Modular Invariants and Twisted Equivariant K-theory II: Dynkin diagram symmetries

The most basic structure of chiral conformal field theory (CFT) is the Verlinde ring. Freed-Hopkins-Teleman have expressed the Verlinde ring for the CFT's associated to loop groups, as twisted equivariant K-theory. We build on their work to express K-theoretically the structures of full CFT. In particular, the modular invariant partition functions (which essentially parametrise the possible full CFTs) have a rich interpretation within von Neumann algebras (subfactors), which has led to the developments of structures of full CFT such as the full system (fusion ring of defect lines), nimrep (cylindrical partition function), alpha-induction etc. Modular categorical interpretations for these have followed. For the generic families of modular invariants (i.e. those associated to Dynkin diagram symmetries), we provide a K-theoretic framework for these other CFT structures, and show how they relate to D-brane charges and charge-groups. We also study conformal embeddings and the E7 modular invariant of SU(2), as well as some families of finite group doubles. This new K-theoretic framework allows us to simplify and extend the less transparent, more ad hoc descriptions of these structures obtained previously within CFT.Comment: 49 pages; more explanatory material added; minor correction

Applying international business constructs to offshore development

Although globalisation and international business have long been subjects of research, there is relatively little research on the practice of global IS development within these disciplines. This paper applies two widely cited constructs associated with international business theory – cultural distance and knowledge transfer – to instances of offshore IS development in the financial services industry in the UK to assess their applicability to the phenomenon of IS offshoring. This study aims to broaden the understanding of social and organisational aspects of global sourcing of information systems and forms part of an ongoing interpretive research programme. Initial results indicate that knowledge transfer and cultural distance are particularly relevant to IS offshoring and can be used to increase our understanding of the challenges associated with this phenomenon. The interpretation of cultural distance as cultural ‘friction’ provides particular insights

Assessing the impacts of IS offshoring: preliminary conclusions questioning the validity of cultural consideration

This paper defines an analytic framework with which to research the impact of IS offshoring on its various stakeholders and applies this to two significant case studies of offshoring in the financial services industry. It presents conclusions on one particular segment of the research programme, namely the extent to which IS offshoring drives cultural change for IS practitioners in offshore locations. It concludes that the resultant impact is notable, but not different in any significant way to that experienced by any IS practitioner who works overseas. Further, the cultural differences between onshore and offshore practitioners tend to diminish quickly as they adapt to new cultural environments

The emergence of a new form of IS offshore enterprise - The modern heterarchy

This paper describes how IS offshoring organisations are changing in response to increased globalisation of the practice of software development. It posits the emergence of a new form of multinational enterprise (MNE), described in this paper as a ‘modern heterarchy’, which extends the construct of the heterarchy originally developed by Gunnar Hedlund in 1986. The paper draws on theoretical antecedents in the discipline of international business studies, and is supported by empirical data gathered from two extended case studies of offshore IS projects. The research uses grounded theory techniques for the collection and analysis of data, and has particular value for IS practitioners in offshore IS MNEs

Predicting blunt cerebrovascular injury in pediatric trauma: Validation of the Utah Score

Risk factors for blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) may differ between children and adults, suggesting that children at low risk for BCVI after trauma receive unnecessary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and high-dose radiation. We previously developed a score for predicting pediatric BCVI based on retrospective cohort analysis. Our objective is to externally validate this prediction score with a retrospective multi-institutional cohort. We included patients who underwent CTA for traumatic cranial injury at four pediatric Level I trauma centers. Each patient in the validation cohort was scored using the “Utah Score” and classified as high or low risk. Before analysis, we defined a misclassification rate <25% as validating the Utah Score. Six hundred forty-five patients (mean age 8.6 ± 5.4 years; 63.4% males) underwent screening for BCVI via CTA. The validation cohort was 411 patients from three sites compared with the training cohort of 234 patients. Twenty-two BCVIs (5.4%) were identified in the validation cohort. The Utah Score was significantly associated with BCVIs in the validation cohort (odds ratio 8.1 [3.3, 19.8], p < 0.001) and discriminated well in the validation cohort (area under the curve 72%). When the Utah Score was applied to the validation cohort, the sensitivity was 59%, specificity was 85%, positive predictive value was 18%, and negative predictive value was 97%. The Utah Score misclassified 16.6% of patients in the validation cohort. The Utah Score for predicting BCVI in pediatric trauma patients was validated with a low misclassification rate using a large, independent, multicenter cohort. Its implementation in the clinical setting may reduce the use of CTA in low-risk patients