Unravelling (e-)government channel selection: A quantitative analysis of individual customer preferences in Germany and Australia

The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of individual differences on service channel selection for e-government services. In a comparative survey of citizens in Germany and Australia (n=1205), we investigate the impact of age, gender, and mobility issues on the selection of personal or mobile communication as channels for service consumption. The results suggest that Australians are more likely to want to use new technology-oriented channels as internet or mobile applications while Germans tend to use classical channels as telephone or in person. Moreover, differences with respect to age, gender, and mobility exist. Implications for practice and issues for future research are discussed.

Exploring subscription renewal intention of operational cloud enterprise systems - a stakeholder perspective

Retaining customers is a relevant topic throughout all service industries. However, only limited attention has been directed towards studying the antecedents of subscription renewal in the context of operational cloud enterprise systems. Cloud services have historically been offered as subscription-based services with the (theoretical) possibility of seamless service cancellation, in contrast to classical IT-Outsourcing contracts or license-based software installations of on-premise enterprise systems. In this work, we investigate the central concept of subscription renewal by focusing on different facets of IS success and their relevance for distinct employee cohorts. Analyzing inter-cohort differences has strong practical implications, as it helps IT vendors to focus on specific IT-related factors when trying to retain customers. Therefore an empirical study was undertaken. The hypotheses were developed on an individual level and tested using survey responses of IT decision makers within companies which adopted cloud enterprise systems. Gathered data was then analyzed using PLS. The results show that subscription renewal intention of the strategic cohort is mainly based on perceived system quality, whereas information quality explains most of the variance of subscription renewal in the management cohort. Beneath the cloud enterprise systems specific contributions, the work adds to the theoretical body of research related to IS success and IS continuation, as well as stakeholder perspectives.

A hybrid genetic algorithm for the minimum interconnection cut problem

In the real world there are many problems in network of networks (NoNs) that can be abstracted to a so-called minimum interconnection cut problem, which is fundamentally different from those classical minimum cut problems in graph theory. Thus, it is desirable to propose an efficient and effective algorithm for the minimum interconnection cut problem. In this paper we formulate the problem in graph theory, transform it into a multi-objective and multi-constraint combinatorial optimization problem, and propose a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) for the problem. The HGA is a penalty-based genetic algorithm (GA) that incorporates an effective heuristic procedure to locally optimize the individuals in the population of the GA. The HGA has been implemented and evaluated by experiments. Experimental results have shown that the HGA is effective and efficient.

Quantum one-time programs

A one-time program is a hypothetical device by which a user may evaluate a circuit on exactly one input of his choice, before the device self-destructs. One-time programs cannot be achieved by software alone, as any software can be copied and re-run. However, it is known that every circuit can be compiled into a one-time program using a very basic hypothetical hardware device called a one-time memory. At first glance it may seem that quantum information, which cannot be copied, might also allow for one-time programs. But it is not hard to see that this intuition is false: one-time programs for classical or quantum circuits based solely on quantum information do not exist, even with computational assumptions. This observation raises the question, "what assumptions are required to achieve one-time programs for quantum circuits?" Our main result is that any quantum circuit can be compiled into a one-time program assuming only the same basic one-time memory devices used for classical circuits. Moreover, these quantum one-time programs achieve statistical universal composability (UC-security) against any malicious user. Our construction employs methods for computation on authenticated quantum data, and we present a new quantum authentication scheme called the trap scheme for this purpose. As a corollary, we establish UC-security of a recent protocol for delegated quantum computation.

Metabolomics coupled with proteomics advancing drug discovery toward more agile development of targeted combination therapies

To enhance the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the adverse effects of traditional Chinese medicine, practitioners often prescribe combinations of plant species and/or minerals, called formulae. Unfortunately, the working mechanisms of most of these compounds are difficult to determine and thus remain unknown. In an attempt to address the benefits of formulae based on current biomedical approaches, we analyzed the components of Yinchenhao Tang, a classical formula that has been shown to be clinically effective for treating hepatic injury syndrome. The three principal components of Yinchenhao Tang are Artemisia annua L., Gardenia jasminoids Ellis, and Rheum Palmatum L., whose major active ingredients are 6,7-dimethylesculetin (D), geniposide (G), and rhein (R), respectively. To determine the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of this formula, we conducted a systematic analysis of the therapeutic effects of the DGR compound using immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, metabolomics, and proteomics. Here, we report that the DGR combination exerts a more robust therapeutic effect than any one or two of the three individual compounds by hitting multiple targets in a rat model of hepatic injury. Thus, DGR synergistically causes intensified dynamic changes in metabolic biomarkers, regulates molecular networks through target proteins, has a synergistic/additive effect, and activates both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.

Pharmacokinetics-based elucidation on disparity in clinical effectiveness between varieties of Zhi Zhu Wan, a traditional Chinese medical formula

AIM: Zhi Zhu Wan (ZZW) is a classical Chinese medical formulation used for the treatment of functional dyspepsia that attributed to Spleen-deficiency Syndrome. ZZW contains Atractylodes Rhizome and Fructus Citrus Immaturus, the later originates from both Citrus aurantium L. (BZZW) and Citrus sinensis Osbeck (RZZW). The present study is designed to elucidate disparities in the clinical efficacy of two ZZW varieties based on the pharmacokinetics of naringenin and hesperetin. MEHTOD: After oral administration of ZZWs, blood sample was collected from healthy volunteers at designed time points. Naringenin and hesperetin were detected in plasma by RP-HPLC, pharmacokinetic parameters were processed using mode-independent methods with WINNONLIN. RESULTS: After oral administration of BZZW, both naringenin and hesperetin were detected in plasma, and demonstrated similar pharmacokinetic parameters. Ka was 0.384+/-0.165 and 0.401+/-0.159, T(1/2(ke))(h) was 5.491+/-3.926 and 5.824+/-3.067, the AUC (mg/Lh) was 34.886+/-22.199 and 39.407+/-19.535 for naringenin and hesperetin, respectively. However, in the case of RZZW, only hesperetin was found in plasma, but the pharmacokinetic properties for hesperetin in RZZW was different from that in BZZW. T(max) for hesperetin in RZZW is about 8.515h, and its C(max) is much larger than that of BZZW. Moreover, it was eliminated slowly as it possessed a much larger AUC value. CONCLUSION: The distinct therapeutic orientations of the Chinese medical formula ZZWs with different Fructus Citrus Immaturus could be elucidated based on the pharmacokinetic parameters of constituents after oral administration.

Unique X-linked familial FSGS with co-segregating heart block disorder is associated with a mutation in the NXF5 gene

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is the consequence of a disease process that attacks the kidney's filtering system, causing serious scarring. More than half of FSGS patients develop chronic kidney failure within 10 years, ultimately requiring dialysis or renal transplantation. There are currently several genes known to cause the hereditary forms of FSGS (ACTN4, TRPC6, CD2AP, INF2, MYO1E and NPHS2). This study involves a large, unique, multigenerational Australian pedigree in which FSGS co-segregates with progressive heart block with apparent X-linked recessive inheritance. Through a classical combined approach of linkage and haplotype analysis, we identified a 21.19 cM interval implicated on the X chromosome. We then used a whole exome sequencing approach to identify two mutated genes, NXF5 and ALG13, which are located within this linkage interval. The two mutations NXF5-R113W and ALG13-T141L segregated perfectly with the disease phenotype in the pedigree and were not found in a large healthy control cohort. Analysis using bioinformatics tools predicted the R113W mutation in the NXF5 gene to be deleterious and cellular studies support a role in the stability and localization of the protein suggesting a causative role of this mutation in these co-morbid disorders. Further studies are now required to determine the functional consequence of these novel mutations to development of FSGS and heart block in this pedigree and to determine whether these mutations have implications for more common forms of these diseases in the general population.

Cytogenetic alterations in nonmelanoma skin cancer : a review

Since the advent of cytogenetic analysis, knowledge about fundamental aspects of cancer biology has increased, allowing the processes of cancer development and progression to be more fully understood and appreciated. Classical cytogenetic analysis of solid tumors had been considered difficult, but new advances in culturing techniques and the addition of new cytogenetic technologies have enabled a more comprehensive analysis of chromosomal aberrations associated with solid tumors. Our purpose in this review is to discuss the cytogenetic findings on a number of nonmelanoma skin cancers, including squamous- and basal cell carcinomas, keratoacanthoma, squamous cell carcinoma in situ (Bowen's disease), and solar keratosis. Through classical cytogenetic techniques, as well as fluorescence-based techniques such as fluorescence in situ hybridization and comparative genomic hybridization, numerous chromosomal alterations have been identified. These aberrations may aid in further defining the stages and classifications of nonmelanoma skin cancer and also may implicate chromosomal regions involved in progression and metastatic potential. This information, along with the development of newer technologies (including laser capture microdissection and comparative genomic hybridization arrays) that allow for more refined analysis, will continue to increase our knowledge about the role of chromosomal events at all stages of cancer development and progression and, more specifically, about how they are associated with nonmelanoma skin cancer.

The effect of surface tension and kinetic undercooling on a radially-symmetric melting problem

The addition of surface tension to the classical Stefan problem for melting a sphere causes the solution to blow up at a finite time before complete melting takes place. This singular behaviour is characterised by the speed of the solid-melt interface and the flux of heat at the interface both becoming unbounded in the blow-up limit. In this paper, we use numerical simulation for a particular energy-conserving one-phase version of the problem to show that kinetic undercooling regularises this blow-up, so that the model with both surface tension and kinetic undercooling has solutions that are regular right up to complete melting. By examining the regime in which the dimensionless kinetic undercooling parameter is small, our results demonstrate how physically realistic solutions to this Stefan problem are consistent with observations of abrupt melting of nanoscaled particles.

Composite SaaS resource management in cloud computing using evolutionary computation

Cloud computing is an emerging computing paradigm in which IT resources are provided over the Internet as a service to users. One such service offered through the Cloud is Software as a Service or SaaS. SaaS can be delivered in a composite form, consisting of a set of application and data components that work together to deliver higher-level functional software. SaaS is receiving substantial attention today from both software providers and users. It is also predicted to has positive future markets by analyst firms. This raises new challenges for SaaS providers managing SaaS, especially in large-scale data centres like Cloud. One of the challenges is providing management of Cloud resources for SaaS which guarantees maintaining SaaS performance while optimising resources use. Extensive research on the resource optimisation of Cloud service has not yet addressed the challenges of managing resources for composite SaaS. This research addresses this gap by focusing on three new problems of composite SaaS: placement, clustering and scalability. The overall aim is to develop efficient and scalable mechanisms that facilitate the delivery of high performance composite SaaS for users while optimising the resources used. All three problems are characterised as highly constrained, large-scaled and complex combinatorial optimisation problems. Therefore, evolutionary algorithms are adopted as the main technique in solving these problems. The first research problem refers to how a composite SaaS is placed onto Cloud servers to optimise its performance while satisfying the SaaS resource and response time constraints. Existing research on this problem often ignores the dependencies between components and considers placement of a homogenous type of component only. A precise problem formulation of composite SaaS placement problem is presented. A classical genetic algorithm and two versions of cooperative co-evolutionary algorithms are designed to now manage the placement of heterogeneous types of SaaS components together with their dependencies, requirements and constraints. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of these new algorithms. In the second problem, SaaS components are assumed to be already running on Cloud virtual machines (VMs). However, due to the environment of a Cloud, the current placement may need to be modified. Existing techniques focused mostly at the infrastructure level instead of the application level. This research addressed the problem at the application level by clustering suitable components to VMs to optimise the resource used and to maintain the SaaS performance. Two versions of grouping genetic algorithms (GGAs) are designed to cater for the structural group of a composite SaaS. The first GGA used a repair-based method while the second used a penalty-based method to handle the problem constraints. The experimental results confirmed that the GGAs always produced a better reconfiguration placement plan compared with a common heuristic for clustering problems. The third research problem deals with the replication or deletion of SaaS instances in coping with the SaaS workload. To determine a scaling plan that can minimise the resource used and maintain the SaaS performance is a critical task. Additionally, the problem consists of constraints and interdependency between components, making solutions even more difficult to find. A hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) was developed to solve this problem by exploring the problem search space through its genetic operators and fitness function to determine the SaaS scaling plan. The HGA also uses the problem's domain knowledge to ensure that the solutions meet the problem's constraints and achieve its objectives. The experimental results demonstrated that the HGA constantly outperform a heuristic algorithm by achieving a low-cost scaling and placement plan. This research has identified three significant new problems for composite SaaS in Cloud. Various types of evolutionary algorithms have also been developed in addressing the problems where these contribute to the evolutionary computation field. The algorithms provide solutions for efficient resource management of composite SaaS in Cloud that resulted to a low total cost of ownership for users while guaranteeing the SaaS performance.

Pulse: The London Symphony Orchestra Student Mobile Project

This report documents the key findings of a year-long collaborative research project focusing on the London Symphony Orchestra���s (LSO) development, implementation and testing of a mobile ticketing and information system. This ticketing system was developed in association with the LSO���s technical partners, Kodime Limited and in collaboration with the Aurora Orchestra.

Cone signals and activity in myopia and emmetropia

Myopia (short-sightedness) is a common ocular disorder of children and young adults. Studies primarily using animal models have shown that the retina controls eye growth and the outer retina is likely to have a key role. One theory is that the proportion of L (long-wavelength-sensitive) and M (medium-wavelength-sensitive) cones is related to myopia development; with a high L/M cone ratio predisposing individuals to myopia. However, not all dichromats (persons with red-green colour vision deficiency) with extreme L/M cone ratios have high refractive errors. We predict that the L/M cone ratio will vary in individuals with normal trichromatic colour vision but not show a systematic difference simply due to refractive error. The aim of this study was to determine if L/M cone ratios in the central 30�� are different between myopic and emmetropic young, colour normal adults. Information about L/M cone ratios was determined using the multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP). The mfVEP can be used to measure the response of visual cortex to different visual stimuli. The visual stimuli were generated and measurements performed using the Visual Evoked Response Imaging System (VERIS 5.1). The mfVEP was measured when the L and M cone systems were separately stimulated using the method of silent substitution. The method of silent substitution alters the output of three primary lights, each with physically different spectral distributions to control the excitation of one or more photoreceptor classes without changing the excitation of the unmodulated photoreceptor classes. The stimulus was a dartboard array subtending 30�� horizontally and 30�� vertically on a calibrated LCD screen. The m-sequence of the stimulus was 215-1. The N1-P1 amplitude ratio of the mfVEP was used to estimate the L/M cone ratio. Data were collected for 30 young adults (22 to 33 years of age), consisting of 10 emmetropes (+0.3��0.4 D) and 20 myopes (���3.4��1.7 D). The stimulus and analysis techniques were confirmed using responses of two dichromats. For the entire participant group, the estimated central L/M cone ratios ranged from 0.56 to 1.80 in the central 3��-13�� diameter ring and from 0.94 to 1.91 in the more peripheral 13��-30�� diameter ring. Within 3��-13��, the mean L/M cone ratio of the emmetropic group was 1.20��0.33 and the mean was similar, 1.20��0.26, for the myopic group. For the 13��-30�� ring, the mean L/M cone ratio of the emmetropic group was 1.48��0.27 and it was slightly lower in the myopic group, 1.30��0.27. Independent-samples t-test indicated no significant difference between the L/M cone ratios of the emmetropic and myopic group for either the central 3��-13�� ring (p=0.986) or the more peripheral 13��-30�� ring (p=0.108). The similar distributions of estimated L/M cone ratios in the sample of emmetropes and myopes indicates that there is likely to be no association between the L/M cone ratio and refractive error in humans.

Bayesian indirect inference using a parametric auxiliary model

Indirect inference (II) is a methodology for estimating the parameters of an intractable (generative) model on the basis of an alternative parametric (auxiliary) model that is both analytically and computationally easier to deal with. Such an approach has been well explored in the classical literature but has received substantially less attention in the Bayesian paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast a collection of what we call parametric Bayesian indirect inference (pBII) methods. One class of pBII methods uses approximate Bayesian computation (referred to here as ABC II) where the summary statistic is formed on the basis of the auxiliary model, using ideas from II. Another approach proposed in the literature, referred to here as parametric Bayesian indirect likelihood (pBIL), we show to be a fundamentally different approach to ABC II. We devise new theoretical results for pBIL to give extra insights into its behaviour and also its differences with ABC II. Furthermore, we examine in more detail the assumptions required to use each pBII method. The results, insights and comparisons developed in this paper are illustrated on simple examples and two other substantive applications. The first of the substantive examples involves performing inference for complex quantile distributions based on simulated data while the second is for estimating the parameters of a trivariate stochastic process describing the evolution of macroparasites within a host based on real data. We create a novel framework called Bayesian indirect likelihood (BIL) which encompasses pBII as well as general ABC methods so that the connections between the methods can be established.

A large scale quantitative study of pedestrian railway level crossing behaviour : deliberate violations, errors and deterrence

Every year a number of pedestrians are struck by trains resulting in death and serious injury. While much research has been conducted on train-vehicle collisions, very little is currently known about the aetiology of train-pedestrian collisions. To date, scant research has been undertaken to investigate the demographics of rule breakers, the frequency of deliberate violation versus error making and the influence of the classic deterrence approach on subsequent behaviours. Aim This study aimed to to identify pedestrians��� self-reported reasons for engaging in violations at crossing, the frequency and nature of rule breaking and whether the threat of sanctions influence such events. Method A questionnaire was administered to 511 participants of all ages. Results Analysis revealed that pedestrians (particularly younger groups) were more likely to commit deliberate violations rather than make crossing errors e.g., mistakes. The most frequent reasons given for deliberate violations were participants were running late and did not want to miss their train or participants believed that the gate was taking too long to open so may be malfunctioning. In regards to classical deterrence, an examination of the perceived threat of being apprehended and fined for a crossing violation revealed participants reported the highest mean scores for swiftness of punishment, which suggests they were generally aware that they would receive an ���on the spot��� fine. However, the overall mean scores for certainty and severity of sanctions (for violating the rules) indicate that the participants did not perceive the certainty and severity of sanctions as very high. This paper will further discuss the research findings in regards to the development of interventions designed to improve pedestrian crossing safety.

Interference in text categorisation experiments

This article examines manual textual categorisation by human coders with the hypothesis that the law of total probability may be violated for difficult categories. An empirical evaluation was conducted to compare a one step categorisation task with a two step categorisation task using crowdsourcing. It was found that the law of total probability was violated. Both a quantum and classical probabilistic interpretations for this violation are presented. Further studies are required to resolve whether quantum models are more appropriate for this task.