Search results for: lifting behaviors

Authors: Isaac Owusu Asante, Yushi Jiang, Hailin Tao

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Live streaming marketing, the new electronic commerce element, became an optional marketing channel following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many sellers have leveraged the features presented by live streaming to increase sales. Studies on live streaming have focused on gaming and consumers’ loyalty to brands through live streaming, using interview questionnaires. This study, however, was conducted to measure real-time observable interactions between consumers and sellers. Based on the affordance theory, this study conceptualized constructs representing the interactive features and examined how they drive consumers’ purchase willingness during live streaming sessions using 1238 datasets from Amazon Live, following the manual observation of transaction records. Using structural equation modeling, the ordinary least square regression suggests that live viewers, new followers, live chats, and likes positively affect purchase willingness. The Sobel and Monte Carlo tests show that new followers, live chats, and likes significantly mediate the relationship between live viewers and purchase willingness. The study introduces a new way of measuring interactions in live streaming commerce and proposes a way to manually gather data on consumer behaviors in live streaming platforms when the application programming interface (API) of such platforms does not support data mining algorithms.

Keywords: livestreaming marketing, live chats, live viewers, likes, new followers, purchase willingness

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Authors: Aneta Nitsch-Osuch, Beata Pawlus, Maria Pawlak

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Introduction: Recently, the number of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children or present so-called hesitant behaviors has increased in many developed countries. The study aimed to analyze the completeness and timeliness of vaccinations against hepatitis B and tuberculosis in neonates in a single maternity hospital in Warsaw (Poland). Material and Methods: We analyzed medical records of children born in the hospital between 1st January 2015 and 31st December 2016 and calculated the proportion of newborns not vaccinated on time. Results: The percentage of unvaccinated newborns was similar in the analyzed years: 7.2% in 2015 and 6.7% in 2016. Parental decisions rather than medical contraindications caused non-immunization (4.3% vs. 2.9% in 2015, and 4.7% vs. 2% in 2016). Most parents refused both vaccinations (81%-84%), whereas 7-8% refused only hep B vaccination, and 9-11% refused alone tuberculosis vaccination. The majority of hesitant parents decided to delay both vaccinations (70-80%), while 10-11% of parents chose to delay only one vaccination (hep B). In consecutive years, an increase in the percentage of parents delaying tuberculosis vaccination was reported (10 vs. 19%). Discussion: The increase in the number of newborns who are not correctly vaccinated just after birth due to their parents' decision should be considered non-gradual, both for hepatitis B and tuberculosis. It is necessary to implement effective educational and informative measures targeted at future parents to reinforce positive attitudes towards vaccinations and to dispel doubts about them among parents who are hesitant.

Keywords: hepatitis B, tuberculosis, immunization, new-borns, coverage rate

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Authors: Mariana Mangas, Yaroslava Martins, Ana Matos Pires

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Introduction: Stigmatization is a common problem to overcome for people suffering from chronic diseases. It usually follows mental disorders and complicates the course of illness and reduces quality of life for people with mental illness. Objective: unsystematic review concerning stigma and mental illness, its impact on psychiatric disease and strategies to eradicate stigma. Methods: A search was conducted on PubMed, using keywords 'stigma' and 'mental illness'. Results and Discussion: Stigma is a psychosocial process that identifies individuals by the negative label of their differences. Stigma often brings a loss of occupational success and social support, reduced functioning and lower quality of life. The sense of stigma is common in individuals with mental illness and has considerable negative repercussions: delays treatment achievement, promotes social isolation, stress and maladaptive coping behaviors and it is associated with higher symptom levels, placing these individuals at higher risk for a poorer outcome and prognoses. Conclusion: Given the interrelation between stigma, symptoms, treatment seeking and disease management, stigma is a key construct in mental illness upon which anti-stigma initiatives may have considerable therapeutic potential. It will take multidisciplinary interventions to overcome mental illness stigma, including changes in social policy, attitudes and practices among mental health professionals, liaison between general public and people with a mental illness under conditions of equity and parity, family support, and easy access to evidence-based treatments.

Keywords: discrimination, stigma, mental illness, quality of life

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Authors: Mehdi Mirzaei Alavijeh, Farzad Jalilian

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Background: Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug worldwide, especially among adolescents and young adults, which can cause numerous complications. The aim of this study was to determine the pattern, motivation use, and factors related to marijuana use among Iranian youths based on the integrative model of behavioral prediction Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 174 youths marijuana user in Kermanshah County and Isfahan County, during summer 2014 which was selected with the convenience sampling for participation in this study. A self-reporting questionnaire was applied for collecting data. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using bivariate correlations and linear regression statistical tests. Results: The mean marijuana use of respondents was 4.60 times at during week [95% CI: 4.06, 5.15]. Linear regression statistical showed, the structures of integrative model of behavioral prediction accounted for 36% of the variation in the outcome measure of the marijuana use at during week (R2 = 36% & P < 0.001); and among them attitude, marijuana refuse, and subjective norms were a stronger predictors. Conclusion: Comprehensive health education and prevention programs need to emphasize on cognitive factors that predict youth’s health-related behaviors. Based on our findings it seems, designing educational and behavioral intervention for reducing positive belief about marijuana, marijuana self-efficacy refuse promotion and reduce subjective norms encourage marijuana use has an effective potential to protect youths marijuana use.

Keywords: marijuana, youth, integrative model of behavioral prediction, Iran

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Authors: Zhehao Zhang

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Walking has become an indispensable and sustainable way of travel for college students in their daily lives; campus street is an important carrier for students to walk and take part in a variety of activities, improving the walkability of campus streets plays an important role in optimizing the quality of campus space environment, promoting the campus walking system and inducing multiple walking behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of campus layout, facility distribution, and location site selection on the walkability of campus streets, and assess the street design qualities from the elements of imageability, enclosure, complexity, transparency, and human scale, and further examines the relationship between street-level urban design perceptual qualities and walkability and its effect on walking behavior in the campus. Taking Tianjin University as the research object, this paper uses the optimized walk score method based on walking frequency, variety, and distance to evaluate the walkability of streets from a macro perspective and measures the urban design qualities in terms of the calculation of street physical environment characteristics, as well as uses behavior annotation and street image data to establish temporal and spatial behavior database to analyze walking activity from the microscopic view. In addition, based on the conclusions, the improvement and design strategy will be presented from the aspects of the built walking environment, street vitality, and walking behavior.

Keywords: walkability, streetscapes, pedestrian activity, walk score

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Authors: Nazli Uren, Ayse Okur

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Tactile comfort of a textile product is an essential property and a major concern when it comes to customer perceptions and preferences. The subjective nature of comfort and the difficulties regarding the simulation of human hand sensory feelings make it hard to establish a well-accepted link between tactile comfort and objective evaluations. On the other hand, shear behavior of a fabric is a mechanical parameter which can be measured by various objective test methods. The principal aim of this study is to determine the tactile comfort of commercially available denim fabrics by subjective measurements, create a tactile score database for denim fabrics and investigate the relations between tactile comfort and shear behavior. In-plane shear behaviors of 17 different commercially available denim fabrics with a variety of raw material and weave structure were measured by a custom design shear frame and conventional bias extension method in two corresponding diagonal directions. Tactile comfort of denim fabrics was determined via subjective customer evaluations as well. Aforesaid relations were statistically investigated and introduced as regression equations. The analyses regarding the relations between tactile comfort and shear behavior showed that there are considerably high correlation coefficients. The suggested regression equations were likewise found out to be statistically significant. Accordingly, it was concluded that the tactile comfort of denim fabrics can be estimated with a high precision, based on the results of in-plane shear behavior measurements.

Keywords: denim fabrics, in-plane shear behavior, linear regression estimation, tactile comfort

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Authors: Trabelsi Mohamed, Kharrat Mohamed, Dammak Maher

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Guide rings play an important role in the performance and durability of hydraulic actuating cylinders. In service, guide rings surfaces are subjected to friction and wear against steel counterface. A good mastery of these phenomena is required for the improvement of the energy safeguard and the durability of the actuating cylinder. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymer is extensively used in guide rings thanks to its low coefficient of friction, its good resistance to solvents as well as its high temperature stability. In this study, friction and wear behavior of two PTFE composites filled with bronze and bronze plus MoS2 were evaluated under oil-lubricated condition, aiming as guide rings for hydraulic actuating cylinder. Wear tests of the PTFE composite specimen sliding against steel ball were conducted using reciprocating linear tribometer. The wear mechanisms of the composites under the same sliding condition were discussed, based on Scanning Electron Microscopy examination of the worn composite surface and the optical micrographs of the steel counter surface. As for the results, comparative friction behaviors of the PTFE composites and lower friction coefficients were recorded under oil lubricated condition. The wear behavior was considerably improved to compare with this in dry sliding, while the oil adsorbed layer limited the transfer of the PTFE to the steel counter face during the sliding test.

Keywords: PTFE, composite, bronze, MoS2, friction, wear, oil-lubrication

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Authors: Mario C. Nierras

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This study aimed to determine the extension services’ needs of small farmers in Biliran province, Philippines. It also sought to find out other issues/concerns of the small farmers. Extension services’ needs of small farmers were gathered through personal interviewing and observational analysis of randomly-selected small farmers in Biliran, Philippines. Biliran small farmers extension services’ needs include: raising fruits, raising legumes, raising vegetables, raising swine, raising cattle, and raising chicken (as priority broad skills). For the specific skills, diagnosing symptoms on fertilizer deficiencies, controlling plant pests and diseases, diagnosing signs on specific pest and disease damage, controlling animal pests and diseases, and doing artificial insemination were the priority skills. They considered an on-farm trial of new technology as most needed to be coupled with industry and quality-orientedness, as positive behaviors needed in farming success. The farmers still adhere to the so-called wait-and-see attitude, thus they are more convinced to follow a particular technology if they see a concrete result of the introduced changes. Technical needs prioritization of Biliran small farmers showed that they have a real need for crop and animal production skills to include the other issues/concerns. Extension service program planning for small farmers should be patterned after their technical needs giving due attention to some issues/concerns so that extension work could deliver the right skills for the right needs of the farmers.

Keywords: extension, extension service, extension service needs, extension service program, farmers, small farmers, marginal farmers

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Authors: Velly Kapadia, Reenu Singh

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This report identifies the long-term driving forces behind urbanization and the impact of compact living on both society and the home and proposes a concept to create smarter and more sustainable homes. Compact living has been trending across India as a sustainable housing solution, and the reality is that India is currently facing a housing shortage in urban areas of around 10 million units. With the rising demand for housing, urban land prices have been rising and the cost of homes. The paper explores how and why the interior design of the homes can be improved to relieve the housing demand in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine living patterns, area requirements, ecological footprints, energy consumption, purchasing patterns, and various pro-environmental behaviors of people who downsize to compact homes. Quantitative research explores sustainable material choices, durability, functionality, cost, and reusability of furniture. Besides addressing the need for smart and sustainable designed compact homes, a conceptual model is proposed, including options of ideal schematic layouts for homes in urban areas. In the conclusions, suggestions to improve space planning and suitable interior entities have been made to support the fact that compact homes are an eminently practical and sensible solution for the urban citizen.

Keywords: compact living, housing shortage, lifestyle, sustainable interior design

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Authors: Herdina Indrijati

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This research aims to describe teenager delinquency behavior (Juvenile Delinquency) of senior high school students in Surabaya, Indonesia. Juvenile Delinquency is a broad range of behaviors start from socially unacceptable behavior (overreact in school), violation (escape from home) to crimes (like stealing). This research uses quantitative descriptive method using 498 students who come from 8 different schools in Surabaya as subjects. Juvenile Delinquency behavior form questionnaire has been completed by subjects and was used to measure and describe the behavior. The result of this research is presented in statistic descriptive forms. Result shows that 169 subjects skip school, 55 subjects get out of home without parent’s permission, 110 subjects engage in smoking behavior, 74 subjects damage other people properties, 32 subjects steal, 16 subjects exploit others and 7 subjects engage in drug abuse. Frequency of the top five mentioned behavior are 1-10 times. It is also found that subject’s peers are most likely to be the victim of Juvenile Delinquency. The reasons teenagers engage in Juvenile Delinquency include (1) feeling tired, bored or lazy – that contributes to their skip school behavior (2) Having a lot of problem with parents - contrives them to run away from home, (3) accidentally damage other people’s properties, (4) financial problems – force them to steal and exploit, (5) feeling like having a lot of life problems – that makes them do drugs (6) trying smoking for experience.

Keywords: juvenile delinquency, senior high school, student

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Authors: Vahidreza Mahmoudabadi, Omid Bahar, Mohammad Kazem Jafari

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In many applied engineering problems, structural analysis is usually conducted by assuming a rigid bed, while imposing the effect of structure bed flexibility can affect significantly on the structure response. This article focuses on investigation and evaluation of the effects arising from considering a soil-structure system in evaluation of dynamic characteristics of a steel structure with respect to elastic and inelastic behaviors. The recorded structure acceleration during Taiwan’s strong Chi-Chi earthquake on different floors of the structure was our evaluation criteria. The respective structure is an eight-story steel bending frame structure designed using a displacement-based direct method assuring weak beam - strong column function. The results indicated that different identification methods i.e. reverse Fourier transform or transfer functions, is capable to determine some of the dynamic parameters of the structure precisely, rather than evaluating all of them at once (mode frequencies, mode shapes, structure damping, structure rigidity, etc.). Response evaluation based on the input and output data elucidated that the structure first mode is not significantly affected, even considering the soil-structure interaction effect, but the upper modes have been changed. Also, it was found that the response transfer function of the different stories, in which plastic hinges have occurred in the structure components, provides similar results.

Keywords: bending steel frame structure, dynamic characteristics, displacement-based design, soil-structure system, system identification

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Authors: Jerry Szatko, Edan L. Jorgensen, Stacia Jorgensen

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A crucial component to the success of any financial advising relationship is for the financial professional to understand the perceptions, preferences and thought-processes carried by the financial clients they serve. Armed with this information, financial professionals are more quickly able to understand how they can tailor their approach to best match the individual preferences and needs of each personal investor. Our research explores the use of a quantitative assessment tool in the financial services industry to assist in the identification of the personal investor’s consumer behaviors, especially in terms of financial risk tolerance, as it relates to their financial decision making. Through this process, the Unitifi Consumer Insight Tool (UCIT) was created and refined to capture and categorize personal investor financial behavioral categories and the financial personality tendencies of individuals prior to the initiation of a financial advisement relationship. This paper discusses the use of this tool to place individuals in one of four behavior-based financial risk tolerance categories. Our discoveries and research were aided through administration of a web-based survey to a group of over 1,000 individuals. Our findings indicate that it is possible to use a quantitative assessment tool to assist in predicting the behavioral tendencies of personal consumers when faced with consumer financial risk and decisions.

Keywords: behavior-based advising, financial relationship building, risk capacity based on behavior, risk tolerance, systematic way to assist in financial relationship building

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Authors: Mi Yuan

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Employment issues have become increasingly severe in contemporary society, with job seekers' criteria for work environments becoming more complex. However, most studies lack an analysis from the perspective of employment spatial environment. This study employs qualitative research methods such as interviews and thematic analysis, focusing on spatial environment behavior research. By analyzing the behaviors and preferences of key employment groups in China (college graduates, migrant workers, and reemployed laid-off workers) from the perspectives of physical and socio-cultural environments, this study identifies the consistencies and differences in personal viewpoints during job selection and their impact on employment decisions. The findings indicate that college graduates tend to emphasize the macro spatial environment, while migrant workers and reemployed laid-off workers are more concerned with micro spatial environment factors. Additionally, college graduates have higher requirements for the diversity of space types and the distinction between public and private spaces. Furthermore, aside from salary considerations, key employment groups generally place less importance on the socio-cultural environment compared to the physical environment. This study aims to highlight the significance of spatial environment in job selection decisions from the perspective of diverse job seekers, providing insights for policy-making and corporate recruitment strategies.

Keywords: job-seeking populations, spatial environment behavior, micro, macro, qualitative research, physical environment, socio-cultural environment

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Authors: Naydelis Brito Suárez, Deni Librado Torres Román, Fernando Hermosillo Reynoso

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Automatic detection and generation of a dynamic ROI (Region of Interest) in vehicle traffic surveillance videos based on a static camera in Intelligent Transportation Systems is challenging for computer vision-based systems. The dynamic ROI, being a changing ROI, should capture any other moving object located outside of a static ROI. In this work, the video is represented by a Tensor model composed of a Background and a Foreground Tensor, which contains all moving vehicles or objects. The values of each pixel over a time interval are represented by time series, and some pixel rows were selected. This paper proposes a pixel entropy-based algorithm for automatic detection and generation of a dynamic ROI in traffic videos under the assumption of two types of theoretical pixel entropy behaviors: (1) a pixel located at the road shows a high entropy value due to disturbances in this zone by vehicle traffic, (2) a pixel located outside the road shows a relatively low entropy value. To study the statistical behavior of the selected pixels, detecting the entropy changes and consequently moving objects, Shannon, Tsallis, and Approximate entropies were employed. Although Tsallis entropy achieved very high results in real-time, Approximate entropy showed results slightly better but in greater time.

Keywords: convex hull, dynamic ROI detection, pixel entropy, time series, moving objects

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Authors: Deepak Raj Bhat, Akihiko Wakai, Shigeru Ogita, Yorihiro Tanaka, Kazushige Hayashi, Shinro Abe

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In this study, the newly developed finite element methods are used for numerical analysis ofa landslide triggered by the fluctuations of ground-water levels in different cases I-IV. In case I, the ground-water level is fixed in such a way that the overall factor of safety (Fs) would be greater or equal to 1 (i.e., stable condition). Then, the ground-water level is gradually increased up to 1.0 m for, making the overall factor of safety (Fs) less than one (i.e., stable or moving condition). Then, the newly developed finite element model is applied for numerical simulation of the slope for each case. Based on the numerical analysis results of each Cases I-IV, the details of the deformation pattern and shear strain pattern are compared to each other. Moreover, the change in mobilized shear strength and local factor of safety along the slip surface of the landslide for each case are discussed to understand the triggering behaviors of a landslide due to the increased in ground water level. It is expected that this study will help to better understand the role of groundwater fluctuation for triggering of a landslide or slope failure disasters, and it would be also helpful for the judgment of the countermeasure works for the prevention and mitigation of landslide and slope failure disasters in near future.

Keywords: finite element method, ground water fluctuations, constitutive model, landslides, long-term disaster management system

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Authors: Bharat Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Vijay Chaudhry

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Zirconium alloys are widely used for the core components of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) or Canada deuterium (CANDU) reactor due to their low neutron absorption cross-section and excellent mechanical properties. The components made of Zirconium alloys are subjected to flow-induced vibrations, resulting in fretting wear at the interface of; pressure tubes and bearing pads, pressure tubes and calandria tubes, and calandria tubes and Liquid injection shutdown system (LISS) nozzles. There is a need to explore the tribological response under such conditions. Present work simulates the contact between calandria tube and LISS nozzle of PHWR/CANDU reactor as cylinder-on-cylinder contact configuration. Reciprocating tribo-tests were conducted on Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) under the self-mated condition at varying amplitude, frequency, and sliding time. To understand the active wear mechanism, worn surfaces were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The change in amplitude severely affects the wear than other factors. The wear mechanism transits from adhesion to abrasion with increasing test amplitude. The dominant wear mechanisms are micro-cutting and micro-plowing followed by delamination in some areas. However, the coefficient of friction has indifferent behaviors.

Keywords: zircaloy-4, tribology, calandria tube, LISS nozzle, PHWR

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Authors: Qian You, Ibrahim Hassan, Lyes Kadem

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An experiment is conducted to fundamentally investigate flow oscillation characteristics in different sizes of single microtubes in vertical upward flow direction. Three microtubes have 0.889 mm, 0.533 mm, and 0.305 mm hydraulic diameters with 100 mm identical heated length. The mass flux of the working fluid FC-72 varies from 700 kg/m2•s to 1400 kg/m2•s, and the heat flux is uniformly applied on the tube surface up to 9.4 W/cm2. The subcooled inlet temperature is maintained around 24°C during the experiment. The effect of hydraulic diameter and mass flux are studied. The results showed that they have interactions on the flow oscillations occurrence and behaviors. The onset of flow instability (OFI), which is a threshold of unstable flow, usually appears in large microtube with diversified and sustained flow oscillations, while the transient point, which is the point when the flow turns from one stable state to another suddenly, is more observed in small microtube without characterized flow oscillations due to the bubble confinement. The OFI/transient point occurs early as hydraulic diameter reduces at a given mass flux. The increased mass flux can delay the OFI/transient point occurrence in large hydraulic diameter, but no significant effect in small size. Although the only transient point is observed in the smallest tube, it appears at small heat flux and is not sensitive to mass flux; hence, the smallest microtube is not recommended since increasing heat flux may cause local dryout.

Keywords: flow boiling instability, hydraulic diameter effect, a single microtube, vertical upward flow

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Authors: Andres Pinilla Palacios, Ricardo Tamayo

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Emotional contagion is characterized as an automatic tendency to synchronize behaviors that facilitate emotional convergence among humans. It might thus play a pivotal role to understand the dynamics of key social interactions. However, a few research has investigated its potential mechanisms. We suggest two complementary but independent processes that may underlie emotional contagion. The efficient contagion hypothesis, based on fast and implicit bottom-up processes, modulated by familiarity and spread of activation in the emotional associative networks of memory. Secondly, the emotional contrast hypothesis, based on slow and explicit top-down processes guided by deliberated appraisal and hypothesis-testing. In order to assess these two hypotheses, an experiment with 39 participants was conducted. In the first phase, participants were induced (between-groups) to an emotional state (positive, neutral or negative) using a standardized video taken from the FilmStim database. In the second phase, participants classified and rated (within-subject) the emotional state of 15 faces (5 for each emotional state) taken from the POFA database. In the third phase, all participants were returned to a baseline emotional state using the same neutral video used in the first phase. In a fourth phase, participants classified and rated a new set of 15 faces. The accuracy in the identification and rating of emotions was partially explained by the efficient contagion hypothesis, but the speed with which these judgments were made was partially explained by the emotional contrast hypothesis. However, results are ambiguous, so a follow-up experiment is proposed in which emotional expressions and activation of the sympathetic system will be measured using EMG and EDA respectively.

Keywords: electromyography, emotional contagion, emotional valence, identification of emotions, imitation

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Authors: Athena Nguyen, Rojin Belganeh

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In recycling plastics industries, waste plastics are converted into monomers and other useful molecules by chemical reactions. Thermal energy generated by incineration is recovered when waste plastics melt. During the process, Flame retardants containing products get in, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are often used to reduce the flammability of products. Some of the originally formulated brominated flame retardants additives are restricted by the RoHS Directive, such as PBDE and PBB. The determination of BFRs other than those restricted by the RoHS directive is required. Frontier Lab developed a pyrolyzer based on the vertical micro-furnace design. The multi-mode pyrolyzer with different modes of operations, including evolve gas analysis (EGA), flash pyrolysis, thermal desorption, heart cutting, allows users to choose among the techniques for their analysis purposes. The method requires very little sample preparation. The first step is to perform an EGA using temperature programs. This technique provides information about the thermal temperature behaviors of the sample. The EGA thermogram is then used to determine the next steps in the analysis process. In this presentation, with an Optimal thermal temperature zone identified based on EGA thermogram, thermal desorption GC/MS is a chosen technique for the determination of brominated flame retardants in recycled plastic toys. Five types of general-purpose brominated flame retardants other than those restricted by the RoHS Directive are determined by the standard addition method.

Keywords: gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, pyrolysis, pyrolyzer, thermal desorption-GC/MS

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Authors: Sun-Ki Choi

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The U.S. student loan policy was initiated to improve the equality of educational opportunity and help low-income families to provide higher education opportunities for their children. However, with the increase in the average student loan amount, college graduates with student loans experience problems and restrictions in their early-career choices. This study examines the early career labor market choices of college graduates who obtained student loans to finance their higher education. In this study, National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) data for 2017 and 2019 was used to estimate the effects of student loans on the employment status and current job wages of graduates with student loans. In the analysis, two groups of workers, those with student loans and those without loans, were compared. Using basic models and Mahalanobis distance matching, it was found that graduates who rely on student loans to finance their education are more likely to participate in the labor market than those who do not. Moreover, in entry-level jobs, graduates with student loans receive lower salaries than those without student loans. College graduates make job-related decisions based on their current and future wages and fringe benefits. Graduates with student loans tend to demonstrate risk-averse behaviors due to their financial restrictions. Thus, student loan debt creates inequity in the early-career labor market for college graduates. Furthermore, this study has implications for policymakers and researchers in terms of the student loan policy.

Keywords: student loan, wage differential, unintended consequences, mahalanobis distance matching

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Authors: Yuan-Lin Liu, Ye Li, Tian Xia

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Taxi-calling APPs have been used widely, while brought both benefits and a variety of issues for the taxi market. Many countries do not know whether the benefits are remarkable than the issues or not. This paper established a comparison between the basic scenario (2009-2012) and a taxi-calling software usage scenario (2012-2015) to explain the impact of taxi-calling APPs. The impacts of taxi-calling APPs illustrated by the comparison results are: 1) The supply and demand distribution is more balanced, extending from the city center to the suburb. The availability of taxi service has been improved in low density areas, thin market attribute has also been improved; 2)The ratio of short distance taxi trip decreased, long distance service increased, the utilization of mileage increased, and the rate of empty decreased; 3) The popularity of taxi-calling APPs was able to reduce the average empty distance, cruise time, empty mileage rate and average times of loading passengers, can also enhance the average operating speed, improve the taxi operating level, and reduce social cost although there are some disadvantages. This paper argues that the taxi industry and government can establish an integrated third-party credit information platform based on credit evaluated by the data of the drivers’ driving behaviors to supervise the drivers. Taxi-calling APPs under fully covered supervision in the mobile Internet environment will become a new trend.

Keywords: taxi, taxi-calling APPs, credit, scenario comparison

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Authors: Warunpun Kongsom, Chaiwat Kongsom

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The objective of this study was to investigate the awareness, knowledge and consumer behavior towards organic products in Thailand. For this study, a purposive sampling technique was used to identify a sample group of 2,575 consumers over the age of 20 years who intended or made purchases from 1) green shops; 2) supermarkets with branches; and, 3) green markets. A questionnaire was used for data collection across the country. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The results showed that more than 92% of consumers were aware of organic agriculture, but had less knowledge about it. More than 60% of consumers knew that organic agriculture production and processing did not allow the use of chemicals. And about 40% of consumers were confused between the food safety logo and the certified organic logo, and whether GMO was allowed in organic agriculture practice or not. In addition, most consumers perceived that organic agricultural products, good agricultural practice (GAP) products, agricultural chemicals free products, and hydroponic vegetable products had the same standard. In the view of organic consumers, the organic Thailand label was the most seen and reliable among various organic labels. Less than 3% of consumers thought that the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Global Organic Mark (GOM) was the most seen and reliable. For the behaviors of organic consumers, they purchased organic products mainly at the supermarket and green shop (55.4%), one to two times per month, and with a total expenditure of about 200 to 400 baht each time. The main reason for buying organic products was safety and free from agricultural chemicals. The considered factors in organic product selection were price (29.5%), convenience (22.4%), and a reliable certification system (21.3%). The demands for organic products were mainly rice, vegetables and fruits. Processed organic products were relatively small in quantity.

Keywords: consumer behavior, consumer knowledge, organic products, Thailand

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Authors: Oludare Isaac Abiodun, Esther Omolara Abiodun

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The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that cyberterrorism is existing and poses a threat to computer security and national security. Nowadays, people have become excitedly dependent upon computers, phones, the Internet, and the Internet of things systems to share information, communicate, conduct a search, etc. However, these network systems are at risk from a different source that is known and unknown. These network systems risk being caused by some malicious individuals, groups, organizations, or governments, they take advantage of vulnerabilities in the computer system to hawk sensitive information from people, organizations, or governments. In doing so, they are engaging themselves in computer threats, crime, and terrorism, thereby making the use of computers insecure for others. The threat of cyberterrorism is of various forms and ranges from one country to another country. These threats include disrupting communications and information, stealing data, destroying data, leaking, and breaching data, interfering with messages and networks, and in some cases, demanding financial rewards for stolen data. Hence, this study identifies many ways that cyberterrorists utilize the Internet as a tool to advance their malicious mission, which negatively affects computer security and safety. One could identify causes for disparate anomaly behaviors and the theoretical, ideological, and current forms of the likelihood of cyberterrorism. Therefore, for a countermeasure, this paper proposes the use of previous and current computer security models as found in the literature to help in countering cyberterrorism

Keywords: cyberterrorism, computer security, information, internet, terrorism, threat, digital forensic solution

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Authors: Lida Moghaddam-Banaem, Mahmood Tavoosi, Soheila Khalili

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Objective: The main objective of this study was designing a breast cancer health literacy questionnaire and assess its psychometric properties. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed to develop a primary questionnaire consisting of five domains. Qualitative and quantitative content validity were assessed by relevant experts, and after some modifications, the content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) were calculated. Qualitative and quantitative face validity were evaluated by a number of patients, and the impact score for each item was calculated. 225 women with breast cancer were asked to fill out the questionnaire and construct validity was determined by using exploratory factor analysis. The reliability was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: A 36-item questionnaire with five domains of reading, having access, understanding, assessing/judgment, and decision making/behavior was designed. 2 items were omitted in the qualitative content validity process. All items achieved optimum values in CVI, CVR and impact scores. Content and face validity of the questionnaire were confirmed too. According to the exploratory factor analysis, the five-factor solution accounted for 64.98 percent of the observed variance. Conclusion: Due to the obtained satisfactory validity and reliability, this tool can be used to assess health literacy in women with breast cancer. Health policy makers can use these findings for improving health-related behaviors in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: health literacy, breast cancer, questionnaire, psychometric properties

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Authors: Yongsheng Guo, Shuchao Li

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This study explores Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe and the cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and European managers. The aim of this research is to shed light on the phenomenon of investments in developed countries from an emerging market and to gain insights into the cooperation process. A grounded theory approach is adopted, and 46 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 case companies in Germany and 13 case companies in the UK. Grounded theory models are developed from primary data and interview quotes are used to support the themes. The interviewees perceived differences between the two parties in cultural traits, management concepts, knowledge structure and resource endowment between the two parties. Chinese and European partners can take advantage of different resources and cooperate in innovative ways to improve corporate performance. Moreover, both parties appreciate different ethical and cultural characteristics and complement each other to develop a combined organizational culture. This study proposes an ethical and cultural diversity theory in international management arguing that a team with diversified values and behaviors may be more excited and motivated. This study suggests that “resource complement” and “cross-cultural cooperation” might be an advantage for international investment. Firms are encouraged to open their minds and cooperate with partners with different resources and cultures. The authorities may review the FDI policies to reduce social and political barriers.

Keywords: cross-culture, FDI, cooperation, innovation, China, Europe

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Authors: Ronahlee Asuncion

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The nature of their work and employment relationship make domestic workers easy prey to abuse, maltreatment, and exploitation. Considering their plight, this research was conceptualized and examined the: a) level of awareness of Filipino domestic workers on occupational safety and health (OSH); b) their issues/problems/concerns on OSH; c) their intervention strategies at work to address OSH related issues/problems/concerns; d) issues/problems/concerns of government, employers, and non-government organizations with regard to implementation of OSH to Filipino domestic workers; e) the role of government, employers and non-government organizations to help Filipino domestic workers address OSH related issues/problems/concerns; and f) the necessary policy amendments/initiatives/programs to address OSH related issues/problems/concerns of Filipino domestic workers. The study conducted a survey using non-probability sampling, two focus group discussions, two group interviews, and fourteen face-to-face interviews. These were further supplemented with an email correspondence to a key informant based in another country. Books, journals, magazines, and relevant websites further substantiated and enriched data of the research. Findings of the study point to the fact that domestic workers have low level of awareness on OSH because of poor information drive, fragmented implementation of the Domestic Workers Act, inactive campaign at the barangay level, weakened advocacy for domestic workers, absence of law on OSH for domestic workers, and generally low safety culture in the country among others. Filipino domestic workers suffer from insufficient rest, long hours of work, heavy workload, occupational stress, poor accommodation, insufficient hours of sleep, deprivation of day off, accidents and injuries such as cuts, burns, slipping, stumbling, electrical grounding, and fire, verbal, physical and sexual abuses, lack of medical assistance, none provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), absence of knowledge on the proper way of lifting, working at heights, and insufficient food provision. They also suffer from psychological problems because of separation from one’s family, limited mobility in the household where they work, injuries and accidents from using advanced home appliances and taking care of pets, low self-esteem, ergonomic problems, the need to adjust to all household members who have various needs and demands, inability to voice their complaints, drudgery of work, and emotional stress. With regard to illness or health problems, they commonly experience leg pains, back pains, and headaches. In the absence of intervention programs like those offered in the formal employment set up, domestic workers resort to praying, turn to family, relatives and friends for social and emotional support, connect with them through social media like Facebook which also serve as a means of entertainment to them, talk to their employer, and just try to be optimistic about their situation. Promoting OSH for domestic workers is very challenging and complicated because of interrelated factors such as cultural, knowledge, attitudinal, relational, social, resource, economic, political, institutional and legal problems. This complexity necessitates using a holistic and integrated approach as this is not a problem requiring simple solutions. With this recognition comes the full understanding that its success involves the action and cooperation of all duty bearers in attaining decent work for domestic workers.

Keywords: decent work, Filipino domestic workers, occupational safety and health, working conditions

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Authors: Ohoud Abdullatif Alshaiji

Abstract:

Child-rearing is considered as the most important family role and with the modern lifestyle and busy families social institutions has taken this role from the family to encourage the individuals active's role in the social life, this study aimed to acknowledge the contributions of the social institutions in child-rearing the Saudi children and to acknowledge The Role of the community's partnership in activating the social child-rearing for the Saudi children. The research main question was how much the community's partnership is actually participating in activating the process of the social development of the Saudi children. The importance of this study comes from the massive care that has been given from all over the world, children international organizations, and this research is focusing on the participating of five social organization in child-rearing the Saudi children. The study was limited on the mothers of the children who are enrolled in the government's kindergarten the tool that has been used was the Questionnaire, using the descriptive and analytical approach. The important role of the family in encouraging the social development for the Saudi child, and the results has shown the importance of the mosque in encouraging the good social behaviors. And the kindergarten role has shown after the mosque because of the changes that made most of the families relying on the educational institutions to help the child to adapt in a different cultures. To spread the community's partnership in all the social actions, to support and encourage the role of community's partnership in activating the process of the social development of the Saudi children, to minimize the difficulties and the provide the need to fully support the community's partnership.

Keywords: child-rearing, social development, acknowledge the contributions

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Authors: Asma Poursoroush

Abstract:

Solid-supported lipid bilayers are often used as a simple model for studies of biological membranes. The presence of a solid substrate that interacts attractively with lipid head-groups is expected to affect the phase behavior of the supported bilayer. Molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained model are thus performed to investigate the phase behavior of supported one-component lipid bilayer membranes. Our results show that the attraction of the lipid head groups to the substrate leads to a phase behavior that is different from that of a free standing lipid bilayer. In particular, we found that the phase behaviors of the two leaflets are decoupled in the presence of a substrate. The proximal leaflet undergoes a clear gel-to-fluid phase transition at a temperature lower than that of a free standing bilayer, and that decreases with increasing strength of the substrate-lipid attraction. The distal leaflet, however, undergoes a change from a homogeneous liquid phase at high temperatures to a heterogeneous state consisting of small liquid and gel domains, with the average size of the gel domains that increases with decreasing temperature. While the chain order parameter of the proximal leaflet clearly shows a gel-fluid phase transition, the chain order parameter of the distal leaflet does not exhibit a clear phase transition. The decoupling in the phase behavior of the two leaflets is due to a non-symmteric lipid distribution in the two leaflets resulting from the presence of the substrate.

Keywords: membrane, substrate, molecular dynamics, simulation

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Authors: Shahed, Tala, Ahlam, Marah, Sara, Shaden

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Research on fear of crime has shown that there are many influences on it, including gender, age, and geographic location. For example, women are more afraid of crime than men. The campus has a high crime rate and fear of crime due to many hiding places and blind spots; women are more likely than men to be victims of certain types of crime, such as rape and verbal and sexual harassment. And it became clear that older female students have a different perception of the place over time and other knowledge and fear of it, another study at Hashemite University. This study aims to understand better how the environment affects the negative experiences of female students and how their age and familiarity environment affects their sense of safety. This study also examines whether CPTED can be used to help prevent crime. The Broken Windows Theory also states that crime occurs in areas with overt indications of criminal activity, antisocial behavior, and civil unrest. This is related to the principle of CPTED maintenance and monitoring, activity support, regional development, and access control. Given their increased vulnerability to harassment, “sexual harassment” can refer to different behaviors. On campuses, harassment was happening everywhere, but it was most prevalent in "blind spots" that were out of sight and deserted. This study uses a methodology based on quantitative data that depends on putting a number on the amount of a particular phenomenon that exists in the world. The main finding shows how CPTED works in an academic context and what adjustments need to be made.

Keywords: Hashmite University, CPTED, crime prevention, university campus, fear of crime, female faer, broken window theory

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Authors: Damith Tennakoon, Mojgan Jadidi, Seyedreza Razavialavi

Abstract:

With recent advancements of automation in robotics, from self-driving cars to autonomous 4-legged quadrupeds, one industry that has been stagnant is the construction industry. The methodologies used in a modern-day construction site consist of arduous physical labor and the use of heavy machinery, which has not changed over the past few decades. The dangers of a modern-day construction site affect the health and safety of the workers due to performing tasks such as lifting and moving heavy objects and having to maintain unhealthy posture to complete repetitive tasks such as painting, installing drywall, and laying bricks. Further, training for heavy machinery is costly and requires a lot of time due to their complex control inputs. The main focus of this research is using immersive wearable technology and robotic arms to perform the complex and intricate skills of modern-day construction workers while alleviating the physical labor requirements to perform their day-to-day tasks. The methodology consists of mounting a stereo vision camera, the ZED Mini by Stereolabs, onto the end effector of an industrial grade robotic arm, streaming the video feed into the Virtual Reality (VR) Meta Quest 2 (Quest 2) head-mounted display (HMD). Due to the nature of stereo vision, and the similar field-of-views between the stereo camera and the Quest 2, human-vision can be replicated on the HMD. The main advantage this type of camera provides over a traditional monocular camera is it gives the user wearing the HMD a sense of the depth of the camera scene, specifically, a first-person view of the robotic arm’s end effector. Utilizing the built-in cameras of the Quest 2 HMD, open-source hand-tracking libraries from OpenXR can be implemented to track the user’s hands in real-time. A mixed-reality (XR) Unity application can be developed to localize the operator's physical hand motions with the end-effector of the robotic arm. Implementing gesture controls will enable the user to move the robotic arm and control its end-effector by moving the operator’s arm and providing gesture inputs from a distant location. Given that the end effector of the robotic arm is a gripper tool, gripping and opening the operator’s hand will translate to the gripper of the robot arm grabbing or releasing an object. This human-robot interaction approach provides many benefits within the construction industry. First, the operator’s safety will be increased substantially as they can be away from the site-location while still being able perform complex tasks such as moving heavy objects from place to place or performing repetitive tasks such as painting walls and laying bricks. The immersive interface enables precision robotic arm control and requires minimal training and knowledge of robotic arm manipulation, which lowers the cost for operator training. This human-robot interface can be extended to many applications, such as handling nuclear accident/waste cleanup, underwater repairs, deep space missions, and manufacturing and fabrication within factories. Further, the robotic arm can be mounted onto existing mobile robots to provide access to hazardous environments, including power plants, burning buildings, and high-altitude repair sites.

Keywords: construction automation, human-robot interaction, hand-tracking, mixed reality

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