Multi2Claim: Generating Scientific Claims from Multi-Choice Questions for Scientific Fact-Checking

In automated scientific fact-checking, machine learning models are trained to verify scientific claims given evidence. A major bottleneck of this task is the availability of large-scale training datasets on different domains, due to the required domain expertise for data annotation. However, multiple-choice question-answering datasets are readily available across many different domains, thanks to the modern online education and assessment systems. As one of the first steps towards addressing the fact-checking dataset scarcity problem in scientific domains, we propose a pipeline for automatically converting multiple-choice questions into fact-checking data, which we call Multi2Claim. By applying the proposed pipeline, we generated two large-scale datasets for scientific-fact-checking: Med-Fact and Gsci-Fact for the medical and general science domains, respectively. These two datasets are among the first examples of large-scale scientific-fact-checking datasets. We developed baseline models for the verdict prediction task using each dataset. Additionally, we demonstrated that the datasets could be used to improve performance measured by weighted F1 on existing fact-checking datasets such as SciFact, HEALTHVER, COVID-Fact, and CLIMATE-FEVER. In some cases, the improvement in performance was up to a 26% increase. The generated datasets are publicly available. © 2023 Association for Computational Linguistics.

Can Chinese banks expand their loan portfolio while maintaining loan quality and profitability post-global financial crisis?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationships between loan growth, loan losses and net income after the 2008 global financial crisis. This study further conducts a comparative analysis by considering the period of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approachThis study uses panel data models such as one-step system GMM, random effects, fixed effects and OLS, with a data set of 131 Chinese commercial banks from 2009 to 2020. FindingsThe study finds no significant relationship between loan growth and future loan losses. However, after adjusting loan loss by net interest income (NII-adjusted loan loss), the study reveals that loan growth in the subsequent year decreases if NII-adjusted loan loss increases. The study also demonstrates the positive effect of loan growth on net income as newly expanded loans are funded at similar costs but offered at a lower rate compared with existing loans. During COVID-19, loan growth and net income were higher than in previous years. Originality/valueThe findings suggest that Chinese banks can increase lending to support the economy without sacrificing loan quality, emphasizing the importance of maintaining and enhancing credit policies and practices. Chinese banks should also continue to refine their pricing strategies for loans and deposits. The findings also imply that China's policy responses to the impact of COVID-19 could serve as lessons for future policy decisions.

Brand Personality and Revisit Intention: The Mediating Role of Tourists' Self-Image Congruity

Purpose- Brand personality plays an important role in the development of tourists' self-image congruence and revisit intention. This paper attempts to shed light on the relationship between brand personality and self-image congruence and revisit intention through a quantitative analysis.Design - Data were collected from 496 Vietnamese tourists who visited the top five tourist sites in Vietnam, including Ha Long, Phu Quoc, Sapa, Nha Trang, and Hoi An. Methodology - By using SEM in AMOS version 24 CFA was performed to test the the overall measurement model.Findings - Multivariate data analysis demonstrated that five dimensions of brand personality. (Excitement, Sincerity, Sophistication, Competence, and Ruggedness) have a positive effect on self-image congruence and revisit intention. While excitement appears to be most helpful for developing self-image congruence, sincerity has the highest benefit for increasing revisit intention, sincerity has the highest utility for increasing revisit intention. In addition, revisit intention is most influenced by excitement and least influenced by sophistication through self-image congruence. Originality of the research - The findings highlight the important role of attributes associated with tourist destinations. Managers in the tourism sector should be familiar with these characteristics in order to position or strengthen their destination's brand with the aim of delivering to each tourist group a customized experience that resonate with their shared values. The insights provided by this paper also have important implications for travel companies in the gradual recovery of the country's smoke-free industry under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Change in Work Conditions and Career Choices in General Vietnamese Population

Objectives: The onset of COVID-19 has resulted in both morbidity and mortality. It also has a consequential impact on the Vietnamese economy. Prior studies examined the COVID-19 impact on healthcare professionals' career decisions. There remains no study examining the work conditions and career choices in a general Vietnamese population. Our study aims to identify factors associated with change in work conditions and career choices in general Vietnamese population. Method(s): An online cross-sectional study between September 2021 through to November 2021 (during the Omicron COVID-19 pandemic). Snowball sampling method was utilized in recruiting the participants. The questionnaire used in this study included the following questions: (a) Socio-demographic information;(b) impact of COVID-19 on personal habits/daily expenses;(c) Current nature of work & impact of COVID-19 on work;(d) Impact of COVID-19 on career decisions. Result(s): 650 participants were recruited, of which only 645 completed the survey. The completion rate was 99.2%. This study demonstrated the impact that COVID-19 has on finances, as only 32% of those sampled reported that they were able to pay in full. 46.6% of the respondents have had a decrease in their overall household income. With regards to their employment and work characteristics, 41.0% reported a decrease in their work satisfaction and 39.0% reported having reduced motivation for work. Females were less likely to consider transiting from their current job to another field, as compared to male participants. Respondents who were married, had a higher level of commitment to their current job, and lower inclination to transition to another field. Respondents experiencing financial difficulties were more likely to consider a transition to another field/work. Conclusion(s): This is the first study to have examined the characteristics of work/intentions with regards to career choices and transition amongst the general Vietnamese population. It is important that future financial policies take into consideration these factors.Copyright © 2023

Inclusive leadership and work-from-home engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: a moderated mediation model

PurposeThe current study proposes a moderated mediation model to predict work-from-home engagement during an emergency such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic based on the integration of well-known concepts, including inclusive leadership, organizational support and perceived risk theory.Design/methodology/approachAn online questionnaire on the Google Forms platform was designed and distributed to Vietnamese employees using a convenience sampling method. A total of 794 valid questionnaires were used for data analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the proposed model and hypotheses. The instrument's validity and reliability were tested and ensured.FindingsThe study found that inclusive leadership has direct and indirect effects on work-from-home engagement through the separate and serial mediating roles of perceived organizational support and employee motivation. The present study also revealed that the effects of perceived organizational support and employee motivation on work-from-home engagement are strengthened by employee risk perception. Moreover, the study showed that perceived organizational support and employee motivation performed the lowest of the four elements that were considered, while the importance of these two factors was the highest.Practical implicationsThese findings suggest that in an emergency such as COVID-19, contextual factors should be given more attention. Based on these findings, several theoretical and practical implications for human resource management are highlighted.Originality/valueBy integrating inclusive leadership, organizational support and perceived risk theory to explore employees' engagement in working from home during an emergency, the present study demonstrated that in addition to traditional factors, leadership and contextual factors should be considered for studies on working from home in an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study established that these factors might encourage employees' work-from-home engagement.

Structural Racism through Sundown Towns and its relationship to COVID-19 local risk and diversity.

"Sundown towns" across the US prevented racial and ethnic minorities from living and working within their borders as they forced minorities to leave these towns after sunset. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between historic sundown town status, COVID-19 local risk index and racial/ethnic city-level diversity. We used a multi-level hierarchical model was used to examine the effect of historic sundown town status on the COVID-19 local risk index and city-level diversity. Over 2,400 Sundown towns were cataloged across the United States, with the greatest density in the Midwest. Sundown towns, which historically excluded racial/ethnic minorities, had significantly less racial/ethnic diversity as measured and lower COVID-19 local risk index compared to non-Sundown towns. Findings show that residual segregation enforced by historic Sundown towns continues to impact current inequities among racial/ethnic minorities related to risk for COVID-19 at the neighborhood level. We recommend that public health officials for pandemic preparedness should devote greater resources to these historically segregated racial/ethnic minority areas because of the higher risk these areas possess because of structural racism brought on my historical segregation policies.

Development of an Online Learning Module on Gastroenterology Issues in Global Health

Introduction: Global health (GH) education is expanding and 23.1% of US medical students acquire international health experience prior to postgraduate training. Digestive diseases carry a high global burden. However, few GH programs and professional societies consider the inclusion of gastroenterology into their standard curriculum. In addition, travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have brought traditional GH rotations to a halt and spurred new educational approaches. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive online learning module on gastroenterology issues in GH for medical students undertaking GH electives. Method(s): A team of faculty and residents was convened between the Center for Community and Global Health and the Division of Gastroenterology. GH curricula across institutions and core competencies across 2 professional societies were examined via literature review. A survey was conducted among 2nd (MS2) and 3rd year medical students (MS3) interested in GH to assess attitudes toward GI-related issues in GH curriculum. An online learning module was developed consisting of 10, video-based lessons each addressing specific GH competencies (Figure 1). Result(s): In total, 41% (28/69) of MS2 and MS3 interested in GH responded to the survey, with a similar distribution of MS2 (13/28) and MS3 (15/28). Nearly all (92.8%) reported that learning GI conditions in a GH curriculum is moderately or very important (Table 1). A majority (78.5%) also reported feeling at least somewhat anxious or more about managing GI conditions during GH electives. Few medical students reported feeling moderately or extremely prepared to identify risk factors for GI conditions in different settings (21.5%) and to define approaches to therapy in resource-limited settings (14.3%). Interestingly, a majority (71.4%) reported feeling not at all prepared or slightly prepared to deliver cost-effective care to challenging populations. Conclusion(s): Our survey responses demonstrated an unmet need for GI-related training and cost-conscious care in the GH curriculum. Developing an online learning module on GI conditions to supplement GH curriculum may be useful and feasible. A randomized controlled trial is underway to examine the effect of this online learning module on medical student knowledge and preparedness to address GI conditions in GH electives.

The Impact of Logistics Services on Customer Satisfaction: An Empirical Study in the Covid 19 Pandemic

During the COVID19 pandemic, Vietnam implemented social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Ordering, delivery, and transportation services through applications of logistics technology develop rapidly. This study aims to determine how factors of delivery service affect customer satisfaction in the context of the Covid19 pandemic. Qualitative and quantitative research was carried out to determine the quality factors of ordering and delivery services via Grab's application in order to propose a research model. Surveyed data from 259 customers who are using Grab's app services in gio Chi Minh City during the lockdown period. Research results have shown that all five factors of delivery service quality via the Grab application have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. In particular, assurance and price policy are the most influential factors in customer satisfaction, followed by service competence and responsiveness. The research implications have been proposed to improve and enhance Grab customer satisfaction.

Citizens' intentions to use e-government during the COVID-19 pandemic: integrating the technology acceptance model and perceived risk theory

PurposeBased on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and perceived risk theory (PRT), this study proposes a new model for exploring factors affecting citizens' intentions to use e-government in the Vietnamese context during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe current study takes the form of a case study of the Vietnam context and employs a quantitative method. An Internet-based survey was conducted in Vietnam and was completed by 441 respondents. Hypotheses were tested using a two-stage structural equation model. SPSS 22 and AMOS 20 software were used for primary data analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that factors of TAM are still valuable in predicting citizens' intentions to use e-government services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the factor of PRT, namely, perceived risk of COVID-19 pandemic, also affects citizens' intentions to use e-government services. Attitudes toward e-government play a mediating role in the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived risk and citizens' intentions to use e-government. Examining the predictive power of TAM and PRT factors, it can be seen that TAM factors have a higher total effect on citizens' intentions to use e-government, compared to PRT factor.Originality/valueThe present study demonstrates a new model for exploring factors affecting citizens' intentions to use e-government during the COVID-19 era. It explored the effectiveness of combining TAM and PRT as well as the predictive power of each factors in an integrated model aimed at predicting citizens' intentions in the emergency context like COVID-19. This study helps us improve our understanding of e-government usage and would be of particular interest to policymakers and service providers of e-system.

The Pandemic, Telemedicine, and Andrology: What Have We Learned?

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Telemedicine has gained wide acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide lockdowns made this interface an indispensable one for patient care. Recent evidence suggests that urology patients were receptive to telemedicine;however, no systematic review has been done to date on andrology patients in particular and their perception of telemedicine. METHOD(S): Three electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, were searched from their inception until June 2022 for relevant articles. Two independent teams reviewed s and extracted data from the selected manuscripts. A meta-analysis was completed in line with PRISMA 2020 and AMSTAR Guidelines. For our study, we limited telemedicine to communication through videoconferencing or telephone encounters between patients and medical professionals. Positive response to telemedicine was defined as patients "wishing for telemedicine consultation", "preferring telemedicine over in person", "accepting the current telemedicine arrangement", "having needs addressed with teleconsultation", or "willingness to do a teleconsultation". RESULT(S): Of the 1128 retrieved s, 56 underwent fulltext review and 12 were included in the final analysis, comprising a total cohort of >4021 cases. All 8 studies that assessed perception of andrology patients to telemedicine showed that most patients had "positive perception". Telemedicine was shown to save an average cost of $149-252/patient. Pooled analyses of positive response to telemedicine were 68.7% (95% CI = 49.4-83.1%, p=0.057) and of patients who recommended telemedicine were 65.1% (95% CI = 18.4-93.9%, p=0.577). 84.6% pooled proportion for recommending video compared to 38.9 % pooled proportion for recommending telephone practice, p=0.035. In the telephone-only encounters, 27.1% of patients preferred in-person visits as security and privacy of any mode of telecommunication were of concern. CONCLUSION(S): Most patients have a positive perception of telemedicine, particularly with videoconferencing and less so with telephone visits. Telemedicine will plausibly continue to be integral in andrology practice.

Work-from-home intention during the COVID-19 pandemic: a perspective integrating inclusive leadership and protection motivation theory

Purpose: The present study integrates inclusive leadership and protection motivation theory to propose a new model predicting employees' intention to work from home during an emergency situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed to collect data from 939 Taiwanese and Vietnamese office employees using a non-probability convenience sampling method. A total of 887 valid questionnaires were used for further analysis. The data were analysed following a two-stage structural equation modelling using SPSS 22 and AMOS 20 software. The validity and reliability of the instrument were tested and ensured. Findings: The results revealed that inclusive leadership and factors related to protection motivation theory– including perceived severity and perceived vulnerability – have positive direct and indirect effects on employees' work-from-home intentions through the mediating role of employees' work-from-home-related attitudes. Protection motivation theory factors were found to have a stronger effect on employees' work-from-home intention than inclusive leadership. Differences in the relationship between perceived vulnerability, perceived severity and employees' intentions towards working from home were also discovered among participants from the two studied countries. Practical implications: The integration of inclusive leadership and protection motivation theory brings into light what will drive employees' intention to work from home during an emergency situation. The present study has several theoretical and practical implications for scholars, governments, managers and policymakers that can help them improve management policies for working from home in the future. Originality/value: Based on integrating inclusive leadership and protection motivation theory to explore employees' intention to work from home during an emergency situation, the present study demonstrated that inclusive leadership and protection motivation theory should be considered for studies on working from home in a pandemic setting. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Pandemic Fatigue in Japan: Factors Affecting the Declining COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Pandemic fatigue has threatened the efforts to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide;thus, government-mandated preventive measures have declined. The Japanese government has implemented several methods to address COVID-19′s spread, including hand hygiene, mask requirements, and social distancing. This study is the first to examine the socioeconomic factors affecting Japan's decline in COVID-19 prevention measures. It utilized the Preference Parameters Study of the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research data of the 2021 and 2022 waves. With approximately 1580 observations, we detected a 10%, 4%, and 13% decline in hand hygiene practice, mask-wearing, and social distancing, respectively, between January 2021 and January 2022. Men were more likely to dislike the hand hygiene practice and mask-wearing and were also more reluctant to maintain social distancing. Moreover, financially satisfied individuals were positively associated with a decrease in the hand hygiene practice, while those with greater assets were more likely to dislike maintaining social distancing. People who exercised regularly were less likely to abandon the hand hygiene practices. Our results highlighted the significance of selective prevention programs targeting specific groups to promote compliance and lead to more effective pandemic management and less fatigue or discontentment. © 2023 by the authors.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS' BURNOUT IN ONLINE EMERGENCY CLASSROOMS AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This large-scale study aimed to investigate the impacts of underlying factors on lecturers' burnout in emergency online classrooms during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study attracted the participation of 399 lecturers conducting online emergency classrooms from 30 universities and colleges across Vietnam. Data analyses with EFA, CFA, and SEM indicated that such factors as support resources, anxiety towards emergency online teaching and Coronavirus, lecturer's technological and pedagogical content, and knowledge significantly impacted their burnout levels. In contrast, no significant difference in burnout states was found between lecturers with different demographic features, genders, and residences. The results from this study also suggested critical pedagogical implications for higher education leaders and administrators to prepare emergency online classes for sustained education in times of crisis. © 2023,Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. All Rights Reserved.

Continuous Behavior of Using Food Delivery Mobile Applications in Vietnam after Covid-19 Pandemic

During and after Covid-19 pandemic, technology has emerged as a key factor in supporting the recovery of the economy and the rise of living standards. This study examines seven factors affecting the intention of food delivery apps usage, which include Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Hedonic Motivation, Price Value, and Habit, and how much influence they have on the customers' behavioral continuance of food delivery apps after Covid-19 Pandemic. Research methodology: This research is a quantitative descriptive research with 473 qualified respondents from 550 respondents collected. Besides using the UTAUT2 model (Venkatesh et al., 2012), Information Quality was added to give a better explanation for the consumers' intention towards continuance behavior using food delivery apps. The collected data is then processed using SPSS 22.0. Results: Habit factors and Information Quality factors have significant positive effects on promoting food delivery apps usage intention, which in turn influences continuance behavior. In addition, Habit factors and Information Quality factors together have an effect of 48.57% on Behavioral Intention. Conclusion: The result proves that positive habits and food information quality can increase the usage intention towards the behavioral continuance of consumers. Higher usage frequency can be improved by increasing these two factors © This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Identification and Localization COVID-19 Abnormalities on Chest Radiographs

Solutions to screen and diagnose positive patients for the SARS-CoV-2 promptly and efficiently are critical in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic's complex evolution. Recent researches have demonstrated the efficiency of deep learning and particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in classifying and detecting lung disease-related lesions from radiographs. This paper presents a solution using ensemble learning techniques on advanced CNNs to classify as well as localize COVID-19-related abnormalities in radiographs. Two classifiers including EfficientNetV2 and NFNet are combined with three detectors, DETR, Yolov7 and EfficientDet. Along with gathering and training the model on a large number of datasets, image augmentation and cross validation are also addressed. Since then, this study has shown promising results and has received excellent marks in the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine's competition. The analysis in model selection for the trade-off between speed and accuracy is also given. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Natural gas and the utility sector nexus in the U.S.: Quantile connectedness and portfolio implications

Given that natural gas is a vital input for the U.S. utility sector, this study empirically investigates the return connectedness between the natural gas and utility stocks in the U.S. market. Using the quantile connectedness approach, we show that the nexus between natural gas and utility stocks is more pronounced at the tails compared to the central of the conditional distribution. The return connectedness indices are time-varying with a net receiver role of natural gas and driven by various macro-variables. Finally, our portfolio implication analyses with alternative tail risk measures suggest that it can be more beneficial for risk-adverse investors to allocate substantial weights into the electricity utility stocks in normal market conditions. However, during the COVID-19- induced recession, it is critical to shift more fund to the natural gas futures to reduce tail risks. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

A Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (Lamp)-Based Point-of-Care System for Rapid on-Site Clinical Detection of Sars-Cov-2 Viruses

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, sensitive and rapid on-site detection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been one of crucial objectives. A point-of-care (PoC) device called PATHPOD for quick, on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 employing a real-time reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-rLAMP) reaction on a polymer cartridge. The PATHPOD consists of a standalone device (weighing under 1.2 kg) and a cartridge, and can identify 10 distinct samples and 2 controls in less than 50 minutes. The PATHPOD PoC system is fabricated and clinically validated for the first time in this work © 2023 IEEE.