Key enablers and barriers of solar paver technologies for the advancement of environmental sustainability

Global initiatives to improve environmental sustainability have centered on reducing energy consumption and developing technological solutions for greener power generation. Current insights on innovations for environmental sustainability are primarily from developed countries, with limited studies originating from developing countries. This study focuses on solar paver technology, a potential innovation for sustainable generation of power. The interest in this technology lies in its dual-purpose ability to enable both functional road surfaces and the use of solar roadways that can generate electricity to power other road infrastructure such as electric lights. To maximize the potential of success of deployment of solar pavers, it is important to investigate the practicalities of solar pavers and understand the perceptions of stakeholders that will be responsible for the implementation of solar pavers. This research addresses this gap in knowledge. Thirty construction industry stakeholders in Malaysia were interviewed through focus group discussions and interviews. This study applied the diffusion of innovation theory to develop an understanding of the nuances of solar pavers. The findings identified three superordinate categories (motivation, opportunity, and ability) and nine categories (compliance with green initiatives, promote corporate social responsibility, dual functionality, financial incentives, sunny climate, increased environmental awareness, green experience, experts network and familiarity with solar technology) as the key enablers. Key barriers constitute two superordinate categories (challenges and weaknesses) and ten categories (reluctant authority, vandalism, complexity of installation and maintenance, high humidity and rainfall, negative environmental impact, high cost, design flaws, low efficiency, questionable practicality, and better comparative opportunities). There is an acceptance of solar pavers by the stakeholders and cost and ownership structures are the key to the deployment. The findings provide fresh insights into a new form of sustainable solar paver engendering new streams of research in construction engineering and technology management. Implications for management and organizational research are discussed

How different genders use profanity on Twitter?

Social media, is often the go-to place where people discuss their opinions and share their feelings. As some platforms provide more anonymity than others, users have taken advantage of that privilege, by sitting behind the screen, the use of profanity has been able to create a toxic environment. Although not all profanities are used to offend people, it is undeniable that the anonymity has allowed social media users to express themselves more freely, increasing the likelihood of swearing. In this study, the use of profanity by different gender classes is compiled, and the findings showed that different genders often employ swear words from different hate categories, e.g. males tend to use more terms from the “disability” hate group. Classification models have been developed to predict the gender of tweet authors, and results showed that profanity could be used to uncover the gender of anonymous users. This shows the possibility that profiling of cyberbullies can be done from the aspect of gender based on profanity usage

Knowledge sharing in is personnel: organizational behavior's perspective

This research investigates the roles of sense of self-worth, in-role behavior, and organizational citizenship behavior in supporting individuals' knowledge sharing behavior, by incorporating a motivational aspect into the theory of reasoned action. Structural equation modeling analysis of survey data from a group of 116 Information Systems personnel revealed that two variables (i.e., sense of self-worth and in-role behavior) are positively related to the attitude toward knowledge sharing. Both subjective norm and organizational citizenship behavior are independent and positively related to an intention to share knowledge, while the attitude toward knowledge sharing is negatively related to intention to share knowledge. Individuals' knowledge sharing behavior is predicted with more favorable intention to share knowledge. This research and its findings have implications for organizational administrators in Information Technology (IT) firms to enhance intrinsic motivation among employees, and develop better reciprocal relationships and interpersonal interactions of employees to facilitate successful knowledge sharing

The Intention to Share and Re-Shared among the Young Adults towards a Posting at Social Networking Sites

The activity of sharing information among the young adults over the Internet has led to various types of damages in the community. This study explores the damages leading from posting of young adults’ overs the social network. The damages in this context refer to the damages in the form of business reputation, psychologist damages, cyber bullying and etc. In order to provide a neutralizing platform to these damages, the intention on the sharing and re-sharing between the postings among the young adults is studied. This paper summarizes the result of the intention to share and re-shared mechanism of the young adults on a posting at social networking sites

MC3R gene polymorphisms are associated with early childhood adiposity gain and infant appetite in an Asian population

10.1111/ijpo.12086Pediatric Obesity116450-458GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

MC3R gene polymorphisms are associated with early childhood adiposity gain and infant appetite in an Asian population

Background: Polymorphic variants within human melanocortin-3 receptor gene (MC3R) gene have been associated with obesity. However, its influence on infancy and early childhood adiposity has not been reported before.Objectives:We assessed associations between genotype at polymorphic sites within MC3R with early childhood adiposity and interaction with early childhood appetitive traits.Methods: We studied 1090 singletons in an Asian mother–offspring cohort genotyped for MC3R and in a subgroup (n?=?422) who had completed Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaires (CEBQ) at 12 months. Children were followed from birth to 48 months, and up to 10 measurements of body mass index and five measures of triceps and subscapular skin-folds were obtained.Results: Independent of potential confounders, each additional MC3R minor allele copy was associated with greater body mass index standard deviation score [B{95% confidence interval}: 0.004?units/month {0.001,0.007}; p?=?0.007], triceps [0.009?mm/month {0.001,0.02}; p?=?0.021] and subscapular skin-fold [0.008?mm/month {0.002,0.01}; p?=?0.011] gain velocity in the first 48 months. Each additional MC3R minor allele copy was also associated with increased odds of overweight [odds ratio {95% confidence interval}: 1.48{1.17–1.88}] and obesity [1.58{1.10–2.28}] in the first 48 months. Every additional copy of MC3R minor allele was positively associated with ‘slowness-in-eating’ appetitive trait [0.24{0.06,0.39}, p?=?0.006]; however, the relationship between ‘slowness-in-eating’ with adiposity gain was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Our findings support the role of MC3R genetic variants in adiposity gain during early childhood

Vesicles-on-a-chip: A universal microfluidic platform for the assembly of liposomes and polymersomes

In this study, we present a PDMS-based microfluidic platform for the fabrication of both liposomes and polymersomes. Based on a double-emulsion template formed in flow-focusing configuration, monodisperse liposomes and polymersomes are produced in a controlled manner after solvent extraction. Both types of vesicles can be formed from the exact same combination of fluids and are stable for at least three months under ambient storage conditions. By tuning the flow rates of the different fluid phases in the flow-focusing microfluidic design, the size of the liposomes and polymersomes can be varied over atleast one order of magnitude. This method offers a versatile tool for future studies, e.g., involving the encapsulation of biological agents and the functionalization of artificial cell membranes, and might also be applicable for the controlled fabrication of hybrid vesicles