Critical Success Factors for E-commerce in Thailand: A Multiple Case Study Analysis

A number of developing countries have adopted e-commerce strategies in seeking to boost their economies and competitiveness to a new level. Thailand is one of these developing countries struggling to develop a successful e-commerce plan that will fit the needs of Thai markets. The goal of this research was to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for ecommerce in Thailand. The researcher conducted detailed case studies of nine e-commerce companies from different industries in Thailand. Results showed that social behavior and national culture, more specifically issues pertaining to trust and shopping behavior, were critical to the success of e-commerce in Thailand. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions could explain the phenomenon. The study also found that Thailand’s infrastructure also played an important role in the success of its ecommerce development. The findings provided a framework to guide development of e-commerce ventures in Thailand and other developing countries with similar culture and infrastructures

Process Reengineering: China\u27s Public Health Emergency Information System

The SARS crisis has exposed the inability of China’s fragile public health system to respond to emergencies. China’s central government has initiated a national project to establish a public health emergency information system (PHEIS). The purpose of this study is to investigate the ongoing development of China’s PHEIS. By using a functional coupling framework, the paper analyzes the weakness of the old public health system, describes the design and functionalities of PHEIS, and discusses implications on future system development from a process reengineering perspective

Investigating Barriers to Knowledge Management Implementation In the U.S. MIlitary: A Focus on Managerial Influences

The knowledge management literature identifies a variety of factors that may influence KM implementation in organizations. Over the past ten years, each of the U. S. military services has implemented KM programs to varying degrees. Although knowledge management research continues to grow, little has focused exclusively on efforts in the military context. Using Holsapple and Joshi’s KM “influences” framework (2000)--which addresses managerial, resource, and environmental factors--as guiding theory, this multiple-case study reports on the “managerial” factors that have influenced KM implementation across the U. S. military services. The results indicate a number of negative managerial influence factors (i.e. barriers) have thwarted progress, the most significant being lack of leadership commitment & lack of evidence/measurement that reveal a return on investment. Identification of these influence factors not only reinforces existing theory, but also offers a practical guide for specific interventions that focus on leadership & user KM education, KM proponent leadership/organizations, and service-wide policy, guidance, and governance

JTEC Panel report on electronic manufacturing and packaging in Japan

This report summarizes the status of electronic manufacturing and packaging technology in Japan in comparison to that in the United States, and its impact on competition in electronic manufacturing in general. In addition to electronic manufacturing technologies, the report covers technology and manufacturing infrastructure, electronics manufacturing and assembly, quality assurance and reliability in the Japanese electronics industry, and successful product realization strategies. The panel found that Japan leads the United States in almost every electronics packaging technology. Japan clearly has achieved a strategic advantage in electronics production and process technologies. Panel members believe that Japanese competitors could be leading U.S. firms by as much as a decade in some electronics process technologies

Impaired Autophagy Diurnal Rhythmicity in Rodent Diabetic Retinopathy

poster abstractPurpose: Retinal homeostasis is under both diurnal and circadian regulation. However, diurnal changes in retinal autophagy have not been hitherto explored. We sought to investigate the diurnal expression of autophagy proteins/genes in normal rodent retina to determine if this is impaired in diabetic retinopathy. Methods: Eyes from C57BL/6 mice and BBZ rats maintained under a 12h/12h; 6am/6pm light/dark cycle were enucleated every 2 or 3 hours over a 24 hour period. Eyes were also collected from C57BL/6 induced STZ for 2 or 9 month as type 1 and BBZDR/wor type 2 diabetic rats for 4 months. Immunohistochemistry, Western-blot and real-time PCR were performed for Atg7, Atg9, LC3 and Beclin. Retina vessel pathology and superoxide were assessed by enzyme digestion and a spectrofluorometer. Results: Autophagy proteins (Atgs) were abundantly expressed in neural retina and endothelia cells in both mice and rats with differential staining pattern across the retinas and demonstrated a distinctive diurnal rhythmicity. All Atgs showed localization to retinal blood vessels with Atg7 being the most highly expressed. Analysis of the immunostaining demonstrated distinctive diurnal rhythmicity of which Atg9 and LC3 shared a biphasic expression cycle with the highest level at 8:15 am and 8:15 pm. By contrast, Beclin revealed a 24-hour cycle with the highest level observed at midnight. Atg7 was also on a 24-hour cycle with peak expression at 8:15am, coinciding with the first peak expression of Atg9 and LC3. In diabetic animals, immunohistochemistry showed dramatic reduction in all four Atgs and this was further confirmed by Western Blot, especially a decrease in LC3II/LC3I ratio (a measure of autophagy flux). Furthermore, the distinctive diurnal rhythmicity of these autophagy proteins was significantly impaired and phase shifted in diabetic animals. Conclusions: Autophagy proteins show both spatial and diurnal-dependent expression in normal rodent retinas and this is severely impaired and phase shifted in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic animals. Decreased autophagy in diabetic animals may in part explain the increased generation of reactive oxygen species in diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, restoration of diurnal rhythmicity and facilitating autophagy pathway expression may provide new treatment strategies for diabetic retinopathy

Efficacy and Safety of Antioxidant Treatment With α-Lipoic Acid Over 4 Years in Diabetic Polyneuropathy

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of α-lipoic acid (ALA) over 4 years in mild-to-moderate diabetic distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). Research Design and Methods: In a multicenter randomized double-blind parallel-group trial, 460 diabetic patients with mild-to-moderate DSPN were randomly assigned to oral treatment with 600 mg ALA once daily (n = 233) or placebo (n = 227) for 4 years. Primary end point was a composite score (Neuropathy Impairment Score [NIS]–Lower Limbs [NIS-LL] and seven neurophysiologic tests). Secondary outcome measures included NIS, NIS-LL, nerve conduction, and quantitative sensory tests (QSTs). Results: Change in primary end point from baseline to 4 years showed no significant difference between treatment groups (P = 0.105). Change from baseline was significantly better with ALA than placebo for NIS (P = 0.028), NIS-LL (P = 0.05), and NIS-LL muscular weakness subscore (P = 0.045). More patients showed a clinically meaningful improvement and fewer showed progression of NIS (P = 0.013) and NIS-LL (P = 0.025) with ALA than with placebo. Nerve conduction and QST results did not significantly worsen with placebo. Global assessment of treatment tolerability and discontinuations due to lack of tolerability did not differ between the groups. The rates of serious adverse events were higher on ALA (38.1%) than on placebo (28.0%). Conclusions: Four-year treatment with ALA in mild-to-moderate DSPN did not influence the primary composite end point but resulted in a clinically meaningful improvement and prevention of progression of neuropathic impairments and was well tolerated. Because the primary composite end point did not deteriorate significantly in placebo-treated subjects, secondary prevention of its progression by ALA according to the trial design was not feasible

The use of triclosan-coated sutures to prevent surgical site infections : a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature

Introduction and objectives Surgical site infections (SSIs) represent a common and serious complication of all surgical interventions. Microorganisms are able to colonise sutures that are implanted in the skin, which is a causative factor of SSIs. Triclosan-coated sutures are antibacterial sutures aimed at reducing SSIs. Our objective is to update the existing literature by systematically reviewing available evidence to assess the effectiveness of triclosan-coated sutures in the prevention of SSIs. Methods A systematic review of EMBASE, MEDLINE, AMED (Allied and complementary medicine database) and CENTRAL was performed to identify full text randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on 31 May 2019. Intervention Triclosan-coated sutures versus non-triclosan-coated sutures. Primary outcome Our primary outcome was the development of SSIs at 30 days postoperatively. A meta-analysis was performed using a fixed-effects model. Results Twenty-five RCTs were included involving 11 957 participants. Triclosan-coated sutures were used in 6008 participants and non triclosan-coated sutures were used in 5949. Triclosan-coated sutures significantly reduced the risk of SSIs at 30 days (relative risk 0.73, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.82). Further sensitivity analysis demonstrated that triclosan-coated sutures significantly reduced the risk of SSIs in both clean and contaminated surgery. Conclusion Triclosan-coated sutures have been shown to significantly reduced the risk of SSIs when compared with standard sutures. This is in agreement with previous work in this area. This study represented the largest review to date in this area. This moderate quality evidence recommends the use of triclosan-coated sutures in order to reduce the risk of SSIs particularly in clean and contaminated surgical procedures