Marketing Strategies for Profitability in Small Independent Restaurants

The restaurant industry is the second largest employer in the United States; however, only 33% of restaurants are successful during the first 3 years of operation. The purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to determine what marketing strategies small independent restaurant owners need for profitability. Aaker\u27s brand equity model was the conceptual framework used to ground this study. Using a purposeful criterion sampling technique and semistructured interviews, 12 individuals (2 managers and 2 employees from 3 restaurants in Philadelphia) participated in the study. Data collected from interviews and archival business records were analyzed to generate themes, also allowing for triangulation. Five marketing strategy themes emerged from this study: word of mouth and social media marketing, limited financial resources, product differentiation and atmosphere, blogging and using the point of sale (POS) system, and employee engagement and upselling. Participants stated that word of mouth and social media marketing were powerful strategies that small independent restaurant owners should use to retain customers and gain new customers. Participants noted that product differentiation and atmosphere are unique characteristics that guide marketing strategies, brand positioning, and influence competitive advantage and profitability. Implications for positive social change include business development opportunities, opening resource centers for training programs, and free webinars associated with marketing and brand equity strategies. Communities, organizations, and new entrepreneurs will benefit from positive social change from the increase of social resources, community economic growth, employment opportunities, and sustainability

Using an Inclusive Restricted Interest Group to Improve Social Skill Accuracy in Children with An Autism Spectrum Disorder

There are a number of evidenced-based practices which aim to improve the social skills of children with high functioning autism (HFA). An emerging field of study is to develop social skills interventions that incorporate restricted and repetitive interests to increase social skills. Their results are promising and suggest improved social skills in students with HFA. The current study has aimed to incorporate a common interest among elementary age children with HFA in social skill instruction within a structured setting. A multiple baseline across behaviors single subject design was used to collect data on the accuracy with which two young males applied social skills within the structured “club” setting. Data were collected by determining whether the students had an opportunity to use the social skill, and whether they used the skill correctly. While the results do not suggest a functional relationships between the participants’ social skill accuracy and the intervention, the data show a positive trend which indicates an overall increase in their social skill accuracy

Dynanics of a vehicle-track coupling system at a rail joint

The dynamic behaviour at a rail joint is examined using a two-dimensional vehicle–track coupling model. The track system is described as a finite-length beam resting on a double-layer discrete viscous-elastic foundation. The vehicle is represented by a half car body and a single bogie. The influence of the number of layers considered, the number of elements between two sleepers, and the beam model is investigated. Parametric studies, both of the coupling model and the analytic formulae, are carried out in order to understand the influence of the main track and vehicle parameters on the P1 and P2 peak forces. Finally, the results in terms of P2 force from the proposed model are compared, not only with measured values but also with other simulated and analytical solutions. An excellent agreement between these values is foun

1/N_c Expansion of the Heavy Baryon Isgur-Wise Functions

The 1/N_c expansion of the heavy baryon Isgur-Wise functions is discussed. Because of the contracted SU(2N_f) light quark spin-flavor symmetry, the universality relations among the Isgur-Wise functions of \Lambda_b to \Lambda_c and \Sigma_b^{(*)} to \Sigma_c^{(*)} are valid up to the order of 1/N_c^2.Comment: 7 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Near-surface remote sensing of spatial and temporal variation in canopy phenology

There is a need to document how plant phenology is responding to global change factors, particularly warming trends. “Near-surface” remote sensing, using radiometric instruments or imaging sensors, has great potential to improve phenological monitoring because automated observations can be made at high temporal frequency. Here we build on previous work and show how inexpensive, networked digital cameras (“webcams”) can be used to document spatial and temporal variation in the spring and autumn phenology of forest canopies. We use two years of imagery from a deciduous, northern hardwood site, and one year of imagery from a coniferous, boreal transition site. A quantitative signal is obtained by splitting images into separate red, green, and blue color channels and calculating the relative brightness of each channel for “regions of interest” within each image. We put the observed phenological signal in context by relating it to seasonal patterns of gross primary productivity, inferred from eddy covariance measurements of surface–atmosphere CO2 exchange. We show that spring increases, and autumn decreases, in canopy greenness can be detected in both deciduous and coniferous stands. In deciduous stands, an autumn red peak is also observed. The timing and rate of spring development and autumn senescence varies across the canopy, with greater variability in autumn than spring. Interannual variation in phenology can be detected both visually and quantitatively; delayed spring onset in 2007 compared to 2006 is related to a prolonged cold spell from day 85 to day 110. This work lays the foundation for regional- to continental-scale camera-based monitoring of phenology at network observatory sites, e.g., National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) or AmeriFlux

Granular Rheology in Zero Gravity

We present an experimental investigation on the rheological behavior of model granular media made of nearly elastic spherical particles. The experiments are performed in a cylindrical Couette geometry and the experimental device is placed inside an airplane undergoing parabolic flights to cancel the effect of gravity. The corresponding curves, shear stress versus shear rate, are presented and a comparison with existing theories is proposed. The quadratic dependence on the shear rate is clearly shown and the behavior as a function of the solid volume fraction of particles exhibits a power law function. It is shown that theoretical predictions overestimate the experiments. We observe, at intermediate volume fractions, the formation of rings of particles regularly spaced along the height of the cell. The differences observed between experimental results and theoretical predictions are discussed and related to the structures formed in the granular medium submitted to the external shear.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures to be published in Journal of Physics : Condensed Matte

Socioeconomic deprivation and age are barriers to the online collection of patient reported outcome measures in orthopaedic patients

Introduction: Questionnaires are used commonly to assess functional outcome and satisfaction in surgical patients. Although these have in the past been administered through written forms, there is increasing interest in the use of new technology to improve the efficiency of collection. The aim of this study was to assess the availability of internet access for a group of orthopaedic patients and the acceptability of online survey completion. Methods: A total of 497 patients attending orthopaedic outpatient clinics were surveyed to assess access to the internet and their preferred means for completing follow-up questionnaires. Results: Overall, 358 patients (72%) reported having internet access. Lack of access was associated with socioeconomic deprivation and older age. Multivariable regression confirmed increased age and greater deprivation to be independently associated with lack of internet access. Out of the total group, 198 (40%) indicated a preference for assessment of outcomes via email and the internet. Conclusions: Internet access was not universal among the patients in our orthopaedic clinic. Reliance on internet collection of PROMs may introduce bias by not including results from patients in older age groups and those from the more deprived socioeconomic groups

On the structure of large N cancellations in baryon chiral perturbation theory

We show how to compute loop graphs in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory including the full functional dependence on the ratio of the Delta--nucleon mass difference to the pion mass, while at the same time automatically incorporating the 1/N cancellations that follow from the large-N spin-flavor symmetry of baryons in QCD. The one-loop renormalization of the baryon axial vector current is studied to demonstrate the procedure. A new cancellation is identified in the one-loop contribution to the baryon axial vector current. We show that loop corrections to the axial vector currents are exceptionally sensitive to deviations of the ratios of baryon-pion axial couplings from SU(6) values