Helping Friends Suffering Mental Health Issues: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Support on Social Media from the Peer???s Point of View

Department of Creative Design EngineeringPeople with mental health problems are increasingly using social media to disclose their experiences or to seek help. Recent research has suggested that peer support plays a critical role in achieving better health outcomes for these individuals. However, little is known about the experiences and perceptions of the peers who are expected to provide this support. In this paper, I investigate how student peers recognize, perceive, and support others who describe mental health-related challenges on social media. Online survey (N=227) and interviews (N=20) revealed that a considerable number of people did not proactively support where they could identify others at risk through stigmatized content, unusual online activities, or a gap between online and offline identity. I found that social stigma, fatigue, and susceptibility often hampered social support. I outline the implications of using social media as a supportive platform, and discuss opportunities for using design to enhance the peers??? social support experiences.ope

Influences of Product Concept Demonstrations in Trade Shows: Two Essays

I study the effects of product concept demonstrations on firm value and on firms\u27 profit using two different methods: empirical and analytical approaches. Utilizing an event study, in Essay 1, I assess the effects of product concept demonstrations in trade shows on abnormal stock returns and risks. My investigation has two interconnected parts: (1) analysis of the firms\u27 decision on how many concepts to demonstrate and what would be the concept mix; and (2) analysis of investor reactions to the demonstration that influence the firm value and risk. I find that the number of concept demonstrations are influenced by the innovativeness of the concept mix, the demonstrating firms\u27 past conversion history of concepts to commercialization, and the total number of concepts demonstrations, reflecting the size of the trade show. As a result, the concepts demonstrations for the first-time positively influence cumulative abnormal return, but the effects of demonstrating previously demonstrated concepts are negative. In Essay 2, I develop a two-period game-theoretic model to analyze the intertemporal strategic interactions in a firms\u27 pricing strategy for the old and new models with a product concept demonstration. My analysis provides new insights into the interplay of product positioning and a product concept demonstration that induces varying degrees of purchase delay while shaping the firms\u27 dynamic pricing strategy. As a result, I find that a product concept demonstration can lower the new model price even below what it would be without a demonstration; further, I find that the volume of delayed purchases induced by a product concept demonstration is the greatest at very low or very high levels of product substitutability, exhibiting a U-shaped pattern. My findings suggest that differentiating the new model either horizontally or vertically is a critical factor for profitable pre-launch product concept demonstration. However, the mechanisms that lead to concept demonstration profitability are quite different between the two types of differentiation. Allowing various scenarios of product line and pricing policies, I find that the simpler pricing policy can dominate more complex pricing strategies. Overall, the influences of the product concept demonstrations are researched through both empirical and analytical methods. The results of this dissertation suggest that innovative product concept demonstration generates positive firm value in the short run. Product concept demonstration also creates greater profit when the new product concept is either horizontally or vertically differentiated

Linewidth and Ranging Characterization of a Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (Vt-Dbr) All-Semiconductor Tunable Swept Laser System for Lidar in Autonomous Applications

ABSTRACT Linewidth and Ranging Characterization of a Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (VT-DBR) All-Semiconductor Tunable Swept Laser System for Lidar in Autonomous Applications Taewan Kim Linewidth and ranging experiments of a Insight packaged Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (VT-DBR) laser across its wavelength output range of 1522.13 to 1566.18 nm is done in this work to characterize it for lidar applications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the laser’s potential to combine the advantages of lidar and FMCW radar for autonomous systems. Linewidth measurements were done by using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to set up a delayed self-homodyne measurement. The laser was set to output at a fixed wavelength across a range of 1523 to 1566 nm in 1 nm increments, and linewidth was captured each of these increments. For each of the linewidths, coherence time and length along with laser currents were associated. The minimum linewidth found in this test was found to be 50 MHz, leading to a maximum coherence time of 6.366 ns and a maximum coherence length of 129.92 cm. There was a somewhat linear, albeit low correlation, area of low linewidths depending on the front mirror and back mirror currents across the wavelength range. Initial ranging experiments were performed using interference fringes caused by variable stationary path length differences introduced into a homemade Mach-Zehnder interferometer around the coherence lengths found in the linewidth test. The experimental path length differences indicated by the interference fringes seem to be accurate at very small ruler measured path length differences, but starts to stray away from the ruler measured as the path length differences get larger. Data taken suggests that there is a mathematical relationship in the error between the ruler measured and experimental path length differences leading to the belief that this error can be compensated for. Keywords: Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector, VT-DBR, FMCW, linewidth, coherence, self-homodyne, Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, interference fringe

Mechanical Properties of Na2CO3-Activated High-Volume GGBFS Cement Paste

The use of Na2CO3 to improve the mechanical properties of high-volume slag cement (HVSC) is experimentally investigated in this study. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was replaced with 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) by weight. Na2CO3 was added at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 wt.% of HVSC (OPC + GGBFS). The compressive strength, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity, dry shrinkage, and X-ray diffraction spectra of the Na2CO3-activated HVSC pastes were analyzed. The results indicate that Na2CO3 was effective for improving the strength of HVSC samples at both early and later ages. There was a trend of increasing HVSC sample strength with increasing Na2CO3 content. The 5% Na2CO3-activated HVSC (50% OPC + 50% GGBFS) paste had the best combination of early to later-age strength development and exhibited the highest UPV and the lowest water absorption among the Na2CO3-activated HVSC samples at later age

Planting and harvesting innovation - an analysis of Samsung Electronics

This study explores how firms manage the entire life cycle of innovation projects based on the framework of harvesting and planting innovation. While harvesting innovation seeks new products in the expectation of financial performance in the short term, planting innovation pursues creating value over a long time period. Without proper management of the process of planting and harvesting innovation, firms with limited resources may not be successful in launching innovative new products to seize a momentum in high tech industries. To examine this issue, the case of Samsung Electronics (SE), now an electronics giant originated from a former developing country, is analyzed. SE has shown to effectively utilize co-innovation to maintain numerous planting and harvesting innovation projects. Both researchers and practitioners would be interested in learning about how SE shared risks of innovation investment with external partners at the early stage of innovation cycles