1,686 research outputs found
Customer heterogeneity in operational e-service design attributes: n empirical investigation of service quality
Purpose – This study aims to empirically examine whether heterogeneity in personal customer profiles translates to heterogeneity in the valued operational e-service design attributes. It focuses on a
key operational e-service design attribute – service quality – by investigating whether customers with different profiles (demographics, pattern of use of the service, and pattern of channel use) attach
different levels of importance to different dimensions of web site quality.
Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on path analysis of data collected from
multiple sources in a commercial e-service setting (e-banking): data from an online survey of the customers of the e-service; data stored in the transaction and log files generated by the operation of the
e-service over time; and data from the e-service provider’s customer database and back office IT systems.
Findings – The results suggest that: customer demographics, pattern of service use, and pattern of
channel use have no influence on the importance attached by customers to web site quality dimensions; and customer demographics affect the pattern of use of an e-service.
Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine this question in other types
of e-services and should examine other types of profile variables.
Practical implications – Service providers may not need to employ customization at the level of
web site quality dimensions. The findings support the existence of the concept of an “optimal” web site
design for quality.
Originality/value – The paper answers calls for an increased understanding of the design of high
quality e-services and for multidisciplinary research in the field of services management, in particular,
incorporating operations management perspectives
An Operational Statistical Scheme for Tropical Cyclone-Induced Rainfall Forecast
Nonparametric methods are used in this study to analyze and predict short-term rainfall due to tropical cyclones (TCs) in a coastal meteorological station. All 427 TCs during 1953–2011, which made landfall along the Southeast China coast with a distance less than 700 km to a certain meteorological station, Shenzhen, are analyzed and grouped according to their landfalling direction, distance, and intensity. The corresponding daily rainfall records at Shenzhen Meteorological Station (SMS) during TCs landfalling period (a couple of days before and after TC landfall) are collected. The maximum daily rainfall (R24) and maximum 3-day accumulative rainfall (R72) records at SMS for each TC category are analyzed by a nonparametric statistical method, percentile estimation. The results are plotted by statistical boxplot, expressing in the probability of precipitation. The performance of the statistical boxplots was evaluated to forecast the short-term rainfall at SMS during the TC seasons in 2012 and 2013. The results show that the boxplot scheme can be used as a valuable reference to predict the short-term rainfall at SMS due to TCs landfalling along the Southeast China coast
Leaf Extracts of Calocedrus formosana (Florin) Induce G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Bladder Cancer Cells
Calocedrus formosana (Florin) bark acetone/ethylacetate extracts are known to exert an antitumor effect on some human cancer cell lines, but the mechanism is yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Florin leaf methanol extracts on the growth and apoptosis of human bladder cancer cell lines. MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay showed that the growth of these bladder cancer cells was potently inhibited by the Florin leaf extracts. The cell cycle of these extract-treated cells (TCCSUP cells) was arrested at the G2/M phase as determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis revealed the increases of cyclin B1 and Cdc2 kinase levels, alone with the decrease of phosphorylated Cdc2 kinase, after treating these cells with the extracts. An immunofluorescence assessment of β-tubulin showed decreased levels of polymerized tubulin in treated cells. However, the proteolytic cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase and the activation of caspase-3/-8/-9 were all increased upon treatments of extracts. The concurrent increase of Bax and decrease of Bcl-2 levels indicated that the extracts could induce apoptosis in these treated cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the Florin leaf extracts may be an effective antibladder cancer agent
The cDNA-deduced primary structure of human sex hormone-binding globulin and location of its steroid-binding domain
AbstractWe have sequenced a cDNA for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) isolated from a phage λgt 11 human liver cDNA library. The library was screened with a radiolabeled rat androgen-binding protein (ABP) cDNA, and the abundance of SHBG cDNAs was 1 in 750 000 plaques examined. The largest human SHBG cDNA (1194 base-pairs) contained a reading frame for 381 amino acids. This comprised 8 amino acids of a signal peptide followed by 373 residues starting with the known NH2-terminal sequence of human SHBG, and ending with a termination codon. The predicted polypeptide Mr of SHBG is 40 509, and sites of attachment of one O-linked (residue 7) and two N-linked oligosaccharide (residues 351 and 367) chains were identified. Purified SHBG was photoaffinity-labeled with Δ6-[3H]testosterone and cleaved with trypsin. The labeled tryptic fragment was isolated by reverse-phase HPLC, and its NH2-terminal sequence was determined. The results suggest that a portion of the steroid-binding domain of SHBG is located between residue 296 and the 35 predominantly hydrophilic residues at the C-terminus of the protein
Who Are the Workers Who Never Joined a Union? : Empirical Evidence from Western and Eastern Germany
"Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the
European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union
‘never-membership’ in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in
Germany have never been members of a trade union. In western Germany, individuals’ probability
of ‘never-membership’ is significantly affected by their personal characteristics, their
political orientation and (to a lesser degree) their family background. In addition, the presence
of a union at the workplace plays a significant role. While the latter factor is also important in
eastern Germany, many of the variables which are relevant for ‘never-membership’ in the west
prove to be irrelevant in the east. This difference probably reflects the fact that most employees
in eastern Germany did not really have a choice not to become union members during the
communist regime." (author's abstract)"Mit Daten des ALLBUS 2002 und des European Social Survey
2002/03 analysiert diese Arbeit erstmalig die ‚Nie-Mitgliedschaft’ in deutschen Gewerkschaften.
Wir zeigen, dass 54 bis 59 Prozent aller Beschäftigten in Deutschland niemals Mitglied
einer Gewerkschaft waren. Die individuelle Wahrscheinlichkeit einer ‚Nie-Mitgliedschaft’ hängt
in Westdeutschland signifikant mit persönlichen Merkmalen, der politischen Ausrichtung und
(in geringerem Maße) dem familiären Hintergrund zusammen. Darüber hinaus spielt das Vorhandensein
einer Gewerkschaft am Arbeitsplatz eine signifikante Rolle. Während letzteres auch
in Ostdeutschland von Bedeutung ist, erweisen sich viele der im Westen relevanten Erklärungsvariablen
im Osten als irrelevant. Dieser Unterschied spiegelt wahrscheinlich wider, dass
die meisten Arbeitnehmer in Ostdeutschland während des SED-Regimes kaum die Wahl hatten,
auf eine Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft zu verzichten." (Autorenreferat
High-throughput avian molecular sexing by SYBR green-based real-time PCR combined with melting curve analysis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combination of <it>CHD </it>(chromo-helicase-DNA binding protein)-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with electrophoresis (PCR/electrophoresis) is the most common avian molecular sexing technique but it is lab-intensive and gel-required. Gender determination often fails when the difference in length between the PCR products of <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>genes is too short to be resolved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we are the first to introduce a PCR-melting curve analysis (PCR/MCA) to identify the gender of birds by genomic DNA, which is gel-free, quick, and inexpensive. <it>Spilornis cheela hoya </it>(<it>S. c. hoya</it>) and <it>Pycnonotus sinensis </it>(<it>P. sinensis</it>) were used to illustrate this novel molecular sexing technique. The difference in the length of <it>CHD </it>genes in <it>S. c. hoya </it>and <it>P. sinensis </it>is 13-, and 52-bp, respectively. Using Griffiths' P2/P8 primers, molecular sexing failed both in PCR/electrophoresis of <it>S. c. hoya </it>and in PCR/MCA of <it>S. c. hoya </it>and <it>P. sinensis</it>. In contrast, we redesigned sex-specific primers to yield 185- and 112-bp PCR products for the <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>genes of <it>S. c. hoya</it>, respectively, using PCR/MCA. Using this specific primer set, at least 13 samples of <it>S. c. hoya </it>were examined simultaneously and the Tm peaks of <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>PCR products were distinguished.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, we introduced a high-throughput avian molecular sexing technique and successfully applied it to two species. This new method holds a great potential for use in high throughput sexing of other avian species, as well.</p
Interaction of CO2 laser-modified nylon with osteoblast cells in relation to wettability
It has been amply demonstrated previously that CO2 lasers hold the ability to surface modify various polymers. In addition, it has been observed that these surface enhancements can augment the biomimetic nature of the laser irradiated materials. This research has employed a CO2 laser marker to produce trench and hatch topographical patterns with peak heights of around 1 μm on the surface of nylon 6,6. The patterns generated have been analysed using white light interferometery, optical microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to determine the surface oxygen content. Contact angle measurements were used to characterize each sample in terms of wettability. Generally, it was seen that as a result of laser processing the contact angle, surface roughness and surface oxygen content increased whilst the apparent polar and total surface energies decreased. The increase in contact angle and reduction in surface energy components was found to be on account of a mixed intermediate state wetting regime owing to the change in roughness due to the induced topographical patterns. To determine the biomimetic nature of the modified and as-received control samples each one was seeded with 2×104 cells/ml normal human osteoblast cells and observed after periods of 24 hours and 4 days using optical microscopy and SEM to determine mean cell cover densities and variations in cell morphology. In addition a haeymocytometer was used to show that the cell count for the laser patterned samples had increased by up to a factor of 1.5 compared to the as-received control sample after 4 days of incubation. Significantly, it was determined that all laser-induced patterns gave rise to better cell response in comparison to the as-received control sample studied due to increased preferential cell growth on those surfaces with increased surface roughness
Product Groups, Discrete Symmetries, and Grand Unification
We study grand unified theories based on an SU(5)xSU(5) gauge group in which
the GUT scale, M_{GUT}, is the VEV of an exact or approximate modulus, and in
which fast proton decay is avoided through a combination of a large triplet
mass and small triplet couplings. These features are achieved by discrete
symmetries. In many of our models, M_{GUT} is generated naturally by the
balance of higher dimension terms that lift the GUT modulus potential, and soft
supersymmetry breaking masses. The theories often lead to interesting patterns
of quark and lepton masses. We also discuss some distinctions between grand
unified theories and string unification.Comment: 23 pages; no figures; revtex
Identification of gene expression levels in primary melanoma associated with clinically meaningful characteristics
Factors influencing melanoma survival include sex, age, clinical stage, lymph node involvement, as well as Breslow thickness, presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes based on histological analysis of primary melanoma, mitotic rate, and ulceration. Identification of genes whose expression in primary tumors is associated with these key tumor/patient characteristics can shed light on molecular mechanisms of melanoma survival. Here, we show results from a gene expression analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary melanomas with extensive clinical annotation. The Cancer Genome Atlas data on primary melanomas were used for validation of nominally significant associations. We identified five genes that were significantly associated with the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the joint analysis after adjustment for multiple testing: IL1R2, PPL, PLA2G3, RASAL1, and SGK2. We also identified two genes significantly associated with melanoma metastasis to the regional lymph nodes (PIK3CG and IL2RA), and two genes significantly associated with sex (KDM5C and KDM6A). We found that LEF1 was significantly associated with Breslow thickness and CCNA2 and UBE2T with mitosis. RAD50 was the gene most significantly associated with survival, with a higher level of expression associated with worse survival
Relativistic Mass Ejecta from Phase-transition-induced Collapse of Neutron Stars
We study the dynamical evolution of a phase-transition-induced collapse
neutron star to a hybrid star, which consists of a mixture of hadronic matter
and strange quark matter. The collapse is triggered by a sudden change of
equation of state, which result in a large amplitude stellar oscillation. The
evolution of the system is simulated by using a 3D Newtonian hydrodynamic code
with a high resolution shock capture scheme. We find that both the temperature
and the density at the neutrinosphere are oscillating with acoustic frequency.
However, they are nearly 180 out of phase. Consequently, extremely
intense, pulsating neutrino/antineutrino fluxes will be emitted periodically.
Since the energy and density of neutrinos at the peaks of the pulsating fluxes
are much higher than the non-oscillating case, the electron/positron pair
creation rate can be enhanced dramatically. Some mass layers on the stellar
surface can be ejected by absorbing energy of neutrinos and pairs. These mass
ejecta can be further accelerated to relativistic speeds by absorbing
electron/positron pairs, created by the neutrino and antineutrino annihilation
outside the stellar surface. The possible connection between this process and
the cosmological Gamma-ray Bursts is discussed.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in JCA
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