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In many communities across the United States, substantive local news is a rare commodity. For areas long stigmatized and associated with high levels of violence, crime, and poverty, negative reporting may be the only local news available. Drawing from communication infrastructure theory and literature on local news audiences and civic journalism, this study explores how a local solutions journalism project is received by members of an underrepresented and stigmatized community. Solutions journalism stories focus on responses to social problems, usually exploring problem-solving efforts that have the potential to be scaled. This case examines how participants in six focus groups with 48 African-American and Latino South Los Angeles residents responded to solutions-oriented stories produced by a local media project. Study findings illustrate how residents navigate and critically interpret local media coverage, and how their response to ‘solutions journalism’ is largely positive but tempered by concerns regarding structural inequalities.

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A quartet dual-band electrochromic device (ECD) was developed to selectively control the transmittance from the visible to near-infrared wavelengths for the application of an energy-efficient smart window. The new AgNO 3 +TBABr+LiClO 4 (ATL)-based electrolyte was developed to independently control the redox reaction of lithium and silver ions to demonstrate the quartet mode of an ECD. A dual-band ECD with a sandwich structure was assembled using an ATL-based electrolyte, WO 3 electrochromic layer, and antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) ion storage layer. The employed WO 3 and ATO films were fabricated using a nanoparticle deposition system (NPDS), a novel ecofriendly dry deposition method. Four modes, namely, transparent, warm, cool, and all-block modes, were demonstrated via an independent redox reaction of both lithium and silver ions through the simple control of the applied voltage. In the warm mode, the localized surface plasmon resonance effect was exploited by producing silver nanoparticles upon two-step voltage application. Furthermore, since the high surface roughness of the WO 3 thin film fabricated by NPDS maximized the light scattering effect, 0% transmittance at all wavelengths was observed in the all-block mode. Dual-band ECD showed high optical contrasts of 73% and longterm durability over 1000 cycles with no degradation. Therefore, the possibility of controlling transmittance at the target wavelength was confirmed using a simple device with a simple process, suggesting a new strategy for the design of dual-band smart windows to reduce the energy consumption of buildings.

This study investigated the extent to which the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and social influence of smartphones affected word of mouth, as well as the moderating role of customer socio-demographic characteristics. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 481 South Korean smartphone consumers. The results indicated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and social influence affected word of mouth. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that the effect of perceived enjoyment on word of mouth was moderated by customer gender, age and education. Finally, the relationship between perceived ease of use and word of mouth was moderated by gender. These results suggest the need to design targeted smartphone marketing strategies that consider users' gender, age and education.

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We have introduced a new fabrication process for a CO gas sensor using a kinetically sprayed Cu thin layer, followed by oxidation at 250 °C.