Dual pillars of hotel restaurant food quality satisfaction and brand loyalty

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of service quality (physical quality and staff behaviour) and brand equity (brand quality, brand awareness and brand image) on hotel restaurant food quality satisfaction and brand loyalty among international and local travellers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 354 valid questionnaires were collected to assess the measurement and structural model for reflective latent constructs using the two steps of covariance-based structural equation modelling. Findings: The research findings suggest that while travellers’ nationality moderates the path between physical quality, staff behaviour and brand image on food quality satisfaction, it does not moderate the relationship between brand quality and brand awareness on food quality satisfaction. This finding further suggests that towards enhancing service quality and brand equity on food quality satisfaction and brand loyalty, managers should understand the important distinctions between international and local travellers. Originality/value: Previous studies have mostly examined the impact of brand equity and service quality towards tourist satisfaction and very few studies have examined the impact of restaurant service quality and brand equity on consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty specifically among international and local travellers. This is one of the first few studies providing empirical evidence and discussions in this area

Gene action for some agronomic traits in maize (Zea mays L.)

Results indicated over-dominance gene effects for days from silking to physiological maturity, days from anthesis to physiological maturity, plant height, kernel depth, number of rows per ear and grain yield. The most appropriate strategy for the exploitation of these effects is to obtain hybrid cultivars and evaluate these characteristics in hybrid combinations. The gene effect for days from emergence to physiological maturity and number of kernels per row was complete dominance, suggesting that reciprocal recurrent selection would be effective. Ear leaf area and ear length were controlled by partial dominance, indicating that additive gene effects were more important than non-additive gene effects for controlling the inheritance of these traits. Therefore, improvement of these traits through selection of breeding materials is highly feasible. Broad-sense heritability ranged between 47.4% and 89.4% for days to physiological maturity and number of rows per ear; however, narrow-sense heritability varied between 7.3% and 50.6% for days from anthesis to physiological maturity and ear leaf area, respectively. Non-additive gene effects were predominant for controlling the majority of traits

An investigation on resistance of 19 common bean genotypes to two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae), in three regions of Iran

Two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is one of the important pests of common bean that causes serious damage to agricultural crops. In this study, nineteen common bean genotypes were evaluated for resistance to the two-spotted spider mite. The trial was carried out at field conditions of Karaj, Brojerd and Khomein. One week after mite infestation, the total number of female and eggs were counted for two times. Also, mite damage feeding was evaluated with a 1-6 scale. Khomein had the fewest infested mean and relative resistance of many genotypes was failed in comparison to susceptible standard genotype (Akhtar) at Khomein. So they should be eliminated in alternative breeding programs. Nevertheless, only Ks41128 that had good relative resistance at other regions had the most relative resistance at Khomein. Subsequently, we propose Ks41128 as the most resistance and also the most stable genotypes

Investigation of presence, distribution and flight period of oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana (Lep.: Tortricidae) using pheromone traps in Kurdistan province

Forests cover about 5,200,000 hectares of the west of Iran, from which 500,000 hectares are located in Kurdistan province. One of the most important pests in the oak forests of this province is oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana L. (Lep.: Tortricidae). This pest significantly damages the oak forest each year. Using pheromone trap is one of the suitable methods for monitoring of this pest. In this work, distribution and flight period of the pest were studied by pheromone traps during two years. Fifteen regions were trapped at the equal distances (40 km) from Kamyaran (south west of Kurdistan province) to Baneh (north west of Kurdistan province) to investigate the presence and distribution of this moth. Also, a region located between Sanandaj and Marivan was selected to study the flight period. Some traps were established in this region and checked every two days. Investigation of pest distribution showed that oak leaf roller moth was present all over the sites from Kamyaran to Baneh. Different populations of moth were trapped in all over the sites. The highest population was trapped in Colit region (mid-west of Kurdistan province). The study of flight period showed that first moths were trapped on May, 16th and the peak of the flight took place on May, 21st and finally the last moths were trapped on June, 24th. Therefore, adults activated during 40 days; mating and oviposition occurred during this period. Incubation period lasted 9 months and activation of larvae was coincident with flashing of foliar buds

Land cover change detection of Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari province using landscape metrics (1994-2015)

Due to the importance of accessibility to updated and timely information regarding land cover changes, it is necessary for researchers and managers to assess such provincial level changes to help the planning process and prevent the damages caused in various regions. To this end, the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province land cover changes from 2015-1994 were developed in six main classes using the hybrid method. Then land cover changes were determined by applying “after-classification comparison” and “landscape metric”. Therefore, MPS, LPI, NP and PLAND metrics were calculated at the class level, and SHDI, LPI, CONTAG SPILIT INDEX metrics were calculated to quantify the landscape patterns at the landscape level. Finally, for each land use type, the destruction rates and the human destruction index were calculated separately. The results indicated a sharp decline of %36.67 in pastures and 6.42% in the forests areas, as well as an increase 39.32% in the barren lands. In such a manner, the landscape is more fragmented, disordered (or unsystematic) and discontinuous plus it has become more diverse for the studied time period coverage. So, if the current trend continues, the a sharp decrease in the ecosystem services and functions is likely to occur

Effect of cross section reduction on the mechanical properties of aluminium tubes drawn with variable wall thickness

Variable thickness tube drawing is a new process for the production of high performance tubes. In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of cross section reduction on the microstructure and mechanical properties of variable thickness aluminium tubes drawn using two different position controlled mandrel techniques. Various tubes with three different outer diameters were subjected to cold drawing at room temperature from 11 percent to 41percent cross section reduction. The local mechanical properties were determined from tensile tests carried out on specimens cut from different positions in the tubes parallel to their axes. The distributions of the Vickers hardness over the surfaces at 0 deg and 90 deg to the drawing direction were examined. It was found that the microhardness, yield strength, and ultimate tensile of the deformed samples increase and the corresponding elongation decreases with the increase of cross section reduction. Also, the anisotropy in microstructure and mechanical properties is more significant with increasing of cross section reduction. The evolution of mechanical properties of drawn tubes versus cross section reduction depends on the mandrel shapes and initial tube outer diameter. This study helps to further understand the microstructure and mechanical properties evolutions during tube drawing process with variable thickness.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Global optimisation of the production of complex aluminium tubes by the hydroforming process

With the recent development of analysis software products, designers and engineers are able to design more complex parts to obtain better performance in the final products. In this study, the tube hydroforming process, including preceding processes, i.e. variable thickness tube drawing and two-step bending, are globally optimised to obtain parts without any problems like bursting or un-filled zones at the end of the forming processes. Unlike most previous studies which searched for an optimum hydroforming process by changing two hydroforming parameters, i.e. axial load feeding and internal pressure, in this study, the distribution of initial tube wall thickness and the variation of thickness due to bending steps will be taken into account in a global optimisation algorithm. The developed algorithm is a general-purpose algorithm that can encompass different processes and change various parameters in each process to be able to reach the global objective. The case study used was a part that needs two-step variable thickness tube drawing, and two bending steps before hydroforming. To verify the numerical results in each forming stage and at the end of all forming processes, extensive experiments were performed, and acceptable agreements were observed.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye