• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.509-518
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• 2021

Amid the Covid pandemic surge last year, customers and businesses started embracing digital transactions. Digital banking, as an answer to the cash-less-contact-less way of doing financial transactions, was highly convenient during the pandemic, especially in the Philippines. This position examines the Gen Y and Gen Z in the Philippine case and its willingness to encourage digitalization of the financial sector. This study aimed at evaluating the intention to use digital banking services using the factors (1) ease of use; (2) perceived usefulness; (3) perceived risk; (4) trust; (5) convenience. A total of 226 respondents were selected by random sampling method and linear regression was used to analyse the collected data. Analysis of the results show that the components (1) perceived ease of use; (2) perceived usefulness; (3) perceived risk; (4) trust; (5) convenience had a significant effect on intention to use digital banking while the demographics - gender, age, monthly income, and educational attainment do not have any significance on the intention to use digital banking. The relevance of the study can be used for marketing and financial strategies to increase the intention to use digital banking and to contribute to the enhancement of technology acceptance concerning digital banking.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.222-229
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• 2021

Icing causes various serious problems, where water vapor or water droplets adhere at cold conditions. Therefore, understanding of ice adhesion on solid surface and technology to reduce de-icing force are essential for surface finishing of metallic materials used in extreme environments and aircrafts. In this study, we controlled wettability of aluminum alloy using anodic oxidation, hydrophobic coating and lubricant-impregnation. In addition, surface porosity of anodized oxide layer was controlled to realize superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity. Then, de-icing force on these surfaces with a wide range of wettability and mobility of water was measured. The results show that the enhanced wettability of hydrophilic surface causes strong adhesion of ice. The hydrophobic coating on the nanoporous anodic oxide layer reduces the adhesion of ice, but the volume expansion of water during the freezing diminishes the effect. The lubricant-impregnated surface shows an extremely low adhesion of ice, since the lubricant inhibits the direct contact between ice and solid surface.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.3711-3716
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• 2021

The addition of ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian blue; PB) to adsorbents could enhance the adsorption performance of ¹³³Cs. Toward this goal, we present a heterogeneously integrated carbonaceous material platform consisting of PB in direct contact with CO₂-activated carbon filters (PB-CACF). The resulted sample retains 24.39% more PB than vice versa probed by the ultraviolet-visible spectrometer. We leverage this effect to capture ¹³³Cs in the aqueous environment via the increase in ionic strength and micropores. We note that the amount of PB was likely to be the key factor for ¹³³Cs adsorption compared with specific surface characteristics. The revealed adsorption capacity of PB-CACF was 21.69% higher than the bare support. The adsorption characteristics were feasible and spontaneous. Positive values of 𝜟H^o and 𝜟S^o show the endothermic nature and increased randomness. Based on the concept of capturing hazardous materials via hazardous materials, our work will be of interest within the relevant academia for collecting radionuclides in a sufficient manner.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.96-102
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• 2019

Magnesium and its alloys are prone to be corroded, thus surface treatments improving corrosion resistance are always required for practical applications. As a surface treatment of magnesium alloys, plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO), creating porous stable oxide layer by a high voltage discharge in electrolyte, enhances the corrosion resistance. However, due to superhydrophilicity of the porous oxide layer, which easily allow the penetration of corrosive media toward magnesium alloys substrate, post-treatments inhibiting the transfer of corrosive media in porous oxide layer are required. In this work, we employed a hydrophobizing method to enhance the corrosion resistance of PEO treated Mg alloy. Three types of hydrophobizing techniques were used for PEO layer. Thin Teflon coating with solvent evaporation, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) based on solution method and SAM coating of perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS) based on vacuum method significantly enhances corrosion resistance of PEO treated Mg alloy with reducing the contact of water on the surface. In particular, the vacuum based FDTS coating on PEO layer shows the most effective hydrophobicity with the highest corrosion resistance.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of filler particle size and shape on the physical properties of silicone rubber composites were investigated using inorganic fillers (Minusil 5, Celite 219, and Nyad 400) except silica, which was already present as a reinforcing filler of silicone rubber. Fillers with small particle sizes are known to facilitate the formation of the bound rubber by increasing the contact area with the polymer. However, in this experiment, the bound rubber content of Celite 219-added silicone composite was higher than that of Minusil 5-added silicone composite. This was attributed to the porous structure of Celite 219, which led to an increase in the internal surface area of the filler. When the inorganic fillers were added, both thermal decomposition temperature and thermal stability were improved. The bound rubber formed between the silicone rubber and inorganic filler affected the degree of crosslinking of the silicone composite. It is well-known that as the size of the reinforcing filler decreases, the reinforcing effect increases. However, in this experiment, the hardness of the composite material filled with Celite 219 was the highest compared to the other three composites. Furthermore, the highest value of 2.19 MPa was observed for 100% modulus, and the fracture elongation was the lowest at 469%. This was a result of excellent interaction between Celite 219 filler and silicone rubber.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 2019

Electromagnetic forming (EMF) simulations consider 3-dimensionally coupled electromagnetic-mechanical phenomenon using LS-DYNA, therefore the calculation cost is normally expensive. In this study, a sensitivity analysis in regard to the simulation variables affecting the calculation time was carried out. The EMF experiments were conducted to form an elliptically protruding shape on a high-strength steel sheet, and it was predicted using LS-DYNA simulation. In this particular EMF simulation case, the effect of several simulation variables, viz., element size, contact condition, EM-time step interval, and re-calculation number of the EM matrices, on the shape of elliptical protrusion and the total calculation time was analyzed. As a result, reasonable values of the simulation variables between the simulation precision and calculation time were proposed, and the EMF experiments with respect to the charging voltages were successfully predicted.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.627-634
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• 2018

Soil stabilization is an essential engineering process to enhance the geotechnical properties of soils that are not suitable for construction purposes. This study focuses on using coconut coir, a natural fibre to enhance the soil properties. Lime, an activator is added to the reinforced soil to augment its shear strength and durability. An experimental investigation was conducted to demonstrate the effect of coconut coir fibers and lime on the consistency limits, compaction characteristics, unconfined compressive strength, stress-strain behaviour, subgrade strength and durability of the treated soil. The results of the study illustrate that lime stabilization and coir reinforcement improves the unconfined compressive strength, post peak failure strength, controls crack propagation and boosts the tensile strength of the soil. Coir reinforcement provides addition contact surface, improving the soil-fibre interaction and increasing the interlocking between fibre and soil and thereby improve strength. Optimum performance of soil is observed at 1.25% coir fibre inclusion. Coir being a natural product is prone to degradation and to increase the durability of the coir reinforced soil, lime is used. Lime stabilization favourably amends the geotechnical properties of the coir fibre reinforced soil.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.743-753
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the effects of a community-based first and third Intergenerational Exchange Program (IGEP) on older adults' health-related quality of life (HRQoL), loneliness, depression, and walking speed, and on 4~5-year-old preschool children's learning-related social skills. Methods: This study employed a non-equivalent control group pre-post-test design. The experimental group included 42 older adults and 42 children who participated in the IGEP for 8 weeks, and the control group included 39 older adults. The experimental group participated in the IGEP once a week for 8 weeks. It comprised a traditional play program based on the intergroup contact theory. Results: Compared to the control group, there was a significant increase in scores on the HRQoL-Visual analogue scale (VAS) and a decrease in loneliness and depression in older adults in the experimental group (p<.05). Children who participated in the IGEP showed an improvement in their learning-related social skills (p<.001). Conclusion: These results confirm that the IGEP is an effective intervention to improve HRQoL-VAS, loneliness, and depression among older adults and learning-related social skills among preschool children in the community.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.146-162
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• 2018

The unsteady problem of a rigid body impact onto a floating plate is studied. Both the plate and the water are at rest before impact. The plate motion is caused by the impact force transmitted to the plate through an elastic layer with viscous damping on the top of the plate. The hydrodynamic force is calculated by using the second-order model of plate impact by Iafrati and Korobkin (2011). The present study is concerned with the deceleration experienced by a rigid body during its collision with a floating object. The problem is studied also by a fully-nonlinear computational-fluid-dynamics method. The elastic layer is treated with a moving body-fitted grid, the impacting body with an immersed boundary method, and a discrete-element method is used for the contact-force model. The presence of the elastic layer between the impacting bod- ies may lead to multiple bouncing of them, if the bodies are relatively light, before their interaction is settled and they continue to penetrate together into the water. The present study is motivated by ship slamming in icy waters, and by the effect of ice conditions on conventional free-fall lifeboats.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.501-506
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• 2018

With the recent remarkable improvements in the average speeds of contemporary trains, a necessity has arisen for the development of new friction modifiers to improve adhesion characteristics at the wheel-rail interface. The friction modifier must be designed to reduce slippage or sliding of the trains' wheels on the rails under conditions of rapid acceleration or braking without excessive rolling contact wear. In this study, a novel composite material consisting of metal, ceramic, and polymer is proposed as a friction modifier to improve adhesion between wheels and rails. A blend of Al-6Cu-0.5Mg metallic powder, $Al_2O_3$ ceramic powder, and Bakelite-based polymer in various weight-fractions is hot-pressed at $150^{\circ}C$ to form a bulk composite material. Variation in the adhesion coefficient is evaluated using a high-speed wheel-rail friction tester, with and without application of the composite friction modifier, under both dry and wet conditions. The effect of varying the weighting fractions of metal and ceramic friction powders is detailed in the paper.