Employment Status, Quality of Matching, and Retirement in Korea: Evidence from Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging

This paper explores the differing probabilities of retirement for self-employed and wage-and-salary workers. It finds self-employed workers are less likely to retire than wage-and-salary ones, and that differences in retirement incomes, health, productivity, job characteristics, and compulsory retirement practices do not explain the disparity. The difference between self-employed and wage-and-salary workers in the quality of matching between the job and the worker (i.e., between required and desired amount of work) explains the later retirement of the self-employed. We note the implications of these findings for labor-force participation at older ages and how policies might boost employment of the elderly.     

Interacting Socially with the Internet of Things (IoT): Effects of Source Attribution and Specialization in Human–IoT Interaction

This study investigates the theoretical mechanisms by which the variations in source attribution (multiple sources vs. single source) and specialization (multifunctionality vs. single functionality) of Internet of Things (IoT) devices influence the quality of human–IoT interaction. Results from a between‐subjects experiment (N = 100) indicate that IoT devices that elicit the sense of multiple agencies and are specialized in a single function induce greater social presence and perceived expertise, which, in turn, lead individuals to show a more positive attitude toward the devices and to ascribe greater quality to the information transmitted by them. The results also reveal that the effect of multiple source attribution is more pronounced for individuals for whom the content of the information has low personal relevance.     

从标准（ISO，GB）出发探讨生物医学实验室的特点

对比学习"ISO17025"、"ISO15189",探讨对生物医学实验室的不同要求,学习和落实《条例》与GB19489、GB19781,以确保人员安全、环境安全、样品安全。     

Online Conversation and Corporate Reputation: A Two‐Wave Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Exposure to the Social Media Activities of a Highly Interactive Company

In this paper, we investigate whether and to what extent exposure to a company's social media activities over time is beneficial for corporate reputation, and whether conversational human voice mediates this relation. In a two‐wave longitudinal survey among 1969 respondents, we assessed consumers' exposure to an international airline's social media activities, perceived level of conversational human voice and perception of corporate reputation. The results show that consumers' level of exposure to company social media activities precedes perceptions of corporate reputation. Also, conversational human voice mediates the relation between consumers' level of exposure to company social media activities and perceptions of corporate reputation. We discuss the implications of the results for the presence of organizations in social media.     

Effects of Color,Scouring Method,and Age on the Visual Sensibility of Naturally Colored Organic Cotton (NaCOC)

In parallel to the social trend of green consumerism and well‐being, the demand for naturally colored organic cotton (NaCOC) continually increases in the textile and clothing industry. The present study examined the effects of NaCOC color, scouring method, and age on the visual sensibility of NaCOC. Two age groups (20s and 30s; 40s and 50s) of women rated three color sets of NaCOC specimens (ivory, green, and coyote brown) treated by two chemical scouring methods (Na₂CO₃ and NaOH) and two bioscouring methods (enzyme and boiling water) using 7‐point scales of nine visual sensibilities (bright‐dark; clear‐murky; heavy‐light; vivid‐subdued; warm‐cool; fresh‐stale; strong‐weak; showy‐plain; and luxurious‐cheap). Preferred scouring methods by NaCOC color and/or age group were recommended for each visual sensibility (e.g., preferred scouring methods for fresh sensibility are Na₂CO₃ for ivory NaCOC, Na₂CO₃ and NaOH for green NaCOC, and boiling water for coyote brown NaCOC). In addition, the representative visual sensibilities of each NaCOC color (e.g., those of coyote brown NaCOC are dark, murky, heavy, vivid, warm, stale, strong, plain, and luxurious sensibilities) were identified for the women participants. Last, it was demonstrated that a bioscouring method can replace the traditional chemical methods for selected visual sensibilities (e.g., boiling water for luxurious sensibility). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

House Price Appreciation in Old Age: Analysis and Issues for the Use of Reverse Mortgages as a Retirement Funding Strategy in Australia

This paper investigates whether the houses of Australian elderly home owners appreciate at below the market rate and examines the issues this may raise for the use of reverse mortgages as a retirement funding strategy in Australia. The viability of reverse mortgages where elderly home owners effectively borrow against their housing equity depends strongly on house prices appreciating enough to offset the outstanding loan balance at the end of the loan tenure. This paper’s findings indicate that after controlling for other influences, being aged 75 years or over lowers annual house price appreciation rate by almost 1.4 percentage points. Being aged 75 years or over also lowers home improvement expenditure by over AUD3,000 per year and this is found to be attributable to a decline in income during old age. The majority of elderly home owners want to protect at least half of their housing equity when considering participating in reverse mortgage programs, but given below-average house price appreciation rates during old age, the propensity of a 50% equity protection declines sharply with age. In particular, single females aged 75 years or over are least able to protect at least half of their housing equity, with only around 15% able to do so by the end of a reverse mortgage loan tenure. The paper also finds that, worryingly, elderly home owners with characteristics associated with slower house price appreciation rates are over-represented among reverse mortgage borrowers in Australia, namely, those aged 75 years or over, single, living in apartments or residing in states with relatively slow house price growth.     

An Assertional Language for the Verification of Systems Parametric in Several Dimensions: (Preliminary Results)

We propose a rich assertional language to be used for symbolic verification of systems with several parametric dimensions. Our approach combines notions coming from different fields. We use Colored Petri Nets [16] to describe nets of processes carrying structured data. We combine concepts coming from constraint programming [23] and multiset rewriting [19] to finitely and concisely represent transitions and infinite collection of states of Colored Petri Nets. Finally, we incorporate these concepts in the verification technique based on backward reachability and upward-closed sets of [1,12]. We obtain a procedure that can be used as an automatic support for attacking parameterized verification problems. We apply these ideas to verify safety properties of a parameterized mutual exclusion algorithm. A number of open questions arise from our preliminary experiments, finding an adequate counterpart of our framework in the world of automated deduction being among the more interesting ones.     

New Branches, Old Roots: A Study of Methods and Techniques in Web/Hypermedia Systems Design

Despite claims in the literature that “traditional” methods and techniques are inadequate and poorly matched to the demands of the Web design context, the findings from a field survey of Web/hypermedia systems designers in Ireland indicate quite the contrary. in general, the notion of “method” in the traditional sense seems to have been largely displaced by hybrid aggregations of techniques and other method fragments - selected on the basis of usefulness and purposefully blended within an overarching framework of an in-house development process.     

Understanding the Role of Conscious and Automatic Mechanisms in Social Networking Services: A Longitudinal Study

Given the proliferation of social networking sites (SNSs), it has become important to understand users’ continued attraction and usage of them. Previous works on information systems (IS) and marketing have paid little attention to the role of automatic mechanisms in frequently used IS such as mobile applications and SNSs. We develop an integrated framework to examine the effects of conscious and automatic mechanisms on SNS users’ postadoption behaviors. Considering the unique characteristics of SNSs, we posit user satisfaction, trust in an SNS provider, and prior SNS use as key drivers accelerating the development of SNS habitual use. Longitudinal data collected from 250 Facebook users were tested against the research model using partial least squares. The findings showed that SNS continuance usage is shaped by automatic factor as well as by reasoned conscious factor. In particular, SNS continuance usage is largely explained by SNS habit. User satisfaction, trust in an SNS provider, and prior SNS use were found to be the key enablers of developing SNS habit. Moreover, the analysis results clarify the exact role of relationship management, self-presentation, perceived enjoyment, and trust in an SNS provider in users’ decision-making processes. Implications for research and practice are described.     

Spies in Suits: New Crimes of the Information Age from the United States and Canadian Perspectives

The rapid growth of computing and communications technologies (collectively known as 'information technologies') and the increasing global nature of commerce and business have caused an increase in technologically sophisticated criminal activity as well as international economic espionage. This article analyzes the existing laws and law enforcement policies and practices in the USA and Canada relating to such crimes. An analysis of the USA and Canada penal code and the criminal legislation relating to such crimes provides the starting point of the article. The article concludes with a comparison between the laws of the USA and Canada in this area.     

Age differences in search of web pages: the effects of link size, link number, and clutter

Reaction time, eye movements, and errors were measured during visual search of Web pages to determine age-related differences in performance as a function of link size, link number, link location, and clutter. Participants (15 young adults, M = 23 years; 14 older adults, M = 57 years) searched Web pages for target links that varied from trial to trial. During one half of the trials, links were enlarged from 10-point to 12-point font. Target location was distributed among the left, center, and bottom portions of the screen. Clutter was manipulated according to the percentage of used space, including graphics and text, and the number of potentially distracting nontarget links was varied. Increased link size improved performance, whereas increased clutter and links hampered search, especially for older adults. Results also showed that links located in the left region of the page were found most easily. Actual or potential applications of this research include Web site design to increase usability, particularly for older adults.     

Facilitating simultaneous engineering in the automotive industry via high speed networks, control passing and face-to-face video: Results from the car project

The European automotive industry requires frequent interaction and transfer of data between geographically dispersed designers and engineers at all stages of the product introduction process. The RACE CAR project identified and demonstrated Integrated Broadband Communications (IBC)-supported applications to support this process and improve competitiveness. User requirements for workstation-based, multi-media facilities including conferencing were identified. Two experiments were designed to investigate the role of face-to-face video and the means by which participants organise and control their interactions. These are critical issues in the multi-cultural, international environment of the European automotive industry. In the first experiment groups of three users solved a cooperative, screen-based, object manipulation task supported by different levels of communication. ‘Linked computers plus an audio link’ resulted in significantly faster completion times than either ‘audio alone’ or ‘linked computer plus audio and face-to-face video’. ‘Linked computers plus audio’ was also perceived as the most effective communications media. The passage of cursor via verbal agreement was successfully managed. Video was generally considered beneficial for initial introductions, assessing understanding and facilitating a stronger feeling of group identity.

In the second experiment, subjects were grouped under ‘chaired’ or ‘free-for-all’ conditions and linked via (1) audio and linked computers or (2) audio, linked computers and face-to-face video. The task was similar to Experiment 1 and attempts to introduce contention were made through adding hidden, sub-goals. The task took significantly less time to complete in the ‘video chaired’ condition than the ‘non-video chaired’ or ‘video free-for-all’ conditions. This suggests that video has an important role in enabling a chairperson to control the meeting. Contention was not successfully achieved.

The results of the experiments suggest face-to-face video may be useful in chaired meetings and to develop ‘team’ feeling. A free-for-all method of control passing was seen as most appropriate although problems in achieving contention in Experiment 2 meant the impact of disagreement was not fully investigated. The results are discussed in relation to the European automotive industry and areas for further study identified. Relevance to industry

The European automotive industry, which maintains distinct engineering functions in disparate countries, is striving to reduce the length of its design life cycle by improving communications between designers and engineers. The studies described in this paper provide information of use to the developers and procurers of systems intended to support this process. In particular issues relating to the relevance of face-to-face video and use of control mechanisms for co-operative computer-mediated work.