A Managerial Perspective on the Information Technology Needs of End-Users

The advancement in Information Technology (IT) has brought a tremendous impact on End-User Computing (EUC). Many organizations have partially decentralized information systems, and functional area managements are being held accountable for effective utilization of IT. This study investigates IT knowledge and skills which functional area managers identify as important for end-users. Since information systems managers\u27 views are also important, their perceptions are compared with non-information systems functional area managers\u27 perceptions. Results of this study suggest specific IT topics that business graduates should know and be able to apply. The topics identified should receive the most emphasis in the MIS curriculum for all business majors

Understanding the Determinants of Weight-Related Quality of Life among Bariatric Surgery Candidates

Obesity and its relation to quality of life are multifaceted. The purpose of this paper was to contribute evidence to support a framework for understanding the impact of obesity on quality of life in 42 morbidly obese subjects considering a wide number of potential determinants. A model of weight-related quality of life (WRQL) was developed based on the Wilson-Cleary model, considering subjects' weight characteristics, arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2), walking capacity (6-minute walk test, 6MWT), health-related quality of life (HRQL; Physical and Mental Component Summaries of the SF-36 PCS/MCS), and WRQL. The model of WRQL was tested with linear regressions and a path analysis, which showed that as PaO2 at rest increased 6MWT increased. 6MWT was positively associated with the PCS, which in turn was positively related to WRQL along with the MCS. The model showed good fit and explained 38% of the variance in WRQL

Family Support and Readiness to Consider Smoking Cessation among Chinese and Vietnamese American Male Smokers

Introduction. Smoking prevalence is disproportionately high among Asian American immigrant men with limited English proficiency. Understanding the role of family support may provide insights into culturally acceptable strategies to promote smoking cessation. Aims. This study examined how family support was associated with readiness to consider smoking cessation among Chinese and Vietnamese American male daily smokers. Methods. We analyzed baseline data (N = 340) from a cluster randomized trial of a family-based healthy lifestyle intervention. We assessed the frequency of receiving family support in various forms (encouraging use of cessation resources, praising efforts, checking in, and reminding of familial role). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine associations between family support areas and readiness to consider smoking cessation, controlling for covariates. Results/Findings. Reporting a higher frequency of receiving praise and encouragement for one’s efforts to quit was positively associated with readiness to consider cessation. Other areas of family support were not significant. Conclusions. These findings provide evidence to explore specific areas of family support in enhancing Asian American smokers’ readiness to consider cessation. As there is high interest from Asian American family members to support their smokers for quitting, culturally specific and acceptable strategies are needed to promote smoking cessation among Asian Americans

Reliable Change in College Coursework Self-Efficacy

This study aimed to examine the test-retest reliability of the College Self-Efficacy Inventory-Coursework subscale (CSEI-C) and calculate cutoffs for determining reliable change. A sample of 39 college students from a U.S. university (M=19.0±1.0 years old, 84.6% women, 64.1% White) completed the CSEI-C twice (test-retest interval: M=55.4±12.4 days). The CSEI-C had good test-retest reliability, per the intraclass correlation (ICC=.85). The cutoffs of detecting reliable change were ±.91, ±1.12, and ±1.44 for 70%, 80%, and 90% confidence intervals, respectively. College students often experience mental health problems, and those presenting for psychotherapy may experience concurrent reductions in academic self-efficacy. Clinicians could use the CSEI-C during treatment to track academic self-efficacy and determine whether treatment improves confidence in coursework – a meaningful functional outcome for college students

PKCε Overexpression, Irrespective of Genetic Background, Sensitizes Skin to UVR-Induced Development of Squamous-Cell Carcinomas

Chronic exposure to UVR is the major etiologic factor in the development of human skin cancers including squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC). We have previously shown that protein Kinase C epsilon (PKCε) transgenic mice on FVB/N background, which overexpress PKCε protein approximately eightfold over endogenous levels in epidermis, exhibit about threefold more sensitivity than wild-type littermates to UVR-induced development of SCC. To determine whether it is PKCε and not the mouse genetic background that determines susceptibility to UVR carcinogenesis, we cross-bred PKCε FVB/N transgenic mice with SKH-1 hairless mice to generate PKCε-overexpressing SKH-1 hairless mice. To evaluate the susceptibility of PKCε SKH-1 hairless transgenic mice to UVR carcinogenesis, the mice were exposed to UVR (1–2KJm−2) three times weekly from a bank of six kodacel-filtered FS40 sunlamps. As compared with the wild-type hairless mice, PKCε overexpression in SKH-1 hairless mice decreased the latency (12 weeks), whereas it increased the incidence (twofold) and multiplicity (fourfold) of SCC. The SKH hairless transgenic mice were observed to be as sensitive as FVB/N transgenic mice to UVR-induced development of SCC and expression of proliferative markers (proliferating cell nuclear antigen, signal transducers and activators of transcription 3, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2). The results indicate that PKCε level dictates susceptibility, irrespective of genetic background, to UVR carcinogenesis

Religious Identity, Religious Attendance, and Parental Control

Using a national sample of adolescents aged 10–18 years and their parents (N = 5,117), this article examines whether parental religious identity and religious participation are associated with the ways in which parents control their children. We hypothesize that both religious orthodoxy and weekly religious attendance are related to heightened levels of three elements of parental control: monitoring activities, normative regulations, and network closure. Results indicate that an orthodox religious identity for Catholic and Protestant parents and higher levels of religious attendance for parents as a whole are associated with increases in monitoring activities and normative regulations of American adolescents

Synthesis 2006

The purpose of this report is to summarize and synthesize activities and achievements of the CPWF through the end of 2006. The CPWF is a CGIAR Challenge Program designed to take on the global challenge of water scarcity and food security. It takes the form of an international, multi-institutional research-for-development initiative that brings together scientists, development specialists, and river basin communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It seeks to create and disseminate international public goods (IPGs) helpful in achieving food security, reducing poverty, improving livelihoods, reducing agriculture–related pollution, and enhancing environmental security. This Challenge Program is a three-phase, 15-year endeavor. Several years have passed since the start of Phase 1 (2003-2008) which began with an inception phase in 2003 and was followed by full CPWF launch in January 2004. Research projects began field operations in mid-2004. This synthesis report, then, only describes work carried out in the first two and a half years of the Program. During this time, CPWF has conducted its research on water and food in nine benchmark basins, organized around five different themes. This work is being implemented through “first call projects”, “basin focal projects”, “small grant projects” and “synthesis research”. This present report is one example of the latter. CPWF projects have made considerable progress in developing innovative technologies, policies and institutions to address water and food issues. Some projects focused on improving agricultural water productivity. Others focused on developing mechanisms to inform multi-stakeholder dialogue and negotiation, or explored ways to value water used to produce ecosystem services. Advances were also made in understanding water-foodpoverty links, and their regional and global policy context

Elevated amygdala responses to emotional faces in youths with chronic irritability or bipolar disorder

AbstractA major controversy in child psychiatry is whether bipolar disorder (BD) presents in children as severe, non-episodic irritability (operationalized here as severe mood dysregulation, SMD), rather than with manic episodes as in adults. Both classic, episodic BD and SMD are severe mood disorders characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. Neuroimaging techniques can be used to test whether the pathophysiology mediating these deficits are similar across the two phenotypes. Amygdala dysfunction during face emotion processing is well-documented in BD, but little is known about amygdala dysfunction in chronically irritable youth. We compared neural activation in SMD (n=19), BD (n=19), and healthy volunteer (HV; n=15) youths during an implicit face-emotion processing task with angry, fearful and neutral expressions. In the right amygdala, both SMD and BD exhibited greater activity across all expressions than HV. However, SMD and BD differed from each other and HV in posterior cingulate cortex, posterior insula, and inferior parietal lobe. In these regions, only SMD showed deactivation in response to fearful expressions, whereas only BD showed deactivation in response to angry expressions. Thus, during implicit face emotion processing, youth with BD and those with SMD exhibit similar amygdala dysfunction but different abnormalities in regions involved in information monitoring and integration