‘Med Hondo’s Sarraounia: The musical articulation of cultural transformation’

This article examines music in Med Hondo’s Sarraounia, considering how it contributes to the dramatic form of the movie while concurrently articulating narratives regarding cultural transformation through both its extrinsic (cultural) and intrinsic (formal) dimensions. Examining how the use of traditional and contemporary African music politicises diegetic space by referring us to the relationships between indigenous musical forms and their global, culturally hybrid descendents, it then demonstrates the complex manner in which the film uses the formal specificities of African and Western musical idioms to articulate a narrative regarding the cultural transformations that occur when an oral culture (Africa) encounters a literate, modernised culture (the West).

Evolutionary agglomeration theory: increasing returns, diminishing returns, and the industry life cycle

According to Marshall’s agglomeration theory, Krugman’s New Economic Geography models, and Porter’s cluster policies, firms should receive increasing returns from a trinity of agglomeration economies: a local pool of skilled labour, local supplier linkages, and local knowledge spillovers. Recent evolutionary theories suggest that whether agglomeration economies generate increasing returns or diminishing returns depends on time, and especially the evolution of the industry life cycle. At the start of the twenty-first century, we re-examine Marshall’s trinity of agglomeration economies in the city-region where he discovered them. The econometric results from our multivariate regression models are the polar opposite of Marshall’s. During the later stages of the industry life cycle, Marshall’s agglomeration economies decrease the economic performance of firms and create widespread diminishing returns for the economic development of the city-region, which has evolved to become one of the poorest city-regions in Europe.

Formation of NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3) and transformation to [Hg2N](NO3)

NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3) (1) and [Hg2N](NO3) (2) are obtained from cone. aqueous ammonia solutions of Hg(NO3)(2) at ambient temperature and under hydrothermal conditions at 180 degreesC, respectively, as colourless and dark yellow to light brown single crystals. The crystal structures {NH4[Hg-3(NH)(2)](NO3)(3): cubic, P4(I)32, a = 1030.4(2) pm, Z = 4, R-all = 0.028; [Hg2N](NO3): tetragonal, P4(3)2(1)2, a = 1540.4(1), c = 909.8(1) pm, Z = 4, R-all = 0.054} have been determined from single crystal data. Both exhibit network type structures in which [HNHg3] and [NHg4] tetrahedra of the partial structures of 1 and 2 are connected via three and four vertices, respectively. 1 transforms at about 270 degreesC in a straightforward reaction to 2 whereby the decomposition products of NH4NO3 are set free. 2 decomposes at about 380 degreesC forming yellow HgO. Most certainly, I is identical with a mineral previously analyzed as

An absorptive capacity interpretation of Six Sigma

Purpose – The Six Sigma approach to business improvement has emerged as a phenomenon in both the practitioner and academic literature with potential for achieving increased competitiveness and contributing. However, there is a lack of critical reviews covering both theory and practice. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to critically review the literature of Six Sigma using a consistent theoretical perspective, namely absorptive capacity.

Design/methodology/approach – The literature from peer-reviewed journals has been critically reviewed using the absorptive capacity framework and dimensions of acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation.

Findings – There is evidence of emerging theoretical underpinning in relation to Six Sigma borrowing from an eclectic range of organisational theories. However, this theoretical development lags behind practice in the area. The development of Six Sigma in practice is expanding mainly through more rigorous studies and applications in service-based environments (profit and not for profit). The absorptive capacity framework is found to be a useful overarching framework within which to situate existing theoretical and practice studies.

Research limitations/implications – Agendas for further research from the critical review, in relation to both theory and practice, have been established in relation to each dimension of the absorptive capacity framework.

Practical implications – The paper shows that Six Sigma is both a strategic and operational issue and that focussing solely on define, measure, analyse, improve control-based projects can limit the strategic effectiveness of the approach within organisations.

Originality/value – Despite the increasing volume of Six Sigma literature and organisational applications, there is a paucity of critical reviews which cover both theory and practice and which suggest research agendas derived from such reviews.

Increasing Returns and Competitive Equilibrium--The Content and Development of Marshall's Theory

This paper reviews Alfred Marshall's attempts to reconcile increasing returns and competition from the early economic writings to the later editions of his Principles. It is shown that while Marshall's final solution to the problem involved naming external economies the cause of increasing returns in a regime of competition , both the life cycle of the firm and internal economies remained necessary to his argument. Their function was to give some operation al content to the elusive concept of external economies.

Amplitude and Phase Controlled Reflectarray Element Based on an Impedance Transformation Unit

An architecture to simultaneously affect both amplitude and phase control from a reflectarray element using an impedance transformation unit is demonstrated. It is shown that a wide range of control is possible from a single element, removing the conventional necessity for variable sized elements across an array in order to form a desired reflectarray far-field pattern. Parallel plate waveguide measurements for a 2.2 GHz prototype element validate the phase and amplitude variation available from the element. It is demonstrated that there is sufficient control of the element's reflection response to allow Dolph-Tschebyscheff weighting coefficients for major-lobe to side-lobe ratios of up to 36 dB to be implemented.

Culture and the Irish Border:Spaces for Conflict Transformation

The Irish border has been described as a ‘natural’ cultural divide between the island's two dominant indigenous ethno-national communities. However, an examination of key resources of ethno-national group culture - religion, sport and language - provides evidence to challenge this representation. Moreover, in the post-1994 period of conflict transformation, evidence is also presented to support the proposition that the Irish border region has developed into a cultural space in which Irish nationalist and Ulster unionist ethno-national communities can explore cultural differences and commonalities through cross-border, cross-community contact and communication in small group encounters. This space underpins the reconfiguration of the border from barrier to political bridge between North and South. European Union (EU) Peace programmes for Ireland, beginning in 1995, provided the support for a cross-border approach to escaping the cage of ethno-national conflict in Northern Ireland. However, post-2004 EU enlargement signalled the beginning of the end for EU Peace funding and severe economic recession has undermined the expectation of British-Irish intergovernmental intervention to support cross-border partnerships and their work. Therefore, the outlook for the sustainability of this cross-border cultural space is gloomy with potentially deleterious consequences for the continued reconfiguration of the border from barrier to bridge.