Exploring Systemic Problems in IS Adoption Using Critical Systems Heuristics

Systemic Practice and Action Research - Most of the traditional technology acceptance models revolve around information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) adoption at individual user level....     

The invention of atmosphere

The word “atmosphere” was a neologism Willebrord Snellius created for his Latin translation of Simon Stevin's cosmographical writings. Astronomers and mathematical practitioners, such as Snellius and Christoph Scheiner, applying the techniques of Ibn Mu‘ādh and Witelo, were the first to use the term in their calculations of the height of vapors that cause twilight. Their understandings of the atmosphere diverged from Aristotelian divisions of the aerial region. From the early years of the seventeenth century, the term was often associated with atomism or corpuscular matter theory. The concept of the atmosphere changed dramatically with the advent of pneumatic experiments in the middle of the seventeenth century. Pierre Gassendi, Walter Charleton, and Robert Boyle transformed the atmosphere of the mathematicians giving it the characteristics of weight, specific gravity, and fluidity, while disputes about its extent and border remained unresolved.     

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery: case studies for cancer and cardiovascular applications

Nanoparticles (NPs) comprised of nanoengineered complexes are providing new opportunities for enabling targeted delivery of a range of therapeutics and combinations. A range of functionalities can be included within a nanoparticle complex, including surface chemistry that allows attachment of cell-specific ligands for targeted delivery, surface coatings to increase circulation times for enhanced bioavailability, specific materials on the surface or in the nanoparticle core that enable storage of a therapeutic cargo until the target site is reached, and materials sensitive to local or remote actuation cues that allow controlled delivery of therapeutics to the target cells. However, despite the potential benefits of NPs as smart drug delivery and diagnostic systems, much research is still required to evaluate potential toxicity issues related to the chemical properties of NP materials, as well as their size and shape. The need to validate each NP for safety and efficacy with each therapeutic compound or combination of therapeutics is an enormous challenge, which forces industry to focus mainly on those nanoparticle materials where data on safety and efficacy already exists, i.e., predominantly polymer NPs. However, the enhanced functionality affordable by inclusion of metallic materials as part of nanoengineered particles provides a wealth of new opportunity for innovation and new, more effective, and safer therapeutics for applications such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which require selective targeting of the therapeutic to maximize effectiveness while avoiding adverse effects on non-target tissues.     

Evaluation of a program to control hydatid disease in central Utah

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} A program to control hydatid disease in central Utah was evaluated by: (1) surveillance of infection in dogs and sheep, (2) questioning adult residents of two Sanpete County communities (Fountain Green and Spring City) about their knowledge of hydatid disease and their attitudes toward preventive measures, (3) interviewing local officials to evaluate the proposed implementation of proper community-wide measures, (4) analyzing records of prophylactic treatment of dogs with praziquantel, and (5) comparing scores of tests given to third and fourth grade students before and after they colored an educational pamphlet about hydatid disease. Infection rates of Echinococcus granulosus in dogs brought to volunteer diagnostic clinics dropped from 28.3 percent in 1972 to 1.0 percent in 1979, but increased to 9.8 percent in 1981. This last rise was due mainly to the fact that some dogs were examined that belonged to range sheepmen who had either not attended a field clinic recently or had never attended at all. Prevalence of the parasite in slaughtered sheep decreased steadily from 13.2 percent in 1972 to 2.8 percent in 1981. With regard to the questionnaire phase of the project, 87.3 percent and 84.3 percent of the respondents understood the role of dogs in the life cycle of E. granulosus in Fountain Green and Spring City, respectively. Over 50 percent of the respondents of these two communities had worked directly with sheep sometime in their life. In general, residents were more willing to practice preventive measures involving sheep than they were to implement measures involving dogs alone. However, many of the recommended community-wide preventive measures were not implemented. With the coloring book, students answered an average of 62.5 percent of the questions correctly before they colored the pamphlet and 83.3 percent afterward. Overall, our results suggest that residents of Sanpete County are knowledgeable about hydatid disease and its mode of transmission, and that, in general, progress has been made in control of hydatid disease in central Utah.       

Mutations in the RNA exosome component gene EXOSC3 cause pontocerebellar hypoplasia and spinal motor neuron degeneration

RNA exosomes are multi-subunit complexes conserved throughout evolution and are emerging as the major cellular machinery for processing, surveillance and turnover of a diverse spectrum of coding and noncoding RNA substrates essential for viability. By exome sequencing, we discovered recessive mutations in EXOSC3 (encoding exosome component 3) in four siblings with infantile spinal motor neuron disease, cerebellar atrophy, progressive microcephaly and profound global developmental delay, consistent with pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 1 (PCH1; MIM 607596). We identified mutations in EXOSC3 in an additional 8 of 12 families with PCH1. Morpholino knockdown of exosc3 in zebrafish embryos caused embryonic maldevelopment, resulting in small brain size and poor motility, reminiscent of human clinical features, and these defects were largely rescued by co-injection with wild-type but not mutant exosc3 mRNA. These findings represent the first example of an RNA exosome core component gene that is responsible for a human disease and further implicate dysregulation of RNA processing in cerebellar and spinal motor neuron maldevelopment and degeneration.     

Dietary overlap in giant salamanders (Dicamptodon): applying null models to resource partitioning

We examined stomach contents of preserved specimens of larval Pacific giant salamander ( Dicamptodon tenebrosus ) and Cope's giant salamander ( D. copei ) collected from sympatric and allopatric stream populations. The dietary components of these specimens were used to calculate dietary overlap between the 2 species and to determine if changes in overlap existed between sympatric and allopatric populations. To statistically test overlap values, a randomization algorithm was used to construct a simulated data matrix (i.e., null model) in order to compare observed values of dietary overlap to a distribution of overlap values from the null model. Significant levels ( P < 0.05) of dietary overlap occurred in all cases of sympatry as well as allopatry. Average dietary overlap in sympatry was significantly lower than in allopatry, suggesting a dietary shift when in sympatry to reduce competition. Diet composition also differed between sympatric and allopatric populations of each species, further suggesting a partitioning of food resources by one or both species when in the presence of its congener.     

Larger ectoparasites of the Idaho ground squirrel ( Spermophilus brunneus )

We sampled both subspecies of the Idaho ground squirrel ( Spermophilus brunneus ) to document the larger ectoparasites of this rare endemic. S. b. brunneus was host (+ = new host record, ? = new Idaho record) to 4 flea species ( Neopsylla inopina + , Oropsylla idahoensis + , O. tuberculata , and Thrassis pandorae +), 1 tick ( Ixodes sculptus +), and an eyeworm (Nematoda: Rhabditis orbitalis ? + , also 1st records from Seiuridae); S. b. endemicus was host to a louse species ( Neohaematopinus laeviusculus +), 5 flea taxa ( Rhadinopsylla sp. + , O. t. tuberculata, Thrassis f. francisi + , T. f. barnest + , and T. f. rockwoodi ), and a mite ( Androlaelaps fahrenholzi +). Spermophilus brunneus had fewer known ectoparasite species than other congeners. Although all of their parasites had many other hosts, S. b. endemicus and S. b. brunneus shared only a single parasite species in common, whereas all but one of their ectoparasites also occurred on the closely related Townsend's ground squirrel ( S. townsendii ). The proportion of parasitized individuals and the parasite loads per individual were significantly lower in S. b. brunneus , which lives in small, isolated populations, than in S. b. endemicus , which has larger, less fragmented populations, suggesting a relationship between host population structure, parasite loads, and parasite species diversity. All but one of the flea species have been linked to plague transmission.     

Taking Thermodynamics Too Seriously

This paper discusses the mistake of understanding the laws and concepts of thermodynamics too literally in the foundations of statistical mechanics. Arguing that this error is still made in subtle ways, the article explores its occurrence in three examples: the Second Law, the concept of equilibrium and the definition of phase transitions.