Addressing business agility challenges with enterprise systems

It is clear that systems agility (i.e., having a responsive IT infrastructure that can be changed quickly to meet changing business needs) has become a critical component of organizational agility. However, skeptics continue to suggest that, despite the benefits enterprise system packages provide, they are constraining choices for firms faced with agility challenges. The reason for this skepticism is that the tight integration between different parts of the business that enables many enterprise systems\u27 benefits also increases the systems\u27 complexity, and this increased complexity, say the skeptics, increases the difficulty of changing systems when business needs change. These persistent concerns motivated us to conduct a series of interviews with business and IT managers in 15 firms to identify how they addressed, in total, 57 different business agility challenges. Our analysis suggests that when the challenges involved an enterprise system, firms were able to address a high percentage of their challenges with four options that avoid the difficulties associated with changing the complex core system: capabilities already built-in to the package but not previously used, leveraging globally consistent integrated data already available, using add-on systems available on the market that easily interfaced with the existing enterprise system, and vendor provided patches that automatically updated the code. These findings have important implications for organizations with and without enterprise system architectures

High Spectral and Spatial Resolution Observations of Shocked Molecular Hydrogen at the Galactic Center

The presence of OH (1720 MHz) masers, and the absence of counterparts at 1665/1667 MHz has proved to be a clear diagnostic of shocked molecular gas associated with Galactic supernova remnants. This suggests that shocked molecular gas should be associated with the OH (1720 MHz) masers that have been detected in the circumnuclear disk (CND) and Sgr A East at the Galactic center. In order to test this hypothesis, we observed the H$_2$ 1--0 S(1) and Br $\gamma$ lines using NICMOS on the HST and UNSWIRF on the AAT, near the regions where OH (1720 MHz) masers are detected in the CND and Sgr A East. We present the distribution of H$_2$ in the North and South lobes of the CND and in Sgr A East. H$_2$ emission accompanies almost all of the maser spots detected at the Galactic center. In particular, we find a striking filamentary structure near the Northwest of the CND and evidence that shocked molecular gas is associated with the 70 \kms molecular cloud at the Galactic center. We argue that the emission from the CND could arise in gas heated by the dissipation of the random motion of clumps by collisions or the dissipation of turbulence in a more homogeneous medium. In addition, highly red-shifted gas of up to 140 \kms\ close to the eastern edge of the Sgr A East shell is detected. These observations combined with OH (1720 MHz) results suggest that the H$_2$ gas is shocked and accelerated by the expansion of Sgr A East into the 50 and the 70 \kms cloud and into the lobes of the CND.Comment: 31 pages plus 14 figures, ApJ (in press

Detection and mapping of hydrothermally altered rocks in the vicinity of the comstock lode, Virginia Range, Nevada, using enhanced LANDSAT images

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT images enhanced by the band-ratioing method can be used for reconnaissance alteration mapping in moderately heavily vegetated semiarid terrain as well as in sparsely vegetated to semiarid terrain where the technique was originally developed. Significant vegetation cover in a scene, however, requires the use of MSS ratios 4/5, 4/6, and 6/7 rather than 4/5, 5/6, and 6/7, and requires careful interpretation of the results. Supplemental information suitable to vegetation identification and cover estimates, such as standard LANDSAT false-color composites and low altitude aerial photographs of selected areas is desirable

The molecular environment of the pillar-like features in the HII region G46.5-0.2

At the interface of HII regions and molecular gas peculiar structures appear, some of them with pillar-like shapes. Understanding their origin is important for characterizing triggered star formation and the impact of massive stars on the interstellar medium. In order to study the molecular environment and the influence of the radiation on two pillar-like features related to the HII region G46.5-0.2, we performed molecular line observations with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment, and spectroscopic optical observations with the Isaac Newton Telescope. From the optical observations we identified the star that is exciting the HII region as a spectral type O4-6. The molecular data allowed us to study the structure of the pillars and a HCO+ cloud lying between them. In this HCO+ cloud, which have not any well defined 12CO counterpart, we found direct evidence of star formation: two molecular outflows and two associated near-IR nebulosities. The outflows axis orientation is perpendicular to the direction of the radiation flow from the HII region. Several Class I sources are also embedded in this HCO+ cloud, showing that it is usual that the YSOs form large associations occupying a cavity bounded by pillars. On the other hand, it was confirmed that the RDI process is not occurring in one of the pillar tips.Comment: Accepted in MNRAS (2017 June 13

Measurement of Resonant Frequency and Quality Factor of Microwave Resonators: Comparison of Methods

Precise microwave measurements of sample conductivity, dielectric, and magnetic properties are routinely performed with cavity perturbation measurements. These methods require the accurate determination of quality factor and resonant frequency of microwave resonators. Seven different methods to determine the resonant frequency and quality factor from complex transmission coefficient data are discussed and compared to find which is most accurate and precise when tested using identical data. We find that the nonlinear least-squares fit to the phase vs. frequency is the most accurate and precise when the signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 65. For noisier data, the nonlinear least squares fit to a Lorentzian curve is more accurate and precise. The results are general and can be applied to the analysis of many kinds of resonant phenomena.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figure

Invest to Save: Report and Recommendations of the NSF-DELOS Working Group on Digital Archiving and Preservation

Digital archiving and preservation are important areas for research and development, but there is no agreed upon set of priorities or coherent plan for research in this area. Research projects in this area tend to be small and driven by particular institutional problems or concerns. As a consequence, proposed solutions from experimental projects and prototypes tend not to scale to millions of digital objects, nor do the results from disparate projects readily build on each other. It is also unclear whether it is worthwhile to seek general solutions or whether different strategies are needed for different types of digital objects and collections. The lack of coordination in both research and development means that there are some areas where researchers are reinventing the wheel while other areas are neglected. Digital archiving and preservation is an area that will benefit from an exercise in analysis, priority setting, and planning for future research. The WG aims to survey current research activities, identify gaps, and develop a white paper proposing future research directions in the area of digital preservation. Some of the potential areas for research include repository architectures and inter-operability among digital archives; automated tools for capture, ingest, and normalization of digital objects; and harmonization of preservation formats and metadata. There can also be opportunities for development of commercial products in the areas of mass storage systems, repositories and repository management systems, and data management software and tools.

Improving Taxonomic Delimitation of Fungal Species in the Age of Genomics and Phenomics

Species concepts have long provided a source of debate among biologists. These lively debates have been important for reaching consensus on how to communicate across scientific disciplines and for advancing innovative strategies to study evolution, population biology, ecology, natural history, and disease epidemiology. Species concepts are also important for evaluating variability and diversity among communities, understanding biogeographical distributions, and identifying causal agents of disease across animal and plant hosts. While there have been many attempts to address the concept of species in the fungi, there are several concepts that have made taxonomic delimitation especially challenging. In this review we discuss these major challenges and describe methodological approaches that show promise for resolving ambiguity in fungal taxonomy by improving discrimination of genetic and functional traits. We highlight the relevance of eco-evolutionary theory used in conjunction with integrative taxonomy approaches to improve the understanding of interactions between environment, ecology, and evolution that give rise to distinct species boundaries. Beyond recent advances in genomic and phenomic methods, bioinformatics tools and modeling approaches enable researchers to test hypothesis and expand our knowledge of fungal biodiversity. Looking to the future, the pairing of integrative taxonomy approaches with multi-locus genomic sequencing and phenomic techniques, such as transcriptomics and proteomics, holds great potential to resolve many unknowns in fungal taxonomic classification

Missed Work Due to Occupational Illness Among Hispanic Horse Workers

Occupational illnesses are inadequately reported for agriculture, an industry dominated by a vulnerable Hispanic population and high fatal and nonfatal injury rates. Work-related illnesses can contribute to missed work, caused by a combination of personal and work factors, with costs to the individual, employer, and society. To better understand agricultural occupational illnesses, 225 Hispanic horse workers were interviewed via community-based convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and log binomial regression modeling were used to: (1) describe the prevalence of missed work due to work-related illnesses among Hispanic horse workers, (2) examine work-related and personal factors associated with missed work, and (3) identify health symptoms and work-related characteristics potentially associated with missed work. Key findings reveal that having at least one child (PR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.03, 2.84), having poor self-reported general health (PR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.48, 1.08), experiencing stress during a typical workday (PR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.25, 5.32), or spending less time with horses (PR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.15, 3.05) are significant predictors of missing work. Interventions can be designed to identify workers most susceptible to missing work and provide resources to reduce absenteeism. Future research should examine work-related illness in agricultural horse production, including personal and work-related factors, in order to diminish occupational health disparities among these workers, who are more likely to be employed in hazardous agricultural work