This study examined gender differences in the relationships of actual and virtual social support to Internet addiction mediated through depressive symptoms among college students in Taiwan. Results revealed that in females, both actual and virtual social support directly predicted Internet addiction or were mediated through depressive symptoms. However, in males, while Internet addiction was predicted by virtual social support directly or indirectly mediated through depressive symptoms, the link of actual social support to Internet addiction was only mediated through depressive symptoms. Furthermore, in both genders, lower actual social support and higher virtual social support were associated with higher depressive symptoms.

A new effect is being developed which significantly improves the conversion efficiency of antireflection-coated metal-oxide-semiconductor ‘AMOS’ solar cells. The effect, a marked increase in the open-circuit voltage, is produced by the addition of an oxide layer to the semiconductor. Cells using gold on n-type gallium arsenide have been made with efficiencies up to 15% in terrestrial sunlight. All processing steps are amenable to the use of low-cost polycrystalline films of GaAs in place of the single crystals now used.

No abstract

After Helicobacter pylori enters the stomach, three steps are vital for infection: (i) establishing colonization; (ii) evading host immunity; and (iii) invading gastric mucosa; the last step is what is associated with diverse outcomes. Urease activity and motility mediated by the flagella of H. pylori are important in harboring colonies beneath the gastric mucus in niches adjacent to the epithelium. Several putative adhesins attach the organism to the gastric epithelium and prompt the succeeding processes for evading host immunity and invading the mucosa. Successful colonization is thus the leading and critical step. From another point of view, this can be a novel target to control this common and important infection. This review summarizes the putative adhesins that influence the evasion of host immunity, and how these could determine different clinico-pathologic outcomes. The putative adhesins include the interplay between bacterial and host Lewis antigens (type I: Le a and Le b

The in vitro assays demonstrated that CD44 is crucial for the proliferation and mineralization of PDL cells and is possibly mediated by BMP-2, FGF-1 and ICAM-1. Further studies are required to verify the mediators and identify the physiological ligands of CD44 for possible application in periodontal regeneration.