The Impact of Customer Profile and Customer Participation on Customer Relationship Management Performance

There are two main sources of knowledge about customers: customer profile and customer participation. The companies use information technologies to analyze the customer profiles and extract tacit knowledge about customer via customer participation. The result of this experiment demonstrates that the use of customer profile improves customers’ perception on goods quality and increase the effectiveness of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In addition, customer participation can improve customers’ perception on goods quality and enhance performance of CRM through perceived participation. The result indicates that the customer profiles and customer participation are two crucial factors for companies to maintain customer relationship

A Rare Presentation of Conjunctival Myxoma with Pain and Redness: Case Report and Literature Review

Background: Conjunctival myxoma is a type of rare, benign tumor of mesenchymal cells, with fewer than 30 reported cases in the English literature. It is mostly an isolated occurrence but can sometimes be associated with systemic diseases such as Carney complex or Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. It is necessary in clinical practice to differentiate it from other similar lesions, such as amelanotic nevus, lymphangioma, myxoid liposarcoma, spindle-cell lipoma, myxoid neurofibroma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. Case Presentation: The usual presentation of conjunctival myxoma is a translucent, well-circumscribed, and painless conjunctival mass, but in this report we discuss an unusual case of conjunctival myxoma in a 47-year-old Taiwanese woman who presented initially with pain and redness. This atypical presentation complicated the diagnosis and the management at first. Surgical excision of the mass was performed. The mass was found to be a conjunctival myxoma. The patient subsequently underwent extensive evaluation but was found not to have any systemic diseases with known association with conjunctival myxoma. Conclusions: In summary, we present a case of conjunctival myxoma in a 47-year-old Taiwanese woman. The initial presentation with pain and redness was atypical for conjunctival myxoma. The lesion was successfully managed with complete excisional biopsy

Vibration of fast trains, palindromic eigenvalue problems and structure-preserving doubling algorithms

AbstractThe vibration of fast trains is governed by a quadratic palindromic eigenvalue problem (λ2A1T+λA0+A1)x=0, where A0,A1∈Cn×n and A0T=A0. Accurate and efficient solution can only be obtained using algorithms which preserve the structure of the eigenvalue problem. This paper reports on the successful application of the structure-preserving doubling algorithms

Profit Maximization for Waste Furniture Recycled in Taiwan Using Cradle-to-Cradle Production Programming

This study proposes the use of cradle-to-cradle production programming for waste furniture and aims to achieve optimal efficiency by reusing waste furniture and maximizing the corresponding benefits so that the furniture industry is in line with cradle-to-cradle manufacturing. This study is increasingly important to manage products through a comprehensive green reverse logistics system that consists of three procedures, i.e., recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing of waste items. This study proposes a mathematical formula to establish a cradle-to-cradle production programming model for waste furniture. The fuzzy set theory is used to define the attributes that reflect production and market demands such as degree of damage, technical feasibility, market demands, environmental protection laws and regulations, and environmental performance. In addition, particle swarm optimization is adopted to ascertain the optimal profit from waste furniture sales. Through situational simulations and analyses, the fuzzy set information from Taiwan, Germany, and China is compared. The result reveals that the qualitative information proposed has a significant impact on the profit of waste furniture reuse. The production model can effectively assist in the production programming of waste furniture, thereby optimizing profit for cradle-to-cradle production planning

Community-acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Children, Taiwan

Highly virulent community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) with Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is common worldwide. Using antimicrobial drug susceptibility testing, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing, exotoxin profiling, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing, we provide evidence that supports the relationship between nasal strains of PVL-positive MRSA and community-acquired disease

The incidence and risk of developing a second primary esophageal cancer in patients with oral and pharyngeal carcinoma: a population-based study in Taiwan over a 25 year period

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of oral and pharyngeal (including oral cavity, oropharynx and hypopharynx) carcinoma increases rapidly in Asia and South Pacific because of betel quid chewing. Thus far, large-scale epidemiological studies are not available yet to stratify these patients by their risks of developing a second primary cancer in the digestive tract including esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A population-based study was conducted using the database from the Taiwan National Cancer Registry for the period 1979-2003. We quantified standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and cumulative incidence of second primary cancers among 33,787 patients with initial diagnoses of oral and pharyngeal carcinoma.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among these four digestive tract organs, the esophagus was the only site of second cancer with excess risk in patients with oral and pharyngeal carcinoma. The incidence and risk of developing a second primary esophageal cancer differed by the site of the primary index tumor, most frequently seen in hypopharyngeal cancer (71/4,218 = 1.68%, SIR = 22.76, 95% CI 17.77-28.70), followed by oropharyngeal cancer (30/3,403 = 0.88%, SIR = 14.29, 95% CI 9.64-20.39) and the least in oral cavity cancer (99/26,166 = 0.38%, SIR = 5.57, 95% CI 4.53-6.78). In addition, the risk was extraordinarily high for patients with a follow-up interval ≤ 1 year and those with first primary cancer diagnosed at age ≤50. These patients may justify more close surveillance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study represents the first population-based study in Asia attempting to stratify the patients of oral and pharyngeal carcinoma by their risk of developing a second esophageal cancer. It helps identify patients at high risk and tailor the application of intense follow-up surveillance to the estimated risk in each individual case.</p