A model for adoption of mobile banking services using classification and regression trees

The analysis and improvements of bank performance is a challenging issue for bank managers. Among various banking services, mobile banking is one of the most risky fields that is prone to customer resistance. Mobile banking is a form of banking transaction carried out via a mobile phone. Mobile banking allows bank customers to check their account balances and perform credit card transaction, as well as provide information on the latest transaction made by customers. This paper summarizes experiences and results of productively using knowledge discovery and data mining techniques in a large detail bank data. Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from data. We review prior literature on mobile payments, analyze the various factors that impact mobile payment services markets, and suggest directions for future research in this risk management field. Our research work demonstrates the effectiveness and efficiency of data mining in analysis of retailing bank performance. We use classification and regression tree learning algorithm for proposing a customer adoption model of mobile banking according to some personal characteristics of customers.     

The effect of mark enhancement techniques on the presumptive and confirmatory tests for blood

An investigation into the effects of physical and chemical enhancement on subsequent presumptive and confirmatory tests for human blood is presented. Human blood was deposited onto porous (white 80 gsm paper and brown envelope) and non-porous (tile and linoleum) substrates in a depletion series (30 depletions on non-porous and 20 on porous) and subjected to three ageing periods; 1, 7 and 28?days. A number of enhancement techniques were tested [fluorescence, black magnetic powder (BMP), iron-oxide black powder suspension (PS), cyanoacrylate (CA) fuming, acid violet 17 (AV17), acid yellow 7 (AY7), ninhydrin, DFO and Bluestar Forensic Magnum (BFM) luminol] to evaluate their potential effects on subsequent presumptive and confirmatory tests. AV17 and Bluestar provided the best enhancement and fully enhanced all depletions in the series. The sensitivity of the Kastle-Meyer (KM) (presumptive), Takayama and RSID-Blood tests (confirmatory) was initially investigated to determine the range of detectable depletions. The KM test detected all depletions, whereas the Takayama test detected up to depletion 6 and RSID-Blood detected up to depletion 20 (paper), 10 (envelope), 15 (tile) and 9 (lino). The abilities of these tests to detect blood after enhancement were then observed.A number of techniques resulted in little to no effect on any of the blood tests, whereas adverse effects were observed for others. Ninhydrin and CA fuming caused weak but instantaneous positive KM results whereas methanol-based AV17 and AY7 delayed the reaction by as much as 1?min. The Takayama test was not very sensitive, therefore, its performance was easily affected by enhancement and negative results were often observed. RSID-Blood tests were largely unaffected by chemical enhancement although a drop in positive results was observed for some of the techniques when compared to positive controls.Using a standard procedure for DNA extraction, all the tested blood samples (before and after enhancement) gave a detectable quantity of DNA and were successfully profiled. Out of the 45 samples processed for DNA profiling, 41 gave full profiles, while the remaining showed allele drop out in one or two loci.     

Predictability of Physical and Psychological Violence by Early Adverse Childhood Experiences

Early Adverse Childhood experiences (ACEs) in families of origin can take the form of witnessing it and/or being its victim, both of which can lead to the occurrence of domestic violence. Given such close linkage, the purpose of the present study was to determine the predictive abilities of ACEs regarding specific types of physical and psychological violence. To do so, 50 couples from those referred to five different family courts in Tehran to seek divorce due to domestic violence, were randomly selected and administered an author’s-made questionnaire assessing different types of physical and psychological violence and the participant’s history of abuse by their parents. Our findings showed that witnessing domestic violence in childhood can predict different types of physical and psychological violence, but mostly could account for “hitting” of the physical type and “cursing” of the psychological type. Similarly, being the victim of domestic violence mostly accounted for predict “strangling” of the physical type and “cursing” of the psychological type. Such results are discussed in the context of the existing literature and underscore ACEs importance in terms of their predictive ability of various types of physical and psychological violence.     

An analytical and comparative study of male and female images in Qajar dynasty paintings during the reign of Fath-Ali Shah (1797–1834)

Qajar dynasty painting began in the reign of Fath-Ali Shah (1797–1834) and ended with the death of Naser al-Din Shah (1831–1896). In this period, art was influenced by the government; new rules assigned to art as to sociopolitical conditions and figurative paintings were exploited as a tool in governing the country. In the paintings ascribed to Fath-Ali Shah's period, women also appear alongside the images of men who were principally historical, political and religious key figures of their own time. The significant status of women was the most important factor in this. These images were not merely limited to eminent characters as musicians, dancers, servants, acrobats images were drawn as delicately and magnificently as male images and even enjoyed better radiance, vivacity, pep, variety and tonality than them. Male images were elegantly drawn in formal costumes, often with the same composition. The similarities and differences of male and female images in Qajar paintings can be assessed according to the criteria of composition, colour, positioning, and the number of figures, assimilation, the intricacies and the degree of characterization. This study also stresses the characteristics of men's and women's images in the paintings.     

A Justice-Oriented Innovation System: A Grounded Theory Approach

Researchers are becoming increasingly concerned about integrating the goals of a social justice system with innovation and technical change. Although most of the previous studies concerned the dynamics of the relationship between innovation and social justice, a consistent solution for reconciling these two seemingly conflicting objectives has not been discovered as yet. Prior findings suggest several partial, incoherent, and even conflicting solutions. This paper examines the possibility of the above-mentioned integration goals. Grounded theory is applied to propose a consistent framework of solutions (at the national level), including an innovative social justice system, the necessary ontological supports, and the relevant domestic and international context. This paper also discusses the applicability and implications of this new framework for future research.     

The Prevalence of Domestic Violence Among Pregnant Women Who Were Attended in Iran University of Medical Science Hospitals

The prevalence of domestic violence (DV) during pregnancy could be high and is associated with significant psychological and physical impairment for mother and the fetus. The major objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of DV in expectant mothers who have attended the Iran University of Medical Sciences’ Hospitals (IUMS). In this cross-sectional study, 1,800 subjects were interviewed using a modified questionnaire to determine the prevalence of DV. Consecutive sampling was performed in six major hospitals of IUMS according to the number of referred patients. The prevalence of DV was found to be 60.6% including three types of physical, psychological, and sexual violence with the prevalence of 14.6, 60.5 and 23.5%, respectively. Severe physical DV was 5.3%. Severe psychological and sexual DV were also found in about 24.6 and 3.4% of cases, respectively. DV had a high prevalence in this study. It is recommended that all accessible pregnant women be screened for DV. Study of the prevalence of DV within the community with a larger sample size, and using cluster-sampling methodology would be of immense value.     

Sexual Dimorphism of Maxillary Sinus Dimensions Using Cone‐Beam Computed Tomography

Sex determination of unknown persons plays an important role in forensic medicine. Cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an excellent imaging modality for accurate measurement of maxillary sinus dimensions. This study aimed to evaluate whether maxillary sinus measurements on CBCT scans can be applied for sex determination. The width, length, and height of maxillary sinuses in CBCT images of 100 patients (50 males and 50 females) were measured. Student's t‐test and discriminant function analysis were used to compare differences in the measured parameters between males and females. The correct predictive accuracy rate of sex determination was 78% in females and 74% in males with overall accuracy of 76%. Based on discriminant analysis, the most pronounced variable in differentiation of sex groups was maxillary sinus height. This study suggests that maxillary sinus measurements can be valuable for sex determination in forensic investigation, especially for cases in which other traditional methods are not applicable.