Examining Retailer And Consumer Perceptions In Determining Economic Expectations: A Demonstration With The 2008 Holiday Season

Two stratified probability samples were conducted in the southeastern United States, one of consumers and one of retailers, to measure economic perceptions in the fall of 2008. Direct comparisons were made between consumers’ and retailers’ perceptions in the areas of the economy, financial soundness, cost of living, and planned consumer holiday spending.  The results suggested that retailers and consumers held similar negative perceptions in terms of the state of the economy.  Consumers though felt less financially sound than retailers did.  Additionally, consumers felt the cost of living has increased to a greater degree than retailers felt their cost of operating had.  Finally, there was a considerable difference in consumers’ planned holiday spending and retailers’ expectations of holiday spending as retailers better predicted that consumers were planning to spend less. The managerial implications for retailers based on these predictions are presented

Parametric Modeling of the Church in the Studenica Monastery in Serbia

This project reveals surveying data and architectural design of the major church in the Studenica monastery complex in Serbia reflected in a variety of 3D models and the analysis of the church interior and exterior. Architecture-driven computational parametric modeling was done by using two types of data: close range photogrammetry and high precision laser scanning. The modeling, based on geometric parameters and other planimetric and volumetric analysis, is devised during the four-year study as part of the project Parametric Research of the Studenica Church, a UNESCO Heritage Site, as a Model for Advanced Studies of Medieval Architecture. These models allow for better understanding and representation of the proportional, aesthetic and illumination qualities of the Studenica church and for prototyping procedures for examining other medieval domed churches where we lack more detailed references about their architectural design

Modeling the illumination of the church at Studenica monastery during evening services

This paper presents an analytical model to analyze illumination of the church interior during the evening service. The focus is on the artificial light achieved using church lighting fixtures known as polycandela, which are suspended directly below the church dome. The analysis focuses on the main church (katholikon) at Studenica Monastery, built in Serbia sometime before 1208/9. By using a computer-generated model of the Studenica church derived from high-precision laser scanning and close-range photogrammetry rather than from more conventional architectural drawings of the church, we recreate the actual three-dimensional space of the church interior. Our model allows for a quantitative calculation and analysis of the amount of artificial light that could have been achieved inside medieval churches. We apply this model for the church at Studenica to better understand the lighting of medieval structures as well as more abstract and diagrammatic qualities of the sacred space of the church manifested by light conditions.Radovi sa radionice će biti publikovni u tematskom zborniku pod istim nazivom u izdanju poznatog izdavača akademskih radova - Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Netherlands

The Role of Maternal Depression on Treatment Outcome for Children with Externalizing Behavior Problems

Studies have shown that, on average, Parent Management Training combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy decreases children’s externalizing behavior, but some children do not improve through treatment. The current study aimed to examine the role of maternal depression in understanding this variability in treatment outcome. Children with externalizing behavioral problems and their parents were recruited from combined Parent Management Training and Cognitive-Behavioral programs in “real-world” clinical settings. At pre- and post treatment, maternal depression and children’s externalizing behavior were assessed. Results showed that treatment was less effective for children of depressed mothers compared to non-depressed mothers and that improvements in maternal depression were associated with improvements in children’s externalizing behavior. These findings suggest that treatment programs for children with externalizing problems may be able to improve outcomes if maternal depression is a target of intervention

Examining Retailer and Consumer Perceptions in Determining Economic Expectations

Two stratified probability samples were conducted in the southeastern United States, one of consumers and one of retailers, to measure economic perceptions in the fall of 2008. Direct comparisons were made between consumers’ and retailers’ perceptions in the areas of the economy, financial soundness, cost of living, and planned consumer holiday spending. The results suggested that retailers and consumers held similar negative perceptions in terms of the state of the economy. Consumers though felt less financially sound than retailers did. Additionally, consumers felt the cost of living has increased to a greater degree than retailers felt their cost of operating had. Finally, there was a considerable difference in consumers’ planned holiday spending and retailers’ expectations of holiday spending as retailers better predicted that consumers were planning to spend less. The managerial implications for retailers based on these predictions are presented

Economic Expectations For the Holiday Season: A Comparison of Retailer Versus Consumer Perceptions

Published in 2009 Southeastern InfORMS Conference Proceedings Link to Conference Directory:http://www.conferencemgt.com/presseinforms/SEINFORMS%202009%20-%20Proceedings/Start.HT

Modeling the Sunlight Illumination of the Church at Studenica Monastery

The Church of the Mother of God at Studenica Monastery in Serbia was estab- lished by the medieval Serbian ruler and founder of his own dynasty, Stefan Nemanja (r. 1169–1196).1 The church is finely proportioned. Sophisticated treatment of wall surfaces additionally enriches the high-quality construc- tion in stone (figure 10.1). Nicely carved architectural sculpture enlivens the church exterior while extensive fresco decoration adorns the interior walls. The building is a single-nave structure, with a dominant square-based domical core and a tripartite sanctuary, typical for Byzantine-rite churches (figure 10.2). Architecturally and structurally speaking, this design is essentially a condensed form of a typical Middle Byzantine church, known as an atrophied Greek-cross church.2 In such churches, as in Studenica church, the lateral arms of the cross are reduced to narrow barrel vaults. Thus, these vaults effectively become mas- sive arches that project from structural piers; the same piers that carry trans- versal arches, which support the domical core of the structure.Part 2 Lighting Sacred Spaces Chapter 10 Modeling the Sunlight Illumination of the Church at Studenica Monastery In: Natural Light in Medieval Churches, Series: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, Volume 88 Volume Editors: Vladimir Ivanovici and Alice Isabella Sullivan https://brill.com/display/title/6361