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In this chapter, we use the minimum cross-entropy method to derive an approximate joint probability model for a multivariate economic process based on limited information about the marginal quasi-density functions and the joint moment conditions. The modeling approach is related to joint probability models derived from copula functions, but we note that the entropy approach has some practical advantages over copula-based models. Under suitable regularity conditions, the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator (QMLE) of the model parameters is consistent and asymptotically normal. We demonstrate the procedure with an application to the joint probability model of trading volume and price variability for the Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures contract.

The purpose of this study is to determine the antecedents of obesity among the younger generation of Indians (Generation Y) from a psychological and lifestyle consumer perspective. The study also investigates the moderating role of demography on the body mass index (BMI) of Indian youths.

The study initially develops a conceptual model, stemming from an extensive theoretical research, and subsequently validates this using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with a sample size of 1,242 Indian youths.

The study concludes that consumers' food habits (FH) and physical activity (PA) positively impact consumers' physical health (PH), which influences their BMI levels (BLs). Anxiety (AX), depression (DE), stress (ST), peer pressure (PP) and work pressure (WP) impact individuals' mental health (MH), which also influences their BLs. Finally, there is a significant moderating impact of demographic factors, such as age (AG), gender (GE) and income levels (ILs) on the relationship between individuals' physical and MH and individuals' BLs.

This study proposes a new model which highlights the issue of youth consumer obesity from the psychological and lifestyle perspectives. The model is effective as it has a high explanative power of 73%. The study investigates consumer obesity from emerging market like India perspective, but the study does not examine consumer food consumption behavior and obesity from developed market perspective.

Youth obesity could be considered a global pandemic, and obesity rates among the Indian youth are also increasing. This study provides valuable inputs and understanding of consumer markets to policy makers, consumer protection institutions, organizations related to the food and beverage industry, healthcare workers and consumers themselves regarding the antecedents of youth obesity (BL) in developing and emerging markets.

The study adds value to the body of literature related to consumer obesity, FH, consumer psychology and lifestyle through findings that are new in terms of findings' specificity, contextual focus and explication. Moreover, the study extends the cognitive theory of DE and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The research effectively offers significant theoretical and practicable market knowledge to both scholars and marketing practitioners, as well as policy makers and institutions dealing with youth obesity, particularly in emerging markets.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel approach to integrate portable document format (PDF) interface into Java-based digital library application. It bridges the gap between conducting content operation and viewing on PDF document asynchronously.

In this paper, the authors first review some related research and discuss PDF and its drawbacks. Next, the authors propose the design steps and implementation of three modes of displaying PDF document: PDF display, image display and extensible markup language (XML) display. A comparison of these three modes has been carried out.

The authors find that the PDF display is able to completely present the original PDF document contents and thus obviously superior to the other two displays. In addition, the format specification of PDF-based e-book does not perform well; lack of standardization and complex structure is exposed to the publication.

The proposed approach makes viewing the PDF documents more convenient and effective, and can be used to retrieve and visualize the PDF documents and to support the personalized function customization of PDF in the digital library applications.

This paper proposes a novel approach to solve the problem between content operation and the view of PDF synchronously, providing users a new tool to retrieve and reuse the PDF documents. It contributes to improve the service specification and policy of viewing the PDF for digital library. Besides, the personalized interface and public index make further development and application more feasible.

The aim of this study is to conduct an initial investigation of information sharing between the vast number of expatriate employees and the small minority of local employees in Dubai’s private sector workforce. Research on the impact of the workforce localization policy has highlighted the frequent marginalization of locals within the expatriate-dominated private sector. One form of this is the reluctance of expatriates to share information with local recruits, and the authors conducted this study to assess the reality and extent of this phenomenon.

The authors designed a brief interview survey to probe how Emirati employees secure workplace information and whether they experience information withholding on the part of expatriate colleagues. The authors also explored whether any such experience impacts on their attitudes to working in the private sector since this is a key factor in the success of the localization policy. Complete responses were received from 0.9 per cent of the total local private sector workforce.

A notable lack of information sharing emerged with 58 per cent of respondents reporting their expatriate colleagues’ and superiors’ reluctance to share information with them, and 63 per cent describing experiences of discriminatory behavior.

The authors identify key cultural and communication issues relating to localization within Dubai’s multicultural workforce. These include the broader cultural factors that determine how Emiratis conceptualize information sharing. Future research can pursue this issue to help inform the development of supportive information sharing practices. Such practices are an essential part of the creation of a diversity climate, which is necessary to sustain localization.

This study is a pioneering attempt to empirically investigate the information sharing practices that Emirati private sector employees experience. It suggests that the exclusion of citizens from the workplace through practices such as “ghost Emiratization” reverberates in the workplace through a lack of information sharing.

This paper aims to develop a performing approach for telerobotic arc welding in an unstructured environment.

A teleteaching approach is presented for an arc welding telerobotic system in an unstructured environment. Improved laser vision sensor enhances the precision of teleteaching welding seam. Stereoscopic vision display system is developed to provide the perception information of remote environment that increased the dexterity of the teleteaching process. Operator interacts with the system by welding multi‐modal human‐machine interface, which integrated the teleteaching operation window, status display window and space mouse.

The sensor‐based teleteaching approach, which integrated laser vision sensing and stereoscopic vision display, can perform arc welding of most welding seam trajectory in an unstructured environment. The approach releases the payload of human operator and improves adaptability of the arc welding system.

The paper provides the remote welding telerobotic approach that is gentle to most unstructured environments.

The sensor‐based teleteaching approach provides the capability of a telerobotic system used in remote welding field, which can shorten the incident response time and maintenance period of nuclear plants, space and underwater.

This paper introduces the sensor‐based teleteaching concept and performing procedure to be used for remote telerobotic arc welding.

Research in higher education provides the foundation for the future of education and hence attracts the attention of policymakers who debate the merits and demerits of it in various contexts. Research in higher education is expected to anticipate emerging trends, problems faced by educationists, and to develop concepts that would be reliable to generate the curriculum needed for knowledge-based nations. Universities that are conscious of the future and want to contribute to coping with this rapidly changing world have been engaged in meaningful research agendas. Education now has to deal with issues like globalization, climate change, refugee crisis, new models for education systems, steering the entire system toward internationalization, and manage the institution with a scarcity of resources. These challenges call for extensive research and in-depth analysis of the problems so that a possible solution can be worked out by academics in identifying thematic areas of work and emerging fields of education. Research-based universities occupy a prime position in the 21st-century global knowledge economy. These institutions have multiple roles to play besides teaching–learning and academic achievement of their students. This book demonstrates how research is being viewed in different countries having completely diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. The authors have explored the university’s contribution toward the advancement of global science and scholarship in countries like Turkey, Kosovo, Latin America, and the United States. Authors have also explored new information and processes that are contributing to emerging trends that are significant in understanding the human condition through multiple academic and societal roles. These authors discuss issues related to culture, technology, and society, which are the foundation of intellectual and scientific trends.

University partnerships have been promoted and implemented a good deal in Europe since the approval of the Bologna Declaration of June 19, 1999 (Bologna Declaration, 1999). Over the past two decades, the University of Prishtina has developed many bilateral and multilateral initiatives to strengthen cooperation and partnership among universities from different countries and regions (University of Prishtina, 2004, p. 2). The University of Prishtina embraced the Bologna Declaration in 2001, and since then has established several partnerships aimed at strengthening its capacities and improving the quality assurance of its higher education (Brunnhofer, 2010, p. 107). In the recent years, the University of Prishtina has given priority to the area of research, aiming to increase the quality and quantity of research conducted by its faculty. The quality and relevance of the international partnerships of the University of Prishtina is the main focus of this paper, including the current state of research among the faculty. The researcher used a qualitative method for conducting this research. It shows the institutional and individual benefits of those partnerships. Finally, it presents the impact of cooperation on developing research and improving the quality of education in Kosovo.

The study aims to explore the factors that influence Emirati women's career choice in the UAE. This study contributes to the influence of context in career choices by investigating how Emirati women chose information technology (IT) as a profession through the lens of the social cognitive career theory.

This study undertook in-depth interviews with 21 Emirati women working in technology in the UAE. The study considers women's career choices at three levels, i.e. from an individual, organisational and national context perspective.

The key findings include identifying the importance of national context in influencing career choices among other factors such as family centrality, desire to be seen as a role model, company reputation and government policy.

The study has wider implications for women's career choices in other contexts. The findings highlight the challenges women face, such as a lack of role models and family centrality, which need to be considered in recruitment policies and practices in other national contexts.

The originality of the study is its contribution to the literature developing understanding of the influences on women's career choices in the Emirates. While previous studies have identified the role of patriarchal influence on women's careers, we have less understanding of the importance attributed to individual factors such as being perceived as a role model within their family and to society. Similarly, the literature provides limited evidence of the influence of factors such as government sponsorship and company reputation.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test competing models of the different causal relationships regarding the motivations for corporate environmental responsibility, the adoption of environmental product policies and the related enhancement of environmental performance.

This study uses a mail survey and employs structural equation modeling to test the different relationships among the constructs examined. By testing the fitness of the competing model models, the appropriate relationships are identified.

The environmental performance is directly influenced by instrumental motives and political motives, which have indirect effects on environmental performance through corporate environmental responsibility. These also reveal that instrumental motives have marginal effects on both corporate environmental responsibility and environmental performance, and the marginal effects of political motives on environmental performance are also clearly shown. Notably, the results reveal that the corporate environmental responsibly is a pivot in these cause‐effect relationships.

Although this study provides researchers and policy makers with a framework to study environmental responsibility in different business environments, it did not undertake a deeper analysis to better understand business and organizational cultures and business environments regarding the implementation of an environmentally oriented policy. Furthermore, the model was only tested with survey data from Taiwan, although some of samples operate internationally.

From the perspective of a practical business context, practitioners should implement corporate responsibility policies that are specifically related to their political environments. For example, when doing businesses in Taiwan, the political motives involved in environmental protection will be the key to success when undertaking policies related to corporate environmental responsibility.

The results of this research indicate that there is an indirect heavy loading of corporate environmental responsibility on environmental performance. Therefore, corporate environmental responsibility is the pivotal factor in firms' adoption of environmentally oriented policies.