Perceived benefits of customer loyalty programs: validating the scale in the Indian context

The article endeavors to validate the scale developed by Mimouni-Chaabane and Volle (2010) that measures perceived benefits of customer loyalty programs in the Indian context. On running exploratory and subsequently confirmatory factor analyses based on the responses collected from loyalty program members from two Indian cities and across different industries, the researchers opine that in the Indian context, the scale has to undergo changes. The original scale developed and tested on French loyalty program members had sixteen items that measure five perceived benefits namely, monetary savings, exploration, entertainment, recognition and social. It was found that in the case of India, the number of items remain intact. However, the entertainment benefits dimension and the recognition benefits dimension merged to form a singular dimension which the researchers name as ‘ego pleasure’. The authors believe that this research will benefit the managers in devising strategies for particular segments of their loyalty program members. In addition, it opens up the possibility of further testing the scale in different cultural contexts.Loyalty, perceived benefit, customer loyalty program (CLP), scale, Indian loyalty market.

Simulation study of sweep improvement in heavy oil CO2 floods

Enhanced oil recovery by CO2 injection is a common application used for light oil reservoirs since CO2 is relatively easily miscible with light oils. CO2 flooding in heavy oil reservoirs is often uneconomic due to unfavorable mobility ratios. Reservoir heterogeneity further complicates the process as CO2 channels through high permeability layers leading to premature breakthrough. However, this can be controlled by choosing a suitable modification to the CO2 injection process enabling better sweep efficiencies, and making the process economic. The current work focuses on two such methods; water-alternating-gas injection (WAG) and profile modification by blocking gas flow in the high permeability layer. These methods were studied for physical mechanisms of oil recovery, increasing sweep efficiency, and mitigating premature breakthrough. Reservoir simulation studies of these methods were conducted using an analog heavy oil (14° API) field with a high permeability streak which had 50 times greater permeability than the adjacent zones. A detailed fluid characterization was performed to accurately represent the reservoir fluid. Slim tube and core flood simulations were interpreted to understand the physical mechanisms of oil recovery for this crude. Profile modification using a blocking agent showed very encouraging results. Different WAG ratios were also evaluated, and a WAG ratio of 1:1 resulted in the highest oil recovery which was consistent between both core flood simulations and field simulations. This is different from WAG ratios for highest recovery in light oil reservoirs where values of 1:2 are typically seen. It is shown that with careful study of the reservoir geology and fluid properties, application of these methods can significantly improve sweep efficiency and oil recovery in heavy oil floods

Reconstruction of an Image Based on 13/19 Triplet Half-Band Wavelet Filter Bank and Orthogonal Matching Pursuit

Compressive Sensing Scheme for image reconstruction presented in this paper is depending on a combination of Orthogonal Matching Search and a 13/19 triplet half band filter bank (THFB) which is resulting from 1/2-band polynomial. Here, the consideration is made for 13/19 triplet half band wavelet filter sets. The half-band polynomial is applied which is generalized and used to receive the required frequency response. The image reconstruction is done later based on this. The designed triplet wavelet filters give a sparse image which is used for the input image. Gaussian probability density function and the Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) are presented for reconstructing the image. The results and observations demonstrate that the compressive sensing by using OMP and designed wavelet filters offers good result for performance as compared to the existing wavelet filters

INFLUENCE OF ALKALI CATALYSTS ON THE PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF JATROPHA OIL METHYL ESTER: A REVIEW

World’s economy depends entirely on fossil fuels which are not only rapidly depleting but are also causing environmental degradation. Therefore, in order to replace fossil fuels partially, non-edible vegetable oils (Jatropha, Karanja, Mahua, Cottonseed, Neem, Linseed, Rice bran etc.) may be used for the production of Methyl ester. The yield of the Methyl ester mainly depends on the catalyst used in the transesterification reaction. The present study reports a review on the influence of alkali catalysts such as Potassium hydroxide (KOH), Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), Sodium amide (NaNH2), Magnesium zinc (Mg-Zn), Calcium oxide-Magnesium oxide (CaO-MgO) and Lemna Perpusilla Torrrey Ash on the production yield of Jatropha Methyl ester. This paper also discussed the influence of processing parameters, such as temperature, molar ratio, catalyst % wt., on the quantity and quality of the Jatropha Methyl ester. It was observed that, the KOH very effective than other catalysts and the yield of ester production is 99% at 60 oC, with a molar ratio 5:1 and 2% wt, as reported in published work. Based on the review, the present authors produced 95% yield of Jatropha Methyl ester using 1% wt. of KOH catalyst, with molar ratio of 9:1 and a reaction temperature of 60 oC. The fuel properties of different catalysts are also studied and it was observed that, the present sample is meeting the ASTM D 6751 specifications

Phenotyping and Genotype × Environment Interaction of Resistance to Leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Rice

Rice leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis is one of the key foliage feeding insects of great concern throughout Asia as it results in significant yield losses. High visibility of damage is triggering farmers to apply toxic pesticides for its management. Therefore, it is vital to identify new stable sources of resistance for leaffolder. Phenotyping of 160 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of a cross between a resistant parent, W1263 and a susceptible parent, TN1 using a rapid field screening method for three seasons resulted in identification of nine RILs as stable sources of resistance to rice leaffolder. Phenotypic frequency distributions were found continuous indicating that the resistance is a quantitative trait governed by polygenes. Phenotypic data for three seasons were analyzed using Genotype and Genotype × Environment Interaction (GGE) analysis for identification of stable resistant lines. Additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis showed that 86.41% of the total sum of square of damaged leaf area was attributed to genotype (GEN) effect; 0.48% to environment (ENV) effects and 5.68% to genotype by environment (G × E) interaction effects. Damage area, damage score and leaf length showed very high broad-sense heritability across three environments. However, leaf width had low heritability indicating higher environment influence. Phylogenetic analysis grouped these 160 RILs and parents into five clusters based on resistant reaction. AMMI and GGE biplot analysis revealed that stable genotypes G8 (MP114) and G3 (MP108) with lower damage area and damage score can be utilized in developing cultivars with leaffolder resistance

An inducible, specific and derepressible transport of L-serine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Both rho+ and rho− cells were capable of accumulating L-serine against a concentration gradient; however, the extent of serine accumulation differed between these two strains. About 60% of the total accumulation of serine was reduced in rho− cells which were shown to lack functional mitochondria. The transport of serine was mediated via a specific and an inducible system. It was also derepressible under nitrogen-starved conditions. The derepression of L-serine uptake was also evident under conditions where general amino-acid permease is not expressed