What factors drive corporate customer satisfaction with e-banking services

Due to the burgeoning development of electronic commerce (e-commerce),the broader applications of emerging service-Internet baking (e-banking) services have been introduced and provided by financial holding companies or banks at an accelerating rate in recent years since they can provide efficient, reliable, securable, and convenient financial services, such as online payment, deposit/loan, trading, and clearing/settlement, via electronic channels (e-channels, e.g., Internet and phone) for customers. E-banking services not only can create new competitive advantages, perhaps, but also can improve their relationships with customers for banks. Obviously, e-banking can offer better services required by corporations and individuals, it could be a strategic niche no matter for banks or their customers. Conceivably, how to implement e-banking successfully is becoming a critical management issue. Unfortunately, research pays scarce attentions on what factors drive success of e-banking, particularly from corporate customers\u27 perspective. For the reason, this paper attempts to explore what factors affect corporate customer satisfaction with e-banking (CCSEB) which is one surrogate variable of success of e-banking services. Based on a survey of 178 respondents collected from Taiwan companies, the results support that environmental, organizational, and globalization factors will affect customer satisfaction with e-banking significantly. Furthermore, there exist a reciprocal relationship between customer satisfaction and post-usage favorite behavior. We believe the results and findings proposed in this paper not only can offer in-depth insights for practitioners about how to implement e-banking successfully, but also can be further directions for researchers interested in designing related theories

Social inequality in motorcycle helmet use: when a reduction in inequality is not necessarily good news

Background: We sought to examine changes in the magnitude of social inequality in motorcycle helmet use in Taiwan between 2001 and 2009. Methods: Using data from the 2001 and 2009 Taiwan National Health Interview Surveys, we calculated absolute (the slope index of inequality, SII) and relative (relative index of inequality, RII) measures of inequality in helmet use by three indicators of socioeconomic position. Results: The rate of motorcycle helmet use was 92% (14 801/16 100) in 2001 and decreased to 89% (15 748/17 948) in 2009. We noted a significant decrease in social inequality in helmet use in RII according to urbanisation level, a significant decrease in SII and RII according to income level, and a significant increase in SII according to education level. The reduction in RII according to urbanisation level was more prominent than that based on income level, from 1.73 (95% CI 1.63 to 1.84) in 2001 to 1.33 (95% CI 1.27 to 1.39) in 2009. The decline in helmet use was most prominent for motorcycle users who live in suburban areas, from 94% in 2001 to 88% in 2009. Conclusions: The significant reduction of social inequality in helmet use according to urbanisation level and income is not a public health success story. Rather, it is a warning sign of slackening law enforcement in Taiwan

The epidemiology of patients with pterygium in southern Taiwanese adults: The Chiayi survey

AbstractPurposeTo investigate patients with pterygium in different geographic regions and the associated risk factors in southern Taiwan.MethodsA clinical observation survey was conducted in Chiayi County, a rural area in southern Taiwan. The subjects aged 40 years and above underwent complete ocular examinations. Associated risks factors were evaluated, including gender, age, occupations, smoking, and geographical living regions by univariant and multivariant logistic regression analysis.ResultsA total of 2197 participants (790 male, 36.0%) from 44 different villages were evaluated. In these, 554 participants (25.2%) have either unilateral or bilateral pterygium. Age is associated with the percentage of pterygium, and those aged between 60 and 69 had the highest percentage of 30.1% (p < 0.0001). The gender effect was higher among men than women (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.08–1.60, p = 0.006). The percentage of pterygium lived in plain, seaside, and mountainous areas were 22.6%, 32.6%, and 14.5% respectively. Geographical regions also showed that seaside area had the highest percentage of pterygium (seaside area OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.35-2.03, and mountainous area OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.35-0.95 compared with plain areas). Primary outdoor workers and residents with smoking history had relative higher risk for pterygium (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.17-1.86; OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02-1.83).ConclusionsThe percentage of pterygium in southern Taiwan is about 25.2% among adults aged over 40 years in this survey. It is significantly higher in the age of 50 or more and in residents living in villages along the seaside than those living in the mountainous and the plain areas

Bacteremic pneumonia caused by Nocardia veterana in an HIV-infected patient

SummaryDisseminated Nocardia veterana infection has rarely been reported. We describe the first reported case of N. veterana bacteremic pneumonia in an HIV-infected patient. The isolate was confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The patient initially responded well to trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole treatment (minimum inhibitory concentration 0.25μg/ml), but died of ventilator-associated pneumonia

The nucleolar protein NIFK promotes cancer progression via CK1α/β-catenin in metastasis and Ki-67-dependent cell proliferation.

Nucleolar protein interacting with the FHA domain of pKi-67 (NIFK) is a Ki-67-interacting protein. However, its precise function in cancer remains largely uninvestigated. Here we show the clinical significance and metastatic mechanism of NIFK in lung cancer. NIFK expression is clinically associated with poor prognosis and metastasis. Furthermore, NIFK enhances Ki-67-dependent proliferation, and promotes migration, invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo via downregulation of casein kinase 1α (CK1α), a suppressor of pro-metastatic TCF4/β-catenin signaling. Inversely, CK1α is upregulated upon NIFK knockdown. The silencing of CK1α expression in NIFK-silenced cells restores TCF4/β-catenin transcriptional activity, cell migration, and metastasis. Furthermore, RUNX1 is identified as a transcription factor of CSNK1A1 (CK1α) that is negatively regulated by NIFK. Our results demonstrate the prognostic value of NIFK, and suggest that NIFK is required for lung cancer progression via the RUNX1-dependent CK1α repression, which activates TCF4/β-catenin signaling in metastasis and the Ki-67-dependent regulation in cell proliferation

Gamma Ray and Radon Anomalies in Northern Taiwan as a Possible Preearthquake Indicator around the Plate Boundary

Taiwan is tectonically situated in an oblique collision zone between the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) and the Eurasian Plate (EP). Continuous observations of gamma rays at the Yangmingshan (YMSG) station and soil radon at the Tapingti (TPT) station were recorded in the volcanic area and around a major fault zone, respectively, in Taiwan for seismic studies. A number of anomalous high gamma ray counts and radon concentrations at certain times were found. It is noted that significant increases of soil radon concentrations were observed and followed by the increase in gamma rays a few days to a few weeks before earthquakes that occurred in northeastern Taiwan. Earthquakes such as these are usually related to the subduction of the PSP beneath the EP to the north along the subduction zone in northern Taiwan (e.g., ML = 6 4, April 20, 2015). It is suggested that the preseismic activity may be associated with slow geodynamic processes at the subduction interface, leading to the PSP movement triggering radon enhancements at the TPT station. Furthermore, the further movement of the PSP might be blocked by the EP, with the accumulated elastic stress resulting in the increase of gamma rays due to the increase in porosity and fractures below the YMSG station. The continuous monitoring of the multiple parameters can improve the understanding of the relationship between the observed radon and gamma ray variations and the regional crustal stress/strain in north and northeastern Taiwan

Biomechanical comparison of pedicle screw fixation strength among three different screw trajectories using single vertebrae and one-level functional spinal unit

Three key factors are responsible for the biomechanical performance of pedicle screw fixation: screw mechanical characteristics, bone quality and insertion techniques. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has directly compared the biomechanical performance among three trajectories, i.e., the traditional trajectory (TT), modified trajectory (MT) and cortical bone trajectory (CBT), in a porcine model. This study compared the pullout strength and insertion torque of three trajectory methods in single vertebrae, the pullout strength and fixation stiffness including flexion, extension, and lateral bending in a one-level instrumented functional spinal unit (FSU) that mimics the in vivo configuration were clarified. A total of 18 single vertebrae and 18 FSUs were randomly assigned into three screw insertion methods (n = 6 in each trajectory group). In the TT group, the screw converged from its entry point, passed completely inside the pedicle, was parallel to the superior endplate, was located in the superior third of the vertebral body and reached to at least the anterior third of the vertebral body. In the MT group, the convergent angle was similar to that of the TT method but directed caudally to the anterior inferior margin of the vertebral body. The results of insertion torque and pullout strength in single vertebrae were analyzed; in addition, the stiffness and pullout strength in the one-level FSU were also investigated. This study demonstrated that, in single vertebrae, the insertion torque was significantly higher in CBT groups than in TT and MT groups (p &lt; 0.05). The maximal pullout strength was significantly higher in MT groups than in TT and CBT groups (p &lt; 0.05). There was no significant difference in stiffness in the three motions among all groups. The maximal pullout strength in FSUs of MT and CBT groups were significantly higher than the TT groups (p &lt; 0.05). We concluded that either MT or CBT provides better biomechanical performance than TT in single vertebrae or FSUs. The lack of significance of stiffness in FSUs among three methods suggested that MT or CBT could be a reasonable alternative to TT if the traditional trajectory was not feasible

IMPAD1 functions as mitochondrial electron transport inhibitor that prevents ROS production and promotes lung cancer metastasis through the AMPK-Notch1-HEY1 pathway

The tumor microenvironment (TME) and metabolic reprogramming have been implicated in cancer development and progression. However, the link between TME, metabolism, and cancer progression in lung cancer is unclear. In the present study, we identified IMPAD1 from the conditioned medium of highly invasive CL1-5. High expression of IMPAD1 was associated with a poorer clinical phenotype in lung cancer patients, with reduced survival and increased lymph node metastasis. Knockdown of IMPAD1 significantly inhibited migration/invasion abilities and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Upregulation of IMPAD1 and subsequent accumulation of AMP in cells increased the pAMPK, leading to Notch1 and HEY1 upregulation. As AMP is an ADORA1 agonist, treatment with ADORA1 inhibitor reduced the expression of pAMPK and HEY1 expression in IMPAD1-overexpressing cells. IMPAD1 caused mitochondria dysfunction by inhibiting mitochondrial Complex I activity, which reduced mitochondrial ROS levels and activated the AMPK-HEY1 pathway. Collectively this study supports the multipotent role of IMPAD1 in promotion of lung cancer metastasis by simultaneously increasing AMP levels, inhibition of Complex I activity to decrease ROS levels, thereby activating AMPK-Notch1-HEY1 signaling, and providing an alternative metabolic pathway in energy stress conditions

Preseismic anomalies in soil-gas radon associated with 2016 M 6.6 Meinong earthquake, Southern Taiwan

Taiwan is tectonically situated in a terrain resulting from the oblique collision between the Philippine Sea plate and the continental margin of the Asiatic plate, with a continuous stress causing the density of strong-moderate earthquakes and regional active faults. The continuous time series of soil radon for earthquake studies have been recorded and some significant variations associated with strong earthquakes have been observed. Earthquake prediction is not still operative but these correlations should be added to the literature about seismo-geochemical transients associated to strong earthquakes. Rain-pore pressure related variations, crustal weakness at the studied faults system is consistent with the simultaneous radon anomalies observed. During the observations, a significant increase of soil radon concentrations was observed at Chunglun-T1 (CL-T1), Hsinhua (HH), Pingtung (PT), and Chihshan (CS) stations approximately two weeks before the Meinong earthquake (ML = 6.6, 6 February 2016) in Southern Taiwan. The precursory changes in a multi-stations array may reflect the preparation stage of a large earthquake. Precursory signals are observed simultaneously and it can apply certain algorithms the approximate location and magnitude of the impending earthquake

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