Development and Validation a comprehensive instrument to measure customer perceived service quality of mobile data services

Following the rapid growth of mobile data services in China, the competition between mobile data service providers becomes more intensively. To gain advantage in the fierce competition, it’s very critical to service providers managing their service quality effectively, thus a comprehensive measurement instrument of service quality is needed. However, there are few studies dedicated to mobile data services in this area. Our study proposes a conceptualization framework derived from Technical Acceptance Model. Based on the framework, we develop and validate an instrument to measure perceived service quality of mobile data services in rigorous process. Finally we have gotten a service quality instrument with six-dimensions: content quality, usability, reliability and speed, interaction, entertainment/ enjoyment, security/privacy. This scale provides a useful instrument for researchers who wish to measure the service quality of mobile data services and for marketing managers who want to improve their service performance

A method to prolong lithium-ion battery life during the full life cycle

Extended lifetime of lithium-ion batteries decreases economic costs and environmental burdens in achieving sustainable development. Cycle life tests are conducted on 18650-type commercial batteries, exhibiting nonlinear and inconsistent degradation. The accelerated fade dispersion is proposed to be triggered by the evolution of an additional potential of the anode during cycling as measured vs. Li$^+$/Li. A method to prolong the battery cycle lifetime is proposed, in which the lower cutoff voltage is raised to 3 V when the battery reaches a capacity degradation threshold. The results demonstrate a 38.1% increase in throughput at 70% of their beginning of life (BoL) capacity. The method is applied to two other types of lithium-ion batteries. A cycle lifetime extension of 16.7% and 33.7% is achieved at 70% of their BoL capacity, respectively. The proposed method enables lithium-ion batteries to provide long service time, cost savings, and environmental relief while facilitating suitable second-use applications

Influence Factors of E-commerce Adoption: An Empirical Research in Special Markets

Recently, the development of special markets is playing an important role in accelerating Chinese economic evolution. However, Chinese special markets have the characteristics of rapid growth but lower level. This paper first studies the status of Chinese special markets according to the related statistical data, then, based upon E-Commerce adoption in corporations and the features of special markets, this paper mainly discusses three aspects of factors that influence the E-commerce adoption, environment, organization and technology. A questionnaire is designed, through the empirical research of special markets in Jinniu District of Chengdu, we study the influence factors of e-commerce adoption. At last, this paper presents the analysis result

Optical Surface Management System for Patient Positioning in Interfractional Breast Cancer Radiotherapy

Background. The Optical Surface Management System (OSMS) is a simple, fast, reproducible, and accurate solution for patient set-up and can minimize random day-to-day set-up errors. However, studies in breast cancer patients are rare. Objective. To analyze 200 patient set-ups in 20 patients with breast cancer by comparing the OSMS with the conventional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Method. Displacements from concurrent OSMS and CBCT registrations were compared in a total of 200 setups of 20 patients to analyze the interfractional displacement and positioning displacement in three dimensions (lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions). Results. The interfractional displacement on the lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions for OSMS versus CBCT was 0.049±0.254 versus 0.041±0.244 centimeters (cm); 0.018±0.261 versus 0.040±0.242 cm; 0.062±0.254 versus 0.065±0.240 cm, respectively, without any significant difference (all P>0.05). The duration for CBCT scan was about 60 seconds (s), while that for image processing, matching, and couch displacement was at least 5 minutes (min). The average scanning time with OSMS was less than 20 s, and the total duration for positioning was less than 1 min. Conclusion. OSMS is an efficient tool to improve the accuracy and increase the speed for verifying the patient positioning in radiotherapy for breast cancer

TCN induces apoptosis of NF-κB constitutively activated cancer cells.

<p>(A) Chemical structure of trichothecin. (B) Cell cytotoxic effects of trichothecin at successive concentrations. After 48 h treatment, cell viability was determined using MTT assays. (C) Annexin V-FITC/PI analysis of apoptosis in cells treated with TCN for 24 h. (D) HL-60, HepG2, A549 and PANC-1 cells were treated with TCN for 24 h and cell lysates were subjected to western blot analysis with antibodies indicated. β-actin were used as loading controls. Each column represents the mean ± SD of triplicates in three independent experiments.</p

Trichothecin Induces Cell Death in NF-κB Constitutively Activated Human Cancer Cells via Inhibition of IKKβ Phosphorylation

<div><p>Constitutive activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is involved in tumorigenesis and chemo-resistance. As the key regulator of NF-κB, IKKβ is a major therapeutic target for various cancers. Trichothecin (TCN) is a metabolite isolated from an endophytic fungus of the herbal plant <i>Maytenus hookeri Loes.</i> In this study, we evaluated the anti-tumor activity of TCN and found that TCN markedly inhibits the growth of cancer cells with constitutively activated NF-κB. TCN induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells, activating pro-apoptotic proteins, including caspase-3, -8 and PARP-1, and decreasing the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and survivin. Reporter activity assay and target genes expression analysis illustrated that TCN works as a potent inhibitor of the NF-κB signaling pathway. TCN inhibits the phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα and blocks the nuclear translocation of p65, and thus inhibits the expression of NF-κB target genes XIAP, cyclin D1, and Bcl-xL. Though TCN does not directly interfere with IKKβ kinase, it suppresses the phosphorylation of IKKβ. Overexpression of constitutively activated IKKβ aborted TCN induced cancer cell apoptosis, whereas knockdown of endogenous IKKβ with siRNA sensitized cancer cells toward apoptosis induced by TCN. Moreover, TCN showed a markedly weaker effect on normal cells. These findings suggest that TCN may be a potential therapeutic candidate for cancer treatment, targeting NF-κB signaling.</p></div

TCN inhibits NF-κB signaling and induces cell cycle arrest.

<p>(A) HEK 293T cells were transiently transfected with pNF-κB-Luc plasmids followed by treatment with TCN for 1 h before being stimulated with 25 ng/mL TNF-α for 18 h. (B) Lysates fromcells treated with TCN for 24 h were subjected to western blot analysis with p65, XIAP, cyclin D1 and Bcl-xL antibodies. (C) HepG2 cells were treated with 2.5 µM TCN for 8, 16 and 24 h. Cells were harvested and subjected to cell cycle analysis. The percentage of cells of different phases of cell cycle was analyzed by FlowJo. Experiments were done independently in triplicate, results are reported as means and standard deviations. Statistical significance was analyzed by One-way ANOVA, **p<0.01.</p

TCN inhibits the phosphorylation of IKKβ.

<p>(A) IKKβ phosphorylation was detected by phospho-IKKβ antibody in HepG2 cells stimulated with 25 ng/mL TNF-α for 10 min. Cells were fixed, permeabilized, and examined by fluorescence microscope. (B) Western blot analysis showing the inhibition of IKKβ phosphorylation in cells treated with 2.5 µM TCN. Cells were collected after stimulated with 25 ng/mL TNF-α for 10 min. (C) IKKβ kinase activity was analyzed with recombinant IKKβ using the Z’-LYTE™ kinase assay kit. Fluorescence was detected at 400 nm for the excitation wavelengths and 445 nm and 520 nm for the emission wavelengths. Experiments were done independently in triplicate and the results are reported as means and standard deviations.</p

TCN induced cancer cell apoptosis is mediated by inhibition of IKKβ phosphorylation.

<p>(A) HEK 293T cells were transiently transfected with IKKβ CA or empty vector for 12 h, then pretreated with 2.5 µM TCN and stimulated with 25 ng/mL TNF-α for 18 h. Cells subjected to analysis of luciferase activity. (B) HepG2 cells were transiently transfected with IKKβ CA or empty vector for 12 h, and then treated with 2.5 µM TCN for 24 h. Cells subjected to apoptosis analysis. (C) HepG2 cells were transfected with IKKβ CA or empty vector for 12 h, and then treated with 2.5 µM TCN for 24 h. Cells subjected to western blot analysis for the expression of indicated proteins. (D) HepG2 cells were transiently transfected with a scrambled siRNA or IKKβ-siRNA for 48 h, treated with 2.5 µM TCN for 24 h and subjected to apoptosis analysis. (E) HepG2 cells transiently transfected with scrambled siRNA or IKKβ-siRNA were treated with 2.5 µM TCN for 24 h. Cell lysates were collected and subjected to western blot analysis with the specified antibodies. Experiments were done independently in triplicate and the results are reported as means and standard deviations. Statistical analysis was perform with Student’s t-test, *p<0.05.</p