Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The long term impact of service personnel practices on customer attitudes and behavior

This research examines the implications of two critical areas in services marketing: suggestive selling and service recovery performed by frontline personnel. In this first chapter, I compare the short and long-term consequences of up-selling versus an alternative suggestive selling practice called down-selling which involves salespeople pro-actively guiding customers to low price or discounted products. Using theories of mental budgeting and disconfirmation of price expectations, I develop a model relating the two alternative suggestive selling strategies to customer value, product quality perceptions, satisfaction, and loyalty. The results from testing the model with over 2000 customers of a casual dining chain provide the first insights into the detrimental long-term effects of up-selling and the surprising short and long-term benefits of down-selling. The results suggest that prevailing fears regarding down-selling are misplaced and firms may in fact gain by limiting up-selling and institutionalizing down-selling. More profitable customer relationships may be produced by the promotion of moderately priced products and switching customers down to lower-priced products using suggestive selling strategies. The second chapter examines customer response to service failure and recovery efforts from a short and a long-term perspective across all four service outcome customer groups. The results show a non-linear post experience attitudinal relationship across the four outcome groups. Those who did not experience a service failure (control) exhibited the highest attitudinal measures. Contrary to the Service Recovery Paradox, those who had a satisfactory recovery exhibited lower attitudinal scores than the control. Non-complainers, who comprise a much larger percentage of the population than previously thought, exhibited considerably lower attitudinal measures than the satisfactory recovery group but exhibited slighter better attitudinal measures than the double deviation group. Essentially, those that concluded their experience satisfied (control and satisfactory recovery) exhibited higher attitudinal measures than those who concluded their experience dissatisfied (non-complainer and double deviation). The small differences within the satisfied and dissatisfied customer groups dissipated prior to their next service purchase. Therefore, future purchase behavior is simply determined by whether or not they concluded their experience satisfied. Finally, the return on investment of service recovery is approximately three times the revenue of the original experience. INDEX WORDS: Suggestive selling, down-selling, up-selling, customer satisfaction, customer relationships, service recovery paradox, complaining behavior, non-complainers, double deviation, service failure, service performance THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF SERVICE PERSONNEL PRACTICES ON CUSTOMER ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
Arithmetically Gorenstein Schubert Varieties in A Minuscule G / P

J. Brown and V. Lakshmibai∗ Abstract: In this paper, we give a characterization of arithmetically Gorenstein Schubert varieties in a minuscule G/P . We further give a nice combinatorial description of the arithmetically Gorenstein Schubert varieties in the classical & orthogonal Grassmannians. We also prove the arithmeticallyGorenstein property for SL(n)/Q,Q being any parabolic subgroup, in particular, the arithmetically-Gorenstein property for the flag variety SL(n)/B.
Predicting Bankruptcy of Belgian SMEs: A Hybrid Approach Based on Factorial Analysi

The aim of this paper is to verify the relevance of technical data analysis which seems to be useful for identifying predictors of bankruptcy of Belgian SMEs. To do so, a sample of 1,860 Belgian companies, including healthy and bankrupt firms, was used. The sample was constituted using Belfirst software (2015). A mixed method data analysis, coupling the Ward aggregation criterion, the method of mobile centres and principal component analysis, was performed on the variables commonly cited in the literature as predictive of corporate bankruptcies. The results of this study show that the use of these methods is not relevant in the context of bankruptcy prediction using this sample, but the results of the logistic regressions did not question the discriminatory power of the introduced active variables.
Nutrition Knowledge, Sensory Characteristics and Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Pasture-Fed Beef

Nutritional value is an important attribute of foods whose benefits can only be experienced by repetitive consumption in long run. Consumers’ knowledge about the importance and usefulness of specific nutrients in a food product may influence their subjective expectation of the product’s health benefits which in turn is translated into their perception of the product’s value. At the same time, the sensory characteristics of food products affect consumers’ immediate consumption gratification. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature by exploring the roles that nutrition knowledge and sensory evaluation play in shaping consumers’ pasture-fed beef purchasing behavior through economic experiments. Our results suggest that beef products’ sensory characteristics play a central role in determining consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay. Nutrition knowledge significantly influences consumers’ willingness to pay and different types of nutrition knowledge influence consumers’ willingness to pay in distinct ways. The significant impact of consumers’ health status on their willingness to pay is identified. The study advances the literature by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between nutrition knowledge, sensory evaluation, and consumers’ purchasing behavior observed right at the point of purchase. It can help policy makers better understand consumers’ food behavior and make initiatives to improve diet and health.
Early Mover Advantages

This paper analyzes empirically whether and if so to what extent later entrants in the European mobile telephony industry have a disadvantage vis-a-vis incumbents and early mover entrants. To analyze this question a dynamic model of market share development and a series of static models are considered. There is clear evidence of early mover advantage, mainly caused by the influence of the penetration rate: it pays to enter when still few people have acquired a mobile telephone. Another important determining factor is the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index at the moment of entry: it is significantly easier to enter a highly concentrated industry. Finally, there are important differences between countries, possibly indicating the relative strength of the national regulators. This discussion paper has resulted in a publication in Telecommunications Policy . (2008, vol. 32, issues 3-4, 246-61.
ON HIV / AIDS AND WOUND CARE

Wound infections in AIDS patients increase discomfort, prolong hospital stay, render an additional burden upon an already debilitated patient and weaken the immune system further. Treatment must relate to the aetiology of the wound and take into account the patients underlying health problems. The treatment of wounds in HIV-AIDS patients is not different from the standard treatment. There are wound -related criteria for selecting the appropriate types of dressing. The best dressing for postoperative wound healing by secondary intention is unknown. Continuing wound evaluation and the appraisal of what dressing is useful for the type of wound and stage of healing is the basis of optimum wound care Optimum wound care, emotional support; health education will enhance both the emotional and physical wellbeing of the HIV-AIDS patient.
Evaluation of the Variables that Influence Mercury Capture in Solid Sorbents

Fly ashes are by-products generated during coal combustion in power plants. These byproducts are able to capture volatile species, such as mercury that are evaporated from coal in different proportions. The precise mechanism by which a trace element is retained in the fly ashes is not fully understood. The quantity of mercury retained may vary from fly ash to fly ash and depends on the process conditions. It has been observed that, although some fly ash inorganic components exhibit a low capacity for mercury retention, the unburned material in the fly ash may benefit its adsorption. There are a number of variables that may influence mercury retention by fly ash components and the exact nature of Hg-fly ash interactions needs to be investigated more thoroughly. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the variables that have an effect on the retention of Hg and HgCl2 in fly ashes originated by burning coals of different rank and nature. The mercury retention capacity of these fly ashes was compared with retention in commercial activated carbons in coal combustion and inert atmospheres. The study was carried out in a laboratory scale reactor using the sorbent as a fixed bed. The amount of mercury retained was determined by analyzing the sorbents post-retention by means of cold vapor atomic absorption (CV-AA). The results obtained indicate that the quantity of mercury captured depends on the characteristics of the fly ashes and on the mode of occurrence of mercury in gas phase. The retention of mercury in the fly ashes studied is greatly influenced by the gas composition. It was inferred that, unlike the activated carbons, the fly ashes show different retention capacities and efficiencies for mercury in combustion and inert atmospheres. Moreover, mercury retention may be modified by variations in the unburned coal particle content
The evo lu tion of arc magmatism re lated to Palaeotethys in the west of Salmas, north of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Iran

The Mingol-Mamakan gabbroic-appinitic in tru sions are lo cated in the north west ern part of Iran and be long to the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ). These in tru sions have had a sig nif i cant im pact on the evo lu tion of the north west ern part of the SSZ dur ing the Late Car bon if er ous. The rocks typ i cally in clude lay ered and mas sive gab bros-gabbrodiorites. The age of the lay ered gab bros is be tween 322 and 314 Ma and they mainly con sist of leuco-gab bro, meso-gab bro, me lano-gab bro, an or tho site, and hornblendite (appinite) with ei ther gradational or sharp con tacts. The mas sive gab bros (300.7 ±1.5 Ma) are mostly com posed of leuco-gab bro, meso-gab bro, me lano-gab bro, and hornblendite. Most of these rocks are appinitic in com po si tion. The in tru sions show no ob vi ous de for ma tion. There fore, min eral com po si tion changes in the rocks were con trolled by crystallisation pro cesses, such as frac tion ation in the magma cham ber. Dif fer ent rock types of the tholeiitic magma se ries were prob a bly de rived from par tial melt ing of a spinel lherzolite up per man tle co-ge netic source. Geo chem i cal in for ma tion and dat ing from the Mingol-Mamakan in tru sive rocks re veal that the in tru sions were formed of subduction-re lated im ma ture or sub-ma ture is land arc tholeiitic ba salt which was en riched in Al2O3, FeO, Sr and de pleted in K and Nb. Sub se quently, pri mary tholeiitic arc ba salt magma un der went frac tional crystallisation to form in tru sive rocks in the lower crust. Geo chem i cal mod el ling based on the par ti tion co ef fi cient of el e ments in min er als in di cated that trace el e ment con cen tra tions (large-ion lithophile el e ments, LILEs, high field strength el e ments, HFSE, and rare earth el e ments, REEs) in the Mingol-Mamakan in tru sions through out crystallisation were con trolled by vari able amounts of com mon min er als such as am phi bole, clinopyroxene (for all trace el e ments), plagioclase (only for LILE) and prob a bly spinel in the source rock (only for HFSE). More over, el e ments of the first tran si tion se ries of the pe ri odic ta ble were mainly con trolled by orthopyroxene, ol iv ine and pos si bly by clinopyroxene and am phi bole in much smaller amounts.
www.econstor.eu Aging, Skills, and Economic Performance: Evidence from Panel Data

This paper examines the effects of workforce aging and the concurrent change in the human capital distribution on aggregate economic performance. The analysis is based on a theoretically founded empirical framework that encompasses previously used frameworks. The results suggest that aging as well as the level and distribution of human capital in the population influence economic performance. The findings show little evidence of skill obsolescence in terms of differential effects of age-specific human capital. The estimates allow for projections to gauge the relative importance of changes in the age and skill distribution and provide an upper bound of the the increase in human capital that is required to offset the negative effects of population aging. JEL-classification: J11; O47
Textual Manipulation for SQL Injection Attacks

Abstrac—SQL injection attacks try to use string or text manipulations to access illegally websites and their databases. This is since using some symbols or characters in SQL statements may trick the authentication system to incorrectly allow such SQL statements to be processed or executed. In this paper, we highlighted several examples of such text manipulations that can be successfully used in SQL injection attacks. We evaluated the usage of those strings on several websites and web pages using SNORT open source. We also conducted an extensive comparison study of some relevant papers.
BRAF AND MAPK PATHWAY MOLECULES FOR TARGETED THERAPY OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA

page 9 State of the Art. 10 1. Melanoma subtypes. 10 2. Mutations affecting key biological pathways in melanoma. 11 3. Key signaling pathways implicated in melanoma . 12 3.1 RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway. 13 3.2 PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. 14 4. BRAF as a therapeutic target. 15 4.1. Resistance mechanisms to BRAF inhibition. 18 4.2. 1 ERK-Dependent mechanisms. 19 4.2. 2 ERK-Independent mechanisms. 21 Aim of the Project. 23 Results and Discussion. 24 1. Effects of PLX4032 on growth and survival in BRAFV600E mutated melanoma cells. 24 2. Modulation of MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways by PLX4032 in sensitive and resistant cell lines. 25 3. Chronic BRAF inhibition leads to acquired PLX4032 resistance. 25 4. Resistance to PLX4032 is independent from CRAF or MEK activity. 26 5. Characterization of melanomas showing resistance to PLX4032. 27 6. Combined targeting of MET and SRC signaling pathways to overcome PLX4032 resistance. 28 Conclusion and Future Prospects. 31 Figures. 33 BRAF as a target for malignant melanoma 4 References. page 41 Acknowledgements. 50
Fault Range Analysis of Information and Communications Assets in Power Grid: A Graph Data Perspective

In this paper, information and communication assets in the power grid are modeled as graph data. A graph database, Neo4j, is chosen to capturing the connections that could help to analyze fault ranges. Based on breadth-first search, recursion terminations are designed to obtain the fault range from the failed nodes. Two cases are given in the paper, and more cases will be further considered in the future work. In final, we provide the analysis results and shows the advantage of graph databases. Keywords-graph data; fault range analysis; Neo4j; breadth-first search
Tinnitus: mechanisms, measures and sound treatments

Tinnitus is the auditory perception of sounds in the absence of any external source. Tinnitus that occurs every day for more than five minutes is reported by 10–15% of the population, and for 1 to 2% it is a handicap that interferes significantly with their quality of life (severe tinnitus). Despite the intensive research into therapeutic options, including surgery, pharmacotherapy, and electrical and acoustical stimulation, there is no approved treatment for tinnitus at present. Although the exact origin of tinnitus is still unknown, it seems to be the correlate of maladaptive attempts of the brain at reorganization due to distorted sensory input (brain plasticity). This theory is consistent with the fact that most tinnitus is associated with hearing loss. Acoustical therapies try to take advantage of this plasticity, stimulating properly the auditory system to produce tinnitus relief. Several sound therapies are reviewed in this paper, concluding that the so-called Enriched Acoustic Environment (namely a sequence of gammatones, each one with random frequency and amplitude matched to the hearing loss at this frequency) provides the most refined and selective stimulus for the tinnitus patient. Therefore, the hearing loss curve of the patient is needed to design this sound stimulus.
Polish-French Bilingualism and Bicultural Identity: Cross-Cultural Studies on Immigrants in France and Belgium, and French Language Students in Poland

In the present study, the authors applied the Cultural Values and Script Questionnaire, together with language measures (bidirectional translation, listening comprehension tasks), to explore the relationship between Polish-French bilinguality and bicultural identity among Polish migrants in France and Belgium and students learning French at a Polish University. We hypothesized that the Francophone acculturative context will lead to (i) integrated bicultural identity, as well as (ii) a balanced bilingual profile. Thirdly, we assumed there is a link between an individual’s bicultural identity and his or her bilinguality. The data partially confirm the two first hypotheses. An unexpected contrast effect revealed that students in Poland identify more strongly with French cultural values than with Polish values.
The roles of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium-based ionic liquids as mobile phase additives in semi-micro high-performance liquid chromatography for separation of aromatic amines

The separation mechanism of semi-micro High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (Semi-micro HPLC) using ionic liquid-aqueous mobile phase was investigated for the first time with the retention behavior of eight aromatic amines. The increase of the [EMIm] [BF4] concentration resulted in the consecutive decrease of the retention factors of eight aromatic amines. This attributes the competition between the imidazoliumcations and protonated aromatic amines in forming the hydrophobic interaction with the residual silanol and octadecyl groups of octadecylsilica surface. The increase of the alkyl chain length on the imidazoliumcation of the ionic liquid caused the clear decrease of the retention factors of eight aromatic amines, because this factor leads to the increase of electrostatic repulsion force. On the contrary, the increase of the mobile phase pH caused the increase of the retention factors of most aromatic amines, this is due to most aromatic amines have a decreased dissociation ability.Moreover, the different anion types of the ionic liquids exhibited a different occurrence of cation exchange and ion-pairing interactions, these two interactions affect the major electrostatic repulsion and hydrophobic interactions. The separationmechanism involves electrostatic repulsion, hydrophobic, cation exchange and ion-pairing interactions.
Transponder Designs for Harmonic Radar Applications

This work presents a review on the concept of harmonic or secondary radar, where a tag or transponder is used to respond at a harmonic multiple of the incoming interrogation signal. In harmonic radar, the tag is called a harmonic transponder and the necessary frequency multiplication is implemented using a nonlinear element, such as a Schottky diode. Different applications and operating frequencies of harmonic transponders are presented, along with various tag design aspects. The designer may have to deal with certain tradeoffs during the design with respect to a number of transponder properties, and the role of these tradeoffs is also considered. Additionally, techniques usable for characterization of harmonic transponders are discussed.
Funcionamiento cognitivo, autonomía e independencia del adulto mayor institucionalizado

Introduccion: En el envejecimiento se puede producir un deterioro de las capacidades fisicas y mentales que conduzcan a dependencia y minusvalia; y esto suele ser mas frecuente en el anciano institucionalizado. Objetivo: Determinar funcionamiento cognitivo, autonomia e independencia del adulto mayor institucionalizado. Metodos: Estudio descriptivo cuantitativo de corte trasversal, realizado en el Asilo Sagrado Corazon de Jesus entre los meses de septiembre a noviembre del 2015. El universo esta constituido por 62 adultos mayores institucionalizados, la muestra de 37 que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusion. Instrumentos utilizados Minimental State Examination , Escala de Valoracion de la Autonomia para el Autocuidado y Escala de Autonomia para las actividades basicas de la vida diaria-Barthel. Se proceso la informacion mediante estadistica descriptiva. Resultados: El 51,20 % fueron mujeres, 48,80 % hombres; 88,23 % entre 71 a 90 anos; 32,40 % presentaron deterioro cognitivo grave; 24,20 % deterioro moderado y 27,00 % sin deterioro. En la realizacion de actividades de la vida diaria 76,70 % tenian autonomia total, 5,10 % eran dependientes; 40,50 % fueron independientes; 2,70 % presento dependencia leve y 13,50 % entre dependencia severa y total. Conclusiones: Los adultos mayores en su mayoria son autonomos e independientes en las actividades basicas de la vida diaria, no siendo asi la funcionalidad cognitiva que presento mayor deterioro. Palabras clave: Adulto mayor; funcionamiento; cognitivo; autonomia; independencia .
Semiconductor light source for optical coherence tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging medical imaging technology based on the coherent interference of light. Current use of O C T in clinical settings is limited by the lack of a suitable light source. This thesis describes the design of a new type of source for OCT, based on the GalnNAs semiconductor materials system. A semiconductor heterostructure consisting of several different quantum wells is discussed as a device for generating broadband (>100 nm) light in the near infrared (900-1500 nm). The use of temperature to control spectral shape and intensity is examined. Other aspects of device design are investigated, including models for quantum well emission and for the band gaps of dilute nitride semiconductors. Photoluminescence measurements are presented, providing a proof of principle demonstration of the source design. Emission centred at 1225 nm with a 195 nm bandwidth is achieved. The use of temperature to control inter-well carrier transfer is demonstrated and successfully modelled. Localization effects of nitrogen cluster states are shown to be greatly reduced in quantum well structures, as compared to bulk samples.