Usable Sets Research Articles

Electronic Word-of-Mouth (E-WOM), Brand Image and Consumer Purchase Intention on Healthcare Products

Objective – Malaysia is ranked sixth in the Asia Pacific region for obesity and diabetes and it is ranked the first among the Southeast Asian countries. Obesity and diabetes can cause serious non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and hypertension. Buying habit and eating habit are strongly correlated and these habits are very much influenced by the e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM). However, lack of studies in this aspect creates difficulties in making a consensus on the relationships between the variables concerned. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between e-WOM and consumer purchase intention among Malaysian dietary supplement products’ consumers. Design/methodology – The brand image was introduced as a moderating variable between the e-WOM (quality, quantity and sender expertise) and customer purchase intention. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyse 213 usable sets of questionnaire. Results – The results indicate that e-WOM quality, e-WOM quantity and sender’s expertise have significant relationship with consumer purchase intention. However, brand image had no moderating effect in the association between e-WOM quality, e-WOM quantity as well sender’s expertise and consumer purchase intention. This study provides new insights into the e-WOM field of study, which in turn affects consumer purchase intention.

Service quality in the healthcare sector: do human resource management practices matter?

Background/aims Service quality in hospitals is determined by the quality of staff interactions with patients. Human resource (HR) management practices play a significant role in the recruitment and retention of high calibre hospital staff. This study aimed to investigate how HR management practices affect employees' performance-related outcomes, such as their commitment to delivering a good standard of care and their perceptions of the quality of service that their hospital provides. Methods An integrated causal model was designed and tested by surveying the staff of hospitals in India. A total of 1236 usable response sets were analysed through structural equation modelling to test the relationships between HR management practices and employee performance-related outcomes. Results All but two of the relationships described by the model were found to be significant. The relationship between employees' commitment to their organisation and their perceptions of the service's quality and the relationship between HR management practices and employee commitment to delivering good service quality were found to be non-significant. Conclusion The integrated causal model could help healthcare managers to identify and strategically plan HR management practices to target desired employee performance-related outcomes in the hospital sector.

Mass and spin measurements for the neutron star 4U1608−52 through the relativistic precession model

We present a systematic analysis of the complete set of observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary 4U1608-52 obtained by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer's Proportional Counter Array. We study the spectral and fast-time variability properties of the source in order to determine the mass and spin of the neutron star via the relativistic precession model, and find 24 observations containing usable sets of the necessary three quasi-periodic oscillations (triplets) with which to accomplish this task, along with a further 7 observations containing two of the three quasi-periodic oscillations each. We calculate the spin and mass of the source for each of the triplets, and find that they give physically realistic estimates clustering in the spin range $0.19 < a < 0.35$ and mass range $2.15 < M/\textrm{M}_{\odot} < 2.6$. Neutron stars present environments for studying matter under the most extreme conditions of pressure and density; as their equation of state is not yet known, accurate measurements of their mass and spin will eventually allow for the discrimination between various models. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of equation of state predictions, physically allowed spin ranges, emission proximity to the innermost stable circular orbit and possible model inaccuracies.

Applying Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Social Network Usage in Saudi Arabia

This study examines the individuals‟ participation intentions and behaviour on Social Networking Sites. For this purpose, the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour is utilized. Data collected from a survey of 1100 participants and distilled to 657 usable sets has been analysed to assess the predictive power of Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour‟ model via structural equation modelling. The results show that attitude and subjective norm have significant effect on the participation intention of adopters. Further, the results show that participation intention has significant effect on participation behaviour. However, the study findings also show that perceived behavioural control has no significant effect on participation intention or behaviour of adopters. The model adopted in this study explains 47% of the variance in “Participation Intentions” and 36% of the variance in “Participation Behaviour”. Participation of behavioural intention in the model‟ explanatory power was the highest amongst the constructs (able to explain 14.6% of usage behaviour). While, “attitude” explain around 9% of SNSs usage behaviour.

Creating technological innovation via green supply chain management: An empirical analysis

This study sets out to empirically test the research framework and identify the relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and technological innovation (TI) in manufacturing firms. It is one of the first studies that experimentally validate the relationship between GSCM practices and TI from the perspective of a developing nation. In this study, 133 usable sets of data were collected from manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Results obtained from the partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach supported the significant positive relationship between three GSCM practices (i.e. internal environmental management, eco-design and investment recovery) and TI, but the study found that green purchasing and cooperation with customers do not have a significant positive correlation with TI. The importance of GSCM practices has been proven to enhance firms’ TI, in addition to improving the environment, bringing about a positive impact on the manufacturing establishment. Therefore, this study has relevance to all manufactures seeking to enhance their TI through the effective use of GSCM practices.

Next-generation gene catalogues and genomics tools focused on forestry research

Gydle is developing reference gene catalogues and genomics resources targeted at forestry research, leveraging its unique bioinformatics expertise in next-generation sequencing. Next-generation sequencing technologies have revolutionized the field of genomics and have reached the capacity to generate enough quality data to sequence and assemble thousands of genomes and gene catalogues per year. These extraordinary opportunities are currently limited by challenges in data analysis which hinder the translation from raw sequencing data to applications in research and in the field. There is an enormous gap between an instrument capacity to produce millions of reads per day and the ability to analyze and translate quickly this data into usable information and value-added sets for genomics research. One particular limitation stems from the current state of assemblers which produce crude contigs and scaffolds that need considerable editing in order to obtain contiguous, gene-oriented, full-length, artifact-free annotated sequences desirable for the production of quality tools for genomics research. Researchers also lack tools to rapidly integrate and visualize their own data and collaborate in a user-friendly way. Finally, the ability to produce gene catalogues for thousands of samples calls for a new generation of tools to conduct large-scale comparative genomics studies between and within species. Gydle has developed a complete suite of proprietary bioinformatics tools to address many of the challenges associated with next-gen sequence analysis. A survey of these tools will be presented, which include innovative raw data filtering, rapid and accurate DNA alignment and gene-oriented assembly software, automated and interactive visualization tools for sequence correction and annotation. These tools enable users to process from start to finish a typical next-gen sequencing run in a user-friendly way in a matter of minutes to hours instead of weeks. Users can then visualize their results, edit sequence assemblies and annotations and identify features such as sample-specific expression patterns, SNPs, unspliced introns and alternative splicing events, handling information from hundreds of millions of reads on their workstation or laptop computer. We intend to make these bioinformatics tools available commercially in the near future. Applying these bioinformatics tools, we combined sequencing data generated by Gydle with publicly available data to produce curated reference gene catalogues for species of interest to the forestry industry, which currently 35 tree species including 7 pinus, 3 picea, 3 eucalyptus, 2 poplar and 5 oak species. Gydle gene catalogues also include over 50 other plant species of agricultural and medicinal interest as well as gene catalogues for species ecologically related to trees such as insects, endophytes, fungi, and microbiota. We intend to make these catalogues available commercially in addition to offering the possibility for researchers to integrate their own data with these catalogues privately. We used these reference genes catalogues to produce species-specific and cross-species value-added genomics resources such as: - reference gene sequences covering biochemical pathways involvedin growth, wood formation, climate adaptation, biofuel production, and secondary metabolites of interest to pest resistance and human health - curated amino-acid databases to improve proteomic and metabolomic identifications - SNP sets and designs of high-throughput genotyping assays such as Illumina GoldeGate/Infinium for marker discovery and genomic selection. - reference sets and tools for gene expression studies by RNA-seq and microarrays. Examples of gene catalogues, cross-species analysis and value-added sets will be presented.

A general correlation to predict axial dispersion coefficients in aerated channel reactors

Tracer studies have been widely applied to characterize the flow behavior in activated sludge reactors. The channel reactor with bottom aerators is one of the widespread designs in large wastewater treatment plants. Its flow behavior is well modeled either as a plug flow reactor with axial dispersion or as the perfect mixing cells in series. Several correlations have been developed to estimate the dispersion coefficients as a function of operating and geometrical parameters. These correlations fit properly the data derived from a given reactor in the range of operating and geometrical parameters for which they have been determined. Unfortunately they cannot be applied straightforwardly with a sufficient level of confidence to scale-up industrial units or scale-down laboratory pilots. Recently, two papers have proposed more general correlations [Makinia, J., Wells, S.A., 2005. Evaluation of empirical formulae for estimation of the longitudinal dispersion in activated sludge reactors. Water Res. 39, 1533–1542; Potier, O., Leclerc, J.-P., Pons, M.-N., 2005. Influence of geometrical and operating parameters on the axial dispersion in an aerated channel reactor. Water Res. 39, 4454–4462] but they are still not able to represent the whole set of data from the literature. This paper proposes a general correlation, which can represent all the available and usable sets of data from the literature and more than 170 experimental results obtained in our laboratory with a precision of 18%.

A multivariate approach for validation of anxiety and fear.

The purpose of this study was to reduce the defining characteristics for the nursing diagnoses anxiety and fear into sets of smaller, more manageable and meaningful variables for clinical use and further investigation. A sample of 233 nurse experts rated defining characteristics of anxiety and fear on three study instruments; a sample of 69 hospitalized clients rated defining characteristics of anxiety on one study instrument. Results of principle components analyses identified patterns within defining characteristics and provided consolidation of characteristics into meaningful and usable sets.

Stress among Clergy: An Exploratory Study on South African Anglican Priests

In a pilot study 10 male Anglican priests were interviewed individually about their roles, experiences of stress, impact of their work on family life, and problems of working for the church. Items for a questionnaire were formulated on the basis of this information. One hundred and ten usable sets of data (44% return rate) were factor analysed, resulting in three stressor scales: Person-role Conflict, Quantitative Workload and Role Insufficiency. The first two scales correlated significantly with both the Frequency and Intensity scores of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The first and third scales correlated significantly with Antonovsky's short Sense of Coherence scale. None correlated significantly with Rosenbaum's Self-control Schedule. The burnout mean could be classified as ‘moderate’.

A Nutrition Profile of Rural, Community-based Elderly

Much of the research on the nutritional status of the elderly is based on the institutionalized elderly. This data collection was part of a longitudinal study on community-based elderly in rural America. Participants in the study [n=82] agreed to be interviewed in their own home. A two day training for health care professionals and students presented interview strategies on food selection, by type, serving size, and method of preparation. Accuracy of the information was stressed. Teams of two were scheduled for home visits to obtain a three day dietary intake for each participant in the study. Eighty-two usable sets of data were collected, coded and analyzed. This data set included 60 females and 22 males with a mean age of 78.96 years. The mean body mass index for this sample was 26.94±7.21 indicating a higher weight for height ratio than recommended for a general population. The average caloric intake was 1434 calories, with 51.54 grams of protein, representing 14.38% of the calories. Thirty-five [42.7%] of the dietaries were below one gram of dietary fiber per JOG calories. Nutrient intakes were compared to a two-thirds value of the RDA for the 51+ age group for males and females. Using this standard, The three day diaries were deficient for Vitamin A [43.9%] and pyridoxine [35.4%]. Calcium [48.8%] and magnesium [50%] were deficient in approximately one-half of the dietaries. Zinc was the trace mineral deficient in 64.6% of the dietaries. Slightly more than half [n=44, 53.7%] of the elderly indicated that they perceived their health status as good and nearly two-thirds [n=54, 65.9%] were able to prepare their own meals. Participants received a letter informing them of the results of the nutrient analysis. Additional research is needed to define the nutrition profile of rural, community-based elderly. This information may be useful during the revision of the recommended daily allowances. With the mean age of our population continuing to increase, perhaps we can define additional age groups for the current age group of 51+.

Towards Usable Icon Sets: A Case Study from Telecommunications Engineering

Converging experimental tasks were used to address the development of usable interactive icon sets for telecommunications network applications. Naming and matching addressed the individual informativeness value of an icon, with naming reflecting natural context response biases and familiarity contributions more than matching. Naming also allowed intrusions to be identified early. Preference ratings simulated user behavior with iconic menus, and provided discriminability data that could help to select icons where naming and matching revealed only failures. Issues resolved and revealed during this work are discussed.

Changes in Canadian national visibility

MAN-MADE pollution can have important effects on public health and the climate1–3. The latter, particularly, is a long term effect, and necessitates long term study over wide areas. Here we report the measurement of one relevant parameter, visibility, at Canadian airports. There are more than 70 usable sets of data. We have found that from 1953 to 1963 there was a general increase in visibility, but, since that date the visibility has remained roughly constant. We attribute both effects to pollution.

Evolution in the House Sparrow. IV. Replicate Studies in Phenetic Covariation

Johnston, R. F. (Museum of Natural History and Dept. of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66044) 1973. Evolution in the House Sparrow. IV. Replicate Studies in Phenetic Covariation. Syst. Zool. 22:219-226.-Covariant character sets extracted from house sparrow specimens from all sectors of North America by principal component analysis were obtained twice again from specimens taken on an eastwest transect of North America and from specimens generally from western Europe. Uniformity in character covariation is thus evident in ancestral-descendent populations separated by more than 100 generations and in contemporary populations separated by distinct climatic environments. Such covariation is assumed to be a consequence of natural selection, and to represent the genetic ground more immediately than do single characters. [Passer domesticus; phenetics; covariation; evolution; principal component analysis.] Concern by systematists over adequacy of character variables used in evolutionary or taxonomic studies is always justified. In the past decade we have seen debate not merely over what makes up an adequate character and what it should formally be called, but also on the format and significance of intercharacter correlation and the meaning this may have to the biology of organisms. Intercharacter correlation has been called character or phenetic covariation, and there has been some effort to link this concept with the earlier one of genic coadaptation (Sokal and Rinkel, 1963; Johnston and Selander, 1971; Gould and Johnston, 1972) and thus to identify the selective interface of the organism with its environment. A number of studies have been concerned with character covariation at least in part because techniques of factor analysis and principal component analysis were used in the assessments of character variables (Thomas, 1968; Gould, 1969; Atchley, 1971), and such analyses reduce character space and in so doing identify covariant character sets. It is worth noting that univariate analyses do not provide usable character sets, even though putative covariation can be inferred from serially repeated coincidences of clinal variation, so that the long history of character analysis has little to say about covariation. Yet, the significance of phenetic covariation in representing the consequences of natural selection is such that any study in evolutionary morphology that lacks assessment of covariation is evidently incomplete. One reason for past indirection in handling covariation as an evolutionary phenomenon is the knowledge that character variation can be caused by variation in either genetic or environmental factors, or by their interactions. A field naturalist rarely knows which set of factors is paramount for a set of variables, and he ordinarily does not formally study inheritance of characters in his organisms. He usually infers that character variables are modified by natural selection, a classical inference based on analogy to studies in which the genetic and environmental components of characters have been identified. In some instances the inference is unsatisfying, and this is true in considerations of control of geographic variation in the house sparrow Passer domesticus in North America. Subsequent to 1852 house sparrows have developed complex patterns of size and color variation in North America, and there is no difficulty in assigning inferential adaptive significance to such variation because it is ordered geographically and on independent environmental variables (Selander and Johnston, 1967; Johnston, 1966; Johnston and Selander, 1964, 1971, 1973). But, precisely because of the rapid ad-

Factors Related to the Education and Job Plans of Rural Youth

THE QUESTION OF WHAT JUniors and seniors in rural high schools of Illinois plan to do for further education and jobs is important in these days of rapid social and economic change. The push and pull of forces bringing about change in rural communities has an important effect on youths. Increasing numbers are having to leave the community to find jobs and the majority find they must have education and training beyond high school to be prepared to get jobs they would like to have. The research reported here was concerned with the educational and job plans of rural high school students and factors influencing them.' It was based on information from juniors and seniors in 31 rural high schools in eight widely scattered counties of Illinois.2 The sample consisted of 2,929 usable sets of data about equally divided between juniors and seniors and male and female, but including more non-farm than farm youth. The purposes of the overall study of which this research was a part were (1) to determine aptitudes and skills possessed by rural youth, (2) to find the personal and socio-psychological characteristics of those youth, and (3) to determine the kind of education and train-