Dollar-Off or Percent-Off? Discount Framing, Construal Levels, and Advertising Appeals

In two studies, the authors reveal how consumers react to marketing messages when two commonly used promotional tactics – price discounts and advertising messages – are synergized. Building on construal level theory, Study 1 shows how dollar-off discount framings (“Buy 2, get $10 off”) trigger low-level construal, while percent-off discount framings (“Buy 2, Get 50% off”) activate high-level construal. Study 2 demonstrates that congruent levels are matched when dollar-off discount appeals are paired with attribute appeals and when percent-off appeals are paired with benefit appeals, leading to more effective marketing communications

Korean Americans and Multiculturalism: Beyond the Demographics

Samuel P. Huntington and the theory of the political good claim that any interactions between different religious and ethnic groups will bring about conflict. Therefore, “multiculturalism” only connotes the existence of more than one culture, with no hybridization between them. However, with increasing globalization and migration, it is becoming more difficult for a state to maintain one political identity. Through the example of Koreans in America and Korean-Americans, it will be shown that multiculturalism is not just a source of conflict, but actually connotes the harmonious combination of multiple cultures in one entity, becoming an identity itself

Saturating relationship between phytoplankton growth rate and nutrient concentration explained by macromolecular allocation

Phytoplankton account for about a half of photosynthesis in the world, making them a key player in the ecological and biogeochemical systems. One of the key traits of phytoplankton is their growth rate because it indicates their productivity and affects their competitive capability. The saturating relationship between phytoplankton growth rate and environmental nutrient concentration has been widely observed yet the mechanisms behind the relationship remain elusive. Here we use a mechanistic model and metadata of phytoplankton to show that the saturating relationship between growth rate and nitrate concentration can be interpreted by intracellular macromolecular allocation. At low nitrate levels, the diffusive nitrate transport linearly increases with the nitrate concentration, while the internal nitrogen requirement increases with the growth rate, leading to a non-linear increase in the growth rate with nitrate. This increased nitrogen requirement is due to the increased allocation to biosynthetic and photosynthetic molecules. The allocation to these molecules reaches a maximum at high nitrate concentration and the growth rate ceases to increase despite high nitrate availability due to carbon limitation. The produced growth rate and nitrate relationships are consistent with the data of phytoplankton across taxa. Our study provides a macromolecular interpretation of the widely observed growth-nutrient relationship and highlights that the key control of the phytoplankton growth exists within the cell

Saturating growth rate against phosphorus concentration explained by macromolecular allocation

The saturating relationship between phytoplankton growth rate and environmental nutrient concentration has been widely observed, yet the mechanisms behind the relationship remain elusive. Here, we use a mechanistic model of phytoplankton and show that the saturating relationship between growth rate and phosphorous concentration can be interpreted by intracellular macromolecular allocation. At low nutrient levels, the diffusive nutrient transport linearly increases with the phosphorous concentration, while the internal phosphorous requirement increases with the growth rate, leading to a non-linear increase in the growth rate with phosphorous. This increased phosphorous requirement is due to the increased allocation to biosynthetic and photosynthetic molecules. The allocation to these molecules reaches a maximum at high-phosphorous concentration, and the growth rate no longer increases despite the rise in phosphorous concentration. The produced growth rate and phosphorous relationships are consistent with the data of phytoplankton across taxa. Our study suggests that the key control of phytoplankton growth is internal, and nutrient uptake is only a single step in the overall process

Prototyping Visual Learning Analytics Guided by an Educational Theory Informed Goal

Prototype work can support the creation of data visualizations throughout the research and development process through paper prototypes with sketching, designed prototypes with graphic design tools, and functional prototypes to explore how the implementation will work. One challenging aspect of data visualization work is coordinating the expertise of people from a variety of roles to produce data visualizations guided by an educational theory informed goal (ETIG) in order to better support research. When collaborating, concessions must be made: typically, everyone seeks to follow the best practices established within their own disciplines. This paper attempts to illustrate how to rethink this interdisciplinary approach to adhere more strictly to educational research goals and consider how we may need to, at times, break away from best practices with the intent to evaluate the novel decisions resulting from this approach. A case study of the creation of a self-reported emotional measure is used to illustrate this type of collaboration. By taking this approach, a clear departure from best practices occurs in the scale selection for the visualization in order to support the ETIG

Using design to address disparities in nature access for children (USFCA’s Design Partnership with SF Children & Nature and Alemany Farm)

Four designers collaborated with SF Children & Nature and Alemany Farm, aiming to bridge the gap between disparities in nature access along socioeconomic and racial lines, ensuring all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in the outdoors. Students worked alongside community partners to create an annual digital report, interactive nature tools, and scavenger hunts to encourage these goals

Laser interstitial thermal therapy in grade 2/3 IDH1/2 mutant gliomas: A preliminary report and literature review

Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) has become an increasingly utilized alternative to surgical resection for the treatment of glioma in patients. However, treatment outcomes in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2