Learners’ continuance participation intention of collaborative group project in virtual learning environment: an extended TAM perspective

The aim of this study is to explore learners’ intention to return to the electronic environment through the use of wikipages. The survey is based on students’ participation in a collaborative group project over a one semester course on business information systems. A research model based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been proposed to investigate what factors will influence learners’ continuance participation in the electronic learning environment. 75% of students returned the questionnaire and the data analysis results based on the extended TAM Shows that the learners’ intention to return to the electronic learning environment was highly associated with their attitude towards the electronic learning tool and the affection associated with the tool

MiR-103a-3p targets the 5\u27 UTR of GPRC5A in pancreatic cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs that regulate the expression of their targets in a sequence-dependent manner. For protein-coding transcripts, miRNAs regulate expression levels through binding sites in either the 3\u27 untranslated region (3\u27 UTR) or the amino acid coding sequence (CDS) of the targeted messenger RNA (mRNA). Currently, for the 5\u27 untranslated region (5\u27 UTR) of mRNAs, very few naturally occurring examples exist whereby the targeting miRNA down-regulates the expression of the corresponding mRNA in a seed-dependent manner. Here we describe and characterize two miR-103a-3p target sites in the 5\u27 UTR of GPRC5A, a gene that acts as a tumor suppressor in some cancer contexts and as an ongocene in other cancer contexts. In particular, we show that the interaction of miR-103a-3p with each of these two 5\u27 UTR targets reduces the expression levels of both GPRC5A mRNA and GPRC5A protein in one normal epithelial and two pancreatic cancer cell lines. By ectopically expressing sponges that contain instances of the wild-type 5\u27 UTR targets we also show that we can reduce miR-103a-3p levels and increase GPRC5A mRNA and protein levels. These findings provide some first knowledge on the post-transcriptional regulation of this tumor suppressor/oncogene and present additional evidence for the participation of 5\u27 UTRs in miRNA driven post-transcriptional regulatory control

VB-Courant algebroids, E-Courant algebroids and generalized geometry

In this paper, we first discuss the relation between VB-Courant algebroids and E-Courant algebroids and construct some examples of E-Courant algebroids. Then we introduce the notion of a generalized complex structure on an E-Courant algebroid, unifying the usual generalized complex structures on even-dimensional manifolds and generalized contact structures on odd-dimensional manifolds. Moreover, we study generalized complex structures on an omni-Lie algebroid in detail. In particular, we show that generalized complex structures on an omni-Lie algebra \gl(V)\oplus V correspond to complex Lie algebra structures on V.Comment: 19 page

3D avatar seller's effect on online consumer's purchasing behavior: a trust transference perspective

The emerging 3D virtual worlds attract more and more people to participate in the virtual environment, creating a new market for business to sell their products. In 3D virtual worlds, members mainly interact with each other through avatars. The selling process is fulfilled through the shop avatars. How businesses sell their products successfully to the potential customers and eventually persuade the customer to purchase the product is an essential question. Trust played a key role in the selling process. In the general selling process, trust was established through the sales person. In the virtual world environment, could the trust be established between the sales avatars and customer avatars This paper aims at answering this question by examining the trust transference process in the 3D virtual world environment. An experiment was conducted to categorize the avatars into attractive and expert ones. The research result first suggest that trust formed in a 3D avatar seller could be transferred to a selling company and a product but for an expert 3D avatar seller, trust transferred to the company and product results in intent to purchase. Trust in a 3D avatar seller is transferred to trust in a product and a company and furthermore, an expert avatar can affect a consumer's intent to purchase. In the case of an attractive 3D avatar, although trust is transferred, it is only to the point of intent to purchase