Evaluation of an Intervention Program Based on Mobile Apps to Learn Sexism Prevention in Teenagers

Most existing research on usage behaviour of mobile book-reading applications (apps) has focused on exploring users’ initial acceptance; there has been a lack of understanding of the factors that affect user loyalty towards mobile book-reading apps that would reveal Chinese undergraduates’ behaviour patterns in using mobile apps. This study was designed to fill this gap by investigating Chinese undergraduates’ continuance intentions towards mobile book-reading apps. The study employed the expectation-confirmation model and technology acceptance model in conjunction with the perception of experiential value to derive an integrated model, followed by an empirical study to validate the model and better understand usage intention of the users of mobile book-reading apps. Survey data were collected from 390 Chinese undergraduates who had previous experience with mobile book-reading apps. The research model was examined using the SmartPLS 2.0 software. Structural equation modelling was used for hypotheses testing and path analysis was used to present the analytical results. The results of this study suggest that perceived usefulness and satisfaction directly influence continuance intention. User satisfaction plays a crucial intervening role in continuance intention from perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and confirmation of users’ expectations. User satisfaction is significantly influenced by expectation confirmation and perceived usefulness, as well as the perceived experiential values. The integrated model in this study successfully establishes the key factors that contribute to continuance intention towards mobile book-reading apps; the model offers a lens for understanding Chinese undergraduates’ apps use behaviour that has practical applications for developing better and more sustainable mobile book-reading apps among this user group.

Modern industry improves anthropogenic activities and greatly simplifies human effort and the industrial world. Cloud computing and mobile applications are more than just buzzwords; they are crucial elements of how business is conducted and how it will be conducted in the future. A rising number of SMEs are currently utilizing mobile and cloud computing technology. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the linkages between user reviews and ratings and the adoption of mobile accounting apps among SMEs in Kenya. The study collected data on 35 commonly used mobile accounting applications and performed a regression analysis on 27 apps that had received user reviews. Data on mobile apps' usage rate, volume of user reviews, and user ratings were gathered for this study. The authors also took note of the deficiencies identified by the selected mobile app reviewers. This study's findings revealed a significant relationship between the number of user evaluations and the adoption of mobile accounting apps. However, a significant effect of user reviews on the adoption of mobile accounting apps was not observed. This paper also identifies shortcomings that app users have pointed out in their reviews. It was concluded that Kenya's degree of mobile app adoption has greatly increased due to the volume of app reviews. This study advises entrepreneurs, particularly those who engage with SMEs, to embrace technology and adopt freely downloadable mobile apps for their accounting and bookkeeping requirements.

Confirmatory clinical trials for the demonstration of the effects of new treatments generally classify their hypotheses into the primary and secondary types and sometimes into other lower types. The primary hypotheses enjoy a special status; if the trial wins for one or more primary hypotheses, then one can characterize clinically relevant benefits of the study treatment. This framework of classifying hypotheses based on their importance into primary and secondary types allows using statistical test methods that maximize the power for the test of primary hypotheses. These methods also recycle the significance level of a successfully rejected hypothesis to other hypotheses (e.g., from a rejected primary or secondary hypothesis to other primary and secondary hypotheses). Often when there is a set of primary or secondary hypotheses, then hypotheses within each set or family can be assigned with different weights by importance or power considerations. This structuring also allows using methods that allow recycling of the significance level of a successfully rejected hypothesis within a set or family to other hypotheses in the same set or family or to a hypothesis in the next family. A number of novel statistical test methods have been introduced over the last two decades that are based on such approaches for testing multiple hypotheses in clinical trials. The purpose of this chapter is to review some of these methods.

This study aims to investigate the key features necessary for the development of a mobile application for human resource management (HRM). It addresses the shortage of empirical studies on digital HRM in the Middle East and emphasizes the increasing importance of HRM mobile applications in the region. The research utilizes qualitative research methods, including the Delphi method, in-depth interviews, literature review, historical analysis, and critical discussion.A qualitative research strategy is employed, analyzing data from 43 HR experts and mobile app development team members from international and local businesses in the UAE and the Kingdom of Bahrain. NVivo software is used for data analysis, encompassing over 120 transcriptions, notes, and academic papers. The study identifies and explores the logical and practical features required for an HRM mobile app. It uncovers challenges related to the Delphi survey experiences, such as managing heterogeneous information and ensuring compatibility with iOS and Android platforms. This research fills a gap in the literature by investigating the digital HRM landscape and HRM mobile applications in the Middle East. It provides valuable insights from HR and technology experts, contributing to the advancement of digital HRM, mobile applications, and the application of the Delphi method methodology. The study highlights implications for industries to enhance HR operations and productivity through the adoption of mobile HR applications. Theoretical contributions include new insights into the digital HRM literature, specifically regarding the identification and discussion of essential features in HRM mobile applications. Practical implications involve the benefits of transitioning from traditional HRM to digitalized HRM in the professional era, as identified through the analyzed features of the HR app. The study offers practical insights for the development and implementation of mobile HR apps. Organizations can leverage these insights to create effective mobile HR apps that enhance HR operations and employee productivity.

Benevolent sexism is a subtle yet pervasive form of sexism that portrays women as wonderful yet weak. While more overt and hostile sexist attitudes have become less acceptable, especially in Western countries, benevolent sexism often goes unchallenged and is not always recognized as sexist. However, growing evidence indicates that benevolent sexism is dangerous, as it subtly and insidiously undermines gender equity. Benevolent sexism negatively affects women in the workplace, both when decision-makers (interpersonal effects) and when women themselves (intrapersonal effects) endorse these attitudes. Decision-makers who hold benevolent sexist views may undermine women’s professional outcomes through seemingly positive yet patronizing actions that are perceived as harmless. For example, they may refrain from giving women challenging assignments to protect them, even though such tasks are essential for career advancement. Additionally, benevolent sexism may not directly harm women’s outcomes but can advantage men, such as when funders’ benevolent sexism does not affect evaluations of women’s pitches but positively influences evaluations of men’s pitches. Women who endorse or are exposed to benevolent sexism also experience diminished performance, lower career aspirations, and a reduced likelihood of challenging the status quo. Future research about benevolent sexism and gender equity in the workplace should (a) expand the scope of outcomes to include workplace sexual harassment, (b) adopt an intersectional approach, and (c) examine benevolent sexism in societies that are not Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD). Although limited research exists, studies have shown benevolent sexism’s mixed effects on workplace sexual harassment—ranging from a decreased likelihood of recognizing harassment to negative association between benevolent sexism and violent behavior, which may indicate that benevolent sexism has protective properties but only when it is directed at women adhering to traditional gender roles. Further, as most studies have focused on women in general, often implicitly assuming they are White, there are gaps in the understanding of how benevolent sexism affects non-White women, sexual-minority women, women with disabilities, those who speak different languages or with different accents, and individuals with nonbinary gender identities. Last, limited research from non-WEIRD countries, e.g., Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, and Pakistan, provides preliminary insights into the undermining effects of benevolent sexism beyond the typical Western context. Addressing this subtle yet pervasive form of sexism requires a global perspective to effectively promote gender equity in the workplace and society at large. To achieve this, research must extend beyond the United States and other Western countries and must involve a more diverse group of scholars who can bring in varied voices and perspectives.

This research uses an IoT chip to integrate with sensors, temperature control systems, and so forth to construct a hot water remote monitoring system. The system can monitor the water temperature of the heating system using a mobile phone application (app), and upload and record the water temperature to a cloud server. The system contains: (1) a heating system: heater, temperature display, relay, and so forth; (2) a remote monitoring system: including server, mobile phone monitoring app, network monitoring system, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi module; (3) a hot water system: including inner and outer tank and a heat preservation device; (4) IoT chips: containing Arduino chip control cards and other communication protocols. The system can be used for heating systems for large companies or hot water systems for home use, and for remote control and data access through the mobile app. Monitoring through the mobile app can have the following advantages: (1) remote access to the system for heating, recording and querying usage status. The data stored in the cloud can be used for an analysis of energy efficiency and guide policy decisions for the company’s energy consumption. (2) Remote monitoring through the mobile phone app can be used to determine whether any repairs are required to the heating system. (3) Through the use of the statistical data, the heating temperature can be adjusted, and the system can be optimized according to time and temperature changes, which can save energy. The network monitoring management, temperature sensing and control, and data access control of the app are used in this research. The average control temperature error is 3% after experimental analysis. The data access time error value is three seconds. The data access stability is over 99%.

Purpose/Hypothesis: Advances in technology have recently resulted in the development of mobile learning applications (apps) for college students. Despite a recent influx of mobile apps, there is a lack of empirical data about the effectiveness of these apps on learning in the area of cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy (PT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a researcher-generated cardiopulmonary mobile application on student skills in assessing blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and pedal pulses. Number of Subjects: Twenty first-year PT graduate students were recruited for the study. Participants’ names were randomly chosen out of an envelope to assign them into 1 of 3 groups: demonstration (N = 7), mobile app (N = 7), or demonstration/mobile app (N = 6). Materials/Methods: After providing informed consent, each group participated in their randomized intervention. The demonstration group received demonstrations of each skill from a scripted therapist, followed by laboratory practice; the mobile app group received a 5-minute tutorial of how to use the app, followed by laboratory practice; the demonstration/mobile app group received both demonstration and the mobile app tutorial, followed by laboratory practice. Independent of group type, all participants were allotted 45 minutes in the laboratory to practice performing and interpreting BP, HR, and pedal pulses, after demonstration, demonstration/mobile app, or mobile app instruction. After the laboratory practice, participants were individually tested on the skills learned during the laboratory by a short competency examination administered by 3 licensed physical therapists. These physical therapists were blinded to each group's identity. Results: Total competency was highest among the demonstration/mobile app group as compared with the other 2 groups. The total competency examination score was statistically significant for different teaching methods with the use of demonstration and the mobile application being more effective than only using the mobile application P = .032. No significant difference was noted between the mobile app group and the group using demonstration only, P = .24. No other group differences were noted. Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest PT students demonstrate improved total competency examination scores (total score of BP, HR, and pedal pulses) when provided a mobile application combined with traditional demonstration. Clinical Relevance: There is currently a paucity of literature in PT education pertaining to mobile learning. The results of the current study support the use of a mobile app in addition to traditional learning methods. Future research should include a multisite design and validation of a clinical competency instrument.

Purpose: The influence of demographic characteristics on purchasing behaviour through mobile applications is a field of research that combines various scientific areas such as elements of consumer psychology, technology application and marketing. Personal characteristics that influence the purchase of mobile applications include age, gender, education level, individual differences in technology use and attitudes. The aim of this paper is to analyse the influence of personal characteristics on purchase intentions via mobile applications. In addition, we analysed the role of the same characteristics in the intention to recommend purchases via mobile applications. We also investigated the role of the time spent online on purchase and download behaviour. Methodology: The research was conducted using primary data based on a purposive sample of respondents aged between 18 and 48 collected from May to September 2023. Based on the nature of the dependent variable, binary logistic regression is used. Results: The results confirmed the importance of age and time spent online for the intention to download, while the level of education plays an important role for the intention to recommend mobile shopping apps. Conclusion: App developers and companies should consider personal characteristics of users when developing mobile applications and focus on creating features that encourage recommendations for those who are not inclined to use mobile apps in the context of shopping. Understanding the role of personal characteristics in mobile app usage, recommendation and download can help businesses and app developers adapt their mobile app marketing strategies, design user-friendly interfaces and create personalised shopping experiences to increase customer satisfaction and sales.

Nowadays, rapid development in information technologies has been experienced in the aviation industry as in other industries. This development has affected both passengers and airlines in different aspects. The use of information technologies enables passengers to carry out flight-related transactions more easily and quickly, without place and time constraints. Information technologies have necessitated the use of different applications in the marketing activities of airlines. So in terms of airlines, it is extremely important to adapt these information technologies to all processes in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Today airlines have also started to use mobile applications (mobile apps) in their marketing activities. They encourage their passengers to use these apps, which require great investment. However, some passengers may avoid using mobile apps due to a variety of reasons such as technology anxiety, privacy concerns, complexity, etc. In this case, high investments made for the development of these apps may not be compensated and the competitiveness of airlines may be weakened. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting passengers’ avoidance of using airlines’ mobile apps. A survey was conducted using a face-to-face interview technique with convenience sampling method to collect data. Questionnaire items were measured by a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The survey was conducted in the two busiest airports in Turkey (Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen Airports in Istanbul). A total of 450 respondents have been reached but 400 valid questionnaires were analyzed by using Partial Least Squares method. A pilot study was conducted on 20 volunteer participants before the field research was initiated. In this context, the questionnaire was finalized by taking into consideration the suggestions expressed in order to maintain the coherence. The survey questionnaire consisted of two sections. The first section comprised of perceived irritation, perceived lack of utility, perceived lack of incentive, technology anxiety, privacy concern, and mobile app usage avoidance. In the second section, there were questions about passenger’s demographic characteristics such as; age, gender, education level, average income level, and flight frequency. Respondents were also asked about their general usage related to smartphones and mobile apps. According to the results; perceived irritation, perceived lack of utility, perceived lack of incentive, technology anxiety, and privacy concerns have a positive and significant effect on mobile app usage avoidance. Among these variables, technology anxiety is the most affected variable on passengers’ avoidance of using mobile apps. Both in national and international literature, there are numerous studies on mobile internet, apps adoption, and actual usage of mobile apps in different industries. Previous studies are especially related to the factors accepting the mobile apps. In addition to this, there are limited studies including avoidance of using airline mobile apps. In aviation industry also, there are a few studies both national and international literature on passengers’ avoidance of using airline mobile apps. Therefore, this study will be one of the few studies both shedding light on literature and airlines to increase the use of mobile apps.KeywordsPassengersMobile applicationsAvoidanceAirlines

Background The Pregnancy Loss Research Group at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) is a multidisciplinary team including doctors, midwives and researchers working collaboratively to provide support and information to patients bereaved by pregnancy loss, promote their emotional and physical well-being, as well as improving professional practice and facilitating research in this area. The group have developed a set of applications to disseminate professional information on pregnancy loss issues and aid their research with a mobile application (app) for data acquisition and management. Mobile apps have the capacity to gather and analyse a wealth of data and provide it to users in real time. Statistics show that the number of mobile subscriptions has increased and by the end of 2015, there will be more than 7 billion mobile cellular subscriptions in the world, corresponding to a penetration rate of 97%, up from 738 million in 2000. Mobile-broadband penetration levels are highest in Europe and the Americas, at around 78 active subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (ITU, 2015). Using mobile apps in medical research enables doctors to engage more participants in an easy and approachable way and to dramatically increase the amount of health data they can gather. Aims The aims of this project were to develop a content management system for a web and mobile apps in data acquisition and management. The app had a dual functionality as firstly it is to act as a resource for information on pregnancy loss issues on a mobile platform. Secondly the app needed to function as a research tool in allowing users to record their experience of pregnancy loss. No such app covers this topic in either Apple or Android app stores despite research indicating that most pregnant women download an average of three pregnancy apps during their gestational period (Frazer, et al, 2015). Methods and Results A professional website was created for the Pregnancy Loss Research Group to provide information relating to pregnancy loss and also the facilities at CUMH. A tailored content management system (CMS) was created to push articles written to both website and mobile platforms so they only need to update articles once with changes appearing on both platforms without having to alter any code. The app was built using the mobile development framework PhoneGap which incorporates Javascript, HTML5 and CSS. Once the app is opened articles are pulled from the database into local storage so that there are no barriers to accessing information. When the app has a network connection a function calls the articles from the database to sync with the articles in local storage. This keeps articles up to date and facilitates offline reading. Articles are accessed via a fixed navigation bar in sections that mirror the main website. The app has a separate ToolKit with sections that are only available after the app user creates a profile. The Toolkit allows the user to map and record their experience of pregnancy loss using a number of tools including diary entries and photos. Users can write a diary entry or take a photo and save to review. Once the user submits a diary entry or photo the overall sentiment, negative or positive, is calculated against a word list with related scores. Emojis included in diary entries can also be calculated in the sentiment rating so that the informal way in which app users communicate with mobile devices can be properly assessed. For additional research purposes, the mobile app also includes a number of validated psychometric scales including Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and Self Evaluation Scale for the users to complete. The mobile app calculates the score for each scale and the scores per scale are displayed to allow researchers to investigate the emotional wellbeing of the users. The CMS then operates as a web user interface that allows the data collected by the mobile app to be analysed. The CMS shows app activity statistics in 3D graphs highlighting individual app user activity and overall total app usage activity. Graphs display different user type, app user location, number of psychometric tests completed per month, app activity by time of the day and day of the week. Conclusion An effective method for data acquisition and management in pregnancy loss research has been created. Both the website and mobile app act as an accurate information resource. The CMS allows the group to manage and update the information on both platforms without technical knowledge of web or mobile frameworks. Data collected from app users has the potential to inform evidence based practice in the future.

Mobile apps have found wide acceptance in today’s world which heavily depend on smart technology to access data over wide location. The apps are mostly of native type which can be used for accessing data even without the internet availability. In this paper the development of mobile native applications requires the assimilation of various analytical contexts depending on the requirement of users. We have done an empirical study of various papers based on ubiquitous systems and mobile apps for finding out the contexts in building mobile native apps and the mobile contexts are such as device context, user context, mobility context and social context. We have found that the overall weight of each mobile context is an empirical study. We have taken various activities which are performed among a user and mobile native apps and formed them into questionnaires which are sent to different mobile native app developers of different software industries. The mapping is done among these activities with the attributes and their associated mobile contexts. We have identified and obtained four contexts as main requirements for developing mobile native apps under any domain. The analysis of requirements is done modeling the contexts and their attributes through OWLDL language. We have determined from the empirical study that the overall weight of device context is more than the other contexts. Hence it is clear that the device context with its numerous features have a great impact on developing mobile native apps under any domain.

The 'MySuara' app is a personalised augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) mobile application designed for Malaysian special education classrooms, offering multilingual support and a unique dual-screen modelling feature to enhance teacher-student communication. Besides, it allows the customisation of symbol sets to meet individual student needs, providing a personalised solution for teachers and caregivers. This study aims to assess the usability of the 'MySuara' mobile app using a developed questionnaire, as usability is quantifiable and crucial for user satisfaction. Conducting such evaluations can unveil flaws in the system and reveal user demands, which is vital for successful app development. Usability testing is essential during development to ensure high user satisfaction and successful app usage. However, limited usability models exist for assessing mobile application features. Therefore, 'MySuara' was evaluated using a questionnaire developed based on the Mobile Learning Application Usability model and the People at the Centre of Mobile Application Development (PACMAD) model. Two questionnaires adapted from Parsazadeh et al. (2018) and Marcial et al. (2018), were combined to create the augmentative and alternative communication usability questionnaire (AACUQ) for 'MySuara' app. The PACMAD was deemed the most suitable for evaluating 'MySuara' due to its tailored focus on mobile application usability, encompassing attributes identified as crucial factors impacting usability. The AACUQ usability questionnaire comprised eight attributes: effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, learnability, memorability, error handling, cognitive load, and timeliness. Permissions were secured from the authors before integrating the questionnaires, with adjustments made by removing unsuitable items and modifying others. The AACUQ, comprising 40 items on a five-point Likert scale, was administered via Google Forms, including a consent form, demographic section, and questionnaire for participant response. Fourteen participants, 12 special education teachers and two speech therapists, voluntarily participated in the survey. Data collection occurred after participants tested the 'MySuara' app. Overall, participants expressed satisfaction with the app, with mean values for each attribute above average. The study discusses limitations and implications, concluding 'MySuara' is suitable for its intended purpose.

Mobile phone applications (apps) provide a new platform for delivering tailored services especially applied to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection prevention and care. To review mobile phone apps currently available related to the prevention and care of HIV infections as well as other diseases. The articles were systematically identified and the research was indexed with the following keywords: Africa, Telephone, Mobile App, SMS, associated with the word Health, HIV, or PMTCT. Research papers published between 2006 and 2016. In Africa, many mobile health applications have been developed, in different domains such as: disease knowledge, risk reduction/safer disease, health promotion, HIV/AIDS testing information, resources for HIV-positive persons and focus on key populations. Use of SMS and call of mobile phone have the potential of improving adherence to medication in outpatient setting by reminding patients of dosing schedules and attendance to scheduled appointments through SMS and voice calls. Mobile phone apps should be extended to all health facilities, community to increase the impact of new development in the field of HIV testing, Prevention and Treatments.

BackgroundA growing number of cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) survivors require long-term follow-up with optimal communication schemes, and patients' compliance is crucial. Adolescents have various unmet needs. Regarding self-report of symptoms and health status, users of mobile apps showed enhanced compliance. Currently, HSCT aftercare at the HSCT outpatient clinic of the St. Anna Children’s Hospital in Vienna, Austria, is based on handwritten diaries, carrying various disadvantages. Recently, we developed the prototype of a web-based, self-monitoring gamified mobile app tailored for adolescents: the INTERACCT (Integrating Entertainment and Reaction Assessment into Child Cancer Therapy) app.ObjectiveThis observational, prospective study evaluated the usability of the INTERACCT app for tracking real-time self-reported symptoms and health status data in adolescent HSCT patients and a healthy matched control group. The primary outcome of the study was the quality of the self-reported medical information. We hypothesized that the mobile app would provide superior medical information for the clinicians than would the handwritten diaries.MethodsHealth data were reported via paper diary and mobile app for 5 consecutive days each. The quality of medical information was rated on a 5-point scale independently and blinded by two HSCT clinicians, and the duration of use was evaluated. A total of 52 participant questionnaires were assessed for gaming patterns and device preferences, self-efficacy, users’ satisfaction, acceptability, and suggestions for improvement of the mobile app. Interrater reliability was calculated with the intraclass correlation coefficient, based on a two-way mixed model; one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance and t tests were conducted post hoc. Descriptive methods were used for correlation with participants’ demographics. For users’ satisfaction and acceptability of the mobile app, the median and the IQR were calculated.ResultsData from 42 participants—15 patients and 27 healthy students—with comparable demographics were evaluated. The results of our study indicated a superiority of the quality of self-reported medical data in the INTERACCT app over traditional paper-and-pencil assessment (mobile app: 4.14 points, vs paper-based diary: 3.77 points, P=.02). The mobile app outperformed paper-and-pencil assessments mainly among the patients, in particular among patients with treatment-associated complications (mobile app: 4.43 points, vs paper-based diary: 3.73 points, P=.01). The mobile app was used significantly longer by adolescents (≥14 years: 4.57 days, vs ≤13 years: 3.14 days, P=.03) and females (4.76 days for females vs 2.95 days for males, P=.004). This corresponds with a longer duration of use among impaired patients with comorbidities. User satisfaction and acceptability ratings for the mobile app were high across all groups, but adherence to entering a large amount of data decreased over time. Based on our results, we developed a case vignette of the target group.ConclusionsOur study was the first to show that the quality of patient-reported medical information submitted via the INTERACCT app embedded in a serious game is superior to that submitted via a handwritten diary. In light of these results, a refinement of the mobile app supported by a machine learning approach is planned within an international research project.

: Purpose and Scope: Medication overdoses account for substantial numbers of suicide-related behaviors in several segments of the US population, including active duty military. The purpose of this study was to determine if medication administration via blister packaging was associated with an increase in treatment adherence and a decrease in suicide-related overdoses among high risk patient populations. Facilitating individuals taking their medication as prescribed was expected to be associated with symptom improvement and a decrease in associated distress. In turn this improvement was expected to decrease overall suicide risk. Also, creating appropriate means restriction was expected to result in reduced morbidity and mortality resulting from intentional and accidential overdoses. The primary study hypothesis was that patients in the Blister Pack (BP) condition would have better treatment adherence with their regular prescription medications than patients in the Dispense as Usual (DAU) condition. A secondary hypothesis was that patients in the BP condition would have significantly better treatment adherence with their PRN (ie., as needed) medications than patients in the DAU condition. The secondary primary hypothesis was that patients in the BP condition would have fewer overdoses than patients in the DAU condition.