A review of the literature shows the factors that impact on the effectiveness of virtual teams are still ambiguous. To address this problem we developed a research design that included a meta-analysis of the literature, a field experiment and survey. The meta-analysis identified factors which impact on the effectiveness of virtual teams which were then validated by a field experiment and survey. The results of the study indicate that social dimensional factors need to be considered early on in the virtual team creation process and are critical to the effectiveness of the team. Communication is a tool that directly influences the social dimensions of the team and in addition the performance of the team has a positive impact on satisfaction with the virtual team. A major contribution of the paper is an integrated model of factors that contribute to virtual team effectiveness

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Background Advances in voice technology have raised new possibilities for apps related to daily health maintenance. However, the usability of such technologies for older users remains unclear and requires further investigation. Objective We designed and evaluated two innovative mobile voice-added apps for food intake reporting, namely voice-only reporting (VOR) and voice-button reporting (VBR). Each app features a unique interactive procedure for reporting food intake. With VOR, users verbally report the main contents of each dish, while VBR provides both voice and existing touch screen inputs for food intake reporting. The relative usability of the two apps was assessed through the metrics of accuracy, efficiency, and user perception. Methods The two mobile apps were compared in a head-to-head parallel randomized trial evaluation. A group of 57 adults aged 60-90 years (12 male and 45 female participants) was recruited from a retirement community and randomized into two experimental groups, that is, VOR (n=30) and VBR (n=27) groups. Both groups were tested using the same set of 17 food items including dishes and beverages selected and allocated to present distinct breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. All participants used a 7-inch tablet computer for the test. The resulting data were analyzed to evaluate reporting accuracy and time efficiency, and the system usability scale (SUS) was used to measure user perception. Results For eight error types identified in the experiment, the VBR group participants were significantly (P<.001) more error prone owing to the required use of button-tapping actions. The highest error rates in the VOR group were related to incomprehensible reporting speech (28/420, 6.7%), while the highest error rates in the VBR group were related to failure to make required button taps (39/378, 10.3%). The VOR group required significantly (P<.001) less time to complete food reporting. The overall subjective reactions of the two groups based on the SUS surpassed the benchmark and were not significantly different (P=.20). Conclusions Experimental results showed that VOR outperformed VBR, suggesting that voice-only food input reporting is preferable for elderly users. Voice-added apps offer a potential mechanism for the self-management of dietary intake by elderly users. Our study contributes an evidence-based evaluation of prototype design and selection under a user-centered design model. The results provide a useful reference for selecting optimal user interaction design. Trial Registration International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Registry ISRCTN17335889; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN17335889.

Distinct microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA signatures were reported in nucleophosmin (NPM1)-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, it remains unknown whether the mutation participates in the dynamic interaction between miRNA and mRNA. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of NPM1 mutation in modulating miRNA-mRNA regulation (MMR). From the sample-paired miRNA/mRNA microarrays of 181 de novo AML patients, we found that MMR was dynamic and could be affected by NPM1 mutation. By a systematic framework, we identified 493 NPM1 mutation-modulated MMR pairs, where the strength of MMR was significantly attenuated in patients carrying NPM1 mutations, compared to those with wild-type NPM1. These miRNAs/mRNAs were associated with pathways implicated in cancer and known functions of NPM1 mutation. Such modulation of MMR was validated in two independent cohorts as well as in cells with different NPM1 mutant burdens. Furthermore, we showed that the regulatory strength of nine MMR pairs could predict patients' outcomes. Combining these pairs, a scoring system was proposed and shown to predict survival in discovery and validation data sets, independent of other known prognostic factors. Our study provides novel biological insights into the role of NPM1 mutation as a modulator of MMR, based on which a novel prognostic marker is proposed in AML.

<p>E-learning development for enterprises is still in its infancy in that scholars are still working on identifying the critical success factors for e-learning in organizational contexts. This study presents a framework considering how organizational factors affect the quality and service of e-learning systems and how these factors influence organizational benefits in the view of IS success model and resource-based theory. A questionnaire survey of 120 Taiwanese companies was performed to validate the framework. The results show that top management support, information security policy, and institutional policy are positively related to system quality, while top management support, organizational learning culture, and institutional policy are positively related to system service. Additionally, system service is significantly related to organizational benefits. Our model provides two novel aspects of e-learning study. Firstly, we extend IS success model by incorporating four organizational factors as antecedences influencing system quality and system service. Secondly, the model is framed and examined on an organizational level, which provides a top-down view for managers when designing and implementing e-learning systems in the organizational context.</p>

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Aberrations in miRNA regulation are known to play important roles in OSCC pathogenesis. miR-187 was shown to be up-regulated in head and neck malignancies in our previous screening. This study further investigated the oncogenic potential, clinical implications, and targets of miR-187 in OSCC. We observed that miR-187 increased oncogenicity, particularly migration, of OSCC cells. miR-187 expression increased the xenografic tumorigenicity and metastasis in mice. In addition, metastatic human OSCC had higher miR-187 expression than did non-metastatic tumors. Through vigorous screening, we confirmed BarH-like Homeobox 2 (BARX2) gene as an miR-187 target. BARX2 expression suppressed the migration, invasion, anchorage-independent colony formation, and orthotopic tumorigenesis of OSCC cells. The migratory phenotype and neck metastasis induced by miR-187 was rescued by BARX2 expression. BARX2 expression was down-regulated in the vast majority of OSCC, and this down-regulation was particularly conspicuous in tumors with advanced nodal metastasis. In addition, plasma miR-187 was significantly higher in OSCC patients than in normal individuals. This study highlights the roles of miR-187-BARX2 in driving the carcinogenesis of OSCC. The results suggest that miR-187 is a potential serological marker for OSCC and that targeting of miR-187 might prove effective in attenuating nodal metastasis.

SUMMARY High‐purity hydrogen generated by the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride can be used as proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for portable device applications. Because of its advantages in high storage capacity, controllable reaction, and mild condition, hydrogen generation by catalytic hydrolysis of a chemical hydride, such as sodium borohydride, has recently attracted much attention for development. Hydrogen generated by the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride using a Ru catalyst is reported in the present study. A multi‐layer coating process was used on the Ru/Ni foam catalyst to enhance the cycling generation. The optimal deposition density of the Ru particle on Ni foam was confirmed by SEM morphology. The cycling generation for the steady state reaction can be maintained at least 10 times, and gradually decreases to 82% performance after the 17th cycling generation. It was found that a combination of 20 wt% NaBH4 solution concentration and 3 wt% NaOH yields the highest performance for hydrogen generation. A hydrogen generation efficiency of 95% was obtained for a solution with a 1‐g/min flow rate flowing onto the 6‐cm2 area of a catalyst plate, which had a hydrogen generation rate of 0.45 L/min. As the solution flow rate was increased, the reaction efficiency decreased because of the decreased reaction time. Hydrogen fuel saturated with water generated by a NaBH4 solution shows an advantage over that from a gas cylinder for fuel cell operation. A PEM fuel cell was integrated with the hydrogen generator in the present study. The hydrogen fuel from the hydrogen generator with saturated water vapor showed a better cell performance compared with using hydrogen from a gas cylinder. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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