Positive outcome expectancy mediates the relationship between social influence and Internet addiction among senior high-school students

Background and aims Based on the foundations of Bandura’s social cognitive theory and theory of triadic influence (TTI) theoretical framework, this study was designed to examine the mediating role of positive outcome expectancy of Internet use in the relationship between social influence and Internet addiction (IA) in a large representative sample of senior high-school students in Taiwan. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 1,922 participants were recruited from senior high schools throughout Taiwan using both stratified and cluster sampling, and a comprehensive survey was administered. Results Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses results showed that IA severity was significantly and positively predicted by social influence, and fully mediated through positive outcome expectancy of Internet use. Discussion and conclusions The results not only support Bandura’s social cognitive theory and TTI framework, but can also serve as a reference to help educational agencies and mental health organizations design programs and create policies that will help in the prevention of IA among adolescents

Differential Gene Expression in Response to Papayaringspot virus Infection in Cucumis metuliferus UsingcDNA- Amplified Fragment Length PolymorphismAnalysis

A better understanding of virus resistance mechanisms can offer more effective strategies to control virus diseases. Papayaringspot virus (PRSV), Potyviridae, causes severe economical losses in papaya and cucurbit production worldwide. However,no resistance gene against PRSV has been identified to date. This study aimed to identify candidate PRSV resistance genesusing cDNA-AFLP analysis and offered an open architecture and transcriptomic method to study those transcriptsdifferentially expressed after virus inoculation. The whole genome expression profile of Cucumis metuliferus inoculated withPRSV was generated using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) method. Transcript derivedfragments (TDFs) identified from the resistant line PI 292190 may represent genes involved in the mechanism of PRSVresistance. C. metuliferus susceptible Acc. 2459 and resistant PI 292190 lines were inoculated with PRSV and subsequentlytotal RNA was isolated for cDNA-AFLP analysis. More than 400 TDFs were expressed specifically in resistant line PI 292190. Atotal of 116 TDFs were cloned and their expression patterns and putative functions in the PRSV-resistance mechanism werefurther characterized. Subsequently, 28 out of 116 candidates which showed two-fold higher expression levels in resistant PI292190 than those in susceptible Acc. 2459 after virus inoculation were selected from the reverse northern blot andbioinformatic analysis. Furthermore, the time point expression profiles of these candidates by northern blot analysissuggested that they might play roles in resistance against PRSV and could potentially provide valuable information forcontrolling PRSV disease in the future

GAP-type low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors for light sensing photo-transistor application

Recently, ultra-high resolution with biometric recognitions such as fingerprint sensing has been a major trend throughout the whole display industry. In order to meet the needs of high screen ratio, high sensitivity to read out, low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin film transistor (TFT) is considered one of the candidates for sensing application. Unlike photodiode, LTPS photo-transistor structured as transistor makes it possible to sensing under different region (off-state or on state) with relatively small sensing area. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

Production of Homozygous Transgenic Rainbow Trout with Enhanced Disease Resistance

Previous studies conducted in our laboratory showed that transgenic medaka expressing cecropin B transgenes exhibited resistant characteristic to fish bacterial pathogens, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Vibrio anguillarum. To confirm whether antimicrobial peptide gene will also exhibit anti-bacterial and anti-viral characteristics in aquaculture important fish species, we produced transgenic rainbow trout expressing cecropin P1 or a synthetic cecropin B analog, CF-17, transgene by sperm-mediated gene transfer method. About 30 % of fish recovered from electroporation were shown to carry the transgene as determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification assay. Positive P(1) transgenic fish were crossed to non-transgenic fish to establish F(1) transgenic founder families, and subsequently generating F(2), and F(3) progeny. Expression of cecropin P1 and CF-17 transgenes was detected in transgenic fish by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis. The distribution of body sizes among F(1) transgenic fish were not significantly different from those of non-transgenic fish. Results of challenge studies revealed that many families of F(2) and F(3) transgenic fish exhibited resistance to infection by Aeromonas salmonicida and infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). All-male homozygous cecropin P1 transgenic families were produced by androgenesis from sperm of F(3) heterozygous transgenic fish in one generation. The resistant characteristic to A. salmonicida was confirmed in progeny derived from the outcross of all-male fish to non-transgenic females. Results of our current studies confirmed the possibility of producing disease-resistant homozygous rainbow trout strains by transgenesis of cecropin P1 or CF-17 gene and followed by androgenesis

Current and state of the art on the electrophysiologic characteristics and catheter ablation of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy

AbstractArrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is an inherited genetic disease caused by defective desmosomal proteins, and it has typical histopathological features characterized by predominantly progressive fibro-fatty infiltration of the right ventricle. Clinical presentations of ARVD/C vary from syncope, progressive heart failure (HF), ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death (SCD). The 2010 modified Task Force criteria were established to facilitate the recognition and diagnosis of ARVD/C. An implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) remains to be the cornerstone in prevention of SCD in patients fulfilling the diagnosis of definite ARVD/C, especially among ARVD/C patients with syncope, hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation, and aborted SCD. Further risk stratification is clinically valuable in the management of patients with borderline or possible ARVD/C and mutation carriers of family members. However, given the entity of heterogeneous penetrance and non-uniform phenotypes, the standardization of clinical practice guidelines for at-risk individuals will be the next frontier to breakthrough.Antiarrhythmic drugs are prescribed frequently to patients experiencing frequent ventricular tachyarrhythmias and/or appropriate ICD shocks. Amiodarone is the recommended drug of choice. Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) has been demonstrated to effectively eliminate the drug-refractory VT in patients with ARVD/C. However, the efficacy and clinical prognosis of RFCA via endocardial approach alone was disappointing prior to the era of epicardial approach. In recent years, it has been proven that the integration of endocardial and epicardial ablation by targeting the critical isthmus or eliminating abnormal electrograms within the diseased substrates could yield higher acute success and lower recurrence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias during long-term follow-up. Heart transplantation is the final option for patients with extensive disease, biventricular HF with uncontrollable hemodynamic compromise, and refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmias despite aggressive medical and ablation therapies

Clinical Study Clinical Evaluation of CyberKnife in the Treatment of Vestibular Schwannomas

Objective. This study assessed the posttreatment tumor control and auditory function of vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients after CyberKnife (CK) and analyzed the possible prognostic factors of hearing loss. Methods. We retrospectively studied 117 VS patients, with Gardner-Robertson (GR) classification grades I to IV, who underwent CK between 2006 and 2012. Data including radiosurgery treatment parameters, pre-and postoperative tumor size, and auditory function were collected and examined. Results. With CK, 117 patients had excellent tumor control rates (99.1%), with a mean imaging followup of 61.1 months. Excluding 52 patients (GR III-IV pretreatment), 53 (81.5%) of the remaining 65 patients (initial GR I-II) maintained GR I or II hearing after CK, with a mean audiometric followup of 64.5 months. Twelve patients experienced hearing degradation (91.6% were GR II pretreatment); they appeared to have significantly larger tumor sizes, significantly smaller cochlear sizes, and higher prescribed cochlear doses, compared to the patients with preserved hearing. Conclusion. Our data showed that CK treatment provided an excellent tumor control rate and a comparable hearing preservation rate in VS patients. Patients with pretreatment GR II hearing levels, larger tumor volumes, smaller cochlear sizes, and higher prescribed cochlear doses may have poor hearing prognoses

Identification of single nucleotide polymorphism markers associated with resistance to bruchids (Callosobruchus spp.) in wild mungbean (Vigna radiata var. sublobata) and cultivated V. radiata through genotyping by sequencing and quantitative trait locus analysis

Interval mapping of bruchid resistance on physical maps of populations TC1966 x NM94 and V2802. (DOCX 14 kb

Highly active dry methane reforming catalysts with boosted in situ grown Ni-Fe nanoparticles on perovskite via atomic layer deposition

With the need for more stable and active metal catalysts for dry reforming of methane, in situ grown nanoparticles using exsolution are a promising approach. However, in conventional exsolution, most nanoparticles remain underneath the surface because of the sluggish diffusion rate of cations. Here, we report the atomic layer deposition (ALD)-combined topotactic exsolution on La0.6Sr0.2Ti0.85Ni0.15O3-delta toward developing active and durable catalysts. The uniform and quantitatively controlled layer of Fe via ALD facilitates the topotactic exsolution, increasing finely dispersed nanoparticles. The introduction of Fe2O3 yields the formation of Ni-Fe alloy owing to the spontaneous alloy formation energy of -0.43 eV, leading to an enhancement of the catalytic activity for dry methane reforming with a prolonged stability of 410 hours. Overall, the abundant alloy nanocatalysts via ALD mark an important step forward in the evolution of exsolution and its application to the field of energy utilization

(electronic) Mitochondrial DNA, Early Online: 1-2 !

Abstract This study reported the 15,435 bp-long complete mitochondrial genome of the relict Epiophlebia superstes (Odonata, Epiophlebiidae), an enigmatic dragonfly of the paraphyletic 'Anisozygoptera' possessing characteristics similar to members of both extant odonate suborders, the Zygoptera and the Anisoptera. This mitogenome comprises the common set of 37 genes and an A þ T-rich control region, and has a gene arrangement identical to those of all available odonates. The genome contains three non-coding inter-genic spacers (s1-s3), which occurs in all of other known odonates, but it lacks the inter-genic spacer s5 typically found in the Anisoptera. This result suggests that E. superstes possesses a mitogenmic organization more closely related to that of the Zygoptera than that of the Anizoptera