A new approach to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) Blattodea: Isoptera) for laboratory bioassays

Behavioral lab bioassays involving termites must be promptly performed to allow intended observations prior to death from dissecation, typical of these soft-bodied insects. To this end, topic markers have been proposed as an alternative to histological stains which, while not always toxic are inevitably lengthy to apply. Among recommended topic markers, gouache is easy to apply, dries out quickly, but it is known affect termites in the long run, being suitable only to short-term bioassays. Its alternative, colored glue, is also easy to apply, but it takes long to dry and it is too dense and heavy, being thus prone to affect termite walking patterns. Here we tested a mix of gouache and colored glue aiming to combine the qualities of both into a suitable topical marker for Cornitermes cumulans termites. Similar patterns of survival presented by marked and unmarked termites ruled out concerns about toxicity of this mixture. Such results were consistent across distinct group densities evidencing that the mixture does not interfere with, nor it is affected by, crowding effects. Because crowding regulates interindividual interactions and these underlie most behaviors, the mixture can be thought to be suitable to behavioral studies. We argue that this 1:2 glue:gouache mixture is an excellent alternative to mark termites for lab bioassays. Being atoxic, cheap, easy to apply, and non-invasive, this mixture may happen to be useful not only for termites but also in bioassaying other similarly soft-bodied insects.

Turbine recommender: The selection of wind turbine type using one of a machine learning technique

This study aims to utilize the machine learning technique to build a model to recommend the suitable wind turbine type based on some variables, such as air speed and air density, as well as visualize the location of the recommended wind turbine selection on a 3D map. Particularly, we applied the K-nearest neighbor model (KNN) to determine the amount of energy produced by a single wind turbine. We applied it on 10 separate wind farms in Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the model performs very well in predicting the best wind turbine type with the mean accuracy of 88%, where ten wind stations resulted from the optimized model with the suggested turbine type in each station. Adding more wind attributes and other factors may assist in increasing the model mean accuracy. The project’s findings will assist decision-makers in Saudi Arabia to make informed decisions as to what kind of wind turbine is suitable for a specific location. In the long run, this will help to make wind energy-a sustainable source of energy-one of the main goals of the 2030 vision, specifically under National Industrial Development and Logistics Program.

Revisiting expectation confirmation model to measure the effectiveness of multichannel bank services for elderly consumers

PurposeThis study aims to understand the expectations of elderly bank customers with mobile banking services and to measure its impact on their long-term satisfaction and continued intention. The study is based on two theories, expectations-confirmation theory (ECT) and hedonic adaptation theory.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered longitudinal survey was completed with a sample of 208 elder customers who do not use mobile banking services. Latent growth curve modelling approach was used to determine the change in their post-adoption experience over four time points.FindingsResults of the study confirm that the use of mobile banking services prolongs the duration of customer satisfaction and continued intention level, post-adoption, reinforcing the hedonic adaptation theory.Research limitations/implicationsMobile banking services are going to be a significant component of the multichannel banking agenda. But it might be interesting to review other digital channels of banking services. The key contribution of this study is that it measures the expectation-confirmation link of elderly customers with mobile banking services. The study sheds light on factors that positively influence customer inclination and adoption of multichannel banking services in the long run, which is important for the commercial success of such channels.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the importance of elder customers' pre-expectations, related dimensions which are important for post-adoption experiences of mobile banking services to improve customers' satisfaction and continued intention in the long run. This is crucial for the commercial success of banks.Originality/valueThis is the first such study that used the expectation confirmation model (ECT) and related it with hedonic adaptation theory to assess elderly customer's post-adoption satisfaction and continued usage of mobile banking services over time.

Sustainability assessment of crops' production in India: empirical evidence from ARDL-ECM approach

PurposeThe study aims to evaluate the long- vs short-run relationships between crops' production (output) and crops' significant inputs such as land use, agricultural water use (AWU) and gross irrigated area in India during the period 1981–2018.Design/methodology/approachThe study applied the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to estimate the co-integration among the variables. The study uses the error correction model (ECM), which integrates the short-run dynamics with the long-run equilibrium.FindingsThe ARDL bounds test of co-integration confirms the strong evidence of the long-run relationship among the variables. Empirical results show the positive and significant relationship of crops' production with land use and gross irrigated area. The statistically significant error correction term (ECT) validates the speed of adjustment of the empirical models in the long-run.Research limitations/implicationsThe study suggests that the decision-makers must understand potential trade-offs between human needs and environmental impacts to ensure food for the growing population in India.Originality/valueFor a clear insight into the impact of climate change on crops' production, the current study incorporates the climate variables such as annual rainfall, maximum temperature and minimum temperature. Further, the study considered agro-chemicals, i.e. fertilizers and pesticides, concerning their negative impacts on increased agricultural production and the environment.

The Moderation of Human Characteristics in the Control Mechanisms of Rumours in Social Media: The Case of Food Rumours in China

Social networks are widely used as a fast and ubiquitous information-sharing medium. The mass spread of food rumours has seriously invaded public’s healthy life and impacted food production. It can be argued that the government, companies, and the media have the responsibility to send true anti-rumour messages to reduce panic, and the risks involved in different forms of communication to the public have not been properly assessed. The manuscript develops an empirical analysis model from 683 food anti-rumour cases and 7,967 data of the users with top comments to test the influence of the strength of rumour/anti-rumour on rumour control. Furthermore, dividing the users into three categories, Leaders, Chatters, and General Public, and study the influence of human characteristics on the relationship between the strength of rumour/anti-rumour and rumour control by considering the different human characteristics as moderator variables. The results showed that anti-rumours have a significant positive impact on the control of rumours; the ambiguity of rumours has a significant negative impact on the Positive Comment Index (PCI) in rumour control. Further, the Leaders increased the overall level of PCI, but negatively adjusted the relationship between evidence and PCI; the Chatters and the General Public reduced the overall level of PCI, and Chatters weakened the relationship between the specific type of anti-rumour form and PCI while the General Public enhanced the relationship between the specific type of anti-rumour form and PCI. In the long run, the role of Leaders needs to be further improved, and the importance of the General Public is growing in the food rumour control process.

Strategic Alliance Pattern Evaluation Model for Taiwan’s Machine Tool Industry: A Hierarchical DEMATEL Method

The worldwide machine tool market is anticipated to reach a value of USD 68.9 billion by 2021, from USD 65.6 billion in 2020. This projection is based on the progressive production drop within the car industry, which is the largest customer of machine devices, and supply chain disruption. The machine tool industry in Taiwan faces a severe challenge and has been unobtrusively experiencing an inner reshuffling and innovative transformation. The developing strategic alliances reflect a basic endeavor by numerous firms to improve their specialized capabilities. This study applied the DEMATEL, a suitable method for gathering group knowledge to form a structural model and visualize the casual relationship between subsystems through a casual diagram, revealing that the causal relationships between measurement criteria and the proposed model can provide a viable assessment of the alliance with satisfactory criteria that fit the decision-makers requirements, especially when the assessment criteria are various and interrelated. Financial resources were the strongest factor within the strategic behavior dimension (D1), whereas the minimize manufacturing cost was the foremost basic determinant in the cost perspective (D2). The specialists also demonstrated that obtaining dominant technology was a determinative component within organizational learning (D3). This paper offers proposals for government authorities to plan a machine tools industry strategy for Taiwan and for companies to formulate business directions for long-run advancement.