The Effects of Extrinsic Motivations and Satisfaction in Open Source Software Development

As a new phenomenon in the software industry, Open Source Software (OSS) development has attracted a high level of research interest. Examining what motivates participants in OSS projects and how to enhance the effects of motivations has received increased attention in recent years. This study is prompted by the significant but detail-lacking examination of differential effects of various types of extrinsic motivations on participants’ task effort in OSS projects and their interaction effects with participants’ psychological states. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we establish four types of extrinsic motivations in OSS communities (i.e., external, introjected, identified, and integrated motivation) and investigate how these types affect task effort differently. Also, integrating self-determination theory with affective event theory, we study how satisfaction of needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness moderates the relationships between extrinsic motivations and task effort. The research model is largely supported by data from 250 participants in various OSS projects. Theoretical contribution and practical implications are discussed

Motivation, Social Identity and Ideology Conviction in OSS Communities: The Mediating Role of Effort Intensity and Goal Commitment

Research has found salient individual and social motivating factors that influence participants’ involvement and contribution to OSS projects. Yet, these factors were examined independently from each other, and the mechanisms of their impacts were unclear. This paper is a first attempt to have a better and complete understanding of the phenomenon. We theorize an integrated model on the effects of personal motivation, social identity and ideology conviction on individuals’ task performance in and satisfaction with open source software projects. In particular, we posit that these motivating factors are translated into performance and satisfaction through effort intensity and goal commitment. Also, we contend that task performance positively affects an individual’s satisfaction with a specific OSS project

MOTIVATIONS FOR PARTICIPATING IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE COMMUNITIES: ROLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND ALTRUISM

As a new phenomenon of the software industry, Open Source Software (OSS) development has attracted many research interests. Examining what motivate participants to be involved in OSS projects is one of the recently heated research areas. This study is motivated by the significance but lacking evidence on how personality traits may affect participants\u27 task effort on OSS projects. In particular, we investigate how personality traits namely psychological needs for autonomy and competence, and one\u27s altruism interact with motivations. Following Self-Determination Theory, we differentiate types of motivation in OSS communities. In addition, drawing upon the Affective Event theory, we submit that personality traits moderate the relationships between task effort and both external and identified motivations. The research model is largely supported by data from 204 participants in various OSS projects. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed

Participating in Open Source Software Projects: The Role of Empowerment

As a community-based innovation, Open Source Software (OSS) development intrigues researchers and practitioners, especially on why OSS projects succeed with light coordination and control mechanisms. In the view that the viability and sustainability of an OSS project rely on individuals’ contribution and engagement, we investigate how the psychological feelings of empowerment derived from the assessments of OSS tasks affect participants’ participation outcomes. In particular, we posit that empowerment can lead directly to participants’ task performance and satisfaction in OSS projects. In addition, empowerment’s effect on task performance and satisfaction can also be mediated by task effort. The research model is supported by data collected from 233 OSS participants. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications of this study are discussed

Effects of government subsidies on production and emissions reduction decisions under carbon tax regulation and consumer low‐carbon awareness

To promote low-carbon production, the government simultaneously provides some subsidies under carbon tax regulations. Two government subsidies are widely adopted: one is based on emissions reduction quantity and the other is based on emissions reduction investment cost. Additionally, consumer low-carbon awareness has also been enhanced. Considering the aforementioned circumstances, this paper investigates the effects of different government subsidies on production and emissions reduction decisions under a carbon tax regulation by formulating three decision-making optimization models. The results show that (1) although the carbon tax regulation cannot guarantee further improvement of emissions reduction levels, government subsidies could make the corresponding conditions of improving emissions reduction investments wider; (2) a heavy carbon tax or stronger consumer low-carbon awareness would make the positive effect of government subsidies more apparent; and (3) subsidy policies may also be selected by the government from different perspectives, such as manufacturer development, consumer surplus, environmental damage and social welfare. Especially, from the perspective of maximizing social welfare, investment cost (IC) subsidy is not always advantageous, while emissions reduction (ER) subsidy can always bring higher social welfare compared with the case under no government subsidy

Fluorescence of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots in Toluene: Effect of Cyclic Temperature

Quantum dots (QDs) are the potential material for the application in optical thermometry, and have been successfully applied to solar cells, LEDs, bio-labeling, structural health monitoring, etc. In this paper, we study the fluorescence properties of CdSe/ZnS QDs in toluene under the action of heating-cooling cycles. The experimental results show that, in a heating-cooling cycle, increasing temperature causes red-shift of the emission peak and the decrease of the PL intensity, and decreasing temperature causes blue-shift of the emission peak and the increase of the PL intensity. The surface structures of the QDs likely are dependent on the cycle numbers, which cause the change of the excited energy state of the QDs in toluene. The results presented in this paper reveals the strong effects of cyclic temperature on the photoluminescence characteristics of QDs

Thermal Control of Electronics for Nuclear Robots via Phase Change Materials

AbstractAn effective thermal control is highly desired due to the increased heat generated from tight integration of electrical components. It is more difficult when the electronics are operating in high temperature, narrow space and strong nuclear radiation. In this paper, motor drivers of nuclear robots were taken as a case to study the thermal control methods and their effects on keeping the safe operation of electronics. Phase change materials (PCM) was found could lower the temperature by 20 oC and stabilize below 70 oC for more than 78min, which was 14 times longer than non-protective mode. Besides, the effect of heat sink on thermal conductivity enhancement was discussed

A High Quality and Quantity Hybrid Perovskite Quantum Dots (CsPbX\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e, X= Cl, Br and I) Powders Synthesis via Ionic Displacement

Recently, all-inorganic perovskites CsPbX3 (X= Cl, Br and I) quantum dots (QDs) have drawn great attentions because of their PL spectra tunable over the whole visible spectral region (400-700 nm) and adjustable bandgap, which revealed a promising potential on the field of photoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, LEDs and sensors. In this paper, CsPbX3 QDs and hybrid QDs, CsPbClxBr3-x and CsPbBrxI3-x were synthesized via one-step and two-step methods comparably. The optical bandgaps of CsPbCl3, CsPbBr3, and CsPbI3, were calculated as 3.08, 2.36, and 1.73eV, respectively, based on the Tauc\u27s equation and UV absorption spectra. Ionic displacement and phase transformation occurred during the mixing process were found based on the monitoring of PL spectra and HRTEM characterization. The long-term stability, dried, high quality and two-dimensional hybrid CsPbBrxI3-x QDs powders could be achieved via the two-step method. Polar solution inductions were used to wash and purify the CsPbX3 QDs, which help obtain of various compositions and well crystallize all-inorganic perovskites QDs powders

USER CREATIVITY IN CROWDSOURCING COMMUNITY: FROM EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION PERSPECTIVE

Lack of creative ideas is always the biggest challenge that firms are facing in their innovative activity (Leimeister et al. 2009), and firms are increasing use crowdsourcing to capture diversity ideas from external people. Unfortunately, these crowdsourcing activities can sometime lead to ideas with less creativity than those ideas generated by internal employees (Blohm et al. 2011; Boudreau 2012; Leimeister et al. 2009). This research investigates the effect of users’ extrinsic motivation on idea creativity within the crowdsourcing community. Based on self-determination theory, we propose that four types of extrinsic motivation will positively affect the creativity of ideas generated by crowdsourcing community. Through a survey of 202 participants in China biggest crowdsourcing community, we find our research model is generally supported. We further observe the significant moderating effects of promotion focus on the relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity. Our research provides both theory and practice implication

Inhibitory effect of chitosan oligosaccharide on human hepatoma cells in vitro

Background: Chitosan oligosaccharide, the degradation products of chitin, was reported to have a wide range of physiological functions and biological activities. In this study, we explored the inhibitory effect of Chitosan oligosaccharide on human hepatoma cellsMaterials and Methods: MTT assay was applied to detect cell viability of the human hepatoma cells treated with Chitosan oligosaccharide. Flow cytometric analysis was used to investigate the apoptosis of the human hepatoma cells treated with Chitosan oligosaccharide. We employed western blot to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in the apoptosis.Results: Our data indicated that chitosan oligosaccharide dose-dependently inhibited the growth of hepatoma cells and induced apoptosis. On the molecular level, chitosan oligosaccharide decreased Bcl-2 and increased Caspase-3 expression which may be related to the apoptosis of hepatoma cells.Conclusion: Our results provide an experimental basis for the clinical development of Chitosan oligosaccharide as a novel anti-hepatoma drug.Keywords: Chitosan oligochitosan, Hepatoma cells, Apoptosis, Bcl-2, Caspase-