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The purpose of this case study is to explore to what extent US university undergraduates participating in a research abroad program through US–Taiwan Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) developed intercultural awareness and cross-cultural adaptability skills. It also suggests additional program design features to enhance students' international experiences.

To better understand participants' experiences in the PIRE program, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Demographic questionnaires, pre- and postsurveys, observational field notes and individual interviews were conducted for data collection and analysis.

Students perceived the experience abroad to improve their intercultural awareness and skills such as openness to cultural differences, coping with challenges abroad and effectively working in diverse teams. Specifically, quantitative findings reflected group gains in the areas of flexibility/openness and perceptual acuity, whereas qualitative findings indicated growth in students' emotional resilience and personal autonomy.

Additional data collection methods, such as pre-/postinstruments or a longitudinal study would provide a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of education abroad on students' intercultural learning.

Evaluation of programs and outcomes can help identify areas to maximize student learning and assess the value of education abroad.

This is original research and makes a contribution to education abroad programs in postsecondary education.

Building on institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for analyzing how consumer attitudes toward nudity in ads change as a result of modernization. Modernization is driven by the currents of pluralism and rationalism. The authors highlight the inherent contradiction of these two pillars and how this contradiction results in an inverted-U pattern in the relationship between level of modernization and consumer attitudes toward sex appeals. Consumers’ sexual permissiveness and their perceived insufficiency of regulatory control over sexual content in the mass media are the individual-level mediators of the two pillars.

The data were collected from three Chinese cities at different levels of modernization. A total of 811 college students from the three cities participated in the study.

The relationship between level of modernization and attitude favorability followed an inverted-U pattern. Female participants in the most modernized city possessed significantly less favorable attitudes to the ads than their male counterparts. Female and male participants were similar in their attitudes in the less modern cities. Sexual permissiveness mediated the relationship between modernization and male participants’ attitudes, but not with female participants’ attitudes. Perceived sufficiency of regulatory control over sexual content mediated the relationship between modernization and their attitudes among both male and female participants.

The paper makes an empirical contribution by testing the hypotheses regarding consumers responses to sex-appeal advertising with data collected from three Chinese cities at different levels of modernization. Additionally, it offers an institutional perspective on social attitude changes. Social attitude change is of great interest to researchers, but a systematic theoretical analysis is currently lacking.

To overcome the problem of inferior through-the-thickness mechanical properties displayed by armor-grade composites based on 2-D reinforcement architectures, armor-grade composites based on 3D fiber-reinforcement architectures have recently been investigated experimentally.

The subject of the present work is armor-grade composite materials reinforced using ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fibers and having four (two 2D and two 3D) prototypical architectures, as well as the derivation of the corresponding material models. The effect of the reinforcement architecture is accounted for by constructing the appropriate unit cells (within which the constituent materials and their morphologies are represented explicitly) and subjecting them to a series of virtual mechanical tests. The results obtained are used within a post-processing analysis to derive and parameterize the corresponding homogenized-material models. One of these models (specifically, the one for 0°/90° cross-collimated fiber architecture) was directly validated by comparing its predictions with the experimental counterparts. The other models are validated by examining their physical soundness and details of their predictions. Lastly, the models are integrated as user-material subroutines, and linked with a commercial finite-element package, in order to carry out a transient non-linear dynamics analysis of ballistic transverse impact of armor-grade composite-material panels with different reinforcement architectures.

It is found that the reinforcement architecture plays a critical role in the overall ballistic limit of the armor panel, as well as in its structural and damage/failure response.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first reported attempt to assess, computationally, the utility and effectiveness of 3D fiber-reinforcement architectures for ballistic impact applications.

Fiber-reinforced armor-grade polymer-matrix composite materials with a superior penetration resistance are traditionally developed using legacy knowledge and trial-and-error empiricism. This approach is generally quite costly and time-consuming and, hence, new (faster and more economical) approaches are needed for the development of high-performance armor-grade composite materials. One of these new approaches is the so-called materials-by-design approach. Within this approach, extensive use is made of the computer-aided engineering (CAE) analyses and of the empirically/theoretically established functional relationships between an armor-grade composite-protected structure, the properties of the composite materials, material microstructure (as characterized at different length-scales) and the material/structure synthesis and fabrication processes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In the present work, a first step is made toward applying the materials-by-design approach to the development of the armor-grade composite materials and protective structures with superior ballistic-penetration resistance. Specifically, CAE analyses are utilized to establish functional relationships between the attributes/properties of the composite material and the penetration resistance of the associated protective structure, and to identify the combination of these properties which maximize the penetration resistance. In a follow-up paper, the materials-by-design approach will be extended to answer the questions such as what microstructural features the material must possess in order for the penetration resistance to be maximized and how such materials should be synthesized/processed.

The results obtained show that proper adjustment of the material properties results in significant improvements in the protective structure penetration resistance.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first reported attempt to apply the materials-by-design approach to armor-grade composite materials in order to help improve their ballistic-penetration resistance.

The weld region obtained during friction stir welding (FSW) of metallic materials (including aluminum alloys) contains typically well-defined zones, each characterized by fairly unique microstructure and properties. The purpose of this paper is to carry out combined experimental and numerical investigations of the mechanical properties of materials residing in different weld zones of FSW joints of thick AA2139-T8 plates.

Within the experimental investigation, the following has been conducted: first, optical-microscopy characterization of the transverse sections of the FSW joints, in order to help identify and delineate weld zones; second, micro hardness field generation over the same transverse section in order to reconfirm the location and the extent of various weld zones; third, extraction of miniature tensile specimens from different weld zones and their experimental testing; and finally, extraction of a larger size tensile specimen spanning transversely the FSW weld and its testing. Within the computational investigation, an effort was made to: first, validate the mechanical properties obtained using the miniature tensile specimens; and second, demonstrate the need for the use of the miniature tensile specimens.

It is argued that the availability of weld-zone material mechanical properties is critical since: first, these properties are often inferior relative to their base-metal counterparts; second, the width of the weld in thick metallic-armor is often comparable to the armor thickness, and therefore may represent a significant portion of the armor exposed-surface area; and finally, modeling of the weld-material structural response under loading requires the availability of high-fidelity/validated material constitutive models, and the development of such models requires knowledge of the weld-material mechanical properties.

The importance of determining the mechanical properties of the material in different parts of the weld zone with sufficient accuracy is demonstrated.

A series of all-atom molecular-level computational analyses is carried out in order to investigate mechanical transverse (and longitudinal) elastic stiffness and strength of p-phenylene terephthalamide (PPTA) fibrils/fibers and the effect various microstructural/topological defects have on this behavior. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

To construct various defects within the molecular-level model, the relevant open-literature experimental and computational results were utilized, while the concentration of defects was set to the values generally encountered under “prototypical” polymer synthesis and fiber fabrication conditions.

The results obtained revealed: a stochastic character of the PPTA fibril/fiber strength properties; a high level of sensitivity of the PPTA fibril/fiber mechanical properties to the presence, number density, clustering and potency of defects; and a reasonably good agreement between the predicted and the measured mechanical properties.

When quantifying the effect of crystallographic/morphological defects on the mechanical transverse behavior of PPTA fibrils, the stochastic nature of the size/potency of these defects was taken into account.

Traditionally, an armor-grade composite is based on a two-dimensional (2D) architecture of its fiber reinforcements. However, various experimental investigations have shown that armor-grade composites based on 2D-reinforcement architectures tend to display inferior through-the-thickness mechanical properties, compromising their ballistic performance. To overcome this problem, armor-grade composites based on three-dimensional (3D) fiber-reinforcement architectures have recently been investigated experimentally. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In the present work, continuum-level material models are derived, parameterized and validated for armor-grade composite materials, having four (two 2D and two 3D) prototypical reinforcement architectures based on oriented ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene fibers. To properly and accurately account for the effect of the reinforcement architecture, the appropriate unit cells (within which the constituent materials and their morphologies are represented explicitly) are constructed and subjected to a series of virtual mechanical tests (VMTs). The results obtained are used within a post-processing analysis to derive and parameterize the corresponding homogenized-material models. One of these models (specifically, the one for 0°/90° cross-collimated fiber architecture) was directly validated by comparing its predictions with the experimental counterparts. The other models are validated by examining their physical soundness and details of their predictions. Lastly, the models are integrated as user-material subroutines, and linked with a commercial finite-element package, in order to carry out a transient non-linear dynamics analysis of ballistic transverse impact of armor-grade composite-material panels with different reinforcement architectures.

The results obtained clearly revealed the role the reinforcement architecture plays in the overall ballistic limit of the armor panel, as well as in its structural and damage/failure response.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first reported attempt to assess, computationally, the utility and effectiveness of 3D fiber-reinforcement architectures for ballistic-impact applications.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recently developed multi-physics computational model for the conventional Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) joining process that has been upgraded with respect to its predictive capabilities regarding the spatial distribution of the mechanical properties controlling the ballistic limit (i.e. penetration resistance) of the weld.

The original model consists of five modules, each dedicated to handling a specific aspect of the GMAW process, i.e.: electro-dynamics of the welding-gun; radiation-/convection-controlled heat transfer from the electric arc to the workpiece and mass transfer from the filler-metal consumable electrode to the weld; prediction of the temporal evolution and the spatial distribution of thermal and mechanical fields within the weld region during the GMAW joining process; the resulting temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the material microstructure throughout the weld region; and spatial distribution of the as-welded material mechanical properties. The model is upgraded through the introduction of the sixth module in the present work in recognition of the fact that in thick steel GMAW weldments, the overall ballistic performance of the armor may become controlled by the (often inferior) ballistic limits of its weld (fusion and heat-affected) zones.

The upgraded GMAW process model is next applied to the case of butt-welding of MIL A46100 (a prototypical high-hardness armor-grade martensitic steel) workpieces using filler-metal electrodes made of the same material. The predictions of the upgraded GMAW process model pertaining to the spatial distribution of the material microstructure and ballistic-limit-controlling mechanical properties within the MIL A46100 butt-weld are found to be consistent with general expectations and prior observations.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first reported attempt to establish, using computational modeling, functional relationships between the GMAW process parameters and the mechanical properties controlling the ballistic limit of the resulting weld.

The purpose of this paper is to examine hypothesized links between the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways’ (DCMP) Foundations of Mathematical Reasoning curriculum and the four hypothesized sources of self-efficacy. The sample of developmental mathematics students who were taught with a curriculum that incorporates active and collaborative learning reported increased ratings on social persuasions from the beginning to the end of the semester.

The study examines changes in the four sources of self-efficacy. Students completed a pre- and post-survey. Non-parametric methods were conducted to measure changes.

The paper provides empirical insights into changes in the four sources of self-efficacy with the implementation of a new curriculum in developmental mathematics classrooms. Students in the DCMP Foundation course increased their ratings on social persuasions and mastery experiences and decreased their ratings on physiological states. The largest proportion of variability in the four sources that was accounted for by course grade was mastery experiences followed by vicarious experiences, social persuasions and physiological states.

A control group was not included. Therefore, comparisons between students enrolled in the intervention course and a traditional course were not possible.

An implication of the study is that a curriculum that has an emphasis on face-to-face communication with collaborative learning activities might be linked to more positive measures of the sources of self-efficacy.

This paper fulfils a need to study how the implementation of an alternative curriculum in developmental mathematics classrooms can be linked to students’ self-efficacy.

In the African context of business practice, the authors face two interrelated challenges. First, executives need to deal strategically and sustainably with growing levels of inequality, under-employment and declining levels of wellness and safety. Second, executive development needs to develop virtues to help executives to address these problems. This paper aims to articulate an integrated, sustainable business education approach that aims to prepare executives to practice integrative thinking while simultaneously cultivating virtues that enhance their lives, thereby enabling them to make ongoing sustainable impacts to their worlds.

This study uses a mixed method analysis including both quantitative and qualitative data from student course feedback evaluations from Business Model Innovation (BMI) and Phronesis Development Practice courses run over four consecutive years between 2018 and 2021 at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business as part of the Executive Masters of Business Administration degree.

The program’s pedagogical approach integrates a philosophical habituation process with a core course on BMI practice. This philosophical integration is one in which there is a sustainable focus on cultivating specific “process” and “practice” virtues which foster awareness amongst executives of their everyday mundane skilful coping in the world. This leads to candidates becoming attuned to ways, in which they can strive for more authenticity and to step into newer ways of being, that allow them to reflect their values and evolve cultural practices.

As the first business school in Africa to base a BMI course on the affordances of the phenomenon of being-in-the-world and a philosophical habituation process, the authors hope to inspire more business schools to adopt holistic, sustainable approaches to executive development that goes beyond the competence paradigm.