abstract. Performance in information systems development (ISD) projects can be critical to business success. But, while project performance has been the subject of much debate, there has been little empirical research into its determinants. A survey of IS projects in the UK and New Zealand is analysed to test hypotheses concerning performance in terms of both project completion and budget (time‐cost) variances. Subsequently, a secondary analysis of the findings is used to build a more complete empirical model of project performance. The paper helps to develop the theory of IS development project performance and also has significant implications for practice. Discussion of the findings highlights the importance of project team dynamics, risk management, senior management support for strategic projects and user participation in ensuring successful IS project performance.

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of hospitalizations in young children. We estimated the burden of community-onset RSV-associated hospitalizations among US children aged <2 years by extrapolating rates of RSV-confirmed hospitalizations in 4 surveillance states and using probabilistic multipliers to adjust for ascertainment biases. Methods From October 2014 through April 2015, clinician-ordered RSV tests identified laboratory-confirmed RSV hospitalizations among children aged <2 years at 4 influenza hospitalization surveillance network sites. Surveillance populations were used to estimate age-specific rates of RSV-associated hospitalization, after adjusting for detection probabilities. We extrapolated these rates using US census data. Results We identified 1554 RSV-associated hospitalizations in children aged <2 years. Of these, 27% were admitted to an intensive care unit, 6% needed mechanical ventilation, and 5 died. Most cases (1047/1554; 67%) had no underlying condition. Adjusted age-specific RSV hospitalization rates per 100 000 population were 1970 (95% confidence interval [CI],1787 to 2177), 897 (95% CI, 761 to 1073), 531 (95% CI, 459 to 624), and 358 (95% CI, 317 to 405) for ages 0–2, 3–5, 6–11, and 12–23 months, respectively. Extrapolating to the US population, an estimated 49 509–59 867 community-onset RSV-associated hospitalizations among children aged <2 years occurred during the 2014–2015 season. Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of RSV as a cause of hospitalization, especially among children aged <2 months. Our approach to estimating RSV-related hospitalizations could be used to provide a US baseline for assessing the impact of future interventions.

By coupling controllable quantum systems into larger structures we introduce the concept of a quantum metamaterial. Conventional meta-materials represent one of the most important frontiers in optical design, with applications in diverse fields ranging from medicine to aerospace. Up until now however, metamaterials have themselves been classical structures and interact only with the classical properties of light. Here we describe a class of dynamic metamaterials, based on the quantum properties of coupled atom-cavity arrays, which are intrinsically lossless, reconfigurable, and operate fundamentally at the quantum level. We show how this new class of metamaterial could be used to create a reconfigurable quantum superlens possessing a negative index gradient for single photon imaging. With the inherent features of quantum superposition and entanglement of metamaterial properties, this new class of dynamic quantum metamaterial, opens a new vista for quantum science and technology.

Human serum albumin (HSA) complexation with quercetin, a flavonoid commonly present in human diet, was monitored by means of fluorescence decays of the single HSA tryptophan - Trp214. Data analysis based on fitting to multiexponential functions and determining the lifetime distributions revealed a high sensitivity of tryptophan fluorescence to binding quercetin. Results are discussed in terms of the rotamer model for tryptophan, HSA-quercetin complexation and potential HSA to quercetin energy transfer. Evidence for quercetin stabilising tryptophan rotamers in HSA is presented.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of specific human resource management (HRM) practices in the implementation of environmental initiatives in terms of their impact on employee attitudes to the organization and to its environmental programme. Design/methodology/approach -The study used a mixed method approach comprising a survey of 675 employees and 16 semi-structured interviews undertaken across two organizations. Findings -Survey data, analysed using path analysis, showed that participation in environmental initiatives is directly associated with higher levels of employee engagement with the organization, higher rating of their organization's environmental performance, and lower intention to quit. The qualitative study supports the quantitative data, also highlighting other aspects of environmental initiatives that may affect employee attitudes. Research limitations/implications -Future study should either collect longitudinal data or rely on data collected from two waves of data collection. Objective performance data should also be collected in order to better understand the causal effect of HRM on environmental performance. Practical implications -Our findings have implications for the business case for sustainability, providing some evidence that implementing environmental initiatives with HRM support may not only motivate staff around environmental programmes but may provide wider benefits for organizations in terms of overall job satisfaction and employee retention. Social implications -Successful implementation of environmental management initiatives have both organizational and employee level outcomes. Employees who were more aligned with their organizational environmental objectives were found to be more engaged and less likely to quit. Originality/value -This study provided both quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence to support the importance of integrating the HRM function into the implementation of environmental initiatives.