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This paper investigates how citizens’ uncertainty in e-government services can be managed. First, we draw from uncertainty reduction theory, and propose that transparency and trust are two key means of reducing citizens’ uncertainty in e-government services. Second, we identify two key sets of relevant drivers of e-government service use: (1) information quality characteristics, i.e., accuracy and completeness; and (2) channel characteristics, i.e., convenience and personalization. We propose that the means of uncertainty reduction, information quality characteristics, and channel characteristics are interrelated factors that jointly influence citizens’ intentions to use e-government. We tested our model with 4,430 Hong Kong citizens’ reactions to two e-government services: government websites and online appointment booking. Our results show that the information quality and channel characteristics predict citizens’ intentions to use e-government. Furthermore, transparency and trust mediate as well as moderate the effects of information quality and channel characteristics on intentions. A follow-up survey found that citizens’ intentions predict use and ultimately, citizens’ satisfaction.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the major causative agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome which leads to significant economic losses in the global swine industry. In China, there is a widespread dissemination of PCV2 infection in the pig population. Serologi­cal diagnosis of the disease is considered as an effective control measure. Here, we developed a capsid protein (Cap)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Cap-ELISA) for the detection of PCV2 antibodies in swine serum using a nuclear localization signal-truncated capsid protein produced in Escherichia coli. The Cap protein was expressed as water-soluble and purified using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) chromatography. After the optimization of the working conditions of the Cap-ELISA using chessboard titrations, a total of 649 serum samples were tested using the Cap-ELISA and a commercial ELISA kit. The diagnostic sensitivity (DSN), diagnostic specificity (DSP) and accuracy of the Cap-ELISA were determined to be 96.7%, 94.1% and 99.5%, respectively. Cross-reactivity analysis indicated that the Cap-ELISA was PCV2-specific and possessed no cross-reactions with antibodies against other common swine pathogens including porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV), porcine parvovirus (PPV), foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and pseudorabies virus (PRV). Repeatability of the experiment showed that Cap-ELISA was highly repeatable with the intra- and inter-plate coefficients of variation less than 10%. Hence, the Cap-ELISA has the potential for the swine industry to monitor PCV2 epidemiology and to evaluate PCV2 vaccine efficacy.

Energy consumption for house heating in winter accounts for a large proportion of building energy consumption in rural buildings in western China. It is an alternative method to make full use of renewable energy for heating houses to save energy and cost. A solar assisted geothermal heat pump with phase change material heat storage tank (SAGHP-PCM) demo heating system in a rural building in Xi'an China was built up and the dynamic performance of the SAGHP-PCM heating system was simulated in different control strategies. The results show that PCM module can improve the heating effects, moreover, optimized control strategy selected by comparison can bring a better operation way and save electric energy by using solar energy as whole energy source for heating in 753 hours, and the heating performance is acceptable meanwhile. The simulated average temperature of the optimized system is 17.62°C and the guarantee hours is 3379 h when taking 16°C as qualified indoor temperature.

Oat ?-glucan (BG) was isolated from oat bran, and the xylanase treatment was conducted to obtain modification of ?-glucan (MBG). The relative molecular weight (Mw) of BG and MBG was determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Results demonstrated that the Mw of BG was reduced from 1.66×104 to 5.43×103. We assessed the prebiotic effect of BG and MBG on human colon Bifidobacterium bifidum?B. bifidum). Our findings suggest that the addition of BG and MBG resulted in a lower pH of the fermentation broths. Both lactic and acetic acid production increased in the fermentation broths. While BG was found to significantly promote the proliferation of B. bifidum, MBG had a greater effect on B. bifidum.

The maturing sperm cells discard the majority of their cytoplasm during the final stages of spermatogenesis and lose some of their defense enzymes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin E supplementation on standard semen quality parameters and antioxidant activities of frozen-thawed bovine sperm. Vitamin E was added at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/ml to bovine semen cryoprotective medium. The results showed that the sperm motility and VSL, STR values in the extender supplemented with 1.0 and 1.5 mg/ml of vitamin E, were significantly higher than that of other concentrations (P < 0.05). The percentages of acrosome-intact and membrane-intact sperm were significantly improved (P < 0.05) by supplementing with 1.5 mg/ml of vitamin E. In biochemical assays, the extender supplemented with vitamin E did not exhibit significant improvement in SOD (superoxide dismutase) levels, compared with the control (P > 0.05). Compared with other groups, CAT (catalase) levels were demonstrated to be greater with the supplementation of vitamin E at 1.0 and 1.5 mg/ml (P < 0.05). The extender supplemented with 1.5 mg/ml of vitamin E caused the highest levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), compared with other groups (P < 0.05). The glutathione (GSH) activity was significantly higher with the supplementation of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/ml of vitamin E, compared with 2.0 mg/ml in the vitamin E group and control (P < 0.05). Moreover, increasing the doses of vitamin E decreased sperm antioxidant activities, the extender supplemented with 2.0 mg/ml of vitamin E, caused the lowest levels of GSH-Px and GSH activities, compared with other treatment groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the beneficial effects of vitamin E noted in this study can be attributed to the antioxidant characteristics. Vitamin E supplementation in the extender reduced the lipid peroxidation potential and improved semen quality during freezing-thawing. More researches are needed to evaluate and understand the precise physiological role of vitamin E in reproduction.

The lily PR-10 belongs to a family of intracellular pathogenesis-related (IPR) proteins. Genomic Southern analysis indicates that the PR-10 is encoded by a family of multiple genes. Seven heterogeneous cDNA clones encoding lily PR-10 from Lilium longiflorum are divided into two subclasses based on sequence comparison and Southern hybridization. A 82% overall sequence similarity was found between the two subclasses (represented by PR-10c and d). The two cDNAs include an open reading frame of 474 bp encoding 157 amino acids. 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions exhibit low similarity, but similarity is high in the coding region. The lily PR-10 genes are induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in the anther and various other organs of lily plants. The induction of PR-10 genes by ABA and MeJA in lily anthers occurs by two separate signal transduction pathways. The protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid inhibits the MeJA-induced expression of PR-10 genes downstream of MeJA. In addition, the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine inhibits the MeJA-induced expression of PR-10 genes, implying that an activity of staurosporine-sensitive protein kinases exists downstream of MeJA in the anther. However, okadaic acid does not inhibit the ABA-induced expression of PR-10 genes whereas staurosporine does. These observations suggest that, in addition to the known pathway that ABA induces gene expression by activating JA or MeJA, a MeJA-independent pathway of ABA induction exists in the anther. The alternative pathway of ABA induction involves a staurosporine-sensitive protein kinase activity downstream of ABA.

Diel changes in stomach weight of euphausiids showed a close relationship between the inferred increase of feeding at night and strong vertical migration in four species. Thysanopoda aequalis and Thysanopoda monacantha, species with a small percentage (4 and 13%) of depth overlap between their day and night vertical distributions (i.e. large diel vertical migration), exhibited a marked increase in stomach weight at night. Thysanopoda pectinata (39% overlap), a moderate vertical migrator, showed a constant stomach weight throughout day and night. Nematobrachion sexspinosus (56% overlap), a very weak or nonmigrator, showed increased stomach weight during the day. Increases in stomach weight at night were accompanied by an increase in fluorescence and the amount of phytoplankton remains found in the stomach, but neither was found in the species which did not show increased stomach weight at night.

Prognostic systems for myelodysplasia rely on clinical factors, but particular genetic lesions can influence relapse rate, overall survival, and nonrelapse-related mortality as well as the choice of conditioning regimen for hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. The myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is clinically and biologically heterogeneous. In children and young adults, MDS can arise in the context of congenital mutations that cause bone marrow failure syndromes or inherited predisposition to myeloid cancers. 1 Therapy-related MDS develops as a late complication in patients with previous exposure to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both. 2 In most patients, however, primary MDS arises in the absence of an identified exposure, prodromal bone marrow failure syndrome, or inherited predisposition. Although allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation is the only curative therapy for MDS, mortality after transplantation is high, with deaths attributable to relapsed disease and to . . .

Pathogenesis of pregnancy toxemia (PT) is believed to be associated with the disruption of lipid metabolism. The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms of lipid metabolism disorder in the livers of ewes with PT. In total, 10 pregnant ewes were fed normally (control group) whereas another 10 were subjected to 70% level feed restriction for 15 days to establish a pathological model of PT. Results showed that, as compared with the controls, the levels of blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) and cholesterol were greater (P<0.05) and blood glucose level was lower (P<0.05) in PT ewes. The contents of NEFAs, BHBA, cholesterol and triglyceride were higher (P<0.05) and glycerol content was lower (P<0.05) in hepatic tissues of PT ewes than those of the controls. For ewes with PT, excessive fat vacuoles were observed in liver sections stained with hematoxylin–eosin; furthermore, inner structures of hepatocytes including nuclei, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were damaged seriously according to the results of transmission electron microscope. Real-time PCR data showed that compared with the controls, the expression of hepatic genes involved in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and triglyceride synthesis (TGS) was enhanced (P<0.05) whereas that related to acetyl-CoA metabolism (ACM) was repressed (P<0.05) in PT ewes. Generally, our results showed that negative energy balance altered the expression of genes involved in FAO, ACM and TGS, further caused lipid metabolism disorder in livers, resulting in PT of ewes. Our findings may provide the molecular basis for novel therapeutic strategies against this systemic metabolic disease in sheep.