Factors of Employee’s E-Learning Effectiveness: A Multi-Level Study Based on Socio-Technical Systems Theory

Application of e-learning in enterprises provides the advantages of lower training cost, richer learning content, higher information consistency, and easier update of content. Despite the fact that enterprises have the intention to introduce e-learning, there is not a complete framework to which they can refer to ensure the benefits of e-learning for employee training or learning and understand which important factors affect employee’s e-learning effectiveness. Relative to the difficulties of introducing e-learning in management practice, the academic achievements in this aspect also seem very limited. Most the existing papers are focused on discussion and survey of e-learning in school, and very few of them are dedicated to empirical research of e-learning in corporate environment. Besides, these studies discuss e-learning only at the technical or the individual level without a comprehensive investigation into the factors affecting e-learning effectiveness with multi-level theoretic framework. This paper applies the socio-technical systems theory to review and integrate theories about employee e-learning from a macro view. To make up the insufficiency of related research, literature review and case research are conducted first. Based on the interview results, an analysis model is constructed to thoroughly explore factors affecting employee’s e-learning effectiveness. Later, through a questionnaire survey on employees’ adoption of e-learning and subsequent multi-level data analysis, hypotheses on the relationship of the influencing factors and the research model are verified. Results show that e-learning effectiveness (usefulness of e-learning, continuance intention to use, and e-learning performance) is simultaneously or alternately affected by direct or moderating factors of the technical system and the social system at the work environment level and the individual level. Compared with the existing research, this paper uses a more comprehensive system view to construct the theoretical model and empirically verify it. The results can be a reference for future researchers and managers of e-learning in enterprises

Autophagy and Coagulation in Liver Cancer and Disorders

The physiological role of autophagy in metabolism of the body involves both protein synthesis and degradation. The autophagy-lysosome and the ubiquitin-proteasome systems are the two major intracellular proteolytic mechanisms. Autophagy in hepatocytes is known to be quite active and contribute to its normal functions and the pathogenesis of liver diseases. The role of autophagy in liver diseases has been widely studied, and growing evidence has now shown that autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of autophagy in the progression of liver fibrosis and prognosis of human HCC is not well known. Recent studies have demonstrated that tissue factor (TF) combined with coagulation factor VII (FVII) has a pathological role by activating a protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) for tumor growth. Autophagy-related LC3A/B-II formation induced by the inhibition of TF/FVII/PAR2 coagulation axis, particularly by FVII knockdown, was selectively mediated by the Atg7 induction. These results are consistent with clinical observations that indicate the important role of FVII activation in regulating autophagy in HCC. In this chapter, we discuss our findings in which FVII promotes growth and progression in HCC through ERK-TSC/mTOR signaling to repress autophagy and may play a pivotal role in conferring cirrhosis and other liver diseases

Pharmacokinetics of p

The characteristics of aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) are interstitial fibrosis and atrophy of the proximal tubules, but with no change in glomeruli. To investigate the effects of AA on renal functions and the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of p-aminohippuric acid (PAH) and inulin, New Zealand white rabbits were used in this study. The plasma concentrations of PAH and inulin were determined by validated HPLC methods. After a single intravenous administration of 0.5 mg/kg aristolochic acid sodium (AANa), rabbits exhibited mild to moderate nephrotoxicity on the 7th day. Significant tubulointerstitial damage to kidney specimens was found, but there were no remarkable glomerular changes. Clearance rates of PAH and inulin both significantly decreased in AANa-treated rabbits. In addition, there was a significant correlation among the degree of tubulointerstitial changes and PK parameters of PAH after AANa administration, but no correlation was noted with the PKs of inulin. With mild to moderate AAN in rabbits, the renal plasma flow significantly decreased by 55%, and the glomerular filtration rate also significantly decreased by 85%. In conclusion, major renal lesions were found on proximal tubules after AANa administration. The PKs of PAH and inulin significantly changed, and kidney functions, including the RPF and GFR, were reduced

Devastating chest wall necrotizing fasciitis following pigtail catheter drainage

SummaryPigtail catheter for drainage of pleural effusion has gained popularity. Complication related to the insertion of these small-bore catheter is low. In this report, we highlight two cases with devastating necrotizing fasciitis of chest wall following pigtail catheter insertion

Weakly Nonlinear Hydrodynamic Stability of the Thin Newtonian Fluid Flowing on a Rotating Circular Disk

The main object of this paper is to study the weakly nonlinear hydrodynamic stability of the thin Newtonian fluid flowing on a rotating circular disk. A long-wave perturbation method is used to derive the nonlinear evolution equation for the film flow. The linear behaviors of the spreading wave are investigated by normal mode approach, and its weakly nonlinear behaviors are explored by the method of multiple scales. The Ginzburg-Landau equation is determined to discuss the necessary condition for the existence of such flow pattern. The results indicate that the superctitical instability region increases, and the subcritical stability region decreases with the increase of the rotation number or the radius of circular disk. It is found that the rotation number and the radius of circular disk not only play the significant roles in destabilizing the flow in the linear stability analysis but also shrink the area of supercritical stability region at high Reynolds number in the weakly nonlinear stability analysis

Examining the online reading behavior and performance of fifth-graders: evidence from eye-movement data

Online reading is developing at an increasingly rapid rate, but the debate concerning whether learning is more effective when using hypertexts than when using traditional linear texts is still persistent. In addition, several researchers stated that online reading comprehension always starts with a question, but little empirical evidence has been gathered to investigate this claim. This study used eye-tracking technology and retrospective think aloud technique to examine online reading behaviors of fifth-graders (N = 50). The participants were asked to read four texts on the website. The present study employed a three-way mixed design: 2 (reading ability: high vs. low) 2 (reading goals: with vs. without) 2 (text types: hypertext vs. linear text). The dependent variables were eye-movement indices and the frequencies of using online reading strategy. The results show that fifth-graders, irrespective of their reading ability, found it difficult to navigate the nonlinear structure of hypertexts when searching for and integrating information. When they read with goals, they adjusted their reading speed and the focus of their attention. Their offline reading ability also influenced their online reading performance. These results suggest that online reading skills and strategies have to be taught in order to enhance the online reading abilities of elementary-school students

A Study of Classics-Reading Curriculum, Classics-Reading Promotion, and Classics-Reading Effect Modeling Exploration in Elementary Schools

The purposes of this study are to test reliabilities and validities of classics-reading curriculum (CRC) scale, classics-reading promotion (CRP) scale, and classics-reading effect (CRE) scale and to examine the relationships between CRC, CRP, and CRE in elementary schools through applying CORPS framework. The pilot sample and formal sample contain 141 and 500 participants from elementary school faculties and classics-reading volunteers in the north, central, south, and east regions of Taiwan. The findings indicate that Cronbach α coefficients of curriculum cognition (CC), curriculum teaching (CT), inside-school promotion (IP), outside-school promotion (EP), learning effect (LE), and class management effect (CME) subscales are .88, .85, .93, .91, .91, .94, respectively, through exploratory factor analysis and they have good internal reliabilities and construct validities, respectively, through confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, CC, CT, IP, and EP have positive influences on LE (standardized coefficients .34, .25, .14, and .22) and on CME (standardized coefficients .41, .14, .14, and .20), respectively. CC, CT, IP, and EP can explain 69% of LE and 61% of CME. The model is supported by the data. Lastly, this study proposes some suggestions regarding the classics-reading education for elementary schools

Ring Characteristics and Compressive Strength of Japanese Cedar Trees Grown Under Different Silvicultural Treatments

The effects of different plantation spacings and thinning treatments on the ring characteristics, compressive strength, and dynamic modulus of elasticity (DMOE) of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) trees were investigated. The results revealed that young trees of more-closely spaced plantations (3000 trees/ha) had higher wood density and compressive strength than those of more-widely spaced plantations (2200 trees/ha). Different (first and second) thinning treatments of the 2 initial spacings had little effect on ring characteristics or compressive strength. Overall, the average ring characteristics, compressive strength, and DMOE of 35-yr-old Japanese cedar at different plantation spacings and thinning treatments showed no statistically significant differences. The results suggest that using these silvicultural treatments with a longer rotation age will have no detrimental effects on the wood density, compressive strength, or DMOE

Articles That Use Artificial Intelligence for Ultrasound: A Reader’s Guide

Artificial intelligence (AI) transforms medical images into high-throughput mineable data. Machine learning algorithms, which can be designed for modeling for lesion detection, target segmentation, disease diagnosis, and prognosis prediction, have markedly promoted precision medicine for clinical decision support. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of articles, including articles on ultrasound with AI, published in only a few years. Given the unique properties of ultrasound that differentiate it from other imaging modalities, including real-time scanning, operator-dependence, and multi-modality, readers should pay additional attention to assessing studies that rely on ultrasound AI. This review offers the readers a targeted guide covering critical points that can be used to identify strong and underpowered ultrasound AI studies