Ancient Magic and Modern Accessories: A Re-Examination of the Omamori Phenomenon

This paper consists of a comparison of omamori (religious amulets) disseminated by Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines from various regions of Japan, focusing on a cross-examination of those offered in the early 1980`s with contemporaryomamori. Through their nearly innumerable variety of forms and functions, these amulets are a clear representation of both the power of the public to dramatically alter an established religious object, as well as these religious institutions` ability to re-appropriate such alterations for their own benefit. Omamori are organic objects, constantly changing with the negotiation of the needs, concerns, conceptualizations and aesthetic tastes of the public and those of religious institutions. This paper will analyze the impetuses, forms, and implications of changes in omamori, an artifact situated at the intersection of religion, society, and modernity

Recovery of actinides from actinide-aluminium alloys by chlorination: Part I

Pyrochemical processes in molten LiCl–KCl are being developed in ITU for recovery of actinides from spent nuclear fuel. The fuel is anodically dissolved to the molten salt electrolyte and actinides are electrochemically reduced on solid aluminium cathodes forming solid actinide–aluminium alloys. A chlorination route is being investigated for recovery of actinides from the alloys. This route consists in three steps: Vacuum distillation for removal of the salt adhered on the electrode, chlorination of the actinide– aluminium alloys by chlorine gas and sublimation of the formed AlCl3. A thermochemical study showed thermodynamic feasibility of all three steps. On the basis of the conditions identified by the calculations, experiments using pure UAl3 alloy were carried out to evaluate and optimise the chlorination step. The work was focused on determination of the optimal temperature and Cl2/UAl3 molar ratio, providing complete chlorination of the alloy without formation of volatile UCl5 and UCl6. The results showed high efficient chlorination at a temperature of 150 °C

Building an agile culture of excellence to address the unstable business environments of the XXI century

The pursuit of quality and excellence drives the efforts of companies wishing to improve and gain competitive advantage. Operational excellence programs are thus used as one of the most common approaches to promote structured change, with organizations implementing them in search for consistent strategies that match their customers' requirements. However, while being undeniably successful approaches in achieving organizational improvement, truth is that engaging in operational excellence programs has also proven to not be enough to ensure the long-term success, and companies do not develop the ability to quickly adapt to the demands of quickly changing markets. Economic, social and political transformations are hitting the world, adding to a fast-technological evolution and creating deeply unstable business environments. The development of agile capabilities becomes essential for organizations to stay competitive and address the changing demands of its stakeholders. Accordingly, we believe that developing an enduring capacity to change must be considered as one of the desired outputs of the implementation of any quality and operational excellence programs. However, being agile demands transversal support from the entire organization, under the risk of finding resistance to its implementation. It is necessary to work and transform the culture of organization to allow a closer fit to the strategic choices made to face the marketplace. Our proposal is to bring together organizational culture, operational excellence and organizational agility, structuring the pursuit of adaptability in a strong social and technical framework. We present a conceptual model interrelating the three concepts and the methodology in use for identifying the elements and enablers that help acquire the necessary capabilities for an organization to become adaptable.- (undefined