Understanding the role of marketing communications in direct marketing

The standard RFM models used by direct marketers include behavioral variables, but ignore the role of marketing communications. In addition, RFM models allow customer responsiveness to vary across different customers, but not across diiferent time periods. Hence, the authors first extend RFM models by incorporating the effects of marketing communications and temporal heterogeneity. Then, using direct-marketing data from a Dutch charity organization, they calibrate the proposed model, and find that it better explains customer behavior because it includes information on both the past behavior and marketing communications. More specifically, they show that direct mail communication builds goodwill, which, in turn, enhances customer's likelihood to buy. However, cumulative exposure to direct mail creates irritation, and erodes goodwill. The two opposite effects induce a cyclic pattern of goodwill formation, which repeats over four quarters. Next, the authors find that, when they control for these communications effects, the standard result - customer's likelihood to buy increases as shopping frequency increases - reverses. That is, in contrast to the extant literature, customers who donate frequently are less likely to donate in the near future. These findings are not only stable over time, but also replicate across two large data sets. Finally, the authors discuss the need for implementing pulsing strategy to mitigate irritation, and the possibility of practicing one-to-one marketing by using information on customer responsiveness, which can be estimated for each customer via the proposed model

Choice of suitable Identity and Access Management standards for mobile computing and communication

© 2017 IEEE. Enterprises have recognised the importance of personal mobile devices for business and official use. Employees and consumers have been freely accessing resources and services from their principal organisation and partners' businesses on their mobile devices, to improve the efficiency and productivity of their businesses. This mobile computing-based business model has one major challenge, that of ascertaining and linking users' identities and access rights across business partners. The parent organisation owns all the confidential information about users but the collaborative organisation has to verify users' identities and access rights to allow access to their services and resources. This challenge involves resolving how to communicate users' identities to collaborative organisations without sending their confidential information. Several generic Identity and Access Management (IAM) standards have been proposed, and three have become established standards: Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), Open Authentication (OAuth), and OpenID Connect (OIDC). Mobile computing and communication have some specific requirements and limitations; therefore, this paper evaluates these IAM standards to ascertain suitable IAM to protect mobile computing and communication. This evaluation is based on the three types of analyses: Comparative analysis, suitability analysis and security vulnerability analysis of SAML, OAuth and OIDC

Big data security analysis approach using Computational Intelligence techniques in R for desktop users

© 2016 IEEE.Big Data security analysis is commonly used for the analysis of large volume security data from an organisational perspective, requiring powerful IT infrastructure and expensive data analysis tools. Therefore, it can be considered to be inaccessible to the vast majority of desktop users and is difficult to apply to their rapidly growing data sets for security analysis. A number of commercial companies offer a desktop-oriented big data security analysis solution; however, most of them are prohibitive to ordinary desktop users with respect to cost and IT processing power. This paper presents an intuitive and inexpensive big data security analysis approach using Computational Intelligence (CI) techniques for Windows desktop users, where the combination of Windows batch programming, EmEditor and R are used for the security analysis. The simulation is performed on a real dataset with more than 10 million observations, which are collected from Windows Firewall logs to demonstrate how a desktop user can gain insight into their abundant and untouched data and extract useful information to prevent their system from current and future security threats. This CI-based big data security analysis approach can also be extended to other types of security logs such as event logs, application logs and web logs

Near-infrared Observations of Be/X-ray Binary Pulsar A0535+262

We present results obtained from an extensive near-infrared spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Be/X-ray binary A0535+262/HDE 245770 at different phases of its ~111 day orbital period. This observation campaign is a part of the monitoring programme of selective Be/X-ray binary systems aimed at understanding the X-ray and near-IR properties at different orbital phases, especially during the periastron passage of the neutron star. The near-IR observations were carried out using the 1.2 m telescope at Mt. Abu IR observatory. Though the source was relatively faint for spectroscopic observations with 1.2 m telescope, we monitored the source during the 2011 February--March giant outburst to primarily investigate whether any drastic changes in the near-IR JHK spectra take place at the periastron passage. Changes of such a striking nature were expected to be detectable in our spectra. Photometric observations of the Be star show a gradual and systematic fading in the JHK light curves since the onset of the X-ray outburst that could suggest a mild evacuation/truncation of the circumstellar disc of the Be companion. Near-IR spectroscopy of the object shows that the JHK spectra are dominated by the emission lines of hydrogen Brackett and Paschen series and HeI lines at 1.0830, 1.7002 and 2.0585 micron. The presence of all hydrogen emission lines in the JHK spectra, along with the absence of any significant change in the continuum of the Be companion during X-ray quiescent and X-ray outburst phases suggest that the near-IR line emitting regions of the disc are not significantly affected during the X-ray outburst.Comment: 10 Pages, 5 Figures, Accepted for publication in Res. in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Ferromagnetism at 300 K in spin-coated anatasea and rutile Ti0.95Fe0.05O2 films

Thin films of Ti1-xFexO2 (x=0 and 0.05) have been prepared on sapphire substrates by spin-on technique starting from metal organic precursors. When heat treated in air at 550 and 700 degrees C respectively, these films present pure anatase and rutile structures as shown both by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Optical absorption indicate a high degree of transparency in the visible region. Such films show a very small magnetic moment at 300 K. However, when the anatase and the rutile films are annealed in a vacuum of 1x10-5 Torr at 500 degrees C and 600 degrees C respectively, the magnetic moment, at 300 K, is strongly enhanced reaching 0.46 $\mu$B/Fe for the anatase sample and 0.48 $\mu$B/Fe for the rutile one. The ferromagnetic Curie temperature of these samples is above 350 K.Comment: 13 october 200

Random access quantum information processors

Qubit connectivity is an important property of a quantum processor, with an ideal processor having random access -- the ability of arbitrary qubit pairs to interact directly. Here, we implement a random access superconducting quantum information processor, demonstrating universal operations on a nine-bit quantum memory, with a single transmon serving as the central processor. The quantum memory uses the eigenmodes of a linear array of coupled superconducting resonators. The memory bits are superpositions of vacuum and single-photon states, controlled by a single superconducting transmon coupled to the edge of the array. We selectively stimulate single-photon vacuum Rabi oscillations between the transmon and individual eigenmodes through parametric flux modulation of the transmon frequency, producing sidebands resonant with the modes. Utilizing these oscillations for state transfer, we perform a universal set of single- and two-qubit gates between arbitrary pairs of modes, using only the charge and flux bias of the transmon. Further, we prepare multimode entangled Bell and GHZ states of arbitrary modes. The fast and flexible control, achieved with efficient use of cryogenic resources and control electronics, in a scalable architecture compatible with state-of-the-art quantum memories is promising for quantum computation and simulation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, supplementary information ancillary file, 21 page

A critical review of anticancer properties of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal with respect to the biochemical mechanisms of its phytochemical constituents

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs have been known for their toxicity and numerous side effects. A new approach to treat cancer involves phytochemical drugs. In the present review, anti-cancer activity of a class of steroidal lactones called withanolides obtained from Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is discussed. The commonly studied bioactive compounds namely withaferin-A, withanoside IV, withanoside VI and withanolide-A among others obtained from methanolic and chloroform extract of the leaves and various alcoholic, aqueous and chloroform extract of roots have shown inhibition to various human cancer cell lines including skin, breast, colon, prostate, liver, ovary, cervical and lung. Prominent mechanisms of action include induction of apoptosis by NOS upregulation, ROS production and NBS2 or COX-2 inhibition; cytotoxicity by humoral and cell mediated immune response, activation of p53 and pRB and inhibition of various viral oncoproteins; cell cycle arrest by Cdc2 facilitated mitotic catastrophe, cyclin-D1 down-regulation and inhibition of transcription factors. Cancers are also controlled by inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis of the tumor cells. In addition to anti-tumorogenic properties, W. somnifera also holds properties that make it a potential adjuvant in integrated cancer therapeutics and in enhancing the effectiveness of ongoing radiation therapy

Near-infrared Observations of Nova V574 Puppis (2004)

We present results obtained from extensive near-infrared spectroscopic and photometric observations of nova V574 Pup during its 2004 outburst. The observations were obtained over four months, starting from 2004 November 25 (four days after the nova outburst) to 2005 March 20. The near-IR JHK light curve is presented - no evidence is seen from it for dust formation to have occurred during our observations. In the early decline phase, the JHK spectra of the nova are dominated by emission lines of hydrogen Brackett and Paschen series, OI, CI and HeI. We also detect the fairly uncommon Fe II line at 1.6872 micron in the early part of our observations. The strengths of the HeI lines at 1.0830 micron and 2.0585 micron are found to become very strong towards the end of the observations indicating a progression towards higher excitation conditions in the nova ejecta. The width of the emission lines do not show any significant change during the course of our observations. The slope of the continuum spectrum was found to have a lambda^{-2.75} dependence in the early stages which gradually becomes flatter with time and changes to a free-free spectral dependence towards the later stages. Recombination analysis of the HI lines shows deviations from Case B conditions during the initial stages. However, towards the end of our observations, the line strengths are well simulated with case B model values with electron density n_e = 10^{9-10} cm^{-3} and a temperature equal to 10^4 K. Based on our distance estimate to the nova of 5.5 kpc and the observed free-free continuum emission in the later part of the observations, we estimate the ionized mass of the ejecta to be between 10^{-5} and 10^{-6} solar-mass.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA