REDEFINING THE SALES CALL

The sales process is undergoing a revolution as a result of social media and related technological advancements. Although each step of the sales process is being affected, the most drastically altered step is likely the sales call. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact the type of sales call used by sellers has on both the buyer’s evaluation of the salesperson and the seller’s attribution of sale call success or failure. The study consists of two essays. The first focuses on the buyer’s evaluation of the salesperson based on the frequency and alignment of their use of specific types of sales calls. The second essay centers on the salesperson’s attribution pertaining to both sales call success and failure. Three forms of sales call communication are examined: face-to-face sales calls, sales calls using historical sales communication tools, and technologically enhanced sales calls. Panel data is obtained for both buyers and sellers. In the first study, buyers are surveyed to determine if the type of sales call used by the seller met their expectations thereby influencing their evaluation of the salesperson. In the second study, sellers are surveyed to determine how the type of sales call they used affects their attribution related to the sales call success or failure. The data in the first study is analyzed using linear regression to determine which form of sales calls influence the buyer’s evaluation of the salesperson, while the data in the second essay is analyzed using logistic regression since the dependent variable is binary (success/failure). Two moderator variables are considered. In the first essay, the buyer’s evaluation of the seller is predicted as being moderated by the phase of the relationship between the buyer and the seller. In the second essay, the seller’s attribution of the success or failure is hypothesized as being moderated by the type of sales position the seller occupies. The contribution of this study is at least two-fold. First, this study bridges the gap between face-to-face sales call research and technologically enhanced sales tool research, providing a basis for determining the appropriate balance between the two communication styles. Second, by taking into account the moderating variables of relationship phase and type of sales position, salespeople can make accommodations in their sales call strategy based on the seller/buyer relationship phase or the type of sales position they occupy

Strategies and Biblical Principles to Keep Church Plants From Closing its Doors Within the First Three Years

Christians are commissioned to disciple the nations. Many attempts to fulfill this commission encounter variables that hinder the fulfillment of this dictum. Statistics indicate significant proportions of church planting endeavors are challenged to survive beyond one year. This project will expose reasons church planting efforts struggle to thrive and will provide strategies and biblical principles to remedy the identified obstacles. The data will be utilized for current and future church planting efforts. The goal of this project is to reduce factors that cause church plants to close prematurely. Church laity and clergy will be surveyed for their perspectives regarding church planting vitality. Practical strategies for church growth will be researched, employed, and evaluated. Biblical principles and perspective will be examined. This project will provide a survey of strategies and biblical principles to help churches survive beyond the first three years in church planting

Road Construction as a Facilitator for Dengue Fever Transmission

Although I plan to focus on the impact of road construction in tropical and subtropical regions on the spread and contraction of dengue fever, I hope to use this focus as a model that could help to create policies that would mitigate other diseases spread through insect contact. In places that road and railway construction have already become a part of the permanent foundation, medical infrastructure should be put into place to ensure that populations at increased risk to contract dengue fever have access to medical care to diminish rates of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar. Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Salisbury

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Junior Recital, Jennifer Billups, soprano, accompanied by Mark Smith, piano

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1457/thumbnail.jp

Inducible Presynaptic Glutamine Transport Supports Glutamatergic Transmission at the Calyx of Held Synapse

he mechanisms by which the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is recycled at synapses are currently unknown. By examining the functional expression of plasma membrane transporters at presynaptic terminals, we aim to elucidate some of the mechanisms of glutamate recycling. Using whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings from rat calyx of Held presynaptic terminals, our data show, for the first time, that the glutamate precursor glutamine causes the direct activation of an electrogenic, sodium-dependent presynaptic transporter, which supplies glutamine for generation of presynaptic glutamate and helps sustain synaptic transmission. Interestingly, the functional expression of this transporter at the presynaptic plasma membrane is dynamically controlled by electrical activity of the terminal, indicating that uptake of neurotransmitter precursors is controlled by the demand at an individual terminal. Induction of the transporter current is calcium-dependent and inhibited by botulinum neurotoxin C, demonstrating the involvement of SNARE-dependent exocytosis in inserting transporters into the plasma membrane when the terminal is active. Conversely, inactivity of the presynaptic terminal results in removal of transporters via clathrin-mediated endocytosis. To investigate whether the presynaptic glutamine transporter supplies the precursor for generating the synaptically released glutamate, we measured miniature EPSCs to assess vesicular glutamate content. When the presynaptic glutamate pool was turned over by synaptic activity, inhibiting the presynaptic glutamine transporters with MeAIB reduced the miniature EPSC amplitude significantly. This demonstrates that presynaptic glutamine transport is centrally involved in the production of glutamate and assists in maintaining excitatory neurotransmission. © 2013 the authors

Modulation of synaptic transmission by interacting proteins and transporters

The properties of synaptic transmission may be modulated by transporters which regulate neurotransmitter and ion concentrations, and by proteins which interact with ion channels and transporters. I have investigated this for inhibitory and excitatory synapses in the retina and the cerebellum, using electrophysiological (patch-clamp) techniques. For inhibitory synaptic transmission, I have (1) discovered that GABAC receptors in retinal bipolar cells are modulated by the intracellular cytoskeletal protein MAP-1B, and shown that disrupting the interaction between MAP-1B and the GABAC receptor increases the sensitivity of the receptor to GABA, which is expected to alter the duration of the inhibitory postsynaptic current in these cells; and (2) studied the possibility that chloride transporters maintain a non-uniform intracellular chloride distribution in retinal bipolar cells, which determines the direction and magnitude of the GABA evoked membrane potential changes in the cell. For excitatory synaptic transmission I have (1) studied glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the cerebellum of transgenic mice lacking either of the glutamate transporters GLT-1 or GLAST, and demonstrated that GLAST knockout prolongs the synaptic current at the parallel fibre to Purkinje cell synapse, but that knocking out GLT-1 or GLAST does not alter the mossy fibre to granule cell synaptic current; (2) studied the effect of glycine on mossy fibre to granule cell synaptic transmission in the cerebellum of the rat, showing that the NMDA receptor glycine site is saturated even when no glycine is added to the superfusing solution; and (3) studied the properties of the LIM protein Ajuba, which interacts with the major glial glutamate transporter GLT-1, and shown that Ajuba does not modulate the transporter's glutamate sensitivity, its associated anion channel, or the number of transporters in the plasma membrane

A Dynamic Model of Differential Human Capital and Criminal Activity

This paper presents a new, dynamic economic model of criminal activity. Individuals are endowed with legal and criminal human capital. Potential incomes in legal and criminal sectors depend on the level of the relevant human capital, the rate of return, and random shocks. Both types of human capital can be enhanced by participating in the relevant sector. Legal human capital can also be enhanced through savings. Each type of human capital is subject to depreciation. Individuals maximize expected discounted lifetime utility, which depends on consumption. In this two-stage dynamic stochastic model, in each period the individual decides in which sector to participate (legal or illegal), and after the realization of income in that period, he decides on the optimal amount of consumption. A particular decision (e.g. participation in the criminal sector) has implications both for future decisions as well as the choices available to the individual in later periods. The model allows analyses of the effects of recessions, neighborhood effects, various imprisonment/rehabilitation scenarios, risk aversion, and time preferences on criminal behavior. It provides new insights, which are different from existing models, and it is able to explain the declining propensity of individuals to commit crimes over time.

The Privilege and the Challenge: Storytelling and the Doctoral Experience

Paper presented at the 45th annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO), April 17-19, 2013, Portsmouth, NH

A Ranking of Competency Areas of Instruction by Suffolk City Merchants to Determine Felt Importance as a Basis for Distributive Education Curriculum Sequencing

The problem of this study was to determine the amount of classroom emphasis a Distributive Education coordinator should place on each major competency area

Scaling Analysis and Experimental Investigation of a Rotating Detonation Engine

Pressure gain combustion (PGC) technologies, specifically rotating detonation engines (RDEs), are poised to provide the next big leap in gas turbine engine advancement, significantly increasing the thermal. RDEs make use of thermodynamic advantages of isochoric as opposed to isobaric combustion. Theorized to increase thermal efficiency by up to 7% [1], the RDE would have significant impact on reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions. In addition to efficiency gains, the RDE also provides mechanical simplicity and reduced size advantages compared to it’s traditional counterparts and PGC competition. The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) maintains and operates two rotating detonation combustor (RDC) facilities. Firstly, a 6 inch diameter lab scale RDE (LSRDE) is utilized to better understand the operational regime. Secondly, the bench scale RDE (BSRDE) enables optical access within the plenums to investigate the dynamic interactions at the injection inlet. This work begins to investigate the relationships between the NETL facilities. By performing a dimensional analysis on the RDC system and creating a data reduction routine to more similarly compare data from the two facilities, it was found that there is little connection between the two experimental rigs. It is believed that the primary cause of this disconnection is the significant difference in physical mechanisms driving the shock and detonation waves in each respective facility. However, the methodology presented in this work does begin to reveal the interaction of system parameters and could prove to be useful as RDE operation becomes better understood