Effects of transition from elementary school to junior high school on early adolescents' self-esteem and perceived competence

Early adolescents' self-esteem and perceived competence in the cognitive, social, and physical domains were examined across the transition from elementary school to junior high school. Self-esteem and perceived social and physical competence were either stable or increased for most children. Cognitive competence was unchanged. It was concluded that, in general, early adolescents' perceptions of self-esteem and competence are not adversely affected by the transition.     

Influence of Cultural Orientations on Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) in Social Media

This study explores how horizontal/vertical individualism and collectivism (HVIC) orientations influence electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) (i.e., opinion leadership and opinion seeking) in social media. Online survey panel data through Amazon MTurk were collected from American social media users to address the research purpose. The results, using the structural equation modeling, show that the paths from horizontal individualism to opinion leadership, vertical individualism to opinion leadership and opinion seeking, horizontal collectivism to opinion leadership, and vertical collectivism to opinion leadership and opinion seeking were significant. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications regarding the influence of HVIC orientations on eWOM in social media.     

Relationship between foot strike pattern,running speed,and footwear condition in recreational distance runners

Compared to competitive runners, recreational runners appear to be more prone to injuries, which have been associated with foot strike patterns. Surprisingly, only few studies had examined the foot strike patterns outside laboratories. Therefore, this study compared the foot strike patterns in recreational runners at outdoor tracks with previously reported data. We also investigated the relationship between foot strike pattern, speed, and footwear in this cohort. Among 434 recreational runners analysed, 89.6% of them landed with rearfoot strike (RFS). Only 6.9 and 3.5% landed with midfoot and forefoot, respectively. A significant shift towards non-RFS was observed in our cohort, when compared with previously reported data. When speed increased by 1 m/s, the odds of having forefoot strike and midfoot strike relative to RFS increased by 2.3 times and 2.6 times, respectively. Runners were 9.2 times more likely to run with a forefoot strike in minimalists compared to regular running shoes, although 70% of runners in minimalists continued to use a RFS. These findings suggest that foot strike pattern may differ across running conditions and runners should consider these factors in order to mitigate potential injury.     

Managing IT-enabled transformation in the public sector: A case study on e-government in South Korea

The implementation of e-government is a burgeoning phenomenon across the globe. It improves and enhances the infrastructures and services provided to the citizens. However, a review of the IS literature reveals that research on the implementation of e-government is rather limited, which could be due to the general misconception of the public sectors as rigid and risk-averse establishments. The shortage of studies on e-government’s implementation presents a knowledge gap that needs to be plugged. This gap is significantly amplified by the increasing number of e-government initiatives being implemented by governments in recent years. This paper describes and analyzes South Korea’s Supreme Court Registry Office, which has implemented e-government. The case study discusses practical implications and suggests future research areas. Findings of the study include the alignment of technology and business processes, integration of resources into core business activities, integrating stakeholders’ trust and commitment, and better understanding of the role of organizational learning, which can enhance the adoption and institutionalization of e-government initiatives.     

Structural design of a double-layered porous hydrogel for effective mass transport

Mass transport in porous materials is universal in nature, and its worth attracts great attention in many engineering applications. Plant leaves, which work as natural hydraulic pumps for water uptake, have evolved to have the morphological structure for fast water transport to compensate large water loss by leaf transpiration. In this study, we tried to deduce the advantageous structural features of plant leaves for practical applications. Inspired by the tissue organization of the hydraulic pathways in plant leaves, analogous double-layered porous models were fabricated using agarose hydrogel. Solute transport through the hydrogel models with different thickness ratios of the two layers was experimentally observed. In addition, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis were carried out with varying porosity and thickness ratio to investigate the effect of structural factors on mass transport ability. A simple parametric study was also conducted to examine unveiled relations between structural factors. As a result, the porosity and thickness ratio of the two layers are found to govern the mass transport ability in double-layered porous materials. The hydrogel models with widely dispersed pores at a fixed porosity, i.e., close to a homogeneously porous structure, are mostly turned out to exhibit fast mass transport. The present results would provide a new framework for fundamental design of various porous structures for effective mass transport.     

Collagen-based brain microvasculature model in vitro using three-dimensional printed template

We present an engineered three-dimensional (3D) in vitro brain microvasculature system embedded within the bulk of a collagen matrix. To create a hydrogel template for the functional brain microvascular structure, we fabricated an array of microchannels made of collagen I using microneedles and a 3D printed frame. By culturing mouse brain endothelial cells (bEnd.3) on the luminal surface of cylindrical collagen microchannels, we reconstructed an array of brain microvasculature in vitro with circular cross-sections. We characterized the barrier function of our brain microvasculature by measuring transendothelial permeability of 40 kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (Stoke''s radius of ∼4.5 nm), based on an analytical model. The transendothelial permeability decreased significantly over 3 weeks of culture. We also present the disruption of the barrier function with a hyperosmotic mannitol as well as a subsequent recovery over 4 days. Our brain microvasculature model in vitro, consisting of system-in-hydrogel combined with the widely emerging 3D printing technique, can serve as a useful tool not only for fundamental studies associated with blood-brain barrier in physiological and pathological settings but also for pharmaceutical applications.     

What Motivates Parents to Mediate Children’s Use of Smartphones? An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examines parents’ attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, and intentions regarding parental mediation of children’s smartphone use. A survey conducted with parents of young smartphone users aged 10–17 shows that parents tend to perceive discussion-based active mediation to be more desirable, as compared to rule-making restrictive mediation. Findings also indicate that the extent to which parents believe that they have control over their parental mediation practices plays an important role in forming positive intentions to practice parental mediation, regardless of the mediation domain.     

Culturally Responsive Counseling for Asian Americans: Clinician Perspectives

Research has consistently found acute mental health treatment disparities among Asian Americans. One proposed reason for the underutilization of mental health services by Asian Americans is that available services are not culturally competent. This exploratory study presents qualitative data gathered from interviews with professional counselors who serve Asian American clients. Findings revealed significant barriers to counseling due to cultural stigma and shame, suppression of emotions, and communication gaps between clients and counselors. In response, clinicians frequently made adjustments to therapeutic approaches to accommodate the cultural beliefs and practices of clients and families. Implications for practice and research are discussed.