Selection of indicators of information society development

This paper examines problem of the evaluation of the information society development. The information society is a complex phenomenon and the evaluation of its development is highly complicated. Some indicators are quite similar, others are unrelated, and therefore it is very difficult to interpret the information reflected by the indicators. This article presents the results of a research aimed at identifying the main indicators of the information society development

Business process simulation: An alternative modelling technique for the information system development process

This paper discusses the idea that even though information systems development (ISD) approaches have long advocated the use of integrated organisational views, the modelling techniques used have not been adapted accordingly and remain focused on the automated information system (IS) solution. Existing research provides evidence that business process simulation (BPS) can be used at different points in the ISD process to provide better integrated organisational views that aid the design of appropriate IS solutions. Despite this fact, research in this area is not extensive; suggesting that the potential of using BPS for the ISD process is not yet well understood. The paper uses the findings from three different case studies to illustrate the ways BPS has been used at different points in the ISD process. It compares the results against IS modelling techniques, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages that BPS has over the latter. The research necessary to develop appropriate BPS tools and give guidance on their use in the ISD process is discussed

Techniques for Galactic Dust Measurements in the Heliosphere

Galactic interstellar dust (ISD) is the major ingredient in planetary formation. However, information on this important material has been extremely limited. Recently the Ulysses dust detector has identified and measured interstellar dust outside 1.8~AU from the Sun at ecliptic latitudes above $50^{\circ}$. Inside this distance it could not reliably distinguish interstellar from interplanetary dust. Modeling the Ulysses data suggests that up to 30 % of dust flux with masses above $10^{-16}\rm kg$ at 1~AU is of interstellar origin. From the Hiten satellite in high eccentric orbit about the Earth there are indications that ISD indeed reaches the Earth's orbit. Two new missions carrying dust detectors, Cassini and Stardust, will greatly increase our observational knowledge. In this paper we briefly review instruments used on these missions and compare their capabilities. The Stardust mission [{\em Brownlee et al.}, 1996] will analyze the local interstellar dust population by an in-situ chemical analyzer and collect ISD between 2 and 3~AU from the Sun. The dust analyzer on the Cassini mission will determine the interstellar dust flux outside Venus' orbit and will provide also some compositional information. Techniques to identify the ISD flux levels at 1~AU are described that can quantify the interstellar dust flux in high-Earth orbit (outside the debris belts) and provide chemical composition information of galactic dust.Comment: Accepted for Journal of Geophysical Research, 6 figures, Late

MIGRATORY PATHWAYS TO IRELAND FOR START-UPS AND INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURS. ESRI Research Series January 2020 102

The OECD recently noted a global trend towards introducing visas for start-ups and for entrepreneurs with innovative firms (OECD, 2019). That finding is borne out in this study which shows that 13 EU Member States now have a special admission scheme for start-up founders and innovative entrepreneurs from third countries in place. With the exception of those in Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, all schemes were introduced in the last three years. Other Member States, such as Germany and Sweden, use alternative entry pathways that nonetheless focus on attracting start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs. The EU-level synthesis report for this study shows that in many Member States, promoting start-ups and innovative entrepreneurship in general is a national policy priority (EMN, 2019)

InAs nanowire transistors with multiple, independent wrap-gate segments

We report a method for making horizontal wrap-gate nanowire transistors with up to four independently controllable wrap-gated segments. While the step up to two independent wrap-gates requires a major change in fabrication methodology, a key advantage to this new approach, and the horizontal orientation more generally, is that achieving more than two wrap-gate segments then requires no extra fabrication steps. This is in contrast to the vertical orientation, where a significant subset of the fabrication steps needs to be repeated for each additional gate. We show that cross-talk between adjacent wrap-gate segments is negligible despite separations less than 200 nm. We also demonstrate the ability to make multiple wrap-gate transistors on a single nanowire using the exact same process. The excellent scalability potential of horizontal wrap-gate nanowire transistors makes them highly favourable for the development of advanced nanowire devices and possible integration with vertical wrap-gate nanowire transistors in 3D nanowire network architectures.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, In press for Nano Letters (DOI below

Can in-store displays improve category sales and brand market share in online stores? A study on the overall effectiveness and differences between display types in an online FMCG context.

Our study investigates the overall effects of in-store displays (ISD) on category sales and brand market share in an online shopping context, and compares the differences in effectiveness between ISD types. Using data from an online grocer, we examine three online ISD types that match with traditional ones: first screen (entrance), banner (end-of-aisle) and shelf tag (in-aisle) displays. Empirical results for 10 categories confirm that online ISD may substantially increase brand market share and to a lesser extent, category sales. Our results also demonstrate that not all types are equally effective. First screen displays clearly have the strongest effect on market share: they benefit from their placement on the ‘entrance’ location, central on-screen position and direct purchase link. While they only feature 1 SKU, banner displays typically feature all SKUs of a brand, yet, are placed on border-screen positions on traveling-zone pages without a direct purchase link. Based on our results, the advantage of banner displays does not weigh up against the advantages of first screen displays in most cases. Shelf tags, finally, may be very useful in attracting attention to interesting promotions, but appear to have no or at most a limited effect on their own.in-store displays; online grocery shopping; market response analyses;

Renal replacement modality and stroke risk in end-stage renal disease—a national registry study

Background: The risk of stroke in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on renal replacement therapy (RRT) is up to 10-fold greater than the general population. However, whether this increased risk differs by RRT modality is unclear. Methods: We used data contained in the Scottish Renal Registry and the Scottish Stroke Care Audit to identify stroke in all adult patients who commenced RRT for ESRD from 2005 to 2013. Incidence rate was calculated and regression analyses were performed to identify variables associated with stroke. We explored the effect of RRT modality at initiation and cumulative dialysis exposure by time-dependent regression analysis, using transplant recipients as the reference group. Results: A total of 4957 patients commenced RRT for ESRD. Median age was 64.5 years, 41.5% were female and 277 patients suffered a stroke (incidence rate was 18.6/1000 patient-years). Patients who had stroke were older, had higher blood pressure and were more likely to be female and have diabetes. On multivariable regression older age, female sex, diabetes and higher serum phosphate were associated with risk of stroke. RRT modality at initiation was not. On time-dependent analysis, haemodialysis (HD) exposure was independently associated with increased risk of stroke. Conclusions: In patients with ESRD who initiate RRT, HD use independently increases risk of stroke compared with transplantation. Use of peritoneal dialysis did not increase risk on adjusted analysis