Toward a contagion-based model of mobile banking adoption

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the following question: Can a bank capitalize on its well-established self-service technologies (SSTs) in order to entice customers to adopt a newly introduced SST, namely, mobile banking More specifically, it proposes an integrative model that simultaneously investigates the transference effects of attitudes, trust and the contagious influences of social pressures on mobile banking adoption intentions. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling is applied to data collected from banks' clients who are actually non-users of mobile banking. Findings: The results indicate that attitude toward and trust in mobile banking along with coercive, normative and mimetic pressures are key antecedents to mobile banking adoption intentions. In addition, attitudes toward automated teller machines (ATMs) and online banking significantly predict attitude toward mobile banking. The results also support the effects of trust in ATMs as well as trust in online banking on trust in mobile banking. Moreover, predicted differences in the relative effects of attitude and trust are supported. Particularly, attitude toward online banking has a stronger impact on attitude toward mobile banking compared to the impact of attitude toward ATMs. In the same vein, the effect of trust in online banking on mobile banking is significantly stronger than the effect of trust in ATMs. Practical implications: The study's results hint at some practical and worthwhile guidelines for banks that can be leveraged in communication campaigns aiming at boosting the adoption rates of mobile banking. Banks can take advantage of the transference effects of the established attitudes toward and trusting beliefs in their mature SSTs as well as the contagious social influences in inducing the adoption of a newly introduced SST. Originality/value: The present study represents a first step toward generating new insights into the role of the joint effects of attitudes, trust and social influences in the adoption of a new SST

Use of ‘Habit’ is not a habit in understanding individual technology adoption: A review of UTAUT2 based empirical studies

yes‘Habit’ was the most important theoretical addition into UTAUT2 to challenge the role of behavioural intention as a lone predictor of technology use. However, systematic review and meta-analysis of Price value the other UTAUT2 additional construct revealed major inconsistency of the model with just 41% UTAUT2 based studies including the construct in their research. Thus, the aim of this research is to understand the appropriateness of ‘habit’ construct usage among UTAUT2 based empirical studies and their reason for omission or inclusion. The findings from 66 empirical studies revealed only 23 studies a meagre (35%) utilised ‘habit’ construct and the remaining massive 43 studies (65%) excluded the construct from their research model. The major reason for studies not including “habit” construct was they were examining users of new technology at early stage of adoption where sufficient time hasn’t elapsed for users to form habit. Moreover this study caution the use of experience as an alternative for habit. Since experience can be gained under mandatory settings which is not sufficient enough to form habit that occurs more naturally under voluntary settings. This study also provided number of recommendations for theory and practice based on the findings

Toxic Effects of Rhamnus alaternus: A Rare Case Report

In Tunisia, there are about 478 species of plants commonly used in folk medicine. Medicinal plants and herbal remedies used are responsible for 2% of intoxications listed by Tunisian National Poison Center. Most cases are related to confusion between edible plants and toxic plants lookalikes or to an excessive consumption of therapeutic plants. We report the case of a 58-year-old man admitted to the Emergency Department of the Regional Hospital of Zaghouan (Tunisia), with renal failure and rhabdomyolysis. The patient reported having daily consumption of a homemade tea based on Mediterranean Buckthorn roots, during the last 6 months to treat type 2 diabetes. The aim of this work was to establish an association between the consumption of the herbal remedy and the occurrence of both renal failure and rhabdomyolysis. No similar cases have been reported in recent literature

Stadsplaneringsprocessen i förändring

Bostadsbristen i Stockholm har lett till en debatt om hur planprocessen för byggnation kan effektiviseras och hur mycket denna effektivisering får kosta. Debatten inleds av Statens offentliga utredningar, SOU 2013:34 där det punktas upp förslag på hur planprocessen kan tidseffektiviseras. Förespråkare av denna typ av effektivisering anser att en bra lösning är att minska på medborgarnas möjligheter att överklaga planer. På den andra sidan i debatten återfinns organisationer som menar att medborgarnas åsikter är av högsta relevans och menar istället att en ökad möjlighet för medborgarna att delta i planprocessen kan bidra till demokratiska fördelar. För att undersöka debatten kring planprocessen, effektivitet och medborgardeltagande, har tidningsartiklar, branschtidningen PLAN, en bok utgiven av tre professorer på KTH samt tre olika statliga utredningar studerats. Studien har en diskursanalytisk karaktär, då själva debatten och hur den framställs är studerad istället för att fokus ligger på att fånga in en statisk bild av samhället. För att förklara de olika argumenten, har de relaterats till olika demokratimodeller tillsammans med Arnsteins stege, vilken förklarar olika grader av medborgardeltagande. Resultatet av studien är att planprocessen är i ständig förändring. För tillfället överväger de röster i debatten som förespråkar tidseffektivisering

Impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC)’s multidimensional approach on rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care units in 22 hospitals of 14 cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

To analyze the impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Approach (IMA) and use of INICC Surveillance Online System (ISOS) on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates in Saudi Arabia from September 2013 to February 2017. A multicenter, prospective, before–after surveillance study on 14,961 patients in 37 intensive care units (ICUs) of 22 hospitals. During baseline, we performed outcome surveillance of VAP applying the definitions of the CDC/NHSN. During intervention, we implemented the IMA and the ISOS, which included: (1) a bundle of infection prevention practice interventions, (2) education, (3) outcome surveillance, (4) process surveillance, (5) feedback on VAP rates and consequences and (6) performance feedback of process surveillance. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed using generalized linear mixed models to estimate the effect of intervention. The baseline rate of 7.84 VAPs per 1000 mechanical-ventilator (MV)-days―with 20,927 MV-days and 164 VAPs―, was reduced to 4.74 VAPs per 1000 MV-days―with 118,929 MV-days and 771 VAPs―, accounting for a 39% rate reduction (IDR 0.61; 95% CI 0.5–0.7; P 0.001). Implementing the IMA was associated with significant reductions in VAP rates in ICUs of Saudi Arabia