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We conduct a firm-level, 6-year longitudinal analysis on the impact that racial diversity in human resources has on financial performance. When considering short-term performance outcomes, we predict a curvilinear relationship between diversity and performance (i.e., firm productivity). Although we find evidence of a U-shaped relationship between racial diversity and productivity, the relationship is stronger in service-oriented relative to manufacturing-oriented industries and in more stable vs. volatile environments. For longer-term profitability, we propose and find support for more of a positive linear relationship between diversity and performance (i.e., Tobin's q) than a nonlinear one. This linear effect is stronger and more positive in munificent compared to resource-scare environments. Thus, we aid in reconciling existing, often contradictory, studies by demonstrating the potential short-term vs. long-term impact of racial diversity on performance. We offer implications for future research on diversity considering the current and projected demographic landscape.

We present a review of research studies that deal with personalization and synthesize current knowledge about these areas. We identify issues that we envision will be of interest to researchers working in the management sciences, taking an interdisciplinary approach that spans the areas of economics, marketing, information technology (IT), and operations research. We present a framework for personalization that allows us to identify key players in the personalization process as well as key stages of personalization. The framework enables us to examine the strategic role of personalization in the interactions between a firm and other key players in the firm's value system. We conceptualize the personalization process as consisting of three stages: (1) learning about consumer preferences, (2) matching offerings to customers, and (3) evaluation of the learning and matching processes. This review focuses on the learning stage, with an emphasis on utility-based approaches to estimate preference functions using data on customer interactions with a firm.

This research investigates the effectiveness of textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) systems for enhancing the load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete columns (RCCs) with high aspect ratio. This study focuses on the use of the TRM systems as an alternative to fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) systems, addressing challenges such as high cost, poor performance at high temperatures, incompatibility with substrate materials, and inability to be applied to damp surfaces. It includes a detailed analysis of the TRM systems’ effectiveness through an experimental evaluation, with a particular focus on RCCs having high aspect ratio. The obtained results reveal a significant strength improvement, ranging from 50% to 129%, for RCCs with the aspect ratios decreasing from three to two, with the workmanship contributing to the observed strength enhancement. Achieving a consistent and uniform distribution of the mortar layer, seamlessly aligned with the column surfaces, proves crucial. The study also highlights the importance of the mortar layer thickness, particularly in cases of the reduced aspect ratios. An enhancement of the load-carrying capacity ranges from 3.65% to 8.53%, for the reduction in the aspect ratio from 5 to 4.16 and 3.24, respectively. The confined specimens display varying peak axial strains, exhibiting commendable elastic–plastic behavior with non-linear ascending curves.

This study determined the strength properties of high-performance concrete (HPC) produced using ternary blended cement, based on Nano-silica (NS) and bagasse ash (BA) addition to Portland cement. Several mix proportions, based on random mix design, were considered based on the substitution of constituent materials. Fine aggregate was comprised of 60% river sand and 40% recycled aggregate (RA), coarse aggregate used was crushed rock for the development of M50, M60 and M70 grades of concrete. The replacement of cement by BA causes slowdown initial strength development, but increased the setting time of concrete. In order to improve the performance of HPC at early stage, NS was considered as third admixture for developing ternary binder blend in the concrete. The effect of NS and BA on fresh and hardened HPC were investigated and presented. The results indicated that the incorporation of NS reduced setting time and increased the early age strength development significantly. Thus, it was concluded that the addition of NS with mean particle size of 12 nm is suitable as an additional binder for improving the early age performance of HPC.

This paper presents the results of experimental investigation which was carried out to evaluate the effect of bacteria on the compressive strength, porosity of M-sand concrete. The river sand was replaced by M-sand and M20 and M30grade pumpable concreteswere designed for investigation purpose. The w/c ratio of the concrete was selected as 0.45 and 0.4 respectively. Bacillus subtilis bacteria was included at a concentration of 30x105 cells/mL of water. The compressive strength, water absorption and porosity of concrete were determined after the curing periodof 3, 7, 28 and 90 days. Results were indicated that the substitution of M-sand instead of river sand was reduced the compressive strength up to 20% when compared with river sand based control concrete. The porosity and water absorptionbehaviour of M-sand concrete were observed in higher order than that of control concrete. On the addition of bacteria, 37%-45% reduction in water absorption and porosity level of bacterial M-sand concrete was achieveddue to the self-healing of micro crack in the concrete.

The authors study the joint effects of creative format, message content, and targeting on the performance of digital ads over time. Specifically, they present a dynamic model to measure the effects of various sizes of static (GIF) and animated (Flash) display ad formats and consider whether different ad contents, related to the brand or a price offer, are more or less effective for different ad formats and targeted or retargeted customer segments. To this end, the authors obtain six months of data on daily impressions, clicks, targeting, and ad creative content from a major U.S. retailer, and they develop a dynamic zero-inflated count model. Given the sparse, nonlinear, and non-Gaussian nature of the data, the study designs a particle filter/Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme for estimation. Results show that carry-over rates for dynamic formats are greater than those for static formats; however, static formats can still be effective for price ads and retargeting. Most notably, results also show that retargeted ads are effective only if they offer price incentives. The study then considers the import of these results for the retailer's media schedules.

The need to improve existing structures has led to extensive research on strengthening techniques. Textile‐reinforced mortar (TRM) systems, which involve the integration of high‐strength fibers with inorganic matrix, have emerged as a highly promising and viable alternative. The objective of this research is to investigate the mechanical characteristics of inorganic mortar by examining different compositions involving sand, fibers, and cementitious materials. Various combinations were tested to evaluate their compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength. The findings indicated that a composite mixture (sample 12) comprising microsilica, silica sand, and optimized fibers demonstrated enhanced strength in all three assessments. Research highlights the significance of accurate mixing, additional components, and appropriate fibers to achieve intended performance of the mortar. The compatibility of the mortar is checked with substrate surface and textile sheet. Mortar is evaluated for splitting bond strength, slant shear test, direct pull‐off bond strength, and pull‐out strength. These results provide information about the strength and bonding characteristics of the mortar in different test scenarios. Values indicate how well the mortar performs with the substrate surface and the textile sheet under various types of stresses and loading conditions.

Models of advertising response implicitly assume that the entire advertising budget is spent on disseminating one message. In practice, managers use different themes of advertising (for example, price advertisements versus product advertisements) and within each theme they employ different versions of an advertisement. In this study, we evaluate the dynamic effects of different themes of advertising that have been employed in a campaign. We develop a model that jointly considers the effects of wearout as well as that of forgetting in the context of an advertising campaign that employs five different advertising themes. We quantify the differential wearout effects across the different themes of advertising and examine the interaction effects between the different themes using a Bayesian dynamic linear model (DLM). Such a response model can help managers decide on the optimal allocation of resources across the portfolio of ads as well as better manage their scheduling. We develop a model to show how our response model parameters can be used to improve the effectiveness of advertising budget allocation across different themes. We find that a reallocation of resources across different themes according to our model results in a significant improvement in demand.

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) the leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity is highly related to abnormal placental development, and placentas from FGR pregnancies are often characterized by increased inflammation. However, the mechanisms of FGR-associated inflammation are far from being understood. NLRP7, a member of a family of receptors involved in the innate immune responses, has been shown to be associated with gestational trophoblastic diseases. Here, we characterized the expression and the functional role of NLRP7 in the placenta and investigated its involvement in the pathogenesis of FGR. We used primary trophoblasts and placental explants that were collected during early pregnancy, and established trophoblast-derived cell lines, human placental villi, and serum samples from early pregnancy (n = 38) and from FGR (n = 40) and age-matched controls (n = 32). Our results show that NLRP7 (i) is predominantly expressed in the trophoblasts during the hypoxic period of placental development and its expression is upregulated by hypoxia and (ii) increases trophoblast proliferation ([3H]-thymidine) and controls the precocious differentiation of trophoblasts towards syncytium (syncytin 1 and 2 and β-hCG production and xCELLigence analysis) and towards invasive extravillous trophoblast (2D and 3D cultures). We have also demonstrated that NLRP7 inflammasome activation in trophoblast cells increases IL-1β, but not IL-18 secretion. In relation to the FGR, we demonstrated that major components of NLRP7 inflammasome machinery are increased and that IL-1β but not IL-18 circulating levels are increased in FGR. Altogether, our results identified NLRP7 as a critical placental factor and provided evidence for its deregulation in FGR. NLRP7 inflammasome is abundantly expressed by trophoblast cells. It is regulated by a key parameter of placental development, hypoxia. It controls trophoblast proliferation, migration, and invasion and exhibits anti-apoptotic role. NLRP7 machinery is deregulated in FGR pregnancies.Key messagesNLRP7 inflammasome is abundantly expressed by trophoblast cells.It is regulated by a key parameter of placental development, hypoxia.It controls trophoblast proliferation, migration, and invasion and exhibits anti-apoptotic role.NLRP7 machinery is deregulated in FGR pregnancies.

The black cotton soilis the kind of soils whose size of size modifications together with the variation in moisture content material. They will have a conduct of expanding and contracting that is a severevulnerability to constructed building above them. The swelling behaviour of clay soil is existing in north Karnataka region. Thestudy demonstrates the results of an effortto strengthen and stabilize the clay soil with waste synthetic strips. The synthetic pieces being kept readyand integrated at three diverse blending proportions (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%) by mass of soil with various aspect ratios (8*8mm, 8*16mm, and8*24mm). The exploratory results demonstrated that there was obviously a development in the shear quality factors. The expanding and drying upwards conduct behaviour are additionally sensitively reduced. There was a reduction that is substantial the OMC and insignificant improvement in MDD. The maximum size of plastic (aspect ratio) and synthetic content that results in maximum outcome may be chosen based on the value for the selection parameter for a definite engineering work. Stabilizing black cotton soils with unwanted plastic containers at the same time solves the tasks of unsuitable plastic waste reutilizing that is presently a teething issue in many countries that are developing. The outcomes obtained from this investigation positively suggest that addition of this product in clay soils would succeed for ground enhancement in geotechnical engineering.