Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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Poly(pyridinium salt)s with organic counterions derived from an aromatic diamine containing oxyethylene unit exhibiting amphotropic liquid-crystalline and photoluminescence properties
No full textSeveral poly(pyridinium salt)s containing various organic counterions and oxyethylene unit in their backbones were synthesized by either the ring-transmutation polymerization reaction of 4,4′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(2,6-diphenylpyrylium tosylate) with 1,2-bis(4-aminophenoxy)ethane on heating in dimethyl sulfoxide or the metathesis reaction of the tosylate polymer with the corresponding lithium or sodium salts in acetonitrile. Their chemical structures were determined by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analyses. Their number-average molecular weights and polydispersity indices were in the range of 59,000-63,000 and 1.41-1.65, respectively, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. They were characterized for their thermotropic and lyotropic liquid-crystalline properties by using differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy. Since these polymers exhibited liquid-crystalline phase both in the melt and in solutions, they belong to an amphotropic class of ionic polymers. Their light-emitting properties both in polar organic solvents and in films cast from methanol and acetonitrile were also studied by using spectrofluorometry. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
La comunicación interpersonal dentro del campo académico de la comunicación: pautas para una sistematización
No full textEste artículo tiene, como objetivo principal, sustentar la pertenencia de la comunicación interpersonal dentro del campo de la comunicación. Siguiendo una metodología hermenéutica, se explora el estado que guarda dentro del campo de la investigación de la comunicación en México. Se identifican las principales fuentes genealógicas de la comunicación interpersonal y las corrientes teóricas que, desde las ciencias sociales, han impactado en mayor medida al estudio de este nivel comunicativo, así como las teorías y los modelos actuales de mayor difusión. Se definen y analizan algunas dimensiones pertinentes al espectro de acción que las teorías consideran sobre la comunicación interpersonal. Se establece entonces una sistematización para el estudio de la comunicación interpersonal, como recurso teórico metodológico para el investigador interesado en esta área
International graduate science training and scientific collaboration
No full textGraduate training abroad is typical for scientists in developing countries. Owing to resource scarcities, collaboration is a common form of research for these same individuals. Yet few studies have examined the linkage between graduate education and scientific collaboration. This article examines this question in a population of scientists who have experienced the simultaneous influence of three scientifically strong training systems: Australia, Japan and the US. Survey data from 312 agricultural scientists in two Philippine locations are used to explore the relationships between graduate education, Internet use, professional networks and scientific collaboration. The findings show that most collaboration is domestic, but the most common international collaborations are Japanese, followed by Australian and finally US collaborations. Japanese training, but not professional networks, is associated with such collaborations, while US and Australian training appear unimportant to collaborations in these locations. This the article explains by identifying two aspects integral to graduate education, mode of study and mentoring style, which may be critical to the development of durable professional ties and ultimately to collaborative work. The results show that even among scientific training systems in developed areas, there are variations in interaction and practices that have implications for differential participation in scientific collaboration. © International Sociological Association
Internet practice and sociability in South Louisiana
No full textThis article examines the extent to which internet practice is associated with sociability in south Louisiana. Known for having a long and unique history of traditional values and a high frequency of social interaction, this sub-region is ideal to test the contradictory findings of previous research. Based on a survey of 371 randomly selected residents, the study utilizes 11 sociability and eight internet measures. The descriptive findings are consistent with the diffusion of innovations perspective, while regression analyses suggest that internet practice is associated with both more and less sociability, depending on what measures are used. © 2009 SAGE Publications
Communication flow orientation in business process modeling and its effect on redesign success: Results from a field study
No full textBusiness process redesign has been intensely studied, particularly since the mid 1990s. One aspect that received little attention, however, is the relationship between business process modeling choices and redesign success. This research gap is addressed through a multi-methods study of 18 business process redesign projects conducted in 18 different organizations. A structural equation model is developed and tested based on data collected from those projects; the results are then triangulated with qualitative data. The structural equation model depicts relationships between the following broad perceptual constructs: communication flow orientation of a business process model, quality of a business process model, and business process redesign success. The communication flow orientation of a business process model is defined as the extent to which a model explicitly shows how communication interactions take place in a process. A model\u27s perceived quality is defined as the degree to which the model presents the following perceptual sub-constructs: ease of generation, ease of understanding, completeness, and accuracy. The results of the study suggest that the degree of communication flow orientation of a business process model is significantly related to the model\u27s perceived quality. Perceived model quality, in turn, is significantly related to perceived business process redesign success. Interestingly, a business process model\u27s perceived completeness does not seem to be influenced by a model\u27s communication flow orientation. The structural equation model accounted for 56% of the explained variance in the business process redesign success construct. The main implication of this study is that a focus on communication flows in business processes is an important ingredient in successful business process redesign projects. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Computationally attractive non-linear models for combinatorial optimisation
No full textA common approach to many combinatorial problems is to model them as 0/1 linear programs. This approach enables the use of standard linear program-based optimisation methodologies that are widely employed by the operation research community. While this methodology has worked well for many problems, it can become problematic in cases where the linear programs generated become excessively large. In such cases, linear models can lose their computational viability. In recent years, several articles have explored the computational attractiveness of non-linear alternatives to the standard linear models typically adopted to represent such problems. In many cases, comparative computational testing yields results favouring the non-linear models by a wide margin. In this article, we summarise some of these successes in an effort to encourage a broader view of model construction than the conventional wisdom, i.e. linear modelling, typically affords. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Interactive software usage for e-learning of business statistics
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine students’ academic progress in a course of business statistics through interactive software usage, which helps these students to build their e-learning during basic competences: solving problems and interpreting results. Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of 278 students is used to contrast two research hypotheses through the x 2-test. The sample data correspond to the students’ final grades reported during the academic period from Spring-2004 to 2008 at an American State University. Findings – The population proportion of students that got passing or better final grades in a course of Business Statistics depends on how these students are classified as users or not users of interactive software (p-value ¼ 0.029); for the students that got passing or better grades: the proportion (86.8 percent) of students using interactive software is greater than the proportion (76.4 percent) of students that do not use interactive software. Confirmation of this conclusion at a significance level a ¼ 0.05, is obtained via the z-test for two proportions (p-value ¼ 0.030), where p1 ¼ 105/121 and p2 ¼ 120/157; which means, the data support the first research hypothesis HA1; but, the same data-set does not support the second research hypothesis (HA2) about the gender effect on the students’ academic performance (measured via their final grades); this is, the proportion of students under interactive software training that got passing or better final grades, does not depends on how these students are classified according to their gender (female or male), where the corresponding statistics are x 2 p-value ¼ 0.221, and z-test p-value ¼ 0.219. Research limitations/implications – The sample is restricted to the students attending fall and spring semesters. Summer students are not included, as the schedule-environment (eight hours of instruction per week, five weeks) and the grading policies are different in comparison to fall and spring periods (three hours of instruction per week, 14.5 weeks). Practical implications – The practical implications of this study include the need for a standardization of the summer’s syllabi. For example, during the fall and spring semesters, the students are required to complete 60 software-certificates; while for the summer, the students are required to solve just 30 (50 percent) of the software-certificates; which represent fewer assignments and less academic effort for the summer’s students. Originality/value – The study extends understanding regarding the responsibility of the instructors/professors, whose priority is to provide high-quality teaching, maintain a professional ethics environment, as well as the application and fulfillment of the approved academic syllabi
Do the contingencies of external monitoring, ownership incentives, or free cash flow explain opposing firm performance expectations?
No full textNeoclassical and strategy frameworks stipulate that managers promote corporate performance and shareholder interests in their resource allocation decisions. Agency related works anticipate that executives seek their own personal interests at a cost to performance and shareholder wealth in their resource allocation choices. In this study, an attempt is made to resolve these conflicting anticipations. We propose that changes in levels of resource allocations (advertising expenditure, R&D spending, capital intensity) may be more positively associated with changes in levels of subsequent corporate performance for firms with greater external monitoring or with higher CEO ownership incentives. We also propose that changes in levels of resource allocations may directly (inversely) affect changes in levels of subsequent performance of the actively (passively) monitored enterprises, lacking (possessing) free cash flow. Additionally, we propose that changes in levels of resource allocations may directly (inversely) affect changes in levels of subsequent performance of firms with high (low) CEO ownership incentives in the absence (presence) of free cash flow. Regression models are utilized to test our proposals on a longitudinal sample obtained from the Compustat database. The empirical findings are generally supportive of our proposals. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008
The evolution of costly traits through selection and the importance of oral speech in e-collaboration
No full textGenes code for the expression of phenotypic traits, such as behavioral (e.g., aggressiveness) and morphological (e.g., opposing thumbs) traits. Costly traits are phenotypic traits that evolved in spite of imposing a fitness cost, often in the form of a survival handicap. In non-human animals, the classic example of costly trait is the peacock\u27s train, used by males to signal good health to females. It is argued here that oral speech is a costly trait evolved by our human ancestors to enable effective knowledge communication. It is shown that, because it is a costly trait, oral speech should be a particularly strong determinant of knowledge communication performance; an effect that generally applies to e-collaborative tasks performed by modern humans. The effects of oral speech support in e-collaborative tasks are discussed based on empirical studies, and shown to be consistent with the notion that oral speech is a costly trait. Specifically, it is shown that the use of e-collaboration technologies that suppress the ability to employ oral speech, when knowledge communication is attempted, leads to the two following negative outcomes: (a) a dramatic decrease in communication fluency, and (b) a significant increase in communication ambiguity. These effects are particularly acute in e-collaborative tasks of short duration. © Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen 2009
Managing operational business processes with web-based information technologies
No full textTraditionally management schools of thought that emphasize certain types of work structures usually appear earlier than information technologies (IT) geared at supporting those work structures. This situation has undoubtedly changed recently, arguably around the mid-1990s, with the explosion in the commercial use of the Internet and particularly the Web. This calls for the development of a generic framework that ties together relevant management ideas that help organizations strategically and operationally align themselves with new Web-based IT. Our goal with this chapter is to provide some basic elements that can be used by managers and researchers as a starting point to develop this generic framework. As such, we focus on a particular set of activities associated with team coordination and communication in production and service delivery business processes through the Internet and the Web. © 2009, IGI Global