Associations between Marketing Exposure, In-game Purchases, Problem Gaming, Simulated Gambling, and Psychological Distress among Adolescents.

This study examined the relationships between marketing exposure, in-game purchase, problem gaming, online simulated gambling game playing, and psychological distress. Data were obtained from a sample of 2,595 seventh-grade students from 30 middle schools in Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted in 2020. The results indicated that 94% of adolescents engage in online gaming, with 38% making in-game purchases, and 9% playing online simulated gambling games. The multiple regression results showed that adolescents who are exposed to higher levels of gaming marketing, influenced by advertising effects, involved in in-game purchases, and have lower levels of active parental mediation were more likely to experience problem gaming. Adolescents who have increased exposure to gambling game marketing, are influenced by advertising effects, are involved in in-game purchases, and who are experiencing problem gaming were more likely to engage in online simulated gambling game playing and token purchasing. Involvement in in-game purchases, problem gaming, and playing online simulated gambling games were associated with higher levels of psychological distress and poor sleep quality. In conclusion, the results of this study link adolescents' exposure to marketing with their involvement in in-game purchases, problem gaming, and engaging in online simulated gambling.

Excessive Gaming and Online Energy-Drink Marketing Exposure Associated with Energy-Drink Consumption among Adolescents.

In this study, we examined excessive online gaming by adolescents and the resultant effects of their exposure to the online marketing of energy drinks and alcohol, and whether marketing literacy could serve as a mitigating factor. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020. Data were obtained from a sample of 2613 seventh-grade students from 30 middle schools in Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted. The results showed that nearly 18% of the adolescent respondents had used energy drinks, while 75% reported seeing energy-drink advertisements on the internet in the past year. Multiple regression results indicated that factors such as being male, reporting excessive gaming, being exposed to higher levels of online energy-drink marketing, and reporting alcohol use were positively associated with energy-drink consumption. A higher level of online energy-drink marketing-affective literacy, however, was negatively associated with energy-drink consumption. In conclusion, factors that predicted energy-drink consumption among adolescents included excessive gaming and exposure to online energy-drink marketing, but marketing-affective literacy tended to lessen the impact of such advertising.

Chalcogenide phase-change memory nanotubes for lower writing current operation.

We report the synthesis and characterization of Sb-doped Te-rich nanotubes, and study their memory switching properties under the application of electrical pulses. Te-rich nanotubes display significantly low writing currents due to their small cross-sectional areas, which is desirable for power-efficient memory operation. The nanotube devices show limited resistance ratio and cyclic switching capability owing to the intrinsic properties of Te. The observed memory switching properties of this new class of nanostructured memory elements are discussed in terms of fundamental materials properties and extrinsic geometrical effects.

Phase-change Ge-Sb nanowires: synthesis, memory switching, and phase-instability.

We report the synthesis and characterization of phase-change Ge-Sb nanowires with two different eutectic compositions and their memory switching characteristics. Under application of electric-fields with controlled pulse amplitude and duration times, Sb-rich (Sb > or = 86 at. %) eutectic Ge-Sb nanowires show phase-change based memory switching, while another eutectic GeSb (Ge:Sb = 1:1) nanowires do not show electronic memory switching at all. However, under repeated measurements, Sb-rich Ge-Sb nanowires display an increase of resistance of the low resistive state. The observed electrical irreversibility for Sb-rich Ge-Sb nanowires is attributed to the structural and compositional instability due to the phase-separation of Ge out of homogeneous Ge-Sb as observed from rapid thermal annealing and transmission electron microscopy experiments. Implications for design of Te-free nanoscale materials for phase change memory applications are also discussed.