Search results

This paper explores the behavior of GFRP and steel reinforced concrete columns when subjected to eccentrically axial loads. Six columns of 150^*150 mm cross section were tested. Four of them had GFRP reinforcement and two had steel reinforcement. The concrete strength of the GFRP reinforced columns was either 24.73 Mpa or 38.35 Mpa while for the steel reinforced columns it was 24.73 Mpa. The eccentricity was either 50 mm or 25 mm and the tie spacing was either 80 mm or 130 mm. Large longitudinal deformations were recorded for columns with GFRP reinforcement and for columns with large tie spacings. However, tie spacing had no notable effect on the maximum lateral deflection and ductility of GFRP columns of this research. The average maximum stress was about 60% of the concrete compressive strength for columns with initial eccentricity of 50 mm. GFRP bars recorded higher strains than steel bars and these strains were larger when the tie spacing was large. The increase in the strength of the concrete was associated with reduction in the GFRP bar strain. Two interaction diagrams were plotted for the columns and they present lower bound to the obtained experimental results.

Social media came to the limelight in the wake of the early 2000s into the global space to foster interactions among individuals and groups of people. It has shown several positive sides for those who are far off to share vital information across the world, unlike yesteryears when communication seemed difficult for individuals in different locations. This study examines both the positive and adverse impacts of social media on Nigeria's socio-cultural space. It advances how Nigeria utilized social-media platforms during the pandemic and war situation. The study employed narrative discourse to demonstrate crisis communication patterns in Nigeria especially among millennial youths. The narrative discourse portends that there is an indication that social media is both a blessing and a curse to our nation. Often time, people communicate the wrong impression into the polity just to demonstrate their self-serving ideas. They overblow the incidence out of proportion and the majority of the receivers would fail to evaluate the source of the information, messages, and even pictures sent across social media. Most time photoshopped images are sent to prove negative points without having a recuse to the impact of such incidence in society. The chapter offers a vital expository on relevant communication approaches on social media to the audience that will not heat the polity. It examines effective communication strategies and stages of social media crisis management. This paper concludes that the negative effects which it has unleashed on Nigeria are more than its benefits, therefore, a curse rather than a blessing to Nigeria's socio-political and economic space.

The purpose of this paper is to apply the lens of representative bureaucracy (RB) to women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies in Arab Gulf states (AGS), and to consider the implications for government stability, legitimacy and performance.

Data were analysed of the numbers of men and women in management positions (8,936), of government and government-owned companies (846), for the six countries of the AGS. Analyses were conducted on the presence/absence of women in management for ten industry types.

Governments and government-owned companies in the AGS were identified as hybrid (public/private) institutions. Women were found to be underrepresented at management levels in public sector bureaucracy; women clustered in a narrow range of industries; all countries returned a high result of zero female managers in these industries.

This research is limited by data collected from a single source, “Eikon”, which is a commercial database. The implication of these results is a benchmark for future studies on women’s representation at management level in governments and government-owned companies of Arab Gulf countries.

The practical implication of this study is for concerted government intervention to address gender inequality in management of governments and government-owned companies across the AGS.

This is the first study of RB in AGS and extends the theory of RB to a new geographical and cultural context. There is value in application of RB to government and government-owned companies as a regional form of hybrid public–private organisation.

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of recognizing stress in the workplace. Accurate novel objective methods that use electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brainwaves can promote employee well-being. However, using these devices can be positive and potentially harmful as manipulative practices undermine autonomy.

Emphasis is placed on business ethics as it relates to the ethics of action in terms of positive and negative responsibility, autonomous decision-making and self-determined work through a literature review. The concept of relational autonomy provides an orientation toward heteronomous employment relationships.

First, using digital devices to recognize stress and promote health can be a positive outcome, expanding the definition of digital well-being as opposed to dependency, non-use or reduction. Second, the transfer of socio-relational autonomy, according to Oshana, enables criteria for self-determined work in heteronomous employment relationships. Finally, the deployment and use of such EEG-based devices for stress detection can lead to coercion and manipulation, not only in interpersonal relationships, but also directly and more subtly through the technology itself, interfering with self-determined work.

Stress at work and EEG-based devices measuring stress have been discussed in numerous articles. This paper is one of the first to explore ethical considerations using these brain–computer interfaces from an employee perspective.

One of the most prolific areas of misinformation research is examining corrective strategies in messaging. The main purposes of the current study are to examine the effects of (1) partisan media (2) credibility perceptions and emotional reactions and (3) theory driven corrective messages on people's misperceptions about COVID-19 mask wearing behaviors.

The authors used a randomized experimental design to test the hypotheses. The data were collected via the survey firm Lucid. The number of participants was 485. The study was conducted using Qualtrics after the research project was exempt by the Institutional Research Board of a large University in the US. The authors conducted an online experiment with four conditions, narrative versus statistics and individual versus collective. The manipulation messages were constructed as screenshots from Facebook.

The findings of this study show that higher exposure to liberal media was associated with lower misperceptions, whereas higher credibility perceptions of and positive reactions toward the misinformation post and negative emotions toward the correction comment were associated with higher misperceptions. Moreover, the findings showed that participants in the narrative and collective-frame condition had the lowest misperceptions.

The authors tested theory driven misinformation corrective messages to understand the impact of these messages and multiple related variables on misperceptions about COVID-19 mask wearing. This study contributes to the existing misinformation correction literature by investigating the explanatory power of the two well-established media effects theories on misinformation correction messaging and by identifying essential individual characteristics that should be considered when evaluating how misperceptions about the COVID-19 crisis works and gets reduced.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2021-0600

This study developed a predictive model that established the user motivational factors that predict COVID-19 fake news sharing on social media.

The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis. Data were drawn from 152 Facebook and WhatsApp users in Nigeria to examine the research model formulated using the uses and gratification theory (UGT).

We found that altruism, instant news sharing, socialisation and self-promotion predicted fake news sharing related to COVID-19 pandemic among social media users in Nigeria. Specifically, altruism was the strongest predictor to fake news sharing behaviour related to COVID-19, followed by instant news sharing and socialisation. On the contrary, entertainment had no association with fake news sharing on COVID-19.

We suggest intervention strategies which nudge people to be sceptical of the information they come across on social media. We also recommend healthcare providers and the Nigerian government to provide relevant information on this current pandemic. That is, correct information should be shared widely to the public domain through various conventional and online media. This will lessen the spread of fake news on the concocted cure and prevention tips found online.

The salient contributions of this study are as follows: First, it brings to the fore that the desire for self-promotion is associated with fake news sharing on social media; second, it shifts the focus of studies on fake news from detection methods to sharing behaviour, which fuels the uncontrollable spread of falsehood; third, it expands the existing literature on misinformation sharing by demonstrating the user motivation that leads to fake news sharing using the UGT.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential design advantage in terms of resistance factors for normal weight concrete beams containing moderate-dose randomly dispersed short fibers and reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars.

An analytical model based on the current code specifications is used to calculate the moment capacity of over-reinforced sections. The vast majority of the considered beams are over-reinforced, compression-controlled. The data of the fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) reinforced with GFRP bars are collected from three published research studies which are based on experimentally tested results. Three different types of short fibers with four volume fractions are considered. Probabilistic model is established to conduct reliability-based calibration using Monte-Carlo Simulation. Limit state function, relevant load and resistance random variables are identified, and adequate statistical parameters are selected. Target reliability index consistent with the one used to develop current design code specifications is used.

Reliability analysis and calibration process are carried out with the intention of estimating the flexural resistance factors for FRC beams reinforced with GFRP bars.

The predicted flexural resistance factors ranged from 0.72 to 0.95, giving the resistance factors the potential to be increased above the currently specified value of 0.65 for compression-controlled members reinforced with FRP bars.

The relationship between military expenditure and economic growth is complex. The purpose of this paper is to examine this relationship in India.

The design of this study is descriptive in the theoretical part, and quantitative in the applied one. The study uses time series approach, and Hendry General-to-Specific (GTS) modeling methodology, to examine and analyze the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India, during the period 1980-2016.

The study shows the following: Absence of causal relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India, during indicated period. The continuous regional tensions facing India represent the main factor for adopting Indian military strategy and emphasizing military capabilities. India has been able to build and develop links between civilian and military sectors. The Indian military scientific and manufacturing policies have achieved self-sufficiency in some of its military needs, a strong military industrial base and high levels of military exports. India participated with developed countries in military strategic industries. Such participation contributed to the integration of civilian and military sectors. India gave rights to private sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) for manufacturing in military industries, giving full marketing rights to the Indian government. These new policies considered a great move toward deep changes for Indian military manufacturing policy.

The findings shed light on the importance of stimulating links between civilian and military sectors, particularly in the industrial sectors and scientific activities.

This study has a contribution to literature of military expenditures' economic effects. Theoretically, this study tries to fill the research gap regarding the impact of military expenditure in Indian case. Furthermore, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that examines the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in India using Hendry general-to-specific (GTS) modeling methodology and time series approach.

Chili pepper pods are a worldwide used and cultivated spice with a high economic and cultural importance. Bolivia is a center of origin and diversification of important crops including wild pepper varieties, but little is known about the chemical composition, antioxidant activity and the Scoville and bioactive compounds of these chili peppers. The purpose of this study was to contribute with new data about the chemical composition and the Scoville scale of Bolivian Chili peppers.

A total of 26 samples of Bolivian Chili peppers were extracted using distilled water and methanol. Total antioxidant capacity was determined by the ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and by the 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) methods. The total phenolic content was determined by Folin and Ciocalteu. Carotene, protein and ashes were determined by Bolivian analytical norms. Capsaicin was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. All determinations were expressed as mean values± standard deviation of six replicates measured over three days of one extract. All values were less than 5% of coefficient of variation. Principal component analysis was applied to reveal patterns in the data. PC1 and PC2 together explained 78% of the total variance.

The protein content (3.8–6.3 g/100 g of dw) and the antioxidant activity (88.2 to 374 by FRAP and 87.0 to 172 evaluated by ABTS) studied in these species revealed that the values were above the average reported in the literature. The amount of pungency or capsaicin content expressed as Scoville Heat Units were reported moderately highly and very highly pungent (5,696–148,800 g dw) in several of the Bolivian peppers which demonstrates a good potential for capsaicin extraction and different applications for industry and as food ingredients.

This manuscript presents an important and novel contribution to the knowledge of the chili peppers in the region.