Factors That Impact Technology Innovation Adoption Among Irish Professional Service Sector SMEs

This paper disseminates the findings from a study into the factors impacting technological innovation adoption and diffusion specific to the deployment of electronic-commerce strategies within professional service sector SMEs in Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and seven factors relating to a firm's external/internal environment were found to underpin adoption. These are: electronic-commerce capability; willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies; technological opportunity recognition; customer orientation; sensitivity to competitive/customer environments; perceptions of technology feasibility; and e-skills development mechanisms. t-tests revealed differences between adopters and non-adopters, and forward stepwise logistic regression is used to assess the extent to which these seven factors actually predict electronic-commerce adoption. It was found that electronic-commerce capability and the willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies are the two most important factors affecting adoption behaviours. © Imperial College Press.

The electrochemical oxidation of catechol and dopamine on platinum in 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(2)mim][NTf2]) and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C(4)mim][BF4]): Adsorption effects in ionic liquid voltammetry

The electrochemical oxidation of catechol and dopamine has been studied at a platinum micro-electrode (10 pm diameter) in two room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs): 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(2)mim][NTf2]) and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C(4)mim][BE4]). For catechol in [C(2)mim][NTf2], an electrochemically quasi-reversible oxidation peak was observed at 1.1 V vs. Pt with a back peak at 0.4 V vs. Pt. This is assigned to the two-electron oxidation of catechol to doubly protonated o-benzoquinone. Double-step chronoamperometry gave a diffusion coefficient for the catechol and the oxidised species which is 3.8 x 10(-11) m(2) s(-1) for both. For catechol in [C(4)mim][BF4], a two-electron oxidation wave was observed at 1.0 V vs. Pt with no back peak. Another peak at less positive potential was also observed at 0.6 V vs. Pt in [C(4)mim][BF4] but not in [C(2)mim][NTf2] which is assigned to the adsorption of electrochemically formed neutral o-benzoquinone on the platinum electrode. The oxidised protonated o-benzoquinone is suggested to be deprotonated by the [BF4](-) anion, but not by the [NTf2](-) anion: hence adsorption of the neutral species at the platinum electrode, not the charged species. For dopamine in both RTILs, two chemically irreversible oxidation peaks were observed at 0.75 V and 1.1 V vs. Pt, and assigned to the oxidation of dopamine to the corresponding semi-quinone and the quinone. Potential-step chronoamperometry was carried out on the oxidation waves of dopamine in [C(2)mim][NTf2] and the diffusion coefficient of species in solution was calculated to be 6.85 x 10(-12) m(2) s(-1) and confirmed that the waves corresponded to one and two electron processes. A third wave was observed at 1.8 V vs. Pt which is attributed to the oxidation of the amine group to a radical cation with likely subsequent follow up chemistry. In [C(4)mim][BF4] a peak at less positive potential was observed for dopamine, similar to catechol which is assigned to the adsorption of the neutral quinone species on the platinum electrode formed by the reaction of the removal of protons from the oxidised dopamine with the [BF4](-) anion. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selecting Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids to Optimize Voltammetric Responses: The Oxidation of NADH

The electrochemistry of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in its reduced form was examined in two room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs): 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(2)mim][NTf2]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophos-phate ([C(4)mim][PF6]). NADH oxidation has previously been studied in aqueous solution where it follows the pathway: one-electron oxidation to the NADH(center dot+) radical cation, deprotonation to produce the neutral NAD(center dot) radical, then oxidation to the NAD(+) cation. The electrochemistry of NADH was examined in [C(2)mim][NTf2] and [C(4)mim][PF6] at the bare Pt electrode (10 mu m diameter): In [C(2)mim][NTf2], no oxidation was observed; in [C(4)mim][PF6], an oxidative signal was observed, which likely followed the pathway described above, where upon formation of the NADH(center dot+) radical cation, the [PF6](-) anion (unlike the [NTf2](-) anion) reacts with the proton to form HPF6, which decomposes. This demonstrates the tunability of RTILs, whereby the choice of one anion in an RTIL over another can promote a reaction. Poly(vinylferrocene) (PVF) was studied as a mediator for the NADH detection in both RTILs to attempt to lower the potential of NADH detection. The Pt electrode was modified with PVF, and the oxidation of PVF to PVF+ was observed in [C(2)mim][NTf2] and [C(4)mim][PF6], but no mediation of the NADH oxidation was observed.

The health of children with cerebral palsy and stress in their parents

Aim.  This paper is a report of a study conducted to describe the health of children with cerebral palsy and investigate predictors of stress in their parents. Background.  Children with severe cerebral palsy tend to have poorer health than their able-bodied peers, and their parents are more likely to be stressed and have poorer health. Method.  A cross-sectional survey with home visits using standard questionnaires was administered to parents in 2004–05. A total of 102/199 (51%) children and parents participated. The children were compared with a normative sample. Results.  Children with cerebral palsy had poorer physical health, and 79% of parents reported that their child had moderate to severe pain. Their poorer health, in comparison with the normal sample and measured by the Child Health Questionnaire, was related to feeding problems and seizures, general health perceptions to intellectual and feeding impairment, and family activities with severe motor, intellectual and feeding impairment. Poorer psychological well-being on the hyperactivity domain of the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire was related to feeding difficulties, on the prosocial domain to more severe forms of all child impairments, and on the social impairment scale to intellectual impairment. Children with psychological problems had statistically significantly increased odds (OR = 7·2, 95% CIs 2·6–20·3) of having parents with high stress. Conclusion.  Children with cerebral palsy and associated impairments are at higher risk of poorer health and family well-being. A family-centred approach to the care of children with cerebral palsy and their families is essential to ensure both receive adequate care and support.

On the alignment of debris disks and their host stars' rotation axis -implications for spin-orbit misalignment in exoplanetary systems

It has been widely thought that measuring the misalignment angle between the orbital plane of a transiting exoplanet and the spin of its host star was a good discriminator between different migration processes for hot-Jupiters. Specifically, well-aligned hot-Jupiter systems (as measured by the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect) were thought to have formed via migration through interaction with a viscous disc, while misaligned systems were thought to have undergone a more violent dynamical history. These conclusions were based on the assumption that the planet-forming disc was well-aligned with the host star. Recent work by Lai et al. has challenged this assumption, and proposes that the star-disc interaction in the pre-main sequence phase can exert a torque on the star and change its rotation axis angle. We have estimated the stellar rotation axis of a sample of stars which host spatially resolved debris disks. Comparison of our derived stellar rotation axis inclination angles with the geometrically measured debris-disk inclinations shows no evidence for a misalignment between the two.

Rotation periods of exoplanet host stars

The stellar rotation periods of 10 exoplanet host stars have been determined using newly analysed CaII H&K flux records from the Mount Wilson Observatory and Strömgren b, y photometric measurements from Tennessee State University's automatic photometric telescopes at the Fairborn Observatory. Five of the rotation periods have not previously been reported, with that of HD 130322 very strongly detected at Prot = 26.1 +/- 3.5 d. The rotation periods of five other stars have been updated using new data. We use the rotation periods to derive the line-of-sight inclinations of the stellar rotation axes, which may be used to probe theories of planet formation and evolution when combined with the planetary orbital inclination found from other methods. Finally, we estimate the masses of 14 exoplanets under the assumption that the stellar rotation axis is aligned with the orbital axis. We calculate the mass of HD 92788 b (28 MJ) to be within the low-mass brown dwarf regime and suggest that this object warrants further investigation to confirm its true nature.

Estimating the masses of extra-solar planets

All extra-solar planet masses that have been derived spectroscopically are lower limits since the inclination of the orbit to our line-of-sight is unknown except for transiting systems. In theory, however, it is possible to determine the inclination angle, i, between the rotation axis of a star and an observer's line-of-sight from measurements of the projected equatorial velocity (v sin i), the stellar rotation period (P(rot)) and the stellar radius (R(*)). For stars which host planetary systems this allows the removal of the sin i dependency of extra-solar planet masses derived from spectroscopic observations under the assumption that the planetary orbits lie perpendicular to the stellar rotation axis.
We have carried out an extensive literature search and present a catalogue of v sin i, P(rot) and R(*) estimates for stars hosting extra-solar planets. In addition, we have used Hipparcos parallaxes and the Barnes-Evans relationship to further supplement the R(*) estimates obtained from the literature. Using this catalogue, we have obtained sin i estimates using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis. This technique allows proper 1 Sigma two-tailed confidence limits to be placed on the derived sin i's along with the transit probability for each planet to be determined.
While we find that a small proportion of systems yield sin i's significantly greater than 1, most likely due to poor P(rot) estimations, the large majority are acceptable. We are further encouraged by the cases where we have data on transiting systems, as the technique indicates inclinations of similar to 90 degrees and high transit probabilities. In total, we are able to estimate the true masses of 133 extra-solar planets. Of these 133 extra-solar planets, only six have revised masses that place them above the 13M(J) deuterium burning limit; four of those six extra-solar planet candidates were already suspected to lie above the deuterium burning limit before correcting their masses for the sin i dependency. Our work reveals a population of high-mass extra-solar planets with low eccentricities, and we speculate that these extra-solar planets may represent the signature of different planetary formation mechanisms at work. Finally, we discuss future observations that should improve the robustness of this technique.

The Delta Np63 Proteins Are Key Allies of BRCA1 in the Prevention of Basal-Like Breast Cancer

Little is known about the origin of basal-like breast cancers, an aggressive disease that is highly similar to BRCA1-mutant breast cancers. p63 family proteins that are structurally related to the p53 suppressor protein are known to function in stem cell regulation and stratified epithelia development in multiple tissues, and p63 expression may be a marker of basal-like breast cancers. Here we report that Delta Np63 isoforms of p63 are transcriptional targets for positive regulation by BRCA1. Our analyses of breast cancer tissue microarrays and BRCA1-modulated breast cancer cell lines do not support earlier reports that p63 is a marker of basal-like or BRCA1 mutant cancers. Nevertheless, we found that BRCA1 interacts with the specific p63 isoform Delta Np63 gamma along with transcription factor isoforms AP-2 alpha and AP-2 gamma. BRCA1 required Delta Np63 gamma and AP-2 gamma to localize to an intronic enhancer region within the p63 gene to upregulate transcription of the Delta Np63 isoforms. In mammary stem/progenitor cells, siRNA- mediated knockdown of Delta Np63 expression resulted in genomic instability, increased cell proliferation, loss of DNA damage checkpoint control, and impaired growth control. Together, our findings establish that transcriptional upregulation of Delta Np63 proteins is critical for BRCA1 suppressor function and that defects in BRCA1-Delta Np63 signaling are key events in the pathogenesis of basal-like breast cancer. Cancer Res; 71( 5); 1933-44. (c) 2011 AACR.

Prognostic Significance of TRAIL Signaling Molecules in Stage II and III Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: We previously found that cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP), caspase 8, and tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor 2 (DR5) are major regulators of cell viability and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in colorectal cancer. In this study, we determined the prognostic significance of c-FLIP, caspase 8, TRAIL and DR5 expression in tissues from patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer.

Experimental Design: Tissue microarrays were constructed from matched normal and tumor tissue derived from patients (n = 253) enrolled in a phase III trial of adjuvant 5-fluorouracil–based chemotherapy versus postoperative observation alone. TRAIL, DR5, caspase 8, and c-FLIP expression levels were determined by immunohistochemistry.

Results: Colorectal tumors displayed significantly higher expression levels of c-FLIP (P < 0.001), caspase 8 (P = 0.01), and DR5 (P < 0.001), but lower levels of TRAIL (P < 0.001) compared with matched normal tissue. In univariate analysis, higher TRAIL expression in the tumor was associated with worse overall survival (P = 0.026), with a trend to decreased relapse-free survival (RFS; P = 0.06), and higher tumor c-FLIP expression was associated with a significantly decreased RFS (P = 0.015). Using multivariate predictive modeling for RFS in all patients and including all biomarkers, age, treatment, and stage, we found that the model was significant when the mean tumor c-FLIP expression score and disease stage were included (P < 0.001). As regards overall survival, the overall model was predictive when both TRAIL expression and disease stage were included (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: High c-FLIP and TRAIL expression may be independent adverse prognostic markers in stage II and III colorectal cancer and might identify patients most at risk of relapse.

Repurchase intention in B2C e-commerce—A relationship quality perspective

Information systems professionals must pay attention to online customer retention. Drawing on the relationship marketing literature, we formulated and tested a model to explain B2C user repurchase intention from the perspective of relationship quality. The model was empirically tested through a survey conducted in Northern Ireland. Results showed that online relationship quality and perceived website usability positively impacted customer repurchase intention. Moreover, online relationship quality was positively influenced by perceived vendor expertise in order fulfillment, perceived vendor reputation, and perceived website usability, whereas distrust in vendor behavior negatively influenced online relationship quality. Implications of these findings are discussed. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of feedstock cost on biofuel cost as exemplified by biomethane production from grass silage.

Abstract: The potential variance in feedstock costs can have signifi cant implications for the cost of a biofuel and the fi nancial viability of a biofuel facility. This paper employs the Grange Feed Costing Model to assess the cost of on-farm biomethane production using grass silages produced under a range of management scenarios. These costs were compared with the cost of wheat grain and sugarbeet roots for ethanol production at an industrial scale. Of the three feedstocks examined, grass silage represents the cheapest feedstock per GJ of biofuel produced. At a production cost of €27/tonne (t) feedstock (or €150/t volatile solids (VS)), the feedstock production cost of grass silage per gigajoule (GJ) of biofuel (€12.27) is lower than that of sugarbeet (€16.82) and wheat grain (€18.61). Grass biomethane is also the cheapest biofuel when grass silage is costed at the bottom quartile purchase price of silage of €19/t (€93/t VS). However, when considering the production costs (full-costing) of the three feedstocks, the total cost of grass biomethane (€32.37/GJ of biofuel; intensive 2-cut system) from a small on-farm facility ranks between that of sugarbeet (€29.62) and wheat grain ethanol (€34.31) produced in large industrial facilities. The feedstock costs for the above three biofuels represent 0.38, 0.57, and 0.54 of the total biofuel cost. The importance of feedstock cost on biofuel cost is further highlighted by the 0.43 increase in the cost of biomethane when grass silage is priced at the top quartile (€46/t or €232/t VS) compared to the bottom quartile purchase price.

Altered stress stimulation of inward rectifier potassium channels in Andersen-Tawil syndrome

Inward rectifier potassium channels of the Kir2 subfamily are important determinants of the electrical activity of brain and muscle cells. Genetic mutations in Kir2.1 associate with Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS), a familial disorder leading to stress-triggered periodic paralysis and ventricular arrhythmia. To identify the molecular mechanisms of this stress trigger, we analyze Kir channel function and localization electrophysiologically and by time-resolved confocal microscopy. Furthermore, we employ a mathematical model of muscular membrane potential. We identify a novel corticoid signaling pathway that, when activated by glucocorticoids, leads to enrichment of Kir2 channels in the plasma membranes of mammalian cell lines and isolated cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. We further demonstrate that activation of this pathway can either partly restore (40% of cases) or further impair (20% of cases) the function of mutant ATS channels, depending on the particular Kir2.1 mutation. This means that glucocorticoid treatment might either alleviate or deteriorate symptoms of ATS depending on the patient's individual Kir2.1 genotype. Thus, our findings provide a possible explanation for the contradictory effects of glucocorticoid treatment on symptoms in patients with ATS and may open new pathways for the design of personalized medicines in ATS therapy. © FASEB.

Batch and continuous biogas production from grass silage liquor

Herein batch and continuous mesophilic anaerobic digestion of grass silage liquor was studied. The continuous process was carried out in Armfield digesters with an OLR ranging from 0.851 to 1.77 kg COD m-3 day-1. The effect of recirculation of effluent from the digester was investigated using different OLRs of grass silage liquor feed. These results showed that as the OLR increased, the methane yield decreased for the reactor with no recycle and increased for the reactor with recycle. However, the COD removal for both digesters was nearly the same at the same OLR. Overall these studies show that grass silage liquor can produce a high quality methane steam between 70% and 80% and achieve methane yields of 0.385 m3 kg-1 COD.

Benzimidazole carbamate residues in milk: Detection by Surface Plasmon Resonance-biosensor, using a modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method for extraction

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor screening assay was developed and validated to detect 11 benzimidazole carbamate (BZT) veterinary drug residues in milk. The polyclonal antibody used was raised in sheep against a methyl 5(6)-[(carboxypentyl)-thio]-2-benzimidazole carbamate protein conjugate. A sample preparation procedure was developed using a modified QuEChERS method. BZT residues were extracted from milk using liquid extraction/partition with a dispersive solid phase extraction clean-up step. The assay was validated in accordance with the performance criteria described in 2002/657/EC. The limit of detection of the assay was calculated from the analysis of 20 known negative milk samples to be 2.7 mu g kg(-1). The detection capability (CC beta) of the assay was determined to be 5 mu g kg(-1) for 11 benzimidazole residues and the mean recovery of analytes was in the range 81-116%. A comparison was made between the SPR-biosensor and UPLC-MS/MS analyses of milk samples (n = 26) taken from cows treated different benzimidazole products, demonstrating the SPR-biosensor assay to be fit for purpose. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The potential of polymeric nanoparticles to increase the immunogenicity of the hapten clenbuterol

Micro-and nanoparticles prepared front the biodegradable and biocompatible polymers poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and polymetylmethacrylate (PMMA) have been successfully used as immunopotentiating antigen delivery systems. In our study, this approach was used to improve polyclonal antibody production to clenbuterol (CBL), a model hapten. PLGA and PMMA nanoparticles were loaded with either CBL alone or with a clenbuterol-transferrin conjugate (CBL-Tfn) and administered subcutaneously to mice. PLGA nano-particles were administered with or without the saponin adjuvant Quil A. The anti-CBL titres present in experimental sera were determined by an enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). CBL-Tfn-loaded PLGA nanoparticles co-administered with Quil A had obvious advantages immmunologically over the currently used method of raising antibodies to CBL (the positive control). The combined adjuvanticity of Quil A and PLGA nanoparticles resulted in a positive response in all four of the mice tested and in higher antibody titles than were seen in the positive control group. Furthermore, the sustained release of immunogen from the nanoparticles permitted a reduction in immunizing frequency over the 15-week study period.