Perceived risk and trust associated with purchasing at electronic marketplaces

Understanding consumer behaviour is of vital importance to consumer-oriented e-business models today. In this paper, we study the relationships between consumer perceptions of risk and trust and the attitude towards purchasing at a consumer-to-consumer electronic marketplace (EM). Typical for EM settings is that consumer behaviour is subject to perceptions of the selling party as well as of the institutional structures of the intermediary that is operating the EM. Building upon the well-established literature of trust, we consider the concepts of intermediary trust and seller trust. We extend this categorisation by introducing the concepts of intermediary risk and seller risk. We developed measurement instruments for intermediary risk and seller risk. All measurement scales have acceptable alphas and are unidimensional. An empirical study is conducted to explore the relationships between the risk and trust types and consumer purchase attitude. The results reveal significant, direct effects of seller trust and seller risk. Second-order effects of intermediary trust and intermediary risk are investigated and reported. The paper concludes with general observations and recommendations for research and practice.     

Accurate determination of magnetic field gradients from four pointvector measurements. I. Use of natural constraints on vector dataobtained from a single spinning spacecraft

Cluster introduces a new generation of spacecraft that will measure the spatial gradients of the magnetic field in the Earth's magnetosphere. As gradients require knowledge of differences, small errors resulting from an inadequate knowledge of the orientations, zero levels and the scale factors of the magnetometer sensors affect the calculation of field gradients disproportionately and must be removed with high accuracy. We show that twelve calibration parameters are required for each of the spacecraft (for a total of 48 for the four spacecraft) to correctly infer the measured magnetic fields at each of the spacecraft. By application of a Fourier transform technique, some of the parameters can be recovered. We show that errors in eight of the twelve calibration parameters generate coherent monochromatic signals at the first and the second harmonics of the spin frequency in the despun data. We relate the real and the imaginary parts of the monochromatic signals to the eight calibration parameters. We then present a least squares scheme that improves the eight calibration parameters by iteration until the power of the coherent signal superimposed above the broad-band background is minimized     

Boron removal by titanium addition in solidification refining of silicon with Si-Al melt

In order to effectively remove B from Si for its use in solar cells, a process involving B removal by solidification refining of Si using a Si-Al melt with Ti addition was investigated. For clarifying the effect of Ti addition on B removal from the Si-Al melt, TiB₂ solubilities in Si-64.6 at. pct Al melt at 1173 K and Si-60.0 at. pct Al melt at 1273 K were determined by measuring the equilibrium concentrations of B and Ti in the presence of TiB₂ precipitates. The small solubilities of TiB₂ in the Si-Al melt indicate the effective removal of B from the Si-Al melt by Ti addition. Further, solidification experiments of Si-Al alloys containing B by Ti addition were performed, and the effect of Ti addition on the solidification refining of Si with the Si-Al melt was successfully confirmed.     

An explanation of disproportionate growth using linear 3-dimensional informetrics and its relation with the fractal dimension

Summary We study new and existing data sets which show that growth rates of sources usually are different from growth rates of items. Examples: references in publications grow with a rate that is different (usually higher) from the growth rate of the publications themselves; article growth rates are different from journal growth rates and so on. In this paper we interpret this phenomenon of “disproportionate growth' in terms of Naranan's growth model and in terms of the self-similar fractal dimension of such an information system, which follows from Naranan's growth model. The main part of the paper is devoted to explain disproportionate growth. We show that the “simple' 2-dimensional informetrics models of source-item relations are not able to explain this but we also show that linear 3-dimensional informetrics (i.e. adding a new source set) is capable to model disproportionate growth. Formulae of such different growth rates are presented using Lotkaian informetrics and new and existing data sets are presented and interpreted in terms of the used linear 3-dimensional model.     

Application of Differential Evolution for Irrigation Planning: An Indian Case Study

The present paper demonstrates the applicability of population based search optimization method, namely, Differential Evolution (DE) to a case study of Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project (MBSP), India. Ten different strategies of DE are employed to assess the ability of DE for solving higher dimensional problems as an alternative methodology for irrigation planning. The parameters considered in DE are population size, crossover constant and weighting factor. Linear Programming (LP) is utilized as a comparative approach to assess the ability of DE. Comparison of results of LP and the 10 DE strategies for the given parameters indicated that both the results are comparable even for high dimensional problems. Extensive sensitivity analysis studies, performed for 3,600 combinations of above parameters for the 10 DE strategies suggested that DE/rand-to-best/1/bin strategy is the best strategy giving maximum benefits taking minimum CPU time. It is concluded that DE can be utilized for efficient planning of any irrigation system with suitable modifications.     

Lake-Level Change and Water Balance Analysis at Lake Qinghai,West China during Recent Decades

Lake Qinghai, the largest saline lake with an area of 4,260 km² (2000) and average depth of 21 m (1985) in West China, has experienced severe decline in water level in recent decades. This study aimed to investigate water balance of the lake and identify the causes for the decline in lake level. There was a 3.35-m decline in water level with an average decreasing rate of 8.0 cm year⁻¹ between 1959 and 2000. The lake water balance showed that mean annual precipitation between 1959 and 2000 over the lake was 357 ± 10 mm, evaporation was 924 ± 10 mm, surface runoff water inflow was 348 ± 21 mm, groundwater inflow was 138 mm ± 9 and the change in lake level was −80 ± 31 mm. The variation of lake level was highly positively correlated to surface runoff and precipitation and negatively to evaporation, the correlation coefficients were 0.89, 0.81 and −0.66, respectively. Water consumption by human activities accounts for 1% of the evaporation loss of the lake, implying that water consumption by human activities has little effect on lake level decline. Most dramatic decline in lake level occurred in the warm and dry years, and moderate decline in the cold and dry years, and relatively slight decline in the warm and wet years, therefore, the trend of cold/warm and dry climate in recent decades may be the main reasons for the decline in lake level.     

Numerical simulation of two-phase turbulent flow in hydraulic and hydropower engineering

In connection with the specific features of high velocity aerated flow generated by hydraulic engineering structures, the mathematical model is developed for high turbulence air-water two-phase flow with the use of twin flow theoretical model in this paper. Furthermore the numerical method is proposed to treat bubbled flows. In addition, on the basis of air-water stratified twin flow model, the new calculation methods and free surface tracking technique are proposed to describe complicated movements of the free surface. Finally, the proposed model is used to calculate artificial aerated flows. The computed results coincide quite well with experimental results. This means that the proposed method can provide solid basis for practical engineering design.     

Assessment model of dam operation risk based on monitoring data

Although the dams produce remarkable social and economic benefits, the threat made by unsafe dams to the life and property of people who live in the lower river area is un-negligible. Based on the monitoring data which reflect the safety condition of dams, the risk degree concept is proposed and the analysis system and model for evaluating risk degree (rate) are established in this paper by combining the reliability theory and field monitoring data. The analysis method for risk degree is presented based on Bayesian approach. A five-grade risk degree system for dam operation risk and corresponding risk degree is put forward according to the safety condition of dams. The operation risks of four cascade dams on some river are analyzed by the model and approach presented here and the result is adopted by the owner.