AUS Repository

Surprisingly, there exists a paucity of research examining the adoption of Internet-based technologies by luxury firms. This represents a major shortcoming in our understanding of how luxury firms maintain the image of their brand, sustain a personal link with customers, and retain an aura of exclusivity as they seek to provide their products and services to increasingly technologically-astute customers. Using content analysis, we present the findings of a qualitative investigation of 92 luxury firm websites across the categories of automobiles, fashion, jewelry, watches, and yachts. Study findings indicate that there are noticeable differences in website characteristics and functionality across sectors. Implications of the results are discussed, noting that decisions about using the Internet for branding and selling, one-way and two-way communications, as well as operational and innovative features, are driven by the characteristics of the products being offered. Avenues for future research are also offered.

The coral reef ecosystems of the Arabian/Persian Gulf (the Gulf ) are facing profound pressure from climate change (extreme temperatures) and anthropogenic (land-use and population-related) stressors. Increasing degradation at local and regional scales has already resulted in widespread coral cover reduction. Connectivity, the transport and exchange of larvae among geographically separated populations, plays an essential role in recovery and maintenance of biodiversity and resilience of coral reef populations. Here, an oceanographic model in 3-D high-resolution was used to simulate particle dispersion of “virtual larvae.” We investigated the potential physical connectivity of coral reefs among different regions in the Gulf. Simulations reveal that basin-scale circulation is responsible for broader spatial dispersion of the larvae in the central region of the Gulf, and tidally-driven currents characterized the more localized connectivity pattern in regions along the shores in the Gulf’s southern part. Results suggest predominant self-recruitment of reefs with highest source and sink ratios along the Bahrain and western Qatar coasts, followed by the south eastern Qatar and continental Abu Dhabi coast. The central sector of the Gulf is suggested as recruitment source in a stepping-stone dynamics. Recruitment intensity declined moving away from the Straits of Hormuz. Connectivity varied in models assuming passive versus active mode of larvae movement. This suggests that larval behaviour needs to be taken into consideration when establishing dispersion models, and establishing conservation strategies for these vulnerable ecosystems.

In this study a process is developed for selective production of p-xylene from toluene methylation using reactive distillation for p-xylene separation. Complete process is simulated in Aspen Plus® and reaction parameters are optimized to get 97.5% p-xylene selectivity using built-in optimization tool. Highly selective p-xylene production greatly reduces the separation cost and also reduces the production of less desired xylene isomers. After separation p-xylene product stream purity of 99.7% is achieved. Then a second law analysis is made on the process developed and lost work of different blocks is compared. Heat integration of the process is done using Aspen Energy Analyzer® resulting in 23% reduced total lost work generation.