Digital Service Quality and Customer Loyalty of Commercial Banks in Jordan: the Mediating Role of Corporate Image

The major goal of this research is to examine the influence of corporate image on the relationship between digital service quality and customer loyalty for Jordanian commercial banks. The current research focuses on Jordan’s banking sector. Jordan has a unique financial structure that has helped it to rise to prominence in the Middle East and around the world. This sector is made up of 20 commercial banks and four Islamic banks. The core data for this study was gathered using a random sample method. The research was conducted using a self-report questionnaire as the primary tool. The study hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The findings confirmed that the quality of digital services had a direct impact on customer loyalty, with corporate image serving as a mediating effect. The researchers proposed that the top management of the organizations questioned work on involving the customer in the production process by taking into account his opinion on electronic service components and characteristics, which allows the consumer to decide on product quality

An Adaptive Fractal Image Steganography Using Mandelbrot and Linear Congruent Generator

Despite the advancements that occurred in the field of technology, information security (i.e., IS) is still deemed important and critical topic. It is still especially deemed so during the transfer process. In this research, a new approach is proposed for hiding information through the use of iterated function systems (i.e., IFS) from Fractals. This approach employs the main feature of fractals that concentrate on the idea that hackers who seek to find the hidden data shall not be able of locating it. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a decoding process in the aim of revering the conversion for securing the transmitted information. In this research, the secure information is hidden inside a fractal Mandelbrot image using the Linear Congruent Generator (i.e., LCG). Regarding the proposed system, it generates the fractal image through the use of the predefined knowledge gained from the hider site that works as a host for different types of secret messages. The knowledge that comes from the key of image dimensions, parameters of Mandelbrot, LCG key, and key agreement of cryptography method, which makes Stego-image analyses of hidden data unacceptable without the correct knowledge. Based on the results that are obtained through carrying out experiments showed the proposed method meets all the requirements for steganography. Such requirements include: the ones related to capacity, visual appearance, undetectability, robustness against extraction (i.e., security), and hit the highest capacities with a visual appearance of high quality

Buccal dental microwear and stable isotopes of El Collado: A mesolithic site from Spain

This study examines the correlation between buccal dental microwear and stable isotopes. The buccal surface of post-canine teeth casts from El Collado, the largest Mesolithic site in Spain, were examined under Scanning Electron Microscope; photomicrographs were taken from the middle third of the buccal surface with magnification 100X. Only six individuals passed the criteria for buccal dental microwear analysis. The photomicrographs were treated by adobe Photoshop 8.01 to cover an area 0.56 mm² of middle third of buccal surface, the output photomicrographs were digitized using Sigmascan Pro 5 by SPSS. Then the correlation between buccal microwear pattern and stable isotopes of the same individuals, of the previous study of Guixe et al., 2006, was examined using a Pearson test. Statistical analysis revealed that there is no significant correlation between stable isotopes and buccal dental microwear of the people of the Mesolithic site of El Collado. The historical and archaeological documentation suggest that the Mesolithic people tended to consume marine food. Fish-drying techniques were used during the Mesolithic period which allowed the introduction of dust and sand to the fish. These abrasive particles affected the buccal dental microwear pattern, so that no correlation between the isotopes and microwear may be expected. This also suggests that the buccal dental microwear pattern exceeds dietary reconstruction to reconstruct food processing techniques

Risk assessment for the spread of Serratia marcescens within dental-unit waterline systems using Vermamoeba vermiformis

Vermamoeba vermiformis is associated with the biofilm ecology of dental-unit waterlines (DUWLs). This study investigated whether V. vermiformis is able to act as a vector for potentially pathogenic bacteria and so aid their dispersal within DUWL systems. Clinical dental water was initially examined for Legionella species by inoculating it onto Legionella selective-medium plates. The molecular identity/profile of the glassy colonies obtained indicated none of these isolates were Legionella species. During this work bacterial colonies were identified as a non-pigmented Serratia marcescens. As the water was from a clinical DUWL which had been treated with Alpron™ this prompted the question as to whether S. marcescens had developed resistance to the biocide. Exposure to Alpron™ indicated that this dental biocide was effective, under laboratory conditions, against S. marcescens at up to 1x108 colony forming units/millilitre (cfu/ml). V. vermiformis was cultured for eight weeks on cells of S. marcescens and Escherichia coli. Subsequent electron microscopy showed that V. vermiformis grew equally well on S. marcescens and E. coli (p = 0.0001). Failure to detect the presence of S. marcescens within the encysted amoebae suggests that V. vermiformis is unlikely to act as a vector supporting the growth of this newly isolated, nosocomial bacterium

Developing an ecologically relevant heterogeneous biofilm model for dental-unit waterlines

This study monitored the biodiversity of microbes cultured from a heterogeneous biofilm which had formed on the lumen of a section of dental waterline tubing over a period of 910 days. By day two bacterial counts on the outlet-water showed that contamination of the system had occurred. After 14 days, a biofilm comparable to that of clinical waterlines, consisting of bacteria, fungi and amoebae had formed. This showed that the proprietary silver coating applied to the lumenal surface of the commercial waterline tubing failed to prevent biofilm formation. Molecular barcoding of isolated culturable microorganisms showed some degree of the diversity of taxa in the biofilm, including the opportunistic pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Whilst the system used for isolation and identification of contaminating microorganisms may underestimate the diversity of organisms in the biofilm, their similarity to those found in the clinical environment makes this a promising test-bed for future biocide testing