What\u27s Yours is Mine: Trust in Collaborative Consumption

Consumers are expanding the types of goods they are exchanging in consumer-to-consumer e-commerce. There appears to be a subset called collaborative consumption. Collaborative consumption is a dynamic concept given that an individual must develop mechanisms to trust others with transporting, sharing, and consuming goods/services. This study develops a trust model for collaborative consumption with three expected influences -- natural propensity to trust (NPT), others’ trust of buyer/seller (OTBS), and objective trust (perceived website quality (PWSQ) and third party recognition (TPR)) -- on an individual’s trust in collaborative consumption. Regression analysis is utilized to assess the proposed model. The study finds support for NPT and partial support for OTBS influencing trust in collaborative consumption, but not for PWSQ and TPR. This is contrary to findings of consumer-to-consumer e-commerce trust studies. A discussion is provided regarding these differences

Consumer-to-Consumer Ecommerce: Acceptance and Intended Behavior

Consumer-to-consumer ecommerce is used by individuals who come together to buy and sell products. With the widespread use of this commerce environment comes the need to explore potential influences on its acceptance or one’s intention to use it. Using the technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior, and ecommerce success theory, a research model is proposed. After collecting 94 survey responses, the model is examined using regression analysis. The findings indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, and satisfaction influence one’s acceptance of or intention to use consumer-to-consumer ecommerce. A discussion of the study findings is provided

The role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on software development work activities

Software development group effectiveness depends on many factors, and understanding those factors is vital to project success, especially when considering the time and money that is dedicated to said projects.  Therefore, this study examines the role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation work completed within an organization’s software development group.  Analysis of time tracking data within one financial services organization over a three years period demonstrates that worker tenure and employment heterogeneity do play an important role in shaping work activities.  Worker tenure exhibited a negative relationship with exploration and exploitation activities, suggesting a critical mechanism through which an organization can elicit innovative and incremental development efforts.  Further, the positive effect of employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation suggests that employment diversity can also provide a means to encourage innovative and incremental development activities.  Findings highlight the notion that group composition plays a meaningful role in shaping the focus of software development work within an organization

Physiology, pathogenicity and immunogenicity of lon and/or cpxR deleted mutants of Salmonella Gallinarum as vaccine candidates for fowl typhoid

To construct a novel live vaccine candidate for fowl typhoid (FT) caused by Salmonella Gallinarum (SG), the lon and cpxR genes that are related to host-pathogen interaction were deleted from a wild type SG using the allelic exchange method. The mutants were grown normally, as was the wild type. The biochemical properties of the mutants remained very similar to those of the wild-type, while JOL914 (Δlon) and JOL916 (ΔlonΔcpxR) were mucoid. Extracellular polysaccharide increased 30.6-, 1.3-, and 46.2-fold in JOL914, JOL915 (ΔcpxR), and JOL916, respectively. Dot-blot analysis demonstrated significant increases of FimA expression at 6.77-, 2.33-, and 3.90-fold for JOL914, JOL915, and JOL916, respectively. Internalizations of JOL914, JOL915, and JOL916, in chicken abdominal macrophages, were increased at 4.65-, 0.50-, and 2.72-fold, respectively. Virulences of JOL914, JOL915 and JOL916, analyzed by LD50 using 1-week-old chickens, were attenuated approximately at 101-, 101-, and > 103-fold, respectively. The oral inoculations of 2 × 107 cfu of the wild type, JOL914, JOL915 and JOL916 caused 55.6, 16.7, 22.2, and 0.0% mortality, respectively. Significantly moderate gross lesions of the liver and spleen were observed in the JOL916 group compared to the other groups. An induced immune response and significant peripheral mononuclear proliferation reaction were observed in the JOL916 group. At the protection against the wild type challenge, JOL916 offered 100% protection. Thus, the results of this study suggest that JOL916 among the mutants studied represented the safest and most effective live vaccine candidate against FT

The Role of Worker Tenure and Employment Heterogeneity on Software Development Work Activities

Software development group effectiveness depends on many factors, and understanding those factors is vital to project success, especially when considering the time and money that is dedicated to said projects. Therefore, this study examines the role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation work completed within an organization’s software development group. Analysis of time tracking data within one financial services organization over a three years period demonstrates that worker tenure and employment heterogeneity do play an important role in shaping work activities. Worker tenure exhibited a negative relationship with exploration and exploitation activities, suggesting a critical mechanism through which an organization can elicit innovative and incremental development efforts. Further, the positive effect of employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation suggests that employment diversity can also provide a means to encourage innovative and incremental development activities. Findings highlight the notion that group composition plays a meaningful role in shaping the focus of software development work within an organization