Re-examining the causal structure of information technology impact research

About 20 years ago, Markus and Robey noted that most research on IT impacts had been guided by deterministic perspectives and had neglected to use an emergent perspective, which could account for contradictory findings. They further observed that most research in this area had been carried out using variance theories at the expense of process theories. Finally, they suggested that more emphasis on multilevel theory building would likely improve empirical reliability. In this paper, we reiterate the observations and suggestions made by Markus and Robey on the causal structure of IT impact theories and carry out an analysis of empirical research published in four major IS journals, Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR), the European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS), and Information and Organization (I&O), to assess compliance with those recommendations. Our final sample consisted of 161 theory-driven articles, accounting for approximately 21% of all the empirical articles published in these journals. Our results first reveal that 91% of the studies in MISQ, ISR, and EJIS focused on deterministic theories, while 63% of those in I&O adopted an emergent perspective. Furthermore, 91% of the articles in MISQ, ISR, and EJIS adopted a variance model; this compares with 71% from I&O that applied a process model. Lastly, mixed levels of analysis were found in 14% of all the surveyed articles. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.     

Packet-mode scheduling in input-queued cell-based switches

We consider input-queued switch architectures dealing at their interfaces with variable-size packets, but internally operating on fixed-size cells. Packets are segmented into cells at input ports, transferred through the switching fabric, and reassembled at output ports. Cell transfers are controlled by a scheduling algorithm, which operates in packet-mode: all cells belonging to the same packet are transferred from inputs to outputs without interruption. We prove that input-queued switches using packet-mode scheduling can achieve 100% throughput, and we show by simulation that, depending on the packet size distribution, packet-mode scheduling may provide advantages over cell-mode scheduling.     

Varactor-Tuned Dual-Band Quadrature Hybrid Coupler

A tunable dual-band quadrature hybrid coupler for mobile GSM bands (900 and 1800MHz) is proposed and characterized. The structure is composed of four quarter-wavelength sections at a frequency located between the two operating frequencies and two pairs of open-ended stubs. Frequency tuning is achieved by modifying the electrical length of the open-ended stubs with varactor-diode capacitors. A dual-band tunability of 33% and 10% is obtained for the first and the second bands, respectively     

Performance analysis of cellular mobile communication networks supporting multimedia services

This paper illustrates the development of an analytical model for a communication network providing integrated services to a population of mobile users, and presents performance results to both validate the analytical approach, and assess the quality of the services offered to the end users. The analytical model is based on continuoustime multidimensional birth–death processes, and is focused on just one of the cells in the network. The cellular system is assumed to provide three classes of service: the basic voice service, a data service with bit rate higher than the voice service, and a multimedia service with one voice and one data component. In order to improve the overall network performance, some channels can be reserved to handovers, and multimedia calls that cannot complete a handover are decoupled, by transferring to the target cell only the voice component and suspending the data connection until a sufficient number of channels become free. Numerical results demonstrate the accuracy of the approximate model, as well as the effectiveness of the newly proposed multimedia call decoupling approach.     

RPA: a flexible scheduling algorithm for input buffered switches

This paper presents and evaluates a quasi-optimal scheduling algorithm for input buffered cell-based switches, named reservation with preemption and acknowledgment (RPA). RPA is based on reservation rounds where the switch input ports indicate their most urgent data transfer needs, possibly overwriting less urgent requests by other input ports, and an acknowledgment round to allow input ports to determine what data they can actually transfer toward the desired switch output port. RPA must be executed during every cell time to determine which cells can be transferred during the following cell time. RPA is shown to be as simple as the simplest proposals of input queuing scheduling, efficient in the sense that no admissible traffic pattern was found under which RPA shows throughput limitations, and flexible, allowing the support of packet-mode operations and different traffic classes with either strict priority discipline or bandwidth guarantee requirements. The effectiveness of RPA is assessed with detailed simulations in uniform as well as unbalanced traffic conditions and its performance is compared with output queuing switches and the optimal maximum weighted matching (MWM) algorithm for input-buffered switches. A bound on the performance difference between the heuristic weight matching adopted in RPA and MWM is analytically computed     

CuInS2/SiNWs/Si composite material for application as potential photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation

This work aims at developing a new composite material based on nanosized semiconducting CuInS₂ (CIS) particles combined with silicon nanowires grown on a silicon substrate (SiNWs/Si) for photoelectrochemical (PEC)-splitting of water. The CIS particles were prepared via a colloidal method using N-methylimidazole (NMI) as the solvent and an annealing treatment. The SiNWs were obtained by chemical etching of silicon (100) substrates assisted by a metal. The CIS/SiNWs/Si composite material was obtained by deposition of an aliquot of a suspension of CIS particles onto the SiNWs/Si substrate, using spin coating followed by a drying step. The XRD pattern demonstrated that CuInS₂ grows in the tetragonal/chalcopyrite phase, while SiNWs/Si presents a cubic structure. The SEM images show semi-spherical particles (～10 nm) distributed on the surface of silicon nanowires (～10 μm). The EIS measurements reveal n-type conductivity for CIS, SiNWs/Si and CIS/SiNWs/Si materials, which could favour the oxidation reaction of water molecules.     

The effect of execution policies on the semantics and analysis ofstochastic Petri nets

Petri nets in which random delays are associated with atomic transitions are defined in a comprehensive framework that contains most of the models already proposed in the literature. To include generally distributed firing times into the model one must specify the way in which the next transition to fire is chosen, and how the model keeps track of its past history; this set of specifications is called an execution policy. A discussion is presented of the impact that different execution policies have on semantics of the mode, as well as the characteristics of the stochastic process associated with each of these policies. When the execution policy is completely specified by the transition with the minimum delay (race policy) and the firing distributions are of the phase type, an algorithm is provided that automatically converts the stochastic process into a continuous time homogeneous Markov chain. An execution policy based on the choice of the next transition to fire independently of the associated delay (preselection policy) is introduced, and its semantics is discussed together with possible implementation strategies     

On transient behaviours of slotted CSMA protocols

CSMA protocols have been extensively studied under the assumption of an equilibrium condition. The results obtained in this manner provided useful insight for the development of packet radio and local area networks for the transmission of bursty data. The integration of isochronous and bursty traffic in the same network may, however, make the equilibrium assumption unrealistic, for example when fixed-length frames are defined, only a portion of which is devoted to the transmission of bursty data according to a CSMA protocol. In such cases, it is necessary to study the protocol behaviours in fixed-length time segments. This paper presents a technique for the analysis of slotted CSMA protocols in such an environment. Definitions for the transient throughput and transient average packet delay are introduced, and closed form expressions are derived for non-persistent and 1-persistent CSMA and CSMA/CD protocols with arbitrary distribution of the packet length. Numerical results help in the visualization of some interesting phenomena, peculiar to the CSMA operations in finite-length intervals.     

Aortoventricular fistula secondary to blunt trauma: a case report and review of the literature

An aorto-right ventricular fistula secondary to nonpenetrating trauma is described. Review of the literature is reported. Ascending aortic injuries present as either traumatic pseudoaneurysms or, less commonly, as aortocardiac fistulas. Blunt cardiac injury is a frequent concomitant injury and contributes to the high mortality of this lesion. Prompt surgical intervention is required for survival.