Online Shopping Behavior in Cross-cultural Context: An Empirical Research in China

As a newly evolved emergence from e-business, social commerce has attracted increasingly attention from both researchers and practitioners. Distinguished from the majority of extant research paradigm, the current empirical study extends social commerce research into cross-cultural context and unveils the underlying mechanism through which two dimensions of social media usage (informational and socializing) impact user’s intention to purchase on social commerce websites, thereby facilitating online shopping behaviors. In addition, the research demonstrates the role of cultural distance as a boundary condition attenuating the positive effects of social media usage in cross-cultural social commerce application. Research implications and limitations for future venues are also discussed

Probabilistic hesitant fuzzy multiple attribute decisionmaking based on regret theory for the evaluation of venture capital projects

The selection of venture capital investment projects is one of the most important decision-making activities for venture capitalists. Due to the complexity of investment market and the limited cognition of people, most of the venture capital investment decision problems are highly uncertain and the venture capitalists are often bounded rational under uncertainty. To address such problems, this article presents an approach based on regret theory to probabilistic hesitant fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making. Firstly, when the information on the occurrence probabilities of all the elements in the probabilistic hesitant fuzzy element (P.H.F.E.) is unknown or partially known, two different mathematical programming models based on water-filling theory and the maximum entropy principle are provided to handle these complex situations. Secondly, to capture the psychological behaviours of venture capitalists, the regret theory is utilised to solve the problem of selection of venture capital investment projects. Finally, comparative analysis with the existing approaches is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of the proposed method

Seismic damage analysis due to near-fault multipulse ground motion

Near-fault pulse-like ground motion is a significant class of seismic records since it tends to cause more severe damage to structures than ordinary ground motions. However, previous researches mainly focus on single-pulse ground motions. The multipulse ground motions that exist in records receive rare attention. In this study, an analysis procedure is proposed to investigate the effect of multipulse ground motions on structures by integrating finite element analysis and an identification method that features each pulse in the multipulse ground motion satisfying the same evaluation criteria. First, the Arias intensity, wavelet-based cumulative energy distribution, and response spectra of identified non-, single-, and multipulse ground motions are compared. Then, the seismic damage on frame structures, a soil slope, and a concrete dam under non-, single-, and multipulse ground motions are analyzed. Results show that the spectral velocity of multipulse ground motions is significantly greater than those of non- and single-pulse ground motions and potentially contains multiple peaks in the long-period range. Seismic damage evaluation indicates that the maximum interstory drift of frame structures with high fundamental periods under multipulse ground motions is about twice that of nonpulse ground motions. Similar characteristics also exist in the soil slope and the concrete dam. Therefore, multipulse ground motions potentially cause more severe damage to structures compared to non- and single-pulse ground motions. The findings of this study facilitate the recognition of the increased seismic demand imposed by the multipulse ground motion in engineering practices, provide new possibilities for ground motion selection in seismic design validation, and shed new light on seismic hazard and risk analysis in near-fault regions

Learned, Uncertainty-driven Adaptive Acquisition for Photon-Efficient Multiphoton Microscopy

Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) is a powerful imaging tool that has been a critical enabler for live tissue imaging. However, since most multiphoton microscopy platforms rely on point scanning, there is an inherent trade-off between acquisition time, field of view (FOV), phototoxicity, and image quality, often resulting in noisy measurements when fast, large FOV, and/or gentle imaging is needed. Deep learning could be used to denoise multiphoton microscopy measurements, but these algorithms can be prone to hallucination, which can be disastrous for medical and scientific applications. We propose a method to simultaneously denoise and predict pixel-wise uncertainty for multiphoton imaging measurements, improving algorithm trustworthiness and providing statistical guarantees for the deep learning predictions. Furthermore, we propose to leverage this learned, pixel-wise uncertainty to drive an adaptive acquisition technique that rescans only the most uncertain regions of a sample. We demonstrate our method on experimental noisy MPM measurements of human endometrium tissues, showing that we can maintain fine features and outperform other denoising methods while predicting uncertainty at each pixel. Finally, with our adaptive acquisition technique, we demonstrate a 120X reduction in acquisition time and total light dose while successfully recovering fine features in the sample. We are the first to demonstrate distribution-free uncertainty quantification for a denoising task with real experimental data and the first to propose adaptive acquisition based on reconstruction uncertaint

An energy‐frequency parameter for earthquake ground motion intensity measure

A novel scalar ground motion intensity measure (IM), termed the energy-frequency parameter, is proposed based on the Hilbert-Huang transform. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed IM, the correlation analysis between the engineering demand parameter (EDP) and energy-frequency parameter is performed using 1992 recorded ground motions, in which EDP is the maximum inter-storey drift of structures obtained by nonlinear time-history analysis. Results show that the energy-frequency parameter has a strong linear correlation with EDP at natural logarithm, and this correlation is applicable for various structural fundamental periods. We also verified that the lognormal cumulative distribution function can characterize the energy-frequency parameter-based fragility function, which can further facilitate the application of the parameter in seismic risk analysis. Besides, the strong correlation between the energy-frequency parameter and other IMs (such as PGA, PGV, PGD, CAV, (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.), and SI) potentially makes the proposed IM widely applicable in seismic risk analysis. Moreover, since the energy-frequency parameter depends only on the frequency-domain characteristics of the ground-motion signal, it may closely link to seismological theory and provide new insights into seismology engineering

MBE growth of axion insulator candidate EuIn2As2

The synthesis of thin films of magnetic topological materials is necessary to achieve novel quantized Hall effects and electrodynamic responses. EuIn2As2 is a recently predicted topological axion insulator that has an antiferromagnetic ground state and an inverted band structure but that has only been synthesized and studied as a single crystal. We report on the synthesis of c-axis oriented EuIn2As2 films by molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire substrates. By careful tuning of the substrate temperature during growth, we stabilize the Zintl phase of EuIn2As2 expected to be topologically non-trivial. The magnetic properties of these films reproduce those seen in single crystals but their resistivity is enhanced when grown at lower temperatures. We additionally find that the magnetoresistance of EuIn2As2 is negative even up to fields as high as 31T but while it is highly anisotropic at low fields, it becomes nearly isotropic at high magnetic fields above 5T. Overall, the transport characteristics of EuIn2As2 appear similar to those of chalcogenide topological insulators, motivating the development of devices to gate tune the Fermi energy to reveal topological features in quantum transport

Response to discussion of “Seismic damage analysis due to near‐fault multipulse ground motion”

AbstractThe authors thank the discusser for the attention and interests on our previous work, entitled “Seismic damage analysis due to near‐fault multipulse ground motion” (referred to as the original paper/work in the following text). To demonstrate the increased seismic demands required by multipulse ground motions compared to non‐ and single‐pulse ground motions, three cases were illustrated in the original work, including frame structures, a soil slope and a concrete dam. The discusser, Dr M.Amin Hariri‐Ardebili, raised concerns on the seismic response of the dam, together with the optimal intensity measure of ground motions. Specifically, four subissues are involved, including effectiveness of the numerical model of dam, the damage index for dam, the selection strategy for input ground motions, and the ground motion intensity measures. Detailed responses to these issues are provided. In short, the main conclusion in the original paper that the multipulse ground motions potentially cause more severe damage compared to non‐ and single‐pulse ground motions is reliable.</jats:p

Seismic damage analysis due to near‐fault multipulse ground motion

AbstractNear‐fault pulse‐like ground motion is a significant class of seismic records since it tends to cause more severe damage to structures than ordinary ground motions. However, previous researches mainly focus on single‐pulse ground motions. The multipulse ground motions that exist in records receive rare attention. In this study, an analysis procedure is proposed to investigate the effect of multipulse ground motions on structures by integrating finite element analysis and an identification method that features each pulse in the multipulse ground motion satisfying the same evaluation criteria. First, the Arias intensity, wavelet‐based cumulative energy distribution, and response spectra of identified non‐, single‐, and multipulse ground motions are compared. Then, the seismic damage on frame structures, a soil slope, and a concrete dam under non‐, single‐, and multipulse ground motions are analyzed. Results show that the spectral velocity of multipulse ground motions is significantly greater than those of non‐ and single‐pulse ground motions and potentially contains multiple peaks in the long‐period range. Seismic damage evaluation indicates that the maximum interstory drift of frame structures with high fundamental periods under multipulse ground motions is about twice that of nonpulse ground motions. Similar characteristics also exist in the soil slope and the concrete dam. Therefore, multipulse ground motions potentially cause more severe damage to structures compared to non‐ and single‐pulse ground motions. The findings of this study facilitate the recognition of the increased seismic demand imposed by the multipulse ground motion in engineering practices, provide new possibilities for ground motion selection in seismic design validation, and shed new light on seismic hazard and risk analysis in near‐fault regions.</jats:p

Gestational TSH and FT4 Reference Intervals in Chinese Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) change dynamically during pregnancy. Differences in geographic regions, populations, and manufacturer's methodologies can affect the reference intervals for thyroid function tests. The 2017 guidelines of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) recommended 4.0 mU/L as the cut-off point for the upper limit of serum TSH in early pregnancy. A systematic review is called for to establish practical, gestational-specific TSH and FT4 reference intervals for pregnant Chinese women and to explore whether the criteria are suitable for China.Methods: English and Chinese articles published from inception to Aug 2017 were searched in the PubMed, EMBASE, and SCIE English-language databases and the CNKI, WanFang, and CQVIP Chinese databases. The relative descent or ascent rates of serum TSH and FT4 were calculated, after which Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results: Eleven studies (6 in English and 5 in Chinese), five kits and 11,629 Chinese women from nine cities were considered in this meta-analysis. Compared with the reference ranges provided by manufacturers, serum TSH decreased in the first trimester, with the upper limit declining by 21.7% (5.0–36.6%), to a value close to 4.0 mU/L, and the lower limit declining by 85.7% (73.5–97.1%). It continued decreasing in the second trimester, with the upper limit declining by 24.0% (6.4–40.9%) and the lower limit declining by 40.7% (9.0–85.7%). For FT4, the upper limit fluctuated slightly, and the lower limit increased by 6.8% (1.0–14.6%) in the first trimester. Serum FT4 dropped gradually, with the upper limit declining by 21.8% (2.5–31.8%) and the lower limit declining by 12.7% (2.6–19.6%) in the second trimester. During the third trimester, the upper limit decreased by 25.1% (12.7–35.0%), while the lower limit decreased by 20.9% (14.8–27.3%).Conclusions: Various regions, kits and test methods affect the gestational TSH and FT4 levels. The non-pregnant serum TSH upper limit minus 22% is very close to 4.0 mU/L, which can be used as a sub-optimal approach to represent the cut-off value for pregnant Chinese women in the first trimester