83 research outputs found
Combining the Concepts of Fear Aroual and Customer Satisfaction & Retention - An Ethnographic Case Study on Krav Maga
The purpose behind this study is to explore and explain the role of fear arousal when combined with the concept of customer satisfaction and retention in one marketing strategy. The major theories applied are the concept of fear appeals and the concept of customer satisfaction & customer retention. We chose to conduct our research through an ethnographic case study of KM. We did a qualitative study where we collected 10 interviews and we conducted observations. Our empirical data consists of academic articles from scientific journals, interviews and observations. Our Findings are: Fear is the biggest factor in creating customer satisfaction and retention in the case of KM. The use of fear arousal is actually benefiting our respondents since it is resulting in more self-confident and self-secure individuals
Developing a satellite-based combined land degradation index for monitoring environmental change: A case study in Tana-Beles watershed, Upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia
Land degradation is one of the most pressing environmental challenges due to its effect on the people and ecosystem. Early detection of land degradation could help to avoid further deterioration and work on reversing the trend. This would require an integrated approach combining indicators such as vegetation condition, soil health (i.e., soil salinity), and soil exposure (i.e., albedo) to characterize land degradation comprehensively. Therefore, this study aims at developing a satellite image-based combined land degradation index to monitor the spatial extent of land degradation in the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. In addition, the study also evaluates the environmental change associated with land degradation across the Tana-Beles watershed. The combined land degradation index (CLDI) was developed by integrating multiple indicators, including normalized vegetation Index (NDVI), salinity index (SI), and albedo, for two periods spanning between 1990 and 2000 (1990s) and 2010 to 2020 (2010s). The individual indicators were combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) by assigning weights to the individual indicators. The analysis indicated that, in the 2010s, the vegetation condition deteriorated over 98.5% of the study area, while soil salinity and albedo increased by 82% and 97% in the 1990s, respectively. The combined land degradation index developed with the PCA indicated in the 2020s a fraction of the study area ∼2% is extremely degraded, while 18%, 43%, 27%, and 10% of the site is strongly, moderately, slightly, and not degraded, respectively. Monitoring land degradation is important for countries like Ethiopia, where most of the county are occupied by semi-arid and arid climate zones
Suitability mapping of several sustainable land management practices (SLMs) in Uzbekistan
The suitability of 18 sustainable land management (SLM) practices in Uzbekistan were mapped to show where they could be done
Wavelet signatures of -splitting of the Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance in deformed nuclei from high-resolution (p,p) scattering off Nd
The phenomenon of fine structure of the Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance
(ISGQR) has been studied with high energy-resolution proton inelastic
scattering at iThemba LABS in the chain of stable even-mass Nd isotopes
covering the transition from spherical to deformed ground states. A wavelet
analysis of the background-subtracted spectra in the deformed 146,148,150Nd
isotopes reveals characteristic scales in correspondence with scales obtained
from a Skyrme RPA calculation using the SVmas10 parameterization. A semblance
analysis shows that these scales arise from the energy shift between the main
fragments of the K = 0, 1 and K = 2 components.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Modelling of fast landslides and waves induced by them in reservoirs and other water bodies
Some fast, catastrophic landslides, propagating over long distances exhibit a fluid like behaviour. Fluidization ?or liquefaction-of the soil is caused by its very loose, metastable structure. Tendency to densify under shearing generates the
high pore pressures responsible of this phenomenon. We propose a general model for the coupling between solid skeleton and the pore fluids, which can be used both for initiation and propagation phases. The model is able to simulate dissipation of pore pressures at the propagation phase. From here, it is possible to simplify the model by integration in depth. If the full model is kept, it is necessary to describe the interface with the atmospheric air, which is done using a level set algorithm.
An advantage of the proposed formulation is that it is also possible to model the effects of the landslide when entering a reservoir, lake or bay. There several interfaces (air-soil, air-water and soil-water) are modeled via level set also
Народная культура и традиции
CITATION: Donaldson, L. M., et al. 2018. Deformation dependence of the isovector giant dipole resonance : theneodymium isotopic chain revisited. Physics Letters B, 776:133-138, doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2017.11.025.The original publication is available at https://www.sciencedirect.comProton inelastic scattering experiments at energy Ep=200MeV and a spectrometer scattering angle of 0° were performed on 144,146,148,150Nd and 152Sm exciting the IsoVector Giant Dipole Resonance (IVGDR). Comparison with results from photo-absorption experiments reveals a shift of resonance maxima towards higher energies for vibrational and transitional nuclei. The extracted photo-absorption cross sections in the most deformed nuclei, 150Nd and 152Sm, exhibit a pronounced asymmetry rather than a distinct double-hump structure expected as a signature of K-splitting. This behaviour may be related to the proximity of these nuclei to the critical point of the phase shape transition from vibrators to rotors with a soft quadrupole deformation potential. Self-consistent random-phase approximation (RPA) calculations using the SLy6 Skyrme force provide a relevant description of the IVGDR shapes deduced from the present data.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269317309176Publisher's versio
A high energy-resolution zero degree facility for (p,p′) and (p,t) reactions
Medium-energy hadronic scattering and reactions at zero degrees are very selective to excitations with low angular momentum transfer. Only a few facilities exist worldwide where high energy-resolution measurements of this nature can be performed. The K600 Zero-Degree Facility at iThemba LABS, South Africa, was recently successfully developed. Measurements were performed for inelastic proton scattering at an incident energy of 200 MeV for targets ranging from ²⁷Al to ²⁰⁸Pb. Excitation energy-resolution of 50 keV (FWHM) was achieved. A reasonable background subtraction procedure allows for the extraction of excitation energy spectra with low background. Measurements of the (p,t) reaction at 100 MeV benefit from a large difference in magnetic rigidity between the reaction products and primary particles, resulting in almost background-free spectra with excitation energy-resolution of 32 keV (FWHM)
Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases
The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of
aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs)
can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves
excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological
concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can
lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl
radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic
inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the
involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a
large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and
inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation
of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many
similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e.
iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The
studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic
and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and
lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and
longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is
thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As
systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have
multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent
patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of
multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the
decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference
Rehabilitation versus surgical reconstruction for non-acute anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL SNNAP): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial
BackgroundAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is a common debilitating injury that can cause instability of the knee. We aimed to investigate the best management strategy between reconstructive surgery and non-surgical treatment for patients with a non-acute ACL injury and persistent symptoms of instability.MethodsWe did a pragmatic, multicentre, superiority, randomised controlled trial in 29 secondary care National Health Service orthopaedic units in the UK. Patients with symptomatic knee problems (instability) consistent with an ACL injury were eligible. We excluded patients with meniscal pathology with characteristics that indicate immediate surgery. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) by computer to either surgery (reconstruction) or rehabilitation (physiotherapy but with subsequent reconstruction permitted if instability persisted after treatment), stratified by site and baseline Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score—4 domain version (KOOS4). This management design represented normal practice. The primary outcome was KOOS4 at 18 months after randomisation. The principal analyses were intention-to-treat based, with KOOS4 results analysed using linear regression. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN10110685, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02980367.FindingsBetween Feb 1, 2017, and April 12, 2020, we recruited 316 patients. 156 (49%) participants were randomly assigned to the surgical reconstruction group and 160 (51%) to the rehabilitation group. Mean KOOS4 at 18 months was 73·0 (SD 18·3) in the surgical group and 64·6 (21·6) in the rehabilitation group. The adjusted mean difference was 7·9 (95% CI 2·5–13·2; p=0·0053) in favour of surgical management. 65 (41%) of 160 patients allocated to rehabilitation underwent subsequent surgery according to protocol within 18 months. 43 (28%) of 156 patients allocated to surgery did not receive their allocated treatment. We found no differences between groups in the proportion of intervention-related complications.InterpretationSurgical reconstruction as a management strategy for patients with non-acute ACL injury with persistent symptoms of instability was clinically superior and more cost-effective in comparison with rehabilitation management
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