Modeling the customer satisfaction function: a two-country comparison

This paper provides a framework that integrates and reinterprets prior research on satisfaction modeling (function) and proposes the existence of non-linear and curvilinear/higher-order relationships to model online banking customers. It provides a framework that examines two closely related but distinct countries—Malaysia, a developing country, and Singapore, a developed country—and identifies whether modeling online banking customers through satisfaction is unique to each context or is generic. Using a systematic and step-by-step hierarchical moderated regression approach, this study tries to understand the relationship among repurchase intention, satisfaction, and trust, moderated by bank size. Malaysia portrays a linear relationship, while Singapore depicts non-linear and curvilinear/high-order relationships. The findings suggest that modeling online banking customers through satisfaction depends on a country’s economic development. By contrast, prior studies on modeling customers through satisfaction were conducted independently and did not employ proper and systematic steps to capture the satisfaction function.     

The control of spontaneous emission from a three-level atom in an anisotropic photonic crystal with two asymmetric bands

We theoretically investigate the spontaneous emission light of an excited three-level atom embedded in an anisotropic photonic crystal with two asymmetric bands. The property of spontaneous emission relating to the atomic position in a unit cell of the crystal is described with a position-dependent phase difference. The atomic transition in free space can be manipulated by the other associated transition coupling to photonic crystal. The result shows that the spontaneous emission spectra are effectively shifted and tuned by the atomic position-dependent phase, which results in the asymmetric distribution of the photonic density of states between two bands, and the increasing band can push the emitted light towards the other band. The physical process can be further illuminated through analyzing the emitted field in photonic crystal. The result perhaps offers an interesting route towards tunable photonic devices.     

信息化预拼装在钢结构成品检验中的应用

我国的钢结构随着建筑业的高速发展应用领域也得到不断地扩大,复杂钢构件的成品检验成为了工程技术中的瓶颈。本文结合上海中心大厦项目的第三道环带桁架钢构件的信息化预拼装的操作过程,论述了综合利用三维建模软件对复杂空间杆件放样定位优势,以及全站仪精密测量空间坐标的特点,有效地解决复杂钢构件的检测难题,提高复杂钢构件制作精度,保障现场安装顺利进行。     

Response sensitivity analysis of the dynamic milling process based on the numerical integration method

As one of the bases of gradient-based optimization algorithms, sensitivity analysis is usually required to calculate the derivatives of the system response with respect to the machining parameters. The most widely used approaches for sensitivity analysis are based on time-consuming numerical methods, such as finite difference methods. This paper presents a semi-analytical method for calculation of the sensitivity of the stability boundary in milling. After transforming the delay-differential equation with time-periodic coefficients governing the dynamic milling process into the integral form, the Floquet transition matrix is constructed by using the numerical integration method. Then, the analytical expressions of derivatives of the Floquet transition matrix with respect to the machining parameters are obtained. Thereafter, the classical analytical expression of the sensitivity of matrix eigenvalues is employed to calculate the sensitivity of the stability lobe diagram. The two-degree-of-freedom milling example illustrates the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. Compared with the existing methods, the unique merit of the proposed method is that it can be used for analytically computing the sensitivity of the stability boundary in milling, without employing any finite difference methods. Therefore, the high accuracy and high efficiency are both achieved. The proposed method can serve as an effective tool for machining parameter optimization and uncertainty analysis in high-speed milling.     

Effect of obstacle density on the travel time of the visually impaired people

Because China has put more emphasis on people with disabilities, their living conditions and protection have received increasing attention. In an emergency, the visually impaired people are limited in their ability to evacuate, especially along egress paths with obstacles. This paper studied the relationship between the travel time of visually impaired people and obstacle density in their path. Eight sighted people and 32 people with visual impairments were chosen to carry out the walking experiment. The results of the experiment showed that the travel time of sighted people was shorter than that of visually impaired people under the same obstacle and non‐obstacle situations. Based on the analysis of variance of travel time, it was clear from the results that the travel time of the visually impaired people rapidly increased when there were obstacles. When the obstacle density was kept to within a certain range, there was no obvious increase in travel time. Once the density exceeded this range, there was another obvious increase. Based on this result, it can be seen that keeping the obstacle density to within a certain range could be helpful for the visually impaired people during an evacuation when the egress paths cannot be made obstacle‐free.     

Effects of temperature,pH and light on the stability of aloin A and characterisation of its major degradation products

This study explored the stability and degradation products of aloin A under varying pH, temperature and light conditions usually encountered in processing. The stability of aloin A was significantly affected by temperature and pH. The content of aloin A decreased by more than 90% within 12 h at 50 °C and within 6 h at 70 °C, respectively. A significant decrease in stability was also observed at higher pHs. At pH 8.0, less than 2% of aloin A remained within 12 h. However, aloin A exhibited good stability at acidic pH levels with 94% remaining at pH 2.0 for 14 days. Light exerted no influence on the stability during the experimental period (14 days). Aloe‐emodin, elgonica‐dimers A and B were characterised as major degradation products of aloin A at pH 5.0 or below, and elgonica‐dimers were mainly formed at 4 °C as well. 10‐hydroxyaloins A and B were found under any condition except at pH 2.0 and 3.0, and they were mainly formed under high temperature, neutral‐basic and any light conditions.     

Broadband circularly polarized patch antenna with gap‐coupled feed and resistor loading

A broadband circularly polarized patch antenna with suspended structure is proposed. The suspended patch has a bow‐tie structure and a gap‐coupled feed. By connecting a resistor load to another gap‐coupled feed port at the opposite position, a wide impedance and axial ratio (AR) bandwidths are obtained. The proposed design has a very simple antenna structure with an impedance bandwidth of 44.5% and a 3‐dB AR bandwidth of 33.8%, respectively. The results show that the bandwidth of the patch antenna is successfully broadened using the suspended configuration, gap‐coupled feed, and resistor loading. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:587–593, 2014.