Tracking Study on the Relapse and Aftercare Effect of Drug Patients Released From a Compulsory Isolated Detoxification Center

Background and AimsThere are no accurate statistical data on the relapse rate of drug abstainers after compulsory detoxification in China. This study aimed to collect relapse data for drug abstainers through follow-up visits, verify the effectiveness of professional social worker services and explore significant factors affecting relapse.Design and SettingThe drug abstainers released from Guangzhou T Compulsory Isolated Detoxification Center were randomly divided into two groups. The difference between the experimental group and the control group is that assistance services were provided by social workers to the former.ParticipantsThe study included 510 drug abstainers released from T Center, including 153 in the experimental group and 357 in the control group.MeasurementsDemographic information, history of drug abuse, and motivation for drug rehabilitation (SOCRATES) were collected 1 month prior to drug abstainer release from compulsory detoxification. Then, the relapse situation after their release was tracked according to fixed time points.FindingsThe overall relapse rate of 510 drug abstainers after their release from compulsory detoxification was 47.6%. The average survival time to relapse based on survival analysis was 220 days (N = 486), as calculated with Bayesian estimation by the MCMC method. The average survival times to relapse of the experimental group and control group were 393 and 175 days, respectively. By taking the specific survival time as the dependent variable and the group as the control variable (OR = 25.362), logistic regression analysis showed that marital status (OR = 2.666), previous compulsory detoxification experience (OR = 2.329) and location of household registration (OR = 1.557) had a significant impact on the survival time to relapse.ConclusionsThe occurrence of relapse among drug patients released from compulsory detoxification can be delayed effectively through the intervention of professional social worker services. Regardless of whether patients receive aftercare after compulsory detoxification, drug-using patients who are single, have multiple detoxification experiences and whose households are registered in other provinces deserve special attention. Relevant suggestions to avoid relapse are provided.

FORMAL EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE AND EMPOWERMENT OF THE FISHING COMMUNITY IN TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA

Background and Purpose: Efforts in bringing about changes to fishers' lives are often met with obstacles due to their lack of participation in empowerment programmes as well as their excessive reliance on external assistance. However, such situations are said to be the results of their level of education and work experience. This paper also examines the relationship between work experience with empowerment and formal education as a control variable to the relationship. Therefore, this paper aims to observe the reality of empowerment among fishing communities from the lens of participation and self-reliance among fishers in Terengganu, Malaysia. Concurrently, this study also reviews the theme mentioned above from the lens of formal education and work experience and their impacts on the fishing community empowerment. Methodology: This study used a survey design and involved 220 coastal fishers, who were identified through multi-stage sampling. Data were gathered using a questionnaire, and data analysis was done through descriptive statistics and the Analysis of Variance Test (ANCOVA). Findings: The empowerment of the fishing community in this study is not influenced by the number of years they have spent as fishers. On the other hand, their level of education plays a pertinent influence on their empowerment. Such a finding clearly shows that experience is not only a major factor in increasing the empowerment of the fishing community. Contributions: This study contributes to our understanding that it is undeniably true that formal and informal education play an integral role in empowering the fishing community, where through education, fishers are more participative in their community and exhibit autonomy towards their work. Keywords: Fishers, empowerment, formal education, experience, community development Cite as: Tuan Sembok, T. M. Z., & Wan Ismail, W. A. A. Z. (2022). Formal education, work experience and empowerment of the fishing community in Terengganu, Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 366-389. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp366-389

Analysis of Driving Control Characteristics in Typical Road Types

Vehicle control requirements for longitudinal and lateral driver control are varied in different road geometries; this makes it irrational and superfluous to represent driving control characteristics with repetitive indices. To address this problem, the present study used multiple cross-analysis methods of vehicle running state parameters from experienced drivers in order to deeply study driving control characteristics in different road geometries. Six common road geometries with different driving control emphases were selected as typical road types and twenty-five experienced drivers were asked to perform an actual driving test. Taking the indices in the long straight road as the control variable, the indices in other roads were compared with it and judged according to the three methods: the overall distribution by box plots, significant difference test by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and relative distance calculation by technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). Moreover, the weight of the driving control characteristic index was calculated through the entropy weight method to reflect its importance. In this paper, the relationships between road geometry and driving control characteristics explicate the influence mechanism and interaction of road geometry on driving behavior, and the indicators that can reflect the control characteristics in different road types are obtained.

A Flexible Sandwich Structure Carbon Fiber Cloth with Resin Coating Composite Improves Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Performance at Low Frequency

In order to improve the electromagnetic wave absorbing performance of carbon fiber cloth at low frequency and reduce the secondary pollution caused by the shielding mechanism, a flexible sandwich composite was designed by a physical mixing coating process. This was composed of a graphene layer that absorbed waves, a carbon fiber cloth layer that reflected waves, and a graphite layer that absorbed transmitted waves. The influence of the content of graphene was studied by a control variable method on the electromatic and mechanical properties. The structures of defect polarization relaxation and dipole polarization relaxation of graphene, the interfacial polarization and electron polarization of graphite, the conductive network formed in the carbon fiber cloth, and the interfacial polarization of each part, combined together to improve the impedance matching and wave multiple reflections of the material. The study found that the sample with 40% graphene had the most outstanding absorbing performance. The minimum reflection loss value was −18.62 dB, while the frequency was 2.15 GHz and the minimum reflection loss value compared to the sample with no graphene increased 76%. The composites can be mainly applied in the field of flexible electromagnetic protection, such as the preparation of stealth tent, protective covers of electronic boxes, helmet materials for high-speed train drivers, etc.

The Effect of Company Size, Exchange Rate and Earnings Per Share on Stock Returns

This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of firm size, exchange rate, earnings per share and capital structure as control variables on stock returns. All manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2013 – 2017 are the population in this study. By using purposive sampling method, 100 companies were selected as samples in the study. The method of collecting data is library research and secondary data from the official publications of the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the official website of Bank Indonesia. Panel and regression methods are used as an analytical tool in this study. The results obtained in the study are, stock returns are significantly affected by firm size, exchange rates and earnings per share either partially or simultaneously. Meanwhile, when using capital structure as a control variable on stock returns, the results show that the variables of firm size, exchange rate and earnings per share are partially stated to have no significant effect.

Optimal control for a phase field model of melting arising from inductive heating

<abstract><p>Due to its unique performance of high efficiency, fast heating speed and low power consumption, induction heating is widely and commonly used in many applications. In this paper, we study an optimal control problem arising from a metal melting process by using a induction heating method. Metal melting phenomena can be modeled by phase field equations. The aim of optimization is to approximate a desired temperature evolution and melting process. The controlled system is obtained by coupling Maxwell's equations, heat equation and phase field equation. The control variable of the system is the external electric field on the local boundary. The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the controlled system are showed by using Galerkin's method and Leray-Schauder's fixed point theorem. By proving that the control-to-state operator $ P $ is weakly sequentially continuous and Fréchet differentiable, we establish an existence result of optimal control and derive the first-order necessary optimality conditions. This work improves the limitation of the previous control system which only contains heat equation and phase field equation.</p></abstract>

Framework for Assessing Online Shopping Use Under the Digital Transformation of the Economy in a Post-Pandemic Era

The sudden appearance of COVID-19 has positively ameliorated digital presence generally as well as B2C e-shopping transactions. This situation attracts researchers' interest to unravel the effect of COVID-19 vis-à-vis various e-commerce activities. Recent studies have already shown a direct impact of the pandemic on many businesses, especially B2C transactions. However, its moderation effect and its effect as a control variable were scarcely traced in the literature. Hence, the chapter explains and proposes a framework for assessing online shopping use under the digital transformation in a post-pandemic era, including both a moderating and a control effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the TAM theoretical model, the proposed framework added risk factors and channel credibility as additional independent variables and the COVID-19 pandemic as both a moderating and a control variable, respectively. Using existing literature, the authors establish relationships among variables and conceptualise both the moderating and control effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.

A posteriori error estimates of hp spectral element method for parabolic optimal control problems

<abstract><p>In this paper, we investigate the spectral element approximation for the optimal control problem of parabolic equation, and present a hp spectral element approximation scheme for the parabolic optimal control problem. For improve the accuracy of the algorithm and construct an adaptive finite element approximation. Under the Scott-Zhang type quasi-interpolation operator, a $ L^2(H^1)-L^2(L^2) $ posteriori error estimates of the hp spectral element approximated solutions for both the state variables and the control variable are obtained. Adopting two auxiliary equations and stability results, a $ L^2(L^2)-L^2(L^2) $ posteriori error estimates are derived for the hp spectral element approximation of optimal parabolic control problem.</p></abstract>

The market reaction to profitability: Does leverage matter?

This study examined the market reaction to profitability by discussing the impact of dividends yield (DY) and earnings yield (EY) based on leverage (LVRG), as a control variable, on stocks’ prices (SP) of the industrial companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), for the whole sample and the two subsamples (low and high leveraged companies). For this purpose, the data of the three samples were analyzed, for seven years from 2011 to 2017. The multiple regression analysis results showed that based on the leverage ratio (LVRG), as a control variable, there is a significant effect of DY on SP at 1% significance level, and an insignificant effect of EY on SP at 5% significance level, in the high leveraged sample. The impact of DY and EY on SP at 5% significance level in the whole and low leveraged samples is insignificant.