Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Retail Store Types And Consumer Price Expectations, Sua Jeon

AMTP Proceedings 2019

As consumers hold distinct belief about competing retailers, there has been considerable development in the way brands are managed in the field of retailing and firms are making significant efforts to create ever richer and more differentiated store identities (Beristain and Zorrilla 2011). Given the abundant choices of retail formats and diverse product categories and brands available to consumers, retailers use every means available to survive and compete (Kumar et al. 2017).

This study provides useful managerial insights into the roles of price expectations in consumer purchase decisions in different product categories along with both national or store brands. With …

The Fall Of Sears From Within: How Customer Sentiments Refuted Retail Capital And Authority, Michael D. Harris, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

AMTP Proceedings 2019

This research aims to understand the relationship between Sears Holdings Corporation and its customers, while exploiting feedback from customers to identify reasons for Sears’ decline. The problem statement is dependent on identifying aspects that affect consumer behavior most and linking a connection to the increased number of dissatisfied Sears’ customers. In order to analyze this phenomenon, customer attitudes were compiled over the key four years of Sears history using a customer sentiment analysis. This empirical method of research was chosen because of the large impact that consumer sentiments have on spending, allowing the development of both internal and external views …

How Customer Engagement And Customer Participation Translate Across High-Involvement Purchases (Like Higher Education), Wendy Gillis, Douglas Johansen, Shiri D. Vivek

AMTP Proceedings 2019

Previous research suggested that customer participation resulted in greater customer satisfaction for the service provider. Specifically, earlier research differentiated Service Customer Engagement (CE) from Service Customer Participation (CP), where the former was ideation and the latter was practical application/execution. In other words, CE was more psychological, where customers think, feel, and trust. Conversely, CP was more behavioral, or physical, where customers act and do.

The point of this research is to translate previous learning to other high-involvement purchases. Research indicates that services high in credence, high contact, as well as high-involvement (Sharma and Patterson 1999) seem to be particularly relevant …

Side-To-Side Comparison Of Total Shoulder Arthroplasty And Intact Function In Individuals, Sarah Rose Walden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (TSA) is a surgery which replaces the shoulder joint, or the interface between the humerus and the scapula glenoid. To test TSA success, most prior research compares patients with TSA to healthy controls. However, the shoulder anthropometry, motion, and musculature of individuals varies widely across the population making it important to assess TSA performance in individuals. The overall goal of this study is to determine if patients with one of two TSA implant designs on one side achieve the same range of motion as their intact side, and if so to find if they compensate using increased …

The Ship Of Change: A Model For Organizational Diagnosis And Change Management, Robert Swearingen

Transportation Logistics and Finance

Grounded in developmental theory, the Ship of Change provides a renewed look at diagnostic relationships between organizational elements, and their interactions through the lens of a metaphorical ship analogy. Elements are identified and arranged based on empirical studies from the field with causal considerations emphasized by Burke-Litwin. The model uses a two-tiered visual perspective to depict multi-dimensionality that links core organizational elements to work unit activities through the interplay of culture, communication and climate. The model is intended for both the conveyance of principles related to open systems theory, and the practical application of diagnosing organizations for planning and implementing …

Superabsorbent Polymer Effects On Soil Physical Properties And Use As A Compaction Alleviation Amendment In Surface Coal Mine Reclamation, Megan Sue Ostrand

Soil Science

Surface coal mine reclamation is challenged by alterations in soil characteristics, compaction being the most plant-yield reducing. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) ability to retain large volumes of water gives them the potential to alter soil properties. Laboratory objectives were to determine how SAPs alter water retention, liquid limit (LL), evaporation, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), and compression across five soil series. Increasing SAP application rates to 0.2% significantly increased plant available water (PAW), stage one evaporation duration, LL, stage two evaporative water loss, and significantly decreased stage one evaporative water loss, Ksat, and compression for various soil series. Field study investigated how …

Factors Related To Collaborative Willingness In Surrogate Decision-Making Situations From The West Virginia Post., Rachael Spalding

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

If a patient becomes unable to adequately express preferences for medical care, another individual called a “surrogate” may be consulted to make treatment decisions. Surrogates may be asked to indicate patient preferences on the Physician Order for Scope of Treatment (POST), a new type of advance directive completed with patients who are estimated to have less than one year left to live. Research from the shared decision-making literature indicates that collaboration can be a valuable means of enhancing patient satisfaction with their decisions. The current study examined how certain psychological and demographic variables predicted the extent to which participants desired …

The Law Against Family Separation, Carrie F. Cordero, Heidi Li Feldman, Chimene Keitner

Faculty Scholarship

Most commentators assume that, except for the few restrictions expressly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, the President's pardon power is unlimited. This Paper suggests that this common view is mistaken in at least one unexpected way. Presidential pardons must satisfy a modest procedural rule: they must list the specific crimes covered by the pardon. The "specificity requirement" means that vague and broadly worded pardons are invalid. This claim bears a significant burden of persuasion, since it runs so counter to accepted opinion. Nonetheless, that burden can be met. This Paper's argument rests on an originalist understanding of the constitutional text, …

Non-Thermal Plasma Synthesis Of Luminescent Silicon Nanocrystals From Cylclohexasilane, Todd Andrew Pringle

Materials and Nanotechnology

In this report we establish cyclohexasilane (CHS) as a reliable precursor for non-thermal plasma synthesis of high quality photoluminescent silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs). We demonstrate that this synthesis approach can produce high quality, size tunable silicon quantum dots with quantum yields exceeding 60% as synthesized (subsequent work in our group has measured over 70% quantum yield after density gradient ultracentrifugation size purification).After a brief background on non-thermal plasma synthesis, the characterization methods used in this study, and an overview of CHS, we report at length on our development of the apparatus used, and our exploration of the controllable processing parameters of …

Design And Fabrication Of Micro-Channels And Numerical Analysis Of Droplet Motion Near Microfluidic Return Bends, John-Luke Benjamin Singh

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Three-dimensional spheroid arrays represent in vivo activity better than conventional 2D cell culturing. A high-throughput microfluidic chip may be capable of depositing cells into spheroid arrays, but it is difficult to regulate the path of individual cells for deposition. Droplets that encapsulate cells may aid in facilitating cell delivery and deposition in the return bend of a microfluidic chip. In this study, a low-cost method for fabricating polymer-cast microfluidic chips has been developed for rapid device prototyping. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were conducted to quantify how a change in geometry or fluid properties affects the dynamics of a droplet. …

Promoting Tobacco Cessation In A Rural North Dakota Primary Care Clinic, Taylor Mueller

Nursing

Tobacco use is a monumental public health problem in the United States; 15 % of American adults report using tobacco products. Tobacco negatively affects the health of individuals, families, communities, and the environment. Primary care providers (PCPs) interact with more than 80% of tobacco users yearly, as such, can play a pivotal role in promoting tobacco cessation. The American Academy of Family Physicians Treating Tobacco Dependence Manual provided the blueprint for the project development and design. The project objectives included: 1) create an environment that promotes a tobacco-free culture, 2) improve the approach to tobacco cessation counseling using the Ask, …

Addressing Advance Directive In Rural Primary Care North Dakota: Implementing A Tool For Healthcare Providers, Ryan Michael Heisler

Nursing

Advance directives are legal documents developed as a tool to allow patients to express their wishes and allow healthcare providers to educate and converse with their patients on disease prognosis and management. Advance directives promote shared decision making, thus enhancing quality medical decisions, improving quality of care at end-of-life, and under certain circumstances, even decreasing healthcare costs by refusing aggressive treatment (Garrido, Balboni, Maciejewski, Bao, & Prigerson, 2015; Hickman & Pinto, 2014). In the United States, less than 30% of the population have a completed advance directive (De Vleminck et al., 2013; Dunlay, Swetz, Mueller, Roger, 2012). The purpose of …

Understanding Provider Knowledge And Awareness About Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives, Sarah Hanson

Nursing

Unplanned pregnancies have individual, familial, and societal consequences and continue to occur in the United States with over two million women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy each year (GI, 2016). Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are highly effective methods yet underutilized within the United States. LARCs are considered a safe form of contraception that is not reliant upon the user for efficacy (Strasser et al., 2016). Provider interest, beliefs, knowledge, and training pose a significant barrier to LARC utilization (Shoupe, 2016). This practice improvement project aimed to understand the current knowledge and beliefs of healthcare providers as well as provide information about …

Assessing Postpartum Depression In The Refugee Population In A Primary Care Setting, Aminata Sankoh Kamara

Nursing

Mental health is an area lacking emphasis in the United States healthcare systems. Many patients have suffered due to the decrease in focus and resources required to help individuals struggling with mental disorders (Lieberman, Goldman, Olfson, Pincus, & Sederer, 2017). While the struggle for adequate screening for mental illness continues, minority populations, such as refugee women, are affected more due to multifactorial risk factors and lack of treatment emphasis (Ganann, Sword, Thabane, Newbold & Black, 2016; Lieberman et al., 2017). Due to the increase in the number of refugees that migrate to the United States, particularly in the Midwest, healthcare …

Understanding The Role Of The Receptor For Advanced Glycation End-Products (Rage) In Pancreatic Cancer, Priyanka Swami

Pharmacy

Expression of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) and is upregulated in a several cancers. Based on published studies, we hypothesized that RAGE, when overexpressed in pancreatic cancer cells, will promote cell proliferation and migration. To study the role of RAGE in pancreatic cancer, we selected the human pancreatic cancer cell-line PANC-1, and stably transfected the cells with full length RAGE to generate model cell-lines that overexpress RAGE. We obtained two cell-lines PANC-1 FLR2 and PANC-1 FLR3 and examined the influence of RAGE on cellular properties. A significant increase in proliferation but a reduction in migratory abilities of …

Implementation Of Prenatal Services In A Rural Setting, Kari Bergman

Nursing

Adequate prenatal care is an essential component of optimizing outcomes for both mother and baby. Prenatal care in rural areas is not always as easily accessible as compared to urban areas. Due to several smaller hospitals across the United States either closing completely or discontinuing their labor and delivery services, there has been an increased focus on the health disparity of rural women pertaining to prenatal care. Rural communities lack specialty providers, and rely on family practice providers to deliver necessary health care to patients of all ages. This practice improvement project (PIP) focused on implementing evidence-based guidelines for prenatal …

Dual-Functionalized Liposomes For Gene Delivery To Brain To Prevent And Treat Alzheimer’S Disease, Bruna Dos Santos Rodrigues

Pharmacy

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder which lacks effective disease-modifying therapies. We have investigated the therapeutic potential of pDNA encoding apolipoprotein E2 (ApoE2), or nerve growth factor (NGF) by transporting pDNA across the blood brain barrier (BBB) and expressing the ApoE2 or NGF into brain, using brain-targeted liposomal nanoparticles for treatment of AD. We explored the neuroprotective functions of ApoE2 and survival-promoting properties of NGF through gene therapy as potential disease-modifying therapies for AD. We designed brain-targeted gene delivery systems with prolonged systemic circulation and enhanced cellular penetration by conjugating transferrin (Tf) ligand and cell-penetrating peptide …

Screening For Adverse Childhood Experiences In Primary Care: Recommendations For Practice, Julie Ann Emerson

Nursing

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) increase the risk of childhood injury as well as long-term negative mental and physical health outcomes. ACE are defined as potentially traumatic events occurring during childhood and adolescence that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Childhood trauma can lead to the development of chronic diseases, mental illness, violence and being a victim of violence, as well as financial and social problems later in life. Despite the clear links between childhood trauma and chronic diseases in adulthood, there continues to be a lack of ACE screening in …

Humble Coaches And Their Influence On Players And Teams: The Mediating Role Of Affect-Based (But Not Cognition-Based) Trust, Ho Phi Huynh, Clint E. Johnson, Hillary Wehe

Psychology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Humility is a desirable quality for leaders across different domains, but not much is known about humility in sports coaches. This study integrated positive and organizational psychology to define humility as it pertains to sports coaches and examined humble coaches’ influence on player development and team climate. Additionally, trust was examined as a mediator between coaches’ humility and the two outcomes. Participants (N = 184; M_age = 23.44, SD_age = 8.69; 73.4% women) rated their coaches’ humility and reflected on the coaches’ influence and their team climate. Results indicated that affect-based, but not cognition-based, trust mediated the …

Does Insider Trading Pay? An Analysis Of Trading And Tipping Activities In Insider Trading Litigation, Aneta Spaic, Claire Nolasco, Lily Chi-Fang Tsai, Michael S. Vaughn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications (Archived)

Purpose

This paper analyzes trading and tipping activities in insider trading litigation decided by federal courts from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014.

Design/methodology/approach

Legal documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, LexisNexis and Westlaw databases were coded to determine profile, patterns of trading and settlement outcomes.

Findings

Results of statistical analysis indicate that a defendant in both civil and criminal cases is more likely to trade on the information when he/she receives a direct, financial benefit from breaching his/her duty of confidentiality. The defendant tipper is also more likely to pass on the information to a close …

Organizational Citizenship And Teacher Evaluation: Using The T-Tess To Promote Ocb And Improve Student Outcomes, Elisabeth M. Krimbill, Donald E. Goess, Patricia V. Escobedo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications (Archived)

This paper argues that a path to increased OCB levels in schools may be forged via the use of the current professional teacher evaluation instrument utilized in the Texas public school system, the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System, more commonly referred to as T-TESS (Texas Education Agency, 2016). We theorize that the use of the T-TESS to outline a process of formal instruction of the characteristics and implementation of OCB in schools for educators may result in a climate conducive to improved student outcomes. Specifically, Domains 1 (Planning), 3 (Learning Environment), and 4 (Professional Practices and Responsibilities) (Texas Education …

Publishing Public History: Publishing Options For Small Organizations, Angela Ann Beaton

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

Publishing books and catalogs has long been the domain of large museums and historical societies that have an equally large budget. While large organizations can commit vast amounts of time and resources to publishing, many small organizations cannot. Before recent technological advances, small museums and local history organizations were unable to participate in the publishing of books and catalogs easily. However, today, there are several viable options for these organizations to begin publishing. This research aims to highlight the ways that small organizations in the Upper Midwest have been utilizing technological advances and strategic partnerships to publish. Using these tools …

Managing Cyber Risks & Business Exposure In The Surface Transportation Ecosystem, Jacques R. Francoeur

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report focuses on Surface Transportation (ST), both fixed and route-based, and the growing threats to their information technology (IT) infrastructures. As an industry, ST seeks to optimize the movement of people and goods, while ensuring safety and resiliency and minimizing environmental impact. Cyber threats are a powerful medium for those with the political, social, and economic motivations and wherewithal to disrupt and destroy existing ST systems. The ultimate objective is to develop a new paradigm to define, describe, design, and deploy the most effective protection, at the lowest cost, in the shortest time within the limits of available resources. …

Makȟóčhe Wašté, The Beautiful Country: An Indigenous Landscape Perspective, Dakota Wind Goodhouse

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; “Great Sioux Nation”) occupied an area from the woodlands to the Great Plains. The landscape and the wind influenced their language and culture in a way that suggests a long occupation. Major landmarks like Ȟesápa (Black Hills), Matȟó Thípila (Bear Lodge; “Devils Tower”), Pahá Makȟáska (White Earth Butte; White Butte, ND), and Oǧúǧa Owápi (Images Burned Into The Stone; Jeffers Petroglyphs, MN) were woven into the cultural identity of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. The pictographic record, traditional song, and oral tradition recall events like first contact with the horse at the Čhaŋsáŋsaŋ Ožáte (White Birch …

Optimizing Transportation Infrastructure And Global Supply Chain Integration For Nicaragua’S Autonomous Caribbean Regions Through Network Modernization, James Leiman

Transportation Logistics and Finance

The autonomous regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast are resource rich, yet they are among the poorest regions of Latin America. To realize economic growth and potential, this research examined Nicaragua’s primary-sector economic activities and developed a transportation network that would enable the creation of a functional logistics network, therefore enabling integration into the global supply chain for timber, beef, seafood, and light manufactured goods. The main goal of this research is to determine the minimum cost of developing a multimodal transportation network in the region by using roads, rail, intracoastal waterways, and Caribbean Sea transport. In addition to the …

Skills, Knowledge And Values Of Community Health Needs Assessment Managers, Karen Michelle Crabtree

Sociology and Anthropology

Nonprofit hospital systems must complete a community health needs assessment (CHNA). In healthcare there is a lack of consensus on what skills, knowledge and values are important for the person managing CHNA departments, including educational background appropriate or needed to be successful. This is an exploratory study of one healthcare system. The study seeks to identify the perception of what skills, knowledge and values are necessary to be an effective CHNA manager, and how that aligns with the skills, knowledge and values taught in public health, community development and social work. The study utilizes grounded theory, inductive research and evaluative …

Sexual Health Perspectives Of Pastoral Adolescent Girls In Samburu County, Doreen Awino Odera

Sociology and Anthropology

Teenage girls from the Turkana pastoral community in Northern Kenya have varying views of sexuality. Some parents choose to send their daughters to school creating disparate levels of knowledge about their bodies and sexual health. To better evaluate these differences, girls (13-18 years) were asked to develop body maps, a methodological technique that enables verbal and visual data collection. Interviews and participant observations were also used to gather data. This research involved a total of 33 participants and included both school going and non-school going girls. Triangulation of data from Interviews, participant observation, and body mapping provided multiple angles into …

How It Meets The Eye: Altering Locus Of Control Through Environmental Data Visualization, Briana Rose Wilhelmi

Sociology and Anthropology

Locus of control (LOC), first defined as a trait determining one’s sense of control over outcomes, continues to be refined. Originally treated as a generalized expectancy, scholars have extended its range for queries in specific domains (e.g., health, workplace, environmental behaviors), and, in more recent years, have suggested reformulating the concept as a state, based on evidence indicating its susceptibility to change. This paper builds on work suggesting a relationship between data visualization techniques and LOC by presenting the results of an experiment aiming to manipulate environmental internal LOC by varying the number of graphical elements in bar charts. Environmental …

Integration Of Bosnian Immigrant Women In The Us, Elvedina Basic

Sociology and Anthropology

The number of immigrants from different countries has increased in the United States in the past few years. Fargo/ Moorhead area was enriched with individuals and families from various post-war and undeveloped countries. Immigrants face challenges that are far more significant than adjusting to a new lifestyle, a new way of dressing, or a new climate. This paper will discuss the immigration process of the Bosnian women and how the resettlement affected their acculturation process, with a focus on their integration process into the new host community. Although the Bosnian population is a small and slowly growing population, it is …

Political Representation Of Visible Minorities At The Local Level: A Case Study, Janice Marie Edwards

Sociology and Anthropology

Visible minorities – i.e., persons defined by the Government of Canada as those who are not Aboriginal, Caucasian in race, or white in color – account for roughly 22% of Canada’s population. Yet this group continues to be underrepresented as political candidates and elected officials in many municipal councils across Canada. Assessing the state and quality of a nation’s democracy ought to consider the extent to which citizens are politically engaged. In an effort to understand the representational deficit of visible minorities at the municipal level, this study assesses the scope of visible minority representation in Winnipeg, Canada. The results …