An Empirical Study of Civil Servants’ Lifelong E-Learning Continuance Intention

E-learning is an effective way for job-training and continuous education. In recognizing the need for civil servants to embrace the lifelong learning to sustain competitiveness, many countries around the world have created policies to develop e-learning. This study is focus on civil servants’ e-learning continuance intention and through e-learning experience to achieve lifelong learning. Based on Information system (IS) success model proposed by Seddon (1997) and adding organizational factors (Incentive, Supervisor Support, and Technical Support) to survey civil servants’ e-learning behaviour. The sample for the study was taken from the civil servants in Taiwan who have the experience of using the lifelong e-learning websites. The results also support Seddon’s IS success model. Finally, the implications and limitations of the study are discussed

Approaches to the Total Synthesis of Puupehenone-Type Marine Natural Products

Puupehenones have been isolated from the marine sponge Chondrosia chucalla, which belong to a growing family of natural products with more than 100 members. These marine natural products have attracted increasing attention mainly due to their wide variety of biological activities such as antitumor, antiviral, and anti-HIV, and thus offer promising opportunities for new drug development. This chapter covers the approaches to the total synthesis of puupehenone-type marine natural products including puupehenol, puupehenone, puupehedione, and halopuupehenones. The routes begin with the construction of their basic skeletons, followed by the modification of their C- and D-rings. The contents are divided into two sections in terms of the key strategies employed to construct the basic skeleton. One is the convergent synthesis route with two synthons coupled by nucleophilic or electrophilic reaction, and the other is the linear synthesis route with polyene series cyclization as a key reaction

CFD Study on Effects of Geometric Shape and Surface Hydrophilicity and Hydrophobicity on the Drainage Capacity of Plant Leaves

The photosynthesis process of plant requires fast removal of surface contaminant of leaves. The removal of surface contaminants is highly related to the drainage capacity of the leaf. This paper conducted a comprehensive study on the drainage capacity of plant leaves. The effects of both leaf shape and leaf hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity are investigated. This paper uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology to simulate the drainage process of plant leaves. The numerical simulation results indicate that hydrophilic leaves requires the sharp parts on the edges to remove the water. On the other hand, the drainage capacity of hydrophobic leaves is independent of the shape of the leaves

Radio-wave communication with chaos

This research is supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (61172070), Scientific and Technological Innovation Leading Talents Program of Shaanxi Province, The Key Basic Research Fund of Shaanxi Province (2016ZDJC-01).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Gravity Variation in Siberia: GRACE Observation and Possible Causes

We report the finding, from the GRACE observation, of an increasing trend in the gravity anomaly in Siberia at the rate of up to 0.5 ugal yr-1 during 2003/1 - 2009/12, in the backdrop of a negative anomaly of magnitude on the order of ~-10 mgal. In consideration of the non-uniqueness of the gravitational inverse problem, we examine in some detail the various possible geophysical causes to explain the increasing gravity signal. We find two geophysical mechanisms being the most plausible, namely the melting of permafrost and the GIA post-glacial rebound. We conclude that these two mechanisms cannot be ruled out as causes for the regional gravity increase in Siberia, based on gravity data and in want of ancillary geophysical data in the region. More definitive identification of the contributions of the various causes awaits further studies

Sequence analysis of Epstein-Barr virus EBNA-2 gene coding amino acid 148-487 in nasopharyngeal and gastric carcinomas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2) plays a key role in the B-cell growth transformation by initiating and maintaining the proliferation of infected B-cell upon EBV infection in vitro. Most studies about EBNA-2 have focused on its functions yet little is known for its intertypic polymorphisms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Coding region for amino acid (aa) 148-487 of the EBNA-2 gene was sequenced in 25 EBV-associated gastric carcinomas (EBVaGCs), 56 nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) and 32 throat washings (TWs) from healthy donors in Northern China. Three variations (g48991t, c48998a, t49613a) were detected in all of the samples (113/113, 100%). EBNA-2 could be classified into four distinct subtypes: E2-A, E2-B, E2-C and E2-D based on the deletion status of three aa (294Q, 357K and 358G). Subtypes E2-A and E2-C were detected in 56/113 (49.6%), 38/113 (33.6%) samples, respectively. E2-A was observed more in EBVaGCs samples and subtype E2-D was only detected in the NPC samples. Variation analysis in EBNA-2 functional domains: the TAD residue (I438L) and the NLS residues (E476G, P484H and I486T) were only detected in NPC samples which located in the carboxyl terminus of EBNA-2 gene.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The subtypes E2-A and E2-C were the dominant genotypes of the EBNA-2 gene in Northern China. The subtype E2-D may be associated with the tumorigenesis of NPC. The NPC isolates were prone harbor to more mutations than the other two groups in the functional domains.</p