186 research outputs found
The value of implicit measures for internet advertising : evidence of mere exposure effects and their impact on consumer preference for pop-ups and banner ads : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
Cognitive and neuropsychological research points to evidence that "repeated, unreinforced exposure to a stimulus is sufficient to enhance one's attitude toward that stimulus", referred to as the mere exposure effect. The main purpose of this study is to bring to attention sources of mere exposure effects data that, while rarely cited within the advertising literature, are highly relevant to questions of online advertising effectiveness. This study further sought to 1) investigate whether if pop-ups would be better recognised than banner ads, and 2) whether if pop-ups would be rated more favourably (due to the mere exposure effect) than banner ads (less liked due to devaluation-by-inhibition). The experiment was a 2 (Group A, Group B) x2 (Advert Type: Banner Ads, Pop-ups) x2 (Whether Seen: Seen, Not Seen) design. Twenty participants were instructed to read twelve articles on the screen, where each reading trial was presented with a banner ad located in the peripheral display of the full-screen article, and a pop-up that was sequentially displayed at the centre of the screen which would be instructed to click away. A total of 48 adverts (i.e., previously seen and not-seen pop-ups and banner ads) were then rated on each of the five affective dimensions (i.e., familiarity, eye-catching, appealing, memorable, and distinctive); followed by a recognition question as to indicate whether participants had seen the advert whilst reading the articles. As predicted, mere exposure effects occurred for all previously exposed adverts, but no difference in recognition was found between the advert types or any significant differences in the magnitude of favourability for the previously seen pop-ups and banner ads. These findings suggest that the magnitude to which favourability would be related to varying lengths of exposure durations presented with pop-ups and banner ads (i.e., brief vs. longer presentation times), and/or the level of attention guided towards pop-ups and banner ads (i.e., central, had to be clicked away vs. peripheral, could be ignored), was not supported. Practical implications and suggestions for future research regarding potential applicability of mere exposure theory in an Internet setting will be discussed
Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies as Extreme Star-forming Environments I: Mapping Star Formation in HI-Rich UDGs
Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies are both extreme products of galaxy evolution and
extreme environments in which to test our understanding of star formation. In
this work, we contrast the spatially resolved star formation activity of a
sample of 22 HI-selected UDGs and 35 low-mass galaxies from the NASA Sloan
Atlas (NSA) within 120 Mpc. We employ a new joint SED fitting method to compute
star formation rate and stellar mass surface density maps that leverage the
high spatial resolution optical imaging data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru
Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) and the UV coverage of GALEX, along with HI radial
profiles estimated from a subset of galaxies that have spatially resolved HI
maps. We find that the UDGs have low star formation efficiencies as a function
of their atomic gas down to scales of 500 pc. We additionally find that the
stellar mass-weighted sizes of our UDG sample are unremarkable when considered
as a function of their HI mass -- their stellar sizes are comparable to the NSA
dwarfs at fixed HI mass. This is a natural result in the picture where UDGs are
forming stars normally, but at low efficiencies. We compare our results to
predictions from contemporary models of galaxy formation, and find in
particular that our observations are difficult to reproduce in models where
UDGs undergo stellar expansion due to vigorous star formation feedback should
bursty star formation be required down to .Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 27 pages, 18 figure
PP2Cdelta (Ppm1d, WIP1), an endogenous inhibitor of p38 MAPK, is regulated along with Trp53 and Cdkn2a following p38 MAPK inhibition during mouse preimplantation development.
Preimplantation embryos utilize mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling (MAPK) pathways to relay signals from the external environment to prepare appropriate responses and adaptations to a changing milieu. It is therefore important to investigate how MAPK pathways are regulated during preimplantation development. This study was conducted to investigate whether PP2Cdelta (Ppm1d, WIP1) is expressed during mouse preimplantation development and to determine the influences of p38 MAPK inhibition on expression of Trp53 (p53), Ppm1d, (WIP1), and Cdkn2a (p16) during mouse preimplantation development. Our results indicate that Trp53, Ppm1d, and Cdkn2a mRNAs and TRP53 and PP2Cdelta proteins are expressed throughout mouse preimplantation development. Treatment of 2-cell embryos with SB220025 (potent inhibitor of p38 MAPK alpha/beta/MAPK 14/11) significantly increased Trp53, Ppm1d and Cdkn2a and Mapk14 mRNA levels at 12 and 24 hr. Treatment of 8-cell embryos with SB220025 for 12 hr increased Trp53, Ppm1d, and Cdkn2a mRNA levels, but not Mapk14 mRNA levels. Treatment of 8-cell embryos for 24 hr increased Trp53, and Ppm1d mRNA levels, but decreased Cdkn2a and Mapk14 mRNA levels. Therefore, blockade of p38 MAPK activity is associated with embryo stage specific influences on Trp53, Ppm1d, Cdkn2a, and Mapk14 expression during mouse preimplantation development. These results define downstream targets of p38 MAPK during preimplantation development and indicate that the p38 MAPK pathway regulates Trp53, Ppm1d, and Cdkn2a expression. This study increases our understanding of the mechanisms controlling preimplantation development and of the interactions between preimplantation embryos and their culture environments
Seasonal variation of Sargassum ilicifolium (Phaeophyceae) growth on equatorial coral reefs
Temporal and spatial variations in Sargassum ilicifolium thallus density and length were investigated on equatorial coral reefs in Singapore from November 2011 to October 2012. Thalli density varied little throughout the year, however, we found strong seasonal patterns in thallus length and identified temperature as the significant driver. Sargassum ilicifolium reached maximum length in December (110.39 ± 2.37 cm) during periods of cooler water temperatures, and minimum length in May (9.88 ± 0.48 cm) during periods of warmer water temperatures. Significant spatial variation was also observed for both thallus density and length of S. ilicifolium among reefs. Within reefs, densities of S. ilicifolium were higher on reef flats (20.40 ± 0.40 individuals · 0.25 m−2) compared to upper reef slopes (5.66 ± 0.23 individuals · 0.25 m−2). Our findings highlight that marked seasonality in the growth of canopy-forming macroalgae can occur within equatorial reef systems where temperature ranges are restricted (\u3c3°C)
Fear effects and group size interact to shape herbivory on coral reefs
Fear of predators (‘fear effects’) is an important determinant of foraging decisions by consumers across a range of ecosystems. Group size is one of the main behavioural mechanisms for mitigating fear effects while also providing foraging benefits to group members. Within coral reef ecosystems, fear effects have been shown to influence the feeding rates of herbivorous fishes, a key functional group that prevents macroalgal overgrowth. Yet, how fear effects and group size interact to shape macroalgal removal on coral reefs remains unclear. Here, we conducted field-based experiments using models of a common piscivorous fish, the leopard coral grouper Plectropomus leopardus and a series of macroalgal Sargassum ilicifolium assays positioned at increasing distances from the models (1, 2, 3 and 4 m) on two coral reefs in Singapore to investigate how acute fear effects shape the intensity of herbivory, and whether these effects were influenced by variation in the group size of herbivorous fishes feeding on the assays. We found acute fear effects strongly influenced the foraging behaviour of herbivorous fishes over small spatial scales. Rates of Sargassum biomass removal, feeding rates and the total number of individual feeding events were all lower near the predator model. These effects dissipated rapidly with increasing distance from the predator model and were undetectable at a distance of 4 m. We also found generally larger group sizes of herbivorous fishes further from the predator model, presumably reflecting decreased risk. Furthermore, the number of individual bites/event increased significantly with increasing group size for two common browsing fishes, Siganus virgatus and Siganus javus. Our findings highlight that acute fear effects influence the distribution and intensity of herbivory over small spatial scales. Fear effects also interacted with herbivore group size resulting in changes in the number of individual feeding events and bite rates that collectively shape the realized ecosystem function of macroalgal removal on coral reefs. Group size is an important context-dependent factor that should be considered when examining fear effects on coral reefs. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article
Dwarf-Dwarf Interactions Can Both Trigger and Quench Star Formation
It is exceedingly rare to find quiescent low-mass galaxies in the field.
UGC5205 is an example of such a quenched field dwarf
(). Despite a wealth of cold gas () and GALEX emission that indicates significant
star formation in the past few hundred Myr, there is no detection of H
emission -- star formation in the last Myr -- across the face of the
galaxy. Meanwhile, the near equal-mass companion of UGC5205, PGC027864, is
starbursting ( Angstrom). In this work, we present
new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) 21 cm line observations of UGC5205
that demonstrate that the lack of star formation is caused by an absence of HI
in the main body of the galaxy. The HI of UGC5205 is highly disturbed; the bulk
of the HI resides in several kpc-long tails, while the HI of PGC027864 is
dominated by ordered rotation. We model the stellar populations of UGC5205 to
show that, as indicated by the UV-H emission, the galaxy underwent a
coordinated quenching event Myr ago. The asymmetry of outcomes
for UGC5205 and PGC027864 demonstrate that major mergers can both quench and
trigger star formation in dwarfs. However, because the gas remains bound to the
system, we suggest that such mergers only temporarily quench star formation. We
estimate a total quenched time of Myr for UGC5205, consistent with
established upper limits on the quenched fraction of a few percent for dwarfs
in the field.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Accepted to Ap
Fear effects and group size interact to shape herbivory on coral reefs
Fear of predators (‘fear effects’) is an important determinant of foraging decisions by consumers across a range of ecosystems. Group size is one of the main behavioural mechanisms for mitigating fear effects while also providing foraging benefits to group members. Within coral reef ecosystems, fear effects have been shown to influence the feeding rates of herbivorous fishes, a key functional group that prevents macroalgal overgrowth. Yet, how fear effects and group size interact to shape macroalgal removal on coral reefs remains unclear. Here, we conducted field-based experiments using models of a common piscivorous fish, the leopard coral grouper Plectropomus leopardus and a series of macroalgal Sargassum ilicifolium assays positioned at increasing distances from the models (1, 2, 3 and 4 m) on two coral reefs in Singapore to investigate how acute fear effects shape the intensity of herbivory, and whether these effects were influenced by variation in the group size of herbivorous fishes feeding on the assays. We found acute fear effects strongly influenced the foraging behaviour of herbivorous fishes over small spatial scales. Rates of Sargassum biomass removal, feeding rates and the total number of individual feeding events were all lower near the predator model. These effects dissipated rapidly with increasing distance from the predator model and were undetectable at a distance of 4 m. We also found generally larger group sizes of herbivorous fishes further from the predator model, presumably reflecting decreased risk. Furthermore, the number of individual bites/event increased significantly with increasing group size for two common browsing fishes, Siganus virgatus and Siganus javus. Our findings highlight that acute fear effects influence the distribution and intensity of herbivory over small spatial scales. Fear effects also interacted with herbivore group size resulting in changes in the number of individual feeding events and bite rates that collectively shape the realized ecosystem function of macroalgal removal on coral reefs. Group size is an important context-dependent factor that should be considered when examining fear effects on coral reefs
- …