Investigating the determinants of low adoption of tablet PCs in Korean firms: Effects of value perception and alternative attractiveness

Many IT innovations show significantly different results from the expectations or market forecasts in the diffusion perspective. Tablet PCs have gained immense attention as useful devices for improving productivity and enhancing customer relationship in firms. However, the diffusion of tablet PCs in firms has been progressing slowly. This study examines the effects of value perception and alternative attractiveness on the diffusion of tablet PCs, using survey data from Korean firms. The results reveal that perceived low benefits, monetary and non-monetary sacrifices are determinants of perceived low value, which in turn influences low adoption intention of tablet PCs. Alternative attractiveness is also significantly associated with perceived low value and low adoption intention. Furthermore, firm innovativeness moderates the relationship between perceived low value and low adoption intention. We discuss the theoretical implications on the adoption barriers of firms from the value adoption model and suggest practical implications for successful diffusion of IT innovations in firms, focused on tablet PCs.     

Quantification of the compactibility of several protein isolates: Relationship between isolate physical–chemical properties and compaction properties

Despite their growing interest in the conception of several nutraceutical delivery systems including tablets, no work seem to deal with the tabletability of proteins. In this study, seven commercial isolates have been selected (soy and whey proteins) and the influence of their primary properties (protein type, protein content, humidity, and ash content) and secondary properties (particle size, shape and tap density) on their compactibility and compressibility were studied. Whey proteins seemed to show a better tabletability than soy proteins. Isolate density and humidity strongly affected proteins compactibility: powders with high density showed very low compactibility and a decrease of isolate water content strongly lowered powder compactibility, suggesting that liquid bridges may increase protein-protein interactions during compaction. Laser diffraction measurements/ microscopic observations showed that isolate particles would have the same size/shape, consequently, these properties did not show any influence on protein tabletability. At last, surprisingly, no clear relationship between compactibility and compressibility has been showed.     

Evaluation of Critical Binder Properties Affecting the Compactibility of Binary Mixtures

The aim of this study was to identify essential physical and mechanical properties of various binders and to investigate their influence on the tensile strength and porosity of tablets made from binary mixtures with sodium bicarbonate. The binders were characterized according to axial and radial tensile strength after compression into tablets, yield pressure and minimum porosity during compression, and elastic recovery after compression. The addition of a binder generally resulted in an increase in the tensile strength and a decrease in the porosity of the sodium bicarbonate tablets. The location of the binder in the voids between the sodium bicarbonate particles thus decreasing the porosity of the tablet seemed to be an important consideration. Consequently, the addition of binders with a low yield pressure value and a relatively small elastic recovery value (e.g., polyethylene glycol 3000 and polyvinylpyrrolidone) resulted in tablets of low porosity and high tensile strength, especially in the axial direction. The tensile strength of the pure binder also seemed to be important, especially for binders with a lower degree of deformability (e.g., microcrystalline cellulose and pregelatinised starch). The results also indicated the value of using both axial and radial tensile strength measurements in assessing the effect of a dry binder and showed that the importance of different binder properties varied according to the direction of the tablet strength measurements. The results demonstrated that the applied characteristics of the binders used in this study may serve as a useful tool in evaluating the effectiveness of binders.     

Fluidity and Tableting Characteristics of a Powder Solid Dispersion of the Low Melting Drugs Ketoprofen and Ibuprofen with Crospovidone

ABSTRACT

A powder solid dispersion system (SD) of ketoprofen (KP) or ibuprofen (IP), which possess low melting points, plus crospovidone (CrosPVP), have good fluidity characteristics and can be used to formulate tablets. Tablets of KP or IP in the SD of adequate hardness within a narrow weight range can be prepared by direct compression. Addition of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) resulted in greater hardness characteristics and less variation in tablet weight. Forces during the tableting process were measured with a tableting process analyzer (TabAll) equipped with a single-punch for determining capping and sticking properties during the tableting process. Pressure transmission ratio from the upper to the lower punch and die wall force were increased by adding 1% magnesium stearate (MS) to the SD. Ejection force decreased when MS was added to the SD. When tablets of the IP SD were prepared without excipient, scraper pressure (SP) was large, resulting in sticking. However, addition of 1% MS, lowered the SP value and eliminated sticking. Thus, an SD of compounds with a low melting point such as KP or IP is suitable for tablet manufacture by direct compression with the addition of 1% MS.     

Microencapsulated Fish Oil Powder Formulation with Improved Resistance to Oil Leakage During Powder Compression

The effects of the addition of pectin to a primary fish oil emulsion stabilized by a heated milk protein–carbohydrate mixture, and heat treatment of emulsion at low pH (with or without the addition of pectin) on the properties of final emulsions (pH 7) and powders (~42 % w/w/fat) prepared from these emulsions were examined. Either the addition of pectin (without the additional heat treatment at pH 3), or additional heat treatment step at pH 3 (with or without pectin) reduced the surface oil and free oil of spray dried powders, and also reduced oil leakage on powder compression. However, the extra heat treatment step at low pH to the emulsion (without pectin) resulted in a greater susceptibility to oxidation of EPA and DHA in the powder. A judicious choice of ingredients for formulating and processing emulsions prior to spray drying enables the application of food‐grade microencapsulated fish oil powders in directly compressible tablet applications.     

以用户为中心的设计在平板电脑上的运用

指出以用户为中心的设计思想在平板电脑的交互设计上需要考虑的因素,分析平板电脑多样化的交互方式在人类听觉界面、视觉界面、触觉界面、姿态界面和环境与认知等方面的应用,提出设计的注意点。     

LC-MS法测定维C银翘片中有效组分含量

以LC-MS为分析手段,建立了中药复方制剂维C银翘片中有效组分对乙酰氨基酚和马来酸氯苯那敏的定性和定量检测方法。在样品分离阶段,采用等梯度洗脱方式在Hypsil-ODS色谱柱(4.6 mm×250 mm,5.0μm,Agilent)上进行分离;在定性和定量方法上,确定了每个分析物的保留时间和一级质谱特征离子为定性参数,以紫外色谱峰面积为定量参数。结果表明:该方法对于2种有效组分对乙酰氨基酚和马来酸氯苯那敏的线性相关系数(r)分别为0.99990和0.99998,平均加标回收率分别为99.6%和98.0%,相对标准偏差(RSD)分别为0.36%和0.72%,最低检测限(LOD)分别为0.02μg.mL-1和0.05μg.mL-1。同时,该方法对维C银翘片中另外两种有效组分绿原酸和连翘苷也可以进行定性鉴定。     

以用户为中心的设计在平板电脑上的运用

指出以用户为中心的设计思想在平板电脑的交互设计上需要考虑的因素,分析平板电脑多样化的交互方式在人类听觉界面、视觉界面、触觉界面、姿态界面和环境与认知等方面的应用,提出设计的注意点。     

安脑片联合喹硫平治疗谵妄叠加痴呆的多中心随机对照研究

目的:观察喹硫平与安脑片治疗谵妄叠加痴呆患者的疗效。方法: 将100例谵妄叠加痴呆的患者随机分为研究组与对照组,每组50例,研究组联用喹硫平与安脑片,对照组单用喹硫平。治疗前及治疗后3、6、9、12、15 d分别采用谵妄量表（DRS）、简明精神病量表（BPRS）、简易智能状态检查量表（MMSE）与日常生活能力量表（ADL）评价患者的临床疗效、认知功能与社会功能,并记录不良反应。结果: 研究组脱落1例,对照组脱落3例,其余患者均完成研究。研究组患者DRS量表总分在治疗后3 d、9 d较对照组增分更多（P<0.05）,治疗后6 d研究组患者DRS总分增分明显高于对照组（P<0.01）;研究组患者BPRS量表总分在治疗后第3、6天明显低于对照组（P<0.01）,在第9天时研究组患者BPRS总分低于对照组（P<0.05）。研究组患者的MMSE得分在治疗结束后明显高于对照组（P<0.01）,研究组患者的ADL得分在治疗结束后低于对照组（P<0.05）。两组患者不良反应发生率无统计学差异(P>0.05)。结论:喹硫平联用安脑片治疗谵妄叠加痴呆起效更快,且更有利于改善患者的认知功能与社会功能。     

Modification of a scale-up model to improve prediction of the effect of lubrication on tablet tensile strength

Kushner et al. proposed a scale-up model to describe the effect of lubrication on tablet tensile strength. In our study, a lubricant cohesiveness term, (1 + α/V), was added to the lubrication scale-up model reported by Kushner et al. to address the cohesiveness of magnesium stearate. The modified model proposed is as follows: TS_SF=0.85 = TS_SF=0.85,0[β(1 + α/V)exp(−ϒ × 1.5 V^1/3 × F_headspace × r) + (1 − β)], where TS_SF=0.85 is tablet tensile strength at solid fraction 0.85, V is blender size, F_headspace is fraction of headspace, r is revolution number, TS_SF=0.85,0 is theoretical initial tensile strength, α is the sensitivity constant of magnesium stearate powder cohesiveness, β is the sensitivity constant of the blend to lubrication, and γ is the lubrication rate constant. Using a high shear placebo granule, lubrication scale-up models were built using both equations, with and without the cohesiveness term, and tested by a 16-fold scale-up. The equation with the cohesiveness term demonstrated superior prediction of tablet tensile strength for scale-up within the selected granular system and the scale-up range studied in this work, indicating the usefulness of including magnesium stearate powder cohesiveness in building a scale-up predictive lubrication model using an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) sparing approach with small quantity of materials.