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Delight Without Overdoing: Examining the Role of Personality in Customer Perceptions of Over-Service, Emotional Discomfort, and Prohibitive Voice in Restaurants
No full textThis study aimed to examine over-service provision in chain restaurants. In response to the growing emphasis on delivering excellent customer service, an increasing number of restaurants have invested in employee training to enhance service quality and attract customers. However, excessively exceeding customer needs or expectations can lead to counterproductive outcomes, referred to as over-service.
Drawing from Service Encounter Needs Theory, this study adopted a multi-perspective approach, incorporating organizational factors (job standardization and employee extraversion) and customer factors (customer neuroticism, emotional discomfort, prohibitive voice, and revisit intention) to explore over-service incidents.
Data were collected in Shanghai from well-known chain hot pot restaurants, comprising 305 matched employee–customer pairs. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the research model, the results indicated that all examined factors contributed to shaping customers' perceptions of over-service, except for customer neuroticism. The discussion highlights the study’s contributions and offers implications for future research
Effects of a novel loss-of-function waxy endosperm allele on sorghum seed development and grain quality
No full textWaxy sorghum seeds, defined by reduced amylose content in starch, offer the potential for improving grain quality in food and industrial applications. While waxy endosperms arising from a nonfunctional waxy (wx) allele leading to the absence of granule-bound starch synthase enzyme have been identified in sorghum, their broader effects on seed development and grain quality remain inadequately understood. To address this gap, we identified a novel wx loss-of-function allele, “wxe” in the mutant population of the sorghum reference genome line BTx623. Beyond reduced amylose content, wxe exhibited increased kernel hardness, elevated protein content, reduced endosperm-to-germ ratio, and decreased kernel weight compared to the wild-type. Integrating transcriptomic, metabolomic, and seed chemistry analyses revealed coordinated regulatory changes during seed development due to disrupted amylose synthesis. This included altered starch granule structure, enhanced lipid profiles, and reduced carbohydrate content. Differentially expressed genes and transcription factors related to starch metabolism provided insights into the regulatory mechanisms. Furthermore, metabolic profiling showed significant changes in the accumulation of compounds influencing flavor and nutritional properties. This study enhances our understanding of the molecular coordination of sorghum seed development and provides new insights into regulating seed development.This work is partly supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)'s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), project award no. 2023-67013-39631, from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement 58-3020-2-024 between Texas Tech University and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) (3020-43440-002-00D). PD is funded by the Texas Tech University through the Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantship (DGSA) and by the Texas Tech University Davis College through the Helen Devitt Jones Fellowship
Financial Infidelity: Healing and Hope
No full textThe present dissertation uses data from three different sources to examine the topic of financial infidelity. Chapter Two examines conflict resolution satisfaction as a moderator of self-reported financial infidelity and relationship satisfaction using dyadic data of married couples from wave three of the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) project. Chapter Three uses primary data collected from the subreddit “r/Marriage” to explore how married individuals react and respond following a revelation of financial infidelity. Chapter Four relies on data from semi-structured interviews with a sample of licensed therapists to answer the question of how therapists treat clients who experience financial infidelity. Combined results indicate that financial infidelity is more nuanced than previously understood, there is little education around it during professional training, financial factors must be addressed to promote healing from it, and clients who experience financial infidelity would greatly benefit from professional support. Future avenues for research on financial infidelity are plentiful, and there is a particular need for more datasets that include comprehensive measures of financial infidelity. The present dissertation aims to be the starting point for such a vital undertaking
Mental Health Symptoms as a Mediator Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Criminogenic Risk in Justice-Involved Youth
No full textAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur prior to the age of 18. ACEs have been identified as a key risk factor for a wide range of negative outcomes, such as poorer physical and mental health. ACEs have also been associated with justice system involvement, such that justice-involved youth (JIY) endorse higher rates of ACEs than the general population. Given that more than two million youth are arrested annually in the United States, there is a considerable need to understand the relationship between ACEs and criminal behavior in JIY. One potential mechanism that may explain this relationship is mental health, as JIY report experiencing higher rates of mental health problems than their non-JIY peers. Although previous literature has examined the relationship between ACEs, mental health, and juvenile delinquency, the nature of this relationship remains unclear. As such, this study aimed to build upon the work of previous research by further examining the influence of mental health and ACEs on criminogenic risk in JIY. This study also aimed to examine whether certain subtypes of ACEs (i.e., conventional and expanded) have differential effects on mental health and criminogenic risk in JIY. Overall, results demonstrated little support for our models, such that mental illness did not generally mediate the relationship between ACEs and criminogenic risk. Potential explanations for these results are discussed, as well as implications and directions for future research
Day-Ahead Operational Strategies for Distribution and Transmission Systems
No full textThis dissertation proposes an advanced framework for the coordinated and uncertainty-aware operation of medium-voltage (MV) and low-voltage (LV) systems with high penetration levels of renewable energy resources and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). The research presented here addresses operational planning, congestion management, and flexibility integration in both centralized and decentralized market structures. The first contribution presents a two-stage operational planning model, including day-ahead (DA) and real-time (RT) markets, ensuring coordinated congestion management in transmission and distribution networks. The model guarantees effective coordinated operation of the transmission system operator (TSO) and distribution system operator (DSO). This helps facilitate RT flexibility provision from generating units and responsive loads, as well. Simulation results show that the proposed coordinated TSO-DSO operation model substantially decreases congestion while ensuring economic and reliable system operation. The second contribution presents a robust chance-constrained optimal scheduling model developed for MV networks with distributed energy resources (DERs), including photovoltaic (PV) systems, and energy storage systems (ESS). By characterizing uncertainties in PV output and load demand, the proposed model integrates robust and probabilistic optimization techniques to improve operational reliability and flexibility. The formulation comprises a fast AC optimal power flow (ACOPF) model and is simulated on a modified IEEE 33-bus test system. The obtained results also indicate substantial improvements in the loadability of the system and cost reduction, i.e., by 34% and 48.4%, respectively. The third contribution of the dissertation relates to developing a centralized energy management system (EMS) for unbalanced LV networks, focusing on optimal EVSE coordination and local energy communities. The model allows effective EV charging by proposing a computationally efficient multi-temporal optimum power flow (MTOPF)-based framework that also handles unbalanced distribution system operation. The simulation results show that the optimal operation of EVSEs decreases costs for the end user and improves the system operation. The costs of operation and the power losses decreased by 9.22% and 43.45%, respectively. Additionally, integrating ESS lowers the peak-to-average ratio (PAR) by 9.87%, which makes the load profile more even
Assessing the Impact of Voluntary Sustainability Standards on Honduran Coffee Farms and Their Effect on Coffee Workers’ Migration Intentions: A Mixed-Methods Study
No full textThis parallel convergent design mixed-methods study investigates how Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS), particularly the adoption of working conditions standards on coffee farms impact the migration intentions of coffee laborers in western Honduras from the perspectives of both growers and laborers. In the context of labor shortages in the coffee sector, this study integrates quantitative data from growers and workers and qualitative data from growers to explore whether improving working conditions influences workers to remain in their communities. The quantitative phase surveyed 308 growers and 308 laborers employed on certified and non-certified coffee farms. Binary logistic regression showed that the improvement of working conditions, wages, conditions for women workers, housing, and benefits are not significantly associated with migration intentions. In contrast, gender and age were found to be associated with migration intentions. Younger males are more likely to migrate than other groups. Qualitative findings explain why VSS alone cannot reduce migration intentions. There are structural problems such as poverty, lack of opportunities, education unrelated to the context, and weak financial literacy, pushing young people to leave their communities. Participants explained that adopting certifications is costly and poorly compensated, and there is a lack of transparency with the distribution of certification related premiums in the value chain. This mixed methods research revealed that VSS alone cannot address the root causes of migration. Reducing internal and external migration to improve labor availability requires strategies such as farm diversification, agricultural education, and promoting youth engagement in agriculture
Electron Nuclear Dynamics: Ion Cancer Therapy Prototype Reactions and a Quantum Computing Implementation
No full textI present two wide-ranging theoretical investigations on chemical reactions related to ion cancer therapy (ICT) with the electron nuclear dynamics (END) method. END is a time-dependent, variational, on-the-flight, and non-adiabatic method to simulate a vast array of chemical reactions and scattering processes. At its simple-level (SL) employed here, SLEND describes nuclei with narrow, frozen Gaussian wave packets and electrons with a single-determinantal wavefunction in Thouless non-unitary representation. In the first investigation, I systematically simulated three ICT prototypical reactions: (1) H+ + C2H4 at E = 30.0 eV; (2) H+ + H2O at E = 28.5-200.0 eV; (3) H+ C2H2 at E= 30.0−450.0 eV, which are prototypes for ion collisions with double- and triple-bonded biomolecules (1 and 3), and of ioninduced water radiolysis (2). For reactions (1) and (2), I introduced and investigated a novel computational procedure to induce symmetry breakings at close ion-target encounters (i.e.
restricted to unrestricted Hartree-Fock states transitions). In both reactions, dynamical properties predictions from symmetry-breaking simulations agree better with experiments than those from symmetry-preserving ones. Theoretical predictions for the three reactions include: computer animations of scattering processes and reactive channels, projectile deflection functions, projectile rainbow scattering angles, evolutions of electron Mulliken populations, and non-electron-transfer and electron-transfer integral and differential cross sections (ICSs/DCSs). In the second investigation, I derived, implemented, and applied a first version of END for quantum computing (QC) within the variational quantum simulator (VQS) scheme: END/QC/VQS. To fit into the unitary framework of QC, I reformulated the electronic single-determinantal wavefunction of END into Fukutome unitary representation. I derived END/QC/VQS for model systems composed of two-electron atoms at rest, devised all the corresponding QC circuits, and applied the latter to simulate intramolecular electron transfers in H2+
Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory science dog teams to detect devitalized Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) egg masses
No full textThe spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula, SLF) is an invasive planthopper first detected in the United States in 2014, with initial sightings in Pennsylvania. SLF poses a serious threat to agriculture, particularly targeting grapevines, hops, and ornamental plants, resulting in substantial annual economic losses. Due to its life cycle, the early detection and removal of egg masses are the most effective strategies for preventing long-distance dispersal. However, visual detection by humans is time-consuming and inefficient. Detection dogs have demonstrated high accuracy in locating SLF egg masses and differentiating them from environmental distractors. Despite their effectiveness, the number of dogs available through governmental channels is insufficient to meet demand. This study evaluated whether community scientist dog-handler teams could meet standardized detection criteria using SLF egg masses. Teams from across the U.S. were recruited and trained using devitalized egg masses, with oversight provided by local trainers. Following a 3- to 6-month independent training period, team performance was assessed through an odor recognition test and a field trial. Dogs demonstrated a sensitivity of 82% in controlled testing and 58% in field conditions. These results provide proof of concept; community scientist dog teams could play a significant role in protecting their local environments and agriculture from invasive species.This project was supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. Competitive
Grant no. 2021-67013-33715 from the Tactical Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity from
the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The funders had no role in study
design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
Prevalence and risk factors of antimicrobial resistance patterns of Staphylococcus spp. and E. coli in rodents and shrews at human-animal interfaces in Chattogram, Bangladesh
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to human and animal health worldwide. Wild rodents and shrews may serve as bioindicators of environmental health. They may serve as a potential source of the transmission of AMR bacterial infections to humans and domestic animals, despite not directly consuming antibiotics. We conducted a cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with the AMR patterns in Staphylococcus spp. and Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from rodents and shrews. We trapped and collected throat and rectal/urine swab samples from 200 wild rodents (n = 115) and house shrews (n = 85) across different locations in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The collected samples were then evaluated for the isolation of both bacterial organisms using culturing and biochemical properties. We performed culture sensitivity (CS) tests of the isolates using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method for 14 antimicrobials. The overall prevalence of Staphylococcus spp. was 26.5% (95% CI: 0.20–0.33; n = 53), and E. coli was 56% (95% CI: 0.49–0.63; n = 112) in the sampled rodents and Asian house shrews. Staphylococcus spp. isolates were 100% resistant to oxacillin, oxytetracycline, metronidazole, and cefixime. Again, E. coli isolates were 100% resistant to metronidazole followed by ampicillin and cefixime (98.0%), sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim (97.0%), amoxicillin and doxycycline (96.0%), streptomycin (95.0%). Only gentamycin was sensitive against both bacterial isolates. Statistical modeling revealed a higher risk of resistant bacterial infection in rodents from agricultural interfaces compared to other habitats. Rodents and Asian house shrews with poor body condition were more prone to resistant Staphylococcus spp. infection, while rodents were more susceptible to resistant E. coli infection. Our findings indicate a significant prevalence of AMR Staphylococcus spp. and E. coli in urban rodents and house shrews, suggesting their potential role as reservoirs and disseminators of AMR, hence posing a risk to human and animal health.This study was made possible by the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT (cooperative agreement number AID-OAA-A-14-00102). The funders, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT, had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript