Three Essays Examining the Various Identity Expressive Functions of Brands

Previous research has shown that consumers’ use of identity expressive brands serves a variety of purposes – belongingness, enhanced self-concept, coping, etc. This dissertation builds on this stream of research in three important ways. First, I contribute to the discussion of why consumers use brands to express identity by identifying two motivations that have been overlooked in the literature: differentiation and reducing self-discrepancy. Secondly, in addition to addressing why consumers use brands as vehicles of identity expression, this dissertation also looks at who prefers identity-expressive brands and circumstances under which they are more likely to prefer such brands. I examine the roles of gender, self-esteem, individuals’ need to belong, and self-discrepancy, as well as various circumstantial factors such as social exclusion, social inclusion, and self-threat in affecting preference for identity expressive brands. Finally, this dissertation also examines the implications of identity-expressive brands in areas of consumer behavior outside of the literature on brands and consumer-brand relationships. Specifically, I argue that the identity associations of goods will moderate the endowment effect. In line with the ownership account for the endowment effect, I propose that owning a good leads to a psychological association with the good and that identity associations can strengthen or weaken this possession-self link and subsequently moderate the valuations owners place on such goods. Thus, I extend the discussion of brands and products as identity-expressive vehicles beyond the questions of who, why, and when to further understand the much larger implications of such findings. This dissertation is comprised of three essays which examine differentiation and self-discrepancy as motivators of consumers’ use of brands to express identity (Essays 2 and 3), individual differences and circumstantial factors as moderators of such effects (Essays 1, 2, and 3), and the larger implications of the use of brands as vehicles of identity expression (Essay 1). I conclude with a discussion of implications of my findings and suggestions for future research

UNDER ARMOUR CONSULTING REPORT

Under Armour has been taking the Athletic Apparel industry by storm. From their start in 1996 as a small performance apparel company to becoming the second biggest athletic apparel brand in the United States in 2014 (Peterson). The secret to their success lies within the products. All products have a moisture wicking fabric that eliminates the sweat-soaked fabric of normal sports apparel. Industry: The industry of Athletic Apparel is very intense and innovative one. There are numerous competitors striving to be number one and trying to distinguish themselves from each other while selling similar products. This is an industry that is always changing depending on the next trend and companies that want to keep up with the change must be willing to push the limits and come up with something new all the time. There are a number of factors that can influence the industry from political to legal aspects to the suppliers that the companies use to manufacture their products. Any organization in this industry needs to be aware of these factors and make sure that they are running a successful and ethical business. Business Description: Under Armour is a company that designs and manufactures performance apparel for athletes. It was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank who was a football player for the University of Maryland. The company started off selling t-shirts that would keep athletes dry and cool during practice, games, or workouts through moisture wicking technology that removed the perspiration from the wearer’s body thus regulating body temperature. Under Armour embraces the mission to “make all athletes better through passion, design, and relentless pursuit of innovation” which is the guide behind the creation of their products (Thompson). The company focuses on quality management and differentiation of its products. Each of their suppliers is held to strict quality control standards, as well as child labor and forced labor standards. Under Armour originally marketed to only football athletes but that has been expanded to include everyday fitness and other sports, as well as to female customers. Recommendations : For Under Armour, there are a few recommendations that they can pursue which would help them develop more as a company and further increase their potential of becoming the leader of the athletic apparel market—these include expanding into other markets besides Europe and Asia, getting fabric and process patents for future products, and possibly creating and developing equipment to establish a new business unit and enter into a new market

From Viruses to Sea Spray: Applications of All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Environmental and Biological Aerosol Systems

Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in the air that can have far-reaching impacts on climate and human health. Aerosols impact climate through their radiative properties and their ability to seed cloud droplets or ice crystals. They also provide surfaces at which heterogeneous multiphase reactions can occur and serve as sinks for atmospheric sulfur, carbon and nitrogen. From a human health perspective, the physical and chemical properties of aerosols including their size, shape, and composition, can impact their transfer and deposition into the lungs. Smaller particles in particular can contain pollutants and pathogens and are able to travel deeper into the bronchioles to trigger irritation and infection. This body of work applies molecular dynamics simulations to understand aerosol systems, investigating their morphologies, impacts on climate, and ultimately their role in transporting the airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus. Molecular simulation and analysis methods are integrated with experiment to first probe surfactant interfaces with varying levels of chemical complexity, then to explore whole aerosol dynamics and phase within the context of understanding impacts of sea spray aerosols (SSA) on climate. This work shows that 1) surfactant charge modulates the surface activity of Burkholderia cepacia lipase at lipid monolayer interfaces; 2) calcium enhances polysaccharide adsorption to fatty acid monolayers; and 3) divalent cations induce morphological changes in LPS-containing aerosols, hindering the reactive uptake of atmospheric nitric acid. This dissertation also describes methods for building large-scale, intact SSA models with full chemical complexity and shows how organic components distribute throughout the aerosol, suggesting that SSA may adopt microemulsion-like morphologies. Finally, a workflow is developed to build ultra-large systems for the study of airborne disease, demonstrating the successful construction and simulation of 1) the SARS-CoV-2 wild type envelope, and 2) a billion-atom respiratory aerosol containing the full breadth of chemical complexity, including the first all-atom model of the Delta SARS-CoV-2 envelope and never-before-modeled pulmonary mucins. The latter project presents the first atomic-level views of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within a respiratory aerosol and represents a novel approach to investigating the infection mechanisms of airborne pathogens

Interfacial Enrichment of Lauric Acid Assisted by Long-Chain Fatty Acids, Acidity and Salinity at Sea Spray Aerosol Surfaces.

Surfactant monolayers at sea spray aerosol (SSA) surfaces regulate various atmospheric processes including gas transfer, cloud interactions, and radiative properties. Most experimental studies of SSA employ a simplified surfactant mixture of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) as a proxy for the sea surface microlayer or SSA surface. However, medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) make up nearly 30% of the FA fraction in nascent SSA. Given that LCFA monolayers are easily disrupted upon the introduction of chemical heterogeneity (such as mixed chain lengths), simple FA proxies are unlikely to represent realistic SSA interfaces. Integrating experimental and computational techniques, we characterize the impact that partially soluble MCFAs have on the properties of atmospherically relevant LCFA mixtures. We explore the extent to which the MCFA lauric acid (LA) is surface stabilized by varying acidity, salinity, and monolayer composition. We also discuss the impacts of pH on LCFA-assisted LA retention, where the presence of LCFAs may shift the surface-adsorption equilibria of laurate─the conjugate base─toward higher surface activities. Molecular dynamic simulations suggest a mechanism for the enhanced surface retention of laurate. We conclude that increased FA heterogeneity at SSA surfaces promotes surface activity of soluble FA species, altering monolayer phase behavior and impacting climate-relevant atmospheric processes

An Active Connection Mechanism for Soft Modular Robots

To date, most modular robotic systems lack flexibility when increasing the number of modules due to their hard building blocks and rigid connection mechanisms. In order to improve adaptation to environmental changes, softness on the module level might be beneficial. However, coping with softness requires fundamental rethinking the way modules are built. A major challenge is to develop a connection mechanism that does not limit the softness of the modules, does not require precise alignment and allows for easy detachment. In this paper, we propose a soft active connection mechanism based on electroadhesion. The mechanism uses electrostatic forces to connect modules. The method is easy to implement and can be integrated in a wide range of soft module types. Based on our experimental results, we conclude that the mechanism is suitable as a connection principle for light-weight modules when efficiency in a wide range of softness, tolerance to alignment and easy detachment are desired. The main contributions of this article are (i) the qualitative comparison of different connector principles for soft modular robots, (ii) the integration of electroadhesion, featuring a novel electrode pattern design, into soft modules, and (iii) the demonstration and characterization of the performance of functional soft module mockups including the connection mechanism

#COVIDisAirborne: AI-enabled multiscale computational microscopy of delta SARS-CoV-2 in a respiratory aerosol

We seek to completely revise current models of airborne transmission of respiratory viruses by providing never-before-seen atomic-level views of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within a respiratory aerosol. Our work dramatically extends the capabilities of multiscale computational microscopy to address the significant gaps that exist in current experimental methods, which are limited in their ability to interrogate aerosols at the atomic/molecular level and thus obscure our understanding of airborne transmission. We demonstrate how our integrated data-driven platform provides a new way of exploring the composition, structure, and dynamics of aerosols and aerosolized viruses, while driving simulation method development along several important axes. We present a series of initial scientific discoveries for the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, noting that the full scientific impact of this work has yet to be realized

Suzuki cross-coupling in aqueous media

We report a simple and efficient procedure for the ligand-free as well as ligand-assisted Suzuki reaction in both pure water and aqueous media. The cross-coupling reactions proceed successfully using phenylboronic acid or potassium phenyltrifluoroborate as a nucleophilic coupling partner. The method can be effectively applied to both activated and deactivated aryl halides yielding quantitative conversions. The catalytic activity of couplings performed in pure water increases when utilizing supramolecular additives, but decreases under standard phase-transfer conditions. Finally, the palladium loading is reducible from 3.0 mol% to 0.4 mol% without any loss of conversion

Discrete vulnerability to pharmacological CDK2 inhibition is governed by heterogeneity of the cancer cell cycle.

Cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) regulates cell cycle and is an emerging target for cancer therapy. There are relatively small numbers of tumor models that exhibit strong dependence on CDK2 and undergo G1 cell cycle arrest following CDK2 inhibition. The expression of P16INK4A and cyclin E1 determines this sensitivity to CDK2 inhibition. The co-expression of these genes occurs in breast cancer patients highlighting their clinical significance as predictive biomarkers for CDK2-targeted therapies. In cancer models that are genetically independent of CDK2, pharmacological inhibitors suppress cell proliferation by inducing 4N cell cycle arrest and increasing the expressions of phospho-CDK1 (Y15) and cyclin B1. CRISPR screens identify CDK2 loss as a mediator of resistance to a CDK2 inhibitor, INX-315. Furthermore, CDK2 deletion reverses the G2/M block induced by CDK2 inhibitors and restores cell proliferation. Complementary drug screens define multiple means to cooperate with CDK2 inhibition beyond G1/S. These include the depletion of mitotic regulators as well as CDK4/6 inhibitors cooperate with CDK2 inhibition in multiple phases of the cell cycle. Overall, this study underscores two fundamentally distinct features of response to CDK2 inhibitors that are conditioned by tumor context and could serve as the basis for differential therapeutic strategies in a wide range of cancers

Beyond Shielding: The Roles of Glycans in the SARS-CoV‑2 Spike Protein

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in more than 28,000,000 infections and 900,000 deaths worldwide to date. Antibody development efforts mainly revolve around the extensively glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein, which mediates host cell entry by binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Similar to many other viral fusion proteins, the SARS-CoV-2 spike utilizes a glycan shield to thwart the host immune response. Here, we built a full-length model of the glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 S protein, both in the open and closed states, augmenting the available structural and biological data. Multiple microsecond-long, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations were used to provide an atomistic perspective on the roles of glycans and on the protein structure and dynamics. We reveal an essential structural role of N-glycans at sites N165 and N234 in modulating the conformational dynamics of the spike's receptor binding domain (RBD), which is responsible for ACE2 recognition. This finding is corroborated by biolayer interferometry experiments, which show that deletion of these glycans through N165A and N234A mutations significantly reduces binding to ACE2 as a result of the RBD conformational shift toward the "down" state. Additionally, end-to-end accessibility analyses outline a complete overview of the vulnerabilities of the glycan shield of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein, which may be exploited in the therapeutic efforts targeting this molecular machine. Overall, this work presents hitherto unseen functional and structural insights into the SARS-CoV-2 S protein and its glycan coat, providing a strategy to control the conformational plasticity of the RBD that could be harnessed for vaccine development