The Effects Of Persuasive Messages On System Acceptance

Firms have to invest millions of dollars to introduce a new system. If firms cannot persuade employees to accept and implement a system effectively, such investments are wasted. Since a given influence process may lead to differential outcomes, managers need to deliver influencing strategies to motivate employees and shape their behavior intentions related to system acceptance. This study integrates TAM, flow theory, and extends ELM to understand employees’ system acceptance. The findings indicate that two persuasive messages result in different influencing routes on employees’ emotional, functional, and utilitarian responses. Source credibility of persuasive messages has positive influence on playfulness, while argument quality of persuasive messages has positive influence on perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Attitude may play mediating roles in the relationship of playfulness-behavior intention and perceived usefulness-behavior intention

The Role of Cytokinin in Female Gametophyte Development in Arabidopsis

Plants, unlike animals, have distinct haploid and diploid phases of their life cycle. The haploid female gametophyte develops within the diploid maternal sporophytic tissue. The signaling events regulating the development of the female gametophyte are just beginning to be understood. The plant hormone auxin plays a role in the development of the female gametophyte, but the contribution of other phytohormones has not been examined in depth. Here we explore and demonstrate a role for the plant hormone cytokinin in female gametophyte development. We show that cytokinin function is enriched at one end of the sporophytic tissue that supports the development of the female gametophyte. This localized cytokinin signal in the maternal tissue is required for the initial specification of functional megaspore that will ultimately give rise to the female gametophyte.Doctor of Philosoph

Congestion Control for Machine-Type Communications in LTE-A Networks

Collecting data from a tremendous amount of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices for next generation networks is a big challenge. A large number of devices may lead to severe congestion in Radio Access Network (RAN) and Core Network (CN). 3GPP has specified several mechanisms to handle the congestion caused by massive amounts of devices. However, detailed settings and strategies of them are not defined in the standards and are left for operators. In this paper, we propose two congestion control algorithms which efficiently reduce the congestion. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can achieve 20~40% improvement regarding accept ratio, overload degree and waiting time compared with those in LTE-A

Multi-Hop Routing Mechanism for Reliable Sensor Computing

Current research on routing in wireless sensor computing concentrates on increasing the service lifetime, enabling scalability for large number of sensors and supporting fault tolerance for battery exhaustion and broken nodes. A sensor node is naturally exposed to various sources of unreliable communication channels and node failures. Sensor nodes have many failure modes, and each failure degrades the network performance. This work develops a novel mechanism, called Reliable Routing Mechanism (RRM), based on a hybrid cluster-based routing protocol to specify the best reliable routing path for sensor computing. Table-driven intra-cluster routing and on-demand inter-cluster routing are combined by changing the relationship between clusters for sensor computing. Applying a reliable routing mechanism in sensor computing can improve routing reliability, maintain low packet loss, minimize management overhead and save energy consumption. Simulation results indicate that the reliability of the proposed RRM mechanism is around 25% higher than that of the Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector routing (AODV) mechanisms

Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis “ Yang-Xu Zheng

Pathogenesis of sepsis includes complex interaction between pathogen activities and host response, manifesting highly variable signs and symptoms, possibly delaying diagnosis and timely life-saving interventions. This study applies traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Zheng diagnosis in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock to evaluate its adaptability and use as an early predictor of sepsis mortality. Three-year prospective observational study enrolled 126 septic patients. TCM Zheng diagnosis, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, and blood samples for host response cytokines measurement (tumor necrosis factor-α, Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8, Interleukin-10, Interleukin-18) were collected within 24 hours after admission to Intensive Care Unit. Main outcome was 28-day mortality; multivariate logistic regression analysis served to determine predictive variables of the sepsis mortality. APACHE II score, frequency of Nutrient-phase heat, and Qi-Xu and Yang-Xu Zhengs were significantly higher in nonsurvivors. The multivariate logistic regression analysis identified Yang-Xu Zheng as the outcome predictor. APACHE II score and levels of five host response cytokines between patients with and without Yang-Xu Zheng revealed significant differences. Furthermore, cool extremities and weak pulse, both diagnostic signs of Yang-Xu Zheng, were also proven independent predictors of sepsis mortality. TCM diagnosis “Yang-Xu Zheng” may provide a new mortality predictor for septic patients

Illiquidity Premium and Monetary Conditions in Emerging Markets: An Empirical Examination of Taiwan Stock Markets

This study empirically examines the illiquidity premium of Taiwan stock markets and its relationship with monetary policies. We find that commonly used illiquidity measures are generally sensitive and capable of capturing market illiquidity, particularly during the most volatile periods. Evidence shows that unconditional illiquidity is significantly priced across three illiquidity measures during the sample period. Aggregate market illiquidity innovations are noticeably affected by monetary policies. The results of Granger causality tests reveal that expansive monetary policy improves market illiquidity, whereas restrictive policy adversely affects market liquidity. Keywords: Illiquidity; illiquidity premium; monetary policy; asset pricing; Granger's causality tests JEL Classifications: G11, G12, G15 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.895

Kappa-Opioid Receptors in the Caudal Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Mediate 100 Hz Electroacupuncture-Induced Sleep Activities in Rats

Previous results demonstrated that 10 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) of Anmian acupoints in rats during the dark period enhances slow wave sleep (SWS), which involves the induction of cholinergic activity in the caudal nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and subsequent activation of opioidergic neurons and μ-receptors. Studies have shown that different kinds of endogenous opiate peptides and receptors may mediate the consequences of EA with different frequencies. Herein, we further elucidated that high-frequency (100 Hz)-EA of Anmian enhanced SWS during the dark period but exhibited no direct effect on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. High-frequency EA-induced SWS enhancement was dose-dependently blocked by microinjection of naloxone or κ-receptor antagonist (nor-binaltorphimine) into the caudal NTS, but was affected neither by μ- (naloxonazine) nor δ-receptor antagonists (natatrindole), suggesting the role of NTS κ-receptors in the high-frequency EA-induced SWS enhancement. Current and previous results depict the opioid mechanisms of EA-induced sleep