Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(MMORPG) attract thousand of concurrent users, leading to a surge in server requests. The massive requests results in contention on the game server, causing unexpected latency issues that undermine user experience. Delayed latency leads to user dissatisfaction and, ultimately, user churn. In this paper, we propose a multi-threaded game server design that provides stable response time by utilizing computing resources. And we study the performance of the design under various environments by configuring the approaches we implemented. The server consists of a socket system that helps communicate between clients and servers, a task system that handles changes in the status of user, and a synchronization system that allows users to receive the same game information. To prevent serious contention, both lock and lock-free algorithms for process synchronization are applied, and some parallel programming approaches such as visual processing are introduced.

Peri-implantitis is a disease affecting the tissue surrounding dental implants, destroying both soft and hard tissues. A total of 2,015 studies were collected by searching items in the National Library of Medicine, including keywords, such as “peri-implantitis,” “microbiota,” and “microbiome.” Of them, 62 studies were screened and considered eligible for analysis. Only 16 studies qualified all criteria mentioned here: “Using PCR methods for microorganism detection,” “Suggesting quantified results,” “Stating obvious clinical diagnosis criteria (“Bleeding on probing,” “Probing pocket depth,” “Suppuration,” and “Radiographic bone loss”).” Only 8 studies were included in the meta-analysis because the others had special issues. Porphyromonas gingivalis , Tannerella forsythia , Treponema denticola , Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia , and Epstein-Barr virus were the microbiological subjects of analysis. The odds ratio (OR) between the healthy implants and peri-implantitis were calculated for each microorganism to compare two groups, and the forest plots were suggested as the visual materials. P. gingivalis (1.392 < OR < 2.841), T. forsythia (1.345 < OR < 3.221), T. denticola (2.180 < OR < 5.150), A. actinomycetemcomitans (1.975 < OR < 6.456), P. intermedia (1.245 < OR < 3.612), and Epstein-Barr virus (1.995 < OR < 9.383). The species showed that their 95% confidence interval of odds ratio was higher than 1, indicating that they were detected more frequently in periimplantitis than in healthy implants. Meanwhile, other species, such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Staphylococcus aureus, were not included in the meta-analysis because the number of studies was insufficient.

The synthesis of a novel first stage GIC containing simultaneously lithium, potassium and barium through a solid–liquid reaction by molten salts method is described. Such a route has been largely developed in our laboratory for intercalation of metals into graphite. The interplanar distance of this quaternary compound reaches 950 pm and exhibits poly-layered intercalated sheets defined by X-ray measurements. The Li0.2K0.75Ba0.6C6 chemical formula of the compound is determined by ion beam analysis and this GIC is remarkably homogeneous. This GIC is the first poly-layered one containing barium.

This study investigates the effect of co-creation on psychological well-being and future co-creation intention on social media. Data were collected from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Although the results suggest that the effects of co-creation on users may differ depending on context, they generally show that co-creation experience has a positive relationship with co-creation behavior, and that risk assessment moderates this relationship. Co-creation experience also has a positive relationship with psychological well-being, and co-creation behavior mediates this relationship. The results also confirm that co-creation behavior has a positive relationship with future co-creation intention, and co-creation behavior mediates the relationship between co-creation experience and future co-creation intention.

Studies regarding the relationship between purchases and happiness have consistently found an experiential advantage: people are happier when purchasing experiential products (e.g., vacations and concerts) than material products (e.g., clothes and electronics) (Caprariello & Reis, 2013; Carter & Gilovich, 2010, 2012; Pchelin & Howell, 2014; van Boven and Gilovich, 2003). This phenomenon (i.e., experiential advantage) may make marketing efforts of service firms or any companies selling experiences relatively more effective and productive in that consumers will derive a great amount of purchase happiness. On the other hand, the same phenomenon may indicate innate challenges and hurdles for firms selling products carrying materialistic features. Considering the material-experiential spectrum, approximately 50% of the industries are seeming faced with this issue. In this research, we propose a solution with which mainly material-focused products can loom more experiential, thereby benefiting from the experiential advantage. In other words, we investigate how material goods can be perceived as experiential and they can offer greater purchase satisfaction compared to when they remain as merely materialistic. Specifically, noting that reasons for experiential advantages are originated from social aspects of experiential goods (e.g., self-presentation to other people, conversational values, reputation-building, etc.), the current study shows that posting on social media can imbue social aspects, which is a key drive of the experiential advantage.

This research investigated how residential mobility affects consumers' trust in digital consumption environments (e.g., online shopping). Due to today's digitalization, consumers' trust in digital environments is treated as important. However, work has yet to be explored that the trust of digital environments can differ depending on residential mobility. This article highlights key findings from the relationship between residential mobility and trust in digital environments. Trust in digital environments may vary depending on residential mobility. As a result of the data analysis, the lower the residential mobility, the lower the trust in digital environments, while the higher the residential mobility, the higher the trust in digital environments.

Considering meat consumption's massive impact on climate change, environmental NGOs are increasingly campaigning to encourage consumers to reduce unsustainable meat consumption, i.e., to eat less and/or better meat. They usually use messages based on environmental appeals to do so. Yet, the effectiveness of such appeals in international campaigns may depend on countries as cultural beliefs influence food consumption behaviors. Therefore, in this research, we explore the effectiveness of such campaigns across 5 European countries, controlling for individual cultural orientations. Considering an environmental degradation appeal, we first show that countries have no influence on the campaign’s effectiveness, unlike specific individual cultural orientations, including masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. We replicate these results in the same 5 countries considering an alternative appeal, i.e., animal welfare. Recommendations to international NGOs managers result from these results.

Digital entrepreneurship refers to the pursuit of business opportunities based on the utilisation of digital media and other information and communication technologies. The use of digital technologies provides an avenue of unleashing female entrepreneurs from the hierarchical and practice of obedience in a high cultural context. In this sense, the potential of digital entrepreneurship in promoting female entrepreneurship can be examined in terms of entrepreneurship as emancipation. Our research contributes to the women entrepreneurship literature on the use of digital technologies in the context of a very hostile environment such as in the case of Yemeni civil war. A semi-structured interview format will be used to gather information on a common set of questions focusing on how digital technology enabled the entrepreneurial activities. The researchers will adopt a qualitative interpretive methodology. This approach focuses on the participants’ own reflections on their experiences.

The FIFA world cup is one of the most popular and widely viewed sporting event, where millions of viewers across the globe tune in to support their country every four years for the chance to win the ultimate football tournament. According to FIFA, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 recorded over 5 billion cumulative views, with the final match estimated to have been watched by more than 1.5 billion viewers live on television. In South Korea, a total of 11.14 million viewers watched the opening match against Uruguay, which was estimated to be a 97% increase in Korean viewership compared to the previous World Cup.

This study investigated which factors impact esports viewership for League of Legends matches through Live and highLight streaming video. This research anaLyzed League of Legends viewership factors' differences between the three Leagues (LCK, LCS, and LEC) where viewership factors infLuence esports viewership demand through LOL’s Live and highLight streaming video. League of Legends not onLy has the highest audience among different various esports, aLso has formed a huge market from diverse countries. In order to soLve each League's unbaLance viewership trend issue between the three Leagues, and facing worLdwide viewership decrease, this study examined viewership impact factors from three Leagues with the highest viewership ratings: Korea's LCK, North America's LCS, and Europe's LEC. After that, differences in viewership impact factors for the research were anaLyzed and compared to each League. SpecificaLLy, this study investigated which factors impact esports viewership for League of Legends (LOL) matches. Data (N=1581) of reguLar season matches from the LCK, LCS, and LEC Leagues (2020 spring to 2021 summer) were coLLected and anaLyzed. This study anaLyzed the average number of visitors per minute of Twitch Live streaming and the number of views on YouTube highLights. Five main viewership factors(the uncertainty of match, consumer preferences, match importance, team attributes, match content, and controL variabLes), and seventeen independent variabLes were verified by muLtipLe regression anaLysis using STATA 15. As a resuLt of the anaLysis, the modeL with the number of reaL-time audience as the dependent variabLe demonstrated different trends between Leagues in terms of the uncertainty of match factors (rank difference, win rate difference, goLd difference, kiLL difference, object difference), and consumer preference factors(fan, operating period of both teams, number of worLd championship wins, the number of championship semifinaL advances). WhiLe the match importance factors(week, top-rank matches) and match content factors (the sum of kiLLs, the sum of assists, the sum of objects) indicated somewhat simiLar tendencies between Leagues. In the modeL with the number of highLights views as the dependent variabLe, consumer preference factors and match importance factors tended to be somewhat simiLar, but match content factors prone to be sLightLy different between Leagues. In addition, the uncertainty of the match factors did not show a significant infLuence across the three Leagues. Findings from this research expand and appLy the variabLes derived from the demand determination theory of traditionaL sports to e-sports demand research. This study heLps stakehoLders understand various esports cuLtures from different regions. Furthermore, it is meaningfuL in that it provides information that wiLL contribute to the growth of the entire League of Legends market through baLanced deveLopment between Leagues.

In order to communicate brand concepts and values to the young generations, many brands are highly active on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Brand-Generated Content has already become the most common marketing strategy for fashion brands and plays a significant role in influencing consumers’ purchase intention. With increased competition on social media platforms, companies need to understand which posting features can bring in more consumer engagements such as number of likes and comments on social media platforms. In this paper, we develop (1) a model to predict the number of likes and (2) a methodology to detect anomaly of posts that have unusually high percentage of negative user comments based on Instagram design variables, including semantic text meanings, facial expressions, color scheme and background of photos, and post timing, among others. We collected a data set of brand-generated Instagram posts from ten fashion brands. The data covers the image, text, and user comments posted between 2019 and 2020. Image features were extracted using Convolutional Neural Network, and text topics were generated through Latent Dirichlet Allocation. Our results will help managers design Instagram posts to increase consumer engagement and to reduce negative consumer reactions.

Mental distress has been consistently reported to be highly prevalent after collective traumas, alongside physical and personal damages. When left untreated, these will worsen survivors’ ability to function. Research also points to unmet needs, related to job security and a sense of belonging. Our study aims to identify a clustered-dimensional approach to people’s experiences after a massive urban violence apart from traditional categorical psychopathological assessments. This cross-sectional internet-based study included 1305 Lebanese adults, 4 months after the apocalyptic Beirut Port explosion. Emotions, attitudes and needs were assessed using iCode software, measuring explicit answers and implicit reaction time. First and foremost, explicit responses revealed alarming levels of distress (75-80%). Latent class analysis further differentiated three groups on seven different dimensions derived from principal component analysis. People who experienced the most intense emotional distress and intrusive thoughts had higher country dissatisfaction and job worries. Faith and community resilience buffered the negative emotionality of those affected in spite of avoidance and intrusion. The last group was less distressed by the trauma with a marked sense of community and an overall reduced country and job dissatisfactions. These findings suggest that integrating implicit responses helps cluster people’s experiences after a collective trauma above and beyond single demographic criteria as vulnerability to mass violence is quite variable within seemingly homogenous samples. They also provide insight onto hard-wired attitudes and needs post-trauma. It mostly taps into multi-factorial individual vulnerabilities and protective factors to better refine targeted interventions for at-risk subpopulation outreach and foster resilience in unstable environments.

Consumer studies on millennials have focused on shopper behavioural differences with their old baby boomer generation. A significant distinction between these two groups have been their relationship and interaction with technology across all facets of life, including shopping. Millennials are generally regarded as early adopters of digital technology and its use in daily activities, hence their reference to digital natives. Compared to the baby boomers, who are late adopters and are called digital immigrants. Africa's millennials constitute at least 30% of Africa's population, making them a key attraction for marketers, yet their interests are often treated as a homogenous segment similar to global millennials from advanced economies.

The popularity of live streaming is driving the emergence of a new business model, known as live-streaming commerce (LSC). While there are more and more broadcasters in LSC, their behaviors and performance of them are significantly different. To have a better understanding of broadcasters, we employ different machine learning models to identify different portraits in both static and dynamic dimensions. We collect a rich live-streaming dataset from one leading platform in China. Our dataset features information for both broadcasters and viewers, including viewers’ purchasing behaviors, viewers’ records of posting words, broadcasters’ gender, the number of followers for broadcasters, and the live streaming show information, including the start and end time, and the viewers in each live streaming show. The rich textual information in broadcasters’ profile induction provides us a good opportunity to uncover different static portraits and the records in live streaming shows give us a chance to identify different dynamic behavioral portraits for broadcasters.

The popularity of live streaming is driving the emergence of a new business model, known as live-streaming commerce (LSC). Consumers spend more and more time on smartphones, and the emerging business model of live-streaming commerce (LSC) is flourishing in the retail industry. With highly interactive features, LSC social interactions influence viewer purchase behaviors. To examine the interactions between influencers and viewers, we collected a rich dataset from a leading LSC service platform and integrated research models from the natural language process (NLP) field and econometric models.

In the current study, we directly measure consumers’ physiological responses (i.e., brain waves via electroencephalogram [EEG]) to advertising stimuli (digital storyteller vs. human storyteller) to confirm the narrative transportation process of storytelling immersion.

In determining artwork prices, the identification of characteristics of the artist is crucial. While the impact of demographic profiles of artists has been examined in the literature on art pricing, the relationships among artists have been highly disregarded. In the current research, the authors focus on the measures of network centrality derived from group exhibitions in order to investigate their influence on artwork prices. The analysis results suggest that degree centrality and closeness centrality positively affect artwork prices, whereas betweenness centrality has an adverse effect. Moreover, network centrality values play a more important role in explaining artwork prices than historical reputation indexes such as gender, nationality, time elapsed after death, and main residencies of the artists. This study contributes to branding literature, while also providing art marketers with valuable insight into artist branding.

As ESG (environmental, social, and governance) has become a major business trend, many firms put ESG into their business practice to fulfill market and stakeholders' demands (Wang et al., 2016). With a growing emphasis on ESG, firms must decide how to integrate ESG into their organizational strategy. Although ESG is a popular business trend, it is meaningless if ESG reduces firm value. For successful ESG implementation, ESG strategy must be integral to the business model (Duque-Grisales and Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021). With the integration of ESG into the firm's business process, sustainable activities enable firms to improve their economic and social performance by tapping into the synergies between business and societal agendas (Duque-Grisales and Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021). Core competence refers to an organization's accumulated strength compared to other organizations in the industry (Wheelen, 2019). It is the unique integration of leadership, technologies, specialized skills and knowledge, organizational culture, and the working possesses (Wheelen, 2019). Even though the literature on ESG emphasizes integrating ESG into firms’ core capabilities, there are only a few studies that developed ESG implementation and integration framework in specific dimensions (Fatima & Elbanna, 2022) and the literature shows mixed results. Since previous research presents unclear results regarding ESG implementation and firms' core competencies, this study aims to 1) investigate how ESG strategy could integrate with firms' core competencies and 2) clarify ESG embeddedness drivers. The findings provide significant implications for academics and managers by clarifying how firms can enhance their value through ESG with firms' core competencies.

While social media marketing opens a variety of new windows for enlightening brand–customer relationships, a gritty puzzle is that brand recognition does not invariably echo with customers’ perceived value. This provokes the need to uncover the missing pieces in bridging the gap between brand recognition and customer perceived value. This research falls within the innovative new work in the marketing literature in positing co-creation as a crucial mediator in facilitating the impact of brand recognition on customers’ perceived value. Based on social identity theory, we also investigated how co-creation is moderated by virtual communication identification in influencing customers’ perceived value towards a brand. We conducted a survey via a sample of 386 current Gogoro customers. Gogoro is the biggest and most well-known Taiwanese producer of electric scooters. Our findings contribute to the extant marketing research by emphasizing that the key stimulus of increased customer perceived value towards a brand is active co-creation initiatives via virtual brand communities, and that the effects of co-creation are further strengthened when customers’ virtual communication identification is high.

Consumers have a strong desire to share their accomplishments on social media. They post about getting a promotion, completing an online course, finishing a marathon, or donating to charity. Companies also nudge consumers to make such posts. Understanding better people's beliefs about sharing achievement-related information with others is important.