The Disruption of Taxi and Limousine Markets by Digital Platform Corporations in Western Europe and the United States: Responses of Business Associations, Labor Unions, and Other Interest Groups

The entry of digital platform corporations, such as Uber, Lyft, and Taxify, into established taxi and limousine markets has severely challenged organized interest groups on both sides of the capital-labor divide as well as public policymakers who regulate these markets. Interest associations in different countries have regarded the market-disrupting strategies of platform corporations as either a unifying threat or as an opportunity to pursue and enforce their particularistic interests, and existing associational fields have shaped interest associations’ responses.The author compares California and Austria because of their distinctive traditions in valorizing the public participation of nonstate societal groups and interest associations in political and economic fields. By drawing on interest group theory and on sociological field theory, this paper demonstrates that both pluralist and neocorporatist associational fields have the potential to balance societal interests and to moderate power relations.Associational fields in California and Austria are contested societal orders whose ability to integrate all relevant societal interests has been disrupted. In California, the responses of business associations, trade unions, and labor groups to Uber reflect the fragmented state of pluralist associational fields. While diversity and competitive relations between interest groups are ideal-typical characteristics of pluralist associational fields, state actors do not serve as impartial mediators, and Uber has benefited from more favorable rules and conditions than those applied to taxi and limousine companies. In Austria, the responses of the highly centralized business and labor associations toward Uber reflect the strong disposition of the Chamber of Commerce and trade unions toward the logic of influence. However, that collective bargaining institutions or social partner agreements are not able to control the company points to the fragile and contested character of associational fields. It is nevertheless likely that the ongoing struggle for common rules for all market participants will reinforce neocorporatist associational fields

Time Resolution of a Few Nanoseconds in Silicon Strip Detectors Using the APV25 Chip

The APV25 front-end chip for the CMS Silicon Tracker has a peaking time of 50 ns, but confines the signal to a single clock period (=bunch crossing) with its internal “deconvolution” filter. This method requires a beam-synchronous clock and thus cannot be applied to a (quasi-) continuous beam. Nevertheless, using the multi-peak mode of the APV25, where 3 (or 6,9,12,...) consecutive shaper output samples are read out, the peak time can be reconstructed externally with high precision. Thus, offtime hits can be discarded which results in significant occupancy reduction. We will describe this method, results from beam tests and the intended implementation in an upgrade of the BELLE Silicon Vertex Detector

Arbeitsbeziehungen im Krankenhaussektor

In der Study werden die Arbeitsbeziehungen im Krankenhaussektor von Deutschland und Großbritannien. Der deutsche Krankenhaussektor ist durch fragmentierte und dezentral organisierte (Lohn-)Verhandlungen gekennzeichnet, während im britischen NHS (National Health Service) die Lohnkoordinierungen auf zentraler Ebene verlaufen. Diese Bedingungen, die aus historischen Prozessen resultieren, bedingen spezifische Gestaltungspotenziale und Gegenbewegungen zur umfassenden Privatisierungswelle in Deutschland und Großbritannien

The CMS Pixel FED

The innermost detector of the CMS Experiment consists of 66 million silicon pixels. The hit data has to be read out and must be digitized, synchronized, formatted and transferred over the S-Link to the CMS DAQ. The amount of data can only be handled because the readout chip (ROC) delivers zero-suppressed data above an adjustable threshold for every pixel. The Pixel FED 9U VME module receives an analog optical signal, which is subsequently digitized and processed. The position of the pixel on a module is transmitted with five symbols coded in six pulse height steps each. The data of 36 inputs build a final event data block. The data block from each detector module with either 16 or 24 ROCs differs in length and arrival time. Depending on the data length and trigger rate, there can be a skew of several events between any two inputs. That is possible because the ROC has a multievent time stamp memory and the readout bandwith is limited. Finally the information processed by the Pixel FED will be transferred over the S-Link to the CMS DAQ. Each module must be able to process a trigger rate of 100 kHz or, if in trouble, to send an alarm signal. The number of inputs is limited by the maximum data transmission rate of the S-Link (640 MB/s) for the expected high luminosity of LHC. The data flow on the module is continuously controlled. Errors are written in an error memory, included in the data stream and if critical sent to the general CMS readout control

Construction and Performance of a Double-Sided Silicon Detector Module Using the Origami Concept

The APV25 front-end chip with short shaping time will be used in the Belle II Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) in order to achive low occupancy. Since fast amplifiers are more susceptible to noise caused by their capacitive input load, they have to be placed as close to the sensor as possible. On the other hand, material budget inside the active volume has to be kept low in order to constrain multiple scattering. We built a low mass sensor module with double-sided readout, where thinned APV25 chips are placed on a single flexible circuit glued onto one side of the sensor. The interconnection to the other side is done by Kapton fanouts, which are wrapped around the edge of the sensor, hence the name Origami. Since all front-end chips are aligned in a row on the top side of the module, cooling can be done by a single aluminum pipe. The performance of the Origami module was evaluated in a beam test at CERN in August 2009, of which first results are presented here

Readout and Data Processing Electronics for the Belle-II Silicon Vertex Detector

A prototype readout system has been developed for the future Belle-II Silicon Vertex Detector at the Super-KEK-B factory in Tsukuba, Japan. It will receive raw data from double-sided sensors with a total of approximately 240,000 strips read out by APV25 chips at a trigger rate of up to 30kHz and perform strip reordering, pedestal subtraction, a two-pass common mode correction and zero suppression in FPGA firmware. Moreover, the APV25 will be operated in multi-peak mode, where (typically) six samples along the shaped waveform are used for precise hit-time reconstruction which will also be implemented in FPGAs using look-up tables

Low-Thrust Control of a Lunar Mapping Orbit

A method is presented for generating and maintaining a lunar mapping orbit using continuous low-thrust hardware. Optimal control theory is used to maintain a lunar orbit that is low-altitude, near-polar, and Sun-synchronous; three typical requirements for a successful lunar mapping mission. The analysis of the optimal control problem leads to the commonly seen two-point boundary value problem, which is solved using a simple indirect shooting algorithm. Simulations are presented for a 50-day mapping duration, in which it is shown that a very tight control is achieved with thrust levels below 1 N for a 1000 kg spacecraft. A straightforward approach for using the method presented to compute missions of any duration is also discussed

Qingzhen and Yamato-691: A tentative alphabet for the EH chondrites

Petrological investigations of unequilibrated EH chondrites revealed the presence of three subgroups. They are identified based on the presence of different concentrations of MnS in niningerite. These differences were produced by partitioning of Mn between niningerite and enstatite as a result of different f_S2 and f_O2 during their formation. In order of increasing MnS-contents and hence increasing f_S2 and decreasing f_O2 these groups are : (A) Yamato (Y)-691 and Abee, (B) Indarch, and (C) Yamato-74370,South Oman, Qingzhen, Kota Kota, Kaidun III, and St. Marks. In the third subgroup the meteorites follow an equilibration and evolution sequence; Y-74370 the most primitive and St. Marks the most equilibrated. Y-691 is the most primitive in its subgroup. Differences in the chemical compositions of minerals in Y-691 and Qingzhen reveal a dichotomy in the compositions of niningerite, djerfisherite, kamacite, and perryite. Niningerites in Y-691 contain the least MnS (3.6-6.7 mole%) and counterparts in Qingzhen the most (12-14 mole%). K/Na ratios in djerfisherite are lower in Qingzhen than in Y-691. The Si concentration in kamacite in Qingzhen is higher than in Y-691. Ni in perryite in Qingzhen is higher than in Y-691. Na and K are highly fractionated between two sulfide lithologies. Na resides mainly in chondrules in caswellsilverite, in a Cl-bearing glass in the chondrules, and in Cr-rich sulfides in the matrix. In contrast, K is confined to djerfisherite, which occurs only in sulfide-rich objects in the matrix, and is highly depleted in chondrules. Two new layer structure minerals were discovered in Y-691 : (a) Na-Cu-Cr-sulfide with the general formula (NaCu) CrS_2,and (b) a Na-Cu-Zn-Cr-sulfide. An evolution scheme was constructed for the EH chondrites in the solar nebula and in their parent bodies. Niningerite and oldhamite condensed first and probably acted as nucleation sites for condensing sulfides, metals and silicates. Both minerals are abundant in chondrules, indicating that chondrule formation preceded all other sulfide- and metal-rich objects. For the first time, planetary metamorphic events were recognized. The Qingzhen Reaction, a breakdown of djerfisherite to troilite, covellite, idaite, bornite, and other unidentified phases, was discovered in Qingzhen and Y-691. Thermal episodes took place in the parent bodies at 1.4 Ba (Qingzhen), and 800 Ma (Y-691). Reverse zoning in niningerite indicates that Fe diffused from troilite to niningerite during the thermal event. In Y-691 sphalerite also formed during the metamorphic episode due to mobilization of Zn (and other volatiles). EH chondrites condensed in a chemically inhomogeneous region of the solar nebula where considerable variations in sulfur and oxygen fugacities existed

Early copper metallurgy in Northern Chile

The Central Andean region of South America has a long tradition of mining and metallurgy. Such activities were fundamental to the economic, socio-political and ideological dynamics of the pre-Columbian cultures that inhabited this area. In spite of their importance, few archaeological investigations of metallurgy have been carried out in the Central Andes in general, and in current Chilean territory in particular. The present project investigates archaeometallurgical sites in northern Chile using scientific analysis, as a first step towards a large-scale map of prehistoric copper production and exchange across South America. This research involves documentation and sampling of already excavated archaeological materials from a number of copper-producing sites located in the Atacama District. Preliminary results of XRF analysis of artefacts from the collection of the R. P. Gustavo Le Paige Archaeological Museum, San Pedro de Atacama, have been obtained and enabled us to characterise the different elements present in the metal objects. These results might provide information on the nature of the raw materials used

Testing the ureilite projectile hypothesis for the El'gygytgyn impact: determination of siderophile element abundances and Os isotope ratios in ICDP drill core samples and melt rocks

The geochemical nature of the impactites from International Continental Scientific Drilling Project-El'gygytgyn lake drill core 1C is compared with that of impact melt rock fragments collected near the western rim of the structure and literature data. Concentrations of major and trace elements, with special focus on siderophile metals Cr, Co, Ni, and the platinum group elements, and isotope ratios of osmium (Os), were determined to test the hypothesis of an ureilite impactor at El'gygytgyn. Least squares mixing calculations suggest that the upper volcanic succession of rhyolites, dacites, and andesites were the main contributors to the polymict impact breccias. Additions of 2-13.5 vol% of basaltic inclusions recovered from drill core intervals between 391.6 and 423.0 mblf can almost entirely account for the compositional differences observed for the bottom of a reworked fallout deposit at 318.9 mblf, a polymict impact breccia at 471.4 mblf, and three impact melt rock fragments. However, the measured Os isotope ratios and slightly elevated PGE content (up to 0.262 ng g(-1) Ir) of certain impactite samples, for which the CI-normalized logarithmic PGE signature displays a relatively flat (i.e., chondritic) pattern, can only be explained by the incorporation of a small meteoritic contribution. This component is also required to explain the exceptionally high siderophile element contents and corresponding Ni/Cr, Ni/Co, and Cr/Co ratios of impact glass spherules and spherule fragments that were recovered from the reworked fallout deposits and from terrace outcrops of the Enmyvaam River approximately 10 km southeast of the crater center. Mixing calculations support the presence of approximately 0.05 wt% and 0.50-18 wt% of ordinary chondrite (possibly type-LL) in several impactites and in the glassy spherules, respectively. The heterogeneous distribution of the meteoritic component provides clues for emplacement mechanisms of the various impactite units