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While monetary rewards have been widely used by online platforms to motivate user-generated content (UGC) contributions, users may not always demonstrate the expected behaviors. Unintended consequences of reward policies, exemplified by unchanged or reduced UGC contributions, may occur. Through two natural experiments, this study investigates the implications of providing users with an incentive structure that rewards users' continued contribution according to the volume of UGC. Using a unique data set on two completion-contingent incentive programs from a popular online aesthetic medicine platform, we examine user responses to reward thresholds. We found that after users reach a threshold to obtain a monetary reward, they are less likely to continue contributing UGC, suggesting a minimal-effort effect. Our findings indicate that social approval from peers helps to mitigate unintended user responses to monetary reward policies. We also observed that monetary rewards primarily improve the quality and website traffic of low- to moderate-quality contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Switches play a critical role as core components in data center networks. The advent of multi-die chiplet packaging as a prevailing trend in complex chip development presents challenges in designing the multi-die packaging of switch chips. With limited inter-die connections in mind, we propose a scalable, unified switch architecture optimized for efficient connectivity. This architecture includes the strategic mapping of data queues, meticulous planning of data paths, and the integration of a unified interface, all aiming to facilitate efficient switch operations within constrained connectivity environments. Our optimization efforts encompass various areas, including refining arbitration strategies, managing mixed unicast and multicast transmissions, and mitigating network congestion to alleviate bottlenecks in data flow. These enhancements contribute to heightened levels of performance and robustness in the switching process. During the validation phase, the structure we propose reduced interconnection usage between dies by 25%, while supporting functions such as unicast and multicast transmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As semiconductor technology evolves, computing platforms attempt to integrate hundreds of processing cores and associated interconnects into a single chip. Network-on-chip (NoC) technology has been widely used for data exchange centers in recent years. As the core element of the NoC, the round-robin arbiter provides fair and fast arbitration, which is essential to ensure the high performance of each module on the chip. In this paper, we propose a low-latency fair switch arbiter (FSA) architecture based on the tree structure search algorithm. The FSA uses a feedback-based parallel priority update mechanism to complete the arbitration within the leaf nodes and a lock-based round-robin search algorithm to guarantee global fairness. To reduce latency, the FSA keeps the lock structure only at the leaf node so that the complexity of the critical path does not increase. Meanwhile, the FSA achieves a critical path with only O (l o g 4 N) delay by using four input nodes in parallel. The latency of the proposed circuit is on average 22.2% better than the existing fair structures and 8.1% better than the fastest arbiter, according to the synthesis results. The proposed architecture is well suited for high-speed network-on-chip switches and has better scalability for switches with large numbers of ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing fierce competition from rivals, sellers in online marketplaces are eager to improve their sales by delivering items faster and more reliably. Because logistics quality can be known only after a transaction, sellers must identify effective ways to communicate logistics information to consumers. Drawing on the accessibility‐diagnosticity framework, we theorize that the sales impacts of logistics information depend on its relative diagnostic value. Using data on 1493 items with 505,785 consumer reviews from an online marketplace, we examine how sales are affected by three information sources for logistics services: online word of mouth (WOM) about logistics, self‐reported logistics services, and expected delivery time. We use an instrumental variable method to address the endogeneity issue between sales and WOM. We find that, ceteris paribus, consumers give more weight to WOM about logistics and delivery time when they make purchase decisions but less weight to self‐reported logistics service. The effects of logistics information on sales are asymmetric for large and small sellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that healthcare quality such as mortality rate exhibits U-shaped curves for congestion. These studies usually focus on how the congestion rate affects the overall hospitals' mortality rate. Our study investigates the impact of congestion on two subcategories: surgical and non-surgical inpatients, using the records of 27,575 patients from a public hospital in China. We confirm that the overall mortality rate exhibits a U-shaped curve. We further show that the mortality rate of surgical patients first decreases and then almost stays unchanged as congestion level increases, while the curve for the mortality rate of non-surgical patients remains U-shaped. The initial decrease partly results from the combination of decreasing mortality and increasing peak occupancy with time. The increase is in accordance with the overwork, but the condition requirement and high standard protocols of care may cause the mortality of surgical patients to be less affected by congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine pricing strategies in the U.S. online book industry over two time periods, with an aim to understand whether and how the driving factors of price dispersion change over time. Our empirical results show that dispersion in prices has remained substantial over the period of 2001-2006, but the driving factors of these variations in price have evolved. In 2001 online book retailers generally engaged in obfuscation, frustrating consumer search by manipulating shipping options. As documented by prior literature and revealed in our 2001 data, higher prices charged by retailers were positively related with longer shipping time. This strategy has been abandoned, as shown by our results of a 2006 sample. Online retailers are now competing to ship items quicker than rivals and to pass fewer or no shipping costs on to consumers. The impact of trust assurance seals (e.g., seals of online security and privacy) on price has materialized over the period of 2001-2006. This is because as more consumers become security conscious, the effects of assurance seals on the price becomes better recognized. Moreover, although retailers are roughly clustered into three cohorts, they strategize prices across different product items within each cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inconspicuous consumption – whereby brand signals are subtle, or not easily visible, to most consumers and the overt display of social status is sidestepped – is on the rise, even in China, which has typically favoured conspicuous brand signalling. Research on luxury brands tends to focus on conspicuous consumption, and few studies have explored the ways in which Chinese consumers use Chinese luxury brands in inconspicuous ways. This study examines how Chinese luxury consumers are redefining their identity projects, as well as their conceptions of luxury, in relation to inconspicuous consumption. We suggest that inconspicuous consumption encompasses consuming luxury products without overtly displaying wealth and social status. Thus, certain luxury brands enable inconspicuous consumption. Turning to a group of Chinese luxury brands offers insights into how luxury brands may fill this role for newly emerging forms of inconspicuous consumption. We distinguish four forms of inconspicuous consumption, illustrated by consumers (1) with wished-for identities or fantasy lifestyles, (2) who appreciate aesthetics and function, (3) who are wealthy and prefer not to provoke envy and/or anger in times of economic austerity and (4) who desire to differentiate themselves and employ subtle signals that are only observable to people with the requisite knowledge to decode their meaning. These forms of inconspicuous consumption facilitate the construction and display of one’s reflective identities, including privately fantasized identity, privately held identity and partially public reflective identities. Thus, we contribute to identity construction theory by explicating aspects of reflective identity and linking them to forms of inconspicuous consumption. Finally, we expand upon recent research on inconspicuous consumption by demonstrating how inconspicuous consumption is manifested in China – the largest luxury market. The results help redefine constructs in the paradoxical situation of inconspicuous consumption of luxury brands, adding a layer of complexity to the inconspicuous consumption concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multilayer microcircuit on a diamond surface has been developed for high-pressure resistivity measurement in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Using a film deposition technique, a layer of Mo film was deposited on a diamond anvil as a conductor, topped with a layer of alumina film for insulation. A microelectric circuit was fabricated with a photolithographic shaping method after film encapsulation. With precise control and measurements of all the dimensions of the sample for resistance measurement, including the width of the metallic film and the diameter and thickness of the gasket hole, resistivity of a sample can be accurately determined. This microcircuit can be flexibly fabricated and easily cleaned. It also provides a promising prospect to measure resistivity under in situ high pressure and high temperature. We measured the resistivity of ZnS using this method, and proved the pressure induced phase transition at 13.9–17.9 GPa to be a semiconductor to semiconductor transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]