Measuring Mobile Portal User Satisfaction

With the rapid advancement of mobile technology, smart devices have challenged the extant research concerned with time and space. Based on a user’s specific interests, mobile portals allow quick and easy access, anywhere, anytime to a world of data, applications and services. Whilst this provides an enhanced, dynamic and personalized user experience, knowing how satisfied users are with their mobile portal is crucial to understanding users’ needs, identifying important factors in the improvement of existing mobile portals and enhancing Information Technology (IT)-related business value. The study extends research knowledge about user satisfaction to the context of mobile portals. Secondly it contributes knowledge regarding mobile portals, particularly concerning post-adoption mobile portal user satisfaction. Thirdly, the research contributes a new reliable and valid instrument to measure user satisfaction with mobile portals – a contribution to the research stream within the IS literature concerned with measurement

A business model for collaborative commerce marketplace

Growth in eBusiness has led to an increase in the research of online business models characterized into two broad areas: goods and services provider models and collaborative models. Collaborative commerce marketplace (CCM) is vital in eBusiness models however it is only discussed in relation to the management of parts of the supply chain and not the system as a whole in the academic literature (Hodge and Cagle 2004). This paper proposes a comprehensive, visual business model for CCM with an emphasis on the interactions between core business competency to attain organizational objectives. An emerging competency of CCM such as partner/supplier identification is used to illustrate the versatility of the proposed model

Long-term expansion, genomic stability and in vivo safety of adult human pancreas organoids

Abstract: Background: Pancreatic organoid systems have recently been described for the in vitro culture of pancreatic ductal cells from mouse and human. Mouse pancreatic organoids exhibit unlimited expansion potential, while previously reported human pancreas organoid (hPO) cultures do not expand efficiently long-term in a chemically defined, serum-free medium. We sought to generate a 3D culture system for long-term expansion of human pancreas ductal cells as hPOs to serve as the basis for studies of human pancreas ductal epithelium, exocrine pancreatic diseases and the development of a genomically stable replacement cell therapy for diabetes mellitus. Results: Our chemically defined, serum-free, human pancreas organoid culture medium supports the generation and expansion of hPOs with high efficiency from both fresh and cryopreserved primary tissue. hPOs can be expanded from a single cell, enabling their genetic manipulation and generation of clonal cultures. hPOs expanded for months in vitro maintain their ductal morphology, biomarker expression and chromosomal integrity. Xenografts of hPOs survive long-term in vivo when transplanted into the pancreas of immunodeficient mice. Notably, mouse orthotopic transplants show no signs of tumorigenicity. Crucially, our medium also supports the establishment and expansion of hPOs in a chemically defined, modifiable and scalable, biomimetic hydrogel. Conclusions: hPOs can be expanded long-term, from both fresh and cryopreserved human pancreas tissue in a chemically defined, serum-free medium with no detectable tumorigenicity. hPOs can be clonally expanded, genetically manipulated and are amenable to culture in a chemically defined hydrogel. hPOs therefore represent an abundant source of pancreas ductal cells that retain the characteristics of the tissue-of-origin, which opens up avenues for modelling diseases of the ductal epithelium and increasing understanding of human pancreas exocrine biology as well as for potentially producing insulin-secreting cells for the treatment of diabetes

Multinational prospective cohort study of rates and risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia over 24 years in 42 countries of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East: Findings of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC)

Objective: Rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are several times above those of high-income countries. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors (RFs) for VAP cases in ICUs of LMICs. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: This study was conducted across 743 ICUs of 282 hospitals in 144 cities in 42 Asian, African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries. Participants: The study included patients admitted to ICUs across 24 years. Results: In total, 289,643 patients were followed during 1,951,405 patient days and acquired 8,236 VAPs. We analyzed 10 independent variables. Multiple logistic regression identified the following independent VAP RFs: male sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-1.28; P <.0001); longer length of stay (LOS), which increased the risk 7% per day (aOR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.07-1.08; P <.0001); mechanical ventilation (MV) utilization ratio (aOR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.23-1.31; P <.0001); continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which was associated with the highest risk (aOR, 13.38; 95% CI, 11.57-15.48; P <.0001)Revisión por pare

Development of an instrument to measure mobile portal user satisfaction

Prior researchers have attempted to define and discuss terminology concerning aspects of mobile technology such as on-device portals, mobile portals, smartphones and mobile phones. In real life mobile technology has changed so rapidly that terminologies are not static, rather they evolve to reflect the changing technologies and user demands. An extensive literature review sought to elicit prior research findings related to user satisfaction and portal research. This found that of the of 37 empirically validated user satisfaction instruments, with 157 associated dimensions, none captured the unique characteristics associated with mobile portal use. Thus, the primary aims of this research were to develop an understanding of user satisfaction in the context of mobile portal use (MPUS) and to develop a reliable and valid new instrument for measuring such user satisfaction (iMPUS). Drawing on specific instrument development frameworks and validation guidelines, a multi-stage development process was adopted comprising: (1) specification of the domain of construct; (2) generation of items and content validation process; (3) data collection for the exploratory study and assessment of reliability and nomological validity; and (4) final data collection for the confirmatory study and assessment of reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, nomological validity and criterion-related validity. The resultant MPUS construct was determined as being framed by eight dimensions, with a reliable and valid 42-item instrument (iMPUS) successfully developed. iMPUS comprised eight first-order dimensions – perceived value, perceived social value, perceived usefulness, software features, connectivity, content-device fit, ease of use and personalised interface. Validation showed the merits of the iMPUS when it was tested and identified gender differences in users’ satisfaction with mobile portals when predicting the PWOM construct. Besides identifying gender differences, this research has made three theoretical contributions. Firstly, it extends research knowledge about user satisfaction to the context of mobile portals by identifying important differences from earlier studies. Secondly, the research contributes knowledge regarding mobile commerce and specifically mobile portals, particularly concerning post-adoption mobile portal user satisfaction. Thirdly, the research contributes a new reliable and valid instrument to the research stream concerned with IS measurement. The research also makes three practical contributions. Firstly, the iMPUS provides a framework that may inform the design of mobile portals. This should contribute to users’ acceptance and sustained use of mobile portals. Secondly, for existing mobile portals, businesses could use the multi-item iMPUS to gain insights into users’ views of strengths and weaknesses related to their mobile portals and identify areas for improvement. Thirdly, businesses may use the iMPUS for internal benchmarking, tracking users’ views over time or between various designs, thereby contributing to design knowledge

Towards Development of an Instrument to Measure Mobile Portal User Satisfaction

The usage of mobile phones and their related Internet transactional activity through mobile portals (m-portals) are an everyday activity for increasing numbers of people. However, unlike investigation of users’ attitudes to more static computing devices, user satisfaction with m-portals is yet to be researched. In addressing this gap, this research draws upon knowledge gained from Stage One of a project that used focus groups to establish the dimensions and items regarded as relevant for measuring m-portal user satisfaction. Based on this, the results from Stage Two, namely the development and validation of a multiple-item instrument for measuring user satisfaction with mportals are now reported. The theoretical contribution of this study concerns development of an instrument to measure user satisfaction in the context of m-portals. This extends knowledge in the measurement stream of Information Systems research. Moreover, through measured understanding of user attitudes to post adoption of m-portals, findings inform the m-commerce stream of research

Stakeholders' values in collaborative commerce marketplaces

Despite the claims on how stakeholders could benefit from electronic marketplaces (eMarketplaces), the actual user take-up of eMarketplaces have been modest and in many cases even failed to deliver their promises. We believe this is due to the lack of preparations in dealing with values of such ventures during the strategic planning of the organisations concerned. Given that values are critical to all major decisions, there is a need for a systematic approach for identifying, understanding, articulating and structuring all the stakeholders' values in eMarketplaces to ensure their success. This paper presents a framework for stakeholders' values identification in eMarketplaces with a particular focus on collaborative commerce marketplaces (CCMs). A case study of a successful regional CCM for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) is used to demonstrate and illustrate this framework

Long-term expansion, genomic stability and in vivo safety of adult human pancreas organoids.

BACKGROUND:Pancreatic organoid systems have recently been described for the in vitro culture of pancreatic ductal cells from mouse and human. Mouse pancreatic organoids exhibit unlimited expansion potential, while previously reported human pancreas organoid (hPO) cultures do not expand efficiently long-term in a chemically defined, serum-free medium. We sought to generate a 3D culture system for long-term expansion of human pancreas ductal cells as hPOs to serve as the basis for studies of human pancreas ductal epithelium, exocrine pancreatic diseases and the development of a genomically stable replacement cell therapy for diabetes mellitus. RESULTS:Our chemically defined, serum-free, human pancreas organoid culture medium supports the generation and expansion of hPOs with high efficiency from both fresh and cryopreserved primary tissue. hPOs can be expanded from a single cell, enabling their genetic manipulation and generation of clonal cultures. hPOs expanded for months in vitro maintain their ductal morphology, biomarker expression and chromosomal integrity. Xenografts of hPOs survive long-term in vivo when transplanted into the pancreas of immunodeficient mice. Notably, mouse orthotopic transplants show no signs of tumorigenicity. Crucially, our medium also supports the establishment and expansion of hPOs in a chemically defined, modifiable and scalable, biomimetic hydrogel. CONCLUSIONS:hPOs can be expanded long-term, from both fresh and cryopreserved human pancreas tissue in a chemically defined, serum-free medium with no detectable tumorigenicity. hPOs can be clonally expanded, genetically manipulated and are amenable to culture in a chemically defined hydrogel. hPOs therefore represent an abundant source of pancreas ductal cells that retain the characteristics of the tissue-of-origin, which opens up avenues for modelling diseases of the ductal epithelium and increasing understanding of human pancreas exocrine biology as well as for potentially producing insulin-secreting cells for the treatment of diabetes