Miguel Rodríguez

Attitudes' hierarchy of effects in online user behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact of the internet, as a new information channel for the consumer, on business results, and in particular, the consequences of attitude towards the web site with regard to customer behaviour and web site sponsor brand.Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was used to gather data to test the relationships in the research model.Findings – The paper shows the importance of attitude towards the web site and attitude towards the internet in explaining attitude towards the brand and consumer e‐behaviour, and identifies the hierarchy of effects operative among these three concepts of attitude: attitude towards the internet; attitude towards the web site; and attitude towards the brand.Research limitations – This study only looked at one category of web site – free‐content sites. Future research could apply the conclusions of this study to other types of web sites, e.g. the e‐commerce web site and the corporate web site.Practical implications...

The influence of the Internet on destination satisfaction

Purpose – The aim of the present study is to provide an insight into the effect that the satisfaction with the information obtained through the Internet may have on the satisfaction with the selected destination. In particular, assuming that the Internet functions as an effective source of information for the tourist, one would expect the above relationship to be positive and significant.Design/methodology/approach – In order to test the proposed hypotheses, a structured questionnaire was administered to tourists of different nationalities. The total number of valid cases was 279. The field work was done between June 2004 and June 2005.Findings – The results seem to show that the greater the tourists satisfaction with the Internet, the fuller is his or her enjoyment of the holiday. This relationship, however, is moderated by two variables – the tourists previous experience of the destination and the tourists experience of the Internet. These conclusions may well prove crucial for the future use of the ...

Bacterial exopolysaccharides produced by newly discovered bacteria belonging to the genus Halomonas, isolated from hypersaline habitats in Morocco

We have studied the exopolysaccharides (EPS) from a new group of moderately halophilic bacteria belonging to the genus Halomonas. The quantity of EPS produced, its chemical composition and physical properties depend greatly upon the bacterial strain. The majority of the polymers produced viscous solutions and/or emulsified different hydrocarbon compounds. The most interesting strain, S-30, produced EPS at 2.8 g/l with a maximum viscosity of 23.5 Pa·5 and exhibited pseudoplastic behavior. This EPS emulsified five hydrocarbons more efficiently than did four control surfactants tested. Its monosaccharide composition was glucose:galactose:manose:glucuronic acid in equimolar ratio. Some two-thirds of the strains tested emulsified crude oil better than control surfactants did. There are many potential industrial applications for polysaccharides with these qualities. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2000)24, 374–378.

Antecedents of internet acceptance and use as an information source by tourists

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to aim to identify the antecedents of both actual acceptance and future use of the internet as a tourism information source. In the tourism sector, the internet is a medium of growing importance. Nonetheless, very few studies have researched the antecedents of internet acceptance and use by tourists.Design/methodology/approach – This purpose was pursued by extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and applying it to a broad sample of international tourists.Findings – The main findings concern the antecedent role of actual use with regard to future use, as well as the roles of usefulness and ease of use as drivers of the acceptance of the internet as an information source by the tourist.Research limitations – The study analysed the acceptance of the internet as an information source but not its use as a medium for purchasing tourism products or services.Practical implications – While most research results suggest that businesses and institutions should direct th...

CHIRAL BUILDING-BLOCKS BY CHEMOENZYMATIC DESYMMETRIZATION OF 2-ETHYL-1,3-PROPANEDIOL FOR THE PREPARATION OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE NATURAL PRODUCTS

Abstract 2-Ethyl-1,3-propanediol 1 and its related di-O-acetate 2 were desymmetrized by partial chemoenzymatic acetylation and deacetylation, by Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase (Amano P.; PFL), to (R)-1-O-acetyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol 3. On treatment of 3 with I2/Ph3P/imidazole the related (S)-1-O-acetyl-2-ethyl-3-iodopropanol 4 was obtained and transformed into the corresponding triphenylphosphonium salt 5. Reaction of [(S)-3-acetoxy-2-ethylpropylidene]triphenylphosphorane 6, prepared from 5, with 2,3:4,5-di-O-isopropylidene-β- d -arabino-hexos-2-ulopyranose 7 gave (Z)-3-C-acetoxymethyl-1,2,3,4,5-pentadeoxy-6,7:8,9-di-O-isopropylidene-β- d -manno-dec-4-ene-6-ulo-6,10-pyranose 8 which was hydrogenated to 9 and subsequently deacylated to 10. Treatment of 10 with Me2CO/H+ caused a rearrangement to (3R,4R,5S,6R,9R)-9-ethyl-5-hydroxy-3,4-isopropylidenedioxy-1,7-dioxaspiro[5.5]undecane 11, which closely matched the skeleton of the talaromycins.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in the use of the internet as a tourist information source

The modelling of new information technologies usage behaviour is of great interest to managers who need to evaluate the probability of success in the introduction of these technologies. This study empirically tests the capacity of Daviss Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) and Davis et al.s Motivational Model (MM) (Davis et al., 1992) to help understand the determinants of the intention to use the internet to search for holiday information. The findings show that these theories do explain the intention of internet use by the tourist.

Gait recording with inertial sensors – How to determine initial and terminal contact

Lightweight inertial sensors are increasingly used for recording of gait in medicine, rehabilitation and sport. Several distinct events during the gait cycle such as heel-strike or toe-off have to be detected in the data obtained from these sensors. We re-investigated the correlation between the data of shank-mounted gyroscopes and three reference systems, namely accelerometers, pressure-sensitive soles and a motion capture system in a group of 14 young healthy men. We confirmed that the heel strike corresponds to a trough in the gyroscope curve, as several previous reports have stated. However, the toe-off moment clearly did not coincide with another trough of the gyroscope trace, as had been assumed in the past. The heel-off moment was reliably at 51% of the step cycle, irrespective of gait velocity, in our data. These findings are crucial for gait recording systems which aim to assess the temporal as well as spatial descriptors of human gait.

HF RFID Tag as Humidity Sensor: Two Different Approaches

This paper describes printed resonant structures on a flexible substrate for humidity detection. The devices consist of a screen-printed spiral inductor working as radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna and two different inkjet-printed planar capacitive structures forming LC resonators. The sensitive material is directly the chosen substrate: a polyimide whose electrical permittivity is dependent on the moisture content. Therefore, no extra sensitive layer is required to functionalize these structures. In particular, two different approaches can be followed to use it. On one hand, the resonant structure can be used as a threshold tag including an RFID chip. The tags will be detected or not by an RFID reader depending on the humidity. On the other hand, these structures can be directly used as quantitative humidity sensors where the moisture content is associated with the resonant frequency of the structure.

Lipase-mediated partial resolution of 1,2-diol and 2-alkanol derivatives: towards chiral building-blocks for pheromone synthesis

Abstract 1,2-Propanediol 5 , 1-chloro-2-propanol 8 and its related 2- O -acetate 9 were partially resolved by chemoenzymatic acetylation and deacetylation, in the presence of Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase (Amano P.; PFL), to ( R )-(−)-1-acetoxy-2-propanol 6 , ( R )-(+)-2-acetoxy-1-chloropropane 9 and ( R )-(−)-1-chloro-2-propanol 8 , respectively. On the other hand, treatment of (2 RS )- 2 with vinyl acetate in ether and Chirazyme ® L-2 gave 2- O -acetyl-1,3,4-trideoxy-5,6:7,8-di- O -isopropylidene-β- d - manno -non-5-ulo-5,9-pyranose 1 and 1,3,4-trideoxy-5,6:7,8-di- O -isopropylidene-β- d - gluco -non-5-ulo-5,9-pyranose 11 , respectively. Compound 10 was subsequently deacylated to 12 . Both alcohols 11 and 12 were treated with Me 2 CO/H + to cause their rearrangement to (2 S ,5 R ,8 R ,9 R ,10 S )-10-hydroxy-8,9-isopropylidenedioxy-2-methyl-1,6-dioxaspiro[4.5]decane 3 and its (2 R)- epimer 4 , which closely matched the skeleton of the odour bouquet minor components of Paravespula vulgaris (L.).

Response of parasitoids Dendrosoter protuberans and Cheiropachus quadrum to attractants of Phloeotribus scarabaeoides in an olfactometer.

The braconid Dendrosoter protuberans and the pteromalid Cheiropachus quadrum are two parasitoids of the olive bark beetle, Phloeotribus scarabaeoides. Several chemicals such as α-pinene, β-pinene, 2-decanone, 2-nonanone, decanal, undecanal, and n-butyl acetate have been identified as attractants in the laboratory for this scolytid. Under red light at 27°C in a laboratory olfactometer both parasitoids oriented positively to both enantiomers of α-pinene, and females also responded to 2-decanone. Significant responses did not occur under white light or at lower temperatures. These results suggest that α-pinene and 2-decanone could be involved in the location of P. scarabaeoides by its parasitoids. Consequently an attracticidal control tactic for this scolytid that included these chemicals could eliminate part of the parasitoid population. In an integrated pest management program, this problem should be considered.