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

Seroepidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae colonizing the intestinal tract of healthy chinese and overseas chinese adults in Asian countries

[[abstract]]BACKGROUND:Capsular serotypes K1 and K2 of Klebsiella pneumoniae are thought to the major virulence determinants responsible for liver abscess. The intestine is one of the major reservoirs of K. pneumoniae, and epidemiological studies have suggested that the majority of K. pneumoniae infections are preceded by colonization of the gastrointestinal tract. The possibility of fecal-oral transmission in liver abscess has been raised on the basis of molecular typing of isolates. Data on the serotype distribution of K. pneumoniae in stool samples from healthy individuals has not been previously reported. This study investigated the seroepidemiology of K. pneumoniae isolates from the intestinal tract of healthy Chinese in Asian countries. Stool specimens from healthy adult Chinese residents of Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam were collected from August 2004 to August 2010 for analysis.RESULTS:Serotypes K1/K2 accounted for 9.8% of all K. pneumoniae isolates from stools in all countries. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of K1/K2 isolates among the countries excluding Thailand and Vietnam. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was nearly the same in K. pneumoniae isolates. The result of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed no major clonal cluster of serotype K1 isolates.CONCLUSIONS:The result showed that Chinese ethnicity itself might be a major factor predisposing to intestinal colonization by serotype K1/K2 K. pneumoniae isolates. The prevalent serotype K1/K2 isolates may partially correspond to the prevalence of K. pneumoniae liver abscess in Asian countries

Protective effects of Scoparia dulcis L. extract on high glucose-induced injury in human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of vision loss in diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and the accumulation of inflammatory factors result in blood-retinal barrier dysfunction and the pathogenesis of DR. Scoparia dulcis L. extract (SDE), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been recently recognized for its various pharmacological effects, including anti-diabetic, anti-hyperlipidemia, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative activities. However, there is no relevant research on the protective effect of SDE in DR. In this study, we treated high glucose (50 mM) in human retinal epithelial cells (ARPE-19) with different concentrations of SDE and analyzed cell viability, apoptosis, and ROS production. Moreover, we analyzed the expression of Akt, Nrf2, catalase, and HO-1, which showed that SDE dose-dependently reduced ROS production and attenuated ARPE-19 cell apoptosis in a high-glucose environment. Briefly, we demonstrated that SDE exhibited an anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory ability in protecting retinal cells from high-glucose (HG) treatment. Moreover, we also investigated the involvement of the Akt/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in SDE-mediated protective effects. The results suggest SDE as a nutritional supplement that could benefit patients with DR

Substantial Contribution of SmeDEF, SmeVWX, SmQnr, and Heat Shock Response to Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging multi-drug resistant opportunistic pathogen. Although fluoroquinolones (FQ) are still clinically valuable for the treatment of S. maltophilia infection, an increasing prevalence in FQ resistance has been reported. Overexpression of SmeDEF, SmeVWX, and SmQnr, and de-repressed expression of heat shock response are reported mechanisms responsible for FQ resistance in S. maltophilia; nevertheless, some of these mechanisms are identified from laboratory-constructed mutants, and it remains unclear whether they occur in clinical setting. In this study, we aimed to assess whether these mechanisms contribute substantially to FQ resistance in clinical isolates. Eighteen ciprofloxacin- and levofloxacin-resistant isolates were selected from 125 clinical isolates of S. maltophilia. The expression of smeE, smeW, and Smqnr genes of these isolates was investigated by RT-qPCR. The de-repressed heat shock response was assessed by rpoE expression at 37°C and bacterial viability at 40°C. The contribution of SmeDEF, SmeVWX, and SmQnr, and heat shock response to FQ resistance was evaluated by mutants construction and susceptibility testing. The results demonstrated that simply assessing the overexpression of SmeDEF, SmeVWX, and SmQnr by RT-qPCR may overestimate their contribution to FQ resistance. Simultaneous overexpression of SmeDEF and SmeVWX did not increase the resistance level to their common substrates, but extended the resistance spectrum. Moreover, the de-repressed expression of heat shock response was not observed to contribute to FQ resistance in the clinical isolates of S. maltophilia

Enhancement of beta-catenin in cardiomyocytes suppresses survival protein expression but promotes apoptosis and fibrosis

Background: Beta-catenin has been implicated in cell-cell communication in a wide variety of developmental and physiological processes. Defective Wnt signaling could result in various cardiac and vascular abnormalities. Little is known regarding Wnt/frizzled pathway in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Methods: In this study, the role of b-catenin in apoptosis was investigated in H9c2 cardiomyocytes and primary cardiomyocytes isolated in diabetic Wistar rats. The cardiomyocytes were transfected with porcine cytomegalovirus (pCMV)-b-catenin plasmid in order to overexpress b-catenin. Results: The transcription factor displayed a significant nuclear localization in Wistar rats with cardiac hypertension. Transfection of b-catenin plasmid induced apoptosis and reduced expression of survival pathway markers in cardiomyocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, expression of fibrosis protein markers was upregulated by the overexpression. Conclusions: Taken together, these results revealed that altered Wnt/b-catenin signaling might provoke heart failure. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 2: 195–205

The prevalence of chronic dehydration and associated with cardiometabolic risks among agriculture and aquaculture workers

BackgroundChronic dehydration is associated with complications and mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients. Prior literature indicates that farmers and fishery workers are commonly affected by cardiometabolic diseases and there is a need for early prevention of stroke. This study explores the prevalence of dehydration and the association of cardiometabolic risk profiles in agricultural and aquaculture workers.MethodsWe conducted a community-based, cross-sectional study of agriculture and aquaculture workers in Yunlin County of Taiwan between August 1 and December 31, 2021. Data on demographic characteristics and health-related lifestyles were collected through one-on-one interviews using a questionnaire. The threshold for dehydration is defined as serum osmolality ≥295 mOsm/kg, and physiological biomarkers were collected from a collaborating hospital. Multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for demographic characteristics were performed to investigate the association between dehydration levels, cardiometabolic risks, and health-related behaviors.ResultsA total of 962 Taiwanese agriculture and aquaculture workers who were predominantly women (65%) with a mean age of 64 years (SD = 13.8) were enrolled. The findings showed a high prevalence of dehydration (36%), metabolic syndrome (44.5%), abnormal waist circumference (64.4%), and abnormal blood pressure (68.5%). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that dehydration was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome (p < 0.001), 10-year stroke risk prediction (p < 0.001), and an unhealthy lifestyle (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe prevalence of chronic dehydration was higher in Taiwanese agriculture and aquaculture workers, which was significantly associated with cardiometabolic risks and unhealthy lifestyles

Using Capacitance Sensor to Extract Characteristic Signals of Dozing from Skin Surface

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and a physiological structure that is directly exposed to the environment. From a theoretical perspective, numerous physiological and psychological signals use the skin as a medium for input and output with the outside world. Therefore, the skin is considered an optimal signal interception point when developing noninvasive, direct, and rapid signal exploration devices. To date, skin signal interceptions are predominantly performed by measuring skin impedance. However, this method is prone to interference such as sweat secretion, salt accumulation on the skin, and muscle contractions, which may result in a substantial amount of interference and erroneous results. The present study proposes novel and effective methods for skin signal interception, such as using a nested probe as a sensor to measure capacitance to be further processed as physiological and psychological signals. The experimental results indicate that the capacitance curve for the transition between wakefulness and dozing exhibits significant changes. This change in the curve can be analyzed by computer programs to clearly and rapidly determine whether the subject has entered the initial phases of sleep