Why Customers Value Mass-customized Products: The Importance of Process Effort and Enjoyment

We test our hypotheses on 186 participants designing their own scarves with an MC toolkit. After completing the process, they submitted binding bids for "their" products in Vickrey auctions. We therefore observe real buying behavior, not merely stated intentions. We find that the subjective value of a self-designed product (i.e., one's bid in the course of the auction) is indeed not only impacted by the preference fit the customer expects it to deliver, but also by (1) the process enjoyment the customer reports, (2) the interaction of preference fit and process enjoyment, and (3) the interaction of preference fit and perceived process effort. In addition to its main effect, we interpret preference fit as a moderator of the valuegenerating effect of process evaluation: In cases where the outcome of the process is perceived as positive (high preference fit), the customer also interprets process effort as a positive accomplishment, and this positive affect adds (further) value to the product. It appears that the perception of the self-design process as a good or bad experience is partly constructed on the basis of the outcome of the process. In the opposite case (low preference fit), effort creates a negative affect which further reduces the subjective value of the product. Likewise, process enjoyment is amplified by preference fit, although enjoyment also has a significant main effect, which means that regardless of the outcome, customers attribute higher value to a self-designed product if they enjoy the process. The importance of the self-design process found in this study bears clear relevance for companies which offer or plan to offer MC systems. It is not sufficient to design MC toolkits in such a way that they allow customers to design products according to their preferences. The affect caused by this process is also highly important. Toolkits should therefore stimulate positive affective reactions and at the same time keep negative affect to a minimum. (authors' abstract

Measurement of Partial-Wave Contributions in pp --> pp pi^0

We report a measurement of the spin-dependent total cross section ratios delta_sigma_T/sigma_tot and delta_sigma_L/sigma_tot of the pp --> pp pi^0 reaction between 325 MeV and 400 MeV. The experiment was carried out with a polarized internal target in a storage ring. Non-vertical beam polarization was obtained by the use of solenoidal spin rotators. Near threshold, the knowledge of both spin-dependent total cross sections is sufficient to deduce the strength of certain participating partial waves, free of any model.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Heavy Meson Production in NN Collisions with Polarized Beam and Target -- A new facility for COSY

The study of near--threshold meson production in pp and pd collisions involving polarized beams and polarized targets offers the rare opportunity to gain insight into short--range features of the nucleon--nucleon interaction. The Cooler Synchrotron COSY at FZ--J\"ulich is a unique environment to perform such studies. Measurements of polarization observables require a cylindrically symmetrical detector, capable to measure the momenta and the directions of outgoing charged hadrons. The wide energy range of COSY leads to momenta of outgoing protons to be detected in a single meson production reaction between 300 and 2500 MeV/c. Scattering angles of protons to be covered extend to about $45^{\circ}$ in the laboratory system. An azimuthal angular coverage of the device around 98% seems technically achievable. The required magnetic spectrometer could consist of a superconducting toroid, providing fields around 3 T.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Czechoslovak Journal of Physic

Plane-wave based electronic structure calculations for correlated materials using dynamical mean-field theory and projected local orbitals

The description of realistic strongly correlated systems has recently advanced through the combination of density functional theory in the local density approximation (LDA) and dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). This LDA+DMFT method is able to treat both strongly correlated insulators and metals. Several interfaces between LDA and DMFT have been used, such as (N-th order) Linear Muffin Tin Orbitals or Maximally localized Wannier Functions. Such schemes are however either complex in use or additional simplifications are often performed (i.e., the atomic sphere approximation). We present an alternative implementation of LDA+DMFT, which keeps the precision of the Wannier implementation, but which is lighter. It relies on the projection of localized orbitals onto a restricted set of Kohn-Sham states to define the correlated subspace. The method is implemented within the Projector Augmented Wave (PAW) and within the Mixed Basis Pseudopotential (MBPP) frameworks. This opens the way to electronic structure calculations within LDA+DMFT for more complex structures with the precision of an all-electron method. We present an application to two correlated systems, namely SrVO3 and beta-NiS (a charge-transfer material), including ligand states in the basis-set. The results are compared to calculations done with Maximally Localized Wannier functions, and the physical features appearing in the orbitally resolved spectral functions are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figure

Histochemical properties of sialic acids and antimicrobial substances in canine anal glands

The functional properties of sialic acids appear to be manifold. Additionally, antimicrobial substances serve as a non-specific defense against microorganisms. In this study, therefore, the localization of sialic acids and antimicrobial substances in the anal glands of dog was studied by sialoglycoconjugate histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. The secretory epithelium, luminal secretions and excretory ducts exhibited high levels of sialoglycoconjugates that terminated in Siaα2-6Gal/GalNAc or Siaα2-3Gal1-4GlcNAc. Additionally, O-acetylated sialic acids were detectable in these glandular structures. Antimicrobial substances, such as lysozyme, immunoglobulin A (IgA), lactoferrin and the peptide group of β-defensins, were also demonstrated as products of the anal glands. The results obtained are discussed with regard to the functional significance of the anal glands. These secretory products may create a defensive barrier against microbial invasion at the anal mucosa

Spin correlations in p⃗p⃗→pnπ+\vec{p}\vec{p}\to pn\pi^{+} pion production near threshold

A first measurement of longitudinal as well as transverse spin correlation coefficients for the reaction $\vec{p}\vec{p}\to pn\pi^+$ was made using a polarized proton target and a polarized proton beam. We report kinematically complete measurements for this reaction at 325, 350, 375 and 400 MeV beam energy. The spin correlation coefficients $A_{xx}+A_{yy}, A_{xx}-A_{yy}, A_{zz}, A_{xz},$ and the analyzing power $A_{y},$ as well as angular distributions for $\sigma(\theta_{\pi})$ and the polarization observables $A_{ij}(\theta_{\pi})$ were extracted. Partial wave cross sections for dominant transition channels were obtained from a partial wave analysis that included the transitions with final state angular momenta of $l\leq 1$. The measurements of the ${\vec{p}\vec{p}\to pn\pi^{+}}$ polarization observables are compared with the predictions from the J\"ulich meson exchange model. The agreement is very good at 325 MeV, but it deteriorates increasingly for the higher energies. At all energies agreement with the model is better than for the reaction ${\vec{p}\vec{p}\to pp\pi^{0}}$.Comment: Preprint, 21 pp, submitted to Phys. Rev. C. Keywords: Mesons, Polarization, Spin Correlations, Few body system