Use of IC information in Japanese financial firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of: how Japanese financial firms (JFF) acquire and use company intellectual capital (IC) information in their common routine equity investment decisions, how this activity contributes to knowledge creation in the JFFs, and how investee company knowledge creation is affected by the JFFs.<p></p> Design/methodology/approach – The research employed a multi-case design, using four JFF cases. The investigation was performed in terms of Nonaka and Toyama's “theory of the knowledge creating firm”.<p></p> Findings – IC information contributed to earnings estimates and company valuation. Emotional information contributed to JFF feelings and confidence in their information use and valuation. JFF knowledge was an important component of the key interacting and informed contexts used by JFFs. This generated opportunities to improve disclosure and accountability between JFFs and their investee companies. Common patterns of behaviour across the JFFs were counterbalanced by variety and differences noted in JFF behaviour.<p></p> Practical implications – The findings provide important insights into how JFF knowledge creating patterns could limit or progress a common language of communication between companies and markets on the subject of IC. This could impact on the quality of corporate disclosure and accountability processes.<p></p> Originality/value – The paper demonstrates that there is a need for further use of qualitative studies of financial market behavior. Especially in the area of understanding the communication of IC between firms and financial markets, the potential of using sociology of finance approaches appears to be considerable

Three Phases in the 3D Abelian Higgs Model with Nonlocal Gauge Interactions

We study the phase structure of the 3D nonlocal compact U(1) lattice gauge theory coupled with a Higgs field by means of Monte-Carlo simulations. The nonlocal interactions among gauge variables are along the temporal direction and mimic the effect of local coupling to massless particles. We found that in contrast to the 3D local abelian Higgs model which has only one phase, the present model exhibits the confinement, Higgs, and Coulomb phases separated by three second-order transition lines emanating from a triple point. This result is quite important for studies on electron fractionalization phenomena in strongly-correlated electron systems. Implications to them are discussed

Measurement of temperature field of a Rayleigh-Bénard convection using two-color laser-induced fluorescence

The two-color laser-induced fluorescence technique developed by Sakakibara and Adrian (1999) for the measurement of planar turbulent temperature fields in water has been refined to reduce the RMS error of the instantaneous measurement by an order of magnitude. The technique achieves higher sensitivity by employing two high-resolution 14-bit monochrome CCD cameras. Further refinement is achieved by post-processing the data using a convolution method that matches the degree of the image blurring of the two images. The method is demonstrated by application to turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection wherein the random error is shown to be less than 0.17 K

Self-Reduction Rate of a Microtubule

We formulate and study a quantum field theory of a microtubule, a basic element of living cells. Following the quantum theory of consciousness by Hameroff and Penrose, we let the system to reduce to one of the classical states without measurement if certain conditions are satisfied(self-reductions), and calculate the self-reduction time $\tau_N$ (the mean interval between two successive self-reductions) of a cluster consisting of more than $N$ neighboring tubulins (basic units composing a microtubule). $\tau_N$ is interpreted there as an instance of the stream of consciousness. We analyze the dependence of $\tau_N$ upon $N$ and the initial conditions, etc. For relatively large electron hopping amplitude, $\tau_N$ obeys a power law $\tau_N \sim N^b$, which can be explained by the percolation theory. For sufficiently small values of the electron hopping amplitude, $\tau_N$ obeys an exponential law, $\tau_N \sim \exp(c' N)$. By using this law, we estimate the condition for $\tau_N$ to take realistic values $\tau_N$ \raisebox{-0.5ex}{$\stackrel{>}{\sim}$} $10^{-1}$ sec as $N$ \raisebox{-0.5ex} {$\stackrel{>}{\sim}$} 1000.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, Extended versio

Multiorbital analysis of the effects of uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure on TcT_c in the single-layered cuprate superconductors

The origin of uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure effects on $T_c$ in the single-layered cuprate superconductors is theoretically explored. A two-orbital model, derived from first principles and analyzed with the fluctuation exchange approximation gives axial-dependent pressure coefficients, $\partial T_c/\partial P_a>0$, $\partial T_c/\partial P_c<0$, with a hydrostatic response $\partial T_c/\partial P>0$ for both La214 and Hg1201 cuprates, in qualitative agreement with experiments. Physically, this is shown to come from a unified picture in which higher $T_c$ is achieved with an "orbital distillation", namely, the less the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ main band is hybridized with the $d_{z^2}$ and $4s$ orbitals higher the $T_c$. Some implications for obtaining higher $T_c$ materials are discussed.Comment: 6pages, 4 figure

The turbulent flow in a slug: a re-examination

The transition to turbulence in pipe flow proceeds through several distinct stages, eventually producing aggressively expanding regions of fluctuations, ‘slugs’, surrounded by laminar flow. By examining mean-velocity profiles, fluctuating-velocity profiles and Reynolds stress profiles, the seminal study of Wygnanski & Champagne (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 59 (2), 1973, 281–335) concluded that the flow inside slugs is ‘identical’ to fully turbulent flow. Although this conclusion is widely accepted, upon closer examination of their analysis, we find that their data cannot be used to substantiate this conclusion. We resolve this conflict via new experiments and simulations wherein we pair slugs and fully turbulent flow at the same value of Reynolds number (Re). We conclude that the flow inside a slug is indeed indistinguishable from a fully turbulent flow but only when the two flows share the same value of Re. Our work highlights the rich Re-dependence of transitional pipe flows

Lattice Distortion and Octupole Ordering Model in CexLa1-xB6

Possible order parameters of the phase IV in CexLa1-xB6 are discussed with special attention to the lattice distortion recently observed. A \Gamma_{5u}-type octupole order with finite wave number is proposed as the origin of the distortion along the [111] direction. The \Gamma_8 crystalline electric field (CEF) level splits into three levels by a mean field with the \Gamma_{5u} symmetry. The ground and highest singlets have the same quadrupole moment, while the intermediate doublet has an opposite sign. It is shown that any collinear order of \Gamma_{5u}-type octupole moment accompanies the \Gamma_{5g}-type ferro-quadrupole order, and the coupling of the quadrupole moment with the lattice induces the distortion. The cusp in the magnetization at the phase transition is reproduced, but the internal magnetic field due to the octupole moment is smaller than the observed one by an order of magnitude.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Arabidopsis ABCG14 is essential for the root-to-shoot translocation of cytokinin.

Cytokinins are phytohormones that induce cytokinesis and are essential for diverse developmental and physiological processes in plants. Cytokinins of the trans-zeatin type are mainly synthesized in root vasculature and transported to the shoot, where they regulate shoot growth. However, the mechanism of long-distance transport of cytokinin was hitherto unknown. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter subfamily G14 (AtABCG14) is mainly expressed in roots and plays a major role in delivering cytokinins to the shoot. Loss of AtABCG14 expression resulted in severe shoot growth retardation, which was rescued by exogenous trans-zeatin application. Cytokinin content was decreased in the shoots of atabcg14 plants and increased in the roots, with consistent changes in the expression of cytokinin-responsive genes. Grafting of atabcg14 scions onto wild-type rootstocks restored shoot growth, whereas wild-type scions grafted onto atabcg14 rootstocks exhibited shoot growth retardation similar to that of atabcg14. Cytokinin concentrations in the xylem are reduced by similar to 90% in the atabcg14 mutant. These results indicate that AtABCG14 is crucial for the translocation of cytokinin to the shoot. Our results provide molecular evidence for the long-distance transport of cytokinin and show that this transport is necessary for normal shoot development.open118380Ysciescopu