The web site and brand trust as antecedents of online loyalty

As online business thrives, a company’s Web presence holds enormous importance as a source of information, entertainment, and customer service for Internet users. Besides being user-friendly, a Web site should offer interesting and enjoyable content to attract online visitors in an ever-changing multimedia environment. Companies that operate globally must know how cultural differences influence the way potential customers perceive their sites. This paper presents a model that highlights the importance of ease of use, enjoyment, content, and brand trust for Web site loyalty. The model is subsequently tested in four countries: Australia, Japan, Mongolia, and the USA. The results show that perceptual differences exist: while ease of use is crucial for Web site loyalty in all four countries, the importance of content, perceived enjoyment, and brand trust varies across different cultures

Advances in the reduction of the costs inherent to fossil fuel biodesulfurization towards its potential industrial applications

ABSTRACT: The biodesulfurization (BDS) process consists of the use of microorganisms for the removal of sulfur from fossil fuels. Through BDS it is possible to treat most of the organosulfur compounds recalcitrant to the conventional hydrodesulfurization (HDS), the petroleum industry's solution, at mild operating conditions, without the need for molecular hydrogen or metal catalysts. This technique results in lower emissions, smaller residue production, and less energy consumption, which makes BDS an eco-friendly process that can complement HDS making it more efficient. BDS has been extensively studied and much is already known about the process. Clearly, BDS presents advantages as a complementary technique to HDS; however, its commercial use has been delayed by several limitations both upstream and downstream the process. This study will comprehensively review and discuss key issues, like reduction of the BDS costs, advances, and/or challenges for a competitive BDS towards its potential industrial application aiming ultra-low sulfur fuels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TESTING THE IRON HYPOTHESIS IN ECOSYSTEMS OF THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN

The idea that iron might limit phytoplankton growth in large regions of the ocean has been tested by enriching an area of 64 km(2) in the open equatorial Pacific Ocean with iron. This resulted in a doubling of plant biomass, a threefold increase In chlorophyll and a fourfold increase in plant production. Similar increases were found in a chlorophyll-rich plume downstream of the Galapagos Islands, which was naturally enriched in iron. These findings indicate that iron limitation can control rates of phytoplankton productivity and biomass in the ocean.X11968Nsciescopu