The Role of Customer Loyalty to the Salesperson in Generating Premium Revenue for Retailers

The findings of this research underscore the relative importance of loyalty to the salesperson, when compared with retailer trust and satisfaction, on outcomes such as loyalty to the retailer and a consumer’s willingness to pay price premiums. This research also demonstrates that loyalty to the salesperson has a diminished effect on both outcomes when the merchandise is perceived as being high quality. The findings suggest that managers need to be aware of potential contingency factors that may affect relationships within the service profit chain. Moreover, the results reveal that consumers make holistic evaluations of services and consider both the physical goods and service provided by employees when determining their loyalty to the retailer

“Doing well in spite of the school”: How African American Students Perceive Achievement, Engagement, and School Climate in the Aftermath of California’s Local Control Funding Formula

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore urban African American students’ school experiences based on the aftermath of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), focusing on achievement, engagement, and school climate. Survey data and focus groups of 62 participants were analyzed using chi-square, multiple regression, and an iterative process. Findings suggest that students desire information regarding honors courses, stronger teacher/student relationships, and fairer discipline treatment. Effective strategies and practices are recommended including the LCFF’s revisions to have specific goals for African American students

Phylogeny and adaptive evolution of the brain-development gene microcephalin (MCPH1) in cetaceans.

BACKGROUND: Representatives of Cetacea have the greatest absolute brain size among animals, and the largest relative brain size aside from humans. Despite this, genes implicated in the evolution of large brain size in primates have yet to be surveyed in cetaceans. RESULTS: We sequenced ~1240 basepairs of the brain development gene microcephalin (MCPH1) in 38 cetacean species. Alignments of these data and a published complete sequence from Tursiops truncatus with primate MCPH1 were utilized in phylogenetic analyses and to estimate ω (rate of nonsynonymous substitution/rate of synonymous substitution) using site and branch models of molecular evolution. We also tested the hypothesis that selection on MCPH1 was correlated with brain size in cetaceans using a continuous regression analysis that accounted for phylogenetic history. Our analyses revealed widespread signals of adaptive evolution in the MCPH1 of Cetacea and in other subclades of Mammalia, however, there was not a significant positive association between ω and brain size within Cetacea. CONCLUSION: In conjunction with a recent study of Primates, we find no evidence to support an association between MCPH1 evolution and the evolution of brain size in highly encephalized mammalian species. Our finding of significant positive selection in MCPH1 may be linked to other functions of the gene.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Immortality in Verse: An Analysis of Sonnet 81

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/english_3315/1004/thumbnail.jp

Targeting cellular calcium homeostasis to prevent cytokine-mediated beta cell death

AbstractPro-inflammatory cytokines are important mediators of islet inflammation, leading to beta cell death in type 1 diabetes. Although alterations in both endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and cytosolic free calcium levels are known to play a role in cytokine-mediated beta cell death, there are currently no treatments targeting cellular calcium homeostasis to combat type 1 diabetes. Here we show that modulation of cellular calcium homeostasis can mitigate cytokine- and ER stress-mediated beta cell death. The calcium modulating compounds, dantrolene and sitagliptin, both prevent cytokine and ER stress-induced activation of the pro-apoptotic calcium-dependent enzyme, calpain, and partly suppress beta cell death in INS1E cells and human primary islets. These agents are also able to restore cytokine-mediated suppression of functional ER calcium release. In addition, sitagliptin preserves function of the ER calcium pump, sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA), and decreases levels of the pro-apoptotic protein thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP). Supporting the role of TXNIP in cytokine-mediated cell death, knock down of TXNIP in INS1-E cells prevents cytokine-mediated beta cell death. Our findings demonstrate that modulation of dynamic cellular calcium homeostasis and TXNIP suppression present viable pharmacologic targets to prevent cytokine-mediated beta cell loss in diabetes.</jats:p

Mutations in the Procaspase-3 Dimer Interface Affect the Activity of the Zymogen †

The interface of the procaspase-3 dimer plays a critical role in zymogen maturation. We show that replacement of valine 266, the residue at the center of the procaspase-3 dimer interface, with glutamate resulted in an increase in enzyme activity of ~60-fold, representing a pseudoactivation of the procaspase. In contrast, substitution of V266 with histidine abolished the activity of the procaspase-3 as well as that of the mature caspase. While the mutations do not affect the dimeric properties of the procaspase, we show that the V266E mutation may affect the formation of a loop bundle that is important for stabilizing the active site. In contrast, the V266H mutation affects the positioning of loop L3, the loop that forms the bulk of the substrate binding pocket. In some cases, the amino acids affected by the mutations are >20 Å from the interface. Overall, the results demonstrate that the integrity of the dimer interface is important for maintaining the proper active site conformation

Dysregulation of the Intrarenal Vitamin D Endocytic Pathway in a Nephropathy-Prone Mouse Model of Type 1 Diabetes

Microalbuminuria in humans with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with increased urinary excretion of megalin, as well as many megalin ligands, including vitamin-D-binding protein (VDBP). We examined the DBA/2J diabetic mouse, nephropathy prone model, to determine if megalin and VDBP excretion coincide with the development of diabetic nephropathy. Megalin, VDBP, and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OHD) were measured in urine, and genes involved in vitamin D metabolism were assessed in renal tissues from diabetic and control mice at 10, 15, and 18 weeks following the onset of diabetes. Megalin, VDBP, and 25-OHD were increased in the urine of diabetic mice. 1-α hydroxylase (CYP27B1) mRNA in the kidney was persistently increased in diabetic mice, as were several vitamin D-target genes. These studies show that intrarenal vitamin D handling is altered in the diabetic kidney, and they suggest that in T1D, urinary losses of VDBP may portend risk for intrarenal and extrarenal vitamin D deficiencies

Improved automation of dissolved organic carbon sampling for organic-rich surface waters

In-situ UV-Vis spectrophotometers offer the potential for improved estimates of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fluxes for organic-rich systems such as peatlands because they are able to sample and log DOC proxies automatically through time at low cost. In turn, this could enable improved total carbon budget estimates for peatlands. The ability of such instruments to accurately measure DOC depends on a number of factors, not least of which is how absorbance measurements relate to DOC and the environmental conditions. Here we test the ability of a S::can Spectro::lyserTM for measuring DOC in peatland streams with routinely high DOC concentrations. Through analysis of the spectral response data collected by the instrument we have been able to accurately measure DOC up to 66 mg L-1, which is more than double the original upper calibration limit for this particular instrument. A linear regression modelling approach resulted in an accuracy > 95%. The greatest accuracy was achieved when absorbance values for several different wavelengths were used at the same time in the model. However, an accuracy > 90% was achieved using absorbance values for a single wavelength to predict DOC concentration. Our calculations indicated that, for organic-rich systems, in-situ measurement with a scanning spectrophotometer can improve fluvial DOC flux estimates by 6 to 8% compared with traditional sampling methods. Thus, our techniques pave the way for improved long-term carbon budget calculations from organic-rich systems such as peatlands

Long distance passive localization of vocalizing sei whales using an acoustic normal mode approach

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 131 (2012): 1814-1825, doi:10.1121/1.3666015.During a 2 day period in mid-September 2006, more than 200, unconfirmed but identifiable, sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) calls were collected as incidental data during a multidisciplinary oceanography and acoustics experiment on the shelf off New Jersey. Using a combined vertical and horizontal acoustic receiving array, sei whale movements were tracked over long distances (up to tens of kilometers) using a normal mode back propagation technique. This approach uses low-frequency, broadband passive sei whale call receptions from a single-station, two-dimensional hydrophone array to perform long distance localization and tracking by exploiting the dispersive nature of propagating normal modes in a shallow water environment. The back propagation approach is examined for accuracy and application to tracking the sei whale vocalizations identified in the vertical and horizontal array signals. This passive whale tracking, combined with the intensive oceanography measurements performed during the experiment, was also used to examine sei whale movements in relation to oceanographic features observed in this region.Office of Naval Researc

Spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy for rapid imaging of material microstructure and grain orientation

Measuring the grain structure of aerospace materials is very important to understand their mechanical properties and in-service performance. Spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy is an acoustic technique utilizing surface acoustic waves to map the grain structure of a material. When combined with measurements in multiple acoustic propagation directions, the grain orientation can be obtained by fitting the velocity surface to a model. The new instrument presented here can take thousands of acoustic velocity measurements per second. The spatial and velocity resolution can be adjusted by simple modification to the system; this is discussed in detail by comparison of theoretical expectations with experimental data