The salient features of the Archean amphibolite-to-granulite transition in southern India have been recently summarized. The observed metamorphic progression reflects increasing temperature and pressure. Conditions for the Phanerozoic amphibolite-to-granulite transition in the southern Appalachians were documented. The following sequence of prograde reactions was observed: kyanite = sillimanite, muscovite = sillimanite + K-feldspar, partial melting of pelites, and hornblende = orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + garnet. The mineral compositions of low-variance assemblages in mafic and intermediate rocks are almost identical for the two granulite facies assemblages. In light of their different fluid regimes and possible mechanisms for heat flow augmentation, it seems surprising that these Archean and Phanerozoic granulite terranes were apparently metamorphosed under such similar conditions of pressure and temperature. Comparison with other terrains containing continuous amphibolite-to-granulite facies transitions will be necessary before this problem can be addressed

A novel numerical mechanical model for the stress–strain distribution in superconducting cable-in-conduit conductors \ud

Besides the temperature and magnetic field, the strain and stress state of the superconducting Nb3Sn wires in multi-stage twisted cable-in-conduit conductors (CICCs), as applied in ITER or high field magnets, strongly influence their transport properties. For an accurate quantitative prediction of the performance and a proper understanding of the underlying phenomena, a detailed analysis of the strain distribution along all individual wires is required. For this, the thermal contraction of the different components and the huge electromagnetic forces imposing bending and contact deformation must be taken into account, following the complex strand pattern and mutual interaction by contacts from surrounding strands. In this paper, we describe a numerical model for a superconducting cable, which can simulate the strain and stress states of all single wires including interstrand contact force and associated deformation. The strands in the cable can be all similar (Nb3Sn/Cu) or with the inclusion of different strand materials for protection (Cu, Glidcop).\ud \ud The simulation results are essential for the analysis and conductor design optimization from cabling to final magnet operation conditions. Comparisons are presented concerning the influence of the sequential cable twist pitches and the inclusion of copper strands on the mechanical properties and thus on the eventual strain distribution in the Nb3Sn filaments when subjected to electromagnetic forces, axial force and twist moment. Recommendations are given for conductor design improvements. \ud \ud \u

Temperature Dependent Neutron Scattering Sections for Polyethylene

This note presents neutron scattering cross sections for polyethylene at 296 K, 77 K and 4 K derived from a new scattering kernel for neutron scattering off of hydrogen in polyethylene. The kernel was developed in ENDF-6 format as a set of S(alpha,beta) tables using the LEAPR module of the NJOY94 code package. The polyethylene density of states (from 0 to sub eV) adopted to derive the new kernel is presented. We compare our calculated room temperature total scattering cross sections and double differential cross sections at 232 meV at various angles with the available experimental data (at room temperature), and then extrapolate the calculations to lower temperatures (77K and 4K). The new temperature dependent scattering kernel gives a good quantitative fit to the available room temperature data and has a temperature dependence that is qualitatively consistent with thermodynamics.Comment: 6 page

Contribution of Medical Education to Rural Health

Rural health is an important priority in many jurisdictions as an example of social accountability. The choice to practice in a rural community can be influenced by personal factors, educational factors, and systemic factors. Medical education makes significant contribution to rural health by proactively and positively modifying the educational factors. The experience of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Canada is used to illustrate how this can be accomplished. A multi-component approach that is tailored to address the personal and systemic determinants of rural practice must also be developed to maximize the positive impact of medical education on rural health

Analysis of a Cone-Based Distributed Topology Control Algorithm for Wireless Multi-hop Networks

The topology of a wireless multi-hop network can be controlled by varying the transmission power at each node. In this paper, we give a detailed analysis of a cone-based distributed topology control algorithm. This algorithm, introduced in [16], does not assume that nodes have GPS information available; rather it depends only on directional information. Roughly speaking, the basic idea of the algorithm is that a node $u$ transmits with the minimum power $p_{u,\alpha}$ required to ensure that in every cone of degree $\alpha$ around $u$, there is some node that $u$ can reach with power $p_{u,\alpha}$. We show that taking $\alpha = 5\pi/6$ is a necessary and sufficient condition to guarantee that network connectivity is preserved. More precisely, if there is a path from $s$ to $t$ when every node communicates at maximum power, then, if $\alpha <= 5\pi/6$, there is still a path in the smallest symmetric graph $G_\alpha$ containing all edges $(u,v)$ such that $u$ can communicate with $v$ using power $p_{u,\alpha}$. On the other hand, if $\alpha > 5\pi/6$, connectivity is not necessarily preserved. We also propose a set of optimizations that further reduce power consumption and prove that they retain network connectivity. Dynamic reconfiguration in the presence of failures and mobility is also discussed. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm and the optimizations.Comment: 10 page

Carbon-ammonia pairs for adsorption refrigeration applications : ice making, air conditioning and heat pumping

A thermodynamic cycle model is used to select an optimum adsorbent-refrigerant pair in respect of a chosen figure of merit that could be the cooling production (MJ m(-3)), the heating production (MJ m(-3)) or the coefficient of performance (COP). This model is based mainly on the adsorption equilibrium equations of the adsorbent-refrigerant pair and heat flows. The simulation results of 26 various activated carbon-ammonia pairs for three cycles (single bed, two-bed and infinite number of beds) are presented at typical conditions for ice making, air conditioning and heat pumping applications. The driving temperature varies from 80 degrees C to 200 degrees C. The carbon absorbents investigated are mainly coconut shell and coal based types in multiple forms: monolithic, granular, compacted granular, fibre, compacted fibre, cloth, compacted cloth and powder. Considering a two-bed cycle, the best thermal performances based on power density are obtained with the monolithic carbon KOH-AC, with a driving temperature of 100 degrees C; the cooling production is about 66 MJ m(-3) (COP = 0.45) and 151 MJ m(-3) (COP = 0.61) for ice making and air conditioning respectively; the heating production is about 236 MJ m(-3) (COP = 1.50)

A Cortical Region Consisting Entirely of Face-Selective Cells

Face perception is a skill crucial to primates. In both humans and macaque monkeys, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals a system of cortical regions that show increased blood flow when the subject views images of faces, compared with images of objects. However, the stimulus selectivity of single neurons within these fMRI-identified regions has not been studied. We used fMRI to identify and target the largest face-selective region in two macaques for single-unit recording. Almost all (97%) of the visually responsive neurons in this region were strongly face selective, indicating that a dedicated cortical area exists to support face processing in the macaque