An Empirical Study on the Enterprise Cloud Service Adoption

Enterprise cloud service is a new IS paradigm which allows the storage of data, application software, and even operating platform over the Internet so that a corporation can use them at any time and at any place. It differs from the conventional information systems in that it doesn’t require the companies to build up their own IS resource by allowing them to lease it over the Internet. With this innovative service offering, many companies have expressed much interest to adopt cloud services in practice. However, their apparent adoption behaviors appear to be quite inconsistent. This seemingly comes from the fact that cloud service is not a single product, but a set of different service provisioning options which have different incentives and risks to adopt. This paper configures what kind of service provisioning options are relevant to the true adoption intent of the enterprises and investigates how the intention to adopt differs among various service provisioning options. An integrated research model is set up with the concepts of IS maturity and outsourcing, and tested with the data collected from about two hundred SMEs. From the empirical study, it is found that perceived benefit and risk is differently affecting on the adoption intent, and the conceived conflict between high IS maturity level, especially with high IS infra asset, is negatively affecting on the adoption intent with some cloud service provisioning options

Resonance of Domain Wall in a Ferromagnetic Nanostrip: Relation Between Distortion and Velocity

The resonance of the magnetic domain wall under the applied field amplifies its velocity compared to the one-dimensional model. To quantify the amplification, we define the distortion variation rate of the domain wall that can represent how fast and severely the wall shape is variated. Introducing that rate gives a way to bring the resonance into the one-dimensional domain wall dynamics model. We obtain the dissipated energy and domain wall velocity amplification by calculating the distortion variation rate. The relationship between velocity and distortion variation rate agrees well with micromagnetic simulation.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Normal modes of coupled vortex gyration in two spatially separated magnetic nanodisks

We found from analytical derivations and micromagnetic numerical simulations that there exist two distinct normal modes in apparently complex vortex gyrotropic motions in two dipolar-coupled magnetic nanodisks. The normal modes have characteristic higher and lower single angular eigenfrequencies with their own elliptical orbits elongated along the x (bonding axis) and y axes, respectively. The superposition of the two normal modes results in coupled vortex gyrations, which depend on the relative vortex-state configuration in a pair of dipolar-coupled disks. This normal-mode representation is a simple means of understanding the observed complex vortex gyrations in two or more dipolar-interacting disks of various vortex-state configurations.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Total Reflection and Negative Refraction of Dipole-Exchange Spin Waves at Magnetic Interfaces: Micromagnetic Modeling Study

We demonstrated that dipole-exchange spin waves traveling in geometrically restricted magnetic thin films satisfy the same laws of reflection and refraction as light waves. Moreover, we found for the first time novel wave behaviors of dipole-exchange spin waves such as total reflection and negative refraction. The total reflection in laterally inhomogeneous thin films composed of two different magnetic materials is associated with the forbidden modes of refracted dipole-exchange spin waves. The negative refraction occurs at a 90 degree domain-wall magnetic interface that is introduced by a cubic magnetic anisotropy in the media, through the anisotropic dispersion of dipole-exchange spin waves.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Experimental Study on the Flexural Capacity of H-shaped Steel Beam with the Concrete-Filled Tubular Flange

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Novel Adsorbent-Reactants for Treatment of Ash and Scrubber Pond Effluents

The overall goal of this project was to evaluate the ability of novel adsorbent/reactants to remove specific toxic target chemicals from ash and scrubber pond effluents while producing stable residuals for ultimate disposal. The target chemicals studied were arsenic (As(III) and As(V)), mercury (Hg(II)) and selenium (Se(IV) and Se(VI)). The adsorbent/reactants that were evaluated are iron sulfide (FeS) and pyrite (FeS{sub 2}). Procedures for measuring concentrations of target compounds and characterizing the surfaces of adsorbent-reactants were developed. Effects of contact time, pH (7, 8, 9, 10) and sulfate concentration (0, 1, 10 mM) on removal of all target compounds on both adsorbent-reactants were determined. Stability tests were conducted to evaluate the extent to which target compounds were released from the adsorbent-reactants when pH changed. Surface characterization was conducted with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to identify reactions occurring on the surface between the target compounds and surface iron and sulfur. Results indicated that target compounds could be removed by FeS{sub 2} and FeS and that removal was affected by time, pH and surface reactions. Stability of residuals was generally good and appeared to be affected by the extent of surface reactions. Synthesized pyrite and mackinawite appear to have the required characteristics for removing the target compounds from wastewaters from ash ponds and scrubber ponds and producing stable residuals

The limited immunomodulatory effects of escharectomy on the kinetics of endotoxin, cytokines, and adhesion molecules in major burns.

Escharectomy has been shown to improve the survival rates and the outcomes in burns. This observational study was conducted to assess the role of escharectomy on the inflammatory mediators in major burns. Seventeen ASA physical status II or status III adult surviving major burn patients were recruited. When the escharectomy was scheduled, a series of blood samples was obtained at -3 and -1 days preoperation, and +1 and +3 postoperation. The changing levels of endotoxin, cytokines, and adhesion molecules were measured with a quantitative sandwich immunoassay. Extensive escharectomy did not appear to have any significant impact on the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-10, soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1. Meanwhile, endotoxin and E-selectin were significantly decreased after escharectomy. Escharectomy appeared to have a limited immunomodulatory effect on the inflammatory mediators in systemic inflammatory responses induced by major burns. This is probably related to the timing and extent of surgery, and the complex nature of burn-related inflammation

The effect of low temperature aging on the mechanical property & phase stability of Y-TZP ceramics

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM. Recently Yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) has been introduced due to superior flexural strength and fracture toughness compared to other dental ceramic systems. Although zirconia has outstanding mechanical properties, the phenomenon of decrease in the life-time of zirconia resulted from degradation in flexural strength after low temperature aging has been reported. PURPOSE. The objective of this study was to investigate degradation of flexural strength of Y-TZP ceramics after various low temperature aging treatments and to evaluate the phase stability and micro-structural change after aging by using X-ray diffraction analysis and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). MATERIAL AND METHODS. Y-TZP blocks of Vita In-Ceram YZ (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Sa ¨ckingen, Germany) were prepared in 40 mm (length) x 4 mm (width) x 3 mm (height) samples. Specimens were artificially aged in distilled water by heattreatment at a temperature of 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, and 225℃ for 10 hours, in order to induce the phase transformation at the surface. To measure the mechanical property, the specimens were subjected to a four-point bending test using a universal testing machine (Instron model 3365; Instron, Canton, Mass, USA). In addition, X-ray diffraction analysis (DMAX 2500; Rigaku, Tokyo, Japan) and SEM (Hitachi s4700; Jeol Ltd, Tokyo, Japan) were performed to estimate the phase transformation. The statistical analysis was done using SAS 9.1.3 (SAS institute, USA). The flexural strength data of the experimental groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and to detect statistically significant differences (α= .05). RESULTS. The mean flexural strength of sintered Vita In-Ceram YZ without autoclaving was 798 MPa. When applied aging temperature at below 125℃ for 10 hours, the flexural strength of Vita In-Ceram YZ increased up to 1,161 MPa. However, at above 150℃, the flexural strength started to decrease. Although low temperature aging caused the tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase transformation related to temperature, the minimum flexural strength was above 700 MPa. CONCLUSION. The monoclinic phase started to appear after aging treatment above 100℃. With the higher aging temperature, the fraction of monoclinic phase increased. The ratio of monoclinic/tetragonal + monoclinic phase reached a plateau value, circa 75% above 175℃. The point of monoclinic concentration at which the flexural strength begins to decrease was between 12% and 54%.This work was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded by the Korea government(MOST) (No. R01-2007-000-10977-0)

Mild Hypothermia Attenuates Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 Induction via Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase-1/2 in a Focal Cerebral Ischemia Model

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in cerebral vascular endothelium induced by ischemic insult triggers leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory reaction. We investigated the mechanism of hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 in a model of focal cerebral ischemia. Rats underwent 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion and were kept at 37°C or 33°C during occlusion and rewarmed to normal temperature immediately after reperfusion. Under hypothermic condition, robust activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) was observed in vascular endothelium of ischemic brain. Hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 was reversed by ERK1/2 inhibition. Phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in ischemic vessel was attenuated by hypothermia. STAT3 inhibitor suppressed ICAM-1 production induced by stroke. ERK1/2 inhibition enhanced phosphorylation and DNA binding activity of STAT3 in hypothermic condition. In this study, we demonstrated that hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 induction is mediated by enhanced ERK1/2 activation and subsequent attenuation of STAT3 action