Fiction Reading and Empathy Capacity of Selected Filipino Adolescents and Young Adults

This study aimed to discover if adolescents’ and young adults’ empathy capacity is higher when they engage more in fiction reading. A total of 301 students, aged 16-22, completed a self-administered questionnaire. More than half (56%) of the respondents consider reading as a hobby with books as the preferred reading material. Around 38% have moderate fiction reading scores and around 77% have high empathy capacity scores. Findings showed that the older the respondent is, the less likely they would read fiction and the lower their empathy level. Females are more likely to read fiction and are more empathic than males. Also, results revealed that the more the individual reads fiction, the more empathic they can become. Home and school interventions can be created to increase opportunities and desire for reading fiction and enhancing empathy capacity.

Role Model Characteristics and Impact of Role Models on Medical Students’ Specialty Choices (difficult to catch the concept! can it be “Medical teacher’s role model characteristics and their impact on student’s carrier choice”?)

This was a descriptive type of cross-sectional study conducted to identify the Characteristics /qualities of role model/ medical teachers as perceived by medical students and to identify the influence of role models in selecting subjects for their future career. This descriptive type of cross-sectional study was conducted during July 2019 to June 2020. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 868 medical students of phase III and phase IV were the respondents of the study. All available students who were willing to participate in the study were selected and medical colleges were selected purposively. Study revealed that out of 868 respondents 741 (85.4%) had identified role models during the course of their studies and 127 (14.6%) respondents could not identify any role models. It was observed that 91% students opted for clinical subjects while 9% opted for preclinical and para-clinical subjects. With regards to their subjects of choice for future career 21.0% of the students preferred Medicine, followed by Surgery (20.0%), Gynecology (9.2%) and Orthopedics (3.8%).Two hundred and thirty-two (26.7%) of the students did not choose any subject for their future career. Regarding the influence of role models in selecting subjects for future career it was revealed that 334 (61%) respondents felt that role models had influence. Maintaining integrity and neutrality by role models was given the highest importance and general appearance of role model was considered least important by the respondents. (Not clear! is it Role Model Characteristics?).The academic institutes should make an effort to develop the role modeling of faculty by highlighting positive attributes of role models. Teachers should be made aware of the influence of role models on their future colleagues Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.13(1) January 2022: 3-9

Investment Risk Tolerance amongst South African University Students in the Vaal Triangle Area

Analysing students risk tolerance during the investor life cycle is imperative to students and financial planners alike, to facilitate the implementation of suitable investments and investment strategies. Students in universities do not have the required knowledge to invest and this is why an investment framework was created to assist, guide and inform students of what stage of the individual investor life cycle that they are in and suggest suitable investment strategies. The article implemented a quantitative approach, using secondary data analysis. The data used for the analysis is from a self-administered questionnaire in 2017 that was distributed to a sample of 396 students from two higher education institutions in the Vaal Triangle region. Two validated risk tolerance scales were used to analyse students risk tolerance levels. The objective of this paper was to determine the risk tolerance levels of students in the Vaal Triangle region. The two results from the 13-item scale and the single-item scale for measuring risk tolerance indicated that the students have a medium risk tolerance level.

A model for Ugandan traders' use of mobile money services

Mobile money services give trade benefits such as bill payment, decreased transaction costs and time, expanded savings possibilities, sales, and convenience. Despite the benefits, traders in Uganda are still slow to adopt and use mobile money services. This article reflects on the findings of a study that looked at the barriers that merchants experience while utilizing and implementing mobile money services in Uganda. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to obtain data from 394 survey respondents. A model for encouraging traders to use mobile money services is offered. The suggested model expands on the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use. According to regression study, performance expectancy, social factors, and sensitization components all have a substantial impact on the behavioral intention of mobile money service uptake for trade. On the other hand, security and effort expectation had no significant affect on traders' behavioral intention to use mobile money services. Furthermore, the data show that enabling conditions affected the utilization of mobile money services for commercial transactions. The suggested approach is adaptable and generic, and it may be used in other developing nations with comparable circumstances to Uganda.

Vaccinators' Perception of HPV Vaccination in the Saa Health District of Cameroon

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among women in Cameroon. In November 2020, the HPV vaccine was introduced into the expanded programme on immunisation. However, uptake of the vaccine has been slow in the Centre region as opposed to other regions in the country. We therefore sought to describe vaccinators' perception of HPV vaccination in Saa health district.Methods: A self-administered questionnaire with both open-ended and closed questions was used to assess the perception of HPV vaccination among 24 vaccinators from the Saa health district. Quantitative data were summarised as proportions while qualitative data were deductively and inductively coded and thematically analysed.Results: Most vaccinators (75%, n = 18) had a good knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination. Fourteen (58.3%, n = 14) vaccinators correctly reported the target group, number and spacing of doses for the HPV vaccine. Fourteen (58.3%) vaccinators favoured HPV vaccination while the others (n = 10) were sceptical. Sceptics felt manufacturers hadn't given enough proof of the safety of the vaccine and lacked confidence in government's assessment of the epidemiological situation. The COVID 19 pandemic, fear of infertility and the negative influence of social media were perceived as the main reasons for community hesitancy. Vaccinators criticised health authorities for failing to sensitise the population about the HPV vaccine before its introduction.Conclusion: Vaccinators' perceptions of HPV vaccination may influence the offer of HPV vaccination services. Measures to increase acceptance of HPV vaccination and ownership of the activity among vaccinators have to be put in place.

Extensive Evaluation of the Overall Workplace Experience and Job Satisfaction of Dentists in Saudi Arabia

Background. Working conditions, job satisfaction, and their overall impact on a dentist’s job satisfaction are critical for future employment and retaining of dentists. Objectives. This study is aimed at determining the factors influencing the job satisfaction level among dentists. It is also aimed at evaluating how personal (age, gender) and professional (type, type of qualification, and year of practice) characteristics influence overall job satisfaction. Methods. For data collection, a structured self-administered questionnaire was used, in which one part collected information on personal characteristics. At the same time, the other contained a questionnaire related to job satisfaction. The German validated version of the questionnaire had a 10-point Warr-Cook-Wall (WCW) scale developed by Warr et al. in 1979. Each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 representing excessive satisfaction and 1 representing extreme dissatisfaction. Results. The results revealed that dentists in Saudi Arabia have a higher satisfaction level with “colleagues and fellow workers” (26.5%). The relation between the years of practice was highly significant. However, they were dissatisfied with their “income” (22.6%), and when compared with concerning age, gender, profession, and their practice years, this finding was highly significant. Conclusion. A higher percentage of satisfaction was seen with the “fellow and colleague’s workers” dimension. At the same time, “income” was the aspect with which the dentists showed extreme dissatisfaction.

Social Media as Political Participation Tool Among Millennials

The current article is an applied study that conducted on 480 Egyptian Millennials who randomly volunteered as participants. The main objective of the research is to test the effect of social media usage on the level of political expression and consequently on online and offline participation. A self-administered questionnaire has been used to collect responses to be analyzed and the results show that there is no significance of relation between social media and political expression and participation for the sample units of the study. Also, findings confirmed the significant correlation between expression and participation in its two forms; online and offline.

Impact of Intermediary and Seller Trust on Consumer Repurchase and E-WOM Intentions

This study investigates the impact of intermediary and seller trust on consumers' repurchase intention and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) intention. A total of 337 consumers with online-buying experience were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. For the research purpose, a model was developed and tested using the PLS-SEM technique. In this instance, trust in a competent intermediary is formed on perceived benevolence and integrity. The moderating roles of demographics and purchase frequency were tested using a multigroup analysis. The results strongly support the research model, indicating that: (1) trust in competent intermediaries has a significant influence on consumers’ repurchase and e-WOM intention; (2) trust in consumer electronics (CE) sellers has an influence on repurchase intention but not e-WOM intention; and (3) age, gender positively affect the trust transference process, while purchase frequency affects e-WOM intention. This research presents new theoretical and managerial implications for online electronics marketing.

A supply chain resilience model for business continuity: The way forward for highly regulated industries

The COVID-19 outbreak is a black swan event that has uncovered the delicateness of global supply chains and business architecture. Underpinned by the agency theory and institutional theory, a proposition for business continuity in the highly regulated pharma industry is presented in this paper. A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out on a sample of 102 pharma supply chain executives in Malaysia. The primary data were gathered by administering a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The result reveals that supply chain orientation directly influences supply chain resilience. Also, introducing collaborative regulation as a mediator in this relationship shows partial mediation. The notion of collaborative regulation as a behavioral governance mechanism is relatively new, thus, presenting interesting opportunities for further exploration of the subject matter.

The Translator as a Communicator: Bracketed Insertions Eliciting Mutual Cooperation with Receptors

The present study aims at observing how bracketed insertions in translation elicit mutual cooperation with receptors. As a survey-based study applying to an officially approved English interpretation of the Quran, it seeks to examine whether any insertions in brackets hinder the SL message from being well-conveyed and for what reasons they may be left out of it. Methodically, a multifaceted, self-administered questionnaire including two text-types of the Quran with an identical set of questions per each was completed by 73 potential English-speaking readers. Found to be generally cooperative, the subject insertions were agreed to be true (78.8%) and informative (74.7%) in favor of the Madani text but not to be relevant (72.6%) nor perspicuous (76.9%) in favor of the Makki one. They were helping to those having any knowledge of Arabic, translating and the Quran yet hindering to those having no knowledge of Arabic, translating or the Quran. The technical insertions depending on the translator’s view of an appropriate relationship between the author’s text and the TL version were the most frequent ones to be left out in favor of the Madani text for ‘saying irrelevant, unimportant things’. Eventually, an improved interpretation is recommended as many TAiPs could be included, adapted, modified or excluded.INTRODUCTION