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2014

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'Precious Objects': Strange 'Things' In James And Wharton, John Kinard Dec 2014

'Precious Objects': Strange 'Things' In James And Wharton, John Kinard

Theses and Dissertations

In this work, I attempt to examine the importance of things, the strange agency of objects, which emerges in the literature of the late nineteenth century. To this end, I examine the economy of things in both Henry James and Edith Wharton. I attempt to connect this object agency with the emergent discourses and technologies of the time, and to link these both with media and queer theory.

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Cost Avoidance Analysis Of Military Aircraft Components Utilizing Condition-Based Maintenance Practices, Erin Ballentine Dec 2014

Cost Avoidance Analysis Of Military Aircraft Components Utilizing Condition-Based Maintenance Practices, Erin Ballentine

Theses and Dissertations

This research involves two major case studies. Both look at the current maintenance practices done by the United States Army and propose a solution for improvement utilizing condition-based maintenance (CBM) practices. Each study details a cost avoidance that can be earned by implementing the solutions and the resulting benefits that can be experienced. Case Study I is a return on investment (ROI) that analyzes the benefits of the implementation of elastomeric wedges as vibration control on the Apache (AH-64D) aircraft. Analysis of the material and operational costs shows that the use of self-adhering elastomeric trailing edge wedges on the Apache …

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Differentiating Self-Reported Imagery Abilities With Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Brian D. Seiler Dec 2014

Differentiating Self-Reported Imagery Abilities With Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Brian D. Seiler

Theses and Dissertations

Motor imagery (MI), a top-down knowledge-driven process involving the deliberate cognitive simulation or rehearsal of an action without engaging in overt physical movements, shares the same neural networks as movement execution improving motor learning and enhancing performance of motor tasks. The capacity to form images is not universal, and is a variable, moderating factor of neural activity impacting intervention effectiveness and distinguishing between individual imagery abilities. Measuring imagery abilities through self-report measures (i.e., MIQ-3 and VMIQ-2) is common, but the importance of behavioral and neuroimaging techniques have also been highlighted. Despite the robustness of these questionnaires, few studies have investigated …

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Examining The Influence Of Healthy Eating Identity On Shopping Behaviors, Jordan Brittingham Dec 2014

Examining The Influence Of Healthy Eating Identity On Shopping Behaviors, Jordan Brittingham

Theses and Dissertations

Eating identity is shown to be a promising measure capable of enhancing our understanding of nutrition behavior. Persons with healthy eating identities are less likely to consume the typical American diet and report healthier diets in general. While there are several studies linking healthy eating identity and diet, there is currently no research examining healthy eating identity in relation to food shopping behavior, an important aspect of nutritional intake. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of healthy eating identity on shopping behaviors including supermarket utilization, supercenter utilization, likelihood of shopping at the nearest store, distance to …

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Remote Sensing Satellite Image Acquisition Planning: Framework, Methods And Application, Shufan Liu Dec 2014

Remote Sensing Satellite Image Acquisition Planning: Framework, Methods And Application, Shufan Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the theories and methods of satellite remote sensing image acquisition planning within a spatial temporal context. For many time sensitive applications, such as disaster emergency response, timely acquisition of critical information is the key to intelligent and effective decision making. Remote sensing plays an important role in information collection for these time sensitive applications. Imagery collected from hundreds of remote sensing satellite sensors offer accurate, frequent and almost instantaneous data covering the Earth in a relatively short time. However, determining which satellite sensors can provide an appropriated kind of imageries during a restricted collection window for the …

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Functionalized Graphitic Nanoreinforcement For Cement Composites, Nima Zohhadi Dec 2014

Functionalized Graphitic Nanoreinforcement For Cement Composites, Nima Zohhadi

Theses and Dissertations

Physical and mechanical properties of graphitic nanomaterials, in particular multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nano-platelets (GNPs) make them promising candidates for nanoreinforcement of cement composites. The two key challenges associated with the incorporation of MWCNTs and GNPs are to attain uniform dispersion and interfacial bonding within the composite matrix. The effects of three main-stream dispersion techniques (namely, ultrasonication, acid-etching, and surfactant-coating) on the mechanical properties and microstructure of MWCNT- and GNP-cement composites were experimentally studied. Compressive strength tests and different characterization techniques including dynamic light scattering, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission …

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Exploration Of Implicit Bias On Multidisciplinary Team Members When Referring African American Students For Special Education Services, Twana Romona Fletcher Dec 2014

Exploration Of Implicit Bias On Multidisciplinary Team Members When Referring African American Students For Special Education Services, Twana Romona Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

The disproportionality or overrepresentation of African American students in special education is a longstanding problem that continues to be prevalent today. There are numerous reasons why this phenomenon continues to persist including but not limited to implicit bias among multidisciplinary team members (MDT). One function of the MDT is to decide if a student needs to be referred for special education services. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the decision making processes of the MDT members to determine if implicit bias impacted their decision to refer an African American student for special education services. This qualitative study …

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Marine Population Connectivity: Range Boundaries And Climate Change, Rhiannon Leigh Rognstad Dec 2014

Marine Population Connectivity: Range Boundaries And Climate Change, Rhiannon Leigh Rognstad

Theses and Dissertations

Population connectivity, particularly in open systems, is an important metric for understanding population-level processes on both ecological and evolutionary timescales. In coastal marine systems, adults are typically sedentary and dispersal occurs primarily during a larval stage when individuals are transported in ocean currents. Because coastal marine populations exist as networks of interconnected subpopulations, variation in the magnitude and extent of population connectivity can have profound effects on population dynamics and species distribution limits. Connectivity is a complex process, affected by a multitude of factors, including adult inputs and physical dispersal, which operate at multiple scales and may interact. This dissertation …

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Periodontal Microorganisms, Obesity, Chronic Inflammation, And Type 1 Diabetes, Georges Joseph Nahhas Dec 2014

Periodontal Microorganisms, Obesity, Chronic Inflammation, And Type 1 Diabetes, Georges Joseph Nahhas

Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease is a low-grade chronic inflammation in the tissues surrounding the teeth caused by multiple, mostly gram-negative pathogens. It is associated with diabetes, obesity, and chronic inflammation. The specific roles that periodontal microorganism play in these conditions are not well-studied. Hereby, we explored how periodontal bacteria from sub gingival plaque clustered in youth with and without type 1 diabetes, and how such patterns related to body-mass-index percentile (BMI percentile), C-reactive protein (CRP) and adiponectin. Cross-sectional data were collected from 105 youth with type 1 diabetes and 71 without diabetes. Participants were between 12 and 19 years of age receiving …

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Influence Of Defects In Epitaxial Graphene Towards Material Growth And Device Performances, Shamaita Shithi Shetu Dec 2014

Influence Of Defects In Epitaxial Graphene Towards Material Growth And Device Performances, Shamaita Shithi Shetu

Theses and Dissertations

Since its invention in 2004, Graphene, a two dimensional array of SP2 bonded carbon atoms has received significant interest by the scientific community due to its unique electrical, optical and mechanical properties. A promising route to the synthesis of large-area graphene, is epitaxial graphene formed by sublimation of silicon atoms from Silicon carbide at elevated temperatures (>1200oC). Although the electronic and mechanical properties of graphene with perfect atomic lattice are outstanding, the structural defects, which may appear during graphene growth, can influence the growth mechanism and material properties. However, deviations from perfection, i.e. introducing dopants in semiconductors often considered …

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Building Sanity: The Rise And Fall Of Architectural Treatment At The South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, Kimberly Jean Campbell Dec 2014

Building Sanity: The Rise And Fall Of Architectural Treatment At The South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, Kimberly Jean Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Although many historians have acknowledged the importance of architecture in the treatment of the mentally ill during the nineteenth century, no historian has ever examined the rise and fall of the importance of architecture to the treatment of patients at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum. By the late eighteenth century, physicians and laymen alike accepted the ideology of environmental determinism – that one’s environment exercised a direct influence over his or her behavior. In other words, mental illness was both caused and cured by the environment; thus, architecture played a key role in the treatment of mental illness. The South …

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Bibimbap: Identity Construction In Korean Third Culture Kids During Higher Education, Megan I. Beard Dec 2014

Bibimbap: Identity Construction In Korean Third Culture Kids During Higher Education, Megan I. Beard

Theses and Dissertations

Amidst increasing interconnectedness and transmigration of the 21st century, a number of families are leaving South Korea for business, work, or education; their children are raised as Third Culture Kids (TCKs)—children who accompany their parents abroad. This study used the lens of cultural globalization to examine how Korean TCKs used their life experiences to inform their identity construction, especially during higher education. Participants were Korean students and recent alumni from universities in Korea, the United States, and abroad who had spent at least three childhood years living outside Korea with their families. Data were collected through a series of unstructured …

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Determining The Change Styles Preferences Of Principals In South Carolina's Secondary Schools With A Background In The Fine Arts, Sterling Bernard Harris Dec 2014

Determining The Change Styles Preferences Of Principals In South Carolina's Secondary Schools With A Background In The Fine Arts, Sterling Bernard Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Very little research has been published regarding the change style preferences and leadership styles of secondary principals in South Carolina who have a common background. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify the preferred change style preference of principals in South Carolina that have an arts background and the change style preferences of principals without an arts background. This study would also determine if these styles were the same or different. Quantitative data were gathered from online administration of the Change Style Indicator (CSI), the South Carolina Department of Education, and the South Carolina Association of School …

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Impacts Of Adolescents' Emotional And Behavioral Concerns And Social Skills On Parenting Stress, Marissa Miller Dec 2014

Impacts Of Adolescents' Emotional And Behavioral Concerns And Social Skills On Parenting Stress, Marissa Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Minimal literature has examined predictors of parenting stress for parents of adolescents and what may contribute to the impact of these predictors, particularly those regarding adolescent behavior. The current study sought to evaluate whether adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing behaviors significantly predicted parenting stress and whether adolescent social skills moderated the relationship. Covariates of gender, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were entered first into a multiple regression moderation model and followed by internalizing and externalizing behaviors, social skills, and interaction terms, respectively. The overall model explained 19 percent of the variance in parenting stress. While internalizing behaviors significantly predicted parenting stress, …

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High Level Control Implementation For A Residential Smart Grid Power System, Hang Xu Dec 2014

High Level Control Implementation For A Residential Smart Grid Power System, Hang Xu

Theses and Dissertations

With the environment protection and energy usage efficiency promotion issues concerned more and more by governments and industries these days, smart grid technologies have been in rapid development. On this new technology stage, residential site power management system has become a star. This paper introduces the concept, development of two high level control methods for “Smart Green Power Node” (SGPN), solutions of demand side energy management system. One control algorithm is optimal model method which uses the predictive data of a battery model with electrical parameters and pricing methods, to keep scheduling the optimal control input on the receding time …

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When Do Political Ideologies Affect Brand Extension Evaluation? The Role Of Analytic Versus Holistic Mindsets, Cristobal Barra Dec 2014

When Do Political Ideologies Affect Brand Extension Evaluation? The Role Of Analytic Versus Holistic Mindsets, Cristobal Barra

Theses and Dissertations

Political ideologies are becoming an important focus of attention in the marketing literature. This research examines the impact of political ideologies on consumers’ evaluation of brand extensions. In a series of six studies, this work shows how, and under what conditions, liberals evaluate brand extensions differently than conservatives. Because liberals are more open to new experiences, and tend to seek novelty, while conservatives show stronger preferences for order, structure, and conventional things, liberals are expected to react more favorably to new stimuli, as in the case of dissimilar brand extensions. However, the effects of political ideologies are dependent on some …

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An Analysis Of The Cultural Invariance Of A Visual-Motor Integration Measure, Emma Kate C. Wright Dec 2014

An Analysis Of The Cultural Invariance Of A Visual-Motor Integration Measure, Emma Kate C. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

As diverse populations within schools increase, the need for culturally-sensitive assessment is essential; however, test of ability vary in their degree of influence from culture. No test is “culture free,” but the low-linguistic demands on test of visual-motor integration (VMI) make them appropriate for use with diverse populations. Variation in VMI test performance due to cultural factors has negative implications for test interpretation and use with diverse populations because of VMI’s significant association with school readiness, academic achievement, social-emotional functioning, and neuropsychological assessment. The current study explored the cultural invariance of the Bender Motor Gestalt Test, Second Edition (BG-II), a …

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Climatic Controls On Organic Matter Decomposition In Boreal Peatlands, Michael J. Philben Dec 2014

Climatic Controls On Organic Matter Decomposition In Boreal Peatlands, Michael J. Philben

Theses and Dissertations

Boreal peatlands currently contain 550 Pg C and are located at high latitudes where mean annual temperatures are expected to increase by as much as 7°C by the end of the century. There is growing concern that warming will stimulate decomposition, transforming peatlands from a sink to a source of atmospheric carbon dioxide and accelerating climate change. A primary goal of this dissertation was to evaluate the effect of climate change on organic matter decomposition in peatlands. This was achieved by developing and employing biochemical tracers to indicate the extent of peat decomposition across a range of naturally occurring climatic …

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The Role Of The Learning Community In The Professional Development Of Literacy Teachers, Abbey Spoonmore Duggins Dec 2014

The Role Of The Learning Community In The Professional Development Of Literacy Teachers, Abbey Spoonmore Duggins

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored a learning community in action. The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional conversations that teachers in a learning community had and the impact of those conversations on the practices and beliefs of the individual teachers in the community. Specifically, the study sought to discover how and why facets of professional learning transferred (or did not transfer) into classroom practice. The researcher spent five months with a learning community comprised of six middle school literacy teachers and attended their learning community meetings, visited their classrooms, and videotaped them teaching. Each classroom visit was …

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Life Satisfaction And Academic Performance In Early Adolescents: Evidence For Reciprocal Relationships, Zi Jia Ng Dec 2014

Life Satisfaction And Academic Performance In Early Adolescents: Evidence For Reciprocal Relationships, Zi Jia Ng

Theses and Dissertations

Student well-being remains a relatively neglected topic despite its intimate link to positive school outcomes. As academic achievement is the yardstick of student success and school accountability, school-based mental health research and practice have focused primarily on the assessment and treatment of learning and behavioral problems. This shortterm longitudinal study sought to establish the role of student subjective well-being in academic achievement. Based on the engine model of well-being (Jayawickreme, Forgeard, & Seligman, 2012), the study focused on life satisfaction as a process variable and academic performance as an outcome variable. Using two waves (five months apart) of data, the …

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Application Of Various Adsorbents To Remove Micro-Pollutants In Aquatic System, Chanil Jung Dec 2014

Application Of Various Adsorbents To Remove Micro-Pollutants In Aquatic System, Chanil Jung

Theses and Dissertations

Untreated or insufficiently treated pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) as well as heavy metals have influenced the ecosystem and their exposures in the water system have threatened human health; causing cancers and adverse health effect to immune system. While various water treatment techniques have been applied to solve this problem, adsorption has been considered as one of the most efficient and manageable water purification techniques. Advanced analysis methods for aqueous contaminants have improved comprehension, allowing proficiency about the fate of trace leveled emerging contaminants, thus allowed to reveal the adsorption mechanisms of each pollutant. This dissertation focuses on the …

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Young, Southern Women's Perceptions Of Stem Careers: Examining Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics As A Gendered Construct, Jessica Elizabeth Quinton Dec 2014

Young, Southern Women's Perceptions Of Stem Careers: Examining Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics As A Gendered Construct, Jessica Elizabeth Quinton

Theses and Dissertations

Career interests develop over a lifetime and tend to solidify during late adolescence and early adulthood (Lent, Brown, and Hackett, 2002). The primary purpose of the present qualitative study, which is framed in Feminist Standpoint Theory (Haraway, 1988; Harding, 2007; Naples, 2007; Richardson, 2007), is to understand how eighthgrade, young women in a suburban, public, southern, middle school the South Carolina County School District (CCSD) (pseudonym) perceive their accessibility to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses and careers. The secondary purpose is to understand these young women’s “perceptions and unconscious beliefs about gender in science and mathematics” and how …

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Relationships Between Prior Experiences, Current Teaching Contexts, And Novice Teachers' Use Of Concrete Representation For Mathematics Instruction, Elizabeth Lee Johnson Dec 2014

Relationships Between Prior Experiences, Current Teaching Contexts, And Novice Teachers' Use Of Concrete Representation For Mathematics Instruction, Elizabeth Lee Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This case study documents the perceived influences on three novice elementary teachers’ use of concrete representations for teaching mathematics. In order to develop mathematical proficiency, students need access to a variety of representations (i.e. pictures, words, symbols, concrete materials, and real world contexts) to make sense of mathematical ideas. Three sources of data were collected: video-recorded lessons, interviews, and a focus group. Analyses indicated that although concrete representations were accessible to all three teachers, they were least used among the available representations. Verbal expression was most prominent, followed closely by abstract written symbols. Technology, which was not one of the …

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Cationic Metallocene-Containing Polymers: From Synthesis To Applications, Jiuyang Zhang Dec 2014

Cationic Metallocene-Containing Polymers: From Synthesis To Applications, Jiuyang Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Metallopolymers, with the combination of metals and polymeric framworks, have attracted a lot of attention during the past decades. The development of metallopolymers has been largely driven by the desire to combine the synthetic efficiency and versatility of an organic polymer framework with the unique redox, responsive and catalytic properties of inorganic metals. Among different kinds of metallopolymers, metallocene-containing polymers， have been widely utilized for applications ranging from electrochemical sensors to templates for advanced inorganic catalysts to battery materials, due to their unique physicochemical properties. In the first part of my thesis, we showed controlled/living polymerization strategies to prepare well-defined …

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A Legal Analysis Of Court Cases And Administrative Investigations Related To Violations Of The Clery Act: Getting Good From The Bad And The Ugly, Tiffany Nichole Richardson Dec 2014

A Legal Analysis Of Court Cases And Administrative Investigations Related To Violations Of The Clery Act: Getting Good From The Bad And The Ugly, Tiffany Nichole Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

College brochures paint pictures of beautiful campuses, diverse student populations, renowned professors, and the best educational programs. What colleges never include in those brochures are the ugly crime statistics. In 2012, higher education institutions reported 41,708 liquor arrests, 20,486 burglaries, 4,837 forcible sex offenses, 951 hate crimes, and 31 murders. The reporting requirement, along with other regulations, has been required of institutions of higher education since 1990 under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, yet so many colleges and universities are facing lawsuits, investigations, settlements, and fines for failing to comply. This legal …

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Ferric Reductases And Transporters That Contribute To Mitochondrial Iron Homeostasis, Anshika Jain Dec 2014

Ferric Reductases And Transporters That Contribute To Mitochondrial Iron Homeostasis, Anshika Jain

Theses and Dissertations

Iron (Fe) is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, yet the availability of Fe to plants is often limited. This is because in most soil types, Fe precipitates as ferric-oxyhydroxy complexes, making it unavailable for uptake by plants. While the mechanisms involved in Fe uptake from the soil are relatively well understood, the mechanisms involved in its further distribution to the aerial portion of the plant and to subcellular compartments are not fully understood. During Fe deprivation, plants up-regulate root Fe acquisition machinery. How plants sense Fe deprivation and tie the Fe status of the plant to …

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Quality Improvement Project: A Comparison Of Daily Routine Chest Radiography Versus Clinically-Indicated Chest Radiography In Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia In Adult Icu Patients On Ventilators: An Evidenced Based Practice Project, Kimberly Mckenney Dec 2014

Quality Improvement Project: A Comparison Of Daily Routine Chest Radiography Versus Clinically-Indicated Chest Radiography In Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia In Adult Icu Patients On Ventilators: An Evidenced Based Practice Project, Kimberly Mckenney

Theses and Dissertations

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is one of the critical complications identified by a chest x-ray (CXR). However, there is a controversy about the use of CXRs. Overuse of the CXR has also identified concern among the ICU patient population. The purpose of this evidenced-based practice project was to determine if there were differences in patient outcomes when receiving daily routine CXRs as compared to clinically-indicated CXRs. Patient outcomes measured were: ICU length of stay, complications while on the ventilator and ICU mortality, number of ventilator days, diagnostic efficacy, therapeutic efficacy, costs, and radiation exposure The author identified 30 articles in the search …

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Toward The Combinatorial Development Of Hydrophobic-Tagged Antifolate-Directed Degradation Of Human Thymidylate Synthase, Daniel J. Menasco Dec 2014

Toward The Combinatorial Development Of Hydrophobic-Tagged Antifolate-Directed Degradation Of Human Thymidylate Synthase, Daniel J. Menasco

Theses and Dissertations

Direct post-translational control over a protein of interest (POI) can be exploited by manipulating the cells protein quality-control systems responsible for either intracellular turnover through ubiquitination (POI half-life) or repairing and degrading misfolded proteins.1 In an effort to target and degrade a high value POI we selected the enzyme human thymidylate synthase (TS) for post-translational degradation through ligand-directed ubiquitination and hydrophobic tagging. Thymidylate synthase catalyzes the reductive methylation of 2’-deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to 2’-deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP). As the de novo source of dTMP the regulation of intracellular TS is strictly controlled by ubiquitinindependent proteasomal degradation mediated by an internal TS-degron …

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Determinants Of Product Upgrading In The Argentine Wine Industry, Lucas Marc Cyr Dec 2014

Determinants Of Product Upgrading In The Argentine Wine Industry, Lucas Marc Cyr

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I examine the impact that a firm's connections and internal resources has on the firm's ability to develop new products. The capability to make improvements to products is crucial to the long term success and growth of a firm. By using structural equation modeling, I take a different approach to network analysis to analyze data from the Argentine wine industry. While I did not find strong evidence to support the hypothesis that the combination of external networks and internal knowledge are key drivers to product upgrading, there was strong evidence to support each individual determinant’s impact on …

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Product And Consumer Characteristics As Moderators Of Consumer Response To Sustainable Products, Kealy Carter Dec 2014

Product And Consumer Characteristics As Moderators Of Consumer Response To Sustainable Products, Kealy Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays. In both, product sustainability is broadly focused on the environmental and social performance (Luchs et al. 2010) of a product. The first essay explores the role of firm sustainability reputation in behavioral intentions for sustainable products. Additionally, this essay applies construal level theory (Liberman and Trope 1998; Vallacher and Wegner 1985, 1987) and addresses the situation that exists wherein sales of sustainable products produced by firms founded under sustainability principles are more stable than those produced by traditional firms (Clifford and Martin 2011). The second essay introduces a measure of consumer perceived product sustainability …

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