The Turmoil within the Elite, the Course of the Crisis and the Left

In the industry, all passenger vehicles are treated with damping materials to reduce structure-borne sound. Though these damping materials are effective to attenuate structure-borne sound, they have little or no effect on the air-borne sound transmission.The lack of effective predictive methods for assessing the acoustic effects due to added damping on complex industrial structures leads to excessive use of damping materials.Examples are found in the railway industry where sometimes the damping material applied per carriage is more than one ton. The objective of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the application of these damping materials in particular when applied to lightweight sandwich panels. As product development is carried out in a fast pace today, there is a strong need for validated prediction tools to assist in the design process. Sound transmission loss of sandwich plates with isotropic core materials can be accurately predicted by calculating the wave propagation in the structure. A modified wave propagation approach is used to predict the sound transmission loss of sandwich panels with honeycomb cores. The honeycomb panels are treated as being orthotropic and the wave numbers are calculated for the two principle directions. The orthotropic panel theory is used to predict the sound transmission loss of panels. Visco-elastic damping with a constraining layer is applied to these structures and the effect of these damping treatment on the sound transmission loss is studied. Measurements are performed to validate these predictions. Sound radiated from vibrating structures is of great practical importance.The radiation loss factor represents damping associated with the radiation of sound as a result of the vibrating structure and can be a significant contribution for structures around the critical frequency and for composite structures that are very lightly damped. The influence of the radiation loss factor on the sound reduction index of such structures is also studied.QC 20100519ECO2-Multifunctional body Panel

Oxygen Fugacities of Lavas from the Galapagos Islands and the Galapagos Spreading Center

Oxygen fugacity is one of the most important intensive variables that controls the phase relations and compositions of precipitating minerals. It is accepted that oxygen fugacity reflects the redox state of the mantle source region. Therefore oxygen fugacities can be used to probe the mantle redox state and determine mantle heterogeneity. Plume-related magmas and mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) have been shown to fall within the same range (∆FMQ = -1.305 to 0.402) suggesting source regions with similar redox states. The Galapagos Islands are a result of plume-related volcanoes and located on thin, young crust created by the nearby Galapagos Spreading Center (GSC). This study focuses on the differences between the redox state of the Galapagos plume related magmas and the nearby GSC. The Galapagos Islands show usually high iron concentrations, which should be reflected in the fO₂ values of lavas. Values of fO₂ calculated from Fe₂O₃/FeO ratios for GSC lavas ranged from ∆FMQ = -1.801 to 0.402. Values calculated from coexisting olivine and melts show excellent agreement with a range of ∆FMQ = -1.818 to 0.069. There is reasonable correlation between oxygen fugacity and Mg, consistent with the idea of crystallization controlling oxygen fugacity. Oxygen fugacities were calculated from coexisting olivine and melt samples from Roca Redonda, Fernandina, and Volcan Darwin on the Galapagos Archipelago. Melt samples were based on groundmass analyses rather than glasses. The results ranged from ∆FMQ = -1.962 to -0.059, similar to values for MORB from the GSC, despite the unusually high Fe8.0 and low Si8.0 contents. The latter have been used to suggest that the island magmas are generated at greater depths than MORBs. This study supports other work suggesting that OIB from deeper mantle sources have similar oxygen fugacities to MORB from upper mantle sources. This suggests that both sources have similar redox states, or that differences are not observed in oxygen fugacities of magmas originating from these sources. In the case of the Galapagos Islands this is surprising, given other evidence for differences in melting temperature and depth and source region composition.No embarg

Managers' marketing alliance formation behavior : The role of external factors and managers' personality traits

Market conditions pose a considerable challenge for companies as they face the need to create value. Researchers as well as managers have repeatedly stressed the importance of alliances to cope with these challenges and to create value for customers. Research so far has addressed several aspects with regard to alliances, such as their formation, their management, and performance consequences. This research suggests that alliance formation is contingent on external conditions such as the competitive or the market environment and internal resource endowments. However, managerial characteristics as drivers of alliance formation have been largely neglected so far. Especially alliances in marketing pose a relevant research area due to their frequent occurrence and their large potential to impact companies’ performance. Despite this, the formation of marketing alliances has not been studied before. The objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate external drivers of marketing alliance formation as well as the impact of managerial characteristics in this context. Hypotheses are derived based on strategic behavior and resource dependency theories, RBV as well as the upper echelon’s perspective. To test the hypotheses, we follow an experimental research design and investigate managers’ marketing alliance formation propensity. Results show that competitive intensity has a positive impact and market maturity has a negative impact on marketing alliance formation propensity. We could also demonstrate the impact of managers’ personality traits. Marketing experience and managers’ proactive behavior have a positive effect on managers’ propensity to establish marketing alliances. Additionally, we find moderating effects of these personality traits. Companies which are planning engagement in marketing alliances should, therefore, be aware of the personality traits of key marketing decision makers

Die Wahl 2006, die Linke und der jähe Bedarf an Gespenstern…

Inhalt Eine Wahl ohne Wahl – Grundmerkmale der Wahlauseinandersetzung 2006 Warum die Linke 2006 scheinbar alles nur falsch machen kann Wozu eigentlich noch wählen? Die Delegitimierung der Politik und ihre Ursachen Worum geht es eigentlich? Der »Lagerwahlkampf« und das Argument der »verlorenen Stimme« Der Mensch als Kostenfaktor: Die Erosion des Politikfelds Sozialpolitik Getrennt marschieren, vereint schlagen? PDS und WASG und das wahltechnische Problem Dem Nein eine Stimme: Handlungsoptionen für die Linke Vom Schatten zum Gespenst »Die Gesellschaft findet sich plötzlich in einen Zustand momentaner Barbarei zurückversetzt ... die Industrie, der Handel scheinen vernichtet, und warum? Weil sie zu viel Zivilisation, zu viel Lebensmittel, zu viel Industrie, zu viel Handel besitzt ... Wodurch überwindet die Bourgeoisie die Krisen? Einerseits durch die erzwungene Vernichtung einer Masse von Produktivkräften; andererseits durch die Eroberung neuer Märkte und die gründlichere Ausbeutung alter Märkte. Wodurch also? Dadurch, dass sie allseitigere und gewaltigere Krisen vorbereitet und die Mittel, den Krisen vorzubeugen, vermindert.« Dieser Befund, aus dem Kommunistischen Manifest von 1848, liest sich wie eine unmittelbare Zustandsbeschreibung der gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse im heutigen fortgeschrittenen Neoliberalismus. Das Manifest muss auch zur regelmäßigen Lektüre der Hartz-Kommission gehört haben; am Ende des angeblichen Jahrhundert-Reformwerks werden die im Manifest beschriebenen Verhältnisse des totalen Arbeitsmarkts stehen: »Die Arbeiter, die sich stückweis verkaufen müssen, sind eine Ware wie jeder andere Handelsartikel und daher gleichmäßig allen Wechselfällen der Konkurrenz, allen Schwankungen des Marktes ausgesetzt ... In demselben Maße, in dem die Widerwärtigkeit der Arbeit wächst, nimmt daher der Lohn ab.« Was fehlt, ist das Gespenst

One or two Frequencies? The empirical Mode Decomposition Answers

19 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to IEEE Trans. on Signal Proc.This paper investigates how Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), a fully data-driven technique recently introduced for decomposing any oscillatory waveform into zero-mean components, behaves in the case of a composite two-tones signal. Essentially two regimes are shown to exist, depending on whether the amplitude ratio of the tones is greater or smaller than unity, and the corresponding resolution properties of EMD turn out to be in good agreement with intuition and physical interpretation. A refined analysis is provided for quantifying the observed behaviours, theoretical claims are supported by numerical experiments, and possible extensions to nonlinear oscillations are briefly outlined

"Debating Multitude" : Ten Notes

Proportionalitet är ett centralt begrepp i skolmatematiken. Begreppet introduceras i de lägre stadierna och återkommer i så gott som samtliga kurser från årskurs 9 tillsista kursen på gymnasiet. Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur det matematiska begreppet proportionalitet hanteras i den svenska gymnasieskolan. En generell problematik kopplad till detta syfte är hur skolans styrdokument realiseras i läromedel och nationella prov. Fokus för denna avhandling har varit hur proportionalitet hanteras i det svenska gymnasiet i kursen Matematik A i några läromedel och nationella prov. För att undersöka detta utvecklades ett analysverktyg utifrån det teoretiska ramverket i ATD (Anthropological Theory of the Didactic). Av intresse är här relationer mellan de olika nivåerna i den didaktiska transpositionen, som berör just hur skolans styrdokument realiseras i läromedel och nationella prov. För det empiriska studiet av materialet användes från ATD begreppet matematisk organisation, genom att använda ett analysverktyg för att granska typer av uppgifter om proportionalitet, lösningstekniker och teoretiska modeller för proportionalitetsbegreppet. De data som presenterats i denna studie ger en ganska ostrukturerad bild av de matematiska organisationer av begreppsområdet proportionalitet som presenteras i läromedel och i nationella prov och de ser även olika ut när det gäller hur proportionalitet hanteras i läromedlen respektive det nationella provet för Matematik A. Resultatet visar att ungefär var fjärde uppgift i de studerade kapitlen och de nationella proven berör proportionalitet men att begreppet hanteras ensidigt vad avser uppgiftstyp. Skillnader observerades mellan läromedel och nationella prov när det gäller hur lösningstekniker rekommenderas för olika typer av proportionalitetsuppgifter. De två teoretiska modeller för proportionalitet som har undersökts, dvs. statisk och dynamisk proportionalitet, finns representerade i ungefär lika omfattning i både läromedel och nationella prov. Vid uppgifter inom geometri handlar det dock ofta om statisk proportionalitet medan det inomområdet funktioner är vanligare att använda dynamisk proportionalitet. Lärare bör få kunskap om skillnader mellan läromedel och läroplaner, och hur dessa tolkas i nationella prov, så att de i sin verksamhet kan välja det undervisningsinnehåll, inklusive övningsuppgifter, som ger en god variation för eleven kopplat till kursplanernas målProportionality is a key concept in school mathematics. It is introduced in the primary grades, and reappears in almost all mathematics courses from Grade 9 to the last course in upper secondary school. The overall aim of this study is to investigate how the mathematical concept of proportionality is handled in the Swedish upper secondary school. A general problem connected to this end is how the national curriculum is realised in textbooks and national examinations. The focus of this thesis is on how proportionality is handled in the first Swedish upper secondary course in mathematics in some textbooks and national examinations. To examine this an analysis tool based on the theoretical framework of the ATD (Anthropological Theory of the Didactic) was developed. Of interest here are relations between the different levels in the didactic transposition, concerned with exactly how the national curriculum is realised in textbooks and national examinations. For the empirical study of the material the ATD concept of mathematical organisation was used, employing an analytical tool to examine the types of tasks dealing with proportionality, techniques for solving these tasks, and theoretical models for the concept of proportionality. The data presented in this study gives a fairly unstructured picture of the mathematical organisations of the conceptual field of proportionality, as presented in textbooks and in the national tests. They also look different when it comes to how proportionality is handled in the textbooks and the national test for "Matematik A". The result shows that about every fourth task of the chapters and the national tests studied involved proportionality, but that there was a low variation in terms of types of tasks. Differences were observed between textbooks and national tests in terms of how solution techniques are recommended for different types of proportionality tasks. The two theoretical models of proportionality that were studied, ie. static and dynamic proportionality, are represented to approximately the same extent in both textbooks and national examinations. In geometry, it is often static proportionality, while in the field of functions it is common to use dynamic proportionality. Teachers should have access to knowledge of the differences between textbooks and curricula, and how they are interpreted in the national tests, so that they can make deliberate choices in their teaching activities, including exercises, to support a good variety for students linked to curriculum objectives

Bivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition

10 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Signal Processing Letters, IEEE. Matlab/C codes and additional material are downloadable from http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/patrick.flandrinThe Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) has been introduced quite recently to adaptively decompose nonstationary and/or nonlinear time series. The method being initially limited to real-valued time series, we propose here an extension to bivariate (or complex-valued) time series which generalizes the rationale underlying the EMD to the bivariate framework. Where the EMD extracts zero-mean oscillating components, the proposed bivariate extension is designed to extract zero-mean rotating components. The method is illustrated on a real-world signal and properties of the output components are discussed. Free Matlab/C codes are available at http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/patrick.flandrin