Olympia Colizoli, Tessa M van Leeuwen, Danaja Rutar
et al.
Task-evoked pupil dilation is notably linked to unexpected events. Building on Zénon’s (2019) information-theory framework, we investigated whether the pupil’s response to feedback on decision outcomes during associative learning reflects a prediction error signal. Operationally, we defined prediction errors as an interaction between stimulus-pair frequency and accuracy. We then tested if these signals correlated with information gain, formally defined as the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence between posterior and prior belief distributions of an ideal observer. We reasoned that information gain should be proportional to the precision-weighted prediction error signals potentially arising from neuromodulatory arousal networks. We analyzed two data sets in which participants performed perceptual decision-making tasks while pupil dilation was recorded. Our findings consistently showed that a significant proportion of variability in the post-feedback pupil response was explained by information gain shortly after feedback presentation. For the first time, we present evidence that whether the pupil dilates or constricts along with information gain was context dependent. This study offers empirical evidence that the pupil’s response provides valuable insights into the process of model updating during learning, highlighting its utility as a physiological indicator of internal belief states.
Understanding and classifying query intents can improve retrieval effectiveness by helping align search results with the motivations behind user queries. However, existing intent taxonomies are typically derived from system log data and capture mostly isolated information needs, while the broader task context often remains unaddressed. This limitation becomes increasingly relevant as interactions with Large Language Models (LLMs) expand user expectations from simple query answering toward comprehensive task support, for example, with purchasing decisions or in travel planning. At the same time, current LLMs still struggle to fully interpret complex and multifaceted tasks. To address this gap, we argue for a stronger task-based perspective on query intent. Drawing on a grounded-theory-based interview study with airport information clerks, we present a taxonomy of task-based information request intents that bridges the gap between traditional query-focused approaches and the emerging demands of AI-driven task-oriented search.
Identification of property in Imami jurisprudence and, accordingly, in Iranian law, is conditional on having exchange value, legitimacy, possession and transferability. Unusual digital tokens that have created a huge transformation in the field of intellectual property rights and virtual objects are known from the perspective of common property; However, the mere customary identification of its property is not the reason for the validity of the property from a jurisprudential and legal point of view, and other conditions for property identification must be met. This research, with a descriptive and analytical method and using library and internet tools, deals with the feasibility of applying the taxation conditions in Iranian law and Imami jurisprudence to Non-Fungible Token. related to property, such as whether it is movable or immovable, the ability to seize it, etc. in relation to this issue in future research. The results of the research indicate the conformity of the four criteria for identification of ownership obtained from the summation of the opinions of Imamiyyah jurists and the custom of economists on digital tokens. Therefore, such tokens in virtual space have financial conditions and will be classified as assets, and civil and commercial legal effects will follow them.1. Introduction
The world has entered a new era since the beginning of the 1980s. Understanding what it is and why it is and understanding the necessary planning to cope with it requires the use of new concepts and theories. Virtual space, as a product of new information and communication technology, has a decisive role in this. This real space, which is an extension of human society in the context of information and communication technology, is an infinite space that organizes all kinds of interactions through information and communication in a digital context. In this space, regardless of the limitation caused by physical geography, extensive communication between persons with each other, persons with objects and objects with each other is provided through computers and in a digital process.
One of the latest phenomena of organizing economic and non-economic interactions in the virtual space is called blockchain, which has created a huge evolution in terms of security, speed and transparency of data. Blockchain technology has brought many derivatives to humanity, one of the most prominent of which is Non-Federal Digital Tokens (NFT). These tokens have various applications in the field of economy, trade, culture, politics and other social and interactive affairs of humans with each other, humans with objects and objects with each other. Although today, art, business, and music are at the forefront of using this tool, and the buying and selling of things such as works of art, digital books, and in fact anything that can be converted into this type of token has become common.
The basic question regarding these tokens is that according to these economic functions, from the perspective of Imami jurisprudence and according to Iranian law, do these tokens have the conditions to be recognized as property so that it can be assumed that they can be owned and have legal effects on them? or that if buying and selling takes place, it is only for the common practice and basically these tokens do not have juridical value. The purpose of this research is to investigate the conformity of property identification criteria in Imamiyyah jurisprudence and Iranian law on non-homologous digital tokens.
Considering that previous researches have generally dealt with finance in the cyber space or paid attention to cryptocurrencies in general, the present research has this innovation that it specifically deals with the finance of non-traditional digital tokens, which until the time of writing this article, in Persian sources, there is no research in this field. The context is not visible.
2. Methodology
The method used for this research is descriptive-analytical. In this article, two categories of sources are used: the first category includes authentic books of Imami jurisprudence, laws related to property rights in Iran's legal system, and authentic articles that serve as a reference for obtaining the nature of property and the criteria required for token comparison. Non-homosexual digital tokens are considered in Imamiya and Iranian jurisprudence, and the second category includes valid educational courses, international authoritative articles and sites that are used to obtain the required information related to non-homosexual digital tokens.
Non-Fungible Token in Iran, like in other countries, is a new phenomenon and does not have a diverse and extensive research history. in other words, this article is the first research in Iran's legal system that comments on the property of these virtual objects.
It should be noted that some limited research related to the rights of Non-Fungible Token in Iran has been done in the form of a thesis in the field of intellectual and intellectual property rights, such as the role of Non-Fungible Token in supporting intellectual property rights at the University of Tehran.
3. Results and Discussion
In order to identify any issue in terms of whether it is tax or not, it is necessary to determine the classification of the issue, because each classification of property requires its own criteria for taxation. In Iranian law, property is divided into the same category as tangible property and benefits. A benefit that is included in the category of property can be manifested in two forms, object or service. As a result, in general, regardless of whether the subject of property is object or benefit, property can be considered in this division according to its different nature, object or service. Any non-physical activity that is transferred from its provider to the applicant is called a service, the characteristics of services include intangibility, non-storability, uniqueness, customer participation in services, and inseparability. In contrast to services, Non-Fungible Token have the ability to be stored in digital wallets, they are also independent of their creator after production and are portable in the virtual space through transfer on the blockchain platform, as a result, digital tokens are not considered services in this division and they should be put it in the category of tangible property.
The basis for examining the wealth criteria of tangible property can be pure Imamiyyah jurisprudence or special economic custom, which includes the opinions of economists. In Imamiyyah jurisprudence, there are three views on the property of the subjects, according to the first point of view, the mere presence of some kind of halal benefit is sufficient to consider the subject as property, but the criticism that can be made to this opinion is that there are some subjects that in the perspective of Iranian law And custom has value, but their benefit is not a generic; Like the photo of the father of the family, which has no benefit in generic standard, while it is very important for his family, and each member of the family may pay a lot of money to the owner to get this photo. The second view considers having a legitimate interest to be enough to be property, but this opinion is also incomplete; Because it is true that the condition of having a legitimate interest is comprehensive; But after examining more opinions, we will realize that the mere benefit and legitimacy does not make the title of property on an issue true. The third and final view in Imamiyyah jurisprudence also considers rational benefit as the criterion for property, which, like the previous views, faces the problem of being incomplete; Because there are many examples in Iran that may have a small rational benefit; However, from the perspective of Imami jurisprudence, they should not be considered property; Like pork, which is not worth eating due to impurity in Iranian law. The opinions of economists are also incomplete just like Imamiyyah jurisprudence and cannot provide comprehensive criteria and obstacles to identify tangible property. The first opinion is the theory of value and utility, which was presented by some thinkers in the 19th century. According to this theory, like the third opinion of the Imami jurists, any subject that has a rational benefit is considered property, while the mere possession of a rational benefit is not considered property and it is not under the ownership of individuals, for example, consider air, it is true that it has the rational benefit of life for humans, but it cannot be considered as property and considered as the property of limited individuals. The second opinion in the specific economic custom is the theory of value resulting from the cost of production and labor, which was presented by Adam Smith, so everything that is created based on human labor has value, but this opinion is also incomplete. Some examples of property, such as horses, are without value. The fact that a person does something on them, they are considered independently from the perspective of custom and property law.
In general, according to the fact that each of the examined opinions is incomplete, the criteria of tangible property should be found in the examination of the relationship between people and property, with a little thought in this connection, four criteria of having an exchange value that causes demand, having juridical and legal legitimacy, ability to possess and transferability can be declared as the criteria of tangible property and concluded that the criteria of tangible property in Iranian law is a combination of Imamiyyah jurists and the special custom of economists. on the same basis, Iranian law has established rules in paragraph 3 of article 190 and articles 215, 240, 348, 422, 637, 754, 773 that imply compliance with these criteria for tangible property. in the end, to check the value of digital tokens, it is necessary to verify the existence of the mentioned criteria in this type of virtual object. Non-fungible tokens due to multiple and unique applications such as creating wealth through selling works of art and playing games and creating virtual property security through providing intellectual and intellectual property rights qualify for the first criterion, i.e. having an exchange value that creates demand. In relation to the second criterion, in Imami jurisprudence as the basis of Iranian law, there are principles that can be used to leave it in case of doubt, in relation to non-fungible tokens due to the lack of a source that indicates sanctity or non-sanctity. There is a doubt in legal and jurisprudential legitimacy that by using the principle of falsity and the principle of authenticity, it is possible to judge the legitimacy of non-fungible tokens, so non-sexual digital tokens have juridical and legal legitimacy as well. Captivability is also subject to the ability to be available and assigned, which non-fungible tokens are also eligible for this criterion because they have the ability to be stored in digital wallets. In order to verify transferability as the fourth criterion, it should be noted that one of the reasons that a person reproduces and offers a work in the form of non-fungible tokens is because it is possible to maintain the intellectual property rights related to his work by selling these works and earn income, the premise of making money in this way is the transfer of non-fungible tokens to the buyer of the work, which in practice is done through the payment of the blockchain network fee and transfer to the person's wallet, as a result, digital tokens are also transferable.
4. Conclusions and Future Research
Finally, according to the comparisons made and the arguments expressed, it can be claimed that according to Imami jurisprudence and Iranian law, these tokens are considered property and are included in the property category. Considering the definition of property for non-fungible tokens can be the introduction of new and important research that is suggested by the author of the following topics:
The issue of the legitimacy of non-fungible tokens has been examined in this article only using practical principles to solve the initial confusion and it is suggested that experts in Islamic sciences deal with this aspect in a more specialized manner.
By discovering the value of these tokens, as mentioned in the conclusion, new legal issues are created that can be investigated in this direction. The topics that can be suggested for research are:
1- matching transactions based on non-representative digital assets with certain contracts,
2- the nature of creating non-representative digital assets is a contract or an event.
3- Since the value of these tokens was determined in this research, it is suggested that the legislator, by introducing a new law or amending the previous laws, consider the laws related to the value of digital tokens as illegal and establish special rules related to it.
4. The identification of these tokens as property is the reason for the authenticity of the transactions whose subject is non-ideal digital tokens (if there are other conditions for the authenticity of the transactions). Create transactions of these tokens.
Regulation of industry, trade, and commerce. Occupational law, Islamic law
[Purpose/Significance] This study focuses on the participation behavior of users prone to depression who participate in user-generated content (UGC) platforms, aiming to explore their behavioral heterogeneity and the underlying influencing mechanisms. The research aims to expand the theoretical scope of studies on user behavior while providing UGC platforms with practical guidance on building differentiated user care models and refining operational strategies. By utilizing authentic user-generated content as the data foundation, this study addresses the representational limitations commonly associated with traditional small-sample approaches, such as surveys and interviews. It introduces a data-driven perspective and methodological innovation to the field of information behavior research. Furthermore, this study enhances the understanding of varying psychological and behavioral needs among different types of depression-prone users. The findings can assist platforms in optimizing user experience, improving emotional support systems within online communities, and informing the development of more targeted and responsive intervention strategies. [Method/Process] First, web scraping techniques were used to collect a large volume of depression-related posts from the Xiaohongshu platform as the primary data source. Second, representative keywords were extracted through Word2Vec and K-means clustering algorithms. A keyword co-occurrence network was then constructed using the Leiden clustering algorithm to identify semantic relationships. By integrating user attribute information, the study achieved a fine-grained classification of heterogeneous depression-prone user groups. Third, drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM), and leveraging BERTopic for advanced topic modeling, the study constructed a comprehensive factor model to examine the mechanisms influencing user participation behavior in depth. [Results/Conclusions] The research identifies three distinct types of depression-prone users: adolescent depression expression, help-seeking expression, and emotional breakdown expression. Results indicate that posting and commenting behaviors across these groups are primarily driven by emotional needs and environmental factors. Emotional needs are the dominant motivator for active participation, while environmental influences significantly contribute to triggering interaction, especially within comment sections. Additionally, adolescent depression expression and emotional breakdown expression show stronger tendencies toward self-related needs, reflecting deeper emotional and identity concerns. In contrast, help-seeking expression exhibit more evident competence-related needs, focusing on practical advice and problem-solving. Although competence and technical factors account for a smaller proportion, they still play a meaningful supporting role in shaping the structure and substance of user participation behavior on UGC platforms.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources, Agriculture
This paper studies the average consensus tracking problem of first-order multi-agent systems under directed topologies. A control protocol is constructed based on the neighbors’ agent sampled information. With the help of the matrix theory and frequency domain analysis, the necessary and sufficient condition can be induced for the average consensus tracking of multi-agent systems, although the weight-balanced condition is not satisfied. In addition, a numerical simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.
Haotian Xin,1,2 Beining Yang,1,2 Yulong Jia,1,2 Qunya Qi,1,2 Yu Wang,1,2 Ling Wang,1,2 Xin Chen,1,2 Fang Li,3 Jie Lu,1,2 Nan Chen1,2 1Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, People’s Republic of China; 2Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing, 100053, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Nan Chen, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, No. 45 Chang-Chun St, Xicheng District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13910784187, Email chenzen8057@sina.comAbstract: Neuropathic pain (NP) is a common and persistent disease that leads to immense suffering and serious social burden. Incomplete understanding of the underlying neural basis makes it difficult to achieve significant breakthroughs in the treatment of NP. We aimed to review the functional and structural brain topological properties in patients with NP and consider how graph measures reveal potential mechanisms and are applied to clinical practice. Related studies were searched in PubMed and Web of Science databases. Topological property changes in patients with NP, including small-worldness, functional separation, integration, and centrality metrics, were reviewed. The findings suggest that NP was characterized by retained but declined small-worldness, indicating an insidious imbalance between network integration and segregation. The global-level measures revealed decreased global and local efficiency in the NP, implying decreased information transfer efficiency for both long- and short-range connections. Altered nodal centrality measures involve various brain regions, mostly those associated with pain, cognition, and emotion. Graph theory is a powerful tool for identifying topological properties of patients with NP. These specific brain changes in patients with NP are very helpful in revealing the potential mechanisms of NP, developing new treatment strategies, and evaluating the efficacy and prognosis of NP.Keywords: neuropathic pain, graph theory, brain network, magnetic resonance imaging
Gladys Martha Flores-Choque, Beker Maraza-Vilcanqui, Nain Maraza-Vilcanqui
et al.
This paper aims to determine the influence of incorporating Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in solving mathematical problems in students of the Primary Educational Institution N° 70656 Ricardo Palma Puno, Peru. To collect the information, a pre-test and a post-test were applied in the variable "resolution of mathematical problems" to an experimental group that received classes with the help of the use of ICT. The test was applied to a control group of the same age that followed the traditional method of learning mathematics. Teachers were asked to evaluate children using a linguistic scale because it is simpler and more reliable. These values are associated with a triple of fuzzy numbers, to which t-tests are applied to compare the results of the pre-test with the post-test, and also between the experimental group and the control group. The triple represents the truthfulness, indeterminacy, and falseness. For processing, the theory of statistical methods for fuzzy data was generalized to the neutrosophic framework. The results show that the incorporation of ICT in the experimental group has significantly influenced the learning of mathematical problem-solving in the case of the skills of subtracting and dividing. In general, it can be stated that the incorporation of ICT in the resolution of mathematical problems of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in primary education has positive effects.
In today's data-driven world, the proliferation of publicly available information raises security concerns due to the information leakage (IL) problem. IL involves unintentionally exposing sensitive information to unauthorized parties via observable system information. Conventional statistical approaches rely on estimating mutual information (MI) between observable and secret information for detecting ILs, face challenges of the curse of dimensionality, convergence, computational complexity, and MI misestimation. Though effective, emerging supervised machine learning based approaches to detect ILs are limited to binary system sensitive information and lack a comprehensive framework. To address these limitations, we establish a theoretical framework using statistical learning theory and information theory to quantify and detect IL accurately. Using automated machine learning, we demonstrate that MI can be accurately estimated by approximating the typically unknown Bayes predictor's log-loss and accuracy. Based on this, we show how MI can effectively be estimated to detect ILs. Our method performs superior to state-of-the-art baselines in an empirical study considering synthetic and real-world OpenSSL TLS server datasets.
We propose an unsupervised method to extract keywords and keyphrases from texts based on a pre-trained language model (LM) and Shannon's information maximization. Specifically, our method extracts phrases having the highest conditional entropy under the LM. The resulting set of keyphrases turns out to solve a relevant information-theoretic problem: if provided as side information, it leads to the expected minimal binary code length in compressing the text using the LM and an entropy encoder. Alternately, the resulting set is an approximation via a causal LM to the set of phrases that minimize the entropy of the text when conditioned upon it. Empirically, the method provides results comparable to the most commonly used methods in various keyphrase extraction benchmark challenges.
吳枚瑛 Mei-Ying Wu, 洪瑞兒 Zuway-R Hong , 林煥祥 Huann-Shyang Lin
et al.
本研究目的首先探討實驗組與對照組參與者在食安素養、食安態度與食安自陳行為和使用保健產品行為的現況及差異，並進而分析國中生食安素養現況及藉由實證知情實務（Evidence-Informed Practice, EIP）教學介入提升國中生食安素養之成效。在預試階段選取高雄市某所公立國中九年級467位學生填寫「食安素養情境測驗」、「食安態度量表」與「食安自陳行為量表」，經過信度、效度及鑑別度檢驗修正後成為正式研究工具。接著進行準實驗教學
法，本研究以便利取樣選取第一位作者班級53位學生在健康教育課實施六週EIP教學是為實驗組；對照組選取另一位健康教育老師51位九年級學生實施六週傳統講述教學是為對照組。所有參與學生在EIP教學前、教學後及三個月後填寫三份研究工具，以瞭解國中學生的食安素養、食安態度與食安自陳行為的差異。經由相關性檢驗、獨立樣本t考驗及單因子共變數分析發現多數國中生相信均衡飲食、規律運動與良好的衛生習慣能增加身體的抵抗力；當國中生使用保健食品行為愈高，則食安素養愈差。本研究結果顯示EIP教學能有效提升國中生的食安素養。本研究建議將EIP教學推廣至其他教學現場，並作為國中各校發展食安素養課程、教學與評量及相關研究之參考。
With the continual growth in global trade and the emergence of new food products, food hygiene and safety issues are becoming increasingly complex, with food safety receiving enormous
international attention (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2016). The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that eating unsafe substances can cause more than 200 diseases, including diarrhea
and serious illnesses, such as cancer. Therefore, acquiring the necessary food safety literacy to distinguish between food safety and nutrition is a crucial competency to improve personal health.
The Literacy Information and Communication System conducted a health literacy workshop in 2011, involving approximately 1,600 national and international public health and medical experts; it
recommended establishing a hypothetical relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and behavior to create a new set of measurement methods for food safety literacy (Pleasant et al., 2011). Thus, integrating knowledge, attitude, and behavior is crucial in order to assess “food security literacy” in the 21st century (Frewer et al., 2013; Jevšnik et al., 2008; Rollin et al., 2011; Yeung & Morris, 2001).
In recent years, there has been an international emphasis on literacy assessment, such as the Programme International Student Assessment, which was supported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2013, using contextual-based tests to assess whether students can apply knowledge and analyze and solve problems in everyday life.
First, this study aimed to develop effective food safety literacy tests, food security attitude scales, and food safety behavior scales. Second, we explored the effect of Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) in teaching interventions on junior high school students’ food safety literacy. During our pilot study, we randomly selected 467 ninth-graders from southern Taiwan to respond to research instruments regarding food safety literacy, food security attitudes, and food safety behaviors. We
used the content validity index (Lawshe, 1975), item analysis, and KR 20 to examine the tests’ validity, discrimination, reliability, respectively, and applied item response theory to determine a
suitable model of the relationship between the tests and participants. We found that all the tests met the index of validity and reliability. Then, we conducted a quasi-experimental study design and
selected 104 ninth-graders from a public junior high school in Kaohsiung City through convenience sampling; the school is known for its moral education, encouraging teachers to develop innovative
teaching. This study lasted six weeks and included two teachers with similar teaching experiences who implemented different teaching styles. Both teachers had majored in health education and had
17 years of teaching experience. Teacher A was the first author of this article, graduated from the Department of Science and Education of Southern Normal University, taught two classes of students
in the experimental group. The teacher B, who graduated from the Department of Health Promotion and Health Education of the Northern Normal University, was familiar with health education theory, and taught two classes of students in the comparison group. To ensure a high response rate, the first investigator informed the students of this study’s purpose and research tools, mentioning that the contents of the questionnaire would be properly preserved and not be used for individual comparison. Students agreed to participate in the study and responded to two scales and a food safety literacy test that took approximately 15-20 minutes, after which they were given a small gift. Four classes participated in this study, two of which comprised the comparison group that received traditional
narrative teaching; the teaching content and time were the same for this group. The other two classes in the experimental group received an EIP teaching intervention. The experimental group students (n
= 53) participated in a 6-week one period of EIP teaching model; with the same teaching intervention time, the comparison group students (n = 51) received a teacher-centered intervention concerning new trends in dietary consumption; the intervention convened 45 minutes per week for 6 consecutive weeks. The EIP intervention involved students asking questions, thinking, gathering evidence, and making judgments. The teacher in this group questioned students to promote their thinking, enabling them to search for empirical information to support the discussion and interpretation of food security issues, such as false advertising, supplementing them with new
scientific findings. Meanwhile, the comparison group was taught about food security issues in a traditional manner, with the teacher presenting and students listening.
We conducted descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and paired sample t-tests to compare the students’ similarities and differences on their food safety literacy tests, food security attitude scales, and food safety behavior scales after the interventions. In addition, we used a one-way analysis of covariance to examine the effects of the EIP intervention. The results revealed that junior high school students’ beliefs concerning maintaining healthy behaviors involved medium and high scores. They believed that a balanced diet, regular exercise, and good hygiene could increase the body’s resistance to disease. More than 80% of the students consumed healthy food, and nearly 40% of these students consumed more than two types of healthy food. Students with a higher belief in the value of maintaining health had a significantly higher score in food safety literacy. However, those students with a frequent intake of healthy food tended to have lower scores on their food safety literacy. This study developed and validated well-structured food safety literacy scales and an effective EIP teaching model that enhanced the experimental group students’ food safety literacy. This empirical evidence provides fresh insight into how to promote junior high school students’ food
safety literacy. Our findings have implications for implementing the EIP teaching model and administering effective food safety literacy scales with context-based items in more educational settings.
Some of the tightest information-theoretic generalization bounds depend on the average information between the learned hypothesis and a single training example. However, these sample-wise bounds were derived only for expected generalization gap. We show that even for expected squared generalization gap no such sample-wise information-theoretic bounds exist. The same is true for PAC-Bayes and single-draw bounds. Remarkably, PAC-Bayes, single-draw and expected squared generalization gap bounds that depend on information in pairs of examples exist.
Márcia Vieira de Alencar Caldas, Alípio Ramos Veiga-Neto, Luciana Gondim de Almeida Guimarães
et al.
Abstract: Environmental marketing tries to develop strategies to strengthen the entrepreneurial image and connect environmental appeal to products and brands. However, the companies’ reputation may be undermined if the green message uses false or inaccurate information, making it seem that theory and practice are far apart. As a consequence, the damage can be irreversible from the consumers’ viewpoint. This research aimed at raising and analyzing environmental marketing strategies that denote the practice of greenwashing from the point of view of consumers in the national furniture market. To reach the objective suggested, the research took place in two steps. The first step encompassed a qualitative approach, in which data were collected through interviews. The second step used the quantitative approach, a survey-collection method, and the application of questionnaires with consumers. As a result, it was possible to see that the variables concerning environmental marketing that can be perceived as greenwashing are mostly “preference for environmental products”, “interest in green information”, “brand-associated trust”, “green purchase incentive advertisement” and “a green guidebook generates environmental credibility”. The results led to the conclusion that consumers are aware of environmental issues and prefer green products, but greenwashing practices undermine the perception of the company’s image and its brands.
Javier J How, Saket Navlakha, Sreekanth H Chalasani
Nervous systems extract and process information from the environment to alter animal behavior and physiology. Despite progress in understanding how different stimuli are represented by changes in neuronal activity, less is known about how they affect broader neural network properties. We developed a framework for using graph-theoretic features of neural network activity to predict ecologically relevant stimulus properties, in particular stimulus identity. We used the transparent nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, with its small nervous system to define neural network features associated with various chemosensory stimuli. We first immobilized animals using a microfluidic device and exposed their noses to chemical stimuli while monitoring changes in neural activity of more than 50 neurons in the head region. We found that graph-theoretic features, which capture patterns of interactions between neurons, are modulated by stimulus identity. Further, we show that a simple machine learning classifier trained using graph-theoretic features alone, or in combination with neural activity features, can accurately predict salt stimulus. Moreover, by focusing on putative causal interactions between neurons, the graph-theoretic features were almost twice as predictive as the neural activity features. These results reveal that stimulus identity modulates the broad, network-level organization of the nervous system, and that graph theory can be used to characterize these changes.
Most psychophysical experiments discard half the data collected. Specifically, experiments discard reaction time data, and use binary responses (e.g. yes/no) to measure performance. Here, Shannon's information theory is used to define Shannon competence $s'$, which depends on the mutual information between stimulus strength (e.g. luminance) and a combination of reaction times and binary responses. Mutual information is the entropy of the joint distribution of responses minus the residual entropy after a model has been fitted to these responses. Here, this model is instantiated as a proportional rate diffusion model, with the additional innovation that the full covariance structure of responses is taken into account. Results suggest information associated with reaction times is independent of (i.e. additional to) information associated with binary responses, and that reaction time and binary responses together provide substantially more than the sum of their individual contributions (i.e. they act synergistically). Consequently, the additional information supplied by reaction times suggests that using combined reaction time and binary responses requires fewer stimulus presentations, without loss of precision in psychophysical parameters. Finally, because s' takes account of both reaction time and binary responses, (and in contrast to d') $s'$ is immune to speed-accuracy trade-offs, which vary between observers and experimental designs.
Hassan Y. El-Arsh, Amr Abdelaziz, Ahmed Elliethy
et al.
Steganography is the art and science of hiding data within innocent-looking objects (cover objects). Multimedia objects such as images and videos are an attractive type of cover objects due to their high embedding rates. There exist many techniques for performing steganography in both the literature and the practical world. Meanwhile, the definition of the steganographic capacity for multimedia and how to be calculated has not taken full attention. In this paper, for multivariate quantized-Gaussian-distributed multimedia, we study the maximum achievable embedding rate with respect to the statistical properties of cover objects against the maximum achievable performance by any steganalytic detector. Toward this goal, we evaluate the maximum allowed entropy of the hidden message source subject to the maximum probability of error of the steganalytic detector which is bounded by the KL-divergence between the statistical distributions for the cover and the stego objects. We give the exact scaling constant that governs the relationship between the entropies of the hidden message and the cover object.
We provide a universal characterization of the construction taking a scheme $X$ to its stable $\infty$-category $\text{Mot}(X)$ of noncommutative motives, patterned after the universal characterization of algebraic K-theory due to Blumberg--Gepner--Tabuada. As a consequence, we obtain a corepresentability theorem for secondary K-theory. We envision this as a fundamental tool for the construction of trace maps from secondary K-theory. Towards these main goals, we introduce a preliminary formalism of "stable $(\infty, 2)$-categories"; notable examples of these include (quasicoherent or constructible) sheaves of stable $\infty$-categories. We also develop the rudiments of a theory of presentable enriched $\infty$-categories -- and in particular, a theory of presentable $(\infty, n)$-categories -- which may be of intependent interest.
Christina I.V. Gumpo, Tinashe Chuchu, Eugine T. Maziriri
et al.
Background: Online social networking websites have revolutionised communication in the postmodern era of today. Specifically, Instagram has witnessed a phenomenal growth, and the site is particularly popular with young consumers in South Africa. Instagram is seen by this cohort as a source of information to determine their tourism destinations.
Objectives: This research examined how perceived usefulness of Instagram, perceived ease of use of Instagram and perceived credibility of Instagram influence attitude towards the use of Instagram, intent on using Instagram and actual use of Instagram to identify tourist destinations amongst young consumers.
Method: A survey questionnaire was administered to 349 young student consumers who were based in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area of the Gauteng province, South Africa. A structural equation modelling procedure was utilised in testing the proposed relationships.
Results: The results indicate that all the hypotheses suggested have been positive and significant. It is worth noting that there was the strongest connection between attitude towards Instagram for identifying travel destinations and intention to use Instagram for identifying travel destinations.
Conclusion: Tourism organisation marketers may be able to devote time in researching the practicality of using Instagram to increase awareness of tourist locations.
Management information systems, Information theory