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

Excellent daytime seeing at Dome Fuji on the Antarctic plateau

Context. Dome Fuji, the second highest region on the Antarctic plateau, is expected to have some of the best astronomical seeing on Earth. However, site testing at Dome Fuji is still in its very early stages. Aims. To investigate the astronomical seeing in the free atmosphere above Dome Fuji, and to determine the height of the surface boundary layer. Methods. A Differential Image Motion Monitor was used to measure the seeing in the visible (472 nm) at a height of 11 m above the snow surface at Dome Fuji during the austral summer of 2012/2013. Results. Seeing below 0.2'' has been observed. The seeing often has a local minimum of ~0.3'' near 18 h local time. Some periods of excellent seeing, 0.3'' or smaller, were also observed, sometimes extending for several hours at local midnight. The median seeing is higher, at 0.52''---this large value is believed to be caused by periods when the telescope was within the turbulent boundary layer. Conclusions. The diurnal variation of the daytime seeing at Dome Fuji is similar to that reported for Dome C, and the height of the surface boundary layer is consistent with previous simulations for Dome Fuji. The free atmosphere seeing is ~0.2'', and the height of the surface boundary layer can be as low as ~11 m.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics (letter

Nonlinear energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons in an electron gas

The electronic energy-loss straggling of protons and antiprotons moving at arbitrary nonrelativistic velocities in a homogeneous electron gas are evaluated within a quadratic response theory and the random-phase approximation (RPA). These results show that at low and intermediate velocities quadratic corrections reduce significantly the energy-loss straggling of antiprotons, these corrections being, at low-velocities, more important than in the evaluation of the stopping power.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Overcoming the boundary layer turbulence at Dome C: ground-layer adaptive optics versus tower

The unique atmospheric conditions present at sites such as Dome C on the Antarctic plateau are very favorable for high spatial resolution astronomy. At Dome C, the majority of the optical turbulence is confined to a 30 to 40 m thick stable boundary layer that results from the strong temperature inversion created by the heat exchange between the air and the ice-covered ground. To fully realize the potential of the exceptionally calm free atmosphere, this boundary layer must be overcome. In this article we compare the performance of two methods proposed to beat the boundary layer: mounting a telescope on a tower that physically puts it above the turbulent layer, and installing a telescope at ground level with a ground-layer adaptive optics system. A case is also made to combine these two methods to further improve the image quality

Internalizing and externalizing traits predict changes in sleep efficiency in emerging adulthood: an actigraphy study

Research on psychopathology and experimental studies of sleep restriction support a relationship between sleep disruption and both internalizing and externalizing disorders. The objective of the current study was to extend this research by examining sleep, impulsivity, antisocial personality traits, and internalizing traits in a university sample. Three hundred and eighty six individuals (161 males) between the ages of 18 and 27 years (M = 18.59, SD = 0.98) wore actigraphs for 7 days and completed established measures of disorder-linked personality traits and sleep quality (i.e., Personality Assessment Inventory, Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index). As expected, sleep measures and questionnaire scores fell within the normal range of values and sex differences in sleep and personality were consistent with previous research results. Similar to findings in predominantly male forensic psychiatric settings, higher levels of impulsivity predicted poorer subjective sleep quality in both women and men. Consistent with well-established associations between depression and sleep, higher levels of depression in both sexes predicted poorer subjective sleep quality. Bidirectional analyses showed that better sleep efficiency decreases depression. Finally, moderation analyses showed that gender does have a primary role in sleep efficiency and marginal effects were found. The observed relations between sleep and personality traits in a typical university sample add to converging evidence of the relationship between sleep and psychopathology and may inform our understanding of the development of psychopathology in young adulthood