Understanding customer relationship management (CRM) adoption in an Arab Middle Eastern context

While the development of customer relationship management (CRM) started in the developed west, it has rapidly spread to developing countries. However, the way organisations adopt CRM in developing countries, and more specifically in the Arab world, might be different and the context certainly differs. There is a shortage of rigorous studies that examine the drivers of CRM adoption in this context. In this study, we examine the antecedents of CRM adoption in the Jordanian service sector. The conceptual framework of this research is tested using a cross-sectional survey of more than 322 practitioners. Using structural equation modelling analysis, results specify six underlying factors that explain CRM adoption: segmentation analysis, clear direction and objectives, performance measurement, rewarding usage, managing project changes, and knowledge management. Each area has implications for improving practices and maximising the benefits of adopting the process or management practice of CRM. This paper identifies key practices to provide useful guidelines for organisations in the Arab world making plans to adopt CRM, with broader implications for the adoption of many systems and projects there and for CRM deployment in developed regions

Marine organisms as sources of C4-weed-specific herbicides

Imagine that you are a plant propagule looking for a home. You find a nice warm sunny place where the nutrients wash over you and think that you have arrived in paradise. And, what is more, there are few other plants with which to compete. However there are many animals close by in the form of corals and sponges and a variety of animals which make up the Great Barrier Reef. If you were on land, where plants occupy much of the available surface area over which animals wander, you would seem less out of place. Yet on healthy and pristine coral reefs found on the outer shelf of the Great Barrier Reef off the north east coast of Australia, only 20–28% of the available surface area comprises plants, i.e. algae (Sweatman et al., 1998) (Figure 1). Sea grass and kelp beds are more reminiscent of the terrestrial situation. Why is this so? Maybe coral reefs are, in fact, not a good place for plants to grow. But if this were the case, why then would the space be dominated by animals reliant for much of their nutrition upon symbiotic relationships with plants such as are found in corals and their symbiotic unicellular plants, zooxanthellae. What then, keeps the number of freegrowing plants low on coral reefs relative to the land? Does chemical warfare by the animals play some role? And if so, can these chemicals be developed for use as herbicide in the terrestrial environment

Gender recognition from facial images: Two or three dimensions?

© 2016 Optical Society of America. This paper seeks to compare encoded features from both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) face images in order to achieve automatic gender recognition with high accuracy and robustness. The Fisher vector encoding method is employed to produce 2D, 3D, and fused features with escalated discriminative power. For 3D face analysis, a two-source photometric stereo (PS) method is introduced that enables 3D surface reconstructions with accurate details as well as desirable efficiency. Moreover, a 2D + 3D imaging device, taking the two-source PS method as its core, has been developed that can simultaneously gather color images for 2D evaluations and PS images for 3D analysis. This system inherits the superior reconstruction accuracy from the standard (three or more light) PS method but simplifies the reconstruction algorithm as well as the hardware design by only requiring two light sources. It also offers great potential for facilitating human computer interaction by being accurate, cheap, efficient, and nonintrusive. Ten types of low-level 2D and 3D features have been experimented with and encoded for Fisher vector gender recognition. Evaluations of the Fisher vector encoding method have been performed on the FERET database, Color FERET database, LFW database, and FRGCv2 database, yielding 97.7%, 98.0%, 92.5%, and 96.7% accuracy, respectively. In addition, the comparison of 2D and 3D features has been drawn from a self-collected dataset, which is constructed with the aid of the 2D + 3D imaging device in a series of data capture experiments. With a variety of experiments and evaluations, it can be proved that the Fisher vector encoding method outperforms most state-of-the-art gender recognition methods. It has also been observed that 3D features reconstructed by the two-source PS method are able to further boost the Fisher vector gender recognition performance, i.e., up to a 6% increase on the self-collected database

Impression Cytology of the Lid Wiper Area

Muntz, A., van Doorn, K., Subbaraman, L. N., & Jones, L. W. (2016). Impression Cytology of the Lid Wiper Area. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (114). https://doi.org/10.3791/54261Few reports on the cellular anatomy of the lid wiper (LW) area of the inner eyelid exist and only one report makes use of cytological methods. The optimization of a method of collecting, staining and imaging cells from the LW region using impression cytology (IC) is described in this study. Cells are collected from the inner surface of the upper eyelid of human subjects using hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes, and stained with cytological dyes to reveal the presence of goblet cells, mucins, cell nuclei and various degrees of pre- and para-keratinization. Immunocytochemical dyes show cell esterase activity and compromised cell membranes by the use of a confocal scanning laser microscope. Up to 100 microscopic digital images are captured for each sample and stitched into a high-resolution, large scale image of the entire IC span. We demonstrate a higher sensitivity of IC than reported before, appropriate for identifying cellular morphologies and metabolic activity in the LW area. To our knowledge, this is the first time this selection of fluorescent dyes was used to image LW IC membranes. This protocol will be effective in future studies to reveal undocumented details of the LW area, such as assessing cellular particularities of contact lens wearers or patients with dry eye or lid wiper epitheliopathy

ANALISIS PEMASARAN JAGUNG DI DESA DIMEMBE KECAMATAN DIMEMBE KABUPATEN MINAHASA UTARA

The purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing of corn in each marketing channel in the village of Dimembe, Dimembe Subdistrict, North Minahasa Regency. The data used in this study are primary and secondary data. Primary data was obtained from interviews with 15 farmers while secondary data from the Village Office, North Minahasa Statistics Agency and the North Sulawesi Provincial Statistics Agency. The sampling method used the snowball sampling method. Data analysis methods are analysis of Marketing Channel, Marketing Agency, Marketing Margin and Marketing Costs. The results showed that there were three types of marketing channels, namely the first marketing channel: Farmers to Consumers; second marketing channel 2 from Farmers toRetailers then to Consumers; and the third marketing channel from Farmers to Collector Traders then arrived at the Consumer. Marketing margin on marketing channel I is Rp 213.33 / kg, on marketing channel II is Rp 1,500.00 / kg, and on marketing channel III is Rp 2,500.00 / kg. The highest share received by farmers is in the marketing channel I at 93.90%. While the lowest share received by farmers is in marketing channel III, which is equal to 58.33%. Thus it can be concluded that the longer the marketing channel, the greater the marketing margin and vice versa. And also the shorter the marketing channel the greater the share received by the farmer and vice versa. *lrr + eprm

Potensi Kuala Sanglang, Perlis sebagai destinasi agro pelancongan: satu kajian tanggapan pelancong

Agropelancongan adalah cabang sektor pelancongan di mana aktiviti pelancongan adalah berteraskan pertanian, ternakan, perikanan dan industri asas tani. Kajian ini menilai potensi Ladang Nipah Kipli Kipli sebagai destinasi agropelancongan di Kuala Sanglang, Perlis berdasarkan persepsi pelancong, faktor penolakan dan faktor penarikan, dan mencadangkan langkah yang sesuai bagi memajukan seterusnya Ladang Nipah Kipli. Data primer diperolehi dari hasil soalselidik 80 orang pelancong yang disampel secara rawak mudah dan dianalisis dengan program SPSS versi 2.0. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa Ladang Nipah Kipli ditanggapi oleh 95 peratus responden sebagai amat berpotensi untuk dijadikan destinasi agropelancongan. Kebanyakan pelancong berkunjung ke Ladang Nipah Kipli untuk menikmati keindahan alam semulajadi sambil menikmati minuman nira nipah segar yang dijual di dalam Ladang Nipah Kipli. Namun, masih terdapat masalah dari segi kekurangan kemudahan infrastruktur, tempat letak kereta yang kecil dan kekurangan tandas.Walau bagaimanapun, pelancong masih lagi ingin berkunjung ke Ladang Nipah Kipli memandangkan kawasan ini menarik dan berpotensi maju sebagai destinasi agropelancongan

Produksi dan Pemasaran Produk Manisan Pala “Ilomata” di Kelurahan Girian Weru, Kota Bitung

The purpose of this research is to describe the process of making candied nutmeg by UD Ilomata and describing Ilomata\u27s candied nutmeg marketing. The research carried out start from preparation in the April until preparation of reports in the June 2016. Data used is primary data obtained through interviews by giving questioners to the owner of UD Ilomata, and from direct observation to the production activity and marketing of Ilomata\u27s candied nutmeg. Data analysis used is descriptive analysis. Data analysis in this research is analysing market margin by calculating cost and the price margins on every channel marketing that involved in the marketing of Ilomata\u27s candied nutmeg and also calculate the Break Even Point. The result of this research shows that Ilomata\u27s candied nutmeg packed in three different packages, 3 ounce package, 2.5 ounce package, and 3 ounce package. Ilomata\u27s candied nutmeg marketed on four stores in Bitung City, two stores in Manado City, a store in Gorontalo province and the marketing directly from producer to the consumer in UD Ilomata. Biggest marketing margin is Rp 5.000 with 16% share found in the Gorontalo province\u27s channel marketing from the 2.5 ounce package and with the biggest profit margin is Rp 3.764 found in the Bitung CityMart\u27s channel marketing from the 2 ounce package. All of Ilotama\u27s channel marketing can be said efficient because total cost is small seen from the rotation of sold time product. UD Ilotmata\u27s Candied nutmeg business can hold on and exist till today because theres diligence, curiosity and entrepreneurship from the owner namely Mrs. Renny Umar.*lwths

Release of Ciprofloxacin and Moxifloxacin From Daily Disposable Contact Lenses From an In Vitro Eye Model

Bajgrowicz, M., Phan, C.-M., Subbaraman, L. N., & Jones, L. (2015). Release of Ciprofloxacin and Moxifloxacin From Daily Disposable Contact Lenses From an In Vitro Eye Model. Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science, 56(4), 2234. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.15-16379Purpose.: To analyze the release of two fluoroquinolones, ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin, from conventional hydrogel (CH) and silicone hydrogel (SH) daily disposable contact lenses (CLs), comparing release from a fixed-volume vial and a novel in vitro eye model. Methods.: Four CH CLs (nelfilcon A, omafilcon A, etafilcon A, ocufilcon B) and three SH CLs (somofilcon A, narafilcon A, delefilcon A) were used. The lenses were incubated in drug solutions for 24 hours. After the incubation period, the lenses were placed in two release conditions: (1) a vial containing 4.8 mL PBS for 24 hours and (2) an in vitro eye model with a flow rate at 4.8 mL over 24 hours. Results.: Release in the vial for both drugs was rapid, reaching a plateau between 15 minutes and 2 hours for all lenses. In contrast, under physiological flow conditions, a constant and slow release was observed over 24 hours. The amounts of ciprofloxacin released from the lenses ranged between 49.6 ± 0.7 and 62.8 ± 0.3 μg per lens in the vial, and between 35.0 ± 7.0 and 109.0 ± 5.0 μg per lens in the eye model. Moxifloxacin release ranged from 24.0 ± 4.0 to 226.0 ± 2.0 μg per lens for the vial, and between 13.0 ± 2.0 and 151.0 ± 10.0 μg per lens in the eye model. In both systems and for both drugs, HEMA-based CLs released more drugs than other materials. Conclusions.: The parameters of the release system, in particular the volume and flow rate, have a significant influence on measured release profiles. Under physiological flow, release profiles are significantly slower and constant when compared with release in a vial