Buying Sustainable clothing Helps Me Express Who I Am : The Efficacy of changing Millenial\u27s Sustainable Clothing Purchase Intention with Online Consumer Knowledge

This study measured the efficacy of an online consumer knowledge in changing Millennials’ sustainable clothing purchase intention and offers managerial implications for similar websites. The responses of two groups to a 31-item survery were assessed using a two-groups structural equation modeling (SEM) comparison. ProjectJUST.com users were recruited using a banner appearing on the platform’s landing page (PJ group; n = 700), and a group of non-users was recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MT group; n = 685). The group that was seeking sustainable clothing consumer knowledge already perceived the information as being personally relevant, which echoes prior findings (Dickson, 2001). This study’s results contribute that these information seekers already intended to purchase sustainable clothing when they found the website. Rather than fundamentally changing behavioral intention, these tools seem to offer shopping guides. To change clothes shopping priorities and increase website traffic from non-users, the content provided by online sustainable clothing consumer knowledge tools ought to target non-users’ perceived personal relevance. Acknowledging the contradiction between Millennials’ preference for sustainable products and disposable fashion could be one pressure point

Technology Enabled Apparel Retail Employees

The apparel retail industry is one of the largest employers in the United States and has experienced vast changes since the first department stores appeared in the 1800s. Employment as a retail salesperson was long considered a rewarding career choice for people who enjoyed interacting with customers. However, research showed that perceptions of retail as a career choice and the satisfaction of shoppers were on the decline. Low levels of employee job satisfaction and customer service ratings for retail employees, as well as negative perceptions of retail as a career provided an opportunity for the introduction of hybrid technology interfaces. These interfaces could support employees in their work, improve customer service and provide additional experience and knowledge for purposes of retail employee career development. This study examined apparel retail employees and the factors that influenced their intention to adopt three different hybrid technology interfaces representing emerging technologies for the apparel retail industry: a body scanner, product configurator and social networking. The Technology Acceptance Model served as a theoretical framework for evaluating employees' behavioral intention to use the three emerging technologies. A laboratory setting with examples of the three technologies was used to test apparel retail employee reactions and data were collected using a questionnaire. The results showed that the usefulness of the technology was a main influence on behavioral intention for all three types. Conceptual frameworks based on the Experience Economy and the retail store as a theater space for staging experiences, rather than services were also used to evaluate future applications of technology inside clothing stores as part of customer and employee service interactions. Participant responses to openended questions provided additional insight into the capacity of technologies to support employee work and develop skills and knowledge for future job positions. A career path for possible new job roles associated with technology adoption and a future retail store concept are presented as well as implications of study findings for retailers

Genetic determinants of telomere length from 109,122 ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequences in TOPMed

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWAS for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally-diverse individuals (European, African, Asian and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n=109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p-value OBFC1indicated the independent signals colocalized with cell-type specific eQTLs for OBFC1 (STN1). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B (SNM1B) and PARN. In PheWAS, we demonstrated our TL polygenic trait scores (PTS) were associated with increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

Course Syllabus FSAD 3310-Fa 2012

FSAD 3310, Apparel Production & Management, Course Syllabus by Instructor Tasha Lewis, Fall 201

Controlling Changing Climates: Consumer Preferences for an Energy-Saving Garment

This study evaluates consumer perceptions of a proposed technology-driven garment that can be used to controlled personal thermal comfort. Qualitative methods are used to collect data regarding preferred design and innovation features, as well as consumer readiness for the proposed garment.</p

A Survey of Current Consumer Technology Use for Apparel Shopping

Over the last decade, as e-commerce has grown, researchers have found different shopper motivations for online clothing purchases. Watchravesringkan and Shim (2003) found that shoppers who intended to search the Internet for product information were also more likely to make an online purchase. Goldsmith and Flynn (2004) identified the level of a consumer’s Internet innovativeness as a key motivator of online purchasing, followed by a consumer’s experience with catalogue shopping. However, Kwon & Noh (2010) found that Internet experience was not a strong influence on online apparel purchase intent for mature consumers, but rather their perceived benefits from products and prices available online.</p