685 research outputs found
Reframing the past: A new approach in service quality assessment
No full textThe development of new approaches for assessing service quality is a priority for both managers and scholars. Until now, the most widely used tool for evaluating service quality is the SERVQUAL. It is based on a disconfirmation pattern, according to which service quality depends on measures of gaps between customer expected and perceived quality; the gaps come from the answers provided to a questionnaire representing fixed quality dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy). Notwithstanding its widespread application, the SERVQUAL has been theoretically and operationally criticised for the invariance of its dimensions across contexts. In contrast to the SERVQUAL and to other unchangeable techniques proposed in previous quality management researches, in this article, we propose a methodology able to assess service quality by means of firm-specific quality dimensions. Particularly, employees’ knowledge is exploited to collect the critical success factors (CSFs) of a company; subsequently, the measurement and management of a company service quality is performed by gathering customer expectations and perceptions, according to the collected CSFs. Total quality management (TQM) has, from long ago, established procedures for managing customer perceived quality but, in this study, an application for overcoming the lack of a systematical implementation of employee knowledge in TQM practices is proposed. This research is explorative in nature and a statistical support for our methodology is provided by an exploratory factor analysis. The results confirm that employees are able to gather quality dimensions customers value and that these dimensions can be successfully employed into a flexible tool for assessing and managing service quality. Moreover, according to the proposed methodology, the evaluation of service quality may change as well as CSFs of a company change; finally, managers may support TQM of a company by monitoring its provided quality on the basis of CSFs
Metal finds at the Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement of Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto, Apulia): results from archaeometallurgical analyses
No full textIndagini sui metalli del sito protostorico di Scoglio del Tonno (TA
KALMAN FILTER APPROACH TO SOLUTION OF RATIONAL-EXPECTATIONS MODELS
No full textThe solution of forward looking dynamical models for economical systems consists in finding a suitable expression of the forcing term describing the agents expectations on the future behaviour of the involved economical variables. In this paper, such a control function is estimated by a Kalman filtering technique which allows us to exploit just the current informations. The solution obtained is shown to be an asymptotically stationary process with finite steady-state covariance
Understanding the role of sexual transmission in the spread of ZIKA virus using an individual-based interconnected population model
No full textCitation: Tanver, F., Lee, C., Mcvey, D., & Scoglio, S. (2018). Understanding the role of sexual transmission in the spread of ZIKA virus using an individual-based interconnected population model. Pre-Print, Unpublished Manuscript.Zika virus has affected the world as a long-term threat. Modeling its transmission is important in order to facilitate forecasts and control measures. We propose a novel node-based interconnected population model to simulate both vectored and sexual transmission of Zika virus. Using a sexual contact network, we incorporate heterogeneous mixing in the host population with stochastic transmission for realistic predictions. We also incorporate climatic variations in our model, which affect the mosquito vector population and consequently the arbovirus transmission. We perform extensive simulations to understand the effects of sexual transmission rate and network topology on the spreading of infections. Sexual transmission contributes to the epidemic spread and under certain conditions, can sustain it up to several months without vectors. This can potentially lead to recurrences once the mosquitoes overwinter. We also find that sexual transmission can have a stronger effect when vectored transmission is relatively weaker due to climatic conditions. Our results show that vectored and sexual transmission affect the disease dynamics differently
Sopra lo scoglio
No full textFrancesca Favaro Sopra lo scoglio Alla mutevolezza del mare, alternarsi di setosità appena increspate e di spumanti furie, gli scogli assistono e resistono apparentemente impassibili, quasi a irridere i capricci dell’acqua con la saldezza della roccia. Sebbene di continuo percossi dalle onde, solite al colpo più che alla carezza, non solo ne traggono lo splendore che li trasfigura, sotto il sole, in gemme e opalini cristalli, ma anche fungono da sostegno e riparo per alcune delle innumere..
Supplemental Material, Appendix - Violence Exposure and Mental Health Among Resettled Refugees: A Systematic Review
No full textSupplemental Material, Appendix for Violence Exposure and Mental Health Among Resettled Refugees: A Systematic Review by Arielle A. J. Scoglio and Carmel Salhi in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse</p
La strada napoleonica da Susa a Lanslebourg. Valorizzazione del paesaggio di confine e recupero degli edifici storici
No full textBiologically Informed Individual-Based Network Model for Rift Valley Fever in the US and Evaluation of Mitigation Strategies
No full textCitation: Scoglio, C. M., Bosca, C., Riad, M. H., Sahneh, F. D., Britch, S. C., Cohnstaedt, L. W., & Linthicum, K. J. (2016). Biologically Informed Individual-Based Network Model for Rift Valley Fever in the US and Evaluation of Mitigation Strategies. Plos One, 11(9), 26. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0162759Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic disease endemic in sub-Saharan Africa with periodic outbreaks in human and animal populations. Mosquitoes are the primary disease vectors; however, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) can also spread by direct contact with infected tissues. The transmission cycle is complex, involving humans, livestock, and multiple species of mosquitoes. The epidemiology of RVFV in endemic areas is strongly affected by climatic conditions and environmental variables. In this research, we adapt and use a network-based modeling framework to simulate the transmission of RVFV among hypothetical cattle operations in Kansas, US. Our model considers geo-located livestock populations at the individual level while incorporating the role of mosquito populations and the environment at a coarse resolution. Extensive simulations show the flexibility of our modeling framework when applied to specific scenarios to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of mosquito control and livestock movement regulations in reducing the extent and intensity of RVF outbreaks in the United States
Metal finds at the Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement of Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto, Apulia): results of archaeometallurgical analyses
No full textScoglio del Tonno (Taranto) is a settlement with a strategic location in one of the best natural harbours of the Italian Peninsula. During the Late Bronze Age it was an emporion, a privileged and permanent landing place for ships sailing between the Aegean and Italian Peninsulas. Crucibles and a number of metal artefacts were found during its excavation (1899, Quagliati 1900; Säflund 1939); this work reports the quantitative analysis of these metal artefacts by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. All are made of copper alloys except for one piece, an eyelet pin made of a gold-silver-copper alloy. The examination of these objects and the analytical data obtained help reconstruct the functions of this site. Metal was systematically accumulated at Scoglio del Tonno, presumably to be shipped towards the eastern Mediterranean. The site highlights the exponential increase in northern Italian metal production during the Recent Bronze Age (ca. 14th-13th c. BC).Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto) es un yacimiento con una posición estratégica sobre uno de los mejores puertos naturales de la península italiana. Durante el Bronce Tardío fue un emporion, lugar permanente de contactos entre el Egeo y la península italiana. Crisoles y diversos objetos de metal recuperados en las antiguas excavaciones (1899) han sido recientemente analizados con ED-XRF. Excepto una pieza (una aguja de una aleación de oro, plata y cobre), todos los objetos son aleaciones de base cobre. El estudio de los objetos de metal, incluido los datos de su composición, aporta elementos útiles para una reconstrucción de las funciones de este lugar. En Scoglio del Tonno el metal era sistemáticamente almacenado, presumiblemente para ser enviado hacia el Mediterráneo oriental. El yacimiento ilustra también el aumento exponencial de la producción de metal en el norte de Italia durante el Bronce Reciente (siglos XIV y XIII a.C.)
A Decision Support System to Provide an Ongoing Prediction of Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation Outcome in Stroke Survivors
No full textClinicians often deal with complex robotic platform and serious games in stroke patients rehabilitation contexts, and they face two main problems: 1) the interpretation of either the performance in game or measures of a robotic system from the motor recovery point of view, and 2) the duration and complexity of clinical scales administration that makes repetitive assessments during the therapy unpractical. In this paper, a Random Tree Forest based system was trained and tested to provide a prediction of different clinical outcomes (i.e. FMA, ARAT, and MI) along the whole therapy duration, having non-clinical measures only as inputs, acting as a simulated decision support system. The dataset includes 30 post-stroke patients, that underwent a 30-session robot-assisted rehabilitation treatment. Results have shown that the system is able to produce very accurate and reliable predictions about the motor recovery of the patient at the end of the therapy, already in the first phases of the rehabilitation (40% of therapy execution), just using robotic platform measures. Such a tool would provide a great benefit in terms of rehabilitation objectives planning, as a decision support tool for highly personalized rehabilitation treatments
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