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Purpose-The purpose of the study was to assess the usefulness of digital library resources & services, and the value of multidisciplinary databases among postgraduate researchers/students. This research study is an investigation of technology acceptance behaviours of university library users in Lahore, Pakistan. It also works on user's perception and usage of digital databases, user's level of satisfaction, user's ease of use and usefulness to use digital library databases and identifications of factors affecting accessing digital databases. This research study is based on the TAM model in the context of technology acceptance by postgraduate researchers. Design/methodology/approach-This is a quantitative research study based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and two basic variables i.e. perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) adopted to check the acceptance level of library users through an adapted questionnaire-survey of 243 post-graduate students of higher degree-awarding universities/institutes of Pakistan, accredited from Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. Findings-The findings of this study discovered that the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the system are significant predictors that play the primary role in accepting the particular system. The effect of moderating variables with respect to gender and age impacts the acceptance level. The findings of this research study also show that female researchers use online library databases conveniently and preferably, as compared to male researchers. Implications-The results of this research study will help out teachers, students, and institutional administration in their academic pursuits. The faculty can get a better idea of how to teach and lead researchers from the available digital information resources and services provided by the university libraries. It will also help in decision making about the selection or rejection of resources for the library's users/students. Originality/value-This research study provides valuable/important insights into key factors that impact and affect user's perception & intention to use and accept library technological services and digital resources from the Pakistani perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the effectiveness of an Oral Health Improvement Project to improve oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in prisoners in a high-security jail in Scotland. Researchers collected oral health questionnaires from the intervention group and a control group, finding higher awareness but not behavior changes in the intervention group. Other topics include the effects of smoking and diet on oral health, analysis of covariance statistics, and health-promoting prisons.

Abstract: The growing trends of poly-substance use and associated health and public concerns have been reported in various studies with particular focus on young adults patronising popular recreational settings. Harm reduction interventions targeting this population have been reported for a number of settings, however only limited data is available on the current strategies employed. A systematic review of peer-reviewed journals was conducted to determine interventions published since 1998 which targeted 17–24 year olds within recreational settings: defined as clubs, pubs, discos, festivals or raves. The identified studies were examined for similarities in design, implementation and outcome measures. The findings and their limitations are discussed alongside implications for future research needed to fill a void in the current knowledge base. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Resistance switching characteristics of CeO2/Ti/CeO2 tri-layered films sandwiched between Pt bottom electrode and two different top electrodes (Ti and TaN) with different work functions have been investigated. RRAM memory cells composed of TaN/CeO2/Ti/CeO2/Pt reveal better resistive switching performance instead of Ti/CeO2/Ti/CeO2/Pt memory stacks. As compared to the Ti/CeO2 interface, much better ability of TaN/CeO2 interface to store and exchange plays a key role in the RS performance improvement, including lower forming/SET voltages, large memory window (~102) and no significant data degradation during endurance test of >104 switching cycles. The formation of TaON thinner interfacial layer between TaN TE and CeO2 film is found to be accountable for improved resistance switching behavior. Partial charge density of states is analyzed using density functional theory. It is found that the conductive filaments formed in CeO2 based devices is assisted by interstitial Ti dopant. Better stability and reproducibility in cycle-to-cycle (C2C) resistance distribution and Vset/Vreset uniformity were achieved due to the modulation of current conduction mechanism from Ohmic in low field region to Schottky emission in high field region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistani women are vulnerable to all kinds of violence due to the patriarchal setup of society. We examined the justification of wife beating by women and men of reproductive group that comprised of 15-49 years of age by doing secondary data analysis on nationally representative cross- sectional survey data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2012-13. The analysis was conducted on randomly selected 13,558 ever- married women and 3134 ever- married men representing all the four provinces of Pakistan including Gilgit Baltistan and federal capital Islamabad. The data showed that women justified wife beating more as compared to men. The findings of multivariable logistic regression depicted that women living with partners, having no access to information, lacking autonomy, and no control over income were more likely to justify wife beating while men who did not have access to information were more in favor of this acts. These findings may help in devising strategies to change the mindset regarding justification of wife beating in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise switchover of numerous resistance states is desirable to achieve repeatable multilevel data storage memory windows. However, this could be hindered by the inherent random nature of oxygen vacancy creation. In this study, oxygen-deficient CeO 2− x thin films were fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated/glass substrates using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature to obtain simple Ni/CeO 2− x /ITO/glass devices. Multilevel bipolar resistive switching characteristics were investigated by controlling the RESET voltage and current compliance. The device could be regarded as four-level switching memory, controlled by the RESET voltage. An increase in the RESET-stop voltage from −1.5 to −2.0 V increased the Schottky barrier height, leading to an improvement in the ON/OFF ratio. The multilevel resistive switching behavior could be attributed to the formation and partial rupture of conductive filaments owing to interfacial oxygen ion migration. This study shows the potentials of the Ni/CeO 2− x /ITO/glass devices for multilevel data storage resistive random-access memory applications. Unlabelled Image • Oxygen deficient CeO 2-x film is deposited on ITO coated/glass substrate using rf-magnetron sputtering at room temperature. • Multilevel bipolar resistive switching are investigated by controlling the RESET-voltage and current compliance. • Device demonstrated four level switching memory that could be determined by controlling RESET-voltage. • By increasing the RESET-stop voltage from −1.5 to −2.0 V will increases the Schottky barrier height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing a thin non-stoichiometric CeO2-x switching layer between the high oxygen affinity metal TaN top electrode and the TiO2 layer in a TaN/CeO2-x/TiO2/Pt bilayer (BL) device, it is possible to enhance the endurance characteristics and overcome the reliability issue. Compared with a single layer device, a BL device significantly enhances the number of direct current overswitching cycles to >1.2 × 104, non-destructive retention (>104 s), and switching uniformity. A TaON interface layer is formed which served as a reservoir of oxygen ions (O2−) in the SET-process and acts as an O2− supplier to refill the oxygen vacancies in the RESET-process and so plays a key role in the formation and rupture of conductive filaments. This study demonstrates that simply introducing a thin non-stoichiometric CeO2-x switching layer into TiO2-based devices can facilitate the enhancement of the endurance property for future nonvolatile memory applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]