720 research outputs found
Best of Breed IT Strategy: An Alternative to Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software has become the dominant strategic platform for supporting enterprise-wide business processes. However, single vendor ERP software systems have been criticised for not meeting specific organisation and industry requirements. An alternative approach âBest of Breed (BoB)â, integrates components of software from multiple standard package vendors, and in some cases custom components. The objective is to develop enterprise systems that are more closely aligned with the requirements of an organisation. Although this approach may not be common at present it is likely to grow in importance due to business needs and technology advances such as the componentisation of ERP software. A case study analysis of a BoB implementation at a global entertainment\u27s company is used as a platform for the discussion of the issues associated with this strategy and a comparison is made with the single vendor ERP alternative. The analysis centres on the complexity of implementation, the differences in the levels of functionality and business fit and the maintenance requirements
Adatoms and nanoengineering of carbon
We present a new and general mechanism for inter-conversion of carbon
structures via a catalytic exchange process, which operates under conditions of
Frenkel pair generation. The mechanism typically lowers reaction barriers by a
factor of four compared to equivilent uncatalysed reactions. We examine the
relevance of this mechanism for fullerene growth, carbon onions and nanotubes,
and dislocations in irradiated graphite.Comment: 3 Figures, 5 Page letter accepted for publication in Chemical Physics
Letter
Developing Pre-Service Teachersâ Evidence-Based Argumentation skills on Socio-Scientific Issues
We report on a study of the effect of meta-level awareness on the use of evidence in discourse. The participants were 66 pre-service teachers who were engaged in a dialogic activity. Meta-level awareness regarding the use of evidence in discourse was heightened by having same-side peers collaborating in arguing on the computer against successive pairs of peers on the opposing side of an issue on the topic of Climate Change and by engaging in explicit reflective activities on the use of evidence. Participants showed significant advances both in their skill of producing evidence-based arguments and counterarguments and regarding the accuracy of the evidence used. Advances were also observed at the meta-level, reflecting at least implicit understanding that using evidence is an important goal of argumentation. Another group of pre-service teachers, who studied about the role of evidence in science in the context of regular curriculum and served as a control condition, did not exhibit comparable advances in the use of evidence in argumentation. Educational implications are discussed
A remark on non-Abelian classical kinetic theory
It is known that non-Abelian classical kinetic theory reproduces the Hard
Thermal/Dense Loop (HTL/HDL) effective action of QCD, obtained after
integrating out the hardest momentum scales from the system, as well as the
first higher dimensional operator beyond the HTL/HDL level. We discuss here its
applicability at still higher orders, by comparing the exact classical
effective action obtained in the static limit, with the 1-loop quantum
effective potential. We remark that while correct types of operators arise, the
classical colour algebra reproduces correctly the prefactor of the 4-point
function only for matter in asymptotically high dimensional colour
representations.Comment: 6 page
Salivary Gluten Degradation and Oral Microbial Profiles in Healthy Individuals and Celiac Disease Patients
Water quality and agrichemical loading in two groundwater basins of Illinois' sinkhole plain
Methods: Groundwater basins. -- Sampling. -- Analyses. -- Results and discussion: Chemical composition of surface water and groundwater. -- Water-borne bacteria. -- Dissolved organic carbon. -- Soil erosion rate. -- Atrazine on suspended solids
Short-term add-on therapy with angiotensin receptor blocker for end-stage inotrope-dependent heart failure patients: B-type natriuretic peptide reduction in a randomized clinical trial
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate angiotensin receptor blocker add-on therapy in patients with low cardiac output during decompensated heart failure. METHODS: We selected patients with decompensated heart failure, low cardiac output, dobutamine dependence, and an ejection fractio
The Synthesis of [{n-Bu2Sn(S2N2)}2] and its use in the preparation of Organometallic Iridium Sulfur Nitrogen Complexes
The addition of [n-Bu2SnCl2] to a solution of [S4N3][Cl] in liquid ammonia gave after extraction of the dry reaction mixture the new tin disulfur dinitrido compound [{n-Bu2Sn(S2N2)}(2)] (1). Reaction of [{n-Bu2Sn(S2N2)}(2)] (1) with the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) iridium derivatives [{IrCl(mu-Cl)(eta(5)-C5Me5)}(2)] or [(eta(5)-C5Me5)IrCl2(PPh3)] gave different products, which were dependent on the reactant ratios. A 1:1 reaction between 1 and [{IrCl(mu-Cl)(eta(5)-C5Me5)}(2)] gave only [(eta(5)-C5Me5)Ir(S2N2)] (2) in moderate yield; the same product in higher yield was obtained from a 2:1 reaction between 1 and [(eta(5)-C5Me5)IrCl2(PPh3)]. Reaction of 1 and [(eta(5)-C5Me5)(2)IrCl2(PPh3)] (1:1 molar ratio) in the presence of NH4[PF6] gave the unusual bimetallic species [(eta(5)-C5Me5)IrCl(PPh3)(S2N2)Ir(eta(5)-C5Me5)][PF6] (3). The X-ray crystal structures of 1, 2, and 3 are reported.PostprintPeer reviewe
Evaluation of the reliability of the measurement of key magnetocaloric properties: a round robin study of La(Fe,Si,Mn)HÎŽ conducted by the SSEEC consortium of European laboratories
Managing refrigeration of our homes, our food and our work environments in energy efficient ways
is of increasing importance. Refrigeration using solid state magnetic cooling is one of a number of
technologies that may make a significant contribution to addressing this problem. In order to
develop materials that may enable commercial development of this increasingly relevant field it is
important to review the reliability of methods used to extract key physical properties, so that as the
field matures the community can develop recognised standards of measurement. Here we measure
key physical properties in one composition taken from a series of La(Fe,Si,Mn)HÎŽ 1:13âtype samples
grown by a source laboratory and measured independently in a consortium of European laboratories
using both commercial and bespoke facilities
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