Showing papers by "University of Delaware published in 1977"

The Role of Personal Values in Marketing and Consumer Behavior

Abstract: M ARKETERS have long acknowledged the importance of attitudes and attitude change in the study of marketing and consumer behavior, but the role of values has received relatively little attention. Even though the marketing literature reflects an emerging interest in the topic,1 personal values have not been widely used to investigate the underlying dimensions of consumer behavior. This is surprising considering the importance typically assigned to values by a wide variety of social observers and businessmen alike.2 While it seems that personal values have important implications for marketing practitioners and researchers, values and the ways in which they influence the behavior of consumers who look at and choose brands, product classes, and product attributes is not clear. In order to investigate these relationships, it is necessary to operationally define what values are, and to indicate empirical methods available for examining the connections between personal values and consumer behavior.

Transport phases of transition metals in the Amazon and Yukon Rivers

Abstract: Samples representing yearly averages of material transported by the Amazon and Yukon Rivers were analyzed to separate the transition metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) into the following transport phases: (1) crystalline particles, (2) metal hydroxide coatings, (3) solid organic material, (4) sorbed material, and (5) those in solution. The major transport phases are crystalline particles and metal hydroxide coatings, which, combined, carry 65% to 92% of the transition metals transported. Solid organic material, the next most important phase, transports between 5% and 19% of the total transported. Material carried in solution transports 0.6% to 17% of the total transported. Sorbed transition metals account for between 0.02% and 8% of the total transported. Metal hydroxide coatings represent the major transporting mechanism potentially available to organisms, since, for the Amazon and Yukon Rivers, respectively, 87% and 78% of the Fe, 69% and 73% of the Mn, and 71% and 69% of the Ni are transported in this form. Comparing the concentrations of transition metals carried to the oceans with the concentrations on the continents, a high Cu ratio (5 to 7) indicates continental depletion or river output enrichment; a moderate ratio (1.1 to 1.7) for Ni, Co, and Cr indicates intermediate depletion or enrichment, and a near-unity ratio for Fe and Mn indicates little depletion or enrichment. The sediments transport >97% of the total mass of transition metals to the world9s oceans.

Effect of small molecules on the dipalmitoyl lecithin liposomal bilayer: III. Phase transition in lipid bilayer

Abstract: The effect of more than ninety lipid-soluble compounds on the phase transition behavior ofdl-α-dipalmitoyl lecithin bilayer has been examined by differential scanning calorimetry. The type of effect on the phase transition profile depends on the nature of the additive, whereas the extent of the effect depends on the concentration. The compounds examined include uncouplers, alkanols, fatty acids, detergents, organic solvents, ionophores, inorganic ions, and some commonly used spin-labelled and fluorescent membrane probes. A qualitatively distinct effect of several of these additives on the phase transition behavior of bilayer provides a method of determining the nature of the perturbation they induce in the bilayer organization. The observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the type of effect induced by an additive on the phase transition profile of the bilayer is related to the position of localization of the additive along the thickness of the bilayer. At least four different types of modified transition profiles that are related to changes in bilayer fluidity can be distinguished. These correspond to the localization of the additive in phosphorylcholine (type D), glycerol backbone (type B), C1–C8 methylene (type A), C9–C16 methylene (type C) region of the bilayer. A possible relationship between the type of phase transition profiles of modified liposomes and the physiological effects of drugs is also discussed.

The Mind's Eye: Nonverbal Thought in Technology.

Abstract: This scientific age too readily assumes that whatever knowledge may be incorporated in the artifacts of technology must be derived from science. This assumption is a bit of modern folklore that ignores the many nonscientific decisions, both large and small, made by technologists as they design the world we inhabit. Many objects of daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists- craftsmen, designers, inventors, and engineers-using nonscientific modes of thought. Carving knives, comfortable chairs, lighting fixtures, and motorcycles are as they are because over the years their designers and makers have established shape, style, and texture. Many features and qualities of the objects that a

Competition for mixed substrates by microbial populations

Abstract: A model for the growth of an organism on multiple substrates was developed, assuming that each substrate has a competitive inhibition effect on the uptake of other substrates. The model was extended to examine mixed substrates, showing that the coexistence of several species at steady state in continuous cultures is possible, even when all the organisms all strongly prefer the one substrate. The diversity of nutrient sources in a real system may be a key factor in supporting a heterogeneous microbial population.

Long-range order in biomembranes.

Abstract: Publisher Summary The central problem of membrane structure and its correlation with physiological and biochemical functions is to define the organization of constituent molecules. The existence of bilayers in biomembranes is established by a variety of physicochemical techniques. It has been shown that the subtleties of organizational and phase characteristics of the bilayer arise from the segmental motion and the transverse, rotational, and lateral mobilities of constituent lipids. These molecular features of lipids in the bilayer organization account for dielectric, viscoelastic, partitioning, and passive permeability characteristics. Experimental evidence indicates that the membrane lipids not only create a barrier to the free entry and exit of molecules into and out of the cell, but lipids also provide a matrix in/on which biochemical reactions can take place; through which certain metabolites can pass selectively; and with which recognition, adhesion, aggregation and fusion of cells can be mediated.

High-Pressure Investigation of the Reentrant Nematic - Bilayer-Smectic- A Transition

Abstract: We find that certain cyano Schiff bases and cyanobiphenyls with alkyl or alkoxy end groups exhibiting a bilayer smectic-$A$ phase also exhibit a reentrant nematic phase at high pressure. A tentative model of the bilayer smectic phase held in place via the attractive interaction of the alkyl or alkoxy chains accounts for most of our experimental results.

Stability of plane poiseuille flow of a highly elastic liquid

Abstract: The stability of fully developed pressure driven plane laminar flow of a Maxwell fluid has been studied using linear hydrodynamic stability theory. Elasticity is destabilizing in the inertial regime, but the flow is found to be stable to infinitesimal disturbances at low Reynolds numbers. This result contradicts previous calculations, which predicted a low Reynolds number flow instability at a critical recoverable shear of order unity. The previous calculations were carried out using less accurate numerical methods; the eigenvalue problem which must be solved is a delicate one, requiring sophisticated umerical techniques in order to avoid the calculation of spurious unstable modes. This work has direct bearing on the question of the mechanism of a low Reynolds number extrusion instability known as “melt fracture”. It is observed that the intensity of melt fracture increases with increasing die length for high density polyethylene, and it is therfore believed by some experimentalists that fully-developed die flow is unstable for this polymer above a critical recoverable shear. The analysis appears to be at variance with this interpretation of the experimental results.

Cortical Mechanisms That Augment or Reduce Evoked Potentials in Cats

Abstract: The augmenting or reducing of flash-evoked potentials in paralyzed cats was significantly correlated with their previously videotaped behaviors. Augmenting reducing was due to alterations in cortical rather than subcortical responsiveness, and was duplicated by increasing cortical arousal by means of reticular stimulation while the animal was exposed to visual stimuli of constant intensity. Brainstem activation of cortical inhibition may underlie the behavioral results as well as the results obtained with the evoked potentials.

Proof that the H − Ion Has Only One Bound State

Abstract: It is rigorously demonstrated that the nonrelativistic ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ion has only one bound state in the fixed (infinite-mass) nucleus approximation with Coulomb interactions only.

Sheet resistance component of series resistance in a solar cell as a function of grid geometry

Abstract: Most photovoltaic solar cells use some type of light-transmitting grid electrode on the upper surface to reduce series resistance losses as the current is collected. The geometry of this grid is chosen through consideration of optical transparency and series resistance. A method of calculating the series resistance as a function of grid geometry is presented here with the following assumptions: (1) current generation is uniform over the area of the cell; (2) the thickness of the upper semiconductor layer is very much smaller than the lateral dimensions of the cell; (3) the resistance of the grid electrode is much less than the sheet resistance of the upper semiconductor layer, and (4) the current flow in the layer is ohmic. These assumptions will be satisfied for most solar cells of interest. The method is then applied to several representative grid geometries and the results are compared with previous calculations in the literature.

Design analysis of the thin-film CdS—Cu 2 S solar cell

Abstract: A detailed model of the CdS-Cu 2 S solar cell was used to analyze design limits of cell configurations based on present laboratory technology. The parameters controlling the short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor are treated. The limits for each of these factors is obtained. The results indicate that the attainable conversion efficiency of the CdS-Cu 2 S solar cell extrapolating from the present processing technology is roughly 10 percent, as compared to a theoretical efficiency of 16 percent, if no losses occurred. A similar analysis for a cell using Cd 1-x Zn x S in place of CdS yields an attainable efficiency of 15 percent and a theoretical efficiency of over 26 percent. The model identifies those processing parameters which must be improved in order to optimize cell efficiency. Once technology is improved, the processing parameters will be reassessed with an aim towards increasing the maximum attainable efficiency.

Joint Economically Optimal Design of X and R Control Charts

Abstract: In this paper, we develop an expected cost model for a process whose mean is controlled by an XI„ chart and whose variance is controlled by an R chart. The expected cost comprises the fixed and variable costs of sampling, the cost of investigating and correcting the process when at least one control chart indicates that the process parameters have shifted, and the cost of producing defective units. We use a search procedure to determine the sample size, interval between samples and control limits for both charts that minimize the expected cost. Optimal solutions to numerical examples are presented. A sensitivity analysis of the model is performed. In addition, we find the optimal interval between samples and the expected cost for several examples with large shifts in the mean and variance where Shewhart's heuristic design is used in place of the optimal design. Comparison of the expected cost of the optimal design to the expected cost of Shewhart's design shows an increase in expected cost of only 0.4 to 8.2 percent for the latter design. But other situations are discussed and examples presented which indicate that the optimal design is preferred.

Speckle elimination by random spatial phase modulation

Abstract: A process and apparatus for improving image creation in a coherent light imagery system which involves directing diffused laser light onto a mirror having a rocking motion that will cause the reflected rays to sweep a two-dimensional area and focusing the reflected light through a diffuser before collimating same for use in image creation. More particularly, this invention creates the rocking motion by applying a combination of voltages to three independent piezo-electric crystals upon which the mirror is mounted.

Paleogeographic Reconstructions of Coastal Aegean Archaeological Sites

Abstract: Many studies have been made of ancient Greek topography, some of the more recent ones based on modern techniques. However, most still ignore the subsurface dimension of coastal and other environments and hence fail to fully explain coastal and alluvial-colluvial processes, rates of change of geomorphology, and the effects of coastal change on humans. In this article subsurface geological analyses have been used to elucidate paleogeographic coastal settings of major archaeological sites around the Aegean Sea. Similar approaches could be applied in the Middle and Far East and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

Deviant Acts by Complex Organizations: Deviance and Social Control at the Organizational Level of Analysis1

Abstract: The study of deviance and social control can be expanded to recognize that (1) organizations, not just individuals, commit deviant acts, and (2) other organizations have responsibilities for preven...

Mechanics of nonisothermal polymer melt spinning

Abstract: Spin line tension, diameter attenuation, and the onset of the draw resonance instability are determined for a viscoelastic polymer melt, taking into account the changes in physical properties resulting from cooling of the filament. The theory predicts the experimentally observed stabilization of very short and very long filaments.

Termination of photorefractoriness in golden hamsters-photoperiodic requirements.

Abstract: The photorefractory period of golden hamsters is characterized by the failure of short daylengths (less than 12.5 hours per 24) to induce gonadal regression. Photorefractoriness is terminated by prolonged exposure to long daylengths (greater than 12.5 hours per 24). This study was designed to determine the precise duration of long day (LD 14 hours light/24) exposure necessary to terminate refractoriness. The data indicate that 11 weeks of LD 14:10 terminate refractoriness in nearly every hamster. Exposure for fewer than 11 weeks is less effective whereas exposure for more than 11 weeks is no more effective. The data show that hamsters begin measuring long days to terminate photorefractoriness irrespective of the physiological state of the reproductive system, and, therefore, that photorefractoriness is induced some time during the period of testicular regression (during the first 10-12 weeks of short day exposure).