Validating IS Success Factors: An Empirical Study on Webbased State or Local E-government Systems

While Various research has been done about IS success factors such as system quality, information quality, and service quality in the private sector, little attention has been paid to those in the public sector, especially state or local web-based e-government systems. Meanwhile, the current practice of e-government assessments has mainly focused on system and information quality and paid little attention to service quality. This study aims to fill this gap; it validates the relationships between IS success factors and IT effectiveness, based on the case of web-based metropolitan city or provincial (state or local) e-government systems in South Korea. The result shows that not only system and information quality but also service quality have strongly significant relationships with IS effectiveness. It has practical implications for effective e-government policy development and implementation; this study suggests that current constructs of e-government assessments need to be remodeled in a way that includes service quality factor. The key contribution of this study is a theoretical and empirical foundation on which any attempt to initiate or reinforce e-government customer services can be based; this is the first empirical study to validate the influence of the service quality factor on a state or local e-government level

The Role of an Effective IT Intervention for Microenterprises

Information technology (IT) interventions for micro-enterprises are fragmented and their approach lacks theoretical foundations. While various researchers have conducted studies on the effects of IT adoption in micro-enterprises, little research has been conducted to explain critical aspects of an effective IT intervention for micro-enterprises from a theoretical perspective. This study aims to fill this gap and empirically investigate how IT interventions can effectively facilitate the process of IT adoption by micro-enterprises. This paper suggests that effective IT interventions may have considerable potential for facilitating IT adoption among micro-enterprises across the United States and the world. Following an analysis of four micro-enterprises using a theoretical lens developed from Actor Network Theory, this paper provides insight into the ways in which IT interventions can improve the ability of micro-enterprises to adopt IT to benefit and grow their businesses. The key contribution of this study is an analytical model that may assist researchers and practitioners in examining the effects of their IT interventions. This has implications for effective IT intervention policy development and implementation for micro-enterprises

The Role of an Effective IT Intervention for Micro-enterprises

Information technology (IT) interventions for micro-enterprises are fragmented and their approach lacks theoretical foundations. While various researchers have conducted studies on the effects of IT adoption in micro-enterprises, little research has been conducted to explain critical aspects of an effective IT intervention for micro-enterprises from a theoretical perspective. This study aims to fill this gap and empirically investigate how IT interventions can effectively facilitate the process of IT adoption by micro-enterprises. This paper suggests that effective IT interventions may have considerable potential for facilitating IT adoption among micro-enterprises across the United States and the world. Following an analysis of four micro-enterprises using a theoretical lens developed from Actor Network Theory, this paper provides insight into the ways in which IT interventions can improve the ability of micro-enterprises to adopt IT to benefit and grow their businesses. The key contribution of this study is an analytical model that may assist researchers and practitioners in examining the effects of their IT interventions. This has implications for effective IT intervention policy development and implementation for micro-enterprises

Factors Influencing Instructors’ Adoption and Continued Use of Computing Science Technologies: A Case Study in the Context of Cell Collective

Acquiring computational modeling and simulation skills has become ever more critical for students in life sciences courses at the secondary and tertiary levels. Many modeling and simulation tools have been created to help instructors nurture those skills in their classrooms. Understanding the factors that may motivate instructors to use such tools is crucial to improve students’ learning, especially for having authentic modeling and simulation learning experiences. This study designed and tested a decomposed technology acceptance model in which the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use constructs are split between the teaching and learning sides of the technology to examine their relative weight in a single model. Using data from instructors using the Cell Collective modeling and simulation software, this study found that the relationship between perceived usefulness– teaching and attitude toward behavior was insignificant. Similarly, all relationships between perceived ease of use–teaching and the other variables (i.e., perceived usefulness– teaching and attitude toward behavior) became insignificant. In contrast, we found the relationships between perceived ease of use–learning and the other variables (i.e., perceived usefulness–teaching, perceived usefulness–learning, and attitude toward behavior) significant. These results suggest that priority should be given to the development of features improving learning over features facilitating teaching. Supplement attached below

Percutaneous Needle Decompression during Laparoscopic Gastric Surgery: A Simple Alternative to Nasogastric Decompression

Laparoscopic gastric surgeries are routinely performed with use of a nasogastric tube to decompress the upper gastrointestinal tract. A distended upper gastrointestinal tract can complicate successful laparoscopic gastric surgery as the distention compromises not only the visual field but also the laparoscopic manipulation of the stomach. Since nasogastric intubation is not without risks, we have attempted laparoscopic-assisted gastric cancer surgeries without nasogastric tubes. In this article we describe a simple method of aspirating gastric contents using a 9 cm long 19-gauge needle inserted percutaneously during laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy. First, a 9 cm long 19-gauge disposable needle was introduced through the abdominal wall. This needle was then introduced to the stomach through the anterior wall and the stomach gases and fluids were aspirated by connecting the needle to suction. Thus, a collapsed upper gastrointestinal tract was easily obtained. We performed this procedure instead of nasogastric decompression on twenty-two patients with gastric cancer who underwent laparoscopic-assisted distal subtotal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection. The results were good with only one patient experiencing wound infection (4.5%) and one patient with postoperative acalculus cholecystitis (4.5%). There were no patients with either intraabdominal infection or anastomotic leakage and none of the patients needed postoperative nasogastric decompression, except the patient who experienced acaculus cholecystitis. Percutaneous needle aspiration is a very simple and efficient technique with little risk of postoperative complications. It can be used as an alternative to nasogastric tube decompression of the gastrointestinal tract for laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy

Factors Influencing Micro-enterprises’ Information Technology Adoption

Little empirical research has been conducted to examine information technology (IT) interventions for micro -enterprises. IT interventions that lack theoretical and empirical foundations with regard to their design and approach may lead to poorly designed programs and haphazard implementation schemes that do not account for various contextual challenges faced by micro-enterprises, resulting in projects which fail to meet their objectives. Hence, a need to understand critical components of an effective IT intervention for microenterprises is compelling. For this, we need to understand significant factors that would influence microenterprises’ IT adoption. The purpose of the study is to theoretically and empirically investigate significant factors that would be related to micro-enterprises’ IT adoption and that may need to be taken into consideration in designing and implementing an IT intervention for micro-enterprises to effectively enable or facilitate micro-enterprises’ IT adoption. If effectively adopted, IT may contribute to micro-enterprise development (business growth) through increased business productivity. The growth of micro-enterprises would then contribute to stabilizing or boosting local and national economies through creating jobs. Through a quantitative analysis of potential factors, the research addresses the following research question: What are the significant factors that would influence micro-enterprises’ IT adoption, and how could they be modeled in a way to better explain micro-enterprises’ IT adoption? The research question is answered by identifying potential constructs (or factors) through a literature review and preliminary field research and then by conducting a cross-sectional survey and analyzing collected data through structural equation modeling

Teaching Metabolism in Upper-Division Undergraduate Biochemistry Courses using Online Computational Systems and Dynamical Models Improves Student Performance

Understanding metabolic function requires knowledge of the dynamics, interdependence, and regulation of metabolic networks. However, multiple professional societies have recognized that most undergraduate biochemistry students acquire only a surface-level understanding of metabolism. We hypothesized that guiding students through interactive computer simulations of metabolic systems would increase their ability to recognize how individual interactions between components affect the behavior of a system under different conditions. The computer simulations were designed with an interactive activity (i.e., module) that used the predict–observe–explain model of instruction to guide students through a process in which they iteratively predict outcomes, test their predictions, modify the interactions of the system, and then retest the outcomes. We found that biochemistry students using modules performed better on metabolism questions compared with students who did not use the modules. The average learning gain was 8% with modules and 0% without modules, a small to medium effect size. We also confirmed that the modules did not create or reinforce a gender bias. Our modules provide instructors with a dynamic, systems-driven approach to help students learn about metabolic regulation and equip students with important cognitive skills, such as interpreting and analyzing simulation results, and technical skills, such as building and simulating computer-based models

Ag2S-CoS hetero-nanowires terminated with stepped surfaces for improved oxygen evolution reaction

Water electrolysis has received great attention for producing hydrogen, but sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has remained a big challenge. Recently, cobalt sulfide materials have been widely explored as great choice in highly efficient electrocatalysts due to their good electrical conductivity and bi-functionality toward OER and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, cobalt sulfide shows outstanding HER activity, but its OER activity should be improved. Herein, hexagonal-phase cobalt sulfide (CoS) nanowires with abundant stepped surfaces and defect sites were prepared via a seed-growth approach with silver sulfide (Ag2S) nanoparticles. The Ag2S-CoS hetero-nanowires (HNWs) exhibited excellent electrochemical performances for oxygen evolution reaction (overpotential = 275 mV, Tafel slope = 77.1 mVdec???1, charge transfer resistance = 1.3 ??) in 1.0 M KOH solution. The origin of superior activity was investigated using a combined experimental and theoretical approach. This work highlights the importance of surface defects for improving oxygen evolution reaction performance of water electrolysis