The Multilevel Construct of Computer Self-Efficacy: An Empirical Investigation at the General and Task-Specific Levels

The purpose of this study is to empirically validate the proposed theoretical model that describes how SCSE and GCSE are interrelated and how they serve as cognitive mechanisms to impact individual task performance in both a specific and general computing domain (Figure 1). In addition, we develop a measure of GCSE and several highly focused measures of SCSE that demonstrate strong divergent validity in the presence of related constructs and represent the characteristics suggested by Bandura and others with regard to effective measurement of self-efficacy

Modeling Multilevel Structures of Information Technology Acceptance: An Investigation of Group Level Effects on Individual Usage of Web-Based Systems

Despite the sizable and continually increasing amount of investment in information technology (IT), IT often falls short of realizing its expected benefits due to inadequate user acceptance. Understanding the key factors that facilitate user acceptance of IT is an issue that has considerable practical implications. While much research effort has been directed to investigating the effects of various variables operating at the individual level, little effort has been made to modeling and assessing the effects of group level variables on individual usage behavior. Our study addresses this issue by proposing a multilevel model composed of individual level variables and group level variables, integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model with Resource-Based Theory. Research hypotheses derived from this integrative model will be empirically validated in a field study setting involving college students who use a Web-based system over a 12-week period. The proposed model will be tested using a hierarchical linear modeling approach, which is specifically designed to examine multilevel data structures. The findings are expected to provide important insights into the dynamic interplay between individual level variables and group level variables and their joint effects on individual acceptance of IT

Website Intelligence: Conceptual Development and Empirical Assessment

As web sites proliferate, offering more of the same, why does a customer choose one web site over the others? Among other factors, website intelligence offers a viable answer to this question. However, past studies fall short of providing a comprehensive conceptualization or effective metric of website intelligence, limiting our ability to enhance the intelligent aspects of web sites. Integrating prior research findings, we propose website intelligence as a second order construct consisting of three sub-dimensions of content, presentation, and interaction, and develop new measures for these dimensions. Further, we theorize the website intelligence construct as a mediator of the system quality and information quality effects on user perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, and test the proposed model using PLS on data collected from an experiment. The newly developed measure exhibits strong psychometric properties. The results largely support the proposed mediating role of website intelligence

The Effect Of Carbon Dots On Conductive Ink As A Vitamin C Electrochemical Sensor

The demand for portable and disposable electrochemical sensors using conductive ink is increasing due to its flexibility and conductivity. With the recent discovery of carbon dots and its conductivity improvement, it can be modified as an additives in the conductive ink to see its effect as an electrochemical sensor towards vitamin C. In this study, an easy and inexpensive fabrication of unsupported sensor strips using carbon black (CB) as filler and alternate different binder such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was fabricated. The conductive ink prepared was casted on non-woven cloth using membrane casting tool and allowed to cured. It was then cut into standard sizes for characterization as well for cyclic voltammetry (CV) for vitamin C detection. The optimum of the conductive ink was 6:4 (m:m) CB: PVA, with higher molecular weight (MW) and hydrolysis degree (DH) of PVA. Crosslinking of PVA was not needed as it will decrease the conductivity of the ink. The lowest resistivity obtained for CB/PVA and CB/PMMA sensor strips were 0.357 ± 0.03 Ω·cm and 2.735 ± 0.2 Ω·cm which show CB/PVA conductive ink has more potential than CB/PMMA conductive ink and even commercial ink. The blending of carbon dots (CDs) was able to decrease the resistivity at optimum amount. However, CB/PVA sensor strip was not able to produce any oxidation and reduction peak in CV showing its non-responsiveness towards detection of vitamin C while CB/PMMA sensor strip was able to measure the vitamin C presence with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.622 mM and linear range of 5 – 15 mM. CDs was coated on CB/PVA and CB/PMMA sensor strips surface but only adhere to CB/PMMA which may due to porous structure of CB/PMMA sensor strip while detaching of CDs observed for CB/PVA. The CDs coated on the surface was able to decrease the resistance up to 36% for both sensor strips and increase the background current of CB/PMMA CV response showing improved conductivity. However, the peak current response decreased due to repulsion reaction of same negative charge of vitamin C and the carboxyl groups on CDs surface. Therefore, the CDs modification was deduced only suitable for detecting positive charge analyte. The proposed sensor strips exhibited great stability with a 10-cycles CV run in neutral, acidic but decent performance in alkaline condition

Topical Antibacterials and Global Challenges on Resistance Development

Purpose: The skin acts as the first line of defence against the invasion of microorganisms. Damage to the skin such as abrasion, bruises and trauma will expose underlying tissue to bacterial infection. Minor skin infections can be easily treated with topical antibacterial medication that is available over the counter or by prescription. On the other hand, serious bacterial skin infections can be life-threatening and may require complex  interventions such as medical or surgical methods to cure the disease. The treatments given have to be assessed according to the presentation, aetiology, chronicity of the wound (depth and size) and/or skin lesions. For skin bacterial infection, topical route of administration is preferred over systemic administration due to the delivery of a higher concentration of medication for the former into the desired area. It is also less likely to cause systemic side effects, toxicity, and bacterial resistance. There is ongoing controversy and debate regarding the likelihood of developing bacterial resistance with the usage of topical antibiotics as an antibacterial. This could be due to inappropriate  antibiotic use resulting from self-medication, over the counter availability, prescribing on demand and a lack of regulatory control.Keywords: Topical antibacterial, Bacterial resistance, Self-medication, Inappropriate antibiotic use, Dispensin

Understanding Information Behavior and the Relationship to Job Performance

Information behavior is an important topic area for the future Internet, Information Systems developers, and the information research community. This article shows two main factors of information behavior—information motivation and information capability—and its relationship to job performance based on the literature review of psychology, management, IS, and IT training fields. This article reviews the wide range of literature on the information behavior, provides the summarized tables of literature, and proposes the future research framework based on the literature review