978 research outputs found
Effects of image and advertising efficiency on customer loyalty and antecedents of loyalty: turkish banks sample
The present study examines the relationships between image, advertising efficiency, customer satisfaction, customer expectation, perceived quality, perceived value, customer complaint and customer loyalty. These variables are increasingly recognised as being sources of competitive advantage.
However, little empirical research has been conducted to examine these variables simultaneously and their relationships with post-purchase behaviour especially service organizations like banks. The present study was therefore designed to develop an understanding of the relationships between these variables and their influence on loyalty. An integrative model was developed and tested by using data collected from the customers of Turkish banks. The results reveal that bank image and advertising efficiency influence customer loyalty and antecedents of loyalty significantly
Effects of image and advertising efficiency on customer loyalty and antecedents of loyalty: turkish banks sample
The present study examines the relationships between image, advertising efficiency, customer satisfaction, customer expectation, perceived quality, perceived value, customer complaint and customer loyalty. These variables are increasingly recognised as being sources of competitive advantage.
However, little empirical research has been conducted to examine these variables simultaneously and their relationships with post-purchase behaviour especially service organizations like banks. The present study was therefore designed to develop an understanding of the relationships between these variables and their influence on loyalty. An integrative model was developed and tested by using data collected from the customers of Turkish banks. The results reveal that bank image and advertising efficiency influence customer loyalty and antecedents of loyalty significantly
Neural signature of inattentional deafness
Inattentional deafness is the failure to hear otherwise audible sounds (usually alarms) that may occur under high workload conditions. One potential cause for its occurrence could be an atten- tional bottleneck that occurs when task demands are high, resulting in lack of resources for processing of additional tasks. In this fMRI experiment, we explore the brain regions active during the occurrence of inattentional deafness using a difficult perceptual-motor task in which the participants fly through a simulated Red Bull air race course and at the same time push a button on the joystick to the presence of audio alarms. Participants were instructed to focus on the difficult piloting task and to press the button on the joystick quickly when they noticed an audio alarm. The fMRI results revealed that audio misses relative to hits had significantly greater activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus IFG and the superior medial frontal cortex. Consistent with an attentional bottleneck, activity in these regions was also present for poor flying performance (contrast of gates missed versus gates passed for the flying task). A psychophysiological interaction analysis from the IFG identified reduced effective connectivity to auditory processing regions in the right superior temporal gyrus for missed audio alarms relative to audio alarms that were heard. This study identifies a neural signature of inattentional deafness in an ecologically valid situation by directly measuring differences in brain activity and effective connectivity between audio alarms that were not heard compared to those that were heard
The effect of initial pH and retention time on boron removal by continuous electrocoagulation process
In this study, factors influencing boron removal via the continuous electrocoagulation process were investigated at lab-scale. Different influent pH values (4, 5, 6, 7.45 and 9) and contact times (10, 25, 50 and 100 min) were examined as variable parameters. Plate-type aluminium electrodes with 5 mm distance between them were used. All the experiments were conducted in continuous mode and the current density was kept constant at 5 A throughout the whole experimental period. The initial boron concentration was selected to be 1000 mg L-1. The first set of experiments concerning the influence of the influent pH showed that the highest boron removal (67%) was obtained at pH=6 since it was the optimal pH for boron precipitation through aluminium borate formation. Under the constant current density of the study and with the initial pH adjusted to 6, increasing the duration of the electrocoagulation process from 10 to 100 min resulted in raising the boron removal from 45 to 79% during the second set of experiments. The greater duration of the electrocagulation process enabled higher aluminium dissolution, thus allowing the existence of a higher number of coagulants within the reactor. Moreover, it enhanced boron precipitation because of the longer contact time between the boron ions and the coagulants. After optimizing significant parameters such as the influent pH and the electrocagulation duration, the continuous electrocoagulation process was found to constitute an effective alternative for boron removal
Study of Short-distance Spin and Charge Correlations and Local Density-of-States in the CMR regime of the One-Orbital Model for Manganites
The metal-insulator transition, and the associated magnetic transition, in
the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) regime of the one-orbital model for
manganites is here studied using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. Both cooperative
oxygen lattice distortions and a finite superexchange coupling among the
spins are included in our investigations. Charge and spin
correlations are studied. In the CMR regime, a strong competition between the
ferromagnetic metallic and antiferromagnetic charge-ordered insulating states
is observed. This competition is shown to be important to understand the
resistivity peak that appears near the critical temperature. Moreover, it is
argued that the system is dynamically inhomogeneous, with short-range charge
and spin correlations that slowly evolve with MC time, producing the glassy
characteristics of the CMR state. The local density-of-states (LDOS) is also
investigated, and a pseudogap (PG) is found to exist in the CMR temperature
range. The width of the PG in the LDOS is calculated and directly compared with
recent scanning-tunneling-spectroscopy (STS) experimental results. The
agreement between our calculation and the experiment suggests that the
depletion of the conductance at low bias observed experimentally is a
reflection on the existence of a PG in the LDOS spectra, as opposed to a hard
gap. The apparent homogeneity observed via STS techniques could be caused by
the slow time characteristics of this probe. Faster experimental methods should
unveil a rather inhomogeneous state in the CMR regime, as already observed in
neutron scattering experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
Accurate characterization of moisture absorption in polymeric materials
The importance of using the exact solution of the hindered diffusion model is demonstrated on experimental data from a nanoclay/epoxy composite.Ye
Design of high power S-band GaN MMIC power amplifiers for WiMAX applications
This paper reports two different S band GaN MMIC PA designs for WiMAX applications. First PA has a 42.6 dBm output power with a 55%PAE @ 3.5 GHz and 16 dB small signal gain in the 3.2-3.8 GHz frequency range. When two of these MMICs were combined by using off-chip Lange Couplers, 45.3 dBm output power with a 45%PAE @3.5Ghz and 16 dB small signal gain were obtained with less than 0.2 dB gain ripple in the 3.3-3.8 GHz frequency range. © 2011 IEEE
The effects of spirulina on allergic rhinitis
Abstract The prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing globally due to various causes. It affects the quality life of a large group of people in all around the world. Allergic rhinitis still remains inadequately controlled with present medical means. The need of continuous medical therapy makes individuals anxious about the side effects of the drugs. So there is a need for an alternative strategy. Effects of spirulina, tinospora cordifolia and butterbur were investigated recently on allergic rhinitis in just very few investigations. Spirulina represents a blue-green alga that is produced and commercialized as a dietary supplement for modulating immune functions, as well as ameliorating a variety of diseases. This double blind, placebo controlled study, evaluated the effectiveness and tolerability of spirulina for treating patients with allergic rhinitis. Spirulina consumption significantly improved the symptoms and physical findings compared with placebo (P \ 0.001***) including nasal discharge, sneezing, nasal congestion and itching. Spirulina is clinically effective on allergic rhinitis when compared with placebo. Further studies should be performed in order to clarify the mechanism of this effect
Modeling and Experimental Validation of Anomalous Moisture Absorption of Micro and Nanocomposite Laminates
Susceptibility of polymeric composites to moisture has been well known for several decades. Most high performance epoxy or bismaleimide (BMI) resins and their fiber-reinforced composites may absorb up to 5 wt% moisture which could lead to 10-30% reduction in various mechanical properties, including flexural strength, stiffness, impact resistance, and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). In particular, fiber-matrix interface and process-induced defects such as microvoids often act as moisture storage sites, thus increasing the maximum intake level. It has been common practice to use a Fickian model to characterize the diffusion of moisture into polymeric composites. However, in several high-performance and mission critical applications, more sophisticated models accounting for the edge effects, anisotropy of absorption, molecular interactions, and interfacial storage are required to fully describe the long- and short-term moisture absorption dynamics. In this article, a model that combines the classical Fickian behavior and diffusion hindrance due to molecular bonding is used to explain anomalous absorption. The hindered diffusion model (HDM) is shown to predict both short-term Fickian and long-term anomalous, non-Fickian absorption behavior often observed in structural composites. The total amount of absorption is shown to be the sum of bound and unbound liquids, which are coupled through a differential diffusion and a temporal storage model. The accuracy of the model predictions is discussed by comparing the model predictions with the experimentally measured mass gain of graphite/epoxy laminates and clay/epoxy nanocomposites. It is shown that the anomalous moisture absorption dynamics observed in these laminates can be accurately predicted by the hindered diffusion model.YesPolymer Processing Society Asia/Australia Conference PPS-2016, October 11-14, 2016, Chengdu, Chin
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