Guidelines Aimed at Reducing the Risks of User Acceptance Delay in the Context of an IT Service Project Management Plan

Delays in the user acceptance of information technology (IT) service projects in Korea have occurred frequently due to various risk factors. User acceptance delays may hinder the achievement of the client’s project objectives and cause schedule delays or cost overruns. Furthermore, the client may impose a delay charge and claim for additional damages, causing serious disputes between buyer and supplier. The main causes of user acceptance delays are unclear user requirements, changes in user requirements, poor-quality development outputs, excessive functional and non-functional errors, lack of user involvement, unclear user roles and responsibilities, and unclear criteria of user acceptance test.We help foster the timely completion of user acceptance by proposing a method of identifying the risk factors in user acceptance delay and creating a project management plan to weed out the identified risks. We propose a guideline for an IT service management plan that weeds out or lowers the risk factors well in advance. To validate the guideline’s utility, we apply it to IT service projects. The results show that the guideline is effective in identifying and removing risk factors affecting delays in the user acceptance of IT service projects

Born to Take Risk? The Effect of CEO Birth Order on Strategic Risk Taking

The importance of birth order has been the subject of debate for centuries, and has captured the attention of the general public and researchers alike. Despite this interest, scholars have little understanding of the impact birth order has on CEOs and their strategic decisions. With this in mind, we develop theory that explains how CEO birth order may be associated with strategic risk taking. Drawing from evolutionary theory arguments related to birth order,we theorize that CEO birth order is positively associatedwith strategic risk taking; that is, earlier-born CEOswill take less risk than later-born CEOs. As evolutionary theory proposes that birth order effects are driven by sibling rivalry, we also argue that this relationship ismoderated by three factors related to sibling rivalry: age gap between a CEO and the closest born sibling, CEO age, and the presence of a sibling CEO. Our results provide support for our theorizing and suggest that birth order may have important implications for organizations. We believe this study helps advance strategic management research, the broader multidisciplinary “family science” literature, and the much-needed cross-pollination of ideas between the two

Multi-kilowatt single-mode ytterbium-doped large-core fiber laser

We have demonstrated a highly efficient cladding-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber laser, generating >2.1 kW of continuous-wave output power at 1.1 µm with 74% slope efficiency with respect to launched pump power. The beam quality factor (M2) was better than 1.2. The maximum output power was only limited by available pump power, showing no evidence of roll-over even at the highest output power. We present data on how the beam quality depends on the fiber parameter, based on our current and past fiber laser developments. We also discuss the ultimate power-capability of our fiber in terms of thermal management, Raman nonlinear scattering, and material damage, and estimate it to 10 k

Controlling Moisture for Enhanced Ozone Decomposition: A Study of Water Effects on CeO2_2 Surfaces and Catalytic Activity

This study investigates the catalytic degradation of ground-level ozone on low-index stoichiometric and reduced CeO$_2$ surfaces using first-principles calculations. The presence of oxygen vacancies on the surface enhances the interaction between ozone and catalyst by serving as active sites for adsorption and decomposition. Our results suggest that the {111} surface has superior ozone decomposition performance due to unstable oxygen species resulting from reaction with catalysts. However, when water is present, it competes with ozone molecules for these active sites, resulting in reduced catalytic activity or water poisoning. A possible solution could be heat treatment that reduces the vacancy concentration, thereby increasing the available adsorption sites for ozone molecules while minimizing competitive adsorption by water molecules. These results suggest that controlling moisture content during operation is crucial for the efficient use of CeO$_2$-based catalysts in industrial applications to reduce ground-level ozone pollution

Three-way Translocation of MLL/MLLT3, t(1;9;11)(p34.2;p22;q23), in a Pediatric Case of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

The chromosome band 11q23 is a common target region of chromosomal translocation in different types of leukemia, including infantile leukemia and therapy-related leukemia. The target gene at 11q23, MLL, is disrupted by the translocation and becomes fused to various translocation partners. We report a case of AML with a rare 3-way translocation involving chromosomes 1, 9, and 11: t(1;9;11)(p34.2;p22;q23). A 3-yr-old Korean girl presented with a 5-day history of fever. A diagnosis of AML was made on the basis of the morphological evaluation and immunophenotyping of bone marrow specimens. Flow cytometric immunophenotyping showed blasts positive for myeloid lineage markers and aberrant CD19 expression. Karyotypic analysis showed 46,XX,t(1;9;11)(p34.2;p22;q23) in 19 of the 20 cells analyzed. This abnormality was involved in MLL/MLLT3 rearrangement, which was confirmed by qualitative multiplex reverse transcription-PCR and interphase FISH. She achieved morphological and cytogenetic remission after 1 month of chemotherapy and remained event-free for 6 months. Four cases of t(1;9;11)(v;p22;q23) have been reported previously in a series that included cases with other 11q23 abnormalities, making it difficult to determine the distinctive clinical features associated with this abnormality. To our knowledge, this is the first description of t(1;9;11) with clinical and laboratory data, including the data for the involved genes, MLL/MLLT3

Design optimization of coil gun to improve muzzle velocity

Recently, a coil gun was brought to the attention of engineering community as electromagnetic alternative to the chemical launchers. Various studies were performed on coil gun systems focused on achieving the high muzzle velocity in military applications and for satellite launching. Most of these studies focused on improvement of muzzle velocity via increase in the size of the coil gun. Present paper describes the process of design optimization where the size of the coli gun system is restricted. The design of experiment approach utilizes the orthogonal array table that reduces the required number of experiments. The design of experiment is carried out with a commercial PIAnO tool, where the finite element analysis is performed at each experimental point. Then, Kriging model is created to achieve accurate approximation in problems of many design variables or strongly nonlinear model. The coil gun is optimally designed using an evolutionary algorithm (EA) as optimization technique. In order to verify the improvement of muzzle velocity by optimal design, the prototypes of coil gun system are manufactured and the experiments to launch the projectile are performed

Chronicle of a Soil Bacterium: Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 as a Tiny Guardian of Plant and Human Health

The Gram-positive rhizosphere bacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa promotes plant growth and produces various antibiotics. Herein, we review research on this species over the past two and a half decades, and focus on the mechanisms of P. polymyxa strain E681, isolated from barley roots in the South Korea in 1995. Strain E681 has outstanding growth-promoting effects on barley, cucumber, pepper, sesame, and Arabidopsis thaliana and produces antimicrobial compounds that protect plants against pathogenic fungi, oomycetes, and bacteria. Induced systemic resistance elicited by treating seeds or roots with strain E681 is a possible mechanism for protecting systemic plant tissues from biotic and other environmental stresses. Genome sequencing has broadened our horizons for antibiotic development and other industrial applications beyond agricultural use. At least six gene clusters for the biosynthesis of antibiotics have been discovered, including polymyxin (pmx), which was recently re-instated as an antibiotic of last resort against Gram-negative drug-resistant bacteria. Three groups of antibiotic synthetases include the gene clusters that encode one for the non-ribosomal peptide polymyxin, fusaricidin, and tridecaptin, another for the lantibiotic paenilan, and the third for a polyketide. We successfully introduced the pmx gene cluster into the surrogate host Bacillus subtilis and created polymyxin derivatives by domain swapping. Furthermore, various E681 derivatives, including a high fusaricidin producer and strains lacking multi-antibiotics production, have been constructed by random mutagenesis and genome engineering. Thus, E681 is an important bacterium that contributes to both plant and human health

Copper Bottom-Up Filling by Electroplating Without any Additives on Patterned Wafer

In conventional Cu electroplating, various additives are used to fill pattern without defects in patterned wafers. Pulse plating and electrochemical oxidation were used to deposit Cu without any additives. Defects such as voids and seams were generated if only pulse plating was carried out. Electrochemical oxidation was performed to remove Cu metal containing defects and to remain Cu species only at the bottom part of the trenches. Then, defect free Cu films could be obtained when Cu electroplating without additives was performed on the etched substrate.This work was supported by KOSEF through the Research Center for Energy Conversion and Storage RCECS , also by the Institute of Chemical Processes ICP in Seoul National University

Harvesting Wind Energy from Aerodynamic Design for Building Integrated Wind Turbines

Alternative energy, nowadays, becomes more necessary than fossil fuels which might be destructing and polluting the earth’s environment. Wind can be one of the most cheap, secure, environment friendly and reliable energy supplies. Building Integrated Wind Turbine (BIWT) is becoming increasingly common as a green building icon and new method of assessing optimal building energy. However, to employ BIWT, it is important to design the building shape and swept area carefully to increase wind velocity. Some of numerous design forms of BIWT will be explained in this paper using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis to find the most effective BIWT design in urban area. This paper will focus on the maximum wind velocity which passes the swept area to get maximum wind power. The result shows that, building energy can be optimized through aerodynamic building design to get the maximum wind power for building energy consumption

Ruthenium Bottom Electrode Prepared by Electroplating for a High-density DRAM Capacitor

The possibility of Ru electroplating for application as the bottom electrode in high density dynamic random access memory ~DRAM! capacitors was investigated. Prior to Ru electroplating on a TiN substrate, HF cleaning and Pd activation were performed. Removal of Ti oxide from the TiN substrate by HF treatment enabled Pd activation, which enhanced the nucleation of Ru on TiN substrate. Optimized pretreatments led to a continuous Ru film deposition. The surface roughness was measured to be 4.4 nm at 45 nm Ru film on the bare substrate. Moreover Ru electroplating method was also applied to a capacitor node-type TiN wafer. The deposition rate of Ru on the patterned wafer was the same as that on a bare wafer. The film showed 93% step coverage and good adhesion, comparable to CVD Ru films