Exploring Electronic Payment System Acceptibility Determinants: A Consumer Outlook

The aim of this research paper is to explore the electronic payment system (EPS) acceptability determinants, from the consumer perspective. Exploratory factor analysis has been used to explore the factors based on different statements. The study has been conducted in North-West region of Delhi. Data has been collected from male-female of different age groups by using the questionnaire tool of data collection. For extraction of factors Principal component analyses and Varimax with Kaiser Normalization rotation method was used. The rotated component matrix shows best fitting of items to form a factor. As per the convergence of items, 4 factors were extracted and named. These factors are security concern, Knowledge, awareness and acceptability & convenience which are contributing for acceptability of electronic payment system among the consumers

Depression of the ULF geomagnetic pulsation related to ionospheric irregularities

We consider a depression in intensity of ULF magnetic pulsations, which is observed on the ground surface due to appearance of the irregularities in the ionosphere. It is supposed that oblique Alfven waves in the ULF frequency range are downgoing from the magnetosphere and the horizontal irregularities of ionospheric conductivity are created by upgoing atmospheric gravity waves from seismic source. Unlike the companion paper by Molchanov et al. (2003), we used a simple model of the ionospheric layer but took into consideration the lateral inhomogeneity of the perturbation region in the ionosphere. It is shown that ULF intensity could be essentially decreased for frequencies f = 0.001-0.1 Hz at nighttime but the change is negligible at daytime in coincidence with observational results

Targeting epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) to modulate prostate cancer cell chemoresistance

Understanding why some cancer cells do not respond to chemotherapy is critical to developing new ways to control cancer. This project defined the important role of tumour cell plasticity in the response of prostate cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs. Key proteins that control cell plasticity have emerged as promising theranostic targets that can be pursued to develop new approaches to improve outcomes for men with metastatic prostate cancer

Carbon quantum dots for efficient delivery of curcumin in live cell

Carbon quantum dots (CQD) are a novel class of nanomaterials that has significant importance for applications in bioimaging, drug loading and delivery. Their easy preparation, tunable optoelectronic property, low toxicity, excellent biocompatibility, superior photostability, and exceptional water solubility contribute to their tremendous potentials for various applications. In this study, we synthesized carbon quantum dots using a greener and cost-efficient top-down reflux methods, and characterized the CQDs by various spectroscopy techniques. Furthermore, we investigated the potential application of CQDs as carrier of antitumor drug curcumin (Cur) in vitro by investigating the drug loading and release mechanism of the CQDs. Solubility of hydrophobic drug curcumin is increased when it forms complex with CQD, and hence increases the potential for its application. Moreover, the pH responsive drug release mechanism of the curcumin loaded CQDs is found to follow anomalous diffusion as per Korsmeyer-Peppas model. Additionally, we explored the in vivo bioimaging application of the CQDs, and used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique using CQDs (as donor) and curcumin (as acceptor) to understand the heterogeneity of drug loading in live Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. Our findings provide a detailed insight into the application of CQDs as probes in bioimaging and FRET, and as well as their potential for targeted curcumin delivery in live cells

Telepsychiatry clinical decision support system used by non-psychiatrists in remote areas: Validity & reliabilityof diagnostic module

Background & objectives: A knowledge-based, logically-linked online telepsychiatric decision support system for diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders was developed and validated. We evaluated diagnostic accuracy and reliability of the application at remote sites when used by non-psychiatrists who underwent a brief training in its use through video-conferencing. Methods: The study was conducted at a nodal telepsychiatry centre, and three geographically remote peripheral centres. The diagnostic tool of application had a screening followed by detailed criteria-wise diagnostic modules for 18 psychiatric disorders. A total of 100 consecutive consenting adult outpatients attending remote telepsychiatry centres were included. To assess inter-rater reliability, patients were interviewed face to face by non-specialists at remote sites using the application (active interviewer) and simultaneously on online application via video-conferencing by a passive assessor at nodal centre. Another interviewer at the nodal centre rated the patient using Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) for diagnostic validation. Results: Screening sub-module had high sensitivity (80-100%), low positive predictive values (PPV) (0.10-0.71) but high negative predictive value (NPV) (0.97-1) for most disorders. For the diagnostic sub-modules, Cohen's kappa was >0.4 for all disorders, with kappa of 0.7-1.0 for most disorders. PPV and NPV were high for most disorders. Inter-rater agreement analysis revealed kappa >0.6 for all disorders. Interpretation & conclusions: Diagnostic tool showed acceptable to good validity and reliability when used by non-specialists at remote sites. Our findings show that diagnostic tool of the telepsychiatry application has potential to empower non-psychiatrist doctors and paramedics to diagnose psychiatric disorders accurately and reliably in remote sites

Androgen targeted therapy induces ZEB1 expression and is associated with suppression of androgen signalling and therapy resistance

Reactivation of the embryonic developmental pathway, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with prostate cancer (PCa) metastasis and therapy resistance. Recent evidence has demonstrated EMT is stimulated following androgen targeted therapy (ATT). In the present study we investigated the role of EMT transcription factor ZEB1 in ATT-driven EMT, PCa metastasis and drug resistance.Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of ZEB1 on tissue microarrays of primary tumors from clinical samples demonstrated ZEB1 expression correlated with increased tumor aggressiveness and Gleason score. Upon stratification of patient data (n=198), high ZEB1 protein expression correlated with a shorter time to biochemical recurrence (BCR). Furthermore, IHC staining of primary tumours from 148 treatment-naïve patients with and without metastasis demonstrated high ZEB1 levels and correlated to a reduced time to metastasis.To delineate the role of ZEB1 as a molecular driver of late-stage PCa, microarray analysis of an in vivo LNCaP progression model demonstrated ZEB1 levels increased following castration. Significantly, high ZEB1 levels were associated with patients who had undergone neoadjuvant hormone therapy with or without docetaxel and high ZEB1 levels were associated with a shorter time to BCR and metastasis. Inhibition of the androgen/androgen receptor (AR) axis in LNCaP cells using antiandrogen treatment or shRNA targeting AR resulted in upregulation of ZEB1 in LNCaP cells suggesting enhanced levels of ZEB1 may drive the early adaptive response of PCa after hormone therapy. Interestingly, in models where ZEB1 expression was elevated this was accompanied with repression of classical androgen-regulated genes suggesting ZEB1 is able to regulate the AR transcriptional pathway.We also investigated the role of ZEB1 in cancer invasion and chemoresistance. An inducible model of ZEB1 overexpression in LNCaP cells produced a robust EMT upon ZEB1 expression and was accompanied by an invasive phenotype in 3D cultures. ZEB1 overexpression also conferred resistance to docetaxel (IC50 of 8.17±2.45nM in ZEB1-expressing cells vs. 3.35±0.23nM in control cells) potentially as a result of a reduced apoptotic cell death response mediated by ZEB1. At suboptimal doses of docetaxel, the percentage of apoptotic cells (annexin-V+/propidium iodide-) decreased 4-fold when ZEB1 was expressed compared with control cells and was accompanied by a reduction in PARP cleavage and cleaved caspase-7 expression.In summary, we provide evidence that ZEB1 expression is increased in response to ATTs and correlates with disease progression, metastasis and therapy resistance. We also show ZEB1 is a transcriptional regulator of AR signalling in PCa, Together this provides the rationale to target ZEB1 for the development of novel therapies for the treatment of CRPC