Anwen Roberts was heartbroken after finding her cards were sold on Temu without her permission.

Aim/Purpose: To identify positive and negative aspects for learning of interactive tablet technology learning activities that promote student engagement and learning. Background: Engaging students in mathematics classes is an on-going challenge for teachers. In 2008 we were offered the opportunity to run interactive activities with a class set of tablet PCs that had just been released on to the market. Since then, we have run these interactive activities continuously with mathematics classes for computing students, albeit with two changes in hardware. Methodology: In the interactive activities, students submit full worked solutions to various problem types (classified as table, text, open or multi-choice) which can then be displayed to the class anonymously, discussed and annotated by the teacher. We surveyed student and staff perceptions and monitored academic performance. Contribution: We have over 10 years of results, observations, and experience from 2008, when tablet technologies were new and expensive, to the current time, when modern tablets with styli are now affordable. Findings: There was a significant increase in higher grades although pass rates did not increase significantly. Over the ten year period of the study, perceptions of students and staff about how this technology impacted on student learning were consistently positive. The majority of students found all problem types useful for learning even those they rated “too hard” or “too easy”. Benefits included increased feedback, peer learning and engagement. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend using tablet learning activities to engage students and teachers and to contribute to learning. Impact on Society: This study shows how using tablet technologies for interactive classroom activities can enable and enhance known pedagogies of feedback, peer instruction, and student engagement for mathematics classes. Future Research: We recommend extending this study to include larger classes, and other technical subjects that use symbols and diagrams. In addition, we suggest considering control groups.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework that incorporates personal characteristics, social context, and technological features as significant factors that influence the intention of small-city users in China to use mobile health. Background: Mobile health has become an integral part of China’s health management system innovation, the transformation of the health service model, and a necessary government measure for promoting health service parity. However, mobile health has not yet been widely adopted in small cities in China. Methodology: The study utilized a quantitative approach whereby web-based questionnaires were used to collect data from 319 potential users in China using China’s health management system. The data was analyzed using the PLS-SEM (the partial least squares-structural equation modeling) approach. Contribution: This study integrates the protection motivation theory (PMT), which compensates for the limitations of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology theory (UTAUT) and is a re-examination of PMT and UTAUT in a small city context in China. Findings: The findings indicate that attitude and perceived vulnerability in the personal characteristic factors, social influence and facilitating conditions in the social context factors, and performance expectancy in the technological feature factors influence users’ intention to use mobile health in small cities in China. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study provides feasible recommendations for mobile health service providers, medical institutions, and government agencies based on the empirical results. Recommendation for Researchers: As for health behavior, researchers should fully explain the intention of mobile health use in terms of holism and health behavior theory. Impact on Society: This study aims to increase users’ intention to use mobile health in small cities in China and to maximize the social value of mobile health. Future Research: Future research should concentrate on the actual usage behavior of users and simultaneously conduct a series of longitudinal studies, including studies on continued usage behavior, abandonment behavior, and abandoned-and-used behavior.

Understanding of social network structure and user behavior has important implications for site design, applications (e.g., ad placement policies), accurate modeling for social studies, and design of next-generation infrastructure and content distribution systems. Currently, characterizations of social networks have been dominated by topological studies in which graph representations are analyzed in terms of connectivity using techniques such as degree distribution, diameter, average degree, clustering coefficient, average path length, and cycles. The problem is that these parameters are not completely satisfactory in the sense that they cannot account for individual events and have only limited use, since one can produce a set of synthetic graphs that have the exact same metrics or statistics but exhibit fundamentally different connectivity structures. In such an approach, a node drawn as a small circle represents an individual. A small circle reflects a black box model in which the interior of the node is blocked from view. This paper focuses on the node level by considering the structural interiority of a node to provide a more fine-grained understanding of social networks. Node interiors are modeled by use of six generic stages: creation, release, transfer, arrival, acceptance, and processing of the artifacts that flow among and within nodes. The resulting description portrays nodes as comprising mostly creators (e.g., of data), receivers/senders (e.g., bus boys), and processors (re-formatters). Two sample online social networks are analyzed according to these features of nodes. This examination points to the viability of the representational method for characterization of social networks.

Aim/Purpose: Climate change mitigation is a global challenge, in which academia and business have a role to play. This research explores ways to develop a freely-available information system that would enable small businesses to identify and reduce their environmental footprint. Background: While large organizations have the resources to track emissions and other pertinent data, small businesses may not, despite intentions to be more environmentally responsible. Freely available applications to track emissions focus on the carbon footprint of things, whereas activities are a more meaningful unit of analysis for business managers. Methodology: Using a design science research approach, we conducted a study of a collaborative project that investigated how a low-cost, freely-available online wiki could be developed by group of students, under the guidance of university scholars and business owners. In the project, different student groups were tasked to create the wiki, input content and design a dashboard interface for managers to find data relevant to their business. The research takes an information systems view of the project, relying on the holistic notion of activity from activity theory and taking a design science approach to the study. Contribution: The paper contributes to the practices of green information systems, climate change, and small business. Theoretically it provides new insights into the linear view of design science in resource poor, collaborative projects. Findings: The research demonstrates the viability of an online system to track the envi-ronmental footprint of business activities. It reveals the challenges from a design science perspective of attempts to create online systems using freely available products and labor. Recommendations for Practitioners: Meaningful information systems to assist small businesses to manage their environmental footprint should focus on activities not things, be low cost and easy to use. Recommendation for Researchers: Complex nonlinear design science frameworks may be needed to build community-based green information systems projects. Impact on Society: This paper examines the role that university-community partnerships can play in mitigating climate change. Future Research: We should now investigate ways to ensure the viability and sustainability of systems developed by groups of university students.

Aim/Purpose: Professional companies selling persuasive-communication services via the World Wide Web need to be exemplars of effective informing practices. Their credibility is at risk if their websites do not excel in marketing message and use of medium. Their unique brands need to be expressed through website technology and content, or they cannot compete successfully. Background: Compares marketing communication consultants’ websites with expert criteria. Methodology: Content analysis of 40 advertising agency websites. Contribution: Links an evaluation of advertising agency compliance with expert website criteria to established branding constructs. Findings: Most small advertising agencies could improve their brand reputations through better compliance with experts’ recommended website design and content criteria. Recommendations for Practitioners: A hierarchy of recommendations for practitioners is offered, addressing ease and importance. Impact on Society: Clarity and credibility of message and medium improve our ability to practice effective informing. Future Research: Explore online communications of specialized populations such as digital marketing experts.

Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we discuss how a Transdisciplinary (TD) and a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) initiative was conceptualized, developed, implemented, and sustained at a small academic institution with limited research infrastructure, emphasizing the role of capacity building. Background: Most examples of the implementation of TD research come from large-scale initiatives in research-intensive institutions or centers with multiple resources to establish collaborations among experts from different disciplines. However less is known about the implementation of TD and CBPR initiatives in small academic settings. Methodology: This paper includes a discussion of the challenges and lessons learned of this process in a teaching-intensive Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), which included a research component as part of the institutional priorities when it transitioned to a 4-year college in 2001. Contribution: We hope that our experience helps other researchers in similar institutions to engage in this type of research. Findings: In this case, a collaborative TD and CBPR initiative was successfully implemented despite limited resources for capacity building and research infrastructure, as well as diversity among researchers and community members. Recommendation for Researchers: To sustain institutional collaborative capacity in this type of institution, authors recommend continuous capacity building efforts and the development of modules and/or courses to provide formal TD training for junior faculty while encouraging researchers to interact and collaborate. In addition, the importance of the role of the community liaison is highlighted. Impact on Society: Successful TD and CBPR initiatives may have a positive impact on the reduction or elimination of health disparities which involve complex phenomena that requires a broad view from different perspectives. Future Research: Even though capacity building can facilitate the implementation of TD and CBPR, many challenges arise as an inherent result of community engagement and the integration of different disciplines. Thus, the need of continuous reflection to acknowledge them becomes critical for advancing TD and CBPR efforts.

Aim/Purpose: Explores the interrelationships between uncertainty, motivation, and IT readiness when predicting IOS adoption among small businesses. Background: Small business IOS adoption is proportionally low in most countries worldwide. Methodology: Uses a sample of small businesses and PLS structural-equations path modelling approach. Contribution: Uncertainty is an underexplored construct in information systems research, and our research shows that it plays a significant role in IOS adoption among small businesses Findings: The findings support that uncertainty has a negative effect on intent to adopt IOS and that motivation and IT readiness have a positive effect. Recommendation for Researchers: To alleviate uncertainty, an effort to win over small business managers to IOS over the internet must encompass accessible information, security provisions, low-cost product, simple interfaces, and system adaptability to existing provisions in the IOS network. The uncertainty perspective has not been tested extensively empirically, especially not in the context of technology adoption, and needs further investigation. Future Research: Future research could explore the uncertainty construct in the context of IOS among different size businesses

Shuoyan LIU,Chao LI,Yuxin LIU,Yanqiu WANG, Vol.E107-D, No.11, pp.1468-1471
Escalators are an indispensable facility in public places. While they can provide convenience to people, abnormal accidents can lead to serious consequences. Yolo is a function that detects human behavior in real time. However, the model exhibits low accuracy and a high miss rate for small targets. To this end, this paper proposes the Small Target High Performance YOLO (SH-YOLO) model to detect abnormal behavior in escalators. The SH-YOLO model first enhances the backbone network through attention mechanisms. Subsequently, a small target detection layer is incorporated in order to enhance detection of key points for small objects. Finally, the conv and the SPPF are replaced with a Region Dynamic Perception Depth Separable Conv (DR-DP-Conv) and Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP), respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is capable of accurately and robustly detecting anomalies in the real-world escalator scene.
Publication Date: 2024/11/01

Do firms learn from their failed innovation attempts? Answering this question is important because failure is an integral part of exploratory learning. In this study, we explore whether and under what circumstances firms learn from their small failures in experimentation. Building on organizational learning literature, we examine the conditions under which prior failures influence firms' R&D output amount and quality. An empirical analysis of voluntary patent expirations (i.e., patents that firms give up by not paying renewal fees) in 97 pharmaceutical firms between 1980 and 2002 shows that the number, importance, and timing of small failures are associated with a decrease in R&D output (patent count) but an increase in the quality of the R&D output (forward citations to patents). Exploratory interviews suggest that the results are driven by a multi-level learning process from failures in pharmaceutical R&D. The findings contribute to the organizational learning literature by providing a nuanced view of learning from failures in experimentation.

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This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree comes with a strong New England accent, and locals could not be more excited.

Policy-makers and science and industry representatives are discussing how to make large amounts of Earth observation data accessible to a wider user community. To explore this idea, some 250 science, industry and policy-making representatives and national delegates from Europe, the US, Australia, China and Africa met at ESA’s ESRIN centre in Frascati, Italy last week for ESA’s first ‘Big Data from Space’ event.

Representatives from ESA and NASA opened the event together with the European Commission. European Commission Directorates-General for Enterprise and Industry, Research and Innovation and Communications Networks, Content and Technology, along with representatives from the European Environment Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Open Geospatial Consortium acted as session chairs. 

Javier de la Torre, representing the EU BON partner Vizzuality gave a presentation 'Global Deforestation through Timeme: Big Data Meets Scalable Visualizations,' which included some of the work Vizzuality is doing toward the EUBON project.

The event concluded with a strong call by all parties for the ability to handle and use big Earth observing data. This could potentially open new opportunities for research and international cooperation schemes such as programmatic and industrial coordination.

I heard a sermon the other day that was challenging. You know the ones that speak right to you? Ugh, I hate when they do that. The pastor started saying (paraphrased), “Trying to change the big things in your life ultimately fails. It’s very hard to do and it doesn’t work as well as changing the small or insignificant things. You see, small things/ideas/habits that you can effectively change will build up overtime to become one big massive change. We don’t usually see it until we look back throughout our lives and see how much has altered. So today, based on that, I decided to give some practical small things we can alter today that hopefully over time will become life changing.

1. Prayer.

Ooooh... this is a goody. Naturally, every pastor/leader/teacher/parent/theologian wants you to pray more. But when talking with friends and peers, it actually seems everyone does! So why don’t we? Well, to some, prayer can be daunting. What do I say? Is God really listening? All this takes is a small change. For example, commit to praying for 5 mins alone everyday. Doesn’t matter when, just that you can commit to the 5 minutes. Then after a while, go for 10 minutes. Then go from there. If you want to cultivate that prayer life, start small.

2. Reading

The Bible, John Grisham, or Marie Kondo, I don’t care (well the Bible is something you should read, just sayin’). Start small. Maybe a few verses a day, or a chapter. Build that up over time and don’t allow the excuse of “I have no time” to rule you! I did this many years ago. I committed to read my bible daily, which at that point was a miracle. After one month I was hooked. God began speaking clearly through his word and honestly, life got better. Try it. But start small.

3. Food.

Well, here I go hitting a nerve. Mainly in my right heart valve. Losing weight is hard to do. Working out? Hard to do. Unless.... you start…. small. You’re getting it. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Find a buddy to walk with, or when you go out, only order from the kids meal. Having a community that has your best interests at heart makes this easier, so take the small step and get people together to be active, and stay accountable. Start small and grow from there. I mean, not grow as in waistline... you know what I mean.

4. HAVE SOME STINKING FUN

I recently started posting random out of context bible verses on my Instagram (@njgalbraith) just as a way to have fun and let others enjoy the process. I’ve received many messages saying this is the highlight of their day! It didn’t take much for me to put it out there (or for you to go watch them) but the small step I took to try and give people some laughs is paying off. Who knows where it will end up, but I started small and am letting God grow it with me. You may have something just like that. That thing that makes people laugh or have fun. Do something small (like send a mass meme text to friends?) and see where the fun takes you!

So start putting these into practice today. Like, right now. NOW. And apply this to anything you have in your life that you want to succeed in. Businesses, relationships, church, anything! Start small, and see where God leads you.

I’m a small church pastor. That’s where my calling is. I belong in churches where I’ve been to everyone’s house and know their dog’s name. What about my teenaged kids? What’s in it for them? If you are a teenager, is there a small church blessing for you? I talked to my teens, did a little research, gave it some thought and prayer, and here’s what I came up with: four big benefits to “teening” in a small church (a phrase which my 14-year-old said was “corny, but fun”). If you’re a small...

It’s No Secret That Global Temperature Has Been Increasing And Increasing, And Eifs And Stucco Claddings Are Inherent To Solving This Problem. 

Awarded to an organisation with an income of less than £500,000 a year that has made a significant impact with its work

For some in the construction industry, automation has become synonymous with job-killing robots.

In towns and smaller cities nationwide, local governments are looking for ways to implement greener operations and promote sustainability initiatives that will benefit their communities in a changing climate. But faced with finite resources and an urgent need to act, where should these municipal leaders start?

Washington – Health and safety standards could be weakened in certain cases because small businesses have been left out of the federal rulemaking process, according to a report from the Center for Effective Government.

Washington — OSHA is planning to convene a small business panel on Oct. 4 to discuss a potential standard on emergency response, the Small Business Administration has announced.

Washington – The Transportation Security Administration has delayed changes to its aircraft prohibited items list that would have allowed certain small knives in carry-on luggage beginning April 25.

Washington — OSHA is asking representatives from small businesses, as well as local governments and nonprofit organizations, to weigh in on how a standard to protect workers from heat illness would affect small entities.

Salem, OR – A new comprehensive guide from Oregon OSHA intends to help small-business owners and managers develop respiratory protection programs.

Yale Locks & Hardware’s redesigned and scaled-back packaging for the company’s 1800 Series, 2100 Series and 7000 Series of exit devices shows that less can be more — more efficient, more economical and more environmentally friendly.

Washington — Immigrant construction workers employed by small companies do not receive the same amount of safety and health training as their counterparts at larger companies, according to a recent study from NIOSH and the American Society of Safety Engineers.

Washington – Large facilities that store and sell chemicals may no longer be exempt from OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard, the agency announced July 22 in a revised interpretation of its rules.

The Foundation Series is a complete, off-the-shelf fire detection solution featuring addressable and non-addressable models, and a full range of Autocall devices.

The ever-changing risk landscape requires security in places that transcend traditional geographies. Because of the requirement for enhanced security in these areas, organizations that operate in disperse and geographically challenging environments, such as oil refineries, parking lots, chemical facilities and transportation, require technologies that can help secure vast spaces.

The Iron Eagle apparel line now has extra-small-sized jackets and overalls.

Washington — Self-inspection checklists for ergonomics, young workers, workplace violence and infection control have been added to the OSHA/NIOSH Small Business Safety and Health Handbook.

World Wide Security & GC Alarm Inc., ranked No. 73, concurs there was “greater demand for security services and an increase in budgets to accomplish security goals.” The company, which logged a 3.2 percent increase in RMR, notes the best growth areas were video and managed services.

Transformation is rarely instantaneous. It generally starts with one small initial change — repeated over and over. For Protection 1, small changes in every area of the company have produced remarkable transformation, resulting in a year deserving of the SDM 2012 Dealer of the Year award.

Washington – Bipartisan bills introduced in the House on March 12 would exempt certain segments of the commercial motor vehicle industry from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mandate on use of electronic logging devices to record truck driver hours of service.

Liverpool, Nova Scotia – Small to medium-sized employers have a new online resource to help them create a safer workplace.

Washington – OSHA has updated an online tool aimed at teaching small-business owners and workers how to locate workplace hazards.

Silver Spring, MD — At least 53 sanitation workers in the United States (44) and Canada (nine) died from on-the-job injuries in 2019 – a 10.2% decrease from 2018, according to a recent analysis from the Solid Waste Association of North America.

Watertown, SD — A new video from the National Association of Tower Erectors stresses hazard awareness for technicians who work with small cellular antenna towers on new or existing structures.

How can a small business best manage local, state and federal safety requirements?

Lexington, KY — A new toolkit from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center is intended to help small businesses hire, support and retain workers recovering from a substance use disorder.

A panel of industry insiders discuss how cloud-based video surveillance systems provide cost efficiency, scalability and enhanced operational benefits for small businesses.

Denver — Nearly half of young small-business owners – and 3 out of 10 overall – regret not emphasizing worker safety when they started their business, results of a recent survey show.