926 research outputs found
The Economics of Non-Governmental Organisations.
The purpose of this paper is to identify the organisational comparative advantage of NGOs, and to develop a model which explains the set of circumstances uder which they emerge and dominate other types of firms. It is argued that the potential superiority of NGOs derives from two features: (1) the creation of an institutional environment within the firm which selectively attracts altruists, who have a lower supply price of effective labour than egotists, and (2) the ability to develop efficient technologies for converting the relevatory and productive effort of their staff into local outputs which are highly valued by the target group of beneficiaries.miroeconomic analyses of economic development, formal and informal sectors, non-governmental organisations, institutional arrangements, non-profit institutions, altruism
Understanding beyond language: perceiving meaning in reality
This article is an attempt to develop a counter-argument to the contention that meaning is bound by language. Locating itself within the realist ontology of language developed by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, it will be argued that language comprises representations of entities perceived both extra to the perceiver and through introspection. Thus, a language game cannot be a closed system in the sense that by its very existence representations of extralinguistic being are contained therein. If truth is defined as that which is the case, the task of the perceiver becomes apprehension of being beheld without the cloud imposed by symbols: representations are not what they represent, instead they serve as windows onto a view of what is. Following exploration of psychological studies on contemplation, it is argued that it is in desymbolised moments of attentive awareness of being that meaning, unfiltered by the representativeness of language (and indeed, other symbolic systems), can arise. It will be proposed that in contemplative traditions, being is not reduced in perception, and the moment of meaning comes to the fore in the engagement and encounter with being
DIRECT REDUCTION OF URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE TO URANIUM METAL BY SODIUM (DRUHM PROCESS)
The chemical feasibility of the direct, continuous reduction of UF/sub 6/ to U with Na was shown in several tests. Up to 93.5% of the U content of UF/sub 6/ continuously reduced by Na in a reaction vessel was recovered as massive U metal of acceptable purity. A semicontinuous reactor for continuous reduction is described. (D.L.C.
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THE HELIUM PURIFICATION SYSTEM FOR THE PROPOSED 800 MWT PEBBLE BED REACTOR
A helium coolant purification system was designed for the proposed 800 Mwt Pebble Bed Reactor. The purification system will operate on a coolant side steam with a flow rate 1% of the total coolant flow, and there are provisions for radioactive and nonradioactive contamination removal. Primary equipment components are dual oxidizers, an economizer heat exchanger, a gas cooler, dual absorbers, a fission-product gas-delay trap, and dual filters. The fission- product trap is sized to provide a hold-up of 30 min for krypton and 6 hr for xenon and for 99.9% retention of iodine. Nonradioactive decontamination is sufficient to maintain oxygen bearing contamination at < 30 ppm in the coolant. Total cost of the system excluding auxiliary equipment and containment was estimated to be 6,360. (auth
Unitary designs and codes
A unitary design is a collection of unitary matrices that approximate the
entire unitary group, much like a spherical design approximates the entire unit
sphere. In this paper, we use irreducible representations of the unitary group
to find a general lower bound on the size of a unitary t-design in U(d), for
any d and t. We also introduce the notion of a unitary code - a subset of U(d)
in which the trace inner product of any pair of matrices is restricted to only
a small number of distinct values - and give an upper bound for the size of a
code of degree s in U(d) for any d and s. These bounds can be strengthened when
the particular inner product values that occur in the code or design are known.
Finally, we describe some constructions of designs: we give an upper bound on
the size of the smallest weighted unitary t-design in U(d), and we catalogue
some t-designs that arise from finite groups.Comment: 25 pages, no figure
RepD-mediated recruitment of PcrA helicase at the Staphylococcus aureus pC221 plasmid replication origin, oriD
Plasmid encoded replication initiation (Rep) proteins recruit host helicases to plasmid replication origins. Previously, we showed that RepD recruits directionally the PcrA helicase to the pC221 oriD, remains associated with it, and increases its processivity during plasmid unwinding. Here we show that RepD forms a complex extending upstream and downstream of the core oriD. Binding of RepD causes remodelling of a region upstream from the core oriD forming a 'landing pad' for the PcrA. PcrA is recruited by this extended RepD-DNA complex via an interaction with RepD at this upstream site. PcrA appears to have weak affinity for this region even in the absence of RepD. Upon binding of ADPNP (non-hydrolysable analogue of ATP), by PcrA, a conformational rearrangement of the RepD-PcrA-ATP initiation complex confines it strictly within the boundaries of the core oriD. We conclude that RepD-mediated recruitment of PcrA at oriD is a three step process. First, an extended RepD-oriD complex includes a region upstream from the core oriD; second, the PcrA is recruited to this upstream region and thirdly upon ATP-binding PcrA relocates within the core oriD
Progress Report on the Fluorox Process for April 30, 1957-January 14, 1958
Progress in the Fluorox program is reported. The chemical reaction of primary interest in the Fluorox program is the oxidation of UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/, 2UF/sub 4/ + O/sub 2/ = UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/ + UF/sub 6/; however, to study this process at higher temperatures, the thermal decomposition of UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/, 3UO/sub 2/F/sub 2/ = 2/3 U/sub 3 /O/sub 8/ + UF/sub 6/ + 1/3 O/sub 2/, is being investigated by thermogravimetric methods in the temperature range 750 to 900 deg C. A fluidized bed reactor and a flame reactor have been used successfully to perform the continuous oxidation of UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/. The 3-in. fluidized bed reactor was operated up to 825 deg C on both a continuous and batch basis while the flame reactor was used to continuously react finely divided UF/sub 4/ with O/sub 2/ in a CO-O/sub 2/ flame at temperatures greater than 1200 deg C. (auth
Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime by Counting Trapped Protons
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Rotating black hole orbit functionals in the frequency domain
In many astrophysical problems, it is important to understand the behavior of
functions that come from rotating (Kerr) black hole orbits. It can be
particularly useful to work with the frequency domain representation of those
functions, in order to bring out their harmonic dependence upon the fundamental
orbital frequencies of Kerr black holes. Although, as has recently been shown
by W. Schmidt, such a frequency domain representation must exist, the coupled
nature of a black hole orbit's and motions makes it difficult to
construct such a representation in practice. Combining Schmidt's description
with a clever choice of timelike coordinate suggested by Y. Mino, we have
developed a simple procedure that sidesteps this difficulty. One first Fourier
expands all quantities using Mino's time coordinate . In particular,
the observer's time is decomposed with . The frequency domain
description is then built from the -Fourier expansion and the
expansion of . We have found this procedure to be quite simple to implement,
and to be applicable to a wide class of functionals. We test the procedure
using a simple test function, and then apply it in a particularly interesting
case, the Weyl curvature scalar used in black hole perturbation
theory.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Phys Rev D. New version gives a
vastly improved algorithm due to Drasco for computing the Fourier transforms.
Drasco has been added as an author. Also fixed some references and
exterminated a small herd of typos; final published versio
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