Understanding customer satisfaction with services by leveraging big data: the role of services attributes and consumers’ cultural background

User-generated content and online reviews are becoming an increasingly relevant source of information for online customers that use them for purchasing decisions. This study examines the impact of services attributes and consumers’ cultural background on customer satisfaction with services in an online setting using big data. First, almost half a million Expedia.com hotel online reviews related to hotel properties located in five different countries (United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Russia) were retrieved. Second, the resulting dataset was used to investigate if and to what extent the overall customer satisfaction with a service is affected by the evaluation of specific hotel services attributes (operationalized based on an established typology of attributes) and by the consumers’ cultural background (operationalized by means of Hoftstede’s framework). A comprehensive multivariate regression analysis is carried out to test the literature-driven hypotheses formulated. In particular, the analysis reveals that critical service attributes such as hotel condition, room comfort, service and staff, and cleanliness positively affect the overall online satisfaction ratings. The cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance negatively affect overall online satisfaction, while long-term orientation and indulgence positively affect online satisfaction. Masculinity seem not to play a significant role. We also observe that reviews’ text length exerts a negative impact on online ratings. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Indagini termografiche, trasformazioni architettoniche e degrado dei materiali nelle chiese del centro storico di Siliqua (Sardegna S-W)

La termografia a raggi infrarossi, come noto, consente l’analisi strutturale di manufatti edilizi sulla base dell’individuazione di zone a differente temperatura e di possibili processi di scambio termico in stretta relazione con la risposta dei materiali utilizzati alle sollecitazioni termiche a cui sono interessati. Le immagini termiche, soprattutto se acquisite mediante strumentazione caratterizzata da elevata risoluzione e sensibilità, consentono di mettere in evidenza, oltre alla presenza di anomalie legate a processi di alterazione e degradazione dei materiali utilizzati, eventuali trasformazioni architettoniche avvenute nella storia del manufatto e, in particolare, caratteri costruttivi originari nascosti da interventi posteriori. Sulla base di questi presupposti, vengono esposti i risultati di una indagine applicata per lo studio di alcuni tra gli edifici storico-religiosi presenti nel paese di Siliqua (Sardegna sud-occidentale): la Chiesa di San Giorgio, la Chiesa di Sant’Anna e la Chiesa di Santa Margherita. La ricerca, in particolare, ha consentito di mettere in evidenza la struttura e la tessitura muraria dei prospetti principali, oggi coperta dall’intonaco e, sulla base di documenti storici e delle immagini fotografiche del passato, tarare la risposta termica acquisita in base alle specifiche caratteristiche dei materiali utilizzati. Lo studio è stato condotto mediante l’utilizzo della Termocamera IR Thermo Tracer TH9260 (NEC Avio Infrared Technologies Co., Ltd).Infrared thermography, as known, allows the analysis of structural building elements on the basis of the identification of areas at different temperatures and possible heat transfer processes in close relationship with the response of the materials used to thermal stresses to which they are interested. The thermal images, especially if acquired through instrumentation characterized by high resolution and sensitivity, allow to put in evidence, in addition to the presence of anomalies associated with processes of alteration and degradation of the materials used, any architectural transformations occurred in the history of the article and, in particular, original characters constructive hidden by later interventions. Based on these assumptions, the thermographic method has been applied to the study of some of the historical and religious buildings in the country of Siliqua (south-western Sardinia): the Church of San Giorgio, the Church of Sant’Anna and the Church of Santa Margherita. The research, in particular, has made it possible to highlight the structure and texture of the main elevations of walls, now covered by plaster, and, on the basis of historical documents and photographs of the past, adjust the thermal response acquired with the specific materials used. The study has been carried through non-destructive telemetry investigations through the use of Thermal Imaging Camera IR Thermo Tracer TH9260 (NEC Avio Infrared Technologies Co., Ltd)

Note of the COASTAL AND MARINE GEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAP Island of San Pietro (SW Sardinia) Scale 1:25.000

Nel presente lavoro vengono descritti i caratteri geomorfologici e strutturali dell’area marina ed insulare dell'Isola di San Pietro (Sardegna SW). Nonostante la limitata estensione, di poco più di 50 km2 di superficie, l’Isola è caratterizzata da una elevata geodiversità, legata alla presenza di numerose formazioni e ben riconoscibili tipi di rocce vulcaniche, laviche (rioliti, ignimbriti, ignimbriti riolitiche, comenditi, diaspri, ecc.) e tufacee (tufi, piroclastiti cineriti, cineriti pomicee, ocre rosse e gialle), riferibili al ciclo calcoalcalino oligo-miocenico. I processi geomorfologici legati alle acque, all’alterazione meteorica, al vento ed alla dinamica litorale hanno generato forme interne (tafoni, sculture alveolari, drappeggi, forme a fungo, valli sospese, ecc.) e soprattutto costiere (insenature a rias, scogliere, isolotti, colonne e pinnacoli, grotte costiere), talora dai connotati spettacolari quali duomi (Capo Sandalo, Cala Fico, ecc.), mineralizzazioni manganesifere, strutture di flusso (lave commenditiche di Bricco di Nasca e Montagna di Ravenna), convolute (lave commenditiche di Cala Fico) e fessurazioni colonnari. Dettagliate ricerche sul campo e analisi di laboratorio condotte utilizzando le fotografie aeree, le ortofotocarte e le immagini satellitari, hanno permesso di esaminare e classificare le morfologie riconducibili ai processi geomorfologici associati all'azione degli agenti esogeni e delle forze endogene. L’interpretazione geologico-geomorfologica del settore marino è stata condotta principalmente attraverso lo studio dei dati Side Scan Sonar supportati dalle osservazioni dirette effettuate durante i rilievi in immersione. Per le aree pericostiere (tra 0 e -15 m) sono stati analizzati i fotogrammi e le immagini satellitari di recente acquisizione. Tale procedura, associata alle osservazioni dirette raccolte in immersione, ha consentito di determinare la litologia degli affioramenti rocciosi sommersi, di ricostruire i limiti tra litotipi differenti, di rilevare le evidenze di lineamenti tettonici, di rilevare lo stato evolutivo delle forme del rilievo costiero e sottomarino, di rilevare le principali facies sedimentarie e di riconoscere evidenze di stazionamento del livello marino (paleolinee di riva). I rilievi e le verifiche in immersione sono stati finalizzati alla validazione delle ipotesi interpretative dei dati geofisici Side Scan Sonar. Le attività di interpretazione sono state condotte in ambiente CAD e GIS mentre la restituzione finale è stata ottenuta tramite software di grafica vettoriale.The Island of San Pietro, situated on the SW coast of Sardinia, covers an area of roughly 51 square kilometres. Geologically, the island is composed almost entirely of volcanic rock, with minor outcrops of Tyrrhenian fossil-bearing sandy conglomerates, of eolian sandstones, ancient and recent alluvial deposits, dunal sands and sediments deposited in palustrine and marshy environments. In spite of its small size, the island boasts a wealth of geodiversity, with the occurrence of a variety of effusive magmatic rocks formed during the Oligo-Miocene volcanic cycle that affected the whole of Sardinia. During this cycle numerous units were emplaced as well as various, easily distinguishable types of volcanic rocks, namely lava (rhyolite, rhyolitic ignimbrite, comendite, retinite, diaspore, etc.) and tuff (tuff, pyroclastite, cinerite, pumiceous cinerite, red and yellow ochre), sometimes with spectacular domes (for instance at Capo Sandalo and Cala Fico) manganese bearing mineralizations, emission centres, lava flow surface structures (comendite lava at Bricco di Nasca and Montagna di Ravenna), convolute flow structures (comendite lava at Cala Fico) and spectacular columnar fracturing. Detailed field surveys and laboratory investigations conducted using aerial photographs, orthophotographs and satellite images allowed to examine and classify those landforms attributable to geomorphological processes associated with water, weathering, wind and coastal dynamics. The marine environment was geologically-geomorphologically interpreted chiefly by examining the Side Scan Sonar data, supplemented with direct observations during underwater surveys. For the pericoastal areas (between 0 and -15 m), photograms and recently acquired satellite imagery were analysed. Side scan sonograms together with direct underwater observations were used to determine lithology of submerged rock outcrops, to reconstruct boundaries between different rock types, to detect evidence of tectonic lines, to determine the evolution of coastal and underwater relief forms, to identify the main sedimentary facies and evidence of sea level stand (palaeo shore line). Interpretive hypothesis of the side scan sonar data were validated by means of underwater surveys. Data from land and sea surveys were interpreted in CAD and GIS environments, while final rendering was obtained using vector graphics software

Aspects of geodesical motion with Fisher-Rao metric: classical and quantum

The purpose of this article is to exploit the geometric structure of Quantum Mechanics and of statistical manifolds to study the qualitative effect that the quantum properties have in the statistical description of a system. We show that the end points of geodesics in the classical setting coincide with the probability distributions that minimise Shannon's Entropy, i.e. with distributions of zero dispersion. In the quantum setting this happens only for particular initial conditions, which in turn correspond to classical submanifolds. This result can be interpreted as a geometric manifestation of the uncertainty principle.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Crossed Kirschner’s wires for the treatment of anterior flail chest: an extracortical rib fixation

Objective: Thoracic trauma may be a life-threatening condition. Flail chest is a severe chest injury with high mortality rates. Surgery is not frequently performed and, in Literature, data are controversial. The authors report their experience in the treatment of flail chest by an extracortical internal-external stabilization technique with Kirshner’s wires (K-wires). Methods: From 2010 to 2015, 137 trauma patients (109 males and 28 females) with an average age of 58.89±19.74 years were observed. Seventeen (12.41%) patients presented a flail chest and of these, 13 (9.49%) with an anterior one. All flail chest patients underwent early chest wall surgical stabilization (within 48 hours from the injury). Results: In the general population, an overall morbidity of 21.9% (n=30 of 137) and a 30-day mortality rate of 5.1% (n=7 of 137) were observed. By clustering the population according to the treatment (medical or interventional vs surgical), significant statistically differences between the two cohorts were found in morbidity (12.65% vs. 34.48%, P=0.002) and mortality rates (1.28% vs. 10.34%, P=0.017). In patients undergoing chest wall surgical stabilization, with an average Injury Severity Score of 28.3±5.2 and Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) of 8.4±1.7, an overall morbidity rate of 52.9% (n=9) and a mortality rate of 17.6% (n=3) were found. Post-surgical device removal, in local anesthesia or mild sedation, was performed 42.8±2.9 days after chest wall stabilization and no cases of wound infection, dislodgment of the wires or osteosynthesis failure were reported. Moreover, in these patients, an early postoperative improvement in pulmonary ventilation (ΔpaO2 and ΔpCO2 : +9.49 and -5.05, respectively) was reported. Conclusion: Surgical indication for the treatment of flail chest remains controversial and debated both due to an inadequate training and the absence of comparative prospective studies between various strategies. Our technique for the surgical treatment of the anterior flail chest seems to be anachronistic, but the aspects described, both in terms of technical features and of outcome and benefits (health, economic), allow to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. Keywords: Flail chest, Chest trauma, Kirschner’s wire, Injury Severity Score, Abbreviated Injury Score

landscape conservation and valorization by satellite imagery and historic maps the case of italian transhumance routes

AbstractIn order to verify the potential use of old transhumance routes as tourist resource, the paper intends to illustrate a methodology to assess their conservation state, both in terms of track accessibility and viability, as well as in terms of heritage presence, and shows the results of a survey conducted on the Castel di Sangro—Lucera route (Molise region, Southern Italy). The methodology proposed represents a first step for integrated tourism planning as to the old transhumance routes in Southern Italy, starting from the digitization of the Custom Office historic maps and continuing on through an urgently needed program of conservation and restoration of the tracks supported by cartography and satellite imagery techniques

Hamilton-Jacobi approach to Potential Functions in Information Geometry

The search for a potential function $S$ allowing to reconstruct a given metric tensor $g$ and a given symmetric covariant tensor $T$ on a manifold $\mathcal{M}$ is formulated as the Hamilton-Jacobi problem associated with a canonically defined Lagrangian on $T\mathcal{M}$. The connection between this problem, the geometric structure of the space of pure states of quantum mechanics, and the theory of contrast functions of classical information geometry is outlined.Comment: 16 pages. A discussion on the Kullback-Leibler divergence has been added. To appear in Journal of Mathematical Physic

Molecular Analysis of Prothrombotic Gene Variants in Venous Thrombosis: A Potential Role for Sex and Thrombotic Localization

Background: Requests to test for thrombophilia in the clinical context are often not evidence-based. Aim: To define the role of a series of prothrombotic gene variants in a large population of patients with different venous thromboembolic diseases. Methods: We studied Factor V Leiden (FVL), FVR2, FII G20210A, Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C, beta-fibrinogen -455 G>A, FXIII V34L, and HPA-1 L33P variants and PAI-1 4G/5G alleles in 343 male and female patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), 164 with pulmonary embolism (PE), 126 with superficial vein thrombosis (SVT), 118 with portal vein thrombosis (PVT), 75 with cerebral vein thrombosis (CVT) and 119 with retinal vein thrombosis (RVT), and compared them with the corresponding variants and alleles in 430 subjects from the general population. Results: About 40% of patients with DVT, PE and SVT had at least one prothrombotic gene variant, such as FVL, FVR2 and FII G20210A, and a statistically significant association with the event was found in males with a history of PE. In patients with a history of PVT or CVT, the FII G20210A variant was more frequent, particularly in females. In contrast, a poor association was found between RVT and prothrombotic risk factors, confirming that local vascular factors have a key role in this thrombotic event. Conclusions: Only FVL, FVR2 and FII G20210A are related to vein thrombotic disease. Other gene variants, often requested for testing in the clinical context, do not differ significantly between cases and controls. Evidence of a sex difference for some variants, once confirmed in larger populations, may help to promote sex-specific prevention of such diseases

Serafino Zappacosta: An Enlightened Mentor and Educator.

With this article, the authors aim to honor the memory of Serafino Zappacosta, who had been their mentor during the early years of their career in science. The authors discuss how the combination of Serafino Zappacosta's extraordinary commitment to teaching and passion for science created a fostering educational environment that led to the creation of the "Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School of Immunology." The review also illustrates how the research on the MHC and the inspirational scientific context in the Zappacosta's laboratory influenced the authors' early scientific interests, and subsequent professional work as immunologists