Digital Commons Network^™

Science Priorities For Reducing The Threat Of Invasive Species To Sustainable Forestry, Elizabeth A. Chornesky, Ann M. Bartuska, Gregory H. Aplet, Kerry O. Britton, Jane Cummings-Carlson, Frank W. Davis, Jessica Eskow, Doria R. Gordon, Kurt W. Gottschalk, Robert A. Haack, Andrew J. Hansen, Richard N. Mack, Frank J. Rahel, Margaret A. Shannon, Lisa A. Wainger, T. Bently Wigley

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Invasive species pose a major, yet poorly addressed, threat to sustainable forestry. Here we set forth an interdisciplinary science strategy of research, development, and applications to reduce this threat. To spur action by public and private entities that too often are slow, reluctant, or unable to act, we recommend (a) better integrating invasive species into sustainable forestry frameworks such as the Montréal Process and forest certification programs; (b) developing improved cost estimates to inform choices about international trade and pest suppression efforts; and (c) building distributed information systems that deliver information on risks, identification, and response strategies. To enhance the …

Fish And Wildlife Benefits Of The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Randall L. Gray, Sally J. Benjamin, Charles A. Rewa

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Th e Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a voluntary program that encourages the establishment and enhancement of a wide variety of fish and wildlife habitats of national, state, tribal, or local significance. Through voluntary agreements, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides financial and technical assistance to participants who installed habitat restoration and management practices. Since 1998, nearly $150 million has been dedicated to the program and over 2.8 million acres involving over 18,000 contracts have been enrolled. A wide range of habitat-enhancement actions are cost-shared through the program, affecting hundreds of target and non-target species. While few quantitative …

Globalisation And 'La Pièce De Cent Sous': Balzac's Nation-State, Marshall C. Olds

French Language and Literature Papers

Seen from an Olympian perspective, globalisation in today's world denotes the use of a standard model to establish relationships economic, cultural, and moral—across peoples in the absence of national boundaries capable of restraining the formation of such ties. From the national, or local, perspective, it is the invasive imposition of foreign influence in the form of a single model. From either vantage point, change and adaptation are the order of the day. Take-overs of one culture by another, whether hostile or friendly, are not historical novelties; what seems to distinguish globalisation is its planetary scope and impetus to take over …

Proline Suppresses Apoptosis In The Fungal Pathogen Colletotrichum Trifolii, Changbin Chen, Martin B. Dickman

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell communication, control of gene expression, and oxygen sensing is well established. Inappropriate regulation of ROS levels can damage cells, resulting in a diseased state. In Colletotrichum trifolii, a fungal pathogen of alfalfa, the mutationally activated oncogenic fungal Ras (DARas) elevates levels of ROS, causing abnormal fungal growth and development and eventual apoptotic-like cell death but only when grown under nutrient-limiting conditions. Remarkably, restoration to the wild-type phenotype requires only proline. Here, we describe a generally unrecognized function of proline: its ability to function as a potent antioxidant and inhibitor of …

Serologic Survey Of Select Infectious Diseases In Coyotes And Raccoons In Nebraska, Richard Bischof, Douglas G. Rogers

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

To obtain data about select zoonotic and other infectious diseases in free-ranging predators in five ecoregions in Nebraska, sera were collected from 67 coyotes (Canis latrans) and 63 raccoons (Procyon lotor)) from November 2002 through January 2003. For coyotes, antibodies were detected against canine distemper virus (CDV, 61%), Francisella tularensis) (32%), Rickettsia rickettsi) (13%), and flaviviruses (48%). None of the coyote sera had antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Brucella canis), or six serovars of Leptospira interrogans). Because serologic cross-reactivity exists among flaviviruses, 14 sera from flavivirus-positive coyotes were also tested for St. Louis …

Soil-Related Performance Variation And Distributions Of Tree Species In A Bornean Rain Forest, Sabrina E. Russo, Stuart J. Davies, David A. King, Sylvester Tan

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

1. Spatial distributions of tropical trees often correlate with environmental variation, suggesting that ecological sorting caused by niche differentiation may be important for maintaining species diversity.

2. Four soil types have been identified in a 52-ha forest dynamics plot in Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest (ranked by increasing fertility and moisture: sandy loam, loam, fine loam, and clay). The distributions of 73% of tree species in the plot are significantly aggregated on one of these soil types. We tested the hypothesis that variation in performance (growth and mortality) underlies these edaphically biased species distributions.

3. Annual growth and mortality rates over …

Complex Signal Function: Developing A Framework Of Testable Hypotheses, Eileen Hebets, Daniel R. Papaj

Eileen Hebets Publications

The basic building blocks of communication are signals, assembled in various sequences and combinations, and used in virtually all inter- and intra-specific interactions. While signal evolution has long been a focus of study, there has been a recent resurgence of interest and research in the complexity of animal displays. Much past research on signal evolution has focused on sensory specialists, or on single signals in isolation, but many animal displays involve complex signaling, or the combination of more than one signal or related component, often serially and overlapping, frequently across multiple sensory modalities. Here, we build a framework of functional …

Possible Recent Range Expansion Of Alcataenia Longicervica (Eucestoda: Dilepididae) Parasitic In Murres Uria Spp. (Alcidae) Into The North Atlantic [Short Communications], Sabir B. Muzaffar, Eric P. Hoberg, Ian L. Jones

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

A wide range of helminths has been recorded from murres Uria spp. (Threlfall 1971, reviewed by Hoberg 1984a, Muzaffar & Jones 2004). Of the cyclophyllidean cestodes that parasitize murres, the genus Alcataenia Spasskaya 1971 (Dilepididae) is represented by ten species, eight of which are restricted and specific to the auks; the other two species occur in gulls (Laridae). The intermediate hosts of Alcataenia are euphausiid crustaceans such as species of Thysanoessa (Shimazu 1975), which also form an important dietary component of breeding and wintering murres, particularly Thick-billed Murres Uria lomvia (Gaston & Noble 1985, Birkhead & Nettleship 1987, Elliot et …

Creating Computer Aided 3d Model Of Spleen And Kidney Based On Visible Human Project., Muhammet M. Aldur

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of computer aided 3-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technique on visualization and modeling of gross anatomical structures with an affordable methodology applied on the spleen and kidney. METHODS: From The Visible Human Project Dataset cryosection images, developed by the National Library of Medicine, the spleen and kidney sections were preferred to be used due to their highly distinct contours. The software used for the reconstruction were SurfDriver 3.5.3 for Mac and Cinema 4D XL version 7.1 for Mac OS X. This study was carried out in May 2004 at the Department of Anatomy, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. …

Patient Preference For Providers' Gender At A Primary Health Care Setting In Alexandria, Egypt., Ashraf A. Zaghloul, Adel A. Youssef, Nagwa Y. El-Einein

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine patient9s gender preferences in choosing general practitioners and specialists for both general and specific health issues at primary health care centers in Alexandria, Egypt. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Smouha Health Center, Alexandria Governorate, Alexandria, Egypt. The study was conducted between the period January -- March 2004. A pre-designed questionnaire was used. The format included 3 main sections, namely, socio-demographic, beliefs towards provider9s gender, and providers9 preferences of patients. RESULTS: Both male and female patients preferred a male physician for consultation and clinical management of cases. The highest …

Analysis Of Documents Used In Referral System In Wad Medani, Sudan., Saad E. Dafallah, Eisa M. Yousif, Ali A. Idris

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Uterine Prolapse Immediately After Labor., Mesut A. Unsal, Ulku Zengin, Mehmet Ozeren, Hasan Bozkaya

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Critical Reading And Critique Of Medical Articles., T. P. Hutchinson

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Online Privacy Policies: An Assessment Of The Fortune Global 100, Randy Ryker, M. Khurrum S. Bhutta

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Both industry leaders and government officials around the globe are struggling with how to address online privacy. One solution suggested by both groups within the United States is for companies to voluntarily comply with the fair information practices of Notice, Choice, Access, and Security. A content analysis of the online privacy policies of the firms in the Fortune Global 100 was conducted to determine the extent to which the most successful global companies comply with fair information practices. The results indicate that 1.2% fully complies, 87.2% partially comply and 11.6% fail to comply with one or more fair information practice.

Leveraging Information Technology To Gain Competitive Advantage: A Case Study On General Electric Consumer Products, Bih-Ru Lea

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of merging General Electric Lighting (GEL) and General Electric Appliance (GEA) into General Electric Consumer Products (GECP) and how IT strategies are used to gain competitive advantages in its industry. This study will analyze major IT projects being developed and implemented in relation to their impact on major information flows, organizational structure, IT architecture, control systems, and the labor characteristics of the IT function. Alternatives to achieve integration will then be discussed and recommendations will be proposed.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of U.S. And Chinese Website Customers, Eleanor T. Loiacono, Huiping Lin

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Website quality has been given much attention as of late. In particular the factors that impact a consumer’s perception of website quality is of great interest. This paper takes a currently validated measure of business-to-consumer website quality (WebQualTM) and applies it to Chinese Web users in order to study the cross-cultural differences and similarities of U.S. and Chinese customers. Several cultural differences between U.S. and Chinese customers are revealed.

Statistical Process Control For The Engineering It Support Incident Life Cycle, Binay Anand, Christopher A. Chung

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper describes a new Statistical Process Control technique to better manage the engineering Information Technology life cycle process. This includes the identification of the activities in the engineering IT support lifecycle initiation, reproduction, analysis and resolution phases. The performance of these lifecycle activities are analyzed using a highly modified Chart of Individuals, Statistical Process Control approach. This new type of SPC system can help engineering IT management to determine whether or not a support incident is in control. Out of control support incidents can then be investigated for special causes so that corrective action may be taken.

Inference-Guiding For Intelligent Agents, Jinchang Wang

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

In many applications of intelligent agents, initially given facts are not sufficient to reach a decision, and more data are needed. In that case, Inference-guiding is needed to identify the missing information and lead inference to a conclusion. This paper presents a new inference- guiding strategy that selects the key pieces of missing information in such a way that the total cost of acquiring additional information for reaching a conclusion is the lowest. The computational experiments show that the new strategy is more effective and economical than the inference-guiding strategies currently available for the intelligent systems.

Non-Response Error Within Internet Surveys: A Cautionary Note, Carl S. Bozman, Donald E. Stem Jr

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The use of the internet as a method to conduct survey research has expanded rapidly over the past decade. High speeds of response and lower expenses have driven this rapid growth. Relatively low response rates, however, suggest online surveys may be compromised by high levels of non-sampling error. This paper examines a major component of non-sampling error and the consequences that may be associated with internet survey non-response. Known population parameters are compared to point estimates from a census as well as a random sample of non-respondents in order to provide insight on the magnitude and direction of non- response …

Acceptance Of Wireless Internet Via Mobile Technology In China, June Lu, Chang Liu, Chun-Sheng Yu, James E. Yao

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study explores factors associated with the acceptance of Wireless Internet via Mobile Technology (WIMT) in China. The results indicate that the acceptance of WIMT is related to the factors of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influences, wireless trust environment, and facilitating conditions. It provides diagnostic insight into how different factors influence user intention to accept WIMT in China, and thus help business develop strategy to prompt WIMT communications and mobile commerce there.

Analyzing The Effect Of Top Management Support On Information System (Is) Performance Across Organizations And Industries Using Hierarchical, Thawatchai Jitpaiboon, Sema A. Kalaian

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Top management support has long been conceivable as an important factor for the success of IS projects. Due to the hierarchical nature of an organization, a cross-level interaction can occur among nested levels. Thus, using inappropriate statistical analysis can cause misleading results and lost of information. This study provides two contributions to the IS research. First, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to explain the cross-level interaction between organizational level and industry level. Second, unlike other studies focusing on an organizational level, this study considers top management support at the industry level and examines the mediating role of top management …

Contextual Analysis Of Enterprise Mobile Services Requirements, Radhika Jain

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This article presents a framework to classify various types of mobile services implemented in organizational settings. Based on the objectives of wireless information systems (WIS), we identify three categories viz. enterprise mobile services, enterprise-advantage mobile services, and consumer mobile services. While the last two categories of mobile services have received broader attention, there has not been much work done in analyzing the role of mobile services in the organizational settings specific to various industries. In this article, we attempt to fill this void by synthesizing the extant literature in this area. Based on the degree of user’s mobility in their …

Information View Of Organization, Bob Travica

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This article proposes an information view of organization that brings the information systems field closer to organization theory. Although voluminous bodies of literature have been developed within each of these disciplines and links between them do exist, their mutual informing is still insufficient. The proposed view of organization is intended to help convey results of information systems research to organizational scholars, while broadening theoretical horizons of the former. This article discusses the premises, conceptual framework, examples, and preliminary evidence of the information view of organization.

Uml Activity Diagram Semantics And Automated Gui Prototyping, Nancy Winniford Ashley, Timothy E. Meehan, Norman Carr

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Extended Activity Semantics (XAS) is a notation which can be used with Unified Modeling Language (UML) activity diagrams to specify user interactions with a system and to automatically generate a prototype of the graphical user interface (GUI) that would be used in these interactions. XAS has been incorporated in a CASE tool, Guibot, which has been developed as a plug-in for Rational Rose, a leading UML tool. The notation and tool address a specific gap in UML – the inability to model user interaction.

Internet Technology In 2010: The Issue Of Ipv6 Adoption In The U.S.A., Garry L. White, Jaymeen R. Shah, James R. Cook

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Computer industry literature suggests that IPv4 Internet addresses are likely to have been depleted by the year 2010, and at least Asia and Europe will be using the new IPv6 Internet addresses. Literature also suggests that the U.S.A. is lagging behind Asia and Europe with the implementation of IPv6. Empirical data supporting the fact that the U.S.A. is lagging behind is not available in the literature. This paper presents the issues regarding IPv6, reasons why Asia and Europe are implementing IPv6, and why the U.S.A. is lagging behind. Empirical data is presented to support the literature’s suggestion that the U.S.A. …

A Critical Time For Ultra-Wide Band, Gary F. Templeton, Mark B. Schmidt

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a promising class of high-speed wireless communications applications that is projected to significantly change local and wide area network architectures. This article describes the technology, its probable application areas, the environmental forces that are constraining and enabling commercialization, and the prospects for short-term growth for UWB services. Commercial sale and distribution of UWB products has been approved, and widespread sale is expected by 2007.

The Road To Erp Success: Understanding End-User Perceptions, Asli Yagmur Akbulut, Jaideep Motwani

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Even though there is a growing body of literature that focuses on improving the success rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects, there is a lack of research aimed at understanding end- users perceptions of ERP systems. Given that employee expectations and attitudes play an important role in the success of ERP projects, the purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of end-user perceptions of ERP systems. In order to achieve this objective, we provide empirical evidence from two companies that have recently implemented ERP systems. We also offer strategies that could be utilized by managers, project …

A Methodology For Evaluating Data And Output Misfits In Commercial Off-The-Shelf Erp Systems, Jen-Her Wu, Chang-Tseh Hsieh, Shin-Shing Shin, Chi-Cheng Wu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper presents a methodology based on the task-technology fit theory to identify data and output misfits in the ex-ante evaluation of an off-the shelf enterprise resources planning (ERP) package. The proposed methodology consists of two stages: output misfit analysis and data misfit analysis. The purpose of the first stage is to identify corresponding field (output misfits) and data glossary for data misfit analysis. The latter stage identifies data misfits for every corresponding activity in the business process sequence. The proposed methodology provides a systematic approach to alleviate the difficulty and complexity in identifying data and output misfits. The identification …

Applying Theoretical Frameworks To Explicate Physician Acceptance Of Computerized Physician Order Entry (Cpoe), David Rosenthal, Elaine Seeman, Shanan Gibson

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper reports the findings of a pilot study undertaken to ascertain the feasibility of incorporating the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Taxonomy of Work Values into the explanation of physician technology acceptance of a new organizational technology – Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE). While Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model has received much empirical support, we posit that certain complexities associated with the physician population and the hospital environment warrant the inclusion of other theoretical models as a means of furthering our understanding of technology acceptance. Although preliminary in nature, this study finds support for the inclusion of both the …

Paleoceanographic History Of The Guaymas Basin, Gulf Of California, During The Past 15,000 Years Based On Diatoms, Silicoflagellates, And Biogenic Sediments, John A. Barron, David Bukrya, Walter E. Dean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

High-resolution records of calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, diatoms, and silicoflagellates from western Guaymas Basin gravity core GGC55 and piston core JPC56 and eastern Guaymas Basin DSDP Site 480 reveal a complex paleoceanographic history of the central Gulf of California during the past 15,000 years. Prior to ~6.2 ka, the eastern and western Guaymas Basin proxy records were remarkably similar. After conditions similar to those of today during the Bølling–Allerod, the Younger Dryas (YD) saw a major drop in diatom production, coincident with increased calcium carbonate and tropical microfossils suggestive of El Nino-like conditions. Biosiliceous productivity began increasing during the latter …