Consumer involvement profiles: An application of consumer involvement in mobile industry

This paper investigates consumer involvement profile among people who intend to purchase mobile devises. The study considers the effects of various factors influencing on purchase intention including consumers’ personal characteristics such as age, gender, income as well as some external factors including advertisement. The study uses a questionnaire in Likert scale, originally developed by O’Cass (2000) [O’Cass, A. (2000). An assessment of consumers' product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing. Journal of Economic Psychology, 21, 545-576.]. The questionnaire has been distributed among 385 people, randomly who purchased mobile devices from a mall in city of Tehran, Iran. Using Pearson correlation test, the study has concluded that oral advertisement as well as consumer purchase involvement have positive and strong relationship with consumer’s purchase intention. In terms of age, people aged 20-30 maintained the highest purchase intention. In addition, in terms of gender, men had more purchase involvement than women did

A correlated frailty model for analysing risk factors in bilateral corneal graft rejection for Keratoconus: a Bayesian approach

There are many unknown causes that increase the rate of corneal graft rejection. In bilateral cases, some of these unknown causes are common, and some are individual factors. In this paper, we use a correlated frailty model to analyse risk factors for bilateral corneal graft in Keratoconus. Applying the piecewise constant baseline hazard model, we have performed a Bayesian analysis of the correlated frailty model using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The correlated frailty model and the shared frailty model are compared by deviance information criterion. The results show more accurate and better fit for the correlated frailty model. Copyright (C) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Locomotory Behavior of Water Striders with Amputated Legs

The stability of the body during locomotion is a fundamental requirement for walking animals. The mechanisms that coordinate leg movement patterns are even more complex at water–air interfaces. Water striders are agile creatures on the water surface, but they can be vulnerable to leg damage, which can impair their movement. One can assume the presence of certain compensatory biomechanical factors that are involved in the maintenance of postural balance lost after an amputation. Here, we studied changes in load distribution among the legs and assessed the effects of amputation on the locomotory behavior and postural defects that may increase the risk of locomotion failure. Apparently, amputees recover a stable posture by applying leg position modifications (e.g., widening the stance) and by load redistribution to the remaining legs. Water striders showed steering failure after amputation in all cases. Amputations affected locomotion by (1) altering motion features (e.g., shorter swing duration of midlegs), (2) functional constraints on legs, (3) shorter travelled distances, and (4) stronger deviations in the locomotion path. The legs functionally interact with each other, and removal of one leg has detrimental effects on the others. This research may assist the bioinspired design of aquatic robots

Patterns of load distribution among the legs in small water striders during standing and striding

Water striders (Gerris argentatus) move across the water surface by taking advantage of the surface tension, which supports their bodyweight without breaking. During locomotion, the midlegs are primarily responsible for generating thrust, whereas the other legs support the body. Although the aspects of standing and locomotion on the water surface are well understood, relatively fewer studies concerned the coordinated biomechanical movements of the legs. In order to maintain buoyancy of the body on the water surface, the leg positions must be adjusted to distribute the bodyweight appropriately. The present study investigates distribution of the bodyweight on the legs in relatively small water striders. We aimed to understand how loading on the legs changes during sculling that leads to sliding of the body on the water surface. The assistance of all legs at every moment enables the body to maintain its floating during standing and striding. Water striders can achieve a gentle striding through the midlegs driving phase in association with smooth load shifting among their legs, which are positioned in a specific configuration to support the insect on the water surface

Examining the role of export competitive advantages on export performance

This paper investigates the role of export competitive advantage on export performance in food industry. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 280 randomly selected experts in food industry and Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.827. The study has applied factor analysis to find important factors influencing export performance. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity have been performed to validate the results and they both validated the questionnaire. The results of the survey have determined six effective groups including product development, e-commerce, marketing planning, organizational performance, competitiveness and supply chain management

The role of influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of Internet banking services: A case study in Pasargad Bank

The aim of the present research is to study the role of the influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of internet banking services of Pasargad Bank branches of Tehran. For this purpose, 384 of the clients of the branches of this bank in Tehran have been selected by using stratified random sampling method and the research questionnaires were distributed among them. The influential factors on acceptance of these services by the clients were studied in terms of four dimensions of efficiency, individual, social and security and for testing the proportionality of the research questionnaire, the exploratory factor analysis were used. The results indicated that the indices under study relatively represent the dimensions of the study. Hence, during the fitting the structural model, the effect of each of these dimensions were studied on the use of internet banking services, the results of which indicate that the efficiency and security dimensions have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services while other dimensions such as individual and social dimensions in comparison to the efficiency dimension which were measured in terms of two concepts of usefulness and convenience and security, do not have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services

The role of influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of Internet banking services: A case study in Pasargad Bank

The aim of the present research is to study the role of the influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of internet banking services of Pasargad Bank branches of Tehran. For this purpose, 384 of the clients of the branches of this bank in Tehran have been selected by using stratified random sampling method and the research questionnaires were distributed among them. The influential factors on acceptance of these services by the clients were studied in terms of four dimensions of efficiency, individual, social and security and for testing the proportionality of the research questionnaire, the exploratory factor analysis were used. The results indicated that the indices under study relatively represent the dimensions of the study. Hence, during the fitting the structural model, the effect of each of these dimensions were studied on the use of internet banking services, the results of which indicate that the efficiency and security dimensions have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services while other dimensions such as individual and social dimensions in comparison to the efficiency dimension which were measured in terms of two concepts of usefulness and convenience and security, do not have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services

The role of influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of Internet banking services: A case study in Pasargad Bank

The aim of the present research is to study the role of the influential perceptual dimensions on the client's use of internet banking services of Pasargad Bank branches of Tehran. For this purpose, 384 of the clients of the branches of this bank in Tehran have been selected by using stratified random sampling method and the research questionnaires were distributed among them. The influential factors on acceptance of these services by the clients were studied in terms of four dimensions of efficiency, individual, social and security and for testing the proportionality of the research questionnaire, the exploratory factor analysis were used. The results indicated that the indices under study relatively represent the dimensions of the study. Hence, during the fitting the structural model, the effect of each of these dimensions were studied on the use of internet banking services, the results of which indicate that the efficiency and security dimensions have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services while other dimensions such as individual and social dimensions in comparison to the efficiency dimension which were measured in terms of two concepts of usefulness and convenience and security, do not have a significant effect (p<0.01) on the use of internet banking services

Effect of Er:YAG Laser and Sandblasting in Recycling of Ceramic Brackets

Introduction: This study was performed to determine the shear bond strength of rebonded mechanically retentive ceramic brackets after recycling with Erbium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) laser or sandblasting.Methods: Twenty-eight debonded ceramic brackets plus 14 intact new ceramic brackets were used in this study. Debonded brackets were randomly divided into 2 groups of 14. One group was treated by Er:YAG laser and the other with sandblasting. All the specimens were randomly bonded to 42 intact human upper premolars. The shear bond strength of all specimens was determined with a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min until bond failure occurred. The recycled bracket base surfaces were observed under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests were used to compare the shear bond strength of the 3 groups. Fisher exact test was used to evaluate the differences in adhesive remnant index (ARI) scores.Results: The highest bond strength belonged to brackets recycled by Sandblasting (16.83 MPa). There was no significant difference between the shear bond strength of laser and control groups. SEM photographs showed differences in 2 recycling methods. The laser recycled bracket appeared to have as well-cleaned base as the new bracket. Although the sandblasted bracket photographs showed no remnant adhesives, remarkable micro-roughening of the base of the bracket was apparent.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, both Er:YAG laser and sandblasting were efficient to mechanically recondition retentive ceramic brackets. Also, Er:YAG laser did not change the design of bracket base while removing the remnant adhesives which might encourage its application in clinical practic