Impact of Visual Merchandising on University of New Hampshire Students

Visual merchandising is a marketing tool used by retail outlets in order to make their products attractive and engaging. It has the ability to sway consumers into buying a product, making visual merchandising a useful tool in today’s competitive market. This study examines the impact visual merchandising has on the students of the University of New Hampshire (UNH). To determine this, we researched both the students and their local retailers. Retailers in Durham, New Hampshire were interviewed to determine how important visual merchandising is to their business. The consensus was that visual merchandising is an important segment of their business; it is one of the most effective ways to market to students. To gain an understanding of students’ views, a survey was distributed to undergraduates to measure their shopping habits and perceptions of visual merchandising. It was found that students generally have a positive perception of visual merchandising. Overall, students find visual merchandising useful and valuable when shopping. Through the statements made by retailers and the data provided by students, it has been determined that students are largely impacted by visual merchandising at UNH

APPLICATION OF COMPLEX TRAINING WITHIN STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PROGRAMMES

Alternating a resistance exercise with a plyometric exercise is referred to as “complex training”. Post-activation potentiation is the physiological rationale for complex training. This form of training is widely used to improve strength, power and stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) function. Enough is not known, however, on how this form of training can be optimised. Many factors such as the rest interval and the magnitude of the resistance exercise can have an influence on the efficiency of this training modality. More research is needed so that strength and conditioning coaches can best apply the principles of complex training to athletes’ strength and power programmes

Growth and Mortality of Fish Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico and Implications to Recruitment.

Extensive plankton collections were taken during September for several years along the northcentral Gulf of Mexico\u27s inner continental shelf. Significant differences in growth rates were found for both vermilion snapper and Atlantic bumper larvae collected at stations where hydrographic conditions were similar, indicating the probable existence of small-scale patchily-distributed feeding conditions. Such variability in growth rates is probably inevitable given the high variability in the observed spatial and temporal distribution of surface chlorophyll a levels, macrozooplankton biomass, copepod abundance, and dispersion of fish larvae. Cruise estimates of mortality coefficients (Z) for larval vermilion snapper, red drum, and Atlantic bumper were derived from the descending limbs of age-frequency distributions (adjusted for stage duration). Estimates of Z for larval vermilion snapper (n = 2,581, 4 cruises) and Atlantic bumper (n = 39,247, 7 cruises) ranged from 0.18 to 0.29 and 0.20 to 0.39, respectively. Mortality coefficients for red drum larvae (n = 13,658, 15 cruises) were highly variable (Z = 0.17-1.62), which is most likely confounded by the aggregate, synchronous, batch-spawning behavior of red drum which would modulate the relative abundance of age classes. The overall estimate of Z for red drum larvae (0.31), obtained by pooling catch data, was very similar to values found for vermilion snapper and Atlantic bumper. Projections of juvenile recruitment based on these data show that even in a sub-tropical climate, where stage durations of larvae are short, changes in growth rates, particularly when combined with small changes in mortality rates, can cause large differences in cumulative larval survival. Even if the mortality rate is constant, twice as many vermilion snapper and Atlantic bumper larvae potentially survived to a length of 6 mm at stations with the fastest observed growth rates than at stations with the slowest observed growth rates. Accurately predicting recruitment variability may prove to be intractable because of the massive logistical task of adequately quantifying the spatial and temporal variability of the trophic relationships and physical dynamics involved

Identification And Distribution Of Urophycis And Phycis (Pisces, Gadidae) Larvae And Pelagic Juveniles In The United-States Middle Atlantic Bight

Analysis of surface and subsurface plankton collections in the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) yielded larvae and juveniles of Phycis chesteri and five species of Urophycis. Identification was based on numbers of epibranchial gill rakers, abdominal vertebrae, and. fin rays (dorsal, caudal, pelvic), patterns of pterygiophore interdigitation, and morphometric characters including body depth at the vent and a ratio between height of the pelvic-fin base and length of the mandible. Urophycis tenuis accounted for 99% of the Urophycis larvae and pelagic juveniles collected during spring off Virginia and New Jersey and was most abundant offshore. Urophycis tenuis larvae were smallest at off-shore stations and increased in size as collections proceeded shoreward. Urophycis chuss was found in summer and fall collections off the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia, with abundances highest at midshelf stations. Urophycis chuss was the only species of hake found during August and early September, and it dominated summer ichthyoplankton collections. Urophycis regia was found primarily in midshelf areas off Virginia during fall, but was also collected offshore from both Virginia and New Jersey during winter. Phycis chesteri, also found in fall and winter collections, was restricted to offshore stations. Southern species, found exclusively in offshore winter collections, included U. floridana and U. cirrata

Distribution, Abundance, and Feeding Habits of Juvenile Kingfish (Menticirrhus) Species Found in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico

Southern Kingfish (Menticirrhus americanus), Gulf Kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis), and Northern Kingfish (Menticirrhus saxatilis) were collected by beam plankton trawl and seine along shoreline habitats in 2005 and 2006. Specific habitats included barrier island (surf zones and grass beds) and mainland (marsh edge and sandy shorelines) areas. Five hundred sixty-seven kingfish were collected during this study, with over 85% of the specimens collected in 2006. Densities of both M. americanus and M. littoralis peaked during summer, whereas densities of M. saxatilis peaked in spring. All three kingfish species co-occurred within surf zone and sandy shoreline habitats, but M. americanus was the dominant kingfish along protected sandy shorelines, and M. littoralis was the dominant kingfish along open surf zones. Several M. littoralis, which are known to be surf zone species, were also collected from mainland sandy shoreline. Only M. americanus was collected from marsh edges, and all three species were absent from grass beds. Stomachs of all three kingfish species at sizes \u3c 15 mm standard length (SL) most often contained calanoid copepods. Larger M. americanus (16–60 mm SL) fed most frequently on mysids, larger M. littoralis (31–60 mm SL) fed most frequently on bivalves, and larger M. saxatilis (31–60 mm SL) fed most frequently on both mysids and amphipods. The diversity of prey items increased with size for all three Menticirrhus species. This research provides a useful descriptive report on the distribution, abundance, and feeding habits of juvenile Menticirrhus species found in the north-central Gulf of Mexico

Diel Vertical Distribution of Atlantic Croaker, \u3ci\u3eMicropogonias undulatus\u3c/i\u3e, Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico With Comparisons to Red Drum, \u3ci\u3eSciaenops ocellatus\u3c/i\u3e

Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulates (Linnaeus, 1766) larvae \u3c 6 mm showed a distinct pattern of vertical stratification in inner-shelf waters (\u3c 25 m depth) of the northcentral Gulf of Mexico. Discrete-depth plankton collections were taken at night, early morning after daylight, and at mid-day or early afternoon at 1, 5, and 11–16 m. No consistent pattern among cruises was evident in the vertical stratification of Atlantic croaker larvae found in mid-day and afternoon collections, but at night the highest abundances were observed at the deepest depths sampled. Atlantic croaker larvae were least abundant in surface waters (1 m) at night. Of the 66,913 Atlantic croaker larvae collected, only 346 specimens (\u3c 1%) were found in 1 m collections at night, and 266 of these larvae were from a single collection of large specimens (mean = 6.7 mm). By morning the vertical distribution of larvae suggested that Atlantic croaker had moved up in the water column, and highest abundances were usually found at 5 m. There was no indication that patterns of larval distribution reflected hydrographic stratification within the water column, prey availability, size of larvae, or moonlight intensity