Severe weather events can impact negatively on tourism and put tourists at risk. To reduce vulnerability, tourists should be aware of and be prepared for possible severe weather. Seeking risk information, a type of protective action behaviour, is an important way to reduce vulnerability. This paper presents the results of a study that investigated the role of Locus of Responsibility (LoR) for protection behaviour for severe weather, by linking it with Information Seeking and related intra-personal antecedents. LoR has previously been found to impact protective action decisions, but not within the context of severe weather and tourism. Our survey research among tourists in New Zealand provided evidence for three Loci of Responsibility; " Internal" , " Shared" and " External" Significant differences between these groups were found for Information Seeking antecedents, though not for Information Seeking. Next, significant differences were found for weather information preferences, both source and content. Findings and implications for tourism and safety management in New Zealand are discussed.
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Entrepreneurs are likely to be victims of ransomware. Previous studies have found that entrepreneurs tend to adopt few preventive measures, thereby increasing their chances of victimization. Due to a lack of research, however, not much is known about why entrepreneurs lack self-protective behaviors and how they can be encouraged to change said behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explain, by means of an extended model of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), the motivation for entrepreneurs using protective measures against ransomware in the future. The data for our study were collected thanks to a questionnaire that was answered by 1,020 Dutch entrepreneurs with up to 250 employees. Our Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis revealed that entrepreneurs are more likely to take preventive measures against ransomware if they perceive the risk of ransomware as severe (perceived severity), if they perceive their company as being vulnerable (perceived vulnerability), if they are concerned about the risks (affective response), and if they think that the people and companies around them expect them to apply preventive measures (subjective norms). However, if entrepreneurs think that they are capable of handling the risk (self-efficacy) and are convinced that their adopted preventive measures are effective (response efficacy), they are less likely to take preventive measures. Furthermore, for entrepreneurs that outsource IT security, the significant effect of perceived vulnerability and subjective norms disappears. The likelihood of entrepreneurs protecting their business against ransomware is thus influenced by a complex interplay of various motivational factors and is partly dependent on the business’ characteristics. Based on these findings, we will discuss security professionals’ prospects for increasing the cyber resilience of entrepreneurs, thus preventing cybercrime victimization.
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The extent to which action research has a democratising influence - and the ethical pitfalls involved in the practice of action research. The conduct of action research within the organisational context and the practice community receives attention.
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The growing energy demand and environmental impact of traditional sources highlight the need for sustainable solutions. Hydrogen produced through water electrolysis, is a flexible and clean energy carrier capable of addressing large-electricity storage needs of the renewable but intermittent energy sources. Among various technologies, Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE) stands out for its efficiency and rapid response, making it ideal for grid stabilization. In its core, PEMWEs are composed of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), which consist of a proton-conducting membrane sandwiched between two catalyst-coated electrodes, forming a single PEMWE cell unit. Despite the high efficiency and low emissions, a principal drawback of PEMWE is the capital cost due to high loading of precious metal catalysts and protective coatings. Traditional MEA catalyst coating methods are complex, inefficient, and costly to scale. To circumvent these challenges, VSParticle developed a technology for nanoparticle film production using spark ablation, which generates nanoparticles through high-voltage discharges between electrodes followed by an impaction printing module. However, the absence of liquids poses challenges, such as integrating polymeric solutions (e.g., Nafion®) for uniform, thicker catalyst coatings. Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) stands out as a promising technique thanks to its strong electric fields used to generate micro- and nanometric droplets with a narrow size distribution. Co-axial EHDA, a variation of this technique, utilizes two concentric needles to spray different fluids simultaneously.The ESPRESSO-NANO project combines co-axial EHDA with spark ablation to improve catalyst uniformity and performance at the nanometer scale by integrating electrosprayed ionomer nanoparticles with dry metal nanoparticles, ensuring better distribution of the catalyst within the nanoporous layer. This novel approach streamlines numerous steps in traditional synthesis and electrocatalyst film production which will address material waste and energy consumption, while simultaneously improve the electrochemical efficiency of PEMWEs, offering a sustainable solution to the global energy crisis.
The project is for protecting valuable museum contents against seismic actions. Assessment and protection methods and equipment will be developed and tested. - Assessment methods for seismic safety of museum contents- Protective devices for the musem contentsA museum virtual exhibition room (MVER) will be created, it will contain exhibits such as sculptures and artefacts of different size and geometry, while the proposed experimental work will first examine the seismic behaviour of the test specimens without any protection system. The tests will be repeated using different protective configurations, emphasising on low-mass base isolation systems. Two new and highly efficient base isolation systems will be extensively tested for the first time. The first isolator is a pendulum-based system, while the second utilises shape-memory-alloy wires.The project will also develop and calibrate novel numerical models for single- and two- block rocking systems, while experimental and numerical results will be combined in order to develop quick overturning assessment criteria for the artefacts considered.The final task of the project will combine the shaking table experimental outcomes with numerical results using calibrated numerical models in order to develop fragility curves for museum artefacts.
