Perceptions of information systems structures\u27 impact on MIS success and effectiveness

This article provides results from a study on the perceptions of information systems structures\u27 impact on implementation of MIS success and effectiveness via organizational context variables. The focus is on the use of MIS effectiveness and success variables that are utilized in MIS research. Several hypotheses were tested to discern impact of information systems structures on MIS effectiveness and success. The results show that several of these organizational context variables are associated to various degrees, depending on the MIS structure, with MIS success and effectiveness

An empirical evidence of determinant attributes on expert systems success

Expert Systems, in the last decade, have become the target of tremendous positive interest as well as consternation by the information systems professionals and end-users. This study surveyed twenty organizations to examine empirically the level of expert systems user satisfaction and success of these systems as perceived by the respondents of the survey

Enterprise resource planning: Solutions and practices

Enterprise-wide integration or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERF) is becoming the mantra of firms and organizations that need to integrate their business processes within the firm and in some instances with other firms such as suppliers when supply chain management is a strategic objective. Without Information Technology (IT) much needed integration of different functional areas would be very difficult, if not impossible, to mesh these seemingly disparate functional areas and processes into a tightly stitched web-like structure that shares business processes information. Integration is creating a leaner, flatter, and meaner company that is more responsive to its environment (Hammer, 1990). This new process of integration is believed to be more effective, less costly, and provides strategic competitive advantage over other competitors. Integration involves the business process structure with the use of critical mass technology for integration of iiardware, software, communication, and security characteristics to bring together projects and tasks that require shared information. Each infrastructure element is integrated within a finn, its functional areas, subsidiaries, suppliers, and customers. The purpose of this paper is to ponder on the disparate issues emerging in the solutions and practices of enterprise- wide integration or resource planning

Managing the motivation of information technology staff for higher organizational productivity and employee job satisfaction

Motivating Information Technoloty (IT) employees has become more and more difficult because of the rapid technological changes and global competitiveness in the marketplace. IT managers can use a plethora of techniques to improve staff productivity and quality of output through better employee motivation techniques. This paper discusses some of those methods that can improve productivity as well as staff satisfaction with their work

Dietary contribution of wild edible plants to women's diets in the buffer zone around the Lama forest, Benin : an underutilized potential

Rural populations in developing countries face food insecurity and malnutrition despite being surrounded by extraordinary biodiversity. The international community increasingly recognizes the role of agro-biodiversity and Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) in their contributions to managing risk and building resilience and sustainable food systems. Studies on real contributions of WEPs to peoples’ diets, however, are uncommon. This study assessed the contribution ofWEPs to diets of women living in the buffer zone of the Lama forest in southern Benin. During the long dry season, a cross-sectional survey was carried out on 120 women, covering their knowledge and attitudes towards WEPs and two non-consecutive 24-h recalls of their WEP consumption. Contribution ofWEPs to total dietary intake was low due to infrequent use and small portion sizes. The highest nutrient contributions of WEPs measured were for copper (13.9 %) and iron (4.6%) but the majority of the women had intake values below the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) for these elements - copper 65 % and iron 91 % Women’s dietary diversity was significantly higher among WEP consumers than non-consumers, mainly due to higher consumption of dark green leafy vegetables. WEPs were less consumed as a replacement for other foods but rather as a complement to the diet. The study population generally appreciated WEPs, while some constraints were reported regarding preparation, conservation and commercialization. Before widely promoting WEP consumption in order to exploit their dietary potential, additional investigations are needed into their nutrient composition, cultural and market value, their sustainable harvest levels and possible integration into innovative farming systems

La primauté du Christ selon Raymond Lulle

Abstract not availabl

Quality function deployment in management information systems

This paper utilizes QFD concepts as a structured approach in integrating the customer\u27s voice in the development of software and hardware products. QFD\u27s emphasis is a team approach to problem solving by various functional areas of a company to develop information technology tools by improving communication, product development, and measurements of end products

Shedding light on melanins within in situ human eye melanocytes using 2-photon microscopy profiling techniques.

Choroidal melanocytes (HCMs) are melanin-producing cells in the vascular uvea of the human eye (iris, ciliary body and choroid). These cranial neural crest-derived cells migrate to populate a mesodermal microenvironment, and display cellular functions and extracellular interactions that are biologically distinct to skin melanocytes. HCMs (and melanins) are important in normal human eye physiology with roles including photoprotection, regulation of oxidative damage and immune responses. To extend knowledge of cytoplasmic melanins and melanosomes in label-free HCMs, a non-invasive 'fit-free' approach, combining 2-photon excitation fluorescence lifetimes and emission spectral imaging with phasor plot segmentation was applied. Intracellular melanin-mapped FLIM phasors showed a linear distribution indicating that HCM melanins are a ratio of two fluorophores, eumelanin and pheomelanin. A quantitative histogram of HCM melanins was generated by identifying the image pixel fraction contributed by phasor clusters mapped to varying eumelanin/pheomelanin ratio. Eumelanin-enriched dark HCM regions mapped to phasors with shorter lifetimes and longer spectral emission (580-625 nm) and pheomelanin-enriched lighter pigmented HCM regions mapped to phasors with longer lifetimes and shorter spectral emission (550-585 nm). Overall, we demonstrated that these methods can identify and quantitatively profile the heterogeneous eumelanins/pheomelanins within in situ HCMs, and visualize melanosome spatial distributions, not previously reported for these cells