University of Portland

About: University of Portland is a education organization based out in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Futures contract. The organization has 1755 authors who have published 2196 publications receiving 60213 citations. The organization is also known as: U of Portland & UP.

Building brand community

Abstract: A brand community from a customer-experiential perspective is a fabric of relationships in which the customer is situated. Crucial relationships include those between the customer and the brand, between the customer and the firm, between the customer and the product in use, and among fellow customers. The authors delve ethnographically into a brand community and test key findings through quantitative methods. Conceptually, the study reveals insights that differ from prior research in four important ways: First, it expands the definition of a brand community to entities and relationships neglected by previous research. Second, it treats vital characteristics of brand communities, such as geotemporal concentrations and the richness of social context, as dynamic rather than static phenomena. Third, it demonstrates that marketers can strengthen brand communities by facilitating shared customer experiences in ways that alter those dynamic characteristics. Fourth, it yields a new and richer conceptuali...

Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers

Abstract: This article introduces the subculture of consumption as an analytic category through which to better understand consumers and the manner in which they organize their lives and identities Recognizing that consumption activities, product categories, or even brands may serve as the basis for interaction and social cohesion, the concept of the subculture of consumption solves many problems inherent in the use of ascribed social categories as devices for understanding consumer behavior This article is based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork with Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners A key feature of the fieldwork was a process of progressive contextualization of the researchers from outsiders to insiders situated within the subculture Analysis of the social structure, dominant values, and revealing symbolic behaviors of this distinct, consumption-oriented subculture have led to the advancement of a theoretical framework that situates subcultures of consumption in the context of modern consumer culture and discusses, among other implications, a symbiosis between such subcultures and marketing institutions Transferability of the principal findings of this research to other subcultures of consumption is established through comparisons with ethnographies of other self-selecting, consumption-oriented subcultures

Marfan syndrome caused by a recurrent de novo missense mutation in the fibrillin gene.

Abstract: Marfan syndrome is an inherited disorder of connective tissue manifested in the ocular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant with high penetrance, but has great clinical variability. Linkage studies have mapped the Marfan locus to chromosome 15q15-21.3. There have been no reports of genetic heterogeneity in the syndrome. Following the identification of fibrillin (a glycoprotein component of the extracellular microfibril), immunohistopathological quantification of the protein in skin and fibroblast culture, and examination of fibrillin synthesis, extracellular transport, and incorporation into the extracellular matrix (D. M. Milewicz, R.E.P., E. S. Crawford and P. H. Byers, manuscript in preparation) have demonstrated abnormalities of fibrillin metabolism in most patients. A portion of the complementary DNA encoding fibrillin has been cloned and mapped by in situ hybridization to chromosome 15. Here we report that the fibrillin gene is linked to the Marfan phenotype (theta = 0.00; logarithm of the odds (lod) = 3.9) and describe a de novo missense mutation in the fibrillin gene in two patients with sporadic disease. We thus implicate fibrillin as the protein defective in patients with the Marfan syndrome.

Predictors of Academic Achievement and Retention among College Freshmen: A Longitudinal Study.

Abstract: This research examines potential psychosocial predictors of freshman academic achievement and retention College students were assessed on various dimensions, (ie, demographics, prior academic record, smoking, drinking, health-related quality of life, social support, coping) during the first week of their freshman year, and at the beginning of the next academic year A multiple linear regression equation predicting cumulative GPA using 10 predictors accounted for 56% of the variance in academic achievement while a logistic equation predicting retention rates was not statistically significant The amount of variance accounted for in first year cumulative GPA (56%) represents a substantial improvement in prediction over using highschool GPA and SAT scores alone (25%; Wolfe & Johnson, 1995) However, similar to past research, some health and psychosocial variables (eg, smoking, drinking, health-related quality of life, social support, and maladaptive coping strategies) were related to retention This model may be used as a tool to proactively identify students at high risk for poor academic performance during their freshman year and to provide direction regarding proactive intervention strategies for maladaptive behaviors predictive of poor academic performance (eg, smoking, binge-drinking, social support, coping) ********** The freshman year represents a stressful transition for college students (Lu, 1994) Despite a multitude of social, academic, and emotional stressors, most college students successfully cope with a complex new life role and achieve academic success Other students are less able to successfully manage this transition and decide to leave higher education during or at the end of their freshman year It is estimated that 40% of college students will leave higher education without getting a degree (Porter, 1990) with 75% percent of such students leaving within their first two years of college (Tinto, 1987) Freshman class attrition rates are typically greater than any other academic year and are commonly as high as 20-30% (Mallinckrodt & Sedlacek, 1987) The implications of leaving college without obtaining a degree are many Each student that leaves before degree completion costs the college or university thousands of dollars in unrealized tuition, fees, and alumni contributions The decision to leave college is also frequently economically deleterious to the college dropout, whose decision to leave often leaves him or her in a position to earn much less over a lifetime of work (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1989) Despite these considerable negative consequences for universities and students, attrition rates have not changed appreciably over the last few decades (Porter, 1990) This fact has provided an impetus to understand risk factors for college student attrition If such risk factors can be identified, then intervention programs can be designed to increase retention rates (Clark & Halpern, 1993) There is a consistent relationship between college academic achievement and retention, with higher performing students persisting in their studies to a greater degree than their lower achieving cohorts (Kirby & Sharpe, 2001; McGrath & Braunstein, 1997; Ryland, Riordan, & Brack, 1994) Given the consistent relationship between these variables, it is prudent and efficient to identify common risk factors for these student outcomes in order to best develop targeted intervention programs This study will examine a number of potentially predictive variables of academic achievement and retention that have been examined in prior studies and also examine some new potential risk factors, such as student health status, that have yet to be examined The goal of this research was to create a multidimensional risk model that would optimize prediction of both academic achievement and attrition The following is a brief literature overview and rationale for the inclusion of certain variables in this comprehensive risk model …