Factors influencing smoking cessation counselors' intention to stay: An application of a conceptual model of intention to stay verified with path analysis.

Background: The Taiwanese military trains smoking cessation counselors to counsel officers and soldiers on quitting smoking as part time. The intention to stay among smoking cessation counselors affects the promotion of smoking cessation. This study investigated smoking cessation counselors' intention to stay by applying a conceptual model of intent to stay (CMIS) to analyze influencing factors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we applied the CMIS to design a questionnaire. We invited 577 smoking cessation counselors trained in the military from 2016 to 2017. The response rate was 46.7%, and the questionnaire responses of 260 military smoking cessation counselors were analyzed. We used path analysis to verify the relationships among the various aspects of the CMIS. Results: We determined that smoking cessation counselors' intention to stay is directly affected by job satisfaction (ß = 0.150, p = 0.014), job stress (ß = -0.225, p < 0.001), and institutional identification (ß = 0.431, p < 0.001). Career opportunities indirectly affect intention to stay through institutional identification, working environment indirectly affects intention to stay through job stress, and co-worker support and self-fulfillment indirectly affect intention to stay through job satisfaction and institutional identification. Our model could explain 36.7% of the variance in intent to stay among smoking cessation counselors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that relevant policies should be formulated to enhance smoking cessation counselors' recognition, affirmation, and sense of belonging as related to smoking cessation counseling work, thereby raising their institutional identification and promoting their intention to stay.

Unipolar Parity of Ferroelectric-Antiferroelectric Characterized by Junction Current in Crystalline Phase Hf1-xZrxO2 Diodes.

Ferroelectric (FE) Hf1-xZrxO2 is a potential candidate for emerging memory in artificial intelligence (AI) and neuromorphic computation due to its non-volatility for data storage with natural bi-stable characteristics. This study experimentally characterizes and demonstrates the FE and antiferroelectric (AFE) material properties, which are modulated from doped Zr incorporated in the HfO2-system, with a diode-junction current for memory operations. Unipolar operations on one of the two hysteretic polarization branch loops of the mixed FE and AFE material give a low program voltage of 3 V with an ON/OFF ratio >100. This also benefits the switching endurance, which reaches >109 cycles. A model based on the polarization switching and tunneling mechanisms is revealed in the (A)FE diode to explain the bipolar and unipolar sweeps. In addition, the proposed FE-AFE diode with Hf1-xZrxO2 has a superior cycling endurance and lower stimulation voltage compared to perovskite FE-diodes due to its scaling capability for resistive FE memory devices.

Gender Differences in the Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour on Smoking Cessation Intention in Young Soldiers.

BACKGROUND: The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) explanation of smoking cessation intentions consists of gender differences. The purpose of this study is to adopt the extended TPB to discuss factors influencing the smoking cessation intentions of young adult volunteer soldiers and to further compare the respective factors for both genders. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from 139 and 165 male and female volunteer soldiers who smoked, respectively. Research participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that comprised items pertaining to the participants' demographic characteristics, smoking behaviours, smoking cessation experiences, social environments, and TPB variables. RESULTS: Subjective norms (friends) are a positive key factor for young adult male (ß = 0.033, p = 0.012) and female (ß = 0.076, p < 0.001) volunteer soldiers' smoking cessation intentions, and perceived behavioural control is a key factor for male young (ß = 0.226, p = 0.040) adult volunteer soldiers' smoking cessation intention. The extended TPB accounted for 27.9% and 53.2% of the variance in the intention to quit smoking in the male and female volunteer soldiers, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that smoking cessation strategies can reinforce gender-specific intervention strategies to assist young adult volunteer soldiers in smoking cessation.