Cognitive dissonance, social comparison, and disseminating untruthful or negative truthful eWOM messages

In this research we explored consumers' intentions to provide untruthful or negative truthful electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages when undergoing conflicting cognitive dissonance and after experiencing social comparison. We recruited 480 Taiwanese Internet users to participate in a scenario-based experiment. The findings show that after making downward comparisons on the Internet, consumers with high cognitive dissonance were more inclined to disseminate negative truthful eWOM messages compared to consumers with low cognitive dissonance. After making upward comparisons, it was found that consumers with high cognitive dissonance were more likely to make untruthful eWOM statements compared to those with low cognitive dissonance. It is recommended that marketers monitor eWOM in an effort to reduce the incidence of consumers' negative truthful and untruthful eWOM messages

Manganese-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Thiols with Aryl Iodides

Here we report the manganesecatalyzedcoupling reaction of thiols witharyl iodides, giving the aryl thioethers ingood to excellent yields; the system showsgood functional group tolerance and enablesthe sterically demanding aryl iodides tocouple with thiols

Distribution and associated factors of optic disc diameter and cup-to-disc ratio in an elderly Chinese population

AbstractBackgroundGlaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide and East Asian people account for almost half of those affected. Vertical elongation of the optic cup is a characteristic feature of glaucoma. However, there is a significant overlap in the vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR) between normal eyes and eyes affected by glaucoma. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of VCDR and vertical disc diameter (VDD) and their predictive factors in a population of elderly Chinese residents in Taiwan.MethodsFour hundred and sixty elderly Chinese residents aged 72 years and older in the Shihpai district, Taipei, Taiwan participated in this study. Slit lamp biomicroscopic measurement of the VCDR and VDD after pupil dilation with a 78 diopter lens was performed by one glaucoma specialist. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to fit the best model for independent variables.ResultsThe VCDR was recorded for 438 right eyes and 430 left eyes. After excluding participants with glaucoma, the mean ± SD VCDR was 0.44 ± 0.17 for both eyes, and the 97.5th percentile was 0.8. A greater VCDR was associated with a longer axial length [VCDR = −0.47 + 0.04(axial length)] under multiple regression analysis. The VDD was obtained for 420 right eyes and 406 left eyes. The mean ± SD VDD for all participants was 1.77 ± 0.22 mm for the right eye and 1.79 ± 0.22 mm for the left eye. A higher body mass index (BMI) and a longer axial length were significantly associated with a larger VDD under multiple regression analysis. [VDD = −0.05 + 0.07 (axial length) + 0.06 (obesity); if BMI <24, then obesity = 0; if BMI ≥24, then obesity = 1]. A larger VDD was associated with a larger VCDR (p < 0.001) and the VCDR could be predicted by the equation VCDR = −0.07 + 0.3VDD.ConclusionA greater VCDR was related to a longer axial length. A greater VDD was related to a higher BMI and a longer axial length

Surface Second Harmonic Generation from Topological Dirac Semimetal PdTe2_2

Recent experiments and calculations in topological semimetals have observed anomalously strong second-order optical nonlinearity, but yet whether the enhancement also occurs at surfaces of topological semimetals in general remains an open question. In this work, we tackle this problem by measuring polarization-dependent and rotational-anisotropy optical second harmonic generation (SHG) from centrosymmetric type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe$_2$. We found the SHG to follow C$_{3v}$ surface symmetry with a time-varying intensity dictated by the oxidation kinetics of the material after its surface cleavage, indicating the surface origin of SHG. Quantitative characterization of the surface nonlinear susceptibility indicates a large out-of-plane response of PdTe$_2$ with $|\chi_{ccc}^{(2)}|$ up to 25 $\times$ 10$^{-18}$ m$^2$/V. Our results support the topological surfaces/interfaces as a new route toward applications of nonlinear optical effects with released symmetry constraints, and demonstrate SHG as a viable means to in situ study of kinetics of topological surfaces

Unraveling the Role of the rssC Gene of Serratia marcescens by Atomic Force Microscopy

100學年度研究獎補助論文[[abstract]]The product and direct role of the rssC gene of Serratia marcescens is unknown. For unraveling the role of the rssC gene, atomic force microscopy has been used to identify the surfaces of intact S. marcescens wild-type CH-1 cells and rssC mutant CH-1ΔC cells. The detailed surface topographies were directly visualized, and quantitative measurements of the physical properties of the membrane structures were provided. CH-1 and CH-1ΔC cells were observed before and after treatment with lysozyme, and their topography-related parameters, e.g., a valley-to-peak distance, mean height, surface roughness, and surface root-mean-square values, were defined and compared. The data obtained suggest that the cellular surface topography of mutant CH-1ΔC becomes rougher and more precipitous than that of wild-type CH-1 cells. Moreover, it was found that, compared with native wild-type CH-1, the cellular surface topography of lysozyme-treated CH-1 was not changed profoundly. The product of the rssC gene is thus predicted to be mainly responsible for fatty-acid biosynthesis of the S. marcescens outer membrane. This study represents the first direct observation of the structural changes in membranes of bacterial mutant cells and offers a new prospect for predicting gene expression in bacterial cells.[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]GB

Para-Toluenesulfonamide Induces Anti-tumor Activity Through Akt-Dependent and -Independent mTOR/p70S6K Pathway: Roles of Lipid Raft and Cholesterol Contents

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells can resist many cellular stresses to ensure survival. There is an unmet medical need to fight against the multiple adaptive mechanisms in cells to achieve optimal treatment in patients. Para-toluenesulfonamide (PTS) is a small molecule that inhibited cell proliferation of PC-3 and DU-145, two CRPC cell lines, through p21- and p27-independent G1 arrest of cell cycle in which cyclin D1 was down-regulated and Rb phosphorylation was inhibited. PTS also induced a significant loss of mitochondrial membrane potential that was attributed to up-regulation of both Bak and PUMA, two pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, leading to apoptosis. PTS inhibited the phosphorylation of m-TOR, 4E-BP1, and p70S6K in both cell lines. Overexpression of constitutively active Akt rescued the inhibition of mTOR/p70S6K signaling in PC-3 cells indicating an Akt-dependent pathway. In contrast, Akt-independent effect was observed in DU-145 cells. Lipid rafts serve as functional platforms for multiple cellular signaling and trafficking processes. Both cell lines expressed raft-associated Akt, mTOR, and p70S6K. PTS induced decreases of expressions in both raft-associated total and phosphorylated forms of these kinases. PTS-induced inhibitory effects were rescued by supplement of cholesterol, an essential constituent in lipid raft, indicating a key role of cholesterol contents. Moreover, the tumor xenograft model showed that PTS inhibited tumor growth with a T/C (treatment/control) of 0.44 and a 56% inhibition of growth rate indicating the in vivo efficacy. In conclusion, the data suggest that PTS is an effective anti-tumor agent with in vitro and in vivo efficacies through inhibition of both Akt-dependent and -independent mTOR/p70S6K pathways. Moreover, disturbance of lipid raft and cholesterol contents may at least partly explain PTS-mediated anti-tumor mechanism

Outcomes of patients with rodenticide poisoning at a far east poison center

BACKGROUND: Rodenticide poisoning remains a major public health problem in Asian countries. Nevertheless, very few data are available in world literature regarding the outcomes of these patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of rodenticide poisonings in our hospital and to compare these data with published reports from other international poison centers. FINDINGS: We retrospectively examined the records of 20 patients with rodenticide poisoning (8 brodifacoum, 12 bromadiolone) who were referred to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 2000 and 2011. It was found that most of the rodenticide patients were middle-aged adults. Both genders were equally affected and many patients had a past history of major depressive disorder or schizophrenia. Nevertheless, patients with bromadiolone were referred significantly sooner than patients with brodifacoum poisoning (0.1 ± 0.1 versus 5.5 ± 10.5, P < 0.001). Furthermore, it was found that patients with brodifacoum suffered higher incidences of ecchymosis (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) and hematuria (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. Laboratory analysis also demonstrated a poorer hemostatic profile of patients with brodifacoum [prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), 4.3 ± 4.8 versus 1.0 ± 0.1, P = 0.032; PT prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006; activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006] than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. At the end of analysis, no patient died of the poisoning. CONCLUSION: The favorable outcome (zero mortality rate) is comparable to the published reports from other international poison centers. Further studies are warranted

Assistive Navigation Using Deep Reinforcement Learning Guiding Robot With UWB/Voice Beacons and Semantic Feedbacks for Blind and Visually Impaired People

Facilitating navigation in pedestrian environments is critical for enabling people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) to achieve independent mobility. A deep reinforcement learning (DRL)–based assistive guiding robot with ultrawide-bandwidth (UWB) beacons that can navigate through routes with designated waypoints was designed in this study. Typically, a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) framework is used to estimate the robot pose and navigational goal; however, SLAM frameworks are vulnerable in certain dynamic environments. The proposed navigation method is a learning approach based on state-of-the-art DRL and can effectively avoid obstacles. When used with UWB beacons, the proposed strategy is suitable for environments with dynamic pedestrians. We also designed a handle device with an audio interface that enables BVI users to interact with the guiding robot through intuitive feedback. The UWB beacons were installed with an audio interface to obtain environmental information. The on-handle and on-beacon verbal feedback provides points of interests and turn-by-turn information to BVI users. BVI users were recruited in this study to conduct navigation tasks in different scenarios. A route was designed in a simulated ward to represent daily activities. In real-world situations, SLAM-based state estimation might be affected by dynamic obstacles, and the visual-based trail may suffer from occlusions from pedestrians or other obstacles. The proposed system successfully navigated through environments with dynamic pedestrians, in which systems based on existing SLAM algorithms have failed