Spreading the good word : Toward an understanding of brand evangelism

The objective of this dissertation is to better understand the phenomenon of brand evangelism and the dimensions that are involved in a consumer becoming a brand evangelist. A brand evangelist is a consumer who actively “spreads the good word” of the brand while attempting to influence others’ consumption behavior. Through the development and testing of a model, this study helps to realize the concepts that are involved in a consumer becoming a brand evangelist. To date, little research has examined the dimensions of brand evangelism. It is proposed here that the attributes leading to brand evangelism include brand satisfaction, brand salience, consumer-brand identification, social motivation, and opinion leadership. The results of the study garnered some mixed results. It was found that consumer-brand identification, brand salience, and opinion leadership are all concepts that lead to brand evangelism. However, neither brand satisfaction nor sociability has a statistically significant relationship directly related with brand evangelism. It must be noted, though, that brand satisfaction does have a mediated relationship with brand evangelism through consumer-brand identification. Finally, for the overall proposed model, it was found that there is no statistical difference between males and females, income level of higher/lower than $100,000, ages of 50 years and older versus under 50 years of age, or being a college graduate versus an individual without a bachelor’s degree

Anitmicrobial Effects of Chemically Modified Essential Oils

Undergraduate Basi

Modified NASA-Lewis chemical equilibrium code for MHD applications

A substantially modified version of the NASA-Lewis Chemical Equilibrium Code was recently developed. The modifications were designed to extend the power and convenience of the Code as a tool for performing combustor analysis for MHD systems studies. The effect of the programming details is described from a user point of view

Introduction to The Special Issue: Advances in Methods and Measurement in Family Psychology

This special issue presents a collection of reports that highlight recent advances in methods and measurement and also shed light on the complexity of family psychology. The importance of theory in guiding solid family science is evident throughout these reports. The reports include guides for researchers who incorporate direct observation into their research protocols and the ever-expanding field of tele-health interventions. Advanced analytic approaches are offered in the areas of grid sequence analysis, latent fixed-effects models, and the Factors of Curves Model (FOCUS). These sophisticated analytic approaches may be applied to advance systemic thinking in family psychology. The last set of articles illustrate how complex and innovative methodologies are applied to address important societal issues. Work experiences and marital relationships in African American couples address the importance of spillover effects in contemporary families. The creation of biobehavioral plasticity index has the potential to inform gene x environment contributions to family functioning. Finally, the unique methodological issues that are particularly germane to the diverse nature of stepfamilies and nonresident fathers are addressed. We hope that readers of this special issue will return to these reports as resources and examples of theory-driven methods and measurements

Engaged Learning: Impact of PBL and PjBL with Elementary and Middle Grade Students

This study used structured online interviews with teachers to examine the impact that inquiry-based teaching methods had on their students. The research question was the following: What are the effects on student learning and motivation as a result of teachers using problem-based and project-based learning? Interviews were conducted with 36 teachers, followed up by telephone interviews with four teachers. Participants had taken a hybrid course consisting of four weeks online followed by a one-week intensive field experience facilitating problem-based and project-based learning with children in grades 1–9. Student-related themes that resulted from the data analysis are grouped under the main categories of learning attitudes, learning behaviors, and learning preferences

Effects of a Web-based Relationship Program on Co-parenting and Child Functioning

Symposium Title: Novel Preventive Intervention Strategies For Couples and Families: Extending the Reach and Social Impact of CBT to Promote Relationship Quality and Adult and Child Well-being Chair: Allen W. Barton, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign Discussant: Scott Stanley, Ph.D., University of Denve

EFFECT OF SMOKING ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN NORMAL HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS

ABSTRACTObjective: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of tobacco smoke on heart rate variability (HRV).Methods: This study included 90 male smokers (30-mild, 30-moderate, 30-severe) (Group II) and 30 age-matched non-smokers as controls (Group I).HRV analysis was performed using 8 channels Physiopac of Medicaid Company. All the subjects were subjected to HRV test. The short-term 8 minutesHR recording was performed for HRV analysis.Results: Mean RR, mean HR, root mean square of the successive differences, of the smokers and non-smokers, did not differ significantly. However,smokers NN50, Pnn50, high frequency (HF) declined significantly, and the smokers show significantly higher low frequency (LF), LF/HF ratio whencompared with those of the non-smoking individuals (p<0.05).Conclusion: HRV analysis of smokers and nonsmokers showed that smoking subjects had an autonomic imbalance suggestive of an increasedsympathetic tone or decreased parasympathetic tone. Sympathetic overactivity may lead to cardiovascular disease development in smokers.Keywords: Smoking, Healthy volunteers, Heart rate variability

GSA toDAY

ABSTRACT Geological resources are often a neglected component of comprehensive natural resource management programs, and yet, all ecosystems are built upon the physical or abiotic foundation of the landscape. Geological resources pose hazards and create technical challenges while also providing both irreplaceable ecosystem functions and significant education. Our valuable geological resources are also invaluable indicators of environmental change. It is critically important that geological resource management be a central component of a comprehensive natural resource management plan. Public lands account for nearly a third of the land area in the United States, but most public land management agencies do not have sufficient geological expertise on staff; external geoscientists complete much of the geological research and study on public lands. The effort to integrate geological resources into natural resource management, and the shortage of geological expertise within public land management staff, indicate the need for a widely applicable template for framing geological resource management. A functional structure is proposed for a comprehensive geological resource management program that can be adapted to a wide variety of public land administration scenarios. Specific examples from Yellowstone National Park show the importance of geological resource considerations in planning, construction, education, protection, hazard mitigation, and other activities. This paper also serves as a call for involvement by the larger geological community to address society's need for comprehensive geological resource management to be more fully integrated into natural resource management on our public lands

RESPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINING WITH THERABAND VERSUS INCENTIVE SPIROMETER AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA

Objective: To determine and compare the effects of Theraband exercises with Incentive Spirometer exercise in improving respiratory muscle strength among bronchial asthma. Methods: In this study, 30 Individuals with Bronchial asthma were taken and assessed for FEV1/FVC, Maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) using a computerized spirometer, dyspnea level graded using MMRC scale and diaphragm muscle strength assessed using manual muscle testing (MMT) as pre-test then the individuals were randomly allocated in two groups: Group A and Group B. Group A (n=15) received Theraband exercise and Group B (n=15) were treated with incentive spirometer for a total period of 4 w following which the outcome measures were repeated for post-test. Results: Based on the obtained statistics, both the groups showed significant improvement within groups when comparing pre and post-test measures. On comparing the mean values of the post-test between the groups, theraband exercises showed clinically higher significant results than incentive spirometer exercises. Conclusion: From the result, it shall been concluded that both theraband exercises and incentive spirometer exercises shows improvement in MVV, FEV1/FVC, reduced dyspnea and increased respiratory muscle strength. Hence, theraband exercises are effective compared to the incentive spirometer

Genetic diversity and population structure of leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros speoris (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Indian subcontinent

Genetic variation and population structure of the leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros speoris were estimated using 16S rRNA sequence and microsatellite analysis. Twenty seven distinct mitochondrial haplotypes were identified from 186 individuals, sampled from eleven populations. FST test revealed significant variations between populations in the overall pairwise estimation (FST = 0.710; p < 0.001). In addition, haplotype network and analysis of molecular variation analysis (AMOVA) consistently suggest the prevalence of genetic structure in the sampled populations. However, the mtDNA data was not significantly different in few closely located urban populations, but significant difference has been observed with the use of microsatellite data. The Bayesian clustering analysis identified eight clusters among the populations; the clustering pattern also corresponded to the haplotype networks. Overall, the present study suggests a “macrogeographic genetic isolation-by-distance” and possibility of gene flow among closely located populations.Key words: mtDNA, 16S rRNA, microsatellite, population structure, Hipposideros speoris