Incorporating the Dual Customer Roles in e-Service Design

E-service involves the delivery of useful services through information technology based service delivery channels such as the Internet. A distinguishing feature of e-service is the active and significant participation of customers in the service co-production process. With increasing customer participation in the e-service co-production process, it is important to incorporate customers’ needs both as a co-producer and as a patron into the design of e-service systems. However, these dual customer roles create a complex decision problem during e-service design. In the current paper we present a customer orientation strategy for e-service design, and propose a corresponding two-stage decision model based upon the customer orientation strategy to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of e-service design when the focus of the design is to meet customers’ needs as both co-producers and patrons. The decision model is then applied in an empirical study of the design of e-services of Internet food retailers. Key Words: Service Operations, E-Service, Co-production, Efficiency Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis

Interaction between U/UO2 bilayers and hydrogen studied by in-situ X-ray diffraction

This paper reports experiments investigating the reaction of H$_{2}$ with uranium metal-oxide bilayers. The bilayers consist of $\leq$ 100 nm of epitaxial $\alpha$-U (grown on a Nb buffer deposited on sapphire) with a UO$_{2}$ overlayer of thicknesses of between 20 and 80 nm. The oxides were made either by depositing via reactive magnetron sputtering, or allowing the uranium metal to oxidise in air at room temperature. The bilayers were exposed to hydrogen, with sample temperatures between 80 and 200 C, and monitored via in-situ x-ray diffraction and complimentary experiments conducted using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy - Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (STEM-EELS). Small partial pressures of H$_{2}$ caused rapid consumption of the U metal and lead to changes in the intensity and position of the diffraction peaks from both the UO$_{2}$ overlayers and the U metal. There is an orientational dependence in the rate of U consumption. From changes in the lattice parameter we deduce that hydrogen enters both the oxide and metal layers, contracting the oxide and expanding the metal. The air-grown oxide overlayers appear to hinder the H$_{2}$-reaction up to a threshold dose, but then on heating from 80 to 140 C the consumption is more rapid than for the as-deposited overlayers. STEM-EELS establishes that the U-hydride layer lies at the oxide-metal interface, and that the initial formation is at defects or grain boundaries, and involves the formation of amorphous and/or nanocrystalline UH$_{3}$. This explains why no diffraction peaks from UH$_{3}$ are observed. {\textcopyright British Crown Owned Copyright 2017/AWE}Comment: Submitted for peer revie

Forest Charges and Trusts: Shared Benefits with Clear Responsibilities

This paper examines the Community-Based Forest Management Program (CBFM) and Industrial Forest Management Agreements (IFMA) within the context of efficient forest management. Investigation on ways of accomplishing the objectives of the agency, community and commercial forestry in decreased costs is conducted. Results show a need for DENR’s redirection of financial and human resources to focus on critical environmental tasks. Focus on higher-value timber opportunities can increase the potential for sustainable management and increase in the government revenue collection.forestry sector, rent and fee

Pumpkin Cultivar Production & Quality Evaluations — 2014

This is a compilation of 30 research trial reports from four land-grant universities in the Midwestern United States. Crops include cantaloupe, pickling cucumber, pepper, potato, pumpkin, summer squash and zucchini, sweet corn, tomato, and watermelon. Somecrops were evaluated in high tunnels or hoophouses. Most trials evaluated different cultivars or varieties. One report addressed plant spacing for sweet corn and one addressed soil block for production of tomato seedlings. A list of vegetable seed sources and a list of other online sources of vegetable trial reports are also included

Deployed Communications in an Austere Environment: A Delphi Study

The information and communications technology (ICT) field is undergoing a period of tremendous change. The exponential growth rate of ICT capability in recent decades, which has had an undeniable effect on every aspect of our society, will likely have ramifications for military operations in austere environments. 1 The Air Force’s 689th Combat Communications Wing commissioned a study to forecast the future of mobile ICT in such environments. Researchers at the Air Force Institute of Technology chose to employ the Delphi technique as the methodology for executing this task. The following scenario, based on the results of that study, demonstrates how possible changes in ICT might affect military operations. The article then discusses relevant issues that one would need to address before such possibilities become reality

Keeping it Real: A Comprehensive and Transparent Evaluation of Electronic Resources

There will be a time when your library will need to evaluate all of your electronic resources. How would you do it? In response to a cut to our materials budget, we have developed a method that condenses a large amount of information into a few select criteria. In this day‐long workshop, we walked through the process using the Decision Grid process developed at the University of Maryland at College Park (Foudy and McManus, p. 533‐538) as a starting point. The workshop leaders first demonstrated each step of our process, and then the participants worked in small groups (5‐7) using their own experiences and a sample data set of their own. The steps covered included selecting and defining the criteria, gathering and analyzing the data, and determining how to make final decisions. We covered some technical aspects of gathering and analyzing data, including using Excel functions. We also included discussions about the criteria and ways of eliciting honest and useful feedback from librarians and patrons. The participants received a flash drive with Excel templates that included formulas, as well as completed sheets with sample data, and the presentation files