Extending Social Learning Theories to Collectivist Cultures: The Effect of Behavior Modeling Training, Service Orientation and Language Skills on Service Skills and Behaviors

Although previous research has suggested that training approaches using behavior modeling yield better results than lecture-based approaches, these assumptions have not been tested in collectivist cultures. This study examined the effects of these alternative training methods for service knowledge and service behavior with a field experiment involving 117 Russian hotel employees. Despite no previous exposure to behavior modeling and no cultural context for service, the behavioral modeling training approach relative to the lecture-based approach yielded higher levels of both service knowledge and behavior. Since the setting was an English speaking hotel, difference in language ability were also considered and behavioral modeling was found to be a more effective training approach regardless of English ability. It also appears that service orientation is positively associated with both knowledge and behavior. The results indicate behavior modeling may be most helpful to those employees least predisposed to service or with lower language abilities

Minimum Average Deviance Estimation for Sufficient Dimension Reduction

Sufficient dimension reduction reduces the dimensionality of data while preserving relevant regression information. In this article, we develop Minimum Average Deviance Estimation (MADE) methodology for sufficient dimension reduction. It extends the Minimum Average Variance Estimation (MAVE) approach of Xia et al. (2002) from continuous responses to exponential family distributions to include Binomial and Poisson responses. Local likelihood regression is used to learn the form of the regression function from the data. The main parameter of interest is a dimension reduction subspace which projects the covariates to a lower dimension while preserving their relationship with the outcome. To estimate this parameter within its natural space, we consider an iterative algorithm where one step utilizes a Stiefel manifold optimizer. We empirically evaluate the performance of three prediction methods, two that are intrinsic to local likelihood estimation and one that is based on the Nadaraya-Watson estimator. Initial results show that, as expected, MADE can outperform MAVE when there is a departure from the assumption of additive errors

Mobile Information Systems: An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Mobile Commerce Acceptance in Jordan

Although mobile commerce have been used and widely researched in developed nations, there is a low usage in the Arab world. Also, there is a limited empirical research on mobile commerce in Jordan despite the high penetration of mobile phone subscribers in 2009. Among the aims of this quantitative research is to empirically investigate the determinants of mobile commerce adoption in a collectivist culture such as Jordan where social norms are valued and individual actions are influenced greatly by important reference groups. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is extended to include four factors (facilitating conditions, cost, personal innovativeness in IT (PIIT) and subjective norms). Furthermore, in order to understand subjective norms in collectivist culture; subjective norms were decomposed into different levels (personal and societal injunctive and descriptive norms). The research framework consists of twelve latent variables (seven exogenous and five endogenous). Using self-administered survey, 40 items with 7-point Likert scale is used to collect data. Out of the 500 samples, 448 responses (89.6 % response rate) were collected; eventually 401 responses were usable. Structural Equation Modeling is applied to analyze the data. The findings of this study revealed that facilitating conditions, cost, PIIT, attitude and perceived usefulness are significant determinants of behavioral intention in Jordan. In addition, subjective norms, facilitating conditions, cost and perceived ease of use are significant antecedents of attitude which in turn influencing behavioral intention. Moreover, the empirical evidence indicated that personal injunctive norm, personal descriptive norm and societal injunctive norm are indeed antecedents of subjective norms. It can be concluded that extended TAM successfully enriched the model and increased the exploratory power to 53% in explaining behavioral intention variance

Using historic accident data to estimate the potential fatalities due to chemical hazards

Inherent safety is that which is intrinsic to a chemical plant. Chemical plants should be designed to be acceptably safe and it is better if this can be achieved through inherent safety, which cannot be compromised, rather than added-on engineered safety. The earlier that inherent safety is considered, the greater are the benefits. The aim of this project is to develop a method which can be used to assess the inherent safety of a chemical plant, by estimating the potential number of fatalities in the event of a catastrophic accident. This method is intended for use in the early phases of design when the major decisions on the chemical process are made. In the early stages, only limited information about equipment and plant layout exist as well as the reaction chemistry and the physical, chemical and toxicity properties of the chemicals involved. [Continues.

Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction with Blood-Brain Barrier Hyperpermeability Contributes to Major Depressive Disorder: A Review of Clinical and Experimental Evidence

About one-third of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail at least two antidepressant drug trials at 1 year. Together with clinical and experimental evidence indicating that the pathophysiology of MDD is multifactorial, this observation underscores the importance of elucidating mechanisms beyond monoaminergic dysregulation that can contribute to the genesis and persistence of MDD. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are mechanistically linked to the presence of neurovascular dysfunction with blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability in selected neurological disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to other major psychiatric disorders, MDD is frequently comorbid with such neurological disorders and constitutes an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in disorders characterized by vascular endothelial dysfunction (cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus). Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are implicated in the neurobiology of MDD. More recent evidence links neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to MDD without neurological comorbidity. We review this emerging literature and present a theoretical integration between these abnormalities to those involving oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in MDD. We discuss our hypothesis that alterations in endothelial nitric oxide levels and endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling are central mechanistic links in this regard. Understanding the contribution of neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to the pathophysiology of MDD may help to identify novel therapeutic and preventative approaches

Neuroinflammation and Psychiatric Illness

Multiple lines of evidence support the pathogenic role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric illness. While systemic autoimmune diseases are well-documented causes of neuropsychiatric disorders, synaptic autoimmune encephalitides with psychotic symptoms often go under-recognized. Parallel to the link between psychiatric symptoms and autoimmunity in autoimmune diseases, neuroimmunological abnormalities occur in classical psychiatric disorders (for example, major depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders). Investigations into the pathophysiology of these conditions traditionally stressed dysregulation of the glutamatergic and monoaminergic systems, but the mechanisms causing these neurotransmitter abnormalities remained elusive. We review the link between autoimmunity and neuropsychiatric disorders, and the human and experimental evidence supporting the pathogenic role of neuroinflammation in selected classical psychiatric disorders. Understanding how psychosocial, genetic, immunological and neurotransmitter systems interact can reveal pathogenic clues and help target new preventive and symptomatic therapies

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of plants: Basic principles and influencing factors

Transformation is an important topic in plant biology and transgenic plants have become a major focus in plant research and breeding programs. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation as a practical and common method for introducing specific DNA fragments into plant genomes is well established and the number of transgenic plants produced using this method is increasing. Despite the popularity of the method, low efficiency of transformation is a major challenge for scientists. Modification of differentgenetic and environmental aspects of transformation method may lead to better understanding of the system and result in high efficiency transformation. In this review, we deal with recent genetic findingsas well as different environmental factors which potentially influence Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

Discourse analysis models in the training of translators : an emperical approach

Abstract unavailable please refer to PD