Key success factors in real-time industrial system assurance

The thesis analyses the issues of implementing real-time software systems in industrial applications. The benefit is the development of the Integrated Mega Project Development Model, to improve the effectiveness of planning and timely delivery of software, the quality of the delivered software and reducing problems associated with integrating software systems.

Organising inclusion work : key factors for success

This paper presents the findings of research conducted by Scope in 2007-2009. It proposes a way of categorising the dominant modes or orientations to inclusion work in the disability sector in Australia and identifies the barriers and enablers to it. The research engaged with seventeen ‘inclusion workers’ or managers in Victoria and Perth, Western Australia and sought examples of successful practice along with the ingredients of success, and outcomes of the work. Coincidently, the majority of examples provided related to inclusion work with people with intellectual disability, and a minority of these relating to people with severe intellectual disability. This data was analysed to identify key organisational factors required for successful inclusion work. Most importantly, respondents were also asked to identify the outcomes of inclusion work for individuals with a disability and their families, as well as for services, and for the communities with whom they engaged. The paper offers a way of conceptualising the breadth of inclusion work, including work focused on presence and participation, as well as the larger scale activities of social engineering or social change. The paper presents key ingredients for successful organisational approaches to such work.

On a class of contest success functions

In this article, I analyze a class of contest success functions (CSFs) that satisfy Luce's Choice Axiom. I show that the functional forms of these CSFs can be fully identified if they are characterized by a partial differential equation (PDE), which has several intuitive economic interpretations. This POE approach provides foundations for popular CSFs and their generalizations.

Positive conditions for success

This paper reflects material presented by the authors of this article1 at a workshop presented at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College Cambridge between September 5 and 12, 2010. The impetus for this topic came from Neil Jensen, who had completed a significant body of research on compliance by FATF and non-FATF members with the 40 recommendations and the nine special recommendations.

Timing of immune escape linked to success or failure of vaccination

Successful vaccination against HIV should limit viral replication sufficiently to prevent the emergence of viral immune escape mutations. Broadly directed immunity is likely to be required to limit opportunities for immune escape variants to flourish. We studied the emergence of an SIV Gag cytotoxic T cell immune escape variant in pigtail macaques expressing the Mane-A*10 MHC I allele using a quantitative RT-PCR to measure viral loads of escape and wild type variants. Animals receiving whole Gag expressing vaccines completely controlled an SIV_mac251 challenge, had broader CTL responses and exhibited minimal CTL escape. In contrast, animals vaccinated with only a single CTL epitope and challenged with the same SIV_mac251 stock had high levels of viral replication and rapid CTL escape. Unvaccinated naïve animals exhibited a slower emergence of immune escape variants. Thus narrowly directed vaccination against a single epitope resulted in rapid immune escape and viral levels equivalent to that of naïve unvaccinated animals. These results emphasize the importance of inducing broadly directed HIV-specific immunity that effectively quashes early viral replication and limits the generation of immune escape variants. This has important implications for the selection of HIV vaccines for expanded human trials.

Critical success factors for stakeholder management: construction practitioners' perspectives

Although various factors have been identified as important for accomplishing successful stakeholder management, few studies appear to have undertaken a comparative analysis of practitioners’ views on the relative importance of critical success factors (CSFs) for stakeholder management in construction projects. In an attempt to fill this research gap, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong to collect the opinions of construction practitioners regarding the relative importance of CSFs for stakeholder management. Findings from this study show that all 15 selected CSFs are regarded as critical by most respondents for the success of stakeholder management in construction projects. The factor regarding social responsibilities is considered most important for managing stakeholders. Although correlations between CSFs and types of projects and organizations were statistically significant, these were not particularly strong. Also, even though there is a general consensus on the rankings of the CSFs among different respondents, the detailed pairwise comparisons actually show the existence of a few differences in perceptions on the relative importance of the CSFs. Therefore, the working priorities of project managers for managing stakeholders are context specific, depending on the nature, client sector, and cost of the project, and also on their organizations and management levels in the organization. These findings should help project managers become more aware of their responsibilities and the relative importance of issues for management stakeholders.

Exploring critical success factors for stakeholder management in construction projects

With a focus on different aspects of stakeholder management, various sets of critical success factors (CSFs) have been suggested in the literature. It is crucial to explore the relative importance and groupings of these factors. This paper aims to identify CSFs associated with stakeholder management in construction projects, and explore their ranking and underlying relationship. 15 CSFs were identified through a literature review, and consolidated by interviews and pilot studies with professionals in construction industry. A questionnaire instrument containing these 15 CSFs was sent out to project managers in Hong Kong, and 183 completed questionnaires were retrieved. The top three ranked factors for stakeholder management were "managing stakeholders with social responsibilities", "assessing the stakeholders' needs and constraints to the project", and "communicating with stakeholders properly and frequently". Using factor analysis and considering the high importance of the factor "managing stakeholders with social responsibilities", the 15 CSFs were grouped into five dimensions namely, precondition factor, stakeholder estimation, information inputs, decision making, and sustainable support. All these five groupings and their relationship were included in a framework for successful stakeholder management in construction projects. These findings help to clarify what the high prioritized factors are, and could also be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the performance of stakeholder management and thus help to identify areas for improvement.

Maximising trapping efficiency in reptile surveys : the role of seasonality, weather conditions and moon phase on capture success

Context : Designing an appropriate survey protocol requires understanding of how capture rates of target species may be influenced by factors other than on-ground abundance, such as weather conditions or seasonality. This is particularly relevant for ectotherms such as reptiles, as activity can be affected by environmental conditions such as ambient temperature.
Aims : The present study examines factors affecting capture success of reptiles in semi-arid environments of southern Australia, and addresses the following two main questions: (1) what is the influence of weather and seasonal factors on capture rates of reptiles, and (2) what are the implications for developing an effective protocol for reptile surveys?
Methods : We surveyed reptiles using pitfall traps in spring and summer of 2006/07 and 2007/08 at sites (n = 280) throughout the Murray Mallee region of south-eastern Australia. We used mixed-effect regression models to investigate the influence of seasonal and weather-related variables on species’ capture success.
Key results : Total captures of reptiles, and the likelihood of capture of 15 reptile species, increased with rising daily temperature. Greater numbers of individual species were captured during spring than in summer, even though temperatures were cooler. This probably reflects greater levels of activity associated with breeding. Several species were more likely to be captured when maximum or minimum daily temperatures exceeded a certain level (e.g. Lerista labialis, Delma australis, Nephrurus levis). Other factors, such as rainfall and moon phase, also influenced capture success of some species.
Conclusions : Surveys for reptiles in semi-arid environments are likely to capture the greatest diversity of species on warm days in late spring months, although surveys on hot days in summer will enhance detection of particular species (e.g. Morethia boulengeri, Varanus gouldii). We recommend trapping during periods with maximum temperatures exceeding 25–30C and minimum overnight temperatures of 15C. Finally, trapping during rainfall and full-moon events will maximise chances of encountering species sensitive to these variables (blind snakes and geckoes).
Implications : Selecting the most favourable seasonal and weather conditions will help ensure that reptile surveys maximise the likelihood of capturing the greatest diversity of reptiles, while minimising trap-effort required.

Critical success factors for business intelligence systems

The implementation of a business intelligence (BI) system is a complex undertaking requiring considerable resources. Yet there is a limited authoritative set of critical success factors (CSFs) for management reference because the BI market has been driven mainly by the IT industry and vendors. This research seeks to bridge the gap that exists between academia and practitioners by investigating the CSFs influencing BI systems success. The study followed a two-stage qualitative approach. Firstly, the authors utilised the Delphi method to conduct three rounds of studies. The study develops a CSFs framework crucial for BI systems implementation. Next, the framework and the associated CSFs are delineated through a series of case studies. The empirical findings substantiate the construct and applicability of the framework. More significantly, the research further reveals that those organisations which address the CSFs from a business orientation approach will be more likely to achieve better results.

Female choice for males with greater fertilization success in the Swedish Moor Frog, Rana arvalis

Background: Studies of mate choice in anuran amphibians have shown female preference for a wide range of male traits despite females gaining no direct resources from males (i.e. non-resource based mating system). Nevertheless, theoretical and empirical studies have shown that females may still gain indirect genetic benefits from choosing males of higher genetic quality and thereby increase their reproductive success.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated two components of sexual selection in the Moor frog (Rana arvalis), precopulatory female choice between two males of different size (‘large’ vs. ‘small’), and their fertilization success in sperm competition and in isolation. Females’ showed no significant preference for male size (13 small and six large male preferences) but associated preferentially with the male that subsequently was the most successful at fertilizing her eggs in isolation. Siring success of males in competitive fertilizations was unrelated to genetic similarity with the female and we detected no effect of sperm viability on fertilization success. There was, however, a strong positive association between a male’s innate fertilization ability with a female and his siring success in sperm competition. We also detected a strong negative effect of a male’s thumb length on his competitive siring success.
Conclusions/Significance: Our results show that females show no preference for male size but are still able to choose males which have greater fertilization success. Genetic similarity and differences in the proportion of viable sperm within a males ejaculate do not appear to affect siring success. These results could be explained through pre- and/or postcopulatory choice for genetic benefits and suggest that females are able to perceive the genetic quality of males, possibly basing their choice on multiple phenotypic male traits.