Browse Items (16488 total)
Sort by:
-
Exploring Revenge Travel Intentions to Offbeat Destinations: Assessing the Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms
This study integrates the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior to examine factors influencing revenge travel intentions to offbeat destinations, including perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control. It also explores the moderating role of social media influencer information search. Data from 363 online survey responses were analyzed using SmartPLS and structural equation modeling. Results show that constructs from both models significantly impact revenge travel intentions to offbeat destinations, with attitude and perceived behavioral control as partial mediators. Notably, social media information search strengthens the positive link between attitudes toward offbeat tourism and revenge travel intentions to offbeat destinations. The proposed model outperforms the original models in predictive capacity. The study acknowledges its limitations and discusses theoretical and practical implications for understanding revenge travel behavior to offbeat destinations. 2026 The Author(s). International Journal of Tourism Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
Exploring Self-Objectification Among Queer Community in IndiaA Qualitative Study
The objectification theory proposes that membership in sexually objectifying societies gradually socializes queer individuals to adopt an observers perspective on their physical self, which in turn leads to negative emotional and behavioral consequences. The queer community in India has existed for centuries, but their rights have only received attention recently. They still continue to be deprived of societal and legal status. With an aim to understand self-objectification among the queer community in India, this qualitative study attempts to explore the interplay of external factors and their relationships in shaping self-image and self-acceptance. This phenomenological study used an interpretive paradigm on the self-objectification of members of the queer community in India. The study was conducted on 10 individuals from the queer community using semi-structured interviews, and the obtained data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate the profound impact of societal beauty norms, family dynamics, peer interactions, and media influence on their self-esteem, body image, and identity. Implications of these findings call for increased awareness, education, and support to create a more inclusive and accepting environment for the queer community. Future recommendations include the development of interventions, educational programs, and mental health support services tailored to the needs of this community. 2025 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). -
Exploring Shopping Opportunities and Elevating Customer Experiences Through AI-Powered E-Commerce Strategies
This research explores the efficacy of clustering algorithms in enhancing customer experiences within the e-commerce landscape. Through experiment trials utilizing K-means and DBSCAN clustering techniques, valuable insights have been gleaned. The trials yielded silhouette scores ranging from 0.55 to 0.72, indicating moderate to good clustering quality across different experiments. In K-means clustering, the number of clusters varied from 3 to 6, with inertia values spanning approximately 722.41456.8. Conversely, DBSCAN clustering resulted in varying cluster numbers, ranging from 2 to 4, contingent on the combinations of epsilon and min_samples values explored. These findings underscore the significance of judiciously selecting clustering algorithms and parameter settings to achieve meaningful segmentation of e-commerce data. Effective utilization of clustering algorithms empowers businesses to discern valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and patterns. Consequently, businesses can tailor their strategies to deliver personalized experiences, targeted marketing campaigns, and optimized product recommendations. This research propels the exploration of additional clustering techniques and parameter refinements for enhanced clustering performance in e-commerce applications. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024. -
Exploring silenced subaltern voices of three-fold oppressed dalit women in Akkarmashi by Sharankumar Limbale : A postcolonial reading /
Roots International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Researches, Vol.2, Issue 3, pp.13-15, ISSN No: 2349-8684. -
Exploring Social Cues and Engagement in Humanoid Robots: A Robosen K1 Case Study
With the increase adoption of humanoid robots in today's world, the need to understand the ways through which these robots communicate social cues has become indispensable for effective human-robot interaction (HRI) in everyday life. The focus of this study is on the examination of the influence of nonverbal behaviour of Robosen K1 (a humanoid robots) on human perceptions and emotional responses. K1 was programmed to perform expressive full-body movements, due its lack of facial expressions, such as dancing, push-ups, and standing on its head. The research design was a mixed-method approach, which combined behavioural observations from live interactions with data from an online survey. Findings from the study revealed positive emotional reactions from participants, most of which described the robot as 'impressive', 'curious', and 'amusing'. Also, results indicated that 89.8% of participants were favourably disposed to engaging with similar robots in the future. Finally, it was found that the robot's gestures, being highly expressive, contributed to perceived personality traits such as 'playful' and 'friendly'. The study, therefore, concluded that a well-designed non-verbal cues would play critical role in enhancing emotional connection, engagement, and trust in humanoid robots, hence, their importance for successful HRI design. 2025 IEEE. -
Exploring Social Network Usage and Well-Being Among College Students
Social media plays a significant role in bringing the world together with just a click. However, social media addiction is rapidly increasing, especially among the youth, which affects their mental health and well-being. Instagram is one of the social media sites that is used mainly by students. Due to increasing exposure to Instagram, including the short videos, called Reels, today's students consume the content at an alarming rate, thus becoming addicted to it. College students tend to relentlessly use Instagram, without considering the time and energy wastage or addressing its impact on their mental health and well-being. The present study aimed to (1) explore the relationship between Instagram usage and mental well-being among college students in India, and (2) examine whether Instagram usage serves as a meaningful predictor of students mental well-being. The findings reveal a significant negative correlation (r=?0.332, p<.001) between Instagram usage and students well-being, indicating that higher Instagram use is associated with lower levels of mental well-being among college students. Further, a simple linear regression analysis confirmed that Instagram usage is a significant predictor of well-being (F(1, 154)=19.099, p<.001), explaining a meaningful portion of the variance. The results highlight the need for educators, parents and other stakeholders to recognise the influence of social media, especially Instagram, on students mental health and well-being and develop strategies to promote healthier usage patterns. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025. -
Exploring social networking data sets
A network is a collection of objects/devices that are linked to one another through wired and wireless communication. Networks are everywhere, and they are formed to share resources among users. Nodes and edges form a network structure. Nodes describe the objects, whereas edges represent the connections between them. Network analysis is advantageous in a wide variety of live application activities. It enables us to get a thorough knowledge of the structure of a connection in social networks, the structure or process of development in environmental events, and even the study of organisms' biological systems. Additionally, network analysis allows the estimation of complex network patterns, and the network structure may be examined to disclose the network's basic features. If anyone examines a social connection among Facebook users, for example, the nodes indicate the target people and the edges reflect the connections between users, such as friendships or group memberships. The objective of this chapter is to describe and visualize social network analysis (SNA) using Python and NetworkX, a Python framework for analyzing the structure, dynamics, and functions of complex networks. 2022 Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. -
Exploring Socio-Political Factors and Quality of Life Among LGBT Individuals in India
The quality of life of queer individuals in India is a result of a complex sociopolitical climate which is what this study aims to explore through qualitative methodology. Previous research has explored the social factors that impact the wellbeing of LGBT individuals in western countries, while the impact of politics on the wellbeing of marginalized groups is still largely unexplored. Through thematic analysis, this study found that family support and peer networks are the two most important social structures that determine the quality of life of LGBT emerging adults in India, whereas the impact of politics on wellbeing depends on the level of political awareness of the participants and their socio-political privilege in terms of caste, class and gender. However, there were significant differences in the relevant factors that affect the quality of life for cisgender and transgender participants which leaves room for further research. The findings indicate intra-community conflicts and changing dynamics within the community, and there needs to be extensive research on understanding the intersectionality of different identities within the community and their impact on the lives of queer individuals. 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Exploring Socio-Political Factors and Quality of Life Among LGBT Individuals in India
The quality of life of queer individuals in India is a result of a complex sociopolitical climate which is what this study aims to explore through qualitative methodology. Previous research has explored the social factors that impact the wellbeing of LGBT individuals in western countries, while the impact of politics on the wellbeing of marginalized groups is still largely unexplored. Through thematic analysis, this study found that family support and peer networks are the two most important social structures that determine the quality of life of LGBT emerging adults in India, whereas the impact of politics on wellbeing depends on the level of political awareness of the participants and their socio-political privilege in terms of caste, class and gender. However, there were significant differences in the relevant factors that affect the quality of life for cisgender and transgender participants which leaves room for further research. The findings indicate intra-community conflicts and changing dynamics within the community, and there needs to be extensive research on understanding the intersectionality of different identities within the community and their impact on the lives of queer individuals. 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Exploring Socio-Variational Patterns in Indian Adolescents Lexical Diversity: Insights for Education
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, vast data emerged regarding the plummeting literacy and readability levels among Indian adolescents, posing a challenge to address in its present condition of a vastly heterogeneous socio-demographic environment. This study is grounded in Bourdieu and Passeron's (1977) theory, which acknowledges schools as places with societal relevance that perpetuate social inequality. This implies the need to formulate robust policies to address educational inequalities. To this extent, the researchers used an exploratory design to evaluate lexical diversity by purposively sampling 100 volunteer teenagers across three schools. In addition to the data received from school officials, survey questionnaires collected socio-economic information (age, gender, area of stay, socio-economic scale [SES], and school type). The authors used the Kuppuswamy SES scale (2022) to determine socio-economic scale measures, as well as the calculation of Lexical Diversity scores through the computational open-source software TextElixir. The findings reveal that age and gender do not affect lexical diversity. However, school type, SES, and area of stay significantly affect adolescents from the lower social class, who need targeted interventions to bridge gaps of educational inequity. This study addresses the limitations of previous correlational studies by offering educational insights to ensure educational equity amidst prevalent social class inequalities. Authors. -
Exploring Spiritual Beliefs and Quality of Life Among Transwomen (Hijra) in South India
The study aims to explore and investigate the relationship between spiritual beliefs and quality of life (QoL) among transwomen (Hijra) in South India. In one way, discrimination faced by transwomen in religious spaces may contribute to weakened spiritual beliefs, which may contribute to poor quality of life. In other ways, spiritual beliefs help them to improve their quality of life. Hence, it would be essential to explore how transwomen of different faiths relate spiritual beliefs to mental health and QoL. This study is a quantitative cross-sectional exploration of a sample of 302 transwomen selected using convenient sampling from five states of South India. The tools were culturally validated (n = 15) before being used for the study, and the reliability of the Spiritual Belief Scale (SBS), ? = 0.886; Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), ? = 0.926; and Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-Brief), ? = 0.953 was confirmed. Spearmans correlation, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis were conducted to understand the relationship among the variables. The results revealed a strong positive correlation between spiritual beliefs and QoL. Depression, anxiety, and stress have a significant negative relationship with QoL. Spiritual beliefs are strong predictors of the QoL of transwomen, and they mediate the connection between depression, anxiety, stress, and QoL. This study emphasizes addressing transwomens mental health and QoL through counseling approaches that integrate and reinforce their spiritual beliefs. The findings show the urgent need for targeted culturally sensitive interventions and longitudinal studies to address these factors and enhance the well-being of the transwoman community. 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Exploring Star Fruit Extract as an Alternative Substrate for Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production by Bacillus licheniformis NJ04
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production from diverse group of microorganisms has been a topic for extensive research for several decades. Despite this extensive research explorations, commercialization of PHA is still facing major hurdles, mainly due to the high cost involved in PHA production and recovery. This study was designed to determine a sustainable approach to produce PHA using an underutilized fruit extract. The major novelty of this research work is the use of starfruit (Averrhoa carambola L.), a tropical fruit, as a substrate for PHA production employing Bacillus licheniformis NJ04. Commercialization of PHA production can help to tackle global issues like raising microplastic pollution and biomagnification. The maximum PHA production reported in this work was 3.8 g/L under optimized conditions like temperature of 37 C, pH 7 under shaking conditions (120 rpm) with 2% glycerol and starfruit extract as a carbon source after 72 h of incubation. The extracted PHA was further characterized through (FTIR) Fourier-transform infrared radiation, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and Proton Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Thus, the present work highlights a novel strategy for using starfruit waste as a cost-effective substrate for PHA production. The Author(s) 2025. -
Exploring student perspectives on service learning: Their expectations, challenges, and perceived benef
Many students foresee that a service-learning course would help them to participate in the development of the community, addressing its real concerns. On the other hand, students anticipate individual growth in terms of personal, interpersonal, and societal skills. However, service-learning also throws up some concerns and challenges. Thus, it is very important for educational institutions to understand the challenges in the planning and execution phase and reap a positive impact from the service-learning course. A qualitative research technique is adopted and the responses are grouped into themes for better evaluation of the factors. The current research surveyed 290 respondents to understand students' expectations and benefits from service learning. It throws light on the challenges that need attention to harness its benefits. Addressing these issues and expectations would enhance students' engagement and elevate the benefits for all the stakeholders. 2024, IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Exploring Sustainable and affordable Cancer Care using Artificial Intelligence
Now, in recent decades AI and ML have become a major part in developing and maintaining the healthcare system. Now, by using AI and ML in healthcare, it can provide a massive help for the healthcare workers.AI and ML help the healthcare workers for making better decisions, In some practical areas, it may take the place of human action for making decisions such as radiology, it can help to Gather medical knowledge or information from different journals, textbooks, or clinics which will help in reducing time for study and research. AI and ML help in predicting the early diagnosis of disease based on the patient's data and even help to prevent that dis-ease. Breast cancer is the most frequent category with an estimation of 2, 38,908 by 2025. Breast cancer is followed by lung cancer (1, 11,328); followed by mouth cancer (90,060). These statistics have triggered this research. Breast cancer is found in every one women among eight woman. Sustainable care shall help to fight with the disease. Sustainable care includes affordable cancer care and it's possible through early prediction of cancer. In this research we are using artificial intelligence based techniques for early prediction of cancer. Future direction of work will focus on usage of transfer learning and other models of AI-ML to help the society and mothers of nations to fight against the in-creasing spread of cancers. The Electrochemical Society -
Exploring Symbolism and Myth in the Motifs of Pashmina Shawls: A Semiotic Analysis
The motifs adorning the pashmina shawl serve as a visual testimony to its association with Persian art, which significantly influenced the region. The advent of Islam in Kashmir during the 14th century ushered in a new era of artistic expression, wherein Muslim artists incorporated floral and arboreal motifs to enhance the esthetic appeal of textiles, architecture, and other facets of material culture. The main objective of this study is to examine the myth and narrative included in motifs found on Kashmiri pashmina shawls in light of Barthess mythological framework. The study reevaluates the paisley motif, attributing its creativity to Kashmiri artisans, and contributes significantly to documenting and conserving Kashmiri textile heritage. Through primary data analysis, it offers fresh insights into the motifs meanings and challenges conventional narratives. This study looked into the significance of floral motifs that are frequently used on pashmina shawls. This study depends upon the conclusions derived from the firsthand information collected from Kashmiri academicians, artisans, and secondary sources. 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Exploring the Adaptability of Attention U-Net for Post-operative Brain Tumor Segmentation in MRI Scans
This study explores the adaptability of a segmentation model, originally trained on pre-operative MRI data, in post-operative recurrent brain tumor segmentation. We utilized the Attention U-Net model for this study. In pre-operative training, the model achieved a Dice Coefficient of 0.92 and an IOU of 0.86 for brain tumor MRI segmentation. Due to the surgical artifacts in post-operative data, performance reduced with Dice Coefficient of 0.54 and an IOU of 0. To improve the performance, the model's architecture is fine-tuned by introducing dilated convolutions and residual connections. This refinement yielded improvements in results, with a Dice Coefficient of 0.68 and an IOU of 0.62 in the post-operative context. This improvement underscores the need for further research to select and adapt efficient models, retrain specific layers with an extensive collection of post-operative images, and fine-tune model parameters to enhance feature extraction during the encoding phase. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024. -
Exploring the Adoption Readiness of the Indian Generation for Social Media Payments: An In-Depth Analysis of WhatsApp Payments
Advancements in technologies always get higher acceptance among people. Regarding payment technologies, integrating payment facility in the Social Media platform are considered a second-generation payment technology. With the introduction of Hike wallets and WhatsApp payment, unprecedented opportunities are available to the users. In India, with the introduction of WhatsApp on November 2020, the users of FinTech got opened a gateway to social media payment. Social Media payments are considered easy and convenient, but is the Indian generation, especially people born in the internet phase (Gen Y and Gen Z), ready to adopt WhatsApp payment. The current study was done to investigate the elements that contribute to the acceptance and use of the WhatsApp payment service in India. To attain this objective, we used an extended UTAUT2 model with the moderating effect of generation. The data was gathered from 265 respondents and analyzed using the PLS-SEM method. The results of the study outlined that Gen Z is strengthening the moderating effect only between the facilitating conditions of the users and the actual usage of WhatsApp payment. The practical implications and directions for the further research are mentioned in the study. ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2024. -
Exploring the adsorption efficacy of Cassia fistula seed carbon for Cd (II) ion removal: Comparative study of isotherm models
The current study demonstrates the potential of Cassia fistula seed carbon (CFSC), a waste lignocellulosic biomass, to eliminate Cd (II) ion-from saturated liquid samples. The efficient removal of about 93.2% (w/v) of Cd (II) ions from 10 mg/L concentration was achieved within 80 min of treatment. The CFSC dosage of 100 mg/50 mL accounted as optimal for enhanced Cd (II) removal. Cd (II) adsorption onto CFSC was observed to be maximum at pH 6. The investigational trials were assessed with three isotherm models such Dubinin-Radushkevich, Freundlich, and Langmuir. The specifications obtained from this experimental study align well with the Langmuir isotherm model, which describes the maximal adsorption capacity of 68.02 mg/g. Cd (II) adsorption data from this study exhibited the R2 of 0.9 under pseudo-second-order. Maximum desorption (76.3% w/v) was obtained with 0.3 M HCL. This study revealed that thermally activated C. fistula seed carbon (CFSC) can be tuned to be lucrative adsorbent for Cd (II) elimination from water and waste-water. 2023 Elsevier Inc. -
Exploring the agency of policy through ecological urbanism for climate action: water and sanitation systems of Bengaluru
The cities of the world have been the exploiters of resources and the largest generators of waste. This paper explores the concept of Ecological Urbanism as a framework to convert cities from being waste generators to resource producers. The example of the wastewater from Bengaluru going into the lakes of Kolar is studied. The treated wastewater of the city reaches Kolar to fill its lakes, which subsequently recharges the groundwater. One citys waste becomes anothers resource in this process. The case of Kolar-Bengaluru is studied while asking critical questions of urban-rural planning with ecology as a main premise. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Exploring the anti-inflammatory activities, mechanism of action and prospective drug delivery systems of tocotrienol to target neurodegenerative diseases
A major cause of death in the elderly worldwide is attributed to neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD (Alzheimers disease), PD (Parkinsons disease), ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), FRDA (Friedreichs ataxia), VaD (Vascular dementia) etc. These can be caused due to multiple factors such as genetic, physiological problems like stroke or tumor, or even external causes like viruses, toxins, or chemicals. T3s (tocotrienols) exhibit various bioactive properties where it acts as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and cholesterol lowering agent. Since T3 interferes with and influences several anti-inflammatory mechanisms, it aids in combating inflammatory responses that lead to disease progression. T3s are found to have a profound neuroprotective ability, however, due to their poor oral bioavailability, their full potential could not be exploited. Hence there is a need to explore other drug delivery techniques, especially focusing on aspects of nanotechnology. In this review paper we explore the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of T3 to apply it in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and also discusses the possibilities of nano methods of administering tocotrienols to target neurodegenerative diseases. Copyright: 2023 Mathew AM et al.