Lower Purchase Research Articles

World and Domestic Trends in the Production of Dairy Products

In modern economic conditions, the dairy industry, on the one hand, belongs to the complex in both organizational and technological aspects of its components, and on the other hand, it is an industry that remains a leader in animal husbandry. The study is to consider current trends in dairy production, identify areas for increasing milk production in farms and identify practical recommendations for possible transformational changes in farms It is determined that the dairy industry is gaining more importance in the food systems of most countries. The productivity of cows by regions of Ukraine and at the international level in some countries was studied. It was found that the importance of increasing the production of all types of products, especially milk for the development of the livestock industry, and the dairy industry in the agri-food sector to provide the population with wholesome food. Problems that hinder the development of the industry are identified. A number of restraining factors in the development of the dairy industry have been identified, namely: low purchase prices, difficulties with capital construction and modernization of farms and premises due to unprofitable credit policies of financial institutions for farmers, low level of integration of dairy production and processing, low concentration of cows at enterprises, the use of traditional obsolete technologies in the production of raw materials and others. Thus, the dairy industry, both at the state level and worldwide, needs systematic further intensification and development. Reserves for improving the quality of milk, increasing production can be a system of measures to increase milk productivity of cows and reduce the cost of milk production. Leading measures in the future should be innovative approaches to the development of the industry, based on technology, advanced animal feeding systems, modern technical and technological support, the use of IT technologies, breeding and energy and resource conservation.

Maintenance Strategies and Spare Parts Inventory Management for Use of Reconditioned Items

The maintenance management of construction equipment occupies a prominent place in the overall strategy for managing the equipment fleet. It is also linked to the management of the stock of spare parts and particularly reconditioned spare parts. Because of the relatively low purchase cost of these, most companies are tempted by this option. The purpose of this article is precisely to study the impact of this category of parts in the stock and also in the optimization of maintenance costs, knowing that to do this; their use must obey certain constraints. It is therefore important to be able to characterize these reconditioned parts by estimating their optimal age, and studying their advantages and also their limits. The determination of the optimal age of reconditioned parts will be such that the total cost of replacement with used parts is at most equal to the total cost of replacement with new parts at the end of the operating period.

Global climate change and the role of anesthesiologist

Background: Environmental issues and health problems related to global climate change are becoming increasingly serious. An effective eco-friendly strategy is required to reduce medical waste and greenhouse gas emissions caused by anesthesia in hospitals.Current Concepts: Inhalation anesthetics are very strong greenhouse gases in the order of desflurane, isoflurane, nitrous oxide, and sevoflurane. Anesthetics with high global warming potential and long atmospheric lifetimes should be used with caution. Only the minimum required dose of an anesthetic drug with a low persistence bioaccumulation toxicity index is recommended for use. Disposable anesthesia products are known to have a low purchase price and low risk of cross-contamination; however, this may not be the case. By using eco-friendly anesthetic supplies, recycling and reuse, we can avoid wasting money and resources.Discussion and Conclusion: Greenhouse gas emissions from the use of anesthetics are excluded from United Nations regulations due to their necessity. However, while guaranteeing patient safety, anesthesiologists must fulfill their professional ethical obligations by striving to reduce medical waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

How Do Narrative Structure and Format Influence a 360 Degree Video Ad?

A 2 (Ad Format: 360-degree video ad vs. standard video ad) × 2 (Narrative Structure: Narrative vs. Non-narrative) between subject experiment (N = 119) was conducted online to investigate the combinatory effects of ad format, narrative structure, and need for cognition on product intentions. Results showed the 360-degree video ad elicited lower information seeking intention, lower tryout intention, and lower purchase intention compared with a standard video ad. The flow experience mediated the relationship between the ad format and product intentions. In addition, narrative structure moderated the relationship between the ad format and the information seeking intention. Lastly, a three-way interaction among the ad format, narrative structure, and need for cognition on information seeking intention was detected. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Consisting and prospects of self-sufficiency level increase of the main livestock products in Ukraine

The state food security near-term depends on the balanced development of agriculture on the whole and separate directions of agrarian business, which produce raw material and prepared food for providing necessities of internal market consumption. The agri-food subcomplex of Ukraine is characterized strengthening disadvantages between a plant-grower and livestock. More resources particular branch are concentrated on the production of agricultural cultures of feed and technical value, considerable volume of which Ukraine export for the necessities of other countries, forgetting about needs and possibilities of domestic AIC. In the article conducted analysis of self-sufficiency level on the basic types of livestock products in Ukraine that taking into account influence on forming of national food security. A statement of meat and meat products analysis is conducted after basic kinds, eggs, milk and dairy products in Ukraine during 2018–2019 years. Certainly level of self-sufficiency on the basic livestock products in Ukraine, and also taking into account the rational norms of consumption. It is set as a result of research, that the greatest level of self-sufficiency of the poultry farming products, namely by poultry meat and eggs – 126 %. A production of pig meat volume in Ukraine does not provide the annual fund of consumption, which is compensated thorough import in a volume over 100 thousand ton during 2019 year. Level of self-sufficiency and other types of meat pork, does not exceed 88 %. Deepening of the crisis phenomena is observed in the cattle breeding which is characterized rapid reduction of cows, in particular in the households through low purchase prices on milk and difficult social and demographic processes. Although a production of milk, beef and veal, volume in Ukraine answers the necessities of internal market development, however through annual reduction of cows head in a long-term prospect there will be a deficit of the cattle breeding products, which will be provided through import deliveries that negatively will influence on the state food security. With the purpose of strengthening the food security in Ukraine it is necessary to inculcate the system of measures financial, organizational, economic and technological direction.

Exergoeconomic Optimization of Polymeric Heat Exchangers for Geothermal Direct Applications

The highest economic costs of a geothermal plant are basically related to well drilling and heat exchanger maintenance cost due to the chemical aggressiveness of geothermal fluid. The possibility to reduce these costs represents an opportunity to push toward geothermal plants development. Such challenges are even more important in the sites with a low-medium temperature geothermal fluids (90–120 °C) availability, where the use of these fluids for direct thermal uses can be very advantageous. For this reason, in this study, a direct geothermal heating system for a building will be investigated by considering a plastic plate heat exchanger. The choice of a polymeric heat exchanger for this application is upheld by its lower purchase cost and its higher fouling resistance than the common metal heat exchangers, overcoming the economic issues related to conventional geothermal plant. Thus, the plastic plate heat exchanger was, firstly, geometrical and thermodynamical modeled and, after, exergoeconomic optimized. In particular, an exergoeconomic analysis was assessed on the heat exchanger system by using a MATLAB and REFPROP environment, that allows for determination of the exergoeconomic costs of the geothermal fluid extraction, the heat exchanger, and the heating production. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of main design variable (number of plates/channels) and thermodynamic variable (inlet temperature of geothermal fluid) on yearly exergoeconomic product cost. Then, the proposed methodology was applied to a case study in South of Italy, where a low-medium enthalpy geothermal potential exists. The plate-heat exchanger was used to meet the space heating requests of a single building by the exploitation of low-medium temperature geothermal fluids availability in the selected area. The results show that the inlet temperature of geothermal fluid influences the exergoeconomic cost more than the geometrical parameter. The variation of the exergoeconomic cost of heat exchanger with the inlet geothermal fluid temperature is higher than the change of the exergoeconomic costs associated to wells drilling and pumping with respect to the same variable. This is due the fact that, in the selected zone of South of Italy, it is possible to find geothermal fluid in the temperature range of 90–120 °C, at shallow depth. The product exergoeconomic cost is the lowest when the temperature is higher than 105 °C; thus, the smallest heat exchange area is required. The exergoeconomic optimization determines an optimum solution with a total product cost of 922 €/y for a temperature of geothermal fluid equal to 117 °C and with a number of plates equal to 15.

Understanding the Dark Side of Online Reviews on Consumers' Purchase Intentions in E-Commerce: Evidence From a Consumer Experiment in China.

Background: Online review, as an important way of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication, plays an important role in e-commerce. However, few studies have examined the dark side of online reviews and their effect on consumers' purchase intentions. Information inconsistency is one of the dark sides that plays a critical role in influencing consumers' purchase intentions through online reviews.Methods: Using a 2*2 between-subject design that explores the main effects of the type of information inconsistency (vertical- vs. horizontal-attribute inconsistency) on purchase intention and the moderating effect of product type (search vs. experience product).Results: This study examines whether and how the type of information inconsistency between online recommendations and reviews influences consumer purchase decision-making.Conclusions: The findings show that vertical-attribute inconsistency leads to a lower purchase intention for search products; moreover, both vertical- and horizontal-attribute inconsistencies have no significant effect on purchase intention for experience products.

Green Supply Chain Management and Its Impact on Consumer Purchase Decision as a Marketing Strategy: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

This study examines the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) on consumers environmentally friendly purchase behavior. We surveyed 283 consumers and analyzed the data using SPSS 18.0, AMOS 18.0, and verified them with structural equation modeling. To support the primary data analysis results, we conducted focus group interviews (FGIs) of 16 consumers. According to the primary data analysis, consumers’ subjective norms and perceived behavioral control positively influence GSCM. However, attitude did not have a significant influence. In the FGI, consumers show a highly positive attitude and purchase intention toward the GSCM of companies. However, they exhibit mistrust and lower purchase intentions toward advertising or marketing campaigns promoting GSCM to consumers. In contrast, the influence of subjective norms was found to be different for different products. In addition, a high price—regarded as the biggest barrier among perceived control factors—raises purchase intentions if consumers are provided with good and transparent information about green products. Thus, this study buttresses the fact that if a company uses GSCM practices as an eco-friendly marketing strategy that reduces consumer distrust and considers product characteristics, it can have a positive effect on consumers’ decision to purchase eco-friendly products.

Local Energy Communities in Spain: Economic Implications of the New Tariff and Variable Coefficients

The European Union advocates for legislative support to local energy communities. Measures include the promotion of dynamic energy allocation and discriminatory electricity tariffs such as the recent Spanish framework. However, the impact of these normative changes is not yet evaluated. This paper inquires into the impact of dynamic allocation coefficient and different electricity tariffs on the profitability of local energy communities. To do so, a linear optimisation model is developed and applied to real consumer data in Spain around a variable capacity photovoltaic generation plant. Comparing the economic performance of the static or variable power allocation under the effect of changing electricity tariffs. While both measures are beneficial, the new electricity tariffs result in larger profitability increases than the planned variable coefficients. The combination of measures allows for profitability improvements of up to 25% being complementary measures. However, installations that maximise the potential for electricity generation are still not as profitable due to the low purchase price of surplus energy. While discriminatory electricity price tariffs and variable allocation coefficients are positive measures, further measures are needed for these communities to install generation plants as large as the potential that each case allows.

Flow Rate Control by Means of Flow Meter and PLC Controller.

This paper presents a design of a flow meter based on a programmable logic controller (PLC). The new construction of a flow meter controlled by PLC increases the possibilities for the control and automation of fluid flow. Additionally, the didactic potential of the use of simple automation in the form of a programmable logic controller was considered. A device enabling the measurement of fluid flow rate based on a PLC controller was designed, constructed, and tested. The choice of device was the Gems Sensors FT-210 series turbine flow sensor, which is characterized by low purchase and maintenance costs. The properties and the chemical resistance of polyamide-12, the material the sensor is made of, make it possible to test the flow of various types of fluids. As part of the work, an algorithm and a program controlling the device was developed based on the APB Soft software, enabling the accurate reading of the number of impulses sent by the turbine flow sensor. The results of the designed flow meter were compared with the results obtained for the Krohne VA-40 high accuracy rotameter.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON NUTRITIONAL STATUS ASSESSMENT AND MORBIDITY PATTERN OF ADOLESCENTS (10–16 YEARS) RESIDING IN URBAN SLUMS OF AMRITSAR, PUNJAB

Objectives: To assess the nutritional status and morbidity pattern of adolescents age 10–16 years and to determine the various factors associated with under-nutrition. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 1600 households which were selected by systematic random sampling method from 64 slum areas. All adolescents aged 10–16 years were included. Required information was collected on a pretested performa. Height and weight were measured to assess their nutritional status and haemoglobin estimation was done by Sahli’s method. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) and univariate logistic regression were done to determine various factors associated with under nutrition. Results: Out of 603 study participants, 75% of adolescents were under-weight. About 82.3% had anemia. About 36% suffered from one or more infectious disease in the last 3 months. Going to school, occupation, female sex, and suffering from any infectious disease in the past 3 months were found to be associated with malnutrition. Addiction was reported in 9% of study participants. Conclusions: High prevalence of under-nutrition and anemia in our study reflects inequitable distribution of resources, low purchasing capacity of foods, and unequal food sharing patterns in families making them socially and biologically vulnerable.

Take a Bite! The Effect of Bitten Food in Pictures on Product Attitudes, Purchase Intentions, and Willingness to Pay

Food pictures in advertisements, on packages, and on social media often display food with a bite in it. We investigated the effect of pictures of food with a bite (vs. no bite) on product attitudes, purchase intentions, and willingness to pay. In two online experimental studies we tested this effect for both pictures without context, as well as pictures in an advertisement. We also investigated two theories that could lead to opposite effects: consumer contamination and embodied mental simulation. We found that a picture of food with a bite (vs. no bite) resulted in lower purchase intentions, and that this effect was mediated by disgust (i.e., consumer contamination). Furthermore, we found an interaction effect of picture type (i.e., bite vs. no bite) and context (i.e., no context vs. advertisement) on purchase intentions: the effect of picture type on purchase intentions was attenuated when the picture appeared in an advertisement (vs. when the picture is shown without context). We found similar effects on product attitudes and willingness to pay. Lastly, a picture of food with a bite (vs. no bite) had no effect on embodied mental simulation. Field practitioners are advised to take caution when using pictures of bitten food as this may lead to unfavorable consumer responses because of a feeling if disgust.

When limited edition packages backfire: The role of emotional value, typicality and need for uniqueness

Limited edition packages (LEPs) refer to temporal packages that are distinct from regular packages but include the same content. Because of their increasing use by brands, this research examines the effectiveness of LEPs compared to regular brand packages. Through two experiments conducted in the food and beverage industry, this research surprisingly demonstrates that LEPs lead to lower purchase intentions than regular packages and identifies emotional value as the underlying mechanism of this effect. Second, this research shows that consumers’ need for uniqueness (NFU) moderates the negative effect of LEPs on emotional value, with LEPs having negative effects only when people are not high in such NFU. Furthermore, this research identifies design typicality as a boundary condition, with only typical (versus atypical) LEPs leading to lower purchase intentions, but not when people are high in NFU. These findings are discussed in terms of managerial implications and potential avenues for future research.

Surgeons and Administrators Co-creating Value.

Surgeons and Administrators Co-creating Value.

E-Commerce website for B2B Services

E-commerce is becoming a more powerful component of huge asset for B2b businesses. It allows them to not only lower purchase costs and provide a wider variety of additional resources, but also to improve communication performance between their clients and suppliers. As a result, the aim of this article is to analyze how businesses use Business - to - business E-Commerce, how it funds their businesses, and what the key advantages are. In light of the growing relevance of services in B2B markets and the rapid advancement in information technology, the paper assumes significant realistic and theoretical significance for the business world. It may be used as a foundation for more study on various strategies in B2B markets and examination of the position of E-Commerce since it represents an overview and summarizes a broad theoretical context on the subject. The paper will also help businesses make decisions on their E-Commerce investment policy. Our website helps Distributors and retailers to make their jobs easier. Instead of receiving orders manually, it increases the quality and profitability of the company's distribution activities, lowering overhead costs.

Junk Securities: Cheese in the Mouse-Trap or Uncut Diamond

The article shows that junk securities never demonstrate a smooth trend to rate growth and any jump or drop usually happen by sharp change in the trend. The investor making deals on OTC call-boards should realize that 95% of dark market shares cannot pass analysis and the majority of investors who deal with dark market shares would lose money. Sometimes after good results shares on dark market can go ‘darker' and are not reported for a long time. It resembles ‘leaving on a high pitch'. But occasionally figures can become worse, therefore the company would not like to acknowledge the fact. Junk shares always imply high risk, as in the majority of cases there is no reliable information about the organization issuing shares and securities themselves. The authors point out that in case of placement at outside markets external audit is not carried out and real quotation could differ from those presented. At the same time it is rather difficult to analyze junk shares because of low exchange purchase, as few investors buy securities with low rating.

Characterization of Structural Bone Properties through Portable Single-Sided NMR Devices: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a well-suited methodology to study bone composition and structural properties. This is because the NMR parameters, such as the relaxation time, are sensitive to the chemical and physical environment of the 1H nuclei. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows bone structure assessment in vivo, its cost limits the suitability of conventional MRI for routine bone screening. With difficulty accessing clinically suitable exams, the diagnosis of bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, and the associated fracture risk estimation is based on the assessment of bone mineral density (BMD), obtained by the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). However, integrating the information about the structure of the bone with the bone mineral density has been shown to improve fracture risk estimation related to osteoporosis. Portable NMR, based on low-field single-sided NMR devices, is a promising and appealing approach to assess NMR properties of biological tissues with the aim of medical applications. Since these scanners detect the signal from a sensitive volume external to the magnet, they can be used to perform NMR measurement without the need to fit a sample inside a bore of a magnet, allowing, in principle, in vivo application. Techniques based on NMR single-sided devices have the potential to provide a high impact on the clinical routine because of low purchasing and running costs and low maintenance of such scanners. In this review, the development of new methodologies to investigate structural properties of trabecular bone exploiting single-sided NMR devices is reviewed, and current limitations and future perspectives are discussed.

Social and municipal influences on intention to purchase electric and hybrid electric vehicles in London Ontario, CA

We conducted a case study in London, Ontario to identify factors that influence decisions to purchase low carbon vehicles including what role municipal governments might play in encouraging low carbon vehicle purchase decisions. As part of a city-university partnership, this study reports (n = 257) results from a mail-out survey. We test mainly whether social influences and mechanisms under municipal control predict intent to purchase electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Both proximal social influencers (family and friends) (.179**, .393**) and distal social influencers (.219**, .142*) predict intent to purchase EV and HEV respectively. City information sessions (.161** EV) and City promotion (.141* HEV) significantly influence intentions, while City-provided EV parking and charging are not. While municipalities may find other areas with greater impact on GHG reductions, the findings support promoting the social aspects of EV and HEV purchasing and providing relatively low-cost promotion/events.

Empirical generalisations in customer mindset metrics

AbstractTwo very well‐known empirical generalisations in marketing are Double jeopardy (DJ) and the duplication of purchase law (DoP). These generalisations provide important insights into consumer buying behaviour but require ongoing replication and extension to determine the conditions under which they hold. Surprisingly, despite growing recognition of the role of customer mindset metrics in brand choice, DJ, and DoP have not been extensively tested within this context. We therefore analyse survey data (n = 1862) in three repertoire and two subscription markets to determine whether two key mindset metrics, brand awareness and brand consideration, also follow DJ and DoP patterns. Our study successfully demonstrates that brands with low recognition suffer twice with lower unaided brand recall and lower purchase consideration. While brand recall and consideration follow a linear DJ trend, brand recognition and consideration follow an exponential DJ trend. We also confirm the existence of Duplication of Awareness and Duplication of Consideration patterns. Brands share greater awareness or consideration levels with other highly recognised or considered brands than with lowly recognised or considered brands. However, contrary to the DoP law, we find consistent market partitioning, with category buyers who are aware of, or consider smaller brands also being aware of, or considering other smaller brands at a slightly greater rate than expected. We provide possible explanations for differing DJ slopes and duplication partitions, as well as theoretical and managerial implications.

POS1394 ACCURACY AND PERFORMANCE OF A HANDHELD ULTRASOUND DEVICE TO ASSESS ARTICULAR AND PERIARTICULAR PATHOLOGIES IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY ARTHRITIS

Background:Handheld ultrasound (HHUS) devices have increasingly found their way into clinical practice due to several advantages (e.g. portability, significantly lower purchase cost). However, there is no evidence to date on the accuracy and performance of HHUS in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA).Objectives:To assess accuracy and performance of a new HHUS machine in comparison to a conventional cart-based sonographic machine in patients with IA.Methods:Consecutive IA patients of our outpatient clinic with at least one tender and swollen joint in the 66/68 joint count were enrolled. US was performed on clinically affected joints with corresponding tendons/entheses using a cart-based sonographic device (“Samsung HS40”) and a HHUS device (“Butterfly iQ”) in standard scan positions. One blinded reader scored all images for the presence of following pathologic findings: erosions, bony enlargement, synovial hyperthrophy, joint effusion, bursitis, tenosynovitis and enthesitis. In addition, synovitis was graded (B Mode and power Doppler (PD)) by the 4-level EULAR-OMERACT scale [1]. To avoid bias by the blinded reader, who otherwise would have been tempted to identify pathological findings for each examined joint, we also included 67 joints of two healthy volunteers into the evaluation. We calculated the overall concordance and the concordance by type of joint and type of pathological finding between the two devices (percentage of observation pairs in which the same rating was given by both devices). The Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ) with 95% bootstrap confidence intervals was used to assess the agreement between the two US devices. We also measured the time required for the US examination of one joint with both devices.Results:32 patients (20 rheumatoid arthritis, 10 psoriatic arthritis, 1 gouty arthritis, 1 systemic lupus erythematosus) were included in this study. Mean age of patients was 58.2±13.7 years, 63% were females. In total 186 joints were examined. The overall raw concordance in B-mode between the two devices was 97 %, with an overall κappa for agreement of 0.90, 95% CI (0.89, 0.94). No significant differences were found in relation to type of joint or pathological finding examined. The PD-mode of the HHUS device did not detect any PD-signal, whereas the cart-based device detected a PD-signal in 61 joints (33%). The portable device did not offer any time saving compared to the cart-based device (mean time in seconds per examined region: 47 seconds for the HHUS device versus 46.3 seconds for the cart-based device).Conclusion:The HHUS device “Butterfly iQ” has been shown to be accurate in the assessment of structural joint damage and inflammation in patients with IA, but only in B-mode. Significant improvements are still needed to reliable demonstrate blood flow detection by PD mode.