The Impacts Of Network Governance On The Erformance Of Ito: A Study Of Taiwanese Firms

Information technology outsourcing (ITO) has been a topic of great interest, one that organization researchers have studied extensively. Previous studies have suggested that ITO research has expanded from one organization and bilateral partnerships to a network form of organization that links multiple organizations and spans inter-organizational boundaries. Yet, little research has been conducted on the link between network governance and ITO performance as a way to understand an organization’s ITO efforts. This study proposes a model that employs several constructs: inter-organization coordination, contractual governance and relational governance, and technological hegemony. The model explores the mediating roles of these governance mechanisms and the moderating role of technological hegemony as it influences the IT manager’s perception of the performance of ITO. Empirical testing of the model is based on a sample of 191 companies from Taiwanese industries. The results support the mediating effect of relational governance and the moderating effect of technological hegemony. The implications of these findings for ITO management are discussed

The Context of Cloud Computing/Services Adoption in Business: A Systematic Review with Activity Theory perspective

Cloud computing has been established as a prominent research topic with the rise of a ubiquitous provision of computing resources over the last decade. According to literature review, previous studies are found focusing on the technical issue mostly; however, accompanying with the cloud service developing progress, there are a wide range of applications for adopting cloud computing/services and without an overall comprehension. This study aims to proposed a conceptual framework to systematically explore the activities and elements related to cloud computing/services adoption in business. The research framework is found useful for understanding the context of cloud computing and services and the preliminary findings are helpful to further explore the related activities and relationships behind on cloud computing/services adoption in business

ICT Integrated in Higher Education: The Activities, Context and Effects

Accompanying with the development and advancement of ICT integrated in higher education, it enabled the progressive changes in centered pedagogies and practices. This study attempts to explore the context in ICT integrated education with student perspective and to propose a research model combining with readiness and activity theory to exam the effects of ICT integrated in higher education and the learning performance. 603 questionnaires were collected from the universities in Taiwan and analyzed with AMOS. The results indicate that informational-based readiness has positive effect on user’s readiness, user’s readiness and schools’ ICT support both have positive effects on ICT actual use, and ICT actual use also has positive effect on their perceived satisfaction (performance). The findings could enrich the research of ICT integrated education with different perspectives, and would be helpful to extend to the long-term development in academics and practical ICT application

Reputation, Academic Experience, and Collaboration Returns from International Co-authorships

In recent years, the phenomenon of international co-authorships from emerging economies, especially Chinese scholars' academic collaborations, has become the focus of academic attention. Based on resource-based theory, taking the native scholars from mainland China with international co-authorships in 39 leading management journals as the sample, the article investigates the influence of individual scholars’ reputation and academic experience on their international collaboration returns. The empirical results show that, (1) Chinese native scholars could receive positive collaboration returns from international co-authorships; (2)the impact of academic experience of native scholars on collaboration returns depends on the measurement of “experience”. Early publishing experience in international journals positively influence collaboration returns, while the number of articles published in international journal does not have significant impact on collaboration returns. Keywords: Chinese native scholars, Collaboration returns from international co-authorships, Resources-based theory, Reputation, Academic experienc

Production of FMDV virus-like particles by a SUMO fusion protein approach in Escherichia coli

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are formed by the self-assembly of envelope and/or capsid proteins from many viruses. Some VLPs have been proven successful as vaccines, and others have recently found applications as carriers for foreign antigens or as scaffolds in nanoparticle biotechnology. However, production of VLP was usually impeded due to low water-solubility of recombinant virus capsid proteins. Previous studies revealed that virus capsid and envelope proteins were often posttranslationally modified by SUMO in vivo, leading into a hypothesis that SUMO modification might be a common mechanism for virus proteins to retain water-solubility or prevent improper self-aggregation before virus assembly. We then propose a simple approach to produce VLPs of viruses, e.g., foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). An improved SUMO fusion protein system we developed recently was applied to the simultaneous expression of three capsid proteins of FMDV in E. coli. The three SUMO fusion proteins formed a stable heterotrimeric complex. Proteolytic removal of SUMO moieties from the ternary complexes resulted in VLPs with size and shape resembling the authentic FMDV. The method described here can also apply to produce capsid/envelope protein complexes or VLPs of other disease-causing viruses

Integrating new assessment strategies into mathematics classrooms: an exploratory study in Singapore primary and secondary schools

Educational researchers and practitioners have in recent years paid mounting attention to the importance of new assessment (or the so-called alternative assessment) strategies in Mathematics instruction to better reflect the new desired educational goals and shifted values in education. However, research is wanting in this area, particularly in Singapore's educational setting. This project seeks to investigate the influence of using new assessment strategies in Mathematics teaching and learning on students' achievements, in both the cognitive and affective domains, in our local school settings. A quasi-experimental study with about 15-20 teachers at primary and lower secondary levels will be carried out to assess the impact of using a variety of strategies (e.g., projects, journal writing, oral presentation, performance tasks, student self-assessment, classroom observation and interview, etc.) for three school semesters on students' learning. The project will also look into issues concerning how to use new assessment strategies effectively in classrooms in local schools. For this purpose, data will be collected from classroom observation, interviews with teachers and students, and questionnaire surveys. It is hoped that the project will provide research-based evidence and practical suggestions for promoting the effective use of alternative assessment in Singapore Mathematics classrooms. <br/

Incidence Rates of Enterovirus 71 Infections in Young Children during a Nationwide Epidemic in Taiwan, 2008–09

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) was first isolated in California, USA, in 1969. Since then, EV71 has been identified globally. Recently, EV71 caused several life-threatening outbreaks in young children in tropical Asia. Development of EV71 vaccines becomes national priority in several Asia countries including Taiwan. To design clinical trials of EV71 vaccines, age-specific incidence rates of EV71 infections are required to identify target populations, estimate disease burdens, select endpoints of clinical efficacy, and estimate sample size. In Taiwan, nationwide EV71 epidemics occurred every 3–4 years but age-specific incidences of EV71 infection are not available. In 2006, we initiated a prospective cohort study in northern Taiwan to recruit neonates and follow up them. In 2008–09, a nationwide EV71 epidemic occurred and we found that age-specific incidence rates of EV71 infection increased from 1.71 per 100 person-years at 0–6 months of age to 4.09, 5.74, and 4.97 per 100 person-years at 7–12, 13–24, and 25–36 months of age, respectively. The cumulative incidence rate was 15% by 36 months of age, and 29% of EV71 infections were asymptomatic in young children. These findings would be helpful to development of EV71 vaccines in Taiwan and other Asian tropical countries

Study on the Stability of DeoxyArbutin in an Anhydrous Emulsion System

The skin-whitening agent, deoxyArbutin, is a potent tyrosinase inhibitor that is safer than hydroquinone and arbutin. However, it is thermolabile in aqueous solutions, where it decomposes to hydroquinone. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic emulsions are normally oil-in-water (o/w) or water-in-oil (w/o) systems; however, emulsions can be formulated with no aqueous phase to produce an anhydrous emulsion system. An anhydrous emulsion system could offer a stable vehicle for compounds that are sensitive to hydrolysis or oxidation. Therefore, to enhance the stability of deoxyArbutin in formulations, we chose the polyol-in-silicone, anhydrous emulsion system as the basic formulation for investigation. The quantity of deoxyArbutin and the accumulation of hydroquinone in both hydrous and anhydrous emulsions at various temperatures were analyzed through an established high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. The results indicated that water increased the decomposition of deoxyArbutin in the formulations and that the polyol-in-silicone, oil-based, anhydrous emulsion system provided a relatively stable surrounding for the deoxyArbutin that delayed its degradation at 25 °C and 45 °C. Moreover, the composition of the inner hydrophilic phase, containing different amounts of glycerin and propylene glycol, affected the stability of deoxyArbutin. Thus, these results will be beneficial when using deoxyArbutin in cosmetics and medicines in the future