University of Arkansas

About: University of Arkansas is a education organization based out in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 17225 authors who have published 33329 publications receiving 941102 citations. The organization is also known as: Arkansas & UA.

Web and wireless site usability: understanding differences and modeling use

Abstract: Recent research has presented a conceptualization, metric, and instrument based on Microsoft Usability Guidelines (MUG; see Agarwal and Venkatesh 2002). In this paper, we use MUG to further our understanding of web and wireless site use. We conducted two empirical studies among over 1,000 participants. In study 1, conducted in both the United States and Finland, we establish the generalizability of the MUG conceptualization, metric, and associated instrument from the United States to Finland. In study 2, which involved longitudinal data collection in Finland, we delved into an examination of differences in factors important in determining web versus wireless site usability. Also, in study 2, based on a follow-up survey about site use conducted 3 months after the initial survey, we found support for a model of site use that employs the MUG categories and subcategories as predictors. The MUG-based model outperformed the widely employed technology acceptance model both in terms of richness and variance explained (about 70 percent compared to 50 percent).

Comparing DC-DC converters for power management in hybrid electric vehicles

Abstract: The design of DC-DC converters for power electronic interfaces in power management systems for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a very challenging task. To this end, this paper presents an analysis, design, and comparison study of several bi-directional non-isolated DC-DC converter topologies that could be considered potential candidates for the power electronic interface of HEV energy/power sources, in particular an ultracapacitor pack. The considered topologies are the half-bridge, Cuk, SEPIC, and Luo converters. The analysis and design of the converters is performed throughout equations for the stresses of the active and passive components. The comparison study, achieved by means of graphs where the variables of interest are plotted as a function of the voltage ratio Vo/Vi, uses the half-bridge converter as the base case. Particular attention is paid to the stresses of the active and passive components due to the wide input voltage requirements typical of this load-leveling or power-management application.

The Politics of Consumption: A Re-Inquiry on Thompson and Haytko's (1997) “Speaking of Fashion”

Abstract: This article explores Thompson and Haytko's ([1997][1]) interpretation of fashion discourses by bringing together two opposing perspectives on consumers' use of objects as signs. The first perspective assumes that the consumer has free reign in the play of signs (i.e., the consumer is constituting). The second assumes that the consumer is imprisoned by the signs and codes of the historical moment (i.e., the consumer is constituted). The dialectical and discursive tension between these two perspectives is used as an orienting framework in the hermeneutic analyses of 14 phenomenological interviews. Thompson and Haytko's ([1997][1]) findings/claims remain pertinent in a professional, middle-class context. In addition, this research contributes to their lived hegemony premise by emphasizing the dominating tendencies of marketing systems. [1]: #ref-42