The development of a comprehensive computer program for the study of solid–solid atomic interfaces

This paper describes the construction of a comprehensive computer program to model the structure of the silicon–silicon dioxide (Si–SiO₂) boundary layer of semiconductor devices by combining experimental data from an X-ray storage ring with graphical simulations on a multiprocessor distributed net (or a multiprocessor supercomputer). The term ‘comprehensive’ refers to the program's planned ability to incorporate all stages necessary to translate 2D X-ray spectra to the final 3D atomic image with little or no human intervention. If successful, our efforts will provide materials scientists, engineers, and manufacturers of integrated circuits with an additional tool for understanding interfacial chemistry and thereby suggest new ways to improve the chemical and electronic behavior of their devices.     

The impact of IT–business strategic alignment on firm performance: The evolving role of IT in industries

This study proposes and validates a new industry taxonomy to understand the use of IT that generates superior economic returns based on the specific economic and competitive characteristics of four different industry types and the strategic role of IT in each of these industry environments. Our findings extend the well-established industry taxonomy on the strategic role of IT (Automate, Informate, Transform) by considering how IT is changing the nature of the product/service in industries where transformational logics prevail. We found that in industries where the product/service is digital in nature, the firms that achieve higher economic returns are those where IT is used to support dual strategies based on the integration of cost leadership and differentiation. Conversely, in other industries – with the exception of those producing commodities – the firms that achieve superior returns are those that use IT to support differentiation. The results of this study can help managers make intelligent decisions about competitive strategies and IT investments, depending on the business environment of the sector in which the firm operates and the generative potential of emerging technologies to do new things.     

The application of Kolmogorov–Rényi statistics to problems of parameter uncertainty in systems design†

This paper presents a method for dealing with parameter uncertainty in system design which is based on the study of the statistical properties of an ensemble of systems defined by a given structure and by a priori parameter distributions rather than point parameter estimates. It is assumed that the model of the actual system is a random member of the ensemble. The object of the analysis is to design or modify the properties of the ensemble to ensure a high probability of adequate performance of the actual system. The primary statistical function employed is the sample distribution function. This function is used to estimate the true population distribution of a scalar variable chosen to measure the system property of interest. The sample distribution function is constructed from random samples of this figure of merit generated by a suitable digital computer programme. The accuracy of the estimation of the population distribution by the sample distribution is determined by application of statistical results of Kolmogorov and Rényi.     

The dimensions and directionality of trust and their roles in the development of shared business–IS understanding

Prior work suggests that mutual trust is an important antecedent to knowledge transfer and shared understanding between the IS and business units; however, the findings have been based on a conceptualization of trust as a one-dimensional construct. Using a richer dyadic conceptualization and operationalization of trust, we empirically investigated the degree to which the importance of trust varies across two members of a dyadic relationship as well as the different role of distinct facets of trust. Analysis of data collected from two informants (the IS manager and a business-unit counterpart) in a sample of manufacturing firms showed that perceived business-unit trustworthiness was significantly more important in fostering shared business–IS understanding than perceived IS-unit trustworthiness. We attributed this to the inherent power asymmetry that characterizes the relationship between IS and business units. We further hypothesized and found that the importance of the three key dimensions of trust (benevolence, integrity, and competence) depended on the relationship age and organizational position of the IS unit. Our findings show how to manage this critical dyadic relationships more effectively and also where to focus trust-building practices in order to ensure success.     

The impact of the nature of globally distributed work arrangement on work–life conflict and valence: the Indian GSD professionals’ perspective

While there is a rich literature exploring the various facets of Globally Distributed Systems Development (GSD), there is scant attention given to the human resource issues such as work–life conflict (WLC) faced by GSD professionals and their valence toward globally distributed work. In this study, we attempt to identify factors that influence offshore GSD workers’ WLC and their valence toward globally distributed work. Specifically, we focus on factors related to the nature of the distributed work arrangements as experienced by offshore Indian workers involved in GSD. On the basis of survey data, we find support for the impact of a number of distribution-related variables on WLC and valence.     

“The more options,the better?” Investigating the impact of the number of options on backers’ decisions in reward-based crowdfunding projects

The number of options in reward-based crowdfunding projects plays an important role in influencing backers’ decisions. However, prior studies provided two-pronged outcomes for the impact on the backers’ decision of supporting a project. They also neglected the impact on the backers’ decision on which option to select. Anchored on the theories of assortment decisions, we found that the number of options has an inverted U-shaped relationship with the backers’ decision on supporting a crowdfunding project. It also has a significant impact on the backers’ decision on selecting an option. Three studies were conducted, and they collectively provided a piece of solid evidence to our findings.     

The impact of psychological contract under- and over-fulfillment on client citizenship behaviors in Enterprise systems projects: From the client’s perspective

This study focuses on examining client citizenship behaviors (CCBs) from a psychological contract perspective in enterprise systems (ES) vendor–client relationships. Using polynomial modeling to capture the discrepancy between expected obligations and delivered fulfillments, this stud unpacks psychological contract and investigates the impacts of psychological contract under-fulfillment, fulfillment, and over-fulfillment on CCBs. The results show that both under-fulfillment and over-fulfillment of psychological contract are negatively related to CCBs. CCBs are shown to be higher when expected obligation and delivered fulfillment are both high than when both are low. The theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.     

The impact of raindrop drift in a three-dimensional wind field on a radar–gauge rainfall comparison

There are many causes for the discrepancies between weather radar and rain gauges, and among these, displacement of raindrops due to wind drift – which is especially a problem with high-spatial resolution weather radar – is largely ignored in the published literature. This is mainly due to the lack of high-resolution three-dimensional wind fields and feasible treatment of the raindrop size distribution (DSD). In this study, a new systematic approach is proposed to explore the radar–gauge relationship under the wind influence. The mass-weighted mean diameter of raindrops is derived for each radar grid from the DSD data. The reanalysis project ERA-40 data of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) are used to drive the numerical weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to generate high-resolution hourly three-dimensional wind fields. Trajectories and displacements of raindrops are then computed using a three-dimensional motion equation from the given radar beam height to the ground surface. Based on the radar rainfall surface interpolated by the bicubic spline method, the correlation of the radar–gauge pairs is used to validate the results. A case study with 20 storm events in the Brue catchment in South West England is chosen to evaluate the proposed scheme. It has been found that when wind drift is taken into account, the correlation coefficient in hourly gauge–radar comparisons can be enhanced by up to 30% and the average correlation coefficient for an event can be improved by 10%. However, there are still some situations in which the scheme fails to work, indicating the complexity and uncertainties in tackling this challenging problem. Further studies are needed to explore why those cases cause problems to the scheme and how it could be improved to cope with them.     

What is the preferred number of consecutive night shifts? results from a crossover intervention study among police officers in Denmark

Among police officers in Denmark, we studied (i) how many consecutive night shifts participants preferred at baseline; (ii) preferences regarding three intervention conditions (two, four, and seven consecutive night shifts followed by the same number of days off/day shifts: ‘2 + 2’, ‘4 + 4’, ‘7 + 7’) at follow-up; (iii) characteristics of participants preferring each of these intervention conditions. Questionnaire data from a crossover intervention study were used (baseline: n = 73; follow-up: n = 68). At baseline, 49% preferred four consecutive night shifts. At follow-up, 57% preferred ‘4 + 4’, 26% preferred ‘2 + 2’ and 26% preferred ‘7 + 7’. Participants, who preferred longer spells of night work experienced that night work was less demanding, found it easier to sleep at different times of the day, and were more frequently evening types compared with participants who preferred shorter spells of night work. The participants’ preferences are likely to be influenced by their previous shift work experience.

Practitioner Summary: We investigated police officers’ preferences regarding the number of consecutive night shifts. The majority preferred four consecutive night shifts. Those who preferred the longer spells of night work found night work less demanding, found it easier to sleep at different times of the day, and were more frequently evening types.     

Application of remote sensing in rattan resource survey—a case study from Kerala,India

Abstract

The use of remote sensing technique in identifying probable rattan (cane) habitats in the natural forests of Kerala has been successfully demonstrated. Rattans occur as climbing palms in scattered, isolated pockets in different forest types. The heterogenous nature of the overstorey vegetation, as well as the lack of information on their tonal differentiability characterises the problems in delineating such areas from the rest of the forest. A new approach has been adopted to overcome this difficulty. Ground truth information was collected from as many locations as possible, to include all habitat conditions. A few of these data were statistically selected as Training sets for map preparation through digital image processing. The rest were used to cross-check the map and a method involving deductive and inductive analysis based on the colour signature of the overstorey vegetation applied as a key feature of this approach.     

De-coding Our Scholarship: The State of Research in Computers and Writing from 2003–2008

Since its inception, the field of computers and writing has responded to rapid technological advancements that affect the research, practice, and teaching of writing. A potential consequence of addressing these advancements in teaching and practice, however, may be a reduced focus on foundational, empirical research. To examine the state of research in the field of computers and writing, we assessed the types of research published in four journals (Computers and Composition print, Computers and Composition Online, Kairos, and College Composition and Communication (CCC)) from late 2003/early 2004 to the end of 2008. We explored the state of research by investigating research approaches, design, and modes of inquiry over time. Within this context, we considered author gender, collaboration, and employment of interdisciplinary and mixed methods. We applied criteria from MacNealy (1998) to classify 26% of the computers and writing articles we analyzed as rigorous empirical research. We found a preference for qualitative research designs (56% of articles were qualitative) and, to a lesser degree, mixed methods (29%). While providing a sense of the state of the field as it matures, we conclude by presenting discussion questions on the role of research, research drivers, and ways to increase the quality of research and research reporting. We urge the field to consider the kinds of research we do, teach, and value.     

Application of computers in the study of solution equilibria—II Complex-80, a program from known ionic equilibria

A program, COMPLEX-80, written in FORTRAN V has been designed for the computations of known ionic equilibria in solution. This program can handle acid-base, complexation, redox and aggregation equilibria in aqueous, non-aqueous and mixed media, as well as distribution processes between two immiscible liquid phases having the same or different volume ratios. These equilibria can be simulated as a function of the pH, the total concentration of one reactant of both variables. A total of eight possibilities can be chosen. The main advantage of the program is its flexibility in the input/output field. The program prints only the chemical variables or functions selected by the user. Up to 42 different output possibilities are available. Several of these possibilities are to compare experimentally known functions with the respective calculated ones using a given model. This allows us to check the validity of the model.     

The application of a binary division procedure to the classification of forest subcategories using MODIS time-series data during 2000–2010 in China

Forests account for more than 23% of China’s total area. As the most important terrestrial ecosystem, forests have tremendous ecological value. However, it remains difficult to classify forest subcategories at the national scale. In this study, a newly developed binary division procedure was used to categorize forest areas, including their spatiotemporal dynamics, during the period 2000–2010. Time-series images acquired using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), together with auxiliary data on land use, climate zoning, and topography, were utilized. Hierarchical classification and zoning were combined with remote-sensing auto-classification. Based on the forest extent mask, the state-level forest system was divided into four classes and 18 subcategories. The method achieved an acceptable overall accuracy of 73.1%, based on a comparison to the sample points of China’s fourth forest general survey data set. In 2010, the total forest area was 1.755 × 10⁶ km², and the total area of and shrubs was 4.885 × 10⁵ km². The total area of woodland increased by 2536.25 km² during the decade 2000–2010. The shrub subcategories exhibited almost no change during this time period; however, significant changes in forest area occurred in the mountainous region of Northeast China as well as in the hilly regions of Southern China. The main transformations took place in cold-temperate and temperate mountainous deciduous coniferous forest, subtropical deciduous coniferous forest, subtropical evergreen coniferous forest, and temperate and subtropical deciduous broadleaved mixed forests. The binary division procedure proposed herein can be used not only to rapidly classify more forest subcategories and monitor their dynamic changes, but also to improve the classification accuracy compared with global and national land-cover maps.     

An evaluation model of buyer–supplier relationships in high-tech industry — The case of an electronic components manufacturer in Taiwan

With globalize market, fast-changing technology and shortening product life cycle, businesses are becoming extremely competitive, and a cooperative buyer–supplier relationship is essential for a manufacturer, especially in technology-related industry, to survive and to acquire reasonable profit. Even though the research on various types of collaborations between firms is abundant, the research that provides a mathematical model for the selection of the most appropriate relationship form is very limited. The main objective in this study is to base on an electronic components manufacturer in Taiwan to propose an analytical approach to evaluate the forms of buyer–supplier relationship between the manufacturer and its supplier. A model, which applies the analytic network process (ANP) and the benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR) concept, is constructed to consider various aspects of buyer–supplier relationships. Multiple factors that affect the success of the relationship are analyzed by incorporating experts’ opinions on their priority of importance, and a performance ranking of the buyer–supplier forms is obtained. The results shall provide guidance to select the most appropriate form of relationship between the manufacturer and its supplier. The proposed model is systematic, and it is easy to be understood and applied by the management. The model can be tailored and applied by firms in various industries that are making decisions on buyer–supplier relationship.     

Transportation planning from remote sensing—a case study of the Tuni region in Andhra Pradesh,India

Abstract

Transportation planning deals with the generation and distribution of activity along a road network. A safe, convenient and efficient movement of goods and people requires an integration of engineering, economic, environmental, political and social aspects and an optimal allocation of these activities needs to be carefully planned. Even when geotechnical aspects cause a constraint it is possible to plan a route which optimally utilises the land. Remote sensing data acquired from airbourne space platforms and engineering surveys have offered the planner a complete picture of the land and helped to identify the location and quantity of activity from method of the Moments/Trip polygon method and the allocation technique. Cost modelling technique has been used to identify the optimum route for the user, system, non-user, government and region point of view.     

The impact of technological,organizational and environmental characteristics on electronic collaboration and relationship performance in international customer–supplier relationships

The literature suggests that advances in information and communication technologies have been a major driver of the restructuring of multinational enterprises and their cross-border supply chain management. However, the role of information technology usage for collaboration and its antecedents and performance implications in cross-border exchange relationships have not been clearly specified. In response to this claim, this study examines the determinants of electronic collaboration (E-collaboration) and its outcomes for suppliers with regard to their international customers. Drawing on an empirical foundation of 240 Taiwanese-based electronics equipment manufacturers, we test the effects of technological, organizational and environmental dimensions on E-collaboration and its impact on relationship performance in international exchange. The findings on the pertinence of E-collaboration in international customer–supplier relationships are presented and discussed.     

The importance of first-principles,model-based steady-state gain calculations in model predictive control—a refinery case study

This paper addresses the development and application of a first-principles, steady-state modeling framework in multivariable control applications. A rigorous approach based on detailed nonlinear models calibrated with reconciled online measurements is presented. Sensitivity analysis of this model is then applied in order to generate steady-state gain (inferential) models used in a DMC-based control application of a refinery unit. The benefits of using open-equation based inferential models to account for online product quality control are demonstrated in the context of a real-time model predictive control system, applied to a refinery. Finally, the direct economic impact of this application is assessed in a detailed quantitative manner and offered along with the relevant business process changes and operational practice recommendations for sustaining the benefits achieved.     

Selecting effective features on prediction of delay in servicing ships arriving to ports using a combination of Clonal Selection and Grey Wolf Optimization algorithms—Case study: Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas

Predicting the delay in servicing incoming ships to ports is crucial for maritime transportation. In this study, we use support vector regression (SVR) in order to accurately predict this delay for ships arriving to the terminal No. 1 of Shahid Rajaee's port in Bandar Abbas. To achieve this goal, a combination of Clonal Selection and Grey Wolf Optimization algorithms (named as CLOGWO) is used for two purposes: (i) selecting the most important features among the features that affect prediction of this delay and (ii) optimizing SVR parameters for a more accurate prediction. Performance of the proposed method was compared with Genetic Algorithm (GA), Clonal Selection (CS), Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms on the following metrics: correlation, rate of feature reduction, root mean square error (RMSE), and normalized RMSE (NRMSE). Evaluations on Shahid Rajaee dataset showed that the mean value of these metrics in 10 independent runs of the proposed method were 0.867, 74.45%, 0.080, and 9.02, respectively. These results and evaluations on standard datasets indicate that the proposed method provides competitive results with other evolutionary algorithms.