Risks and drivers of hybrid car adoption: A cross-cultural segmentation analysis

Throughout the developed world, consumers are increasingly being encouraged to adopt cleaner, more eco-friendly behaviours. However, hybrid car adoption remains low, which impedes the move towards a lower carbon economy. In this paper, we examine the risks and drivers of hybrid car purchases, drawing on consumer behaviour and cultural dimensions theory to account for the heterogeneous, segmented nature of the market. As risk perceptions differ across cultures, and in order to address the lack of cross cultural research on eco-friendly cars, we focus on Australian, South Korean, and Japanese consumers. Based on a survey of 817 respondents we examine how five types of risk (social, psychological, time, financial, and network externalities) and three factors that drive purchasing behaviour (product advantages, product attractiveness, and product superiority) influence consumers perceptions of hybrid cars. Four segments of consumers are identified (pessimists, realists, optimists, and casualists) that also vary according to their environmental selfimage, and underlying cultural values. Our results extend theory by incorporating self-image and cultural dimension theories into a multi-country analysis of the risks and drivers of hybrid car adoption. Our findings have practical implications in terms of marketing strategies and potential policy interventions aimed at mitigating risk perceptions and promoting the factors that drive hybrid car adoption

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Ilmu ushul hadis

xi+292hlm.;21c

The importance of the intertidal area for the Mullet Liza klunzingeri

The mullet Liza klunzingeri, locally known as maid, is an important commercial species in Kuwait and accounts for up to 16% of the total finfish landings.  To determine the seasonal and spatial distributions of juvenile maid, a small-mesh seine net was employed monthly at seven selected coastal sites during the period from November 2013 through October 2014.  Semicircular sweeps of the 30 m long, two-meters high seine covered an area of approximately 1,400 m2.  Juvenile maid were captured at most of the sampling sites during the entire investigation period, but mainly in spring and summer, indicating a wide coastal distribution of this species.  The highest catches of juveniles occurred in May with an average of 30.2 kg per sweep, corresponding to a density of 22 g/m2.  Catches of juveniles from sampling sites in or just south of the Kuwait Bay, near prime maid fishing grounds, were much higher than those from more southerly sampling sites.  The captured maid ranged in total length (TL) from 18 to 179 mm, with a high peak at 41 to 50 mm.  By-catch included thirty species, with  hasoom (Sillago sihama), Imchawah (Diplodus sargus kotschyi), and yowaff (Nematalosa nasus) being the most common.  The by-catch consisted mostly of juveniles with lengths less than100 mm TL, showing the importance of the intertidal and coastal waters for many species

GPR Archaeometry Survey on Rrough Terrain: A Case Study from Early Bronze Age Settlement AI-Tikha, Oman

During an archaeometrical survey the geophysical techniques involved follow a specific sequence, depending on the subsurface conditions. The most common model “soil-stone manmade structure” is the one that is more easily studied due to the relatively high physical properties contrast of the target and the surrounding material. In these cases, the magnetic method leads the way, with the rest of the methods following and applied at focused areas of interest. Here we present a case study at an archaeological site of the Early Bronze Age, where except from copper remains, which may bias the magnetic method’s results, the surrounding material is similar to the buried structures and the subsurface is also completely dry. This leads to the choice of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method, which is used to delineate the archaeological remains based mainly on the lithology contrast. This work presents a case study concerning the preliminary results of an on-going geophysical research. A batch processing scheme included, except conventional processing steps, also migration and elevation corrections. Both depth and elevation slices of the GPR data indicated that they are both useful in delineating the subsurface structures in a more efficient way. The main structures are a possible building on the top of the hilly area and surrounding walls at different levels