Challenges and influential factors in ERP adoption and implementation

The adoption and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is a challenging and expensive task that not only requires rigorous efforts but also demands to have a detailed analysis of such factors that are critical to the adoption or implementation of ERP systems. Many efforts have been made to identify such influential factors for ERP; however, they are not filtered comprehensively in terms of the different perspectives. This paper focuses on the ERP critical success factors from five different perspectives such as: stakeholders; process; technology; organisation; and project. Results from the literature review are presented and 19 such factors are identified that are imperative for a successful ERP implementation, which are listed in order of their importance. Considering these factors can realize several benefits such as reducing costs and saving time or extra effort

Efficient unified Montgomery inversion with multibit shifting

Computation of multiplicative inverses in finite fields GF(p) and GF(2/sup n/) is the most time-consuming operation in elliptic curve cryptography, especially when affine co-ordinates are used. Since the existing algorithms based on the extended Euclidean algorithm do not permit a fast software implementation, projective co-ordinates, which eliminate almost all of the inversion operations from the curve arithmetic, are preferred. In the paper, the authors demonstrate that affine co-ordinate implementation provides a comparable speed to that of projective co-ordinates with careful hardware realisation of existing algorithms for calculating inverses in both fields without utilising special moduli or irreducible polynomials. They present two inversion algorithms for binary extension and prime fields, which are slightly modified versions of the Montgomery inversion algorithm. The similarity of the two algorithms allows the design of a single unified hardware architecture that performs the computation of inversion in both fields. They also propose a hardware structure where the field elements are represented using a multi-word format. This feature allows a scalable architecture able to operate in a broad range of precision, which has certain advantages in cryptographic applications. In addition, they include statistical comparison of four inversion algorithms in order to help choose the best one amongst them for implementation onto hardware

Differential Functional Constraints Cause Strain-Level Endemism in Polynucleobacter Populations.

The adaptation of bacterial lineages to local environmental conditions creates the potential for broader genotypic diversity within a species, which can enable a species to dominate across ecological gradients because of niche flexibility. The genus Polynucleobacter maintains both free-living and symbiotic ecotypes and maintains an apparently ubiquitous distribution in freshwater ecosystems. Subspecies-level resolution supplemented with metagenome-derived genotype analysis revealed that differential functional constraints, not geographic distance, produce and maintain strain-level genetic conservation in Polynucleobacter populations across three geographically proximal riverine environments. Genes associated with cofactor biosynthesis and one-carbon metabolism showed habitat specificity, and protein-coding genes of unknown function and membrane transport proteins were under positive selection across each habitat. Characterized by different median ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous evolutionary changes (dN/dS ratios) and a limited but statistically significant negative correlation between the dN/dS ratio and codon usage bias between habitats, the free-living and core genotypes were observed to be evolving under strong purifying selection pressure. Highlighting the potential role of genetic adaptation to the local environment, the two-component system protein-coding genes were highly stable (dN/dS ratio, < 0.03). These results suggest that despite the impact of the habitat on genetic diversity, and hence niche partition, strong environmental selection pressure maintains a conserved core genome for Polynucleobacter populations. IMPORTANCE Understanding the biological factors influencing habitat-wide genetic endemism is important for explaining observed biogeographic patterns. Polynucleobacter is a genus of bacteria that seems to have found a way to colonize myriad freshwater ecosystems and by doing so has become one of the most abundant bacteria in these environments. We sequenced metagenomes from locations across the Chicago River system and assembled Polynucleobacter genomes from different sites and compared how the nucleotide composition, gene codon usage, and the ratio of synonymous (codes for the same amino acid) to nonsynonymous (codes for a different amino acid) mutations varied across these population genomes at each site. The environmental pressures at each site drove purifying selection for functional traits that maintained a streamlined core genome across the Chicago River Polynucleobacter population while allowing for site-specific genomic adaptation. These adaptations enable Polynucleobacter to become dominant across different riverine environmental gradients

Grid-based semantic integration of heterogeneous data resources : implementation on a HealthGrid

The semantic integration of geographically distributed and heterogeneous data resources still remains a key challenge in Grid infrastructures. Today's mainstream Grid technologies hold the promise to meet this challenge in a systematic manner, making data applications more scalable and manageable. The thesis conducts a thorough investigation of the problem, the state of the art, and the related technologies, and proposes an Architecture for Semantic Integration of Data Sources (ASIDS) addressing the semantic heterogeneity issue. It defines a simple mechanism for the interoperability of heterogeneous data sources in order to extract or discover information regardless of their different semantics. The constituent technologies of this architecture include Globus Toolkit (GT4) and OGSA-DAI (Open Grid Service Architecture Data Integration and Access) alongside other web services technologies such as XML (Extensive Markup Language). To show this, the ASIDS architecture was implemented and tested in a realistic setting by building an exemplar application prototype on a HealthGrid (pilot implementation). The study followed an empirical research methodology and was informed by extensive literature surveys and a critical analysis of the relevant technologies and their synergies. The two literature reviews, together with the analysis of the technology background, have provided a good overview of the current Grid and HealthGrid landscape, produced some valuable taxonomies, explored new paths by integrating technologies, and more importantly illuminated the problem and guided the research process towards a promising solution. Yet the primary contribution of this research is an approach that uses contemporary Grid technologies for integrating heterogeneous data resources that have semantically different. data fields (attributes). It has been practically demonstrated (using a prototype HealthGrid) that discovery in semantically integrated distributed data sources can be feasible by using mainstream Grid technologies, which have been shown to have some Significant advantages over non-Grid based approaches.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Firm’s Climate Change Risk and Firm Value: An Empirical Analysis of the Energy Industry

Ми досліджуємо вплив численних факторів на вартість компанії в енергетичній галузі, використовуючи панельні дані з 2010 по 2020 рр. Аналіз використовує різні економетричні методи, включаючи фіксовані ефекти, випадкові ефекти, двоетапний метод найменших квадратів і узагальнений метод моментів. Наші основні змінні, які нас цікавлять, це вартість фірми, ризик зміни клімату на рівні фірми, основні фонди, кредитне плече, дивідендна прибутковість, ринкова капіталізація та відчутність активів. Результат свідчить про те, що інвестори менше оцінюють енергетичні компанії через їхню схильність до ризику зміни клімату. Ми виявили, що ризик зміни клімату, основні фонди, фінансовий важіль фірми та відчутність активів негативно пов’язані між собою, тоді як ринкова капіталізація та дивідендна дохідність позитивно пов’язані з вартістю фірми. Ці висновки мають важливе значення для енергетичних компаній, політиків та інвесторів. Енергетичні компанії повинні враховувати ризик зміни клімату у своїх інвестиційних рішеннях, щоб зберегти свою ринкову вартість, а політики повинні заохочувати фірми розкривати інформацію про ризик зміни клімату для підвищення ефективності ринку. Нарешті, інвестори повинні включити ризик зміни клімату у свої інвестиційні стратегії, щоб зменшити потенційні фінансові втрати.We explore the impact on firm value by numerous factors in the energy industry using panel data from 2010 to 2020. The analysis employs different econometric methods, including fixed-effects, random-effects, two-stage least squares, and generalized method of moments. Our main variables of interest are firm value, firm-level climate change risk, fixed assets, leverage, dividend yield, market capitalization, and assets tangibility. The result suggests that investors are valuing energy firms less due to their exposure to climate change risk. We found that climate change risk, fixed assets, firm leverage, and assets tangibility are negatively related while market capitalization and dividend yield are positively related to firm value. These findings have important implications for energy firms, policymakers, and investors. Energy firms need to consider climate change risk in their investment decisions to maintain their market value, and policymakers should encourage firms to disclose their climate change risk to improve market efficiency. Finally, investors need to incorporate climate change risk in their investment strategies to mitigate potential financial losses

Experimental study for the effect of dust cleaning on the performance of grid-tied photovoltaic solar systems

One of the challenges facing investment in photovoltaic (PV) energy is the accumulation of dust on the surface of the PV panels due to frequent dust storms in many countries, including Iraq. Surface dust particles reduce solar irradiance which declining the electrical performance of the PV solar systems. Therefore, this paper proposes an experimental study to analyze and evaluate the power efficiency of a PV system installed in Baghdad city, Iraq. The performance of dusty solar PV array is compared with that of the clean array of the same PV system. The clean solar array is equipped with an automatic-sprayer cleaning system that is powered by the PV system. The automatic cleaning system utilized in the test system reduces human effort by cleaning the PV array using closed-cycle water with low energy consumption (less than 10 Wh). The PV array under test is part of a 15 kW grid-tied PV system. The experimental results show significant improvement in the performance parameters of efficiency, performance ratio, and the energy gain compared to the clean array. Furthermore, the experimental study contributes to a reduction in CO2 emission, which is substantial for the Iraqi environment that suffers from predominate fossil-fuel power plants

Impact of Bi2O3 modifier concentration on barium–zincborate glasses: physical, structural, elastic, and radiation-shielding properties

Abstract: A sequence of Bi2O3 varying barium–zincborate (BZX) glasses with the chemical composition (60-x) B2O3-20ZnO-20BaCO3-xBi2O3-0.5Dy2O3 (where x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 in wt%) is fabricated by melt-quenching method. The fabricated samples were examined for the variation in physical, structural, elastic, and radiation-shielding properties with the Bi2O3 concentration. The structural and compositional evaluations are done using XRD and FTIR spectra. The BZX matrixes consist of the trigonal-planar and tetrahedral groups of borates, BiO3 and BiO6 units of Bi2O3, and the non-bridging oxygen in general. The average single-bond strength values substantiate the increasing ionic nature of the BZX glasses. The variation in the density and molar volume of the BZX series discussed in terms of various structural and elastic properties. The glass-coded BZ15 was found to be the best candidate for the sound-resistant applications based on the atomic packing fraction and the acoustic impedance studies. With MCNP5 simulation, the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values of all the samples were calculated and compared with a theoretical approach using the XCOM program. As the amount of Bi2O3 increases, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) increases with it at all energies. The LAC values varied between 0.2805 and 0.5269 cm−1 for the investigated glasses at 0.81 MeV. BZ30 glass is the more effective shield due to the highest MAC and LAC values. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature