Incentives for Cost Reduction under Export Restraints. Incitations à l'innovation afin de réduire les coûts de production sous des restrictions quantitatives à l'importation..

The effect of trade quotas on firms’ incentive to invest in cost-reducing R&D is studied in a two-stage price-setting duopoly game. A domestic and a foreign firm first choose R&D levels and then set the prices of their differentiated products in the domestic market. With a quota imposed at, or close to, the free-trade level of imports, the domestic firm faces less competition than under free-trade and invests less in R&D. Contrarily, the constrained foreign firm invests more in R&D as the negative strategic effect of a reduction in its cost is now absent. These results differ partially from the Cournot duopoly case in which R&D expenditures are lower for both the firms. As the quota becomes more restrictive, the domestic firm increases and the foreign firm decreases its expenditures on R&D. Domestic welfare is always higher under free-trade than under any quota regardless of the degree of product substitutability.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dans cet article, une firme nationale et une firme étrangère choisissent leurs niveaux de R&D dans un premier temps, puis fixent les prix de leurs produits différenciés sur le marché national. Si le quota imposé est égal ou est suffisamment proche du niveau des importations sous libre échange, la firme nationale investit moins en R&D. La firme étrangère contrainte investit plus, vu que l'effet stratégique négatif de la réduction des coûts par la R&D disparàît. On montre aussi que le niveau de bien-être national est toujours plus élevé sous libre échange indépendamment du degré de substituabilité des produits.

From vortex molecules to the Abrikosov lattice in thin mesoscopic superconducting disks

Stable vortex states are studied in large superconducting thin disks (for numerical purposes we considered with radius R = 50 \xi). Configurations containing more than 700 vortices were obtained using two different approaches: the nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory and the London approximation. To obtain better agreement with results from the GL theory we generalized the London theory by including the spatial variation of the order parameter following Clem's ansatz. We find that configurations calculated in the London limit are also stable within the Ginzburg-Landau theory for up to ~ 230 vortices. For large values of the vorticity (typically, L > 100), the vortices are arranged in an Abrikosov lattice in the center of the disk, which is surrounded by at least two circular shells of vortices. A Voronoi construction is used to identify the defects present in the ground state vortex configurations. Such defects cluster near the edge of the disk, but for large L also grain boundaries are found which extend up to the center of the disk.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, RevTex4, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Estimating plasma volume in neonatal Holstein calves fed one or two feedings of a lacteal-based colostrum replacer using Evans blue dye and hematocrit values at various time points.

Twenty-eight Holstein calves were blocked by birth date and randomly assigned to one of two treatments to investigate the effect of colostrum replacer (CR) feeding regimen on plasma volume (PV). Treatments were: 1) one feeding of CR (C1; 3L of reconstituted CR 675 g of powder providing 184.5 g of IgG at birth) or 2) two feedings of CR (C2; 2L of reconstituted CR at birth and 1 L of reconstituted CR at six h). By 6 h of age, all calves had received 3L of CR providing 184.5 g of IgG. Plasma volume was estimated at six, 12, 18, and 24 h after birth using Evans blue dye (EBD). No treatment effects were noted at any time points (P \u3e 0.05). Mean PV for all calves regardless of treatment at six, 12, 18, and 24 h were 78.6, 89.2, 83.9, and 90.7 mL kg-1 of BW, respectively. Plasma volume was correlated with hematocrit (HCT), initial HCT, and treatment. Hematocrit was correlated with PV, initial HCT, and body weight. Hematocrit for six, 12, 18 and 24 h after birth can be predicted with an initial precolostral HCT determination

Vacuum Polarization by a Magnetic Flux Tube at Finite Temperature in the Cosmic String Spacetime

In this paper we analyse the effect produced by the temperature in the vacuum polarization associated with charged massless scalar field in the presence of magnetic flux tube in the cosmic string spacetime. Three different configurations of magnetic fields are taken into account: $(i)$ a homogeneous field inside the tube, $(ii)$ a field proportional to $1/r$ and $(iii)$ a cylindrical shell with $\delta$-function. In these three cases, the axis of the infinitely long tube of radius $R$ coincides with the cosmic string. Because the complexity of this analysis in the region inside the tube, we consider the thermal effect in the region outside. In order to develop this analysis, we construct the thermal Green function associated with this system for the three above mentioned situations considering points in the region outside the tube. We explicitly calculate in the high-temperature limit, the thermal average of the field square and the energy-momentum tensor.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Some Problems on the Classical N-Body Problem

Our idea is to imitate Smale's list of problems, in a restricted domain of mathematical aspects of Celestial Mechanics. All the problems are on the n-body problem, some with different homogeneity of the potential, addressing many aspects such as central configurations, stability of relative equilibrium, singularities, integral manifolds, etc. Following Steve Smale in his list, the criteria for our selection are: (1) Simple statement. Also preferably mathematically precise, and best even with a yes or no answer. (2) Personal acquaintance with the problem, having found it not easy. (3) A belief that the question, its solution, partial results or even attempts at its solution are likely to have great importance for the development of the mathematical aspects of Celestial Mechanics.Comment: 10 pages, list of mathematical problem

MANNA FROM HEAVEN: THE EXUBERANCE OF FOOD AS A TOPIC FOR RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Organizations have, in the past, often been discussed as if they were Cartesian mentalities, planning agendas, learning from doing, processing information, reducing equivocality, mimicking and copying, floating disembodiedly apart from the actors who work in these organizations. We are offered representations of organizations as organically grounded metaphors that minimize the biological facticity of employees: namely, their need for food. While the inputs to organizations conceived as if they were quasi-systems are well explored, and the emotional and ‘irrational’ side of organizations is increasingly explored, the necessity of inputs to the biological systems that staff them is not. Nonetheless, despite the lack of explicit scholarly attention to food at work, its importance guarantees its hidden presence in the organizational literature, often in the context of more “serious” themes. We identify four approaches to the relationship between food, work and organization. For dessert, we propose a research menu that aims to uncover several possibilities for making the role of food in organizational life more explicit.

A semiquantitative approach to the impurity-band-related transport properties of GaMnAs nanolayers

We investigate the spin-polarized transport of GaMnAs nanolayers in which a ferromagnetic order exists below a certain transition temperature. Our calculation for the self-averaged resistivity takes into account the existence of an impurity band determining the extended ("metallic" transport) or localized (hopping by thermal excitation) nature of the states at and near the Fermi level. Magnetic order and resistivity are inter-related due to the influence of the spin polarization of the impurity band and the effect of the Zeeman splitting on the mobility edge. We obtain, for a given range of Mn concentration and carrier density, a "metallic" behavior in which the transport by extended carriers dominates at low temperature, and is dominated by the thermally excited localized carriers near and above the transition temperature. This gives rise to a conspicuous hump of the resistivity which has been experimentally observed and brings light onto the relationship between transport and magnetic properties of this material

From “This Job Is Killing me” to “I Live in the life I Love and I Love the Life I Live”, or from Stakhanov to Contemporary Workaholics

F. W. Taylor is often celebrated as a founding father of organization and management theory, one whose commitment to efficiency is legendary. If we define efficiency in terms of maximizing output from a given – or lesser – number of workers it can be considered that, in some cases, Taylor’s science has achieved a remarkable success. Contemporary organizations managed to create such a state of commitment (be it spontaneous or imposed), that people have adopted excessive working as lifestyle. Life is organized around work, with work occupying more and more territory from the former private life. We discuss the notion of excessive working, present several forms of excessive working, contest the idea that excessive working is necessarily noxious, suggest a dynamic understanding of the different forms of excessive working, and challenge researchers critically to discuss their practical success. As the saying goes, there can be too much of a good thing.

Looking for complication: The case of management education

This paper argues that in face of the changes occurring in the organizational world, management education should consider the need to rethink some of its premises and adapt to the new times. The need to complicate management learning due to increased complication in competitive landscapes, is analyzed. Four possibilities of addressing organizational topics in a complicated way are contrasted: the vertical, horizontal, hypertextual, and dialectical approaches. The promises of the dialectical approach are particularly stressed as a more demanding and potentially enriching path for the creation of knowledge about organizations. The test of the four approaches in a group of undergraduate students provides some preliminary data for analyzing the strenghts and weaknesses of our proposal.

A Visibilidade entre Maurice Meleau-Ponty e João Cabral de Melo Neto: pensar e poetar como se uma pintura

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-graduação em Literatura, Florianópolis, 2010Situamos o presente trabalho no reconhecimento de um certo ar de família entre a poética de João Cabral de Melo Neto e a concepção de obra de arte em Maurice Merleau-Ponty, especificamente no ponto em que certos tratamentos de pintura moderna - de Paul Cézanne, para o filósofo; de Joan Miró e Piet Mondrian, para o poeta - afetaram, de modo singular, o desdobramento de suas obras. Nelas, o tema da visibilidade comparece de modo determinante, seja ao dar a ver o poema e a reflexão filosófica como acessos privilegiados a orlas de sentido que, assim como na pintura moderna, tanto se opõem ao dogmatismo da atitude natural, quanto jamais se estabilizam; seja por fazer incorporar elementos da própria reversibilidade pictórica em suas escritas, tal como se ensaiou na estruturação do presente trabalho, escrituralmente armado segundo um viés não só conceitual mas também gráfico, ademais incorporador, como em certo momento do percurso antilírico, de aspectos visuais do Neoplasticismo de Mondrian, uma das afinidades eletivas do poeta pernambucano.Ce travail est situé dans la reconnaissance d'une certaine familiarité entre la poétique de João Cabral de Melo Neto et la conception d'oeuvre d'art chez Maurice Merleau-Ponty, surtout par le fait que certains traitements de la peinture moderne - de Paul Cézanne, pour le philosophe; de Joan Miró et Piet Mondrian, pour le poète - aient affecté, de façon particulière, le développement de leurs oeuvres. Parmi ces oeuvres, le thème de la visibilité apparaît d'une manière déterminante, soit pour donner à voir le poème et la pensée philosophique comme accès privilégiés à des marges de sens qui, de même que dans la peinture moderne, non seulement s'opposent au dogmatisme de l'attitude naturelle, mais aussi jamais ne se stabiliseront, soit pour y incorporer des éléments de la réversibilité picturale dans leurs écritures ; comme d'ailleurs nous avons composé par le biais de ce travail à la fois conceptuel et graphique, donc possible à assimiler, tel à certains moments du parcours antilyrique, quelques aspects visuels du Néoplasticisme de Mondrian, l'une des affinités eléctives du poète pernambucano