The Role of Formal and Social Control in Information Security Behaviors

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of formal and social control on in-role and extra-role security behaviors. Following past studies, we reexamine the effect of formal control on behaviors. Based on social control theory, we further hypothesize the effect of social control on security behaviors. Data collected from 259 members of IS departments confirmed our hypotheses that both formal control and social control generate effects on both in-role and extrarole security behaviors. Implications for academia and practitioners are also provided

To Explore The Collective Animal Erratic Panic and Biomimetics

In biomimetics, we learn and get inspiration from animals to improve our quality of life. It is important to have better understanding on what, why, and how animal did so we can apply the biomimetics more effectively. Anomalous behaviors including the collective animal erratic panic (CAEP) are some of the poorly understood and potentially very important and inspiring phenomena. CAEP is not commonly noted. But it is often noticed before, during, or right after some abrupt natural disasters. There are many speculations, confusions and controversy associated with the still mysterious CAEP. CAEP could provide us with invaluable inspiration to improve our biomimetics including sensing and signal processing. CAEP would also help us to reduce our loss in lives and properties through detecting the precursors of the forthcoming natural disasters. We have explored the important issues on 1.What is CAEP? 2. What are the major stimuli and essential mechanisms in CAEP? and 3. What wisdoms can we gain from CAEP for better understanding and to further advance our biomimetics?We have made good advances in all three critical issues. With our preliminary results, we can explain the nearly no animal casualty in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy, the successful early warning in the 1975 Haicheng earthquake. We can also shed some light to the sudden disappearing of the unusually large gathering of sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco during 2009. Furthermore, we can fix the challenging twists of some anomalous animal behaviors in 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Improved modeling and helpful appropriate experiments are needed to make further good advances. A better grasp of the CAEP can help us to improve our wisdom in biomimetics. It can also provide us with potentially vital systems for early warning of the deadly abrupt natural disasters. Keywords: biomimetics; panic; collective behaviour; animal; stimul

Persistent surgical wound bleeding: A rare condition related to acquired hemophilia A

SummaryAcquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a rare condition that predisposes affected patients to a bleeding tendency, even after a trivial physical insult. We present our experience with a 45-year-old male patient who was referred to our institute because of persistent bleeding from a left forearm surgical wound after fasciotomy. He was diagnosed as having AHA. Surgical treatment in combination with recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) led to a satisfactory result. Clinical awareness and multidisciplinary professional connections are necessary in the treatment of AHA. Acquired hemophilia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with uncontrolled bleeding episodes

Predicting serum levels of lithium-treated patients: A supervised machine learning approach

Routine monitoring of lithium levels is common clinical practice. This is because the lithium prediction strategies available developed by previous studies are still limited due to insufficient prediction performance. Thus, we used machine learning approaches to predict lithium concentration in a large real-world dataset. Real-world data from multicenter electronic medical records were used in different machine learning algorithms to predict: (1) whether the serum level was 0.6-1.2 mmol/L or 0.0-0.6 mmol/L (binary prediction), and (2) its concentration value (continuous prediction). We developed models from 1505 samples through 5-fold cross-validation and used 204 independent samples to test their performance by evaluating their accuracy. Moreover, we ranked the most important clinical features in different models and reconstructed three reduced models with fewer clinical features. For binary and continuous predictions, the average accuracy of these models was 0.70-0.73 and 0.68-0.75, respectively. Seven features were listed as important features related to serum lithium levels of 0.6-1.2 mmol/L or higher lithium concentration, namely older age, lower systolic blood pressure, higher daily and last doses of lithium prescription, concomitant psychotropic drugs with valproic acid and -pine drugs, and comorbid substance-related disorders. After reducing the features in the three new predictive models, the binary or continuous models still had an average accuracy of 0.67-0.74. Machine learning processes complex clinical data and provides a potential tool for predicting lithium concentration. This may help in clinical decision-making and reduce the frequency of serum level monitoring

Urbane Dörfer: räumliche Entgrenzungsprozesse und parzellierte Gemeinschaftsformen

A-Dorf liegt im Einzugsgebiet von zwei Großstädten und besteht seit dem Jahr 953. Ursprünglich und für den größten Teil seiner Geschichte war das Dorf eine bäuerliche Siedlung, hat aber seit den 1950er-Jahren einen deutlichen sozialstrukturellen Wandel durchgemacht. Die Einwohnerschaft hat sich seit den 1970er-Jahren durch Neubaugebiete nahezu verdoppelt. Insbesondere die Zugezogenen weisen eine eher pragmatische, zweckrationale Ortsbindung auf und sind überlokal orientiert. Ihr Lebens- und Aktionsraum geht weit über die Grenzen des Dorfes hinaus. Dies hat auch Konsequenzen für dörfliche Formen der Gemeinschaftsbildung, die inzwischen weit stärker Ergebnisse von individuellen Selektionen sind und nicht mehr durch Strukturen des Kontextes erzwungen werden. Sehr deutlich wurde dies z. B. bei den Beziehungen zu Nachbarn/ innen oder dörflichen Vereinen und Interessengruppen. »Die« Dorfgemeinschaft im Singular wird ersetzt durch interessenspezifische Teilgemeinschaften.»A-Village« is located in the catchment area of two major cities and exists since 1953. Originally, and for the most part of its history, it was a rural village, but since the 1950s it went through a major change concerning its social structure. The number of inhabitants has almost doubled since the 1970s, due to housing estates. Especially the recent settlers have a more pragmatic and function-guided binding to the village and are globally orientated. Their space of living and action exceeds the narrow boundaries of the village to a greater extent. These facts have consequences for the way of forming communities, and are less the implications of contextual structures, but reflect more results of selections by individuals. This is evident, for example, in the case of relations with neighbours or associations and interest groups. The »village-community« in the singular is being replaced by segmented communities, which are being formed to serve special interests

Do beta-adrenergic blocking agents increase asthma exacerbation? A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Beta-adrenergic blocking agents (abbreviated as beta-blockers) have been used for treating various cardiovascular diseases. However, the potential for asthma exacerbation is one of the major adverse effects of beta-blockers. This study aimed to compare the level of risk for an asthma attack in patients receiving various beta-blockers. We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of either placebo-controlled or active-controlled design. The current network meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted under a frequentist model. The primary outcome was the incidence of asthmatic attack. A total of 24 RCTs were included. Overall NMA revealed that only oral timolol [risk ratio (RR) = 3.35 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–10.85)] and infusion of propranolol [RR = 10.19 (95% CI 1.29–80.41)] were associated with significantly higher incidences of asthma attack than the placebo, whereas oral celiprolol [RR = 0.39 (95% CI 0.04–4.11)], oral celiprolol and propranolol [RR = 0.46 (95% CI 0.02–11.65)], oral bisoprolol [RR = 0.46 (95% CI 0.02–11.65)], oral atenolol [RR = 0.51 (95% CI 0.20–1.28)], infusion of practolol [RR = 0.80 (95% CI 0.03–25.14)], and infusion of sotalol [RR = 0.91 (95% CI 0.08–10.65)] were associated with relatively lower incidences of asthma attack than the placebo. In participants with a baseline asthma history, in addition to oral timolol and infusion of propranolol, oral labetalol, oxprenolol, propranolol, and metoprolol exhibited significantly higher incidences of asthma attack than did the placebo. In conclusion, oral timolol and infusion of propranolol were associated with a significantly higher risk of developing an asthma attack in patients, especially in those with a baseline asthma history, and should be avoided in patients who present a risk of asthma

Efficacy of pharmacologic treatment in tinnitus patients without specific or treatable origin: A network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Background- Although tinnitus has a prevalence between 20 and 42.8%, the currently recommended management for tinnitus, such as tinnitus support and psychologic therapies, are relatively time-consuming and expensive. Several new pharmacologic treatments designed for tinnitus patients without specific origin had been developed but their efficacy remains unclear. Methods- The current Network Meta-Analysis (NMA) of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different pharmacologic treatments for tinnitus management in tinnitus patients without specific or treatable origin (i.e. primary tinnitus). Databases were searched from inception to April 5th, 2021. All network meta-analytic procedures were conducted under the frequentist model. We calculated the effect size of outcomes with different rating scales with standardized mean difference. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020177742. Findings- Overall, 36 RCTs were included with 2,761 participants. The main results revealed that pharmacologic interventions with brain-acting effect (for example, amitriptyline, acamprosate, and gabapentin) and those with anti-inflammation/anti-oxidant effect (for example, intra-tympanic dexamethasone injection plus oral melatonin) were associated with superior improvement in tinnitus severity and response rate compared to placebo/control. Oral amitriptyline were associated with the highest improvement in tinnitus severity and the fourth highest response rate. None of the investigated interventions was associated with different changes in quality of life compared to placebo/control. All the investigated treatments were associated with similar drop-out rate to placebo/control. Interpretation- The current NMA suggests a potential role for treatments with brain-acting effect (for example, amitriptyline, acamprosate, and gabapentin) or anti-inflammation/anti-oxidant effect (for example, intra-tympanic dexamethasone injection plus oral melatonin) as the preferable effective treatments for tinnitus without specific or treatable origin

Toward controllable and predictable synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanocrystals.

High-entropy alloy (HEA) nanocrystals have attracted extensive attention in catalysis. However, there are no effective strategies for synthesizing them in a controllable and predictable manner. With quinary HEA nanocrystals made of platinum-group metals as an example, we demonstrate that their structures with spatial compositions can be predicted by quantitatively knowing the reduction kinetics of metal precursors and entropy of mixing in the nanocrystals under dropwise addition of the mixing five-metal precursor solution. The time to reach a steady state for each precursor plays a pivotal role in determining the structures of HEA nanocrystals with homogeneous alloy and core-shell features. Compared to the commercial platinum/carbon and phase-separated counterparts, the dendritic HEA nanocrystals with a defect-rich surface show substantial enhancement in catalytic activity and durability toward both hydrogen evolution and oxidation. This quantitative study will lead to a paradigm shift in the design of HEA nanocrystals, pushing away from the trial-and-error approach

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Genotype-phenotype correlation in Taiwanese children with diazoxide-unresponsive congenital hyperinsulinism

ObjectiveCongenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders characterized by dysregulated insulin secretion. The aim of the study was to elucidate genetic etiologies of Taiwanese children with the most severe diazoxide-unresponsive CHI and analyze their genotype-phenotype correlations.MethodsWe combined Sanger with whole exome sequencing (WES) to analyze CHI-related genes. The allele frequency of the most common variant was estimated by single-nucleotide polymorphism haplotype analysis. The functional effects of the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel variants were assessed using patch clamp recording and Western blot.ResultsNine of 13 (69%) patients with ten different pathogenic variants (7 in ABCC8, 2 in KCNJ11 and 1 in GCK) were identified by the combined sequencing. The variant ABCC8 p.T1042QfsX75 identified in three probands was located in a specific haplotype. Functional study revealed the human SUR1 (hSUR1)-L366F KATP channels failed to respond to intracellular MgADP and diazoxide while hSUR1-R797Q and hSUR1-R1393C KATP channels were defective in trafficking. One patient had a de novo dominant mutation in the GCK gene (p.I211F), and WES revealed mosaicism of this variant from another patient.ConclusionPathogenic variants in KATP channels are the most common underlying cause of diazoxide-unresponsive CHI in the Taiwanese cohort. The p.T1042QfsX75 variant in the ABCC8 gene is highly suggestive of a founder effect. The I211F mutation in the GCK gene and three rare SUR1 variants associated with defective gating (p.L366F) or traffic (p.R797Q and p.R1393C) KATP channels are also associated with the diazoxide-unresponsive phenotype