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Using a sample of 86 East Asian international graduate students, this study examined Bandura's perceived self-efficacy model (1986) in the domain of job search self-efficacy and tested the mediating effects of job search self-efficacy in the relationship between efficacy source variables and job search behaviors. Results show that both performance accomplishments and verbal persuasion are significant predictors of job search self-efficacy and that performance accomplishments is a stronger predictor of job search self-efficacy than verbal persuasion. Moreover, verbal persuasion has a significant indirect effect on the job search behaviors through the mediation of job search self-efficacy. Vocational interventions for enhancing East Asian international graduate students' job search self-efficacy are suggested. The authors also address the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for East Asian international students' career development. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The aim of this study was to explore personal, body function/structure, activity/participation, and environmental factors as identified under the ICF framework and determine if they are significantly associated with employment outcome measures for people with disabilities in Taiwan. This study used the 2006 Survey of Living Situation for People with Disabilities in Taiwan to do a secondary data analysis using hierarchical logistic and multiple linear regression. The participants included labor force population with disabilities living at home (n=2,909). This study found that among the seventeen independent variables examined, educational level and marital status were the most powerful predictors of employment outcomes for people with disabilities, while personal, body function/structure, activity/participation, and environmental factors were significantly correlated with employment outcome measures as well. Moreover, personal and activity/participation domains were more dominant to explain/predict employment outcomes for people with disabilities., Employment is very important and meaningful to people with disabilities (Lemaire & Mallik, 2008; Wang, 2010). If people with disabilities can be employed, they may not only earn reasonable salaries [...]

Background Variants of concern (VoCs) have the potential to diminish the neutralizing capacity of antibodies elicited by vaccines. MVC-COV1901 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine consisting of recombinant prefusion stabilized spike protein S-2P adjuvanted with CpG 1018 and aluminum hydroxide. We explored the effectiveness of MVC-COV1901 against the VoCs. Methods Serum samples were taken from rats and phase 1 clinical trial human subjects immunized with a low, medium, or high dose of MVC-COV1901. The neutralizing titers of serum antibodies were assayed with pseudoviruses coated with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein of the wild-type (WT), D614G, Alpha, or Beta variants. Results Rats vaccinated twice with vaccine containing high doses of antigen retained high levels of neutralization activity against the Beta variant, albeit with a slight reduction compared to WT. After the third dose, neutralizing titers against the Beta variant were noticeably enhanced regardless of the amount of antigen used for immunization. In humans, vaccinated phase 1 subjects still showed appreciable neutralization abilities against the D614G, Alpha, and Beta variants, although neutralizing titers were significantly reduced against the Beta variant. Conclusions Two doses of MVC-COV1901 were able to elicit neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants with an overall tendency of inducing higher immune response at a higher dose level. The neutralizing titers to the Beta variant in rats and humans were lower than those for WT and the Alpha variant. An additional third dose in rats was able to partially compensate for the reduction in neutralization against the Beta variant. We have demonstrated that immunization with MVC-COV1901 was effective against VoCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) are popular experimental methods to quantitatively measure flow fields. In many practical applications, hardware limitations result in longer exposure times, causing particle images to elongate into particle streak images. In this study, the performances of PTV and PIV in relation to particle streak images are evaluated systematically by means of both synthetic and experimental images. For the synthetic images, particle streak images are created via the integration over time of the standard Gaussian approximation of particle images, plus the effects of exposure time, and parameters such as particle image diameter, intensity, and density were investigated in terms of the velocity fields of a 1D uniform flow and the rotational 2D Hill's vortex. The results show that PTV performs well for short exposure times, and its peak-finding criteria can be verified for nondimensional exposure times up to 10. As the increases from 10 to 70, the reliability of the PTV algorithm drops significantly, while the yield drops only slightly. Longer exposure times cause an increase in the number of RMS displacement errors; the PTV algorithm is more likely to fail when particle diameter, image intensity and particle density are larger. The displacement error of PTV RMS ranges from 0.064 pixels to 0.157 pixels. In comparison to PTV, PIV is more robust in relation to streak images with long-exposure times, and not sensitive to the effects of particle image diameter and intensity. The RMS dispersion errors for PIV range from 0.015 pixels to 0.316 pixels. A comparison of the RMS displacement errors exhibited by PIV and PTV shows that where the seeding of particles is not an issue, PIV is more robust, and can handle long-exposure streak images. The results of experimental streak images show that PIV produces lower RMS dispersion error values at low Reynolds numbers, whereas it produces more significant errors for high Reynolds numbers. At regions of low seeding density, PTV can resolve local fluid motions with superior accuracy, but it is vulnerable to high exposure time. Based on these results, where a longer exposure time is a requirement for an application, the use of PIV is recommended, by virtue of its robustness to image streaking, provided that a good seeding and high particle image density are available. For applications such as some microscale flows or flows with separation or recirculation regions, PTV is more capable of fulfilling their requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeThe aim of this study is to explore whether/which vocational rehabilitation case manager (VRCMer) factors were significantly associated with the vocational rehabilitation service (VRS) program outcomes in Taiwan.MethodThis study used the 2011 VRS Program for People with Disabilities Database in a metropolitan city in Taiwan (N = 466) to do a secondary data analysis using hierarchical logistic regression.ResultsThis study found that the employment rate and stable employment rate created by the 2011 VRS program in a metropolitan city in Taiwan were 48.7% and 42.1%, respectively. For the predictors of employment/stable employment, “occurrences of the services provided by the VRCMer” variable was definitely dominant. In addition, “level of the disability” was the second-ranking predictor, and was significantly negatively correlated with both employment and stable employment outcomes.ConclusionsVocational rehabilitation case manager factors in this study were significantly correlated with VRS program outcomes for people with disabilities in Taiwan after controlling for the clients’ socio-demographic variables. The results indicate that greater input by VRCMers for people with disabilities equates to better employment outcomes in metropolitan Taiwan.Implications for RehabilitationThis is the first study to build an inferential statistical model in attempt to explain and predict the association between vocational rehabilitation case manager factors and vocational rehabilitation service program outcomes for people with disabilities in Taiwan.In cases of severe disability, a vocational rehabilitation case manager should seek out more in-kind and in-cash resources, and choose a suitable job coach to cooperate in assisting the client to become employed.Based on the findings, government has to continue implementing opportunities for people with disabilities to attain higher and better quality educational levels, for increasing their employment rate.Vocational rehabilitation case managers should raise the referral rate and cooperation with job coaches as this directly affects the quality of services and clients’ employment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]