Examining Information Systems Infusion over the Routinization

Information systems (IS) infusion becomes important from the management perspective because organizations can leverage IS investment only at the IS infusion stage. The model for the stages of IS implementation explains that IS infusion can be achieved through IS routinization. This study examined how to achieve IS infusion through routinization based on application of the psychological empowerment theory and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), respectively. This study adds value to the IS literature by explaining how IS routinization leads to IS infusion and how their antecedents are different and related across the two stages. This study also provides guidance on how organizations can promote IS infusion beyond IS routinization, which then helps organizations leverage their IS investments

A User Commitment Approach to Information Systems Infusion

Many organizations have huge investments on information systems (IS) but are unable to achieve the maximum benefits expected. The IS infusion stage refers to the state of using IS to its full potential. IS infusion is a form of organizational citizenship behavior because full utilization of IS requires extra-role behaviors (i.e., IS use beyond the mandated usage) beyond intra-role behaviors (i.e., mandated IS usage). As commitment is a key driver of organizational citizenship behavior, IS infusion requires the user’s commitment to IS usage. This study investigates the development of user commitment from the socio-technical system design perspective and the effect of user commitment on IS infusion. We identified five constructs from the socio-technical system design (job fit, task competence, technology competence, self-determination with technology, and self-determination with task). A survey of 236 enterprise system users showed that user commitment has a positive effect on IS infusion. User commitment, in turn, is influenced by job fit, technology competence, and self-determination with task. This study contributes to IS infusion research by introducing the development of user commitment from the socio-technical system design perspective. Managers can promote user commitment in order to reach the infusion stage of fully utilizing information systems

What motivates people to post comments online?

Cyberbullying, i.e., posting malicious comments online, has been identified as a critical social issue in the online and social media context. As a way to prevent cyberbullying, it is important to promote online prosocial behavior. This study examines what motivates people to post benevolent comments as online prosocial behavior in the online context. For this purpose, we first adopt an exploratory study to identify decision factors in terms of social exchange decision making. We then undertake a main study by developing a theoretical research model based on the identified decision factors. The testing results explain what and how those explored factors affect the posting of benevolent comments online in the social media context. The study has its theoretical contribution in demonstrating the decision factors leading to the posting of benevolent comments by extending the social exchange theory. It also has its practical implications by providing guidance for promoting online prosocial behavior

What we need to know when performing and interpreting US elastography

According to the increasing need for accurate staging of hepatic fibrosis, the ultrasound (US) elastography techniques have evolved significantly over the past two decades. Currently, US elastography is increasingly used in clinical practice. Previously published studies have demonstrated the excellent diagnostic performance of US elastography for the detection and staging of liver fibrosis. Although US elastography may seem easy to perform and interpret, there are many technical and clinical factors which can affect the results of US elastography. Therefore, clinicians who are involved with US elastography should be aware of these factors. The purpose of this article is to present a brief overview of US techniques with the relevant technology, the clinical indications, diagnostic performance, and technical and biological factors which should be considered in order to avoid misinterpretation of US elastography results

Risk of Atrial Fibrillation and Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices.

Background and objectives: Comprehensive epidemiological data are lacking on the incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). This study aimed to examine the incidence, risk factors, and AF-related adverse outcomes of patients with CIEDs.Methods: This was an observational cohort study that analyzed patients without prevalent AF who underwent CIED implantation in 2009-2018 using a Korean nationwide claims database. The subjects were divided into three groups by CIED type and indication: pacemaker (n=21,438), implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)/cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with heart failure (HF) (n=3,450), and ICD for secondary prevention without HF (n=2,146). The incidence of AF, AF-associated predictors, and adverse outcomes were evaluated.Results: During follow-up, the incidence of AF was 4.3, 7.3, and 5.1 per 100 person-years in the pacemaker, ICD/CRT with HF, and ICD without HF cohorts, respectively. Across the three cohorts, older age and valvular heart disease were commonly associated with incident AF. Incident AF was consistently associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke (3.8-11.4-fold), admission for HF (2.6-10.5-fold), hospitalization for any cause (2.4-2.7-fold), all-cause death (4.1-5.0-fold), and composite outcomes (3.4-5.7-fold). Oral anticoagulation rates were suboptimal in patients with incident AF (pacemaker, 51.3%; ICD/CRT with HF, 51.7%; and ICD without HF, 33.8%, respectively).Conclusions: A substantial proportion of patients implanted CIED developed newly diagnosed AF. Incident AF was associated with a higher risk of adverse events. The importance of awareness, early detection, and appropriate management of AF in patients with CIED should be emphasized

A multidimensional approach to wearability assessment of an electronic wrist bracelet for the criminal justice system

Electronic monitoring systems have been globally adopted to track criminals to ensure public safety efficiently. In this study, we aimed to assess the wearability of an electronic bracelet using multiple evaluation methods, including the evaluation of range of motion (ROM), air gap (AG), and clothing pressure (CP) at the wearer’s wrist, as well as self-scoring of subjective comfort (SC). We recruited eight Korean male participants (N = 8) who were in their 30 s and did not have any musculoskeletal problems at data collection. We compared the test results collected on the first day with those obtained after wearing the electronic wrist bracelet for 5 consecutive days. We also examined the differences between the normal-weight and overweight groups. Overall, the data evinced a decrease in the wrist ROM, AG, and SC, but an increase in the CP after it was worn for 5 days. And, the results were more observable in the overweight group, as compared to the normal-weight group. Furthermore, this study proposed a novel and effective assessment tool that could be used to measure the wearability of devices or systems intended to be worn on the human body—not only the electronic wrist bracelet for criminal monitoring but also popular commercial electronic bracelets for sportswear or health-related monitoring system.This work was supported by Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) grant funded by the Korea Government (MOTIE) (P0012770, Professional Human Resources Training Project), and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIT) (2016R1A5A1938472

Fabrication of a spherical inclusion phantom for validation of magnetic resonance-based magnetic susceptibility imaging

© 2019 Kim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Fabrication of a spherical multi-compartment MRI phantom is demonstrated that can be used to validate magnetic resonance (MR)-based susceptibility imaging reconstruction. The phantom consists of a 10 cm diameter gelatin sphere that encloses multiple smaller gelatin spheres doped with different concentrations of paramagnetic contrast agents. Compared to previous multi-compartment phantoms with cylindrical geometry, the phantom provides the following benefits: (1) no compartmental barrier materials are used that can introduce signal voids and spurious phase; (2) compartmental geometry is reproducible; (3) spherical susceptibility boundaries possess a ground-truth analytical phase solution for easy experimental validation; (4) spherical geometry of the overall phantom eliminates background phase due to air-phantom boundary in any scan orientation. The susceptibility of individual compartments can be controlled independently by doping. During fabrication, formalin crosslinking and water-proof surface coating effectively blocked water diffusion between the compartments to preserve the phantom’s integrity. The spherical shapes were realized by molding the inner gel compartments in acrylic spherical shells, 3 cm in diameter, and constructing the whole phantom inside a larger acrylic shell. From gradient echo images obtained at 3T, we verified that the phantom produced phase images in agreement with the theoretical prediction. Factors that limit the agreement include: air bubbles trapped at the gel interfaces, imperfect magnet shimming, and the susceptibility of external materials such as the phantom support hardware. The phantom images were used to validate publicly available codes for quantitative susceptibility mapping. We believe that the proposed phantom can provide a useful testbed for validation of MR phase imaging and MR-based magnetic susceptibility reconstructio

‘Evidence of an auxin signal pathway, microRNA167-ARF8-GH3, and its response to exogenous auxin in cultured rice cells’

MicroRNA167 (miR167) was shown to cleave auxin responsive factor 8 (ARF8) mRNA in cultured rice cells. MiR167 level was found to be controlled by the presence of auxin in the growth medium. When cells grew in auxin-free medium, miR167 level decreased, resulting in an increase in the level of ARF8 mRNA. Cells growing in the normal growth medium containing auxin showed a reversed trend. It was also shown that expression of OsGH3-2, an rice IAA-conjugating enzyme, was positively regulated by ARF8. Delivery of synthesized miR167 into cells led to decrease of both ARF8 mRNA and OsGH3-2 mRNA. This study provides an evidence in which the exogeneous auxin signal is transduced to OsGH3-2 through miR167 and ARF8 in sequence. This proposed auxin signal transduction pathway, auxin-miR167-ARF8-OsGH3-2, could be, in conjunction with the other microRNA-mediated auxin signals, an important one for responding to exogeneous auxin and for determining the cellular free auxin level which guides appropriate auxin responses

Phytohormone abscisic acid control RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 gene expression and post-transcriptional gene silencing in rice cells

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6) catalyses dsRNA synthesis for post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS)-associated amplification and the generation of endogeneous siRNAs involved in developmental determinations or stress responses. The functional importance of RDR6 in PTGS led us to examine its connection to the cellular regulatory network by analyzing the hormonal responses of RDR6 gene expression in a cultured cell system. Delivery of dsRNA, prepared in vitro, into cultured rice (Oryza sativa cv. Japonica Dongjin) cells successfully silenced the target isocitrate lyase (ICL) transcripts. Silencing was transient in the absence of abscisic acid (ABA), while it became persistent in the presence of ABA in growth medium. A transcription assay of the OsRDR6 promoter showed that it was positively regulated by ABA. OsRDR6-dependent siRNA(ICL) generation was also significantly up-regulated by ABA. The results showed that, among the five rice OsRDR isogenes, only OsRDR6 was responsible for the observed ABA-mediated amplification and silencing of ICL transcripts. We propose that ABA modulates PTGS through the transcriptional control of the OsRDR6 gene