System Usage: A Shared Mental Model Perspective

The failure rate of Information Systems (IS) projects is high and has been high for many years. Failed IS projects leave organizations with systems that have very low usage and a negative rate of return on their investment. System use is a key measure of IS success. User participation and involvement (UPI) during application development and configuration are key factors that influence system use. However, empirical studies have shown mixed results for the influence of UPI on system use. This study explores the extent to which shared mental model (SMM) of a project team influences the impact of UPI on system use. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from UPI and SMM body of research, this study introduces SMM as a variable to better explain how and why UPI effects system use outcomes. The findings are based on multiple case studies conducted over many months and reviewed eight IS projects by different teams within an organization. The findings illustrate effects of UPI on system use outcomes is moderated by SMM, such that a) higher levels of SMM positively influences the effects of UPI on system use outcome and b) lower levels of SMM negatively influences the effects of UPI on system use outcomes. The wide ranging implications of these findings for IS research and practitioners are discussed

Tracking an Auto-Regressive Process with Limited Communication per Unit Time

Samples from a high-dimensional AR[1] process are observed by a sender which can communicate only finitely many bits per unit time to a receiver. The receiver seeks to form an estimate of the process value at every time instant in real-time. We consider a time-slotted communication model in a slow-sampling regime where multiple communication slots occur between two sampling instants. We propose a successive update scheme which uses communication between sampling instants to refine estimates of the latest sample and study the following question: Is it better to collect communication of multiple slots to send better refined estimates, making the receiver wait more for every refinement, or to be fast but loose and send new information in every communication opportunity? We show that the fast but loose successive update scheme with ideal spherical codes is universally optimal asymptotically for a large dimension. However, most practical quantization codes for fixed dimensions do not meet the ideal performance required for this optimality, and they typically will have a bias in the form of a fixed additive error. Interestingly, our analysis shows that the fast but loose scheme is not an optimal choice in the presence of such errors, and a judiciously chosen frequency of updates outperforms it

Dynamic Functional Connectivity Predicts Treatment Response to Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depressive Disorder

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most effective treatments for major depressive disorder. Recently, there has been increasing attention to evaluate the effect of ECT on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). This study aims to compare rs-fMRI of depressive disorder (DEP) patients with healthy participants, investigate whether pre-ECT dynamic functional network connectivity network (dFNC) estimated from patients rs-fMRI is associated with an eventual ECT outcome, and explore the effect of ECT on brain network states. Method: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 119 patients with depression or depressive disorder (DEP) (76 females), and 61 healthy (HC) participants (34 females), with an age mean of 52.25 (N = 180) years old. The pre-ECT and post-ECT Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were 25.59 ± 6.14 and 11.48 ± 9.07, respectively. Twenty-four independent components from default mode (DMN) and cognitive control network (CCN) were extracted, using group-independent component analysis from pre-ECT and post-ECT rs-fMRI. Then, the sliding window approach was used to estimate the pre-and post-ECT dFNC of each subject. Next, k-means clustering was separately applied to pre-ECT dFNC and post-ECT dFNC to assess three distinct states from each participant. We calculated the amount of time each subject spends in each state, which is called “occupancy rate” or OCR. Next, we compared OCR values between HC and DEP participants. We also calculated the partial correlation between pre-ECT OCRs and HDRS change while controlling for age, gender, and site. Finally, we evaluated the effectiveness of ECT by comparing pre- and post-ECT OCR of DEP and HC participants. Results: The main findings include (1) depressive disorder (DEP) patients had significantly lower OCR values than the HC group in state 2, where connectivity between cognitive control network (CCN) and default mode network (DMN) was relatively higher than other states (corrected p = 0.015), (2) Pre-ECT OCR of state, with more negative connectivity between CCN and DMN components, is linked with the HDRS changes (R = 0.23 corrected p = 0.03). This means that those DEP patients who spent less time in this state showed more HDRS change, and (3) The post-ECT OCR analysis suggested that ECT increased the amount of time DEP patients spent in state 2 (corrected p = 0.03). Conclusion: Our finding suggests that dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) features, estimated from CCN and DMN, show promise as a predictive biomarker of the ECT outcome of DEP patients. Also, this study identifies a possible underlying mechanism associated with the ECT effect on DEP patients

Smog episodes in the Lodz agglomeration in the years 2014-17

In recent years, in the winter season we are alarmed about the poor air quality in Poland and significantly exceeded permissible concentrations of certain pollutants, especially PM10 and PM2.5, which are a result of so-called low emissions. The authors analyze smog episodes in the Lodz agglomeration by comparing the recorded values of selected pollutant concentrations at monitoring stations of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Lodz with the meteorological conditions prevailing at this time. The analysis covers data from the years 2014-2017

Inflationary Trends in Law and Development

This Article analyzes two seemingly contradictory trends in the study and practice of law and development. First, it looks at the ever-rising level of expectations and ambitions about what law can do for development. Second, it looks at the increasingly vocal criticism and frustration, both from inside and outside the field, that law often fails to achieve the desired developmental effects. This Article argues that there is a relationship between increasing ambition and lack of impact. More particularly, it suggests that increasing ambition produces limited impacts but that lack of impact, ironically, leads to recommendations to increase ambition. This Article concludes that this linked evolution originates first from forces outside of the law and development domain, such as increasing pressures on aid efficacy, shifts in developmental paradigms, and increased geopolitical pressures to bring law into post-conflict states and peace- building efforts. The relationship between ambition and lack of impact is also internal to the field, however. Scholars and practitioners operate cyclically, criticizing existing practices in order to launch new and often bolder developments. This Article calls for a break from these cycles, a return to basic interventions that seek to make incremental improvements in the functioning of law in the context of development, and a shift from lofty overarching paradigms that obscure and disappoint, rather than aid, development

Tracing new occupational diseases in agriculture

Continuous changes in work and working conditions give rise to new occupational health risks and new occupational diseases. The health consequences of new technologies, as well as the currently unknown effects of existing technologies, create reasons for concern among the working population, people professionally involved in work and health, policymakers and insurers.detection of new occupational consequences of work on health and ways towards better OHS-vigilance is of otmost importance

Identifying sources of intractability in cognitive models: An illustration using analogical structure mapping

Many computational models in cognitive science and artificial intelligence face the problem of computational intractability when assumed to operate for unrestricted input domains. Tractability may be achieved by restricting the input domain, but some degree of generality is typically required to model human-like intelligence. Moreover, it is often non-obvious which restrictions will render a model tractable or not. We present an analytical tool that can be used to identify sources of intractability in a model’s input domain. For our illustration, we use Gentner’s Structure-Mapping Theory of analogy as a running example

Interference from long-tailed finches constrains reproduction in the endangered Gouldian finch

1. Interspecific interference competition for nest-sites among cavity-nesting birds can have important effects on reproductive fitness and the distribution of competing species. 2. We observed interference at nest-sites in free-living populations of the endangered Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) and sympatric long-tailed finch (Poephila acuticauda), and also experimentally tested the relative strength and effect of interference at nest-sites in captive populations. 3.  Levels of competitive interference at nest-sites in the wild were high for Gouldian, but not long-tailed finches, and interference frequency was inversely related to Gouldian finch reproductive success. High levels of interference conferred reduced fledging success but did not affect offspring condition. 4.  Captive experiments corroborated the field data, also demonstrating fitness costs of interspecific competition, and that long-tailed finches dominated resources under standardized conditions. 5.  Such asymmetrical competition dynamics are likely to constrain reproduction in Gouldian finch populations, potentially affecting recruitment and hindering the recovery of remaining populations of this endangered species.10 page(s