Talking about durables

Using a survey of 349 respondents, we investigate the triggers of word of mouth (WOM) in four durable categories and compare this evidence with previous findings for services. For these durables, positive word of mouth (PWOM) is mostly triggered by advertising and customer satisfaction with the product, while negative word of mouth (NWOM) is rare and mostly triggered by the content of conversation and the perception that other persons need advice. This contrasts with previously established findings for services where advertising has little effect on PWOM and dissatisfaction has substantial effect on NWOM. These differences have important implications: they suggest that durable ads should be tested to check that they trigger PWOM and that service providers should pay more attention to the satisfaction derived from the service experience. </jats:p

Diagram monoids and Graham–Houghton graphs: Idempotents and generating sets of ideals

We study the ideals of the partition, Brauer, and Jones monoid, establishing various combinatorial results on generating sets and idempotent generating sets via an analysis of their Graham–Houghton graphs. We show that each proper ideal of the partition monoid Pn is an idempotent generated semigroup, and obtain a formula for the minimal number of elements (and the minimal number of idempotent elements) needed to generate these semigroups. In particular, we show that these two numbers, which are called the rank and idempotent rank (respectively) of the semigroup, are equal to each other, and we characterize the generating sets of this minimal cardinality. We also characterize and enumerate the minimal idempotent generating sets for the largest proper ideal of Pn, which coincides with the singular part of Pn. Analogous results are proved for the ideals of the Brauer and Jones monoids; in each case, the rank and idempotent rank turn out to be equal, and all the minimal generating sets are described. We also show how the rank and idempotent rank results obtained, when applied to the corresponding twisted semigroup algebras (the partition, Brauer, and Temperley–Lieb algebras), allow one to recover formulae for the dimensions of their cell modules (viewed as cellular algebras) which, in the semisimple case, are formulae for the dimensions of the irreducible representations of the algebras. As well as being of algebraic interest, our results relate to several well-studied topics in graph theory including the problem of counting perfect matchings (which relates to the problem of computing permanents of {0,1}-matrices and the theory of Pfaffian orientations), and the problem of finding factorizations of Johnson graphs. Our results also bring together several well-known number sequences such as Stirling, Bell, Catalan and Fibonacci numbers

Insight : the key to faster progress in science

In scientific work we rightly attach great importance to the testing of predictions from theoretical ideas. We should also attach great importance to the generation of those ideas since these are necessary precursors to advancement in science. Insight plays a substantial role in the generation of ideas and is correspondingly important. It seems that insights are difficult to form and often delayed. We should study how constraints on insight can be reduced and whether the customary objectives in science give enough weight to procedures that may generate insights. This paper offers some suggestions on how to achieve this (We previously published a paper arguing that new ideas are important in any discipline and that some disciplines, such as medicine and psychology, were over-emphasising the testing of ideas, usually by experiment, and needed to look to methods that generated more new ideas than experiments (East and Ang in Aust Mark J, 25(4):334–340, 2017). That way, there would be more to test. Subsequently, we thought that the paper could have spent more time on the circumstances underpinning insight and this paper is the outcome of that thinking)

Motzkin monoids and partial Brauer monoids

We study the partial Brauer monoid and its planar submonoid, the Motzkin monoid. We conduct a thorough investigation of the structure of both monoids, providing information on normal forms, Green's relations, regularity, ideals, idempotent generation, minimal (idempotent) generating sets, and so on. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions under which the ideals of these monoids are idempotent-generated. We find formulae for the rank (smallest size of a generating set) of each ideal, and for the idempotent rank (smallest size of an idempotent generating set) of the idempotent-generated subsemigroup of each ideal; in particular, when an ideal is idempotent-generated, the rank and idempotent rank are equal. Along the way, we obtain a number of results of independent interest, and we demonstrate the utility of the semigroup theoretic approach by applying our results to obtain new proofs of some important representation theoretic results concerning the corresponding diagram algebras, the partial (or rook) Brauer algebra and Motzkin algebra

The impact of word of mouth on intention to purchase currently used and other brands

This paper measures how the impact of positive and negative word of mouth (PWOM, NWOM) is related to the receiver's intention to purchase brands, using shift in the intention to purchase as the measure of impact. It distinguishes between currently used and other brands, and finds that PWOM has more impact, and NWOM less, when these forms of advice are on the current brand. The PWOM effect persists among those who are disinclined to rebuy their current brand, so it is not based on preference. Similarly, the NWOM effect is not enhanced when respondents are disinclined to repurchase their current brand. To explain this phenomenon, we suggest that the current brand is better understood, making it easier for customers to accept PWOM and reject NWOM on it, irrespective of preference. This work, by showing that the response to WOM is relatively independent of preference, also indicates that bias based on preference may be a limited hazard in survey responses about WOM. When account is taken of the relative frequency of WOM on current and other brands, PWOM has twice as much effect on customer acquisition as customer retention, while NWOM has more than four times as much effect in deterring the acquisition of new buyers as it has on deterring customer retention. This evidence contributes to our understanding of how WOM acts to both retain and acquire customers. </jats:p

Nocturnal thoracoabdominal asynchrony in house dust mite-sensitive nonhuman primates

Nocturnal bronchoconstriction is a common symptom of asthma in humans, but is poorly documented in animal models. Thoracoabdominal asynchrony (TAA) is a noninvasive clinical indication of airway obstruction. In this study, respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) was used to document nocturnal TAA in house dust mite (HDM)-sensitive Cynomolgus macaques. Dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and lung resistance (RL) measured in anesthetized animals at rest and following exposure to HDM allergen, methacholine, and albuterol were highly correlated with three RIP parameters associated with TAA, ie, phase angle of the rib cage and abdomen waveforms (PhAng), baseline effort phase relation (eBPRL) and effort phase relation (ePhRL). Twenty-one allergic subjects were challenged with HDM early in the morning, and eBPRL and ePhRL were monitored for 20 hours after provocation. Fifteen of the allergic subjects exhibited gradual increases in eBPRL and ePhRL between midnight and 6 am, with peak activity at 4 am. However, as in humans, this nocturnal response was highly variable both between subjects and within subjects over time. The results document that TAA in this nonhuman primate model of asthma is highly correlated with Cdyn and RL, and demonstrate that animals exhibiting acute responses to allergen exposure during the day also exhibit nocturnal TAA

TSPO interacts with VDAC1 and triggers a ROS-mediated inhibition of mitochondrial quality control

The 18-kDa TSPO (translocator protein) localizes on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) and participates in cholesterol transport. Here, we report that TSPO inhibits mitochondrial autophagy downstream of the PINK1-PARK2 pathway, preventing essential ubiquitination of proteins. TSPO abolishes mitochondrial relocation of SQSTM1/p62 (sequestosome 1), and consequently that of the autophagic marker LC3 (microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3), thus leading to an accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria, altering the appearance of the network. Independent of cholesterol regulation, the modulation of mitophagy by TSPO is instead dependent on VDAC1 (voltage-dependent anion channel 1), to which TSPO binds, reducing mitochondrial coupling and promoting an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that counteracts PARK2-mediated ubiquitination of proteins. These data identify TSPO as a novel element in the regulation of mitochondrial quality control by autophagy, and demonstrate the importance for cell homeostasis of its expression ratio with VDAC1