Knowledge-bases, places, spatial configurations and the performance of knowledge-intensive professional service firms

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Books Fit for a King: The Presentation Copies of Martin Bucer's De regno Christi (London, British Library, Royal MS. 8 B. VII) and Johannes Sturm's De periodis (Cambridge, Trinity College, II.12.21 and London, British Library, C.24.e.5)

This article discusses the presentation copies of two sixteenth-century works, Martin Bucer’s De regno Christi and Johannes Sturm’s De periodis, both of which were sent in fine copies by Bucer to John Cheke in 1550. The covering letter that accompanied these books survives today at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, whilst the presentation copy of De regno Christi intended for King Edward VI is British Library, Royal MS. 8 B. VII. The circumstances surrounding these books, their production and transmission can be reconstructed in unusual and intriguing detail. This article presents several new and important discoveries, including the identification of the two presentation copies of Sturm’s De periodis mentioned by Bucer in his letter (today London, British Library, C.24.e.5 and Cambridge, Trinity College, II.12.21), as well as the tentative attribution of the binding of Royal MS. 8 B. VII to Bucer’s collaborator, the Strasbourg-based printer Remigius Guidon. An in-depth analysis of these artefacts and their codicological features confirms that TCC II.12.21 was intended for Edward VI, whereas BL C.24.e.5 can be identified, for the first time, as a book designed for and received by Princess Elizabeth. The dynamics governing the production and exchange of presentation copies between the Edwardian court and the Protestant reformers serve to paint a sharply focused picture of Bucer’s activities around 1550, that is, at a key moment of religious change in England

Evaluating Flexible Transport Solutions

Flexible transport services (FTS) have been of increasing interest in developed countries as a bridge between the use of personal car travel and fixed route transit services. This paper reports on findings from a recent study in Queensland Australia, which identified lessons from an international review and implications for Australia. Potential strategic directions, including a vision, mission, key result areas, strategies, and identified means of measuring performance are described. Evaluation criteria for assessing flexible transport proposals were developed, and approaches to identifying and assessing needs and demands outlined. The use of emerging technologies is also a key element of successful flexible transport services

Search for the Supersymmetric Partner of the Top-Quark in ppˉp \bar{p} Collisions at s=1.8TeV\sqrt{s} = 1.8 {\rm TeV}

We report on a search for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark (stop) produced in $t \bar{t}$ events using $110 {\rm pb}^{-1}$ of $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.8 {\rm TeV}$ recorded with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. In the case of a light stop squark, the decay of the top quark into stop plus the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) could have a significant branching ratio. The observed events are consistent with Standard Model $t \bar{t}$ production and decay. Hence, we set limits on the branching ratio of the top quark decaying into stop plus LSP, excluding branching ratios above 45% for a LSP mass up to 40 {\rm GeV/c}$^{2}$.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Beyond the Grail:: the roles of objects as psychological markers in Chretien deTroyes's Conte du Graal

Chretien de Troyes's Conte du Graal has long been considered a Bildungsroman. This thesis considers precisely what processes it is that bring about the maturation of Perceval, the hero. It firstly studies Perceval's initial innocence in the first episode of the romance, his meeting with the five knights. Perceval appears to be preoccupied with surface appearance only, being unable to see beyond it and understand true significances. Medieval theories on childhood development and faculty psychology, derived from sources such as Aristotle and Boethius, help to elucidate this seemingly odd behaviour, for a correlation does indeed emerge between these and Perceval's initial fixation on the superficialities of objects. Perceval begins, it seems, at a developmental stage which, for medieval authorities, would correspond to early childhood. That a key to Perceval's development is indeed signalled via the perception of objects, is then shown via an analysis of three further scenes. In the Tent scene, Perceval progresses such that he can now not only perceive objects, he can also recall them and identify familiar objects, such as food. In the Grail Procession, he suddenly becomes able to judge the quality of objects within their universal class, though his preoccupation still remains with surface appearance. However, in the Blood Drops scene, Perceval learns to look beyond superficiality and recognise significance. Thus, Perceval's turning point, we learn, does not occur, as so often suggested, at the Grail Casfie. Rather, medieval developmental theories suggest that ultimate maturity must occur when he, for the first time, acknowledges more than mere superficiality: when he sees the blood drops and understands their higher significance. This equips Perceval with the perceptual tools he requires to understand the Hermit's lesson and presumably, had Chretien finished the romance, look beyond the Grail, understand its meaning and achieve the task

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure