IT/IS Management and Research Directions

The author spent much of the years prior to January 2000 as an international consultant for Y2K issues. During this period, a very large quantity of quantitative and qualitative data has been collected, together with many one-to-one interviews with very prominent IT leaders in business. This data led to extensive empirical research concerning the real ills of the IT/IS industry, with fascinating results. The phenomenology we have seen, in tens of installations, each with hundreds of millions of lines of code (or more) have shown the breadth of gap between academic research and real world business Information Technology / Information Systems. This paper attempts to point out part of this large gap and hopefully, shows some reasons for its continued existence. This paper is intended to trigger wider interest in IT / IS research

Liquidity and Efficiency in Three Related Foreign Exchange Options Markets

The foreign currency market in a small open economy, like Israel, plays a major role in fiscal and monetary policy decisions, through its effects on the financial markets and the real economy. In this paper we explore the liquidity and efficiency in three related foreign exchange options markets and the information content of the instruments traded in these markets. The unique data set on OTC trading and the central bank auctions, in addition to the exchange traded options provide us with insights about the operation of these markets, their relative efficiency, their information content and their interrelationship. An important aspect is the effect of liquidity on the pricing of options in these markets. As expected, we find that, except for extreme cases, liquidity does not affect options prices

Efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam during 1-year follow-up in patients with refractory epilepsy

AbstractProblem: Levetiracetam (LEV) is a new antiepileptic drug shown to be effective for the treatment of partial seizures in pivotal clinical trials. We investigated the long-term efficacy and tolerability of LEV as add-on therapy, regardless of seizure type, especially in persons who would not be eligible for clinical trials due to factors such as mental retardation and concomitant psychiatric disorders.Methods: Ninety-eight patients participated and were followed for 1 year. Demographic data, seizure frequency, and side effects were recorded at baseline and during the 1-year follow-up. The first 35 patients were given LEV at a starting dose of 500mg b.i.d. with weekly increments of 1000mg (fast titration). The other patients were given LEV with a starting dose of 250mg b.i.d. with weekly increments of 250mg (slow titration).Results: Fourteen patients were completely seizure free after titration to effective dose and 57 were responders with >50% seizure reduction for the first year. In the group with generalized seizures, 1 out of 19 became seizure free, but 8 patients had >50% decrease. Average dose at 1 year was 1900mg (±900). Seventeen of 38 discontinuations were due to adverse effects and 21 were due to lack of efficacy. With fast titration, 15 out of 35 (43%) experienced tiredness during the first 12 weeks, and with slower titration 20 of 63 (32%) experienced tiredness. The difference was not statistically significant.Four out of the five patients who discontinued due to behavioral adverse events (mainly irritability) previously had behavioral problems and/or mental retardation. One patient discontinued due to psychosis.Conclusions: Levetiracetam appears to be well tolerated in patients with severe epilepsy and shows efficacy in a long-term follow-up. Behavioral adverse events were noted in a small number of patients and occurred mainly in patients who had a history of behavioral disturbance or were mentally retarded. These data from an open population are consistent with the findings of clinical trials

Angels

Jewish tradition considers angels to be messengers of God, but holds that they must not be substituted for God. Isaiah 63:9 speaks of the angel of God\u27s divine countenance—an important designation in Jewish mysticism that has variously been taken to mean the archangel Metatron, the Shekhinah (or immanent divine presence), or the redeeming angel and was understood by some to be an extension of God and a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The Talmud (Hagigah 13b) declares that each divine angelic legion is formed of a million members, but that the legions themselves are numberless

Psychological distress, interpersonal closeness and discrimination following the Charlie Hebdo attacks

Terrorist attacks in January 2015 in Paris on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and related incidents on subsequent days, left 17 dead and 22 injured. Reported as ‘the French 9/11’ these were portrayed by some as leading to national trauma across the country (1). Widespread indirect exposure via media coverage can amplify psychological distress and promote emotional responses well away from the ‘bulls-eye’ of any event, with media exposure following terrorist attacks more strongly associated with PTSD than direct exposure (2). Switching between multiple media outlets may be particularly taxing (3), as individuals are exposed to both traditional media and graphic content through social media. Shared social stresses may subsequently impact on personal relationships with close others, as well as members of potential out-groups. Terror management theories (4) suggest we seek intimacy and support from others to cope with personal threats. This then reduces existential distress by validating self-esteem and personal beliefs. In contrast, mortality threats can lead to the rejection of others who threaten or undermine our world views, leading to scapegoating and stigmatisation (5). We report data from a national survey exploring the association between media use, psychological distress, relational intimacy, and willingness to interact with Muslims four weeks after the attacks

Media use and insomnia after terror attacks in France

Direct exposure to traumatic events often precipitates sleep disorders. Sleep disturbance has also been observed amongst those indirectly exposed to trauma, via mass media. However, previous work has focused on traditional media use, rather than contemporary social media. We tested associations between both traditional and social media consumption and insomnia symptoms following 2015 terror attacks in Paris France, controlling for location and post-traumatic symptomology. 1878 respondents, selected to represent the national French population, completed an internet survey a month after the Bataclan attacks (response rate 72%). Respondents indicated different media use, post-traumatic stress and insomnia. Controlling for demographics, location and PTSD, insomnia was associated with both traditional (β 0.10, P = .001) and social media use (β 0.12, P = .001). Associations between social media and insomnia were independent of traditional media use. Interventions targeted at social media may be particularly important following mass trauma

Psychological distress and prejudice following terror attacks in France

Terrorist attacks have the capacity to threaten our beliefs about the world, cause distress across populations and promote discrimination towards particular groups. We examined the impact of two different types of attacks in the same city and same year on psychological distress and probable posttraumatic stress symptoms, and the moderating effects of religion or media use on distress/posttraumatic symptoms and inter-group relations. Two panel surveys four weeks after the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack (N= 1981) and the November 2015 Bataclan concert hall / restaurant attacks (N= 1878), measured intrinsic religiosity, social and traditional media use, psychological distress (K6), probable posttraumatic stress symptoms (proposed ICD-11), symbolic racism and willingness to interact with Muslims by non-Muslims. Prevalence of serious mental illness (K6 score > 18) was higher after November 2015 attacks (7.0 % after the first attack, 10.2% the second, χ2 (1) = 5.67, p<.02), as were probable posttraumatic stress symptoms (11.9% vs. 14.1%; χ2 (1) = 4.15, p<.04). In structural equation analyses, sex, age, geographic proximity, media use and religiosity were associated with distress, as was the interaction between event and religiosity. Distress was then associated with racism symbolism and willingness to interact with Muslims. Implications are considered for managing psychological trauma across populations, and protecting inter-group harmony