University of North Texas

About: University of North Texas is a education organization based out in Denton, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 11866 authors who have published 26984 publications receiving 705376 citations. The organization is also known as: Fight, North Texas & UNT.

The Moderating Role of Consumer Technology Anxiety in Mobile Shopping Adoption: Differential Effects of Facilitating Conditions and Social Influences

Abstract: This study examined whether consumers' levels of technology anxiety moderate the causal relationships among determinants of mobile shopping adoption in a modified Unified Theory of User Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. With the moderating role of technology anxiety, facilitating conditions were examined as an antecedent driver of utilitarian and hedonic performance expectancies in determining mobile shopping adoption in the modified UTAUT model. A sample of 400 mobile services users drawn from a purchased consumer panel participated in an online survey. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to examine the hypothesized paths in the adoption of mobile shopping. Results indicated that the effect of facilitating conditions on both utilitarian and hedonic performance expectancies is stronger for consumers with a low level of technology anxiety than for consumers with a high level of technology anxiety. Moreover, consumers with a high level of technology anxiety rely more on social influence in the use of mobile shopping than consumers with a low level of technology anxiety. The modified UTAUT model reveals insightful results and provides a holistic framework for predicting emerging mobile shopping adoption behavior.Keywords: Mobile shopping; Facilitating conditions; Social influences; Technology anxiety; UTAUT1. IntroductionThe ubiquitous characteristic of an Internet-enabled mobile phone is profoundly affecting the way people use services and information in their daily lives. This increased use of mobile internet and online services is enabling the creation of new services that promise alternative opportunities for companies [Yu 2012], In the retail industry, the rapid adoption of mobile Internet and smartphones has retailers attempting to capitalize on the promise of technology-mediated mobile services as a new and important channel to serve and connect with consumers [Liesse 2007], The mobile shopping channel has become a personal shopping assistant for consumers to enhance their shopping experiences and assist in making purchases across channels.While mobile shopping services may promise better consumer shopping experiences, there are concerns about whether consumers will actually adopt technology-mediated services when available. This new technology-mediated mobile shopping channel is different from traditional (e.g., in-store, catalog) and online shopping channels and it is not yet validated across consumer segments. Further, with the extremely private and personal nature of the mobile phone device, mobile shopping services often involve security and privacy issues resulting from transacting financial and personal information. Therefore, consumers' concerns for security and privacy may be higher in the mobile shopping channel than in other shopping channels. Due to its newness and uniqueness in shopping encounters (e.g., small screen size, using 4G & 5G mobile technologies), mobile shopping may provoke user anxiety in its embryonic stage of mobile shopping adoption. In that regard, consumer anxiety may be a significant barrier facing consumers at the moment when mobile shopping is used. If this is the case, consumer mobile shopping adoption might be leveraged by reducing consumer anxiety about using mobile shopping. Therefore, by understanding the relationships among consumers' underlying motivations to adopt mobile shopping and their associated anxieties, retailers may benefit by being proactive in designing mobile shopping services that help alleviate anxiety in the adoption stage.This study examines determinants of consumer mobile shopping adoption using measures suggested by Venkatesh et al. [2003]'s Unified Theory of User Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Although extant technology acceptance models and theories are well-established and validated in previous studies [e.g., Dabholkar and Bagozzi 2002; Davis 1989; Davis et al. 1989; Venkatesh 1999], testing that is based upon one technology acceptance model may bring skewed and blurred outcomes, particularly when examining a new technology phenomenon. …

Cilia Proteins Control Cerebellar Morphogenesis by Promoting Expansion of the Granule Progenitor Pool

Abstract: Although human congenital cerebellar malformations are common, their molecular and developmental basis is still poorly understood. Recently, cilia-related gene deficiencies have been implicated in several congenital disorders that exhibit cerebellar abnormalities such as Joubert syndrome, Meckel-Gruber syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and Orofaciodigital syndrome. The association of cilia gene mutations with these syndromes suggests that cilia may be important for cerebellar development, but the nature of cilia involvement has not been elucidated. To assess the importance of cilia-related proteins during cerebellar development, we studied the effects of CNS-specific inactivation of two mouse genes whose protein products are critical for cilia formation and maintenance, IFT88, (also known as polaris or Tg737), which encodes intraflagellar transport 88 homolog, and Kif3a, which encodes kinesin family member 3a. We showed that loss of either of these genes caused severe cerebellar hypoplasia and foliation abnormalities, primarily attributable to a failure of expansion of the neonatal granule cell progenitor population. In addition, granule cell progenitor proliferation was sensitive to partial loss of IFT function in a hypomorphic mutant of IFT88 (IFT88(orpk)), an effect that was modified by genetic background. IFT88 and Kif3a were not required for the specification and differentiation of most other cerebellar cell types, including Purkinje cells. Together, our observations constitute the first demonstration that cilia proteins are essential for normal cerebellar development and suggest that granule cell proliferation defects may be central to the cerebellar pathology in human cilia-related disorders.

Conversations and Medical News Frames on Twitter: Infodemiological Study on COVID-19 in South Korea.

Abstract: Background: SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2) was spreading rapidly in South Korea at the end of February 2020 following its initial outbreak in China, making Korea the new center of global attention. The role of social media amid the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has often been criticized, but little systematic research has been conducted on this issue. Social media functions as a convenient source of information in pandemic situations. Objective: Few infodemiology studies have applied network analysis in conjunction with content analysis. This study investigates information transmission networks and news-sharing behaviors regarding COVID-19 on Twitter in Korea. The real time aggregation of social media data can serve as a starting point for designing strategic messages for health campaigns and establishing an effective communication system during this outbreak. Methods: Korean COVID-19-related Twitter data were collected on February 29, 2020. Our final sample comprised of 43,832 users and 78,233 relationships on Twitter. We generated four networks in terms of key issues regarding COVID-19 in Korea. This study comparatively investigates how COVID-19-related issues have circulated on Twitter through network analysis. Next, we classified top news channels shared via tweets. Lastly, we conducted a content analysis of news frames used in the top-shared sources. Results: The network analysis suggests that the spread of information was faster in the Coronavirus network than in the other networks (Corona19, Shincheon, and Daegu). People who used the word “Coronavirus” communicated more frequently with each other. The spread of information was faster, and the diameter value was lower than for those who used other terms. Many of the news items highlighted the positive roles being played by individuals and groups, directing readers’ attention to the crisis. Ethical issues such as deviant behavior among the population and an entertainment frame highlighting celebrity donations also emerged often. There was a significant difference in the use of nonportal (n=14) and portal news (n=26) sites between the four network types. The news frames used in the top sources were similar across the networks (P=.89, 95% CI 0.004-0.006). Tweets containing medically framed news articles (mean 7.571, SD 1.988) were found to be more popular than tweets that included news articles adopting nonmedical frames (mean 5.060, SD 2.904; N=40, P=.03, 95% CI 0.169-4.852). Conclusions: Most of the popular news on Twitter had nonmedical frames. Nevertheless, the spillover effect of the news articles that delivered medical information about COVID-19 was greater than that of news with nonmedical frames. Social media network analytics cannot replace the work of public health officials; however, monitoring public conversations and media news that propagates rapidly can assist public health professionals in their complex and fast-paced decision-making processes.