Consumer Reliance Research Articles

Low-Power Optimization Design Strategies for CMOS Digital Integrated Circuits

With the rapid development of digital chip technology, the functions have become increasingly powerful, and processing speeds continue to rise. However, this progress comes at a cost, particularly with the significant increase in chip power consumption. The rise in power consumption directly leads to a continuous growth in chip heat generation, which not only affects the performance stability of the chip but also poses a severe challenge to the battery life and user experience of mobile consumer electronics. Especially in todays context, where consumer reliance on mobile devices is deepening, the demand for low power consumption in digital chips is becoming increasingly stringent. If chip power consumption is too high, its performance will be severely compromised, potentially failing to meet practical application needs. Therefore, optimizing the power consumption of digital integrated circuits has become a hot topic in the industry. While various optimization strategies for digital integrated circuits are emerging, there is a lack of a clear and systematic classification. Based on a thorough analysis of existing optimization strategies, this paper innovatively proposes a new classification framework. This classification framework not only facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and applicable scenarios of various optimization techniques but also provides strong theoretical support and practical guidance for future power optimization research. The article will then provide a detailed introduction to this classification method and discuss its application prospects in the field of power optimization for digital integrated circuits.

Content of selected nutrients and potential contaminants in prenatal multivitamins and minerals: an observational study

BackgroundIncreasing consumer reliance on prenatal multivitamins and minerals (PMVMs) underscores the importance of ensuring their quality and safety. Adequate choline and iodine intakes during pregnancy are crucial for fetal development, yet discrepancies between labeled and actual content in PMVM products pose significant health risks. Additionally, the potential presence of toxic heavy metals, such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium, raises concerns about potential adverse health effects. ObjectivesThis study aimed to valuate nonprescription and prescription PMVMs regarding choline and iodine content, as well as arsenic, lead, and cadmium. MethodsThis observational study evaluated a convenience sample of nonprescription and prescription PMVM products from online retailers and local retail pharmacies. Products were analyzed using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for choline and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for iodine, arsenic, lead, and cadmium. Choline and iodine actual amounts were compared with reported label amounts and contaminant amounts were compared with United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards. ResultsIn total, 32 nonprescription and 15 prescription PMVM products were analyzed. Choline amounts were reported on 12 of the 47 (25.6%) products, including 5 (41.7%) within 20% of the claimed amount, 2 (16.7%) over the claimed amount by >20%, and 5 (41.7%) under the claimed amount by >20%. Iodine amounts were reported on 25 of the 47 (53.2%) products, including 4 (16.0%) within 20% of the claimed amount, 20 (80.0%) under the claimed amount by >20%, and 1 (4.0%) over the claimed amount by >20%. Amounts of arsenic, lead, and cadmium above USP purity limits were found in 7 (14.9%), 2 (4.3%) and 13 (27.7%) PMVMs, respectively. ConclusionsCurrent PMVM labels are misleading with the potential to harm pregnant persons and fetuses through omission or inaccurate content of essential nutrients and inclusion of heavy metals. Regulation is needed, and the Food and Drug Administration needs sufficient authority and staffing to oversee these dietary supplements.

How source of product acquisition affects consumers' reliance on positive word-of-mouth: a mental imagery perspective

PurposeThis research focuses on the role of product acquisition cues in positive word-of-mouth (PWOM) content on social media, comparing the characteristics of different sources of product acquisition (purchased vs. gifted) and exploring whether and how they affect consumers' reliance on word-of-mouth (WOM).Design/methodology/approachThe research model was developed based on the mental imagery theory. Two offline experiments and two online experiments were used to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that, compared to the purchased source, the gifted source evokes more positive mental imagery and greater emotional attachment to the product, resulting in greater consumer reliance on PWOM. In addition, the effect of the source of product acquisition on reliance on PWOM was stronger for experiential (vs. material) products and for consumers with higher interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal.Originality/valueThis research highlights the role of product acquisition cues in PWOM in influencing consumers' evaluation of WOM, while also revealing the processes inherent in how consumers process information through mental imagery. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the antecedents of reliance on WOM and offer new insights and recommendations for management practitioners.

Successive intertwining of young consumers’ reliance on social media influencers

Abstract This study investigates young consumers’ reliance on social media influencers (SMIs) in the context of social commerce. With regard to the four streams of influencer endorsement – influencer credibility, influencer attractiveness, match-up, and meaning transfer – we propose that they can either lead to a direct consumer reliance on SMIs’ suggestions for their purchasing decisions, or that attitudes toward SMIs mediate the relationship. By integrating both directions of partial- and no-attitude mediation, the proposed model explores all associations in order to better understand connections and driving forces between endorsement streams, attitudes, and reliance. We introduce the concept of reliance on SMIs, understood here as the degree to which young individuals base their preferences, lifestyles, and purchasing decisions upon SMIs. A research model was validated by examining 809 young individuals. The results reveal that attitude formation is affected by all four endorsement streams, and fully mediates the relationship between these endorsement streams and young people’s reliance on SMIs. The differentiated reliance levels by gender and age confirm that females and teenagers tend to rely more on SMIs. The current study offers the first evidence for a relationship between the four endorsement streams and reliance on SMIs via attitude formation in the context of social media networking, as well as the association of reliance with sociodemographic characteristics.

IPSC Technology: An Innovative Tool for Developing Clean Meat, Livestock, and Frozen Ark.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology is an emerging technique to reprogram somatic cells into iPSCs that have revolutionary benefits in the fields of drug discovery, cellular therapy, and personalized medicine. However, these applications are just the tip of an iceberg. Recently, iPSC technology has been shown to be useful in not only conserving the endangered species, but also the revival of extinct species. With increasing consumer reliance on animal products, combined with an ever-growing population, there is a necessity to develop alternative approaches to conventional farming practices. One such approach involves the development of domestic farm animal iPSCs. This approach provides several benefits in the form of reduced animal death, pasture degradation, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, it is essentially an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional farming. Additionally, this approach ensures decreased zoonotic outbreaks and a constant food supply. Here, we discuss the iPSC technology in the form of a "Frozen Ark", along with its potential impact on spreading awareness of factory farming, foodborne disease, and the ecological footprint of the meat industry.

Identifying Spatial Patterns of Hydrologic Drought over the Southeast US Using Retrospective National Water Model Simulations

Given the sensitivity of natural environments to freshwater availability in the Southeast US, as well as the reliance of many municipal and commercial water consumers on surface water supplies, specific issues related to low river streamflow are apparent. As a result, the need for quantifying the spatial distribution, frequency, and intensity of low flow events (a.k.a., hydrologic drought) is critical to define areas most susceptible to water shortages and subsequent environmental and societal risk. To that end, daily mean discharge values from the National Water Model (NWM) retrospective data (v. 2.0) are used to assess low flow frequency, intensity, and spatial distribution within the Southeast US. Low flow events are defined using the US EPA 7Q10 approach, based on the flow duration curve (FDC) developed using a 1993–2018 period of record. Results reflect the general climatological patterns of the region, with a higher probability of low flow events occurring during the warm season (June–August) while low flow events in the cool season (January–March) are generally less common and have a higher average discharge. Spatial analysis shows substantial regional variability, with an area from southeastern Mississippi through central South Carolina showing higher low flow event frequency during the cool season. This same area is also highlighted in the warm season, albeit along a more expansive area from central Alabama into the piedmont region of North Carolina. Results indicate that the NWM retrospective data are able to show general patterns of hydrologic drought across the Southeast US, although local-scale assessment is limited due to potential issues associated with infiltration and runoff during periods of warm-season convective rainfall.

Patient-Reported Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Internet Users: Cross-sectional Survey.

BackgroundThe rapid diffusion of the internet has decreased consumer reliance on health care providers for health information and facilitated the patients’ ability to be an agent in control of their own health. However, empirical evidence is limited regarding the effects of health-related internet use among older adults, which is complicated by the proliferation of online health and medical sources of questionable scientific accuracy.ObjectiveWe explore the effects of health-related internet use, education, and eHealth literacy on medical encounters and patient-reported outcomes. Patient-reported outcomes are categorized into two dimensions: (1) self-reported health problem and (2) affective distress (feeling worried and anxious) due to information obtained. We were particularly interested in whether education and eHealth literacy moderate the association between perceived strain in medical encounters and patient-reported outcomes.MethodsOur study sample consisted of online panel members who have used the internet as a resource for health information, randomly drawn from one of the largest probability-based online research panels. This paper specifically reports results obtained from older panel members (age≥60 years: n=194). First, we examined descriptive statistics and bivariate associations (Pearson correlations and independent samples t tests). We used hierarchical ordinary least squares regression analyses by running separate regressions for each patient-reported outcome. In model 1, we entered the main effects. In model 2, technology and medical encounter variables were included. Model 3 added the statistical interaction terms.ResultsAge (β=–.17; P=.02), gender (β=–.22; P=.01), and medical satisfaction (β=–.28; P=.01) were significant predictors of self-reported health problems. Affective distress was positively predicted by gender (β=.13; P=.05) and satisfaction with medical encounters (β=.34; P<.001) but negatively predicted by education (β=–.18; P=.03) and eHealth literacy (β=–.32; P=.01). The association between experiencing a health problem in relation to health-related internet use and perception of strained medical encounters was greater among respondents with lower levels of education (β=–.55; P=.04). There was also a significant interaction between education and eHealth literacy in predicting the level of affective distress (β=–.60; P=.05), which indicated that higher levels of education predicted lower averages of feeling anxiety and worry despite lower eHealth literacy. Older women reported higher averages of affective distress (β=.13; P=.05), while older men reported higher averages of experiencing a self-reported health problem (β=–.22; P=.01).ConclusionsThis study provides evidence for the effect of health-related internet use on patient-reported outcomes with implications for medical encounters. The results could be used to guide educational and eHealth literacy interventions for older individuals.

Android malware classification based on random vector functional link and artificial Jellyfish Search optimizer.

Smartphone usage is nearly ubiquitous worldwide, and Android provides the leading open-source operating system, retaining the most significant market share and active user population of all open-source operating systems. Hence, malicious actors target the Android operating system to capitalize on this consumer reliance and vulnerabilities present in the system. Hackers often use confidential user data to exploit users for advertising, extortion, and theft. Notably, most Android malware detection tools depend on conventional machine-learning algorithms; hence, they lose the benefits of metaheuristic optimization. Here, we introduce a novel detection system based on optimizing the random vector functional link (RVFL) using the artificial Jellyfish Search (JS) optimizer following dimensional reduction of Android application features. JS is used to determine the optimal configurations of RVFL to improve classification performance. RVFL+JS minimizes the runtime of the execution of the optimized models with the best performance metrics, based on a dataset consisting of 11,598 multi-class applications and 471 static and dynamic features.

Elevated Allochthony in Stream Food Webs as a Result of Longitudinal Cumulative Effects of Forest Management

The river continuum concept (RCC) predicts a downstream shift in the reliance of aquatic consumers from terrestrial to aquatic carbon sources, but this concept has rarely been assessed with longitudinal studies. Similarly, there are no studies addressing how forestry related disturbances to the structure of headwater food webs manifest (accumulate/dissipate) downstream and/or whether forest management alters natural longitudinal trends predicted by the RCC. Using stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen, we investigated how: 1) autochthony in macroinvertebrates and fish change from small streams to larger downstream sites within a basin with minimal forest management (New Brunswick, Canada); 2) longitudinal trends in autochthony and food web length compare among three basins with different forest management intensity [intensive (harvest and replanting), extensive (harvest only), minimal] to detect potential cumulative/dissipative effects; and 3) forest management intensity and other catchment variables are influencing food web dynamics. We showed that, as predicted, the reliance of some macroinvertebrate taxa (especially collector feeders) on algae increased from small streams to downstream waters in the minimally managed basin, but that autochthony in the smallest shaded stream was higher than expected based on the RCC (as high as 90% for some taxa). However, this longitudinal increase in autochthony was not observed within the extensively managed basin and was weaker within the intensively managed one, suggesting that forest management can alter food web dynamics along the river continuum. The dampening of downstream autochthony indicates that the increased allochthony observed in small streams in response to forest harvesting cumulates downstream through the river continuum.

Verification of Thai ethnobotanical medicine "Kamlang Suea Khrong" driven by multiplex PCR and powerful TLC techniques.

Kamlang Suea Khrong (KSK) crude drug, a traditional Thai medicine used for oral tonic and analgesic purposes, is obtained from three origins: the inner stem bark of Betula alnoides (BA) or the stems of Strychnos axillaris (SA) or Ziziphus attopensis (ZA). According to the previous reports, SA contains strychnine-type alkaloids that probably cause poisoning; however, only organoleptic approaches are insufficient to differentiate SA from the other plant materials. To ensure the botanical origin of KSK crude drug, powerful and reliable tools are desperately needed. Therefore, molecular and chemical identification methods, DNA barcoding and thin-layer chromatography (TLC), were investigated. Reference databases, i.e., the ITS region and phytochemical profile of the authentic plant species, were conducted. In case of molecular analysis, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on species-specific primers was applied. Regarding species-specific primers designation, the suitability of three candidate barcode regions (ITS, ITS1, and ITS2) was evaluated by genetic distance using K2P model. ITS2 presented the highest interspecific variability was verified its discrimination power by tree topology. Accordingly, ITS2 was used to create primers that successfully specified plant species of authentic samples. For chemical analysis, TLC with toluene:ethyl acetate:ammonia (1:9:0.025) and hierarchical clustering were operated to identify the authentic crude drugs. The developed multiplex PCR and TLC methods were then applied to identify five commercial KSK crude drugs (CK1-CK5). Both methods correspondingly indicated that CK1-CK2 and CK3-CK5 were originated from BA and ZA, respectively. Molecular and chemical approaches are convenient and effective identification methods that can be performed for the routine quality-control of the KSK crude drugs for consumer reliance. According to chemical analysis, the results indicated BA, SA, and ZA have distinct chemical profiles, leading to differences in pharmacological activities. Consequently, further scientific investigations are required to ensure the quality and safety of Thai ethnobotanical medicine known as KSK.

Performance Evaluation of a B2C Model Based on Trust Requirements and Factors

This paper evaluates the performance of a newly proposed B2C e-commerce model based on trust factors and requirements in the context of Saudi Arabia. Two categories of trust factors, namely, governmental and nongovernmental types, are identified to create the model for determining the feasibility of an efficient online business strategy in the Kingdom. Data are collected over a duration of 10 weeks based on the designed questionnaire, carefully analyzed, and interpreted. The standpoint of the end user is analyzed to determine the influence of the proposed trust requirements and factors on B2C e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. The reliability of the questionnaires for each requirement with their factors is quantitatively analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha. The questionnaire consists of three parts, namely, demographic component, questions related to the identified requirements, and additional notes as an open question. Questions are designed as per the requirements and the factors of trust models to demonstrate their possible relationship. Furthermore, the questionnaires’ content validity is judged by expert lecturers with relevant specialization before distributing them, which are well organized together with easy understandability. They are randomly distributed among 222 academic and administrative staff (female and male) in addition to university students from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information System in Saudi Arabia. This random selection performed on total 222 responders ensures the statistical accuracy of the sampling. Adaptable government approaches, enactment, rules, insurance of buyer rights, and banking network situation with less web expenses are demonstrated to be significant to e-commerce expansion in the Kingdom. Implementation of the proposed model is believed to augment consumer self-confidence and reliance together with e-commerce growth in Saudi Arabia.

Consumer attitude of 'Y' generation towards mobile advertising in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In the age of information communication technology, there is a penetrating rate of mobile commerce interactivity and consumer reliance on faster and efficient information search for buying decision. This study conceptualises and tests a theoretical framework of consumer attitude towards mobile advertising, which mainly investigates the influence of entertainment, informativeness, irritation, and personalisation towards consumer attitude in engaging mobile advertising with the 'Y' generation in Malaysia. The model proposes that perception of positive or negative in entertainment, informativeness, irritation, and personalisation towards the advertising message received through mobile phone, on how it affects the consumer attitude. The target respondents consist of 298 Malaysian 'Y' generation, and the model was tested with Pearson's correlation, standard multiple regression, and partial correlation. The finding reveals significant relationships between entertainment and informativeness with consumer attitude, but irritation was found not significant for regression. Notably, the personalisation variable reveals as a moderator with entertainment, informativeness, irritation towards consumer attitude. Thus, this study accentuates the importance of entertainment, informativeness, and personalisation towards positive consumer attitude formation with mobile advertising, which can effectively capture Generation Y consumer purchase intention, leading to purchase decision on a particular brand.

Sharing economy: Studying the social and psychological factors and the outcomes of social exchange

Against the backdrop of the growing reliance of consumers on the sharing economy, the literature still has little evidence on the psychological and social factors of use behaviour and outcomes. Given the gaps in the research, this study adopted an overarching approach to comprehensively investigate the role of the factors facilitating social exchange, reciprocity expectation and social value in use behaviour. The effects of the sharing economy on social inclusion and subjective well-being were also tested. The data were collected from 487 users of different sharing economy platforms in the United States. Structural equation modelling was employed to analyse the correlation of the examined variables. The findings indicated that the use of the sharing economy was conditioned by the positive effect of egoistic belief, reciprocity norm, social value, and the negative effect of identification. Also, the study found strong relationships between use behaviour and outcomes, moderated by age, use frequency and use intensity. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are provided.

PENGARUH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TERHADAP NILAI PERUSAHAAN DENGAN PROFITABILITAS SEBAGAI VARIABEL MODERASI (Studi Empirirs Pada Perusahaan Pertambangan yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2014 – 2016)

The value of firm is something that can be seen through several share prices of the firm itself. To increase value of the firm, they should escalate consumer reliance, and conducting social responsibility is one way to increase society reliance to the company so as to increase the value of the firm itself. This study aims to determine the effect of corporate social responsibility to value of the company with profitability as moderating variable.The population used in this study are the mining companies registered in Bursa efek Indonesia period 2014 – 2016. Purposive sampling is method used in this research with the sample as much as 19 mining companies. MRA (Moderated Regression Analisys) is used as data analisys technique with interaction tests. The results of the study show that corporate social responsibility variables do not affect the firm value. Profitability as a moderating variabels cannot moderate correlation between Corporate Social Responsibility with firm value. However, profitability as independent variable has an affect to firm value.

The role of cognitive style, gullibility, and demographics on the use of social media for financial decision making

Consumer use of social media has witnessed significant growth in recent years. Due to its unregulated, user-generated, and poorly censored format, social media use has blurred the line between the fake and the true and can result in mass dissemination of inaccurate and false information, thereby impacting national politics, election outcomes, and social interactions between consumer social clusters. In the unique context of financial decisions, consumer reliance on social media can significantly increase the risk of making poor financial decisions. This study examined the impact of cognitive style, consumer gullibility, and demographics on consumers’ reliance on social media for financial decision making. The results of a US national survey identify consumer characteristics which contribute to increased reliance on social media in financial decision making. The findings point to consumer vulnerabilities associated with psychographic and demographic attributes of consumers. The paper concludes with recommendation-related consumer education and public protection measures.

From vertical to horizontal unbundling: A downstream electricity reliability insurance business model

Distributed energy resource technologies (DERs) allow consumers to generate, trade, reduce, and shift their electricity consumption, largely bypassing traditional utilities. DERs can reduce consumer reliance on the grid, and in the most extreme scenario self-sufficient consumers could disconnect from the grid and avoid all external charges. However, since most DERs delivers energy, but not reliable capacity, it would be in the interests of most of these consumers to stay connected to the networks, in the event their system fails. Such a ‘pay as you go’ price scheme would not reflect the opportunity cost of electricity firms' sudden idle infrastructure though.This paper proposes a market mechanism that can ameliorate these distortions. We flesh out a solution based on the creation of a market of risk, enabled by a reassignment of property rights, where utilities trade reliability insurance services to households to protect them against the failure of their own DER system. Creating such an insurance market would allow customers to reflect their preference for reliability and pay accordingly.

Characteristics of Green Hotels’ Potential Customers: A Case of Vietnamese Domestic Tourists

Characteristics of Green Hotels’ Potential Customers: A Case of Vietnamese Domestic Tourists

Extreme flooding decreases stream consumer autochthony by increasing detrital resource availability

Abstract Extreme disturbances, those high magnitude events that are statistically rare in a particular system, may affect consumer resource use through multiple mechanisms, such as differential consumer mortality and modified resource availability and quality. Documenting the ecological importance of these rare events is difficult, but essential, as the frequency of extreme events is predicted to increase under many climate change scenarios. We quantified changes in stream insect resource use following intense, nonseasonal flooding in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado during September 2013. We hypothesised that taxonomic identity, functional feeding group membership and disturbance‐caused alterations in resource quantity and quality (C:N ratios) would determine consumer reliance on autochthonous and allochthonous resources and community structure following the disturbance. In summer 2014, we collected basal resources and stream insects for carbon, nitrogen and deuterium bulk stable isotope analysis, and community composition. Basal resource quantity and quality (C:N ratios) were collected at seven headwater streams along a 2013 flood intensity gradient. Using stable isotope mixing models, we analysed consumer autochthony. We also used baseline community composition data from 2011 to compare functional feeding group abundance prior to and following the flood events. We found that consumer resource use was primarily associated with detrital resource quantity, which was positively correlated with disturbance intensity and elevation. Functional feeding group membership did not predict resource use. However, consumers in functional feeding groups did experience differential mortality following flooding. Herbivore relative abundance significantly declined along the disturbance gradient, and predator relative abundance generally declined across all streams from 2011 to 2014. Our results suggest that changes in resource quantity from extreme disturbances can be associated with shifts in consumer resource use. Following this flood event, detritus standing stocks increased, resulting in a concomitant increase in consumer reliance on allochthonous sources.

Relationships between fisheries, foodweb structure, and detrital pathway in a large shallow lake

We modeled energy transfer and trophic position of fish, plankton, and macroinvertebrates and the relative importance of top-down versus bottom-up processes in Lake Vortsjarv, a large shallow eutrophic lake in Estonia (northeastern Europe). We employed input values based on 37 years of biomass and fishing activity monitoring for calibrating the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) model. Energy flows from primary producers and detritus, represented by total system throughput, were nearly equal (51 and 49%, respectively). Simulation revealed that top-down and bottom-up forces were at play, metazooplankton was not efficiently grazing phytoplankton production, and a trophic cascade proceeded through macroinvertebrates rather than through zooplankton. Detritivory was responsible for the relatively low trophic position of Vortsjarv fish compared to other lakes. Bottom-up processes were the main drivers for the dual, primary production- and detritus-based pathways in energy flow. Our findings suggest that the predicted biomass increase of cyanobacteria in shallow lakes in the future will strengthen the reliance of consumers on the detrital pathway at the expense of the primary production pathway.

Glacier dynamics influenced carbon flows through lake food webs: evidence from a\xa0chironomid \u03b413C-based reconstruction in the Nepalese Himalayas

Using a sediment core covering the last 3,500 years, we analysed photosynthetic pigments’ concentrations in lake sediments and carbon stable isotopic composition of chironomid (Diptera, Chironomidae) remains (δ13CHC). We aimed to reconstruct temporal changes in aquatic primary productivity and carbon resources sustaining chironomid larvae in a high mountain lake (Lake Pyramid Inferior; 5,067 m a.s.l.) located in the Nepalese Himalayas. Both pigments and δ13CHC trends followed a similar fluctuating pattern over time, and we found significant positive relationships between these proxies, suggesting the strong reliance of benthic consumers on the aquatic primary production. Temporal trends matched well with main known climatic phases in the Eastern part of the Himalayan Mountains. Past glacier dynamics and associated in-lake solute concentrations appeared to be the main driver of autochthonous primary productivity, suggesting then the indirect impact of climate change on carbon processing in the benthic food web. During warm periods, the glacier retreat induced a rise in in-lake solute concentrations leading to an increasing primary productivity. Complementary investigations are still needed to strengthen our understanding about the response of past aquatic carbon cycling in CO2-limiting environments.