The effects of mailing design characteristics on direct mail campaign performance

Designing effective direct mail pieces is considered a key success factor in direct marketing. However, related published empirical research is scarce while design recommendations are manifold and often conflicting. Compared with prior work, our study aims to provide more elaborate and empirically validated findings for the effects of direct mail design characteristics by analyzing 677 direct mail campaigns from non-profit organizations and financial service providers. We investigate the effects of (1) various envelope characteristics and observable cues on opening rates, and (2) characteristics of the envelope content on the keeping rates of direct mail campaigns. We show that visual design elements on the outer envelope – rather than sender-related details – are the predominant drivers of opening rates. Factors such as letter length, provision of sender information in the letter, and personalization positively influence the keeping rate. We also observe that opening and keeping rates are uncorrelated at the campaign level, implying that opening direct mail pieces is only a necessary condition for responding to offers, but not per se a driver of direct mail response.

Bifurcation study for a vertical channel with constant flux and large aspect ratio

Using suitable coupled Navier-Stokes Equations for an incompressible Newtonian fluid we investigate the linear and non-linear steady state solutions for both a homogeneously and a laterally heated fluid with finite Prandtl Number (Pr=7) in the vertical orientation of the channel. Both models are studied within the Large Aspect Ratio narrow-gap and under constant flux conditions with the channel closed. We use direct numerics to identify the linear stability criterion in parametric terms as a function of Grashof Number (Gr) and streamwise infinitesimal perturbation wavenumber (making use of the generalised Squire’s Theorem). We find higher harmonic solutions at lower wavenumbers with a resonance of 1:3exist, for both of the heating models considered. We proceed to identify 2D secondary steady state solutions, which bifurcate from the laminar state. Our studies show that 2D solutions are found not to exist in certain regions of the pure manifold, where we find that 1:3 resonant mode 2D solutions exist, for low wavenumber perturbations. For the homogeneously heated fluid, we notice a jump phenomenon existing between the pure and resonant mode secondary solutions for very specific wavenumbers .We attempt to verify whether mixed mode solutions are present for this model by considering the laterally heated model with the same geometry. We find mixed mode solutions for the laterally heated model showing that a bridge exists between the pure and 1:3 resonant mode 2D solutions, of which some are stationary and some travelling. Further, we show that for the homogeneously heated fluid that the 2D solutions bifurcate in hopf bifurcations and there exists a manifold where the 2D solutions are stable to Eckhaus criterion, within this manifold we proceed to identify 3D tertiary solutions and find that the stability for said 3D bifurcations is not phase locked to the 2D state. For the homogeneously heated model we identify a closed loop within the neutral stability curve for higher perturbation wavenumubers and analyse the nature of the multiple 2D bifurcations around this loop for identical wavenumber and find that a temperature inversion occurs within this loop. We conclude that for a homogeneously heated fluid it is possible to have abrup ttransitions between the pure and resonant 2D solutions, and that for the laterally heated model there exist a transient bifurcation via mixed mode solutions.

Infer user interests via link structure regularization

Learning user interests from online social networks helps to better understand user behaviors and provides useful guidance to design user-centric applications. Apart from analyzing users' online content, it is also important to consider users' social connections in the social Web. Graph regularization methods have been widely used in various text mining tasks, which can leverage the graph structure information extracted from data. Previously, graph regularization methods operate under the cluster assumption that nearby nodes are more similar and nodes on the same structure (typically referred to as a cluster or a manifold) are likely to be similar. We argue that learning user interests from complex, sparse, and dynamic social networks should be based on the link structure assumption under which node similarities are evaluated based on the local link structures instead of explicit links between two nodes. We propose a regularization framework based on the relation bipartite graph, which can be constructed from any type of relations. Using Twitter as our case study, we evaluate our proposed framework from social networks built from retweet relations. Both quantitative and qualitative experiments show that our proposed method outperforms a few competitive baselines in learning user interests over a set of predefined topics. It also gives superior results compared to the baselines on retweet prediction and topical authority identification. © 2014 ACM.

Some Para-Hermitian Related Complex Structures and Non-existence of Semi-Riemannian Metric on Some Spheres

It is shown that the spheres S^(2n) (resp: S^k with k ≡ 1 mod 4) can be given neither an indefinite metric of any signature (resp: of signature (r, k − r) with 2 ≤ r ≤ k − 2) nor an almost paracomplex structure. Further for every given Riemannian metric on an almost para-Hermitian manifold with the associated 2-form φ one can construct an almost Hermitian structure (under certain conditions, two different almost Hermitian structures) whose associated 2-form(s) is φ.

Equivariant Embeddings of Differentiable Spaces

Given a differentiable action of a compact Lie group G on a compact smooth manifold V , there exists [3] a closed embedding of V into a finite-dimensional real vector space E so that the action of G on V may be extended to a differentiable linear action (a linear representation) of G on E. We prove an analogous equivariant embedding theorem for compact differentiable spaces (∞-standard in the sense of [6, 7, 8]).

A Product Twistor Space

∗Research supported in part by NSF grant INT-9903302.

Highest Weight Modules of W1+∞, Darboux Transformations and the Bispectral Problem

This paper is a survey of our recent results on the bispectral problem. We describe a new method for constructing bispectral algebras of any rank and illustrate the method by a series of new examples as well as by all previously known ones. Next we exhibit a close connection of the bispectral problem to the representation theory of W1+∞–algerba. This connection allows us to explain and generalise to any rank the result of Magri and Zubelli on the symmetries of the manifold of the bispectral operators of rank and order two.

Application of Lyapunov's Direct Method to the Existence of Integral Manifolds of Impulsive Differential Equations

The present paper investigates the existence of integral manifolds for impulsive differential equations with variable perturbations. By means of piecewise continuous functions which are generalizations of the classical Lyapunov’s functions, sufficient conditions for the existence of integral manifolds of such equations are found.

Deformation Lemma, Ljusternik-Schnirellmann Theory and Mountain Pass Theorem on C1-Finsler Manifolds

∗Partially supported by Grant MM409/94 Of the Ministy of Science and Education, Bulgaria. ∗∗Partially supported by Grant MM442/94 of the Ministy of Science and Education, Bulgaria.

On Maximal Function on the Laguerre Hypergroup

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 42B20, 42B25, 42B35

On a Class Almost Contact Manifolds with Norden Metric

Certain curvature properties and scalar invariants of the mani- folds belonging to one of the main classes almost contact manifolds with Norden metric are considered. An example illustrating the obtained results is given and studied.

Linear Connections on Normal Almost Contact Manifolds with Norden Metric

Families of linear connections are constructed on almost con- tact manifolds with Norden metric. An analogous connection to the symmetric Yano connection is obtained on a normal almost contact manifold with Norden metric and closed structural 1-form. The curvature properties of this connec- tion are studied on two basic classes of normal almost contact manifolds with Norden metric.

Almost Conformal Transformation in a Class of Riemannian Manifolds

We consider a 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold V with a metric g and an a±nor structure q. The local coordinates of these tensors are circulant matrices. In V we define an almost conformal transformation. Using that definition we construct an infinite series of circulant metrics which are successively almost conformaly related. In this case we get some properties.

Natural Connections with Totally Skew-Symmetric Torsion on Manifolds with Norden-Type Metrics

This paper is a survey of results obtained by the authors on the geometry of connections with totally skew-symmetric torsion on the following manifolds: almost complex manifolds with Norden metric, almost contact manifolds with B-metric and almost hypercomplex manifolds with Hermitian and anti-Hermitian metric.

Lie Groups as Four-Dimensional Special Complex Manifolds with Norden Metric

Марта Теофилова - Конструиран е пример на четиримерно специално комплексно многообразие с норденова метрика и постоянна холоморфна секционна кривина чрез двупара-метрично семейство от разрешими алгебри на Ли. Изследвани са кривинните свойства на полученото многообразие. Дадени са необходими и достатъчни усло-вия за разглежданото многообразие да бъде изотропно келерово.