28 research outputs found
Mapping the MIS Curriculum Based on Critical Skills of New Graduates: An Empirical Examination of IT Professionals
MIS curricula research almost always focuses on either curriculum issues or the critical skills required of new MIS graduates, rarely both. This study examines both by determining the critical skills required of new graduates, from the perspective of IT professionals in the field, then uniquely mapping those skills into a comprehensive yet flexible MIS curriculum that could be used by any MIS department. Using a sample of 153 IT professionals from six organizations in the mid-South, the results are somewhat surprising. While personal attributes are important, IT workers clearly believe that technology skills are a critical component of an MIS education, in particular database skills (including SQL), computer languages (at least two), and web design proficiency. Results also stress the importance of foundational concepts and knowledge, preparing new graduates for careers and not merely their first job. The impact for MIS curriculum designers is clear: make the major technically robust while simultaneously providing a core foundation in both business and IT. The study strongly suggests that concentrations (two or more sequenced courses) are a must; four are recommended as a result of this study: programming/architecture, telecommunications/networks, database, and web design/e-commerce. Implications are discussed
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Selective Lanthanide Sensing with Gold Nanoparticles and Hydroxypyridinone Chelators.
The octadentate hydroxypyridinone chelator 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) is a promising therapeutic agent because of its high affinity for f-block elements and noncytotoxicity at medical dosages. The interaction between 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and other biomedically relevant metals such as gold, however, has not been explored. Gold nanoparticles functionalized with chelators have demonstrated great potential in theranostics, yet thus far, no protocol that combines 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and colloidal gold has been developed. Here, we characterize the solution thermodynamic properties of the complexes formed between 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and Au3+ ions and demonstrate how under specific pH conditions the chelator promotes the growth of gold nanoparticles, acting as both reducing and stabilizing agent. 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) ligands on the nanoparticle surface remain active and selective toward f-block elements, as evidenced by gold nanoparticle selective aggregation. Finally, a new colorimetric assay capable of reaching the detection levels necessary for the quantification of lanthanides in waste from industrial processes is developed based on the inhibition of particle growth by lanthanides
Patterned probes for high precision 4D-STEM bragg measurements.
Nanoscale strain mapping by four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) relies on determining the precise locations of Bragg-scattered electrons in a sequence of diffraction patterns, a task which is complicated by dynamical scattering, inelastic scattering, and shot noise. These features hinder accurate automated computational detection and position measurement of the diffracted disks, limiting the precision of measurements of local deformation. Here, we investigate the use of patterned probes to improve the precision of strain mapping. We imprint a "bullseye" pattern onto the probe, by using a binary mask in the probe-forming aperture, to improve the robustness of the peak finding algorithm to intensity modulations inside the diffracted disks. We show that this imprinting leads to substantially improved strain-mapping precision at the expense of a slight decrease in spatial resolution. In experiments on an unstrained silicon reference sample, we observe an improvement in strain measurement precision from 2.7% of the reciprocal lattice vectors with standard probes to 0.3% using bullseye probes for a thin sample, and an improvement from 4.7% to 0.8% for a thick sample. We also use multislice simulations to explore how sample thickness and electron dose limit the attainable accuracy and precision for 4D-STEM strain measurements
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Seniors and Information Technology: A MIS-Fit?
The “digital divide” between the haves and have-nots in society continues to draw attention in traditional media outlets as well as academic research. Those yearning to join the computer revolution comprise several groups defined by wealth, ethnicity, country (even regions of countries), and age. While there has been research into the digital divide in all of these areas, the focus of this paper is Information Technology (IT) use by the elderly, or our senior citizens. Our interest in this group stems from the dynamic interaction of two forces: 1) senior populations are growing in percentage and sheer number both in the United States and internationally; and 2) as a group, the elderly have more disposable income to spend on IT than their younger counterparts. In order to coordinate our research agenda, the current investigation presents a framework that delineates scholarly inquiry into this topic by the elements of the framework. We look at what has been done, and what we feel needs to be done, in order to incorporate an important demographic group into the mainstream of computing society: our seniors
Automated Crystal Orientation Mapping in py4DSTEM using Sparse Correlation Matching
Crystalline materials used in technological applications are often complex
assemblies composed of multiple phases and differently oriented grains. Robust
identification of the phases and orientation relationships from these samples
is crucial, but the information extracted from the diffraction condition probed
by an electron beam is often incomplete. We therefore have developed an
automated crystal orientation mapping (ACOM) procedure which uses a converged
electron probe to collect diffraction patterns from multiple locations across a
complex sample. We provide an algorithm to determine the orientation of each
diffraction pattern based on a fast sparse correlation method. We test the
speed and accuracy of our method by indexing diffraction patterns generated
using both kinematical and dynamical simulations. We have also measured
orientation maps from an experimental dataset consisting of a complex
polycrystalline twisted helical AuAgPd nanowire. From these maps we identify
twin planes between adjacent grains, which may be responsible for the twisted
helical structure. All of our methods are made freely available as open source
code, including tutorials which can be easily adapted to perform ACOM
measurements on diffraction pattern datasets.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Uncovering polar vortex structures by inversion of multiple scattering with a stacked Bloch wave model
Nanobeam electron diffraction can probe local structural properties of
complex crystalline materials including phase, orientation, tilt, strain, and
polarization. Ideally, each diffraction pattern from a projected area of a few
unit cells would produce clear a Bragg diffraction pattern, where the
reciprocal lattice vectors can be measured from the spacing of the diffracted
spots, and the spot intensities are equal to the square of the structure factor
amplitudes. However, many samples are too thick for this simple interpretation
of their diffraction patterns, as multiple scattering of the electron beam can
produce a highly nonlinear relationship between the spot intensities and the
underlying structure. Here, we develop a stacked Bloch wave method to model the
diffracted intensities from thick samples with structure that varies along the
electron beam. Our method reduces the large parameter space of electron
scattering to just a few structural variables per probe position, making it
fast enough to apply to very large fields of view. We apply our method to
SrTiO/PbTiO/SrTiO multilayer samples, and successfully disentangle
specimen tilt from the mean polarization of the PbTiO layers. We elucidate
the structure of complex vortex topologies in the PbTiO layers,
demonstrating the promise of our method to extract material properties from
thick samples
Multibeam Electron Diffraction
One of the primary uses for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is to
measure diffraction pattern images in order to determine a crystal structure
and orientation. In nanobeam electron diffraction (NBED) we scan a moderately
converged electron probe over the sample to acquire thousands or even millions
of sequential diffraction images, a technique that is especially appropriate
for polycrystalline samples. However, due to the large Ewald sphere of TEM,
excitation of Bragg peaks can be extremely sensitive to sample tilt, varying
strongly for even a few degrees of sample tilt for crystalline samples. In this
paper, we present multibeam electron diffraction (MBED), where multiple probe
forming apertures are used to create mutiple STEM probes, all of which interact
with the sample simultaneously. We detail designs for MBED experiments, and a
method for using a focused ion beam (FIB) to produce MBED apertures. We show
the efficacy of the MBED technique for crystalline orientation mapping using
both simulations and proof-of-principle experiments. We also show how the
angular information in MBED can be used to perform 3D tomographic
reconstruction of samples without needing to tilt or scan the sample multiple
times. Finally, we also discuss future opportunities for the MBED method.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Iterative Phase Retrieval Algorithms for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has been extensively used
for imaging complex materials down to atomic resolution. The most commonly
employed STEM imaging modality of annular dark field produces
easily-interpretable contrast, but is dose-inefficient and produces little to
no contrast for light elements and weakly-scattering samples. An alternative is
to use phase contrast STEM imaging, enabled by high speed detectors able to
record full images of a diffracted STEM probe over a grid of scan positions.
Phase contrast imaging in STEM is highly dose-efficient, able to measure the
structure of beam-sensitive materials and even biological samples. Here, we
comprehensively describe the theoretical background, algorithmic implementation
details, and perform both simulated and experimental tests for three iterative
phase retrieval STEM methods: focused-probe differential phase contrast,
defocused-probe parallax imaging, and a generalized ptychographic gradient
descent method implemented in two and three dimensions. We discuss the
strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches using a consistent
framework to allow for easier comparison. This presentation of STEM phase
retrieval methods will make these methods more approachable, reproducible and
more readily adoptable for many classes of samples.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 1 tabl
py4DSTEM: a software package for multimodal analysis of four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy datasets
Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) allows for imaging,
diffraction, and spectroscopy of materials on length scales ranging from
microns to atoms. By using a high-speed, direct electron detector, it is now
possible to record a full 2D image of the diffracted electron beam at each
probe position, typically a 2D grid of probe positions. These 4D-STEM datasets
are rich in information, including signatures of the local structure,
orientation, deformation, electromagnetic fields and other sample-dependent
properties. However, extracting this information requires complex analysis
pipelines, from data wrangling to calibration to analysis to visualization, all
while maintaining robustness against imaging distortions and artifacts. In this
paper, we present py4DSTEM, an analysis toolkit for measuring material
properties from 4D-STEM datasets, written in the Python language and released
with an open source license. We describe the algorithmic steps for dataset
calibration and various 4D-STEM property measurements in detail, and present
results from several experimental datasets. We have also implemented a simple
and universal file format appropriate for electron microscopy data in py4DSTEM,
which uses the open source HDF5 standard. We hope this tool will benefit the
research community, helps to move the developing standards for data and
computational methods in electron microscopy, and invite the community to
contribute to this ongoing, fully open-source project