On the Driving Forces of Diffusion of Podcasting in Organizational Settings: A Case Study and Propositions

More and more organizations are integrating Web 2.0 technologies to enhance their organizational learning abilities. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the use of Web 2.0 technologies in organizational settings. This research attempts to understand what drives a person’s use of Web 2.0 technology in organizational settings. To achieve this objective, we conducted a case study on a specific Web 2.0 technology, podcasting, in a global company to understand what factors influence employees’ perceived usefulness of podcasting. Four factors were identified as having important influence in shaping their usefulness perceptions: information overload, tenure, information privacy, and information relevance. A set of propositions regarding the relationships was also developed

The association between higher FFAs and high residual platelet reactivity among CAD patients receiving clopidogrel therapy

BackgroundMetabolic abnormalities are associated with the occurrence, severity, and poor prognosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), some of which affect the antiplatelet efficacy of clopidogrel. Free fatty acids (FFAs) is a biomarker for metabolic abnormalities, and elevated FFAs is observed among CAD patients. Whether FFAs enhances residual platelet reactivity induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) while using clopidogrel was unknown. The purpose of our study is exploring the issue.MethodCurrent study included 1,277 CAD patients using clopidogrel and used logistic regression to detect whether the higher level of FFAs is associated with high residual platelet reactivity (HRPR). We additionally performed subgroup and sensitivity analyses to evaluate the stability of the results. We defined HRPR as ADP-induced platelet inhibition rate (ADPi) < 50% plus ADP-induced maximum amplitude (MAADP) > 47 mm.Results486 patients (38.1%) showed HRPR. The proportion of HRPR among patients with higher FFAs (>0.445 mmol/L) is greater than among patients with lower FFAs (46.4% vs. 32.6%, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that higher FFAs (>0.445 mmol/L) is independently associated with HRPR (adjusted OR = 1.745, 95% CI, 1.352–2.254). After subgroup and sensitivity analyses, the results remained robust.ConclusionThe higher level of FFAs enhances residual platelet reactivity induced by ADP and is independently associated with clopidogrel HRPR

Master's Recitals

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Kenton Hall in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music (MM) degree

Low temperature preparation of α-tricalcium phosphate and its mechanical properties

In this work, α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) was successfully prepared by the thermal transformation of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) precursor. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used for preparation of ACP precursor and played an important role in designing its special structure. The phase composition and microstructures of the obtained α-TCP at different annealing temperature were analysed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope, and confirmed that α-TCP can be prepared at 650°C for 3 h using ACP as precursor, which is much lower than the phase transition temperature of α-TCP. Mechanical properties were tested 24 h after mixing the obtained α-TCP with 30 wt.% of deionised water. The compressive strength and the flexural strength were 26.4MPa and 12.0MPa, respectively. The flexural strength was higher than that of α-TCP prepared by other methods

Enhanced Understanding of Groundwater Storage Changes under the Influence of River Basin Governance Using GRACE Data and Downscaling Model

The low spatial resolution of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data limits their application in practical groundwater resource management. To overcome this limitation, this study developed a dynamic downscaling method based on a model using groundwater storage anomaly (GWSA) data to study groundwater storage changes in an inland arid region. The groundwater storage model was calibrated using publicly accessible data at a spatial resolution of 1°. The constructed model had a satisfactory fitting effect in both the calibration and validation periods, with correlation coefficients over 0.60, in general, and a root mean square error of less than 1.00 cm equivalent water height (EWH). It was found that the hydraulic gradient coefficient was the most sensitive parameter, whereas the boundary condition had an obvious influence on the simulated GWSA compared to the different forcing data. The model was then refined at a higher resolution (0.05°) using driving data to obtain downscaled GWSA data. The downscaled results had a similar pattern to the GRACE-derived GWSA and reflected the spatial heterogeneity across the basin scale and subregion scales. The downscaled GWSA shows that the groundwater storage had an overall downward trend during the period from 2003 to 2019 and the annual decline rates ranged from 0.22 to 0.32 cm/year in four subregions. A four-month time lag between the field-observed and downscaled GWSA was observed downstream of the study area. This study provides an applicable method for assessing groundwater storage changes for groundwater management at the local scale

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BUYERS’ AND SELLERS’ TRANSACTION INTENTIONS IN CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER E-MARKETPLACES

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) e-marketplaces cannot survive without participations from both a large number of buyers and sellers. Prior research on trust in e-commerce is mainly conducted from the buyers’ perspective. Combined with TAM constructs, this research explores the relative impacts of trust in terms of trust in market-maker and institution-based trust, and risk on individual’s transaction intentions in C2C e-marketplaces from both buyers’ and sellers’ perspectives. The results suggest that the major determinants of transaction intention in e-marketplaces differ between buyer and sellers. Perceived risk is found to have a stronger effect on sellers’ intention than on buyers’ intention to transact in e-marketplaces. In addition, we found that perceived usefulness influences only buyers’ transaction intention, whereas institution-based trust and perceived ease of use influence only sellers’ transaction intention. This study contributes theoretically to C2C e-commerce research and has practical implications for C2C e-commerce practitioners

A Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensor Platform Based on Specific Recognition and Conductive Polymer-Decorated CuCo2O4 Carbon Nanofibers

CuCo2O4 decoration carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as an enzyme-free glucose sensor were fabricated via electrospinning technology and carbonization treatment. The CNFs with advantages of abundant nitrogen amounts, porosity, large surface area, and superior electrical conductivity were used as an ideal matrix for CuCo2O4 decoration. The resultant CuCo2O4–CNF hybrids possessed favorable properties of unique three-dimensional architecture and good crystallinity, accompanied by the CuCo2O4 nanoparticles uniformly growing on the CNF skeleton. To further enhance the selective molecular recognition capacity of the developed sensor, a conductive film was synthesized through the electropolymerization of thiophene and thiophene-3-boronic acid (TBA). Based on the synergistic effects of the performances of CNFs, CuCo2O4 nanoparticles, and boronic acid-decorated polythiophene layer, the obtained poly(thiophene-3-boronic acid) (PTBA)/CuCo2O4–CNF-modified electrodes (PTBA/CuCo2O4–CNFs/glassy carbon electrode (GCE)) displayed prominent electrocatalytic activity toward electro-oxidation of glucose. The fabricated sensor presented an outstanding performance in the two linear ranges of 0.01–0.5 mM and 0.5–1.5 mM, with high selectivity of 2932 and 708 μA·mM−1·cm−2, respectively. The composite nanofibers also possessed good stability, repeatability, and excellent anti-interference selectivity toward the common interferences. All these results demonstrate that the proposed composite nanofibers hold great potential in the application of constructing an enzyme-free glucose sensing platform