University of Texas at Austin

About: University of Texas at Austin is a education organization based out in Austin, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 94352 authors who have published 206297 publications receiving 9070052 citations. The organization is also known as: UT-Austin & UT Austin.

Consumer Switching Costs: A Typology, Antecedents, and Consequences

Abstract: The management of customer switching costs has been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive typology for conceptualizing, categorizing, and measuring consumers' perceptions of these costs. This research develops a switching cost typology that identifies three types of switching costs: (1) procedural switching costs, primarily involving the loss of time and effort; (2) financial switching costs, involving the loss of financially quantifiable resources; and (3) relational switching costs, involving psychological or emotional discomfort due to the loss of identity and the breaking of bonds. The research then examines the antecedents and consequences of switching costs. The results suggest that consumers' perceptions of product complexity and provider heterogeneity, their breadth of product use, and their alternative provider and switching experience drive the switching costs they perceive. Furthermore, all three switching cost types significantly influence consumers' intentions to stay with their current service provider, explaining more variance than does satisfaction.

Two-Dimensional Phonon Transport in Supported Graphene

Abstract: The reported thermal conductivity (κ) of suspended graphene, 3000 to 5000 watts per meter per kelvin, exceeds that of diamond and graphite. Thus, graphene can be useful in solving heat dissipation problems such as those in nanoelectronics. However, contact with a substrate could affect the thermal transport properties of graphene. Here, we show experimentally that κ of monolayer graphene exfoliated on a silicon dioxide support is still as high as about 600 watts per meter per kelvin near room temperature, exceeding those of metals such as copper. It is lower than that of suspended graphene because of phonons leaking across the graphene-support interface and strong interface-scattering of flexural modes, which make a large contribution to κ in suspended graphene according to a theoretical calculation.

Aptamers as therapeutics.

Abstract: Nucleic acid aptamers can be selected from pools of random-sequence oligonucleotides to bind a wide range of biomedically relevant proteins with affinities and specificities that are comparable to antibodies. Aptamers exhibit significant advantages relative to protein therapeutics in terms of size, synthetic accessibility and modification by medicinal chemistry. Despite these properties, aptamers have been slow to reach the marketplace, with only one aptamer-based drug receiving approval so far. A series of aptamers currently in development may change how nucleic acid therapeutics are perceived. It is likely that in the future, aptamers will increasingly find use in concert with other therapeutic molecules and modalities.

Regulation of endogenous fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration.

Abstract: Stable isotope tracers and indirect calorimetry were used to evaluate the regulation of endogenous fat and glucose metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration. Five trained subjects were studied during exercise intensities of 25, 65, and 85% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). Plasma glucose tissue uptake and muscle glycogen oxidation increased in relation to exercise intensity. In contrast, peripheral lipolysis was stimulated maximally at the lowest exercise intensity, and fatty acid release into plasma decreased with increasing exercise intensity. Muscle triglyceride lipolysis was stimulated only at higher intensities. During 2 h of exercise at 65% VO2max plasma-derived substrate oxidation progressively increased over time, whereas muscle glycogen and triglyceride oxidation decreased. In recovery from high-intensity exercise, although the rate of lipolysis immediately decreased, the rate of release of fatty acids into plasma increased, indicating release of fatty acids from previously hydrolyzed triglycerides. We conclude that, whereas carbohydrate availability is regulated directly in relation to exercise intensity, the regulation of lipid metabolism seems to be more complex.