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A Role for Management Accountants in Best Practice Benchmarking
Best practice benchmarking (benchmarking for short) generally refers to the pursuit by organisations of enhanced performance by learning from the successful practices of others. Comparisons of processes which contribute to strategic success are made with other parts of the same organisation; competitors; or organisations operating comparable processes in a context which is in some way relevant. Benchmarking continues to grow in popularity in both private and public sector organisations – but does it always produce the desired outcomes? Although spectacular gains from benchmarking are claimed particularly in practitioner literature, there is also growing evidence of disappointment with the effectiveness of benchmarking. It can be very time consuming to undertake and manage, and ensuring that sharing information with competitors is to the mutual advantage of partner organisations is difficult. With this in mind, it is important to recognise that management accountants play pivotal roles at organisational interfaces and therefore could play a (more) significant part in successful benchmarking activities. This paper will report on an ongoing research project at the Open University Business School, funded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, aimed at understanding, in depth, the processes which are undertaken by Management Accountants, in the name of benchmarking. The project team are using postal questionnaires and case studies to identify the features of successful benchmarking practice, and the characteristics of benchmarking organisations or benchmarking processes which are considered to be problematic. This research centres on an extensive survey of Management Accountants. This research has begun to identify the contribution which Management Accountants can make to successful benchmarking and the factors which have led organisations to abandon benchmarking activities. This study is also facilitating better understanding of the relationship between organisational size and level of benchmarking activity, the impact of benchmarking clubs, and the perceived costs and benefits of benchmarking to stakeholders. The final phase 3 of this research will focus on providing innovative ways to make the findings available to management accounting practitioners
Is the LMA solar-neutrino solution ruled out by SN1987A data?
The development of new supernova neutrino detectors relies on the expected
hard energy spectrum of the nu_mu and nu_tau emitted in the supernova. We show
that SN1987A was sensitive to the large mixing angle (LMA) and "just so"
solution to the solar neutrino problem. We review the previous analysis of the
SN1987A data and propose a new analysis. The results of this analysis strongly
disfavor the LMA solution, provided the nu_mu and nu_tau are hard as predictedComment: 4 pages; 6 figures. Presented at the Europhysics Neutrino Oscillation
Workshop, NOW 2000 (EPS, Lecce, Italy, Sept. 9-16, 2000) and to be published
in Nucl. Phys. B (PS) (North Holland, Amsterdam, 2001
Aerodynamic Tests of the Space Launch System for Database Development
The Aerosciences Branch (EV33) at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been responsible for a series of wind tunnel tests on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS) vehicles. The primary purpose of these tests was to obtain aerodynamic data during the ascent phase and establish databases that can be used by the Guidance, Navigation, and Mission Analysis Branch (EV42) for trajectory simulations. The paper describes the test particulars regarding models and measurements and the facilities used, as well as database preparations
A Fresh Look at Axions and SN 1987A
We re-examine the very stringent limits on the axion mass based on the
strength and duration of the neutrino signal from SN 1987A, in the light of new
measurements of the axial-vector coupling strength of nucleons, possible
suppression of axion emission due to many-body effects, and additional emission
processes involving pions. The suppression of axion emission due to nucleon
spin fluctuations induced by many-body effects degrades previous limits by a
factor of about 2. Emission processes involving thermal pions can strengthen
the limits by a factor of 3-4 within a perturbative treatment that neglects
saturation of nucleon spin fluctuations. Inclusion of saturation effects,
however, tends to make the limits less dependent on pion abundances. The
resulting axion mass limit also depends on the precise couplings of the axion
and ranges from 0.5x10**(-3) eV to 6x10**(-3) eV.Comment: 32 latex pages, 13 postscript figures included, uses revtex.sty,
submitted to Physical Review
Nucleon Spin Fluctuations and the Supernova Emission of Neutrinos and Axions
In the hot and dense medium of a supernova (SN) core, the nucleon spins
fluctuate so fast that the axial-vector neutrino opacity and the axion
emissivity are expected to be significantly modified. Axions with
m_a\alt10^{-2}\,{\rm eV} are not excluded by SN~1987A. A substantial transfer
of energy in neutrino-nucleon () collisions is enabled which may alter
the spectra of SN neutrinos relative to calculations where energy-conserving
collisions had been assumed near the neutrinosphere.Comment: 8 pages. REVTeX. 2 postscript figures, can be included with epsf.
Small modifications of the text, a new "Note Added", and three new
references. To be published in Phys. Rev. Let
A Self-Consistent Approach to Neutral-Current Processes in Supernova Cores
The problem of neutral-current processes (neutrino scattering, pair emission,
pair absorption, axion emission, \etc) in a nuclear medium can be separated
into an expression representing the phase space of the weakly interacting
probe, and a set of dynamic structure functions of the medium. For a
non-relativistic medium we reduce the description to two structure functions
S_A(\o) and S_V(\o) of the energy transfer, representing the axial-vector
and vector interactions. is well determined by the single-nucleon
approximation while may be dominated by multiply interacting nucleons.
Unless the shape of S_A(\o) changes dramatically at high densities,
scattering processes always dominate over pair processes for neutrino transport
or the emission of right-handed states. Because the emission of right-handed
neutrinos and axions is controlled by the same medium response functions, a
consistent constraint on their properties from consideration of supernova
cooling should use the same structure functions for both neutrino transport and
exotic cooling mechanisms.Comment: 33 pages, Te
Is Large Lepton Mixing Excluded?
The original \bnum -(or -) energy spectrum from the
gravitational collapse of a star has a larger average energy than the spectrum
for \bnue since the opacity of \bnue exeeds that of \bnum (or ).
Flavor neutrino conversion, \bnue \bnum, induced by lepton
mixing results in partial permutation of the original \bnue and \bnum spectra.
An upper bound on the permutation factor, (99 CL) is derived
using the data from SN1987A and the different models of the neutrino burst. The
relation between the permutation factor and the vacuum mixing angle is
established, which leads to the upper bound on this angle. The excluded region,
, covers the regions of large mixing angle
solutions of the solar neutrino problem: ``just-so" and, partly, MSW, as well
as part of region of oscillation space which could be
responsible for the atmospheric muon neutrino deficit. These limits are
sensitive to the predicted neutrino spectrum and can be strengthened as
supernova models improve.Comment: 20 pages, TeX file. For hardcopy with figures contact
[email protected]. Institute for Advanced Study number AST 93/1
Radiocarbon ages of pre-bomb clams and the hard-water effect in Lakes Michigan and Huron
Five radiocarbon ages, all determined by accelerator mass spectrometry, have been obtained for two pre-bomb bivalves from Lake Michigan and one from Lake Huron. After correcting those ages for the fractionation of 14 C in calcite and for the radioactively inert CO 2 in the atmosphere, we find residual ages, caused by the hard water effect, of about 250 years for Lake Michigan and 440 years for Lake Huron.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43072/1/10933_2004_Article_BF00682596.pd
DNMT3A Loss Drives Enhancer Hypomethylation in FLT3-ITD-Associated Leukemias.
DNMT3A, the gene encoding the de novo DNA methyltransferase 3A, is among the most frequently mutated genes in hematologic malignancies. However, the mechanisms through which DNMT3A normally suppresses malignancy development are unknown. Here, we show that DNMT3A loss synergizes with the FLT3 internal tandem duplication in a dose-influenced fashion to generate rapid lethal lymphoid or myeloid leukemias similar to their human counterparts. Loss of DNMT3A leads to reduced DNA methylation, predominantly at hematopoietic enhancer regions in both mouse and human samples. Myeloid and lymphoid diseases arise from transformed murine hematopoietic stem cells. Broadly, our findings support a role for DNMT3A as a guardian of the epigenetic state at enhancer regions, critical for inhibition of leukemic transformation.L.Y. is funded by the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation as an MD/PhD McNair Scholar. This project was funded by CPRIT (RP110028, RP110471 and RP150292 ), the NIH (DK092883 and HG007538), and the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. We also thank the Cytometry and Cell Sorting and Genomic and RNA Profiling Cores (NCI P30CA125123, P30 AI036211, P30 CA125123, and S10 RR024574 ) at Baylor College of Medicine. Authors declare no conflicts of interest.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cell Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2016.05.00
It's not too Late for the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja): High Levels Of Genetic Diversity and Differentiation Can Fuel Conservation Programs
Article on the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) and how high levels of genetic diversity and differentiation can fuel conservation programs
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