Draft Model for Network Information System: Working Paper Series--03-15

This paper presents a model to aid researchers with the task of identifying the elements of a network-based information system in their studies. If the elements are not properly identified, the results of a study may be misinterpreted or lost. The elements of network-based information can be divided into three major categories: Use: people using or benefiting from use of the information system, procedures used by the people, and functional area data; Applications: people developing or maintaining software, development and maintenance procedures, application configuration data, and the applications; Infrastructure: systems personnel, systems procedures, protocols, system data, system software, and hardware. Proper identification of network-based information system elements can make delimiting the study easier and make the results more convincing

Toward iconic-based information technology and application control exception messages: Working paper series--07-09

Users of information technology (IT) commonly encounter exception messages during their interactions with application programs. Exception messages are an important element in accounting application controls which address exposures within specific computer application programs such as payroll, sales processing, and cash disbursements. Exception messages are similar in purpose to the warning messages that appear on consumer products and equipment (e.g., cigarettes, power tools, etc.), in various work environments (e.g., around machinery), and on chemicals. This manuscript reviews the normative elements and information that are included in product, chemical, and environment warnings and proposes that these elements and information should also be included in IT and application control exception messages. It is argued that including these elements will increase the effectiveness, informativeness, and consistency of exception messages. Additionally, we report the results of an experiment carried out to determine if IT and application control exception messages designed to conform to the normative elements, by specifically including descriptive icons, improves user interactions. The results of the experiment confirm that user's behavioral compliance increases when interacting with a system that incorporates iconic-based exception messages

The effect of qualitative expressions of magnitude in the letter to shareholders on investors' perceptions of earnings performance: Working paper series--03-18

Annual reports issued by publicly traded firms are important documents for communicating the financial performance of a company. In addition to the financial statements, annual reports contain non-numerical information (i.e., written expressions). The letter to shareholders is typically the first non-numerical item representing management's communication that a reader comes to in an annual report. The primary content of the letter to shareholders is a series of written expressions used to describe the company's financial situation. We report how readers' perceptions are influenced by one type of written expression often found in the letter to shareholders: Qualitative expressions of magnitude (e.g., "minimal," "moderate" or "sizable") used to describe the results of operations. Top management (e.g., presidents) very often uses qualitative expressions of magnitude in the letter to shareholders to describe the quantitative financial performance of the company found in the accompanying financial statements. Holding the actual percentage change in corporate earnings and other contextual factors constant, we find that the type of expression used in the letter to shareholders does influence readers' perception of financial performance reported in the financial statements. In addition, we find evidence that less sophisticated investors are influenced more by the use of qualitative expressions of magnitude

Information technology exception messages - An investigation of compliance with the normative standards of warnings: Working paper series--07-08

Users of information technology (IT) frequently encounter "exception messages" during their interactions with computing systems. Exception messages are important points of communication with users of IT and are similar in purpose to warning messages that appear on consumer products and equipment (e.g., cigarettes, power tools, etc.), in various work environments (e.g., around machinery), and on chemicals. This study reviews the normative elements and information that are included in product, chemical, and environment warnings and proposes that these elements and information should also be included in IT exception messages. Also reported are the results of an investigation of a sample of exception messages to determine their degree of compliance with the proposed elements. Results indicate that, relative to normative prescriptions established in the literature on warnings, IT exception messages lack descriptive content

The perceived hazard of earcons in information technology exception messages: The effect of musical dissonance: Working paper series--10-03

Users of information technology (IT) commonly encounter exception messages during their interactions with application programs to signal a computing problem or error. Exception messages often are accompanied by earcons which are aural messages of a musical nature used in the human-computer interface to provide information and feedback about some computer object, operation, or interaction. Utilizing the notion of musical dissonance earcons were designed that vary as to their degree of aural disagreeableness along a rank order scale. It is hypothesized that in the context of IT exception messages earcons with a higher degree of musical dissonance (aural disagreeableness) would be perceived as communicating a higher degree of hazard associated with the underlying computing problem signaled by an exception message. Participants rated the degree of hazard of each earcon presented in a random order in an experiment. Results of the data analysis indicate partial support of the hypothesis. The implications are that it may be possible to increase the degree of hazard matching in IT environments by designing earcons that accompany exception messages to communicate different levels of perceived hazard of an underlying computer problem

Empagliflozin in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Background The effects of empagliflozin in patients with chronic kidney disease who are at risk for disease progression are not well understood. The EMPA-KIDNEY trial was designed to assess the effects of treatment with empagliflozin in a broad range of such patients. Methods We enrolled patients with chronic kidney disease who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of at least 20 but less than 45 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) of body-surface area, or who had an eGFR of at least 45 but less than 90 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2) with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (with albumin measured in milligrams and creatinine measured in grams) of at least 200. Patients were randomly assigned to receive empagliflozin (10 mg once daily) or matching placebo. The primary outcome was a composite of progression of kidney disease (defined as end-stage kidney disease, a sustained decrease in eGFR to < 10 ml per minute per 1.73 m(2), a sustained decrease in eGFR of & GE;40% from baseline, or death from renal causes) or death from cardiovascular causes. Results A total of 6609 patients underwent randomization. During a median of 2.0 years of follow-up, progression of kidney disease or death from cardiovascular causes occurred in 432 of 3304 patients (13.1%) in the empagliflozin group and in 558 of 3305 patients (16.9%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64 to 0.82; P < 0.001). Results were consistent among patients with or without diabetes and across subgroups defined according to eGFR ranges. The rate of hospitalization from any cause was lower in the empagliflozin group than in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.78 to 0.95; P=0.003), but there were no significant between-group differences with respect to the composite outcome of hospitalization for heart failure or death from cardiovascular causes (which occurred in 4.0% in the empagliflozin group and 4.6% in the placebo group) or death from any cause (in 4.5% and 5.1%, respectively). The rates of serious adverse events were similar in the two groups. Conclusions Among a wide range of patients with chronic kidney disease who were at risk for disease progression, empagliflozin therapy led to a lower risk of progression of kidney disease or death from cardiovascular causes than placebo