Facing the Inevitable: The Effects of Coronavirus Disease Pandemic and Online Teaching on Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Workload and Job Satisfaction

<p style="text-align: justify;">Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) preventive measures influenced teachers directly. The sudden shift to new teaching environment emerged unknown challenges influencing teachers’ work differently. As self-efficacy is a key factor of successful teaching, the goal of our study was to examine the relationship among teachers’ efficacy-related experiences, work satisfaction and workload during the pandemic. 769 teachers (55 men and 677 female, 32 undefined) completed the online version of the Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale and the Relative Self-Efficacy Scale. Findings indicated significant positive correlation between job satisfaction and self-efficacy as well as job satisfaction and the sense of competency. Kruskal-Wallis Test proved higher level of self-efficacy among teachers with more experience in online teaching in the past. According to SEM analysis, job satisfaction is predicted by efficacy beliefs concerning the sense of competence, motivation, coping and conflict resolution. Our findings indicate that experience in online teaching methods can enhance self-efficacy, which contributes to higher job satisfaction.</p>

Investigation of the Mechanical and Liquid Absorption Properties of a Rice Straw-Based Composite for Ayurvedic Treatment Tables

Managing rice crop stubble is one of the major challenges witnessed in the agricultural sector. This work attempts to investigate the physical, mechanical, and liquid absorption properties of rice straw (RS)-reinforced polymer composite for assessing its suitability to use as an ayurvedic treatment table. This material is expected to be an alternative for wooden-based ayurvedic treatment tables. The results showed that the addition of rice straw particles (RSp) up to 60% volume in epoxy reduced the density of the composite material by 46.20% and the hardness by 15.69%. The maximum tensile and flexural strength of the RSp composite was 17.53 MPa and 43.23 MPa, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed deposits of silica in the form of phytoliths in various size and shapes on the outer surface of RS. The study also revealed that the water absorption rate (WA) was less than 7.8% for the test samples with 45% volume of RSp. Interestingly the test samples showed greater resistance to the absorption of Kottakal Dhanvantaram Thailam (<2%). In addition, the developed samples showed resistance towards bacterial and fungal growth under the exposure of treatment oils and water.

Keterlibatan Konsumen Dalam Kebaruan Produk

Involvement is a key word in the context of product novelty, when businesses are required to become more competitive in product innovation. This point of view forms the basis for understanding the two concepts of business existence. First, the demand to develop new products is directed to product innovation because technology is increasingly developing. Novelty needs to keep pace with technological advances as well as be market-oriented. Second, the business builds a collaborative commitment with its customers. This indicates a position where the relationship with the market demands an equal role. Businesses no longer take distance in building relationships with their markets. Thus consumers will gothrough a dynamic process in the experience of using the product, and businesses will continue to consistently motivate consumer learning in the process of product novelty adoption. This study aims to explain consumer’s learning experience on product novelty from the process of consumer involvement in the holistic experience of responding to product novelty. A combined quantitative-qualitative approach (mixed-method approach) is applied. The quantitative approach was carried out using SEM analysis with the SmartPLS tool on 113 respondents, while the qualitative approach was carried out using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) technique on participant narratives. Furthermore, from the two approaches, an integration process was carried out to find the grand theme of consumer learning experiences in the context of their involvement in responding to product novelty. Through this research, it can be seen that the product novelty learning experience is formed through initial involvement to recognize, andcontinued involvement in using the product. The product novelty learning experience is the involvement of consumers in realizing essential realities, practical realities, and contextual realities.

Exploring the Mechanism of Pathological Gaming in Adolescents: Focused on the Mediation Paths and Latent Group Comparison

Pathological gaming among adolescents has been reported to hamper the achievement of a balanced life and to threaten the development of social competencies. Despite the increasing social concerns on the adolescent users, however, the mechanism of gaming behavior of adolescents has not been sufficiently examined. This study explored the mechanism of pathological gaming among adolescents from 3-year longitudinal data of 778 Korean adolescent gamers, by analyzing the effects of negative affects (i.e., anxiety, loneliness, and academic stress) on the degree of pathological gaming through the mediation variables (i.e., aggression and self-control) based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to uncover potential risk groups, and through partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, the mediation pathways to pathological gaming were compared between the risk group and the non-risk group. The results highlighted the key role of academic stress on the degree of pathological gaming. In the entire group, academic stress primarily increased pathological gaming through self-control. The mediation path of self-control was the most influential result in the risk group. Aggression was the key mediator between loneliness and pathological gaming in the non-risk group. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.

Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes Based on Citric Acid-Functionalized Chitosan Containing rGO-TEPA with Potential Application in Wound Dressings

The present research work is focused on the design and investigation of electrospun composite membranes based on citric acid-functionalized chitosan (CsA) containing reduced graphene oxide-tetraethylene pentamine (CsA/rGO-TEPA) as materials with opportune bio-properties for applications in wound dressings. The covalent functionalization of chitosan (CS) with citric acid (CA) was achieved through the EDC/NHS coupling system and was checked by 1H-NMR spectroscopy and FTIR spectrometry. The mixtures to be electrospun were formulated by adding three concentrations of rGO-TEPA into the 1/1 (w/w) CsA/poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) solution. The effect of rGO-TEPA concentration on the morphology, wettability, thermal stability, cytocompatibility, cytotoxicity, and anti-biofilm activity of the nanofibrous membranes was extensively investigated. FTIR and Raman results confirmed the covalent and non-covalent interactions that appeared between the system’s compounds, and the exfoliation of rGO-TEPA sheets within the CsA in the presence of PEO (CsA/P) polymer matrix, respectively. SEM analysis emphasized the nanofibrous architecture of membranes and the presence of rGO-TEPA sheets entrapped into the CsA nanofiber structure. The MTT cellular viability assay showed a good cytocompatibility with the highest level of cell development and proliferation registered for the CsA/P composite nanofibrous membrane with 0.250 wt.% rGO-TEPA. The designed nanofibrous membranes could have potential applications in wound dressings, given that they showed a good anti-biofilm activity against Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strains.

Preparation of Electrochemical Supercapacitor Based on Polypyrrole/Gum Arabic Composites

The current research focused on the super capacitive behavior of organic conducting polymer, i.e., polypyrrole (PPy) and its composites with gum arabic (GA) prepared via inverse emulsion polymerization. The synthesized composites material was analyzed by different analytical techniques, such as UV-visible, FTIR, TGA, XRD, and SEM. The UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy clearly show the successful insertion of GA into PPy matrix. The TGA analysis shows high thermal stability for composites than pure PPy. The XRD and SEM analysis show the crystalline and amorphous structures and overall morphology of the composites is more compact and mesoporous as compared to the pure PPy. The electrochemical properties of modified solid state supercapacitors established on pure polypyrrole (PPy), polypyrrole/gum arabic (PPy/GA) based composites were investigated through cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD). The specific capacitance of the PPy modified gold electrode is impressive (~168 F/g). The specific capacitance of PPy/GA 1 electrode has been increased to 368 F/g with a high energy density and power density (~73 Wh/kg), and (~599 W/kg) respectively.

In-Depth Optical Analysis of Zn(Al)O Mixed Metal Oxide Film-Based Zn/Al-Layered Double Hydroxide for TCO Application

In this article, an in-depth optical investigation of Zn(Al)O-mixed metal oxide (MMO) film using Zn/Al-layered double hydroxide (LDH) was elucidated through co-precipitation and spin coating techniques. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis revealed the occurrence of a vertically aligned sheet-like structure with a thickness of 60 nm for pristine LDH, which further reduced to 45 nm after calcination at 300 °C. Additionally, pristine LDH showed multiple optical bandgaps of 5.18, 3.6, and 3.2 eV. Moreover, a good agreement of the obtained optical bandgaps was attained between both utilized methods, ultraviolet-visible light (UV-Vis), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The optical bandgap decreased at higher calcination temperatures, which indicates the active role of the applied post-fabrication process on the optical profile of the deposited MMO film/s. The demonstrated transmittance spectra of the deposited MMO films exhibited a transparency between 85% and 95%; this indicates the usefulness and consistency of the proposed film for transparent conductive oxide (TCO) based optoelectronic applications.

Development of Ternary Concrete Utilizing Agricultural Waste Material

The present project proposes to utilize rice husk and maize cob husk ash in the cement to mitigate the adverse impact of cement on environment and to enhance the disposal of waste in a sustainable manner. Ternary concrete / MR concrete was prepared by using rise husk and maize cob ash with cement. For the present project, five concrete mixes MR-0 (Control mix), MR-1 (Rice husk ash 10% and MR-2.5%), MR-2 (Rice husk ash 10% and MR-5%), MR-3 (Rice husk ash 10% and MR-2.5%), MR-4 (Rice husk ash 10% and MR-2.5%) were prepared. M35 concrete mix was designed as per IS 10262:2009 for low slump values 0-25mm. The purpose is to find the optimum replacement level of cement in M35 grade ternary concrete for I – Shaped paver blocks.In order to study the effects of these additions, micro-structural and structural properties test of concretes have been conducted. The crystalline properties of control mix and modified concrete are analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that 10% Rice husk ash and 5% maize cob ash replaced with cement produce a desirable quality of ternary concrete mix having good compressive strength. The results of SEM analysis indicated that the morphology of both concrete were different, showing porous structure at 7 days age and become unsymmetrical with the addition of ashes. After 28 day age, the control mix contained more quantity of ettringite and became denser than ternary concrete. XRD analysis revealed the presence of portlandite in large quantity in controlled mix concrete while MR concrete had the partially hydrated particle of alite.

Improving the Corrosion Resistance of AISI 316L Steel for Semiconductor Piping by Controlled Delta-Ferrite Content

This study evaluated changes in delta-ferrite content depending on the preheating of AISI 316L stainless steel. We also determined the reasons for the variation in delta-ferrite content, which affects corrosion resistance. Changes in delta-ferrite content after preheating was confirmed using a Feritscope, and the microstructure was analyzed using optical microscopy (OM). We found that the delta-ferrite microstructure size decreased when preheating time was increased at 1295 oC, and that the delta-ferrite content could be controlled through preheating. Potentiodynamic polarization test were carried out in NaCl (0.5 M) + H2SO4 (0.5 M) solution, and it was found that higher delta-ferrite content resulted in less corrosion potential and passive potential. To determine the cause, an analysis was conducted using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), which confirmed that higher delta-ferrite content led to weaker corrosion resistance, due to Cr degradation at the delta-ferrite and austenite boundaries. The degradation of Cr on the boundaries between austenite and delta-ferrite can be explained by the difference in the diffusion coefficient of Cr in the ferrite and austenite. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of material used for actual semiconductor piping confirmed that corrosion begins at the delta-ferrite and austenite boundaries. These results confirm the need to control delta-ferrite content in AISI 316L stainless steel used for semiconductor piping.