Process Models and Distribution of Work in Offshoring Application Software Development

Common process models for the development of application software (AS) are examined as to how well they are suited for offshoring projects. The need for communication and interaction among onsite and offshore project stakeholders is identified as a critical success factor. Process models used by organizations providing offshoring services are discussed, and a generalized offshoring life cycle model is developed. A specific focus is set on the distribution of work between the organization that outsources AS development and the offshore organization that carries out the major share of the development work. Problems and challenges that have to be faced, making offshoring a difficult task, are discussed. --

A Completely Virtual Distance Education Program Based on the Internet - Case and Agenda of the International MBI Program

The Internet as a medium for communication and information distribution has opened up new opportunities for distance education programs. Not only is the scope of a program, in terms of potential target groups, by default a global one because the Internet is global. Moreover, commonly available multimedia technologies for the World Wide Web provide effective means for bringing courses to students all over the world and to interact with them by electronic means. The newly available Internet technologies are infrastructural components of a distance education program described in this paper. The program leads to the degree of an International Master of Business Informatics (MBI) . The rationale underlying the program is virtuality . All courses are Internet based, making use of various online and offline network and multimedia features. Students study at home, in their home countries and they communicate via Internet. The courses are held in a virtual School of Business Informatics. The faculty is a network of professors from many European universities

Arterial hypertension due to fructose ingestion: model based on intermittent osmotic fluid trapping in the small bowel

Based on recently reported data that fructose ingestion is linked to arterial hypertension, a model of regulatory loops involving the colon role in maintenance of fluid and sodium homeostasis is proposed

I pledge allegiance to the Southern Cross? The importance of multicultural education in today’s schools

As schools nation-wide continue to become increasingly diverse, the need for multicultural education curricula is becoming an absolute necessity. Within the school setting, counselors, teachers, administrators and other personnel are in an ideal position to serve as positive role models and to help shape the students into citizens who respect and value the diversity of their society. This project provides a firsthand look into a controversial event at a high school that could have possibly been prevented with a more proactive approach to diversity and multicultural education. The report also provides potentially useful and helpful suggestions, considerations and resources for educators when approaching the needs of their diverse student population

CA-Techniken und CIM

Der Arbeitsbericht gibt zunächst einen Überblick über die technisch orientierten rechnergestützten Komponenten im Rahmen des Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), die sogenannten "CAx-Systeme" oder "CA-Systeme": CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAP (Computer Aided Planning), CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing), CAQ (Computer Aided Quality Assurance), CAI (Computer Aided Instruction). Er geht dann auf Schnittstellen der Teilsysteme untereinander und auf Schnittstellen zu anderen, insbesondere zu betriebswirtschaftlich orientierten Anwendungssystemen ein. Ansätze und Probleme der Integration unterschiedlicher Softwaresysteme sowie die neuen Herausforderungen an die Betriebswirtschaftslehre und an den Betriebswirt beschließen den Beitrag

Evolution of human posture and bipedal locomotion within a provisional time frame of harsh climate changes

In this review paper several emerging issues related to development of human posture and locomotion are arranged in a provisional time frame. Accumulated evidences show that the Eurasian climate was often cold and arid with abundant dust in the atmosphere during the last 500 Ky. These dusty periods of cold, aridity and low insolation lasted from 360 to 340 Kya, 270 to 255 Kya, 170 to 130 Kya, 80 to 60 and finally 40 to 10 Kya. They coincide with migrations of Neanderthals and H. sapiens out of Africa, suggesting that harsh climates might have been important factors in forcing global migrations of our ancestors. When reaching the middle Eurasian latitudes, with reduced sun exposure due to dusty atmosphere and no sea food, our ancestors developed a deficit of vitamin D with compromised locomotion of young individuals due to rickets. This problem of bone maturation made a strong selection pressure toward lighter skin pigmentation. New evidences suggest that skin pigmentation genes in our genome came from the Neanderthals. They have survived several dusty periods, under the selection pressure of becoming pale skinned during their more than 400 Ky in Eurasia. On the other hand, H. sapiens came much later from Africa. Long-legged modern men could easily chase smaller prays, while groups of slower Neanderthals proambushed larger prays. Fossil evidence suggests that both hominid species lived in the same areas for thousands of years, until the final survivors turned out to be mixed individuals, possibly of Caucasian phenotype although with pale skin genes inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors

Similar distributions of Dupuytren\u27s contracture and Y-Chromosome Haplogroup I among modern Europeans suggest simultaneous spreading of these traits some 40 to 10 Kya

A proposition is made that when two independent traits show similar regional patterns of incidence among modern European regions, a plausible expectation is that these two, otherwise unrelated traits, have simultaneously been spread by migration of our ancestors. As a potential example for the proposed concept, distribution of patients with Dupuytren\u27s contracture is here compared with the reported European distribution of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup I, a genetic marker linked to the last glaciation period

A hypothesis of the possible immunological mechanisms behind the chronic gastritis and peptic ulcerations associated with the campylobacter pylori infection

Učinjen je kratki pregled podataka o povezanosti prisustva Campylobacter pylori u bolesnika s kroničnim gastritisom i peptičkim ulceracijama, zajedno s podacima o prisustvu i funkciji mastocita i IgE u sluznici želuca. Ukratko je objašnjeno shvaćanje da se IgE/mastocit sustav razvio tijekom evolucije kao sustav za uzbunjivanje i dovođenje imunokompetentnih stanica u dijelove tijela koji su nedostupniji cirkulirajućim stanicama imunog sustava. Tu spadaju sva rubna tkiva, u što spada i probavna cijev, te interstanični tkivni prostori. Specifičnost i osjetljivost takvog sustava za uzbunjivanje je u direktnoj vezi sa spektrom idiotipova IgE antitijela u cirkulaciji. U želučanoj sluznici je dokazano postojanje mastocita prekrivenih antitijelima klase IgE, te se smatra da su oni lavni izvori oslobađanja histamina unutar sluznice. Uz mogućnost liberalizacije histamina iz mastocita na nespecifič­ ne podražaje, ne može biti isključena mogućnost da je specifična imunološka reakcija IgE/mastocit sistema, nakon susreta sa specifičnim antigenom, glavni izvor oslobođenog histamina u želučanoj sluznici. Učinjena je hipoteza da je posebna fiziološka uloga IgE/ /mastocit sistema u želučanoj mukozi, uz pozivanje imunokompetentnih stanica na mjesto infekcije, također i stvaranje lokalne plime u lučenju želučane kiseline koja olakšava eliminaciju patogena. Kronična infekcija sluznice s C. pylori i sličnim patogenim mogla bi dovesti do permanentne aktivacije ovog sistema, što bi moglo doprinijeti razvoju kronič­nog gastritisa ili nastanku točaka stalne hiperacidnosti pogodnih za nastanak ulkusa. U prilog hipotezi govore nalazi specifičnog humoralnog odgovora na C. pylori u bolesnika s ulkusnom bolešću. Pravu provjeru bi pružile studije sveukupnog i specifičnog IgE u želučanoj sluznici duodenalnih bolesnika i inficiranih eksperimentalnih životinja.A short review of the data regarding the presence of Campylobacter pylori in the peptic ulcer patients and those with chronic gastritis has been presented together with the data regarding the presence and functions of the gastric mucosal mast cells and IgE molecules at their surface. A speculation is made that the physiological role of the IgE/mast cell system in the gastric mucosa, beside bringing the immunocompetent cells to the place of infection, consists also in producing a local tide in the gastric acid secretion that would facilitate pathogen elimination. Chronic infection with C. pylori and other pathogens could lead to the permanent activation of this system resulting in the chronic gastritis or spots of hyperacidity that might turn into ulcers. Findings of the humoral response to C. pylori in ulcer patients support the presented hypothesis. Further studies of the total and specific IgE content in the gastric mucosa of ulcer patients and experimental animals are required to test its validity

How to Prevent before You Must Cure – A Comprehensive Literature Review on Conflict Management Strategies in Global Project Teams

Global project teams are frequently confronted with diverse conflicts. As these teams involve people from different cultures, who work at different locations, they are more prone to conflicts than collocated teams. Geographical dispersion and dependency on information and communication technology entail more challenges for conflict management. In this study, we examine prior literature on cross-cultural conflicts and conflict prevention, management and resolution. We found that previous research on conflict prevention in global project teams is scarce. Therefore, we discuss effective conflict prevention methods and develop a model of a conflict prevention process. This paper contributes to the field in two ways: first, it structures existing literature on conflicts in global project teams, and secondly, it can be used by practitioners to improve conflict prevention in their global project teams

Characteristics of the Development of Part-Time Farms in Slavonija and Baranja

Veliki broj mješovitih gospodarstava u nas održava ekonomsku diferencijaciju i polarizaciju na selu koja nastaje povećanjem ukupne, a posebno robne proizvodnje. Longitudinalno istraživanje koje autori provode u već nekoliko navrata pokazuje ponajprije da je u Slavoniji i Baranji kasnije nego u Hrvatskoj započeo proces masovnijeg nastanka mješovitih gospodarstava. Glavnina tih gospodarstava nalazi se u najnižim posjedovnim kategorijama, iako, posljednjih godina, ovom procesu podliježu i krupnija gospodarstva. Prosječno, mješovita gospodarstva imaju i više članova i više aktivnih nego poljoprivredna i ostala. Udjel žena koje rade na gospodarstvu smanjuje se, ali slabijim tempom nego kod poljoprivrednih gospodarstava. Također, povećava se prosječna veličina posjeda u vlasništvu mješovitog domaćinstva. Opremljenost gospodarstva sve je bolja, a domaćinstva su opremljena bolje od ostalih.The great number of part-time farms in Yugoslavia are the result of economic differentiation and polarization in the village, which has followed the increase in production as a whole, and especially the increase of market production. Longitudinal research carried out by the authors several times already shows that the process of the more intense development of part-time farms started in Slavonija and Baranja later than in the rest of Croatia. Most of these farms are very small, although larger farms have also turned part-time in recent years. On an average, part-time farms have more members, and more active members, than farms that are purely agricultural and other farms. The participation of women in farm work is decreasing, but not as fast as on the purely agricultural farms. The average size of the property owned by the part-time farms is increasing. The farms are becoming better equipped and the households are better equipped than other households