Fuzzy Recommendations in Marketing Campaigns

The population in Sweden is growing rapidly due to immigration. In this light, the issue of infrastructure upgrades to provide telecommunication services is of importance. New antennas can be installed at hot spots of user demand, which will require an investment, and/or the clientele expansion can be carried out in a planned manner to promote the exploitation of the infrastructure in the less loaded geographical zones. In this paper, we explore the second alternative. Informally speaking, the term Infrastructure-Stressing describes a user who stays in the zones of high demand, which are prone to produce service failures, if further loaded. We have studied the Infrastructure-Stressing population in the light of their correlation with geo-demographic segments. This is motivated by the fact that specific geo-demographic segments can be targeted via marketing campaigns. Fuzzy logic is applied to create an interface between big data, numeric methods for processing big data and a manager.Comment: conferenc

Investigation of Differences in Diffusion Between Positive and Negative Word-Of-Mouth

Our study investigates how WoM valence (a) influences WoM diffusion frequency and speed and (b) moderates the type of social ties activated during WoM transmission. Additionally we analyze whether WoM reflecting hearsay shows different diffusion patterns than WoM originating from a personal and direct experience made by the WoM sender

Short communication: Goat colostrum quality: Litter size and lactation number effects

The quality of colostrum of Murciano-Granadina goats was studied to establish the transition period and the time when milk can be marketed. Forty-three dairy goats were used: 19 primiparous (15 single births; 4 multiple births) and 24 multiparous (10 single births; 14 multiple births). Samples were collected every 12 h during the first week postpartum. Physicochemical parameters and somatic cell count were determined. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to study the effect of different factors: postpartum time, litter size, lactation number, their interactions, and production level on colostrum. Postpartum time had a significant effect on all parameters studied, which decreased along the first week of lactation, whereas lactose, pH, and conductivity increased. Based on these results, colostrum secretion takes place until 36 h postpartum (hpp). In relation to other factors of variation studied, the lactation number influenced most colostrum components, whereas the litter size only affected the pH value, protein and lactose content. The production level influenced only the protein and dry matter contents, with an inverse relationship. Milk produced during the period between 36 and 96 hpp is considered transition milk, which should not be commercialized. Milk collected after 4 d postpartum (96 hpp) could be marketed, ensuring that its composition does not present a risk in the dairy industry.This work was part of the AGL-2009-11524 Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Madrid, Spain). The authors are grateful to ZEU-Inmunotec (Zaragoza, Spain) for their support.Romero Rueda, T.; Beltrán Martínez, MC.; Rodríguez Garcia, M.; Marti-De Olives A.; Molina Pons, MP. (2013). Short communication: Goat colostrum quality: Litter size and lactation number effects. Journal of Dairy Science. 96(12):7526-7531. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-6900S75267531961

Age-period-cohort analysis of trends in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis incidence

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with an unknown cause. Studies have reported that the incidence rate of ALS might be changing. As ALS is an age related disease, crude incidence could increase as population structure changes and overall life expectancy improves. Age-period-cohort (APC) models are frequently used to investigate trends in demographic rates such as incidence. Age-specific incidence rate for ALS from 1996 to 2014 were taken from a population-based ALS register in Ireland. To circumvent the well-known identifiability issue in APC models, we apply the method of Partial Least Squares Regression to separate the effects of Age, Period and Cohort on ALS incidence over time. This APC analysis shows no cohort effect and the initial signs of a period effect; increasing incidence of ALS in the most recently diagnosed group. As further years of data accrue to the Irish register it will become clear if this effect emerges as a strong trend in the incidence of ALS in Ireland and replication of these analyses in other populations will show if our findings on temporal patterns in ALS incidence are shared elsewhere

Casein SNP in Norwegian goats: additive and dominance effects on milk composition and quality

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The four casein proteins in goat milk are encoded by four closely linked casein loci (<it>CSN1S1</it>, <it>CSN2</it>, <it>CSN1S2 </it>and <it>CSN3</it>) within 250 kb on caprine chromosome 6. A deletion in exon 12 of <it>CSN1S1</it>, so far reported only in Norwegian goats, has been found at high frequency (0.73). Such a high frequency is difficult to explain because the national breeding goal selects against the variant's effect.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, 575 goats were genotyped for 38 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) located within the four casein genes. Milk production records of these goats were obtained from the Norwegian Dairy Goat Control. Test-day mixed models with additive and dominance fixed effects of single SNP were fitted in a model including polygenic effects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant additive effects of single SNP within <it>CSN1S1 </it>and <it>CSN3 </it>were found for fat % and protein %, milk yield and milk taste. The allele with the deletion showed additive and dominance effects on protein % and fat %, and overdominance effects on milk quantity (kg) and lactose %. At its current frequency, the observed dominance (overdominance) effects of the deletion allele reduced its substitution effect (and additive genetic variance available for selection) in the population substantially.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The selection pressure of conventional breeding on the allele with the deletion is limited due to the observed dominance (overdominance) effects. Inclusion of molecular information in the national breeding scheme will reduce the frequency of this deletion in the population.</p

Can Motivation Normalize Working Memory and Task Persistence in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? The Effects of Money and Computer-Gaming

Visual-spatial Working Memory (WM) is the most impaired executive function in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Some suggest that deficits in executive functioning are caused by motivational deficits. However, there are no studies that investigate the effects of motivation on the visual-spatial WM of children with- and without ADHD. Studies examining this in executive functions other than WM, show inconsistent results. These inconsistencies may be related to differences in the reinforcement used. The effects of different reinforcers on WM performance were investigated in 30 children with ADHD and 31 non-ADHD controls. A visual-spatial WM task was administered in four reinforcement conditions: Feedback-only, 1 euro, 10 euros, and a computer-game version of the task. In the Feedback-only condition, children with ADHD performed worse on the WM measure than controls. Although incentives significantly improved the WM performance of children with ADHD, even the strongest incentives (10 euros and Gaming) were unable to normalize their performance. Feedback-only provided sufficient reinforcement for controls to reach optimal performance, while children with ADHD required extra reinforcement. Only children with ADHD showed a decrease in performance over time. Importantly, the strongest incentives (10 euros and Gaming) normalized persistence of performance in these children, whereas 1 euro had no such effect. Both executive and motivational deficits give rise to visual-spatial WM deficits in ADHD. Problems with task-persistence in ADHD result from motivational deficits. In ADHD-reinforcement studies and clinical practice (e.g., assessment), reinforcement intensity can be a confounding factor and should be taken into account. Gaming can be a cost-effective way to maximize performance in ADHD

A genome scan for milk production traits in dairy goats reveals two new mutations in <i>Dgat1</i> reducing milk fat content

The quantity of milk and milk fat and proteins are particularly important traits in dairy livestock. However, little is known about the regions of the genome that influence these traits in goats. We conducted a genome wide association study in French goats and identified 109 regions associated with dairy traits. For a major region on chromosome 14 closely associated with fat content, the Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene turned out to be a functional and positional candidate gene. The caprine reference sequence of this gene was completed and 29 polymorphisms were found in the gene sequence, including two novel exonic mutations: R251L and R396W, leading to substitutions in the protein sequence. The R251L mutation was found in the Saanen breed at a frequency of 3.5% and the R396W mutation both in the Saanen and Alpine breeds at a frequencies of 13% and 7% respectively. The R396W mutation explained 46% of the genetic variance of the trait, and the R251L mutation 6%. Both mutations were associated with a notable decrease in milk fat content. Their causality was then demonstrated by a functional test. These results provide new knowledge on the genetic basis of milk synthesis and will help improve the management of the French dairy goat breeding program