Cultural influences and differences in software process improvement programs

Implementing software process improvement (SPI) program successfully in a software organization is possibly the most challenging issue that the industry faces today. It is even more challenging to implement an SPI program in software organizations of developing countries like Bangladesh because of the difference in norms and values of the national culture, and organizational culture as compared to those of the developed European and Western countries. This research extends the prior research on SPI in Bangladesh (Wong & Hasan, 2006) and addresses the factors involved in the implementation of SPI programs in software organizations. A study of ten top software companies in Bangladesh was conducted to investigate whether cultural factors hindered the process improvement program and whether this hindrance led to deterioration of the business goals. The results showed that the lack of cultural awareness and lack of skills from the management perspective acted as barriers during the implementation of SPI programs and so affected the business goals sought by these organizations. Copyright 2008 ACM

Dynamics of the Solar Magnetic Network. II. Heating the Magnetized Chromosphere

We consider recent observations of the chromospheric network, and argue that the bright network grains observed in the Ca II H & K lines are heated by an as yet unidentified quasi-steady process. We propose that the heating is caused by dissipation of short-period magnetoacoustic waves in magnetic flux tubes (periods less than 100 s). Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models of such waves are presented. We consider wave generation in the network due to two separate processes: (a) by transverse motions at the base of the flux tube; and (b) by the absorption of acoustic waves generated in the ambient medium. We find that the former mechanism leads to an efficient heating of the chromosphere by slow magnetoacoustic waves propagating along magnetic field lines. This heating is produced by shock waves with a horizontal size of a few hundred kilometers. In contrast, acoustic waves excited in the ambient medium are converted into transverse fast modes that travel rapidly through the flux tube and do not form shocks, unless the acoustic sources are located within 100 km from the tube axis. We conclude that the magnetic network may be heated by magnetoacoustic waves that are generated in or near the flux tubes.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, Accepted in Astrophysical Journa

Febrile seizures: Factors affecting risk of recurrence in Pakistani children presenting at the Aga Khan University Hospital

Objectives: To (a) describe the effect of temperature rise on seizure recurrence in the ER (b) investigate the effect of age, gender, family and developmental history, type, duration and multiple seizures, past history and number of seizures and treatment given (either late or early) on seizure recurrence in the ER and (c) explore prognostic indicators for seizure recurrence.Methods: Data from 352 children [ages 3-84 months; 220 males (62.5%) 132 females (37.5%)] was taken using chart reviews for the years January 1998-August 2000 inclusive, from the Pediatric department of the Aga Khan University Hospital. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Discriminant Analysis were used.Results: Of the 52 (16%) cases that had seizure recurrence in the ER, majority (36.5%) occurred in \u3e 38.5 degrees \u3c or = 39.5 degrees C temperature range. The percentage declined to 15% at higher temperatures. Bivariate tests showed that age, family and developmental history, type of seizure and treatment given did not affect seizure recurrence in the ER. Past history number of seizures (p = .006), duration of seizure (p \u3c 0.001), past history of seizures (p = 0.004) and multiple seizure (p = 0.024) were factors significantly associated with seizure recurrence in the ER at the bivariate level of analysis. Duration of seizure was the most important prognostic indicator for FS recurrence in the ER at the multivariate level with beta = .79.Conclusion: Duration of seizure (\u3e 5 minutes) was the most important prognostic factor for FS recurrence. Early treatment did not affect recurrence,suggesting timely anti-pyretic vs. anti-leptic medication use

Pengukuran Kualitas Jaringan Internet dengan Sinyal 3G Lte pada STMIK Budi Darma Medan dengan Metode Quality Of Service (QoS)

In today\u27s age the internet needs are very important for communicating or looking for information. The longer the development of the internet network is increasingly widespread such as 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a long-term radio evolution access network issued by the 3rd (Generation Partnership Project). To improve internet network services at STMIK Budidarma, testing and measurement are carried out using the Quality Of Service (QoS) method to determine the quality and power of data transfer. The Quality Of Service (QoS) method found on a TCP / IP network is one that focuses on allocating bandwidth within the internet network that flows fairly and as needed. The QoS method that relies on testing the process of delay time, latency time, packet request time and creating a network topology to reduce the risk that arises

Non-small cell lung cancer: disease spectrum and management in a tertiary care hospital

Objectives: To review the spectrum of presentation and the surgical management of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and the role of various diagnostic modalities in predicting the post-operative stage and the correlation of the post-operative stage with the chances of recurrence.SETTINGS: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi--a tertiary care referral center in Paksitan.Methods: This is a retrospective study of medical records of all the patients who were managed at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) between 1988 and 1998. The patients with a diagnosis of lung cancer were identified using the ICD-9-CM coding system and the data was analyzed for patients with NSCLC only.Results: A total of 773 patients were admitted with a diagnosis of lung cancer at AKUH over 10 years period. Out of these 21 (2.71%) underwent staging mediastinoscopy and 20 (2.58%) patients underwent exploratory thoracotomy and biopsy without any resection, as the disease was found to be unresectable. Only 18 (2.32%) patients underwent surgical resection. There were 15 males and 3 females and the mean age was 53 years. Mean duration of symptoms was 12 months and cough and haemoptysis were the main presenting symptoms. Most of the tumors were located on the right side. CT scan and mediastinoscopy were mainly used to stage the disease. Complete surgical resection including en-bloc resection of adjacent structures was attempted, when possible. Median follow up was 24 months and the recurrence rate was 39%. There was no significant correlation between post-op stage and recurrence.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that most of the patients present at the advanced stage and resection is possible only in a small number of patients. The size of primary tumor and local extension should not contra-indicate surgery in patients with negative mediastinal nodes and without distant metastasis as it can be performed safely. All pulmonary lesion in the adults must be thoroughly investigated as early diagnosis and complete resection is the only key to cure and long term survival