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Measurement of users' perception and visual behaviors to anthropomorphic design cues of chatbots can improve our understanding of chatbots and potentially optimize chatbot design. However, as two typical and basic features, how chatbot appearances and conversational styles jointly affect users' perception and visual behaviors remains unclear. Therefore, this study conducted an eye-tracking experiment to explore users' perception and visual behaviors. Results indicate that anthropomorphic appearances and human-like conversational styles jointly increased users' perception of chatbots' social presence, trust in chatbots, and satisfaction with chatbots. In contrast, on users' visual behaviors, such a joint effect was not found, although chatbots with higher anthropomorphic appearances and human-like conversational styles triggered more fixation counts and longer dwell time. These findings suggest that anthropomorphic appearance and human-like conversational style can improve users' perception and attract more visual attention to chatbots. These findings provide theoretical contributions and practical implications for relevant researchers and designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effects of different perceptual and cognitive information processing stages on mental workload by assessing multimodal indicators of mental workload such as the NASA-TLX, task performance, ERPs and eye movements. Repeated measures ANOVA of the data showed that among ERP indicators, P1, N1 and N2 amplitudes were sensitive to perceptual load (P-load), P3 amplitude was sensitive to P-load only in the prefrontal region during high cognitive load (C-load) states, and P3 amplitude in the occipital and parietal regions was sensitive to C-load. Among the eye movement indicators, blink frequency was sensitive to P-load in all C-load states, but to C-load in only low P-load states; pupil diameter and blink duration were sensitive to both P-load and C-load. Based on the above indicators, the k-nearest neighbours (KNN) algorithm was used to propose a classification method for the four different mental workload states with an accuracy of 97.89%. Practitioner summary: Based on the results of this study, it is possible to implement the monitoring of mental workload states and optimise brain task allocation in operations involving high mental workload, such as human-computer interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users' affective preference for voices has become a topic of great interest with the prevalence of humanoid robots. Nevertheless, the affective preference formation for humanoid voices remains unknown, and its evaluation lacks objective methods. Consequently, we conducted an EEG experiment to unravel the underlying neural dynamics and evaluate users' affective preference for humanoid robot voices. Significantly larger P2, P3, and LPP amplitudes, enhanced theta, and decreased alpha oscillations were observed when users affectively preferred humanoid robot voices. The results suggest that the neural dynamics underlying users' affective preference for humanoid robot voices might primarily consist of early detection of affective information in voices, further processing of affective information, and later evaluative categorization of affective preference. Moreover, the neural indicators could distinguish users' affective preferences for humanoid robot voices. The study contributes to understanding the auditory affective preference formation for humanoid robot voices and providing a neurological evaluation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-form videos are popular worldwide as a thriving form of entertainment. Its fragmentation pattern, which presents users with intensive and engaging information, might lead to addiction and adverse effects. This study aims to investigate the effect of addiction to short-form videos on users' attention, including attention while watching videos and the ability of attentional concentration after watching time. Users addicted or non-addicted to short-form videos were screened to participate in a short-form video watching task and a Stroop task based on eye-tracking technology. The results showed that addicted users reported less interest, centration, and more distractions and exhibited more fixation counts and shorter average fixation duration during watching short-form videos than non-addicted users. In the Stroop task, addicted users achieved longer response time and less accuracy and showed longer average fixation duration, more fixation counts, and saccades between the targets and the distractors than non-addicted users. The results suggest that addicted users might suffer more difficulties maintaining attention, have more attention deficits while watching short-form videos, and have impaired attentional concentration for processing interference. The findings contribute to understanding the effect of addiction to short-form videos and provide helpful insight into using it healthily and preventing addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appearance and voice are essential factors impacting users' affective preferences for humanoid robots. However, little is known about how the appearance and voice of humanoid robots jointly influence users' affective preferences and visual attention. We conducted a mixed-design eye-tracking experiment to examine the multisensory integration effect of humanoid robot appearances and voices on users' affective preferences and visual attention. The results showed that the combinations of affectively preferred voices and appearances attracted more affective preferences and shorter average fixation durations. The combinations of non-preferred voices and preferred appearances captured less affective preferences and longer fixation durations. The results suggest that congruent combinations of affectively preferred voices and appearances might motivate a facilitation effect on users' affective preference and the depth of visual attention through audiovisual complements. Incongruent combinations of non-preferred voices and preferred appearances might stimulate an attenuation effect and result in less affective preferences and a deeper retrieval of visual information. Besides, the head attracted the most amount of visual attention regardless of voice conditions. This paper contributes to deepening the understanding of the multisensory integration effect on users' affective preferences and visual attention and providing practical implications for designing humanoid robots satisfying users' affective preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To verify the impact mechanism between infrastructure capital investment and regional economic growth in China, this study first estimates production capital stocks of the infrastructure by Perpetual Inventory Method (PIM) based on a balanced panel dataset for 31 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities covering 1993–2017, then analyses the important mediating role of regional innovation capacity in the relationship between infrastructure capital investment and regional economic growth in China. The empirical results indicate that infrastructure capital investment can effectively promote economic growth in China. Furthermore, through analysing the mediating impact mechanism, the infrastructure capital investment can indirectly affect regional economic growth through the regional innovation capacity. When fully considering the potential heterogeneity, the mediating effect of developed regions is more significant than that of underdeveloped regions, and such a mediating effect is increasing with deepening industrialization. Therefore, a harmonious relationship between infrastructure capital investment and economic growth can be achieved if policymakers attempt to arouse the positive mediating role of regional innovation capacity when formulating relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that the wage gap (W.G.) between the public sector (P.U.S.) and private sectors (P.R.S.) has widened is a point of contention among scholars, but to date, there has been no systematic discussion of changes in the W.G. and their causes in China. This article combines data from China's Urban Household Survey (U.H.S.) for 2004, 2008 and 2013 to examine changes in between-sector W.G.s and identify the causal factors by wage decomposition methods. Using ordinary least squares and a Heckman sample selection model, this study finds that public-sector workers consistently earn more than private-sector workers and that the W.G. is expanding, especially in upstream industries where state-owned enterprises (S.O.E.s) have monopoly status. In addition, the Oaxaca–Blinder (O.B.) decomposition method is adopted to reveal that the characteristic effect is the main cause of the W.G. Further, the regression and decomposition of the recentered influence function show that the effect of characteristics and coefficient effects differ across wage quantiles. This article indicates that the intersectoral W.G. in China is widening mainly as a result of differences in labour endowments and provides evidence to support government decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract NaCl is the main curing agent in dry-cured meat products, and a large amount of NaCl addition leads to high salt content of final products. Salt content and composition are important factors affecting the activity of endogenous proteases, which in turn could affect proteolysis as well as the quality of dry-cured meat products. With the increasing emphasis on the relationship between diet and health, reducing sodium content without sacrificing quality and safety of products is a great challenge for dry-cured meat industry. In this review, the change of endogenous proteases activity during processing, the potential relationship between sodium reduction strategy, endogenous proteases activity, and quality were summarized and discussed. The results showed that sodium replacement strategy and mediated-curing had a complementary advantage in influencing endogenous proteases activity. In addition, mediated-curing had the potential to salvage the negative effects of sodium substitution by affecting endogenous proteases. Based on the results, a sodium reduction strategy that sodium replacement in conjunction with mediated-curing based on endogenous proteases was proposed for the future perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comprehensive and systematic review of the product placement literature in order to map the thematic development of product placement research, help researchers understand the current research status, and suggest directions for future research. A pool of 874 publications related to product placement in mass media was retrieved from the Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar databases. Bibliometric and network analyses were used to identify the leading journals, scholars, and publications to capture information about emerging issues and to map the development of product placement research. Three major clusters of product placement research were identified: (1) basic concepts, fundamental research frameworks, and empirical studies on product placement in movies and television programs; (2) empirical studies on product placement in games, especially focusing on children and food product placements; and (3) empirical studies on the effects and underlying mechanisms of product placement disclosures. This article concludes by suggesting a future research agenda for product placement research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though humanoid robots are being applied to diverse areas, the formation of users' preference for the appearance of humanoid robots remains unknown. The present study investigated users' neural dynamics underlying preference formation to evaluate users' preference for the appearance of humanoid robots. EEG signals were recorded in a preference categorisation task, and neural dynamics were analysed via event-related potentials and time–frequency analysis. The results showed that in the early stage, the preferred humanoid robot appearances elicited enhanced parieto-occipital N1, frontal P2, and early central and parieto-occipital theta rhythm power than the non-preferred appearances. In the later stage, the preferred humanoid robot appearances elicited enhanced scalp-distributed LPP and later central and parieto-occipital theta power than the non-preferred appearances. The results suggested that the formation of users' preference for the appearance of humanoid robots has a distinctive dual-stage of neural dynamics. The study provides designers with an objective method in evaluating users' preference for the appearance of humanoid robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the Fisher–Rao geometry of the two-parameter family of Pareto distribution. We prove that its geometrical structure is isometric to the Poincaré upper half-plane model, and then study the corresponding geometrical features by presenting explicit expressions for connection, curvature and geodesics. It is then applied to Bayesian inference by considering the Jeffreys prior determined by the volume form. In addition, the posterior distribution from the prior is computed, providing a systematic method to the Bayesian inference for Pareto distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus lugdunensis involves formation of an extracellular matrix; however, the identity of the constituents responsible for the structure of biofilms fabricated by different clinical strains is largely unclear. Here, biofilms produced by 24 clinical isolates of S. lugdunensis were characterized. The optimal medium for S. lugdunensis was selected, and the biofilm-forming capacity was assessed. Extracelullar polymeric substances (EPS) contributing to biofilm robustness were determined by evaluating the susceptibility of biofilms to EPS-degrading agents using field emission scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Biofilm formation by the clinical isolates of S. lugdunensis was augmented by glucose supplementation. Further, extracellular DNA (eDNA), proteins, and polysaccharides were present in the 24 clinical isolates. Proteins and polysaccharides were the most common components within the S. lugdunensis biofilms, whereas the eDNA content was marginal in biofilm formation. Therefore, proteins and polysaccharides within biofilms may be used as the primary targets for developing eradication strategies to prevent S. lugdunensis biofilm formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of humanoid robots' emotional behaviors has attracted many scholars' attention. However, users' emotional responses to humanoid robots' emotional behaviors which differ from robots' traditional behaviors remain well understood. This study aims to investigate the effect of a humanoid robot's emotional behaviors on users' emotional responses using subjective reporting, pupillometry, and electroencephalography. Five categories of the humanoid robot's emotional behaviors expressing joy, fear, neutral, sadness, or anger were designed, selected, and presented to users. Results show that users have a significant positive emotional response to the humanoid robot's joy behavior and a significant negative emotional response to the humanoid robot's sadness behavior, indicated by the metrics of reported valence and arousal, pupil diameter, frontal middle relative theta power, and frontal alpha asymmetry score. The results suggest that humanoid robot's emotional behaviors can evocate users' significant emotional response. The evocation might relate to the recognition of these emotional behaviors. In addition, the study provides a multimodal physiological method of evaluating users' emotional responses to the humanoid robot's emotional behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the mechanism of mesoscale eddies observed in the South China Sea (SCS) deep basin, which are characterized by high-frequency occurrence, long life, and regular distribution patterns. Geophysical fluid dynamics predicts that for an enclosed ocean basin, there exist the Rossby normal modes if considering the Earth rotation effect. We use a rectangular ocean basin with a uniform depth to simulate the SCS deep basin and obtain 2D (x - y) sea level distribution patterns of the Rossby normal modes, consisting of alternating cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, as well as their dynamic parameters. The periods of the modes are evidenced by the Fourier period power density spectra of satellite altimeter sea level anomaly (SLA) data from 1993 to 2015. The 2D normal mode patterns are evidenced by SLA images. The phase speeds are evidenced by that derived from the westward movement of the wave/eddy patterns on SLA time-series images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate how facial features, including facial ratio, eye shape, and mouth presence, influence users’ perceptions of social robots in terms of anthropomorphism, trustworthiness, and overall impressions. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye-tracking technologies, we conducted a 2 (face ratio) × 2 (eye shape) × 2 (with or without mouth) full factorial experiment designed within-subject. EEG signals and pupil diameters were recorded while participants viewed images of robots with different facial design features. The results showed that the shape of robot’s eyes significantly influenced users’ perceptions, with round eyes being associated with higher ratings of anthropomorphism, trustworthiness, and overall positivity. Robots with lower facial width-to-height ratios (fWHR) induced smaller average pupil diameters in users than those with high fWHR. Additionally, robots with lower fWHR were perceived as more anthropomorphic, trustworthy and users produced higher theta rhythm when the eye shape was round but did not when it was rectangular. The presence of a mouth led to higher ratings of anthropomorphism rather than trustworthiness and other measures. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of facial features in shaping users’ perceptions of social robots and provide practical implications for designing social robots with anthropomorphic facial features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of black and reddish morphs of the coral troutPlectropomus leopardus. High-throughput sequencing generated a total of 958,614 sequence reads covering 164.80 Mb of two mitogenomes with a coverage of 4800X. Thirty-seven mitochondrial genes and gene order ofP. leoparduswas quite similar to that of other teleostean fishes. Most genes were either abutted or overlapped, and all the protein-coding genes began with an ATG start codon except for COX1 and ATP6. The number of stop codon was different for the black and reddishP. leopardus. Comparisons between the mitochondrial sequences of the two morphs revealed a total of 74 variable sites and one indel. Nucleotide diversity across protein-coding gene varied from 0.0006 (16s rRNA) to 0.0070 (Cytochrome b). As expected, the highest level of nucleotide diversity (0.0291) was detected in the control region. Our results demonstrate the NGS technology based on Ion torrent platform can be used to assemble the mitogenome of fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of binary surfactant systems on the morphology and structural properties of mesoporous silica has been investigated based on the analyses of X-ray diffraction, N2sorption/desorption, and transmission electron microscopy. Results indicate that MCM-41 was successfully prepared by substituting silica fume for tetraethylorthosilicate in different surfactant systems, and confirming that PEG-6000 is an effective template in binary surfactant system for synthesis of mesoporous silica. The formation of the high-quality MCM-41 was based on the balance between the ordered assembly of anionic inorganic species and cationic surfactant or PEG-6000 through electrostatic interaction and the hydrogen bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitochondrial genome of skipjack tuna,Katsuwonus pelamis, was obtained by using HiSeq next-generation sequencing technique. The circular mitogenome is 16,515 bp in length, with the gene number and arrangement being similar to those observed in other teleost fish. Overall base composition is A 28.49%, T 24.58%, C 30.27% and G 16.66%, respectively. Among 13 protein-coding genes, seven of which share the complete stop codon TAA while others terminate with TA or T, all these genes use ATG as start codon except forCOI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We firstly reported the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the polychaeteTylorrhynchus heterochaetus. Illumina next-generation sequencing generated a total of 19,796 reads with an average depth of 122.91×. The mitogenome is 16,106 bp in length including the typical structure of 13 protein coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a putative control region. However,T. heterochaetusdiffers from other Nereididae species in the positions of four genes (tRNA-Met, tRNA-Asp, ATP8, tRNA-Tyr). All 37 genes are encoded on the heavy strand whose nucleotide composition is 32.20 % A, 13.67% C, 21.33% G and 32.80% T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously morphological studies supported the division of the bullet tuna into the two subspecies,Auxis rochei rocheiandA. rochei eudorax. As a cosmopolitan species,A. rochei rocheiranges in the Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic oceans, whileA. rochei eudoraxinhabits in eastern Pacific region. Here, we used the HiSeq next-generation sequencing technique to determine the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) ofA. rocheifrom Indo-West Pacific collection,and then compared our data with mitogenomic sequences of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific retrieved from NCBI database. Results showed the mitogenome ofA. rocheifrom three geographic collections shared the same genes and gene order, similar to typical teleosts. Also, we examined a low level of nucleotide diversity among these mitogenomic sequences. Interestingly, nucleotide diversity of intra-subspecies (Atlantic versus Indo-West) was higher than that of inter-subspecies (Atlantic versus eastern Pacific, Indo-West versus eastern Pacific). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study determined the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the polychaete,Goniada japonica, which was first reported in the family of Goniadidae. A total of 7162 reads were generated by Illumina HiSeq2500 platform (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA) with an average depth of 58.41×. The mitogenome ofG. japonicawas 15,327 bp in size and consists of 37 typical genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes) and a putative control region. All the 37 genes were encoded on the heavy strand whose nucleotide compositions were 35.08% of A, 33.69% of T, 11.66% of G, and 19.57% of C, showing a lower content of G + C (31.23%). The gene order of 15 major coding genes was identical to that of the Nereididae species. Phylogenetic analysis showed thatG. japonicahas a closer relationship withTylorrhynchus heterochaetusof Nereididae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study represents the first report on the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the kawakawa tunaEuthynnus affinis. Illumina next-generation sequencing generated a total of 38,428 reads with an average sequencing depth of 232.83×. The mitogenome ofE. affiniswas 16,513 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a 849 bp control region, as found in other typical teleosts. With the exception of ND6 and eight tRNA genes, all other mitochondrial genes were encoded on the heavy strand, whose nucleotide composition is 28.11% A, 24.77% T, 17.16% G and 29.96% C. All the protein-coding genes shared the start codon ATG except for COXI gene (start with GTG), and appeared to be terminated with four types of stop codons including two complete codons (TAA and TAG) and two incomplete codons (T and TA). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently, the next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has become a powerful tool for sequencing the teleost mitochondrial genome (mitogenome). Here, we used this technology to determine the mitogenome of the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). A total of 41,378 reads were generated by Illumina platform with an average depth of 250×. The mitogenome (16,528 bp in length) contained 37 mitochondrial genes with the similar gene order to other typical teleosts. These mitochondrial genes were encoded on the heavy strand except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes. The result of phylogenetic analysis supported two distinct clades dividing the genusThunnus, but the tuna species of these two genetic clades were different from that of two recognized subgenus based on anatomical characters and geographical distribution. Our results might help to understand the structure, function, and evolutionary history of the yellowfin tuna mitogenome and also provide valuable new insights for phylogenetic affinity of tuna species. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]