Developing and validating five-construct model of customer satisfaction in beauty and cosmetic E-commerce

Customer satisfaction; Determinants; Beauty & Cosmetic; Online shopping; Vietnam; Behavioral economics; International economics; Management; Marketing; Globalization © 2020 The Author(s)Grounded on the American Customer Satisfaction Framework (ACSF) of Bryant (1995), the European Customer Satisfaction Framework Model (ECSF) of Anderson and Fornell (2000), and Eleven-factor Customer Satisfaction Model of Hokanson (1995), this study develops reliable and valid five constructs of customer satisfaction theoretical model and build up a questionnaire in the unique context of Beauty and Cosmetic Online Shopping in the Vietnamese market. More specifically, we identified five main constructs including 5 implementation constructs (i.e., online shopping experience, customer service, external incentives, security/privacy, and personal characteristics), and one outcome construct (i.e., customer satisfaction). A detailed questionnaire was then developed with items for these constructs along with the questions on the personal characteristics of the respondents. The questionnaire was sent to randomly consumers via online channels including Facebook. The target participants are Vietnamese people who have experience in shopping online products like beauty and cosmetics. Based on 334 full responses have been received, we use Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to test for 167 observations to ensure that all items in each scale reflected sufficiently the scope of each construct. This technique helps to identify the underlying dimensions of consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, we also employ Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate the constructs and items in questionnaire. To do this, we have used the sample of 167 responses. Finally, together with results from SEM models, our study contributes to providing a reliable and valid questionnaire which fully reflect for our self-constructed theoretical model of five constructs including Online shopping experience (OSE), External incentives (EI), Seller service (SS), and Security/privacy (SP), as well as personal characteristics (PC). © 2020 The Author(s

Catalytic Activity of Cr2O3/sepiolite in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol

Cr2O3/sepiolite samples with different loadings have been prepared through the precipitation method and characterized by several physical methods such as XRD, TEM, BET, and TGA... The as-prepared materials have large surface area, high distribution of Cr2O3 nanoxides on the nanofibrous sepiolite. The catalysts have been tested in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol with t-BuOOH. Chromium oxides were found to be active sites for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to aldehyde. The catalytic activity varied with reaction time and temperature. The appropriate temperature is about 60-70oC with conversion of 40-60% and benzaldehyde selectivity of 90%

Gender differences in determinants of customer satisfaction in beauty and cosmetic e-commerce

This study investigates the gender differences in determinants of customers' satisfaction when purchasing online beauty and cosmetics products in Vietnamese market. To do so, we construct a data set via online survey of 419 Vietnamese customers including both males and females, and examine such sample using t-tests and multiple regressions. Our regression model is constructed based on our five-construct model including online shopping experience, customer service, external incentives, security and privacy, and personal characteristics. The t-tests results reveal that the mean difference of customer satisfaction (negative coefficient) between the two groups of customers (females and males) is statistically significant. This suggests that the purchasing satisfaction of male customers is significantly higher than that of their female counterparts. Similarly, we also find that male customers are more satisfied with their online shopping experience, customer service and external incentives offered by the online sellers than female peers. Furthermore, regression results for full sample show that, on average, the online shopping experience, customer service and external incentives are significantly and positively related to customer satisfaction. Yet, such positive effect of customer service on customer satisfaction is more likely for males while females' satisfaction is more positively influenced by security and privacy.Tomas Bata University in Zli

Bridging Cultures in Academia: The Role of Mindfulness in Enhancing Intercultural Communication and Social Capital among Scholars

Studies that comprehensively incorporate mindfulness therapies and the theory of intercultural communication into the investigation of social capital are lacking in the body of existing literature. This restricts our comprehension of how these important components interact and affect social relationships in academic communities as a whole. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how mindfulness practices affect cross-cultural communication and, in turn, build social capital in academic environments. A mixed method was adopted in the study. In the first stage, focused group interviews are employed in the first stage with seven groups of nine Australian alumni, for a total of 63 participants who have experience conducting research and teaching abroad or in multicultural settings. In the second stage, 149 alumni were surveyed, and Process Macro SPSS\u27s Hayes model was used to analyse the data. The results showed that those who practice mindfulness are more likely to approach cross-cultural encounters with a greater awareness of and respect for different points of view. According to the findings, mindfulness can be a potent instrument for boosting perception of the community, networking, trust and safety, scholarly participation, citizen power, life values and diverse perspectives among academics. Scholars who engage in mindfulness practices have the potential to cultivate closer ties within academic communities, which could result in joint research opportunities, information exchanges, and career assistance. This study might offer academics a fresh theoretical viewpoint that improves the conceptual frameworks for mindfulness practice for enhancing academic social capital via intercultural communication

ĐÁNH GIÁ MỨC ĐỘ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA CÁC NGUỒN NƯỚC CHẢY VÀO HỒ ĐAN KIA VÀ ÁP DỤNG MÔ HÌNH AQUATOX QUẢN LÝ CHẤT LƯỢNG

The parameters used for measuring water quality of Dan Kia reservoir were temperature, pH, conductivity, secchi disk depth, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll a,  nutrients: nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate) and phosphate. There are five influents for the reservoir, therefore the water quality of Dan Kia reservoir depends on activities around these channels. S1 stream has the highest flow into the reservoir (8.2×106m3/year) but most of the nutrients were discharged from S4 and S5 stream. Concentration of ammonia, nitrate and phosphate from these channels is accounting for 89.82, 58.15 and  57.16% into the lake, respectively. The study constructed three scenarios and run them using AQUATOX model. The first scenario, all existing inflows are discharging into the lake, present situation. The second scenario, none is discharging. The third scenario, all are discharging except S4 stream and S5 stream. The result from the first scenario showed that the concentrations from the model consistent with measurements in the reservoir. In case the second and third scenarios happened the concentrations considerably decreased.Các thông số chất lượng nước hồ Đan Kia được khảo sát hàng tháng trong năm 2014 gồm có nhiệt độ, pH, độ dẫn diện, độ sâu secchi, oxy hòa tan, các hợp chất chứa nitơ (amoni, nitrat),  phốt pho (PO43-) và chlorophyll-a. Có 5 nhánh suối dẫn nước vào hồ vì vậy chất lượng nước hồ phụ thuộc vào các hoạt động trên lưu vực hồ và 5 nhánh suối này. Trong đó, nhánh suối S1 có lưu lượng nước chảy vào hồ cao nhất (8.2×106m3/năm) nhưng phần lớn chất dinh dưỡng được đưa vào hồ từ nhánh suối S4 và S5. Nồng độ amoni, nitrat và phốt phát từ hai nhánh suối này lần lượt chiếm đến 89.82, 58.15 và 57.16% tổng tải lượng dinh dưỡng vào hồ. Nghiên cứu đã xây dựng ba kịch bản và mô phỏng ba kịch bản này bằng mô hình AQUATOX. Kịch bản thứ nhất, tất cả các con suối vẫn được dẫn nước vào hồ như hiện tại. Kịch bản thứ hai, không cho bất kỳ con suối nào đổ nước vào hồ. Kịch bản thứ ba, tất cả các nguồn trên vẫn được đưa vào hồ trừ suối S4 và S5. Kết quả từ mô hình AQUATOX cho thấy với kịch bản đầu tiên, nồng độ các chất dinh dưỡng từ mô hình phù hợp với nồng độ đo đạc và đều vượt ngưỡng cho phép. Ở kịch bản thứ 2 và 3, nồng độ các chất dinh dưỡng giảm đáng kể, hầu hết các giá trị đều nằm dưới tiêu chuẩn cho phép đới với nước mặt. Từ kết quả này, nghiên cứu đề nghị các cơ quan chức năng cần tập trung quản lý tình trạng canh tác nông nghiệp trên lưu vực hồ Đan Kia, đặc biệt là khu vực phía Đông Nam hồ. Nghiên cứu cũng đã mô phỏng xu hướng phát triển và thành phần động thực vật phù trong hồ Đan Kia

Exploiting secure performance of full-duplex decode and forward in optimal relay selection networks

In the presence of an illegitimate user, we investigate the secrecy outage probability (SOP) of the optimal relay selection (ORS) networks by applying decode-and-forward (DnF) based full-duplex (FD) relaying mode. The closed-form expressions for the allocations of the end-to-end signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in each wireless network are derived as well as the closed-form expression for the exact SOP of the proposed ORS system is presented under Rayleigh fading schemes. As an important achievement, SOP is also compared between orthogonal multiple access (OMA) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes. Our results reveal that the SOP of the suggested scheme can be considerably influenced by several parameters involved, including the number of relays, the average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of eavesdropper links, transmit power and the average residual self-interference (SI) enforced on the FD relays.Web of Science244767

Novel biogenic silver and gold nanoparticles for multifunctional applications: Green synthesis, catalytic and antibacterial activity, and colorimetric detection of Fe(III) ions

In this study, novel biogenic silver (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were developed using a green approach with Ganoderma lucidum (GL) extract. The optimization of synthesis conditions for the best outcomes was conducted. The prepared materials were characterized and their applicability in catalysis, antibacterial and chemical sensing was comprehensively evaluated. The GL-AgNPs crystals were formed in a spherical shape with an average diameter of 50 nm, while GL-AuNPs exhibited multi-shaped structures with sizes ranging from 15 to 40 n

CHẾ TẠO VÀ TÍNH CHẤT CỦA VẬT LIỆU TỔ HỢP GRAPHENE – ỐNG NANO CÁCBON – HẠT NANO VÀNG

In this work, a composite nanomaterial consisting of graphene (Gr), double-wall carbon nanotube (DWCNTs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), designated as DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr was synthesized via the thermal chemical vapour deposition technique. The morphology and electrical and electrochemical properties of the material were characteried by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, four-probe sheet resistance measurement, and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The average sheet resistance value of DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr is 549 W/sq, 2.3 times lower than that of graphene. The current response of a DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr-modified electrode in a 2 mM K3[Fe(CN)6]/K4[Fe(CN)6] solution with 0.1 M PBS is 15.79 µA, 1.48 times higher than that of a graphene-modified electrode and 2.57 times higher than that of a bare electrode. The DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr material can be used for electrochemical biosensors to detect various bioelements.Trong công trình này, màng tổ hợp của vật liệu graphene (Gr) – ống nano cácbon hai tường (DWCNT) và hạt nano kim loại vàng (AuNPs) (DWCNT-AuNPs-Gr) đã được chế tạo bằng phương pháp lắng đọng pha hơi nhiệt hóa học (CVD). Hình thái học bề mặt và các tính chất điện, điện hóa của vật liệu tổ hợp đã được khảo sát thông qua kính hiển vi điện tử quét phát xạ trường, phổ Raman, điện trở bốn mũi dò và kỹ thuật quét thế vòng (CV). Với nồng độ DWCNTs 0,3 g/L và tốc độ quay phủ 4000 vòng/phút, vật liệu DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr có điện trở bề mặt giảm 2,3 lần so với màng Gr và đạt khoảng 549 W/sq; dòng đỉnh đáp ứng trong dung dịch 2 mM K3[Fe(CN)6]/K4[Fe(CN)6] trong 0,1 M PBS đạt 15,79 µA tại 50 mV/s, cao gấp 1,48 lần so với điện cực biến tính màng Gr và gấp 2,57 lần so với điện cực trần. Vật liệu DWCNTs-AuNPs-Gr có tiềm năng ứng dụng trong cảm biến điện hóa để phát hiện các phần tử sinh học khác nhau

SECURE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF ADAPTIVE ENERGY HARVESTING ENABLED RELAYING NETWORKS

In this paper, the impact of the jamming signal on the secrecy performance of Energy Harvesting (EH) enabled dual-hop amplify-and-forward relaying network is investigated. First, the security outage probability analysis is studied for conventional networks under a single passive eavesdropper attack. Then, the outage performance analysis in two cases regarding energy harvesting is investigated. Moreover, the proposed work enhances Physical Layer (PHY) security performance of two-hop relaying model using Cooperative Jamming Dual-Hop Techniques (CJDH). For this purpose, new closed-form expressions are derived for the outage probability of CJDH model in the presence of interference over Rayleigh fading channels. A power allocation optimization problem for energy harvesting protocol is formulated and solved for enhancing the system security. The derived analytical formulas herein are supported by numerical and simulation results to clarify the main contributions of the paper

Viral Metagenomic Analysis of Cerebrospinal Fluid from Patients with Acute Central Nervous System Infections of Unknown Origin, Vietnam.

Central nervous system (CNS) infection is a serious neurologic condition, although the etiology remains unknown in >50% of patients. We used metagenomic next-generation sequencing to detect viruses in 204 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with acute CNS infection who were enrolled from Vietnam hospitals during 2012-2016. We detected 8 viral species in 107/204 (52.4%) of CSF samples. After virus-specific PCR confirmation, the detection rate was lowered to 30/204 (14.7%). Enteroviruses were the most common viruses detected (n = 23), followed by hepatitis B virus (3), HIV (2), molluscum contagiosum virus (1), and gemycircularvirus (1). Analysis of enterovirus sequences revealed the predominance of echovirus 30 (9). Phylogenetically, the echovirus 30 strains belonged to genogroup V and VIIb. Our results expanded knowledge about the clinical burden of enterovirus in Vietnam and underscore the challenges of identifying a plausible viral pathogen in CSF of patients with CNS infections