Cause-Related Marketing: The Effect of Checkout Charity Requests on Consumer Donation Behavior

The aim of this research was to understand better consumer reactions to donation requests when making point of purchase decisions. A between-subjects full factorial design manipulated product type (goods/services), consumption experience (frivolous/practical), and product/cause fit (strong/weak). In line with prior research (e.g., Chang, 2008; Savary et al, 2015; Strahilevitz & Myers, 1998), a scenario-based approach was employed to assess responses to the CRM manipulations. A total of 241 subjects participated in the study. Our results mirror extant research evidence on the positive effects of pairing frivolous products with donation requests. In that, positive donation behavior largely results as consumers compensate for increased feelings of guilt associated with the frivolous purchase by behaving altruistically toward a needy cause. Moreover, this research is the first to realize a three-way interaction effect based on product type, consumption experience, and product/cause fit. Specifically, we find that the fit between the product and linked cause is more important for practical services and frivolous products than for frivolous services and practical goods. Implications and areas for future research are discussed

Digital Twin in the IoT context: a survey on technical features, scenarios and architectural models

Digital Twin is an emerging concept that is gaining attention in various industries. It refers to the ability to clone a physical object into a software counterpart. The softwarized object, termed logical object, reflects all the important properties and characteristics of the original object within a specific application context. To fully determine the expected properties of the Digital Twin, this paper surveys the state of the art starting from the original definition within the manufacturing industry. It takes into account related proposals emerging in other fields, namely, Augmented and Virtual Reality (e.g., avatars), Multi-agent systems, and virtualization. This survey thereby allows for the identification of an extensive set of Digital Twin features that point to the “softwarization” of physical objects. To properly consolidate a shared Digital Twin definition, a set of foundational properties is identified and proposed as a common ground outlining the essential characteristics (must-haves) of a Digital Twin. Once the Digital Twin definition has been consolidated, its technical and business value is discussed in terms of applicability and opportunities. Four application scenarios illustrate how the Digital Twin concept can be used and how some industries are applying it. The scenarios also lead to a generic DT architectural Model. This analysis is then complemented by the identification of software architecture models and guidelines in order to present a general functional framework for the Digital Twin. The paper, eventually, analyses a set of possible evolution paths for the Digital Twin considering its possible usage as a major enabler for the softwarization process

Understanding Super-Earths with MINERVA-Australis at USQ's Mount Kent Observatory

Super Earths, planets between 5-10 Earth masses, are the most common type of exoplanet known, yet are completely absent from our Solar system. As a result, their detailed properties, compositions, and formation mechanisms are poorly understood. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will identify hundreds of Super-Earths orbiting bright stars, for the first time allowing in-depth characterisation of these planets. At the University of Southern Queensland, we are host to the MINERVA-Australis project, dedicated wholly to the follow-up characterisation and mass measurement of TESS planets. We give an update on the status of MINERVA-Australis and our expected performance.Comment: Accepted to appear in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the 17th Australian Space Research Conference, held at the University of Sydney, 13th-15th November, 201

System And Process For Integrative Computational Soil Mapping

An integrative computational soil mapping system and process that reduces the required number of soil property measurements without jeopardizing the statistical precision of the resulting digital soil maps. The integrative computational soil mapping system and process saves monetary resources and time by reducing the number of soil property measurements required to produce digital soil maps and by offering soil sample locations which capture the maximum amount of representativeness of the soil characteristics in a determined area. In addition, the inventive system and process are integrative computational soil mapping that utilize algorithms based on state-of-the-art computational statistics and machine learning methods for the production of digital soil property maps and also provides soil sampling locations to collect new soil property measurements. These soil property measurements can be used to update and potentially improve previous versions of digital soil property maps, produced by the computational process

Estudio de la formación de la intención y actitudes emprendedoras en estudiantes de educación secundaria en República Dominicana: papel del género y la cultura regional

Estudio de la formación de la intención y actitudes emprendedoras en estudiantes de educación secundaria en República Dominicana: papel del género y la cultura regional Palabras claves: emprendimiento, actitudes emprendedoras, norma subjetiva, autoeficacia, género, cultura regional e intención emprendedora El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es el estudio de la formación de la intención emprendedora en estudiantes de educación secundaria en República Dominicana. para este fin se realizó un estudio trasversal con una muestra representativa de 708 estudiantes del nivel secundario, de 10 centros educativos pertenecientes a la Regional 15 de Santo Domingo, en edades comprendidas entre 11 y 19 años. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos con el fin de caracterizar la muestra en términos de las variables sociodemográficas y también conocer su comportamiento en las variables clave consideradas. Para ello se usaron estadísticos de tendencia central y medidas de variabilidad en las variables cuantitativas, así como frecuencias y porcentajes en las categóricas. Dentro de los resultados más relevantes, podemos señalar que se ha conseguido definir un marco de variables para predecir la intención emprendedora en adolescentes dominicanos acorde a la literatura anterior, con un sólido marco teórico de referencia, pero a la vez incorporando una nueva contribución: el papel de la cultura. Se probó con éxito el modelo de Heuer y Liñan (2013) donde la norma subjetiva pasa a ser un antecedente de la actitud hacia el emprendimiento y la autoeficacia académica, pasando así a tener un impacto indirecto sobre la intención emprendedora. La inclusión de la cultura mejora el ajuste del modelo. En el caso de la instrumentación según los resultados obtenidos la consistencia interna de la mayoría de las escalas y dimensiones es adecuada para los análisis planteados. En cuanto a los estudios de invariancia de género se ha aportado evidencia de su validez tanto para chicos como para chicas. Igualmente se encontró diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre ambos en las variables norma subjetiva, intención emprendedora, autonomía, innovación y empatía. Respecto a los matices de la interacción cultura y género, aunque los resultados en la norma subjetiva orientan sobre una percepción de mayor apoyo a la cultura emprendedora en hombres, las adolescentes del estudio puntúan más en las dimensiones de autonomía, empatía e innovación en su actitud emprendedora. En materia de orientación vocacional, aquellos estudiantes que tienen decidido que quieren estudiar con bastante o total certeza, muestran mayores niveles en todas las variables estudiadas que sus compañeros que tienen dudas. Con relación a las modalidades, se concluye que la modalidad académica presenta mayor autoeficacia e intención emprendedora que los estudiantes que cursan la modalidad en artes, mientras que en la modalidad técnico profesional resultó mayor la cultura que en la académica. Por último, los resultados obtenidos al probar el modelo clásico de la Teoría de la Acción Planeada en nuestra muestra de estudiantes dominicanos, fueron muy similares a los obtenidos en una muestra equivalente de estudiantes españoles por Martínez-Gregorio y Oliver (2022). Consecuentemente, suma apoyos para un planteamiento alternativo teórico más rico con la inclusión de un factor inexplicablemente obviado como es la cultura.Study of the Formation of Entrepreneurial Intent and Attitudes in High School Students in the Dominican Republic: Role of Gender and Regional Culture Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial attitudes, subjective norm, self-efficacy, gender, regional culture, entrepreneurial intention The objective of this doctoral thesis is to study the formation of entrepreneurial intent in high school students in the Dominican Republic. To this end, a cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of 708 high school students from 10 educational centers belonging to Regional 15 of Santo Domingo, with ages ranging from 11 to 19 years old. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize the sample in terms of sociodemographic variables and to understand their behavior based on the key variables considered. For this purpose, central tendency statistics and variability measures were used in the quantitative variables and frequencies and percentages in the categorical variables. Among the most relevant results, we can highlight that we have successfully defined a framework of variables to predict entrepreneurial intent in Dominican adolescents in line with previous literature, with a solid theoretical reference frame, but at the same time incorporating a new contribution: the role of culture. The model of Heuer and Liñan (2013) was successfully tested, where the subjective norm becomes a precursor to the attitude towards entrepreneurship and academic self-efficacy, thus having an indirect impact on entrepreneurial intention. Also, the inclusion of culture improves the model fit and shows relevance in predicting attitude and self-efficacy, although it presents moderate impacts. In the case of the instrumentation, based on the results obtained, the internal consistency of most of the scales and dimensions is adequate for the analyses proposed. In terms of gender invariance studies, evidence of its validity has been provided for both boys and girls. Similarly, statistically significant differences were found between both genders among the subjective norm, entrepreneurial intention, autonomy, innovation, and empathy variables. Regarding the nuances of the culture and gender interaction, although the results in the subjective norm indicate a perception of greater support for the entrepreneurial culture in men, the female students in the study score higher in the dimensions of autonomy, empathy, and innovation in their entrepreneurial attitude. In terms of vocational orientation, those students who have decided that they want to study with enough or total certainty show higher levels in all the variables studied than their classmates who have doubts. In terms of modalities, it is concluded that the academic modality presents higher self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention than students who study the art modality, while in the technical professional modality, culture was found to be higher than in the academic modality. Finally, the results obtained when testing the classic model of the Theory of Planned Action in our sample of Dominican students were very similar to those obtained in an equivalent sample of Spanish students by Martinez-Gregorio and Oliver (2022). Consequently, it adds support to a richer theoretical alternative approach with the inclusion of a factor inexplicably overlooked, such as culture

System And Process For Integrative Computational Soil Mapping

An integrative computational soil mapping system and process that reduces the required number of soil property measurements without jeopardizing the statistical precision of the resulting digital soil maps. The integrative computational soil mapping system and process saves monetary resources and time by reducing the number of soil property measurements required to produce digital soil maps and by offering soil sample locations which capture the maximum amount of representativeness of the soil characteristics in a determined area. In addition, the inventive system and process are integrative computational soil mapping that utilize algorithms based on state-of-the-art computational statistics and machine learning methods for the production of digital soil property maps and also provides soil sampling locations to collect new soil property measurements. These soil property measurements can be used to update and potentially improve previous versions of digital soil property maps, produced by the computational process

Exploring Relationships between Demersal Resources and Environmental Factors in the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean)

The relationships between the abundance of demersal resources, environmental variables, and fishing pressure in the north-western Ionian Sea in the last two decades were evaluated. Data on the density collected during seventeen trawl surveys carried out from 1985 to 2005 were used. The following species were considered:Aristaeomorpha foliacea, Nephrops norvegicus,andParapenaeus longirostrisfor crustaceans;Merluccius merluccius, Phycis blennoides,andMullus barbatusfor teleost fish. The recruitment index was also considered forN. norvegicus, P. longirostris, M. merlucciusandMullus barbatus. Six candidate models were evaluated for each density and recruitment data set either combining fishing effort with global (NAO) and regional (SST and precipitation) climatic indices, or models separately involving fishing effort, NAO, or regional climatic indices as the only predictive variable. Model selection was carried out using an information-theoretical approach that applies Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). High changes over time were observed for the density data and recruitment indices in each species. Apart from hake abundance and recruitment data, for which a clear positive relationship with the NAO index alone was detected, the changes observed in the other species seem to be the consequence of the interaction between bottom-up effects linked to changes in physical environment and top-down ones due to the fishing pressure

Reliability and Feasibility of the Four Square Step Test for Use in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

Purpose: The ability to maintain standing balance with a moving base of support and while making rapid postural adjustments is important for independence in various functional activities. Clinical tests and measures have not addressed this ability in children with disability. This pilot study examined the feasibility and reliability of the Four Square Step Test (FSST) as a test of dynamic balance in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method: Four children with CP (Gross Motor Function Classification Scale levels I-II) were tested on the FSST by 3 assessors on the first occasion (interrater reliability) and repeat-tested by 1 assessor after 2 weeks (test-retest reliability). Six children with typical development (TD) were tested on a separate occasion to explore any between-group difference in performance. Results: The FSST was easy to setup, required no specialized equipment, could be completed in 5 minutes, and might be carried out by clinicians with limited experience in pediatric therapy. It demonstrated excellent interrater reliability (ICC = 0.832) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.979) in children with CP. Compared with FSST times for children with TD (mean = 9.12 ± 2.67 seconds), times for children with CP (mean = 18.38 ± 9.02 seconds) were significantly slower (p = 0.019, Mann-Whitney U = -2.345). Conclusions and Recommendations: The pilot study provides initial evidence on the potential usefulness of the FSST as a test of dynamic standing balance in children with CP. This warrants further investigation of the clinimetric properties of the FSST using an adequate sample size

Detecting matter effects in long baseline experiments

Experiments strongly suggest that the flavour mixing responsible for the atmospheric neutrino anomaly is very close to being maximal. Thus, it is of great theoretical as well as experimental importance to measure any possible deviation from maximality. In this context, we reexamine the effects of matter interactions in long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. Contrary to popular belief, the muon neutrino survival probability is shown to be quite sensitive to matter effects. Moreover, for moderately long baselines, the difference between the survival probilities for $\nu_\mu$ and $\bar\nu_\mu$ is shown to be large and sensitive to the deviation of $|U_{\mu 3}|$ from maximality. Performing a realistic analysis, we demonstrate that a muon-storage ring $\nu$-source alongwith an iron calorimeter detector can measure such deviations. (Contrary to recent claims, this is not so for the NuMI--{\sc minos} experiment.) We also discuss the possible correlation in measuring $U_{\mu 3}$ and $U_{e3}$ in such experiment.Comment: 18 pages, LaTe

Validity of the dental operating microscope and selective dentin removal with ultrasonic tips for locating the second mesiobuccal canal (MB2) in maxillary first molars : an in vivo study

Several investigations have determined whether the use of a dental operating microscope (DOM) in combination with selective dentine removal with ultrasonic tips increases the percentage of location of the Mesiobuccal 2 (MB2) root canal in maxillary firs