PRICING STRATEGY USED AS A TOOL FOR BUILDING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE RETAIL SECTOR

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of pricing strategy in the retail sector and the power of their influence on consumer behavior. Merchants should consider the price generates perceptions and can influence consumer behavior and buying customers. They must also understand how to participate in the price of consumer satisfaction.Consumer behaviour, price strategy, retail, price satisfaction, price fairness

PRELIMINARY DATA REGARDING BIOREMEDIATION OF SOILS POLLUTED WITH PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS BY USING CYCLODEXTRINS

The main characteristics of the pollution caused by refineries and petrochemical plants is that the source of pollution is active, most of the time, for a short period of time, but has an important intensity, the pollutiong agent being usualy made up of limited pretoleum fractions. Also, in most of tha cases of accidental spills of petroleum products, the affected soil surface is much smaller than the contaminated surface of the first aquifer encountered by the pollution front. The crude oil resulting from the extraction, having a complex composition, acts on the soil depending on the amount, composition and properties of the organic and inorganic components contained. β-Cyclodextrin is a chemical substance with the molecular formula C42H70O35. Cyclodextrins were the first compounds studied in terms of complexation behaviour and catalytic properties, the objective being to mimic enzymes. The paper presents data concerning the soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics and chemical characteristics of crude oil that will be used in the Greenhouse experiment. Also, in the paper is achieved the state of the art for β-cyclodextrins used in bioremediation of soils polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons

The influence of a natural biodegradable product on the biodegradation of crude oil polluted soil

Crude oil pollution is a world-wide threat to environment and the remediation of crude oil polluted soil is a challenge for environmental protection research. Bioremediation is a useful method for soil remediation without second effect on soil quality and it is not an expensive technology from economical point of view. Biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down by the enzymes produced by living organisms. Although biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons may be successfully achieved under controlled conditions, the bioremediation of polluted soils still remains a challenge. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of a natural biodegradable product on petroleum hydrocarbons degradation in a crude oil polluted soil. It is a laboratory experiment achieved during two years in Green House. Soil was artificially polluted with 5% and 10% crude oil and treatment applied consisted in a natural biodegradable product and bacterial inoculum. Soil polluted with 5% crude oil was treated with 50 g, respective 100 g ECOSOL/20 kg polluted soil and/or bacterial inoculum to increase the biodegradability rate and the soil polluted with 10% crude oil was treated with 100 g, respective 200 g ECOSOL/20 kg polluted soil and/or bacterial inoculum. The plant used in experiment was maize. The parameters followed during experiment were total petroleum hydrocarbons, soil reaction, total carbon, nitrogen, C/N ratio. At each phase of the study, the natural biodegradable product was found to significantly enhance the biodegradation process and detoxification of the crude oil polluted soils employed by increasing the bioavailability of the pollutants and the activity of indigenous microorganisms. During the experiment, the biodegradation rate reached higher values according with treatment

A review on different bioremediation technologies for soil polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons

Crude oil and its derivates now has become a threat to environment due to extraction and transportation. Accidental oil spills occur regularly at many locations throughout the world. Contamination / pollution of soil with petroleum hydrocarbons has become a serious problem. Various physical, chemical and biological remediation strategies have been used to restore polluted soils. For bioremediation technology application, it is necessary to know the optimizing ways of the biodegradation process. Even though cost the of soil decontamination is roughly similar in many ways, more and more of pollution research is directed to biotechnological methods based on the ability of microorganisms to degrade certain pollutants under both natural conditions and through anthropogenic intervention meant to shorten the time of ecological reconstruction of polluted sites. Bioremediation can be divided into two basic types: natural attenuation, which can be applied when the natural conditions are suitable for the performance of bioremediation without human intervention, and engineered bioremediation, which is used when is necessary to add substances that stimulate microorganisms. Soil bioremediation technologies could be in situ or ex situ. As bioremediation technologies in situ cand be applied: biostimulation, bioaugmentation, bioventing, stimulation with surfactans, phytoremediation, use of agricultural land, natural attenuation, biobubbling, cometabolism. Ex situ bioremediation technologies could be achieved by bioreactors, hovering the land, biopile, composting

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF CRUDE OIL POLLUTION ON SOIL PROPERTIES

Pollution caused by crude oil is the most prevalent problem in the environment. The release of crude oil into theenvironment by oil spills is receiving worldwide attention. The effect of crude oil pollution on soil properties wasinvestigated by achieving a case study in Perisoru, Braila County. It has been achieved a profile until 120 cm and soilsamples were collected according to the methodology and analyzed for some physical and chemical properties. In caseof physical analysis, the values obtained for granulometric fractions were not influenced by the presence of crude oil.Results obtained showed variation in chemical properties of soil. Organic carbon increased from 2.23% for anunpolluted soil to 5.51% in polluted soil. C/N ratios increased from 13.01 for an unpolluted soil to 20.54 in pollutedsoil. Mobile phosphorous and potassium registered in polluted soil similar values with the one characteristic forunpolluted soil. Crude oil at high pollution levels inhibited the growth of crops

A REVIEW OF BIOLOGICAL METHODS TO REMEDIATE CRUDE OIL POLLUTED SOIL

Environmental pollution by crude oil can occur naturally through seepage or from anthropogenic sources via spillage, accidents or improper disposal of crude oil and related products. The main characteristic of pollution from refinery and petrochemical plants consists in that the pollution source is active, most often for a short period of time, but has an important intensity, polluting agent consisting generally of petroleum fractions. Also, in most cases of accidental spills of petroleum products, surface soil affected is much smaller than the first surface polluted aquifer pollution front met. Recent research has shown that biological methods to remediate crude oil polluted soil are a superior effective and much cheaper method compared with physicochemical methods. Biological methods are based on the activity of microorganisms to use crude oil as a source of carbon and energy. These methods are considered to be the most effective because it does not have irreversible effects on soil characteristics. Microorganisms such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, yeasts and fungi break down these dangerous chemicals into less toxic or non-toxic compounds

THE MEDIATION IN THE MEDICAL MALPRAXIS

The conflict has been defined over time in many forms. Dispute, disagreement, fight, litigation, divergence are common terms that we hear every day and that talk about the existence of conflict situations. When there is a clash of interests, concepts or egos of people, we are dealing with a conflict.            The medical malpraxis is a topic that throughout the last years has raised many controversies

GSK-3 Inhibitors and Tooth Repair: An Ethical Analysis

Tideglusib®, a GSK-3 inhibitor, was initially tested for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. However, a recent report has suggested its potential off-label use for the treatment of dental cavities. Even if this effect is not yet confirmed, this off-label use can have significant public/dental health consequences, mainly because of the large number of patients with cavities. The purpose of this mini-review is to perform an ethical analysis of the use of Tideglusib in dentistry. The ethical analysis identified three main areas in which ethical breaches could be significant: 1) respect for the autonomy of the patient, 2) issues raised by horizontal shifts in the translational research process, and 3) the conflict between dental beneficence and general non-maleficence. In conclusion, the use of Tideglusib in dentistry should respect the same strict ethical and regulatory criteria from clinical medicine. A translation of the potential risks should be done only after large-scale, phase-III/IV clinical trials, explicitly designed to test the usefulness of this drug in dental medicine