How Personality and Relationship Affect Customers\u27 Adoption of Advanced Self Service Technology in Branch Banking

Self Service Technology (SST) in brick-and-mortar outlets advances from pure transaction processing to elaborate pro-active sales functions, where customers can be addressed directly as part of interactive marketing and customer relationship management approaches. This opens up new ways to reach customers for transaction intensive industries like financial services. SST may be used to increase revenues by cross or up-selling instead of just cost-cutting by lowering transaction costs. Customer adoption of in-branch SST like ATMs or kiosk systems might take different courses than those of internet sales platforms and previous research suggests a high influence of personality traits as well as customer relationship characteristics. We extend well proven technology adoption models by moderating effects from personality traits and customer relationship characteristics. Using survey and customer account data from customers of a European retail bank, we identify relevant moderating effects. Our study contributes by the transfer of SST adoption models to the specific research domain and the integration of moderating effects into adoption models by using additional external data

Mutagenesis of the l-Amino Acid Ligase RizA Increased the Production of Bioactive Dipeptides

The l-amino acid ligase RizA from B. subtilis selectively synthesizes dipeptides containing an N-terminal arginine. Many arginyl dipeptides have salt-taste enhancing properties while Arg-Phe has been found to have an antihypertensive effect. A total of 21 RizA variants were created by site-directed mutagenesis of eight amino acids in the substrate binding pocket. The variants were recombinantly produced in E. coli and purified by affinity chromatography. Biocatalytic reactions were set up with arginine and four amino acids differing in size and polarity (aspartic acid, serine, alanine, and phenylalanine) and were analyzed by RP-HPLC with fluorescence detection. Variant T81F significantly improved the yield in comparison to wild type RizA for aspartic acid (7 to 17%), serine (33 to 47%) and alanine (12 to 17%). S84F increased product yield similarly for aspartic acid (7 to 17%) and serine (33 to 42%). D376E increased the yield with alanine (12 to 19%) and phenylalanine (11 to 26%). The largest change was observed for S156A, which showed a yield for Arg-Phe of 40% corresponding to a 270% increase in product concentration. This study expands the knowledge about positions governing the substrate specificity of RizA and may help to inform future protein engineering endeavors

Co-Immobilization of RizA Variants with Acetate Kinase for the Production of Bioactive Arginyl Dipeptides

The biocatalytic system comprised of RizA and acetate kinase (AckA) combines the specific synthesis of bioactive arginyl dipeptides with efficient ATP regeneration. Immobilization of this coupled enzyme system was performed and characterized in terms of activity, specificity and reusability of the immobilisates. Co-immobilization of RizA and AckA into a single immobilisate conferred no disadvantage in comparison to immobilization of only RizA, and a small addition of AckA (20:1) was sufficient for ATP regeneration. New variants of RizA were constructed by combining mutations to yield variants with increased biocatalytic activity and specificity. A selection of RizA variants were co-immobilized with AckA and used for the production of the salt-taste enhancers Arg-Ser and Arg-Ala and the antihypertensive Arg-Phe. The best variants yielded final dipeptide concentrations of 11.3 mM Arg-Ser (T81F_A158S) and 11.8 mM Arg-Phe (K83F_S156A), the latter of which represents a five-fold increase in comparison to the wild-type enzyme. T81F_A158S retained more than 50% activity for over 96 h and K83F_S156A for over 72 h. This study provides the first example of the successful co-immobilization of an l-amino acid ligase with an ATP-regenerating enzyme and paves the way towards a bioprocess for the production of bioactive dipeptides

Basic limnological characteristics of the shallow eutrophic lake Grimnitzsee (Brandenburg, Germany)

AbstractThe medium shallow lake Grimnitzsee (maximum depth: 9.9 m; mean depth: 4.6 m; area: 7.7 · 106 m2) which is situated in the biosphere reserve “Schorfheide-Chorin” in northern Brandenburg (Germany) was studied in 1994 and 1995. A bathymetric map of Grimnitzsee is given for the first time. The lake is usually polymictic although in 1994 and 1995 relatively long summer stratification was observed due to very high global radiation input. Nutrient concentration, light climate, oxygen status, phytoplankton biomass and the species composition of littoral diatoms characterize the lake as eutrophic. Special features deducible from the lake's polymictic character were the multiple development of aerobic or anaerobic strata above the sediment, the fast recovery of silicon concentration in the water column after diatom sedimentation, the importance of resuspension for the success of planktonic diatom populations, and an only moderate correlation between chlorophyll a concentration and light attenuation as well as seston dry weight probably due to the influence of suspended particles

Using Geographically Referenced Data on Environmental Exposures for Public Health Research: A Feasibility Study Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)

Background: In panel datasets information on environmental exposures is scarce. Thus, our goal was to probe the use of area-wide geographically referenced data for air pollution from an external data source in the analysis of physical health. Methods: The study population comprised SOEP respondents in 2004 merged with exposures for NO2, PM10 and O3 based on a multi-year reanalysis of the EURopean Air pollution Dispersion-Inverse Model (EURAD-IM). Apart from bivariate analyses with subjective air pollution we estimated cross-sectional multilevel regression models for physical health as assessed by the SF-12. Results: The variation of average exposure to NO2, PM10 and O3 was small with the interquartile range being less than 10µg/m3 for all pollutants. There was no correlation between subjective air pollution and average exposure to PM10 and O3, while there was a very small positive correlation between the first and NO2. Inclusion of objective air pollution in regression models did not improve the model fit. Conclusions: It is feasible to merge environmental exposures to a nationally representative panel study like the SOEP. However, in our study the spatial resolution of the specific air pollutants has been too little, yet.SOEP, Geographically Referenced Data, Feasibility Study, Air Pollution, EURAD-IM, Physical Health

Production of Hybrid Tubular Metal-Fiber-Preforms: Material Characterization of Braided Hoses with a Binder

Hybrid shafts or rods, where the area of load introduction is metallic (e.g. steel or aluminium) and the area of load transfer is made of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP), are an established concept for lightweight parts. Besides the monolithic FRP and the metallic areas, the overlap area of both materials is particularly important. Such parts can beneficially be produced by the use of liquid composite moulding (LCM), where the bonding process takes place during the resin curing. This is called intrinsic hybridization. Beforehand it is crucial to produce a near-net-shape preform in which the metallic end fittings for the load introduction are already integrated. To manufacture such parts constantly with a high quality, a process model of the joining by draping the braided preform is necessary. In this paper an approach for the production of hybrid preforms made of braided hoses and metallic fittings is presented in order to develop a process model. The process starts with a cylindrical multi-layer preform made of braided hoses, in which the layers are bonded by a thermoplastic binder powder. The decisive process step is the draping of the preform onto the metallic fitting. For this forming step, the material characterization of the hybrid preform plays an important role. Several material tests to determine the textile parameters of the preform are therefore evaluated and performed. Finally, the results of these tests are presented and discussed

Mycelium vs. Fruiting Bodies of Edible Fungi—A Comparison of Metabolites

Edible mushrooms are widely appreciated for their appealing flavours, low caloric values and high content of presumably health-protecting metabolites. Their long history of safe use together with the looming worldwide food crisis have revived the idea of generating meat analogues and protein isolates by the controlled fermentation of mycelia of these edible fungi as a dietary option. The occurrence of proteins, polysaccharides, smaller metabolites, metal ions and toxins in mycelia and fruiting bodies is compared among the three most popular species, Agaricus bisporus (button mushroom), Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom), Lentinus edodes (shiitake) and some closely related species. Large effects of substrate chemistry, strain, developmental stage and ecological interactions result in a wide variation of the concentrations of some metabolites in both mycelial cells and fruiting bodies. This is obviously a result of the high adaptation abilities required to survive in natural habitats. Fungal bioprocesses are decoupled from agricultural production and can be operated anytime, anywhere, and on any scale according to demand. It is concluded that fungal biomass, if produced under food-grade conditions and on an industrial scale, could provide a safe and nutritious meat substitute and protein isolates with a high biological value for future vegan foods