617 research outputs found
Change Pressure on Organizational Commitment and Identification: Knowledge and Decision-making Competencies in Government Units
Abstract. Staffs in government units may encounter problems of pressure when facing dramatic organizational changes. In an interesting context of administrative merge of Kaohsiung city and county, we examined the influences of change pressure on post-merger organizational identification and commitment. We further developed and investigated the detailed relationships from competence perspective, which emphasizes the importance of knowledge processing and decision making capabilities. Results followed. First, the hypothesized negative impact of change pressure on organizational identification was not supported. Second, change pressure has a significant negative influence on commitment. Third, identification influences on commitment positively. Fourth, the positive moderation role of knowledge capability in the relationship between pressure and identification was not supported. Fifth, the positive moderation role of knowledge capability in the relationship between change pressure and commitment was supported. Sixth, the positive moderation role of decision-making capability in the relationship between pressure and identification was not supported. Seventh, the positive moderation role of decision-making capability in the relationship between pressure and commitment was supported.Keywords. Change pressure, Commitment, Identification, Knowledge competence, Decision-making competence, Government units.JEL. M10
Role of antisense RNAs in evolution of yeast regulatory complexity
AbstractAntisense RNAs (asRNAs) are known to regulate gene expression. However, a genome-wide mechanism of asRNA regulation is unclear, and there is no good explanation why partial asRNAs are not functional. To explore its regulatory role, we investigated asRNAs using an evolutionary approach, as genome-wide experimental data are limited. We found that the percentage of genes coupling with asRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is negatively associated with regulatory complexity and evolutionary age. Nevertheless, asRNAs evolve more slowly when their sense genes are under more complex regulation. Older genes coupling with asRNAs are more likely to demonstrate inverse expression, reflecting the role of these asRNAs as repressors. Our analyses provide novel evidence, suggesting a minor contribution of asRNAs in developing regulatory complexity. Although our results support the leaky hypothesis for asRNA transcription, our evidence also suggests that partial asRNAs may have evolved as repressors. Our study deepens the understanding of asRNA regulatory evolution
COMPARISON OF STATIC BALANCE MEASURES WITH HEIGHT AND WEIGHT ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN TAEKWONDO AND HANDBALL PLAYERS
This study aimed to compare the static balance of taekwondo athletes and handball players. Considering the body size might affect the sway during static balance testing as the inverted pendulum model demonstrated. The static balance of the subjects was evaluated by the Bidex Balance System. The results showed that the APSI, MLSI and OSI of taekwondo athletes were significantly lower than those of the handball players. Moreover, the three stability indices of the two groups of athletes were significantly correlated with height and weight, but not age. The data showed that body size were positively related to the sway in the static balance testing. The taekwondo athletes were lighter than the handball players in average, nevertheless, lower height-and-weight adjusted stability indices of the taekwondo athletes were found
A case of acute appendicitis with Vibrio fluvialis peritonitis
AbstractHuman infections caused by Vibrio fluvialis are rarely reported. The most common clinical presentation of V. fluvialis infection is acute gastroenteritis with diarrhea. Reported extra-intestinal infections caused by V. fluvialis have included bacteremia, hemorrhagic cellulitis and cerebritis. Peritonitis is an uncommon clinical presentation of Vibrio infections, and most cases have occurred in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis or those with liver cirrhosis. Herein, we report the first case of acute appendicitis with V. fluvialis peritonitis
A hybrid switched reactive-based visual servo control of 5-DOF robot manipulators for pick-and-place tasks
[[notice]]補ćŁĺ®Ś
The risk for bacterial endocarditis in cirrhotic patients: a population-based 3-year follow-up study
[[abstract]]Background
We noted only rare reports of cirrhotic patients with bacterial endocarditis (BE). There is insufficient data on the risk of BE in liver cirrhosis. This is the first national population-based study evaluating the risk of BE in cirrhotic patients.
Methods
We used the National Health Insurance Database, which is derived from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. The study cohort comprised 40 803 patients with cirrhosis and the comparison cohort consisted of 40 841 randomly selected subjects with a similar age and sex distribution.
Results
Of the total 81 644 patients, 192 (0.24%) experienced BE during the 3-year follow-up period, 121 patients from the study cohort (0.30% of the cirrhotic patients) and 71 patients from the comparison group (0.17% of non-cirrhotic patients) (p<0.001). After adjusting for patient age, sex, and comorbid disorders, the Cox regression analysis showed that cirrhotic patients had a high risk of BE compared to non-cirrhotic patients during the 3-year follow-up period (hazard ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.61–2.44, p<0.001).
Conclusion
We conclude that liver cirrhosis is a risk factor for the occurrence of BE.[[notice]]補ćŁĺ®Śç•˘[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]ç´™
Photoinduced charge separation in donor-acceptor spiro compounds at metal and metal oxide surfaces: Application in dye-sensitized solar cell
Modulated charge separation has been investigated by surface photovoltage spectroscopy in the fixed capacitor arrangement for four different fluorene compounds adsorbed from highly diluted solutions at ultra-thin nanoporous TiO 2 (np-TiO 2), Au and ITO surfaces. Donor (-N(C 6H 5) 2) and acceptor moieties (-CN, -COOH) were linked by fluorene or spirobisfluorene cores and the chain length has been changed by introducing thiophene. Modulated charge separation by electron injection and intramolecular transport has been separated and directed adsorption of spiro compounds at Au surfaces has been demonstrated. Striking differences between the interaction of linking -CN and -COOH groups and the different substrates were observed. The capability as TiO 2 spectral sensitizer of spirobisfluorene donor-acceptor molecules with extended conjugation has been demonstrated. Solar cells exhibit 5.6% energy conversion efficiency, confirming that spiro-configured geometry is a promising route to the design of metal free dyes. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Fil: Macor, Lorena Paola. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados; ArgentinaFil: Gervaldo, Miguel Andres. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto; ArgentinaFil: Fungo, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados; ArgentinaFil: Otero, Luis Albert. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂas EnergĂ©ticas y Materiales Avanzados; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto; ArgentinaFil: Dittrich, Thomas. Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy, Institute of Heterogeneous Materials; AlemaniaFil: Lin, Chih-Yen. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Chi, Liang-Chen. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Fang, Fu-Chuan. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Lii, Shu-Woei. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Wong, Ken-Tsung. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Tsai, Chih-Hung. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de ChinaFil: Wu, Chung-Chih. National Taiwan University; RepĂşblica de Chin
Influences of Stacking Architectures of TiO 2
We investigated the influences of stacking architectures of the TiO2 nanoparticle layers on characteristics and performances of DSSCs. TiO2 nanoparticles of different sizes and compositions were characterized for their morphological and optical/scattering properties in thin films. They were used to construct different stacking architectures of the TiO2 nanoparticle layers for use as working electrodes of DSSCs. Characteristics and performances of DSSCs were examined to establish correlation of the stacking architectures of TiO2 nanoparticle layers with characteristics of DSSCs. The results suggest that the three-layer DSSC architecture, with sandwiching a 20 nm TiO2 nanoparticle layer between a 37 nm TiO2 nanoparticle layer and a hundred nm sized TiO2 back scattering/reflection layer, is effective in enhancing DSSC efficiencies. The high-total-transmittance 37 nm TiO2 nanoparticle layer with a larger haze can serve as an effective front scattering layer to scatter a portion of the incident light into larger oblique angles and therefore increase optical paths and absorption
Body Mass Index–Mortality Relationship in Severe Hypoglycemic Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
AbstractBackgroundHypoglycemia is associated with a higher risk of death. This study analyzed various body mass index (BMI) categories and mortalities of severe hypoglycemic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in a hospital emergency department.MethodsThe study included 566 adults with type 2 diabetes who were admitted to 1 medical center in Taiwan between 2008 and 2009 with a diagnosis of severe hypoglycemia. Mortality data, demographics, clinical characteristics and the Charlson’s Comorbidity Index were obtained from the electronic medical records. Patients were stratified into 4 study groups as determined by the National institute of Health (NiH) and World Health organization classification for BMi, and the demographics were compared using the analysis of variance and χ2 test. Kaplan-Meier’s analysis and the Cox proportional-hazards regression model were used for mortality, and adjusted hazard ratios were adjusted for each BMi category among participants.ResultsAfter controlling for other possible confounding variables, BMI <18.5 kg/m2 was independently associated with low survival rates in the Cox regression analysis of the entire cohort of type 2 DM patients who encountered a hypoglycemic event. Compared to patients with normal BMI, the mortality risk was higher (adjusted hazard ratios = 4.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.4-9.9) in underweight patients. Infection-related causes of death were observed in 101 cases (69.2%) and were the leading cause of death.ConclusionsAn independent association was observed between BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2 and mortality among type 2 DM patient with severe hypoglycemic episode. Deaths were predominantly infection related
The nucleolar protein NIFK promotes cancer progression via CK1α/β-catenin in metastasis and Ki-67-dependent cell proliferation.
Nucleolar protein interacting with the FHA domain of pKi-67 (NIFK) is a Ki-67-interacting protein. However, its precise function in cancer remains largely uninvestigated. Here we show the clinical significance and metastatic mechanism of NIFK in lung cancer. NIFK expression is clinically associated with poor prognosis and metastasis. Furthermore, NIFK enhances Ki-67-dependent proliferation, and promotes migration, invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo via downregulation of casein kinase 1α (CK1α), a suppressor of pro-metastatic TCF4/β-catenin signaling. Inversely, CK1α is upregulated upon NIFK knockdown. The silencing of CK1α expression in NIFK-silenced cells restores TCF4/β-catenin transcriptional activity, cell migration, and metastasis. Furthermore, RUNX1 is identified as a transcription factor of CSNK1A1 (CK1α) that is negatively regulated by NIFK. Our results demonstrate the prognostic value of NIFK, and suggest that NIFK is required for lung cancer progression via the RUNX1-dependent CK1α repression, which activates TCF4/β-catenin signaling in metastasis and the Ki-67-dependent regulation in cell proliferation
- …