Revisiting business relationship quality in subsistence marketplaces

Micro-entrepreneurs play a critical role in alleviating poverty in subsistence marketplaces through their business relationships with microfinance institutions. Despite the enormous importance of these relationships, a critical research question on the dimensions of business relationship quality and their overall effects on relationship outcomes remains unanswered. Thus, drawing on the relationship marketing, social exchange, and self-determination theories, this study answers the focal research question by conducting in-depth interviews (n = 30), thematic analysis, and a survey (n = 300) of micro-entrepreneurs in a subsistence marketplace. The findings show a third-order business relationship quality model with three second-order dimensions (i.e., business trust, business respect, and business reciprocity) and nine subdimensions. The findings confirm the impact of business relationship quality on business customer inspiration and business customer value examined in this marketplace. The findings also identify the mediating role of customer inspiration and both the moderating and quadratic roles of relationship quality on relationship outcomes. The predictive power of the business relationship quality model is validated through PLSpredict using a training sample (n = 270) and a holdout sample (n = 30)

Pengaruh Perendaman Etil Metan Sulfonat (Ems) Terhadap Daya Tahan Tanaman Kecipir Psophocarpus Tetragonolobus (L.) Dc Polong Pendek Dari Serangan Patogen Rhizoctonia Solani

Induced Mutations with EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulfonate) has been widely reported to increase genetic diversity and improve quality of the crop. This study aimed to find out the effect of EMS immersion on short pod winged bean plant (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC) resistance from Rhizoctonia solani pathogens attack and to determine the optimum concentration to obtain mutan plants which resistant to R. solani pathogen attack. The method was experimental with Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Variables used were 2, i.e. independent and dependent variables. The independent variable was 4 levels of EMS concentrations (E0 = no EMS, E1 = 0,1% EMS, E2 = 0,3% EMS and E3 = EMS 0,5 %) and the dependent variable was the resistance of plants against disease intensity caused by R. solani. Observed parameters were dumping-off disease intensity caused by R. solani. The experiment was replicated 6 times. Data were analyzed using F test with confident levels of 5% and 1%. Furthermore, LSD (Least Significant Difference) test were carried out to determine the differences of each treatment. The results indicated that EMS caused the short pods winged bean plants more vulnerable against the attack of R. solani. Mutants categories obtained in the three treatments of EMS concentrations. Mutants were found in E1, E2 and E3 treatments in the intensity of dumping-off disease of R. solani pathogens in categories 1 and 4; 4; 3 and 4, respectively

Stealth dicing of sapphire wafers with near infra-red femtosecond pulses

The quality of the reflecting faces after dicing is critical for the fabrication of efficient and stable laser diodes emitting in the green–violet region. However, high-quality faces can be difficult to achieve for devices grown on a sapphire substrate as this material is difficult to cleave cleanly. We have therefore investigated a technology known as “stealth dicing”. The technology uses a pulsed laser to damage a plane of material inside of the wafer due to multi-photon absorption instead of cutting through the wafer surface. If the damage is induced in a line of stress points, the sample can then be cleaved easily along the damaged plane to leave a high-quality surface. The use of this technique also reduces thermal damage and debris

Modelling of Fatigue Failure for Plasma Coated Members Using Artificial Intelligence Technique

Coating materials in form of powder such as Magnesium Zirconate, Aluminum Bronze and Molybdenum were mixed in different portions and sprayed on steel specimen to find the fatigue properties of steel using plasma technique. The effect of coating mixture on the number of cycles needed for failure under different loads was done experimentally. A cyclic loading was applied to it repeatedly until failure occurs. The results were compared with those for the same specimen without coating. The results were then modelled using Artificial Intelligence Technique then optimized for maximum cycles of coated substance failure. The results showed significant improvement to the specimen’s resistance to failure with coating. Further, models were developed out of the experimental data and tested for accuracy and gave satisfactory results. However, the time consumed by the GA method was greater than that consumed by the same software for the ANN model development.Also, sensitivity analysis showed that the key effect for the variables studied was for the load while the least effect was for the Molybdenum mixture. On the other hand, using GA method, the importance of variables was maximum for the load and minimum for Magnesium oxide and Zirconate oxide mixture Further, using the correlation method, there was strong negative (i.e. inverse relationship) correlation between the number of cycles and load and weak with Magnesium oxide and Zirconate oxide mixture   while strong positive correlation was shown with Molybdenum and least positive for  Aluminum Copper Balance. Keywords: Artificial neural network, modeling, Plasma coating, fatigue failure

Deposition of Nb₃Sn Films by Multilayer Sequential Sputtering for SRF Cavity Application

Nb3Sn is considered as an alternative of Nb for SRF accelerator cavity application due to its potential to obtain higher quality factors and higher accelerating gradients at a higher operating temperature. Magnetron sputtering is one of the effective techniques that can be used to fabricate Nb3Sn on SRF cavity surface. We report on the surface properties of Nb3Sn films fabricated by sputtering multiple layers of Nb and Sn on sapphire and niobium substrates followed by annealing at 950°C for 3 h. The crystal structure, film microstructure, composition and surface roughness were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The RF performance of the Nb3Sn coated Nb substrates were measured by a surface impedance characterization system. We also report on the design of a multilayer sputter deposition system to coat a single-cell SRF cavity

Electrically isolated propagating streamer heads formed by strong electron attachment

Streamer discharges occur in the early stages of electric breakdown of gases in lightning, as well as in plasma and high voltage technology. They are growing filaments characterized by a curved charge layer at their tip that enhances the electric field ahead of them. In this study, we analyze the effect of strong electron attachment on the propagation of positive streamers. Strong attachment occurs in insulating gases like sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) or in air at increased density. We use the classical fluid approximation with photo-ionization for streamers in ambient air, and we artificially increase the electron attachment rate where the field is below the breakdown value. This modification approximates air pressures above 1 bar at room temperature. We find that the streamer head can keep propagating even though the ionized channel loses its conductivity closely behind the head; hence, even if it is electrically isolated. We describe how, depending on the attachment rate, the streamer propagation in a constant electric field can be accelerating, uniformly translating, or stagnating

Simulations of positive streamers in air in different electric fields: Steady motion of solitary streamer heads and the stability field

We simulate and characterize positive streamers in ambient air in homogeneous background electric fields from 4.5 to 26 kV/cm in a 4 cm gap. They can accelerate or decelerate depending on the background electric field. Many experiments have shown that a streamer keeps propagating in a stable manner in the so-called stability field of 4.5 to 5 kV/cm. Our fluid streamer simulations in STP air show that: (1) In a homogeneous field larger than 4.675 kV/cm, a single streamer accelerates, and in a lower field, it decelerates and eventually stagnates with a small radius and very high field enhancement. (2) In a field of 4.675 kV/cm, the streamer head propagates with an approximately constant velocity of 6.7 x 104 m/s and an optical radius of 55 μm over distances of several centimeters as a stable coherent structure. These values for the radius and velocity agree well with measurements of so-called minimal streamers. (3) Behind the uniformly translating streamer head, the channel conductivity decreases due to electron attachment and recombination, and the electric field returns to its background value about 1 cm behind the head. The propagation behavior of the solitary streamer agrees with the original definition of the stability field, which is the homogeneous field in which a streamer can propagate with a constant speed and shape

Simulations of positive streamers in air in different electric fields: Steady motion of solitary streamer heads and the stability field

We simulate and characterize positive streamers in ambient air in homogeneous background electric fields from 4.5 to 26 kV/cm in a 4 cm gap. They can accelerate or decelerate depending on the background electric field. Many experiments have shown that a streamer keeps propagating in a stable manner in the so-called stability field of 4.5 to 5 kV/cm. Our fluid streamer simulations in STP air show that: (1) In a homogeneous field larger than 4.675 kV/cm, a single streamer accelerates, and in a lower field, it decelerates and eventually stagnates with a small radius and very high field enhancement. (2) In a field of 4.675 kV/cm, the streamer head propagates with an approximately constant velocity of 6.7 x 104 m/s and an optical radius of 55 μm over distances of several centimeters as a stable coherent structure. These values for the radius and velocity agree well with measurements of so-called minimal streamers. (3) Behind the uniformly translating streamer head, the channel conductivity decreases due to electron attachment, and the electric field returns to its background value about 1 cm behind the head. The propaga

The IDEAL framework in neurosurgery: a bibliometric analysis

Funder: University of CambridgeAbstract: Background: The Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment and Long-term study (IDEAL) framework was created to provide a structured way for assessing and evaluating novel surgical techniques and devices. Objectives: The aim of this paper was to investigate the utilization of the IDEAL framework within neurosurgery, and to identify factors influencing implementation. Methods: A bibliometric analysis of the 7 key IDEAL papers on Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases (2009–2019) was performed. A second journal-specific search then identified additional papers citing the IDEAL framework. Publications identified were screened by two independent reviewers to select neurosurgery-specific articles. Results: The citation search identified 1336 articles. The journal search identified another 16 articles. Following deduplication and review, 51 relevant articles remained; 14 primary papers (27%) and 37 secondary papers (73%). Of the primary papers, 5 (36%) papers applied the IDEAL framework to their research correctly; two were aligned to the pre-IDEAL stage, one to the Idea and Development stages, and two to the Exploration stage. Of the secondary papers, 21 (57%) explicitly discussed the IDEAL framework. Eighteen (86%) of these were supportive of implementing the framework, while one was not, and two were neutral. Conclusion: The adoption of the IDEAL framework in neurosurgery has been slow, particularly for early-stage neurosurgical techniques and inventions. However, the largely positive reviews in secondary literature suggest potential for increased use that may be achieved with education and publicity