1,187 research outputs found
Customer information systems: Approaching a new field in information systems from a new perspective
Recent years have witnessed an increasing awareness and need for information systems that can fulfil a role on the boundary between organisations and their environments. However, these so-called Customer Information Systems (CIS) have been developed using a traditional design approach with an emphasis on information systems that ignores the role of social systems in business decision-making. Consequently, a number of well-known problems concerning the use of information technology have also risen in the CIS area. Therefore, we propose a new design approach to CIS that addresses responsibilities and norms in business decision-making and focuses on the interplay between information systems design and organisational design. We propose extensions of current design issues that - if successful - could be of interest for researchers as well as practitioners
The Glycemic, Cholesterol, and Weight Effects of L-carnitine in Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Introduction L-carnitine possibly impacts insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. However, its therapeutic role in diabetes is poorly understood. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from inception through June 30, 2021. Included studies evaluated the use of L-carnitine in diabetes on fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), weight, or body mass index (BMI). Weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model. Results Seventeen studies involving 1622 patients were included. Reductions in FBG (WMD = -0.46 mmol/L, 95% CI = -0.68 to -0.23 mmol/L), HbA1c (WMD = -0.5%, 95% CI = -0.8 to -0.1%), TC (WMD = -0.29 mmol/L, 95% CI = -0.42 to -0.16 mmol/L), and LDL-C (WMD = -0.23 mmol/L, 95% CI = -0.39 to -0.07 mmol/L) were significant. Effects on HDL-C, TG, weight, or BMI were insignificant. Doses between 1001 to 2000 mg showed greatest benefit (p \u3c 0.02 for all). Discussion/Conclusion L-carnitine plays a potential role as adjunctive therapy in diabetes. Additional research is necessary for patients with higher baseline HbA1c and type 1 diabetes
The groupoidal analogue Theta~ to Joyal's category Theta is a test category
We introduce the groupoidal analogue \tilde\Theta to Joyal's cell category
\Theta and we prove that \tilde\Theta is a strict test category in the sense of
Grothendieck. This implies that presheaves on \tilde\Theta model homotopy types
in a canonical way. We also prove that the canonical functor from \Theta to
\tilde\Theta is aspherical, again in the sense of Grothendieck. This allows us
to compare weak equivalences of presheaves on \tilde\Theta to weak equivalences
of presheaves on \Theta. Our proofs apply to other categories analogous to
\Theta.Comment: 41 pages, v2: references added, Remark 7.3 added, v3: metadata
update
Uranium on uranium collisions at relativistic energies
Deformation and orientation effects on compression, elliptic flow and
particle production in uranium on uranium collisions (UU) at relativistic
energies are studied within the transport model ART. The density compression in
tip-tip UU collisions is found to be about 30% higher and lasts approximately
50% longer than in body-body or spherical UU reactions. The body-body UU
collisions have the unique feature that the nucleon elliptic flow is the
highest in the most central collisions and remain a constant throughout the
reaction. We point out that the tip-tip UU collisions are more probable to
create the QGP at AGS and SPS energies while the body-body UU collisions are
more useful for studying properties of the QGP at higher energies.Comment: 8 pages + 4 figure
Introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity
This article is based on the opening lecture at the third quantum geometry
and quantum gravity school sponsored by the European Science Foundation and
held at Zakopane, Poland in March 2011. The goal of the lecture was to present
a broad perspective on loop quantum gravity for young researchers. The first
part is addressed to beginning students and the second to young researchers who
are already working in quantum gravity.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:gr-qc/041005
Collective modes of asymmetric nuclear matter in Quantum HadroDynamics
We discuss a fully relativistic Landau Fermi liquid theory based on the
Quantum Hadro-Dynamics () effective field picture of Nuclear Matter
({\it NM}).
From the linearized kinetic equations we get the dispersion relations of the
propagating collective modes. We focus our attention on the dynamical effects
of the interplay between scalar and vector channel contributions. A beautiful
``mirror'' structure in the form of the dynamical response in the
isoscalar/isovector degree of freedom is revealed, with a complete parallelism
in the role respectively played by the compressibility and the symmetry energy.
All that strongly supports the introduction of an explicit coupling to the
scalar-isovector channel of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. In particular we
study the influence of this coupling (to a -meson-like effective field)
on the collective response of asymmetric nuclear matter (). Interesting
contributions are found on the propagation of isovector-like modes at normal
density and on an expected smooth transition to isoscalar-like oscillations at
high baryon density. Important ``chemical'' effects on the neutron-proton
structure of the mode are shown. For dilute we have the isospin
distillation mechanism of the unstable isoscalar-like oscillations, while at
high baryon density we predict an almost pure neutron wave structure of the
propagating sounds.Comment: 18 pages (LATEX), 8 Postscript figures, uses "epsfig
Atomic X-ray Spectroscopy of Accreting Black Holes
Current astrophysical research suggests that the most persistently luminous
objects in the Universe are powered by the flow of matter through accretion
disks onto black holes. Accretion disk systems are observed to emit copious
radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, each energy band providing
access to rather distinct regimes of physical conditions and geometric scale.
X-ray emission probes the innermost regions of the accretion disk, where
relativistic effects prevail. While this has been known for decades, it also
has been acknowledged that inferring physical conditions in the relativistic
regime from the behavior of the X-ray continuum is problematic and not
satisfactorily constraining. With the discovery in the 1990s of iron X-ray
lines bearing signatures of relativistic distortion came the hope that such
emission would more firmly constrain models of disk accretion near black holes,
as well as provide observational criteria by which to test general relativity
in the strong field limit. Here we provide an introduction to this phenomenon.
While the presentation is intended to be primarily tutorial in nature, we aim
also to acquaint the reader with trends in current research. To achieve these
ends, we present the basic applications of general relativity that pertain to
X-ray spectroscopic observations of black hole accretion disk systems, focusing
on the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions to the Einstein field equations. To
this we add treatments of the fundamental concepts associated with the
theoretical and modeling aspects of accretion disks, as well as relevant topics
from observational and theoretical X-ray spectroscopy.Comment: 63 pages, 21 figures, Einstein Centennial Review Article, Canadian
Journal of Physics, in pres
Coronal Diagnostics from Narrowband Images around 30.4 nm
Images taken in the band centered at 30.4 nm are routinely used to map the
radiance of the He II Ly alpha line on the solar disk. That line is one of the
strongest, if not the strongest, line in the EUV observed in the solar
spectrum, and one of the few lines in that wavelength range providing
information on the upper chromosphere or lower transition region. However, when
observing the off-limb corona the contribution from the nearby Si XI 30.3 nm
line can become significant. In this work we aim at estimating the relative
contribution of those two lines in the solar corona around the minimum of solar
activity. We combine measurements from CDS taken in August 2008 with
temperature and density profiles from semiempirical models of the corona to
compute the radiances of the two lines, and of other representative coronal
lines (e.g., Mg X 62.5 nm, Si XII 52.1 nm). Considering both diagnosed
quantities from line ratios (temperatures and densities) and line radiances in
absolute units, we obtain a good overall match between observations and models.
We find that the Si XI line dominates the He II line from just above the limb
up to ~2 R_Sun in streamers, while its contribution to narrowband imaging in
the 30.4 nm band is expected to become smaller, even negligible in the corona
beyond ~2 - 3 R_Sun, the precise value being strongly dependent on the coronal
temperature profile.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures; to be published in: Solar Physic
Employment Changes following Breast Cancer Diagnosis: The Effects of Race and Place
The financial implications of breast cancer diagnosis may be greater among rural and black women. Women with incident breast cancer were recruited as part of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study. We compared unadjusted and adjusted prevalence of cancer-related job or income loss, and a composite measure of either outcome, by rural residence and stratified by race. We included 2435 women: 11.7% were rural; 48.5% were black; and 38.0% reported employment changes after diagnosis. Rural women more often reported employment effects, including reduced household income (43.6% vs 35.4%, two-sided ?2 test P =. 04). Rural white, rural black, and urban black women each more often reported income reduction (statistically significant vs. urban white women), although these groups did not meaningfully differ from each other. In multivariable regression, rural differences were mediated by socioeconomic factors, but racial differences remained. Programs and policies to reduce financial toxicity in vulnerable patients should address indirect costs of cancer, including lost wages and employment
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