Texas A&M University-Victoria

Wireless Internet via mobile devices (WIMD) is leading the world into another spectrum of communications and means of conducting day‐to‐day business and life activities. Full bloom of wireless Internet services depends on user acceptance, as well as technology improvement. This paper develops a technology acceptance model for wireless Internet via mobile devices (TAM for wireless Internet), a conceptual framework to explain the factors influencing user acceptance of WIMD. By revising the technology acceptance model (TAM) to represent some unique features of the wireless system under study, TAM for wireless Internet proposes that constructs such as individual differences, technology complexity, facilitating conditions, social influences, and wireless trust environment determine user‐perceived short and long‐term usefulness, and ease of using WIMD. These, in turn, determine user intention and willingness to adopt WIMD. Twelve propositions are developed to promote and facilitate future empirical research relating to WIMD.

Purpose – Given the widespread popularity of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, theorizing and understanding the user attitude and usage behavior of social media site is fundamental in developing future understandings and deployment of these new technologies. One approach to such studies on drivers of social media usage behavior would be to revisit the technology acceptance model (TAM). The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Decades of extensive research have focussed on validating the TAM, proposed by Davis (1986), for various types of information systems and communication technologies. TAM forecasts individual adoption and voluntary use of technology. This study examines individual adoption behavior of the most popular social networking site Facebook. The influences on the intention of using social networking based on individual's perceived ease of use (EU), the user's critical mass (CM), social networking site capability (CP), perceived playfulness (PP), trustworthiness (TW), and perceived usefulness (PU) is empirically examined with a primary data set of 398 users of Facebook gathered from a web-based questionnaire survey. Findings – The results demonstrate that the revised social media TAM model proposed in this study supports all the hypotheses of social media usage behavior. The results of this study provide evidence for the importance of additional key variables to TAM in considering user engagement on social media sites and other social-media-related business strategies. Originality/value – Based on our review of existing scientific literature on social media, few empirical studies have been conducted to scientifically evaluate and explain the usage behavior of social media using Facebook. A validated instrument of usage behavior of social media can provide usability experts and practitioners with a validated tool to assess social media acceptance and usage behavior. This can help us gain a better understanding of “who is and who is not using these sites, why and for what purposes” (Boyd and Ellison, 2007).

Abstract In this article we review research on Chinese guanxi and social networking in the past twenty years and identify the major perspectives, theories, and methodologies used in guanxi research at micro and macro levels. We summarize the main findings of over 200 journal articles on guanxi research in terms of its conceptual definitions and measurements, its antecedents and consequences, and its dynamics and processes. Furthermore, we identify the gaps between different levels of guanxi research and discuss future directions to advance our understanding of the complex and intricate guanxi phenomenon.

A decision to offer breakfast to homeless people led to radical change in a church and its environment. Existing theories of change do not fully explain observations from our qualitative study; however, complexity theory constructs suggest how and why such change emerged. We offer four key findings. First, the radical change was unintended, emergent, and slow. Second, destabilizing conditions helped small changes to emerge and become radical. Third, subsequent actions amplified an initial small change and, though not intended to do so, promoted radical change. Finally, the dynamic interaction of amplifying actions, contextual conditions, and small changes led to continuous radical change.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the trends in patterns of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biological agents use from 1999 to 2009 and to identify patient characteristics associated with different patterns of their use in a national sample of Veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTINGS: Administrative databases of the USA Department of Veterans Affairs. PARTICIPANTS: An incident cohort of 13 254 patients with newly diagnosed RA was identified. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Trends and choice of DMARDs and biological agents' usage, and time intervals between RA diagnosis and treatment RESULTS: Methotrexate use as first-line agent increased from 39.9% to 57.2% over the study period (p<0.001). Although biological dispensations increased over other DMARDs and biological agents, from 3.4% to 25% from 1999 to 2009, the percentage of RA patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2007 who had biologics dispensations remained steady at 23.3-26.7%. Compared with Caucasian, African Americans were less likely to receive biologics (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.81). Patients aged 75 and older were less likely to receive biologics than those younger than 45 (HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.36). The time interval between RA diagnosis and treatment with DMARDs and biological agents decreased significantly over time (median: 51 days in 1999-2001 to 28 days in 2006-2007). CONCLUSIONS: Methotrexate use increased as it became the preferred first-line agent, while other traditional agents declined. Dispensation of biologics increased significantly, but the proportion of RA patients eventually given biologics stabilised below 30%. A significant shorter time between RA diagnosis and DMARD or biological agent initiation in recent years suggests improvements in quality of care. There were disproportionately lower use of biologics in certain age and ethnic groups, and further studies will be needed to elucidate these observations.

Although cross-functional integration is often considered an important element in a successful new product development program, a great deal of variance exists in extant literature regarding how integration is defined and implemented and how relevant studies are conducted. The authors attempt to bring clarity to a diverse set of 25 studies that investigate cross-functional integration by empirically analyzing 146 correlations between integration and aspects of new product success. The authors examine the impact of 12 potential moderators that affect the integration–success link using meta-analysis techniques. The findings indicate that though cross-functional integration may indeed have a direct impact on success, the combination of integration with other variables may be of greater importance. Furthermore, because most of the nine variables that significantly affect the integration–success relationship are either managerially controlled or industry specific, the findings imply that firms should design cross-functional structures to maximize their effectiveness. Other variables that affect the integration–success relationship reflect researchers’ methodological decisions, suggesting that care should be taken when designing and interpreting the results of such studies. The authors discuss the implications of these findings and directions for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a rationale for value-based praxis in community psychology. Although values need to promote personal, collective, and relational wellness at the same time, it is argued that community psychologists pay more attention to personal and relational wellness than to collective wellness. In order to address this imbalance it is important to promote the value of social justice. While praxis requires that we engage in a cycle of reflection, research, and social action, community psychologists devote more resources to the first two phases of praxis than to the last one. This paper offers a framework for deciding what values and what praxis considerations we should attend to and how we may advance social justice and social action in community psychology.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a study investigating the impact of personal innovativeness in information technology (PIIT) and social influence on user continuance intention toward mobile commerce (m-commerce) in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted among undergraduate and graduate mobile users in a regional university. Structural equation modeling procedures were deployed to analyse 323 valid data points. Findings – The study found that among well-educated m-commerce users, user personal innovativeness as measured by PIIT and perceived usefulness, the determinants of initial adoption, remain as strong determinants of user continuance intention. PIIT also remains as the antecedent of perceived ease of use. Social influence has changed the pattern of influence on continuance intention. Research limitations/implications – This study is unable to investigate m-commerce user expectations and satisfaction levels. The small and convenient sample does not offer guarantee of the findings. Practical implications – M-commerce providers should pay adequate attention to personal innovativeness, since it affects mobile user willingness and capability to welcome and adapt to new services and features. They should always utilize social channels to gather feedback, to distribute new changes or features, and to exert positive influence. Originality/value – This study is one of the few examining the effect of PIIT in a post-adoption context and confirms its long-term psychological influence on continuance intention toward m-commerce. This study is also one of the initial to use discursive power perspective to study social influence on continuance intention in the mobile context.

The researchers examined the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) (Schraw and Dennison,1994) to determine how it relates to broad and single measures of academic achievement in college students.Correlations were found between the MAI and cumulative GPA as well as end of course grades.Scores on the MAI significantly differ between graduate and undergraduate students.Professors' use of the MAI as a potential screening tool to identify students requiring metacognitive strategy intervention is discussed as well as implications for future research.

Dispositional private self-focused attention variables such as insight, internal self-awareness (ISA), and self-reflectiveness (SR) have been found to relate to well-being. The present study sought to determine which dispositional private self-focused attention variables have the most predictive power for subjective well-being as measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale (E. Diener, R. A. Emmons, R. J. Larsen, & S. Griffin, 1985) and for a eudaemonic form of well-being as measured by the Psychological Well-Being Scale (C. D. Ryff, 1989). A total of 121 college student participants completed an online version of the Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised, the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Psychological WellBeing Scale. Results of a multivariate regression analysis using the Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised's (M. F. Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985) subfactors of SR and ISA, the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire's (P. D. Trapnell & J. D. Campbell, 1999) subscales of Rumination and Reflection, and the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale's (A. M. Grant, J. Franklin, & P. Langford, 2002) Self-Reflection and Insight subscales revealed that the Insight subscale was the only statistically significant predictor (a positive predictor) for all 6 dimensions of psychological well-being. Insight was also the only significant positive predictor for satisfaction with life. The Rumination subscale was a significant negative predictor for 3 dimensions of psychological well-being, and the Reflection subscale was a significant positive predictor for 1 dimension. Implications of dispositional self-awareness variables and their relation to dimensions of well-being are discussed.

Moral distress in health care has been identified as a growing concern and a focus of research in nursing and health care for almost three decades. Researchers and theorists have argued that moral distress has both short and long-term consequences. Moral distress has implications for satisfaction, recruitment and retention of health care providers and implications for the delivery of safe and competent quality patient care. In over a decade of research on ethical practice, registered nurses and other health care practitioners have repeatedly identified moral distress as a concern and called for action. However, research and action on moral distress has been constrained by lack of conceptual clarity and theoretical confusion as to the meaning and underpinnings of moral distress. To further examine these issues and foster action on moral distress, three members of the University of Victoria/University of British Columbia (UVIC/UVIC) nursing ethics research team initiated the development and delivery of a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary symposium on Moral Distress with international experts, researchers, and practitioners. The goal of the symposium was to develop an agenda for action on moral distress in health care. We sought to develop a plan of action that would encompass recommendations for education, practice, research and policy. The papers in this special issue of HEC Forum arose from that symposium. In this first paper, we provide an introduction to moral distress; make explicit some of the challenges associated with theoretical and conceptual constructions of moral distress; and discuss the barriers to the development of research, education, and policy that could, if addressed, foster action on moral distress in health care practice. The following three papers were written by key international experts on moral distress, who explore in-depth the issues in three arenas: education, practice, research. In the fifth and last paper in the series, we highlight key insights from the symposium and the papers in the series, propose to redefine moral distress, and outline directions for an agenda for action on moral distress in health care.

Previous diversity research has neglected the role of psychological mechanisms that underlie the relationship between diversity climate and employee performance. Drawing on social and racial identity theories, we hypothesized that psychological safety mediates the relationship between diversity climate and employee performance. Furthermore, we proposed that race moderates both stages of the mediation, whereby the relationships between diversity climate and psychological safety and between psychological safety and performance are stronger for minorities than for W hites. Results, based on a survey of employees and their colleagues, revealed that the relationship between diversity climate and employee performance was mediated by psychological safety. We also found that the diversity climate–psychological safety and psychological safety–extra‐role performance relationships were moderated by race, such that these relationships were stronger for minorities than for W hites. Further, the indirect effects of diversity climate on extra‐role behaviours via psychological safety were also moderated by race, such that these relationships were stronger for minorities than for W hites. For efficient management of diversity in organizations, research and practical implications are also discussed. Practitioner Points In the midst of increasing workforce diversity, the study highlights the importance of a psychologically safe work environment where employees feel confident in expressing their true selves without fear of being judged as inferior or incompetent. By necessitating the creation of psychologically safe work environments, the study establishes psychological safety as a principal motivator of employee performance behaviours in a racially diverse work setting. The study cautions organizational practitioners that when dealing with racial diversity, one size does not fit all. Rather, positive organizational contexts (such as diversity climate and psychological safety) hold a greater significance for minorities and are more effective in shaping their performance behaviours.

Domestic violence victims are in frequent contact with the healthcare service yet rarely disclose. Therefore, it is critical to understand victims' experiences and perceptions regarding disclosure in healthcare settings. The goal of this review is to provide an updated synthesis of qualitative research identifying barriers and facilitators, advice, and positive and negative outcomes of adult victims' disclosure of domestic violence to healthcare professionals (HCPs). A systematic search of PsychINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science was conducted in January 2018. Thirty-four eligible studies were identified, including 783 domestic violence victims (781 females). Formal quality assessment indicated variable study quality. Barriers of disclosure included negative HCPs attitudes, victims' perceptions of safety and concerns about the consequences of disclosing. Facilitators of disclosing included a positive relationship with the HCP, HCPs directly asking victims about abuse, and HCPs ensuring that the environment is safe and disclosure is confidential. Victims advised increased awareness of HCPs reactions to disclosure and avoiding mirroring their perpetrators minimization. HCPs were encouraged to engage in direct questioning and maintain a supportive and secure environment. Positive and negative outcomes of abuse were identified, such as being able to leave the abuser or, on the other hand, the victims' situation not changing. Our results indicate that barriers for disclosure of domestic violence in healthcare settings persist despite the widespread implementation of policies and guidelines to counter them. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for clinical practice and future research to help improve disclosure in healthcare settings.

This study evaluates the antecedents and consequences of supply chain risk management capabilities. Informed by the information processing theory, we conceptualize supply chain disruption orientation as an organic control and supply chain visibility as a mechanistic control. Both control mechanisms build the information processing capacities, which need to fit with the information processing requirements imposed by disruption impact during the adverse supply chain disruptions in the wake of the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. When the fit is realized, supply chain risk management capabilities will be improved. This study also examines the role of supply chain risk management capabilities in bolstering supply chain resilience to the catastrophic occurrence. Our findings indicate the fit between information processing capacities and requirements enhances supply chain risk management capabilities, which, in turn, result in enhanced supply chain resilience.

To manage the COVID-19 pandemic, development of rapid, selective, sensitive diagnostic systems for early stage β-coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) virus protein detection is emerging as a necessary response to generate the bioinformatics needed for efficient smart diagnostics, optimization of therapy, and investigation of therapies of higher efficacy. The urgent need for such diagnostic systems is recommended by experts in order to achieve the mass and targeted SARS-CoV-2 detection required to manage the COVID-19 pandemic through the understanding of infection progression and timely therapy decisions. To achieve these tasks, there is a scope for developing smart sensors to rapidly and selectively detect SARS-CoV-2 protein at the picomolar level. COVID-19 infection, due to human-to-human transmission, demands diagnostics at the point-of-care (POC) without the need of experienced labor and sophisticated laboratories. Keeping the above-mentioned considerations, we propose to explore the compartmentalization approach by designing and developing nanoenabled miniaturized electrochemical biosensors to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus at the site of the epidemic as the best way to manage the pandemic. Such COVID-19 diagnostics approach based on a POC sensing technology can be interfaced with the Internet of things and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques (such as machine learning and deep learning for diagnostics) for investigating useful informatics via data storage, sharing, and analytics. Keeping COVID-19 management related challenges and aspects under consideration, our work in this review presents a collective approach involving electrochemical SARS-CoV-2 biosensing supported by AI to generate the bioinformatics needed for early stage COVID-19 diagnosis, correlation of viral load with pathogenesis, understanding of pandemic progression, therapy optimization, POC diagnostics, and diseases management in a personalized manner.

The study investigated the relationships of the five dimensions of emotional intelligence: self‐awareness, self‐regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills of supervisors to subordinates' strategies of handling conflict: problem solving and bargaining. Data (N = 1,395) for this study were collected with questionnaires from MBA students in seven countries (U.S., Greece, China, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Macau, South Africa, and Portugal). Psychometric properties of the measures were tested and improved with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of indicator and internal consistency reliabilities, and the hypotheses were tested with a structural equations model for each country. Results in the U.S. and in the combined sample provided support for the model which suggests that self‐awareness is positively associated with self‐regulation, empathy, and social skills; self regulation is positively associated with empathy and social skills; empathy and social skills are positively associated with motivation; which in turn, is positively associated with problem solving strategy and negatively associated with bargaining strategy. Differences among countries in these relationships are noted and implications for organizations discussed.

Abstract The recent advancements of Internet of Things (IoT) embedded systems, wireless networks, and biosensors those have assisted in the rapid development of implanting wearable sensors are reviewed here. The applications of the internet of medical things (IoMT) that has gained major attention as an ecosystem of connected clinical systems, computing systems, and medical sensors geared towards improving the quality of healthcare services are also reviewed here. The 5G based AI technology can revolute the perception of healthcare and lifestyle. In light of the importance of IoT platforms and 5G networks, the purpose of this proposed research work is to identify threats that could undermine the integrity, privacy, and security of IoMT systems. Also, the novel blockchain‐based approaches that can help in improving the confidentiality of IoMT network. It has been discovered that IoMT is vulnerable to various types of attacks, including denial of service (DoS), malware, and eavesdropping attack. In addition, IoMT is exposed to various vulnerabilities, such as security, privacy, and confidentiality. Despite multiple security threats, there are novel cryptographic techniques, such as access control, identity authentication, and data encryption that can help in improving the security and reliability of IoMT devices.

A recent theory holds that a component of the human event-related brain potential called the reward positivity reflects a reward prediction error signal. We investigated this idea in gambling-like task in which, on each trial, a visual stimulus predicted a subsequent rewarding or nonrewarding outcome with 80% probability. Consistent with earlier results, we found that the reward positivity was larger to unexpected than to expected outcomes. In addition, we found that the predictive cues also elicited a reward positivity, as proposed by the theory. These results indicate that the reward positivity reflects the initial assessment of whether a trial will end in success or failure and the reappraisal of that information once the outcome actually occurs.

The absolute electron affinities of pi charge transfer complex acceptors have been examined and the ’’best’’ values have been chosen. All of the results obtained by the magnetron method, including the estimates for hexafluorobenzene and tetracyanoethylene, were accepted. However, the magnetron results for anthraquinone and benzoquinone are not in agreement with charge transfer complex and half-wave reduction potential data. The half-wave reduction potential data and the charge transfer complex data for all of the other acceptors for which absolute electron affinities are available were found to be consistent with the usual correlation equations and their associated assumptions. The parameters from these correlations have been used to calculate the absolute electron affinities for about 150 acceptors.

Abstract This article reviews discrimination and diversity research published in Human Resource Management (HRM) over the past 60 years. While discrimination and diversity are very different constructs, it is often informative to study them together, because when people recognize each other's diversity, this can result in bias, stereotyping, and discrimination. We conducted bibliographic searches for terms related to discrimination and diversity as well as a manual search through every title and abstract published in HRM over the last 60 years to assess article relevance. The search resulted in 135 research articles with 136 unique studies (i.e., samples) which are reviewed in this article. Sex and race are the demographics that have been examined the most in HRM, while religion has been examined the least. Moreover, the number of studies examining lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) employees in the workplace in HRM has grown quickly within the past 10 years, culminating in a recent meta‐analysis. Our review looks at some of the earliest research published, the most recent research published, and the overall trends we identified in the research over the years for both discrimination and diversity articles. We then make future research suggestions and recommendations to advance the study of discrimination and diversity in the coming years.