Voluntary Operational Research

Operational Research has traditionally been carried out in organizations which are able and willing to pay for it; this tends to restrict it to the larger industrial, commercial or governmental bodies. In this paper we reflect on an O.R. project done on behalf of a group of charities, to whom, as with most voluntary organizations, the skills of operational researchers are not usually available.It seems likely that voluntary organizations will have an increasing role as leisure time increases, and in any case the widening scope and complex context of their activities means that they could benefit from the kind of help that operational researchers can give. At the same time, O.R. workers who care about a particular voluntary organization may want to offer their skills to it. However, the skills of operational researchers are not as obviously relevant to voluntary organizations as is the professional expertise of lawyers and accountants. Undertaking O.R. projects as a voluntary helper rather than as a paid consultant, and in voluntary organizations rather than the more usual clients for O.R., has significant implications for the approach and methods used.We discuss these issues in the light of our recent experiences of carrying out ‘voluntary Operational Research’.     

Sociocultural Meanings of Nanotechnology: Research Methodologies

This article identifies six social-science research methodologies that will be useful for charting the sociocultural meaning of nanotechnology: web-based questionnaires, vignette experiments, analysis of web linkages, recommender systems, quantitative content analysis, and qualitative textual analysis. Data from a range of sources are used to illustrate how the methods can delineate the intellectual content and institutional structure of the emerging nanotechnology culture. Such methods will make it possible in future to test hypotheses such as that there are two competing definitions of nanotechnology – the technical-scientific and the science-fiction – that are influencing public perceptions by different routes and in different directions.     

Combined CI-HY studies of atomic states. IV. The four lowest 1S and four lowest 1P states of He and the lowest 1S and 1P states of H−1

Combined CI -HY method calculations are reported for the ground and first three excited S states of He with an error on the order of 10^?7 a.u. within the same 120-term basis. For He ¹P, the four lowest states are obtained with an error ≤2 × 10^?6 a.u. within the same 102-term basis. H^?1 S and ¹P states are also treated by the same CI -HY technique. The utility of an spd Slater-type orbital, r, v = 0, 1 basis is investigated, with indications that it might be an excellent basis for states of first row atoms.     

Mean value theorems for a matrix valued derivative

The derivative of a function defined on a set of matrices is given utilizing the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse, which yields a natural extension of differentiation in the univariate calculus. Several mean value theorems involving this derivative are established.     

Facilitating problem definition in teams

The problems that a team comes to define as needing to be worked on depend upon idiosyncratically defined subjective, qualitative and organizationally political factors affecting the individual members of the team. In this paper we shall argue that Operational Research tends to pay little attention to the process of problem definition and that when it does, the emphasis is towards determining an accurate or correct interpretation of the external situation that the team confronts and the organizational objectives which have been laid down for the team. We suggest, however, that Operational Researchers are particularly well placed to act in a way which pays attention to both these fields. This paper is addressed to those Operational Researchers who predominantly work with complex policy problems belonging to a team of decision-makers. We shall demonstrate that group techniques, new computer simulation technology, and attention to process can lead to a team negotiating a definition and redefinition of a problem so that solutions have a greater commitment from the team, and therefore a higher chance of being implemented.     

Single neutron transfer reactions in the systems:139La+16O,93Nb+12C,14N,16O and20Ne

Data from the quasi-elastic transfer reaction products¹⁴⁰La and^92mNb exhibit near zero effective ranges, flat excitation functions over large energy ranges and Q independent yields. These features are used to characterise quasi elastic reactions via the target-like product.