EFFECTS OF KORTTA FIBRES AND MICROSILICA ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE IN OIL PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTS

Crude oil and its products are strategic and vital goods for most countries in the world. It is necessary to store these products in the production and transfer chain and send them to refineries, ports, and airports for military and national purposes. Lightweight concrete is propounded as a useful replacement for normal concrete due to its low specific weight and acceptable resistance property; however, compared to normal concrete, it is considered to be more permeable, less durable, and less resistant. Therefore, in this study, the reliability of this synthetic material in oil conditions has been investigated. In this regard, two groups of samples were investigated under normal and oil environmental conditions, polymer Kortta fibres with percentages of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% and microsilica with percentages of 0 and 15% by cement weight were incorporated alone and combined. Subsequently, tests were performed on the specimens after 90 days. The results showed that the combination of microsilica and Kortta fibres causes a significant increase in lightweight concrete strength and impermeability

Customers’ experiences of fast food delivery services: uncovering the semantic core benefits, actual and augmented product by text mining

Purpose This study conceptualizes food delivery services as service mix decisions (SMDs) and illustrates a data-driven approach for the analysis of customers' written experiences. Design/methodology/approach Web scraping, text mining techniques as well as multivariate statistics are combined to uncover the structure of the three tiers of SMD from consumers' point of view. Findings The analyses reveal that fast food delivery is not primarily about speed but that there are four distinct experiential factors to be considered for SMDs. Fast food delivery services are associated both with the actual product (i.e. product issues and brand satisfaction) and with the augmented product (payment process and service handling). Originality/value Findings demonstrate the relevance of SMDs in omnichannel food retail environments and guide researchers in multistage analyses of consumers' online food reviews

Guideline for application of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) in tourism and hospitality studies

The aim of this chapter is to review and illustrate a step-by-step guideline in conducting fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) in tourism and hospitality studies. As an emerging method, fsQCA is simultaneously quantitative and qualitative in nature which makes it an appropriate method for social science disciplines including tourism and hospitality area because of complex nature of relationships between multiple variables where theories and models are underdeveloped. Unlike conventional statistical techniques, fsQCA is an asymmetrical analysis technique that provides a holistic view and interrelationships among several conditions using Boolean algebra. The fsQCA analyses produce comprehensive assessment by revealing causal combinations of antecedents to predict an outcome; and identify sufficient configurations (i.e., causal combinations and recipes) and necessary condition/s. By utilizing this method, researchers would be able to produce complex, comprehensive, and robust results

Relationship between microscopic analysis and quantitative and qualitative indicators of moisture susceptibility evaluation of warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing modifiers

Given the defects of bitumen in asphalt mixtures particularly exposed to moisture, this study mainly aims to investigate the relationship between qualitative and quantitative results of moisture susceptibility tests on asphalt mixtures modified by ZycoTherm, nanoclay, nanosilica and SBS. The Marshall stability, modulus of resilience and indirect tensile strength tests are carried out. Boiling water and SEM qualitative tests are also used. Eventually, the qualitative tests results are digitalized through image processing by MATLAB and compared with the moisture susceptibility results of indirect tensile strength test. For modulus of resilience testing, the results show that this modifier has the maximum impact on Marshall stability, improving it by about 23%. For moisture susceptibility testing, the nanosilica-modified mixture has the maximum effect among anti-stripping additives, with an improvement by about 20%. An investigation into the results of SEM images and boiling water test via MATLAB indicates the high accuracy of SEM images and their results show the most compatibility with the results of quantitative data

E-waste-word of mouth (EW-WOM) generation: a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA)

Purpose This study aims to examine the asymmetrical relationships among information-sharing desire, moral attitudes, lack of concern, relative advantage, market maven tendency and complexity as the antecedents of E-waste-word of mouth (EW-WOM) generation. Design/methodology/approach To obtain a holistic view and the interrelationships between conditions, the configural analysis was conducted to assess the asymmetrical relationships using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA). In addition, construct validity, reliability and symmetrical relationships between antecedent conditions (i.e. exogenous constructs) and outcome conditions (i.e. endogenous constructs) are examined using variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) technique. Findings Results imply that market maven tendency accounts for 86.8% of the sum of the memberships in EW-WOM generation. In total, 11 configurations show sufficiency in constructing EW-WOM generation. The configuration of relativeadvanta*moralattitudes*marketmaventend shows the highest consistency value (0.939684) in producing EW-WOM generation (outcome condition). The ∼relativeadvanta *moralattitudes*complexity*∼lackfconcern with raw coverage of 0.626757 and consistency value of 0.864088 show the most sufficient configuration path in producing the outcome. Originality/value Product review and recommendation are easily shared in various communication formats and consumers are prone to disseminate information and their experiences with other market segments. However, the role and phenomena of such viral communication in preventing environmental issues caused by electronic and electrical devices (i.e. E-waste) are not well understood. This study is among a few attempts at understanding consumer's decision-making process to engage in E-waste activities such as the reduction of garbage, recycling, compositing and the reuse of electronic or electrical devices

Online consumer’s acceptance of social networking sites as potential shopping’s guide

The emergence of social media has significantly altered the strategies that companies use to communicate with customers ( Lee, Xiong, & Hu, 2011). As social media moves from “buzz word” status to strategic tool, more practitioners are developing skills related to this online communication technology (Eyrich, Padman, & Sweetser, 2008). With the development of networks, especially electronic commerce’s appearance, consumers enter a new environment of trade, therefore, with the high degree of price dispersion in the online market, for example, customer information, search behaviour also changes (Guan & Cheng, 2009). In fact, with the rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies, such as Ajax and XML, a great number of social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Renren, MySpace, Kaixin, and LinkedIn) are emerging, which makes mass users interactions easier and more convenient (Yanli, Yi, & Yuli, 2010). These social media tools allow users to search, organize, share, annotate and contribute to contents in a collaborative way. For example, Curtis et al. (2010) found that social media techniques are becoming more abundant as public relations practitioners become mindful of their effectiveness in respect of reaching target audiences, promoting a specific cause, and further developing communication strategies. More than half of America’s teens and young adults send instant messages and use social networking sites, and more than one-third of all Internet users engage in these activities (Correa, Hinsley, & de Zúñiga, 2010)

Measures of implicit cognition for marketing research

Automatic, unconscious processes largely influence human decision-making. However, quantitative market research focuses on eliciting conscious responses. This foregoes the opportunity to investigate - and steer - preceding cognitive processes of decision-making. Three implicit cognitions are of special relevance along consumers' journey: Implicit attention introduces the first perception of a stimulus. Implicit associations can cause attitude and preference formation. Finally, approach tendencies can induce impulse buying. This paper provides a broad methodological overview of these implicit cognition measures to guide future researchers' marketing applications. It presents the methods' theoretical foundations, outlines how they can overcome explicit measures' limitations, and sketches their potential for marketing applications. In addition, the authors describe important research paradigms, alternative experimental setups, and data analyses steps to enable researchers to use implicit measurement tools. The measurement instruments are implemented in a non-profit software (AskYourBrain) and tested in an illustrative study. Key findings are summarized and marketing application suggestions made

The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on NF-κB and TNF-α in Lung Tissue of Male Rat

Background:Regular aerobic exercise improves theBackground: Regular aerobic exercise improves the inflammatory status in different lung diseases. However, the effects of long-term aerobic exercise on the lung response have not been investigated. The present study evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise on the lung inflammatory.Materials and Methods: 12 adult male Wistar rats were divided to 2 groups: A: control (n=6), B: aerobic exercise (five times per week for 4 week; n=6). The gene expression of NF-κB and TNF-α were analyzed in lung tissue by Real time–PCR. In order to determine the significant differences between groups independent t-test were used.Results: Aerobic exercise inhibited the gene expression of NF-κB and TNF-α. But there was no significant difference between A and B groups for TNF-α and NF-κB.Conclusion: We conclude that four week aerobic exercise decrease inflammatory status in lung tissue. Our results indicate a need for human studies that evaluate the lung responses to aerobic exercise

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