SHOULD WE DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN BUSINESS AND PRIVATE CUSTOMERS?

The literature on how customers make their service-provider choices largely distinguishes between private and business customers, and companies’ offerings have been separated accordingly. This study takes a closer look at the possible differences between these two customer categories. The results are explorative and based on both qualitative and quantitative studies focusing on customers’ actual behavior. The findings show that it is not only job-related aspects such as “being able to work” that influence business travel, and that private matters such as “time with the family” are clearly of equal significance in the choice situation. Price perception is important, but only when it is set against the appropriate social costs. The contradiction appears in the airlines’ offers to these customers, which are generally specifically job related. The results of the present study show that most business customers are, in fact, “private customers”.air travel, customer relationships, business-to-business relationships, preferences, choice, service

Option framing and Markov chain: A descriptive approach in a state-space modeling of customer behavior

In the field of marketing, option framing is a product or service configuration where the consumers customize the package they wish to procure either by adding options to a base model, an initial configuration with a minimum number of essential features, or by subtracting options from a fully-loaded model, a product or service configuration with both essential and all of the optional features. Additive framing is selecting features to augment the base model, while subtractive framing is deselecting features from the fully-loaded model. A focal issue for companies that could possibly offer such products or services with option framing is finding out which process, additive or subtractive framing, is bound to give a final configuration with more features. The scenarios of option framing can be described by a finite Markov chain process. The Markov chain attempts to capture the decision process of the two types of framing through the estimated probabilities of movement from one phase to the other. In each of the decision phases, the key measure is the number of features in the configuration and the transition probabilities. The option framing is used on an actual study, where the empirical results verify the theories favoring subtractive framing, such as differential loss aversion and anchoring-adjustment theories. Separate Markov chains are evaluated for additive and subtractive framing, with the final configurations of the product or service package, along with the corresponding number of options, as main results

System size and beam energy dependence of azimuthal anisotropy from PHENIX

We present azimuthal anisotropy measurements in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 and 200 GeV. Comparison between reaction plane and cumulant $v_2$ measurements in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV show that non-flow contributions, originating mainly from jets, influence the extracted $v_2$ for $p_T$ $\gtrsim$ 3.5 GeV/c. Number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling of $v_2$, when studied as a function of transverse kinetic energy $KE_T$, is seen to hold for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 and 200 GeV and for Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for $KE_{T}$ $\lesssim$ 1 GeV/c. Differential hexadecupole flow $v_4$ seems to exhibit scaling with integral $v_2$ for centrality $\le$ 40% as has been observed for differential $v_2$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the QM2008 Conference, Jaipur, India February 4-10 200

Measurements of Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on J/psi in the PHENIX Experiment via Deuteron-Gold Collisions

A new calculation of R_{dAu} has been performed using the 2003 d+Au data and the higher-statistics 2005 p+p data. These nuclear modification factors are compared to calculations using nuclear-modified PDFs and a J/psi breakup cross section is extracted. These values are then used to project the cold nuclear matter effects in Au+Au collisions. Additionally, a more data-driven projection is performed.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, proceedings for Quark Matter 200

Measurement of charm and bottom production in p+p collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 200 GeV at RHIC-PHENIX

RHIC-PHENIX has observed a large suppression pattern and azimuthal anisotropy of non-photonic electron at mid-rapidity ($\mid\eta\mid<0.35$) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. To understand these results and the interaction of heavy quarks in the hot and dense medium, experimental determination of production ratio of charm over bottom is one of the most important topics, since the behavior of bottom may differ from charm in the medium. We measured the ratio of charm over bottom and total cross section of bottom via partial reconstruction of D$^0$$\to$e$^+$ K$^-$ $\nu_e$ decay in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. Total cross sections of charm and bottom were also measured via di-electron continuum in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV.Comment: 4pages, 4figures,coferenc

Measurements of heavy quark production via single leptons at PHENIX

The measurement of single leptons from the semi-leptonic decay of heavy-flavor hadrons has long been a means for studying heavy-quark production. PHENIX has measured single muons in pp collisions at forward rapidity and single electrons in both pp and AuAu collisions at mid-rapidity at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The most recent PHENIX single lepton results are presented in the context of state-of-the-art pQCD calculations. An updated azimuthal anisotropy, v2(pT), measurement for heavy-flavor single electrons in AuAu collisions is also presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented at the 19th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, "Quark Matter 2008", Jaipur, India, February 4-10, 200

Mortaring for linear elasticity using mixed and stabilized finite elements

The purpose of this work is to study mortar methods for linear elasticity using standard low order finite element spaces. Based on residual stabilization, we introduce a stabilized mortar method for linear elasticity and compare it to the unstabilized mixed mortar method. For simplicity, both methods use a Lagrange multiplier defined on a trace mesh inherited from one side of the interface only. We derive a quasi-optimality estimate for the stabilized method and present the stability criteria of the mixed $P_1-P_1$ approximation. Our numerical results demonstrate the stability and the convergence of the methods for tie contact problems. Moreover, the results show that the mixed method can be successfully extended to three dimensional problems

A transient outward current in a mammalian central neurone blocked by 4-aminopyridine

It is becoming increasingly clear that nerve cells in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) have a very complex electroresponsiveness. They exhibit not only time- and voltage-dependent Na+ and K+ conductances, analogous to those in the squid giant axon1, but also a variety of other conductances that have a significant role in the control of cell excitability. Of the outward currents, there are, in addition to the delayed rectifier, the Ca2+-activated K+ current2,3 which underlies the long-lasting spike afterhyperpolarization, and the M current4, a non-inactivating K+ current evoked by membrane depolarization and blocked by muscarinic, cholinergic agonists. We demonstrate here the existence in a mammalian central neurone (hip-pocampal CA3 pyramidal cells) of yet another outward current, which is transient and may be carried by K+ ions. Further, the experiments show that this current is substantially reduced by the convulsant 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)5, resulting in a marked increase in cell excitability