Analyzing Enterprise Systems Delivery Modes for Small and Medium Enterprises

Prior studies have suggested that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have unique characteristics that impact their ability to successfully implement enterprise systems. This paper analyzes three modes of delivery for enterprise systems: integrated ERP, Best of Breed (BoB), and Software as a Service (SaaS), and determines how well these delivery modes are aligned with the requirements of SMEs. An analysis of prior research on enterprise systems and SMEs suggests the integrated ERP approach may yield several additional benefits compared to the BoB and SaaS approaches for SMEs. The analysis framework presented can be used to guide the selection of appropriate enterprise systems delivery mechanisms for SMEs and ultimately help improve their effectiveness

Tridiagonal and Pentadiagonal Doubly Stochastic Matrices

We provide a decomposition that is sufficient in showing when a symmetric tridiagonal matrix $A$ is completely positive and provide examples including how one can change the initial conditions or deal with block matrices, which expands the range of matrices to which our decomposition can be applied. Our decomposition leads us to a number of related results, allowing us to prove that for tridiagonal doubly stochastic matrices, positive semidefiniteness is equivalent to complete positivity (rather than merely being implied by complete positivity). We then consider symmetric pentadiagonal matrices, proving some analogous results, and providing two different decompositions sufficient for complete positivity, again illustrated by a number of examples.Comment: 15 page

Tridiagonal and Pentadiagonal Doubly Stochastic Matrices

We provide a decomposition that is sufficient in showing when a symmetric tridiagonal matrix A is completely positive and provide examples including how one can change the initial conditions or deal with block matrices, which expands the range of matrices to which our decomposition can be applied. Our decomposition leads us to a number of related results, allowing us to prove that for tridiagonal doubly stochastic matrices, positive semidefiniteness is equivalent to complete positivity (rather than merely being implied by complete positivity). We then consider symmetric pentadiagonal matrices, proving some analogous results, and providing two different decompositions sufficient for complete positivity, again illustrated by a number of examples

Development and evaluation of a mindfulness- based stress reduction self-help intervention for patients with medically unexplained symptoms

Background: Alongside experiencing physical symptoms with no identifiable organic cause, patients with MUS commonly experience comorbid anxiety and depression. They also have high health utilisation costs, which has implications for the health service. Interventions which target these symptoms in a cost effective way need to be developed and evaluated. Objective: To develop and evaluate a self-help mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention for patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of MBSR for reducing psychological distress in people with MUS. Study 1 developed and evaluated a self-help MBSR intervention in a clinical setting. Fifteen participants were recruited from eight practice, however only five completed post-intervention measures. A combination of t-tests and descriptive statistics were used to compare changes in levels of psychological distress, quality of life, symptoms and mindfulness at post-intervention. Pearson‘s correlations were used to identify relationships between improvements in mindfulness and improvements in outcomes. Study 2, exploring the reasons for the difficulties recruiting participants to Study 1, was then carried out through questionnaires to GPs. Results: Though more evidence is needed, the systematic review found MBSR to have moderate effects on psychological distress, which are largely maintained or improved at follow-up. Study 1 found symptom frequency and levels of acceptance to have improved at post-intervention. Study 2 found that the main reasons for GPs not recruiting participants was that they were busy and found it difficult to prioritise given other demands. Conclusions: Evidence to date suggests that MBSR is an effective intervention for patients with MUS. Future studies may benefit from recruiting participants from relevant organisations or using alternative methods such as database searches. No firm conclusions can be made about the self-help MBSR intervention‘s efficacy due to the study‘s limitations, however changes seen in the completer group suggest that further research would be warranted

The effectiveness of the behavioural components of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia in older adults:A systematic review

Insomnia is more prevalent in older adults (< 60 years) than in the general population. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the gold-standard treatment; however, it may prove too cognitively taxing for some. This systematic review aimed to critically examine the literature exploring the effectiveness of explicitly behavioural interventions for insomnia in older adults, with secondary aims of investigating their effect on mood and daytime functioning. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE – Ovid, Embase – Ovid, CINAHL, and PsycINFO) were searched. All experimental, quasi-experimental and pre-experimental studies were included, provided they: (a) were published in English; (b) recruited older adults with insomnia; (c) used sleep restriction and/or stimulus control; (d) reported outcomes pre-and-post intervention. Database searches returned 1689 articles; 15 studies, summarising the results of 498 older adults, were included – three focused on stimulus control, four on sleep restriction, and eight adopted multicomponent treatments comprised of both interventions. All interventions brought about significant improvements in one or more subjectively measured facets of sleep although, overall, multicomponent therapies demonstrated larger effects (median Hedge's g = 0.55). Actigraphic or polysomnographic outcomes demonstrated smaller or no effects. Improvements in measures of depression were seen in multicomponent interventions, but no intervention demonstrated any statistically significant improvement in measures of anxiety. This corroborates with the existing consensus that multicomponent approaches confer the most benefit, and adds to the literature by demonstrating this to be the case in brief, explicitly behavioural interventions. This review guides future study of treatments for insomnia in populations where cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is not appropriate