Motivation,commitment and the use of incentives in partnerships and alliances

The use of incentives in partnering and alliancing has been seen as an important way of reinforcing collaboration in the short term and helping to build trust between clients and contractors in the long term. Yet only rarely has the impact of incentives on such relationships been discussed, let alone subjected to systematic investigation. This is despite a wealth of theory and research which brings into question the use of incentives and reinforcers as ways of generating motivation and commitment. Drawing upon this theoretical knowledge base and using evidence from a number of case studies of partnerships and alliances, this paper demonstrates how a number of important cognitive and social dimensions affect the use and impact of incentives, sometimes in ways contrary to those intended. The conclusion drawn is that there are important limitations to the use of incentives as means of reinforcing collaboration and developing commitment and trust, and that this raises questions more generally about the assumptions that underlie many of the practical ‘tools and techniques’ commonly associated with partnering and alliancing.     

A family of parallel QR factorization algorithms

Rapid computation of the QR factorization of a matrix is fundamental to many scientific and engineering problems. The paper presents a family of algorithms parameterized by the number of processors available P, arithmetic grain aggregation parameters g₁, g₂, …, g_P, and communication grain aggregation parameter h, which computer the QR factorization of a matrix A ∈ C^{m × n} with minimal latency. The approach is particularly well suited for dedicated distributed memory architectures such as linear arrays of INMOS Transputers, Texas Instruments C40s or Analog Devices 21060s.     

Polynomial methods for the structured singular value with real parameters

We consider the structured singular value problem with real parametric uncertainty only. Using techniques from algebraic geometry, we propose two algorithms that in principle can yield the precise value of the structured singular value at a fixed frequency. Their ability to do so depends upon their ability to find all common roots to a system of polynomial equations. The first algorithm is applicable to problems with two real parameters each of multiplicity two. The second algorithm is applicable to problems with n distinct real parameters. These algorithms have proved useful in applications to aerospace control law analysis.     

The performance of a distributed combat simulation with the time warp operating system

This paper analyzes the performance of a discrete-event combat simulation executed on a parallel processor under control of the Time Warp Operating System. Time Warp is in a class of distributed simulation methods called Optimistic methods which have proven to be useful over a wide range of simulations. The combat simulation used for this performance study, called STB88, is a division-corps model incorporating a number of different types of computations. The speed-up for three versions of this model on the Caltech/JPL Mark III Hypercube and the BBN Butterfly parallel processors was measured relative to an efficient sequential execution of the same model on the same hardware. The results indicate that STB88 version 1 achieves a speed-up of 28.6 on 60 Mark III processors, while STB88 version 2 achieves a speed-up of 36.8 on 100 Butterfly processors. Version 3 of STB88 achieved a speed-up of 38.5 on 128 Mark III processors. The versions differed only in their interface to Time Warp. On the Butterfly, the sequential execution completed in 2 hours, while the 100 processor execution completed in 3.2 minutes.     

生态建造：教育套餐和环境手册

生态建造是一个关注于传播建成环境中可持续性的需要以及促成可持续性的方式的项目。它针对于两个群体：16-19岁的学生，为他们制作了一个交互式的光盘；建造行业中的专业人员。光盘中提出了这样的问题--你的家和学校有多绿色？它说明了类似于建筑尺度和朝向的设计决策如何影响到建筑在能耗方面的表现和CO2的排放量。光盘包括了衡量如往宅温室节能效果的术语表，来解释它们对建筑的影响。这样学生们就可以对他们自己的学校和家进行评估，并提出怎样的设计可以提高它们的节能效果。如果我们想全球化地实现可持续性的未来，下一代的介入至关重要。环境手册中更深入地研究了这些问题，并关注到了其他建筑类型，如办公建筑。本文描述了正趋于完成的教育光盘和环境手册中涉及的一些根本的环境和教育因素。     

在LTspice/SwitcherCAD Ⅲ中采用变压器

关于LTspice/SwitcherCAD Ⅲ LTspice/SwitcherCAD Ⅲ是一款具集成原理图捕获能力的强大SPICE仿真工具.     

iFlash:80℃活化漂白与新型皂洗

加工技术与设备的发展通常会使加工时间缩短.但是新型助剂的应用也可减少加工时间,大大降低成本.随着iFlash系统的应用,漂白温度可降至80℃,活性染料染色后皂洗的时间也大大缩短.因此,织物间歇式染色得到优化,在不增加额外投资的情况下运行更经济.     

Ion-based quantum simulation of many-body electron–electron Coulomb interaction

We propose an exact mathematical mapping that can be useful for making an analog quantum simulator that uses ion-based systems to realize the many-body electron–electron Coulomb interaction of an electron gas. This exact mathematical mapping allows us to deal with a system that is difficult to solve and control using a potentially more experimentally feasible setup. We show that ions can efficiently simulate electronic Coulomb interactions by using a unitary dilatation transform. The transformation does not need to be physically implemented if only the energy spectrum is desired, eliminating the complexity overhead. This proposal works in any number of dimensions and could be used to simulate different topological phases of electrons in graphene-like structures, by using ions confined in honeycomb lattices.     

Seasonal and diurnal variation of PM2.5 apparent particle density in urban air in Augsburg, Germany

The apparent particle density of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 microm (rho2.5) was determined at an urban site in Augsburg, Germany and its correlation with chemical composition and meteorological conditions was investigated. rho2.5 showed strong day-to-day variation from 1.05 to 2.36 g cm(-3) (5 to 95% percentile), and nearly 64% of the daily variability could be explained by a multiple variable regression model. A minimum in the morning and afternoon (about 1.5 g cm(-3)), and a maximum (near 1.8 g cm(-3)) during midday was observed. The minima represent fresh primary aerosol emissions, which were related to traffic soot particles with low density due to their agglomerate structure, especially observed in the early morning hours of weekdays. The maximum is likely due to increased secondary particle production and the presence of more aged particles with the built-up of the convectively mixed boundary layer. rho2.5 has the potential to serve as a crude tracer for chemical composition and atmospheric processing and might play an important role when considering the associations between health effects and ambient particles.     

Intake of ruminant versus industrial trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease – what is the evidence?

Several studies have reported a positive association between intake of trans fatty acids and risk of heart disease. It has been suggested that trans fatty acids from ruminant sources are less detrimental than trans fatty acids from industrial sources. Legislation or advice on limiting trans fatty acids has, in some instances, been restricted to trans fatty acids from industrial sources. However, comparisons of ruminant and industrial trans fatty acids have been based on few studies using relative intake data (e.g. quintiles of intakes). Therefore, we have reviewed data describing the associations between absolute intake (g eaten per day) of ruminant and industrial trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease, and examined the associations graphically. Where direct comparison is possible, there are no differences in risk of coronary heart disease between total, ruminant and industrial trans fatty acids for intakes up to 2.5 g/d. At higher intakes (more than 3 g/d) total and industrial trans fatty acids are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease but there is insufficient data available on ruminant trans fatty acids at this level of intake. The scarce data do not support discrimination between ruminant and industrial trans fatty acids in dietary recommendations or legislation.