Approach with initiative or hold on passively? The impact of customer-perceived dependence on customer forgiveness in service failure

Service failure is almost inevitable with the intensifying competition in the service market and expectation of heterogeneous customers. The customer–firm relationship can significantly influence customers’ subsequent attitudes and behaviors to the service provider when they encounter service failure. This study proposes a theoretical model to examine how customer-perceived dependence affects their forgiveness toward a service failure in attribution logic. According to an experiment with 138 and a survey with 428 commercial bank customers, we used a multivariate approach to validate our model. The results show that relationship-valued dependence (RVD) leads to external attribution, which is positively related to customer forgiveness. In contrast, switching-cost dependence (SCD) leads to internal attribution, which is negatively related to customer forgiveness. The relationship length is a relevant contextual factor that acts as a negative moderating factor. Our study contributes to the service recovery literature by elucidating the underlying process of forgiveness with the presence of the customer–firm dependence relationship

Developing a Data-Driven Safety Assessment Framework for RITI Communities in Washington State

In the history of this country, rural, isolated, indigenous, and tribal (RITI) communities were commonly overlooked with regards to social infrastructure and support. This issue is evident in the development of the transportation networks of these areas and the distinct lack of road safety in these types of communities. RITI communities carry a significantly disproportionate amount of traffic collisions and fatalities compared to urban areas. In order to improve the traffic safety conditions of the RITI communities in Washington State, it is necessary to build a traffic safety management system. A baseline data platform was developed by integrating the collected safety related data for the RITI communities in Washington State in the Year 1 Center for Safety Equity in Transportation (CSET) project. Besides the baseline data, the traffic safety management also requires the safety assessment framework, which is the corner stone of the traffic safety management system. Therefore, this project aims to develop a data-driven safety assessment framework to enable an effective roadway safety management system and improve the traffic safety conditions for RITI communities. The framework is based on an effective and efficient database management system for traffic and crash-related data of the RITI communities. In addition, in order to assist transportation agencies in practices such as the identification of high-risk roadway segments, the developed database management system has powerful visualization functions. Besides the database management and visualization platform, this project also develops roadway safety performance indices and traffic safety assessment methods in the safety assessment framework. This project also provides guidance on how to utilize these safety performance indices and results of safety assessment methods for visualization and analysis

10H‐3,6‐Diazaphenothiazines triggered the mitochondrial‐dependent and cell death receptor‐dependent apoptosis pathways and further increased the chemosensitivity of MCF‐7 breast cancer cells via inhibition of AKT1 pathways

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in cancer categories, followed by lung, colorectal, and ovarian among the female gender across the world. 10H-3,6-diazaphenothiazine (PTZ) is a thiazine derivative compound that exhibits many pharmacological activities. Herein, we proceed to investigate the pharmacological activities of PTZ toward breast cancer MCF-7 cells as a representative in vitro breast cancer cell model. The PTZ exhibited a proliferation inhibition (IC50 = 0.895 µM) toward MCF-7 cells. Further, cell cycle analysis illustrated that the S-phase checkpoint was activated to achieve proliferation inhibition. In vitro cytotoxicity test on three normal cell lines (HEK293 normal kidney cells, MCF-10A normal breast cells, and H9C2 normal heart cells) demonstrated that PTZ was more potent toward cancer cells. Increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species results in polarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), together with suppression of mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase enzymatic activity suggested that PTZ induced oxidative damages toward mitochondria and contributed to improved drug efficacy toward treatment. The RT2 PCR Profiler Array (human apoptosis pathways) proved that PTZ induced cell death via mitochondria-dependent and cell death receptor-dependent pathways, through a series of modulation of caspases, and the respective morphology of apoptosis was observed. Mechanistic studies of apoptosis suggested that PTZ inhibited AKT1 pathways resulting in enhanced drug efficacy despite it preventing invasion of cancer cells. These results showed the effectiveness of PTZ in initiation of apoptosis, programmed cell death, toward highly chemoresistant MCF-7 cells, thus suggesting its potential as a chemotherapeutic drug

Ferritinophagy and ferroptosis in the management of metabolic diseases

Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death modality associated with disturbed iron-homeostasis and unrestricted lipid peroxidation. Ample evidence has depicted an essential role for ferroptosis as either the cause or consequence for human diseases, denoting the likely therapeutic promises for targeting ferroptosis in the preservation of human health. Ferritinophagy, a selective form of autophagy, contributes to the initiation of ferroptosis through degradation of ferritin, which triggers labile iron overload (IO), lipid peroxidation, membrane damage, and cell death. In this review, we will delineate the role of ferritinophagy in ferroptosis, and its underlying regulatory mechanisms, to unveil the therapeutic value of ferritinophagy as a target in the combat of ferroptosis to manage metabolic diseases.Peer reviewe

Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in cold-chain transportation environments and the efficacy of disinfection measures

BackgroundLow temperature is conducive to the survival of COVID-19. Some studies suggest that cold-chain environment may prolong the survival of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and increase the risk of transmission. However, the effect of cold-chain environmental factors and packaging materials on SARS-CoV-2 stability remains unclear.MethodsThis study aimed to reveal cold-chain environmental factors that preserve the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and further explore effective disinfection measures for SARS-CoV-2 in the cold-chain environment. The decay rate of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in the cold-chain environment, on various types of packaging material surfaces, i.e., polyethylene plastic, stainless steel, Teflon and cardboard, and in frozen seawater was investigated. The influence of visible light (wavelength 450 nm-780 nm) and airflow on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus at -18°C was subsequently assessed.ResultsExperimental data show that SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus decayed more rapidly on porous cardboard surfaces than on nonporous surfaces, including polyethylene (PE) plastic, stainless steel, and Teflon. Compared with that at 25°C, the decay rate of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus was significantly lower at low temperatures. Seawater preserved viral stability both at -18°C and with repeated freeze−thaw cycles compared with that in deionized water. Visible light from light-emitting diode (LED) illumination and airflow at -18°C reduced SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus stability.ConclusionOur studies indicate that temperature and seawater in the cold chain are risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and LED visible light irradiation and increased airflow may be used as disinfection measures for SARS-CoV-2 in the cold-chain environment

Toward Understanding the Variation of Air Quality Based on a Comprehensive Analysis in Hebei Province under the Influence of COVID-19 Lockdown

Associated with the outbreak of new coronavirus in 2019 (COVID-19), lockdown measures were taken in spring 2020 in China, providing an ideal experiment to investigate the effects of emission controls on air quality. Using the observation data at 56 stations in Hebei province from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center from January 2019 to May 2020, along with the reanalysis meteorology data from ERA5, this study investigates the spatial and temporal variations of six air pollutants, and the clean and pollution events in COVID-19 period. Compared with the same periods in day and month in 2019 (SP19), the concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm (PM10), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and carbon monoxide (CO) decreased by 39.2%, 38.2%, 42.1%, 39.8%, and 24.8% for lockdown period, respectively; and decreased by 13.7%, 8.9%, 16.8%, 13.4%, and 10.6% for post-lockdown period, respectively. In contrast, ozone (O3) increased by 8.0% and 5.5% for lockdown and post-lockdown periods, respectively. The diurnal variation analysis shows that the air pollutants other than O3 decrease more in the morning time (6:00–10:00 local time) than in the afternoon time (14:00–18:00 local time) during both lockdown and post-lockdown periods compared to SP19, implying the potential contribution from pollution-meteorology interaction. After lockdown period, SO2 and NO2 resumed quickly in most cities other than in Zhangjiakou, which is a city with few industries making it more sensitive to meteorology. The significant improvement of air quality during the lockdown period suggests that the whole air quality is highly dependent on the pollutant emissions, while the relatively weak reduction of pollution events imply that the pollution events are more dependent on adverse weather conditions

Pressure stabilized polymeric nitrogen in N2F and N10F compounds

Polymeric nitrogen possessing ambient quench recoverability is considered to be the most powerful and green high-energy density material, which has triggered extensive interest. Herein, we predicted two hitherto unknown nitrogen-rich nitrogen fluorine compounds with stoichiometries N2F and N10F using structure searching method and first-principles calculations. N2F and N10F are thermodynamically stable relative to ε-N and fluorine at 67–110 and 87–110 GPa, respectively. Both N2F and N10F encompass N6 rings, forming one-dimensional N∞ ribbons by edge-sharing and three-dimensional channel-like open framework by edge-sharing and two N atoms-bridging, respectively. Phonon spectra calculations and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the ambient-pressure quench recoverability of the two predicted phases. Interestingly, after the removal of F atoms from open channel in N10F, the polymeric nitrogen framework mC10-N is retained at ambient conditions with the energy density of 11.20 kJ/g, rendering it a remarkable high-energy density material

Adopting Digital Signatures for Complex Financial Products in the French Banking Sector: How Technology Acceptance and User Literacy Matter

International audienceThe advent of digital banking has transformed the financial landscape. However, the uptake of complex financial products (CFPs) with digital signatures (DSs) in European banks remains unexplored and warrants in-depth investigation. In this article, we address the gap by examining the online acquisition of CFPs, focusing on factors beyond the conventional parameters. By integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM), user literacy, and the dimension of human interaction, we analyze client acceptance of DSs in CFP transactions. We present an analysis of qualitative data from 716 clients of a French bank. Our findings reveal that DS adoption for CFPs hinges on TAM variables, combined with perceived risk, trust, and the levels of digital and financial literacy, along with the aspect of human interaction. We propose a novel risk management approach that blends the traditional risk management with client–bank coproduction, advocating for a collaborative model of risk sharing facilitated by DSs. Our article details the theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and discussions and concludes by offering theoretical insights, managerial recommendations, limitations, and avenues for future research

Distribution and Quantification of Lactic Acid Enantiomers in Baijiu

Enantiomers of lactic acid were investigated in Baijiu, including soy sauce aroma-type Baijiu (SSB), strong aroma-type Baijiu (STB), and light aroma-type Baijiu (LTB), via high-performance liquid chromatography with a chiral separation column. The natural concentration and enantiomeric distribution of lactic acid were studied, and their contribution to the flavor of Chinese Baijiu was evaluated based on recognition threshold. The results showed that there were significant differences in the content of lactic acid and the ratio of enantiomeric isomers among different aroma types and storage year. In SSB, the concentrations of D-lactic acid and L-lactic acid were higher, with the highest concentrations of 1985.58 ± 11.34 mg/L and 975.31 ± 14.03 mg/L, respectively. In STB, the highest concentrations of D-lactic acid and L-lactic acid were 1048.00 ± 11.46 mg/L and 939.83 ± 0.23 mg/L, respectively. In LTB, the highest concentrations of D-lactic acid and L-lactic acid were 760.90 ± 9.45 mg/L and 558.33 ± 3.06 mg/L, respectively. The average D/L enantiomeric ratios were 78:22 ± 16.16 and 80:20 ± 9.72 in the Commercial Baijiu products of SSB and STB, respectively. The average D/L enantiomeric ratio in LTB was 90:10 ± 6.08. D-lactic acid in JSHS vintage Baijiu showed a wave variation with aging, while L-lactic acid gradually increased during aging, and the average D/L enantiomeric ratio was 76:24 ± 4.26. The concentration of D-lactic acid in XJCT vintage Baijiu also showed a wave variation with aging, and the concentration of L-lactic acid tended to be stable during aging, with an average D/L enantiomeric ratio of 88:12 ± 2.80. The content of the two configurations of lactic acid in the LZLJ vintage Baijiu showed a decreasing trend during aging, with an average D/L enantiomeric ratio of 60:40 ± 11.99. The recognition threshold of D-lactic acid in 46% ethanol solution was 194.18 mg/L with sour taste; while the L-lactic acid was 98.19 mg/L with sour taste. The recognition threshold of L-lactic acid was about half that of D-lactic acid, indicating that L-lactic acid has a stronger sour taste. The taste activity values (TAVs) of D-lactic acid and L-lactic acid were greater than 1 in most of the Baijiu samples, and the TAV of D-lactic acid was greater than that of L-lactic acid. The study showed that the lactic acid enantiomers contributed to the taste perception of Baijiu in most of the samples, and D-lactic acid contributed more to the Baijiu taste than L-lactic acid