Product Representation Research Articles

Impact of Technology-Evoked Mental Imagery on Brand Personality and Brand Association for Beauty Brands among Women in India

The increased dependence of customers on smart technology for convenience has motivated marketers to turn to new-age technologies for the representation of products and promotion of brands. This study analyses the influence of mental imagery generated by augmented reality on brand personality and brand association for skincare/cosmetics products among women in India. The cross-sectional study collected data through the mall intercept method. The significance of this study is the usage of real brands and gathering real experiences towards mental imagery evoked using virtual try-on links. The originality of the brands and the experience of the respondents could create a realistic relationship between the constructs under study and avoid the researcher’s bias. Path analysis was performed to analyse the statistics and the data fit with the proposed model through IBM AMOS 22.0 software. The findings showcase that elaboration dimension of mental imagery has a significant relationship with brand personality and brand association. However, the quality dimension of mental imagery did not have a significant relationship with brand personality and brand association. The findings contribute to the existing literature on branding and information processing and provide significant insights for marketers when adopting augmented reality to create brand-evoked mental imagery among customers.

Multiplicative processing in the modeling of cognitive activities in large neural networks.

Explaining the foundation of cognitive abilities in the processing of information by neural systems has been in the beginnings of biophysics since McCulloch and Pitts pioneered work within the biophysics school of Chicago in the 1940s and the interdisciplinary cybernetists meetings in the 1950s, inseparable from the birth of computing and artificial intelligence. Since then, neural network models have traveled a long path, both in the biophysical and the computational disciplines. The biological, neurocomputational aspect reached its representational maturity with the Distributed Associative Memory models developed in the early 70s. In this framework, the inclusion of signal-signal multiplication within neural network models was presented as a necessity to provide matrix associative memories with adaptive, context-sensitive associations, while greatly enhancing their computational capabilities. In this review, we show that several of the most successful neural network models use a form of multiplication of signals. We present several classical models that included such kind of multiplication and the computational reasons for the inclusion. We then turn to the different proposals about the possible biophysical implementation that underlies these computational capacities. We pinpoint the important ideas put forth by different theoretical models using a tensor product representation and show that these models endow memories with the context-dependent adaptive capabilities necessary to allow for evolutionary adaptation to changing and unpredictable environments. Finally, we show how the powerful abilities of contemporary computationally deep-learning models, inspired in neural networks, also depend on multiplications, and discuss some perspectives in view of the wide panorama unfolded. The computational relevance of multiplications calls for the development of new avenues of research that uncover the mechanisms our nervous system uses to achieve multiplication.

On some geometric results for generalized k-Bessel functions

Abstract The main aim of this article is to present some novel geometric properties for three distinct normalizations of the generalized k k -Bessel functions, such as the radii of uniform convexity and of α \alpha -convexity. In addition, we show that the radii of α \alpha -convexity remain in between the radii of starlikeness and convexity, in the case when α ∈ [ 0 , 1 ] , \alpha \in {[}0,1], and they are decreasing with respect to the parameter α . \alpha . The key tools in the proof of our main results are infinite product representations for normalized k k -Bessel functions and some properties of real zeros of these functions.

Several identities, estimates and special values for the elliptic theta functions

In this short note, we first give several new infinite product representations for the elliptic theta functions. These will then be used to deduce some special values and estimations for these functions on the real line.

Effectiveness, Problems, and Transformation of Geographical Indications in the Context of Rural Revitalization: Evidence from Pengshui in Chongqing

In China, geographical indications (GIs) are seen as certificates or collective trademarks, as well as representations of quality agricultural products, and are important in revitalizing the countryside. Therefore, a combined qualitative and quantitative method was employed to examine the operational practices of GIs at the relatively micro-level of the municipality in order to identify their effectiveness and challenges in rural revitalization and propose more targeted optimization suggestions. Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County, located in the Wuling Mountains in southeastern Chongqing, is an excellent example of the positive impact GIs can have on rural development, boasting the highest number of GI trademarks in the region. Despite the large number of GIs in Pengshui, there are several issues that need to be addressed, including low brand awareness, lack of product enhancement, and poor market competitiveness. To overcome these challenges, there must be a shift from a quantity-based to a quality-based approach to GI trademark declarations. This requires promoting the transformation of traditional agriculture into modern agriculture, investing in rural infrastructure, and improving the efficiency and quality of GI product production. By doing so, individuals in the local community will be able to reap the benefits of GI trademarks, improving their income and standard of living. In view of the fact that administrative divisions and cultural regions overlap, it is important to promote interregional cooperation and encourage declarations of GI trademarks in neighboring counties. This will help to preserve the area’s local cultural heritage and promote its heritage through GIs. By taking a targeted approach to GI trademark declarations and promoting cooperation between regions, Pengshui, and other rural communities can maximize the benefits of GIs and support sustainable rural development.

Neural representations of the content and production of human vocalization

Speech, as the spoken form of language, is fundamental for human communication. The phenomenon of covert inner speech implies functional independence of speech content and motor production. However, it remains unclear how a flexible mapping between speech content and production is achieved on the neural level. To address this, we recorded magnetoencephalography in humans performing a rule-based vocalization task. On each trial, vocalization content (one of two vowels) and production form (overt or covert) were instructed independently. Using multivariate pattern analysis, we found robust neural information about vocalization content and production, mostly originating from speech areas of the left hemisphere. Production signals dynamically transformed upon presentation of the content cue, whereas content signals remained largely stable throughout the trial. In sum, our results show dissociable neural representations of vocalization content and production in the human brain and provide insights into the neural dynamics underlying human vocalization.

Distributed Resource Optimization With Blockchain Security for Immersive Digital Twin in IIoT

Virtual Reality-embedded Digital Twin (VR-DT) service integrates digital twin with virtual reality (VR) to visualize the digital representation of real-world production, boosting the digital transformation of manufacturing industry in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Balanced against the advantages of the VR-DT service, its data-driven, computing-intensive and security-sensitive features bring challenges to the current IIoT. Therefore, we propose a blockchain-based distributed resource allocation (BDRA) scheme to improve the average Quality of Service (QoS) of the VR-DT services with regard to service delay and transaction throughput. We formulate the joint optimization of channel assignment, subframe configuration, computing capacity allocation and block size adjustment as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem. A Fully-Decentralized Multi-Agent Compound-Action Actor-Critic (FDMA-CA2C) algorithm is developed to solve the QoS optimization problem. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed scheme can efficiently improve the average QoS of the VR-DT services in a realizable way as compared to existing schemes.

Thinking ‘with’ China: Material and conceptual challenges

Urban studies have been roiled by a lively debate over the roles of generalization and particularity in advancing theory about cities and urbanization. Also at stake are questions of epistemology, method, inclusion, representation, and power in knowledge production. Teo, Chung, and Wang have proposed a set of methodological propositions aimed at ‘building theory in and through urban China’ as a contribution to the larger ongoing discussion about urban theory and global urban studies. In this commentary, I present a critique of their methodological proposals by highlighting issues originating from within and outside the field of urban Chinese studies.

Fractional quantum Hall states on CP2 space

We study four-dimensional fractional quantum Hall states on CP2 geometry from microscopic approaches. While in 2d the standard Laughlin wave function, given by a power of Vandermonde determinant, admits a product representation in terms of the Jastrow factor, this is no longer true in higher dimensions. In 4d we can define two different types of Laughlin wavefunctions, the Determinant-Laughlin (Det-Laughlin) and Jastrow-Laughlin (Jas-Laughlin) states. We find that they are exactly annihilated by, respectively, two-particle and three-particle short ranged interacting Hamiltonians. We then mainly focus on the ground state, low energy excitations and the quasi-hole degeneracy of Det-Laughlin state. The quasi-hole degeneracy exhibits an anomalous counting, indicating the existence of multiple forms of quasi-hole wavefunctions. We argue that these are captured by the mathematical framework of the commutative algebra of N-points in the plane. We also generalize the pseudopotential formalism to dimensions higher than two, by considering coherent state wavefunction of bound states. The microscopic wavefunctions and Hamiltonians studied in this work pave the way for systematic study of high dimensional topological phase of matter that is potentially realizable in cold atom and optical experiments.

Combining computer aided food engineering and electro-heating applications as contribution to food processing sustainability

Can the combination of computer aided food engineering and electro-heating applications contribute to food processing sustainability? To what United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) this combination could contribute? Those are the questions addressed in this perspective. SDG7 is aimed to ensure the access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable and modern energy for all. According to World Bank, ensuring access to modern food cooking solutions is a key component to achieving for SDG7, and -since cooking is mainly based on heating processing- also the access to modern food heating solutions must be considered as a key component to achieving for SDG7. Electro-heating applications (EHA) in food processing include all processes using the interaction of a food material or product with an electromagnetic field, as in microwave, radio-frequency, and moderate electric fields processing. These technologies involve the use of electrical and -more recently- electronic circuits and require professional figures in their design. As result, the installation cost of these technologies is way higher than installation cost for heating processes using fossil sources, as fuel for fire boilers, as an example. Furthermore, at industrial level, these technologies may require ad-hoc design. Consequently, the food processing industry is quite slow in embracing such technologies along the productive lines. Computer aided food engineering (CAFE) has been recognized as valuable approach to shifts the paradigm from trial-and-error-based design to model-based design, using digital tools for the virtual representation of a food product or process, predicting the behavior of it. The combination of CAFE and EHA is the only way to help the food industry to embrace sustainability in most operations in which the heat transfer is involved. This paper presents a viewpoint on the challenges and opportunity to combine CAFE and EHAs as contribution to food processing sustainability.

Product representation via networks methodology for exposing project risks

Product representation via networks methodology for exposing project risks

Cosmopolitan imaginary: The reception of Turkish TV series among young audiences in urban, rural, and diasporic settings (Istanbul, Emirdağ, and Brussels)

This study explores the reception of selected melodramas and their cosmopolitan imaginary, based on a large-scale qualitative study consisting of 79 in-depth interviews with young Turkish audiences across three locations: the metropolis Istanbul, the rural town of Emirdağ, and Brussels which has a large Turkish diasporic community. In the past two decades, melodramas representing the upper-class, elite, westernized lifestyles taking place in luxury residences in Istanbul's urban landscape occupy a central space in the Turkish series as an example of cosmopolitan imaginary in their representation and mode of production. The study reveals that the cosmopolitan imaginary of these TV series leads participants to negotiate Turkish modernity, westernized secular, upper-class lifestyles, Turkish values, religion, and identity issues in these settings and destabilizes a uniform and fixed understanding of their identity and imagined community.

Representation of hypergeometric products of higher nesting depths in difference rings

A non-trivial symbolic machinery is presented that can rephrase algorithmically a finite set of nested hypergeometric products in appropriately designed difference rings. As a consequence, one obtains an alternative representation in terms of one single product defined over a root of unity and nested hypergeometric products which are algebraically independent among each other. In particular, one can solve the zero-recognition problem: the input expression of nested hypergeometric products evaluates to zero if and only if the output expression is the zero expression. Combined with available symbolic summation algorithms in the setting of difference rings, one obtains a general machinery that can represent (and simplify) nested sums defined over nested products.

On representations of direct products and the bounded generation property of branch groups

We prove that the minimal representation dimension of a direct product G of non-abelian groups G_1,ldots ,G_n is bounded below by n+1 and thereby answer a question of Abért. If each G_i is moreover non-solvable, then this lower bound can be improved to be 2n. By combining this with results of Pyber, Segal, and Shusterman on the structure of boundedly generated groups, we show that branch groups cannot be boundedly generated.

MEP-3M: A large-scale multi-modal E-commerce product dataset

The product categories are vital for the E-commerce platforms due to the core applications on automatic product category assignment, personalized product recommendations, etc. In this paper, we construct a large-scale Multi-modal E-commerce Products classification dataset MEP-3M, which is large-scale, hierarchical-categorized, multi-modal, fine-grained, and long-tailed. Statistically, MEP-3M consists of over 3 million products, thus achieves the largest data scale in comparison to the existing E-commerce product datasets. The products in MEP-3M are represented in three modalities: image, textual description, and OCR text, and labeled with tree-like labels. The third level labels are extremely fine-grained. In addition, we exploit four novel practical tasks on this dataset, Product classification, Hierarchical Product Classification, Fine-grained Product Classification, and Product Representation Learning. For each task, we present some image-only, text-only, and multi-modal baseline performances for further researches. The MEP-3M dataset will be released at https://github.com/ChenDelong1999/MEP-3M.

“Leave the Kids Alone”:

In this paper we engage in a critical exploration of the strategic use of weaponised and glorified media representations of children and (re)production in anti-gender and pro-family movements. We argue that this strategy aims to portray the heteronormative family as the “natural” aim, the normal (normative) condition of living, and the only acceptable social engagement in society. We analyse these semantic representations through three theoretical lenses: anti-social queer theory, children’s rights theory, and intersectional feminism. These inform and share the critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 2013) of media documentation of two recent events in Italy: the pro-family conference “The Wind of Change: Europe and the Global Pro-Family Movement”, which took place in Verona in March 2019; and the reactionary far-right and ultra-Catholic campaigns in response to the updated guidelines for the application of the Abortion Law 194, in regard to the administration of the abortion pill (RU486) in August 2020. We review three recurrent concepts in the rhetoric of the anti-gender and pro-family movements discussed in the analysed media articles: the Child; reproductive futurism; and the glorification of hetero-normative modes of socialisation, discussed here as “positive sociality”. In exploring the ideological discourses presented in relation to these concepts, we adopt Bersani’s (1995) critique of heteronormative practices as a starting point. Findings highlight the modality in which anti-gender and pro-family movements utilise these three ideological concepts as weapons to define non-normative sociality as a threat to the traditional (and reproductive) family as well as the (white) nation.

Factorial multiparameter Hecke von Neumann algebras and representations of groups acting on right-angled buildings

We obtain a complete characterisation of factorial multiparameter Hecke von Neumann algebras associated with right-angled Coxeter groups. Considering their ℓp-convolution algebra analogues, we exhibit an interesting parameter dependence, contrasting phenomena observed earlier for group Banach algebras. Translated to Iwahori-Hecke von Neumann algebras, these results allow us to draw conclusions on spherical representation theory of groups acting on right-angled buildings, which are in strong contrast to behaviour of spherical representations in the affine case. We also investigate certain graph product representations of right-angled Coxeter groups and note that our von Neumann algebraic structure results show that these are finite factor representations. Further classifying a suitable family of them up to unitary equivalence allows us to reveal high-dimensional Euclidean subspaces of the space of extremal characters of right-angled Coxeter groups.

Factors Influencing Customer Grocery Shopping Behaviour Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Purpose: The paper attempts to understand and analyze the factors that influence different types of end consumer’s behavior while shopping for groceries both online and offline, considering the Covid-19 pandemic situations. Design/ Method/ Approach: A sample size of 145 members of age varying from 18 to 60 were surveyed through a digital form of a questionnaire. Few factors which generally impact the customer’s shopping behavior were categorized into six different factors: Purchase, Personal, Behavioral, Operational, Customer Engagement, and Pandemic factors. The respondents were asked to rank the elements according to their preferences. Findings: Factors like Quality of the Product, Hygiene practices followed by the delivery person, representation of products on website/application, Accessibility and Availability of the products were given priority amid pandemic, over other factors which influence customers shopping behavior. We have also found that FMCG advertisements that promise hygiene and safety during product delivery convinced the respondents, convinced the respondents. Practical Implications: The study gives an understanding of the factors influencing the retail customers amid the pandemic. This study can develop marketing strategies to target the middle-class and age group of 18-45.Originality/ Value: Factors influencing the customer’s decision to buy groceries online amid the Covid-19 pandemic induced consumer shopping behavior and preferences. Furthermore, the results show how the respondents were affected by the Hygiene promotions made by FMCG companies during the lockdown.

Global judgments of caloric information in younger and older adults

ABSTRACT Viewing sets of food products is common in consumer environments. Previous research on visual perception suggests the phenomena of global judgements (or summary statistical representation), which means that people often extract summary statistical information of multiple objects (e.g., average size, hue) at a glance. Consumers may form summary statistical representations of food products. Despite the growing number of studies on the cognitive processing of food products, global judgements of caloric information and how differences in age influence the global judgements remain unexplored. Here, we aimed to reveal global judgements of caloric perception in younger and older adults. Across two studies, participants (adults in Study 1 and younger and older adults in Study 2) viewed food image sets (single, two, four, or six images) and estimated the average caloric counts. The results revealed that the participants could accurately estimate the average caloric counts to some extent at two set sizes. Moreover, the participants were less able to extract global judgements of caloric information at four and six set sizes. Overall, our findings reveal limited cognitive processing for assessing average caloric content, and age differences modulate the estimation accuracy.

Exploiting Kronecker structure in exponential integrators: Fast approximation of the action of [formula omitted]-functions of matrices via quadrature

In this article, we propose an algorithm for approximating the action of φ−functions of matrices against vectors, which is a key operation in exponential time integrators. In particular, we consider matrices with Kronecker sum structure, which arise from problems admitting a tensor product representation. The method is based on quadrature approximations of the integral form of the φ−functions combined with a scaling and modified squaring method. Owing to the Kronecker sum representation, only actions of 1D matrix exponentials are needed at each quadrature node and assembly of the full matrix can be avoided. Additionally, we derive a priori bounds for the quadrature error, which show that, as expected by classical theory, the rate of convergence of our method is supergeometric. Guided by our analysis, we construct a fast and robust method for estimating the optimal scaling factor and number of quadrature nodes that minimizes the total cost for a prescribed error tolerance. We investigate the performance of our algorithm by solving several linear and semilinear time-dependent problems in 2D and 3D. The results show that our method is accurate and orders of magnitude faster than the current state-of-the-art.