Though the field of management information systems, as a sector and a discipline, is the inventor of many guidelines and models, it appears to be a slow runner on practical implications of interface usability. This usability can influence end users’ attitude and behavior to use IT. The purpose of this paper was to examine the interface usability of a popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system, SAP, and to identify related issues and implications to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A survey was conducted of 112 SAP ERP users from an organization in the heavy metal industry in Bangladesh. The partial least squares technique was used to analyze the survey data. The survey findings empirically confirmed that interface usability has a significant impact on users’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use which ultimately affects attitudes and intention to use the ERP software. The research model extends the TAM by incorporating three criteria of interface usability. It is the first known study to investigate usability criteria as an extension of TAM.

Aim/Purpose: The main aim of this study is to identify the factors that influence the continuance intention of use of innovative systems by non-academic employees of a private university and associated academic institutions in Bangladesh. Background: The targeted academic institutions have introduced many new online services aimed at improving students’ access to information and services, including a new online library, ERP or online forum, and the jobs-tracking system (JTS). This research is focused only on the JTS for two reasons. First, it is one of the most crucial systems for the Daffodil Family, as it enables efficient working across many institutes spread across the country and abroad. Second, it is employed in a wide variety of organisational institutes, not just the university. This study aims to discover negative factors that lead to a decrease in users’ intentions to continue using the system. The ultimate goal is to improve the motivation among administrative staff to use technology-related innovation by reducing or eliminating the problems. Methodology: G* power analysis was employed to determine the expected sample size. A questionnaire survey was conducted of 211 users of a new job tracking system from a private university in Bangladesh, to collect data for testing the suggested research model. The data was analysed using the structural equation technique, which is a powerful multivariate analysis mechanism. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of literature and helps better understand users’ continuance intention in the post-implementation phase of the JTS. It complements the micro-level examinations of continuance intention of using IT, by building on our understanding of the phenomenon at the individual level. Specifically, this study examines the role of technostress where organisations invest in IT to make their users more comfortable with innovative and new technologies like the JTS. Findings: This research develops a theoretical advancement of the expectation-confirmation theory, with implications for IT managers and senior management dealing with IT-related behaviour. All proposed hypotheses were supported. Specifically, the predictors of exhaustion – work overload, work–life balance, and role ambiguity – are significant. The core factors for satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and confirmation, are also found to be significant. Finally, satisfaction and exhaustion significantly influence continuance intention, in both positive and negative ways. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study gives an idea about some of the difficulties that people face when implementing new and innovative IT, particularly in academia in Bangladesh. It offers insights into strategies the management may want to follow when implementing new technology like the JTS. This study suggests strategies to increase satisfaction and reduce technostress among new users to enhance organisational support for change. Recommendation for Researchers: Methodologically, the study provides researchers about the technique that reduces the threat of the common method bias. First, it created a psychological separation between criterion and predictor variables. Second, the threat of common method variance was actively controlled by modelling a latent method factor and by using marker variables that researchers can use in their work. This study complements the micro-level examinations of continuance intention of using IT by building on our understanding of the phenomenon at the individual level. Researchers can extend this model by integrating other theories. Impact on Society: The findings of the study indicate that work overload, work–life conflict, and role ambiguity create tiredness, leading to lower user satisfaction with the system. Perceived usefulness and confirmation have an increasingly similar effect on users’ satisfaction with the system and their subsequent continuance intention. These findings tell university administrators what measures they should take to improve continuance intention of using innovative technology. Future Research: Future studies could conceptualise a five-factor personality model from the personal perspective of users. This model can also be extended by including the dimensions of absorptive capacity, i.e., the dynamic capabilities of users. Absorptive capacity of understanding, assimilating, and applying might influence the user’s perception of usefulness and confirmation of using JTS.

Aim/Purpose: This research aims to develop a smart agricultural knowledge management framework to empower emergent farmers and extension officers (advisors to farmers) in developing countries as part of a smart farming lab (SFL). The framework utilizes knowledge objects (KOs) to capture information and knowledge of different forms, including indigenous knowledge. It builds upon a foundation of established agricultural knowledge management (AKM) models and serves as the cornerstone for an envisioned SFL. This framework facilitates optimal decision support by fostering linkages between these KOs and relevant organizations, knowledge holders, and knowledge seekers within the SFL environment. Background: Emergent farmers and extension officers encounter numerous obstacles in their knowledge operations and decision-making. This includes limited access to agricultural information and difficulties in applying it effectively. Many lack reliable sources of support, and even when information is available, understanding and applying it to specific situations can be challenging. Additionally, extension offices struggle with operational decisions and knowledge management due to agricultural organizations operating isolated in silos, hindering their access to necessary knowledge. This research introduces an SFL with a proposed AKM process model aimed at transforming emergent farmers into smart, innovative entities by addressing these challenges. Methodology: This study is presented as a theory-concept paper and utilizes a literature review to evaluate and synthesize three distinct AKM models using several approaches. The results of the analysis are used to design a new AKM process model. Contribution: This research culminates in a new AKM process framework that incorporates the strengths of various existing AKM models and supports emergent farmers and extension officers to become smart, innovative entities. One main difference between the three models analyzed, and the one proposed in this research, is the deployment and use of knowledge assets in the form of KOs. The proposed framework also incorporates metadata and annotations to enhance knowledge discoverability and enable AI-powered applications to leverage captured knowledge effectively. In practical terms, it contributes by further motivating the use of KOs to enable the transfer and the capturing of organizational knowledge. Findings: A model for an SFL that incorporates the proposed agricultural knowledge management framework is presented. This model is part of a larger knowledge factory (KF). It includes feedback loops, KOs, and mechanisms to facilitate intelligent decision-making. The significance of fostering interconnected communities is emphasized through the creation of linkages. These communities consist of knowledge seekers and bearers, with information disseminated through social media and other communication integration platforms. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners and other scholars should consider implementing the proposed AKM process model as part of a larger SFL to support emergent farmers and extension officers in making operational decisions and applying knowledge management strategies. Recommendation for Researchers: The AKM process model is only presented in conceptual form. Therefore, researchers can practically test and assess the new framework in an agricultural setting. They can also further explore the potential of social media integration platforms to connect knowledge seekers with knowledge holders. Impact on Society: The proposed AKM process model has the potential to support emergent farmers and extension officers in becoming smart, innovative entities, leading to improved agricultural practices and potentially contributing to food security. Future Research: This paper discusses the AKM process model in an agrarian setting, but it can also be applied in other domains, such as education and the healthcare sector. Future research can evaluate the model’s effectiveness and explore and further investigate the semantic web and social media integration.

Aim/Purpose: As traditional Knowledge Management (KM) struggles to support the personal needs of knowledge workers in a new era of accelerating information abundance, we examine the shortcomings and put forward alternative scenarios and architectures for developing a novel Personal KM System (PKMS). Background: While prior publications focused on the complementing features compared to conventional dynamic KM models, our emphasis shifts to instantiating a flourishing PKMS community supported by a Digital Platform Ecosystem. Methodology: Design science research focusing on conceptual analysis and prototyping. Contribution: The PKMS concept advances the understanding of how digital platform communities may serve members with highly diverse skills and ambitions better to gainfully utilize the platform’s resources and generative potential in their personal and local settings. Findings: We demonstrate how the needs to tackle attention-consuming rising entropy and to benefit from generative innovation potentials can be addressed. Future Research: As this article has iteratively co-evolved with the preparing of a PKMS implementation, business, and roll-out plan, the prototype’s testing, completion, and subsequent migration to a viable system is of primary concern.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of the present paper is to present a Noise Decision (ND) scale. First, it reports the development and validation of the instrument aimed at examining organizational factors that have an influence on decision-making and the level of noise. Second, it validates this rating scale by testing its discriminant and convergent validity with other measures to assess decision-making qualities. Background: According to the literature, the concept of noise is the unwanted variability present in judgments. The notion of noise concerns the systematic influence to which individuals are exposed in their environment. The literature in the field has found that noise reduction improves the perception of work performance. Methodology: The first study involves the development of a scale (composed of 36 items) consisting of semi-structured interviews, item development, and principal component analysis. The second study involves validation and convergent validity of this scale. In the first study, there were 43 employees from three medium-sized Italian multinationals. For the second study, a sample of 867 subjects was analysed. Contribution: This paper introduces the first scale aimed at assessing noise within individuals and, in the organizational context, within employees and employers. Findings: Results show that the estimated internal reliability for each of the ND subscales and also the correlations between the subscales were relatively low, suggesting that ND correctly measures the analyzed components. Furthermore, the validation of the psychometric qualities of the ND allowed for the assertion that the influence of noise is present in the decision-making process within the context of work environments, validating the initial hypotheses. Recommendation for Researchers: This paper aims to improve theory and research on decision-making; for example, by providing a possible implementation for scales for evaluating decision-making skills. Furthermore, detecting and limiting noise with a systematic method could improve both the quality of decisions and the quality of thought processes. Future Research: Given the measurement of ND, the study can be a starting point for future research on this topic. Since there is no literature about this construct, it would be necessary to spend more time researching, so that the topic becomes clearer. System noise has been tested by some researchers with a “noise audit,” which means giving the same problem to different people and measuring the differences in their responses. Repeating this kind of audit in conjunction with the ND in a specific work environment could be helpful to detect but also measure the influence of noise.

Columbus, OH — Legislation recently introduced in the Ohio Statehouse would direct health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan within six months.

Children's Geographies; 02/01/2022
(AN 154441553); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

The Office National des Forêts expansion by Atelier Delalande Tabourin in Versailles blends architecture with the surrounding forest environment.

Each year, tens of millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science in informal ways -- by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs, pursuing personal hobbies, and watching TV documentaries, for example.

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses & Physicians

Continuing Medical Education for Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses & Physicians

Welcome back to another icon dedicated tutorial, in which we’re going to learn how to quickly create a computer settings icon inside of Figma, using nothing more than a couple of basic geometric shapes. So, assuming you already have the software up and running let’s jump straight into it! Tutorial Details: Computer Settings Icon Program: […]

The post How to Create a Computer Settings Icon appeared first on Vectips.

Targeting is an important but challenging process in the design and delivery of social and humanitarian assistance programs. Community-based targeting (CBT) approaches are often preferred for their local information advantages, especially when data-driven methods are not feasible. However, how different variants of CBT approaches fare under various constraints and environments remains unclear. For example, it […] Source: IFPRI Ethiopia: Ethiopia Strategy Support Program

Early on in CHP’s $9-million project, the team decided to make a pretty big change: an overhaul of the HVAC design.

Humidity control makes up an important facet of indoor air quality, a facet that includes reducing airborne viruses but extends far beyond it.

Ongoing and evolving U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) regulations have created a complex landscape for supermarket owners.

Let’s discuss capacitor banks, but this time, not the basics. Let’s study the double-star capacitor bank configuration and protective techniques used in the substations. How important is to choose the right current transformer ratio, calculate rated and maximum overload currents,... Read more

The post Capacitor banks in substations: Schemes, relay settings, and protective measures appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

While building some plugins, I figured creating dynamic applications in WordPress Admin is much easier with React components compared to using PHP and jQuery like back in the old days. However, integrating React components with WordPress Admin can be a bit challenging, especially when it comes to styling and accessibility. This led me to create…

The post How to Create a WordPress Settings Page with React appeared first on Hongkiat.

In this episode, Thomas Domville introduces us to the new “per voice settings” introduced with iOS 17.

These can be found by navigating to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Speech, and then selecting the language and desired TTS voice. After selecting the voice, flick up or down with one finger, or press space with dot 3 or dot 6 on a Braille display, to access the per voice settings.

The configurable parameters available vary by voice. For example, Vocalizer voices can tweak sentence pause and timbre, while for Alex you can adjust pitch range and words per minute.

Cooking in Displacement Settings: Engaging the Private Sector in Non-wood-based Fuel Supply Research paper sysadmin 22 January 2019

In displacement settings, providing cooking solutions that reduce negative impacts on the environment and health remains a challenge for local governments, humanitarian agencies, businesses and refugees.

Summary

• Providing adequate cooking fuel and clean-burning, fuel-efficient stoves in displacement settings has long been a major challenge for local authorities, humanitarian agencies, non-governmental organizations, local communities and refugees themselves. Refugees generally have limited access to modern cooking solutions. Most either depend on insufficient humanitarian agency handouts of ‘in-kind’ firewood or have to travel long distances to collect firewood.
• There is significant potential for private-sector engagement in this context – which, though largely overlooked to date, could result in win-win scenarios for all stakeholders. Refugee camps and other displacement settings present opportunities for private-sector cooking fuel companies to expand their customer bases, with the added advantage for vendors of offering concentrated demand and scope for economies of scale.
• For the Kakuma refugee camp complex in Kenya, the Moving Energy Initiative (MEI) decided to engage with the private sector directly. The MEI requested expressions of interest from local private-sector companies for expanding sales and distribution of fuels in the complex through the concession. The winning company – National Oil Corporation of Kenya – is to receive a prize of $50,000 for its proposed concession to supply liquefied petroleum gas both to refugees in the Kakuma complex and to the surrounding host community.
• The MEI also conducted interviews with various stakeholders in other contexts and countries who are engaged in efforts to develop market-based approaches to providing clean, fuel-efficient cooking solutions to refugees.
• Based on the interviews and the concession process, the MEI recommends greater donor investment and longer-term guaranteed funding for cooking interventions. This is needed to allow sufficient time to build sustainable markets and secure the requisite engagement and investments from the private sector.
• Larger, longer-term investments by the private sector – supported through partnerships with donors and humanitarian agencies – in infrastructure and demand creation (both in and outside the refugee community) can reduce the price of alternative solutions and support a gradual transition away from subsidies.

Infrastructure Management Contracts: Improving Energy Asset Management in Displacement Settings Research paper sysadmin 17 April 2019

This paper highlights a number of options for managing electricity infrastructure in refugee camps and outlines the challenges, opportunities and operational implications associated with them. It takes the Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya as a case study.

• Building and maintaining electricity infrastructure to power offices, businesses, households and other operations in displacement settings is difficult. It is especially challenging for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partner agencies, because supplying electricity is not their core business.
• Private-sector companies exist that are willing and able to develop infrastructure management contracts to provide energy as a service in displacement settings. However, institutional barriers within humanitarian agencies persist, with short budgeting cycles in particular preventing humanitarian agencies from entering into the sorts of long-term service agreements required by the private sector.
• A number of options exist to leverage the expertise of the private sector through ‘public–private partnership’ (P3) structures. Such mechanisms can promote more efficient management of infrastructure by drawing on private-sector experience and expertise, incentivizing appropriate risk-sharing and providing options to leverage private capital in project development.
• Field work from the Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya suggests that a solar/diesel hybrid mini-grid solution was the most economical option to power camp services and infrastructure there. Compared to distributed diesel generation, the annual savings in operating costs were estimated at $49,880, with the additional investment paid back within 3.6 years.
• Humanitarian agencies need to be willing to change their policies to enable long-term service agreements. Alternatively (or, more likely, in conjunction with this option), financial mechanisms such as partial risk guarantees need to be developed to offset some of the risks. This change will need high-level support from donors and humanitarian agencies.
• Once the first infrastructure management contracts can be signed and tested in displacement locations (through the use of donor funding or otherwise) and associated data collected, it will ease the way for future investments in these types of projects.

Advanced configuration parameters control how your Mac stores cached content. Here's how to change the settings.

For many severe lung diseases, non-invasive biomarkers from imaging could improve early detection of lung injury or disease onset, establish a diagnosis, or help follow-up disease progression and treatment strategies. Imaging of the thorax and lung is challenging due to its size, respiration movement, transferred cardiac pulsation, vast density range and gravitation sensitivity. However, there is extensive ongoing research in this fast-evolving field. Recent improvements in spatial imaging have allowed us to study the three-dimensional structure of the lung, providing both spatial architecture and transcriptomic information at single-cell resolution. This fast progression, however, comes with several challenges, including significant image file storage and network capacity issues, increased costs, data processing and analysis, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and mechanisms to combine several modalities. In this review, we provide an overview of advances and current issues in the field of spatial lung imaging.

The temperature of one's medlinkchildhood/medlink home and the sense of community connectedness can help predict how U.S. residents set their thermostats,

Apple has introduced iOS 18.2 developer beta 2, enhancing its Apple Intelligence suite with new features. A notable addition is the option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus directly from the Settings app. Initially, Apple Intelligence offered only the free version of