In this research, the authors assess the applicability of the SERVCON model to the e-commerce (e-service) environment in the context of student textbook purchases. Following a literature review, a survey was developed based on previous scales; items were modified to fit the e-commerce environment. The survey was administered to college students in business courses, and 281 usable responses were...

Military training with howitzers and mortars produces excess propellant that is burned on the training range and can result in point sources containing high concentrations of unreacted propellant constituents. Propellants contain energetic compounds such as nitroglycerin (NG) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), both of which are found at firing positions and propellant disposal areas. To quantify...

LUSI mud obtained from the mud volcano in Sidoarjo, Indonesia, is a viable aluminosilicate material to be utilized as pozzolanic material. LUSI is an abbreviation of the local name of the mud, i.e., Lumpur Sidoarjo, meaning Sidoarjo mud. This paper reports the results of an investigation to assess the pozzolanic activity of LUSI mud, especially in semi high volume pozzolanic mortar. In this cas...

In this study the effect of using multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on flexural and compressive strengths, ultimate displacement and energy absorption capability of standard cement mortar considering different weight percentages of nanotubes as well as different dispersion methods has been investigated. Influential point in adding nanotubes to the composites is their proper dispersion, which...

Natural and artificial materials including rocks and cement-based materials such as concrete and cement mortar are affected both physically and chemically by various natural factors known as weathering factors. The freeze-thaw process, as a weathering factor, considerably affects the properties of rocks and concrete. Therefore, the effect of the freeze-thaw process on the physical and mechanica...

For more than three decades, the refinement and use of the concept map tool has been evolving, with new applications to improve school teaching and learning, new ways to capture and use of expert and tacit knowledge, better ways for searching and organizing information from the Web, and better tools for collaboration locally as well as internationally. While we anticipate this utilization “grow...

Given a planar set S of arbitrary topology and a radius r , we show how to construct an r -tightening of S , which is a set whose boundary has a radius of curvature everywhere greater than or equal to r and which only differs from S in a morphologically-defined tolerance zone we call the mortar. The mortar consists of the thin or highly curved parts of S , such as corners, gaps, and small conne...

The addition of short carbon fibers in the optimum amount of 0.5% of the cement weight to mortar increased the brick-to-mortar bond strength by 150% under tension and 110% under shear when the gap between the adjoining bricks was fixed, and by 50% under tension and 44% under shear when this gap was allowed to freely decrease due to the weight of the brick above the joint. This effect is attribu...

Improving performance measures in the construction processes has been a major concern for managers and decision makers in the industry. They seek for ways to recognize the key factors which have the largest effect on the process. Identifying such factors can guide them to focus on the right parts of the process in order to gain the best possible result. In the present study design of experiment...

In this research, four types of waste seashells, including short-necked clam, green mussel, oyster, and cockle, were investigated experimentally to develop a cement product for masonry and plastering. The parameters studied included water demand, setting time, compressive strength, drying shrinkage and thermal conductivity of the mortars. These properties were compared with those of a control m...