Measuring IS Service Quality in the Context of the Service Quality-User Satisfaction Relationship

There is little research regarding the relationship between IS service quality and user satisfaction, the most frequently used surrogate for information systems success. The current study is designed to investigate three ways of measuring service quality (i.e., confirmation/disconfirmation, perception-only, and overall assessment) and shed light on the relationship between service quality and user satisfaction. The results imply that when managers try to measure service quality to improve their service, they have to be cautious in ruling out or selecting one way or another of measuring service quality. The current research also clearly shows that mangers have to take care of the service quality to enhance user satisfaction. The models and results are discussed

Changes in Renal Function after Different Tandem Hematopoietic Stem-cell Transplantation Approaches in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

This study was done to observe the alteration of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in multiple myeloma patients according to type of tandem hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Forty-one patients were enrolled in this study. Twenty patients underwent autologous HSCT (auto-HSCT) and 21 patients underwent allogeneic HSCT (allo-HSCT). The changes in eGFR after the two tandem HSCT modalities were different between the two groups, according to the donor of stem cells (P = 0.016). In the auto-HSCT group, the eGFR, recorded 12 months after secondary HSCT, was significantly decreased compared with the eGFR recorded before stem cell mobilization (P = 0.005). Although there was no significant difference, the trend showed that the eGFR after allo-HSCT decreased from the previous HSCT until a month after secondary HSCT. In addition, after 6 months of secondary HSCT, the eGFR recovered to the level recorded prior to the HSCT (P = 0.062). This difference may be due to total body irradiation, a calcineurin inhibitor, or maintemance therapy. Changes in renal function would be monitored closely for these patients. The recovery of the eGFR would be a main focus for the patients treated with the total body irradiation or the calcineurin inhibitor, a progressive decline of the eGFR would be also crucial for the patients treated with maintenance therapy

Potential prognostic value of heat-shock protein 90 in the presence of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase overexpression or loss of PTEN, in invasive breast cancers

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract Introduction Evaluating the expression of signaling molecule proteins from the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in invasive breast cancers may identify prognostic marker(s) associated with early relapse. Methods Immunohistochemical analyses of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN), PI3K-p110α, phospho-AKT, phospho-p70S6 kinase, phospho-S6 ribosomal protein, phospho-RAF, phospho-p44/42 MAPK, and heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) were performed on tumor samples from 212 patients with invasive breast cancer. Statistically significant relations between protein expression, clinicopathologic factors, and relapse-free survival (RFS) were analyzed. Results Expression of HSP90 was associated with 5-year RFS, as well as T stage, N stage, histologic grade, estrogen receptor (ER) expression, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression, and the Ki-67 proliferation index. On multivariate analysis, coexpression of HSP90 and PI3K-p110α or expression of HSP90 along with PTEN loss demonstrated significantly worse RFS. In subgroup analyses, both exhibited strong prognostic significance in HER2-positive cases, but not in HER2-negative cases. Conclusions The coexpression of HSP90 with PI3K-p110α or expression of HSP90 along with PTEN loss has a potential as a molecular prognostic marker to predict early relapse in patients with invasive breast cancers

Antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of α-humulene against Bacteroides fragilis

The rapid increase in antibiotic resistance has prompted the discovery of drugs that reduce antibiotic resistance or new drugs that are an alternative to antibiotics. Plant extracts have health benefits and may also exhibit antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against pathogens. This study determined the antibacterial and antibiofilm effects of α-humulene extracted from plants against enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF), which causes inflammatory bowel disease. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and biofilm inhibitory concentration (BIC) of α-humulene for B. fragilis were 2 μg/mL, and the biofilm eradication concentration (Pumbwe et al.) was in the range of 8-32 μg/mL. The XTT reduction assay confirmed that the cellular metabolic activity in biofilm rarely occurred at 8-16 μg/mL concentration. In addition, the biofilm inhibition by α-humulene was also detected via confocal laser scanning microcopy. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was also used to investigate the effect of α-humulene on the expression of resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND)-type multidrug efflux pump (bmeB1 and bmeB3) genes. As a result of qPCR, α-humulene significantly reduced the expression of bmeB1 and bmeB3 genes. This study demonstrates the potential therapeutic application of α-humulene to inhibit the growth of B. fragilis cells and biofilms, and contribute to the expansion of knowledge about biofilm medicine.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Volatile organic compounds sampling and analysis using needle trap device

Volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are very toxic and harmful to living organisms and easily found as major pollutans in contaminated areas such as military bases and industrial sites. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of VOCs is required as part of the site assessment. VOC analysis is usually followed several complex steps such as solvent extraction, reverse extraction, and purification. Needle Trap Devices (NTDs) as an miniaturized adsorbent sampler can improve and simplify this analysis process. NTD is a one-step sampling, sample preparation and injection device optimized for gas chromatography, which is eco-friendly because no extraction solvent is required to extract VOCs from the sample matrix. This report uses the advantages of NTD to report the results of sampling and analysis from the monitoring well. That is, seven VOCs were identified and their concentration gradients according to the sampling depth were successfully figured out. VOCs decreased exponentially by diffusion as they moved away from contaminated groundwater, of which Tetrachloroethylene was the most detected component at 80.74 ng/mL at a depth of 1.5 m

Structural features of lignin macromolecules extracted with ionic liquid from poplar wood

1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][CH(3)COO]) was used for the extraction of lignin from poplar wood (Populus albaglandulosa), which was called to ionic liquid lignin (ILL) and structural features of ILL were compared with the corresponding milled wood lignin (MWL). Yields of ILL and MWL were 5.8 +/- 0.3% and 4.4 +/- 0.4%, respectively. The maximum decomposition rate (V(M)) and temperature (T(M)) corresponding to V(M) were 0.25%/degrees C and 308.2 degrees C for ILL and 0.30%/degrees C and 381.3 degrees C for MWL The amounts of functional groups (OMe and phenolic OH) appeared to be similar for both lignins; approximately 15.5% and 6.7% for ILL and 14.4% and 6.3% for MWL. However, the weight average molecular weight (M(w)) of ILL (6347 Da) was determined to be 2/3-fold of that of MWL (10,002 Da) and polydispersity index (PDI: M(w)/M(n)) suggested that the lignin fragments were more uniform in the ILL (PDI 1.62) than in the MWL (PDI 2.64).clos

Development of Solid Ceramic Dosimeters for the Time-Integrative Passive Sampling of Volatile Organic Compounds in Waters

Time-integrative passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water can now be accomplished using a solid ceramic dosimeter. A nonporous ceramic, which excludes the permeation of water, allowing only gas-phase diffusion of VOCs into the resin inside the dosimeter, effectively captured the VOCs. The mass accumulation of 11 VOCs linearly increased with time over a wide range of aqueous-phase concentrations (16.9 to 1100 μg L^–1), and the linearity was dependent upon the Henry’s constant (<i>H</i>). The average diffusivity of the VOCs in the solid ceramic was 1.46 × 10^–10 m² s^–1 at 25 °C, which was 4 orders of magnitude lower than that in air (8.09 × 10^–6 m² s^–1). This value was 60% greater than that in the water-permeable porous ceramic (0.92 × 10^–10 m² s^–1), suggesting that its mass accumulation could be more effective than that of porous ceramic dosimeters. The mass accumulation of the VOCs in the solid ceramic dosimeter increased in the presence of salt (≥0.1 M) and with increasing temperature (4 to 40 °C) but varied only slightly with dissolved organic matter concentration. The solid ceramic dosimeter was suitable for the field testing and measurement of time-weighted average concentrations of VOC-contaminated waters