In Penn’s Woods: Intersections between the Moravians, Indigenous Americans, and Nature, 1741-1760

The Moravian presence among Native American communities during the early colonial period (1741-1760) provides a valuable glimpse into the intermingling of European and indigenous cultures along with an environmental epistemology. Cross-cultural and knowledge exchanges were not uni-directional by any means. Moravians negotiated with indigenous Americans and their natural landscapes to construct syncretic space not only in their missionary efforts, but also the establishment of settlements. Integral in this shared space was the role of Moravian women, who played a crucial role in fostering intimate bonds with their indigenous Sisters. In this study, I examine Moravian hymns, architectural plans, and diaries to portray a more complex, richer “middle ground” (based on Richard White’s classic work) that moves away from the dichotomous relationship of colonizer and colonized

Increasing ecological validity in studies of facial attractiveness : effects of motion and expression on attractiveness judgements

While our understanding of what makes a face attractive has been greatly furthered in recent decades, the stimuli used in much of the foregoing research (static images with neutral expressions) bear little resemblance to the faces with which we nonnally interact. In our social interactions, we frequently evaluate faces that move and are expressive, and thus, it is important to evaluate whether motion and expression influence ratings of attractiveness; this was the central aim of the experiments in this dissertation. Using static and dynamic stimuli with neutral or positive expression, the effects of motion and expression were also tested in combination with other factors known to be relevant to attractiveness judgements: personality attributions, sex-typicality and cultural influence. In general, the results from this set of experiments show that judgements of moving, expressive stimuli do differ, sometimes radically, from judgements made of more traditional types of stimuli. Motion and positive expression were both found to increase ratings of attractiveness reliably in most experiments, as well as across cultures, and in some instances, showed strong sex-specific effects. Intriguing sex differences were also found in personality trait ratings of the stimuli, particularly for male faces; while criteria for female faces remained relatively constant across all conditions, trait ratings associated with attractiveness for male faces were dependent on particular combinations of motion and expression. Finally, in line with previous research, cross-cultural experiments showed general agreement between Japanese and Caucasian raters, but also suggested slight, culture-specific differences in preferences for expression and motion. IV This set of experiments has integrated the factors of motion, expression, sextypicality, personality and cultural influence together in order to bring a greater degree of ecological validity into attractiveness studies. These findings offer major implications for researchers studying attractiveness, particularly that of males, and suggest that motion and expression are important dimensions that should be considered in future research while simultaneously placing a caution on the interpretation of findings made with static stimuli. Suggestions are also made for further research in light of the present finding

The Effects of Product Knowledge and Internet Experience on Online Shopping Behavior

Thanks to tremendous growth of e-commerce and the advancement of Internet infrastructure, the online shopping medium has become a staple in many world economies. The present study examines how the consumer’s product knowledge and Internet experience affect the level of uncertainty and perceived risk. Potential dimensions of product knowledge and Internet experience are developed and examined. Their effects on uncertainty and risk perception are proposed. An add-on model linking product knowledge, Internet experience, uncertainty, risk, trust, and purchase intention is developed. The add-on model is incorporated into an existing model of online shopping process (NetShop). The revised overall model suggests how online shopping intention can be affected by the level of product knowledge and Internet experience, via their effects on uncertainty and perceived risk, as well as the three original factors, interactivity, transaction, and fulfillment

The Internet Shopping Process: An Empirical Model, Research Findings, and Financial Implications

Thanks to the tremendous growth of e-commerce, the U.S. economy has gone through rapid facelift. New start-up companies and existing retail power players compete for market position in the new millennium. Traditional retailers engage in business model reengineering to keep up with the changes in how customers acquire goods and services. How to attract on-line shoppers to their sites has become a fundamental task for Internet marketers. The present study examines how on-line shoppers perceive their on-line shopping experience in a major metropolitan area. An Internet shopping model, implications, and future research directions are offered

Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report

Part of a series of reports that includes: Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report; Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report; Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary; Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical ReportOVERVIEW: Transportation connects Boston’s workers, residents and tourists to their livelihoods, health care, education, recreation, culture, and other aspects of life quality. In cities, transit access is a critical factor determining upward mobility. Yet many urban transportation systems, including Boston’s, underserve some populations along one or more of those dimensions. Boston has the opportunity and means to expand mobility access to all residents, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions from transportation. This requires the transformation of the automobile-centric system that is fueled predominantly by gasoline and diesel fuel. The near elimination of fossil fuels—combined with more transit, walking, and biking—will curtail air pollution and crashes, and dramatically reduce the public health impact of transportation. The City embarks on this transition from a position of strength. Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most walkable and bikeable cities in the nation, and one in three commuters already take public transportation. There are three general strategies to reaching a carbon-neutral transportation system: • Shift trips out of automobiles to transit, biking, and walking;1 • Reduce automobile trips via land use planning that encourages denser development and affordable housing in transit-rich neighborhoods; • Shift most automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains to zero-GHG electricity. Even with Boston’s strong transit foundation, a carbon-neutral transportation system requires a wholesale change in Boston’s transportation culture. Success depends on the intelligent adoption of new technologies, influencing behavior with strong, equitable, and clearly articulated planning and investment, and effective collaboration with state and regional partners.Published versio

The Impact Of Internet Marketing On Profitability

With the internet user increased, the internet marketing becomes a hot and new marketing channel to sell and buy through internet meanwhile changes buyer behavior. This study examine whether internet marketing become a popular marketing channel or a key marketing channel for the company in future.  This paper reports the results of an empirical study of the marketing channel choices (internet and catalog) have different marketing costs to cause different performances on firm profitability. Data on financial statements from internet and catalog retail of COMPUSTAT database that were in existence in 2002 were examined and statistically analyzed the profitability. Comparisons are made, through a series of T-tests, to determine the profitability of their different retail marketing channel choices. The results indicated statistically significant differences in ROE, ROA, and ROS between internet and catalog retail, therefore, the adoption and implementation of different retail marketing channel choices such as internet and catalog did have a different profitability. The results concluded that internet retail or on-line retail may be an additional marketing channel for the company but it can not be a key retail marketing channel due to the negative means of t-test results on internet profitability

The Impact Of Just In Time On Firm Performance

This paper explores whether different supply chain management choices such as just-in-time and non-just-in-time, which has different inventory cost has an effect on firm performance and whether or not the firm adopts the innovation approach such as JIT could increase productivity, reduce inventory and improve quality. The results indicated statistically significant differences in inventory, days to sell inventory, inventory turnover, ROA, sales, cost of goods sold, gross profit margin between JIT and non-JIT. It concluded that the adoption and implementation of innovation approach of supply chain management such as JIT did have a significant difference and improvement on firm performance

The Intermediate Socio-Economic Development Region: A Case Study Of North Carolina

Regional development theory has evolved essentially from traditional considerations of the bipolar model. This is a model that focuses on center-periphery relationships. The development continuum idea, on the other hand, suggests a gradation of development from the most positive in the growth core regions to the least positive in the peripheral regions. This thesis uses county data, through variable selection, integration and grouping, to verify socioeconomic development conditions which are best described as a gradation along the continuum

A Loophole In Financial Accounting: A Detailed Analysis Of Repo 105

From 2000 to 2008, Lehman used repo transactions to hide billions of dollars on their statements. They alsomisrepresented the repo transactions as secured borrowings even though they actually recorded the transactions as sales. Valukas report in 2010 stimulated an extensive coverage of the repo transactions and spurred an array of studies addressing issues related to the collapse of financial institutions. Since the Repo 105 maneuver of Lehman provides a good example on how regulatory deficiencies can induce companies to obscure financial reporting and the importance of ethics in deterring these abuses, our study intends to examine repo transactions related accounting standards, illustrate how repo transactions can enhance a banks financial statements, and discuss the importance of business ethics in curtailing accounting irregularities

The Opportunistic Use of Pension Assumptions and Pension Cost Reporting

We examine whether firms adopt more aggressive pension assumptions to increase the probability of reporting pension income and how the economic conditions affect firms’ behavior in adopting pension assumption. Our study shows that firms are conservative in adopting the ERR but alter their behavior and use optimistic ERR assumptions when a recession affects profitability. In addition, we find that firms reporting pension income adopt more aggressive ERR than firms reporting pension expense. This behavior is exacerbated during economic hardship. We also find that companies reporting pension income have higher leverage but lower return on assets than firms reporting pension expense