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Computer simulations were done extensively in order to study non‐linear dynamics of laser‐plasma interaction in InSb semiconductor. We constructed the modified Duffing kind of non‐linear semiconductor plasma oscillator equation. Collision frequency is found to be dominant parameter to influence the bifurcation, chaos, hysteresis and bistable effects of plasma wave. Small windows of higher period cascade above the critical value of laser parameter (α₁α₂) in the chaos region are observed. Laser‐plasma exhibits too much chaotic regime at lower value of laser driving frequency (δ). Hysteresis and bistable regions of plasma wave are presented and the conditions for their occurence are identified. The unstable regions completely merge at higher value of effective collision frequency (γ).

Climate change is a global threat to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In an increasingly urbanized world, homeowners play an important role in climate adaptation and environmental sustainability through decisions to landscape and manage their residential properties.

In this chapter, we review the potential impacts of climate change on environmental sustainability in urban ecosystems and highlight the role of urban and suburban residents in conserving biodiversity. We focus extensively on the interactions of homeowners and residential landscapes in urban coastal and desert environments.

Understanding how human-environment interactions are linked with a changing climate is especially relevant for coastal and desert cities in the United States, which are already experiencing visible impacts of climate change. In fact, many homeowners are already making decisions in response to environmental change, and these decisions will ultimately shape the future structure, function and sustainability of these critically important ecosystems.

Considering the close relationship between biodiversity and the health and well-being of human societies, understanding how climate change and other social motivations affect the landscaping decisions of urban residents will be critical for predicting and enhancing sustainability in these social-ecological systems.

When countries differ in the perceived quality of their products, country‐of‐origin (CO) labelling influences consumer choice. While the influence of nationalism on perceived quality has been well documented in the literature, the effect of worldmindedness has not been examined in this context. Primarily explores the role of worldmindedness in product quality perception. Confirms the impact of CO and nationalism on product evaluation. In studying 593 Austrian consumers, the research finds the effect of CO is moderated by the characteristics of consumer groups. Reveals that the effect of worldmindedness on product evaluation is enhanced for foreign products and is diminished for domestic products, however, the impact of nationalism on product evaluation is enhanced for domestic products and is diminished for foreign products. Suggests promotional and positioning implications for targeting both groups.

This paper aims to investigate how consumers adjust their price expectations for brands in response to previously encountered prices. The effects of two distinct components of price history, focal and contextual, are examined. The focal component represents the role of a brand's own previous price(s) in determining future price expectations. In contrast, the contextual component represents the impact of the prices of previously considered competing brands.

A total of 60 subjects were enrolled to participate in a longitudinal, quantitative, survey‐based study that required them to provide information on brand perceptions, price expectations, brand consideration and choice.

Empirical comparison of several model formulations confirms that both components are crucial in explaining how consumers adjust their price expectations in response to the prices of considered brands. Consistent with a wide body of research, a brand's own previous price exerts the greatest influence on price expectations. However, the extent to which contextual prices are assimilated depends on the composition of consumers' consideration sets. Avenues for future research and implications for brand pricing and positioning are discussed.

The results offer several unique perspectives that stand out from (and build further on) previous research. First, although previous research has examined the effects of competing brands' current prices on brand choices, it has not incorporated the prices of competing brands that may have been observed on previous shopping occasions. Second, measures and assesses the perceived variability within the consumers' consideration sets influences the impact of the contextual component on a brand's current reference price.

While cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally, over 80% of the cases could be prevented through early lifestyle changes. From the perspective of quality management in healthcare, this may offer an effective prevention window if modifiable CVD risk factors are identified and treated in adolescence. The purpose of this research is to examine the negative emotions in adolescents and determine if it independently increases CVD risk later in life.

Longitudinal data from 12,350 participants of the Add Health study, which conducted a multi-wave survey for 14 years from adolescence (Wave 1) through adulthood (Wave 4), were used to test the research hypothesis. Four items (perception of life, self-reported depression, perceived loneliness and fearfulness) reflective of adolescent negative emotion were identified from the Wave 1 questionnaire, and factor analysis was conducted to confirm the hypothesized structure. The outcome variable, 30-year adulthood CVD risk category (high or low risk), was estimated using biomarkers, biological data and other factors collected during the 14-year follow-up in Wave 4. A logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the impact of adolescent negative emotions on adulthood CVD risk after adjusting for common risk factors such as sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic status and medical conditions in adolescence.

The results indicated adolescent negative emotion to be significantly associated with CVD risk category (p-value < 0.0001), even after controlling for common risk factors. A unit increase in the level of adolescent negative emotion increased the chance of being in the high CVD risk group in adulthood by 8% (odds ratio = 1.08 ± 0.03).

Healthcare providers and organizations could capitalize on the research findings by screening for negative emotions early in life through individual and societal interventions. The findings also provide an opportunity for implementing quality improvement initiatives to deliver robust preventive care, which, in turn, could improve the overall population health, reduce healthcare costs and improve care quality.

Although previous studies showed a strong link between adolescent physiological factors (e.g. obesity) and adulthood cardiovascular disease (CVD), the association between adolescent outlook/attitude (negative emotion) and CVD risk has not been examined.

Prior research suggests that 80% of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events can be prevented by modifying certain behaviors, yet it remains the primary cause of mortality worldwide. Early detection and management of critical modifiable factors have the potential to improve cardiovascular care quality as well as the associated health outcomes. This study aims to assess the independent impact of psychological well-being in adolescence, a modifiable factor, on long-term CVD risk and promote targeted early interventions through quality management principles.

Data from the Add Health study, which employed a series of surveys and health tests (Wave 1 – Wave 4) on individuals for 14 years (from adolescence to adulthood), were obtained and analyzed longitudinally. Psychological well-being in adolescence was assessed using four Wave 1 survey questions, and 30-year CVD risk was estimated 14 years later with Wave 4 data. Three different logistic regression models were examined to understand the impact of adding covariates.

This study’s sample included 12,116 individuals who responded to all the relevant questions and underwent clinical risk factor measurements in Wave 1 (adolescence) and Wave 4 (young adulthood). Psychological well-being was protective with reduced risk for CVD across the three models tested. There is a statistically significant association, where increasing psychological well-being reduced the 30-year CVD risk exponentially in all the models. The analysis also suggested an exposure–response relationship, where the 30-year risk category of adulthood CVD decreased with an increase in psychological well-being.

This research uncovers an inverse association between adolescent psychological well-being and adulthood CVD risk. This study also identifies quality management-based preventive tools/techniques to improve psychological well-being in adolescence and therefore reduce CVD risk later in life.

This study is among the first to establish a long-term association between positive well-being and CVD risk. Also, unlike the existing literature, this work provides implications for improving CVD care from a quality management perspective.

This study aims to explore the “psychological contract of safety” (PCS), a key factor in the safety climate (SC), which relies on the behavioral safety actions of workers at construction sites. While numerous factors have been identified in various sectors across different countries, there is a consensus among researchers that there is a dearth of common assessment factors specifically for the Indian construction industry (ICI). Therefore, this study undertakes a systematic review of existing literature to identify the factors that determine PCS in construction and to ascertain the relative importance index (RII) of these variables and their interrelationships using structural equation modelling (SEM).

A structured survey was conducted among 420 professionals in the ICI to collect data. This data was then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods to derive results.

The findings of the study indicate that PCS factors have a significant impact on the construction industry (CI). The inferential analysis ranks “Safety System” as the top factor with the highest RII value. The chi-square results highlight two key SC factors that enhance and regulate an organization’s safety performance. The SEM results reveal that SC factors contribute to the improvement of PCS and influence worker safety behavior.

The outcomes of this study will be beneficial for stakeholders aiming to improve safety at construction sites and enhance safety performance by fulfilling the mutual safety obligations of employers and employees and by improving safety norms, procedures and policy-making. This paper also provides a theoretical framework for scholars to reassess the results in various contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to give a review on the newest developments of high-performance finite element methods (FEMs), and exhibit the recent contributions achieved by the authors’ group, especially showing some breakthroughs against inherent difficulties existing in the traditional FEM for a long time.

Three kinds of new FEMs are emphasized and introduced, including the hybrid stress-function element method, the hybrid displacement-function element method for Mindlin–Reissner plate and the improved unsymmetric FEM. The distinguished feature of these three methods is that they all apply the fundamental analytical solutions of elasticity expressed in different coordinates as their trial functions.

The new FEMs show advantages from both analytical and numerical approaches. All the models exhibit outstanding capacity for resisting various severe mesh distortions, and even perform well when other models cannot work. Some difficulties in the history of FEM are also broken through, such as the limitations defined by MacNeal’s theorem and the edge-effect problems of Mindlin–Reissner plate.

These contributions possess high value for solving the difficulties in engineering computations, and promote the progress of FEM.

This paper aims to present an extension of two recently published elements (which are based on Petrov‐Galerkin formulation) to geometric nonlinear (GNL) problems.

Two different sets of shape functions, namely isoparametric and metric, suitably chosen to satisfy the necessary compatibility and completeness conditions, are used as test and trial functions, respectively. Total Lagrangian formulation is used for the implementation of the element.

In implementing the unsymmetric formulation for nonlinear problems, the deformation gradient tensor can be evaluated invariably using either isoparametric or metric shape functions. The developed elements are found to exhibit improved performance in the presence of mesh distortions.

The numerical problems in this paper involve linear elastic materials.

Extension of US‐QUAD8 and US‐HEXA20 for GNL problems is new.

Sulphur dioxide, a dangerous atmospheric pollutant, is a major concern with the increasing use of coal as a combustion fuel in thermal power plants. Numerous efforts were made through these years to minimize the emission of sulphur dioxide and one such effort is the desulphurization of the flue gas generated during combustion, commonly termed as flue gas desulphurization (FGD). However, the materials of construction used for FGD systems, usually of type 316L stainless steel were reported to be failed due to the localized corrosion attack by the aggressiveness of the environment, mainly of chloride, fluoride, acidity and temperature encountered during the scrubbing of SO2.