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Systematics and Biostratigraphy of Dunderbergia and Related Trilobites from Cambrian (Mid-Steptoean) Strata of Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Newfoundland
Get PDFThe Great Basin of Nevada and Utah has been a classic region for Cambrian geology and paleontology for some 150 years. Studies in the late 19th century were prompted by the discovery of commercial ore deposits and led to the initial documentation of the trilobite faunas in the 1870s and 1880s. Further work on these faunas in the 1950s and early 1960s cemented the importance of the region, particularly as a standard succession for Cambrian trilobite biostratigraphy. However, many species are poorly documented by modern standards, and a revision is long overdue. This thesis focuses on the Dunderberg Formation in Nevada and coeval parts of the Orr Formation in Utah. With more than 100 trilobite species reported from the Dunderberg alone, a full revision of the fauna will not be attempted. Instead, the thesis deals with three genera of Family Elviniidae, Dunderbergia Walcott, 1924 and two close relatives, Dytremacephalus Palmer, 1954 and Elburgia, Palmer, 1960, and is based on new field collections from the Dunderberg and Orr formations. In addition, some species from the Riley Formation of central Texas and the Shallow Bay Formation of western Newfoundland are included in the study. A total of 18 species are documented, and eight of them are new. An analysis using computer- based parsimony methods places the species in a broader phylogenetic context. The results indicate that species of Dytremacephalus and Elburgia form monophyletic subclades that are nested within a set of species that have been assigned to Dunderbergia in previous studies; Dunderbergia is paraphyletic. An improved understanding of the relationships of these species must await a much larger analysis of the entire Family Elviniidae, a major undertaking that is beyond the scope of this thesis. As an interim step that preserves as much of the existing classification as possible, Dytremacephalus and Elburgia are treated as subgenera of Dunderbergia, with species of the latter referred to simply as Dunderbergia sensu lato. New species named in this thesis are: Dunderbergia (s.l.) astroplethes, Du. (s.l.) bovicephala, Du. (s.l.) multichauna, Du. (Dytremacephalus) aphropeca, Du. (Dy.) chondramma, Du. (Dy.) craniophysa, Du. (Dy.) pluviguttata, and Dunderbergia (Elburgia) magnatubercula. Species range data are used to develop a high- resolution zonation of four zones for the upper Candland Shale and correlatives in Nevada and Utah, in ascending order, the Du. (Dy.) pluviguttata, Prehousia alata, Dunderbergia (s.l.) anyta, and Dunderbergia (Elburgia) granulosa zones. They will allow detailed correlation of strata throughout the Great Basin region
Positive Branded Rumors and Preannouncements: The Potential Backfire of Consumer Response to Exciting Misinformation
Get PDFBranded rumors are not new in the realm of advertising scholarship; however, many past studies have been conducted with the assumption that rumors are inherently detrimental to their related brand. The present study aimed to break this assumption by examining and legitimizing the concept of positive branded rumors. These rumors give consumers information about a new product prior to its official announcement and thus consumers are likely to develop their attitudes toward the product prematurely. Given that positive branded rumors are primarily spread through electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on social media platforms, this study examined the effects on these rumors in light of eWOM scholarship. In addition, consumers’ responses toward positive branded rumors are expected to be influenced by a brand’s eventual preannouncement that either confirms or disconfirms the rumors. Finally, studies of eWOM have indicated consumer response to eWOM is influenced by initial awareness of the related product or product line. Therefore, the dynamics among consumer rumor eWOM valence, brand preannouncement type, and consumer initial awareness were examined.
A 2 (eWOM valence: positive vs. negative) x 2 (preannouncement type: confirmation vs. disconfirmation) between-subject experimental design was employed. Both eWOM valence and preannouncement type were manipulated, whereas initial awareness was measured. By using simulated Twitter posts discussing a positive branded rumor and an official preannouncement, a total of four conditions were created: 1) positive eWOM valence – confirming preannouncement, 2) positive eWOM valence – disconfirming preannouncement, 3) negative eWOM valence – confirming preannouncement, and 4) negative eWOM valence – disconfirming preannouncement. Through an online experiment, participants were randomly exposed to one of the four conditions. Questions regarding participants’ attitudes toward the subject product and brand, emotional reactions toward the preannouncement, and purchase intent of the product in the preannouncement were asked.
The results of this experiment revealed rumor eWOM valence to be influential on its own in developing brand attitudes. Positive eWOM led to more positive brand attitudes, compared to negative eWOM. Additionally, eWOM valence and preannouncement type were found to interact in the development of product and brand attitudes. The results showed negative eWOM to dampen participants’ attitudes even when the rumored product was confirmed. Additionally, the experiment revealed a backfire from disconfirming a rumor when participants had previously been exposed to positive eWOM about that rumor. No significant results were found for any three-way interaction between eWOM valence, preannouncement type, and initial awareness.
These results hold implications for future scholarship of branded rumors, particularly in further legitimizing the concept of positive branded rumors as well as the unique effects of those rumors. Additionally, these results reveal a need to further explore theoretical lenses through which to view this phenomenon as the effects of rumor eWOM found here do not fully match the predictions of other studies of general eWOM. Finally, this study poses implications for brand practitioners by revealing a need to know and understand online rumor discourse around their brand to develop effective and appropriate rumor response strategies
Flames as a Unique Pyrolyzing Source for the Formation of Hydrophobic Carbon Films on Solid Substrates
Get PDFIn this work the rapid single-step flame synthesis of hydrophobic carbon layers (C-layers) on the surface of stainless-steel (SS) substrates is explored. A co-flow flame is used to generate a hydrophobic monolayer on the surface of the metal substrate upon its insertion into the reaction zone. Several flame parameters are explored including fuel type (biodiesel and methane), exposure time of the SS substrate in the flame medium, flame position of the substrate within the flame (inner-cone vs. outer-cone), and the percent of oxygen content in the oxidizer stream. The thickness and mass of the flame formed monolayer varied depending on the various flame parameters; however, there was no significant correlation between mass of the deposited C-layer and the layer’s hydrophobicity and/or uniformity. Flame structure played the most significant role in the hydrophobicity and uniformity of the deposited C-layers. It is hypothesized that a small “inner-cone” of the Canola Methyl Ester (CME) biodiesel flame along with a high soot propensity can result in an ideal medium to form uniform hydrophobic C-layers of unique hierarchical surface structure. This is supported by introducing SS substrates in methane/air flames formed using the same co-flow burner; this was further supported by experiments utilizing a CME/oxygen enriched-air flame to form C-layers.
It was found that a flame formed using a gaseous fuel (methane) over a vaporized liquid fuel, CME, has significant structural differences that enable vastly different deposition behavior of soot layers on the surface of solid substrates. Due to its larger pyrolysis zone (taller inner-cone), the CH4/air flame has a smaller region that supports uniform soot deposition of hydrophobic C-layers compared to the CME/air flame. When a solid substrate is placed within the pyrolysis zone (inner-cone) of a flame the resulting layer is non-uniform, hydrophilic, and consists of undeveloped soot. However, when the solid substrate is placed outside the pyrolysis zone, the deposited soot tends to be uniform and mature; ultimately creating a hydrophobic C-layer consisting of typical microscale interconnected “weblike” structures formed of spherical soot nanoparticles. The effect of oxygen content (35% and 50% O2) in the oxidizer stream for the formation of hydrophobic C-layers was also studied in this work. It was found that oxygen enrichment within the CME flame alters the structure of the flame, hence affecting the morphology of the formed C-layer. Under oxygen enrichment the central region of the deposited C-layer is composed of a weblike structure similar to those seen in the CME/air flames; however, this central region is bordered by a region of densely compacted soot that shows signs of significant thermal stress. At 35% O2 the thermal stress is expressed as multiple microscale cracks while at 50%O2 this border region shows much larger cracks and macroscale layer peeling. The hydrophobic property of the carbon deposits was quantified by measuring the contact angle of water droplets placed on the film’s surface. A water droplet drop test was conducted on the flame formed hydrophobic layers to study their wettability property
Interpretational variations of seismic attribute analysis as compared within the time and depth domains
Get PDFMigration is one of the crucial data processing steps re-locating the recorded seismic events to their true locations, suppressing the diffractions and thus, providing more accurate imaging of the subsurface. It can be applied in the time or depth domain depending on the geologic characteristics of the study area. The time migration algorithm provides a quality imaging of subsurface geology in the areas characterized by intense faulting and complex geologic structures exhibiting sharp dips. However, since the time migration method assumes only mild lateral velocity variations and provides more vertical rather than lateral resolution, in the presence of high lateral velocity contrasts, this approach distorts the imaging quality by creating false geometric constructions such as fault shadows. Therefore, in such areas, depth migration, which has high lateral resolution and is less sensitive to lateral velocity contrasts, is applied to seismic data. Despite such advantages of the depth migration method, there are geometrical and physical variations that might affect the seismic interpretation of the structural and stratigraphic events like faults and channels between both domains worth studying. To analyze these differences, the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand, which exhibits intense faulting and numerous paleochannels, was selected and the Toro 3-D Seismic Survey containing the pre-stack time (PSTM) and depth (PSDM) datasets were used. Unlike previous studies focused on detecting and removing the pitfalls and artifacts generally occurring after depth conversion of the time data or directly observed in the depth-migrated seismic data and as a result, distorting the imaging of the subsurface, even creating fake structures, this research analyzed the variations affecting seismic interpretation between the PSTM and PSDM datasets by using geometrical, physical, and spectral decomposition attributes. This thesis creates awareness for the interpreters by supplying new insights showing how the interpretation of structural (faults) and stratigraphic elements (channels) are changing geometrically (wide, length, and depth) or physically (amplitude, phase, and frequency). In addition, this work helps decision-makers avoid the increase in exploration studies, seismic risk assessments and drilling costs that might be caused by misinterpretations of the events. To make a comprehensive comparison, the hypothetic models reflecting the expectations were created for each attribute and both qualitative and quantitative interpretations were provided about the findings. The results of the comparisons indicated that the dip angle of the faults increased significantly, the angle of the channel walls are become steeper and more curved, and bodies formed narrower shapes in the depth-migrated data. The observations also showed that there are amplitude and phase variations within and surroundings of the channels which means different lithologic characteristics between both domains. The multispectral coherence analysis demonstrated frequency variations in the channel edges. Despite many limitations like the lack of borehole data in the 3D area, using only four normal faults and three different types of channels formed in the same formation (the Giant Foresets Formation), this study provides useful results to understand what interpretational variations can lead to
Benchmarking of Academic Departments using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
Get PDFKeywords: Data Envelopment Analysis; Relative Efficiency; Benchmarking; Resource Allocation; Investment Model; Decision-Support SystemPurpose – The main objective of the paper is to develop an Investment Model using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that provides a decision-making framework to allocate resources efficiently, such that the relative efficiency is improved within an available investment budget.
Design/methodology/approach – DEA models are used to evaluate the efficiency of the departments relative to their peers and providing benchmarks for the less efficient departments. Secondly, the inefficiencies in departments are identified. Finally, for the less efficient departments, a decision-support system is introduced for optimizing resource allocation to improve efficiency.
Findings – Five of the eighteen academic departments were determined to be inefficient, and benchmark departments were found for those departments. The most prevalent causes for inefficiency were the number of Undergraduate Students per Faculty and the Number of Graduate Students. Results from the Investment Model for Department 12 suggest increasing the Number of Faculty by 2 units and H-Index by 0.5 units, thereby, improving the relative efficiency of the department by 6.8% (88% to 94%), using 500,000 investment budget provided.
Originality – When an investment budget is available, no study has used DEA to develop a decision-support framework for resource allocation in academic departments to maximize relative efficiency.Ye
Developing Prospective Interim and Future Academic Library Leaders: Reflections for Leadership Practice
Get PDFThis chapter offers a reflective perspective about the author's experience as interim leader in an academic library, grounded in relevant discussion from the literature to present the case for the intentional practice of preparing future interim and ongoing leaders through support for developmental programs, leader modeling, mentorship, and operationalizing the role of leadership in organizational life.Ye
Meditation and gratitude practice for early childhood teachers
Get PDFMany early childhood educators are experiencing an increase in stress, affecting their self-efficacy well-being (Hue & Lau, 2016). Mindfulness, which is the awareness, openness, and receptiveness of one’s present life (Seema & Sare, 2019), has been used in the classroom to help decrease stress and anxiety for students and teachers (Harris, 2017). Previous research has examined the use of mindfulness primarily as part of the student’s curriculum, but there has not been a focus on the teachers’ use of mindfulness. More research is needed on the benefits of teachers using mindfulness practices, specifically, meditation and gratitude, when practiced regularly (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). Combining self-efficacy, self-determination, and hope theory, a new theoretical model, Mindfulness Sequence Model (Evans, 2020), first illustrates how mindfulness is practiced. Next, A multiple case study design was used following five teachers during an eight-week intervention. Through daily audio recording reflections after meditation and gratitude practices, weekly interviews, and pre-post-surveys, the study explored the teachers’ experiences with meditation and gratitude and connections to their self-efficacy and hope. Teachers reported increased teacher self-efficacy, hope, decreased stress, and an increase in classroom community after practicing meditation and gratitude daily. Last, based on the theoretical model presented and the lived experiences, teachers are provided with a guide on how implementing a daily morning meditation and afternoon gratitude practice in their classroom
