This study aims to extend the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to explain people's intentions to engage in energy savings and carbon reduction behaviors that can help mitigate climate change in ...Taiwan. People's moral obligation to perform such pro-environmental behaviors is further considered in the TPB model. The results indicate that the extended TPB model including moral obligation can increase the explanatory power of the original one. In addition to one's attitudes and subjective norm, one's moral obligation to reduce impact on global warming and climate change plays a significant role in predicting one's intentions to engage in energy savings and carbon reduction behaviors to mitigate climate change problems.
•The extended TPB model including moral obligation increases explanatory power.•One's moral obligation plays a significant role in predicting one's intentions.•The strong prediction power of one's moral obligation may weaken or eliminate the impact of one's perceived behavioral control.
The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causing an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei province of China was isolated in January 2020. This study aims to investigate its epidemiologic history, and ...analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment regimens, and prognosis of patients infected with 2019-nCoV during this outbreak.
Clinical data from 137 2019-nCoV-infected patients admitted to the respiratory departments of nine tertiary hospitals in Hubei province from December 30, 2019 to January 24, 2020 were retrospectively collected, including general status, clinical manifestations, laboratory test results, imaging characteristics, and treatment regimens.
None of the 137 patients (61 males, 76 females, aged 20-83 years, median age 57 years) had a definite history of exposure to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Major initial symptoms included fever (112/137, 81.8%), coughing (66/137, 48.2%), and muscle pain or fatigue (44/137, 32.1%), with other, less typical initial symptoms observed at low frequency, including heart palpitations, diarrhea, and headache. Nearly 80% of the patients had normal or decreased white blood cell counts, and 72.3% (99/137) had lymphocytopenia. Lung involvement was present in all cases, with most chest computed tomography scans showing lesions in multiple lung lobes, some of which were dense; ground-glass opacity co-existed with consolidation shadows or cord-like shadows. Given the lack of effective drugs, treatment focused on symptomatic and respiratory support. Immunoglobulin G was delivered to some critically ill patients according to their conditions. Systemic corticosteroid treatment did not show significant benefits. Notably, early respiratory support facilitated disease recovery and improved prognosis. The risk of death was primarily associated with age, underlying chronic diseases, and median interval from the appearance of initial symptoms to dyspnea.
The majority of patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia present with fever as the first symptom, and most of them still showed typical manifestations of viral pneumonia on chest imaging. Middle-aged and elderly patients with underlying comorbidities are susceptible to respiratory failure and may have a poorer prognosis.
This study sought to elucidate the antecedents that may influence the effect of people's purchase behavior on the Earth's sustainable development. It included people's perceived moral obligation and ...sustainability self‐identity in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to investigate attitudes among the Taiwanese public's attitude toward purchasing sustainability‐labeled coffee and their purchase intentions. The moderating effect of climate change skepticism is also considered in this study. A total of 745 nationwide and self‐reported questionnaire valid data was collected in Taiwan. Hierarchical and moderated regression analysis results indicated that the components of the TPB model had positive influences on the public's purchase intention. The public's perceived moral obligation and sustainability self‐identity, proposed for inclusion in the TPB model, had significant and positive influences on purchase intention. The extended TPB model has higher explanatory power than that of the original model. The positive relationship between sustainability self‐identity and intention to purchase sustainability‐labeled coffee was moderated by climate change skepticism. This study provides marketers and the players in the supply chain with a comprehensive framework for understanding the influence of perceived moral obligation and sustainability self‐identity on purchase intention toward sustainability‐labeled products. In addition, this study responds to a call for a more thorough investigation of the effect of people's skepticism about climate change in the context of ethical and sustainable consumption decision‐making processes.
This study aims to develop an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) research model which includes environmental concern and perceived moral obligation to predict consumers’ intention to visit ...green hotels. A total of 559 respondents collected in Taiwan as data input. The empirical results of structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that consumers’ environmental concern indeed exert a positive influence on their attitude toward green hotels, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (i.e., the antecedents of the TPB model) as well as their perceived moral obligation, which in turn influence their intention to visit green hotels as expected. The results obtained from this empirical study verify that the extended TPB model has a good explanatory power. The implications of the research findings and suggestions for the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration and the hotel accommodation industry to increase the popularity of green hotels choice are included in the study.
This study ascertained whether self-efficacy and collective efficacy in the cognitive theory of stress model explains people's self-reported proenvironmental behavior more effectively separately or ...in combination. A questionnaire study was conducted among 707 Taiwanese respondents. The results of structural equation modeling analysis corroborated previous findings that the cognitive theory of stress model can be applied to environmental problems to effectively explain people's self-reported proenvironmental behavior. Moreover, compared with self-efficacy, collective efficacy is a stronger predictor of people's problem-focused coping and self-reported proenvironmental behavior for respondents in this collectivist cultures; failing to include collective efficacy in the cognitive theory of stress model can reduce the power of the model to explain such behavior. The research results regarding the external validation and internal validation of the cognitive theory of stress model were elaborated in this study to more effectively understand people's self-reported proenvironmental behavior.
•This study applied the cognitive theory of stress model to explain people's proenvironmental behavior.•A questionnaire study was conducted among 707 Taiwanese respondents.•Compared to self-efficacy, collective efficacy is a stronger predictor of people's reported proenvironmental behavior.•The intercultural and internal validation of the competing cognitive theory of stress models have been elaborated.
Changes during the weathering of polyolefins Grause, Guido; Chien, Mei-Fang; Inoue, Chihiro
Polymer degradation and stability,
November 2020, 2020-11-00, 20201101, Volume:
181
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•A comprehensive review on the reactions causing degradation during weathering and photo-oxidation.•Norrish reactions cause chain scission, but do not initialize photo-oxidation.•Radicals form in the ...presence of oxygen oxidation products and in the absence cross-links.•Gel formation is often not regarded during the determination of the molecular weight.•A detailed description of the effects of weathering on polymer properties is given.
Polyolefins are subject to chemical changes when they are brought in contact with the environment. In the presence of UV-radiation and oxygen, photo-oxidation causes chain scission and cross-linking in polyethylene and polypropylene. This review provides a detailed presentation of the reactions that take place and their effects on the properties of polymers. In this review, radical formation and Norrish reactions are discussed in depth, along with the formation of peroxides and carbonyl compounds. More than a dozen different types of carbonyl compounds can be observed by FTIR. While Norrish reactions are the main reason for chain scission and molecular weight reduction, the initial step of the photo-oxidation may be related to the formation of O2-polymer charge transfer complexes. Photo-oxidation takes place mainly in the amorphous region of the polymer, and polymers with a high tertiary-carbon content are more affected than those with straight chains. Chain scission occurs only in the presence of oxygen, whereas cross-linking in the absence of oxygen results in gel formation. Weathering conditions include seasonal changes, and the day-and-night cycle has a strong impact on photo-oxidation. The chemical changes occurring during weathering influence crystallinity and the mechanical properties of polyolefins. Most of the fundamental work in this field was published more than 30 years ago. It is necessary for the results of these early studies to be verified by methodologies developed in recent years.
With the continuing impact of the aging population, medical-elderly care integrated institutions, as a way to bear the pressure of medical and elderly care, effectively ensure the quality of life of ...the elderly in their later years.
To explore the preferences of medical-elderly care integrated institutions among Chinese middle-aged and older people and to provide a reference for establishing elderly-oriented development of medical-elderly care integrated institutions.
In this study, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to investigate the preferences of people aged 45 years and older in medical-elderly care integrated institutions in China from October 20, 2022, to November 10, 2022. A mixed logit regression model was used to analyze the DCE data. Participants' willingness to pay for each attribute was also calculated.
Data from 420 participants who provided valid responses were included in the analysis. In terms of the choice preference, moderate service quality (vs. poor service quality: β = 1.707, p < 0.001, 95% CI 1.343 ~ 2.071) and high medical technology level (vs. low medical technology level: β = 1.535, p < 0.001, 95% CI 1.240 ~ 1.830) were the most important attributes to middle-aged and older people, followed by monthly cost, environmental facilities, the convenience of transportation, and entertainment activities. Regarding the willingness to pay, participants were more willing to pay for service quality and medical technology level than for other attributes. They were willing to pay $3156 and $2838 more for "poor service quality" and "low medical technology level," respectively, to receive "moderate service quality " (p = 0.007, 95% CI 963 ~ 5349) and "high medical technology level" (p = 0.005, 95% CI 852 ~ 4824).
The state should attach great importance to the development of medical-elderly care integrated services industry, actively optimize the model of the medical-elderly care integrated service, improve the facilities, and create a healthy environment. At the same time, give full play to the role of medical insurance, long-term care insurance, and commercial insurance, so as to improve the comprehensive quality of life of the elderly.
The design of the experimental selection was guided by 10 experts in the field, 5 Chinese government officials, and interviews and focus group discussions, without whose participation this study would not have been possible.
•Recent food additives safety scandals in Taiwan have caused the public’s panic.•A questionnaire study was conducted among 487 Taiwanese respondents.•The extended TPB model has higher explanatory ...power than the original model.•Food additives scandal news attention and perceived credibility are determinants.•Perceived food additives risk plays a crucial role in intention to take precautions.
Recent food safety scandals in Taiwan have caused panic among the Taiwanese public and have become a primary concern because foods were discovered containing a dangerous amount of illegal additives. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) model is extremely useful for predicting people’s food choices and consumption habits. This study included an examination of the public attention to and perceived credibility of mass media food safety information and the perceived risk as background factors in the extended TPB model to predict public intention to take precautions to avoid consuming foods with additives. The empirical results of structural equation modeling analysis with 487 useful samples revealed that the extended TPB model has an increased explanatory power relative to the original model regarding the intention of the public in Taiwan to take precautions to avoid consuming foods that contain additives. In addition to attitudes toward and perceived behavioral control of the consumption of food with additives, the impact of risk perceptions plays an important role in determining an individual’s intention to take precautions to avoid consuming foods that contain additives. The attention of an individual to food additive scandal news and their perceived risk determine their attitude toward consuming food with additives. An individual’s perceived risk of consuming food with additives was determined through the attention paid to food additive scandal news and the perceived credibility of such news.
In this study, perceived moral obligations were included in the protection motivation theory (PMT) model to explain people’s intentions to participate in climate change mitigation behaviors. ...Empirical data and structural equation modeling results of a nationwide cross-sectional survey in Taiwan confirmed the higher explanatory power of the moral extension PMT model than that of the original PMT model. As expected, threat and coping appraisal of climate change affect protection motivation. In addition, perceived moral obligation affects protection motivation. This protection motivation enhances the intention to participate in climate change mitigation behaviors. The mediation effect of protection motivation was also verified in the moral extension PMT model. Practical implications and suggestions are proposed for the government and related authorities as well as environmental groups to encourage people to participate in climate change mitigation behaviors.
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•Strategies to adjust charge dynamics of semiconductor heterostructures are reviewed.•Precise manipulation of charge transfer dynamics is still a grand challenge.•Insights into future ...advancement of photocatalysis technology are summarized.
As a topic of intensive research interest for decades, photocatalysis using semiconductor heterostructures holds the potential to satisfy global energy demand, reduce greenhouse effect and accomplish environmental remediation. This burgeoning technology has quickly become a high-profile emerging scientific and technological field, providing a solution to achieving sustainable development of renewables. However, critical challenges, such as inadequate solar photons absorption, mediocre charge transfer dynamics, poor surface reaction kinetics and lack of long-term stability, have hindered the widespread deployment of semiconductor photocatalysts. Interfacial charge dynamics is particularly relevant to the utility of photocatalysis because it dictates charge transfer and carrier utilization, the two complicated yet key processes involved in the photocatalytic reactions. The means to modulating charge dynamics and even manipulating carrier behavior may pave a new avenue for intelligent design of versatile photocatalysts for advanced applications. This review introduces the recent development on conceptual strategies and experimental approaches that can be exploited to modulating charge dynamics of semiconductor heterostructures for maximizing carrier utilization efficiency. New insights into the future advancement of photocatalysis technology based on the adoption of the proposed tactics are also discussed and summarized.
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