Media Richness and User Continuance to Instant Messaging

Media richness determines adoption of information systems. Insufficient research was done for investigating its influence on user continuance of using instant messaging applications. This study used classic IS and psychological theories to construct a research framework. This study gathered more than 200 responses by using an online form. LISREL software was used to conduct structural equation modeling technique to test the research framework. The findings indicated that various but not all dimensions of media richness positively contribute to users’ continuance to use instant messaging applications. Specific dimensions provide insights for managers to design their applications to effectively retain their users

The Method of Particular Solutions Using Trigonometric Basis Functions

In this paper, the method of particular solutions (MPS) using trigonometric functions as the basis functions is proposed to solve two-dimensional elliptic partial differential equations. The inhomogeneous term of the governing equation is approximated by Fourier series and the closed-form particular solutions of trigonometric functions are derived using the method of undetermined coefficients. Once the particular solutions for the trigonometric basis functions are derived, the standard MPS can be applied for solving partial differential equations. In comparing with the use of radial basis functions and polynomials in the MPS, our proposed approach provides another simple approach to effectively solving two-dimensional elliptic partial differential equations. Five numerical examples are provided in this paper to validate the merits of the proposed meshless method

Knowledge Sharing and Business Matching in Advertising and Public Relations Services Using Semantic Peer Technology

We develop semantic peer network aiming at knowledge sharing and business matching for the domain of advertisement and public relations. We top up a knowledge-based layer upon the peer to peer network to make it knowledge base peer. The knowledge base consists of ontology for the application domain and domain instances. We develop user services for resource sharing and business matching based on the knowledge-based layer. A trust management mechanism is built into the knowledge-based layer for making trustable resource sharing and business match making. Also we develop an RDF-based streaming mechanism for automatically pushing newly matched information to appropriate nodes. We made experiment to test the performance of search for the prototype system. The result shows that the addition of knowledge-based layer upon the peer-to-peer network would not result in the decrease of performance. We also investigate future work after the prototype researc

Ixora parviflora Protects against UVB-Induced Photoaging by Inhibiting the Expression of MMPs, MAP Kinases, and COX-2 and by Promoting Type I Procollagen Synthesis

Ixora parviflora with high polyphenol content exhibited antioxidant activity and reducing UVB-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species production. In this study, results of the photoaging screening experiments revealed that IPE at 1000 μg/mL reduced the activity of bacterial collagenase by 92.7 ± 4.2% and reduced the activity of elastase by 32.6 ± 1.4%. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms by which IPE exerts its anti-photoaging activity. IPE at 1 μg/mL led to an increase in type I procollagen expression and increased total collagen synthesis in fibroblasts at 5 μg/mL. We found that IPE inhibited MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-9 expression at doses of 1, 5, and 10 μg/mL, respectively, in fibroblasts exposed to UV irradiation (40 mJ/cm2). Gelatin zymography assay showed that IPE at 50 μg/mL inhibited MMP-9 secretion/activity in cultured fibroblasts after UVB exposure. In addition, IPE inhibited the phosphorylation of p38, ERK, and JNK induced by UVB. Furthermore, IPE inhibited the UVB-induced expression of Smad7. In addition, IPE at 1 μg/mL inhibited NO production and COX-2 expression in UV-exposed fibroblasts. These findings show that IPE exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-photoaging activities, indicating that IPE could be a potential anti-aging agent

Oromotor variability in children with mild spastic cerebral palsy: a kinematic study of speech motor control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Treating motor speech dysfunction in children with CP requires an understanding of the mechanism underlying speech motor control. However, there is a lack of literature in quantitative measures of motor control, which may potentially characterize the nature of the speech impairments in these children. This study investigated speech motor control in children with cerebral palsy (CP) using kinematic analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected 10 children with mild spastic CP, aged 4.8 to 7.5 years, and 10 age-matched children with typical development (TD) from rehabilitation department at a tertiary hospital. All children underwent analysis of percentage of consonants correct (PCC) and kinematic analysis of speech tasks: poly-syllable (PS) and mono-syllable (MS) tasks using the Vicon Motion 370 system integrated with a digital camcorder. Kinematic parameters included spatiotemporal indexes (STIs), and average values and coefficients of variation (CVs) of utterance duration, peak oral opening displacement and velocity. An ANOVA was conducted to determine whether PCC and kinematic data significantly differed between groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CP group had relatively lower PCCs (80.0-99.0%) than TD group (<it>p </it>= 0.039). CP group had higher STIs in PS speech tasks, but not in MS tasks, than TD group did (<it>p </it>= 0.001). The CVs of utterance duration for MS and PS tasks of children with CP were at least three times as large as those of TD children (<it>p </it>< 0.01). However, average values of utterance duration, peak oral opening displacement and velocity and CVs of other kinematic data for both tasks did not significantly differ between two groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>High STI values and high variability on utterance durations in children with CP reflect deficits in relative spatial and/or especially temporal control for speech in the CP participants compared to the TD participants. Children with mild spastic CP may have more difficulty in processing increased articulatory demands and resulted in greater oromotor variability than normal children. The kinematic data such as STIs can be used as indices for detection of speech motor control impairments in children with mild CP and assessment of the effectiveness in the treatment.</p

Extending the Technology Acceptance Model to Investigate Impact of Embodied Games on Learning of Xiao-zhuan()

AbstractThis research focuses on topic of e-learning of Xiao-zhuan through digital Embodied games as a brand new way of creative learning method for Xiao-zhuan. TAM, Technology Acceptance Model, is the methodology in this research. Theory of perceived playfulness is also adopted to analyze the learning of Xiao-zhuan. Subjects in this research are 45 sophomores of the Department of Chinese Literature in National Taiwan Normal University. This research adopts questionnaire survey method, then refers to students’ paper scores on the test. The results of this research are as follows: Firstly, “Perceived Usefulness” has the significant influence on “Learning Effectiveness” and “Attitude toward Using the Embodied games”. Secondly, “Perceived Ease of Use” has the influence on “Perceived Playfulness”. Thirdly, “Perceived Playfulness” has the significant influence on “Attitude toward Using the Embodied games”