Concern about Fairness, Ethical Idealism and Demand for Formal Procedures of Information Management

What factors can predict and explain customers’ demand that formal procedures of information management be implemented in information intensive organizations? Using data collected from students at a large U.S. university, we investigate the effects of students’ concern about fairness and their ethical idealism on students’ demand that universities implement formal procedures in managing information about students stored in databases. We find that individuals’ concern about fairness and their ethical idealism positively correlate with their demand for formalization of information management procedures in organizations. Implications of the findings for universities are discussed in light of ethics, strategy, design, control and administration of personal information management systems in organizations

How are Concerns about Errors and Ethics Related to Demands for Information Systems Audits?

What factors affect individuals\u27 demands that information systems (IS) audits are implemented in the organizations with which they do business? Using concepts and constructs from theoretical literature on individuals’ concerns about organizational information management practices, we build a theoretical model that can explain and predict individuals\u27 demand for information systems audit in organizations. Using data from U. S. university students, we empirically test two hypotheses using a multiple regression model. It was found that students’ concern about error in data and their concern about organizational ethics of information management positively affect students’ demand for IS audit at U. S. universities

Do Information Privacy Concerns Affect Students’ Feeling of Alienation?

Organizations such as universities collect and use personal data about customers such as students. How do students feel about their university’s practices related to the collection and use of personal data? Using data collected via a survey of 187 students at a large U.S. university, we investigate the effects of these two privacy concerns on students’ feeling of alienation. Implications of the results are discussed in light of ethics, strategy, design, control and administration of personal information management systems

Single Cell Profiling of Circulating Tumor Cells: Transcriptional Heterogeneity and Diversity from Breast Cancer Cell Lines

BACKGROUND: To improve cancer therapy, it is critical to target metastasizing cells. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare cells found in the blood of patients with solid tumors and may play a key role in cancer dissemination. Uncovering CTC phenotypes offers a potential avenue to inform treatment. However, CTC transcriptional profiling is limited by leukocyte contamination; an approach to surmount this problem is single cell analysis. Here we demonstrate feasibility of performing high dimensional single CTC profiling, providing early insight into CTC heterogeneity and allowing comparisons to breast cancer cell lines widely used for drug discovery. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We purified CTCs using the MagSweeper, an immunomagnetic enrichment device that isolates live tumor cells from unfractionated blood. CTCs that met stringent criteria for further analysis were obtained from 70% (14/20) of primary and 70% (21/30) of metastatic breast cancer patients; none were captured from patients with non-epithelial cancer (n = 20) or healthy subjects (n = 25). Microfluidic-based single cell transcriptional profiling of 87 cancer-associated and reference genes showed heterogeneity among individual CTCs, separating them into two major subgroups, based on 31 highly expressed genes. In contrast, single cells from seven breast cancer cell lines were tightly clustered together by sample ID and ER status. CTC profiles were distinct from those of cancer cell lines, questioning the suitability of such lines for drug discovery efforts for late stage cancer therapy. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: For the first time, we directly measured high dimensional gene expression in individual CTCs without the common practice of pooling such cells. Elevated transcript levels of genes associated with metastasis NPTN, S100A4, S100A9, and with epithelial mesenchymal transition: VIM, TGFß1, ZEB2, FOXC1, CXCR4, were striking compared to cell lines. Our findings demonstrate that profiling CTCs on a cell-by-cell basis is possible and may facilitate the application of 'liquid biopsies' to better model drug discovery

Autoantibody Production in Cancer—The Humoral Immune Response toward Autologous Antigens in Cancer Patients

A link between autoimmune responses and cancer via autoantibodies was first described in the 1950s. Since, autoantibodies have been studied for their potential use as cancer biomarkers, however the exact causes of their production remain to be elucidated. This review summarizes current theories of the causes of autoantibody production in cancer, namely: 1) defects in tolerance and inflammation, 2) changes in protein expression levels, 3) altered protein structure, and 4) cellular death mechanisms. We also highlight the need for further research into this field to improve our understanding of autoantibodies as biomarkers for cancer development and progression

Effects of Information Privacy Policies on Customers’ Willingness to transact with Online Vendors

Organizations operating in the information age need to refine their understanding of the effects of organizational policies regarding personal information management on customers’ willingness to transact with online vendors. This research employed a 2x2x2 within-subjects experimental design to test the effects of three organizational information management strategy variables on customers’ willingness to transact with online vendors. The three strategy variables presented to customers through privacy policies are: (1) seeking customers’ informed consent, (2) giving customers the ability to limit data sharing, and (3) giving customers the ability to limit secondary use of data. Analyses of data collected from customers support the three hypothesized main effects which are all positive

Contemporary Mobile Commerce: Determinants of Its Adoption

Mobile commerce is the next generation of electronic commerce that allows consumers to perform many transactions via a mobile phone instead of a desktop computer. To online businesses, this commerce channel also allows them to have almost non-stop accessibility to a large population of mobile device users. This study examines the factors affecting intention to use contemporary mobile commerce on the basis of integrating perceived security, subjective norm, innovativeness, and self-efficacy into the TAM model. Statistical analysis results show that self-efficacy and innovativeness are positively related to perceived ease of use. Perceived ease of use has a positive effect on perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security, and subjective norm have a positive relationship with intention to use mobile commerce. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Finally, future research directions are outlined

Contemporary mobile commerce: Determinants of its adoption

Mobile commerce is the next generation of electronic commerce that allows consumers to perform many transactions via a mobile phone instead of a desktop computer. To online businesses, this commerce channel also allows them to have almost non-stop accessibility to a large population of mobile device users. This study examines the factors affecting intention to use contemporary mobile commerce on the basis of integrating perceived security, subjective norm, innovativeness, and self-efficacy into the TAM model. Statistical analysis results show that self-efficacy and innovativeness are positively related to perceived ease of use. Perceived ease of use has a positive effect on perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security, and subjective norm have a positive relationship with intention to use mobile commerce. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Finally, future research directions are outlined.The APC was funded by Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi