63 research outputs found
Customer orientation of service employees in family businesses in the hotel sector
The business interactions between front-line employees and customers are crucial to evaluating service quality and for business performance. A gap has been identified in the literature on both customer orientation of service employees (COSE) and family businesses (FBs). These two concepts have never been studied together before. This study presents a concept that develops a theoretical model based on Hennig-Thurau (2004). This model drives research about the COSE and FBs in the hotel sector. The two main contributions are: (1) electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is proposed as a consequence of COSE within FBs and (2) a questionnaire has been developed from relevant subscales to measure COSE and the two possible consequences derived from it (Customer Satisfaction and eWOM). A database from Iberic Balance Analysis System (SABI) has been selected to study these variables in the hotel sector, and it will be used in a future empirical study that is expected to provide support for the theory
The influence of digital capabilities on customer orientation of service employees (COSE) and its consequences on customer satisfaction and e-WOM within Family Businesses
Customer relations have become a key matter in services businesses daily activities. Due to the intangibility of services, the employee service performance is what customers perceive as the reflection of the service quality. Due to this fact, the customer orientation of front-line employees, primarily in services industry, plays a crucial role in getting positives/negatives results with regards to customer satisfaction. Customer orientation of service employees (COSE) is a key concept within marketing literature. It has been demonstrated by previous authors the positives effects that has in customer satisfaction and customer retention (Hennig-Thurau. 2004: Morales and Ruiz-Alba, 2018)
Time-of-flight and activation experiments on 147Pm and 171Tm for astrophysics
The neutron capture cross section of several key unstable isotopes acting as branching points in the s-process are crucial for stellar nucleosynthesis studies, but they are very challenging to measure due to the difficult production of sufficient sample material, the high activity of the resulting samples, and the actual (n,γ) measurement, for which high neutron fluxes and effective background rejection capabilities are required. As part of a new program to measure some of these important branching points, radioactive targets of 147Pm and 171Tm have been produced by irradiation of stable isotopes at the ILL high flux reactor. Neutron capture on 146Nd and 170Er at the reactor was followed by beta decay and the resulting matrix was purified via radiochemical separation at PSI. The radioactive targets have been used for time-of-flight measurements at the CERN n-TOF facility using the 19 and 185 m beam lines during 2014 and 2015. The capture cascades were detected using a set of four C6D6 scintillators, allowing to observe the associated neutron capture resonances. The results presented in this work are the first ever determination of the resonance capture cross section of 147Pm and 171Tm. Activation experiments on the same 147Pm and 171Tm targets with a high-intensity 30 keV quasi-Maxwellian flux of neutrons will be performed using the SARAF accelerator and the Liquid-Lithium Target (LiLiT) in order to extract the corresponding Maxwellian Average Cross Section (MACS). The status of these experiments and preliminary results will be presented and discussed as well
Characterization of the n-TOF EAR-2 neutron beam
The experimental area 2 (EAR-2) at CERNs neutron time-of-flight facility (n-TOF), which is operational since 2014, is designed and built as a short-distance complement to the experimental area 1 (EAR-1). The Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter (PPAC) monitor experiment was performed to characterize the beam prole and the shape of the neutron 'ux at EAR-2. The prompt γ-flash which is used for calibrating the time-of-flight at EAR-1 is not seen by PPAC at EAR-2, shedding light on the physical origin of this γ-flash
Measurement of the 240Pu(n,f) cross-section at the CERN n-TOF facility : First results from experimental area II (EAR-2)
The accurate knowledge of the neutron-induced fission cross-sections of actinides and other isotopes involved in the nuclear fuel cycle is essential for the design of advanced nuclear systems, such as Generation-IV nuclear reactors. Such experimental data can also provide the necessary feedback for the adjustment of nuclear model parameters used in the evaluation process, resulting in the further development of nuclear fission models. In the present work, the 240Pu(n,f) cross-section was measured at CERN's n-TOF facility relative to the well-known 235U(n,f) cross section, over a wide range of neutron energies, from meV to almost MeV, using the time-of-flight technique and a set-up based on Micromegas detectors. This measurement was the first experiment to be performed at n-TOF's new experimental area (EAR-2), which offers a significantly higher neutron flux compared to the already existing experimental area (EAR-1). Preliminary results as well as the experimental procedure, including a description of the facility and the data handling and analysis, are presented
New measurement of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section at n-TOF-EAR1 for MOX fuels : Preliminary results in the RRR
The spent fuel of current nuclear reactors contains fissile plutonium isotopes that can be combined with 238U to make mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. In this way the Pu from spent fuel is used in a new reactor cycle, contributing to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy. The use of MOX fuels in thermal and fast reactors requires accurate capture and fission cross sections. For the particular case of 242Pu, the previous neutron capture cross section measurements were made in the 70's, providing an uncertainty of about 35% in the keV region. In this context, the Nuclear Energy Agency recommends in its "High Priority Request List" and its report WPEC-26 that the capture cross section of 242Pu should be measured with an accuracy of at least 7-12% in the neutron energy range between 500 eV and 500 keV. This work presents a brief description of the measurement performed at n-TOF-EAR1, the data reduction process and the first ToF capture measurement on this isotope in the last 40 years, providing preliminary individual resonance parameters beyond the current energy limits in the evaluations, as well as a preliminary set of average resonance parameters
Measurement of the Ge 70 (n,γ) cross section up to 300 keV at the CERN n-TOF facility
©2019 American Physical Society.Neutron capture data on intermediate mass nuclei are of key importance to nucleosynthesis in the weak component of the slow neutron capture processes, which occurs in massive stars. The (n,γ) cross section on Ge70, which is mainly produced in the s process, was measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF at CERN. Resonance capture kernels were determined up to 40 keV neutron energy and average cross sections up to 300 keV. Stellar cross sections were calculated from kT=5 keV to kT=100 keV and are in very good agreement with a previous measurement by Walter and Beer (1985) and recent evaluations. Average cross sections are in agreement with Walter and Beer (1985) over most of the neutron energy range covered, while they are systematically smaller for neutron energies above 150 keV. We have calculated isotopic abundances produced in s-process environments in a 25 solar mass star for two initial metallicities (below solar and close to solar). While the low metallicity model reproduces best the solar system germanium isotopic abundances, the close to solar model shows a good global match to solar system abundances in the range of mass numbers A=60-80.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
The measurement programme at the neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF at CERN
Neutron-induced reaction cross sections are important for a wide variety of research fields ranging from the study of nuclear level densities, nucleosynthesis to applications of nuclear technology like design, and criticality and safety assessment of existing and future nuclear reactors, radiation dosimetry, medical applications, nuclear waste transmutation, accelerator-driven systems and fuel cycle investigations. Simulations and calculations of nuclear technology applications largely rely on evaluated nuclear data libraries. The evaluations in these libraries are based both on experimental data and theoretical models. CERN's neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF has produced a considerable amount of experimental data since it has become fully operational with the start of its scientific measurement programme in 2001. While for a long period a single measurement station (EAR1) located at 185 m from the neutron production target was available, the construction of a second beam line at 20 m (EAR2) in 2014 has substantially increased the measurement capabilities of the facility. An outline of the experimental nuclear data activities at n-TOF will be presented
Measurement of the 72Ge(n,γ) cross section over a wide neutron energy range at the CERN n_TOF facility
The Ge72(n,γ) cross section was measured for neutron energies up to 300keV at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF (CERN), Geneva, for the first time covering energies relevant to heavy-element synthesis in stars. The measurement was performed at the high-resolution beamline EAR-1, using an isotopically enriched GeO272 sample. The prompt capture γ rays were detected with four liquid scintillation detectors, optimized for low neutron sensitivity. We determined resonance capture kernels up to a neutron energy of 43keV, and averaged cross sections from 43 to 300keV. Maxwellian-averaged cross section values were calculated from kT=5 to 100keV, with uncertainties between 3.2% and 7.1%. The new results significantly reduce uncertainties of abundances produced in the slow neutron capture process in massive stars
Neutron capture measurement at the n TOF facility of the 204Tl and 205Tl s-process branching points
Neutron capture cross sections are one of the fundamental nuclear data in
the study of the s (slow) process of nucleosynthesis. More interestingly, the competition
between the capture and the decay rates in some unstable nuclei determines the local
isotopic abundance pattern. Since decay rates are often sensible to temperature and
electron density, the study of the nuclear properties of these nuclei can provide valuable
constraints to the physical magnitudes of the nucleosynthesis stellar environment. Here
we report on the capture cross section measurement of two thallium isotopes, 204Tl
and 205Tl performed by the time-of-flight technique at the n TOF facility at CERN.
At some particular stellar s-process environments, the decay of both nuclei is strongly
enhanced, and determines decisively the abundance of two s-only isotopes of lead,
204Pb and 205Pb. The latter, as a long-lived radioactive nucleus, has potential use
as a chronometer of the last s-process events that contributed to final solar isotopic
abundances
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