Simple temperature sensor with direct readout

Sensor is easy to construct, requires only one operational amplifier, and has very fast response. It provides direct readout of temperature on digital voltmeter

Factors influencing students' acceptance of m-learning: An investigation in higher education

M-learning will play an increasingly significant role in the development of teaching and learning methods for higher education. However, the successful implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users' acceptance of this technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the factors that affect university students' intentions to accept m-learning. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study proposes a model to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of m-learning in higher education and to investigate if prior experience of mobile devices affects the acceptance of m-learning. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data collected from 174 participants. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, influence of lecturers, quality of service, and personal innovativeness were all significant factors that affect behavioural intention to use m-learning. Prior experience of mobile devices was also found to moderate the effect of these constructs on behavioural intention. The results of this research extend the UTAUT in the context of m-learning acceptance by adding quality of service and personal innovativeness to the structure of UTAUT and provide practitioners and educators with useful guidelines for designing a successful m-learning system

Transforming failure into success through organisational learning: An analysis of a manufacturing information system

This paper describes the idiosyncracies of a case study company, through highlighting issues and problems experienced during their attempts to evaluate, implement and realise the holistic implications of a manufacturing information system. Although the Information System (IS) was operational for a period of time, it was eventually deemed a failure. The reason for this was that a range of human and organisational factors prevented the organisation from embracing the full impact of the system. The eventual success of their information system was realised through a bespoke implementation, based upon a traditional systems development lifecycle that indirectly addressed learning issues following the earlier failed deployment. The paper highlights key issues relating to business success and failure, and then contrasts them alongside the presented case study. In doing so, the authors conclude by proposing methods through which manufacturing information systems can be transformed for business success. This is described achievable through both a realisation in the positioning of the organisation relative to technology management, and the related mapping of human and technological constructs that support information systems related succes

Pension Freezes and Household Saving Over the Life Cycle

Defined benefit (DB) pension freezes in large healthy firms such as Verizon and IBM, as well as terminations of plans in the struggling steel and airline industries, highlight the fact that these traditional pensions cannot be viewed as risk-free promises from the employeeÂ’s perspective. Indeed, the current turmoil in financial markets and difficult economic outlook for many firms suggest that many more pension plans could be frozen soon. In this preliminary paper we develop an empirical dynamic programming framework to investigate household saving decisions in a model economy with freezeprone DB pensions. The model incorporates important sources of uncertainty facing households, including asset returns, employment, income, and mortality, as well as pension freezes. Applying a compensating variation measure of welfare, we find that pension freezes reduce welfare by a maximum of about $6,000 for individuals with a high school degree and about$2,000 for individuals with a college degree. We close by highlighting a few important issues that are missing from our preliminary analysis, including a labor supply decision and the effects of market-clearing conditions in the labor market. We hope to address these issues in future work.

Dark Matter Constraints in Heterotic M-Theory with Five-Brane Dominance

The phenomenological implications of the M-theory limit in which supersymmetry is broken by the auxiliary fields of five-brane moduli is investigated. Assuming that the lightest neutralino provides the dark matter in the universe, constraints on the sparticle spectrum are obtained. Direct detection rates for dark matter are estimated.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX file plus 8 EPS figure

Modular Symmetries, Threshold Corrections And Moduli For Z2×Z2Z_2 \times Z_2 Orbifolds

${\bf Z}_2\times {\bf Z}_2$ Coxeter orbifolds are constructed with the property that some twisted sectors have fixed planes for which the six-torus can not be decomposed into a direct sum ${\bf T}^2\bigoplus{\bf T}^4$ with the fixed plane lying in ${\bf T}^2$. The string loop threshold corrections to the gauge coupling constants are derived, and display symmetry groups for the $T$ and $U$ moduli that are subgroups of the full modular group $PSL(2,Z)$. The effective potential for duality invariant gaugino condensate in the presence of hidden sector matter is constructed and minimized for the values of the moduli. The effect of Wilson lines on the modular symmetries is also studied.Comment: QMW--TH--94/18, 12 page

Duality Symmetries in Orbifold Models

We derive the duality symmetries relevant to moduli dependent gauge coupling constant threshold corrections, in Coxeter ${\bf Z_N}$ orbifolds. We consider those orbifolds for which the point group leaves fixed a 2-dimensional sublattice $\Lambda_2$, of the six dimensional torus lattice $\Lambda_6$, where $\Lambda_6$ cannot be decomposed as $\Lambda_2 \bigoplus{\Lambda_4}.$Comment: 13 pages, QMW--TH--93/21, SUSX--TH--93/1