The Dark Side of Information and Communication Technologies: The View from the Industry-Level of Analysis

The Year 2000 problem spurred companies to rethink investments in information and communication technologies (ICT). Many used the Y2K problem as an opportunity to renew ICT infrastructures, to install integrated enterprise packages, and to pursue new opportunities for ICT-enabled value such as e-commerce, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. Some evidence suggests that these efforts have had substantial payoffs in terms of shareholder value. But can such firm-level benefits persist when competitors catch up or when the success of leaders drives inefficient producers out of business? This panel features NSF-funded researchers whose studies have examined the impacts of ICT at the industry-level of analysis. They show significant industry-level ICT-enabled impacts with potentially negative implications for the firms competing within industries. In the Information Systems field, the ability to gain competitive advantage with ICT has long been an important theme. Although some researchers warned that ICT might contribute to the destruction of competitive advantage, by far the majority of the discourse has centered on how individual firms should invest in ICT. When taking an industry-level view of ICT-enabled competitive advantage, however, we can see its potential dark side. Among the risks ICT poses to the firms in an industry are these: • Fundamentally reducing the cost structure of an industry such that some firms can no longer compete and that others experience squeezed margins • Destruction of in-house competencies (e.g., through radical process change or business process outsourcing) • Investments in ICT are required as a condition of doing business without providing any bottom-line benefits • Increased dependency on external ICT providers leading to business inflexibility and lack of ICT knowledg

SIM PlanetQuest Key Project Precursor Observations to Detect Gas Giant Planets Around Young Stars

We present a review of precursor observing programs for the SIM PlanetQuest Key project devoted to detecting Jupiter mass planets around young stars. In order to ensure that the stars in the sample are free of various sources of astrometric noise that might impede the detection of planets, we have initiated programs to collect photometry, high contrast images, interferometric data and radial velocities for stars in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. We have completed a high contrast imaging survey of target stars in Taurus and the Pleiades and found no definitive common proper motion companions within one arcsecond (140 AU) of the SIM targets. Our radial velocity surveys have shown that many of the target stars in Sco-Cen are fast rotators and a few stars in Taurus and the Pleiades may have sub-stellar companions. Interferometric data of a few stars in Taurus show no signs of stellar or sub-stellar companions with separations of <5 mas. The photometric survey suggests that approximately half of the stars initially selected for this program are variable to a degree (1 sigma>0.1 mag) that would degrade the astrometric accuracy achievable for that star. While the precursor programs are still a work in progress, we provide a comprehensive list of all targets ranked according to their viability as a result of the observations taken to date. By far, the observable that moves the most targets from the SIM-YSO program is photometric variability.Comment: Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 25 pages, 9 figure

Immunoarchitecture of the Regenerating Rat Spleen: Effects of Partial Splenectomy and Heterotopic Autotransplantation

To investigate the microstructure of in situ (eutopic) and autotransplanted (ectopic) splenic remnants, adult Sprague-Dawley rats were studied 60 days after 1) subtotal (~80%) splenectomy, 2) total splenectomy followed by single or multiple remnant intraperitoneal autotransplantation, or 3) sham operation. Total nucleated cell counts were determined in excised splenic remnants, and immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibodies to rat B-and T-cell antigens was performed in serial tissue sections. Immunoarchitecture of eutopic remnants was indistinguishable from that of intact spleens and total nucleated cell counts remained proportional to weight. In contrast, ectopic remnants showed sparsity and abnormal mixing of B and T lymphocyte subpopulations with widespread loss of follicles and periarteriolar lymphoid sheaths in addition to lower density and marked reduction of total nucleated cells. These findings provide immunohistologic evidence that preservation of intact vasculature is critical to splenic architecture, which may account in part for the demonstrable functional inferiority of ectopic remnants

Trends in Medical Aid in Dying in Oregon and Washington.

ImportanceThe combined 28 years of data of medical aid in dying (MAID) between Oregon (OR) and Washington (WA) are the most comprehensive in North America. No reports to date have compared MAID use in different US states.ObjectiveTo evaluate and compare patterns of MAID use between the states with the longest-running US death with dignity programs.Design, setting, and participantsA retrospective observational cohort study of OR and WA patients with terminal illness who received prescriptions as part of their states' legislation allowing MAID. All published annual reports, from 1998 to 2017 in OR and from 2009 to 2017 in WA, were reviewed. A total of 3368 prescriptions were included.Main outcomes and measuresNumber of deaths from self-administration of lethal medication vs number of prescriptions written.ResultsA combined 3368 prescriptions were written in OR and WA, with 2558 patient deaths from lethal ingestion (76.0%). Of the 2558 patients, most were male (1311 [51.3%]), older than 65 years (1851 [72.4%]), and non-Hispanic white (2426 [94.8%]). The most common underlying illnesses were cancer (1955 [76.4%]), neurologic illness (261 [10.2%]), lung disease (144 [5.6%]), and heart disease (117 [4.6%]). Loss of autonomy (2235 [87.4%]), impaired quality of life (2203 [86.1%]), and loss of dignity (1755 [68.6%]) were the most common reasons for pursuing MAID. Time between drug intake to coma ranged from 1 to 660 minutes and time from drug intake to death ranged from 1 to 6240 minutes. In the 1557 patients for whom rates of complications were reported, 1494 (96.0%) did not experience a complication (592 of 626 [94.6%] in OR and 902 of 931 [96.8%] in WA). Eight patients (&lt;0.5%) regained consciousness after drug ingestion in OR. Annual rates per year for percentage of patients who received a prescription ingesting the prescribed medication ranged from 48% to 87%, with no significant time trend in OR (adjusted odds ratio per year, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.02; P = .59) but with an increase over time in WA (adjusted odds ratio per year, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.08-1.19; P &lt; .001). In both OR and WA there were increases in the number of patient deaths due to MAID per 1000 deaths over time.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, MAID results in Oregon and Washington were similar, although MAID use measured as a percentage of patients prescribed lethal medications and then self-administering them increased only in WA. Most patients who acquired lethal prescriptions had cancer or terminal illnesses that are difficult to palliate and lead to loss of autonomy, dignity, and quality of life

Development of a Personalized Shared Decision-Making Tool for Knee Osteoarthritis and User-Testing With African American and Latina Women

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic knee pain are often unaware of treatment options and likely outcomes-information that is critical to decision-making. A consistent framework for communicating patient-personalized information enables clinicians to provide consistent, targeted, and relevant information. Our objective was to user-test a shared decision-making (SDM) tool for chronic knee pain. METHODS: A cross-functional team developed a Markov-based health economics model and tested the model outputs with patient panels, patient and clinician focus groups, and clinical specialists. The resulting SDM tool was user-tested in a parallel-designed, randomized controlled study with 52 African American and 52 Latina women from geographically representative areas of the US. Participants were randomized to counseling with or without the SDM tool. Feedback was collected at intervention and at 1 month after intervention and analyzed with Student\u27s t-tests and Chi-squared analyses (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: Qualitative results indicated patients understood the material, rated the overall experience highly, and were likely to recommend the physician. The SDM group reported high satisfaction with the tool. A greater proportion of the SDM group (56%) reported increased physical activity over baseline at 1 month compared with the control group (33%) ( CONCLUSION: Use of this innovative SDM tool was associated with high satisfaction and a significant increase in self-reported physical activity level at 1 month. The SDM tool may elicit behavioral changes to promote musculoskeletal health

K2 Discovers a Busy Bee: An Unusual Transiting Neptune Found in the Beehive Cluster

Open clusters have been the focus of several exoplanet surveys but only a few planets have so far been discovered. The \emph{Kepler} spacecraft revealed an abundance of small planets around small, cool stars, therefore, such cluster members are prime targets for exoplanet transit searches. Kepler's new mission, K2, is targeting several open clusters and star-forming regions around the ecliptic to search for transiting planets around their low-mass constituents. Here, we report the discovery of the first transiting planet in the intermediate-age (800 Myr) Beehive cluster (Praesepe). K2-95 is a faint ($\mathrm{Kp = 15.5\,mag}$) $\mathrm{M3.0\pm0.5}$ dwarf from K2's Campaign 5 with an effective temperature of $\mathrm{3471 \pm 124\,K}$, approximately solar metallicity and a radius of $\mathrm{0.402 \pm 0.050 \,R_\odot}$. We detected a transiting planet with a radius of $\mathrm{3.47^{+0.78}_{-0.53} \, R_\oplus}$ and an orbital period of 10.134 days. We combined photometry, medium/high-resolution spectroscopy, adaptive optics/speckle imaging and archival survey images to rule out any false positive detection scenarios, validate the planet, and further characterize the system. The planet's radius is very unusual as M-dwarf field stars rarely have Neptune-sized transiting planets. The comparatively large radius of K2-95b is consistent with the other recently discovered cluster planets K2-25b (Hyades) and K2-33b (Upper Scorpius), indicating systematic differences in their evolutionary states or formation. These discoveries from K2 provide a snapshot of planet formation and evolution in cluster environments and thus make excellent laboratories to test differences between field-star and cluster planet populations.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figues. Accepted for publication in A

Copyright and Fair Use: An Issue of Ethics in a Changing Learning Environment

Article discussing copyright and fair use in regards to ethics in a changing learning environment

Prenatal and perinatal factors associated with neonatal neurobehavioral profiles in the ECHO Program

BackgroundSingle-cohort studies have identified distinct neurobehavioral profiles that are associated with prenatal and neonatal factors based on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). We examined socioeconomic, medical, and substance use variables as predictors of NNNS profiles in a multi-cohort study of preterm and term-born infants with different perinatal exposures.MethodsWe studied 1112 infants with a neonatal NNNS exam from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) consortium. We used latent profile analysis to characterize infant neurobehavioral profiles and generalized estimating equations to determine predictors of NNNS profiles.ResultsSix distinct neonatal neurobehavioral profiles were identified, including two dysregulated profiles: a hypo-aroused profile (16%) characterized by lethargy, hypotonicity, and nonoptimal reflexes; and a hyper-aroused profile (6%) characterized by high arousal, excitability, and stress, with low regulation and poor movement quality. Infants in the hypo-aroused profile were more likely to be male, have younger mothers, and have mothers who were depressed prenatally. Infants in the hyper-aroused profile were more likely to be Hispanic/Latino and have mothers who were depressed or used tobacco prenatally.ConclusionsWe identified two dysregulated neurobehavioral profiles with distinct perinatal antecedents. Further understanding of their etiology could inform targeted interventions to promote positive developmental outcomes.ImpactPrior research on predictors of neonatal neurobehavior have included single-cohort studies, which limits generalizability of findings.In a multi-cohort study of preterm and term-born infants, we found six distinct neonatal neurobehavioral profiles, with two profiles being identified as dysregulated.Hypo- and hyper-aroused neurobehavioral profiles had distinct perinatal antecedents.Understanding perinatal factors associated with dysregulated neurobehavior could help promote positive developmental outcomes