What do seller manipulations of online product reviews mean to consumers?

There is growing evidence that consumers are influenced by online product reviews when making a variety of purchase decisions. Firms are therefore tempted to monitor and manipulate online product reviews on the company\u27s website or forum to influence consumer perceptions by anonymously posting positive reviews, hiding or deleting unfavorable reviews, or offering rewards to consumers who post favorable reviews. Our review of the literature has revealed a surprising shortage of work directed at the development of an integrative theoretical framework or rigorous empirical studies on the effectiveness and the exact impact of such activities on the payoffs to various parties. This study fills a void in the online marketing and information manipulation literature by studying consumers\u27 suspicion, awareness and evaluation of specific manipulation tactics through in-depth interviews with 16 experienced online shoppers in China. We adopt a grounded theory approach to analyze the qualitative data and end up with a series of research propositions (research framework) for further testing and verification. The findings about consumers\u27 views of online manipulations would provide valuable insights to industry associations and policy makers on whether and how to regulate online manipulation activities to ensure the healthy development of the e-commerce

Evaluation of Performance of Different Methods in Detecting Abrupt Climate Changes

We compared and evaluated the performance of five methods for detecting abrupt climate changes using a time series with artificially generated abrupt characteristics. Next, we analyzed these methods using annual mean surface air temperature records from the Shenyang meteorological station. Our results show that the moving t-test (MTT), Yamamoto (YAMA), and LePage (LP) methods can correctly and effectively detect abrupt changes in means, trends, and dynamic structure; however, they cannot detect changes in variability. We note that the sample size of the subseries used in these tests can affect their results. When the sample size of the subseries ranges from one-quarter to three-quarters of the jump scale, these methods can effectively detect abrupt changes; they perform best when the sample size is one-half of the jump scale. The Cramer method can detect abrupt changes in the mean and trend of a series but not changes in variability or dynamic structure. Finally, we found that the Mann-Kendall test could not detect any type of abrupt change. We found no difference in the results of any of the methods following removal of the mean, creation of an anomaly series, or normalization. However, detrending and study period selection affected the results of the Cramer and Mann-Kendall methods; in the latter case, they could lead to a completely different result

Short communication: Inhibitory effects of dietary aflatoxin B1 on cytokines expression and T-cell subsets in the cecal tonsil of broiler chickens

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most toxic form among the mycotoxins. Cytokines are important mediators of the immune system. T-cell subsets play a crucial role in cell-mediated immunity. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effects of dietary AFB1 on the cytokines expression and T-cell subsets in the cecal tonsil of broiler chickens throughout a 21-day experimental period. One hundred and fifty six one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly divided into control group (0 mg AFB1/kg feed) and AFB1 group (0.6 mg pure AFB1/kg feed). At 7, 14 and 21 days of age, the levels of seven cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α) mRNA expression as well as the proportions of T-cell subsets (CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+) by qRT-PCR and flow cytometry methods were assessed in the cecal tonsils. The levels of the seven cytokines mRNA expression and the percentages of T-cell subsets significantly decreased at 14 and 21 days of age in the AFB1 group compared with the control group. However, the CD4+/CD8+ ratio was not significantly changed. These results demonstrate that 0.6 mg/kg AFB1 dietary exposure reduced the levels of cytokines mRNA expression and the percentages of T-cell subsets in the cecal tonsils of broiler chickens, suggesting that the cell-mediated immunity of cecal tonsils might be impaired in broilers

Haze and inbound tourism: Empirical evidence from China

The impact of climate change on tourism has always been an important topic for research in the field of international tourism, and haze has been widely recognized as the primary negative factor affecting the development of inbound tourism in China. In this study, we first conduct a theoretical analysis of the mechanism through which haze influences the tourism industry, and then we empirically analyze the impact on China’s inbound tourism using surface particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations as a proxy for haze, based on provincial panel data from 1998 to 2016. The empirical results show that haze not only has an inhibitory effect on inbound tourism, but also significantly reduces the average length of stay of international tourists. In addition, while there are significant regional differences in the crowding-out effect of haze pollution on inbound tourism, the effect varies depending on the origin of inbound tourists, exhibiting the greatest negative impact on inbound tourism from Taiwan and the smallest from foreign countries. Our research highlights that haze pollution can led to the change of human tourism behavior which enrich the literature on tourism and haze

Cause analysis of the extreme hourly precipitation and its relationship with the urban heat island intensity in Shenyang, China

Based on the hourly temperature and precipitation data from China national meteorological stations and regional automatic weather stations in Shenyang, the relationship between extreme hourly precipitation (ExHP) and urban heat island Intensity (UHII) is analyzed. Results show that the UHII is higher at night and in the early morning. The ExHP events mostly occur at night in summer when the UHII is relatively high. The spatial distribution of UHII in Shenyang is consistent with the economic development and the transportation density. Denser population and transportation, and high-rise buildings in the urban center contribute to higher UHII. There are three types of ExHP, namely the abrupt-type ExHP, the growing-type ExHP and the continuous-type ExHP. The overall variation characteristics of the three types of ExHP are relatively consistent. Their UHII values are positive and relatively stable in 6–12 h before the start of ExHP. The UHII begins to increase dramatically about 6 h before the ExHP, but decreases obviously and turn negative after the precipitation begins. Before the abrupt ExHP, the UHII is relatively high and can rapidly return to positive after the ending of ExHP. The UHII of the abrupt-type ExHP is remarkably larger than that of the growing-type and continuous-type ExHP. The UHII before and after the abrupt-type ExHP differs greatly. Before the abrupt ExHP, the UHII is high in the center and low at both ends, and the high-value areas of UHII are mainly located in the urban area. After the abrupt-type EXHP, the UHII drops and turn negative in the whole area. The UHII is obviously increasing with urbanization. The diurnal variation of UHII is enormous, which is higher at night than during the daytime. The increasing UHII can cause abnormal air pressure in cities and villages. The air in the lower atmospheric layer of the city can be heated and expanded, hence resulting in lower local air pressure. Then, the lower air pressure can promote the convergence and upward movement of air, hence facilitating the establishment of UHII circulation. This phenomenon is particularly distinct at night, which is conducive to the occurrence of ExHP events

Taxonomic and functional dynamics of nirS denitrifiers along a salinity gradient in the Pearl River Estuary

Understanding the factors that shape the diversity, distribution, and function of denitrifying microbes is vital for managing nitrogen cycling in these ecosystems. This study explores the diversity, biogeographic distribution, assembly processes, interaction, and denitrification potential of the nirS-encoding microbial community (nirS denitrifier) in the Pearl River Estuary based on high-throughput and metagenomics sequencing dataset. The results of this study show that salinity is a crucial regulatory environmental factor that determines the spatial distribution, phylogenetic turnover, and co-occurrence patterns of nirS denitrifiers. Additionally, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC), suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and dissolved oxygen (DO) in water also significantly impact the biodiversity and abundance of nirS denitrifiers. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that, in comparison to environmental factors, the ecological and evolutionary characteristics of nirS denitrifiers play a more prominent role in regulating their denitrification potential, suggesting that alterations in the microbial community within dynamic changes in estuarine water can profoundly affect its denitrification function. Our results indicate the significant roles of denitrification microbial structure and phylogenetic characteristics in maintaining their ecological functions. Future studies should continue to explore the interactions between microbial communities and environmental factors to further elucidate the denitrification process in estuaries and its implications for ecosystem health and water quality