The Influence of Chamber of Commerce on Small Businesses

Nonprofit chambers of commerce have a long history in western culture but little if any empirical research has been conducted to explore why a small business would join one. This study focuses on members’ evaluation of chamber assistance programs and benefits and how they mediate the impact of satisfaction and the perceived customer value of paid membership for chamber services. A mail census survey of all 2019 members, in a large category-four chamber of commerce, provided valid and reliable representation of existing membership demographics. Factor analysis identified four main benefits, whereas a LISREL model was applied to identify the mediating impact of relational benefits on satisfaction and perceived value. All four dominant benefits significantly correlated with both membership satisfaction and perceived value as did the correlation between satisfaction and perceived value. However, perceived value was found to have higher correlations with relational benefits than that of satisfaction. This study is important as it provides managers with a framework to identify and balance the benefits desired by the membership and adjust the level of expected satisfaction with perceived value in a nonprofit service-oriented assistance organization. Keywords: Chamber of Commerce, Small Businesses, Members Evaluatio

Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) analysis of probe transport in cells From measurements to models

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es eine Toolbox zur Charakterisierung der anomalen Diffusion von Tracerpartikeln in dicht gepackten Systemen mit Fluoreszenz-Korrelationsspektroskopie (FCS) zur Verfügung zu stellen. Es wird gezeigt, dass die robusten Informationen über die Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichtefunktion (PDF) der Verschiebung des Tracers im asymptotischen Verhalten der FCS-Kurven auf langen, sowie auf kurzen Zeitskalen enthalten sind. So liefert die Analyse des Kurzzeitverhaltens zuverlässige Aussagen über die Werte des Exponenten der anomalen Diffusion, des Diffusionskoeffizienten und der niedrigeren Momente der PDF. Dies erlaubt es eine Gaußverteilung zu bestätigen oder zu widerlegen. Der Test auf Gaußverteilung könnte als Index verwendet werden, um die richtige Form der PDF aus einer Reihe von konkurrierenden Ergebnissen zu erraten. Darüber hinaus untersuchen wir die Konsequenz der nicht skalierenden PDF auf Ergebnis der FCS-Kurven. Wir berechnen die FCS für ein Continuous Time Random Walk Modell mit Wartezeiten gemäß einer Lévy-stabilen Verteilung mit exponentiellem cut-off. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass obwohl die Abweichungen vom Gauß’schen Verhalten bei der asymptotischen Analyse erkannt werden können, ihre Körper immer an Formen für die normale Diffusion perfekt angepasst werden können. Schließlich schlagen wir einen alternativen Ansatz für die Durchführung von Spot Variation FCS mit dem gewöhnlichen FCS-Setup vor. Wir führen eine nicht-lineare Transformation ein, die auf das mit Binning oder Kernel smoothing method geglättete Intensitätsprofil der detektierten Fluoreszenzphotonen angewendet wird. Ihre Autokorrelation imitiert die FCS-Kurven für die Größen des Laserspots, die im Experiment effektiv kleiner als die anfängliche Größe sind. Die erhaltenen FCS-Kurven werden verwendet, um künstliche dicht gepackte Systeme sowie lebende Zellen auf Nano-Domänen oder Barrieren hin zu untersuchen.The objective of this thesis is to provide a toolbox for characterization of anomalous diffusion of tracer particle in crowded systems using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). We discuss that the robust information about the probability density function (PDF) of the particle’s displacement is contained in the asymptotic behaviour of the FCS curves at long and short times. Thus, analysis of the short-time behaviour provides reliable values of exponent of anomalous, diffusion coefficient and lower moments of the PDF. This allows one to to confirm or reject its Gaussian nature. The Gaussianity test could be then used to guess the correct form of the PDF from a set of competing models. We show the applicability of the proposed analysis protocol in artificially crowded systems and in living cell experiments. Furthermore, we investigate the consequence of non-scaling PDF on the possible results of the FCS data. As an example of such processes, we calculate the FCS curve for a continues time random walk model with waiting times delivered from Lévy-stable distribution with an exponential cut-off in equilibrium. The results indicate that, although the deviations from Gaussian behaviour may be detected when analyzing the short- and long-time asymptotic of the corresponding curves, their bodies are still perfectly fitted by the fit form used for normal diffusion. Finally, we propose an alternative approach for performing spot variation FCS using an ordinary FCS set-up. We introduce a non-linear transformation which applies on the smoothed intensity profile of the detected fluorescence photons with binning or smoothing kernel method. Autocorrelation of the generated intensity profiles mimic the FCS curves for the sizes of laser spots which are effectively smaller than the initial one in the experiment. The obtained FCS curves are used to investigate the presence of nano-domains or barriers in artificially crowded systems and in living cells

The Relationship Between Knowledge Management Practices And Innovation Level In Organizations: Case Study Of Sub-Companies Of Selected Corporations In The City Of Esfahan

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between knowledge management practices and innovation levels in organizations.  Through a questionnaire, required data were gathered in sub-companies of three corporations in the city of Esfahan. Seventy-four questionnaires were given to top and middle managers of these companies and 36 were returned (49.65% response rate). Correlation analysis was used to check the relationship between the variables.  The researchers found a strong, positive and significant relationship between knowledge management practices and innovation levels in these companies.  The result is related to a small number of companies in Esfahan. It is not easy to generalize the result of the current study to other contexts.  Knowledge management is one of the hottest issues among academicians, but it is still difficult to justify managers about its importance in organizations. This study tries to provide some empirical evidence in order to support the role of knowledge management in enhancing innovation.  There is not sufficient empirical evidence to prove the role of knowledge management practices in the search of innovation

On the Trade-off Between Spatial Resolution and High Curvature Bending in FBG-based Shape Sensing.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based shape sensing is an emerging technology used for the navigation of flexible medical instruments, such as needles, catheters, and endoscopes. FBG-based sensors operate by measuring strain-induced wavelength shifts in the reflected light, which are used to determine the curvature along a fiber's length. While an increased number of gratings enhances shape-sensing accuracy, incorporating many within a fixed spectrum can induce interference in wavelength shifts, specifically during high curvature bending, limiting the detectable bending range. Such interference severely compromises shape estimation, posing challenges for instruments requiring high curvature bends. In this article, we study this tradeoff between resolution and bending curvature. Next, we introduce an algorithm that leverages the reflectivity and full-width half maximum (FWHM) of FBG nodes for improved bend estimation, even in high-curvature scenarios. To this end, first, we provide a model of reflectivity of uniform gratings using coupled-mode theory. The model is used to match spectrum measurements with FBG nodes. Second, we develop an algorithm using the proposed model and random walk model to estimate the relative probability of a given reflected wavelength corresponding to each FBG node. This algorithm then uses variants of the Hungarian algorithm to solve an assignment problem and classify FBG nodes. We then collected three datasets with FBGs experiencing varying curvature. One of the datasets validates the proposed model and the latter two demonstrate that relative to a commercially available interrogator, our approach classifies FBG nodes with 14% higher accuracy, 13% higher precision, 35% higher recall, and 4% higher specificity.</p

Delayed feedback control of active particles: a controlled journey towards the destination

We explore theoretically the navigation of an active particle based on delayed feedback control. The delayed feedback enters in our expression for the particle orientation which, for an active particle, determines (up to noise) the direction of motion in the next time step. Here we estimate the orientation by comparing the delayed position of the particle with the actual one. This method does not require any real-time monitoring of the particle orientation and may thus be relevant also for controlling sub-micron sized particles, where the imaging process is not easily feasible. We apply the delayed feedback strategy to two experimentally relevant situations, namely, optical trapping and photon nudging. To investigate the performance of our strategy, we calculate the mean arrival time analytically (exploiting a small-delay approximation) and by simulations.DFG, 163436311, SFB 910: Kontrolle selbstorganisierender nichtlinearer Systeme: Theoretische Methoden und AnwendungskonzepteTU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 201