When to Signal? Contingencies for Career-Motivated Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

Online collaboration communities are increasingly taking on new roles beyond knowledge creation and exchange, especially the role of a skill-signaling channel for career-motivated community members. This paper examines the contingency effects of job-market conditions for career-motivated knowledge contributions in online collaboration communities. From the data of individual-level activities in a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software developers, we find robust evidence of a positive association between community members’ career motivations and their knowledge contributions. More importantly, we find that this positive relationship is strengthened by job-market conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information between the community and external recruiters. We contribute to the motivation literature in online collaboration communities by identifying and substantiating the role of contextual factors in mobilizing members’ career motivation. Our study thus offers novel insight into how career motivation can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also point to a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as emerging institutions for career motivation and skill signaling

When to Signal? The Contextual Conditions for Career-Motivated User Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

This paper examines the contextual conditions for users’ career concern as a motivational driver of contributions in online collaboration communities. On the data of user-level activities from a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software-developer, we find robust evidence of a positive association between individual users’ career concern and their contributions. More important, we find that this positive relationship is further strengthened through the contextual conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information within the community. We contribute to the literature on motivation in online collaboration communities. Our study thus offers insight into how career concern can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also foreshadow a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as institutions of career concern and skill signaling

Efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa) to ameliorate the adverse effects of T-2 toxin in broiler chicks

Abstract only availableA 3-wk feeding study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder (TMP), containing a known level of curcumin to ameliorate the adverse effects of T-2 toxin in broiler chicks. Five pen replicates of 5 chicks each were assigned to each of 6 dietary treatments. Dietary treatments evaluated include: 1) basal diet containing no T-2 toxin or TMP; 2) basal diet supplemented with 0.67% TMP containing 220 mg/kg total curcuminoids (TCMN); 3) basal diet supplemented with 1 mg/kg T-2; 4) basal diet supplemented with 1 mg/kg T-2 and 220 mg/kg TCMN; 5) basal diet supplemented with 2 mg/kg T-2; 6) and basal diet supplemented with 2 mg/kg T-2 and 220 mg/kg TCMN. The addition of T-2 toxin or TCMN to the diet had no effect (P > 0.05) on feed intake, body weight gain, or feed conversion which averaged 870g, 685g, and 1.29 g:g, respectively, across all treatments. Similarly, there was no effect (P > 0.05) of T-2 or TCMN on relative liver weight which averaged 3.07g across all treatments. Results indicate that 2 mg/kg T-2 was not toxic to broiler chicks fed dietary treatments for 3 weeks. Results also indicate that the addition of 220 mg/kg TCMN to the basal diet was not beneficial to chicks. It remains to be seen if T-2 toxin negatively affected the antioxidant status and hepatic gene expression of chicks, and if TCMN was beneficial in ameliorating any observed negative effects. Samples are currently being analyzed for antioxidant activity and changes in gene expression.Gyeongsang National Universit

Efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa) to ameliorate the adverse effects of ochratoxin A in broiler chicks

Abstract only availableA 21-day feeding study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder (TMP), containing a known level of curcumin to offset the adverse effects of ochratoxin A (OA) in broiler chicks. Five pen replicates of 5 chicks each were assigned to each of 6 dietary treatments. Dietary treatments evaluated include: 1) basal diet containing no OA or TMP; 2) basal diet supplemented with 0.67% TMP containing 220 mg/kg total curcuminoids (TCMN); 3) basal diet supplemented with 1 mg/kg OA; 4) basal diet supplemented with 1 mg/kg OA and 220 mg/kg TCMN; 5) basal diet supplemented with 2 mg/kg OA; 6) and basal diet supplemented with 2 mg/kg OA and 220 mg/kg TCMN. The addition of OA to the diet significantly reduced (P < 0.05) feed intake, body weight gain, and caused poor feed conversion . Similarly, there was a significant effect (P < 0.05) of OA on relative liver weight and relative kidney weight.. Results indicated that 220 mg/kg TCMN did not counteract any adverse effects in broiler chicks fed OA at levels of 1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg. It remains to be seen if OA negatively affected antioxidant status and hepatic gene expression of chicks, and if TCMN will be beneficial in ameliorating any observed adverse effects. Samples are currently being analyzed for antioxidant activity and changes in gene expression.F.B. Miller Undergraduate Research Program in Animal Science

最大筋力発揮イメージ想起時の瞳孔反応について

The purpose of this study was to examine pupillary responses in imagery of maximum muscle strength. Subjects in this study were male and female physical education students (N = 21). They were divided into three groups on scores of imagery as "performing" in VMI test III. These groups were ; (a) imagery training (IM), (b) imagery and performance training (IMP), and (c) control (C). The task was maximum muscle strength by grip. Two different pupil sizes, measured during imaging from in resting and during performing from in imaging, were measured as dependent valuables. The results indicated the following : 1) The pupil size measured during imaging from in resting was the lowest in post test of IMP. 2) The pupil size measured during performing from in imaging was the hightest in post test of IMP. 3) In both pre- and post tests of the pupil size which was taken during performance from in imaging was not equal by each trial. These findings seem to suggest that imagery and performance training will debilitate pupillary responses

The IPIN 2019 Indoor Localisation Competition—Description and Results

IPIN 2019 Competition, sixth in a series of IPIN competitions, was held at the CNR Research Area of Pisa (IT), integrated into the program of the IPIN 2019 Conference. It included two on-site real-time Tracks and three off-site Tracks. The four Tracks presented in this paper were set in the same environment, made of two buildings close together for a total usable area of 1000 m 2 outdoors and and 6000 m 2 indoors over three floors, with a total path length exceeding 500 m. IPIN competitions, based on the EvAAL framework, have aimed at comparing the accuracy performance of personal positioning systems in fair and realistic conditions: past editions of the competition were carried in big conference settings, university campuses and a shopping mall. Positioning accuracy is computed while the person carrying the system under test walks at normal walking speed, uses lifts and goes up and down stairs or briefly stops at given points. Results presented here are a showcase of state-of-the-art systems tested side by side in real-world settings as part of the on-site real-time competition Tracks. Results for off-site Tracks allow a detailed and reproducible comparison of the most recent positioning and tracking algorithms in the same environment as the on-site Tracks

Development of a Simple and Powerful Analytical Method for Formaldehyde Detection and Quantitation in Blood Samples

Human beings are easily exposed to formaldehyde (FA) in a living environment. Entry of FA into the human body can have adverse effects on human health, depending on the FA concentration. Thus, a quantitative analysis of FA in blood is necessary in order to estimate its effect on the human body. In this study, a simple and rapid analytical method for the quantitation of FA in blood was developed. The total analysis time, including the pretreatment procedure, was less than 20 min. To ensure a stable analysis, blood samples were stabilized using tripotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution, and FA was selectively derivatized using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine as pretreatment procedures. The pretreated samples were analyzed using a high-performance liquid chromatography-UV system, which is the most common choice for analyzing small-molecule aldehydes like formaldehyde. Verification of the pretreatment methods (stabilization and derivatization) using FA standards confirmed that the pretreatment methods are highly reliable in the calibration range 0.012–5.761 ng μL–1 (slope = 684,898, R2 = 0.9998, and limit of detection = 0.251 pg·μL–1). Analysis of FA in the blood samples of a Yucatan minipig using the new method revealed an average FA concentration of 1.98 ± 0.34 ng μL–1 (n = 3). Blood samples spiked with FA standards were analyzed, and the FA concentrations were found to be similar to the theoretical concentrations (2.16 ± 0.81% difference). The method reported herein can quantitatively analyze FA in blood at a sub-nanogram level within a short period of time and is validated for application in blood analysis

When to Signal? Contingencies for Career-Motivated Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

Online collaboration communities increasingly take new roles besides knowledge creation and exchange, especially the role as a skill-signaling channel for career-motivated community members. This paper examines the contingency effects of job-market conditions for career-motivated knowledge contributions in online collaboration communities. From the data of individual-level activities in a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software developers, we find robust evidence of a positive association between community members’ career motivation and their knowledge contributions. More importantly, we find that this positive relationship is strengthened by job-market conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information between the community and external recruiters. We contribute to the motivation literature in online collaboration communities by identifying and substantiating the role of contextual factors in mobilizing members’ career motivation. Our study thus offers novel insight into how career motivation can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also point to a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as emerging institutions for career motivation and skill signaling

A Social Robot, “Dali,” for Aging in Place Technology

Healthcare has a trend of going hi-tech. With an aging population growing more than ever, researchers and health care providers are now relying on robots to ease the symptoms of dementia and help an aging population stay where they would like, at home. Several therapeutic robots such as Paro recently introduced in the markets are manifestation of such trends. In this paper, we propose a social robot missioned to autonomously capture images of people and feed multimedia contents to a social network or to a hospital for various social activities or for health monitoring purpose. The main technical barriers of such robots include autonomous navigation, human face detection, distance, and angle adjustment for clean and better shots. To that end, we study autonomous mapping/navigation as well as optimal image capturing technology via motion planning and visual servoing. To overcome the mapping and navigation at a crowded environment, we use the potential field path planning harnessed with two competitive potential update techniques. The robot is an agent navigating in a potential field where detected environmental significances provide sources of attractive forces, while previously occupied locations estimated by SLAM technique provide sources of repelling forces. We also study visual servo technique to optimize image capturing processes. This includes facial recognition, photographic distance/angle adjustment, and backlight avoidance. We tested several scenarios with the assembled robot for its usefulness

Development of human-in-the-loop experiment system to extract evacuation behavioral features: A case of evacuees in nuclear emergencies

Evacuation time estimation (ETE) is crucial for the effective implementation of resident protection measures as well as planning, owing to its applicability to nuclear emergencies. However, as confirmed in the Fukushima case, the ETE performed by nuclear operators does not reflect behavioral features, exposing thus, gaps that are likely to appear in real-world situations. Existing research methods including surveys and interviews have limitations in extracting highly feasible behavioral features. To overcome these limitations, we propose a VR-based immersive experiment system. The VR system realistically simulates nuclear emergencies by structuring existing disasters and human decision pro- cesses in response to the disasters. Evacuation behavioral features were quantitatively extracted through the proposed experiment system, and this system was systematically verified by statistical analysis and a comparative study of experimental results based on previous research. In addition, as part of future work, an application method that can simulate multi-level evacuation dynamics was proposed. The proposed experiment system is significant in presenting an innovative methodology for quantitatively extracting human behavioral features that have not been comprehensively studied in evacuation. It is expected that more realistic evacuation behavioral features can be collected through additional experiments and studies of various evacuation factors in the future.(c) 2023 Korean Nuclear Society, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)