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Exploring the effects of personal and situational factors on cyber aggression
Get PDFAntisocial behaviour by social media users has escalated, which in turn has created various socio-psychological implications for users and society at large. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on the concept of cyber aggression inclination (CAI) and its personal and situational antecedents in the context of social media. This study explores and measures the CAI of general social media users and examines the personal and situational factors affecting CAI. Data was collected using an online survey resulting in a sample of respondents who are active social media users. A total of 101 responses were received of which 71 were complete. Primary data was analysed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test eight hypotheses. Findings suggest perceived anonymity, impulsive use of social media and subjective norms are correlated with and CAI. We could not find any conclusive evidence to suggest a significant association exerted by prior aggression victimisation, social pressure, and perceived incident severity on CAI. This paper makes original contributions to the field of cyberpsychology where a more specific form of antisocial behaviour has been studied in social media settings
Gradient of Strength in Impact-Induced Metallic Bonding
No full textData availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available within the manuscript and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.Supplementary information is available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53990-z#Sec13 .Source data are available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53990-z#Sec14 .Solid-state bonding can form when metallic microparticles impact metallic substrates at supersonic velocities. While the conditions necessary for impact-induced metallic bonding are relatively well understood, the properties emerging at the bonded interfaces remain elusive. Here, we use in situ microparticle impact experiments followed by site-specific micromechanical measurements to study the interfacial strength across bonded interfaces. We reveal a gradient of bond strength starting with a weak bonding near the impact center, followed by a rapid twofold rise to a peak strength significantly higher than the yield strength of the bulk material, and eventually, a plateau covering a large portion of the interface towards the periphery. We show that the form of the native oxide at the bonded interface—whether layers, particles, or debris—dictates the level of bond strength. We formulate a predictive framework for impact-induced bond strength based on the evolution of the contact pressure and surface exposure.Q.T. and M.H. gratefully acknowledge funding received from the National Science Foundation Early CAREER Program (CMMI-2145326 to M.H.). Q.T. and M.H. also acknowledge the use of the Cornell Center for Materials Research shared instrumentation facility Helious FIB supported by NSF (DMR-1539918). Y.I. acknowledges funding received from JST PRESTO (JPMJPR2091 to Y.I.) and JSPS KAKENHI (23H01721 to Y.I.)
Exploring the role and impact of social media in transforming supply chain dynamics within the food and beverage industry
Get PDFThis thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global supply chains and exposed the vulnerabilities of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the competitive food and beverage (F&B) industry. This disruption underscores the need for adaptive strategies to enhance resilience and sustainability in supply chain management (SCM). Despite the high smartphone penetration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, there is a notable lack of research studying social media (SM) integration into SCM. This gap presents an opportunity to explore how SM can transform SCM practices, particularly in Kuwait and the UAE, where digital engagement is high yet underutilized in this context. This research addresses the gap in understanding the factors influencing SM adoption in SCM among SME decision-makers in the F&B sector. By employing the UTAUT2 (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) framework, the study develops six hypotheses to explain the critical factors driving or hindering SM integration. A mixed-methods approach reveals both qualitative and quantitative insights: qualitative analysis indicates an openness to SM adoption tempered by concerns over training and resources, with Kuwait showing more caution compared to the UAE. Quantitative PLS-SEM analysis confirms four of the six hypotheses, highlighting facilitating conditions as the primary driver of SM adoption. The findings demonstrate that while there is potential for SM to enhance customer reach, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty, significant barriers remain, including the need for adequate training and resources. This research contributes theoretically by extending the UTAUT2 framework to include specific factors relevant to SM integration in SCM within the F&B sector. The study provides practical insights for policymakers and business leaders on fostering a supportive environment that promotes digital integration, ultimately enhancing efficiency, transparency, and productivity in the F&B supply chains. This dissertation fills a crucial research gap by exploring the under-researched area of SM integration in SCM for SMEs in the GCC's F&B industry by offering both theoretical contributions to the academic discourse and practical recommendations for regional economic diversification and digital transformation initiatives
Multiple Structural Breaks in Interactive Effects Panel Data Models
Get PDFData Availability Statement:
All data and codes necessary to replicate the results in the empirical application are available in the journal data archive (https://doi.org/10.15456/jae.2024255.1442474978).This paper develops new econometric methods for multiple structural break detection in panel data models with interactive fixed effects. The new methods include tests for the presence of structural breaks, estimators for the number of breaks and their location, and a method for constructing asymptotically valid break date confidence intervals. The new methodology is applied to a large panel of US banks for a period characterized by massive quantitative easing programs aimed at lessening the impact of the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The question we ask is as follows: Have these programs been successful in spurring bank lending in the US economy? The short answer turns out to be: “No”.Ditzen acknowledges financial support from Italian Ministry MIUR under the PRIN project Hi-Di NET – Econometric Analysis of High Dimensional Models with Network Structures in Macroeconomics and Finance (grant 2017TA7TYC). Westerlund would like to thank the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for financial support through a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship
The Vicious Cycle of Migration Criminalisation
No full textThis article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.Rather than fostering security, restrictive measures such as the criminalisation of migration create a vicious cycle of insecurity and irregularity. So why do states increasingly turn to these measures
Study of shear resistance and anisotropy of layered shales
Get PDFData Availability: All data files are available from the Brunel University London’s data repository, Brunelfigshare, under a CCBY license with the DOI of 10.17633/rd.brunel.26955931.Characterizing anisotropy remains challenging in rock mechanics. Particularly, the strengths and failure patterns of layered shales under shear load are significantly anisotropic mainly because of the bedding planes. Meanwhile, understanding the creation and propagation of shear fractures is critical for drilling, mining, tunnelling, exploitation of shale gas, etc. In this study, the shear resistance of layered shales is comprehensively investigated based on the direct shear tests numerically. The results show that the shear parameters are greatly affected by the anisotropy induced by the normal stress and orientation of bedding planes; the shear strength, cohesion and internal friction angle generally increase with the growth of bedding plane orientation. Furthermore, three shear failure patterns are summarized, i.e., (1) the shear failure along bedding planes; (2) the shear failure crossing bedding planes; (3) the combination of tensile failure along bedding planes and shear failure crossing bedding planes. Besides, the empirical fitting formula characterizing the shear strength of layered rocks under triaxial compression is provided, and the modified Mohr-Coulomb criterion reflecting rock anisotropy is proposed.Funding: MG received funding from the Natural Science Research Project of Anhui University (Grant No. 2022AH050798), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42307224), the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2108085QE208), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2021M700753), the Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talents of Anhui University of Science and Technology, and the University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province (Grant No. GXXT-2022-20)
High-temperature mechanical behaviour of Al-10Ce alloy with Sc, Zr, Si, and Mg alloying elements
Get PDFData availability:
Data will be made available on request.The influence of Sc, Zr, Mg, and Si addition to Al-10Ce hypereutectic alloy on the formation of intermetallics and mechanical properties have been investigated in as-cast condition and after heat treatment. The incorporation of Sc and Zr facilitated the formation of primary Al3 (Sc, Zr) intermetallics, which effectively refined the α-Al grains due to heterogeneous nucleation. Si addition resulted in the formation of the Al2CeSi2 phase. Aging at 300 °C led to the formation of nanoscale Al3(Sc, Zr) precipitates with an average diameter of 3 nm. The hardness of the alloy significantly increased and remained unaffected even after ageing for 100 h which suggests the thermal stability of the Al-Ce alloy containing these precipitates. As a result of thermal stability, Al-10Ce-(Sc, Zr) is observed to exhibit higher yield strength at 300 °C than a range of Al-Cu, Al-Si alloy systemsThe authors would like to acknowledge funding from The Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (Project code P744) and, project EP/Y025016/1 for partial funding
Formation process of cover collapse sinkholes related to groundwater level decline in karst areas
Get PDFAvailability of Data/Materials: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.The decline in groundwater level is a key factor contributing to cover collapse in karst areas. In this study, the model tests and numerical simulations are conducted to reveal the breeding process and formation mechanism of cover collapse sinkholes caused by the decline of groundwater level in karst area. Firstly, the model tests confirm that the decline of groundwater level generates negative pressure at the lower edge of overlying soil. The negative pressure experiences four distinct phases during the groundwater drawdown process: rapid rise, slow decline, rapid decline, and gradual dissipation. The maximum negative pressure is influenced by the particle size distribution of the overlying soil. Then, the numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the change process of negative pressure caused by the loss of fillers in karst pipe. The simulated results indicate that the rate of groundwater decline and the thickness and initial void ratio of the overlying soil can affect the maximum negative pressure. As groundwater level drops, a negative pressure zone forms underground, causing tensile failure in the surrounding soil and creating an arched soil hole, which weakens the support for the overlying soil. This phenomenon can also lead to the collapse of the overlying soil under its self-weight. Groundwater table decline in karst areas can result in both internal and surface collapses. When the overlying soil is thin, internal and surface collapses occur simultaneously. In contrast, for thick overlying soil, internal collapse happens first, followed by a layer-by-layer collapse, ultimately forming sinkholes. Finally, the breeding process and formation mechanism of the Yujiawan Reservoir sinkholes are discussed. Geological conditions and groundwater level decline significantly affect internal collapse in karst areas, requiring careful consideration from on-site engineers.This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. ZR2020QE110) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China (Grant No. 52104089)
Author Correction: Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses (Nature Communications, (2023), 14, 1, (8487), 10.1038/s41467-023-42320-4)
No full textCorrection to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42320-4, published online 22 December 2023.The author correction has been noted on the original BURA record at https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/28104 .Correction to: Nature Communicationshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42320-4, published online 22 December 2023 The original version of this article omitted three members of the COVID-CNS Consortium. Alex Berry and Obioma Orazulume, who are from the ‘University College London, London, UK’, and Ian Galea, who is from the ‘University of Southampton, Southampton, UK’ were added to the list of COVID-CNS Consortium members. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article
From ugly to attractive: Leveraging anthropomorphism to increase demand for irregular-appearing produce
No full textData Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Recognizing that the waste of imperfect produce contributes to the global environmental crisis, the authors conduct three studies examining whether retailers can use anthropomorphizing marketing techniques to make irregular-appearing produce more attractive and increase purchase intentions. Based on the exemplar model theory, Study 1 shows that when retailers place googly eyes on pictures of irregular-appearing produce, consumers judge the product according to multiple exemplars as they do when they evaluate humans. The multiple esthetic cues cause them to perceive irregular produce as more attractive. Study 2 replicates Study 1 by using human names as the anthropomorphic cues, demonstrating that anthropomorphism can increase purchase intentions toward irregular-appearing produce. Study 3 further shows that the anthropomorphism effects hold for irregular-appearing produce from corporate farms and not from local farms. The differences occur because consumers expect corporate farms to conform to standardized esthetic norms but expect local farms to market irregular-appearing produce. When expectations are aligned, anthropomorphism is more likely to cause consumers to diversify esthetic cues, but not when expectations are disassociated. The article concludes with suggestions for promotion strategies that use anthropomorphizing to change attitudes and increase purchase intentions toward irregular-appearing produce
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