Construction of an Effective Preconditioner for the Even-odd Splitting of Cubic Spline Wavelets

In this study, the method for decomposing splines of degree m and smoothness C^m-1 into a series of wavelets with zero moments is investigated. The system of linear algebraic equations connecting the coefficients of the spline expansion on the initial scale with the spline coefficients and wavelet coefficients on the embedded scale is obtained. The originality consists in the application of some preconditioner that reduces the system to a simpler band system of equations. Examples of applying the method to the cases of first-degree spline wavelets with two first zero moments and cubic spline wavelets with six first zero moments are presented. For the cubic case after splitting the system into even and odd rows, the resulting matrix acquires a seven-diagonals form with strict diagonal dominance, which makes it possible to apply an effective sweep method to its solution

Investigating the Impact of Cloud Computing Vendor on the Adoption of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing offers significant impacts on organization by changing how information systems are developed, deployed, operated, maintained, and paid for. Therefore, the adoption of cloud computing becomes the focus of relevant research; however, previous studies have mostly studied the factors affecting cloud computing adoption from the perspective of adopters, ignoring the influence of the vendors. This study defines cloud service capability and develops scale to measure it from the perspective of cloud computing vendors to empirically examine the impact of the supply-side of cloud computing. The initial scale of cloud service capability is constructed using qualitative research, and the formal scale is obtained after two rounds of pretest. The statistical results of matched data collected from 132 cloud computing vendors and their users show that cloud service capability significantly affects cloud computing adoption. This study shifts the research perspective on cloud adoption to make theoretical contributions and management insights from the perspective of cloud computing vendors.

School Professionals’ awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale (SPACES): Initial steps towards the development of new scale

This short paper describes the initial scale development of an instrument designed to measure school professionals' awareness of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their impact and practices that can support children who have been affected by ACEs.

The psychometric properties of the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women in Taiwan

Introduction Marriage-based immigrant women are increasing around the world. Although bi-dimensional acculturation is important for immigrant women’s health, the existing scales have mainly been developed for immigrant women in Western countries and hence some items may not be suitable for Asian contexts. Thus, we developed and evaluated the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women (BAS-MBIW) in Taiwan. Methods The BAS-MBIW was developed based on a literature review and clinical observations. Bi-dimensional acculturation involves “adaptation to host culture (acculturation)” and “maintenance of heritage culture (enculturation).” The initial scale included two 24-item subscales. The validation samples were 310 marriage-based immigrant women who were pregnant for at least twelve weeks in Taiwan. The BAS-MBIW was assessed and modified by experts. Data analyses included factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results Expert reviews and factor analysis indicated that the scale had acceptable content and construct validity. The validated scale includes two 19-item subscales, encompassing six domains: language, media, food preference, cultural heritage, social interaction, and shopping and merchandise preference, with good internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is 0.88 for acculturation and 0.83 for enculturation). Acculturation was positively related to local language ability and duration of immigration but negatively related to age at immigration, stress, and depression; whereas enculturation was positively related to age at immigration, stress, and depression but negatively related to duration of immigration, indicating convergent validity. Conclusions The BAS-MBIW offers reliable and valid assessments of pregnant immigrant women’s level of acculturation and enculturation in Taiwan. The BAS-MBIW could be used to assess bi-dimensional acculturation among marriage-based immigrant women.

Research on Construction and Implementation of Kindergarten Vitality Curriculum

The research is based on the construction concept of “teaching with life, teaching for life” and was designed from “clearing curriculum goals” and “constructing curriculum content”. Also, it focuses on improving the implementation level of teachers’ courses in the theme review, enhancing the children’s vitality in project forwarding, and promoting children’s viability at play, which realized the practical vitality enhancement of children. As a result, children will be fond of learning, knowing how to play, becoming more self-independent, and more active participating. The teachers’ professional development has been highlighted, which manifested in the transformation of teaching curriculum perspective and the achievement; the initial scale of curriculum construction preliminary expressed the environment and system of life education.

Aware of the Future?

Introduction: Futures consciousness (FC) refers to the capacity that a person has for understanding, anticipating, and preparing for the future. A psychometric instrument, the FC scale, was recently developed to measure FC as an interindividual difference. However, this initial scale suffered from some shortcomings due to a few underperforming items. Objectives: In this paper, we present and validate the revised FC scale, which aims to address these shortcomings. Methods and Results: Data from a representative sample of N = 1,684 British participants demonstrated good psychometric properties of the revised scale (and better than the original) as well as good predictive validity. Specifically, individuals' scores were positively related to self-reported future-oriented behavior, such as engagement in civic collective action and general engagement in politics. The five-dimensional structure of the scale was also replicated. Conclusion: The revised FC scale proves a reliable tool that can be used by both researchers and practitioners.

Development and Validation of a Patient-Reported Outcome Scale for Tension-Type Headache

Objective: To validate a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure for patients with tension-type headache (TTH).Methods: Literature analysis, interview, and group discussion were performed to develop an initial TTH-PRO. Thereafter, the initial scale was pre-evaluation in a small range of patients with TTH, and the expert panel made necessary adjustments based on the content feedback. The clinical test was carried out by using the adjusted initial scale. Based on the test results, the items were screened by the method of classical test theory to form the final scale, and the performance evaluation indicators such as validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the final scale were tested.Results: The final formed TTH-PRO scale contained three domains, six dimensions, and 30 items. The split-half reliability, Cronbach's α coefficients, and construct validity of the scale were acceptable, as was feasibility. The responsiveness in the physiological domain was fair, but the overall responsiveness still needed further clinical validation.Conclusions:The TTH-PRO scale has been developed with extensive patient input and demonstrates evidence for reliability and validity. It is complementary to existing evaluation indicators of TTH, emphasizing the patient's experience. Further studies are needed to optimize its items and to verify its clinical applicability for population in more regions and countries.

Investigation and analysis of digital poverty among adolescents in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the status quo of digital poverty among adolescents in China, analyze the characteristics and the causes, then propose countermeasures to provide reference for alleviating digital poverty among adolescents.Design/methodology/approachThe study developed an initial scale of digital poverty among adolescents and used survey data to revise the scale, on this basis, formed a questionnaire, which was distributed to nationwide adolescents. The study developed its findings from the 837 valid questionnaire respondents.FindingsThe digital poverty among adolescents is mainly shown in the poverty of digital ability, digital psychology and digital environment and presents the following characteristics, that is, insufficient information seeking ability and information selection ability needing to be improved; equipped with basic information awareness but lack of information evaluation ability; lack of patience in obtaining information and inclined to the principle of least effort; imperfect knowledge structure and immature psychological emotions and vulnerable to external interference; having a certain relationship with the information environment, but not significantly affected by regional economic differences. Finally, the study puts forward countermeasures to alleviate digital poverty among adolescents.Practical implicationsUnderstanding of the digital poverty among adolescents will likely demand rethinking into a number of issues ignored by information poverty studies.Originality/valueFew studies focus on digital poverty among adolescents. This study developed an initial scale of digital poverty among adolescents and revised it by survey data, then conducted an empirical study through questionnaire, which could expand the understanding of information poverty in the field of library and information science.

Development and Validation of the Win-Win Scale

Accumulating evidence has shown that win-win is necessary for both individuals and the society. This research, including two studies, aimed to develop and validate a measurement of the win-win scale. In the first study, we screened the items by item analysis and extracted common factors using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), thus determining a total of 25 items in the initial scale consisted of five dimensions including integrity, advancement, altruism, harmoniousness, and coordination. In the second study, we used first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the scale’s construct validity. The results indicated a good fit between the five-factor model and the data. Based on our results, we have formed a win-win scale by keeping 16 items from the original project pool.

A decision-making model of railway tourist dedicated train operation plan

The rapid increase of China’s railway mileage and the effective release of transport capacity provide a basis for the development of tourist-dedicated train. Considering the decision-making between the railway enterprises and the local government on whether the tourist-dedicated train stops at the local station, the length of stay and the market price, the model of its operation plan is designed to solve algorithm problem and provide foundation for railway enterprises to improve the efficiency of operation. Based on the results of experiments, we found that the price sensitivity of consumers is negatively correlated with the pricing and income of tourist-dedicated train. The higher the sensitivity of prices is, the lower the fares and profits of the tourist railways service will realize. In addition, the initial scale of tourism demand of each region along the railway has a direct impact on whether to build a stop in the area. A larger demand scale will increase the possibility of the tourist-dedicated train stopping. In this case, to develop the Mid-and High Tier tourist-dedicated train, the close contact and strategic cooperation with local governments before its opening should be traded-off and considered as important factors for the China National Rail.