Evaluating Pre-Service Teacher Workforce: Environmental Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior

Abstract Research has shown that personal health behaviors and actions established early in life are often carried through adulthood. Thus, working with children to increase environmental health literacy may improve the environmental health literacy of future adults, potentially improving the health of the Nation. Given the amount of time children spend in school, this setting could be an ideal place to address environmental health with children. According to social cognitive theory, observation is one way in which learning takes place. Consequently, the environmental behaviors and attitudes modeled by teachers would likely impact the environmental behaviors and attitudes learned by students. A research study including 101 pre-service teachers from a large Midwestern university was conducted to determine participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding environmental health. Results indicated major deficiencies in basic knowledge as well as many unfavorable environmental behaviors. On average, participants answered only 49.7% of knowledge items correctly. Less than half (46.0%) recycle bottles or cans “often” or “almost always.” Given these results, pre-service teachers are likely ill-prepared to address environmental health literacy in their classrooms. Teacher education programs need to address this deficiency in pre-service teachers through the implementation of new courses focused on environmental health or the redesign of current courses to include environmental health content

Persistent control of a superconducting qubit by stroboscopic measurement feedback

Making a system state follow a prescribed trajectory despite fluctuations and errors commonly consists in monitoring an observable (temperature, blood-glucose level...) and reacting on its controllers (heater power, insulin amount ...). In the quantum domain, there is a change of paradigm in feedback since measurements modify the state of the system, most dramatically when the trajectory goes through superpositions of measurement eigenstates. Here, we demonstrate the stabilization of an arbitrary trajectory of a superconducting qubit by measurement based feedback. The protocol benefits from the long coherence time ($T_2>10 \mu$s) of the 3D transmon qubit, the high efficiency (82%) of the phase preserving Josephson amplifier, and fast electronics ensuring less than 500 ns delay. At discrete time intervals, the state of the qubit is measured and corrected in case an error is detected. For Rabi oscillations, where the discrete measurements occur when the qubit is supposed to be in the measurement pointer states, we demonstrate an average fidelity of 85% to the targeted trajectory. For Ramsey oscillations, which does not go through pointer states, the average fidelity reaches 75%. Incidentally, we demonstrate a fast reset protocol allowing to cool a 3D transmon qubit down to 0.6% in the excited state.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. Supplementary information available as an ancilla fil

Community assimilation: exploring dimension of Melaka tourism product / Mohamad Daim Darson...[et al.]

This paper empirically examines the attributes of community assimilation towards Melaka Tourism in which covering several ethnics in this state. This study employed the attributes of community assimilation to assess the tourism product of Melaka. More specifically, this paper explores the element of community assimilation in Melaka through custom, language as well as food and beverages. Furthermore, the study is also conducted to determine the most influential factors of community assimilation that contributes to the Melaka tourism product. Data were collected from first and secondary resources through administered questionnaire survey and based on 362 respondents. The result from the correlation analysis shows that custom, language as well as food and beverages variables possess the explanatory power of the variation in Melaka tourism product. The testing process also confirms that food and beverages contribute high influence in Melaka tourism product. Finally, limitations of present findings were discussed, and implications for future studies are suggested

Giant optical anisotropy in a single InAs quantum dot in a very dilute quantum-dot ensemble

We present the experimental evidence of giant optical anisotropy in single InAs quantum dots. Polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals a linear polarization ratio with huge fluctuations, from one quantum dot to another, in sign and in magnitude with absolute values up to 82%. Systematic measurements on hundreds of quantum dots coming from two different laboratories demonstrate that the giant optical anisotropy is an intrinsic feature of dilute quantum-dot arrays.Comment: submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Advancing the Production Networks in East Asia

A remarkable expansion in production networks has been in solid progress in the global economy. Theprocess of expansion has been accelerated through advance in information and transportationtechnology in addition to the ongoing trend in globalization. In addition, speedily improving productiontechnology of industries enable the capacity to further breakdown their value chains into smallerproportions. Said production sharing helps enhance efficiency and reduce costs. As East Asianeconomies are in diverse phases of economic development, the relevant production networks would bejoined by both developed and emerging economies in the region. However, certain economies mightpossess the most critical or irreplaceable phase of the production networks. It means that someunexpected and significant disruptions could stop the networks from functioning regularly. It isnoteworthy that the production networks and supply chains have been driven by international tradeand associated economic activities. For the purpose of risk sharing and cost efficiency, it is necessaryto explore means at both regional level and economy level to strengthen or improve productionnetworks at the regional level, whereas major players that formulate the regional networks includeChina, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

Dilema hak suami pasca penceraian: Suatu penelitian awal di Malaysia / Mohd Ab Malek Md Shah … [et al.]

Apabila kita berbicara tentang isu penceraian, tergambar kepada kita akan segala tuntutan yang berhak untuk dipohon oleh si isteri; secara langsung mahupun tidak langsung menurut syara'. Ini termasuklah hak untuk mendapatkan muta‘ah (pampasan atau ganti rugi akibat diceraikan), tuntutan nafkah ‘iddah, hadhanah (hak penjagaan anak), tuntutan nafkah anak, hak untuk menuntut harta sepencarian (jointly acquired property) serta tuntutan hutang (sekiranya masih belum dilangsaikan oleh si suami selama tempoh perkahwinan berlangsung). Hakikatnya, apabila sesuatu bahtera rumahtangga yang telah terbina sejak sekian lama karam dipukul gelombang kehidupan yang penuh cabaran mendatang, tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa terdapat segelintir pihak akan mengambil jalan singkat dengan menuding jari ke atas kaum Adam; lantas bingkas mempersoalkan akan segala tuntutan hak yang boleh (wajib) dinikmati oleh bekas isteri menurut lunas – lunas perundangan secara hakiki. Ironinya, terdapat ramai di antara kita yang jarang untuk menyentuh akan segala hak yang wajar dipohon oleh pihak bekas suami akibat daripada kegagalannya untuk mempertahankan keutuhan “masjid” tersebut daripada runtuh begitu sahaja. Ini kerana; tiada terdapat sebarang kajian atau analisis khusus yang menjurus ke arah perbincangan berhubung segala hak bekas suami pasca penceraian. Selain itu, penulis turut membuat perbandingan secara umum terhadap peruntukan dari segi lunas – lunas perundangan terhadap segala tuntutan yang boleh dibuat oleh kedua – dua belah pihak daripada kedua – dua sistem yang terpakai di Malaysia. Justeru; adalah menjadi harapan penulis bahawa; menerusi penulisan yang berbentuk kualitatif ini; terdapat kefahaman yang lebih jelas terhadap segala tuntutan yang boleh dipohon oleh setiap pasangan dalam memastikan kebajikan dan keadilan antara kedua – dua belah pihak; termasuklah anak – anak supaya dapat dilestarikan secara situasi menang – menang (win – win situation)

Analisis Faktor-Faktor Perilaku Konsumen yang Berpengaruh Terhadap Niat Meneruskan Penggunaan Sakuku Berbasis Teori UTAUT2

Berbagai temuan dan inovasi dalam teknologi membawa banyak manfaat untuk masyarakat. Salah satunya adalah dengan hadirnya bentuk pembayaran baru yang dapat menggantikan uang tunai yang disebut e-wallet. Seiring berkembangnya zaman, penggunaan e-wallet terus meningkat, dengan peningkatan ini diharapkan penyedia layanan e-wallet dapat terus bersaing untuk mempertahankan posisinya di masyarakat. Tetapi trend ini berlawanan dengan yang dialami oleh salah satu e-wallet di Indonesia yaitu Sakuku yang terus mengalami penurunan. Penelitian ini berbasis pada teori UTAUT2 yang sudah dimodifikasi dengan penambahan variabel trust dan perceived risk. Dengan didasari beberapa penelitian sebelumnya, penelitian ini membahas variabel yang dianggap mempengaruhi niat meneruskan penggunaan e-wallet Sakuku. Variabel tersebut adalah performance expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, price saving orientation, habit, trust, dan perceived risk. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode survei. Teknik pengambilan sampel pada penelitian ini menggunakan non- probability sampling dengan pendekatan judgment sampling. Sampel yang terkumpul adalah sebanyak 144 responden yang kemudian dilakukan pengujian regresi linear berganda dengan dibantu program SPSS 20.0. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah variabel social influence, price saving orientation, habit, dan trust memiliki pengaruh yang positif serta signifikan terhadap continuance intention penggunaan aplikasi Sakuku. Sedangkan untuk variabel performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, dan perceived risk tidak memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap continuance intention penggunaan aplikasi Sakuku. Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat menjadi referensi bagi aplikasi Sakuku untuk mengatasi masalah yang dihadapi dengan beberapa cara seperti menambah kerjasama, meningkatkan keamanan, serta memperbanyak promosi. Penelitian ini juga memperkaya literasi penelitian yang berhubungan dengan model UTAUT2

Exploring the Potential of Phase Change Material for Thermal Energy Storage in Building Envelopes

Buildings, with their significant energy consumption, pose a pressing concern for the future. Inadequate heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems further exacerbate thermal management difficulties and energy requirements. To address these challenges, Phase Change Materials (PCMs) offer valuable potential for sustainable energy reduction within the building sector, leveraging passive cooling and heating techniques. Numerical study has been conducted to explore the impact of embedding PCM within the building envelope on energy efficiency and thermal performance. The results reveal that PCM integration significantly reduces temperatures across all sections compared to scenarios without PCM. By passively absorbing and storing heat energy during phase change, PCM mitigates heat transfer through convection and conduction, leading to improved energy efficiency and reduced power consumption for cooling and heating purposes. Within the first 2 hours, the PCM achieves 50% of its average melting process, followed by a gradual decrease in the melting rate. It takes approximately 6 hours for the PCM to completely melt. As the PCM undergoes the melting process, the system's entropy values increase, reflecting an increase in disorder. At the tip of the building, the entropy value reaches 130 K/kg·K, which is more than three times the initial value. The integration of PCM in building envelopes shows promising potential for enhancing energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and durability. Future research should focus on optimizing PCM placement and configuration to maximize its benefits in diverse building designs and climatic conditions

An Exploratory Study of the Relationship among Perceived Personal and Social Competence, Health Risk Behaviors, and Academic Achievement of Selected Undergraduate Students

A sample of 656 undergraduate students from multiple sections of an introductory nutrition course, a personal health course, and a physical fitness course at a large Midwestern University completed one of four surveys. Using matrix sampling, each participant completed a survey measuring one of four personal and social competence constructs; coping skills, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, or judgment skills; 11 health risk behaviors, and college grade point average (GPA). Descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analyses were calculated to determine relationships among these variables. Thirteen statistically significant correlations were found among personal and social competence constructs and health risk behaviors. Health risk behaviors statistically significantly correlated with one or more constructs of personal and social competence included: frequency of marijuana use, number of days cigarettes were smoked, number of days alcohol was consumed, incidences of binge drinking, incidences of driving and drinking alcohol, alcohol or drug use prior to last incidence of sexual intercourse, non-use of condoms during sexual intercourse, feelings of sadness or hopelessness for two weeks or more that resulted in ceasing some usual activities, and number of physically inactive days. Statistically significant correlations were found most often among perceived judgment skills and health risk behaviors and perceived intrapersonal skills and health risk behaviors. Variance in academic success due to perceived personal and social competence and health risk behaviors was limited. Only a small percentage of variance in self-reported, college GPA could be attributed to perceived coping skills and judgment skills, while no variance could be attributed to perceived intrapersonal skills or interpersonal personal skills. Also, few health risk behaviors accounted for any variance in self-reported, college GPA. Results suggest strategies to improve undergraduates\u27 personal and social skills may reduce engagement in some health risk behaviors

Interpersonal skills and Facebook use among college students

The use of Facebook® among college students is prevalent, and its relationship with interpersonal skills is unknown. A cross-sectional design study using a convenience sample of undergraduate students enrolled in one of four sections of an upper-level nutrition course at a Northeastern, public university was conducted to investigate this relationship. Participants completed a paper survey containing items that assessed interpersonal skills, Facebook® use, and demographics. Data from 136 participants were analyzed to determine what, if any, relationship exists between Facebook® use and interpersonal skills. A statistically significant relationship was found between three pairs of variables: the Bergen Facebook® Addiction Scale total scores and a communication subscale, r(127) = -0.29, p \u3c0.01; the Bergen Facebook® Addiction Scale total scores and a conflict resolution subscale, r(127) = -0.34, p \u3c0.01; and the Bergen Facebook® Addiction Scale total scores and a total Interpersonal Skills Scale, r(127) = -0.25, p \u3c0.01. Given the inverse relationship of these variables, health educators may need to emphasize interpersonal skills to a greater extent than in the past; however, further research investigating Facebook® use and interpersonal skills should be conducted to better understand this relationship and determine whether or not it is a causal relationship