Project Management Courses in IS Graduate Programs: What is Being Taught?

The most recent model curriculum for graduate information systems programs includes a project management course, which contains a balance of technical and managerially related skills. Prior research has shown that adoption of this project management course among information systems graduate programs is not extensive. This study compares the topical coverage of the courses that are being offered against the Project Management lnstitute\u27s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Georgia State University\u27s Computer Information Systems graduate project management course in information technology. A web-based survey of 206 institutions with graduate information systems programs was conducted; 103 responded and 78 indicated that they had a project management course with 41 instructors completing the questionnaire (53% response rate). Data collected from the survey were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. With respect to the topics of project management found in the PMBOK, information systems programs are covering hard skills such as project scope and cost management to a large extent and giving less emphasis to soft skills such as human resource and project communications management. Also, procurement management is only covered to a very small extent. Similarly, information systems programs matched well with the benchmark course at Georgia State University in the extent of coverage for hard skills such as work breakdown, estimation, and project networks, but their coverage of areas such as project chartering and dealing with vendors and suppliers was considerably lower

Task Structure and the Propensity to Collaborate vs. Cooperate

Researchers have long studied the group dynamics of teams with the goal of making teams more effective. This study looks at the task structure to determine if groups are more likely to collaborate or cooperate to successfully complete a project. Initial findings indicate that the higher the structure of a project the more likely teams will gravitate to cooperation while the less structured the project the more likely teams are to work collaboratively. Initial findings indicate that the determination of the “structuredness” of a project is a subjective rather than objective assessment

HIV and fertility change in rural Zimbabwe

Fertility transition and HIV epidemics are currently running parallel in some sub-Saharan African populations. Interactions between the two at the individual and population levels could accentuate or moderate the resulting demographic trends. We review a number of mechanisms through which an HIV epidemic and responses to it can affect birth rates, through the biological and behavioural proximate determinants. Uninfected as well as infected people can be affected and many of the changes could have unintended consequences for fertility at the individual level. Results from a small-scale in-depth study in two rural areas of Zimbabwe are reviewed. These indicate that the local HIV epidemic has begun to influence the proximate determinants of fertility. If observed trends persist, a modest acceleration in the recent decline in birth rates seems plausible

Predicted carcass meat yield and primal cut yields in cattle divergent in genetic merit for a terminal index

peer-reviewedSeveral studies have clearly demonstrated the favorable impact of genetic selection on increasing beef cattle performance within the farm gate. Few studies, however, have attempted to quantify the value of genetic selection to downstream sectors of the beef industry, such as the meat processing sector. The objective of the current study was to characterize detailed carcass attributes of animals divergent in genetic merit for a terminal index as well as individual measures of genetic merit for carcass weight, conformation, and fat. The data used consisted of 53,674 young bulls and steers slaughtered between the years 2010 and 2013 in multiple Irish processing plants. All animals had a genetic evaluation as well as phenotypic measures of carcass characteristics. A terminal index, based on pedigree index for calving performance, feed intake, and carcass traits, calculated from the Irish national genetic evaluations, was obtained for each animal. Animals were categorized into four terminal index groups based on genetic merit estimates derived prior to the expression of the carcass phenotype by the animal. The association between genetic merit for terminal index with predicted phenotypic carcass red meat yield, carcass fat, carcass bone, and carcass composition, as well as between genetic merit for carcass weight, conformation, and fat with predicted phenotypic carcass red meat yield and composition were all quantified using linear mixed models. A greater terminal index value was associated with, on average, heavier phenotypic weights of each wholesale cut category. A greater terminal index value was also associated with a greater weight of meat and bone, but reduced carcass fat. Relative to animals in the lowest 25% genetic merit group, animals in the highest 25% genetic merit group had, on average, a greater predicted yield of very high value cuts (4.52 kg), high value cuts (13.13 kg), medium value cuts (6.06 kg), low value cuts (13.25 kg) as well as more total meat yield (37 kg). The results from the present study clearly signify a benefit to meat processers from breeding programs for terminal characteristics; coupled with the previously documented benefits to the producer, the benefits of breeding programs across the entire food production chain are obvious

Pediatric duodenal cancer and biallelic mismatch repair gene mutations

Gastrointestinal malignancies are extremely rare in the pediatric population, and duodenal cancers represent an even more unusual entity. Intestinal cancers in young adults and children have been observed to be associated with functional deficiencies of the mismatch repair (MMR) system causing a cancer-predisposition syndrome. We report the case of a 16-year-old female with duodenal adenocarcinoma and past history of medulloblastoma found to have a novel germline bialleleic truncating mutation (c.[949C>T]+[949C>T]) of the PMS2 gene. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:116–120. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62997/1/21957_ftp.pd

Energy management in mobile devices with the cinder operating system

We argue that controlling energy allocation is an increasingly useful and important feature for operating systems, especially on mobile devices. We present two new low-level abstractions in the Cinder operating system, reserves and taps, which store and distribute energy for application use. We identify three key properties of control -- isolation, delegation, and subdivision -- and show how using these abstractions can achieve them. We also show how the architecture of the HiStar information-flow control kernel lends itself well to energy control. We prototype and evaluate Cinder on a popular smartphone, the Android G1.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant #0831163)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant #0846014)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyMicrosoft ResearchNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Cybertrust award CNS-0716806)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (POMI (Programmable Open Mobile Internet) 2020 Expedition Grant #0832820)T-Mobile US

Pattern and Coloration of Periclimenes rathbunae from the Turks and Caicos Islands, with Comments on Host Associations in Other Anemone Shrimps of the West Indies and Bermuda

The commensal shrimp Periclimenes rathbunae Schmitt, 1924, lives in association with the sea anemones Condylactis gigantea Weinland, 1860, and Stichodactyla (= Stoichactis) helianthus Ellis, 1767, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies. We describe its pattem and coloration in life. Published reports of distribution and host acceptance by P. rathbunae and three of its congeners (P. anthophilus Holthuis and Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1964; P. pedersoni Chace, 1958; and P. yucatanicus Ives, 1891) are reviewed. The last two species are recorded for the first time from the Turks and Caicos, and the association of P. yucatanicus with Stichodactyla helianthus on the Caicos Bank is a new host record. Finally, we offer the first direct evidence that P. yucatanicus leaves the host anemone temporarily to clean fishes, discounting a previous suggestion of its role as a noncleaning mimic of P. pedersoni