Live chat tools have emerged as a channel for fostering synchronous communication between sellers and buyers. However, a positive link between live chat and conversion does not suggest causation ...because customers with high purchase intention are more likely to initiate live chat in the first place. Our research accounts for such selection and studies the impact of live chat with the presence of information cues: product sales volumes and seller feedback scores. Using granular data from Alibaba, we find that live chat can increase purchase probability of tablets by 15.99%. Further, the substitutional or complementary patterns between live chat and the information cues allow us to understand how live chat tools change the ways consumers evaluate product quality and seller credibility. We observe a substitutional effect of live chat on seller feedback score such that sellers with low feedback scores benefit more from live chat conversations than sellers with high scores. On the contrary, products with a high past sales volume sell better after live chat, indicating a reinforcement effect. Such findings deepen our understanding of the difference between various information cues in electronic markets and delineate the specific type of benefit live chat brings if put into best use by sellers and online marketplace designers.
Live chat tools have emerged as a channel for fostering synchronous communication between sellers and buyers. The role of live chat in the e-commerce environment, however, is largely underexplored. Using granular data from Alibaba, we examine the effect of live chat on consumers’ purchase decisions. After controlling for the selection process that customers with high purchase intention are more likely to initiate live chat in the first place, we find that live chat can increase purchase probability of tablets by 15.99%. We also investigate how the effect of live chat is moderated by existing information cues: product sales volume and seller feedback score. The substitutional or complementary patterns allow us to understand how live chat tools change the ways consumers evaluate product quality and seller credibility. We observe a substitutional effect of live chat on seller feedback score such that sellers with low feedback score benefit more from live chat conversations than sellers with high score. On the contrary, products with high past sales volume sell better after live chat, indicating a reinforcement effect. Such findings deepen our understanding of the difference between various information cues in electronic markets. As one of the first systematic studies to investigate live chat, our paper contributes to web trust conceptual frameworks with empirical analyses and sheds light on practical decisions faced by e-vendors and platform designers.
Social broadcasting sites have grown from an information diffusion channel to a public medium that facilitates public conversations of charitable social movements. Two mechanisms foster user ...participation in charitable social movements: content creation and content sharing. Users can create original content to express their attitude of giving and promote their most valued nonprofit organizations, enriching the depth of the conversation. They can also share others’ content to expedite the diffusion of high-quality content, expanding the breadth of the discussion. This paper investigates the impact of reciprocal and nonreciprocal followees (i.e., a followee is an account to which other users subscribe) on followers’ decisions to create and share content. Analyzing the charitable movement of Giving Tuesday on Twitter, we find that original charitable content creation is prompted by reciprocal followees’ participation but not nonreciprocal followees’ participation in this movement. We also find that charitable content sharing is evoked by both reciprocal and nonreciprocal followees, with nonreciprocal followees having a greater impact. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Scalable and controllable fabrication of Ni3S2-embedded NiFe LDH porous nanosheets grown on Ni foam in a facile method for OER catalysis.•The Ni3S2-embedded NiFe LDH porous nanosheet ...integrates merits including abundant interfaces, rapid mass transfer, bubble release and modulated electronic structure.•NiOOH resulting from the in situ partial Ni3S2 phase transformation over an equally important electrically conductive Ni3S2 to drive proficient catalysis.•This OER catalyst only requires an overpotential of 303 mV to deliver 1 A cm-2 toward OER.
Ni3S2-embedded NiFe LDH heterostructured porous nanosheets were in situ grown on nickel foam (Ni3S2-NiFe LDHs /NF) via a one-pot solution method mediated by NaHS at room temperature in 15 min. Benefiting from the abundant Ni3S2-NiFe LDH interfaces, the as-prepared catalyst delivers 50, 500 and 1000 mA cm−2 with an overpotential of only 230, 285 and 303 mV for oxygen evolution reaction, respectively, registering as one of the best performing non-precious metal OER catalysts. In situ and ex situ analysis reveal that the Ni3S2 was in situ partially transformed under an electrooxidation environment into NiOOH over an equally important electrically conductive Ni3S2 to drive proficient catalysis. This strategy can be extended to fabricate Ru-Ni3S2-NiFe LDHs/NF electrocatalyst for high active hydrogen evolution reaction. Coupling these two catalysts achieved remarkable current densities of 10, 100 and 500 mA cm−2 at low voltages of 1.47, 1.71 and 1.85 V upon driving overall water splitting, respectively, superior to the performance of current industrial catalysts (200–400 mA cm−2 at 1.8–2.40 V).
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This research examines the economic impact of membership-based free-shipping (MFS) programs when introduced as an augmentation to widely accepted contingent free-shipping (CFS) policies. Under CFS, ...consumers waive the shipping surcharge if the order exceeds a certain threshold, whereas under MFS, consumers pay an upfront fee and enjoy the free-shipping perk throughout the membership period. We develop a stylized model that considers consumer heterogeneity in two dimensions: (1)
disutility from acquiring an auxiliary product—
a product that consumers would not otherwise purchase—to qualify for CFS; and (2)
shopping frequency
over a given period. Our analysis suggests that the introduction of MFS allows the e-tailer to segment the market further, which could lead to a higher product price. When the disutility from acquiring an auxiliary product is moderate, the e-tailer should charge a high membership fee to target only frequent shoppers who forgo CFS. However, the e-tailer should lower the fee to lure also (1) frequent shoppers who would otherwise take CFS, when the disutility is high; or (2) infrequent shoppers who would otherwise forgo CFS, when the disutility is low. In all cases, although the collected fee revenue can never compensate for the cost arising from offering the free-shipping perk, the loss can be recouped as a desirable outcome of a more segmented market. Our research generates insights into the optimal design of e-tailers’ shipping policies, shedding light on the practical challenges that confront e-tailers.
We conducted three studies to examine how two types of user-generated feedback, appreciation and attention, affect users' decisions to make voluntary knowledge contributions to electronic networks of ...practice (ENPs). Appreciation is reflected in positive ratings, votes, and helpfulness evaluations. Attention is reflected in the number of views of contributed content. The first study used clickstream data from a college application ENP in China, where information seekers can read posted information asynchronously and request synchronous consultations with volunteers. The second study was a controlled online experiment in the United States where we assessed users' willingness to answer questions in a college application ENP asynchronously. The third study examined knowledge contribution across a diverse set of topics using a well-established ENP that serves more than 100 countries. In all three studies, the results consistently show that greater appreciation increased continued knowledge contribution, but greater attention without sufficient appreciation negatively affected contributions. Our findings show the theoretically intertwined nature of attention and appreciation and offer insights for the design and management of ENP feedback systems to encourage user contributions.
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BFBNIB, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Biochar (BC) are widely used as highly efficient adsorbents to alleviate aromatics-based contaminants due to their ease of preparation, wide availability, and high sustainability. The surface ...properties of BCs usually vary greatly due to their complex chemical constituents and different preparation processes and are reflected in the values of parameters such as the specific surface area (SSA), pore volume/size, and surface functional groups (SFGs). The effects of SSA and pore volume/size on the adsorption of aromatics have been widely reported. However, the corresponding mechanisms of BC SFGs towards aromatics adsorption remains unclear as the compositions of the SFGs are usually complex and hard to determine. To address in this gap in the literature, this review introduces a new perspective on the adsorption mechanisms of aromatics. Through collecting previously-reported results, the parameters logP (logarithm of the Kow), polar surface area, and the positive/negative charges were carefully calculated using ChemDraw 3D, which allowed the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity properties, electron donor-acceptor interactions, H-bonding, and electrostatic interactions between SFGs and aromatics-based contaminates to be inferred intuitively. These predictions were consistent with the reported results and showed that tailor-made BCs can be designed according to the molecular weights, chemical structures, and polarities of the target aromatics. Overall, this review provides new insight into predicting the physicochemical properties of BCs through revealing the relationship between SFGs and adsorbates, which may provide useful guidance for the preparing of highly-efficient, functional BCs for the adsorption of aromatics.
The underlying mechanisms of the interactions between aromatics and surface adsorption sites are summarized, which suggests that the hydrophobic effect, H-bonding, and EDA interactions, as well as coulombic forces, correspond to the surface functional groups and pore size or volume. Display omitted
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Chaihu Shugan San (CSS) is a well‐known traditional herbal formula that has the potential to ameliorate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, its mechanism of action remains unknown. Here, we ...identified the key targets of CSS against HCC and developed a prognostic model to predict the survival of patients with HCC. The effect of CSS plus sorafenib on HCC cell proliferation was evaluated using the MTT assay. LASSO‐Cox regression was used to establish a three‐gene signature model targeting CSS. Correlations between immune cells, immune checkpoints and risk score were determined to evaluate the immune‐related effects of CSS. The interactions between the components and targets were validated using molecular docking and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) assays. CSS and sorafenib synergistically inhibited HCC cell proliferation. Ten core compounds and 224 targets were identified using a drug compound–target network. The prognostic model of the three CSS targets (AKT1, MAPK3 and CASP3) showed predictive ability. Risk scores positively correlated with cancer‐promoting immune cells and high expression of immune checkpoint proteins. Molecular docking and SPR analyses confirmed the strong binding affinities of the active components and the target genes. Western blot analysis confirmed the synergistic effect of CSS and sorafenib in inhibiting the expression of these three targets. In conclusion, CSS may regulate the activity of immune‐related factors in the tumour microenvironment, reverse immune escape, enhance immune responses through AKT1, MAPK3, and CASP3, and synergistically alleviate HCC. The co‐administration of sorafenib with CSS has a strong clinical outlook against HCC.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Along with the technology evolution for dense integration of high-power, high-frequency devices in electronics, the accompanying interfacial heat transfer problem leads to urgent demands for advanced ...thermal interface materials (TIMs) with both high through-plane thermal conductivity and good compressibility. Most metals have satisfactory thermal conductivity but relatively high compressive modulus, and soft silicones are typically thermal insulators (0.3 W m–1 K–1). Currently, it is a great challenge to develop a soft material with the thermal conductivity up to metal level for TIM application. This study solves this problem by constructing a graphene-based microstructure composed of mainly vertical graphene and a thin cap of horizontal graphene layers on both the top and bottom sides through a mechanical machining process to manipulate the stacked architecture of conventional graphene paper. The resultant graphene monolith has an ultrahigh through-plane thermal conductivity of 143 W m–1 K–1, exceeding that of many metals, and a low compressive modulus of 0.87 MPa, comparable to that of silicones. In the actual TIM performance measurement, the system cooling efficiency with our graphene monolith as TIM is 3 times as high as that of the state-of-the-art commercial TIM, demonstrating the superior ability to solve the interfacial heat transfer issues in electronic systems.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The urban spatial structure in this study refers to the combination of different categories of land use, and the purpose of the study is to reveal the intrinsic correlation characteristics between ...urban land use structural combination forms and urban functions. Through the integration of land and population maps and other multi-source data, with the help of exploratory spatial data analysis and other models, this research deals with the land use spatial structure characteristics of Changchun city and its coordination relationship with urban functions. Main conclusions of the study are as follows. The overall density of the land use in the central urban area of Changchun shows patterns of the core being higher than the periphery, the large-scale agglomeration being significant and the small-scale relatively scattered, and the pattern of the mixed land use function index has obvious differentiation characteristics. The study shows that, in the context of the spatial pattern, the overall coupling coordination degree of the land use structure index and the urban function index shows a trend of a gradual decrease, from the core to the periphery. In the context of category differences, the coupling coordination of the land use structure with the population distribution and the Baidu thermal distribution is relatively high, and the coupling coordination with various service facilities is relatively low. Finally, in the context of scale differences, all types of coupling coordination degrees have significant sensitivity to the spatial scales. A large scale significantly reflects the overall decrease in the coupling coordination degrees from the core to the periphery, while a small scale shows the polycentric pattern characteristics of the urban spatial structure.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK