Factors contributing to IT industry success in developing countries: The case of Thailand

A stream of research exists that explores a country's information technology (IT) industry success. The theoretical model used in these studies is primarily focused on small developed countries. We contend that the factors that contribute to IT industry success in developing countries are likely to differ somewhat from those that play a role in small developed countries. Research to date on IT industry success has neglected developing countries. This study therefore presents an alternative IT industry success model for developing countries. It adapts Ein-dor, Myers, and Raman's (1997) model in developing such a conceptual model. The adapted framework is then applied in a study of IT industry in a developing country—Thailand. We found IT-related foreign direct investment to be vital to IT industry success in Thailand. Unlike findings from earlier studies on small developed countries, geographical location and to a lesser extent government investment promotion policies are also important to IT industry success in a developing country. These findings support the view that there are differences in the factors that affect IT industry success in developed and developing countries. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Suomi NPP/VIIRS: improving drought watch,crop loss prediction,and food security

Since 1990, the role of satellite observations for climate and land services increased considerably, especially with the introduction in 2011 of the new generation of NOAA operational satellites, called Suomi NPOSS Polar-Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP). S-NPP will continue as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) for the next two decades. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the S-NPP spacecraft is accommodating the best technical and scientific features of its predecessors and has several new important features. S-NPP and JPSS, in addition to data collection, will address the impacts of climate and weather on industries, water, energy, population health, and other resources and activities. This article discusses how these operational satellites improve early drought detection, monitoring its features (intensity, duration, area, etc.) and prediction of agricultural losses; how fast the Earth’s natural resources deteriorate; and whether the current warm climate intensifies droughts and increases its area and duration. These climate services have already become available to the global community (http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/index.php). The S-NPP/VIIRS data permits its users to enhance long-term environmental data records, thereby improving the ability to estimate global warming, land-cover changes, and better monitoring of environmental resources.     

VIIRS-based high resolution spectral vegetation indices for quantitative assessment of vegetation health: second version

ABSTRACT

Two approaches could be utilized to derive the vegetation health indices from recently launched Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor with the goal to maintain the consistency with the long-term Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) vegetation health products. One approach is to convert VIIRS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)/brightness temperature (BT) to AVHRR, as the first version. The other is to derive long-term pixel-based VIIRS climatology without converting at NDVI/BT level. The second version of products, derived from the new VIIRS pseudo long-term climatology as presented in this article, can trace the signature of the long-term AVHRR vegetation health products quite well, in terms of histogram, correlation coefficients, time series, and so on. The extended products with higher resolutions also perform as expected, indicating that the constructed long-term high-resolution climatology is reasonable. The third version of the products, based on VIIRS real long-term climatology, still needs many years to develop.     

Low-temperature fatigue of 316L and 316LN austenitic stainless steels

This article is concerned with the cyclic properties of 316L-type austenitic stainless at 300 and 77 K. The role of nitrogen alloying and of the temperature decrease is examined during low-cycle fatigue (LCF) and fatigue crack propagation. Fatigue resistance is enhanced by the addition of nitrogen in steel at both test temperatures. The results are discussed on the basis of micro-structural observations. Planar slip of dislocations is found in the nitrogen-containing steel and is favored by a decrease in test temperature. To some extent, the influence of interstitial nitrogen on the fatigue properties is related to its role in stabilizing austenite observed during cooling as well as during straining.     

Industrial cultural determinants of technological developments: Skill transfer or power transfer?

This paper discusses the social effects resulting from the transfer of knowledge and skill both in the spheres of production and machine design. Relevant design determinants and their impact on technological developments are discussed within the theoretical framework of industrial cultures. Two types of skill transfer are analysed in connection with different production philosophies — one more Tayloristic, the other more workshop-oriented. Finally, the paper discusses the relation of both philosophies to the requirements of future production concepts.     

Superresolution algorithms for spatial extended scattering centers

Scattering centers model (SCM) is usually considered for modeling target backscattered signal in high-resolution radar. In this case the impulse response of each scattering center is represented by a time-delayed Dirac pulse. Some of most popular superresolution imagery techniques, such as MUSIC or ESPRIT, are well-matched to this model. Under this hypothesis, they outperform Fourier-based techniques in terms of both spatial and dynamic resolutions. However, the behavior of real-world targets is often very different from that of the SCM. Indeed, their reflectivity function is not confined just to several perfectly localized scattering centers, but it can be rather approximated by a set of scattering regions having different spatial extent. SCM becomes then inappropriate and the superresolution methods may provide unexpected results. Furthermore, the amplitude information is difficult to interpret in this case. In this paper we propose an extension of two superresolution methods, MUSIC and ESPRIT, to cope with extended scattering centers (ESC). According to this model, the impulse response of an ESC is not a Dirac pulse, but a window of finite support. Besides the position, the size (spatial extent) of this window is also recovered. This additional information about the target structure can be used for increasing ATR (automatic target recognition) accuracy and robustness.     

Analyzing numerical responses: A model and its application to examples from personnel and organizational management.

We analyze the structure of the numerical responses of persons connected with money and present a mental model together with its connection to fuzzy theory. The numerical response is one single number containing information about the value and the exactness of a variable. We test the rules describing the process, generating these responses experimentally as well as using examples from a questionnaire, and provide further empirical evidence. The simultaneous determination of the value and exactness of a response resulting in one number causes severe problems in using these responses as input to decision models. We propose a pre-analysis of the data with the rules provided in this paper. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)