Search Results (148)

The purpose of this study was to analyze the sensitivity of polyethylene stresses and strains, as proxies for wear and surface damage, to coronal and axial misalignment for a novel lumbar total joint replacement (LTJR) implanted at L5-S1. We hypothesized that these stresses and strains would remain below the levels associated with worst-case impingement in a spine wear simulator. A finite element model (FEM) of the L4-S1 spine was developed using CT-based anatomy from a representative Investigational Device Exemption study patient. An appropriately sized LTJR was virtually implanted at L5-S1 in a standardized baseline orientation, and component positioning was altered to achieve eight independent misalignment scenarios, spanning axial convergence angle, anterior–posterior offset, and coronal tilt. Physiologic forward-bending loads were applied, and polyethylene contact pressure, von Mises stress, and effective strain were recorded. Peak values for the baseline scenario were 35.0 MPa, 19.9 MPa, and 4.8%, respectively. Convergence angle and anterior–posterior offset had minimal effect, whereas coronal tilt produced the largest changes. Contact pressure and von Mises stress varied by <20% due to misalignment, whereas effective strain was more sensitive, increasing from 4.8% at baseline to 9.9% with 20 degrees of coronal tilt. All values were comparable to prior L4-L5 findings and remained well below impingement levels. Within the bounds of reasonable misalignment, the device maintained bearing congruency and did not approach conditions associated with accelerated wear. Full article

This study examines how social media platform environments influence adolescent consumer replication behavior specifically within sports content, athletic apparel, and active lifestyles through psychological engagement mechanisms, including parasocial interaction, self-congruence, and perceived source credibility. Drawing on media ecology theory and platform affordance perspectives, the study compares users of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. To better capture the complex structural mechanics across platforms, the investigation is guided by empirical research questions rather than simple linear hypotheses. Data were collected from 402 high school students in South Korea who had experience with influencer-based social media content. Respondents were categorized based on their primary platform of engagement. The dataset was analyzed using independent-samples t-tests and Welch’s ANOVA with Games–Howell post-hoc tests to examine differences across gender and platform groups. The results indicate significant gender differences in psychological engagement and behavioral outcomes, with female adolescents showing higher levels of parasocial interaction, self-congruence, and consumer replication behavior than male adolescents. Platform-based comparisons further reveal significant differences across user groups. TikTok users reported higher levels of parasocial interaction, self-congruence, source credibility, and consumer replication behavior compared to Instagram users, while differences between TikTok and YouTube users were observed primarily in consumer replication behavior. Although TikTok users demonstrated the highest mean values across several constructs, the relatively small sample size of this group should be considered when interpreting the robustness of platform-level differences. Overall, the findings suggest that platform affordances shape adolescent psychological engagement and subsequent consumer imitation behaviors beyond mere exposure intensity. This study contributes to social media and behavioral science literature by highlighting how platform-specific environments structure psychological engagement and influence consumer replication processes among adolescent users. Full article

Background/Objectives: Primary health care (PHC) utilization in rural communities may depend not only on service availability but also on residents’ knowledge of available services, beliefs about service providers, and expectations regarding the value of care. This analytical cross-sectional study examined factors associated with PHC utilization among adults in the catchment areas of subdistrict health promoting hospitals (SHPHs) in Roi Et Province, Northeastern Thailand. Methods: Using multistage sampling, 10 districts, 20 subdistricts, and 20 villages were selected, followed by convenience recruitment of eligible adults within the sampled villages. A total of 461 participants completed a structured questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics, perception, attitudes, expectations, and PHC utilization. Content validity was supported by Index of Item–Objective Congruence values of 0.67 to 1.00, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.97 to 0.98. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multivariable linear regression. Results: Participants were predominantly female (65.08%), with a mean age of 49.90 years (SD = 15.23). Using predefined equal-width score intervals, perception was classified as moderate (M = 3.59, SD = 0.36), attitudes as positive (M = 3.91, SD = 0.50), expectations as high (M = 4.18, SD = 0.47), and PHC utilization as high (M = 4.13, SD = 0.53). Relatively higher expectation (β = 0.388, p < 0.001), attitude (β = 0.279, p < 0.001), and perception scores (β = 0.149, p < 0.001) were independently associated with greater overall PHC utilization. The adjusted analysis included 446 participants and explained 46.8% of the variance in PHC utilization (R² = 0.468; adjusted R² = 0.453; overall model p < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings identify residents’ service-related knowledge, beliefs, and anticipated value as factors associated with PHC utilization and as potential areas for further evaluation in communication and service-improvement initiatives. However, causal direction cannot be established, and the findings should not be generalized beyond the sampled communities in Roi Et Province without further research. Full article

Thermomagnetic-fraction geochemistry has shown promise beneath transported cover, but area-scale applications rarely combine explicit element-association analysis, statistical robustness tests and transparent target prioritization. We evaluate this workflow in the largely covered Jing’erquan Ni-Cu metallogenic area using 985 soil samples collected over approximately 140 km² at an average spacing of about 300 m (7.0 samples km⁻²). After removal of pre-existing strongly magnetic grains, 100 g aliquots were heated under oxygen-limited conditions at 650 °C for 45 min, and the newly generated magnetic fraction was separated at an instrument-current setting of 1 A. Twelve indicators were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis (PCA), spatial clustering and a three-term composite score. Four rotated factors explain 75.1% of the variance; Cr and Ni load at 0.95 on F2, while TFe₂O₃, Zn, Co and Cu covary on F1. Pearson–Spearman matrix agreement (r = 0.990), winsorized-versus-original Pearson agreement (r = 0.999), and PCA factor-congruence coefficients (>0.998) show that the principal associations are not controlled by the largest Cu, Ni or Cr values. Alternative composite weights retain all eight named follow-up targets, although internal ranking changes when Cu is emphasized. Among them, JQ-1–JQ-4 are assigned high follow-up priority by the expert-informed score. The coincidence of JQ-1 with the known Jing’erquan Ni-Cu mining area provides an internal plausibility check for the workflow, whereas JQ-2–JQ-8 remain unverified follow-up targets. These results show that the thermomagnetic-fraction dataset delineates multielement surface geochemical anomalies in covered terrain and can serve as a complementary screening tool for subsequent Ni-Cu exploration. Full article

This study synthesises evidence on whether, why, and under what conditions digital technologies improve resource efficiency across multi-tier global value chains (GVCs) and examines the theoretical adequacy of dominant explanatory lenses. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, we searched Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and ProQuest, retaining 150 articles for qualitative synthesis and 137 for bibliometric science-mapping; themes were developed via multi-cycle coding and triangulated with co-citation and keyword co-occurrence networks. Reported efficiency gains are strongest when firms deploy integrated digital stacks combining IoT sensing, AI analytics, blockchain traceability, and digital twins that jointly enable visibility, verification, and simulation-based optimisation, a pattern based predominantly on observational and cross-sectional evidence. Outcomes are contingent on cross-firm capability complementarities, data-governance arrangements, regulatory congruence, and cyber-risk maturity. A key structural finding is the digital-regionalisation paradox: stringent data-compliance demands can re-anchor sourcing within regulatory blocs, concentrating rather than extending GVC geography. Building on these findings, we propose three theoretical extensions, namely ecosystemic capability bundling, digital-sustainability spillovers, and distributed eco-innovation, that advance Transaction Cost Economics, the Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities, and GVC governance theories to better account for the sustainability and platform dimensions of contemporary digitalised value chains. Full article

This study investigates asymmetric consumer responses to recycled thermoplastics, with a focus on the roles of eco-consciousness, sustainability knowledge, perceived concerns, trust, and value congruence. Using survey data from Hungarian consumers, the study applies linear and binary logistic regression analyses to examine how these factors influence brand perception, willingness to pay, and communication preferences. The results show that economic concerns act as a dominant barrier, significantly reducing both brand evaluations and willingness to pay, while functional concerns play a more limited role. Trust in sustainability communication and positive brand perception emerge as strong predictors of willingness to pay, with brand perception showing a stronger effect. Eco-consciousness consistently influences consumer responses, whereas sustainability knowledge demonstrates more selective and context-dependent effects. In addition, consumers show a clear preference for credible, evidence-based communication, while informal and promotional signals are less effective. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of reducing perceived risk, strengthening brand perception, and aligning sustainability communication with consumer expectations to support the adoption of recycled thermoplastics in the automotive industry. Full article

Person–Environment Fit Theory explains organizational match in beliefs and values influences employee satisfaction and motivation in the workplace. Automated systems [e.g., artificial intelligence (AI)] and advanced technology have been integrated into business operations to compete in the digital era. However, how employee technology orientation and individual differences influence workplace preferences is underexplored. This study advances how organizations can strategically attract talent aligned with their technological infrastructure and work design. Parallel mediation path analysis was conducted on a surveyed U.S. convenience sample (SPSS PROCESS Model 4; N = 912). Technology adaptability was positively associated with preference for a job role highlighting working with automated systems relative to emphasizing supportive coworkers. Technology adaptability related to a greater need to belong and job satisfaction (as parallel mediators) and thereby less preference for a role working with automated systems (i.e., preference for a supportive coworkers job ad). The findings reveal that job ads promoting automated systems do not unilaterally attract tech-adaptive employees. Belonging needs and job satisfaction can function as psychological factors that redirect tech-savvy workers towards socially enriched roles. Proactively advertising social belonging and job satisfaction cues alongside advanced technology use could more comprehensively appeal to tech-adaptive job seekers. This can signal a better value congruence between an organization and these job seekers. Full article

(1) Background: The rapid spatial expansion of the ruderal weed Chenopodium hybridum L. poses a potential challenge to agricultural production and regional ecosystems in China. However, the spatial evolution characteristics of its potential geographic distribution remain unclear under the compound scenarios of global warming and intensified human activities. (2) Methods: Utilizing an optimized MaxEnt model (regularization multiplier (RM) = 0.5, feature combination (FC) = LQ), this study integrated bioclimatic, topographic, soil, and Human Footprint (Hfp) data to predict the potential suitable habitats of C. hybridum in China under current conditions and four future Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) emission scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585) for the 2050s and 2070s. Additionally, spatial turnover rate and centroid migration analyses were incorporated to elucidate its spatiotemporal dynamics. (3) Results: The results indicate that the optimized model exhibited robust predictive performance (Area Under the Curve (AUC) = 0.928). The Human Footprint (Hfp) was the environmental factor most prominently associated with the macro-spatial distribution of C. hybridum, with a relative contribution of 58.4%—significantly higher than any single natural geographic factor. Currently, potential suitable habitats are primarily concentrated in North, Central, and Southwest China, totaling approximately 205.59 × 10⁴ km². Under future climate scenarios, the highly suitable core habitats exhibit a consistent contraction trend, whereas the marginal suitable habitats shift spatially toward the arid inland regions of the northwest and the high-altitude areas of the southwest. By the 2070s under the higher-emission scenario (SSP585), the spatial turnover rate reaches a peak value (16.23%), and the distributional centroids of the potential suitable habitats exhibit localized directional shifts. (4) Conclusions: The spatial expansion trajectory of C. hybridum exhibits a high degree of spatial congruence with human activity corridors, reflecting a distinct macro-ecological niche spatial response characterized by shifts toward higher latitudes and elevations. It must be emphasized that the projections of this study reflect potential habitat suitability rather than definitive future actual distributions. The three-tier spatial management framework proposed herein—encompassing transport regulation, ecological management in core areas, and early warning in marginal zones—can serve as a scientific basis for the early monitoring and spatial management of this species under climate change. Full article

Against the backdrop of global warming and China’s Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals, this study focuses on carbon footprint rating information on packaging, addressing the gap between consumer cognition and behavior in food consumption caused by invisibility of carbon emissions. This study integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), designed a “letter-plus-color” dual-coded carbon footprint label as the experimental stimulus, and conducted a survey of 581 respondents across China’s four major regions using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control all positively predict purchase attitudes. Among these, perceived behavioral control also independently predicts actual purchase behavior. Multigroup analysis further reveals that household purchasing responsibility moderates the “attitude → intention” relationship: purchasing decision-makers engage in realistic trade-offs, whereas non-purchasing decision-makers are driven by value congruence.Theoretically, this study deepens our understanding of cognitive intervention mechanisms of carbon footprint labels and expands explanatory power of the TPB-TAM model in low-carbon contexts. From a practical perspective, this study provides guidance for governments in designing targeted labeling policies and for companies in developing packaging that aligns with cognitive principles. Full article

Urban emergency shelters constitute essential spatial elements within the framework of urban disaster prevention and mitigation. Addressing the shortcomings of existing evaluation methods, which often overlook the relationship between shelters and their served populations, this study utilizes Xi’an as a case study to develop a resilience assessment model that integrates supporting facilities, operational efficiency, and safety performance. To link this model to the served population, the research incorporates the service population pressure index and employs the Gini coefficient alongside the Lorenz curve to assess the congruence between shelter resilience and population distribution. Moreover, the introduction of the intervention priority index and population vulnerability index facilitates a comprehensive determination of shelter intervention priorities. The results reveal that emergency shelters in Xi’an display a spatial pattern characterized by a “single core with multiple centers,” with higher resilience levels, service pressures, and intervention priorities concentrated in the central urban area and lower values observed in peripheral zones. Additionally, a significant spatial mismatch is identified between shelter resilience and population service demands. Despite relying on static population data and not accounting for the effects of population migration, the evaluation framework presented in this study offers a transferable methodological reference for the comprehensive evaluation of shelters in densely populated urban areas, contributing to sustainable urban development. Full article

We construct positional numeral systems that work natively over nonderived polyadic $\left(m,n\right)$-rings whose addition takes m arguments and multiplication takes n. In such rings, the length of an admissible additive word and a multiplicative tower are not arbitrary (as in the binary case) but “quantized”. Our main contributions are the following. Existence: Every commutative $\left(m,n\right)$-ring admits a base-p place–value expansion that respects the word length constraint in terms of numbers of operation compositions ${\ell }_{mult}={\ell }_{add}(m-1)+1$. Lower bound: The minimum number of digits is greater than or equal to the arity of addition m. Representability gap: For $m,n\ge 3$ only a proper subset of ring elements possesses finite expansions, characterized by congruence-class arity shape invariants $I^{\left(m\right)}$ and $J^{\left(n\right)}$. Mixed-base “polyadic clocks”: Allowing a different base at each position enlarges the design space quadratically in the digit count. Catalogs: Explicit tables for the integer rings ${\mathbb{Z}}_{4,3}$ and ${\mathbb{Z}}_{6,5}$ illustrate how ordinary integers lift to distinct polyadic variables. These results lay the groundwork for faster arity-aware arithmetic, exotic coding schemes, and hardware that exploits operations beyond the binary pair. Full article

A graph-theoretical approach to the analysis of motion and rest in many-body systems is developed. Point bodies are represented as vertices of a complete bi-colored graph, termed the motion–rest graph (MRG). Two vertices are connected by a rust-colored edge when the corresponding bodies are at rest relative to each other; that is, when their mutual distance remains constant in time, bodies moving relative to each other are connected by a cyan edge. It is shown that the logical structure of the relation “to be at rest relative to each other” determines the combinatorial structure of the graph. For one-dimensional motion in classical mechanics and special relativity, this relation is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive, and therefore defines an equivalence relation. As a result, rust edges form disjoint complete cliques corresponding to rest-clusters, and the MRG becomes a semi-transitive complete bi-colored graph that is completely determined by the partition of the bodies into equivalence classes. It is proven that any such graph on five vertices necessarily contains a monochromatic triangle. For two- and three-dimensional motion, the transitivity of relative rest generally fails because constant mutual distance does not imply an equality of velocities in the presence of rotational degrees of freedom. In this case, the MRG is non-transitive, and the Ramsey threshold becomes the classical value R(3, 3) = 6. The approach is extended to mixed sets containing moving bodies and reference points, including the center of mass of the system. Generalizations to general relativity and quantum mechanics are also discussed. In general relativity, transitivity of relative rest is generically lost because global rigid congruences do not generally exist. In quantum mechanics, exact transitivity survives only at the level of idealized delocalized eigenstates, whereas for physically realizable localized states, the notion of mutual rest becomes only approximate. The results demonstrate that the interplay between kinematics, logical properties of relational motion, and Ramsey-type combinatorial constraints gives rise to unavoidable ordered substructures in many-body systems. Full article

Interactive digital commerce environments increasingly rely on influencers as algorithmically amplified intermediaries between brands and consumers. However, the process through which influencer attributes translate into brand trust remains theoretically underdeveloped. Drawing on Social Influence Theory and Source Credibility Theory, this study develops a process-based model in which consumer engagement operates as a psychological mechanism linking influencer characteristics, namely credibility, brand alignment, interactivity, and authenticity, to brand trust. Using survey data from 400 active social media users in Lebanon and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the findings reveal that all four influencer attributes significantly enhance consumer engagement, which in turn strongly predicts brand trust. Influencer–brand alignment emerges as the strongest driver of engagement, suggesting that value congruence functions as a heuristic cue in interactive digital commerce contexts. By conceptualizing engagement as a trust-internalization mechanism within platform-mediated environments, this study advances electronic commerce theory and provides context-sensitive insight into digital trust formation in emerging markets. Full article

Sustaining employees’ work engagement remains a critical challenge for contemporary organizations, particularly in contexts marked by increasing complexity and changing job demands. Despite extensive attention to engagement, less is known about how leadership behaviors contribute to engagement through employees’ perceptions of it with their organization. Drawing on fit theory, the present study examines the relationship between leadership behaviors and work engagement, focusing on the role of person–organization fit. To this end, the current paper presents a theoretical model positing value congruence (a core element of person–organization fit) as a key factor in mediating the positive relationship between the perceptions of leadership behaviors and work engagement. To test this assertion, a two-wave study using a final sample of 143 employees from a food industry company was designed. Results from structural equation modelling (SEM) supported the hypothesized model, such that, over time, the perceptions of leadership behaviors were associated with higher value congruence, which, in turn, was associated with higher work engagement. In addition, value congruence fully mediated the relationship between the perceptions of leadership behaviors and work engagement, even after controlling for the effect of gender, age, and organizational tenure. Practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Full article

This study identifies the psychological factors that influence consumers’ pre-order decisions and the underlying mechanism. Building on the literature on value congruence in consumer behavior and cognitive consistency theory, we examine how value congruence affects information-seeking engagement and pre-order intentions in the context of information technology (IT) products. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we find that when consumers perceive value congruence with IT products, they are more likely to seek additional product information, which in turn increases their pre-order intentions. Contrary to prior research that has primarily focused on the operational factors or consumers’ individual aspects in pre-order decisions, our study highlights the importance of value alignment between consumers and products in affecting pre-order decisions. Given the increasing prevalence of IT product pre-order phenomenon in e-commerce, this study contributes to the literature on pre-ordering behavior and consumer judgment and decision-making. It also provides valuable insights for effectively promoting and developing pre-order strategies when launching new products. Full article