Exit Stage Research Articles

Analysis of Crack Tip Stress of Transversal Crack on Slab Corner During Vertical-Horizontal Rolling Process by FEM

Behavior of transversal crack notched on slab corner during vertical-horizontal rolling process was simulated by FEM. The crack tip stress in the whole rolling process was obtained. Influences of the friction coefficient, the initial crack size, the edger roll profile, and the groove fillet radii of grooved edger roll on crack tip stress were analyzed. For vertical rolling, the tension stress appears at crack tip near the slab top surface and the compression stress appears at crack tip near the slab side surface for the flat edger roll; however, the compression stress appears at crack tip near the slab top surface and the tension stress appears at crack tip near the slab side surface in the exit stage for the grooved edger roll. For horizontal rolling, the tension stress appears at crack tip just at the exit stage for the flat edger roll, and the tension stress appears in whole rolling stage; the tension stress value near the slab side surface is much larger than that near the slab top surface for the grooved edger roll.

Corporate governance cycles during transition: A comparison of Russia and Slovenia

The governance cycle – here defined as the changes in the identity of the dominant owner and ownership concentration - is marked by the key phases of firm life-cycle, including start-up, growth, an eventual restructuring or exit stage. Privatized firms in transition countries, however, experience somehow specific cycles, which reflect the characteristics of the economic and institutional environment in transition: i) the type of privatization that initially often introduced a high proportion of employee ownership (like in Russia and Slovenia); ii) strong pressures for restructuring and ownership changes; iii) limited possibility for external finance due to the embryonic development of the financial system. The hypotheses on the development of the governance cycles in transition are tested upon a sample of Russian enterprise data for 1995-2003 and Slovenian data covering 1998-2003. In spite of the differences in institutional development concerning privatization and development of corporate governance institutions, we find that governance cycles are broadly similar in the two countries. Employee ownership is rapidly fading in both countries. While change to manager and non-financial domestic outsider ownership is typical for Russia, this is not the case in Slovenia. Instead, change to financial outsiders in the form of Privatization Investment Funds is more frequent. Foreign ownership, which is especially rare in Russia, is quite stable. The ownership diversification to employees and diversified external owners during privatization did not fit well to the low development of institutions. As expected, we observe a subsequent concentration of ownership on managers, external domestic and foreign owners in both countries

Alastair Campbell, exit stage left: Do the ‘Phillis’ recommendations represent a new chapter in political communications or is it ‘business as usual’?

AbstractThat there has been a breakdown in trust between government, the media and the people in the UK is now a commonplace axiom—indeed, it was the starting point of the Review of Government Communications undertaken by Bob Phillis in 2003 at the promptings of the House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration. The Review reported in February 2004, and the government has indicated that it intends to accept the majority of its recommendations. The Review was supposed to usher in a new era in the relationship between government, the media and the people but this might turn out to be a false expectation. Because the Review was based on a number of false assumptions, it runs the risk of creating a system which entrenches some of the worst aspects of the old system without achieving any significant improvements. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications

The Crystal Structure of the Carbohydrate-recognition Domain of the Glycoprotein Sorting Receptor p58/ERGIC-53 Reveals an Unpredicted Metal-binding Site and Conformational Changes Associated with Calcium Ion Binding

p58/ERGIC-53 is a calcium-dependent animal lectin that acts as a cargo receptor, binding to a set of glycoproteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and transporting them to the Golgi complex. It is similar in structure to calcium-dependent leguminous lectins. We have determined the structure of the carbohydrate-recognition domain of p58/ERGIC-53 in its calcium-bound form. The structure reveals localized but large conformational changes in relation to the previously determined metal ion-free structure, mapping mostly to the ligand-binding site. It reveals the presence of two calcium ion-binding sites located 6Å apart, one of which has no equivalent in the plant lectins. The second metal ion-binding site present in that class of lectins, binding Mn2+, is absent from p58/ERGIC-53. The absence of a short loop in the ligand-binding site in this protein suggests that it has adapted to optimally bind the high-mannose Man8(GlcNAc)2 glycan common to glycoproteins at the ER exit stage.

Alastair Campbell, exit stage left: A new chapter in political communications or just another spin?

Alastair Campbell, exit stage left: A new chapter in political communications or just another spin?

GABA-ergic drugs: exit stage left, enter stage right.

Drugs that enhance gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) activity by interacting at post-synaptic GABA(A) receptors have long been used as hypnotics, sedatives, tranquillizers and anticonvulsants. In this category, benzodiazepines rapidly gained pride of place, replacing barbiturates and becoming the most commonly prescribed of all drugs in the Western world in the 1970s. However, problems such as dependence and withdrawal reactions became apparent in the 1980s, and it seemed that the usefulness of drugs with this mode of action was limited. Recently, focus has shifted to a new group of drugs with GABA-ergic actions mediated through various mechanisms not directly involving the GABA(A) receptor. These drugs include gabapentin, vigabatrin, tiagabine, lamotrigine, pregabalin and others. Although originally developed as anticonvulsants for epilepsy, they appear to have wider applications for use in affective disorders, especially bipolar depression, anxiety disorders and pain conditions. The current information on the properties and therapeutic potential of this new generation of GABA-ergic drugs is reviewed. It remains to be seen whether long-term use leads to tolerance, dependence and withdrawal or discontinuation reactions.

Contracting, signaling, and moral hazard: a model of entrepreneurs, ‘angels,’ and venture capitalists

Investment by wealthy individuals, known as ‘angels,’ in startup firms is quite significant and has taken off in the last few years. Angels invest in the company at an earlier stage than venture capitalists (VCs) do. This paper examines the relationship between an entrepreneur, an angel, and a VC from the seed investment made by the angel to the exit stage. The study characterizes the equilibrium contracts among the players and provides insights into the related institutional arrangements. Next, the study examines the signaling aspects of the game. The paper also analyzes the moral hazard problems of the entrepreneur and the VC. It shows that the outcome in a startup firm is not efficient because of the free-rider phenomenon.

A multi-period game theoretic model of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs

This study examines the relationship between a venture capitalist and an entrepreneur and follows it from its inception to the exit stage. The model we use is a multi-period game theoretic model with moral hazard where the contract is set in the first period. The contribution of the study lies in the insights it provides on optimal contracts and its characterization of an endogenous exit point. Specifically, the paper shows that the optimal incentive scheme should backload all incentive payments to the entrepreneur as much as possible. Consequently, a straight debt contract would be optimal in venture financing.

Direct Constrained Computational Fluid Dynamics Based Optimization of Three-Dimensional Blading for the Exit Stage of a Large Power Steam Turbine

The paper describes results of direct constrained optimization using Nelder-Mead’s method of deformed polyhedron and a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver to optimize the shape of three-dimensional blading for the exit stage of a large power steam turbine. The computations of the flowfield in the stator and rotor are compressible, viscous, and three-dimensional. Turbulence effects are taken into account using the modified model of Baldwin-Lomax. The objective function is the stage efficiency, with the exit energy considered a loss, and with constraints imposed on the mass flow rate in the form of a penalty function if the mass flow rate falls beyond the required range. The blade sections (profiles) are assumed not to change during the optimization. Two optimization tasks are reported in this paper, first—optimizing the stator straight and compound circumferential lean, and also stator and rotor stagger angles to keep the flow rate unchanged, giving a total number of optimized parameters equal to 5; second—optimizing the stator straight and compound axial sweep, also with stator and rotor stagger angles, also giving five optimized parameters. The process of optimization is carried out for a nominal load; however, due to the fact that exit stages of steam turbines operate over a wide range of flow rates away from the nominal conditions, the original and final geometries are also checked for low and high loads. The process of optimization gives new designs with new three-dimensional stacking lines of stator blades, and with significantly increased efficiencies, compared to the original design, at least for a larger part of the assumed range of load.

PROBABILISTIC PREDICTION OF BURR PATTERNS OF 1045 CARBON STEEL IN FACE MILLING

Face milling burrs in ductile materials such as 1045 carbon steel exhibit three distinct burr patterns: uniform, wavy, and secondary burrs. It is found that the three burr patterns are dependent on the in-plane exit angle, undeformed chip ratio, and undeformed chip area at the exit stage of cut. Empirical equations, representing the burr transition curves from the uniform to wavy burr and wavy to secondary burr, are found. Based on the empirical relationships, a probabilistic model, in which the operational Bayesian modeling approach is adopted to include the empirical equations, is derived for burr prediction.

An Empirical Analysis of Venture Capital Exits in Europe and the United States

This paper focuses on exits by venture capitalists from their portfolio companies. Using a unique self-collected data set, we provide new stylized facts about the venture capital industry in Europe and in the US. Although there are numerous similarities between the US and Europe, there are also important differences, in particular with respect to the duration of exit stage, the use of convertible securities, the replacement of former management and deal syndication. Much of these differences can be brought to a common denominator, namely that European venture capitalists face a less liquid market for the human resources that go into the ventures as well as for the exit opportunities. The most striking difference is with respect to the use of convertible securities, which are by far less often used in Europe as compared to the US. Overall, we show that European venture capitalists monitor less. Finally, the paper analyzes the impact of venture capital firms' characteristics and the use of different monitoring devices (stage financing, board representation, use of convertible securities and reporting of activities) on the exit route. Some aspects of close monitoring seem to significantly affect the venture's likelihood of going public.

Through the Years: A Longitudinal Study of Physical Education Teachers from a Research-Based Preparation Program

This study investigated factors that enhanced and constrained the career development of six teachers, who had graduated from the same university teacher education program, in their induction years (Woods & Earls, 1995) and again later in their career cycles. Three participants were physical education teachers (PETs), and three were former physical education teachers (FPETs). Fessler's (1985) Teacher Career Stage Model provided the theoretical framework. Data sources were: interviews with teachers and their teacher educators and direct observations of lessons. Results indicated that the PETs continued to have skill development as their primary teaching objective. The teachers maintained many of their teaching skills, and shifted between the career cycles of “competency building” and “enthusiastic and growing.” All three FPETs left their physical education positions during the career frustration stage and at the time of publication were in the career exit stage.

Cyber Financial Intermediaries: Perspectives and Problems of the Internet Venture Capital and Internet Investment Banking

The trends and changes of the private equity market have opened up opportunities for alternate business models from the seed financing to the open initial public offerings (IPO) by Internet. We examine Internet matchmakers, Internet venture capital, and Internet investment banking companies. These cyber financial intermediaries represent a growing trend of companies that admit ordinary investors from the seed financing to the exit stage of IPO. All three models take advantage of the rise in the use of the Internet among users locally as well as globally. Just as the Internet and e-commerce are revolutionizing the purchasing of goods and how companies are doing business, we scrutinize the impact of the Internet technology on the private equity markets. Though these new services cater to only a niche group of people, who live in an Internet environment, some of these companies have successfully prospered and co-existed with the traditional brokerage houses. The important question is whether this trend of using the Internet in the private equity market will sustain and take off or become an interesting but unimportant niche. Key words: Venture capital; Private equity; Investment banking

Penetration of a rigid projectile into a finite thickness elastic–plastic target — comparison between theory and numerical computations

Recently, two different analytical solutions have been developed for penetration of a rigid projectile into an elastic–plastic target of finite thickness. One solution satisfies the balance of linear momentum pointwise in target region, but it satisfies the free-surface boundary conditions only in an integrated sense. The second solution satisfies the balance of linear momentum only along a finite number of instantaneous streamlines, but it satisfies the boundary conditions exactly at each intersection of the streamlines with the boundary. The first solution is valid only for normal penetration whereas the second solution has been generalized for oblique penetration. The main objective of the present paper is to compare the predictions of these two theoretical approaches with a numerical solution obtained using the hydrocode Autodyn2D. By modifying the boundary condition used in the first method it is possible to obtain a reasonably accurate description of the penetration process (including the exit stage) with the computational time reduced from a few hours for Autodyn2D to only a few minutes for the analytical solution.

The long good-bye: The dissolution of customer-service provider relationships

Our research examines customer-service provider relationship dissolution. We conducted in-depth interviews with five women who recently took at least several months to terminate a service relationship. The data provide a holistic perspective on why consumers take a long time to exit, how they exit, and their expectations about rekindling their relationships. Based on our data, we conceptualize a model of the long exit, a process that includes a dissolution stage, an exit stage, and a post-dissolution stage. Our model offers a theoretical framework of service dissolution, as well as practical implications for service providers. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Analysis of fracture in burr formation at the exit stage of metal cutting

Even in a fully automated factory, many deburring operations are carried out manually. To remove or minimize the burr effectively or automatically, understanding of the burr formation or fracture which occur at the exit stage of machining is necessary for a desired edge geometry. A quantitative model of burr formation is proposed for orthogonal machining including fracture of the workpiece during burr formation. Although the burr is fully formed without fracture in a ductile material such as copper, a burr cannot be developed in cast iron due to fracture in the initial stage. The fracture strain, dependent upon the ductility of the material, is used to explain fracture during burr formation. McClintock's ductile fracture criterion is used to determine the fracture location. Fracture during the development of a burr is represented by a fracture negative shear angle and a fracture tool distance. The fracture negative shear angle is obtained from the strain developed along the tool path, whilst the fracture tool distance can be calculated from the point of initiation of burr formation and the fracture negative shear angle. Orthogonal machining tests with ductile and less ductile materials were carried out in a modified milling machine using a scanning electron microscope to observe the behavior of the material to verify the predictions of the proposed model.

The caregiver career.

The family caregiver role undertaken by spouses of persons with dementia is described as a fatalistic career process with identifiable stages. In the first or Encounter Stage, the caregivers confront the diagnosis and losses of previous lifestyle patterns and acquire home nursing skills. In the middle, or Enduring Stage, caregivers manage extensive care routines and try to cope with social isolation and their mental pain. In the final, or Exit Stage, the career is relinquished to some degree either from death of the ill spouse or institutionalization. The career perspective of caregiving provides a framework for guiding nursing research and practice.

Exit Stage Right

Exit Stage Right

A venture capital model of the development process for new ventures

For years, researchers have hypothesized that new ventures develop in a fairly predictable chronological process by evolving through various functional and strategic developmental stages. However, cross-comparable longitudinal data from large numbers of ventures are still not available to validate these “stages of development” hypotheses. The study sought to determine whether venture capital firms, which have extensive experience with the longitudinal development of new ventures, operate in accord with a common theory about how this process operates. These findings also represent a first step toward empirically validating various elements of “stages of development” theories. The study analyzed the perceptions of the CEO or managing partner of 73 U.S. venture capital firms about key features of the development process for new businesses. Venture capital firms were asked whether they differentiated stages in the development process. For each such stage information was elicited on what the stage was called, distinguishing characteristics of ventures in that stage, key developmental goals or benchmarks typically accomplished in that stage, and the major risks involved. Sufficient consensus was found on these aspects of the development process for a “venture capital model” of this process to be constructed. The model consists of five sequential stages: 1) “seed” ; 2) “start-up” ; 3) “second stage” ; 4) “third stage” ; and 5) “exit stage.” Strong consensus was found on distinguishing characteristics of ventures in early stages of development, key developmental goals or benchmarks in various stages, and major developmental risks associated with each stage. Consensus on developmental characteristics diminished somewhat in later stages, presumably because of differential rates of development among investees, as well as differing degrees of success in accomplishing earlier objectives. Nevertheless, sufficient differences in functional characteristics remained to clearly distinguish later stage investees from early stage investees, and to enable differentiations in maturity between “third stage” and “exit stage” investees. The venture capital developmental model exhibits both similarities and differences from “stages of development” paradigms. First, the venture capital model is primarily strategic and market-oriented in focus. It gives lesser emphasis to the elements of organizational structure, management style, and management specialization than some “stages of development” theories, although these elements are identified by venture capitalists as potential areas of risk should problems arise. Second, like “stages of development” paradigms, the venture capital model is universal and not venture specific. Venture capital firms appear to view all potentially feasible business concepts, despite differences in product, organizational complexity, rate of development, or ultimate size, as passing through the same process sequence, albeit at different speeds and with varying degrees of success. Third, the model, while reflecting the financial objectives of venture capital investors, is primarily shaped by the naturally occurring functional development of investees. It does not represent arbitrary requirements imposed on investees to segment the developmental process into steps that would not otherwise occur. The development of venture capital investees is influenced by the strategic and financial objectives of venture capital firms. Thus the model does not necessarily mirror the strategic and dynamic elements of the development process for firms that are not intended by their founders to grow rapidly and then go public or be acquired by a larger corporation, or for ventures that must depend upon internally generated funds or bank loans to finance development. The venture capital model, representing perceptions of 73 venture capital firms derived from longitudinal data for many hundreds of new ventures, appears to empirically confirm the concept of an evolutionary progression through key functional and strategic steps, which is a central element of most “stages-of-development” hypotheses. The study did not go into sufficient depth, however, to provide detail on the influence of factors such as organizational structure and management styles and control systems on development. These factors are central elements in several “stages of development” theories, and are arguably of critical importance in the growth, survival, and financial success of new ventures.

A design for a recording venturi and lifting vane flowmeter

A recording flowmeter is described based on a vertical venturi tube with an hydrodynamically shaped lifting vane occupying the exit stage of the venturi orifice. The vane responds to the drag exerted by the velocity of the liquid medium (water) as it passes through the venturi. The flow range is between 0·005 5 1/s, i.e. a ratio of 1000 : 1 with an average accuracy of ±2% at any given point. The recording system can be graphical, electrical, or both, and because of the simplicity of design the instrument can be operated without special expertise, and with minimal routine maintenance.