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Background: This Site Feasibility Task Force convened to assess the complex and burdensome process of site feasibility in clinical trials. The objective was to create mutual understanding of challenges and provide suggestions for improving collaboration among sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), and sites. Methods: The task force was composed of representatives from sponsors, CROs and sites (43 % Sites, 20 % Site Networks, 10 % Small/mid-size sponsors, 10 % Small/mid-size CROs, 10 % Large sponsors, 7 % Large CROs). The group collaborated to define the scope of the problem, identify challenges in the current process, and provide suggestions for improving the process. Results: The group found there is a need for better differentiation between the three main stages of feasibility, and the four sub-phases of Site Feasibility. The discussion brought to light emerging trends like early initiation of Site Feasibility and premature engagement of sites by CROs. To fully explain these challenges, the group analyzed the current practices and documented their downstream impact on clinical trial execution for all stakeholders. A list of best practices emerged naturally from this analysis. These findings are aggregated into short and actionable best practice guides. Conclusion: The task force suggests practical changes for the feasibility process and raises awareness of emerging trends and their associated risks. This awareness can begin to drive change in the site feasibility process, although industry-wide transformation will require new levels of collaboration, data standardization and automation tools. The potential benefits of evolving this process are significant and meaningful for more efficient and successful clinical trials.

Abstract Over the last ten years, there has been considerable progress in using digital behavioral phenotypes, captured passively and continuously from smartphones and wearable devices, to infer depressive mood. However, most digital phenotype studies suffer from poor replicability, often fail to detect clinically relevant events, and use measures of depression that are not validated or suitable for collecting large and longitudinal data. Here, we report high-quality longitudinal validated assessments of depressive mood from computerized adaptive testing paired with continuous digital assessments of behavior from smartphone sensors for up to 40 weeks on 183 individuals experiencing mild to severe symptoms of depression. We apply a combination of cubic spline interpolation and idiographic models to generate individualized predictions of future mood from the digital behavioral phenotypes, achieving high prediction accuracy of depression severity up to three weeks in advance (R 2 ≥ 80%) and a 65.7% reduction in the prediction error over a baseline model which predicts future mood based on past depression severity alone. Finally, our study verified the feasibility of obtaining high-quality longitudinal assessments of mood from a clinical population and predicting symptom severity weeks in advance using passively collected digital behavioral data. Our results indicate the possibility of expanding the repertoire of patient-specific behavioral measures to enable future psychiatric research.

Abstract Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1 or YB1) is a therapeutically relevant oncoprotein capable of RNA and DNA binding and mediating protein–protein interactions that drive proliferation, stemness, and resistance to platinum-based therapies. Given our previously published findings, the potential for YB1-driven cisplatin resistance in medulloblastoma (MB), and the limited studies exploring YB1-DNA repair protein interactions, we chose to investigate the role of YB1 in mediating radiation resistance in MB. MB, the most common pediatric malignant brain tumor, is treated with surgical resection, cranio-spinal radiation, and platinum-based chemotherapy, and could potentially benefit from YB1 inhibition. The role of YB1 in the response of MB to ionizing radiation (IR) has not yet been studied but remains relevant for determining potential anti-tumor synergy of YB1 inhibition with standard radiation therapy. We have previously shown that YB1 drives proliferation of cerebellar granular neural precursor cells (CGNPs) and murine Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) group MB cells. While others have demonstrated a link between YB1 and homologous recombination protein binding, functional and therapeutic implications remain unclear, particularly following IR-induced damage. Here we show that depleting YB1 in both SHH and Group 3 MB results not only in reduced proliferation but also synergizes with radiation due to differential response dynamics. YB1 silencing through shRNA followed by IR drives a predominantly NHEJ-dependent repair mechanism, leading to faster γH2AX resolution, premature cell cycle re-entry, checkpoint bypass, reduced proliferation, and increased senescence. These findings show that depleting YB1 in combination with radiation sensitizes SHH and Group 3 MB cells to radiation.

Abstract Objective: Compare the real-world impact of fidaxomicin (FDX) and vancomycin (VAN) on Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) recurrence in a high-risk patient population. Design: A retrospective, matched-cohort study evaluating hospitalized patients with CDI from January 1, 2016, to November 1, 2022, within a tertiary academic medical center. Patients: Adult patients with at least 1 prior CDI case who received either FDX or VAN for non-fulminant CDI while admitted, and had at least 1 additional risk factor for recurrence. Risk factors included age >70, solid organ or bone marrow transplant recipients, broad-spectrum antibiotic use within 30 days, or receipt of chemotherapy/immune-modulating agents within 30 days of admission. FDX and VAN patients were matched according to risk factors. Results: A total of 415 patient admissions were identified. After the exclusion of 92 patients for fulminant CDI, diarrhea from another cause, or use of VAN taper therapy, and 15 unmatched patients, 308 patient admissions were included (68 FDX and 240 VAN patients). There were no significant differences in 4-week recurrence (26% vs 23%; OR 1.1; P = .51), 90-day CDI readmission (29% vs 23%; P = .65), or 90-day all-cause readmission (54% vs 53%; P = .91). There was a significant 17% decrease in 90-day mortality associated with the use of FDX (OR .3; P = .04). Conclusions: In a real-world high-risk patient population, the use of FDX compared to oral VAN did not result in decreased CDI recurrence within 4 weeks or fewer hospital readmissions within 90 days. Further research is needed to better assess the value of FDX in this patient population.

Abstract Background Acquired hemophilia A is a disorder caused by autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII that may present with severe bleeding. We report a rare case of acquired hemophilia A presenting with coexisting lupus anticoagulant. Case presentation An 81-year-old Caucasian female presented with large ecchymoses over the torso and extremities in the setting of an enoxaparin bridge to warfarin. Anticoagulation was held, but she continued to develop bruises with significant anemia and prolonged coagulation studies that failed to correct with mixing. Workup revealed factor VIII activity

BackgroundPre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 with tixagevimab/cilgavimab (T/C) received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) based on results of a clinical trial conducted prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The clinical effectiveness of T/C has not been well described in the Omicron era. We examined the incidence of symptomatic illness and hospitalizations among T/C recipients when Omicron accounted for virtually all local cases.MethodsThrough retrospective electronic medical record chart review, we identified patients who received T/C between January 1 -July 31, 2022 within our quaternary referral health system. We determined the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations due to or presumed to be caused by early Omicron variants before and after receiving T/C (pre-T/C and post-T/C). Chi square and Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon two-sample tests were used to examine differences between the characteristics of those who got COVID-19 before or after T/C prophylaxis, and rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to assess differences in hospitalization rates for the two groups.ResultsOf 1295 T/C recipients, 105 (8.1%) developed symptomatic COVID-19 infection before receiving T/C, and 102 (7.9%) developed symptomatic disease after receiving it. Of the 105 patients who developed symptomatic infection pre-T/C, 26 (24.8%) were hospitalized, compared with six of the 102 patients (5.9%) who were diagnosed with COVID-19 post-T/C (RR = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.10-0.55; p = 0.0002). Seven of the 105 (6.7%) patients infected pre-T/C, but none of the 102 infected post-T/C required ICU care. No COVID-related deaths occurred in either group. The majority of COVID-19 cases among those infected pre-T/C treatment occurred during the Omicron BA.1 surge, while the majority of post-T/C cases occurred when Omicron BA.5 was predominant. In both groups, having at least one dose of vaccine strongly protected against hospitalization (pre-T/C group RR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.17-0.57, p = 0.02; post-T/C group RR = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.03-0.94; p = 0.04).ConclusionWe identified COVID-19 infections after T/C prophylaxis. Among patients who received T/C at our institution, COVID-19 Omicron cases occurring after T/C were one-fourth as likely to require hospitalization compared to those with Omicron prior to T/C. However, due to the presence of changing vaccine coverage, multiple therapies, and changing variants, the effectiveness of T/C in the Omicron era remains difficult to assess.

RAS mutations occur in a broad spectrum of human hematopoietic malignancies. Activating Ras mutations in blood cells leads to hematopoietic malignancies in mice. In murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mutant N-RasG12D activates Stat5 to dysregulate stem cell function. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that Stat5 activation induced by a hyperactive Nras mutant, G12D, is dependent on Jak2 activity. Jak2 is activated in Nras mutant HSCs and progenitors (HSPCs), and inhibiting Jak2 with ruxolitinib significantly decreases Stat5 activation and HSPC hyper-proliferation in vivo in NrasG12D mice. Activation of Jak2-Stat5 is associated with downregulation of Socs2, an inhibitory effector of Jak2/Stat5. Restoration of Socs2 blocks NrasG12D HSC reconstitution in bone marrow transplant recipients. SOCS2 downregulation is also observed in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells that carry RAS mutations. RAS mutant AML cells exhibited suppression of the enhancer active marker H3K27ac at the SOCS2 locus. Finally, restoration of SOCS2 in RAS mutant AML cells mitigated leukemic growth. Thus, we discovered a novel signaling feedback loop whereby hyperactive Ras signaling activates Jak2/Stat5 via suppression of Socs2.

Dissecting epigenetic mechanisms controlling early cardiac differentiation will provide insights into heart regeneration and heart disease treatment. SWI/SNF complexes remodel nucleosomes to regulate gene expression and play a key role in organogenesis. Here, we reported a unique function of BAF250a in regulating the physical interaction of OCT4 and β-CATENIN during cardiac lineage differentiation from human ESCs. BAF250a deletion greatly reduced the physical interaction between OCT4 and β-CATENIN but did not alter the expression of β-CATENIN and OCT4 in the mesodermal progenitor cells. BAF250a ablation led to decreased recruitment of OCT4 and β-CATENIN at promoters of key mesodermal lineage genes, such as MESP1 and EOMES. Subsequently, the expression of lineage-specific genes was downregulated, whereas the expression of pluripotent genes was upregulated. In parallel, BAF250a ablation also altered recruitments of OCT4 and β-CATENIN to the promoter of CCND2 and CCND3, two key genes for S phase entry during cell cycle. Consequently, BAF250a deletion led to prolonged S phase in Mesp1+ cardiac progenitor cells, which in turn inhibited efficient differentiation of Mesp1+ to Isl1+ cells. Furthermore, BAF250a deletion abolished the interaction of OCT4 and BRG1 in mesoderm, suggesting that BAF250a is the key component in SWI/SNF complex that determines the interaction of Oct4/β-catenin in mesoderm. In contrast, we found that BAF250a did not regulate the OCT4/β-CATENIN interaction during neuroectoderm differentiation. Altogether, our results suggest that BAF250a specifically controls proper cardiac mesoderm differentiation by reorganizing the binding of OCT4/β-CATENIN and regulates both key lineage differentiation genes and cell cycle genes that coincided in response to WNT/β-CATENIN signal.

Purpose: Using Activity Theory as an interpretive lens to examine the distribution of leadership, this paper shares a case study on how leadership for an ICT project was distributed in a Singapore school. Method: The case study involved observations of 49 meetings and 34 interviews of leaders and the teachers who were involved in the ICT project. Findings: Applying the lens of third-generation Activity Theory helped to reveal two main interrelated activity systems, and the leadership actions performed by senior and middle management. The two activity systems comprised the school and the ICT project. The focus in Activity Theory on the social-cultural perspective highlighted the role played by social norms in mediating the leadership activity. Implications for future research: The conclusion focuses on the understanding of distributed leadership as analysed through the lens of Activity Theory and suggests future research directions. Activity Theory enables research on distributed leadership to identify and examine interrelated activity systems that various leaders are involved in, and how these impact the leadership provided.

The Chinese Language Classroom Environment Inventory (CLCEI) is a bilingual instrument developed for use in measuring students' and teachers' perceptions toward their Chinese Language classroom learning environments in Singapore secondary schools. The English version of the CLCEI was customised from the English version of the "What is happening in this class? (WIHIC)" questionnaire (Fraser, Fisher, & McRobbie, 1996) and its Chinese version was modified from the Taiwanese Chinese version of the WIHIC questionnaire (Huang & Fraser, 1997). The CLCEI consists of six 8-item scales examining 6 different dimensions of the Chinese language classroom learning environments, namely, "Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Cooperation, Task Orientation and Equity". It was validated with a sample of 1460 secondary three (grade 9) students from 50 express stream (above average academic ability) classes in 25 secondary schools in Singapore. Various statistical procedures were undertaken to examine the factor structure, validity and reliability of the scales of the CLCEI. The validation results indicated that each of the scales exhibited high internal consistency reliability and satisfactory discriminant and factorial validity. The validation results also indicated that each scale of the CLCEI had the ability to differentiate between perceptions of students from different Chinese language classes. (Contains 4 tables.)

One common objective of instructional multimedia products is enhancement of learning. It follows that one of the primary tasks of the interface designer is the creation of a user-interface that is motivating, interactive, intuitive and at the same time imposing as minimal as possible a cognitive load on the learner. To achieve this goal, qualities such as learnability, efficiency, memorability, low error rates and high user satisfaction are essential. A well-designed interface should inform the user what do the objects on the screen stand for and what they might do and allows the user to break down a task into subtasks and map them on to the system's functions easily and naturally. By doing so, it enables the user to build a functional mental model of the system that does not require user's rote memorization. These qualities of a well-designed interface are commonly known as the "usability" of software. To date, many methods that allow systematic ways of evaluating usability in instructional multimedia have been developed. By integrating these methods into the various stages within the life cycle of instructional multimedia design and development, the usability of instructional multimedia, and hence its educational value, could be assured. However, there has been little attempt to consolidate these methods into a more integrative and self-explanatory model. This paper attempts to review these various methods under a proposed framework in the hope that it may help readers to select the most appropriate usability evaluation method according to their needs.

Transparency is a fundamental necessity for the insurance market in the modern fast-changing and digital world. The study aims to establish, based on bibliometric analysis, the research trends and subject areas of the insurance market transparency, including the impact of digital technologies, regulatory initiatives, and the internal policies of insurance companies. A bibliometric analysis of papers published in the journals indexed by the Scopus database for the years 1988–2023 was conducted to achieve this goal. Five clusters have been identified based on the analysis of the shared use of keywords, demonstrating the multidisciplinary nature of the research subject. They cover government regulation and risk management; ethics; technological innovations in increasing transparency; transparency of prices and costs in health insurance; and state medical insurance transparency. The analysis of insurance market transparency trends has allowed identifying four key stages of development: post-crisis regulatory mechanisms (2013–2016), Solvency II regulation effectiveness (2017–2019), transparency during the pandemic (2020–2021), and the impact of digital innovations since 2021. Spatial clustering made it possible to identify five groups of countries whose representatives are co-authors of research on insurance market transparency. The leading countries in research on insurance market transparency are the USA, the UK, and Germany. AcknowledgmentThis research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (projects No. 0122U000774 “Digitalization and transparency of public, corporate and personal finance: the impact on innovation development and national security”, No. 0123U101945 “National security of Ukraine through the prevention of financial fraud and money laundering: war and post-war challenges”). This research was funded under the research subsidy of the Faculty of Organization and Management of the Silesian University of Technology in Poland for the year 2023 (13/990/BK_23/0178).

Coronary ischemia is uncommon in patients in their third decade of life. We present a 21-year-old woman with classic exertional angina secondary to a large cardiac paraganglioma. Cardiac paragangliomas are rare extra-adrenal neuroendocrine tumors that arise from chromaffin cells. Cardiac symptoms can be related to catecholamine excess or anatomical compression.

Given the increasingly important role of SNS account in corporate marketing strategy and the growing number of technical features built in SNS platforms, it is worth investigating how these available features facilitate virtual presence and customers' engagement behaviors. Drawing upon the presence formation framework, this study examines the impact of Instagram features (i.e. call to action, Instagram stories, and geotagging) on generating users' perception of telepresence, social presence, and flow, which subsequently affect their actual engagement behavior. A field experiment with a 2x2x2 factorial design was conducted. The results indicate that all examined features can effectively evoke telepresence and social presence within a corporate SNS account. In addition, both telepresence and social presence significantly improve perceived flow, ultimately contributing to engagement behavior (i.e. following and sharing). The findings illuminate the role of social media features as crucial antecedents to presence and engagement behavior which provide business owners with interesting insights into how to effectively utilize it to maintain and foster customer relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the popularity of social network sites, social commerce such as Facebook has rapidly become a promising platform to conduct online advertisings and business activities. Drawing from Latent State-Trait theory (LST), we conducted an online experiment to empirically investigate the impact of information quality, picture of product presentation, the number of people's "Likes" and impulsiveness on female customer's urge to buy impulsively as well as the interaction effect of environmental cues and individual trait. The results showed that information quality, picture of product presentation, and impulsiveness positively affected the urge to buy impulsively. Contrary to our expectation, only information quality was found to interact with impulsiveness to jointly influence impulsive buying behavior, while the interaction of impulsiveness with product presentation and the number of likes was insignificant. The findings not only help to enrich our understanding of important factors influencing impulse buying within Facebook B2C social commerce but also offer social commerce practitioners a better strategy in selling their products and services, specifically for female customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of lighting effect into water purifying systems was studied to achieve the emotional interaction between users and products. This study involves two groups of experiments. First, the water quality scale corresponding to colours was scored by each subject, and then the colours were classified. Second, the impacts of lighting effect on heart rate, skin temperature, skin electrical signal, and other psychological indices in emotion experiments were studied, which validate that light effect plays a non-negligible role in the emotions of the subjects. By collecting System Usability Scale (SUS) scores, average heart rate, average skin temperature, and skin electrical signal, we compared the results before and after the addition of lighting effect, and validated the influences of lighting effect on human emotions. This study theoretically underlies the application of lighting effect into smart home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comparative analysis of state funding of higher education as a factor of its effectiveness in European countries. The analysis is conducted on the example of countries where the share of state budget expenditures on education no less than 11%.The assumption that education is the main factor in the formation of a responsible citizens capable to provide the job themselves, and to provide qualified professionals for the country, that means to promote economic and cultural growth, is taken as a basis of the article.The structure of state expenditures on education in general and the amount of higher education funding in countries under consideration is analyzed.The correlation between the amount of expenditures on higher education and the indicators of the quality index of the higher education system QS World University Rankings is analyzed. Also the correlation analysis between other indexes, that characterize the general level of human development and quality of business as a result of public investment in training of highly qualified specialists, is done.

The transition to future-oriented medium-term budget planning has been an important innovation in the budget process of Ukraine. Since then, the main budget indicators are calculated for the next three years with a forecast that allows for systemic reforms in several areas. This paper aims to identify problems of implementing budget planning for generating an envisaged and balanced budget in conjunction with the priorities of the state. The current status of budget planning and budget performance is analyzed by reviewing budget legislation, budget reporting, information-analytical and presentation data of state authorities and local governments, the experience of developed countries that have achieved some success in medium-term budget planning in terms of income and spending. The paper also reveals the features and advantages of medium-term budget planning based on the result; explores the approaches to transparent, effective, and high-quality use of budget funds with a limited potential of the state to increase tax revenues. The implementation of budget planning is due to the need for further development of the budget process in Ukraine towards increasing predictability, transparency, stabilizing the budget in the medium term, and solving important problems of efficient and high-quality use of budget funds for economic and social recovery.

During the post-Great Recession period, macroeconomic stability had more often been threatened by socioeconomic shocks due to the rising of public discontent with the high unemployment rate and poverty, the activation of radical parties and movements, and the aggravation of the geopolitical confrontation in the world. Depending on the type and depth of such shocks, they become politically generated shocks and, in particular, affect the monetary sphere. The article investigates three types of politically generated shocks and their impact on the monetary sphere. It has been found out that the shocks generated by political populism are characterized by fiscal domination in the economy, the use of monetary measures in the budget deficit financing. Shocks arising after the use of international sanctions against certain countries have an external origin and primarily cause the increase in national exchange markets volatility. On the whole, macroeconomic and, especially, monetary instability is the result of the great shocks for the economy, the depth and duration of which are determined by the nature of the crisis, particularly, when country participates in the military conflict. The aforementioned types of politically generated shocks are analyzed based on the experience of countries such as Argentina, Turkey, and Ukraine, which at one time introduced the regime of inflation targeting in monetary policy, but were forced to modify it influenced by political and economic instability.

In the context of countries integration into the world economic space, agricultural sector is one of the priorities and strategically important sectors of the national economy. Development of instruments aimed to increase investment potential of this sector is therefore an important component of the country’s economy growth. The article proposes a science-based model of the impact of the agricultural sector on the economic development level of countries trying to move towards European integration.It was found that the employment rate (+58.4) has the largest influence on the rate of GDP change in the studied group of countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia). The impact of the gross value added of the manufacturing sector on its economic growth is positive (+44.6). The negative foreign direct investment ratio in the model (–40.3) may be due to the fact that the indicator in the studied countries is still largely influenced by the intervention of the state mechanism, significant uncertainty and risk, which is a deterrent to the overall economic development. An important result of the study was that foreign direct investment had a negative impact on economic growth in developing countries. Further development of the investment potential of a country’s agricultural sector provides for a radical acceleration of scientific and technological progress and, on this basis, a reduction in the cost of a unit of agricultural products and food and an increase in their competitiveness in the domestic and world markets.

The marketing environment of universities’ activities in Ukraine is changing dramatically. As a result, the system of chances and risks for universities is constantly changing. Therefore, timely detection of changes in the marketing environment and effective management ensure the competitiveness of the universities. The aim of the article is to identify the marketing environment dominants of the Ukrainian universities, as well as to assess the efficiency of marketing tools application in the system of universities’ management. On the basis of statistical and primary data analyses, the higher education market in Ukraine both at the state and regional levels has been assessed and the university’s dependence on market sources of funding has been substantiated. As the modern domains of the marketing environment of universities, changes in the distribution of state-funded places, the impact of external independent testing, and the intensification of competition between universities are determined. The influence of external independent testing on structural intersegmental changes concerning the choice of specialties of universities’ entrants is proved. The comparative characteristics of the marketing management tools in Ukrainian and Polish universities are considered. The obtained results outline the importance of strengthening the marketing orientation of management in universities.

Despite positive transformations in higher education in Ukraine since 2014 when a new Law was introduced, the system of public funding still remains a highly centralized and strongly budgetary dependent based on the state planning methods, which in the situation of lack of resources becomes more imbalanced and inefficient.The current system of allocation of the “state order for training the specialists with higher education” does not ensure an equal and fair competition among top 10 universities and the rest, especially regional, and the system cannot guarantee state-funded places to all applicants with high results of the External Independent Testing exams. At the same time, only a small share of graduates work on the specialty they acquired. The situation on the labor market does not encourage graduates to be employed in public institutions, which is harmful for the public sector of economy, especially in the regions. It proves that the system of distribution and allocation of government funding between higher education institutions in Ukraine needs urgent reforming.The objective is to analyze the current system of higher education funding in Ukraine in its national dimension and local perspective, and to develop proposals for its improvement, considering the selected good practices and using the following methods: literature analysis, method of retrospective analysis to research budgetary expenditures, determining the Net Present Value for calculating the government cost. Finally, a feasible proposal to reform the mechanism of public higher education funding was developed.

Teacher presence plays a significant role in supporting student learning in online environments. Research shows that teacher presence corresponds to student satisfaction and perceived learning in online courses. However, the teacher needs to restrain his/her presence in student-centered online discussions to promote student voice. This paper explores strategies in overcoming the dilemma of teacher presence in discussionbased online courses. Five strategies of high teacher presence are developed to mitigate the possible negative impact of low teacher presence in online student discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Aim of the study  mRNA expression of genes involved in the mechanism of action of pemetrexed was correlated with in vitro chemosensitivity of freshly explanted human tumor specimens. Experimental design  Chemosensitivity to pemetrexed was studied in soft-agar. Multiplex rtPCR experiments for reduced folate carrier (RFC), folate receptor-α (FR-α), folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS), thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), glycinamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase (GARFT), mrp4, and mrp5 were performed in parallel. Correlations, threshold optimization, sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency were analyzed using the appropriate statistical methodologies. Results  In 61 samples, low levels of TS, GARFT, DHFR, and mrp4 gene expression significantly correlated with chemosensitivity to pemetrexed. Optimization analyses demonstrated threshold values of 144 copies for TS and six copies for mrp4 relative to 104 copies of β-actin. Conclusions  These results form a rational basis for the design of clinical trials to evaluate the expression of these enzymes as predictors for treatment outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper seeks to investigate and provide empirical evidence of the interrelationships among network externalities, e-business adoption and information asymmetry. Design/methodology/approach — A conceptual model was proposed and tested using 307 completed interview cases selected from a database of 2,075 Chinese international trading companies published by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce for this study. Findings — The results indicated that network externalities significantly influenced e-business adoption and information asymmetry, and e-business adoption influenced information asymmetry through information sharing and collection. A split sample analysis showed that cultural contexts significantly moderated the interrelationships among network externalities, e-business adoption, and information asymmetry. Research limitations/implications — Data for this study were collected only from mainland China, therefore, non-Chinese companies (foreign-owned) operating in China may have been influenced by Chinese cultures and some of them have been localizing their operations in China. The influences of network externalities on business performance and decision making remain unclear. In addition, data were collected from self-reported questionnaires, and thus may be subject to self-reporting bias. Future studies should use more objective measurements to reduce the potential for self-reporting bias. Practical implications — This study contributes significantly to the literature by providing empirical evidence on interrelationships among network externalities, e-business adoption, and information asymmetry. The findings in this study also provide valuable insights for managers to better understand the influence of network externalities on e-business adoption. Originality/value — This study contributes significantly to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the interrelationships among network externalities, e-business adoption, and information asymmetry. The findings also provide managers with valuable insight into better understanding of the nature of these interrelationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we suggest a facilitating process for nurturing a community of practice (CoP). This process can be seen as a reverse LPP (legitimate peripheral participation) process where a community starts with a group of core members and gradually grows to encourage new members into a CoP. In the heart of the reverse LPP process is the identity formation and enculturation of practice. A case study in the Singapore context is introduced. The discussion focuses on how leadership in a community of practice differs from leadership in an organization and how the two roles may complement each other. Some key issues are identified such as the intrinsic motivational dimensions of CoPs and these should be well understood by potential facilitators and designers of CoPs.Inverser le processus LPP (participation périphérique authentique) pour faire naître une communauté de pratique (CoP)Dans cet article, on suggère un processus pour faciliter le développement d’une communauté de pratique (CoP). On peut considérer ce processus comme l’inverse d’un processus LPP (participation périphérique authentique) dans lequel une communauté commence avec un noyau dur de quelques membres fondateurs, se développe progressivement et encourage d’autres membres à entrer dans la CoP. Au cœur du processus LPP inversé, on trouve la formation de l’identité et l’inculturation de la pratique. On présente une étude de cas dans le contexte singapourien. La discussion porte sur la façon dont le leadership dans une communauté de pratique diffère du leadership dans une organisation et comment les deux rôles peuvent se compléter. On identifie plusieurs problèmes‐clefs tels que les dimensions motivationnelles intrinsèques des CoP (communautés de pratique) ce qui devrait être bien compris des facilitateurs potentiels et des concepteurs de CoP.Der umgekehrte LPP Prozess zur Hege einer ÜbungsgemeinschaftIn diesem Papier schlagen wir einen Prozess zur Hege einer Übungsgemeinschaft vor. Dieser Prozess kann als ein umgekehrter LPP‐Prozess (Legitimate Peripheral Participation) betrachtet werden, wo eine Gemeinschaft mit einer Gruppe von Innenmitgliedern beginnt und allmählich wächst, um neue Mitglieder zum Eintritt zu ermutigen. Herzstück dieses Prozesses ist die Identitätsformung und das Entkultivieren der Praxis. Eine Fallstudie im Singapurer Kontext wird vorgestellt. Die Diskussion zielt darauf, wie sich Führung in einer Übungsgemeinschaft von Führung in einer Organistion unterscheidet und wie die zwei Rollen einander ergänzen können. Einige Hauptthemen werden identifiziert, wie die instrinsichen Motivationsdimensionen von CoPs. Diese sollten gut von potentiellen Moderatoren und von Designern von Übungsgemeinschaften verstanden werden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we focus on learning to be or forming an identity within communities of practices. Using a reconceived activity theory framework, we attempt to distil out the kinds of tools (including technologies), rules, and roles that support the different processes within activity structures. Through enculturation (participants performing their specific roles through the assistance of tools and according to the rules of the community), participants learn to be, forming an identity particular to that community. We illustrate these concepts through community-based examples such as universities and schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has marked an unprecedented advancement of new media. New media has become so pervasive that it has penetrated into every aspect of our society. New media literacy plays an essential role for any citizen to participate fully in the 21st century society. Researchers have documented that literacy has evolved historically from classic literacy (reading-writing-understanding) to audiovisual literacy to digital literacy or information literacy and recently to new media literacy. A review of literature on media literacy reveals that there is a lack of thorough analysis of unique characteristics of new media and its impacts upon the notion of new media literacy. The purpose of the study is to unpack new media literacy and propose a framework for a systematic investigation of new media literacy.

User experience remains a crucial consideration when assessing the successfulness of information visualization systems. The theory of affordances provides a robust framework for user experience design. In this article, we demonstrate a design case that employs an affordance-based framework and evaluate the information visualization display design. SolarWheels is an interactive information visualization designed for large display walls in computer network control rooms to help cybersecurity analysts become aware of network status and emerging issues. Given the critical nature of this context, the status and performance of a computer network must be precisely monitored and remedied in real time. In this study, we consider various aspects of affordances in order to amplify the user experience via visualization and interaction design. SolarWheels visualizes the multilayer multidimensional computer network issues with a series of integrated circular visualizations inspired by the metaphor of the solar system. To amplify user interaction and experience, the system provides a three-zone physical interaction that allows multiple users to interact with the system. Users can read details at different levels depending on their distance from the display. An expert evaluation study, based on a four-layer affordance framework, was conducted to assess and improve the interactive visualization design.