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This research proposes a multivariate control chart, whose parameters are optimized using genetic algorithms (GA) in order to accelerate the detection of a change in the vector of means.

This chart is based on a variation of the Hotelling T² chart using a sampling scheme called generalized multiple dependent state sampling. For the analysis of performances of this chart, the out-of-control average run length (ARL) values were used for different scenarios. In this comparison, it was considered the classic Hotelling T² chart and the T² chart using the scheme called multiple dependent state sampling.

It was observed that the new chart with its optimized parameters is more efficient to detect an out-of-control process. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed, and it was concluded that the best yields are obtained when the change to be considered in the optimization is small. An application in the resolution of a real problem is given.

In this research, a multivariate control chart is proposed based on the Hotelling T² statistic but adding a sampling scheme. This makes this control chart more efficient than the classic T² chart because the new chart not only uses the current information of the T² statistic but also conditions the decision to consider a process as “in- control” on the statistic's previous information. The practitioner can obtain the optimal parameters of this new chart through a friendly program developed by the authors.

We discuss a recent effort of institutional resistance in the context of the 2008–2011 Apostolic Visitation of U.S. women religious motivated by Vatican concerns about perceived secularism and potential lack of fidelity among Catholic sisters. We examined the process of and women’s responses to the Visitation to shed light on the institutional work associated with productive resistance and the role of identity and emotions in transforming institutions.

At a time when the male leadership can be blamed for leading the church to a state of crisis – a time when the voices of women are needed more than ever – even the modest roles accorded to female clerics have come under attack. The specific reasons for the investigation are unclear (or, more probably, not public), but the suspicion, clearly, can be put in the crassest terms: too many American nuns have gone off the reservation.

– Lisa Miller, Female Troubles, Newsweek, May 27, 2010

At a time when the male leadership can be blamed for leading the church to a state of crisis – a time when the voices of women are needed more than ever – even the modest roles accorded to female clerics have come under attack. The specific reasons for the investigation are unclear (or, more probably, not public), but the suspicion, clearly, can be put in the crassest terms: too many American nuns have gone off the reservation.

Risk perception is an essential factor affecting how individuals evaluate risk, make decisions and behave. The impact of risk perception on customer purchase behavior has been widely studied; however, the association has been debated. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between risk perception and customer purchase behavior and to examine factors that could moderate it.

This study conducted a meta-analysis of this relationship and examined factors that could moderate it. Six databases were comprehensively searched. Two reviewers independently selected the studies for inclusion, extracted data and assessed quality. Pearson's r was used as the effect estimate. A total of 33 studies were included in the meta-analysis.

The results revealed a negative relationship between risk perception and customer purchase behavior. The geographical region, purchase channel and country development level affected the relationship. The correlation between perceived risk and purchase behavior in European consumers was the highest, followed by the correlation in American consumers; the weakest correlation was found in Asian consumers. For consumers in developed countries, perceived risk had a stronger negative influence on customer purchase behavior than that for consumers in developing countries. The perceived risk of online purchase channels had a stronger negative impact on customer purchase behavior than that of offline purchase channels.

Risk perception is a useful context in which to explain barriers to customer purchase behavior. In addition, reducing consumers’ risk perception and perfecting the market transaction process with respect to buying behavior should be further studied.

The findings of this review indicate a direct negative relationship between risk perception and customer purchase behavior. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is the first to meta-analytically summarize the impact of risk perception on customer purchase behavior in social sciences research, and it also illuminates new perspectives for future studies.

Juglar's entry on “commercial crises” appeared in Maurice Block's Dictionnaire général de la politique … avec la collaboration d’hommes d’État, de publicistes et d’écrivains de tous les pays.⁶ The dictionary went through two editions – in 1863 and 1873 (with a reprint of the second edition in 1884). One of the most remarkable features of these articles is that they sum up the 258 pages of the first edition of Juglar's Des crises commerciales in only 13 pages. Although they are not numerous, the changes that Juglar introduced in the second edition are important, as they testify to the work he did in that decade on banking and foreign exchanges.

The protection of industrial heritage emerged as a major concern when those buildings and installations representative of the industry, became at risk. North Africa, considered the geographical gateway to European countries, experienced enormous industrial activity during the French colonial era. Industrial buildings such as the flour mills, were built during this era of colonial rule. Today, a lack of legislation concerning industrial heritage has left this type of buildings with no protection, leading this paper to a preservation process. The aim of this paper is to locate and identify the flour mills of the 19th and 20th centuries in Algeria.

This research consists of cross-referencing data from archived documents against the geographical location.

The results obtained are the first step in the process of preservation. The success of this research can be summarized as follows: identification of 88.46% of the flour mills in Algeria by means of the inventory data collected, and their location, with the use of a crisp logic, the remaining 9.62% with the use of fuzzy logic by the attribution of a “fuzzy radius” with a total localization and identification of 98.08%.

The use of both crisp (Boolean) and fuzzy logic as part of the geographical localization method.