The role of publicly-reported research in the early stages of the diffusion of an innovation: the case of E-commerce

This study examined patterns of research-based information and predictions about e-commerce that have been disseminated during the first six years of the diffusion of this innovation. The theoretical expectation was based on Hoopla Effect theory, which suggests that early information and predictions about an innovation will be overly optimistic, produced mainly by inventors and businesses that have a stake in their success, and focused primarily on main effects of the innovation rather than indirect social impacts the innovation might have. All 1,134 research-based reports about e-commerce posted on the website nua.com were content analyzed in this study. Findings showed the tone of information did tend to become significantly less positive over the five-year period. While studies about social impacts of the innovation did increase over time, there were many more studies about financial and business aspects across all time periods. The source of most of the reports was research firms, which was contrary to the expectation that it would be primarily businesses themselves. This suggests that research firms may now be playing a major role in presenting information used by investors or businesses to make decisions about e-commerce. The extent to which such research firms are acting as agents of businesses promoting these innovations could not be determined by this study. The study supports supply-side diffusion theorists who suggest that the quantity and source of innovation information is likely to vary widely over time

Crystalline Electric Field and Kondo Effect in SmOs4Sb12

Our ultrasound results obtained in pulsed magnetic fields show that the filled-skutterudite compound SmOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ has the $\Gamma_{67}$ quartet crystalline-electric-field ground state. This fact suggests that the multipolar degrees of freedom of the $\Gamma_{67}$ quartet play an important role in the unusual physical properties of this material. On the other hand, the elastic response below $\approx$ 20 T cannot be explained using the localized 4$f$-electron model, which does not take into account the Kondo effect or ferromagnetic ordering. The analysis result suggests the presence of a Kondo-like screened state at low magnetic fields and its suppression at high magnetic fields above 20 T even at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Regulation of axon repulsion by MAX-1 SUMOylation and AP-3.

During neural development, growing axons express specific surface receptors in response to various environmental guidance cues. These axon guidance receptors are regulated through intracellular trafficking and degradation to enable navigating axons to reach their targets. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the UNC-5 receptor is necessary for dorsal migration of developing motor axons. We previously found that MAX-1 is required for UNC-5-mediated axon repulsion, but its mechanism of action remained unclear. Here, we demonstrate that UNC-5-mediated axon repulsion in C. elegans motor axons requires both max-1 SUMOylation and the AP-3 complex β subunit gene, apb-3 Genetic interaction studies show that max-1 is SUMOylated by gei-17/PIAS1 and acts upstream of apb-3 Biochemical analysis suggests that constitutive interaction of MAX-1 and UNC-5 receptor is weakened by MAX-1 SUMOylation and by the presence of APB-3, a competitive interactor with UNC-5. Overexpression of APB-3 reroutes the trafficking of UNC-5 receptor into the lysosome for protein degradation. In vivo fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments shows that MAX-1 SUMOylation and APB-3 are required for proper trafficking of UNC-5 receptor in the axon. Our results demonstrate that SUMOylation of MAX-1 plays an important role in regulating AP-3-mediated trafficking and degradation of UNC-5 receptors during axon guidance

Assessment of extraction parameters on antioxidant capacity, polyphenol content, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and iriflophenone 3-C-β-glucoside of agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) young leaves

The effects of ethanol concentration (0%–100%, v/v), solid-to-solvent ratio (1:10–1:60, w/v) and extraction time (30–180 min) on the extraction of polyphenols from agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) were examined. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total flavanol (TF) assays and HPLC-DAD were used for the determination and quantification of polyphenols, flavanol gallates (epigallocatechin gallate—EGCG and epicatechin gallate—ECG) and a benzophenone (iriflophenone 3-C-β-glucoside) from the crude polyphenol extract (CPE) of A. crassna. 2,2'-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was used to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the CPE. Experimental results concluded that ethanol concentration and solid-to-solvent ratio had significant effects (p < 0.05) on the yields of polyphenol and antioxidant capacity. Extraction time had an insignificant influence on the recovery of EGCG, ECG and iriflophenone 3-C-β-glucoside, as well as radical scavenging capacity from the CPE. The extraction parameters that exhibited maximum yields were 40% (v/v) ethanol, 1:60 (w/v) for 30 min where the TPC, TFC, TF, DPPH, EGCG, ECG and iriflophenone 3-C-β-glucoside levels achieved were 183.5 mg GAE/g DW, 249.0 mg QE/g DW, 4.9 mg CE/g DW, 93.7%, 29.1 mg EGCG/g DW, 44.3 mg ECG/g DW and 39.9 mg iriflophenone 3-C-β-glucoside/g DW respectively. The IC50 of the CPE was 24.6 mg/L

Magnetic-Field-Independent Ultrasonic Dispersions in the Magnetically Robust Heavy Fermion System SmOs4Sb12

Elastic properties of the filled skutterudite compound SmOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ have been investigated by ultrasonic measurements. The elastic constant $C_{11}(\omega)$ shows two ultrasonic dispersions at $\sim$15 K and $\sim$53 K for frequencies $\omega$ between 33 and 316 MHz, which follow a Debye-type formula with Arrhenius-type temperature-dependent relaxation times, and remain unchanged even with applied magnetic fields up to 10 T. The corresponding activation energies were estimated to be $E_2$ = 105 K and $E_1$ = 409 K, respectively. The latter, $E_1$, is the highest value reported so far in the Sb-based filled skutterudites. The presence of magnetically robust ultrasonic dispersions in SmOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ implies a possibility that an emergence of a magnetically insensitive heavy fermion state in this system is associated with a novel local charge degree of freedom which causes the ultrasonic dispersion.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Social Media Usage and Influenza Beliefs, Risk Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions Among Students at a University in Southeastern US

Background: To document social media usage for the retrieval of health information among college students; and to understand the beliefs, risk perceptions and behavioral intentions among participants who retrieved CDC influenza information via social media. Methods: We conducted an online survey to a convenience sample of students at a university in Southeastern United States during Spring 2015. The survey was self-administered and every matriculating student received an electronic invitation to participate at least once. Results: A total of 930 students completed the online survey. Most participants (n=905, 97.3%) reported that they had used a social networking site in the previous 12 months. However, only one-third (n=317, 34.1%) reported that they used social networking sites to read CDC health information or messages. Nearly one-fifth of participants (n=172, 18.5%) reported reading CDC influenza information during the 2014-15 influenza season. Among the subset of readers of CDC influenza information during the 2014-15 influenza season (N=153), 77 (50.99%) reported that it was likely they would get the influenza vaccine in the next 12 months. Women reported stronger risk perceptions and behavioral intentions than men. Blacks/African Americans reported more negative influenza-related beliefs and weaker risk perceptions compared to Whites. Conclusions: While social media penetration is high among university students in Southeastern US, only a minority of survey participants retrieved CDC influenza information via social media. Among these individuals, about half reported that they intended to vaccinate against influenza. Further research is needed to enhance CDC social media penetration among college students